Algerian president submits candidacy

Algiers - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday formally presented his candidacy for a presidential election on April 9 that is being boycotted by the two main opposition parties, officials said.

Bouteflika was first elected in 1999 and is running with the support of a pro-presidential coalition in parliament composed of the National Liberation Front, National Democratic Rally and the Movement for Society and Peace.

Parliament in November voted overwhelmingly to eliminate a previous two-term limit for president.

Algeria's main opposition leaders have said the election is a "done deal" set up in Bouteflika's favor.

So far six other people have also submitted their candidacies ahead of a deadline of midnight Monday. Algeria's constitutional council is due to announce the official list of candidates within the next 10 days.

Louisa Hanoune of the Workers Party, Ali Zeghdoud of Algerian Rally, Djahid Younsi of the Islamic el-Islah movement, Moussa Touati of the Algerian National Front, Omar Bouacha of the El Infitah movement, and Rachid Bouaziz, an independent candidate, have also applied.

Exiled Bangladeshi feminist author Taslima Nasrin will visit IU Bloomington, present lecture Jan. 23

Jan. 15, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Exiled Bangladeshi feminist author Taslima Nasrin will visit Indiana University Bloomington and present the Shiva and Ram Avtar Tiwari Memorial Lecture, "My Life: A Struggle for Equality," at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23.

Nasrin left Bangladesh in 1994 after Islamic extremists accused her of insulting Islam in her writings and threatened to kill her. She left India last March to seek medical assistance in Sweden and soon will move to Paris.

She will speak in the Faculty Room of the University Club in the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St. Karen Hanson, IU provost and executive vice president, will offer welcoming remarks. The event is part of IU India Studies' lecture series.

Nasrin, the daughter of a physician, also became a doctor and worked in a family planning clinic in her hometown of Mymensingh, previously part of East Pakistan. She turned to poetry and other writing and her first book of poems, Hunger in the Roots, was published in 1986. A second book of poems followed in 1989, Banished Without and Within, and was a major success.

Her first foray into fiction writing, Lajja (Shame), brought her considerable critical acclaim, but when the Bangladeshi government and several Islamic fundamentalist groups perceived the book to portray Muslims in a negative light, it was banned and she began receiving death threats. The Bangladeshi government issued an arrest warrant for her in 1994 and she went into hiding after posting bail.

While in exile, she published several books and poetry collections, including, Tell Him the Secret (1994), Poems from Exile (1996), Meyebela, My Bengali Girlhood (1998), French Lover (2002), Ka (Speak Up) (2003), Feeling Empty (2004) and I Am Not Okay, But You Stay Well My Beloved Homeland (2006).

In addition to her award-winning literary contributions, Nasrin is an outspoken advocate for women and the power of free speech. She has criticized oppressive cultures and customs that discriminate against women without hesitation.

Gaza children “afraid to return to school”

GAZA CITY, 23 February 2009 (IRIN) - School-children in the Gaza Strip face psychological trauma and lack facilities after schools were badly damaged or destroyed during Israel’s three-week assault on the enclave that began in December.

Primary and secondary schools in Gaza run by the government and the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) report a shortage of drinking water and textbooks for students, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Restrictions on the amount and type of materials being allowed into Gaza by Israeli authorities are hindering the education system.

Many parents and children say they were afraid to return to school after the war. The first attack hit Gaza on a morning while school was in session.

"I was afraid to return to school after the war," said 15-year-old Fatin Na’im, a 10th grader at Ahmed Shawqi Secondary School in the Rimal section of Gaza City. Her two brothers, a 20-year-old university student and a 25-year-old accountant, were killed by Israeli tank fire while trying to evacuate their home in Tal A’hawa.

After suffering nightmares Na’im sought psychological help. Educators and local and international NGOs are making psycho-social services for children and adolescents a priority.

Lack of books

Asma Co-ed Elementary School "A&B", run by UNRWA, is still waiting for this semester’s textbooks, according to area officer Mohamed Abu Hashem.

"We have been waiting three weeks for paper to print the books to enter Gaza; meanwhile, students are sharing textbooks," said Abu Hashem. "The main problem is the psychological effects of the war on the children."

After the war he organized stress-relieving activities for the children, including group therapy session and plays produced by local NGOs, such as the Children’s Theatre Organization.

"The children are frightened by loud noises and panic when they see an airplane in the sky," said Abu Hashem.

Some 161 of UNRWA’s 221 schools are running psycho-social support programmes, he said.

The school operates without electricity two to three days a week, and about 1,800 students attend the school in two shifts.

The windows remain shattered, since the glass for repairs is not available. Other facilities, such as the bathrooms, were damaged as the school was not designed to accommodate hundreds of evacuees, said Abu Hashem.

Evacuees used school-desks as firewood to keep warm, said Abu Hashem, who is struggling to replace the materials.

Between 8 and 14 February, 35 percent of goods allowed into Gaza were for aid agencies and food made up 83 percent of all supplies, according to OCHA. No education or stationery material, livestock or construction materials were allowed into Gaza in that time.

Israeli authorities have told the humanitarian community that 150 trucks per day would be allowed into Gaza; however, from 8 to 14 February, on average 103 truckloads per day were cleared to enter the enclave, said OCHA.

New Zealand Rolls Over Military Presence In Afghanistan

WELLINGTON (AFP)--New Zealand's military deployment to Afghanistan has been rolled over for another year to September 2010, Prime Minister John Key said Tuesday.

New Zealand has more than 140 soldiers in Afghanistan, primarily involved in reconstruction work in Bamiyan province.

"Cabinet has decided to extend that commitment by a year to the end of September 2010," Key said.

"The situation in Afghanistan requires an ongoing international program of security and development assistance to the government of Afghanistan."

The announcement came a day after Key said New Zealand hadn't been asked to increase its commitment.

U.S. President Barack Obama last week authorized 17,000 more troops for Afghanistan, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would ask NATO allies for a short-term troop increase to provide security for elections in August.

Watsonville soldier flies home from Afghanistan for daughter's birth

By Michael Torrice

WATSONVILLE -- After flying more than 7,000 miles from Afghanistan to San Francisco, Army Sgt. Robert Larsen Jr. of Watsonville witnessed the birth of his daughter Sunday.

The arrival of Irma Rose Larsen capped a frantic week of travel for her father.

Larsen received a message to return home Wednesday, flew out of Afghanistan on Friday and landed in San Francisco on Saturday.

"It was all very hectic," he said. "But we're all so happy. I'm on cloud nine, it all just hit me Monday."

Larsen has been stationed in Afghanistan since July. He returned home in late January when his wife, Alejandra Larsen of Watsonville, was originally due to give birth. After her doctors pushed back the due date, he flew back to Afghanistan on Feb. 8.

As he was traveling, his wife developed anemia and doctors decided to induce labor on Feb. 23.

Larsen's wife then contacted the American Red Cross to send a message to Larsen in Afghanistan. The organization communicated with the Army chain of command to tell the soldier about his wife's status.

An hour before he was scheduled to fly back to his outpost, Larsen finally received the message.

"I was waiting in line and they told me I was flying to Kuwait," he said. "I was just fortunate to get the message in time."

Larsen said his commanders were all supportive of him leaving to be with his wife.

Before her scheduled delivery date, Larsen's wife went into labor Sunday, which was also the birthday of his father, Robert Larsen Sr.

"What a perfect birthday gift for her grandfather," said Yolanda Larsen, the soldier's mother. "I'm so glad the whole family could be together."

Larsen will return to Afghanistan this weekend and will finish his tour at the end of the year. He was previously stationed in Iraq in 2003.

Rio Tinto to explore uranium in Jordan

Jordan on Monday inked a preliminary deal with the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto group on uranium exploration, said a senior energy official.

Under the MoU, the mining giant will help the exploration of different areas of Jordan for uranium, thorium and zirconium, said haled Touqan, head of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC).

The preliminary deal is expected to pave the way for further cooperation between the two sides in future, according to the official.

This is the latest deal Jordan has reached with world nuclear and mining giants, including France, Canada, China, the Republic of Korea and Britain.

Unlike its oil-rich neighbors, Jordan faces grave energy challenges. Currently, about 96 percent of its energy needs are met by imports at a cost of some 20 percent of its gross domestic products.

In a drive to reduce the country's dependence on imported hydrocarbons, the government mapped out a nuclear energy program in 2007, under which Jordan will have its first nuclear reactor up and running by 2016, with more to be built in the years leading up to 2030.

It is estimated that Jordan can extract 80,000 tons of uranium from its uranic ores and the country's phosphate reserves also contain some 100,000 tons of uranium, according to official data.

Official: Qatada to receive just trial in Jordan

February 19, 2009

Jordan's Justice Minister Ayman Odeh said Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric, would receive a just trial if deported by Britain to Jordan, local daily The Jordan Times reported Thursday.

"The Jordanian government was officially notified about the (British) House of Lords' decision and we guarantee that he will receive a fair trial like any other defendant being tried on Jordanian soil," the minister said.

Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, on Wednesday ruled that Abu Qatada can be deported to Jordan, where he has been twice convicted in absentia for plotting terror attacks.

Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Othman Abu Omar, was born in Bethlehem in 1960 and lived in Jordan until 1989 when he fled the country, alleging political persecution.

He has been described as the "spiritual ambassador in Europe" of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Qatada was arrested in London in 2005 with a group of Middle East men deemed a threat to national security, but the country did not have sufficient evidence to put him on trial, British officials have said.

Jordan's king swears in new ministers

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday swore in 10 new ministers after a major reshuffle of the cabinet led by Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, the palace said.

The new ministers took the oath of office before the king at a ceremony held at Raghadan Palace which was attended by the prime minister, Royal Court Chief Nasser Lawzi and the king's advisers.

This is the first reshuffle since Nader Dahabi was appointed as prime minister in November, 2007.

Among the changes, Interior Minister Eid Al Fayez is replaced by Nayef Al Qadi, who had held the post several times before.

Nasser Judeh, former Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications, replaces Salah Al Deen Al Basheer to head the Foreign Ministry, while Nabil Sharif, editor-in-chief of pro-government Arabic daily Ad-Dustour, takes over from Judeh at the Information Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Political Development will be led by Mousa Ma'aytaha, a left-leaning political activist. This is his first time to enter the cabinet.

Former Labor Minister Bassem Al Salem is switched to the Ministry of Finance.

In the day, the king also held a meeting with the outgoing ministers, expressing appreciation for their efforts during their tenure.

The outgoing ministers include Foreign Minister Salah Al Deen Al Basheer, Minister of the Interior Eid Al Fayez and Minister of Finance Hamad Kasasbeh.

Israel president urges Europeans to shun Hamas

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday urged Europeans to shun Hamas, telling the European parliament's president that the Islamists who rule Gaza are a "murderous terrorist" group.

"Europeans must understand that Hamas is a dangerous and murderous terrorist organization and must stop immediately showing any sympathy and support as this attitude prevents the continuation of the peace process," Peres told Hans-Gert Poettering.

Poettering on Monday led delegation of European parliamentarians to the Gaza Strip, which was devastated by a 22-day Israeli military offensive in which more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.

Following his visit, the European official expressed grave concern about the situation in the Palestinian enclave that is reeling under an Israeli blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in June 2007.

"We have to help the people of Gaza by opening the borders, while preventing Hamas from arming again. We are in favor of peace and resolutely against war and terrorism," he said.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was also scheduled to visit Gaza later this week as part of a Middle East tour aimed at helping consolidate the ceasefires that ended Israel's war on Gaza on January 18.

European and US officials had generally stayed away from the Gaza Strip for years, but several have traveled to the impoverished territory since the end of the Israeli offensive.

Influential US Senator John Kerry and two other Democratic US congressmen last week visited the war-shattered coastal strip.

The EU, the United States and Israel all blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

U.S. Official: Gaza Reconstruction To Top $900M

JERUSALEM (AP) ― United States aid for the Gaza Strip's reconstruction will likely top $900 million, an official said, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to make her first Mideast trip as America's top diplomat.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said Monday that Clinton will visit Israel and the West Bank during the first week of March. Clinton said during her Asia trip last week that she would attend an international donors conference in Egypt on March 2 to discuss reconstruction in Gaza.

She provided no other details, but a U.S. official in the United States said Monday that the Obama administration's donation will be at least $900 million in humanitarian and rebuilding aid to the Palestinian Authority to help Gaza recover from Israel's offensive against Hamas last month.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the donation had not received final approval, said the exact amount was still to be determined.

The official added that the aid would not go to Hamas. The U.S. recognizes the West Bank-based government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and has no formal contacts with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which runs a separate Palestinian administration in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli officials, meanwhile, said Clinton will arrive in Israel on March 2 for meetings with the country's top leaders. Israel is currently ruled by a caretaker government as Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu cobbles together a new coalition.

The Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the visit had not been announced by the State Department, which has not released Clinton's schedule for next week.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Clinton also would visit the West Bank during her stay.

Jordan Ammunition Manufacturing and Services Company (JORAMMO), announces its awarding of a 43 Million USD contract by Jordan Armed Forces

24 February 2009
IDEX 2009, Abu Dhabi, UAE: At a press conference during IDEX 2009, the Jordan Ammunition Manufacturing and Services Company (JORAMMO), announced the awarding of a 43 Million USD contract with the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF). A joint venture between the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau of Jordan (KADDB), MECAR SA of Belgium, and DMV Holdings, LLC of the US, JORAMMO is a Jordanian based manufacturer of Small and Large Caliber ammunitions.

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Farghal, Director of Strategic Planning at JAF issued a statement disclosing the contract entails JORAMMO to provide JAF with its requirements of 60mm and 120mm Mortar Ammunition, Small Calibre Ammunition and Hand Grenades. Brig. Gen. Farghal expressed his confidence in JORAMMO's technological capacity, managerial acumen and reliability to enhance Jordan's defence industrial base.

Dr. Moayad Samman, Chairman and CEO of KADDB, stated "While JAF will always remain KADDB's primary focus and customer, the Bureau is confident that JORAMMO is strategically poised to make this contract the first of many from markets other than Jordan for small, medium and large calibre ammunition."

JORAMMO's Managing Director, Brig. Gen. Bassam Issa, also in attendance, said "We are on schedule to commence production of JAF requirements by mid October of this year." Further adding "JAF requirements will be met in two phases: first, the production of Hand Grenades and Large Calibre Ammunition; followed by the Small Calibre Ammunition.

Brig. Gen Issa delineated the initial production line will include small calibre ammunition (5.56mm, 7.62mm and 9mm), large calibre ammunition (105mm MBT, 120mm MBT, 105mm Howitzer, 155mm Howitzer, 60mm Mortar, 120mm Mortar) and Hand Grenade with near-future plans for the addition of Rifle Grenades, smoothbore tank gun and eastern weapons ammunition. Adding that the production process will include: large calibre assembly, small calibre cartridge case manufacture, small calibre bullet manufacture, and small calibre assembly.

Established in early 2008, JORAMMO (initially announced as "JAMS") seeks to become one of the largest military and commercial ammunition manufacturers in the Middle East and Africa by designing, developing, manufacturing, marketing, supplying, and testing the company's small, medium, and large calibre ammunition.

JORAMMO production facility, currently under engineering, construction and development, is scheduled for full operations in 2010. It is situated in the KADDB Industrial Park, just 45 km Northeast of Amman. The Facility will occupy a total area of 244,000sqm with first stage buildings area of 4800sqm including an independent administration building.

The JORAMMO facility will be among the most advanced and best managed munitions production facilities worldwide. Production will be achieved by state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and technology, expert production and engineering practices, and supply chain management.

The manufacturing process will benefit from the presence of an advanced ballistics laboratory in which state-of-the-art precision instrumentation will test and monitor ammunition performance, including velocity, pressure, accuracy and impact.

The Facility will also engage in the improvement and development of ammunition for its client base through its Research & Development strategic expansion capabilities. With joint engineering and technical contributions from MECAR, JAF and associated organizations, JORAMMO will ensure meeting, and in many cases exceeding the technical requirements of JAF and other military forces, regionally and worldwide.

Tribunal to seek transfer of detained security chiefs to Hague in May

BEIRUT: Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Robin Vincent said on Sunday that the court will ask Lebanon to transfer four generals suspected of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to The Hague. The Lebanese authorities would be asked to hand over the generals two months after the court begins operations on March 1, Vincent said during an evening interview with Al-Arabiya television, adding that he did not forsee any complications in the process of their transfer. "I don't think it will be difficult," he told the Saudi-based station.

Hariri was assassinated along with 22 others in a massive car bomb in Beirut on February 14, 2005. The four men in custody - LAF Intelligence head Raymond Azar, Mustapha Hamdan of the presidential guard, Internal Security Forces Director Ali Hajj and Jamil al-Sayyed from General Security - were arrested in 2005 under the orders of former chief investigator Detlev Mehlis.

"The tribunal will file a request to the Lebanese authorities to receive all documents [related to the investigation] and the detained men two months after it starts work," Vincent said in the interview.

The Special Tribunal will take over from the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC), whose mandate comes to an end at the end of this week. Vincent, a British national, was the first official to take up his post at the Tribunal after being appointed in March 2008.

"Witnesses in the case will be granted new IDs and will be transferred to other places," the registrar said, adding that the tribunal had signed agreements with a number of countries to host witnesses.

Unnamed administrative officials told the Hariri-owned Al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Monday that the trial would be broadcast on Lebanese television and radio with a 30 minute delay for legal and security reasons. The tribunal's website would report court proceedings in Arabic, English and French, the sources added.

Work at IIIC has been winding down ahead of the Special Tribunal's launching next Sunday. Chief Investigator Daniel Bellemare visited Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday afternoon to bid farewell to the two leaders before he leaves to The Hague.

Future Movement MP Samir al-Jisr meanwhile reiterated his support for the UN tribunal during a meeting Monday with Lebanese expatriates in Ghana. "We want the Special Tribunal because we think there are factions from outside Lebanon implicated in the crime, and Lebanon can only bring them to international justice," he said in a likely reference to Syria.

Assailants steal database from office of Sayyed's lawyer

BEIRUT: A computer containing important files was stolen from the office of attorney Akram Azouri.

The state-run National News Agency said unknown assailants ransacked Azouri's office and stole a computer containing a database for detainee Jamil al-Sayyed.

Hariri has been detained since 2005 for involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Azouri, who filed a lawsuit against the unknown suspects, said some cash was also stolen from his office.

Policemen and investigators dispatched to the scene said the perpetrators likely got into the office with the use of a master key since the padlock was not broken.

The National News Agency reported that the incident took place on the eve of a farewell tour by Chief UN investigator Daniel Bellemare.

In comments published on Monday in An-Nahar newspaper, the international tribunal's registrar, Robin Vincent, announced that Lebanese authorities would be asked to transfer to The Hague the four generals held in connection with Hariri's murder as soon as the court starts functioning. - The Daily Star

1944 deportations continue to echo across North Caucasus

Publication time: 23 February 2009, 13:05

Today is the 65th anniversary of Stalin's deportation of the Chechens and Ingush from their homelands in the North Caucasus to the wilds of Central Asia, an act of genocide in which more than half of those sent east lost their lives and one that lies behind many of the recent tragedies in that part of the world.

Today, when Russian officials are celebrating Fatherland Defender Day, most Chechens and Ingush, many other North Caucasians, and a significant share of Muslims elsewhere in the Russian Federation are marking with prayers and other actions the 65th anniversary of the Soviet deportation of the Chechens and Ingush.

Not only has this commemoration called new attention to the brutality of that action and the criminality of the regime that carried it out, but it appears set to deepen existing divisions between the North Caucasians and Russia's Muslims more generally, on the one hand, and the increasingly repressive Russian government, on the other.

On February 23, 1944, Stalin's security forces began to deport the entire population of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic, roughly half a million people, to Central Asia on the pretext that Chechen and Ingush soldiers had deserted in massive numbers and prepared armed uprisings against Moscow (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/deportation_vainahi).

Soviet units killed many Chechens and Ingush in the course of this action, including most brutally the burning alive of some 700 men, women and children in the village of Khaybakh. Tens of thousands died on the way to Central Asian exile, and many more died once they arrived.

Estimates of the total number of deaths from the deportation remain a matter of dispute, but most are within a range of one-third to one-half of the pre-1944 population of these two nations.

In a related action, at the time of the deportation, Stalin abolished the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, dividing up its territory among Daghestan, North Ossetia and Stavropol kray and resettling ethnic Russians and others in areas that from time immemorial had been populated by the two Vaynakh peoples.

That move created serious problems when the Chechen, Ingush and other "punished" peoples were allowed to return to the North Caucasus in the late 1950s at the time of Khrushchev's thaw, and it set the stage for the national movements there in the 1990s, especially when Moscow failed to implement its 1991 law "On the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples."

Indeed, Jokar Dudayev, the first president of Chechnya-Ichkeria, spoke directly to that point in 1994 when he suggested that Chechens should remember this anniversary not as a defeat but as an indication of the ability of the Chechens to survive Moscow's efforts to destroy them.

Speaking at the meeting in Jokhar, the Chechen President stated: "Our enemies want the Chechen people to remain in constant mourning and to constantly mourn the losses of their relatives and loved ones. We are rejecting the eternal mourning. The Chechen Nation has strong spirit and strong faith. From now on and forever this day will become the Day of Rebirth of the Chechen Nation, the Day of the demonstration that we are alive and that we are fighting no matter what. Regardless of all the efforts that our enemies are making in order to plunge us into eternal mourning. We will not mourn, we will not forget or forgive!"

Since that time, the Chechens and Ingush have marked this day with meetings and prayers, but on this "round" anniversary, they are doing more. Last Friday, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, the Chechen human rights ombudsman, said Grozny was collecting documents about the deportation because its true causes remain "unknown."

And today, Chechen puppet President Ramzan Kadyrov said that the 1944 deportations showed that Stalin had hoped to deprive the Chechens of their national self-identification but that "the father of the peoples" had miscalculated and Chechen national identity is stronger than ever before (www.mk.ru/blogs/MK/2009/02/23/srochno/396198/).

In Chechnya and Ingushetia, people attended both ceremonies at mosques and public meetings to mark this day, but in contrast to most earlier years, demonstrations commemorating this Stalinist crime occurred throughout the Russian Federation, especially among Muslim groups who are clearly disturbed about the direction Moscow's policies are now taking.

Last week, the Union of Muftis of Russia (SMR) asked that all of Russia's Muslims take part today in religious services to commemorate what it called a day to remember the victims of Stalin's deportations, actions which the SMR said involved "no less than 6.4 million people" (www.interfax-religion.ru/islam/?act=news&div=28945).

And this appeal was seconded by ethnic groups: the Tatars of St. Petersburg for example called for a collective prayer in memory of those who "had been died at the hands of the band formations of the NKVD of the USSR," a formulation many Russians might not be comfortable with (tatarlar.spb.ru/displayarticle966.html).

But perhaps the clearest indication of the way in which Soviet actions in the North Caucasus of 65 years ago continue to echo and spread across the Russian Federation now came in the TransBaikal city of Ulan-Ude where the militia detained two local activists who wanted to mark this event (kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2009/02/23/64142.shtml).

Nadezhda Nizovkina and Tatyana Stetsura, members of the Democratic Union, were passing out leaflets headlined "February 23 - a Day of Sorrow!" linking what happened in 1944 to what is happening now, with the Russian government's moves to repress Muslims and deport Muslim activists to Central Asia.

"Religious repressions are being converted into a system," the two told passersby, with Russian officials carrying them out with particular force in non-Russian and non-Orthodox Christian republics. "Aren't the authorities afraid," they asked rhetorically, "that such actions will provoke solidarity among the non-Russian reservations?"

But before Nizovkina and Stetsura could distribute all of their 200 leaflets, Kavkazcenter.com reports, they were taken off to a militia station where they reportedly are still being "questioned."

Source: Paul Globe

Gaza convoy takes a break in Algiers

The Viva Palestina aid convoy took a well-deserved rest stop in Algiers on Monday following a marathon overnight desert crossing.

The convoy, made up of 110 vehicles and snaking a mile across the mighty Sahara desert, rolled into the Algerian capital in the small hours of Monday morning.

The British mercy mission to the devastated Gaza Strip was held up in the Moroccan desert border city of Oujda on Saturday, while organizers negotiated with Algerian authorities for permission to cross the frontier.

The border has been closed for 15 years since an incident in Marrakech in 1994 wrecked relations between the two north African nations.

But, in an unprecedented decision, the convoy was allowed through late on Saturday.

Speaking from Algiers, convoy organizer Kevin Ovenden told the Morning Star: "We're making good time. We've had a tremendous response on the streets of the Algerian capital. It seems like everybody knows that the convoy is happening."

Local people have turned out in their thousands to cheer the convoy on everywhere it has traveled in Morocco and Algeria.

It has received free fuel courtesy of the Algerian government and other well-wishers. In both Morocco and Algeria, food has also been provided by the government and local people supporting the convoy.

The convoy will now wind its way across Tunisia and into Libya.

A large Libyan charity will be joining it in the capital Tripoli and many more are expected to join when the convoy reaches Cairo, including a convoy which set off from Glasgow on Saturday.

US labor supports boycott of Israeli cargo

Feb 23, 2009

The following statement was issued by Labor for Palestine on 17 February 2009:

"For the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."

-- Martin Luther King Jr., 4 April 1967

We salute the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) in Durban, and Western Australian dock worker members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), for refusing to handle Israeli cargo.

Theirs is a courageous response to Israel's attack on Palestinians in Gaza that, since 27 December alone, have left some 1,400 dead and 5,000 wounded -- nearly all of them civilians.

This action is in the best tradition of dock workers in Denmark and Sweden (1963), the San Francisco Bay area (1984) and Liverpool (1988), who refused to handle shipping for apartheid South Africa; Oakland dock workers' refusal to load bombs for the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile (1978); and West Coast dock workers' strike against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (2008).

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) rightly "calls on other workers and unions to follow suit and to do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine is free."

COSATU's appeal is particularly relevant for workers in the United States, whose government stands behind Israel's war against the Palestinians, and without which Israeli apartheid cannot continue.

In the past 10 years alone, US military aid to Israel was $17 billion; over the next decade, it will be $30 billion. As in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is US aircraft, white phosphorous and bullets that kill and maim on behalf of the occupiers. Both the Democratic and Republican parties condone the slaughter in Gaza.

Such support bolsters Israel's longstanding role as watchdog and junior partner for US domination over the oil-rich Middle East -- and beyond. In that capacity, Israel was apartheid South Africa's closest ally.

As with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, workers in the US pay a staggering human and financial price, including deepening economic crisis, for US-Israeli war and occupation.

Yet, in contrast to trade union bodies in South Africa, Australia, Denmark, Britain, Canada and elsewhere, most of labor officialdom in this country -- often without the knowledge or consent of union members -- is a main accomplice of Israeli apartheid.

For more than 60 years, it has closely collaborated with the Histadrut, the Zionist labor federation that has spearheaded -- and whitewashed -- apartheid, dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians since the 1920s.

US labor leaders have plowed at least $5 billion of our union pension funds and retirement plans into State of Israel Bonds.

In April 2002, while Israel butchered Palestinian refugees at Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney was a featured speaker at a belligerent "National Solidarity Rally for Israel."

In July 2007, the Jewish Labor Committee, a Histadrut mouthpiece, enlisted top officials of the AFL-CIO and Change to Win to condemn British union support for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

Now, by their silence, these same leaders are complicit in Israel's massacre in Gaza.

These policies echo infamous "AFL-CIA" support for US war and dictatorship in Vietnam, Latin America, Gulf War I, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

It strengthens the US-Israel war machine and labor's corporate enemies, reinforces racism and Islamophobia, and makes a mockery of international solidarity.

For all these reasons, we join COSATU in supporting the growing international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions, which demands Palestinian self-determination, including an end to Israeli military occupation, the right of Palestinian refugees to return, and elimination of apartheid throughout historic Palestine.

Join us in publicizing the example of South African and Australian dock workers, and working toward the same kind of labor solidarity here at home.

Join us in demanding immediate and total:

1. End to US aid for Israel.
2. Divestment of business and labor investments in Israel.
3. Labor boycott of Israel.
4. Withdrawal of US and allied forces from the Middle East.

Pentagon urges resolving fate of Guantanamo Uighurs

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Pentagon report on Monday said the US government needed to move quickly to help arrange the transfer of Chinese Uighurs held at Guantanamo prison who have been cleared of wrongdoing.

The group of 17 Uighurs face uncertainty about when they will leave the detention camp for terror suspects and their case has "increased tension and anxiety within the detainee population," the Defense Department report wrote.

"Therefore the Review Team requests that emphasis be placed on providing immediate assistance within the interagency (government) process on where to transfer these detainees," said the review, overseen by Admiral Patrick Walsh.

The Defense Department and the State Department have tried unsuccessfully for several years to arrange the transfer of the Uighurs to a third country, as Washington fears the Uighurs face the risk of persecution if they return to China.

Human rights groups have urged the government to release the Uighurs within the United States in areas where there are Uighur communities.

Along with the Uighur detainees, there are two other detainees -- Algerians captured in Bosnia -- that US courts have ordered to be released from Guantanamo.

Other inmates at Guantanamo are aware that courts have cleared the Uighurs for transfer but that they remain under detention, and that "breeds a climate that can be one with lots of friction," Walsh told a news conference at the Pentagon.

The Uighurs and the two Algerian detainees are held at a section of the prison called "Camp Iguana," where they enjoy more freedoms than other inmates.

"Despite increased freedoms at Camp Iguana, the detainees there continue to vocally and physically express their extreme frustration with their continued detention at Guantanamo," the report said.