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Friday, January 22, 2010

Clinton: U.S. will join Yemen terror fight

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday told Yemen's foreign minister the United States will help foster economic development and battle terrorism in Yemen.

"Our two nations are working together as partners to improve Yemen's capacity to deliver vital services, control its borders, conduct effective counterterrorist activities, improve services to the people of Yemen," Clinton said at a news conference with Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi.

She said the United States and Yemen face a "common threat from those violent extremists who target civilians without mercy or remorse" and singled out al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, an al-Qaida affiliate that U.S. officials say armed and trained the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

Clinton said the U.S. Agency for International Development had agreed to provide Yemen $121 million in aid.

"The success of this investment depends upon Yemen's ability to make the tough choices necessary to improve the capacity to govern, to reform its economy, to protect human rights, to combat corruption and create a better environment for business and investment," she said.

Al-Qirbi said he stressed during his meeting with Clinton Yemen's commitment to fighting terrorism.

"What we need is really to build the capabilities of our counterterrorism units, make them more effective, train them, provide them with the equipment, and they will do the job," he said. "And this will be to the benefit of both countries with less problems and less cost."

He also pointed to the need for aid for development in the impoverished country.

Earlier Thursday, al-Qirbi announced Yemen would tighten visa restrictions for people who want to come to the country. Instead of getting visas at the country's border, those who want to enter Yemen now must apply for visas at a Yemeni embassy, and applicants "will be thoroughly vetted and checked to ensure no terrorists or militants slip into the country," Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for Yemen's Embassy in Washington, told CNN.

Albasha said the Christmas Day bombing attempt prompted the change in visa policy.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/21/Clinton-US-will-join-Yemen-terror-fight/UPI-68571264134120/.

Children missing from Haiti hospitals

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Friday children have gone missing from hospitals in Haiti following the devastating earthquake in the country, raising fears they are being trafficked for adoption abroad.

"We have documented around 15 cases of children disappearing from hospitals and not with their own family at the time," said UNICEF adviser Jean Luc Legrand.

"UNICEF has been working in Haiti for many years and we knew the problem with the trade of children in Haiti that existed already beforehand,” he said. "Unfortunately, many of these trade networks have links with the international adoption market."

The UN agency said it has warned countries around the world during the past week not to step up adoptions from Haiti in the immediate wake of the quake, ABC News reported.

Despite the warning, many fast-tracking adoption procedures are already under way in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said child enslavement and trafficking in Haiti was "an existing problem and could easily emerge as a serious issue over the coming weeks and months."

The UN mission in Haiti has stepped up surveillance of roads, UNICEF officials said.

"We have seen over the past years many children being taken out of the country without any legal procedure," Legrand said. "This is going on. This is happening now. We are starting to have the first evidence of that, this is unquestionable."

He was unable to give details about 15 children missing from hospitals or their conditions.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116790§ionid=351020706.

Israel OKs new controversial weapon

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved the use and sale of a new weapon that simulates a feeling of being shot in those targeted.

The cannon called "the Thunder Generator" has been produced by the Netanya-based technology development advisory firm, Army-Tec company, is capable of creating shockwaves that pass through people.

The feeling of "being hit" produced by the stun gun is said to be similar to that of standing in front of a firing squad.

The weapon uses a mixture of liquefied petroleum, cooking gas and air which traveling through the cannon barrel detonates and intensifies until it exits.

The process generates a succession of 60 to 100 high-velocity shock bursts per minute, each traveling at about 2,000 meters per second and lasting up to 300 milliseconds, according to a report by Defense News website, citing company data.

"That's more than enough for hours of continuous operation," said ArmyTec President Shlomo Tabak, a former Israeli military special operations officer, describing the new device as "controlled and safe."

Experts, however, say the Thunder Generator could be lethal or inflict permanent damage if fired at less than 10 meters.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116788§ionid=351020202.

Cleric says Iran nuclear case important 'test'

A senior Iranian cleric has warned against enemy plots and called on countries that claim to seek the establishment of ties with Iran to remain vigilant.

"These countries should know that it will be in their favor to establish cordial ties with the Iranian nation. They should be cautious not to be drawn into the camp of Iran's enemies," the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted Tehran's Interim Friday Prayers Leader Seyyed Ahmad Khatami as saying.

He pointed to the West standoff over Iran's nuclear energy program, saying, "As we have repeatedly announced, enemies should know that the Iranian nation considers the country's nuclear case closed."

"The Iranian nation will never give up its right to develop nuclear energy one iota," he added.

The cleric said the row over Iran's nuclear program was "a test to distinguish friends from foes."

"It added dark pages to the history of the US and Britain in the mind of the Iranian nation," Khatami said.

He underlined that Iranians have now become more familiar with the "vicious plans" of countries like the US and Britain.

Washington and its allies accuse the Islamic Republic of pursuing a military nuclear program. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly said that it has found no evidence supporting the allegation.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, confirming the non-diversion of nuclear material in the country's functional and under-construction plants.

Tehran says as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it is entitled to the peaceful application of nuclear energy.

Amid tension in ties between Iran and Britain, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday that Tehran is considering whether to downgrade relations with Britain in 12 working fields.

"Iran has carried out a thorough study on its relations with Britain in different fields particularly over the past six months. We are currently reviewing each 10-12 working fields between Iran and the UK," Mottaki said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116786§ionid=351020104.

'Warships are best targets in case of war'

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Tuesday that if Iran's foes act against its national security, foreign warships in the Persian Gulf will be targeted.

Brigadier General Vahidi made the remarks amid media reports claiming that the failure in imposing new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program had fueled speculations that Israel would opt to attack nuclear installations in the country.

Vahidi said if such a scenario was to be played out Iran would not hesitate to take all necessary measures to protect its national security, including targeting foreign warships in the Persian Gulf.

The important gulf, a part of the Indian Ocean between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, he said, has become home to more than 90 warships and aircraft carriers.

The vessels are the perfect target for Iran's Navy should the country come under attack, he told Fars News Agency.

The Iranian general said he is ready to negotiate defense and military pacts with regional states as the Islamic Republic seeks a stable Middle East without the presence of foreign forces.

He added that Washington's increasing arms exports to the region is paving the way for an arms race and further conflicts in the already volatile Middle East.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116553§ionid=351020101.

Leader urges big turnout on Revolution's anniversary

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urges continued huge turnout in rallies on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, reiterating today that Iran's enemies will not be able to harm the Revolution and the nation even if they all unite.

Speaking at a gathering of officials from the Islamic Development Organization, ahead of the anniversary celebrations of the 1978 Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the Revolution will resist all plots as long as it relies on people's faith and support.

The Iranian Leader called on the elite to adopt transparent positions with respect to the enemies and their plots in the country, adding that the presence of millions of Iranians at the celebration of the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution will foil enemies' plots.

The Leader was referring to the annual celebrations marking the victory of the Islamic Revolution that ended the Iranian monarchy in 1979 and led to the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran.

The "ten days of Fajr (dawn)," as it is known in the country, refers to the anniversary of the period of time between the arrival of the late Imam Khomeini to Iran from exile, Feb. 1, 1978, and the day in which the revolution succeeded, 10 days later.

The Leader also referred to the December 27 riots in some Tehran streets, during which protesters damaged public property and clashed with security forces, taking advantage of a nation-wide focus on Ashura mourning ceremonies, marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the third apostle of the Shia followers of Islam.

Ayatollah Khamenei described the overwhelming response by millions of Iranian demonstrators who took to the streets on December 30 to condemn the desecration of the Ashura ceremonies, as extraordinary and a landmark date in the history of the Revolution.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116552§ionid=3510212.

Iran: Cooperation boosts security in Caucasus

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National security Council Saeed Jalili has stressed the importance of adopting strategies to establish sustainable security in the Caucasus.

"Iran has a strategic approach for resolving regional woes and crises in the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Persian Gulf region," ISNA quoted Jalili as saying in a meeting with Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Grigol Vashadze in Tehran.

He added that sustainable security would pave the way for promoting amicable relations between nations, saying, "Bolstering security cooperation serves the interests of the regional countries."

He went on to add that regional countries are duty-bound to establish security in the region.

The Georgian minister, for his part, praised Iran's "balanced and principled" stance on regional development.

Vashadze expressed his country's readiness to increase consultation with Iran on regional issues.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116511§ionid=351020101.

Bahrain: Iran is entitled to nuclear technology

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

Bahrain's foreign minister says no one has the right to try to deprive Iran, a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory, of its right to use nuclear technology for peaceful and scientific purposes.

In a meeting with Iran's ambassador to Manama, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa commented on the recent New York meeting between 'the six world powers' and their failure to reach a consensus on imposing further sanctions against Iran.

"We have always contended that Tehran has the right to use modern and up-to-date technologies. At the moment, Iran is recognized as a country with nuclear expertise," he said, according to a translation of his comments.

"From now on, no one can say that Iran can not use peaceful nuclear technology. Like all other countries, Iran has the right to benefit from the technology for peaceful and scientific purposes," he added.

On Saturday, the group of six world powers, also known as the P5+1 (permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany), came together in New York to discuss the possibility of new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The US and its European allies were seeking to impose a new round of sanctions against Tehran, but the meeting ended with their disappointment as Russia and China reportedly opposed any new measures.

The sanctions were to target certain high-ranking officials from Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and some of its affiliated companies.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116510§ionid=351020104.

Iran finds traces of terrorists behind Khoy attack

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

Iran's security forces have found traces of the terrorists who were involved in the recent assassination of Khoy Prosecutor Vali Haji-Qolizadeh.

"Security and police forces launched an investigation into the incident in the wake of the attack and arrested four suspects in connection with the assault," Khoy's Governor Ebrahim Mohammadlu said.

"Following the attack, the Security Council of the West Azarbaijan Province held an emergency meeting and the security forces are hard at work to identify the elements behind the terrorist attack," he added.

An Iranian prosecutor was shot twice in front of his house late Monday by two unidentified gunmen in the city of Khoy in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan.

"The selection of a prosecutor for assassination signifies that it's not a personal issue and the assassins are in confrontation with the Islamic establishment of the country," Mohammadlu maintained.

Meanwhile, the Chief Prosecutor of the West Azarbaijan Province said the assassinated prosecutor had been threatened by the outlawed PJAK terrorist group a couple of times over the past days.

"Prosecutor Haji-Qolizadeh had a very good record in dealing with cases, including land-grabbing, moral corruption and anti-revolutionary groups, and his assassination likely rests with such groups," Hojatoleslam Mohammad Mousavi stated.

The city of Khoy is located near the Turkish border.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116509§ionid=351020101.

Iran symphony to play in Europe for peace

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

A unique collection of some of the leading Iranian classical musicians has planned to perform a Peace and Friendship Symphony in Europe in the near future.

The Tehran Symphony Orchestra announced it was scheduled to perform some symphonies in Europe from January 22 to February 4.

Composed by Majid Entezami last year, the symphony aims to spread the message of peace and friendship from Iran to five European capitals including Rome, Paris, and Berlin.

The symphony was originally entitled the Islamic Revolution Symphony, but it has recently been renamed for the European concerts.

The Peace and Friendship Symphony was composed last year for domestic audiences in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116508§ionid=351020105.

Nigerian president given 14-day deadline

Nigeria's Federal High Court on Friday gave the cabinet 14 days to determine whether the country's ailing president is capable of remaining in power.

Judge Dan Abutu ruled that the cabinet must reconvene to determine the fate of the presidential office. President Umaru Yar'Adua left Nigeria nearly two months ago to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

He has long been troubled by a kidney ailment, and doctors have said the 58-year-old is now suffering from acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart, the Associated Press reported.

While Nigerian law allows for a smooth transition of power from Yar'Adua to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, the president left without formally appointing an acting leader as the constitution requires.

The constitution puts Jonathan next in line, but it's unclear if the Muslim-dominated north would allow the Muslim Yar'Adua to be replaced with Jonathan who is a Christian.

The Nigerian presidency alternates between Christian and Muslim leaders, and Yar'Adua still has two years left in his term.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116784&sectionid=351020505.

Haitians in the grip of lethal diseases

Tue, 19 Jan 2010

As Haitians complain about slow and unsatisfactory delivery of aid, scores of the disaster's victims remain unburied and concerns rise among medical teams about the spread of diseases.

Doctors have already issued warnings about the threats of tetanus and gangrene as well as the spread of measles, meningitis and other infections.

The number of injuries from last week's 7.0 magnitude quake that smashed much of the capital Port-au-Prince has not yet been identified. Moreover, according to Haitian officials, the death toll is likely to climb to 200,000 as more bodies are recovered.

Haitian President Rene Preval has urged the international community to focus not just on immediate aid but also on the long-term development of the impoverished Caribbean nation.

"We cannot just heal the wounds of the earthquake. We must develop the economy, agriculture, education, health and reinforce democratic institutions," Reuters quoted Preval as saying.

Six days after the disaster, rescue teams from across the globe continue to search for victims trapped under collapsed buildings and other rubble. Tens of thousands are still believed buried.

Jon Andrus of the Pan American Health Organization, the Americas arm of the World Health Organization, said Monday that many survivors are suffering from multiple fractures and internal injuries.

In Haiti, where AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are rampant, children are malnourished and hygiene is already a challenge.

"By any stretch of the imagination it is going to be incredibly difficult. The population in Haiti was already vulnerable and faced enormous health threats," Andrus said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116506§ionid=351020706.

US to equip Pakistan with low-tech drones

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Washington is considering supplying Pakistan with unarmed drone aircraft in an attempt to boost the "war on terror."

Gates disclosed the plan to a Pakistani television reporter on Thursday during his visit to Islamabad.

"We are in partnership with the Pakistani military and we are working to give them their own intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance vehicles, both aircraft and drones," Gates said.

American officials to date have rejected giving Pakistan the advanced armed drone technology. US drones currently conduct regular strikes within the country.

According to the Friday edition of New York Times, the Shadow surveillance drone appears to be a compromise aimed at enticing Pakistan further into the war.

CIA-operated assaults have resulted in mostly civilian deaths and have failed to target top militant leaders. More than 70 US drone missile strikes have killed at least 662 people in Pakistan since August, 2008.

US officials rarely discuss the strikes and Pakistan publicly condemns the strikes. Western media reports, however, say the strikes have Islamabad's tacit approval.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116778§ionid=351020401.

Iran crumples US commanders' threats

Iran's army chief has brushed aside recent warmongering remarks by US military commanders, describing them as crude and unsophisticated.

"Despite conceding, repeatedly, that any military standoff against Iran would be dangerous and destabilize the whole region for the United States, they (US commanders) continue making crude remarks about Iran's peaceful nuclear fuel facilities," Chief of Staff of Iran's Joint Armed Forces Hassan Firouzabadi said Thursday.

"Although some of them are cautious about their statements, but they lack necessary awareness in their comments," he added.

Firouzabadi's blistering remarks seem to be in response to recent threats by the Head of US Central Command, David Petraeus, who warned of a series of 'contingency plans' in dealing with Iran's nuclear program.

In early January, Petraeus told CNN that in addition to crippling sanctions and international diplomacy, Washington is considering "contingency plans" against Iran's nuclear installation in parallel.

The top figure in Iran's military, however, hailed Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi's Tuesday comments about the US fleet converging on the Persian Gulf, describing them as a logical response to such threats.

The Iranian defense minister had warned that the Western warships stationed in the Persian Gulf against any military attack on Iran.

Firouzabadi advised the US commanders to carry out consultations before making comments on potentially volatile and sensitive issues. "The politicians' statements may not cost them dear, but the military men are expected to avoid making crude and emotional remarks," he observed.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of being after nuclear weapons, a claim vehemently denied by the Islamic Republic. Iran, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, says its nuclear activities are peaceful in intent and under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Yet, the US and Israel say military action against Iran's nuclear facilities remains an option. Iranian officials, however, say they will deliver a “crushing response” to any military action against the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116777§ionid=351020101.

US recognizes Taliban as Afghan political force

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

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The US Secretary of Defense has recognized the Taliban as part of what he describes as the political fabric of Afghanistan.

Robert Gates said the Taliban should lay down their weapons to play a legitimate role in Afghan politics.

"The Taliban...are part of the political fabric of Afghanistan at this point," Wall Street Journal. quoted him as saying on Friday.

"The question is whether they are prepared to play a legitimate role in the political fabric of Afghanistan going forward, meaning participating in elections, meaning not assassinating local officials and killing families," he said at a roundtable with Pakistani and American journalists in Islamabad.

He made the remarks during his two-day visit to Pakistan.

Gates also expressed regret over Washington's strategic mistakes, such as abandoning Afghanistan and cutting off military ties with Pakistan back in the 1990s.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has mentioned in a recent interview with the BBC that he plans to introduce a foreign-funded scheme to win over what he called Taliban moderates.

"Those that we approach to return will be provided with the abilities to work, to find jobs, to have protection, to resettle in their own communities."

The Afghan president says the United States and Britain will show their support for his plan at a conference next week in London.

The US invaded Afghanistan following September 11, 2001 attacks to allegedly kill or capture bin Laden and destroy the militancy in the country.

A Press TV correspondent from Kabul says that this concession shows the Afghan government and its Western backers have conceded defeat against the militants.

Western media reports recount that American and British spies have organized secret meetings with senior Taliban commanders in Afghanistan over past years.

It has also been alleged that high-level American and British military officials have been involved in Taliban-led narcotics networks in the war-weary country.

Such contacts are said to be used in pursuing senior Taliban commanders to join the Afghan government and become a part of the political rank and file of the country.

The developments could mean US President Obama administration's is willing to accept the militants playing a potentially central role in Afghanistan's future.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116773§ionid=351020403.

Pyongyang conditions talks to sanctions removal

Mon, 18 Jan 2010

North Korea says it will not return to the six-party negotiations on its nuclear program, unless UN sanctions are removed.

The country's foreign ministry said in a Monday statement that if Pyongyang "goes out for the six-party talks, remaining subjected to the sanctions, such talks will not prove to be equal."

Pyongyang says it welcomes the multilateral talks and does not want to delay them; however, the dignity of the country should be respected.

North Korea has boycotted the disarmament-for-aid talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile tests.

Talks on a treaty to put a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War would help build "confidence," the foreign ministry added.

US-led UN forces fighting on behalf of South Korea signed the ceasefire with North Korea and China that ended the Korean War.

The two Koreas are technically still at war and have positioned more than 1 million troops near their border.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116472§ionid=351020405.

Afghanistan bans chemical used to make bombs

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – Afghanistan on Friday banned the use of a fertilizer chemical also used to make bombs, giving farmers and other holders a month to turn in their supplies.

President Hamid Karzai's office issued a decree banning the use, production, storage, purchase or sale of ammonium nitrate. The decision was made after an investigation showed militants had used the chemical in a series of bombings, according to a statement.

Violators who fail to turn in supplies will face court action, it said.

Fertilizer explosives were used in attacks that include the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the 1995 attack on a federal building in Oklahoma City with a 2-ton bomb that killed 168.

NATO-led forces already have been confiscating the chemical compound, urging Afghan farmers to use fertilizer containing urea nitrate instead. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer has been used to make about 95 percent of the bombs in Afghanistan, according to security think tank Globalsecurity.org.

The government also ordered training for police and border customs house workers to detect the chemical.

Afghanistan's government gave U.S. and allied forces permission to confiscate ammonium nitrate in September, and troops have been seizing huge quantities of fertilizer in return for compensation.

A joint force of NATO and Afghan troops found a truck carrying 10 tons of suspect fertilizer in the southern province of Kandahar earlier this month.

Protesters, meanwhile, blocked roads and chanted angry slogans against the United States and the Afghan government for a second day southwest of Kabul, amid mounting anger over the killing of four people in a village by NATO forces in volatile Ghazni province.

NATO said Wednesday's raid in the Qara Bagh district targeted a Taliban commander and the four killed were suspected insurgents, including a 15-year-old boy shot while allegedly reaching for a soldier's gun. But villagers insisted the dead were civilians.

Provincial police chief Khial Baz Shirzai also said the four killed in Wednesday's raid were militants and the protests were organized by the Taliban to foment unrest.

The conflicting claims reflect growing impatience among Afghans over the presence of NATO-led forces, even though a recent U.N. report showed the number of civilian deaths attributed to allied troops had dropped sharply over the past year. The report blamed most civilian casualties on Taliban suicide bombings and other attacks.

International and Afghan security forces have stepped up operations as the U.S. and its allies begin sending 37,000 reinforcements to try to rout the Taliban. Militants also have increased their campaign with a series of attacks, including an assault on the Afghan capital on Monday.

Surgery again delayed for baby koala

Life-saving surgery for Doug the koala has again been postponed, with the joey still too sick to endure the operation.

Doug was found with slug gun shots to his ribs and abdomen at the base of a tree at a Morayfield property, north of Brisbane, on Tuesday morning.

His mother, Meryl, was also shot during the attack but is expected to make a full recovery after earlier surgery.

Doug's surgery to remove the two air rifle pellets had been planned for Friday afternoon, after earlier having been postponed from Wednesday because of his poor health.

But an Australian Wildlife Hospital spokeswoman said the koala had been deemed still too sick.

"We want his pneumonia to be under control first, before the operation," the spokeswoman told Australian Associated Press on Friday.

She said Doug's condition was improving day by day: he'd gained 20 grams overnight with the help of a gum leaf snack.

His condition is listed as critical but stable, and he has only been given only a 50-50 chance of survival. Surgery is now expected to go ahead early next week.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6876390.html.

Guantanamo prison remains open despite Obama's deadline

Washington - US President Barack Obama's self-imposed deadline to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorist suspects arrived Friday with 196 detainees still at the US naval base on the south-eastern coast of Cuba. In Washington, the Justice Department announced late Thursday that two Algerians, Hasan Zemiri and Adil Hadi al-Jazairi bin Hamlili, were transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the custody of the Algerian government. Ten Guantanamo prisoners have now been sent to Algeria.

It remains unclear when the Guantanamo prison might be closed.

Other countries including close US allies have resisted accepting prisoners from Guantanamo. The Obama government's plans to move some detainees to a prison on US soil, possibly for eventual trial in civilian criminal courts, have encountered stiff opposition in Congress.

About half of the remaining prisoners are Yemeni. The US suspended transfers of Guantanamo inmates to Yemen after the December 25 attempted bombing of a US-bound airliner, in a plot that has been directly linked to Yemen-based terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Obama signed an executive order on January 22, 2009, two days after his inauguration, for the closure of Guantanamo.

More than 570 detainees have been transferred out of Guantanamo to at least 37 countries since the detention center was opened in 2002 under then-president George W Bush.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305154,guantanamo-prison-remains-open-despite-obamas-deadline.html.

Brunei firm invents online halal food verification system

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei - A Brunei company has developed what it claims to be the world's first online halal food verification system, which is expected to hit the global market before June this year, news reports said Friday. Branded as the GoHalal system, the MIMIT E-Technology Company has created a database that allows government bodies and companies to speed up the process to rule whether a product is permissible, or halal, under Islamic law, the Brunei Times reported.

The system houses a database of 32,000 different ingredients, which may be used to determine whether a particular product is halal or haram (unacceptable) in just a few minutes.

The verification process enables a product to be easily verified in just one day, whereas previously the process could take up to three months.

The server and database of the system are to be continually updated in accordance with the guidelines from various nations' Islamic religious councils, particularly from Brunei and Singapore.

It is estimated that the global market value for trade in halal foods is 547 billion dollars per year.

Brunei, a country whose main wealth is derived from the production of oil and gas, recently stepped up its involvement in the halal market.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305155,brunei-firm-invents-online-halal-food-verification-system.html.

Turkish court overturns law on soldiers being tried in civil courts

Istanbul - Turkey's top court has overturned a landmark law that would have allowed for members of the military to be tried in civilian courts. The armed forces had strongly opposed the law, which was passed by parliament last July.

The Constitutional Court in Ankara, in a unanimous decision issued late Thursday, found that the law violated Turkey's constitution, according to a statement released on the court's website.

The law was drafted as part of an ongoing effort, connected with Turkey's European Union membership bid, to reduce the influence held by the country's powerful military.

There have been three military coups in Turkey since the founding of the modern republic in 1923. The army sees itself as a secular bulwark against the mildly-Islamist government.

The court's decision could undermine several ongoing investigations into alleged military plots against the government that were enacted under the law.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305167,turkish-court-overturns-law-on-soldiers-being-tried-in-civil-courts.html.

Haiti aid 'uncoordinated', president warns

Madrid - Aid relief for Haiti is suffering from a "general lack of coordination", the country's president warned in an interview published in Spain Friday. Haitian President Rene Preval told El-Pais that aid is starting to reach the victims and the country is beginning to function again.

"We have already buried more than 70,000 victims," he told the Spanish daily from Port-au-Prince.

"Petrol stations already have more petrol than on previous days. Some banks have already opened," Preval said.

The January 12 earthquake caused "the vast majority of official buildings" to collapse "with documents inside," Preval explained.

Asked whether the US intervention in Haiti amounted to a kind of colonization, Preval said his country was receiving "help from many countries, not only from the United States."

The president dismissed criticism that he had cut an absent figure in the aftermath of the disaster, saying he went out to see the damage every day.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305175,haiti-aid-uncoordinated-president-warns.html.

Top Hong Kong adviser warns against democracy referendum

Hong Kong - The head of Hong Kong's Executive Council warned five pro-democracy politicians on Friday that their plan to force a referendum on universal suffrage was unconstitutional. Leung Chun-ying - convener of the Executive Council, the chief executive's handpicked inner circle of advisers - said the move would contravene the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution.

Five members of the city's Civic Party and League of Social Democrats plan to resign next week to force by-elections that they said would be a means of gauging the appetite for democracy in the city of 7 million people.

The step was being taken in response to government proposals for electoral reform in 2012, which pro-democracy parties said do not go far enough toward direct representation.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, currently has limited democracy with half its 60 legislators directly elected and no popular vote for the position of chief executive.

Speaking on government-run radio station RTHK, Leung said such a move would contravene the Basic Law, the constitution which Hong Kong adopted when it returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

"It is unnecessary and it is confusing and many members of the pan-democratic camp think it unnecessary," Leung said. "I don't think it is getting the support of even members of the pan-democratic camp."

The legislators who plan to resign say they have taken the "extraordinary step" as a fair means to gauge public opinion on democracy.

Hong Kong is technically entitled to universal suffrage from 2007 under the terms of the Basic Law.

However, Beijing has intervened to say there can be no full democracy until at least 2020, arguing that the city is not yet politically mature enough for universal suffrage.

An estimated 30,000 people took part in a march to the Beijing Liaison Office in Hong Kong on January 1 to demand full democracy. The march ended with scuffles between some protesters and police.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305177,top-hong-kong-adviser-warns-against-democracy-referendum.html.

Iraq signs oil deal with Italy's Eni

Baghdad - Iraq on Friday signed a contract with a consortium led by Italy's Eni to develop the giant al-Zubair oil field in the southern province of Basra. The signing follows an agreement reached last year between the oil ministry and Eni to develop the 4-billion-barrel oil field.

Eni and its partners will be paid 2 dollars for each extra barrel of oil, but will be liable for a 35 per cent tax on profits, the Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.

The Italian giant said the development of the field would require an investment of about 10 billion dollars in the first six years to raise output to 1.125 million barrels per day (bpd) from the current 195,000 bpd.

The consortium won the right to develop the field last June, following the country's first round of bidding since the 2003 US-led Invasion.

The Iraqi government, which relies heavily on oil exports for its revenue, hopes foreign investment will boost oil output to 12 million bpd up from the current 2.5 million bpd.

Iraq's proven reserves stand at 115 billion barrels, the third largest in the world after Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305183,iraq-signs-oil-deal-with-italys-eni.html.

Turkish police arrest 120 suspected al-Qaeda members in raids

Istanbul -- A coordinated police sweep in several Turkish cities Friday resulted in the arrest of 120 suspected al-Qaeda members, the semi-official Anatolian Agency reported. Coordinated raids by police counterterrorism units took place in the early morning in more than a dozen provinces across Turkey.

The police earlier this week arrested 34 suspected al-Qaeda members in raids in the capital of Ankara and the Mediterranean city

of Adana, finding weapons and ammunition in the raid.

Turkish security forces have arrested dozens of suspected al- Qaeda members in recent years.

A shootout in early 2008 between the police and militants in the city of Gaziantep, in southeast Turkey, left one policeman and two of the suspected al-Qaeda members dead.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305187,turkish-police-arrest-120-suspected-al-qaeda-members-in-raids.html.

Kenya deports radical cleric to Jamaica after deadly protests

Nairobi (Earth Times) - Kenya has sent controversial Jamaican-born Muslim cleric Abdullah al-Faisal back to his homeland, a state prosecutor said Thursday, days after protests demanding his release turned deadly. Edward Okello told a Nairobi court where al-Faisal was due to appear that the cleric had been put on a private jet to Jamaica.

Al-Faisal, who has served time in the UK for inciting racial hatred and is on international terrorist watch list, arrived in Kenya from Tanzania in late December, and was arrested around a week later.

Kenya tried to deport him to The Gambia earlier this month, but he was sent back.

Police on Friday broke up a demonstration in support of al-Faisal, firing bullets and tear gas into the crowd. Five protesters died from bullet wounds.

The 45-year-old cleric was sentenced to four years imprisonment in Britain in 2003 after he called on his followers to kill Jews and Hindus. He was deported upon his release in 2007.

Born Trevor William Forrest in St James, Jamaica, he went to Saudi Arabia aged 16 and converted to Islam.

EU Parliament berates China for human rights violations

Strasbourg, France - The Chinese dissident who has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for "subversion" should be released "immediately and unconditionally," the European Parliament said in a resolution on Thursday that berates China for human rights violations. Liu Xiabao, 54, was sentenced on Christmas day, drawing strong condemnation from the United Nations, European and the United States' governments. He was detained in December 2008, shortly before the release of Charter '08 for democratic reform in China, which he co-organized.

In the charter, 303 leading dissidents, activists and writers set out their ideals for transforming China into a liberal democracy and lamented a lack of "freedom, equality and human rights" under the ruling Communist Party.

Members of parliament (MEPs) expressed "serious concern" for China's human rights record and asked for the issue to be "an integral part of the new framework agreement currently being negotiated" with the country, a press release explained.

The assembly specifically called on EU leaders to raise Xiabao's case at the next summit with Chinese officials, scheduled for March 15 in Madrid.

MEPs equally condemned the execution of Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen of Pakistani origin accused of drug smuggling. He was sentenced on December 29, sparking a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and London.

The Chinese government ignored a total of 27 pleas by British officials, who together with human rights campaigners, argued that Shaikh, 53, had mental health problems.

Deputies also applauded Google's "intention to halt cooperation on internet filtering and censorship with the Chinese authorities," and urged "all companies to act likewise."

The EU's parliament, whose resolutions are non-binding, often speaks in defense of human rights around the world.

In two separate resolutions approved on Thursday, MEPs condemned recent attacks against Christian minorities in Egypt and Malaysia, and called for "an independent and comprehensive police investigation" on the November 23 Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, where 57 people were tortured and murdered by a local militia.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305046,eu-parliament-berates-china-for-human-rights-violations.html.

Spain confirms fourth fatality in Haiti quake - Summary

Madrid - Rescuers in Haiti have retrieved the body of a Spanish European Union diplomat who has been confirmed as the fourth Spanish fatality in the January 12 earthquake, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Thursday. Pilar Juarez, 53, belonged to the EU delegation in Haiti. She was at a meeting in a United Nations building when it collapsed in Port-au-Prince.

Another body was earlier erroneously identified as being hers.

The other Spanish fatalities were a married couple and a police officer who worked for the United Nations mission in Haiti.

Moratinos said no more Spaniards were expected to be among the earthquake victims.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305048,spain-confirms-fourth-fatality-in-haiti-quake--summary.html.

Two Detainees at Guantanamo Bay Transferred by U.S. to Algeria

By Justin Blum

Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. transferred two Algerians held at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, back to Algeria, the Justice Department said.

The detainees, Hasan Zemiri and Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili, were transferred to the control of the government of Algeria, the Justice Department said in a statement today. There are 196 detainees remaining at the prison.

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=avlmukcbpuhY.

Dutch want bodyscanners checks on European flights

Amsterdam - The Dutch want to introduce so-called full- body scanners on all intra-European flights, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin said Thursday following talks with European Union (EU) colleagues in Toledo, Spain. The Dutch Justice minister also wants EU-countries to transfer passenger data before takeoff, comparable with the data the US requires from all incoming passengers under the so-called Passenger Name Record (PNR) system.

"I want to increase civil aviation security," Hirsch Ballin said in comments monitored in Amsterdam.

He added that extra security measures were needed after the failed Christmas Day bomb attack on a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam.

In the aftermath of that attempted bombing, the Dutch were the first EU country to announce the introduction of full-body scanners for all US-bound passengers.

Schiphol Airport had already been testing 15 of the scanners for several months. The scanners are a type of X-Ray machine allowing security staff to look through people's clothes, seeing them naked.

Arguing the machines would compromise personal privacy, the European Parliament halted the previously planned obligatory use of the scanners for all passengers at Schiphol Airport in 2008.

The Dutch have since adjusted the body scanners' software so that it screens the images for suspicious objects without ground control personnel looking at the images.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305058,dutch-want-bodyscanners-checks-on-european-flights.html.

Plane carrying Haitian children lands in the Netherlands - Summary

Amsterdam - A plane carrying 106 Haitian children due for adoption arrived in the Netherlands Thursday afternoon, the Netherlands Adoption Foundation NAS confirmed Thursday. "This is a crucial moment," Letje Vermunt, spokeswoman for the Netherlands Adoption Foundation NAS told the German Press Agency...

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305060,plane-carrying-haitian-children-lands-in-the-netherlands--summary.html.

French PM: Good Syria-Lebanon relations benefit entire region

Paris - The normalization of relations between Lebanon and Syria was a boon for the entire region, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Thursday. He made the statement during talks in Paris with his Lebanese counterpart, Saad Hariri.

According to a statement released by Fillon's office, the two men also discussed the Middle East peace process as well as other international issues related to Lebanon's entry into the UN Security Council on January 1.

Hariri and Fillon signed six bilateral agreements in the areas of security, justice, social affairs, the training of managers, the economy and research.

Fillon's office said the trip to Paris was Hariri's first official foreign visit outside the Middle East since the 39-year-old son of the assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri took office in November of last year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305061,french-pm-good-syria-lebanon-relations-benefit-entire-region.html.

Germany's population keeps on declining: another 'city' gone

Wiesbaden, Germany - Germany's population declined by about a quarter of a million people in 2009, the equivalent of the population of a mid-sized city, as births again failed to keep up with deaths, statisticians said Thursday. Since 1972, Germany's birth rate has been too low to replace the number of people dying. On top of that, more people moved out of Germany than immigrated. Net emigration last year was estimated at 20,000 to 70,000 people.

The numbers, compiled by statisticians using vital data and border records, mean Germany's population fell from more than 82 million in 2008 to somewhere between 81.7 and 81.8 million in 2009.

Politicians have worried for years about how to encourage more births.

Last year, between 645,000 and 660,000 children were born in German hospitals and between 830,000 and 840,000 people died in Germany. The numbers include both German citizens and resident aliens.

Experts predict that if nothing changes, Germany's population 50 years from now will be down to 65 million.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305065,germanys-population-keeps-on-declining-another-city-gone.html.

UN, Red Cross: Haiti aid effort improving - Summary

Geneva - Efforts to get aid to victims of Haiti's earthquake were improving Thursday, key agencies said, but bottlenecks remained and for many people in the poor country solutions were far away. "Aid is starting to reach the survivors of the devastating earthquake," the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.

"However, hundreds of thousands living on the streets of Port-au- Prince, and tens of thousands outside the capital, still do not have access to many basic services," the neutral aid organization noted.

Over half of all structures in Port-au-Prince are believed to have collapsed and at least a million people are estimated to be homeless. Aid workers say finding adequate shelter for these people would not be a short or easy process.

Bringing in the basic aid goods were some 150 planes landing daily at Port-au- Prince airport as logistics improved, the United Nations said, but warned the situation remains a "challenge."

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted "heavy congestion at the Port-au-Prince airport" and "finding free slots for large aircraft is still a challenge."

The planes were bringing in relief in various forms, including and food aid and medicine for survivors of the January 12 earthquake.

Because of price hikes and reported food shortages, the government of Haiti has asked the UN to conduct food distributions across the poor nation, even in areas not directly hit by the quake, which official now estimate left at least 75,000 people dead.

"The people of Haiti are incredibly resilient and despite the pain, hardship and chaos, a semblance of normality seems to be returning to Port-au-Prince," ICRC spokesman in Haiti Simon Schorno said.

The Red Cross network was working to connect survivors to their families, facilitating phone calls to relatives and offering a tracing service.

Haiti's rainy season will start in April, and the government was pushing the UN and other aid agencies to find solutions to the lack of shelter before then, OCHA said.

Also of concern remain water access for the people of Haiti and the need for more medical care, including mental health.

Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) said it had started to operate teams offering psychological support for the patients who have had limbs amputated and their families at the Carrefour hospital.

Meanwhile, funding needs for the UN's humanitarian relief effort were almost a third met, after it requested some 575 million dollars for Haiti's emergency relief efforts and longer term recovery.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305077,un-red-cross-haiti-aid-effort-improving--summary.html.

China teen seen as hero for killing local official

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING – When Li Shiming was stabbed through the heart by a hired assassin, few of his fellow villagers mourned the local Communist Party official many say made their lives hell by seizing land, extorting money and bullying people for years.

Instead, villagers in the northern town of Xiashuixi have made Li's teenage killer something of a local hero. More than 20,000 people from the coal-mining area petitioned a court for a lenient sentence.

"I didn't feel surprised at all when I heard Li Shiming was killed, because people wanted to kill him a long time ago," said villager Xin Xiaomei, who says her husband was harassed for years by Li after the two men had a personal dispute. "I wanted to kill Li myself, but I was too weak."

The murder trial has again cast a harsh light on abuses of power by communist cadres and the frustration many ordinary Chinese feel with a one-party system that sometimes allows officials to run their districts like personal fiefdoms.

China's leaders have identified corruption as a threat to the country's progress, but an opaque political system dominated by the ruling Communist Party — which brooks no dissent — and the lack of an independent judiciary contribute to the problem.

In the case of party secretary Li, the young man who confessed to the stabbing — 19-year-old Zhang Xuping — has been sentenced to death for the September 2008 killing, his mother and lawyer said Wednesday. The sentence was quietly handed down last week and an appeal was filed this week, they said.

Zhang Xuping was paid 1,000 yuan ($146) by another villager, 35-year-old farmer Zhang Huping, to commit the murder after Li allegedly harassed the farmer for years, local newspaper reports said. The elder Zhang was reportedly routinely detained on trumped up charges ever since he led a group of farmers to seek the help of provincial authorities after Li razed 28 acres of trees belonging to them without permission or compensation in 2003.

The teenager entered a school where Li was attending a meeting, found the official alone and stabbed him through the heart. Li staggered out of the building and into his luxury sports utility vehicle but died before he could make it to a hospital, reports said.

The case quickly turned into an outpouring of sympathy for the young killer — and expressions of hatred for Li.

Zhang's trial, which was originally scheduled for August, had to be postponed to late November because thousands of people showed up outside the courthouse wanting to watch the proceedings, news reports said.

Nearly 21,000 people from the area around Xiashuixi petitioned the court for leniency for Zhang — to no avail.

In Xiashuixi, villagers contacted by the AP said that for years they had lived in fear of Li, who they say extorted money and used his influence to have those who resisted him detained or jailed.

Zhang Weixing, 58, said Li illegally seized his land of 3.3 acres and built houses on it three years ago, and he hired thugs to beat him, his wife and children when they tried to stop him.

"When we heard Li Shiming was dead, we felt happy because he did so many evil things and really made us villagers suffer," said Zhang Weixing, who is unrelated to the family of the accused, by phone. "We all hated him."

During his trial, the defendant apologized to Li's family, the state-owned Beijing Youth Daily newspaper said. But Li's eldest son rejected the apology in court and said he hoped judges would sentence his father's killer to "death by firing squad."

Li's death has dealt an immeasurable blow to the family, the son said, adding that his younger brother and sister were unable to focus on their studies and may stop going to school for the time being. Attempts to reach the Li family by phone were unsuccessful, and family members have not publicly addressed the allegations that he was corrupt.

Zhang's case echoes two other instances of ordinary Chinese who became anti-heroes after killing people in positions of power.

In June, a Chinese woman who fatally stabbed a party official to fend off his demands for sex was freed by a court in a decision that was likely made to avoid a storm of criticism.

But in 2008, Yang Jia, a man who confessed to killing six Shanghai police officers in revenge for allegedly being tortured while interrogated about a possibly stolen bicycle was executed despite an outpouring of sympathy.

Unlike those cases, China's state media after initially following Zhang's case did not report his conviction nor his death sentence — a likely indication the government ordered a media blackout.

A Beijing-based lawyer and legal blogger, Liu Xiaoyuan, said the court should have taken public opinion into account given the large number of people who had spoken out in Zhang's defense.

"If the village secretary had acted illegally and aroused the anger of the mass of villagers, then lenient punishment should have been considered by the court," Liu said. "It has become the will of people. The death sentence is too heavy."

The case reflects the desperation that China's rural poor are driven to when bullied by their leaders, wrote Chinese social commentator Yan Changhai on his blog.

"Zhang Xuping is guilty. His biggest crime is that he dared to resist a bandit-like official, and refused to be obedient and to be a slave," Yan wrote.

Yan blamed the murder on collusion between officials and local police and courts.

"If the authorities did not indulge Li Shiming's evil deeds, if even one of his evil deeds was punished by law, he would have avoided death under Zhang Xuping's knife," he wrote.

Algeria boosts tourism sector

2010-01-21

The Algerian Tourism Ministry and some 80 domestic investors on Tuesday signed partnership deals aimed at revitalizing the tourism sector, El Moudjahid reported on Wednesday (January 20th). The country's ambitious tourism plan looks to create 75,000 new beds and generate 110,000 jobs in the next four years.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/01/21/newsbrief-05.

Morocco launches solar energy agencies

2010-01-21

Moroccan legislators on Tuesday approved two new solar energy agencies, MAP reported on Wednesday (January 20th). The Agency for Solar Energy will be responsible for overseeing completion and management of solar power plants, while the National Agency for the Development of Renewable Energy will promote scientific research and international co-operation. Morocco is currently developing a 2,000-MW solar plant encompassing some 10,000 hectares.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/01/21/newsbrief-04.

Algerian steelworkers suspend strike

2010-01-21

Some 7,200 workers at Algeria's largest steel coking factory are expected to go back to work on Thursday (January 21st), local press reported. The steelworkers ended their eight-day strike after ArcelorMittal agreed to implement an investment program for employees. The labor action began on January 12th in protest over the proposed closure of the El Hajar facility.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/01/21/newsbrief-02.

Algeria donates $1m to Haiti earthquake relief effort

2010-01-21

Algeria granted one million dollars in emergency humanitarian aid to victims of last week's Haiti earthquake, the Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday (January 21st) in Algiers. "Algeria assured Haitian President Rene Preval of its sympathy and full availability and expressed the deep emotion of the Algerian people regarding this terrible disaster," the ministry statement said. A delegation of two dozen Algerian doctors may also go to Haiti if security conditions improve.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/01/21/newsbrief-01.

Mauritania debate pits scholars against jailed Salafists

A debate held this week between moderate religious experts and extremist inmates in Nouakchott's main prison aimed to "achieve civil peace".

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 21/01/10

Mauritania broke new ground this week in its efforts to stem terrorism by organizing a religious debate between Islamic scholars and Salafist convicts in a Nouakchott prison.

Sheikh Mohamad Hassan Ould Daou led the panel of scholars that debated with the Salafists during a two-day event that began on Monday (January 18th). A recent Nouakchott conference on promoting tolerance spurred the debate, which targeted rehabilitating 68 imprisoned Salafists by challenging them to take more moderate stances.

"This meeting aims to outline the best ways to achieve civil peace in a country known for tolerance, openness and forgiveness," Minister of Islamic Affairs Ahmed Ould Nini announced at the start of the debate. He said he hoped the discussion would allow participants "to work our way out of a crisis that threatens national security".

The Salafist prisoners fell into two groups in preparation for the debate. One group, headed by Abdullah Ould Sidia, included 47 prisoners who supported talks with the government and wanted a fresh start in their dealings with authorities. The second group, which included 21 inmates, staunchly opposed such talks. Khadim Ould Semane, jailed since 2008 for the murder of a family of French tourists, led this contingent.

Panel member Mohamed Mokhtar Ould Ambala was optimistic about the outcome of the exchange.

"I think the debate will be in the best interests of all parties, which you will all see and rejoice in when the debate nears its end," Ambala told journalists on Monday.

Mauritanians are divided on whether open debate with Salafists will stop terrorism.

"The elements of this more radical second trend know that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb requested their release in exchange for the Spanish hostages. They are not relying on dialogue to get out of prison; they rely on AQIM," Journal Tahalil quoted one observer as saying on Monday.

One civilian observer, Salem Ould Ahmed, told Magharebia that he is uncomfortable with the idea of engaging in dialogue with the Salafists, saying that the families of the terrorists' victims may not be prepared to forgive former attackers who want to turn over a new leaf.

"Such a debate is a blatant intervention in the work of the judiciary that had previously condemned all those jihadis on account of the crimes they perpetrated," he added.

Other Mauritanians embraced the government's alternative approach to eradicating home-grown terrorism.

"The government aspires to put an end to security tensions," said political analyst Mohamad Ali Ould Ebadi, who attended the prison debates."It may have realized that security measures alone are not sufficient to end that phenomenon. Also, ignoring the problem and keeping silent about it is not the answer either.

"The situation, therefore, called for dialogue."

Ebadi said that several prisoners who attended the debate seemed willing to re-evaluate their views.

"I personally attended the debate, and sensed how many convicts were eager to subject their thoughts to scrutiny," he said, adding: "I also saw anticipation among inmates' families and mothers, who truly wished to close that chapter forever."

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2010/01/21/feature-01.

Talabani asks court to settle election dispute

The Iraqi president has asked the country's Supreme Court to settle a political dispute over disqualification of scores of candidates from the March elections.

Iraq's Justice and Accountability Commission has barred about 500 candidates from running in the elections slated for 7th March 2010.

The commission earlier announced that some of the banned candidates had ties to the outlawed Baath party, which was once led by the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The Justice and Accountability Commission is responsible for ensuring that the party does not make a comeback in Iraqi politics. The body is headed by former Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, who supported the US-led invasion of Iraq.

President Jalal Talabani said that there should be a distinction between hardcore supporters of Saddam Hussein and people who joined the Baath party for other reasons.

"We should not be unjust with them," Talabani went on to explain in Baghdad on Thursday.
He further asked the Iraqi Supreme Court to rule on the legitimacy of the panel.

"We asked in an official letter to judge Madhat al-Mahmud [president of the Iraqi Supreme Court] that he rule on the legality of the integrity and accountability committee. Our question is: 'Is the organization that took this decision legal?'"

The commission's decision has to be approved by parliament.

Meanwhile on Thursday thousands took to the streets of the shrine city of Najaf in support of the ban.

Demonstrators held banners proclaiming: "Baathists and Nazis are two faces of the same coin," and "The return of the Baath is the return of attacks and prison."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116767§ionid=351020201.

US says it will stay in Haiti for long term

Despite criticism for the US military presence in quake-stricken Haiti, Washington says it has a long-term plan to stay in the country.

"We are there for the long term, this is not something that will be resolved quickly and easily," US Ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff said on Thursday.

Just three days after a magnitude 7 earthquake jolted Haiti on January 12, the United States began to send military forces to the impoverished Caribbean nation.

The head of US Southern Command General Douglas Fraser said on Thursday that nearly 20,000 US troops are due to operate, both on land and offshore, by Sunday.

Currently over 2,676 US troops are operating on the ground in Haiti, Fraser said, adding the number is going to swell to 4,600 by the weekend and that another 10,445 are currently afloat aboard vessels offshore.

More than 4,000 other soldiers and Marines also left North Carolina late Wednesday.

This is while leading international aid organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, blasted the US for putting the delivery of soldiers before medical supplies.

The presence of the US military, which has taken over command of the distribution of humanitarian aid, has raised the ire of some other countries including France, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Paris demanded the United Nations investigate and clarify the dominant US role in Haiti.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Haiti seeks "humanitarian aid, not troops."

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez accused the US of seeking to occupy the country. "The United States government is using a humanitarian tragedy to militarily occupy Haiti. I read somewhere that they even occupied the [presidential] palace."

Washington, in the past, has been accused of interfering in Haitian internal affairs on many occasions. The US military played a role in the departure of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide before his second term was over in early 2004. Aristide described his departure as kidnapping.

Haiti was occupied by US Marines for nearly 20 years from 1915 to 1934. Former US President Bill Clinton sent troops to Haiti in 1994.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116762§ionid=351020706.

Turkey 'to receive 4 Israeli Heron drones'

A controversial multi-million-dollar drone contract between Turkey and Israel will go ahead by March, a Turkish newspaper has said.

According to the Turkish daily Zaman, Israel is to deliver four Heron un-manned aerial vehicles to the Turkish air force within the next two months.

The four Herons are part of a consignment of ten drones which have been purchased by the Turkish government.

In 2005, Turkey awarded the contract, which was initially set between 24 and 30 months, to Israel.

Ankara threatened to pull the plug on the order due to delays and rising tensions between the two countries over Israel's devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip last year.

According to local Turkish media reports, the country's experts are currently in Israel, testing the drones prior to delivery.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116761§ionid=351020204.

Gates confirms Blackwater presence in Pakistan

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates confirms that American security firms Xe Services LLC, formerly known as Blackwater, and DynCorp have been operating in Pakistan.

The two firms are operating in private capacities, Gates said on Thursday, adding that the companies were abiding by Pakistani laws.

However, he said that if the Pakistani parliament votes for a ban on the presence of the firms, the US government would comply with it.

Blackwater won notoriety for having gone on a shooting rampage in a heavily trafficked Baghdad intersection in September 2007 killing more than a dozen Iraqi civilians.

Blackwater Worldwide changed its name to Xe Services LLC in February 2009, after it came under international criticism for its disregard for civilian lives.

Two former Blackwater mercenaries have also been charged with the 2009 murder of two Afghan civilians in Kabul.

Asad Durani, former head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had earlier told Press TV that the notorious firm, Blackwater, was involved in the deadly drone attacks on Pakistani territories, which usually result in civilian casualties.

"I learned somewhere that these people are employed certainly for…the logistic support at the drone bases. That is understandable," Durani said earlier in January.

Gates, meanwhile, said that Washington is considering sharing its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology with Pakistan.

"These UAVs are useful and we have a budget for them," Gates said in an interview with a privately-run Pakistani television on Thursday.

He claimed that the drones had proved productive in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"We are working together with Pakistan army in this connection," Gates said, adding that discussions were underway with Pakistan military leadership on technical matters in this regard, a Press TV correspondent reported late Thursday.

Defense officials in his delegation later said that the US will provide 12 Shadow drones to Pakistan.

The Shadow drone is about 3.3 meters (11 feet) long and has a wing-span of 4.2 meters (14 feet), with sensors and cameras feeding video images back to operators on the ground.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116754§ionid=351020401.

Pakistani opposition party calls for Gates expulsion

Some Pakistani opposition lawmakers urge the government to expel US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad, from the country.

The opposition lawmaker, Khurshid Ahmed, of Jamaat-i Islami, says that Gates is maneuvering to force Pakistan to allow American security contractors into the country.

Opposition lawmakers accuse the US security firms, including Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, of seeking to locate Pakistan's nukes, under the cover of NGO activities.

Gates, on his first trip to Pakistan since US President Barack Obama took office last year, is visiting after a period of tense relations between the two sides.

A big source of friction between the two countries is strikes by missile-firing US drone aircraft in northwest Pakistan.

The drone attacks are launched under the pretext of targeting militants but usually result in civilian casualties.

Gates met Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad late on Thursday. The two discussed the security situation in the region, drone attacks, the fight against militancy, drug trafficking and strengthening of Pakistan's law enforcement agencies.

Before with meeting Zardari, Gates met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and warned that "Taliban safe havens" along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border must be tackled or both nations would suffer "more lethal and more brazen" attacks.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116751§ionid=351020401.

Hariri warns of another Israeli attack on Lebanon

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri has expressed concerns over a possible Israeli attack on the country, citing an escalated violation of Lebanese airspace by Israeli aircraft.

Hariri, who arrived in France on Thursday on his first official visit to a Western country since forming his government in 2009, made the remarks in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde.

He said that Israeli aircraft violated the Lebanese airspace 25 times in one single day last week.

"I also mentioned the necessity to end the daily Israeli violations of this resolution (United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701), the escalation of the Israeli threats against Lebanon and its government," Hariri said.

The Lebanese premier said it seems that Israel thinks hitting the southern part of Lebanon does not mean that it has attacked the whole country.

Hariri said when Israel attacked southern Lebanon in 2006 "it damaged the country's infrastructure. I wondered if that should not be considered an attack on the whole country."

Israel launched an attack on Lebanon in 2006, but was met with stern resistance from Hezbollah. The 33-day war resulted in a heavy defeat for Tel Aviv, after the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 called on Israel to withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon.

"Naturally, this topic is part of a wider problem, the one of Israel's refusal to go forward in the [Middle East] peace process, especially with the Palestinians," Hariri was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116746§ionid=351020203.

German protesters decry Israeli atrocities

Mon, 18 Jan 2010

German supporters of the Palestinian cause are holding a demonstration against a joint German-Israeli cabinet meeting in Berlin.

A crowd of demonstrators gathered on Monday to expressed anger at Israel's ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing expulsion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

They have also vowed to expose Israel's indiscriminate and targeted killings of the Palestinians, which was highlighted in Israel's relentless three-week blitz on the tiny enclave in December 2008-January 2009.

More than 1,400 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in the onslaught during which Israeli soldiers committed war crimes by using human shields, targeting schools and UN buildings that were hosting civilians.

Meanwhile other activists held a protest to decry Germany's potential sale of military equipment, stressing that the country's constitution did not allow the sale of arms to any sides of an ongoing conflict.

The protests come amid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The meeting is aimed at boosting security cooperation and bilateral relations, but German media have also speculated it may entail a fresh Israeli requests for more free or half-priced German arms.

Ahead of the joint cabinet meeting, media reports said Israel intends to station one of its German-made Dolphin submarines in the Persian Gulf.

Since 1998, Germany has spent EUR 900 million in providing Israel with five Dolphin class submarines.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116469§ionid=351020604.

Pak refugee kin in Kashmir compensated for partition displacement

Jammu, Jan 22 : Relatives of people displaced from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir during the 1947 partition have received compensation from the state government.

The State Gvernment recently handed out cheques amounting to 125,000 rupees to over 100 families in Poonch district.

Hundreds and thousands of people had been forced to flee Pakistan during the Partition, leaving behind their possessions and acres of land, which is why the amount of compensation was based on the rising price of land.

"This is not the first phase. In 2003, people received 25,000 rupees, which was equal to five kanals of land. The people who received those cheques will now get an additional 125,000 rupees from the government because at that time, the rate for one kanal was 5000 rupees. But now the central government has increased the rate of one kanal to 30,000 rupees, so they will get the remainder - 125,000 rupees," explained Ram Lal, president of the Refugee Action Committee Poonch.

Many, however, say the amount is not enough.

"This package we are getting is very little. For a person who has ten mouths to feed at home, who has ten brothers, ten sisters, 150,000 rupees is not enough. The refugees should get a minimum of one and a half to two million rupees," said Gurdev Singh, relative of a refugee.

The move comes in the wake of a series of feuds between the central government and the refugees, who have long been demanding citizenship rights in the state.

Under the state legislation, they cannot be granted citizenship, which bars non-permanent residents to vote in state elections, seek jobs and even to purchase property.

Last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised the community that the government would look into future employment opportunities, admission to professional institutions, and bank loans without the provision of a land mortgage.

Source: Calcutta News.
Link: http://www.calcuttanews.net/story/591787.

Haiti relocating homeless, port repairs needed

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU and MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writers

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitian officials are planning a massive relocation of 400,000 people from makeshift camps to the outskirts of the capital as the U.S. government tackles repairs to the damaged main port — dual efforts to help residents survive the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake.

The plan to temporarily relocate thousands is aimed at staving off the spread of disease at hundreds of squalid settlements across the city where homeless families have no sanitation and live under tents, tarps or nothing at all.

"They are going to be going to places where they will have at least some adequate facilities," Fritz Longchamp, chief of staff to President Rene Preval, said Thursday. He said the mass relocations could start by the end of the month.

The announcement came as hope faded for finding more survivors of the Jan. 12 quake in its rubble and some rescue crews began packing up. Relief workers focused squarely on keeping survivors alive.

To that end, the U.S. Army, Navy and Coast Guard are looking to repair the Haitian capital's only functional industrial pier, which is key to the country's receipt of massive aid shipments. Officials say success of the project, which involves underwater construction teams and Navy divers surveying the damage, also is critical to the nation's long-term recovery.

Only four ships have been able to dock at the partially damaged pier since the earthquake. Unloading is lengthy and difficult because 15-inch wide cracks run through the dock, allowing only one truck to drive on it at a time. The port's cranes now tip dangerously into the sea or were rendered useless.

The damage is so extensive that the military has no way of telling how long it will take before ships can dock and unload in large quantities.

"I wouldn't even ask my workers to risk it, I don't trust it," said Georges Jeager Junior, a businessman who plans to shift his port operations to Cap Haitien, the country's remote second city far to the north. The change means goods will have to be driven at least 12 hours overland on Haiti's horrendous roads to reach the capital. Because of this, Jeager Junior expects prices to soar for at least a year. He predicts that rice, for instance, would more than triple from its pre-quake prices, to $100 for a 50 kilogram (110 pound) bag.

Other port issues are hampering fuel shipments. The quake damaged a privately owned sea terminal on the edge of Cite Soleil, considered Haiti's most dangerous slum, that serves as the nation's main oil terminal. Supervisor Dominique Cineas said about a quarter of the terminal's infrastructure was destroyed, and no tanker has been able to land since the quake. A long line of tanker trucks drew down dwindling reserves.

The troubles at the port and other built-in bottlenecks into this desperately poor, damaged nation have left many of the hundreds of thousands of victims desperate.

On the waterfront Thursday, sporadic rounds of gunfire rang out from the nearby downtown commercial area. Scavengers continued to rampage through collapsed and burning shops even though U.S. troops were patrolling.

At a building in the Carrefour neighborhood, where the multi-faith Eagle Wings Foundation of West Palm Beach, Florida, was to distribute food, stick-wielding quake victims from a nearby tent camp stormed the stores and made off with what the charity's Rev. Robert Nelson said were 50 tons of rice, oil, dried beans and salt. Fights broke out as others stole food from the looters.

Haiti's government estimated a toll of 200,000 dead, as reported by the European Commission. It said 250,000 people were injured and 2 million homeless in the nation of 9 million.

At the south of the bay, near the earthquake's epicenter, Navy and Coast Guards have set up a triage center amid the rusting motorboats, with dozens of military doctors treating the most urgent casualties on the lawn.

"The injured seem to just keep showing up," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chris Worth. "We've been working from dawn to dusk since getting here."

Emergency medical centers elsewhere had dire shortages of surgeons, nurses, their tools and supplies have backed up critical cases.

Doctors said patients were dying of sepsis from untreated wounds and they warned of potential outbreaks of diarrhea, respiratory-tract infections and other communicable diseases in the hundreds of makeshift camps. A team of epidemiologists was on its way to assess that situation, the Pan American Health Organization said.

"A large number of those coming here are having to have amputations, since their wounds are so infected," said Brynjulf Ystgaard, a Norwegian surgeon at a Red Cross field hospital.

Across Port-au-Prince, food was reaching tens of thousands, but the need was much greater. At the airport, the U.S. military is reporting a waiting list of 1,400 international relief flights seeking to land on Port-au-Prince's single runway, where 120 to 140 flights were arriving daily.

Perhaps no one was more desperate than the 80 or so residents of the damaged Municipal Nursing Home, in a slum near the shell of Port-au-Prince's devastated cathedral. The quake killed six of the elderly, three others have since died of hunger and exhaustion, and several more were barely clinging to life.

"Nobody cares," said Phileas Justin, 78. "Maybe they do just want us to starve to death."