Spanish king to visit Lebanon next week

Beirut - Juan Carlos, the Spanish king, will visit Lebanon later this month to hold talks with officials and inspect his country's peacekeepers - who now head the UN command in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese foreign ministry source said Friday. The king is due to arrive for his two-day visit on February 8 and will be accompanied by a large Spanish delegation.

The trip by King Juan Carlos comes after the UN Spanish battalion took command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), from the Italians last month.

UNIFIL currently has 13,000 troops from 29 countries. Italy has the largest contingent with 2,500 soldiers, while Spain contributes 1,100 soldiers.

In June 2007, a UN patrol belonging to the Spanish battalion was targeted by a car bomb blast, killing six Spanish peacekeepers.

The number of UN peacekeepers was increased in 2006, following 33- days of war between Israel and Hezbollah. The main task of the peacekeepers is to monitor a fragile ceasefire at the Lebanese-Israel border.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307743,spanish-king-to-visit-lebanon-next-week.html.

New Dubai oilfield could start production in 2011

Dubai - Dubai's newly discovered oilfield could begin production next year, the debt-laden Gulf city-state said on Friday. The oilfield is expected to help boost Dubai's electric output to 10,000 megawatts in 2012, from the current 7,500 megawatts, according to an official statement.

The new field, which was called al-Jalila after a daughter of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, is expected to "increase the production of crude in Dubai significantly."

The emirate's current oil reserves are about 4 billion barrels.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the UAE vice president and prime minister, said that new the field will help push all sectors of the economy forward and provide a new source of income that enhances the overall development of Dubai.

The field is located east of the Rashid oilfield.

Dubai's economy boomed in recent years on non-oil sectors, especially real estate, until the sector was heavily affected by the global financial crisis.

Around 90 per cent of the United Arab Emirate's oil is found in the capital Abu Dhabi.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307746,new-dubai-oilfield-could-start-production-in-2011.html.

'I stand ready to govern,' says Hungary's opposition leader

Budapest - The leader of Hungary's center-right Fidesz opposition party said the time had come to "restore order" in the country, putting himself forward as possible prime minister during an annual "state of the nation address. "I stand ready to assume the personally the task of governing Hungary, and my party stands ready for strong, responsible and active government," Viktor Orban said.

However, there was disappointment at the lack of detailed, concrete policies in the speech should Fidesz - as expected - win the forthcoming April general election.

The prime ministerial candidate of the governing Socialist Party, Attila Mesterhazy, had called on Orban to deliver a "frank" speech.

In a YouTube video earlier in the week, Mesterhazy challenged Orban to reveal his position on the extreme right and say whether he intends to allow Hungary's budget deficit to increase.

The opposition leader said "all forms of extremism are dangerous," but as an example he spoke of elected leaders placing themselves above the law - a reference to several recent corruption scandals.

What Orban delivered in his hour-long speech were more general calls for "strong government" and a restoration of order, faith and pride in the country.

"Such a deep need for change was last seen perhaps 20 years ago," Orban said, referring to the end of the communist regime.

"But then we were proud. Now we are seen as weak, and weak government is obviously the reason for this," Orban said.

Fidesz has held a commanding lead in opinion polls since shortly after it lost the elections to a socialist-liberal coalition in 2006.

The party's popularity is largely due to the widely-despised former socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who was heard in a recording leaked just months after the election acknowledging that his party had repeatedly lied to the electorate.

He held on through months of sometimes violent demonstration, but it was the economic crisis that finally put paid to Gyurcsany last March.

A new technocrat government led by Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai was installed with socialist backing and has since done the unpopular work of implementing drastic spending cuts to rein in the budget deficit.

Meanwhile, with the Socialist party also beset by a seemingly endless series of corruption scandals, Fidesz's victory is taken for granted by many Hungarians.

Nevertheless, a potential challenge for votes on the right comes from the nationalist party Jobbik, which won 15 per cent of the vote in the European Parliament elections last June.

Jobbik dismissed Orban's speech as a "campaign speech lacking any concrete details" about policy in a statement issued shortly afterward.

"Dare we speak the truth about multinational capital, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, Israeli expansionism, or gypsy crime?" the nationalist party said.

The Socialist candidate Mesterhazy dismissed Orban's speech as lacking substance.

"It was as if Viktor Orban was afraid he would be taken off the party's electoral list if he revealed too many specifics of its program," Mesterhazy said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307757,i-stand-ready-to-govern-says-hungarys-opposition-leader.html.

Ban uncertain about credibility of Gaza probes - Summary

New York/Jerusalem/Gaza - Secretary General Ban-ki Moon said Friday there was still not enough evidence to indicate whether the Israelis and Palestinians were complying with United Nation demands to investigate last year's Gaza conflict. "No determination can be made on the implementation of the resolution by the parties concerned," Ban said in a report to the UN General Assembly.

Israel argued Friday that the military probes it was conducting into the conflict were credible, but a Gaza-based rights group charged they did "not in any way" meet the UN's demands for an independent inquiry.

The conflicting reactions came after a three-month deadline set by the General Assembly, for Israel and the radical Islamist Hamas movement to investigate allegations that they committed war crimes in the war, ended Friday.

"The secretary-general remains personally moved by the plight of all civilians harmed during the Gaza conflict," a UN spokesperson said in New York. "He was at the forefront of the efforts to stop the fighting in Gaza ... He has consistently called for credible domestic investigations, and did so again in this report."

The content of the secretary-general's report would only be made public after it has been distributed to UN member states.

The establishment of independent, credible probes into the allegations is one of the recommendations made in the UN Human Rights Council report by South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel was "satisfied" with Ban's report, which he said "reflects in a truthful manner" the Israeli document handed to him last week.

"This Israeli document fully expresses Israel's commitment to conduct independent and credible investigations that live up to the standards of international law," said Palmor.

He insisted that Israel, during its three-week offensive, had respected international norms "despite the difficult fighting conditions" opposite Hamas militants. Israel's first duty was "to protect the well-being and security of its citizens," he said.

Israel has so far only had its own Army investigate the allegations made against it. It has not set up a government-appointed commission of inquiry, independent of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as demanded by the Goldstone report.

Israel would now be looking at how Ban's evaluation would be received by UN member states, before making its final decision on whether it would establish such an independent commission of inquiry.

It has rejected the Goldstone report as "biased" and "prejudged."

But the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) charged the probes by the Israeli military prosecutor were "inappropriate and legally inadequate."

It said that of 450 incidents of violations reported by it alone, the Israeli military was investigating "only" 150. Of those, it said, only 36 were criminal investigations, seven of which had already been closed for "lack of evidence."

So far, only two officers and one soldier was found to have made mistakes, it said, adding that in general, the finding of all probes held so far was that Israel acted "in accordance with the law."

The group said it was "surprised" at Ban's reported evaluation that it was too early to judge the Israeli probes, and "shocked and appalled" at "this lack of responsibility."

As UN Secretary-General, Ban had the duty to ensure accountability for perpetrators of war crimes, it said.

Hamas, for its part, is said to have submitted its report to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, but it was unclear how that report would be considered, because the international body deals only with the Palestinian Authority.

Israel launched its three-week offensive last year in response to rocket and mortar attacks from Hamas-ruled Gaza at its south.

Some 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed in its massive shelling from the air, sea and ground of Hamas targets in the densely-populated strip.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307771,ban-uncertain-about-credibility-of-gaza-probes--summary.html.

Offices, schools close as Eastern US braces for blizzard

Washington - Government offices and schools closed several hours ahead of schedule in Washington Friday to enable people to head home before a major snowstorm hit. The snowfall in the national capital was already lowering visibility by late afternoon and threatening to bring all public services to a standstill.

A "monster" blizzard was blowing across the mid-west and towards the mid-Atlantic coastal region, where it is expected dump 30 to 60 centimeters of snow over 24 hours from Friday to Saturday.

The huge storm system has been heading up from the south all week, where it dropped rain and lesser amounts of snow.

Winter storm warnings were in place from southern Indiana eastwards to New York City and south to North Carolina, with blizzard warnings for Delaware and the New Jersey coast, according to the National Weather Service.

Delta Airlines canceled all flights to and from the Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia on Saturday, but hoped to revert to normal schedules by Sunday.

Amtrak canceled most of its train services from Washington headed south.

The Metro system in Washington plans to close above-ground stations when the snow reaches 20 centimeters.

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty declared a snow emergency that went into effect at Friday morning, which prevents people from parking on certain streets so snow plows can get through.

Strong winds and plunging temperatures are expected to make for extremely hazardous travel, the National Weather Service said.

Weather forecaster AccuWeather advised people to plan on "no travel" from Friday night into Saturday night in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, southern Pennsylvania and much of New Jersey.

The Washington region received a good icing in December, when 40 centimeters fell. The record snowfall for the capital region was 70 centimeters in January 1922.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307773,offices-schools-close-as-eastern-us-braces-for-blizzard.html.

Danish navy storms ship, frees 25 from Somali pirates - Summary

Nairobi/Copenhagen (Earth Times) - Danish special forces have stormed a ship captured by Somali pirates and freed 25 crew members with no casualties, a European Union naval spokesman and the Danish navy said Friday. The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged, Slovenian-owned Ariella sent a distress call in the early hours of the morning when it was boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

An Indian warship picked up the distress signal, then Danish warship Absalon, operating under NATO command, responded to the call once a French helicopter had established that pirates were on deck.

"The crew had locked themselves in a secure room ... once the special forces knew they were secure, they stormed the ship and the pirates fled," John Harbour, spokesman for the European Union's anti- piracy mission off Somalia (EU NAVFOR) told the German Press Agency dpa.

The crew - 15 Filipinos, seven Ukrainians, one Slovak, one Indian and one Bulgarian - were all safely rescued.

Harbour said the special forces were in control of the ship, and that the pirates fled in advance of the attack.

"They (the pirates) could still be on the ship or may have gone overboard in a skiff," he said.

EU NAVFOR said in a statement that Russian Navy ship Neustrashimyy, operating nearby, boarded and detained a second pirate skiff.

Piracy is rife off the Horn of Africa nation, which has not had an functioning central government since 1991.

Young men take to the seas in search of multimillion-dollar ransoms despite the presence of over a dozen international warships, which were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in 2008 to combat a rise in piracy.

The pirates have expanded their operations further out into the Indian Ocean to avoid the patrols.

Harbour said the rescue was possible because the ship was registered with the naval force and was traveling in a convoy along an agreed transit corridor, allowing a fast response.

The Absalon has already played a significant role in fighting piracy in the region.

A year ago the crew of the Absalon arrested five Somali pirates who seized a Dutch ship and last weekend, after arriving for a new tour of duty, helped the crew of an Indian vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, Somalis were largely responsible for a global increase in pirate attacks in 2009.

There were 406 attacks in 2009, compared to 293 the previous year, and over half of them were off the coast of Somalia, the IMB said.

Somali pirates in January scooped their biggest payday, when a Greek supertanker carrying millions of barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States was released for a ransom rumored to have been as high as 7 million dollars.

Cinema/TV: boycotted in Algeria, Egypt turned to Israel

After all what has endured the Algerian national football team last November 14, and the stoning of the players’ bus in Cairo and serious injuries to our players, in addition to aggression against Algerian supporters in Cairo and Sudan.

*
After the verbal attacks from bottom floors of the pseudo-Egyptian artists such as Yousra, Adel Imam, Zina, Tamer Hosny, Ihab Toufik and many other, all this led the Algerians refuse anything and everything Egyptian which comes from Egypt.
*

All Algerians have oriented their TVs to other channels and watch movies and series from Syria and Turkey. After having been idols for young Algerians, Tamer Hosni and the other no longer concern our young people after the events in Cairo and Khartoum, and especially after all the insults poured all days and nights long, by the Egyptian TVs . All albums of Tamer and his brothers and sisters were thrown in the trash.

Egyptian series and films banned in Algerian homes
*

The Algerians, in their overwhelming majority, have boycotted the film and TV series and programs from Egypt.
Ghania, teacher, says she can not bear to hear the spoken Egyptian (cairo language). "They have exceeded all limits, I no longer watch their movies or listen to their singers. Before, I liked the actress Yousra, but the nasty old girl said ugly things about Algeria, so that I can not stand. They pretend to be well educated and civilized, but they seek only their personal interests. The son of their president has bought them with some pennies to behave such a way. These are just hypocrites.
Khaled said he was as happy as his wife abandons the Egyptian channels, for him, he does not love the mat all.

Yousra, Tamer Hosni and Ilhem chahine hate Algerian artists
*

After being some time the idol of many Algerians who follow his films and series, the actress Yousra has been grilled in Algeria immediately after having shown her real face on the program "El Beit Beitek" (the home is yours) by insulting the Algerian and returning back the price she had been awarded at the festival of Oran in 2009. Yousra is the most hated artist in Algeria. She is even forbidden to enter this country. The Algerian public was more than surprised by her behavior and her words, she was received with open arms like a princess at the point of being herself surprised.
*

The ugly singer Tamer Hosni, also received like a prince during his first visit to Algeria in 2008 and suddenly became the most hated singer. His albums have been squarely put to the puzzle and posters that adorn the rooms of thousands of fans were replaced by those of Algerian footballers. As for Ilhem Chahine, who visited Algeria more than once and each time was received like a queen, she has also turned against this country who gave her so much.

Egyptian producers sell their films in Israel

*
After the failure of marketing of all films produced recently in Egypt because of refusal of service in the Arab world, Egyptian producers have turned to erotic productions in order to attract viewers by sex, but such film has met much criticism within Egypt itself, like the director Mohamed Kamel el kaliouby who announced the sale of Egyptian films in Israel. He added that Israelian parties were interested in this kind of production in order to study the Egyptian society.

The Egyptians were surprised recently by a number of very erotic films such as "Ahassiss (feelings)," Speak to me, thanks" and "natural colors". According to the actor Mahmoud Abdul Aziz, these films do not reflect the reality of Egyptian cinema. For his part, the cinema critic Walid Seif said "this genre has long disappeared from Egypt, it returned back in order to attract the younger audience and is not destined to families."

Ennahar / Zahida Tabet

Source: Ennahar Online.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/3073.html.

Riot-hit Xinjiang capital at risk for years

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

BEIJING (Reuters) - The capital of China's restless far western region of Xinjiang, hit by ethnic riots last year in which about 200 died, faces a long struggle to maintain stability, its mayor said in comments reported on Friday.

Energy-rich Xinjiang is strategically located at the crossroads of Central Asia, and Beijing has shown it is determined to keep a tight grip on the region.

Last July, Uighur protests in Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, gave way to deadly attacks that mainly targeted members of China's Han Chinese majority. Many Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic people, resent the growing Han presence in the region.

At least 197 people died in the initial riots, mostly Han Chinese, and two days later Han residents held protests and staged revenge attacks on Uighur neighborhoods.

"Urumqi faces an arduous fight against separatism now and for years to come, after last year's riots," mayor Jerla Isamudinhe told the city's largely rubber stamp assembly, in remarks carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

"We should be vigilant and high-handed in our fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism," he said. "We should stop all sabotage activities and attempts beforehand."

China blamed the riots, as it does with most violence or protests in Xinjiang, on separatist groups seeking an independent East Turkistan. Beijing says some of these groups have links to al Qaeda, something disputed by many exiles and rights activists.

The mayor said Urumqi would "step up efforts to maintain social stability, by keeping a closer eye on migrants' communities, ex-convicts and other sensitive areas and suspicious people," Xinhua said.

"We'll continue to promote unity among different ethnic groups across the city, and help build up trust and respect among different walks of life," the mayor added. "In particular, we'll step up with ethnic unity education at schools."

At least 26 people have been sentenced to death over the July riots.

The government said last month it would push for a surge of investment in Xinjiang, seeking to boost control and ethnic unity there.

Xinjiang's population of 21 million is divided mainly between Uighurs, long the region's majority, and Han Chinese, many of whom arrived in recent decades. Uighurs now make up about 46 percent of the region's population.

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6140J520100205.

Uighurs in East Turkistan suffer from China's forced abortions

“My wife would not want to remember that tragic event [the loss of an almost full-term baby after a forced fatal injection of drugs into the baby] as she has just overcome the trauma, so I request that you not speak to her,” said Alimcan Karluk, head of the research center at the East Turkistan Association, an İstanbul-based organization working to raise awareness about the problems faced by Uighurs in East Turkistan.

His wife is one of the thousands of Uighur mothers who have lost their unborn babies due to China’s forced abortion policy. China, which introduced a controversial one-child-per-family policy in 1979 as a measure to alleviate social, economic and environmental problems in the country, has been forcing Uighur mothers in East Turkistan to have abortions despite the fact that ethnic minorities are among the exemptions to this law. The abortion law went into effect in China in 1984 and has been more strictly implemented in East Turkistan since 1988.

According to the 1979 law, the number of children married urban couples can have is one, but the law allows exemptions in several cases, including rural couples, ethnic minorities and parents without any siblings themselves. Nevertheless, the policy has been implemented in East Turkistan with heavier sanctions, raising suspicions among many of whether the Chinese government is trying to assimilate the Turks in the region.

East Turkistan, which is referred to as Xinjiang by China, has been under the control of China since 1949. There are around 30 million Muslim Turks in the region, which has an area of 1,828,418 square meters. Uighurs make up only 1 percent of the Chinese population. It is estimated that 800,000 forced abortions have been carried out in East Turkistan since 1979.

Forced abortions are often performed very late in pregnancy -- even in the ninth month. Sometimes the baby’s skull is crushed with forceps as it emerges from the birth canal. Either the woman or her husband is forcibly sterilized.

Karluk left the Urumqi region of East Turkistan with his family after the Gulja massacre on Feb. 5, 1997, when Chinese security forces brutally cracked down on a peaceful demonstration in the city of Gulja, killing thousands in the ensuing clashes. He talked about the tragic loss of his unborn child to Sunday’s Zaman.

“The incident took place in 1996. I was out of Urumqi when some Chinese health officials visited our house for a health check. My wife was eight months pregnant with our second son. She said the health officials told her that she cannot have a second child since she has one child already and so her pregnancy had to be terminated. They gave her a shot which caused her to deliver a dead baby,” said Karluk, adding that his wife needed psychological support to overcome the trauma of her aborted pregnancy.

He said some 15-16 families in their neighborhood had to experience the same tragedy at that time. Abortions carried out in the region’s southeastern parts, where the population is less educated compared to the northern parts, are performed in more violent ways with the seven or eight-month-old fetuses being taken from the mothers’ womb in unhygienic conditions.

In rural areas of East Turkistan, 40 percent of these pregnancies are aborted forcefully, while this figure is 30 percent in the urban parts of the region, according to a report prepared by the East Turkistan Solidarity Association.

Experts note that if China continues to implement this policy in East Turkistan, preventing Uighur families from having more than one child, natural population growth will halt in the region this year.

Karluk said the Chinese policy against Uighurs was aimed at assimilating the Uighur population in the region as the Chinese government was tolerant of Chinese families there having more than one child. It was even dispatching more Chinese there in order to turn the balance of the population in favor of the Chinese.

According to official census figures in the report, the Chinese population in East Turkistan increased by 31.64 percent in 2000 when compared to a decade ago, while the increase in the population of Uighurs was 15.89 percent during the same period.

Looking at this picture, the head of the East Turkistan Solidarity Association, İsmail Cengiz, said that China forcing Uighur mothers to abort in East Turkistan despite the fact that abortion is considered a sin in the Islamic faith was not only a violation of minority rights but also a move aimed at assimilation.

China’s heavy sanctions

Karluk said China imposes heavy sanctions on families that oppose the abortion of the second pregnancy, such as taking away land the family owns or cutting off their electricity or water. Putting the father or mother in jail is the heaviest penalty.

He also said Uighur families were desperate because there is no authority they can appeal to in order to sue the Chinese government over the forced abortion policy; cases filed against the government have been concluded in favor of the government.

Source: Today's Zaman.
Link: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-199489-100-uighurs-in-east-turkistan-suffer-from-chinas-forced-abortions.html.

Hamas leader to visit Moscow

The leader of the radical Palestinian party Hamas, Khaled Mashal, will visit Moscow next week to discuss ways of ending the Palestinian split and how to resume the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry informed that “The meeting will take place in the context of the political dialogue that Russia is holding with influential forces of Palestinian society to contribute to the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli talks on a well-known and generally recognized international legal basis,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko.

In January this year, Palestinian leader and leader of Fatah Party Mahmoud Abbas held talks in Moscow with Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev. The ministry spokesman pointed out that the negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas “have confirmed the similar approaches with Moscow on peaceful resolving of the Middle East crisis.”

Hamas has controlled the Gaza portion of the Palestinian Territories since 2007 after winning a large majority in the Palestinian Parliament and defeating rival Palestinian party Fatah. So far, talks to reconcile Hamas and Fatah since Egypt began mediations in late 2008 have seen no results.

Hamas, backed by Syria and Iran, doesn’t recognize Israel and is seen by the EU, the US, Canada, Israel and Japan as a terrorist organization. However, Russia has always been open to a dialogue with Hamas and met the party’s leader Khaled Mashal in Moscow after the elections in 2007.

After the last meeting with the leader of Hamas in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Hamas had adopted a more realistic approach since Operation Cast Lead in December.

Israel has criticized Lavrov’s meeting with Mashal, saying that Hamas is a terrorist organization. However, Russia’s FM said that in every conflict all sides should be involved in dialogue: “This principle applies to Hamas, as well as Hezbollah and Syria.”

Professor Irina Zvyagelskaya, Vice President of the Center for Strategic and Political Studies, thinks that is the exact reason why Moscow is seeing the leader of Hamas this February: “Relations between Fatah and Hamas remain tense, despite Egypt’s mediations. If Hamas will be excluded from negotiations, then any decisions, which will be made by other parties, will not be accepted by Hamas, and the Gaza strip will remain isolated.”

Meanwhile, according to the Israeli media, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to visit Moscow in the middle of February. Irina Zvyagelskaya, however, doesn’t think that Moscow will anger either Israel or Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas by meeting with Hamas: “Well, officially they may express their dissatisfaction with this. However, both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders understand that we are acting as mediators and we need to understand what the Hamas position is.”

Vyacheslav Matuzov, president of the Russia-Palestine Society of Friendship and Business Cooperation, also thinks that Moscow’s talks with Hamas are essential in solving the Palestinian question and says that, even though officially Mahmoud Abbas may frown upon it, it should be taken well, “The level of trust between Russia and the Palestinian leadership is high; they trust us and know that we will not harm their interests,” Matuzov notes.

Moreover, Matuzov thinks that at the end Israel and the West will recognize Hamas – and Hamas, in his view, will also eventually recognize Israel: “Hamas was created by the Israeli special intelligence services and the elections in Palestine were choreographed by American special services.” He concludes that the aim of this political game is that the Palestinian state will be restricted only to Gaza.

Olga Masalkova, RT

Source: RT.com.
Link: http://rt.com/Politics/2010-02-05/hamas-mashaal-moscow-lavrov.html.

Turkey's top general in self-criticism over headscarf barring

Turkey's top general found barring Turkish PM's wife from entering a military hospital because of her headscarf "indefensible".

The incident that took place in 2007, emerged last week when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed it during a debate in the parliament.

Turkey still insists on imposing headscarf ban as a country whose population is 99 percent Muslim.

In an interview, General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug spoke of the ban on Emine Erdogan who wears headscarf for the first time.

General Basbug told Turkish Daily Hurriyet, "we cannot defend it today."

During the fierce debate in the parliament, Erdogan said, Gulhane Military Hospital (GATA) denied entery to his wife, Emine Erdogan who wanted to visit an ailing actor because she wears headscarf.

PM also hinted that they had suffered similar bitter experiences in the past, saying they could do nothing.

But the prime minister declined to go into details "on the grounds that the country would not be able to bear the burden."

"To be honest, this is a special situation. It really has a humanitarian side. I wish it had never taken place. I do not want to blame anybody. If we look at the issue from a humanitarian point of view, we cannot defend it today," Basbug told the interview.

Turkey imposes the ban at all public domain, particularly universities in a country majority of women wear headscarf as a religious practice.

Erdogan leads the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that aimed to lift the controversial ban earlier last year.

But the effort failed and it was cited as evidence when a closure case was filed against the party.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=53677.

TSK cannot defend PM wife's headscarf experience, top commander says

It is not possible to defend the fact that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s headscarf-wearing wife was denied access to a military hospital, Turkey’s top general has said.

“Let me put it clearly: This is a special case. Therefore, I believe it is more accurate to look that issue from a humanitarian perspective,” Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ told daily Hürriyet in an interview published Friday.

“I wish that incident had not taken place. I don’t want to accuse anyone; I wish it had not happened,” the top general said. “If we take a look at it from the humanitarian aspect, it is not possible for us to defend that today.”

In a recent televised interview, Erdoğan said his wife, Emine, had been denied entry to a military hospital, the Gülhane Military Medical Academy, or GATA, three years ago when she tried to visit actor Nejat Uygur because she wears a headscarf.

Başbuğ also expressed concerns over the Turkish Armed Forces, or TSK, figuring high on the country’s agenda. “Yes, we are continuously on the agenda of Turkey, for this or that reason, rightfully or not,” he said. “I would not say the TSK being on the agenda is always because of unfair reasons. Of course, we are concerned with the Armed Forces always topping Turkey’s agenda because that has an impact on the TSK.”

“I cannot deny that impact. Then how will we look at that issue?” he added. “I will ask once ask: Do I make a mistake, as the armed forces? Then what falls on us is to minimize the mistakes being made at the TSK.”

The general, however, also complained that mistakes made by individuals from the armed forces are being attributed to the TSK itself.

“There is such a perception and we cannot prevent that. Our public cannot accept the emergence of people from the armed forces who make mistakes,” he said.

Başbuğ also criticized the way a question was asked in a survey following the reporting of an alleged assassination plot against Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. The question asked in the survey was “Have the assignation claims reduced your trust in the military?”

“This is the question that attributes it to the institution [the TSK]. That is the problem,” the general said. “The TSK could continuously be kept on the agenda, of course, if there are rightful reasons.”

Asked what concerns the military most, Başbuğ said the military is concerned with its occupying the agenda of the media. “I think it would be appropriate if everyone would pay attention,” he said. “I don’t say the TSK will never be on the agenda, but we have been very much on the agenda since October.”

Commenting on civil-military relations, the commander said it was not correct for the TSK to be involved in politics, but that it is also not correct to be making politics over the Armed Forces.

In response to a question about the alleged “Sledgehammer” coup plans, the top commander said it appears it will take a long time than expected for the prosecutor to examine the documents, which comprise thousands of pages.

“We all need to have patience,” he said. “We’ll wait till the investigation ends. Then everything will be understood.”

Başbuğ’s statements were welcomed by the members of the government. “I evaluate the statements of the top officer very positive and very human,” deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç told reporters Friday. Hüseyin Çelik, spokesperson of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, said the statements were satisfactory.

Source: Hürriyet Daily.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=top-commander-says-tsk-cannot-defend-headscarf--2010-02-05.

Israel slaps six-month travel ban on Palestinian map expert

Marian Houk, The Electronic Intifada

Citing "security reasons" -- the ubiquitous and unanswerable catch-all phrase against which it is almost impossible to mount any defense -- Israel's Ministry of the Interior has just issued a six-month travel ban on map expert Khalil Tafakji.

Tafakji, like almost all other Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, is a "permanent resident," but not a citizen of Israel.

He is frequently interviewed as an expert on Al-Jazeera satellite channel, as well as on Palestinian television and other media. He said in a phone interview on 4 February that he had just returned 20 days previously from a tour of a number of countries, from Tunisia to Turkey to India, during which he spoke about the problems facing Palestinians because of Israeli policies in East Jerusalem. "You know I am not a political man," Tafakji said today. But, this is a place where even ordinary, everyday life becomes political.

However, Tafakji has been called the Palestinian Authority's chief geographer and said he did not know of any other person who has been handed such a travel ban.

Tafakji, surprised at the development, said that "Yesterday they [Israeli authorities] called me and said come to Moskobiyya [the "Russian Compound" security complex in West Jerusalem] -- Room 4. They said 'This is an order, sign it, you have 14 days to make an objection. It is forbidden for you to travel from today for six months.'"

When asked if he will contest the travel ban, Tafakji said that he has been in constant consultation with lawyers, who have all said that since the explanation he was given was only the generic -- but all-encompassing -- "security reasons," it is almost hopeless to contest.

Tafakji was not given any other restriction, he said.

"We are trying, through relations with Jordan and Egypt, America, Britain and France, to see if we can do anything" to remove the restriction, Tafakji said. He told the privately-owned and operated Maan News Agency in Bethlehem that "I am a peace man," and noted that he worked as a cartographic expert with Palestinian delegations to peace talks since they began in the early 1990s.

He also worked with the late PLO leader in Jerusalem, Faisal Husseini, who had set up the Arab Studies Society in 1983 and established an important center for services in the Orient House, the Palestinian headquarters in East Jerusalem forcibly closed by Israel in 2001. Tafakji heads the Arab Studies Society's Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department, which has relocated to Dahiet al-Bariid, just beside Israel's wall, but with full access to Jerusalem.

Source: Electronic Intifada.
Link: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11058.shtml.

Dubai could seek Netanyahu arrest over Hamas murder

DUBAI — Dubai will issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel is found to be implicated in the murder of a top militant Palestinian in the emirate, The National newspaper reported on Friday.

Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan has said that Israel's spy agency Mossad could have been behind the January 20 killing of Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a founder of the military wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas, in a luxury hotel room.

Netanyahu "will be the first to be wanted for justice as he would have been the one who signed the decision to kill al-Mabhuh in Dubai," The National quoted Khalfan as saying.

"We will issue an arrest warrant against him," said the English-language newspaper published in Abu Dhabi.

It quoted Khalfan as saying Mabhuh was killed using a "Mossad method," but did not elaborate.

The police chief had said Mossad "has carried out operations" previously using similar methods as those used in the Mabhuh murder.

The paper quoted police sources as saying Mabhuh arrived in Dubai on January 19 at 3:15 p.m., and was dead within five hours.

His killers had been in the country less than 24 hours before the murder and left before the body was discovered at the luxury Al Bustan Rotana hotel near the airport.

Mabhuh was in charge of arms purchases for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Over the years, several Hamas leaders have been killed in what Israel calls "targeted killings."

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