Tunisia suspends license of private college over violations

2010-03-03

Disgruntled ULT owner claims 'political motives' but academic experts welcome suspension.

TUNIS - Despite attempts by its owner to present the sanctions against his private college as “politically motivated”, many academic experts in Tunis are arguing that the temporary suspension of the license of the “Université Libre de Tunis” (ULT) was necessary to preserve the credibility of Tunisia’s private higher education system.

An official inquiry into the management of the ULT University noted several violations including the absence of a full-time director, the hiring of teachers from the public university system without prior authorization from their employers, non-conformity of the syllabus with higher education requirements, and disregard of student eligibility criteria. The school was also found to have prevented a third year engineering student from taking his final exams.

After hearing ULT’s owner, the consultative commission in charge of granting university licenses, decided to appoint an administrator from the teaching-research profession to run the college for the remaining period of the academic year 2009-2010 and for the 3 following years. Other decisions include the suspension of the license of the ULT for a three-year period, withdrawal of the authorization granted to the ULT in all engineering specialties. The move prompted ULT’s owner, Mr. Bouebdelli to invoke alleged “political motives” for the closing of the institution. On February 11, ULT’s owner released a document where he argued that the whole case was aimed at undermining the status of the private college. Although the suspension of ULT’s license is not the first suspension of a private college in Tunisia, it is the first time however that the disgruntled owner of a suspended college claims administrative sanctions are “politically motivated”.

Also, because Mr. Bouebdelli is virtually “a political unknown,” academic experts are arguing that his move to “politicize” his case is most likely a last ditch attempt to avoid accepting responsibility for the violations noted by public inspectors.

What at stake for Tunisian higher education system is more than the individual case of the ULT college. The suspension of the license of the “Université Libre de Tunis” comes at a time when Tunisia is pushing for a nationwide international accreditation system for engineering studies. The country, which aims at training some 7000 engineers by 2012, want the quality of the training to be on a par with international criteria.

If there is one thing that Tunisian higher education decision makers will not tamper with, it is the level of the instruction provided to learners. “A country that has relied so heavily on education simply cannot afford to discredit the reputation of its university system be it private or public”, said Ahmed Béji, a Humanities professor.

For others, the ULT controversy has had at least the merit of opening the debate on the necessary upgrading of private university institutions in Tunisia. Even if embryonic, Tunisian authorities believe that a strong Tunisian private tertiary sector is necessary to boost the academic level and create a necessary emulation among institutions.

The challenges are many for public as well as private university institutions. The public university is submitted to the pressure of a massive student inflow : here are currently some 380.000 students enrolled in Tunisian universities and the number is expected to increase to 500.000 by 2012, before gradually decreasing. The overwhelming majority of Tunisian university students still graduate from the public system which still enjoys a high level of credibility and outperforms the private sector. There are only 20 private university institutions in Tunisia, and according to recent figures, enrollment there does not exceed 15.000 students. Private higher education institutions are confronted to problems related to funding, staffing and absence of public trust.

An important consideration for Tunisian authorities is the fact that a good percentage of private university students is made up of foreign students from sub-Saharan Africa. These students, Tunisian officials say, should be provided with an education that meets the requirements of educational quality and preserves the credibility of Tunisian academic institutions abroad.

There are signs however, that private universities are taking things seriously by establishing partnerships with major foreign universities, as shown by the forthcoming opening of a branch of the “Université Paris Dauphine” in Tunis. Other private university institutions are setting up joint MBA diplomas and training with prestigious American universities.

Another promising sign is the alignment of most private university institutions with the Ministry’s of Higher Education’s LMD system (License, Master’s, and Ph.D) in order to harmonize Tunisian curricula and diplomas with European and North American standards.

Academic experts are hopeful the task of upgrading the Tunisian university private sector so that it meets the criteria of quality and cost effectiveness, is a daunting one, but ultimately it will prove rewarding for both the public and private sectors. In the interim, they believe, “the easy ride” for some private institutions is probably over.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37607.

Morocco dismantles 'terrorist network'

2010-03-03

Security service says network includes six members who were planning to commit terrorist acts inside Morocco.

RABAT - Moroccan police have dismantled a terrorist network that was "active in several towns" of the North African kingdom, the state security service announced Tuesday.

The network included six members who "were planning to commit terrorist acts inside the national territory," the security service said in a statement, without saying when the arrests took place.

"Within the framework of efforts by security forces to combat terrorism and extremism, these services dismantled a terrorist network of six people imbued with Takfirist ideology...," the statement said.

Takfiris are a tiny minority of Muslims in Morocco, but they believe that society and its leaders have turned away from the narrow path of what they see as true Islam.

Takfiris also condone violence to religious and political ends and first emerged as an ideological force in Egypt in the 1970s.

"The members of this network will be produced in court after an investigation supervised by the public prosecutor," the state security service said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37598.

Thick masses of buried ice found on Mars

PASADENA, Calif., March 3 (UPI) -- NASA scientists say they've identified thick masses of buried ice in the middle latitudes of Mars and radar mapping suggests the ice is commonplace.

The radar images were provided by the space agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is charting the hidden glaciers and ice-filled valleys that were first confirmed by radar two years ago.

NASA said the subsurface ice deposits extend for hundreds of miles in a region about halfway from the equator to the Martian north pole.

"We have mapped the whole area with a high density of coverage," said Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. "These are not isolated features. In this area, the radar is detecting thick subsurface ice in many locations. The hypothesis is the whole area was covered with an ice sheet during a different climate period, and when the climate dried out, these deposits remained only where they had been covered by a layer of debris protecting the ice from the atmosphere."

The researchers said the ice could contain a record of environmental conditions at the time of its deposition and flow, making the ice masses a possible target for a future mission with digging capability.

Plaut and colleagues presented the research this week near Houston during the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/03/03/Thick-masses-of-buried-ice-found-on-Mars/UPI-26391267625725/.

Zuma accuses British of colonialist attitude to Africa

Johannesburg (Earth Times) - South African President Jacob Zuma, currently on a state visit to Britain, has lashed out his British critics, accusing them of still considering themselves superior to "barbaric" Africans, in a newspaper Wednesday. Zuma, a polygamist, made the remarks in an interview with South Africa's The Star newspaper before arriving in London on Tuesday on his first official visit since becoming president in May last year.

"When the British came to our country, they said everything we are doing was barbaric, was wrong, inferior in whatever way. Bear in mind that I'm a freedom fighter and I fought to free myself, also for my culture to be respected," the former anti-apartheid fighter and African National Congress party leader told the paper.

In the run-up to his visit, Zuma's controversial lifestyle had been highlighted by some of the British media. Much of the coverage focused on recent revelations that the president fathered a child out of wedlock last year with a woman that is neither one of his three wives, nor his fiancee.

The affair caused a scandal in South Africa, where it raised questions about Zuma's fitness to lead and reignited a debate over the acceptability of polygamy.

London's Guardian newspaper wondered whether Zuma's "colorful CV" would discomfit the queen but concluded that, "given the range of distinctly ropey state visitors she has greeted during her 58 years on the throne it seems unlikely."

The Daily Mail described Zuma as "a buffoon" and "a sex-obsessed bigot" and claimed he had 35 children.

The official number given by Zuma's office is 20.

"The British have done that before (look down on Africans), as they colonized us, and they continue to do this, and it's an unfortunate thing," Zuma said, adding: "If people want an engagement, I'm sure we will engage on that issue."

Zuma's visit to Britain, where he will be seeking to reassure investors that his center-left administration is not undertaking any radical policy shifts, is his first to a major power.

On Wednesday, Zuma and Thobeka Madiba Zuma, the third of his three wives, were due to meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Dutch Freedom Party set for local election breakthrough

Amsterdam - The Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), known for it harsh stance on Islam and migrants, was set to achieve a major election breakthrough in two cities on Wednesday. Opinion polls suggest the party - standing in local and municipal elections for the first time - is likely to win the Dutch city of Almere and come second in the Hague.

Almere is the Netherlands' fifth largest city.

The PVV is most famous for its controversial leader, Gert Wilders, who has courted publicity with his anti-Islam film Fitna.

Turnout nationally in the 390 municipal elections is expected to be around 50 per cent, although slightly higher - 60 per cent - in the Hague and Almere.

Voting booths close at 9 pm (2000 GMT) with the first exit polls are due to be released by 10 pm (2100 GMT).

The Freedom Party, first established in 2006, entered parliament with 9 seats following general elections that year. Opinion polls indicate the PVV would receive at least 24 seats in parliament if a general election were held today.

Early general elections in the Netherlands are set to take place on June 9 after the government coalition of Christian Democrats, Labor and Christian Union fell February 20 over extension of the country's military mission in Afganistan.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312232,dutch-freedom-party-set-for-local-election-breakthrough.html.

Death sentence confirmed for another Iranian protester

Tehran - Another death sentence was confirmed for an Iranian protester who attended a anti-government demonstration last year, opposition websites reported Wednesday. According to the reports, Tehran's appellate court upheld the sentence of the 20-year-old protester, making him the 10th to be put on death row.

Two members of monarchist groups were already hanged last month for conspiring to topple Iran's Islamic establishment.

The 20-year-old protester had attended demonstrations in December and was charged with plots against the establishment and having committed "Moharebeh" - or acting against God - which is punishable by death.

The websites reports have not yet been officially confirmed by the Iranian judiciary.

All the condemned suspects were arrested during rallies against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after June's presidential election.

The opposition accuses the government of committing fraud to ensure his re-election.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312235,death-sentence-confirmed-for-another-iranian-protestor.html.

Ancient snakes in India fed on baby dinosaurs, study says: Correction

New Delhi - A 67-million-year-old fossil of a gigantic snake coiled around dinosaur eggs found in western India has led scientists to conclude the ancient snakes a fed on dinosaur hatchlings, news reports said Wednesday. The study published in the journal PLoS Biology said the fossil found in Dholi Dungri village in Gujarat state had helped an international team of palaeontologists to confirm the unusual feeding behavior of the 3.5-meter-long prehistoric snake, Times of India newspaper reported.

The team of scientists said the near complete remains of the snake were found preserved in the nest of a sauropod dinosaur. Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest animals to ever inhabit earth, with some species weighing as much 100 tons.

"The snake was coiled around a recently hatched egg adjacent to a hatchling sauropod," the article said. "Other snake-egg associations at the same site suggest that the new snake frequented nesting grounds and preyed on hatchling sauropods."

The scientists have named the snake from the Late Cretaceous period the Sanajeh Indicus.

The group of scientists who authored the article, which was published Tuesday, was led by Dhananjay M Mohabey of the Geological Survey of India, and the University of Michigan's Jeff Wilson.

Mohabey found the fossil in 1987 and Wilson first examined it in 2001.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312261,ancient-snakes-in-india-fed-on-baby-dinosaurs-study-says.html.

German cabinet approves cuts in solar power tariffs

Berlin - The German government has agreed to slash subsidies for electricity-generating solar panels, sources said after Wednesday's cabinet meeting. For the last 10 years, German utilities have been legally obliged to pay above-market prices for electricity from solar panels on roofs and in fields.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed to reduce feed-in tariffs by 16 per cent for rooftop panels commissioned after July 1 this year, in a deal previously struck amongst the coalition partners.

Those rates of return were already cut by 9 per cent for photovoltaic systems commissioned after January 1 this year, so the final reduction will amount to 25 per cent compared to 2009 prices.

The July 1 price reduction - which still awaits parliamentary approval - means utilities will pay 0.33 euros (0.45 dollars) per kilowatt-hour.

The cost of solar panels has dropped significantly since the subsidies were introduced 10 years ago. However, government moves to unwind start-up assistance were bitterly opposed by a solar-power lobby.

Under the agreement, solar panels set up on military land and rubbish dumps will see rates reduced by a further 11 per cent, while units on farmland will only be subsidized in exceptional circumstances.

Farm groups, angered by big city investors buying up farm land to "harvest the sunshine," had sought the change in law.

The silicon collectors on photovoltaic panels can convert the sun's heat into electricity. Conversion devices alongside then transform the current into the form of electricity used in homes and offices.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312262,german-cabinet-approves-cuts-in-solar-power-tariffs.html.

Rohingyas should not be treated in hostile way

by Nurul Islam

The Rohingya, ethnic minority of Arakan, Burma have been languishing in their ancestral Land, Arakan and in exile for decades since the military took power in 1962. They are being treated as foreigners. The history has shown their existence in Arakan before 8th century and now they are facing religious discrimination by their own government. The Muslim ethnic minority, generally known as the Rohingyas, who live in northern Rakhine State, western Myanmar, continue to suffer from several forms of restrictions and human rights violations. The Rohingyas' freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Myanmar citizenship. They are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on marriage. Rohingyas continue to be used as forced laborers on roads and at military camps, although the amount of forced labour in northern Rakhine State has decreased over the last decade. These practices, in addition to violating other basic human rights of the Rohingyas, are discriminatory towards the Rohingya population as they do not appear to be imposed in the same manner and at the same level on other ethnic nationalities in Rakhine State, or in the country as a whole. These restrictions and abuses, and the general discrimination against them, also amount to violations of the right to an adequate standard of living for many Rohingyas. Approximately one third of Myanmar's population consists of ethnic minority groups; the seven ethnic minority states take their names from the Shan, Kachin, Chin, Kayin, Kayah, Mon, and Rakhine nationalities. These states surround the central plains of Myanmar, where most of the majority Bama (Burman) people live in the seven Divisions.

As a consequence tens of thousands have fled to neighboring Bangladesh and other countries. The Rakhine State (historically known as Arakan), is one of seven ethnic minority states which were formed under the constitution of 1974. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated in the three northern townships: Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung. The Rohingyas speak a Bengali dialect similar to what is spoken in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh, mixed primarily with words from the Urdu, Hindi and Arabic languages, but also from the Bama and English languages. The first Muslims who settled in this region were believed to be Arab mariners and traders that arrived on the Rakhine coast in the 8th and 9th centuries. Other Muslims who came to the area in later centuries include Persians, Moguls, Turks, Pathans and Bengalis. Apart from the Muslim population, the other major ethnic group is the Rakhine, who are Buddhists. They speak a related form of Bama, but claim separate political and nationality traditions from the ethnic Bama majority of Myanmar. The Rakhine people established independent kingdoms from central Myanmar; the last one was founded in the 15th century with its royal capital at Myo Haung (Mrauk-U). This kingdom was conquered by the Myanmar king Bodawpaya in 1784. The population of Rakhine State is estimated at some three million people. Apart from the majority Rakhine population, there are between 700,000 and 1½ million Muslims, most of them Rohingyas from northern Rakhine State. There are also a number of smaller ethnic minority groups, including the Mro, Daignet, Kamein, Thet, and also some Chin. The population of Northern Rakhine State (Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung) is estimated at some 800,000 people, of which 80% are Muslims. The total Muslim population in Myanmar, the majority of whom live in urban areas throughout the country, is estimated at between 4 – 5% of the total population. The word Rohingya refers to the Muslim population in northern Rakhine State, who have developed a distinct culture and dialect. After Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948 civil war broke out when many ethnic nationalities and the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) took up arms against the central government headed by U Nu. In Rakhine State both Rakhine and Muslim groups formed armed opposition groups who fought against the government. It was only by the early 1960s that the tatmadaw, or Myanmar army, captured the main positions of these groups, and reached cease-fire agreements with the Muslim organizations.The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) rejects the existence of a separate ethnic group called "Rohingya". The vast majority of Rohingyas are not believed to possess Myanmar citizenship. Moreover they are not recognized as one of the 135 'national races' by the Myanmar government. The Government renders full and equal treatment to these people, as with other races, in matters relating to birth and death registration, education, health and social affairs. In the official records, they are listed as a Bengali racial group of the Bengali race and are recognized as permanent residents within Myanmar.However in practice the rights of the Rohingya population of northern Rakhine State are greatly restricted. Rohingyas have testified that the restriction on the freedom of movement and other abuses such as arbitrary taxation increased significantly after the creation of the NaSaKa in 1992.

Refugee flows to Bangladesh

In 1978 over 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, following the 'Nagamin' ('Dragon King') operation of the Myanmar army. Officially this campaign aimed at "scrutinizing each individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally. This military campaign directly targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and destruction of mosques and further religious persecution. After international pressure the Myanmar government allowed most of the Rohingyas who had fled to Bangladesh to return. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had a presence in the refugee camps in Bangladesh but not in the Rakhine State, nor was it involved in the repatriation process. During 1991-92 a new wave of over a quarter of a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. They reported widespread forced labour, as well as summary executions, torture, and rape. Rohingyas were forced to work without pay by the Myanmar army on 12 The Immigration and Manpower Department (IMPD) was renamed the Immigration and Population Department (IPD) in 1998. f Exodus?, Human Rights Watch/Asia, New York, September 1996, p.10. 14 See: Union of Myanmar (Burma): Human Rights Abuses against Muslims in the Rakhine (Arakan) State, Amnesty International, May 1992, ASA 16/06/02.

Myanmar , The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied Amnesty International May 2004 AI Index: ASA 16/005/2004 From the end of 1992 until early 1994 the Bangladeshi authorities, after an understanding had been reached with the Myanmar government, forcibly repatriated some 50,000 Rohingyas across the border. After a formal Memorandum of Understanding was signed between UNHCR and the Myanmar government in November 1993, UNHCR established a presence on the ground in Rakhine State to implement the reintegration program and to provide protection for the returnees. UNHCR initiated a voluntary mass repatriation and reintegration program for the Rohingyas in April 1994. At the time international aid agencies expressed concerns about whether this repatriation process was in fact voluntary. Despite the presence of UNHCR, Rohingyas continue to suffer from discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity, and various restrictions and abuses at the hands of the local Myanmar authorities. Although forced labor has decreased since the UNHCR established a protection role in the Rakhine State, Rohingyas have continued to flee to Bangladesh. The exact number of new arrivals since 1996 is not clear, but is believed to be in the tens of thousands. The Government of Bangladesh has denied these new arrivals access to the refugee camps and has not permitted UNHCR to extend protection to them, claiming that they are 'economic migrants. The mass repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar by UNHCR took place from April 1994 to December 1995. Since that time repatriation has slowed down. To date a total of 236,000 Rohingyas have returned to Rakhine State from Bangladesh. At the beginning of 2004 almost 20,000 Rohingyas were still in Kutapalong and Nayapara, the two remaining refugee camps in Cox's Bazaar, southern Bangladesh. Seven thousand of these 20,000 people have been cleared by Myanmar authorities for return. During 2003 some 3,000 Rohingyas were repatriated to Myanmar amid reports of the Bangladesh authorities coercing some of them to return. Medecins sans Frontières (MSF) Holland received 550 complaints from Rohingya families varying from intimidation to direct threats of violence if they did not agree to return to Myanmar. As a member of the United Nations, Myanmar is also legally obliged to take action to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." Discrimination is an attack on the very notion of human rights – a denial that all human beings are equal in dignity and worth. This is why international human rights law is grounded in the principle of non-discrimination. Many Rohingyas also fled to Thailand since 2008 by risky sea route. They claimed that many of them have been shipped and towed out to open sea by the Thai army and police. Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva confirmed that there were instances in which Rohingya people were pushed out to the sea. Several boats have been rescued off the coasts of Indonesia and the Andaman Islands of India. Survivors tell of having been detained in Thailand, beaten, and towed out to sea on boats without engines, sufficient food and water.

1982 Burma Citizenship - Act and its Impact:

Law unlike the preceding 1948 Act, which conferred equal rights on all citizens, creates three classes of citizens: full citizens, associate citizens and naturalized citizens. The 1982 Law also establishes a government-controlled "Central Body", with wide powers to determine specific citizenship issues. Even though the SPDC has stated that in the government's official records the Rohingya "are recognized as permanent residents within Myanmar", the vast majority of Rohingyas fail to qualify for any of the three categories of citizenship: The Rohingya are not considered to be a national ethnic group as provided by sec. 3 of the 1982 law, and members of the Rohingya population are therefore ineligible for full citizenship. Although the 1982 law is also discriminatory towards the vast majority of the Indian and Chinese population of Myanmar, as the promulgation of this law took place soon after the Rohingyas who fled during 1978 had been repatriated, some observers have suggested that this law was specifically designed effectively to deny Rohingyas the right to a nationality. The 1982 Citizenship law has had the effect of rendering the vast majority of Rohingyas ineligible to be Myanmar citizens. The law also makes no provision in relation to stateless persons. As detailed above, inclusion on a family list is crucial to the Rohingya's ability to prove residency. Many of the Rohingyas whose testimonies were made available to Amnesty International complained that people have been dropped from the family list if they were not present during a population check by the local authorities. Where someone is not present for such a count and their absence is not covered by a travel permit, in many instances the authorities have deleted people from the family list. Amnesty International is concerned that the Burma Citizenship Law of 1982 and the manner in which this law is implemented effectively denies the right to a nationality for members of the Rohingya population. This is clearly not in accordance with international legal standards relating to the reduction of statelessness, and importantly also those in relation to the rights of the child. Furthermore, these laws and practices represent a clear example of discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity given that they clearly make distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences based on ethnic origin with the purpose and/or effect of nullifying or impairing the Rohingya's recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the people of Myanmar.36 Such distinctions are not permissible distinctions relating to nationality, citizenship or naturalization given that they clearly discriminate against a particular ethnic group.

Rohingyas in northern Rakhine State must routinely apply for permission to leave their village, even if it is just to go to another nearby village. This practice does not apply to the Rakhine population in the Rakhine State. Rohingyas' freedom of movement, therefore, is considerably more limited than that of other residents of the Rakhine State. This has had serious repercussions on their livelihood and food security, as they are often unable to seek employment outside their village or trade goods and produce unless they have official permission and obtain a pass which they must pay for. Most Rohingyas cannot afford to pay on a regular basis for these permits. As an estimated half of the Rohingyas are poor day laborers, the restrictions on their movement also greatly affect their ability to find work in other villages or towns. This is especially important in the non-cultivating season, when there may not be enough work in their village. In February 2001 tensions between the Muslim and Buddhist populations of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, erupted in communal violence in which an unknown number of people were killed and Muslim property was destroyed. After that travel restrictions on Rohingyas increased. However Rohingyas are believed to be subjected to the most harsh restrictions and reprisals in Myanmar. Forced labour is still a major burden on the Rohingya population.The confiscation of land in Northern Rakhine State is related to the establishment of "model villages"; the construction or expansion of NaSaKa, military, and police camps; and establishing plantations for the security forces and also for new settlers. More recently, a number of forced evictions have taken place when people were accused of having built houses on land that local authorities claim is officially registered as farmland or rice fields, not residential land.

"Model Villages in Muslim populated area in Arakan"

The SPDC policy of relocating Rakhine Buddhists and other non-Rohingyas to especially established "model villages" in Northern Rakhine State has resulted in the confiscation of land from the Rohingya population. Before 1992 several model villages were built in Rakhine State, mainly in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. After the formation of the NaSaKa in 1992, the building of model villages reportedly intensified. In practice the NaSaKa is responsible for implementing the model village program in Rakhine State.

" The Burmese military authority has recently plans to move 600 Burmese Buddhist families from Burma proper to Buthidaung Township in Arakan to settle in model villages that are currently under construction in the area, reports a source close to the authority. "They are reportedly coming to our township before Burmese new year in April 2010 from Rangoon and other parts of Burma to settle in five model villages. The authority is currently constructing the five model villages in the southern part of Buthidaung," the source said. Five model villages are being constructed on the banks of the Mayu River between Phon Nyo Lake and Ngwe Daung Village in Buthidaung Township. Ngwe Daung Village is located on the western bank of the Mayu River and is close to northern Rathidaung Township about 20 miles north of Sittwe. A villager from the area said, "The authority has constructed 120 houses as well as a primary school and a hospital in each model village. The authority is likely to place 120 families in each model village." Burmese military authorities are now forcibly rounding up Burmese people who are homeless and living in illegal areas in Rangoon and Mandalay to settle in Buthidaung Township. According to a report by the VOA Burmese section, Burmese authorities recently reported that 500 Burmese families living in an illegal area on Mudita Road in North Okkalarpa in the former capital Rangoon will be moved to settle in Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships in Arakan. The authority told the families that if any family did not wish to move to Buthidaung and Maungdaw, the family would need sign a form, the report added. Burmese military authorities have long supported Burmese settlers by providing agricultural land, cattle, and tractors when they arrive at the model villagers. The authority also arranges schools, hospitals, and monasteries for them from government revenue. In northern Arakan State, there are currently over 40 model villages built by the military authority with over 20,000 settlers living in the villages. The military authority constructs the Buddhist model villages in northern Arakan in an effort to adjust the balance of the population between Buddhists and Muslims" ( Narinjara News 2/1/2010).

Rohingyas in northern Rakhine State are subjected to extortion and arbitrary taxation at the hands of the authorities. These vary from tax on collecting firewood and bamboo to fees for the registration of deaths and births in the family lists, on livestock and fruit-bearing trees, and even on football matches. The type of taxes and the amounts people have to pay appear to be applied in an arbitrary fashion and vary from place to place, depending on the local authorities. Since the creation of NaSaKa in 1992, the authorities in Northern Rakhine State have reportedly introduced a regulation that the Rohingya population in Northern Rakhine State are required to ask for permission to get married. This restriction appears to be only enforced on the Muslim population in this area, and not on the Buddhist.

Death News of refugees due to starvation:

Thirteen unregistered Arakanese refugees have died of starvation in Kutuapalong makeshift camp because most were unable to go outside the camp to work for fear of arrest by authorities in Bangladesh, said a refugee from the camp on condition of anonymity. The deaths occurred between January 10 to 15, 2010. The dead were identified as Katiza (50), wife of late Kalu, Md. Toyub, (18), son of Md. Zakaria, Md. Rafique (5), son of Zafar, Kalirur Rahaman (45), son of Fazar Ali, Abdul Monaf (35), son of Ali Ahamed, Rina Akter (3), daughter of Abdur Razaka, Asharaf Meah (50), son of Karim Uddin, Hussain Ahamed (50), son of Abdul Kader, Hamida, Noor Mohamed, Md. Boni Amin Sultan Ahmed (45), son of Bodi Alam, Ahamed Ullah (3), son of Fazal Meah and Md Younus (3), son of Abdu Salam. They all belong to Kutupalong makeshift camp The Arakanese Rohingya refugees died between January 10 to 15, 2010 after arrests of Arakanese Rohingyas started on the border in the beginning of January 2010 by authorities and local people. Among them, Katiza died on February 7. According to sources, the food was insufficient. They could eat one day, but the next two days there was no food. According to our correspondent, many Rohingya refugees are sitting in the camp without any work. They can't go outside the camp to work to support their family for fear of arrest by police, Bangladesh Rifles and local people. In the makeshift camp, nearly 50,000 unregistered refugees are living in a critical condition. Of them, over 50 per cent refugees will starve today, said a refugee committee member from the camp. A committee member Rabiual Alam from Kutupalong makeshift camp said, "I have 12 family members, my wife cooked half a kilogram of rice for my children. That is insufficient but, it will just about save the children's lives." Some refugees go to the mountain to collect firewood to sell it in the refugee camp and cook food. Every refugee has to pay Taka 10 to the villagers who work under the forest department, a refugee said on condition of anonymity. On February 8, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) of Battalion No. 42 arrested 18 Arakanese Rohingyas from different areas like Dum Dum Mea, Saparan and Shapuri Dip under the union of Teknaf. Later, they were pushed back by BDR the same day, said a local from Shapuri Dip. Since January 2010, more and more Arakanese Rohingya refugees have been arrested by authorities and local people and sent to Cox's Bazaar jail, and their family members are facing starvation, said a relative of the victim who is in Cox's Bazaar jail. If the operation against the refugees continues by the Bangladeshi authorities, more refugees in the camps are expected to die of starvation, another camp inmate said. (Kaladan News, Feb.9,2010). UN agencies and NGOs are working to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the Rohingya in Myanmar, even as the government considers changes to their status, the UN says. Officially referred to as Muslims, the Rohingya are de jure stateless in accordance with the laws of Myanmar.

In its draft stage, the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) will for the first time consolidate humanitarian aid efforts for all residents in Northern Rakhine State (NRS), where the Rohingya live. "The humanitarian needs in northern Rakhine State are quite significant, so we need to work together, all the stakeholders," Bhairaja Panday, country representative for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Myanmar, the lead agency in NRS, told IRIN (IRIN News Feb.26.2010)..

Conclusion: The over all sufferings of Rohingyas are summarized above. Rohingyas are victims of religious and racial discrimination in Burma for decades. The Myanmar Junta government denied the citizenship of Rohingyas. Muslim Rohingyas in Arakan have been living there for more than thousand years. Is the period thousand years not enough for the Muslim Rohingyas to be eligible as citizens ? The treatment of Junta towards Rohingyas is against humanity and international human rights Law. The world communities including UN, EU and OIC should come forward to protect the world most oppressed Rohingya people. Bangladesh is most suffering country for refugee influx. But as a neighboring Muslim country, Bangladesh should not ignore the refugees. Rather it should coordinate world communities in order to solving the outstanding political issues of Rohingyas. Otherwise, the refugee flow must be intensified in future. It is quite necessary to observe the situation of refugees those who repatriated earlier, before taking initiative for fresh repatriation or push back. The situation of newly arrived unregistered refugees those who are living in makeshift camps is worst because they are unable to go out side the camps for earning due to fear of arrest and push back for why facing starvation caused suffering from various deceases and untimely death. The refugee concerned authority should take initiative to register them from humanitarian ground. Arrest and push back must not means to stopping refugee influx because Rohingyas in Arakan are not only facing starvation but also they are being persecuted by ruling Junta. So, the international communities including Bangladesh should take stern measures for a permanent solution to Rohingya ethnicity issue.

Eventually, I would like to comment that the Muslim Rohingya refugees should not be treated with hostile attitude in all the countries where they refuge. Rather they should be treated by maintaining humanity and international refugee Law. The Malaysia government is seriously considering now to provide work permit to refugees until they are not settled in third countries. In fact, it is good news for the refugees in Malaysia. The other countries where refugees are sheltered also should follow the policy of Malaysian government.

Source: Weekly Blitz.
Link: http://www.weeklyblitz.net/576/rohingyas-should-not-be-treated-in-hostile-way.

North Africans blog about conflict

by Magda Abu-Fadil
02 March 2010

Beirut - Eighteen North African bloggers gathered in Rabat last week for a workshop on constructive and effective writing about conflict and upgrading their social media skills, despite censorship problems and various technical constraints in the Maghreb region.

The training, organized by the Washington, DC [and Brussels] based non-governmental organization, Search for Common Ground (SFCG), included sessions on the needs and challenges facing bloggers, censorship, blogging and social media as forms of self-expression and activism, the impact of blogs in covering conflicts, the evolution of blogging and online media ethics.

The bloggers and activists from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia put their newly acquired knowledge and ideas to the test, with participant Naoufel Chaara writing that the workshop had surpassed his expectations: "Admittedly, I was wrong. The SFCG training didn't match my pre-set idea about workshops and conferences where we suffer from boring speakers and doze off," he said. "Today, a lot of things will change."

The dynamic nature of the workshop allowed the bloggers to learn, interact, take pictures, shoot video, tweet and post content as they discussed what they can and can't do in their respective countries.

Morocco enjoys relatively more cyber freedom than its neighbors, with Algeria coming in second and Tunisia maintaining a stranglehold on access to social media vehicles.

The blogs themselves range from political and social forums, to more personal agendas, to strongly worded treatises on freedom of expression.

"We created a group on the Web and decided to pursue our discussions on our common woes: chats on the left, chats on the right, exchanges of photos, solidarity with the weak, and we said in unison: 'No to suppression of freedom,' and 'Yes to freedom of expression,'" wrote Chahida Lakhouaja on her blog, adding that the participants were proud to proclaim they were bloggers.

The workshop was launched with gusto by Leena El-Ali, Director of SFCG's Partners in Humanity program that works to positively affect how individuals and groups in the West and Muslim world think and feel about cross-cultural issues.

She briefed the bloggers on the common ground approach of highlighting solutions, rather than just dwelling on problems, as well as providing a voice to all stakeholders.

El-Ali encouraged participants to write for the Common Ground News Service and set guidelines to help pave the way.

According to El-Ali, a common ground article provides constructive and solution-oriented perspectives and concrete steps for collaboration and understanding where possible; seeks areas of common ground or common goals and interests; promotes dialogue and cooperation; emphasizes positive examples of interaction between Western and Muslim cultures; expresses constructive self-criticism; instills hope and optimism in readers that non-adversarial solutions to conflict are possible; highlights positive experiences between individuals that humanize the other and offer hope; and contributes to understanding between Muslim and Western cultures.

Moroccan journalist/blogger Rachid Jankari, director of MIT Media and publisher of www.maroc-it.ma, kept the charged pace going, introducing participants to the latest in cyber offerings and tutoring them on how to master the use of various Web tools.

The bloggers could hardly keep up with his delivery and enthusiasm about the Web's endless possibilities.

Also on hand was Mohamed Daadaoui, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Oklahoma City University, whose Maghreb Blog focuses on politics, economic trends, and news of the Maghreb region. Daadaoui spoke about how blogs have been used in covering upheavals and conflicts. He also focused on how blogging has been a source of problems, and when blogs have helped in promoting solutions.

The following is a list of North African blogs:

almiraatblog.wordpress.com/about
almiraat2.wordpress.com
kamelmansari.maktoobblog.com
kamelmansari.over-blog.com
kamelmansari.blogspot.com
rachid87.maktoobblog.com
chabakamissour.fr.gd
hindapress.canalblog.com
chaara.net
issaad.net
chahida25.maktoobblog.com
emmabenji.canalblog.com
nawel.guellal.over-blog.com
nightclubbeuse.blogspot.com
fatounar.blogspot.com
courantalternatif.blogspot.com
tiznitoi.blogspot.com
www.jankari.org
maghreblog.blogspot.com

Source: Common Ground News.
Link: http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=27381.

Muslims women wage jihad against violence

by Mehnaz M. Afridi

Los Angeles, California - International Women’s Day on 8 March provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the work women are doing to combat gender inequality. Violence and inequality affect women around the world, including women in Muslims societies who, like their non-Muslim counterparts, are engaged on a day-to-day basis to improve their environments for the better.

Traveling back and forth to Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan, I witness the amazing work that women are doing both for human rights and economic growth firsthand. Women are running companies, shelters and businesses, and countering the images of disenfranchised, illiterate and socially deprived Muslim women so pervasive in Western media.

Bushra Aslam, for example, opened an orphanage in Islamabad for young girls after the 2005 Pakistani earthquake. She provides educators, mentors, counselors and interfaith activities for the 45 girls living there. Another inspiring figure is Rukhsana Asghar, the president of Fulcrum, a Pakistan-based human resources consulting company that offers scholarships to train girls from poor families in preparation for jobs.

Little is known in the West about the very positive initiatives taking place across the Muslim world. In Morocco, Egypt and Turkey, for example, women are being trained as religious guides, known as murshidat, to provide spiritual guidance for women and children in those countries.

And movements such as the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), a global social network and grassroots social justice movement, aim to create opportunities for women in the Muslim world. One particular WISE project, Jihad (Struggle) against Violence, aims to end violence toward women to promote women’s advancement both in the Muslim world and beyond.

WISE is based on the idea that “[v]iolence is a human phenomenon that exists across diverse cultures and faith communities. It remains an ever-present reality in the lives of millions of Muslims, preventing entire societies from flourishing in religious, cultural, political and economic spheres. Throughout the world, violence destroys the ability of Muslim women to thrive within their families, communities and nations.”

On 6 February, WISE announced an international day of action against female genital cutting (FGC), a widespread custom across Africa. Since it happens to so many girls regardless of faith, Christian priests and Muslim shaikhs have come together to condemn the practice. To carry their message further, and as part of its ongoing Jihad Against Violence campaign, WISE is collaborating with the Egyptian Association for Society Development (EASD), a non-governmental organization in Giza, to provide religious education against the practice, as well as financial incentives and replacement economic activities for those currently performing FGC.

For example, in 2008, members of the association reached out to Amin Hussein, a barber who regularly committed FGC illegally (Egypt banned FGC in 1996). After receiving educational training demonstrating that FGC is un-Islamic and harmful to women, Hussein agreed to stop the practice and was provided monetary compensation and new tools for his business through this program.

It has been well over a year since Hussein committed FGC and he proudly displays in his shop a declaration from Al-Azhar University that FGC is un-Islamic and forbidden.

WISE also works toward the prevention and elimination of domestic violence, which many in the West falsely believe is more prevalent, or even sanctioned, in Muslim communities, due to stereotypes perpetuated by Hollywood and in Western media.

Some Muslims also mistakenly believe that Islam permits domestic violence. An attitude that is the result of cultural norms, tribal practices and a lack of knowledge of scriptural interpretations empowering women.

WISE is working to raise awareness of domestic violence and offer support to victims of abuse through its members and their organizations. WISE member and psychologist Ambreen Ajaib who works at Bedari, a women’s rights organization in Pakistan, for example, provides psychological counseling to survivors of gender-based violence.

These are the kinds of commitments and transformations that Muslim women have made and continue to make to reduce the gender inequalities that result in FGC and domestic violence. Despite the work of organizations such as WISE to raise awareness of issues that negatively affect women and take real steps to stop it, more such effort is needed: the journey to equality for Muslim women is not yet over.

Source: Common Ground News.
Link: http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=27378.

Iraq: oil deal with Japan failed

Nippon Oil Corp believes talks over Nasiriyah oil development deal are still going despite Shahristani’s comments.

TOKYO - Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has said that talks over a huge oil development deal with a Japanese energy consortium had broken down, a leading Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday.

Baghdad would "promote the development (in the Nasiriyah oil field) centered around an Iraqi state-owned company", he was quoted as saying by the Asahi Shimbun.

The field is expected to produce 600,000 barrels a day, which would equal 10 percent of Japan's crude consumption.

But a spokesman for Nippon Oil Corp, one of three Japanese energy firms in the consortium, said "the company believes the negotiations are still going. We don't understand what the minister really meant by his remarks".

Nippon Oil said in August the talks were "in progress toward an agreement" that would have set a new production volume record for Japanese companies.

Japan, the world's second-largest economy, has few natural resources and is almost entirely dependent on the Middle East for its oil.

Iraq held an oil field auction in December which increased its projected production to 12 million barrels per day within seven years.

During the auction, Baghdad awarded a deal to Malaysia's Petronas and Japan's Japex to develop the Garraf oil field, also in southern Iraq, which has known reserves of 863 million barrels of oil.

The Asahi said the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who faces elections Sunday, has been criticized for granting too many concessions to foreign oil companies and was reluctant to give more deals to foreigners.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37574.

Iraq war takes center stage at Oscars

Three war-themed movies - The Messenger, Avatar, and The Hurt Locker - seek Academy Awards.

HOLLYWOOD - Seven years after Michael Moore protested the invasion of Iraq at the Oscars stage for, three films linked to the conflict are poised to take the top prize at the Academy Awards here Sunday.

With less than a week to go until the Oscars are handed out at the Kodak Theater, Kathryn Bigelow's gritty "The Hurt Locker" is the overwhelming favorite to be crowned best picture.

James Cameron's "Avatar", seen by many as symbolically referring to the Iraq war, is competing for awards.

And "The Messenger", too, is expected to collect an award.

A slew of dramas about the war have been released in recent years, from Robert Redford's earnest 2007 "Lions for Lambs" to Brian De Palma's "Redacted," but most did not do well at the box office.

While "The Hurt Locker" has attracted criticism from some veterans groups for its depiction of a bomb disposal unit -- several have described it as unrealistic, John Wayne-style hokum -- others have applauded it.

Another Iraq film is vying for honors at the Oscars. Woody Harrelson is nominated in the best supporting actor category for his performance in "The Messenger," a low-budget independent film about the work of an army officer whose job is informing next of kin about a bereavement.

A vocal anti-war activist, Harrelson said work on "The Messenger" helped change his attitudes towards the military.

"The former administration of this country would have us associate the warriors with the war. So that when they say 'Support the troops' what they're really saying is 'Support Our War,'" Harrelson says.

"So I always kind of lumped it altogether. It wasn't until I had the opportunity during the shooting of 'The Messenger' to spend a lot of time with people in the army that I started to realize how amazing these people are.

"I was knocked out. But much as I have come to love the warrior I still loathe the war."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37573.

Iraq candidate locked in election limbo over Baath

Iskander Witwit: continuation of de-Baathification process could reverse Iraqi security gains.

HILLA, Iraq - Sitting in his living room, Iskander Witwit opens a dossier with documents he says exonerate him of the charges against him: that he is a supporter of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party.

With just days to go before Iraqis cast their ballots in the March 7 parliamentary poll, the 64-year-old deputy governor of Babil province is still not certain he will be allowed to run.

He feels persecuted and insists he is the victim of a conspiracy.

"I am in pain -- this is a conspiracy against Iraq's patriots," he says while sipping from a glass of tea and smoking a cigarette in his house in Hilla, capital of Babil about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad.

"If I am a Baathist, then everyone is a Baathist."

Witwit's case -- he was originally barred from running for election for alleged links to the Baath, was later reinstated, and may be barred again -- highlights the country's highly controversial "de-Baathification" program.

He was one of 511 election candidates barred from running for office by the Justice and Accountability Committee (JAC), a much-criticized body led by Ahmed Chalabi, who is himself running for parliament on a rival slate to Witwit's Iraqiya list.

Witwit was reinstated -- he holds up a document to prove it -- but the JAC says it has new information about him that could lead to him being barred once again.

According to Witwit, he rose to the rank of staff brigadier when he was forced to retire in 1991 after joining in a failed uprising against Saddam in the wake of that year's Gulf War.

He was never more than a "naseer", or low-level supporter, in the Baath Party, he says although the fact he rose to the rank of staff brigadier is cited by his opponents as indication that he supported the Baath party.

Witwit, a secular Shiite, adds that Saddam's regime accused him of smuggling people into neighboring Iran and of training some of his relatives to assassinate senior Baathists.

A panel of judges had previously said barred candidates could stand on the condition that their cases be examined after the election, with the possibility remaining that they could be eliminated if they were found to be Baathists. This ruling, however, was later reversed.

After the US-led invasion of 2003, Witwit became Babil's governor, but was forced out amid protests from religious figures over his military background. He left in January 2004 to become one of the US Coalition Provisional Authority's security advisers.

He also rejoined the army after the invasion, eventually retiring in 2007 as a brigadier general. In January 2009, he ran in provincial government elections and was voted in as Babil's deputy governor.

His relationship with the current Babil governor is acrimonious, though: Salman Zasser Taha al-Zargani insists he never joined the Baath party, despite himself having risen to director-level posts in north Iraq, and labels Witwit "unprofessional."

Asked whether he thought Witwit was a Baathist, Zargani, a member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law alliance, replies: "As a private citizen, I am sure he is a Baathist. But as a governor, I must deal with official documents.

"We are starting to build a state -- it is like if land is distributed by lottery," he says, dismissing Witwit's concerns about the JAC. "The people granted land will say the process is good, the people who do not get land will say it is bad."

Sunni voters feel their community has been unfairly targeted in the bans, though JAC executive director Ali al-Lami says two-thirds of the candidates barred are Shiite. A boycott was once threatened but quickly ruled out.

Witwit warns that a continuation of the de-Baathification process could reverse Iraqi security gains and spark a repeat of the sectarian bloodshed that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.

"Iraq will become a lake of blood if this goes on," he says. "There will definitely be violence."

For Zargani, however, reconciliation with Baathists is a non-starter.

"Did the French reconcile with the Nazis?" the governor replies, when asked if members of the Baath party should be allowed back into the political process. "Did the Germans accept them?"

"This is the will of the Iraqi people. We will not back off."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37578.

Israel facing European backlash over policies

Irish town snubs Israel envoy in protest, Spanish children write damning letters to embassy.

LONDON - An Irish town council has removed a page in its guestbook signed by the Israeli ambassador after the alleged use of fake Irish passports by Mossad agents to murder a Hamas official in Dubai, the BBC reported Tuesday.

The assassination is widely blamed on Israel's notorious intelligence service Mossad.

Authorities in Carrickmacross, northeast Ireland, voted to remove Zion Evrony's signature to protest Israel's diplomatic record, said the broadcaster.

"I think if a government is responsible for a wholesale disregard for international law then local authorities, as well as our own government, have a responsibility to tell them we expect a higher standard," said local councilor Matt Carthy.

The move drew criticism from Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who said envoys should be treated with "civility and respect."

The decision to get rid of Evrony's signature came after the alleged use of six false Irish passports in the assassination of a Hamas chief in Dubai last month.

Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a founder of the military wing of the democratically elected Palestinian movement Hamas, was found dead in his hotel room on January 20 after being drugged and suffocated, according to police.

As well as the Irish documents, 12 British, four French, three Australian and one German passports were used by 26 named suspects in the hit, according to Dubai police.

Israel has sought to play down the row, saying there is no hard proof of its involvement.

Martin said he understood the "deep concerns" that people in Ireland harbored about some of Israel's policies, but added removing the signature went against the principles governing treatment of foreign diplomats.

"It is a basic principle of relations between states that we treat each other's diplomatic representatives with civility and respect, regardless of any policy differences," he told the BBC.

Israeli officials have refused to confirm or deny reports that its spies were behind the hit, but the country's media see the killing as Mossad's work and the investigation has caused a diplomatic headache for Tel Aviv.

Ireland and other European states whose passports were allegedly faked and used in the hit have called in Israeli envoys to voice their concerns about the affair.

Meanwhile, Israel protested to Spain's ambassador on Sunday about a flood of anti-Israeli letters sent by Spanish primary school children, an Israeli foreign ministry official said.

Naor Gilon, a foreign ministry deputy director general, telephoned the Spanish ambassador, Alvaro Iranzo, to protest at hundreds of letters sent to the Israeli embassy in Madrid by children aged between five and 10, he said.

"In these letters, the children ask our ambassador for example, 'How may Palestinian children have you killed today?', the official said.

"Spain's ambassador replied the Spanish education ministry has nothing to do with the sending of childrens' letters," he said, stressing however that the initiative was within the scope of the public school system in Spain.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37576.

Iran atomic head: new IAEA chief biased

China says still room for Iran nuclear talks, Russia rejects sanctions that target Iran civilians.

TEHRAN - Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi Tuesday accused the new head of the UN atomic watchdog of bias and said he hoped the Japanese official would change his approach towards Tehran's atomic program.

"We expected Mr (Yukiya) Amano to examine and adopt a position about the nuclear issue in an unbiased way, but unfortunately and in contradiction with what he had said before, we did not see an unbiased position," Salehi said when asked to react to Amano remarks at the UN atomic body meeting on Monday.

"We hope that he will change his approach."

Amano, who took over as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on December 1, said in an address to the agency's board in Vienna that Iran is still not giving sufficient information on its nuclear activities.

"We cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation," Amano said.

He later clarified at a press conference that Tehran was cooperating, "but there are areas where we don't have cooperation and (where) we need cooperation."

Around two weeks before the meeting, Amano had circulated a report to IAEA member states regarding Iran's atomic program which was seen as using tougher language than his predecessor Mohamed ElBaradei.

In the report Amano expressed concern that Tehran may be working on a nuclear warhead.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had responded to the report by accusing the IAEA of lacking independence and being "influenced by the United States."

The United States said Monday Iran needed to start answering questions, rather than criticize the agency.

But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday it could take months for new UN sanctions against Iran.

The chief US diplomat appeared to back away from her contention before the US Senate last week that a new resolution could be obtained in the "next 30 to 60 days."

"We are moving expeditiously and thoroughly in the Security Council. I can't give you an exact date, but I would assume sometime in the next several months," she said.

China on Tuesday called for more talks to resolve the Iranian nuclear standoff.

"We call for a resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. We believe there is still room for diplomatic efforts," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters when asked about Medvedev's statement.

"We believe parties concerned should step up diplomatic efforts and push for progress in dialogue and negotiations to properly resolve the Iranian nuclear issue."

China is one of five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council. The others -- Britain, France, Russia and the United States -- as well as Germany are involved in talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

Russia also has been hesitant to sign on to a new UN sanctions regime, but on Monday in Paris after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Medvedev said that while sanctions were a last resort, he was open to the idea.

"Russia is ready, together with our other partners, to consider introducing sanctions" if there is no breakthrough in the negotiations, he told a news conference.

"These sanctions should be calibrated and smart. These sanctions should not target the civilian population," the Russian leader said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37572.

Jerusalem Mayor postpones building plan after Netanyahu plea - Summary

Jerusalem - The mayor of Jerusalem on Tuesday postponed plans to demolish a number of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem following a rare last-minute intervention by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mayor Nir Barkat put off implementing the plan to demolish the houses -and give retroactive building permits to others - in order to build an archaeological park.

Barkat's scheme would reportedly see 22 of the 88 homes built without permits in Silwan, in East Jerusalem, demolished, and their residents rehoused in new buildings. The remaining homes would be retroactively legalized.

The area earmarked for the plan, known in Arabic as al-Bustan (the Garden) and in Hebrew as Gan Hamelekh (King's Garden), is believed by some to be the spot where King Solomon wrote the "Song of Solomon" 3,000 years ago.

Barkat hopes to turn the area into a tourist attraction by building a commercial zone, art galleries and restaurants.

But according to a statement from Netanyahu's office, the premier contacted Barkat and asked him "to allocate more time to attempts to reach an understanding with Silwan residents."

The residents of the neighborhood, located adjacent to, and south of, Jerusalem's Old City, had reacted angrily to the plan, with their spokesman saying the scheme was a pretext to drive Palestinians away, and warning of violence if it went ahead.

"This is a political decision. It has nothing to do with just building a biblical park. They want us out of Silwan and Jerusalem for political reasons," Fakhri Abu Diab said.

"They cannot come now and say we should leave because they want to take our homes and build a park in their place," he told the German Press Agency dpa.

"This will not happen. We will never leave. If they insist on this, I believe there will be trouble and it could get violent," he warned.

In his request to Barkat, Netanyahu noted that while he had no intention of intervening in municipal affairs, "there are elements which are interested in sowing strife and discord and in presenting a distorted picture to the country and the world."

Barkat told a news conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday that he intended bringing the plans to local and regional committees for discussion.

"We have no intention of stopping the public discussions with the residents; we want to integrate new ideas into the plan," he said.

There are currently 88 buildings in Silwan built without permits. Some 22 of them would be relocated from the western section of the neighborhood to the eastern, where the evacuated residents will receive permission to build up to four stories. Other homes built without permits will be retroactively legalized.

"Those living in the area today now live in inhumane conditions ... the place was not planned to be a residential area," Barkat said.

"To continue with demolitions is not as good as the new plan that we are proposing," he maintained.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War, and incorporated it into the municipal boundaries of West Jerusalem.

In 1980 the Israeli government formally declared East Jerusalem to be a part of its "eternal and undivided" capital, a decision rejected by Palestinians, who see it instead as the capital of their future state.

Netanyahu has generally kept aloof and not interfered in decisions regarding construction in East Jerusalem.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312138,jerusalem-mayor-postpones-building-plan-after-netanyahu-plea--summary.html.

EU tells Balkan countries not to abuse of new-found visa freedom

Brussels - Balkan countries that recently won visa-free access to the European Union's Schengen area should tell their citizens not to abuse the system, the European Commission said Tuesday after Belgium reported an influx of asylum seekers. Last week Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme complained of a "sudden immigration flow" from Serbia and Macedonia, two nations which, along with Montenegro, saw their Schengen visas abolished on December 19.

According to Belgian media, just under 300 Serbians and Macedonians, mainly of Albanian ethnic descent, filed asylum requests claiming they were fleeing from persecution.

Reacting to the news, commission spokesman Michele Cercone said "the vast majority of these asylum applications are made out on economic interests and have really little chance of success."

He went on urging "countries that recently benefited from visa liberalization (...) to make the necessary efforts to avoid that their citizens misunderstand or misuse the freedom to travel to the EU without a visa".

"This freedom comes with a responsibility and it is fundamental not to abuse the clear rules that have been mutually agreed," Cercone concluded.

The visa-free system allows Serbians, Macedonians and Montenegrins to visit Schengen countries for up to three months, while recognized asylum seekers can stay on indefinitely and are entitled to receive a living allowance from their host country.

The European Commission is set to decide this year whether Albania and Bosnia-Erzegovina also deserve to be included in the visa-free regime, along with other Balkan countries.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312141,eu-tells-balkan-countries-not-to-abuse-of-new-found-visa-freedom.html.

UN: Chile in charge of quake relief, no appeal yet for aid

New York - The Chilean government of outgoing President Michelle Bachelet is firmly in charge of relief operations following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and has not requested additional help, a UN official said Tuesday. UN officials said for the second time in two days that specific requests were made by Santiago, but there were no moves for a flash appeal for donations and funds. The specific items needed by Chile include mobile bridges, satellite phones, portable electrical generators, field hospitals, water and sanitation facilities.

On Tuesday, UN assistant secretary general Catherine Bragg said the UN has not received any request for food aid.

"The Chilean government is in the driver's seat," Bragg said. "At this point, the government is on top of the situation, they are handling the situation well. It's a strong government with strong institutions."

On Monday, Alicia Barcena, the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) also praised Bachelet for her leadership in handling the relief operation in Concepcion, and areas worst hit by the massive quake that struck on Saturday.

"We see no reasons to mobilize other resources" in addition to the specific requests made by Santiago, Bragg said.

Bragg said the death toll in Chile stood at 723 on Tuesday. ECLAC still could not account for 19 of its staff. ECLAC has a staff of 900 workers and 1,600 family members, but the organization suffered no deaths or injuries from the earthquake.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Tuesday asked for 6.4 million dollars to support the Chilean Red Cross Society (CRCS) to assist 15,000 affected families.

The Red Cross said the funds will go to purchase relief goods, tents, tarpaulins, a field hospital, generators, water and sanitation equipment for the next six months.

Santiago said at least 1.5 million people are affected by the earthquake.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312156,un-chile-in-charge-of-quake-relief-no-appeal-yet.html.

Egypt: Israeli moves on disputed tombs 'threat to peace'

Cairo (Earth Times) - Israel's move to add two ancient tombs in the West Bank to its list of national heritage sites is a "threat to peace," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said Tuesday. Israel's decision last week to add the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the West Bank city of Hebron, and the Tomb of Rachel, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, has met with a storm of regional protests.

"Egypt and Turkey do not recognize any Israeli actions in the tomb of Abraham or the al-Aqsa mosque," Abul-Gheit said in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, in Cairo.

"Israeli actions in Jerusalem, and its adding of the Haram al- Ibrahimi to the Israeli heritage list are a threat to peace," he said.

Tradition has it that the patriarch Abraham, revered by Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, is buried at the site in Hebron. A mosque stands at the site, known in Arabic as the Haram al-Ibrahimi.

Muslims know the site reputed to be the burial site of Rachel, wife of the biblical patriarch Jacob, as the Bilal mosque.

Davutoglu said that his country would follow the issue of the holy sites in the West Bank closely, out of a concern for maintaining peace in the Middle East.

Earlier on Tuesday, Davutoglu had met with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt and Turkey are the largest of the countries in the region that have diplomatic ties with Israel.

Iraqi archbishop urges Christians not to flee the country

Kirkuk, Iraq - An Iraqi archbishop Tuesday urged the country's Christians not to give in to pressure by migrating, after a series of fatal attacks in the northern city of Mosul targeted them. Louis Sako, of Kirkuk's Chaldean church, said that there were "internal and external parties behind the attacks against Christians in Mosul, who want to empty Iraq."

"Some 20 Christian families have fled Mosul to Kirkuk as a result of the continuous attacks in the city, besides 3,000 university students who cannot go to their college for fear of being targeted," the archbishop told the German Press Agency dpa.

At least nine Christians have been murdered in Mosul since February 14, and at least 13 have been killed since January.

Sako said that the easiest thing Christians could do was leave Iraq and find themselves a place abroad, "in a way that ensures our lives, future and security.

"But we cannot live isolated from the rest of Iraqis, because we are from Iraq and we want to build our country along with the Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Muslims," he added.

The Archbishop described the attacks that took place in Mosul as "ugly and organized."

He also said that the attacks, which took place in the build up to the parliamentary elections due on March 7, were an attack on "the national partnership and an insult to religious values."

Sako called on the Iraqi government and the major parties in Mosul to ensure the protection of its citizens, especially Christians who were frequently targeted.

"Everyone should work on investigations as emptying Iraq of Christians will lead the country to more division and extremism," he added.

Christian politicians from Mosul see in the recent violence a repeat of the attacks that preceded the January 2009 provincial polls, when some 450 Christian families fled the city after at least 35 members of the minority community were killed.

Mosul and its environs are among the most ethnically and religiously diverse - and dangerous - regions of Iraq. Iraqi and US officials describe the city as al-Qaeda's last urban stronghold in the country.

Tensions have been high in the province since an Arab nationalist party won last year's provincial polls on a platform of taking back control of the government and security services from Kurdish parties and allied militias.

Politicians and community leaders last month accused the provincial government, Baghdad, Kurdish parties and allied peshmerga militias that share responsibility for policing the area, of not doing enough to protect the region's Christians from what they called "political" crimes.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312041,iraqi-archbishop-urges-christians-not-to-flee-the-country.html.

Finnish transport workers to strike

Helsinki - Finnish bus commuters face disrupted services starting Tuesday evening when members of the Transport Workers' Union (AKT) go on strike following failed wage mediation efforts. The industrial action affects two-thirds of regional bus links and a similar portion of the bus services in the capital, Helsinki, operated by private transport companies.

Other areas impacted by the strike include fuel transports - including to petrol stations and airlines - as well as garbage collection, and in a few days supermarkets expect fruit and dairy products to be in short supply.

Some 12,000 members of the AKT union were to join the strike.

Bus services operated by municipalities were not to be affected.

In the Helsinki area, the metro, trams and commuter trains were also not impacted.

Taxi companies said they planned to mobilize all available drivers and advised potential customers to telephone taxi stands or pre-book rides.

The Employers' Federation of Road Transport (ALT) has said the union's wage demands were too high, while the AKT union rejected the national conciliator's bid.

The employers' said the bid would give wage increases of 2 to 3 per cent during a two-year period while the transport workers' union said the rise was some 0.30 per cent in the first year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312040,finnish-transport-workers-to-strike.html.

Syria's al-Assad: Iraqi polls 'key' to bettering Iraqi-Syrian ties

Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday said Iraq's parliamentary elections were "key" to restoring "harmony" in ties between the neighbors. He made the comments after meeting Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al- Hashimi. The comments also come as Iraqi relations with its neighbors become a campaign issue ahead of the March 7 parliamentary vote.

The Syrian president said he hoped "that the upcoming elections would be key to a thorough restoration of Iraq's security and the return of harmony between its peoples."

Syria wants "the best relations with Iraq," al-Assad said in a statement released by his office. "(Syria) supports Iraq's people, its security, stability, and territorial integrity."

The Iraqi vice-president is scheduled to meet representatives of Syria's 800,000-strong Iraqi population later on Tuesday.

Al-Hashimi, a Sunni Muslim, last year threatened to boycott the law covering the polls if expatriate Iraqis, most of whom are thought to be Sunnis, were not guaranteed a larger share of seats in the new parliament.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's political rival, former prime minister Ayad Allawi, is expected in Syria on Thursday, according to Syrian media reports.

The former prime minister last week defended his recent tour of Arab states against criticism from members of al-Maliki's State of Law coalition, who accused Allawi of seeking funds for his election campaign.

"Some of those in power wanted to make a fuss over my trip to Arab countries," Allawi said, calling suggestions the trip was related to the elections the product of "deluded minds."

"These deluded (people) want to isolate Iraq from its Arab surroundings," Allawi said.

Al-Hashimi, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and Shiite Iraqi Vice- President Adil Abdel-Mahdi all publicly rebuked al-Maliki after the prime minister accused Syria of not doing enough to stop Iraqi Baathists in Syria from plotting August bombings in central Baghdad that killed more some 100 people and injured more than 500.

Syria and Iraq each withdrew their ambassadors to the other as al- Maliki's government called for a UN investigation into Syrian links to the explosions.

By contrast, al-Maliki on Sunday said Iraq's relationship with Syria was "heading for the better."

"As the atmosphere improves, there is less need to talk about international courts. There are more shared interests to bring the two countries closer than there are reasons for souring the relationship," he said.

"We welcome a return of good relations between all Arab and Islamic countries and the efforts in that direction since stability has been achieved," al-Maliki said Sunday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312060,syrias-al-assad-iraqi-polls-key-to-bettering-iraqi-syrian-ties.html.

Turkish general and prosecutor charged in anti-government plot

Istanbul - A four-star Turkish general and a prosecutor have been charged with involvement in an alleged plot to discredit the Turkish government and a powerful Islamic movement considered close to it, local media reported Tuesday. The indictment, submitted to a court in the eastern city of Erzincan, charges a dozen others, including military and intelligence personnel, with being part of the plan.

The investigation is connected with an ongoing trial into another alleged coup plot, known as "Ergenekon."

The indictment comes in the wake of last week's arrest of nearly 50 active and retired military officers in connection with a separate alleged effort - codenamed Sledgehammer - to undermine Turkey's liberal Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in 2003.

The indictment claims General Saldiray Berk and Erzincan's chief prosecutor Ilhan Cihaner are linked to the Ergenekon plot and charges them with being members of a "terrorist organization," according to the state-run Anatolia Agency.

The indictment claims Berk and Cihaner were part of a group that planned to plant weapons and other incriminating evidence in student houses run by the Fethullah Gulen movement, a Turkish Islamic group considered to have close ties to the AKP.

A document leaked last June, allegedly written by a Turkish naval officer, suggested targeting the Gulen movement as one of the ways of discrediting the AKP. The military initially denied the document originated from within its ranks, but recently said it may in fact be genuine.

The arrest of Cihaner has led to increased tension between Turkey's judiciary and the government and to charges that the AKP is interfering with the judiciary's independence.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312064,turkish-general-and-prosecutor-charged-in-anti-government-plot.html.

Venezuela rejects accusations of Spanish judge as 'unacceptable'

Caracas - Venezuela rejected as "unacceptable" the accusations of a Spanish judge who said there was evidence of Venezuela cooperating with an alliance of the militant Basque separatist group ETA and leftist Colombian rebels. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Monday in which it denounced that the charges formulated by National Court judge Eloy Velasco had "a political nature and motivation" to target the government of left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The judge had said there was evidence of "Venezuelan government cooperation with the illicit collaboration between FARC and ETA."

The statement from Venezuelan authorities slammed the judge for his references to a Spanish citizen who has lived in Venezuela since May 1989, as part of a deal between Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez (1974-79, 1989-93) and Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez (1982-96).

"It is surprising that nowhere is the name of the authors of this deal mentioned, while the judge takes the trouble to refer time and again and in a disrespectful way to the president of Venezuelans, Hugo Chavez, making references that are as partial as they are unfounded about the (Venezuelan) government," the text complained.

The statement said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro had spoken to Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos to discuss the issue.

Speaking in Hanover, Germany, earlier on Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had said that Moratinos had requested an "explanation" from the Venezuelan government.

National Court judge Velasco charged seven suspected members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and six ETA suspects with planning to stage attacks against high-ranking Colombian politicians, including President Alvaro Uribe and his predecessor Andres Pastrana, while they were in Spain.

In his document, however, the judge did not link Caracas directly with the plot to kill Uribe.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312066,venezuela-rejects-accusations-of-spanish-judge-as-unacceptable.html.

Indonesian police arrest 25 Afghan migrants

Jakarta - Police on Indonesia's Sumatra island have arrested 25 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, an immigration official said Tuesday. The migrants were arrested on Saturday at the Bakauheni port in Lampung province, local immigration official Eddy Haryadi said.

"They are seeking refugee status with the UNHCR," he said, referring to the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees.

Undocumented migrants mostly from the Middle East, South and Central Asia seeking better lives in Australia have for years used Indonesia as a transit country.

About 1,500 foreign asylum seekers are being held in Indonesian immigration detention centers pending the verification of their refugee status and placement in third countries.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312068,indonesian-police-arrest-25-afghan-migrants.html.

ElBaradei's coalition outlines seven demands for Egyptian reform

Cairo (Earth Times) - A coalition of Egyptian opposition groups formed around ex-UN nuclear agency head Mohammed ElBaradei has laid out seven demands for political reform, widely published in independent Egyptian newspapers Tuesday. The statement was the former International Atomic Energy Agency head's first on behalf of the opposition coalition since his dramatic return to Egypt late last month.

"The coalition's main goal is to work towards a political system built on democracy and social justice," ElBaradei said in the statement.

"The first step towards this goal is to provide basic assurance for free and fair elections for all Egyptians," he said.

Some 30 leading opposition figures met last week at ElBaradei's house on the outskirts of Cairo to form a group called the National Association for Change.

In the coalition's first formal statement, it called for the imposition of a two-term limit for presidents, and provision of "the right to nomination with no obstacles, in accordance with the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights."

Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak has been in power for nearly 30 years, and has vowed to continue serving until his "last breath."

Amendments to Article 76 of the Egyptian constitution passed in 2007 require presidential candidates to have been a member of a legal party's senior leadership for at least a year, or to secure the nomination of 250 local and national elected officials.

ElBaradei has held no senior position in a party. The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has an overwhelming majority in Egypt's elected institutions, making it difficult for an independent to stand for the presidency without the NDP's blessing.

The coalition further called for an end to Egypt's Emergency Law, which has been in place without interruption since 1981. The law allows for indefinite detention and for the trial of civilians before military courts.

It also called for full judicial supervision of elections, in concert with Egyptian and international monitors.

Amendments to Article 88 of the constitution passed in 2007 removed judicial supervision of elections in favor of supervision by "an independent electoral commission" that would include some judges.

Senior Egyptian judges initially refused to certify the 2005 presidential elections, Egypt's first with more than one candidate, citing reports of irregularities.

The coalition further called for all candidates to have sufficient access to the media in the presidential election campaign, for Egyptians abroad to be allowed to vote through consulates, and the use of identification-card numbers in balloting to discourage fraud.

ElBaradei said that he recognized that the demands would require amendments to the constitution, and called for the changes to be made "as soon as possible."

Arrest of former Bosnia president causes uproar

Sarajevo/Belgrade - The arrest of former president of Bosnia-Herzegovina Ejup Ganic for alleged war crimes has caused an uproar in Bosnia, with one party describing it as an attack on the country and calling for legal action against top Serbian leaders. Ganic was arrested on Monday evening at London's Heathrow airport for alleged war crimes on an extradition warrant issued by the Serbian government.

Serbia is accusing him of the murder of 42 soldiers during an attack on a Yugoslav Army convoy in Sarajevo at the beginning of the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

While Ganic denies all allegations, politicians in Bosnia say Serbia is retaliating for the war crimes prosecution of Serbs, and they have called for arrest warrants to be issued for all Serb leaders from the 1992-95 period.

The arrest of Ganic came the same day as the resumption in The Hague of the war crimes trial of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who faces 11 charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The founding member of the Serbian Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina is alleged to have orchestrated the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 massacre in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serb forces are thought to have killed close to 8,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys.

"This arrest is an attack on Bosnia and every man living in it," the Social Democratic Party, Bosnia's biggest opposition party, said in a statement on Ganic's arrest.

"It is time for Bosnian institutions to stand up and defend its citizens ... We are asking Bosnian prosecutors to launch investigations against Serbia's top political and army officials in the period 1992-95," the party said.

While Serbia says Ganic ordered an attack at the retreating Yugoslav Army convoy in May 1992 which led to the death of 42 people and the wounding of 70, Muslims say Serbs were the aggressors and they were acting in self-defense.

The Bosnian war, in which Serbs, Muslims and Croats fought among themselves, ended with the partition of Bosnia two two entities - the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation.

Serbian Justice Minister Snezana Malovic told local media that Belgrade will provide the additional documents needed for Ganic's extradition on Tuesday.

While Ganic's son said that his family would seek the former president's release on bail, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic told local media that the motion for bail had been dismissed and that Ganic would remain in custody until March 29.

This is not the first arrest of Ganic. He was arrested at Heathrow airport in 2006 but was released shortly afterward.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312072,arrest-of-former-bosnia-president-causes-uproar.html.

China defends ban of author's trip to German literature festival

Beijing - China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday defended its refusal to allow author Liao Yiwu to travel to German for the Cologne literature festival, saying it was only applying national law. Asked why the ministry rejected Liao's application, spokesman Qin Gang said, "Chinese relevant departments censor the Chinese citizens' applications of entering and leaving the territory according to the exit and entry laws of the People's Republic of China."

The comments came one day after German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle criticized the refusal to let Liao travel. Chinese authorities gave no further explanation for the decision.

Qin stressed that Chinese citizens enjoyed freedom to travel.

"We hope that relevant countries respect China's acting according to its laws," he said.

Liao was on his way to the festival, set to run from March 10 to 20, when he was removed from the plane before takeoff in the south-western town of Chengdu on Monday. He is reportedly under house arrest.

Last autumn, he was refused permission to travel to the Frankfurt book fair, at which China was guest of honor.

His book The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China From the Bottom Up was published in the West last year after being banned in China. He wrote it from interviews with toilet cleaners, prostitutes, older monks, political prisoners and street artists.

The writer was imprisoned for four years beginning in 1990 after he published the poem Massacre in 1989 about the bloody crackdown that year on pro-democracy demonstrations, which were centered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Since then, Liao has been on a blacklist and not allowed to publish in China.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312074,china-defends-ban-of-authors-trip-to-german-literature-festival.html.