Hariri: Israel not after peace with Arabs

Lebanon calls on world nations to form a united front to pressure the Israeli regime into heeding the international community's will regarding the issue of Palestine.

Speaking at an economic forum in Spain, visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri criticized Israel for not having "authentic interest" in reaching a "wide-ranging and fair" peace arrangement with the Arab world.

The Lebanese leader urged the international community to pressure Israel with measures such as "cutting off some aid" to the Tel Aviv regime.

Hariri made the call one day after he accused Israel of igniting wars to hold up the long-stalled peace process and warned about the catastrophic consequences of a failure in the Palestinian negotiations, "bigger than the region can handle."

"Israel has to be told that 'you can start all the wars you want in the Middle East but in the end there can only be a political solution,'" Hariri said on the first day of his visit to Madrid on Thursday, stressing a political solution was the only way to make progress in the region.

The remarks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told close aides on Wednesday that the Tel Aviv regime would not accept a peace agreement forced on it by external forces. The hawkish premier also ruled out any agreement that did not allow Israel to retain its military presence along the border with Jordan.

Israel is generally viewed as an archenemy in Lebanon, the south of which was under Israeli occupation for more than two decades until Israeli troops withdrew from the area in 2000.

Beirut has been complaining to the international community against the constant violation of the Lebanese airspace by Israeli fighter jets and the regime's nonstop threats of a new war against the nation.

Tel Aviv launched a military offensive on Lebanon in 2006, but was faced with strong resistance from Hezbollah. The 33-day war aimed at crushing the Resistance movement failed to achieve its objective and Israel was forced to pull out from the country under UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122871§ionid=351020203.

North Korea denounces new Obama nuclear strategy

By SANGWON YOON, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea denounced President Barack Obama's new nuclear stance as "hostile" and vowed to continue expanding its atomic arsenal Friday as the country's rubber-stamp parliament held an annual session focused on rescuing and revitalizing the tattered economy.

Obama pledged Tuesday to resist using nuclear weapons against nations that comply with international nonproliferation standards — exempting North Korea and Iran from the new policy.

Miffed by Obama's move, North Korea accused his government of being no better than the Bush administration, "hell-bent on posing a nuclear threat" to North Korea, and said it would not give up its atomic weapons.

"As long as the U.S. nuclear threat persists, (North Korea) will increase and update various type nuclear weapons as its deterrent in such a manner as it deems necessary in the days ahead," the official Korean Central News Agency quoted an unidentified Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying Friday.

Washington and other regional powers have been trying to coax North Korea back to disarmament talks it walked out of last year.

North Korea had shown a willingness in recent months to return to the negotiations, but the ministry said Obama's new policy "chilled the hard-won atmosphere for the resumption of the talks."

North Korea cites a U.S. threat as a main reason behind its drive to build nuclear weapons. The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea to guard against the North. The two Koreas remain locked in an official state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.

Meanwhile, North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly held its annual rubber-stamp session to approve bills vetted by the ruling communist Workers' Party.

Last year's gathering marked leader Kim Jong Il's triumphant return to the public eye after months out of sight amid rumors he had suffered a stroke in 2008, but there was no sign Friday of Kim — who has skipped legislative sessions in the past — in reports issued by KCNA.

State TV did not show any footage from the session presided over by North Korea's premier, and Kim's name was not in a list of key participants mentioned in the report.

Legislators discussed plans for economic development, the state budget, constitutional revisions and personnel appointments, it said. The most important item on the agenda involved "stepping up the technological upgrading and modernizing of the national economy," KCNA said.

Late last year, the North redenominated its currency as part of efforts to lower inflation and reassert control over the nascent market economy. But the move reportedly worsened the country's food situation as markets closed and many North Koreans were angered by being left with piles of worthless bills.

The session took place amid speculation that Kim would promote officials to help solidify a plan to hand over power to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.

There are persistent questions about the health of the autocratic 68-year-old leader, who appears to be undergoing kidney dialysis every two weeks, according to Nam Sung-wook, head of the security think tank affiliated with South Korea's top spy agency. Kim also is believed to have chronic heart disease and diabetes.

Students frolicked at "dancing parties" held Friday in the capital and across the country in honor of the 17th anniversary of Kim's selection as the nation's leader, KCNA said.

"Youth and students merrily danced to the tune of 'Glory to General,' 'Confetti of Best Wishes' in the dancing places in Pyongyang including the plazas of the Party Founding Memorial Tower, the April 25 House of Culture and the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium," the report said.

Rohingya minority given ID cards

By AYE NAI

Identity cards are being issued to Burma’s Rohingya minority in the west of the country in a move likely aimed at securing votes prior to elections.

But the government’s decision to categorize the Rohingya as “Burmese Muslims”, and not Rohingya has inflamed locals in Arakan state who claim it will only heighten racial tension.

“They are doing this to make sure that they get votes for 2010,” said a local in Arakan state. “It is rather thought provoking that they are giving the ‘Burmese Muslim’ [status] in this election as they had never thought of doing this in the past. This could cause racial problems in the future.”

He added that the issuance appeared “not in accordance with immigration rules and regulations” – Arakan citizens had never before been given identity cards.

A member of staff at the Arakan state immigration office however denied that the cards have been issued, but said that the office head had gone to the capital Naypyidaw for a meeting, although didn’t elaborate on what was being discussed.

Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan Project, said that a Rohingya representative had also traveled to Naypyidaw in the past week to discuss the ID card issue.

She added that there had been “promises by ministers when they visited Arakan state last month that [the Rohingya] will soon get a full citizenship card”. Many already hold temporary cards.

“Because of the referendum the authorities are keen to give them temporary ID cards – the elections laws stipulate that temporary cardholders can vote,” she said.

“The majority of Rohingya in Rangoon have full citizenship and the government is choosing [Rohingya] businessmen with close ties to the ruling junta to go to Arakan state and give donations to the people,” she continued. “It seems that these people will stand as candidates for the government, in the [junta proxy Union Solidarity and Development Association] for example, in the elections.”

A native Arakan said that the practice also occurred during the rule of the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL), the main political party in Burma between 1945 and 1962, when authorities promised foreign residents national identity cards to secure their votes.

“Successive military governments tended to make profits from illegal residents or ‘guests’ – nationals, foreigners, Chinese and Indians during the elections,” he said.

The issuing of identity cards to the Rohingya came after UN rapporteur to Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said in his report to the UN that the Burmese government has been persecuting Muslims.

Up to 400,000 Rohingya are living in dire conditions across the border in Bangladesh, having fled persecution in Burma. Only 23,000 of these however have been granted refugee status by the UN, while the majority live in makeshift refugee camps.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma.
Link: http://www.dvb.no/elections/rohingya-minority-given-id-cards/8592.

Iran cleric: US attack will provoke global retribution

A senior Iranian cleric on Friday warned the US of being dragged into a global "quagmire" in the event of committing any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic.

"If the United States decides to go ahead with a crazy act ... the friends of the Islamic Revolution will endanger America's interests [around the globe]," Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a prominent member of the Assembly of Experts, said during a Friday Prayers sermon at Tehran University.

"The Americans will be trapped in a quagmire they will not be able to get out of," he added.

The remarks came after President Barack Obama unveiled a new nuclear policy in which the White House reserves the right to use atomic bombs against Iran and North Korea.

The US accuses Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of seeking to develop the capacity to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran, however, says its program is designed to develop the civilian applications of the technology.

Ayatollah Khatami said Iran's rejection of nuclear weapons is not out of Western threats but out of respect for religious sanctities.

Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader said the Islamic Republic will never seek nuclear arms as weapons of mass destruction are forbidden by Islam.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122857§ionid=351020101.

Iran says new generation of centrifuges tested

Iran said on Friday that it has designed and tested the country's third generation of domestically-built centrifuges as the nation celebrated its nuclear energy achievements.

The new centrifuges, each 200 millimeters in diameter, are ten times as powerful as the ones operating in the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the annual national nuclear day.

Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says its nuclear program is for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The West, however, alleges the program is aimed at developing the capacity to build atomic bombs.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122856§ionid=351020104.

Amsterdam vows more security for Iran embassy

The Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands has expressed regret over entrance of unknown violent people to Iran's embassy in The Hague.

"The Dutch Foreign Ministry apologized to Iran's Ambassador Kazem Gharib-Abadi for the entrance of unknown violent people to the embassy of the Islamic Republic," a spokesman to the Dutch Foreign Ministry told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Thursday.

The ministry expressed readiness to compensate any loss.

It pledged to carry out legal commitments and hand over the violators to the court.

On Tuesday, a number of unknown people entered the courtyard of the Iran's embassy in The Hague in the presence of the police.

"According to international regulations, the host government is responsible for providing security to diplomatic representatives," said the Iranian embassy.

"The Dutch government should act in line with its international obligations and adopt necessary measures. It should also give a report about the outcome of its move at the earliest," it added.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122853§ionid=351020101.

Iran says US nukes endanger intl. community

Tehran says the controversial declaration by the Obama administration, which gives Washington the green light to use nuclear weapons against certain countries, is a step in the wrong direction.

Earlier in the week, US President Barack Obama unveiled the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), a 22,000-word policy document under which the United States promises not to use nuclear weapons against states that do not possess nuclear warhead, but excludes Iran.

The NPR has provoked a tidal wave of criticism and condemnation in Iran, which has been a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1968, and yet was excluded from the list of non-atomic states that the use of US nukes is banned against.

In a statement released on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Washington as the possessor of "one of the largest atomic arsenals in the world has put the international community at danger. Moreover, threatening other state with these weapons has escalated insecurity in the international community."

“The United States is the first country to use these weapons and has perished hundreds of thousands of live in Hiroshima and Nagasaki [during the final days of World War II]," said the statement.

The Iranian foreign minister called on the US to set a deadline for a complete nuclear disarmament.

Mottaki further added that the bedrock of Washington's new nuclear policy, which allows the application of nukes in some cases, is clearly an extension to the doctrines of the previous administrations and in fact defies US disarmament commitments under article VI of the NPT.

"Reassurances that the US will not use its nuclear weapons [against some countries] are not enough for states that have been repeatedly subjected to double standards and the deceitful policies of US officials," said the Iranian foreign minister in the statement.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122854§ionid=351020101.

Gaza in blackout as Israeli blockade continues

The only power plant in the blockaded Gaza Strip has shut down as a crippling Israeli closure keeps the impoverished region stripped of much needed fuel.

The facility was forces to close on Friday, following a week of limited fuel imports and Israeli authorities' refusal to open any border-crossings.

Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh confirmed the closure of all crossings and that they were expected to remain closed for Saturday as well.

That would mean the populated enclave will dip in a blackout for the next three days until fuel supplies are allowed and transported to the power plant.

Vice President of the Palestinian Energy Authority Kanaan Ubeid said all of the four generators at the facility had ceased to function as fuel supplies had reduced from 2,200 units per day to 750 units. "This is not enough to run even one generator on," Ubeid said.

Gaza's sole power plant has been grappled with fuel shortages since December, when European officials handed over responsibility for fuel transfers to the Palestinian Authority upon a request by Ramallah that the aid from the European Union be channeled into civil servant salaries.

Ubeid blamed the transfer and corresponding closure of the main fuel transfer terminal at Nahal Oz for the shortages, saying imports have fallen by half ever since.

The Gaza Strip has been under a paralyzing Israeli siege since 2007 when the democratically elected Hamas-led Palestinian government had to limit its rule to the coastal sliver, while the Western-backed Fatah mounted its own government in the West Bank.

Israel maintained the blockade during and after its devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip which left more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed and thousands of others injured.

Three weeks of relentless aerial bombardments and ground incursions devastated much of the region's infrastructure and leveled scores of residential and office buildings.

Gaza still lies in ruin as Israel prevents the delivery of the materials needed for the reconstruction into the Palestinian territory.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122855§ionid=351020202.

Iraqis rally on anniversary of US occupation

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have gathered in the holy city of Najaf to mark the seventh anniversary of the US-led occupation of the country in 2003.

Carrying Iraqi flags and shouting slogans such as "Yes, yes to unity" and "Sunni and Shia Muslims, we won't sell this country," protesters marched across the shrine city on Friday, calling for the release of detainees held in US-run prisons.

They trampled on American, British and Israeli flags and called for an end to the presence of foreign troops and military contractors in Iraq.

The US and British governments led the invasion of Iraq in April 2003 under the pretext that former dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, a claim proved wrong by their failure to uncover any such weapons years after the occupation of the country.

The invasion that was to bring democracy to Iraq not only failed to heal the nation's wounds sustained during years under Saddam's brutal rule, but also added to the plight of Iraqis by opening the gates for al-Qaeda militants and Wahhabi extremists to engage in a years-long bombing spree and bloodshed in the country.

Nearly one million Iraqi civilians have lost their lives since 2003 while thousands of American troops remain on Iraqi soil and are scheduled to leave the war-torn country later this year.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122858§ionid=351020201.

Two Russian officers dead after tank training mishap

Moscow - Two Russian military officers were dead Friday after troops training with tanks lost their orientation and fired shells at their trainers, reported the Interfax news agency.

The troops were conducting night-time training near St Petersburg when the commander of a T-80 tank lost his bearings and fired the shells, which landed at the edge of the training field where the officers were standing, the state's attorney office told Interfax.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317818,two-russian-officers-dead-after-tank-training-mishap.html.

India opens multibillion-dollar 3G auction

New Delhi - India on Friday began the auction of the radio frequency spectrum for third-generation (3G) telephony with major cellular phone firms bidding for providing services in the booming telecommunications market, officials said.

Top players like Bharti Airtel Ltd and Reliance Communications Ltd were bidding for airwaves in the sale for 22 service areas across the country.

Senior officials at the Department of Telecommunications confirmed that the auction had begun but said it could take weeks to complete.

"It may take a week or a couple of weeks or even more," an official who requested anonymity said. "It is a step-by-step process. There is no deadline or time limit for closing of the auction."

The auction of the 3G airwaves and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum could fetch the government 350 billion to 500 billion rupees (7.9 billion to 11.2 billion dollars). Nine companies are bidding.

Third-generation telecommunications services allow faster connectivity than second-generation, or 2G, service and enable applications like internet TV, video on demand, audiovideo calls and high-speed data exchange.

The auction for the BWA spectrum is to be conducted two days after the close of the 3G auction, local media reports said.

The winners are to be awarded spectrum only in September, which means the commercial operations would begin only by the end of 2010 or early 2011.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317832,india-opens-multibillion-dollar-3g-auction.html.

Conservationists: Mangrove forests under threat

Geneva - One in six mangrove species worldwide are in danger of extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned Friday.

The Swiss-based ecological agency has included 11 out of 70 mangrove species on its Red List of Threatened Species.

Mangroves are vital to coastal communities, as they guard against damage from tsunami waves, erosion and storms, and support coastal sea life.

Ecologists warned that the economic and environmental consequences would be "devastating" if the species were to disappear.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317835,conservationists-mangrove-forests-under-threat.html.

Thousands expected at funeral of prominent far-right South African

Johannesburg (Earth Times) - Thousands were expected to attend the Friday funeral of Eugene Terreblanche, the leader of South Africa's white far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) party who was murdered on his farm on the weekend.

The 69-year-old Afrikaner "patriot," who had vehemently opposed an end to white dominance under apartheid, was clubbed to death on his farm on April 3, in an apparent dispute over wages with farm workers.

A strong contingent of police and media, onlookers, firefighters and medics were gathered in the North West Province town of Ventersdorp, where the funeral was to take place at noon (1000 GMT).

"We are expecting a very large crowd of people and we are ready for any kind of incident," police Captain Adele Myburgh said.

His murder has raised fears of racial unrest in South Africa and renewed calls from the country's predominantly white community of farmers for government action to curb attacks on farms, which have claimed an estimated 3,300 lives since the fall of apartheid in the mid-1990s.

Tension between white supporters of Terreblanche and blacks from Ventersdorp was evident outside the town's magistrate's court earlier this week when a 28-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy appeared briefly on charges of having killed Terreblanche with a machete and a knobkerrie, or club.

In the decade to his death, Terreblanche had kept a low public profile, following a jail term for the attempted murder of a black man.

Before that, he had come into conflict with both the Afrikaner nationalists of the apartheid regime and later, black South Africans to whom the old regime was forced to relinquish power.

Terreblanche was regarded as a die-hard racist by blacks, but as a prophetic and charismatic leader by members of the AWB. The party, with its small following, was blamed for a series of bombings as final negotiations for a handover of power from whites to a black majority was underway.

Iraq's Sadrists mark anniversary of US invasion with a protest

Najaf, Iraq - Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held a protest Friday on the seventh anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq amid tight security.

Thousands of Sadrists carried Iraqi flags and shouted slogans such as "Yes, yes to unity" and "Sunni and Shiite Muslims, we won't sell this country" and called for the release of detainees.

Sadrists have staged a protest on the same day every year since the fall of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003. Their leader, al- Sadr, has been a persistent thorn in the side of US forces in since.

In defiance of the US force in June 2003, he established a military wing, the Mahdi Army, which went on to engage in heavy clashes with US forces in the holy city of Najaf.

Though the Mahdi Army has observed a ceasefire since August 2007, which is widely attributed to be behind the decrease of sectarian tensions and violence in Iraq, al-Sadr mobilizes tens of thousands in support of his political aims.

US forces withdrew from towns and cities across the country last June, with troops scheduled to leave the war-torn country later this year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317839,iraqs-sadrists-mark-anniversary-of-us-invasion-with-a-protest.html.

Bush trio 'knew innocence of many Gitmo inmates'

In order to justify the US-led War on Terror, the Bush administration deliberately kept hundreds of 'innocent' terror suspects in the notorious Guantanamo prison camp.

According to new documents recently obtained by the Times, former US president George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld refused to free scores of innocent Guantanamo inmates for fear that their release would harm the US-led campaign for war in Iraq and the broader 'War on Terror.'

Lawrence Wilkerson, a top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, made the revelations in a signed declaration to support a lawsuit filed by a Guantanamo detainee Adel Hassan Hamad.

Hamad, a Sudanese man who was held at Guantanamo Bay from March 2003 until December 2007, claims that he was tortured by US agents while in custody and yesterday filed a damage action against a list of American officials.

According to Wilkerson, both Cheney and Rumsfeld knew that the majority of the initial 742 detainees sent to Guantanamo in 2002 were innocent but believed that it was “politically impossible” to let them walk free.

Wilkerson, who served as Powell's chief of staff before he left the Bush administration in 2005, claimed that most of detainees, which were comprised of children as young as 12 and men as old as 93, never saw a US soldier until they were arrested.

Many of them, Wilkerson claimed, were turned over with little or no evidence by Afghans and Pakistanis for up to $5,000.

He went on to say that Rumsfeld and Cheney in particular, had no pity for the “innocent people languishing in Guantanamo for years” as their sufferings were all justified by “the broader War on Terror and the small number of terrorists who were responsible for the September 11 attacks”.

“[Cheney] had absolutely no concern that the vast majority of Guantanamo detainees were innocent ... If hundreds of innocent individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists, so be it,” said Wilkerson.

This is the first time that such allegations have been made by a senior member of the Bush Administration.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122848§ionid=3510203.

Jerusalem patriarch: Hamas protecting Christians

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

Sabbah urges justice for Palestinian Muslims, Christians suffering under Israeli occupation.

By Laurent Grzybowski - JERUSALEM

[Interview with Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem]

What is the situation for Christians in Palestine?

It is the same as for all Arabs in Palestine. Christians or Muslims, we are the same people, with the same culture and the same history. A nation that is in conflict with another nation. A nation that is living under military occupation has no need of compassion but of justice. In a very tense political context we are trying to cope with the same challenge. What does it mean to be a Christian? It is to be in a society, in a world that we have not chosen but has been given to us. Our vocation therefore is to be Christian in an Arab society which has a Muslim majority. This is a familiar experience to us, we have several centuries of history behind us.

However, today one speaks of anti-Christian persecution

Individual incidents between Muslims and Christians can take on a community dimension. In these cases there are mediators, families known for their wisdom and their authority, capable of resolving conflicts. I can bear witness to the fact that in Palestine, it never goes further than this. There have never been massacres or terrorist attacks against churches, never have I known an openly anti christian persecution. Even in Gaza, Christians are protected by Hamas, so often presented as a terrorist organization.

Is it the same situation in Iraq?

No, over there Christians are victims of violence and are killed because they are Christians. But it is a question of political not religious movements. Extremists hope to destabilize the country. Many Sunnis and Shiites have been killed for the same reasons. It does not help to accuse Muslims of all the evils. Working for peace and for justice in Iraq as elsewhere is the best way to avoid a mass exodus of Christians from the East. A political problem needs to find a political solution.

What do you say to those who defend the idea of a clash of civilizations?

There is a clash but it is not religious or cultural. It is political. The West treats the East and those who live there, whether they are Christians or Muslims, as lesser beings. As long as there is this relationship between the dominant and the dominated, we will never escape the spiral of violence. The roots of global terrorism are rooted here. The East is not free to choose its destiny; it is subjected to Western dominance. The problem is not Islam, but the confrontation between East and West. The history of colonialiation has given way to another kind of colonialisation, more latent, but no less real.

Are you not afraid of the expansion of Islam?

It is a fantasy fed by those who do not understand the East, in general, and Islam in particular. As long as the Palestinians feel oppressed, all Muslims globally will feel solidarity with them and are capable of creating disruption from within the societies in which they live. We need to put an end to the relationship of strength against weakness between the West and the Muslim world and instead focus on affirmative education in citizenship and respect for one’s neighbor. We need to develop a culture of engaged coexistence, learn to know one another and live and act together in unity.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38316.

Turkey, Greece agree measures for closer ties

Ankara, Athens vow to intensify bilateral contacts, overcome long-standing rivalry.

ANKARA - Turkey and Greece agreed Thursday a series of measures to intensify bilateral contacts and bring their militaries closer, vowing commitment to overcome their long-standing rivalry.

The measures, announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Greece's visiting Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas, were agreed ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Athens, expected in mid-May.

"We want to base our ties on a brand new concept" of cooperation, Davutoglu told a joint news conference, adding that he and Droutsas discussed the need for a mutual cut of defense expenditures.

"This new vision is based not on a perception of mutual threat but an understanding of common interest... When we succeed building this common future together, defense requirements will mutually cease to exist," he said.

The two neighbors agreed to set up a regular consultation platform to convene at least once a year, headed by their prime ministers and including 10 ministers from each country.

They also outlined a series of fresh confidence-building measures between their militaries, whose ties have often been strained -- despite being NATO allies -- owing to long-standing territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea.

The measures include the exchange of military units for training, mutual visits and conferences for cadets, and joint organization of training programs for soldiers from countries that have partnership deals with NATO, according to a written statement issued after the talks.

"These measures will help bring our countries, peoples and armies closer," Droutsas said through an interpreter.

The two sides, he added, will also intensify talks aimed at resolving disputes over territorial rights in the Aegean Sea, which have been going on for several years behind closed doors.

Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Georges Papandreou, who came to power in October, have exchanged letters stressing desire to revive efforts for better ties.

In 1999, Papandreou, then foreign minister, and his late Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem led a spectacular drive of rapprochement, drawing on unprecedented solidarity the two nations displayed after deadly quakes hit them a few weeks apart.

The thaw was followed by a boom in trade and tourism, but the two countries remain at loggerheads over the Cyprus conflict and territorial rights.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38322.

Spain's Muslim immigrants well integrated

Study: 84% of polled Muslims said faced no obstacles to practicing their religion in Spain.

MADRID - The vast majority of Muslim immigrants to Spain are well integrated in the country even if 27 percent of them are currently unemployed, according to a government study published Wednesday.

Fully 70 percent said they felt "good or very good" in Spain while 81 percent said they felt they were "well adapted to Spanish life and customs", the investigation carried out by the Metroscopia social studies institute found.

Of the 2,000 Muslim immigrants polled, 84 said they faced no obstacles to practicing their religion in Spain while 94 percent said they opposed the use of any violence to defend religious beliefs.

The institute has carried out the study for the government each year since 2006 and the most findings did not differ significantly from the results in other years.

Speaking at a news conference to unveil the results of the study, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said "the recession seems to not to have affected the opinions expressed in this annual survey."

Spain plunged into its longest and deepest recession at the end of 2008 as the global credit crisis hastened a correction which was already underway in its key property sector.

The downturn caused Spain's overall unemployment rate to soar to 19 percent in February, nearly twice the 10 percent rate of the entire 16-nation euro zone.

The unemployment rate is higher amongst immigrants as they are primarily employed in areas such as construction and the services sector which have been especially hard hit by the recession.

Spain has around 767,000 Muslim immigrants out of a total population of 46 million people. Most Muslim immigrants are from Morocco.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38306.

Calls for return of cultural heritage in Cairo

2010-04-09

Former colonies list priceless relics housed in Western museums they want returned home.

By Samer al-Atrush - CAIRO

A conference of countries that want antiquities returned from abroad ended on Thursday with a wish list of priceless relics housed in Western museums, but it fell short of drafting an action plan.

The two-day conference in Cairo drew representatives from 25 countries, many of them former colonies, who say their heritage has been stolen.

Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said seven of the countries drew up a list of artifacts they wanted back, and the remaining countries were given one month to add items to the list.

"I consider today a historic conference for all the world's countries that have lost artifacts," he said at a press conference.

"We agreed to fight together," he said. "Cultural heritage has to return to its country."

"Seven countries have made a wish list. Some have to go back to their governments; they have a period of one month," he said.

Many of the relics included in the list are in European and North American museums. Egypt demanded six items, including the Rosetta stone in the British Museum and the Dendara temple ceiling in France's Louvre Museum.

Greece listed the Elgin Marbles, a collection of marble structures removed from the Parthenon in the beginning of the 19th century by Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin and ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Syria demanded five relics, one of them in housed in the Louvre, and Libya listed a statue of Apollo in the British Museum and a marble statue of a woman in the Louvre, according to a copy of the list sent by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The other countries were Nigeria, Guatemala and Peru. "We are waiting for the other countries to present their wish list. Then we can go and fight," Hawass said.

"It doesn't mean that if you have a statue in the museum, you own the statue. No, it belongs to us," he said.

But the conference, touted as the first of its kind, fell short by not laying out an action plan to retrieve the items.

Hawass described international regulations on antiquities as "insufficient" but the conference did not call for an amendment to a UN convention on stolen antiquities that applied to thefts after 1970.

Hawass said the countries had to confer again before drawing up steps they would take but warned of apparently drastic measures.

"I am not going to talk to you about what we are going to do; we have to decide together. Some of us will make the lives of some of those museums that have artifacts miserable," he said.

It was not clear whether he was talking about museums that housed stolen goods or those that displayed relics long excavated from their countries of origin.

The flamboyant archaeologist, who says he has overseen the return of 5,000 relics since he became head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in 2002, suspended ties with the Louvre last year to win the return of five fragments stolen from an ancient Egyptian tomb.

He added he hoped to reach agreements on such relics as the bust of Queen Nefertiti and the Rosetta Stone through negotiations.

Both Berlin's Neues Museum which has the bust on display and the British Museum have so far refused to even lend the artifacts to Egypt.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38325.

Spain agrees to take four more Guantanamo inmates

(Reuters) - Spain has agreed to resettle four more Guantanamo Bay prison inmates, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday, in addition to a detainee from the Palestinian Territories transferred to Spain earlier this year.

Spain had said it was willing to take up to five prisoners from the Guantanamo U.S. military prison, set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and a focus of controversy because of torture allegations.

Holder, on a visit to Spain to discuss co-operation on fighting terrorism and international crime, said it had not yet been decided which detainees would go to Spain.

"We continue to work with our Spanish allies to identify people who would be appropriate to be resettled in Spain," he said at a news conference.

President Barack Obama pledged to close Guantanamo by last January. However, political and diplomatic difficulties made that deadline impossible to meet.

Holder said the U.S. planned to shut the prison as quickly as it could.

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63744Q20100408.

Algeria plans to invite bids for farmland

By Hamid Ould Ahmed

Thu Apr 8, 2010

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria plans for the first time to invite bids from foreign investors to lease farmland as part of efforts to ease its food imports bill, the head of a state agriculture body said on Thursday.

Mohamed Cherif Ould Hocine, head of the National Chamber of Agriculture, told Reuters in an interview that details of the plan had not been finalized but said majority stake would not be available and bidders will need Algerian partners.

The farmland on offer would be for high yield crops including grains, he said.

Ould Hocine expected a repeat of last year's record cereal harvest of 6.12 million tonnes, saying that would significantly help reduce imports.

"Our country wants to rationally use its tools with the aim of increasing agricultural production. Algeria is open and it is a liberal country," he said.

Ould Hocine said it was up to the agriculture ministry to set a date for launching the tender for foreign investors and provide details on how to handle the process.

But he said :"Regarding the farms intended for foreign investment, assets will remain national ones because land is not for sale."

"We are going towards a partnership. Foreign investors will never have majority stake. They will certainly provide technology and capital to work in partnership on that land," he added.

In most years Algeria imports 5 million tonnes of cereals to fill shortfalls in domestic output.

But for the first time in 40 years Algeria last March announced it was planning to export barley.

"Last year we got very good production. This year we have had good rain. We are optimistic. We will have a good harvest. This will have an impact on imports. There will be a reduction in imports," said Ould Hocine.

Areas sowed with cereals increased by 2 percent to 3.3 million hectares this year, the agriculture ministry has said.

"FOOD SOVEREIGNTY"

OPEC member Algeria, whose oil and gas exports account for about 96 percent of total exports, has been struggling to boost non-hydrocarbon sectors including agriculture.

"Algeria's population has reached 35 million. So, demand for food is growing. Our goal is to rely on national production to balance demand and supply," Ould Hocine said.

"We want food sovereignty. We want to be sovereign regarding food. We can achieve that goal providing the authorities go ahead with the current policy."

He said the government has started in recent years spending $3 billion annually in a bid to boost its agricultural sector, providing good quality seeds and financial incentives for farmers.

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/08/ozatp-algeria-agriculture-idAFJOE6370Q220100408.

Astronauts take 1st spacewalk of shuttle mission

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Two spacewalking astronauts disconnected an old empty ammonia tank outside the International Space Station on Friday and got a new one ready to put in its place.

It was the first of three spacewalks planned for Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson, members of space shuttle Discovery's visiting crew.

"Remember, space is like chocolate. Go get a big bite," astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger radioed from inside as the spacewalkers floated out.

Anderson quickly disconnected the old tank's ammonia lines, noting with relief that nothing leaked out.

Next, Mastracchio unbolted the new tank in Discovery's payload bay, so that he and Anderson could lift it out and hand it over to a robot arm. The actual swap-out of the two tanks was going to take place during the second spacewalk Sunday, with the entire job finally wrapping up on the third outing Tuesday.

"OK, Clay, very, very slow as you know," Mastracchio told Anderson as they gently hoisted the new 1,700-pound tank. The tank got hung up on a bolt, and Anderson tried to free it with a pry bar. "Go nice and easy, Clay," Mastracchio urged.

Anderson yanked several times with the pry bar and still the tank was stuck. "We got it!" he called out when the tank finally came free.

Earlier, there were a few tense moments when Mastracchio reported that he bumped a large V-shaped bar in the shuttle payload bay and it was sliding around. He said it did not appear to be off its mooring. Mission Control later said engineers were "pretty convinced" it was normal for the clamp to move around a little, but just to be safe, warned the spacewalkers to stay away from it.

The V-shaped bar serves as a guide for the cargo carrier that flew up on Discovery and was attached to the space station Thursday. The compartment was unloaded by some of the 11 astronauts inside, as the spacewalk unfolded 215 miles up.

Besides the tank replacement job, Mastracchio and Anderson had to collect a science experiment from the front porch of the space station's Japanese lab and replace a failed station-positioning device.

Mastracchio and Anderson were supposed to do some battery work on the far left end of the space station, along the sprawling power truss. But NASA canceled the task this week because of concern the two might get shocked. The work instead will be carried out on the next shuttle flight, once the spacesuits are better protected.

Discovery and its crew of seven are supposed to remain at the space station until next Friday. But they likely will spend an extra day there because of the failure of the shuttle's main antenna. NASA wants the shuttle astronauts to inspect their ship for any signs of micrometeorite damage before they depart. That way, all the laser images can be transmitted to Mission Control through the station.

That would stretch the shuttle mission to 14 days, with a landing on April 19.

Late Thursday, Mission Control informed the astronauts that the shuttle seems to have weathered Monday's liftoff well and that there is no need for another inspection to check for launch damage. The survey that's planned before Discovery undocks will be looking for any potentially dangerous impacts from space junk.

Only three shuttle missions remain after this one to wrap up space station construction.

Bushehr reactor to try out major test

Amid Russia's pledges on completion of the long-delayed Bushehr nuclear power plant, the most pivotal test to bring the reactor into operation will be conducted in next to no time, an Iranian official announces.

The so called "Warm Water Test" will examine all equipment of the facility in high temperature," Bushehr Project Manager Mahmoud Jafari said.

Jafari said that the 250-bar, 110-bar and Metal Core Tests were successfully conducted in the past, adding "1,000 megawatts will be added to electricity production capacity of the country, should the reactor become operational."

The Warm Water Test will coincide with the National Nuclear Technology Day in which the country celebrates its latest scientific achievements.

Iran expects to generate 17.5 percent — 20,000 megawatts — of the country's electricity demand through nuclear energy over the next two decades.

The much delayed nuclear power plant on the southern Iranian coast by the Persian Gulf is scheduled to come on line by the end of spring, according to head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi.

The construction of the Bushehr plant started in 1975 when Germany signed a contract with Iran. Berlin, however, pulled out of the project following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran then signed a deal with Russia in 1995. Under the deal, the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999 but completion of the USD 1 billion project has been repeatedly delayed.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122842§ionid=351020104.

Turkey move deters Netanyahou from nuclear meet

The Israeli Prime Minister has decided not to partake in the forthcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington over Egypt and Turkey's plan to file a motion demanding that Tel Aviv open its nuclear facilities for international inspection.

According to a report broadcast on Israel's Army Radio on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu has called off the trip to the US capital and is sending Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor instead.

American sources have notified Israel that a group of participating Arab countries led by Turkey and Egypt plan to use next week's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington to pressure Israel join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and give international inspectors "unfettered access" to its nuclear facilities.

Israel is the sole nuclear-armed power in the Middle East.

The total Israeli nuclear stockpile consists of several hundred weapons of various types, including boosted fission and enhanced radiation weapons i.e. neutron bombs, as well as nuclear artillery shells.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122834§ionid=351020202.

Kyrgyzstan moves to shut US-run Menas air base

Kyrgyzstan's new leaders have said they intend to remove a US military base, which currently serves as the premier air mobility hub for the US-led forces in Afghanistan, from their soil.

The interim government led by ex-foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, has said it wants the US base, Manas, closed down for security reasons.

The remarks came amid growing uncertainty over whether the new Kyrgyz authorities would allow the US to use the base.

Russia, which itself maintains an air base at Kant, just 20 miles from Manas, has been keen to block US military presence in the region.

Moscow has been increasingly concerned about US military's prolonged presence in the geo-strategically important Region.

This is while the opposition has taken power and dissolved the parliament. Otunbayeva has promised a new constitution and a presidential election at some point in the next six months. She says a care-taker government will serve as both presidency and parliament for now.

The ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev has refused oppositions demands to resign.

Meanwhile, protesters in the capital Bishkek have demolished and burned the house of the toppled president.

The opposition claims to be in full control of the capital, the armed forces and the media. Earlier, the interim government allowed police to use firearms and shoot looters across the Kyrgyz capital.

Wednesday's unrest that toppled the government claimed at least 75 lives with over 1000 others injured.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122832&sectionid=351020406.

Moroccans beat 11 Saharawi human rights activists

Thursday, 8 April 2010

Press Release: Kamal Fadel

Moroccans beat 11 Saharawi human rights activists in El Aaiun upon their return from a visit to the Saharawi refugee camps

Hundreds Moroccan settlers, backed by police attacked 11 Saharawi human rights activists upon their landing at the airport of the occupied capital of Western Sahara, ill-treating them and stripping them naked under the orders of the Moroccan police to beat them.

The Moroccan authorities deliberately hindered the travel of a group of foreign observers who were booking in the same plane to return with the activists to occupied Western Sahara. They also deliberately delayed the delivery of the luggage of the 11 activists until the rest of the passengers left the airport, so the Moroccan settlers could have complete access to the activists in the absence of any witnesses except the Moroccan police.

The victims are: Mr. Sidi Mohamed Dadach (24 years imprisonment in Moroccan secret detentions), Mrs. Sukeina Jad Ahlu (12 years in Moroccan secret detention camp), Mrs. Najat Khneibili (10 years in Moroccan secret detention camp), Ms. Sultana Khaya (who lost an eye after being beaten by Moroccan police) Ms. Aajina Bouhan, Ms. Fakka Abdadi, Mr. Hamada Ismaili, Mr. Hasanna El Wali, Mr. El Mahjoub Aoulad Cheikh, Mrs. Ameilmnin Sueyah, Ms. Fadah Aghla Manhum.

The activists were returning from a visit to the Saharawi refugee camps, where they spent many days meeting their families, and investigating the truth about the situation in the camps.

A group of 7 Saharawi human rights activists, who did the same trip last September 2009, was arrested by the Moroccan authorities at the airport of Casablanca last October the 8 and is actually in the prison of Sale waiting a military court, accused by the Moroccan colonial authorities of treason. 5 of these 7 activists, 19 political prisoners in the prison of Tiznit, 3 in Marakech prison, 2 in Taroudant prison, 2 in Qnitra prison, and 1 in Bensliman. In total 32 Saharawi political prisoners are in an unlimited hunger strike protesting against the Moroccan colonial presence in Western Sahara and the human rights violations, including the violation of the prisoners rights as prisoners of conscience.

Source: Scoop.
Link: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1004/S00092.htm.

Tunisia to open air space

2010-04-08

Tunisia will fully open its airspace to international traffic by the end of 2011, ANSA reported on Wednesday (April 7th). According to Transport Minister Abderrahim Zouari, the initiative will benefit the country's nine airports. Tunisia recently inked an open air space accord with Canada and is currently negotiating one with the US, the minister said.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/08/newsbrief-06.

Amazigh blogger freed from Moroccan prison

2010-04-08

Jailed Amazigh activist and blogger Boubaker Elyadib was released from prison earlier this week by an appellate court in the southern Moroccan town of Guelmim, Errachidia News reported on Wednesday (April 7th). Elyadib received a 6-month sentence on charges relating to last December's student demonstration in Taghjijt. He has asserted that he only attended the protest to cover it on his blog.

After Elyadib's release, Amazigh Observatory for Rights and Freedoms (OADL) Director Hitous Abdellah thanked Moroccan bloggers and defenders of human rights for their support.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/08/newsbrief-05.

Algeria medical workers, health officials to discuss benefit reform

2010-04-08

Algeria will resume talks with disgruntled medical workers' unions, APS reported on Wednesday (April 8th). Speaking on the sidelines of a World Health Day event in Algiers, Health Minister Said Barkat said that the ministry had invited representatives of the National Union of Public Health Practitioners (SNPSP) and the National Union of Public Health General Practitioners (SNPSSP) to "return to the option of dialogue and find solutions". The health workers are demanding changes to the benefits system.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/08/newsbrief-04.

Algeria, US ink justice accord

2010-04-08

Algeria and the United States signed their first judicial co-operation treaty on Wednesday (April 7th) in Algiers, local and international media reported. The accord aims to strengthen bilateral co-operation in the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime. The agreement signed by Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz and US Attorney General Eric Holder will also facilitate exchanges of information. "The signing of this agreement is an indicator of the progress we have achieved together," Holder said at an Algiers press conference.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/08/newsbrief-01.

North Korea to freeze Seoul's tourism assets

Seoul - North Korea announced late Thursday that it will suspend South Korean tourism operations and freeze the country's assets at a scenic mountain site within its borders.

"We will freeze South Korean assets ... owned by the South Korean government and tourism agent. We will also expel South Korean managers from these frozen assets," a North Korean tourism spokesman was quoted as saying by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

The announcement follows a North Korean survey of South Korean business operators at Mount Kumgang.

"We see no way of salvaging the troubled tourism business at Mount Kumgang, forcing us to take other actions," the spokesman said.

The South Korean government in 2008 halted the Mount Kumgang tour program run by South Korea's Hyundai Asan, after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.

"Since our contract with South Korean Hyundai Asan cannot be put into practice because of Seoul's government, we will resume the tourism business at Mount Kumgang with a new business partner," the North Korean spokesman said.

South Koreans had been allowed to visit Mount Kumgang since November 1998. Just under 2 million South Koreans had visited the scenic site before Seoul suspended the program in 2008.

YTN TV reported that South Korean companies own about 359-billion- won (319 million US dollars) worth of property in North Korea.

The South Korean government had spent about 60 billion won on building a family reunion house, where relatives who were divided when the border between the two countries was sealed after the 1950- 53 Korean War were able to meet again.

The suspended tourism program had "inflicted huge economic loss upon us," the North Korean spokesman said.

"If South Korean conservative leaders continue to insult our faithful efforts and take a path of confronting our spirit of Korean unity, it could lead us to reconsider (the operation of) the joint industrial park in our border city of Gaesung," the spokesman added.

South Korean companies operate clothing, textile, component and kitchenware factories in Gaesung with North Korean workers.

The South has repeatedly pushed for the North to guarantee South Korea the right to access its assets in North Korea.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317752,north-korea-to-freeze-seouls-tourism-assets.html.

PROFILE: Roza Otunbayeva is Kyrgyzstan's foremost firebrand

Bishkek/Moscow - Roza Otunbayeva earned her reputation as Kyrgyzstan's foremost firebrand a good while ago. The redoubtable politician, a 59-year-old mother of two, is no stranger to violent protests against Kyrgyz presidents who have fallen out of favor with their people.

Five years ago, she was one of the leaders of the "Tulip Revolution" that ousted President Askar Akayev. Now she and her followers have forced President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, her onetime ally, to flee the capital, Bishkek. Bakiyev's rule has been seen as increasingly authoritarian.

Short, stocky, combative and often flamboyantly dressed, Otunbayeva is known far beyond the borders of her own country as an advocate of basic democratic rights.

Writing in both Russian and English, she zealously decries her homeland's ills on the Internet via Twitter, the popular social networking and microblogging service.

She has dared to speak out even though government critics and journalists in Kyrgyzstan have been murdered. The abuse of power makes her furious. "Politics is a virus," Otunbayeva once remarked.

She studied philosophy in Moscow and wrote her dissertation on the Frankfurt School's critique of Marxism-Leninism. Her chief foes, she has always said, are nepotism, corruption and political repression of dissidents. Her determination and the way she has remained true to herself have won the respect of her followers.

Otunbayeva was born on August 23, 1950, in Osh, in southern Kyrgyzstan, where conservative Islam in the Central Asian nation is strongest. For years she has condemned domestic violence against women and the tradition of bride kidnappings and forced marriages.

As parliamentary group leader of Kyrgyzstan's opposition Social Democratic Party, she has devoted much of her time to human rights issues.

She was foreign minister under both Akayev and Bakiyev before falling out with them. Now she is calling for a group of experts to amend the Kyrgyz constitution, which in its current form, she says, is a fundamental evil that "changes people in power."

Otunbayeva abandoned academia in the 1980s for politics, at first in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After the country broke up and Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, became independent, she held high posts in the Kyrgyz government and also served as ambassador to countries including the United States and Britain.

The summit of power had hitherto been out of her reach, partly because she is a woman and Kyrgyz politics are male-dominated. Now, with Russia's backing, she is head of a transitional government. Whether she can parlay this position into the elected head of state remains to be seen.

All that can probably be said for certain is that Otunbayeva will continue to fight fiercely against tyranny and aggression. "I consider power to be an instrument with which to implement a program for the majority of people -- and not for oneself or one's own family and relatives," she once said in an interview.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317758,profile-roza-otunbayeva-is-kyrgyzstans-foremost-firebrand.html.

Khartoum insists elections will make Sudanese 'proud'

New York (Earth Times) - Sudan said Thursday that national elections scheduled for this weekend will take place as planned and they will be "fair, transparent and democratic."

But the United Nations held different views about the organization of the April 11-13 balloting for a new president, members of the National Assembly and the country's 25 legislative bodies.

The UN said the Khartoum government was not ready to hold the nationwide elections, the first since 1986, because it failed to educate the voters, ensure security and equip voting stations.

"We feel very proud about the transformation of the country and our (election) plan is now coming into reality," said Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad.

"We have no crisis at all," he said. "The crisis is within the political parties and not with the government. Everything is set for a fair, transparent and democratic elections which will make the Sudanese proud."

The UN Security Council debated behind closed doors a fresh UN report on Sudan's lack of preparations for the elections.

US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters what she heard inside the council chamber was "quite disturbing."

Rice denounced Khartoum's clampdown on freedom of the press, of speech and assembly while the international community had hoped that the elections would be a milestone in the implementation of a comprehensive peace agreement Khartoum signed with Southern Sudan in 2005.

"Unfortunately, the trends on the ground are very disturbing and we will judge the elections on the basis on whether they will provide the opportunity for the people of Sudan to adequately express their political will that meets international standards," she told reporters.

The European Union decided on Wednesday not to send independent observers to Darfur because of insecurity. Reports said the country's largest opposition, the Umma party, decided on Thursday not to take part in the elections citing insecurity and possible fraud.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) of Southern Sudan reportedly has decided boycott the balloting in Sudan's north.

Japan's UN Ambassador Yukio Takasu, the council president, said "several" members expressed concern about the conduct of the elections.

Takasu said the council will closely watch the polls, but refused to be drawn into discussion whether they should be postponed until preparations have met UN standards on elections.

The UN said that before Thursday, there are 12 candidates from different parties running for president, including incumbent Omar al- Bashir. In the legislative elections, there are 4,471 candidates for seats in 25 State Legislative Assemblies, which include the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly. There are also 2,317 candidates for the National Assembly's 270 seats.

The UN report said police in Southern Sudan have limited capability to handle the polling, lack an overall level of training and lack enough vehicles and communication equipment, which will pose a challenge to the southern government's ability to provide security.

Sudan's electoral body had decided to set up a polling station if there are 1,200 voters assigned to it. But the report said such a high number of voters for one station would pose a significant challenge in terms of time allocated for voting and whether the ink supplied to each station to mark voters would be sufficient.

"Despite efforts made thus far, voter education remains an enormous challenge given the size of Sudan, the large number of first-time voters, the security environment in some areas and restrictions placed on civil society," the report said.

Egypt frees senior Muslim Brotherhood members

2010-04-08

Deputy chief of Muslim Brotherhood, 15 other leaders released following Cairo Criminal Court’s order.

CAIRO - Egyptian police released 16 senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including deputy chief Mahmud Ezzat, who are charged with organizing "terrorist groups," Ezzat said on Thursday.

Ezzat and the others were freed on bail on Wednesday after the Cairo Criminal Court ordered their release.

They were arrested in February on charges of forming "secret terrorist groups" and planning to overthrow the government.

Ezzat denied the charges and said the banned group, which wants an Islamic state achieved through peaceful means, was committed to its political program.

"They have forever fabricated cases against us," he said.

Although banned, the Brotherhood holds one-fifth of seats in parliament after fielding independent candidates in the 2005 parliamentary elections.

It is expected to field fewer candidates in elections later this year because of a police crackdown, but Ezzat said the group was not fazed by the arrests.

"What we do is an obligation. Participation in public life is a duty and we are committed to our program of reform," he said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38318.

Tunnel collapse kills two Palestinians

Two Palestinians have been found dead under a collapsed tunnel under the borderline between the southern Gaza Strip and Israel, medics and witnesses said.

The two were missing since Tuesday, when they were buried under the sands of the tunnel, where seven other workers were pulled out alive by local rescue teams, dpa reported.

Director of the Palestinian rescue teams Adnan Abu Selmeya said that Egyptian security forces found the bodies on Thursday and handed them over to the Palestinian side in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip.

Gaza rights groups say that 132 Palestinians have been killed in cave-ins and electrocutions in the tunnels over the past two and a half years.

Israel tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip after the Hamas movement seized control of the coastal sliver in June 2007.

Since then, Palestinians have been left with no other option but burrowing tunnels to import food, medicine and fuels into the Gaza Strip.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122828§ionid=351020202.

Ahmadinejad: Iran world's most powerful country

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran is the "world's most powerful country in the international arena."

Speaking on Thursday in a gathering of the "elites" of East Azerbaijan province in northwest Iran, Ahmadinejad said that current conditions — both domestically and internationally — are the best in conditions throughout the country's history, reported ILNA.

"The national solidarity that is prevalent today is unprecedented in the history of Iran," he said. "Many try to muddy the waters with false news, but the understanding of the nation is at its peak and all divisions have been eliminated."

Turning to the worldwide financial crisis, he said, "although the world economic situation has forced [certain] countries to retreat, but we are moving along the path of economic growth. They imposed sanctions against us and thought that they could prevent our progress, but [instead] we accelerated our progress."

"Although we have not yet bloomed fully, but we are moving forwards," Ahmadinejad said. He moved on to say, "Witness that on the international arena, Iran is the world's most powerful country, and they themselves admit this."

"Up until 15 years ago, the measure of countries' power was weapons and control over global resources, but today the gauge of power is the power of self-defense and influence on international relations," he continued.

Highlighting Iran's expanded relations with Latin American states, Ahmadinejad noted that the US government had invested hundreds of billions of dollars in South America. However, he recalled, "although Iran had not invested even one hundredth of this amount in these countries, but the Americans themselves say that they are worried about Iran's penetration in South America, because in Europe and even in the US itself, a state of suppression has been established and they do not allow their peoples to express their views."

With the continued foreign pressure against Iran, Ahmadinejad said that the enemy's threats and sanctions must be converted to opportunities.

"First of all, we must think about the development of the country and we must get involved in all matters of the world and not permit the implementation of plots against nations and our nation. Therefore, we must control the topics from their source."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122825§ionid=351020101.

Hamas warns about plight of Palestinian prisoners

Hamas spokesperson warns if the international community continues to turn a blind eye on the maltreatment of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the group will take prisoner more Israeli soldiers.

Sami Abu Zuhri complained on Thursday in Gaza that the world is only concerned with the release of Israeli prisoner of war Gilad Shalit from Hamas prison, but is was least bothered about the ill-treatment and sufferings of the Palestinians in Israeli jails.

If this ill-treatment continues and the world carries on with the same trend, then Hamas will be forced to find "new friends" for the Israeli soldier Shalit, he said.

Almost 10,000 Palestinian prisoners are being held in Israeli prisons.

Earlier, in retaliation to Israel's six mortar shells that injured six in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, Israeli Army Radio reported that three mortar bombs were fired at a military unit patrolling near the border with Israel. No injures were reported.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122823§ionid=351020202.

New human-like species found in S. Africa

Thu Apr 8, 2010

Researchers have found remains of two human-like creatures (hominids) in a cave near the South African capital of Johannesburg.

The two-million-year old fossils belong to a female adult and a young male — perhaps mother and son. They were discovered near Malapa in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

According to the report published in the journal Science, the new species has been named Australopithecus sediba.

Scientists say the fossils belong to the period between older hominids and more modern species, or Homo, which includes our own kind.

"It's at the point where we transition from an ape that walks on two legs to, effectively, us," lead scientist Professor Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand told BBC News.

"I think that probably everyone is aware that this period of time — that period between 1.8 and just over two million years [ago] — is one of the most poorly represented in the entire early hominid fossil record,” he said.

“You're talking about a very small, very fragmentary record."

Although some scientists believe the Australopithecines are directly descended from Homo, some others argue the species can be categorized as a Homo itself.

"In fact, the authors themselves pointed to certain similarities with early Homo, seeming even to admit that the predominance of its features were with Homo, only the small cranial capacity being really an 'australopithecine' feature," Professor Colin Groves of the Australian National University said.

"But we now know of [the Indonesian 'Hobbit' species] Homo floresiensis with the cranial capacity more or less the same as the new species."

A. sediba has a mixture of archaic and modern features.

Its small teeth, projecting nose, advanced pelvis and long legs give it a modern form, while its long arms and small brain case likens it to older Australopithecine group to which Professor Berger and colleagues have assigned it, the BBC said.

The fossils were found near each other with remains of some dead animals, such as a saber-toothed cat, antelope, mice and rabbits. As none of the bodies were scavenged, researchers believe all of them died suddenly and were entombed rapidly.

"We think that there must have been some sort of calamity taking place at the time that caused all of these fossils to come down together into the cave where they got trapped and ultimately buried," said team-member Professor Paul Dirks from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia.

The team, which found the fossils with the help of the "virtual globe" software Google Earth, is currently excavating two more individuals in the same place.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/122805.html.

Al-Shabab seizes control of UN compound

Thu Apr 8, 2010

Al-Shabab fighters have seized a compound housing the United Nations Operations in town of Wajid, in Bakool region, in southern Somalia.

Hundreds of heavily armed al-Shabab fighters entered the compound on Thursday, disarmed around 150 security guards and ordered them to leave the area, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The fighters confiscated equipment and foodstuffs from the United Nations' World Food Program, and stopped civilians from entering the compound.

Al-Shabab said that they have made the UN compound their main base from where they will henceforth conduct their activities.

Reports say that the fighters have also seized control of a local airstrip that is used by UN agencies to distribute humanitarian aid in southern regions of the country.

Somalia, located in the Horn of Africa, has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering for decades since the collapse of the central government in 1991, with some 3.7 million people — nearly half of the population — in dire need of humanitarian aid.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/122820.html.

Kyrgyz president not to resign as opposition takes power

The ousted Kyrgyz president says he is still in the country and refuses to resign despite the opposition claim of forming an interim government.

The opposition has already taken over the government of the impoverished Central Asian state and dissolved the parliament after the 60-year-old Bakiyev fled deadly clashes in capital Bishkek, which has claimed the lives of at least 75 people, with over 1,000 injured.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said he had been ousted in "a state coup attempt" with outside help. He added that it is "virtually impossible to conduct such a coordinated operation" without outside forces, he told Russia's Echo of Moscow radio on Thursday.

He declined to name any country which has helped the opposition in the coup attempt.

"I am in the south of Kyrgyzstan and have no plans to leave at the moment," he told the radio in an interview.

On Thursday, residents in the country's capital woke up to find most of their shops shattered and empty after a night of looting. Streets were filled with broken glass from shop windows.

Protesters also demolished and burned the house of the toppled president.

The new interim leader Roza Otunbayeva demanded the resignation of President Bakiyev, whom she said helped bring to power five years ago. She has promised a new constitution and a presidential election within the next six months.

Otunbayeva said that a care-taker government will serve as both presidency and parliament for the present. She claimed that they are in full control of the capital, the armed forces and the media.

The opposition has also said it wants the US base, Manas, removed from its soil for security reasons.

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has expressed surprise at the bloody riots in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday. Putin talking to Otunbayeva over the phone on Thursday offered humanitarian aid to the nation, AFP reported.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122814§ionid=351020406.

Russia sends 150 paratroopers to Kyrgyzstan

Russia has sent some 150 paratroopers to its Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan, Russia's General Staff chief Nikolay Makarov said.

Makarov noted that the move was made to ensure the safety of families of Russian military staff in Kyrgyzstan.

"The president has decided to send two companies of paratroopers there and some 150 people have arrived in Kant," RIA Novosti quoted Makarov as saying.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government was ousted on Wednesday following a revolt that killed 74 people and injured over 500.

An interim government headed by the former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva has been formed in the country.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday spoke on the phone with Otunbayeva, who asked Moscow for economic assistance. Putin said Russia was ready to offer humanitarian aid.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122815§ionid=351020406.

Israeli PM calls off trip to nuclear conference

By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Israel's Prime Minister called off his trip to Washington next week to attend a conference on the spread of nuclear weapons, officials in his office said, fearing Israel would be singled out over its own nuclear program.

Benjamin Netanyahu had said he would attend the conference to underline the dangers of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons, but suddenly called off the trip less than two days after he announced he would take part.

Officials in his office said early Friday that Netanyahu reversed himself because some nations planned to use the conference to target Israel over its barely concealed nuclear weapons program. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer confirmed that Israel had informed the U.S. that Netanyahu would be staying home, sending his deputy, Dan Meridor, instead.

The Israeli officials did not name the states thought to be planning to single out Israel, which has not signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Muslim nations — including Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel — have often complained about Israel's nuclear program.

Israel has not admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, preferring a policy it calls "ambiguity." Based on evidence, international experts have estimated that Israel has dozens, possibly hundreds, of nuclear bombs.

The most detailed evidence emerged in 1986, when a former technician at Israel's main nuclear facility leaked pictures and information to the London Sunday Times. The technician, Mordechai Vanunu, was captured and served an 18-year prison sentence in Israel.

Announcing his intention to fly to Washington, Netanyahu told a Jerusalem news conference on Wednesday that he did not expect pressure over Israel's nuclear program there.

"I'm not concerned that anyone would think that Israel is a terrorist regime," Netanyahu said. "Everybody knows a terrorist and rogue regime when they see one, and believe me, they see quite a few around Israel."

For years, Netanyahu has been leading a campaign to publicize Iran's nuclear program, charging that it is meant to produce nuclear weapons. Israel has called for stiff sanctions against Iran, but at the same time has not taken the option of a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities off the table.

Israel considers Iran a strategic threat because of its nuclear program, ballistic missiles and repeated references by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Israel's destruction. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

Netanyahu had hoped to press his case against Iran at the Washington conference.

Beginning on Monday, government leaders from more than 40 countries will gather to discuss improving safeguards against terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons.

Ahead of the conference, the White House announced a major shift in U.S. nuclear policy — a new focus on the threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists and rogue regimes rather than on the long-running arms race with Russia.

Netanyahu said Wednesday that it was a "welcome change" that the U.S. and other countries would be discussing the danger that "nuclear weapons, even crude nuclear weapons, would find their way into the hands of terrorists."