Brotherhood expels members for defying boycott decision

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - The Muslim Brotherhood has expelled five members for breaking ranks by running in the parliamentary elections after the Islamist group decided to boycott the polls, Islamist officials said on Monday.

The decision comes less than two weeks after at least seven Islamists declared their intent to seek candidacy in the elections despite a previous decision by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), not to participate.

"We have to have discipline within the group. Those who dare defy the group's decision face expulsion," said Muslim Brotherhood Spokesperson Jameel Abu Baker.

Abu Baker told The Jordan Times that the decision is not final and can be appealed.

"There is still a chance for the members to regain their membership by going to the group's cassation court," added Abu Baker, insisting the decision was also meant to send a strong message to group's members and supporters about the seriousness of the movement's decision to boycott.

"The Islamist movement consulted its members months ago and the group decided it was in its best interests to boycott the polls. Therefore, we expect all members to respect the rules," he added.

Abu Baker said the five members are also members of the IAF and will face similar trials within the IAF, which maintains a separate court and operates independently from the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to IAF officials, the party court will hold its next session on Saturday to deliberate over the matter and hand down its ruling later next week.

"We will issue a verdict before the parliamentary elections," Tayseer Fityani, chief judge of the IAF's internal court, told The Jordan Times, urging those who have decided to run to reconsider their position and drop out of the race.

The expelled members include Madalla Tarawneh from Karak, Mohammad Massad and Aref Abu Eid from Baqaa camp, Abdul Hameed Qudah from Ajloun and Sameer Dababseh from Salt. Massad and Abu Eid told IAF officials in Baqaa that they registered as candidates following pressure from their families.

The Islamist movement and a number of leftist parties announced in August that they would boycott the polls in protest against the temporary Elections Law, which they claim favors tribes over political parties.

26 October 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=31264.

Indonesian volcano erupts, 20 hurt by hot ash

By SLAMET RIYADI, Associated Press

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia – Indonesia's most volatile volcano started erupting Tuesday, after scientists warned that pressure building beneath its dome could trigger the most powerful eruption in years.

Up to 20 people were injured by hot ash spewed from Mount Merapi, said an AP reporter who witnessed them being taken away for treatment.

Subandriyo, chief vulcanologist in the area, said the eruption started just before dusk Tuesday. The volcano had rumbled and groaned for hours.

"There was a thunderous rumble that went on for ages, maybe 15 minutes," said Sukamto, a farmer who by nighfall had yet to abandon his home on the mountain's fertile slopes. "Then huge plumes of hot ash started shooting up into the air."

Scientists have warned that pressure building beneath Merapi's lava dome could trigger one of the most powerful blasts in years.

"The energy is building up. ... We hope it will release slowly," government volcanologist Surono told reporters. "Otherwise we're looking at a potentially huge eruption, bigger than anything we've seen in years."

The alert level for the 9,737-foot (2,968-meter) mountain has been raised to its highest level.

Some 11,400 villagers on the mountain were urged to evacuate. But most who fled were the elderly and children, while adults stayed to tend to homes and farms on the mountain's fertile slopes.

In 2006, an avalanche of blistering gases and rock fragments raced down the volcano and killed two people. A similar eruption in 1994 killed 60 people, and 1,300 people died in a 1930 blast.

Indonesian officials were also trying to assess the impact of a 7.7-magnitude earthquake late Monday that caused a tsunami off western Indonesia, leaving scores of villagers dead or missing.

Indonesia is a vast archipelago of 237 million people, and the volcano and earthquake epicenter are about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) apart. The nation is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire — a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

There are more than 129 active volcanoes to watch in Indonesia, which is spread across 17,500 islands.

___

Associated Press writer Irwan Firdaus contributed to this report from Jakarta.

Israeli general lays out plan for reviving Gaza

By DAN PERRY and KARIN LAUB, Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel – The Israeli general who controls the gates of Hamas-run Gaza says he is pursuing a complex and delicate strategy: enable exports from and development in the impoverished Palestinian territory while somehow preventing the Islamic militants who rule it from getting credit for any progress.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Monday, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot said Israel seeks to work with Hamas' rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, to help revive the economy. Fayyad would set priorities for what Gaza needs and place his people at the borders, Dangot explained.

He said that the Palestinian Authority — driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007 and currently involved in fitful peace negotiations with Israel — must "show the flag there, to show their existence — even if 100 meters (yards) from there is a Hamas checkpoint."

The new approach is just the latest of the twists and turns Israel's Gaza policy has taken since the Hamas takeover. Trying to contain and weaken an Iranian-backed entity on its doorstep, Israel has employed a wide range of tactics — from a punitive three-year border blockade to periodic cease fires to a brief and devastating war almost two years ago.

Israel imposed the blockade after the Hamas takeover of Gaza, allowing in only a limited selection of basic goods. But it came under pressure to ease the embargo after an Israeli raid of a Gaza-bound blockade-busting flotilla killed nine Turkish activists in May.

Dangot has since helped devise the more relaxed rules. Today, most consumer goods are allowed into Gaza, while many raw materials and building supplies remain restricted and exports are banned, with the exception of seasonal shipments of strawberries and cut flowers.

The general says he hopes to ease restrictions further. This could include allowing in more raw materials to crank up Gaza's key industries — textiles, furniture and agriculture — and to enable more exports by spring.

Cement, steel and other vital building supplies are only allowed into Gaza if earmarked for international aid projects, meaning the private construction sector — traditionally the engine of the Gaza's economy — is left on the sidelines. Dangot said he could envision arrangements in the future under which private builders could receive supplies, provided their projects are approved by Fayyad.

Ghassan Khatib, the spokesman of the Fayyad government, called for a complete lifting of the blockade, saying Israel's policy has been counterproductive and only benefited Hamas.

Hamas, for its part, has harshly criticized the Palestinian Authority for its coordination with Israel and has urged the West Bankers to instead seek a joint government that is closer to Hamas' hardline views opposing peace talks with Israel.

Israel broadly says its policies were dictated by security concerns, such as halting repeated rocket attacks; Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets at communities in southern Israel in recent years, killing a dozen Israelis.

Yet officials also acknowledge that there is a political dimension in that Hamas must not be perceived as ruling successfully.

"We are fighting against a terror regime," said Dangot, who is called the military's coordinator for the West Bank and Gaza and is a pivotal player in policymaking toward the Palestinian areas. "You cannot be in a situation where Hamas gets credit for a policy" that improves the lives of people, he said.

At its most restrictive, Israel's border blockade prevented the import of seemingly random items from spaghetti to pencils. The policy did little to weaken Hamas politically but came under intense global scrutiny after the flotilla raid.

Did Israel have to wait for the criticism to ease the embargo? Dangot acknowledged that in "a few cases there were mistakes (and) some of them were not."

The international community has praised the easing of the blockade, but says more needs to be done to get Gaza's economy, battered by a decade of conflict and closure, back on its feet.

Dangot said the continued import restrictions are necessary because of concerns that cement, steel and other items could be diverted by Hamas to build bunkers and tunnels.

Gazans say that the easing of the embargo has fallen short of needs, and the arrangement with the donors has done nothing for badly needed private construction.

In a meeting with Dangot earlier this month, Gaza business people told the general that 75,000 to 120,000 jobs could be created in the construction industry, and that the entire embargo notion was misguided.

"You succeeded to inject blood into a patient who is intensive care," delegation member Ali al-Hayek told Dangot. "You are not killing him and you are not reviving him. We need to re-evaluate the blockade, which failed."

Dangot urged them to be patient, saying that change would be gradual.

In the AP interview at Israel's sprawling military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Dangot noted that since the summer, Israel has already approved importing building supplies for more than 70 international projects, including schools and infrastructure.

He said the issue of private construction could also be addressed in tandem with the Palestinian Authority in order to build up the Fayyad government's credit with Gazans:

"We have to find a mechanism," he said. "If, for example, a group of local commercial people will come and the PA will (sponsor) them, this is what I am looking for."

He said the PA can also help determine priorities for infrastructure projects.

"I am not confirming anything without Fayyad's approval."

Israel hopes that the Fayyad government will eventually re-establish a foothold in Gaza, including by deploying its representatives on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, the main trade crossing with Israel. Currently, the West Bank government coordinates shipments to Gaza with Israel, while Gaza business people take delivery of the goods at the crossing.

With a Palestinian Authority deployment in place, Israel would be able to allow more exports from Gaza, beyond strawberries and cut flowers, Dangot said. However, it's not clear whether Fayyad could send border inspectors to Gaza without an elusive unity deal.

The current system is hitting some snags, including over which international aid projects get Israeli approval.

Dangot said he has encouraged aid agencies to submit as many plans as possible. However, he has denied approval to two U.N. schools being built on an empty plot in Gaza City, saying they need to move to a nearby location.

In the interview, Dangot suggested that there were Hamas facilities nearby or beneath the site and that the schools could therefore function as inadvertent shields for Hamas in a future conflict.

Chris Gunness, spokesman for the main UN aid agency in Gaza, disputed any Hamas presence near the intended construction sites. Gunness said the UN is working closely with area residents to get the badly needed schools built, and asked: "Do you think the community would agree to build two schools for 5,000 children if they were going to be used as human shields?"

Iran injects fuel into first nuclear reactor

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran began loading fuel into the core of its first atomic power plant on Tuesday, moving closer to the start up of a facility that leaders have touted as defying of international efforts to curtail the country's nuclear ambitions.

The Russian-built nuclear power plant in Bushehr has international approval and is supervised by the U.N.'s nuclear agency. However, the U.N. security council has slapped four rounds of sanctions against Iran over a separate track of its nuclear program — its efforts to refine uranium, which could eventually be used to create material for a weapon.

"Today, we witnessed an important development in the start up process. After fuel is injected into the heart of the reactor, the reactor door is closed. Then, it will take one or two months to reach a 40 or 50 percent nominal power," Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi told a press conference broadcast on state TV.

He pointed out that the fueling had occurred in spite of the current sanctions.

"The great Iranian nation can manage the sanctions with its resistance, efforts and endeavors and this is its proof," he said, adding that the reactor should start producing electricity "by mid February."

When the 1,000 megawatt plant originally received the nuclear fuel shipment in August, Salehi predicted it would produce electricity by November, but a leak in a storage pool delayed the process for months — the latest setback for a reactor first commissioned in the 1970s.

The U.S. recently withdrew its long-standing opposition to the plant after Russia satisfied concerns over how it would be fueled and the fate of the spent fuel rods.

Under a deal signed in 2005, Russia will provide nuclear fuel to Iran, then take back the spent fuel, a step meant as a safeguard to ensure it cannot be diverted into a weapons program. Iran has also agreed to allow the U.N.'s nuclear agency to monitor Bushehr and the fuel deliveries.

Worries remain, however, over Iran's program to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel since the process can also be used to create weapons grade material, something Iran says it has no interest in doing.

The United States claims that the fuel deal with Russia shows Tehran does not need to enrich its own uranium, but Iran maintains it will build other nuclear power plants and has to have its own fuel source.

Iran is already producing its own nuclear fuel — uranium enriched to about 3.5 percent. It also has started a pilot program of enriching uranium to 20 percent, which officials say is needed for a medical research reactor.

Weapons grade material has to be enriched to 90 percent.

The Bushehr project dates backs to 1974, when Iran's U.S.-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi contracted with the German company Siemens to build the reactor. The company withdrew from the project after the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the shah and brought hardline clerics to power.

In 1992, Iran signed a $1 billion deal with Russia to complete the project and work began in 1995.

Under the contract, the Bushehr nuclear power plant was originally scheduled to come on stream in July 1999 but the start up has been delayed repeatedly by construction and supply glitches.

Moscow has cited technical reasons for the delays, but Iranian officials have sporadically criticized Russia, some calling Moscow an "unreliable partner."

Russians began shipping fuel for the plant in 2007 and carried out a test-run in February 2009.

The Bushehr plant overlooks the Persian Gulf and is visible from several miles (kilometers) away with its cream-colored dome dominating the green landscape.

Soldiers maintain a 24-hour watch on roads leading up to the plant, manning anti-aircraft guns and supported by numerous radar stations.

Olympic Committee delays decision on new winter sports

Tue, 26 Oct 2010

Acapulco, Mexico - Women ski jumpers and competitors in six other winter sports disciplines will have to wait for a decision on their Olympic debut, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Monday.

At its meeting in the Mexican resort town of Acapulco, the IOC delayed a decision on the inclusions of women's ski jumping; men's and women's ski halfpipe, ski slopestyle and snowboard slopestyle; biathlon mixed team relay; figure skating team event and luge team relay.

It said however that it was looking favorably on their inclusion in the games.

The events were being considered for the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. The IOC executive board has the 2014 program on its agenda at meetings in Mexico as it continues efforts to make the Games more attractive for a young audience.

It said it would wait for the results of the 2011 world championships in each discipline before reaching a decision.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350376,decision-new-winter-sports.html.

US approve world's largest solar project

Tue, 26 Oct 2010

Washington - The United States on Monday approved the largest solar plant ever to be built, the Department of the Interior said.

The Blythe Solar Power Project is to be built by German company Solar Millennium AG on US government land in the Mojave Desert in south-eastern California near the Arizona border.

It will produce an estimated 1,000 megawatts of solar power - enough for 300,000 to 750,000 homes, the department said.

"The Blythe Solar Power Project is a major milestone in our nation's renewable energy economy and shows that the United States intends to compete and lead in the technologies of the future," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

Solar Millennium has the right to use the land for 30 years under an arrangement approved by Salazar Monday. The government has approved five similar projects on federal land in recent weeks in California and Nevada, but none as large as this one.

The company has said it hopes to start construction by the end of the year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350378,worlds-largest-solar-project.html.

China fills Three Gorges reservoir to maximum

Tue, 26 Oct 2010

Beijing - China filled the massive Three Gorges reservoir to its highest designed capacity on Tuesday, a move that officials said would enable the dam on the Yangtze river to maximize power generation and other functions.

Filling the 600-kilometer-long reservoir to the 175-meter level for the first time should "enable the project to fulfill its functions of flood control, power generation, navigation and water diversion to the full," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Cao Guangjing, the chairman of the China Three Gorges Project Corporation, as saying.

Work began on the Three Gorges Dam and hydroelectric power plant in 1993, with filling of the reservoir and electricity generation starting in 2008.

Last year, the government said it had spent 180 billion yuan (26.5 billion dollars) on building the 185-meter dam and the reservoir, but critics claim the cost could be more than twice that amount.

The Three Gorges project includes 26 700-megawatt generators with a total designed capacity of 84.7 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, according to the Three Gorges corporation. Six more 700-megawatt generators are under construction.

In January, the government said it planned to move another 300,000 people to create an "ecological protection belt" around the reservoir, after relocating 1.3 million residents over the past 17 years.

A survey in 2007 found 9,324 sites around the reservoir were at risk of landslides and other geological hazards.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350388,three-gorges-reservoir-maximum.html.

Indonesia evacuates areas near volcano

Tue, 26 Oct 2010

Jakarta - Indonesian authorities on Tuesday began evacuating residents near Mount Merapi on Java island after upgrading the volcano's alert status to its highest level.

Tents, blankets and plastic sheeting were distributed to dozens of evacuation points around Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces, said Arief Setyo Hadi, an official with the Indonesian Red Cross.

"Residents are on standby and ready to flee when they feel it's necessary," he said.

About 300 children and elderly people were moved to two of the 52 shelters prepared by the government in Magelang district, Hadi said.

Volcanologists upgraded the alert status to red Monday after the lava flow extended about 4 kilometers south and west from the crater.

An official at a disaster relief post in Yogyakarta said 137 tremors were detected from the volcano Monday night.

Officials estimated up to 40,000 people were living in the endangered areas.

The 3,000-meter volcano last erupted in 2006, killing two people.

Its most deadly eruption on record occurred in 1930 when 1,370 people were killed.

At least 66 people were killed in a 1994 eruption, mostly from the outpouring of superheated hot ash and other volcanic materials.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350391,indonesia-evacuates-areas-volcano.html.

Iran not yet decided on nuclear talks, Foreign Ministry says

Tue, 26 Oct 2010

Tehran - Iran has not yet decided on attending talks on its nuclear program, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday.

"Evaluations are still going on as not only the date and venue but also the agenda should be clarified," Mehmamparast said.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has proposed talks between Iran and the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany to resume November 15-17 in Vienna.

"We want the agenda to have content and not just form," Mehmanparast said.

The other six countries involved want to focus on the nuclear dispute and Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment while Tehran wants to discuss global issues.

"Pressures and ultimatums will not have any impact whatsoever on Iran's firm willingness to follow its rights on pursuing a peaceful nuclear program," the spokesman added.

Iran's critics, however, worry it is using its nuclear program to develop weapons.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350392,talks-foreign-ministry-says.html.

Jordanian, American fighters refuel in the skies above Jordan

U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs

Story by Tech. Sgt. Chyenne Adams

By Tech. Sgt. Chyenne A. Adams

Four Royal Jordanian Air Force F-16 pilots received invaluable training, Oct. 20, as they went through aerial refueling beside four of their American brethren.

A KC-10 aircraft and crew out of McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. refueled eight F-16s in the skies over Jordan as part of Falcon Air Meet 2010 – a two-week exercise bringing military members from various countries together to share doctrine and procedures, strengthen relationships, and improve regional security.

Teams from four nations –Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and the United States – are participating in the exercise and competition. Four F-16’s and pilots from the U.S. Air Force and four F-16’s and pilots from the Jordanian Royal Air Force participated in the aerial refueling exercise.

“The Jordanian pilots are qualified for aerial refueling, but don’t generally get to practice that operation because they don’t have a tanker in the fleet,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Jimmy Kolzow, KC-10 mission commander. “Americans are as good as we are [at aerial refueling] because we have an exceptional support community between fighters and tankers, and we practice on a regular basis. It’s wonderful to be able to provide that experience and training to our Jordanian counterparts and cementing our relationship with these fellow pilots and crews.”

All the personnel involved in the operation met a few days prior to the event to lay out the ground work for the refueling plan.

“The entire aerial refueling operation went very smoothly,” said Captain Kolzow. “You could tell that was because all the participants really put time and effort into doing their homework and learning the overall game-plan and procedures ahead of time.”

During this particular mission, the plane carried approximately 140,000 pounds of fuel onboard and each aircraft took on between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds of fuel.

“The tricky part is the connection,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Steven Porter, KC-10 boom operator. “A lot depends on the receiver and how well they fly into the pattern – as long as they stay straight and the weather is on our side, we can make a good connection. After that, the computer takes over and it’s an amazingly efficient process.”

Master Sgt. Lynn Thatcher, KC-10 evaluator boom operator, was sitting in the rear of the aircraft watching his receiver aircraft through a wide window afforded the boom operator. He was “really impressed” with how well the Jordanian pilots followed procedures and moved through the operation.

The KC-10 Extender is an advanced tanker with the primary mission of aerial refueling, built to provide increased global mobility for U.S. Armed Forces and allied countries.

That increased mobility has led members of this KC-10 crew to places they never quite imagined – currently working out of Marka Civil Airport, Jordan, and flying a 25-mile by 20-mile square in the skies over the eastern part of Amman – the countries’ capital city, near the borders of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, according to U.S. Air Force Capt. Steve Sager, KC-10 aircraft commander.

The aircraft’s fact sheet at www.af.mil states that, in addition to the three main DC-10 wing fuel tanks, the KC-10 has three large fuel tanks under the cargo floor, one under the forward lower cargo compartment, one in the center wing area and one under the rear compartment. Combined, the capacities of the six tanks carry more than 356,000 pounds of fuel – almost twice as much as the KC-135 Stratotanker.

Using either an advanced aerial refueling boom, or a hose and drogue centerline refueling system, the KC-10 can refuel a wide variety of U.S. and allied military aircraft.

The KC-10’s boom operator controls refueling operations through a digital, fly-by wire system. The Automatic Load Alleviation System and Independent Disconnect System greatly enhance safety and facilitate air refueling.

Source: Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System.
Link: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/58628/jordanian-american-fighters-refuel-skies-above-jordan.

Jordanian minister resigns; 'sorry' for offending media

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II Monday accepted the resignation of his environmental minister, who apologized for offending the media.

The royal court said in a statement that Hazem Malhas had tendered his resignation earlier in the day to Prime Minister Samir Rifai. He acknowledged his responsibility in making remarks against the media and journalists during a workshop at the UN offices in Amman on Sunday, Minister of State for Media Affairs Ali Ayed said.

"Malhas apologized for his unintentional offense against certain media establishments and media men and affirmed his respect for the Jordanian media which operate in accordance with the profession's observed standards and ethics," he added.

Malhas reportedly clashed with certain journalists accusing them of "ignorance and lack of precision".

The remarks drew sharp reaction from the Jordan Press Association which issued a strongly worded protest and urged Rifai to take punitive action against the minister.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350352,resigns-sorry-offending-media.html.

Polls stir old rivalries in Jordan’s first capital

By Taylor Luck

SALT - Leftist, Islamist, tribal or independent; only one criterion matters in Ahmed Adnan’s choice for MP: “Harra or Krad”.

The 32-year-old Salt resident said when the time comes to cast his ballot, he will vote according to the groupings of tribes that have settled in the hills and valley of Balqa Governorate over the last 500 years.

Salt’s Harra-Krad divide dates back to the Mamluk times, when the city consisted of two boroughs, according to Ibrahim Masri, Salt historian and curator of the Old Historic Salt Museum.

In the 16th century, Salt was a town of some 400 people divided into the Krad area on the plains southwest of the city’s citadel, which has long since been demolished, while the Harra area developed northeast of the fortress.

With the introduction of new residents in the early 19th century due to the regional movements of the army of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, the two boroughs expanded until they met each other at the castle center.

The merging of the two areas into a united town sparked a mostly friendly rivalry between the two sets of tribes that would flare up during events like grape harvests and municipal elections, Masri said.

Times have changed in the sandstone city, and tribal alliances are no longer geographically bound. But in a city which prides itself on a more traditional way of life, some old habits die hard, according to 19-year-old Hana.

“If you aren’t voting for your own tribe, then its Harra or Krad,” said the university student, who declined to use her full name.

Eman Hiari said the amount of cross-tribal support for many candidates is a sign that this year’s polls are breaking away from traditions.

“We still have these divisions, but it’s time to move on,” noted Hiari, a candidate for the first district.

“We are all brothers and sisters, we are all Salt and we should stand behind each other and elect our representatives based on ability,” she added.

Another candidate, Jehad Kharabsheh chalked up the talk of tribal divisions to the “old mentality” of political veterans.

“We have so many people that are used to the old state of affairs that they live in the past. Today we are one, united Salt,” the 39-year-old said.

However, Islamist candidate Samir Dababseh believes the Harra-Krad divide has impacted this year’s polls by dictating which districts candidates registered under.

Tribal candidates avoided entering districts that had popular candidates on the same side of the Harra-Krad rift, he claimed.

“There is still a level of tribalism guiding the elections in Salt, something we need to move away from,” he said, indicating that a return to Islamic principles will bridge the gap.

“The Arab and Muslim world was once united. Now we can’t even keep one city together?” he remarked.

Former Salt mayor Salmeh Hiyari said the divisions are fast becoming a thing of the past.

“Unfortunately we still see this [divide] in the municipal elections, but for parliamentary elections these tendencies died out in the 1950s,” he noted.

The Harra-Krad rift continues to influence how the city’s affairs are handled, but not the way voters choose their parliamentarians at the national level, he stressed.

Three-time MP and candidate for the first district Abdullah Ensour said Salt has largely moved on from the divisions.

“Only weaker candidates are playing that old tune,” he said, indicating that most citizens are moving beyond tribal affiliations to issues such as employment, education and women’s empowerment.

But for some like Adnan, old habits die hard.

“We still want qualified people. We just want to see our qualified people,” he said.

25 October 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=31233.

UAE, Algeria sign cooperation agreement

Algiers, Oct 17 (IANS/WAM) The UAE and Algeria Sunday signed an agreement to boost cooperation and dialogue between their parliaments.

Visiting UAE Federal National Council (FNC) speaker Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair and Algerian National People’s Assembly speaker Abdelaziz Ziari signed the document here.

At a press conference, Al Ghurair described his talks with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as ‘fruitful and encouraging’.

The Algerian president lauded UAE’s investments in the country, he said, adding UAE’s investments could surge to $10 billion in the future.

UAE-Algeria bilateral trade is currently worth $750 million.

Al Ghurair said 8,000 Algerians work in the UAE and it can take more.

Source: Calcutta Tube.
Link: http://calcuttatube.com/uae-algeria-sign-cooperation-agreement/127508/.

Yemen, Jordan review health cooperation

25/October/2010

AMMAN, Oct. 25 (Saba)- Ambassador of Yemen to Jordan Shaya Mohammed discussed on Monday with Minister of Health Nayif al-Fayiz over health cooperation fields between the two countries.

The meeting shed lights on related issues to health services provided to Yemeni medication seekers in Jordanian hospitals.

The ambassador expressed appreciation for cooperation of the Jordanian Health Ministry and other official bodies in providing better medication for Yemeni patients.

For his part, the Jordanian minister affirmed readiness of his ministry to provide further facilities to ensure better health services for Yemenis in Jordan.

Source: Saba Net.
Link: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news227264.htm.

President invites Algerian counterpart to visit Yemen

24/October/2010

ALGIERS, Oct. 24 (Saba)- President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika received on Sunday letter of credence of the newly appointed Yemeni ambassador to Algiers Jamal Nasir.

During the meeting, the ambassador handed over a message to President Bouteflika from President Ali Abdullah Saleh over the bilateral relations between the two countries as well as issues of common concern.

In the letter, President Saleh invited Bouteflika to visit Yemen within the framework of reinforcing the two countries ties.

The meeting shed lights on the bilateral relations between Yemen and Algeria and means of reinforcing and developing them in all fields to serve interests of the two peoples.

Source: Saba Net.
Link: http://www.sabanews.net/en/news227126.htm.

Algeria hosts a conference on the genetic identification by the DNA

The global police agency Interpol for North and West Africa holds today until 28 of current October a conference in Algiers on the genetic identification by the DNA.
Experts from Algeria, Morocco and Interpol are to discuss several issues related to the topic, a communiqué released by homeland security department (DGSN) said yesterday.

The conference, which is to be hosted by the Judicial Police headquarters in Algiers, aims at expanding the share of DNA profiles of the North African countries to the international level. The conference aims also at sharing the experience of DNA Department at the Interpol, in terms of the best methods used in genetic identification.

Source: El Khabar.
Link: http://www.elkhabar.com/quotidienFrEn/?ida=223273&idc=111.

Algeria: South Sudan Secession Could Have Serious Impact on African Continent

Kuwait New Agency-KNA

Algeria Foreign Affairs Minister, Murad Madlasi cautioned against the possibility of Sudan partitioning following the upcoming South Sudan self-determination referendum.

He expressed his country's concern in respect of the referendum risks that might lead to partitioning of the Sudan into two parts, a factor that will aggravate instability in the region for a long period Madlasi in statement aired by the Algerian Radio Broadcast added, "This partitioning will have fatal repercussions on the African Continent."

The Minister stressed his country's solidarity with the Sudan and its keenness to see the Sudanese government has the capacity to hold the referendum in the best possible circumstances.

Source: Sudan Vision.
Link: http://www.sudanvisiondaily.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=62227.

Kashmir not part of India: Arundhati Roy

Srinagar, October 25 (KMS): Noted Indian author, Arundhati Roy has reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir is not an integral part of India.

Addressing a seminar organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) in Srinagar, Arundhati Roy said, “I believe Kashmir is not an integral part of India. It is a historical fact.By describing the pro-freedom leaders in the Valley as separatists, India in a sense has already acknowledged that secession has taken place.”

Arundhati Roy, who has been vociferously advocating the cause of Kashmiris, minced no words in stating that India had launched a protracted war to suppress the ongoing movement in occupied Kashmir by its military might. She maintained that the ongoing movement had highlighted the aspirations of the Kashmiris. However, she added that it was high time for the Kashmiri people to set goals for Azadi and achieve them systematically. She cautioned that there was an elite section in the occupied territory, which was allowing the oppression. She also hailed the role of Kashmiri women in the ongoing movement.

Prominent human rights activist of India, Gautam Navlakha, said, it is the Kashmiris who have to decide their future. He said that there had been criminalization of dissent as all voice in Kashmir had been suppressed.

Prominent filmmaker, Sanjay Kak said that it was right time for Kashmiris to push the curtains on their victim hood. He pointed out that the perception of majority of Indians was changing towards Kashmir issue due to peaceful protests in the territory.

Pervez Imroz, the Chairman of JKCCS, said that the civil society had an important role to shape up the opinions in Kashmir. “At a time when seven lakh troopers besides cops are leaving no stone unturned to suppress the movement, it is the responsibility of the civil society to give vent to aspirations of Kashmiris,” he said. Imroz said that the Government of India was holding the media hostage and spreading misinformation about Kashmir, adding, “Many NGOs have been formulated who portray false picture of Kashmir.”

Other speakers included Najeeb Mubarki, the Assistant Editor of the Economic Times, Pervez Bukhari, a renowned journalist, Ashim Roy, noted Trade Union leader, and Zahir-ud-Din, senior journalist.

Source: Kashmir Media Service.
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/kashmir-not-part-india-arundhati-roy.

Indonesia raises alert status of Java's Merapi volcano to top level

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Jakarta - Indonesian authorities on Monday upgraded the status of the Mount Merapi volcano in Central Java province to the highest level, ordering thousands of residents in the danger zones to leave their homes.

Febri, a volcanologist at the nearby city of Yogyakarta who like many Indonesians uses only by one name, said the lava flow from Merapi extended about 4 kilometers south and west from the crater.

Local authorities were ordered to immediately evacuate villagers from the endangered areas. Subandrio, the head of the Yogyakarta's Volcano Investigation and Technology Development Institute, estimated that up to 40,000 people were living in the endangered areas.

An official in the Dukun subdistrict of Magelang district confirmed that his office had received the notice and evacuation of 5,000 residents was under way.

An official in the Sleman district said evacuation had started an hour after the volcano's status was raised to alert level, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

The expansion of the volcano's slopes was much more rapid this time than with previous activity, indicating a higher-pressure build-up of gas, Surono, head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency, said Sunday, adding that officials were, therefore, preparing for a much more explosive eruption compared with Merapi's latest eruption in 2006.

"We believe Merapi will erupt explosively as it did in 1930 and not just spew gas like in 2006," The Jakarta Globe quoted Surono as saying.

The volcano's most deadly eruption took place in 1930 when 1,370 people were killed. At least 66 people were killed in a 1994 eruption, mostly from the outpouring of superheated hot ash and other volcanic materials. Merapi last erupted in June 2006, killing two people.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350202,merapi-volcano-top-level.html.

Tension mounts in Western Sahara - boy reported killed

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Madrid - Tension is mounting in Western Sahara after Moroccan soldiers killed a 14-year-boy participating in a large-scale protest movement, Spanish media reports said Monday.

Soldiers fired at the vehicle the boy, identified as Nayem el-Gareh, was traveling in, when it did not stop at a checkpoint. Several other people were injured and taken to hospital.

Thousands of people have set up a protest camp at about 15 kilometers east of the Saharan capital Laayoun to demand better housing, jobs and other improvements for the desert region, which Morocco annexed after the colonial power Spain withdrew in 1975.

The protest was not officially associated with the Western Saharan independence movement Polisario, the daily El Pais said. The daily described the protest as the biggest in Western Sahara since 1975.

Morocco had sent officials to negotiate with the protesters, reports said. Moroccan government spokesman Taieb Fassi-Fihri accused Polisario of trying to politicize social questions.

The protest was launched about three weeks before Morocco and Polisario were due to relaunch their UN-sponsored negotiations in New York in early November.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350208,-boy-reported-killed.html.

Bolivian President Evo Morales on trade visit to Iran

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Tehran - Bolivian President Evo Morales planned talks Monday in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to boost trade ties, state media reported.

Morales, who arrived on Sunday night, is to discuss an earlier agreement on projects worth 1.1 billion dollars over the next five years, and another 287-million-dollar investment by Iran in Bolivia.

Morales' second visit to Iran in two years was scheduled to last three days, the news network Press TV reported.

Iran plans to invest in Bolivia's industrial, agricultural and housing sectors, including a cement factory built with Iranian and Venezuelan financial aid.

President Ahmadinejad has in recent years boosted Iran's relations with leftist Latin American administrations in Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350220,morales-trade-visit-iran.html.

Indian premier to make trade visit to Malaysia

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Kuala Lumpur - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to visit Malaysia to strengthen relations between the Asian neighbors, officials said Monday.

Singh is due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday for a three-day visit accompanied by his wife and a 16-member delegation including Trade Minister Anand Sharma and a dozen business leaders.

On his first trip to Malaysia as prime minister, Singh is expected to speak at a business forum Wednesday along with his counterpart Najib Razak.

The two leaders are also expected to hold talks on trade, education and tourism.

India was Malaysia's 12th-largest import source and 11th-largest export destination last year, with bilateral trade totaling 7.3 billion dollars, officials said.

An estimated 2.5 million ethnic Indians live in Malaysia, about 9 per cent of the population, and Singh is expected to meet with some members of the community during his trip.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350221,make-trade-visit-malaysia.html.

Iranian officials skeptical about nuclear talks

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Tehran - Iranian officials raised doubts about talks to end the dispute over the country's nuclear program as international negotiators were waiting for Tehran to confirm the date proposed for the next round, media reports said Monday.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has proposed talks between Iran and the 5+1 group - the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany - to resume November 15-17 in Vienna.

"The 5+1 group should clarify whether they really want the problem to be settled or just waste time again," Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's foreign policy commission, was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying.

Iran welcomed the initiative, but chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said the agenda would need to be clarified before fixing the date and venue.

While the West insists that talks should be focused on Iran suspending its uranium enrichment, Tehran wants to discuss global issues such as disarmament, the Israeli nuclear arsenal, the Middle East and the global financial crisis. "The talks should not be allowed to be only focused on nuclear issues but go beyond that," Boroujerdi said.

Other parliamentarians had called on the government not to enter any nuclear negotiations in which the suspension of uranium enrichment is on the agenda.

A high-ranking member of Iran's judiciary also ruled out talks aimed at Iran mothballing its nuclear ambitions, the ISNA news agency said.

"If the basis of the talks would solely be depriving Iran from its nuclear rights, then such a meeting would once again be futile and the participants would then just drink a cup of coffee together and that would be it," said Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the judiciary's international deputy.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350236,officials-sceptical-nuclear-talks.html.

Toyota to establish a new firm in Egypt to produce SUVs

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Tokyo - Toyota Motor Corp said Monday it will set up a new company in Egypt to manufacture Fortuner sport utility vehicles, its first production base in Africa.

The new company is to be established in mid-December through a joint venture between Toyota, its group firms Toyota Tsusho Corp and Toyota Egypt SAE. It would have a projected annual output of around 3,000 vehicles from early 2012, the world's largest automaker said in a statement.

The new company would outsource assembly of the vehicles to local firms, using parts mostly made in Thailand, Toyota said.

Toyota began exporting vehicles to Egypt in 1979, and sold about 15,000 vehicles in the country last year, the company said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350318,toyota-to-establish-a-new-firm-in-egypt-to-produce-suvs.html.

Serbia welcomes EU decision over membership - Summary

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Belgrade- Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic on Monday welcomed the European Union's decision to advance Belgrade's application for membership as a sign that Serbia is on the right path.

"This news shows that our efforts so far have been recognized by the European Union," Cvetkovic told reporters after EU foreign ministers agreed to forward Belgrade's membership application to the European Commission for technical analysis.

Cvetkovic said Belgrade would intensify its efforts to become a member of the EU.

Earlier, Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac echoed Cvetkovic's comments. "Serbia's European journey is unstoppable," he said.

The EU, however, has conditioned progress on membership on the arrest of two war crimes suspects, Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic and former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic.

Speaking on the fringe of a conference with visiting defense officials from Namibia, Sutanovac insisted Serbia has the political will to bring the two fugitives to justice.

"The Defense Ministry is giving its full contribution in the search" for Mladic and Hadzic, he said.

Officials at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia have accused Serbia is not doing enough to arrest and extradite Mladic and Hadzic.

Mladic has been charged with genocide in connection with the 1995 execution of 8,000 Muslims in the town of Srebrenica.

Hadzic faces trial for war crimes in connection with the killing of civilians during the Serb and Yugoslav army siege of Vukovar in 1991.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350321,decision-membership-summary.html.

China urged to release jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

New York - Fifteen Nobel Peace Prize laureates have asked Chinese President Hu Jintao to release Liu Xiaobo, 2010 winner of the prize, and to free his wife, Liu Xia, from house arrest, the Freedom Now movement said Monday.

The 15 laureates said in signed letter to the Chinese president last week that releasing Liu would be "an extraordinary recognition of the remarkable transformation China has undergone in recent decades."

The Washington-based Freedom Now released the letter to Hu on Monday. It said the 15 Nobel Peace Prize winners also asked G20 leaders in a separate letter that when they meet November 10-11 in Seoul, they should directly ask Hu to release Liu. China is a member of the G20.

"The (Seoul) summit provides time and opportunity to address Liu's imprisonment," the letter to the G20 said. "We strongly urge you to personally impress upon Chinese President Hu Jintao that the release of Liu would not only be welcome, but necessary."

Liu was awarded the coveted Nobel Peace Prize on October 7 by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in recognition of his sustained and non- violent campaign for human rights in China. Liu is now serving his fourth prison term, an 11-year sentence, after Chinese authorities charged him with sedition.

Chinese authorities also put his wife under house arrest in Beijing. Freedom Now said Liu Xia has retained it as a pro bono international legal counsel.

The letter to the G20 included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US President Barack Obama, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, one of the 15 Nobel Peace laureate signatories, said that the awarding of the prize to Liu should be viewed by Beijing as a "moment of pride and opportunity for the Chinese government."

"I strongly urge President Hu to release Liu Xiaobo from his imprisonment and to lift all restrictions on Liu Xia's liberties," Tutu said.

The Chinese government called Liu's Nobel Prize a "blasphemy."

The 15 Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Tutu, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Jimmy Carter, FW de Klerk, Shirin Ebadi, John Hume, the Dalai Lama, Mairead Maguire, Wangari Maathai, David Trimble, Rogoberta Menchu Tum, Lech Walesa, Elie Wiesel, Betty Williams and Jody Williams.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350323,peace-prize-winner-liu.html.

Two soldiers killed in bomb blast in Algiers

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Algiers - A bomb in the eastern part of Algiers killed two soldiers and wounded three others on Monday, but a second bomb nearby was detected and defused, Algerian security officials said.

The officials said the bomb targeted a parked military lorry in Boumerdes, a suburb of the Algerian capital.

A second bomb placed a few meters away was discovered and was defused in time by security forces.

There was no initial indication of who was behind the attack.

Algeria is regarded as the main area of operations of the group Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQMI). Algerian authorities insist that they have terrorism under control the North African country.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350327,two-soldiers-killed-in-bomb-blast-in-algiers.html.

Miners, rescuers hold emotional celebration in Chile

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Santiago- A presidential medal ceremony on Monday for the 33 miners who were trapped for more than two months in northern Chile provided a chance for a meeting between the freed men and the rescue teams who lifted them from the depths of the earth.

They wept together and shared embraces.

"We always felt the support of everybody," said mine worker Franklin Lobos, a former professional footballer.

The miners were honored Monday by Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.

"We are completely grateful to all those who fought for us. It was something we could not have imagined," shift boss Luis Urzua said in the ceremony at Chile's presidential palace, La Moneda, in Santiago.

The miners were trapped underground when the shaft they were working in collapsed on August 5. For 17 days they had no contact with the surface, until they were located and supplied with food, water, oxygen and even communications and television through small exploratory shafts drilled by rescuers.

The men were finally lifted to the surface through a larger shaft on October 13.

Pinera thanked rescue teams for their efforts and noted that Chile has to draw lessons from the tragedy, with a new approach to labor relations.

One of the miners, Mario Sepulveda, said that their plight under the Atacama Desert should be used as an opportunity for change: "This is the time we have to start reviewing things. This is the time we have to fight for workers to be treated with dignity."

Pinera, accused by some in the Chilean opposition of exploiting the rescue politically, recalled the tension of the spectacular operation.

"We were searching blindly. We did not know where you were, and the truth is we were not sure that you were alive," he told the miners.

The men received medals in the same order that they emerged from the mine.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350336,hold-emotional-celebration-chile.html.

NASA green lights Discovery launch

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Washington - NASA has given the green light to the launch of Discovery on November 1 after resolving a problem associated with a small fuel leak.

Discovery, which will be making its last voyage to space as NASA winds down the space shuttle program, was cleared for blastoff at 2040 GMT after completing a flight readiness review, the space agency said Monday.

NASA engineers drained a fuel line and replaced two seals to ensure a leak would not persist.

NASA is planning at least one more launch of a space shuttle after Discovery some time next year and has not ruled out a second flight.

Discovery will be carrying the last US module to the International Space Station, designed provide additional storage and laboratory space. Discovery will bring additional spare cargo and a new, different kind of resident - the first human-like robot in space, called Robonaut 2 (R2).

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350339,green-lights-discovery-launch.html.

Karzai confirms receiving cash payments from Iran

Mon, 25 Oct 2010

Kabul - Afghan President Hamid Karzai admitted Monday that his office regularly received cash payments from Iran to pay for his "special expenses" and presidential "donations," but insisted it was though official channels.

"The Iranian government has been providing us with 5 or 6 or 7 hundreds of thousands of euros once or twice every year," Karzai told reporters in his fortified presidential palace.

"This is transparent," the president insisted. "This is nothing hidden. We are grateful for the Iranian help in this regard."

Karzai was responding to a report in The New York Times accusing Tehran of passing bags of money as part of secret and steady payments intended to promote its interest in Afghanistan.

The report, citing Afghan and Western officials in Kabul, said Karzai chief of staff Umar Daoudzai received millions of dollars in cash in Iran and Afghanistan. The president used the money to buy the loyalty of Afghan politicians and tribal elders, the article said.

"Daoudzai is receiving that help under my instruction," Karzai said.

Asked what Tehran wanted Kabul to do in return, he said: "They have asked for good relations in return and lots of other things."

"We have also asked a lot of things in return in this relationship, so it is a relationship between neighbors, and it will go on, and we will continue to ask for cash help from Iran," Karzai said.

He said the US government was aware of the Iranian aid.

"The cash payments are done by various friendly countries to help the president's office and to help dispense assistance in various ways to the employees around here, to people outside, and this is transparent, and this is something that I have discussed," he said.

US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters in Washington that the United States supports the Afghan government receiving aid from any country but questioned Iran's motives and its dedication to a stable Afghanistan.

"We have concerns about Iran and the role that it's played in affairs of many of its neighbors, including Afghanistan," he said.

As far as US cash payments, Crowley confirmed, as Karzai noted, that Washington once provided the Afghan government with aid in the form of cash because in the early period of the US intervention Kabul did not have the institutional capacity to handle electronic transfers.

Karzai suggested the Times' report was related to his government's decision to dissolve all private security companies in Afghanistan.

He accused some Western officials of attempting to put pressure on the government and to defame Daoudzai by talking to the media.

NATO officials and Western diplomats in Kabul publicly supported Karzai's move to dismantle the security firms. But they have also expressed concerns that the ban would cause the closure of many national development projects protected by private security guards.

Karzai reiterated Monday that his decision on private security contractors stands, but said his administration was willing to reconsider the continuation of some private contractors currently guarding national projects.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350341,receiving-cash-payments-iran.html.

US awards Jordan 275-million-dollar grant to improve water

WASHINGTON — The United States on Monday awarded Jordan a 275-million-dollar grant to improve water distribution and wastewater collection in the northeastern city of Zarqa.

The money was granted under the US-run Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which helps developing countries reduce their levels of poverty as long as they meet performance criteria on the rule of law and democratic principles.

The compact signed in Washington on Monday "will increase the supply of available water by improving water delivery, wastewater collection, and wastewater treatment," the MCC said in a statement.

The signing was witnessed by visiting Jordanian Foreign Minister Nassar Judeh and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who announced plans for the grant during a visit to Jordan last month.

Jordan, one of the closest US partners in the Middle East, is a key Arab mediator in the protracted Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

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