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Monday, December 13, 2010

US House Approves Large Increase in Military Aid to Israel

Short-range missile program gets $205m. allocation in Congressional resolution.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER

December 11,2010 "Jerusalem Post" -- -WASHINGTON – Despite freezing funding for most aspects of the US government at 2010 levels, the US House agreed Wednesday evening to increase military aid to Israel substantially.

Most significantly, the House added $205 million in first-time funding for the Iron Dome project, a short-range rocket defense system. The money was pledged by President Barack Obama last May, but had been stalled until now.

In addition, military aid allocations from Israel should increase from 2010 levels of $2.775 billion to $3b. for fiscal year 2011, while those for Egypt and Jordan will hold constant from 2010.

That increase is dictated by the 10-year memorandum of understanding the US has negotiated with Israel, but it could have been frozen along with other spending increases since the House passed a continuing resolution for 2010 budget levels as a stopgap funding measure so government didn’t shut down, after Congress failed to pass a FY2011 spending bill through the normal process.

Other expenditures for Israel, including more than $200m. for the Arrow long-range missile defense system and the medium-range David’s Sling, will also keep the same amounts as their 2010 levels.

The continuing resolution with its increased funding for Israel was passed 212-206 by the House and still needs to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by Obama.

“Given the scrutiny that our nation is appropriately giving to every dollar expended for all purposes – including the defense of the United States and its allies – it is a mark of the great importance of these projects that they were included in this funding bill,” said Rep. Steve Rothman, a New Jersey Democrat, who helped shepherd through the additional money. “This funding sends a strong message, to both our enemies and allies, by providing more total dollars than ever before toward these rocket and missile defense programs.”

© The Jerusalem Post 1995 - 2010

Source: Information Clearing House.
Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27041.htm.

Jailed Afghan Drug Lord Was Informer on U.S. Payroll

By JAMES RISEN

December 11, 2010 "NYTimes" -- WASHINGTON — When Hajji Juma Khan was arrested and transported to New York to face charges under a new American narco-terrorism law in 2008, federal prosecutors described him as perhaps the biggest and most dangerous drug lord in Afghanistan, a shadowy figure who had helped keep the Taliban in business with a steady stream of money and weapons.

But what the government did not say was that Mr. Juma Khan was also a longtime American informer, who provided information about the Taliban, Afghan corruption and other drug traffickers. Central Intelligence Agency officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents relied on him as a valued source for years, even as he was building one of Afghanistan’s biggest drug operations after the United States-led invasion of the country, according to current and former American officials. Along the way, he was also paid a large amount of cash by the United States.

At the height of his power, Mr. Juma Khan was secretly flown to Washington for a series of clandestine meetings with C.I.A. and D.E.A. officials in 2006. Even then, the United States was receiving reports that he was on his way to becoming Afghanistan’s most important narcotics trafficker by taking over the drug operations of his rivals and paying off Taliban leaders and corrupt politicians in President Hamid Karzai’s government.

In a series of videotaped meetings in Washington hotels, Mr. Juma Khan offered tantalizing leads to the C.I.A. and D.E.A., in return for what he hoped would be protected status as an American asset, according to American officials. And then, before he left the United States, he took a side trip to New York to see the sights and do some shopping, according to two people briefed on the case.

The relationship between the United States government and Mr. Juma Khan is another illustration of how the war on drugs and the war on terrorism have sometimes collided, particularly in Afghanistan, where drug dealing, the insurgency and the government often overlap.

To be sure, American intelligence has worked closely with figures other than Mr. Juma Khan suspected of drug trade ties, including Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s half brother, and Hajji Bashir Noorzai, who was arrested in 2005. Mr. Karzai has denied being involved in the drug trade.

A Shifting Policy

Afghan drug lords have often been useful sources of information about the Taliban. But relying on them has also put the United States in the position of looking the other way as these informers ply their trade in a country that by many accounts has become a narco-state.

The case of Mr. Juma Khan also shows how counternarcotics policy has repeatedly shifted during the nine-year American occupation of Afghanistan, getting caught between the conflicting priorities of counterterrorism and nation building, so much so that Mr. Juma Khan was never sure which way to jump, according to officials who spoke on the condition that they not be identified.

When asked about Mr. Juma Khan’s relationship with the C.I.A., a spokesman for the spy agency said that the “C.I.A. does not, as a rule, comment on matters pending before U.S. courts.” A D.E.A. spokesman also declined to comment on his agency’s relationship with Mr. Juma Khan.

His New York lawyer, Steven Zissou, denied that Mr. Juma Khan had ever supported the Taliban or worked for the C.I.A.

“There have been many things said about Hajji Juma Khan,” Mr. Zissou said, “and most of what has been said, including that he worked for the C.I.A., is false. What is true is that H. J. K. has never been an enemy of the United States and has never supported the Taliban or any other group that threatens Americans.”

A spokeswoman for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is handling Mr. Juma Khan’s prosecution, declined to comment.

However, defending the relationship, one American official said, “You’re not going to get intelligence in a war zone from Ward Cleaver or Florence Nightingale.”

At first, Mr. Juma Khan, an illiterate trafficker in his mid-50s from Afghanistan’s remote Nimroz Province, in the border region where southwestern Afghanistan meets both Iran and Pakistan, was a big winner from the American-led invasion. He had been a provincial drug smuggler in southwestern Afghanistan in the 1990s, when the Taliban governed the country. But it was not until after the Taliban’s ouster that he rose to national prominence, taking advantage of a record surge in opium production in Afghanistan after the invasion.

Briefly detained by American forces after the 2001 fall of the Taliban, he was quickly released, even though American officials knew at the time that he was involved in narcotics trafficking, according to several current and former American officials. During the first few years of its occupation of Afghanistan, the United States was focused entirely on capturing or killing leaders of Al Qaeda, and it ignored drug trafficking, because American military commanders believed that policing drugs got in the way of their core counterterrorism mission.

Opium and heroin production soared, and the narcotics trade came to account for nearly half of the Afghan economy.

Concerns, but No Action

By 2004, Mr. Juma Khan had gained control over routes from southern Afghanistan to Pakistan’s Makran Coast, where heroin is loaded onto freighters for the trip to the Middle East, as well as overland routes through western Afghanistan to Iran and Turkey. To keep his routes open and the drugs flowing, he lavished bribes on all the warring factions, from the Taliban to the Pakistani intelligence service to the Karzai government, according to current and former American officials.

The scale of his drug organization grew to stunning levels, according to the federal indictment against him. It was in both the wholesale and the retail drug businesses, providing raw materials for other drug organizations while also processing finished drugs on its own.

Bush administration officials first began to talk about him publicly in 2004, when Robert B. Charles, then the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, told Time magazine that Mr. Juma Khan was a drug lord “obviously very tightly tied to the Taliban.”

Such high-level concern did not lead to any action against Mr. Juma Khan. But Mr. Noorzai, one of his rivals, was lured to New York and arrested in 2005, which allowed Mr. Juma Khan to expand his empire.

In a 2006 confidential report to the drug agency reviewed by The New York Times, an Afghan informer stated that Mr. Juma Khan was working with Ahmed Wali Karzai, the political boss of southern Afghanistan, to take control of the drug trafficking operations left behind by Mr. Noorzai. Some current and former American counternarcotics officials say they believe that Mr. Karzai provided security and protection for Mr. Juma Khan’s operations.

Mr. Karzai denied any involvement with the drug trade and said that he had never met Mr. Juma Khan. “I have never even seen his face,” he said through a spokesman. He denied having any business or security arrangement with him. “Ask them for proof instead of lies,” he added.

Mr. Juma Khan’s reported efforts to take over from Mr. Noorzai came just as he went to Washington to meet with the C.I.A. and the drug agency, former American officials say. By then, Mr. Juma Khan had been working as an informer for both agencies for several years, officials said. He had met repeatedly with C.I.A. officers in Afghanistan beginning in 2001 or 2002, and had also developed a relationship with the drug agency’s country attaché in Kabul, former American officials say.

He had been paid large amounts of cash by the United States, according to people with knowledge of the case. Along with other tribal leaders in his region, he was given a share of as much as $2 million in payments to help oppose the Taliban. The payments are said to have been made by either the C.I.A. or the United States military.

The 2006 Washington meetings were an opportunity for both sides to determine, in face-to-face talks, whether they could take their relationship to a new level of even longer-term cooperation.

“I think this was an opportunity to drill down and see what he would be able to provide,” one former American official said. “I think it was kind of like saying, ‘O.K., what have you got?’ ”

Business, Not Ideology

While the C.I.A. wanted information about the Taliban, the drug agency had its own agenda for the Washington meetings — information about other Afghan traffickers Mr. Juma Khan worked with, as well as contacts on the supply lines through Turkey and Europe.

One reason the Americans could justify bringing Mr. Juma Khan to Washington was that they claimed to have no solid evidence that he was smuggling drugs into the United States, and there were no criminal charges pending against him in this country.

It is not clear how much intelligence Mr. Juma Khan provided on other drug traffickers or on the Taliban leadership. But the relationship between the C.I.A. and the D.E.A. and Mr. Juma Khan continued for some time after the Washington sessions, officials say.

In fact, when the drug agency contacted him again in October 2008 to invite him to another meeting, he went willingly, believing that the Americans wanted to continue the discussions they had with him in Washington. He even paid his own way to Jakarta, Indonesia, to meet with the agency, current and former officials said.

But this time, instead of enjoying fancy hotels and friendly talks, Mr. Juma Khan was arrested and flown to New York, and this time he was not allowed to go shopping.

It is unclear why the government decided to go after Mr. Juma Khan. Some officials suggest that he never came through with breakthrough intelligence. Others say that he became so big that he was hard to ignore, and that the United States shifted its priorities to make pursuing drug dealers a higher priority.

The Justice Department has used a 2006 narco-terrorism law against Mr. Juma Khan, one that makes it easier for American prosecutors to go after foreign drug traffickers who are not smuggling directly into the United States if the government can show they have ties to terrorist organizations.

The federal indictment shows that the drug agency eventually got a cooperating informer who could provide evidence that Mr. Juma Khan was making payoffs to the Taliban to keep his drug operation going, something intelligence operatives had known for years.

The federal indictment against Mr. Juma Khan said the payments were “in exchange for protection for the organization’s drug trafficking operations.” The alleged payoffs were what linked him to the Taliban and permitted the government to make its case.

But even some current and former American counternarcotics officials are skeptical of the government’s claims that Mr. Juma Khan was a strong supporter of the Taliban.

“He was not ideological,” one former official said. “He made payments to them. He made payments to government officials. It was part of the business.”

Now, plea negotiations are quietly under way. A plea bargain might keep many of the details of his relationship to the United States out of the public record.

Source: Information Clearing House.
Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27042.htm.

Russia halts aircraft carriers building

by Staff Writers
Moscow (UPI) Dec 10, 2010

The Russian military has conceded that it lacks the funds to deploy a powerful new armada of aircraft carriers and that no more would be built for at least 10 years.

The admission comes as a quick rebuttal to remarks by an unnamed military source cited in a string of local news reports that Russia was set to begin construction of new aircraft carriers.

The admission debunks earlier remarks, also, by Russia's navy head Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky that a technical project for an advanced aircraft carrier would be ready by the end of the year.

What's more, Russian navy experts divulged greater details of the project at the time, saying a new aircraft carrier would be nuclear powered and would have a displacement of 50,000-60,000 tons.

This week, however, an unnamed senior official in Russia's Defense Ministry told Interfax news agency that the state armament program for 2011-20 did "not envision the construction of aircraft carriers."

He said current funding plans allowed the military to consider new designs but to hold off on any construction.

"Only then -- after completing the advanced designs -- can we examine the expediency of building aircraft carriers," the official said.

Russia's predicament mirrors that of many foreign companies as China -- once Russia's top client -- starts to compete in global markets with advanced trains, power-generating equipment and other civilian products based on technology obtained from the West.

The military's embarrassing admission signaled Russia's struggle to keep up with President Dmitry Medvedev's stated commitment to modernize a Soviet-era force that has lost its eminent position on the high seas.

Pundits said that the Interfax dispatch appeared to stoke initial confusion among Russia's military brass.

"It was denied by one unnamed official and received with blanket silence by the Defense Ministry itself," the Defense News Web site reported. Then, though, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyokov accepted that it was true.

At the height of its military might, the former Soviet Union had five aircraft carriers. It now has only one -- the Admiral Kuzetsov.

For Medvedev, the navy's re-emergence as a major power marked a new military strategy that he announced two years ago.

"We are not going to spare our financial resources," Medvedev said.

Those ambitions though, including the construction of six aircraft carriers, were effectively dashed since Russia entered a heated round of nuclear arms negotiations with the United States that hinged on a U.S. proposal to deploy a new missile defense shield in Europe.

From the onset of the U.S. proposal, put forth by the previous U.S. administration, Russia has feared that the systems could either be turned into an offensive weapon or expanded to neutralize the country's existing arsenal of nuclear arms.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_halts_aircraft_carriers_building_999.html.

Navy test fires electromagnetic cannon

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Dec 10, 2010

The US Navy announced a successful test Friday of an electromagnetic cannon capable of firing a projectile 110 nautical miles (200 kilometers) at five times the speed of sound.

"This demonstration moves us one day closer to getting this advanced capability to sea," said Rear Admiral Nevin Carr, chief of naval research.

Tested at the Navy's Dahlgren Surface Warfare Center in Virginia, the futuristic weapon uses powerful jolts of electric current to propel a non-explosive slug along rails before launching it at supersonic velocities.

The latest test involved a 33-megajoule shot, the most powerful ever attempted and three times that of the previous test in January 2008.

A megajoule is equivalent to the energy released when a one-tonne vehicle slams into a wall at 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour.

"Today's railgun test demonstrates the tactical relevance of this technology, which could one day complement traditional surface ship combat systems," Carr said.

"The 33-megajoule shot means the Navy can fire projectiles at least 110 nautical miles, placing sailors and marines at a safe standoff distance and out of harm's way."

He added that "the high velocities achievable are tactically relevant for air and missile defense."

The test model bears little resemblance to a gun. Instead, thick black cables plug into the rear of what looks like a long rectangular grill.

That armature holds the rails together as a powerful electric current surges through them, pushing the slug forward.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Navy_test_fires_electromagnetic_cannon_999.html.

Maghreb Andalusian Music Festival to open in Algeria

2010-12-12

The 2nd Maghreb Andalusian Music Festival will be held December 13th-18th in Kolea, APS reported on Saturday (December 11th). "This cultural event, which is a forum for discussion between different schools of Andalusian music, is meant to bring the talents and associations working in this field of music," festival director Abdeljalil El Robrini said at a press conference on Friday (December 10th). Eleven Maghreb troupes will perform at the event.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/12/newsbrief-07.

Mauritanian president to arrive in Tunisia

2010-12-12

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is expected to arrive Monday (December 13th) in Tunisia for a two-day visit to discuss bilateral relations and co-operation in the framework of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), PANA reported on Saturday. The two countries have already partnered in several fields, including air transport and telecommunications.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/12/newsbrief-04.

Morocco, Polisario to hold more Western Sahara talks

2010-12-12

Morocco and the Polisario will begin another round of unofficial, UN-brokered negotiations next Thursday, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Friday (December 10th). "The parties agreed that at the next meeting they will explore innovative approaches to try to create a better environment for progress," Nesirky said. Algeria and Mauritania and the UN will attend the two-day talks as observers. The last round of Western Sahara talks in New York coincided with the deadly clashes in Laâyoune.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/12/newsbrief-03.

Kashmir teacher arrested over 'anti-India' exam

SRINAGAR, India — Police arrested an English teacher in restive Indian Kashmir on accusations he set an exam paper aimed at fueling separatist sentiment in the volatile region, authorities said Saturday.

The local teacher asked college students to translate into English an Urdu passage that talked about the killings of youngsters, including girls, by armed troops during recent popular unrest.

Noor Mohammad Bhat was arrested on Friday under the "Unlawful Activities Act and suspicion of intent to provoke the masses by causing riots", police superintendent Hazratbal Maqsood-ul-Zaman told AFP.

Armed rebel violence in Indian Kashmir has eased since rival India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 over the disputed region.

But popular pro-independence protests since June have left more than 110 protesters and bystanders -- many of them teenagers and young boys -- dead.

The unrest, in which protesters hurled stones at police, sometimes drawing police fire in return, has left authorities grappling for solutions in Kashmir, where popular desire for independence remains strong.

The teacher set students at the state-run college in Srinagar questions such as: "Are the stone-pelters the real heroes" of the unrest this year?

The exam also asked students to translate into English: "Kashmir is burning again. Bullets are being pumped into the chests of even girls and women. Rulers continue in a deep slumber."

The exam paper "carried objectionable text against the establishment", said the police official, terming it "anti-India."

Another senior police officer was quoted by local media as saying police had to detain the teacher to ensure "separatist politics don't become part-and-parcel of the educational curriculum".

The teacher's arrest drew shock from his colleagues, who said Bhat was not known for having strong political views.

"Bhat is innocent," said Kashmir College Teachers' Association President Tariq Ashai.

"He is a teacher, a literary personality who keenly observes the happenings of his surroundings, so when he was asked to set the paper, he translated his observations and feelings on paper," Ashai added.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan each hold part of Kashmir but claim it in full. India says Kashmir, where an insurgency has been under way against New Delhi's rule for more than two decades, is an "integral part" of the country.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

Salehi appointed acting foreign minister

Mon Dec 13, 2010

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued an order, appointing Ali Akbar Salehi as the country's acting Foreign Minister.

“Considering your commitment, knowledge, and valued expertise, and in accordance with Article 135 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and based on this directive you are appointed as acting foreign minister,” a copy of the presidential directive read.

In a separate letter issued on Monday, President Ahmadinejad expressed gratitude to former foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki for his services during his tenure.

"Herby I thank you for your services and efforts during your tenure in the Foreign Ministry," read the letter.

The former Iranian foreign minister is currently on an official visit to Senegal.

Salehi is currently the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155293.html.

Jordan's king welcomes Tehran trip

Jordanian King Abdullah II has welcomed an invitation by Iran to visit the country, calling for more relations between Tehran and Amman.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad invited King Abdullah II to visit Tehran, in a letter delivered on Sunday by top aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei.

In a closed-door meeting with the Iranian official, the Jordanian monarch called for promotion of bilateral ties on all fronts and said that he would be happy to visit Tehran, Abdullah's Royal Court said in a statement on Sunday.

The king told Mashaie he was "keen to develop Iranian-Jordanian relations in line with a clear foundation," a part of the palace statement read.

Mashaei, for his part, voiced Tehran's readiness to expand relations with the regional states and said, "Tehran and Amman have abundant capacities for cooperation, and these capacities can serve as a proper ground for the promotion of the ties between the two countries."

King Abdullah II further praised the Iranian government and nation, saying that he would like to meet President Ahmadinejad soon "to discuss means to boost bilateral ties at a summit either in Amman or Tehran."

No date has been set for the meeting yet.

The statement also quoted Abdullah as saying that it is of significant importance that Tehran and Amman try to "improve Jordanian-Iranian relations in the service of both countries, their brotherly people and joint Islamic causes, and to consolidate security and stability in the region."

Meanwhile, Jordan's king underlined that his country recognizes Iran's nuclear right and supports Tehran's peaceful nuclear energy program.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155217.html.

Jordan urges EU to ensure resumption of direct Mideast talks

Sun, 12 Dec 2010

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II met on Sunday with ambassadors of European Union countries and urged a greater EU role to ensure the resumption of the stalled direct talks between the Palestinians and Israel, according to a royal court statement.

"The monarch underscored the importance of the European role in surmounting the obstacles that prevent the achievement of progress towards the solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state vision," the statement said.

King Abdullah warned against "dealing with the peace process through a method of crisis management that perpetuates the status quo", a reference to Israel's refusal to extend the moratorium on building of settlements that prompted Palestinians to withdraw from the talks at end of September.

"Such approach will enhance tension and lead to the explosion of the crisis with the entire world paying the price," the monarch was quoted as telling the envoys.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357814,resumption-direct-mideast-talks.html.

President Ahmadinejad invites Jordan's king Abdullah to visit Iran

Sun, 12 Dec 2010

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday received a rare message from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inviting him to visit Iran, according to a royal court statement.

The message, which was delivered to the monarch by head of Ahmadinejad's office Rahim Mashaei, expressed the Iranian leader's "keenness on developing ties between Iran and Jordan in various spheres," the statement said.

Abdullah underlined the need to meet with Ahmadinejad in the near future - either in Amman or Tehran - to discuss "ways for bolstering bilateral ties on clear bases in such a manner that serves the interests of the two peoples, Islamic issues as well as security and stability in the region," the royal court said.

The discussions during the meeting tackled "a number of regional and international issues and means of addressing them in a form that reflects positively on interests of the Islamic nation," the statement said without giving details.

Relations between Jordan and Iran appeared to have cooled in recent years after King Abdullah warned against the formation of a "Shiite crescent" involving Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

However, Abdullah repeatedly called for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and warned against the dangerous repercussions of military action.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357826,king-abdullah-visit-iran.html.

Kenyan government to discuss US ambassador's future

Mon, 13 Dec 2010

Nairobi - Kenya is holding a cabinet meeting Monday to discuss the future of United States Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, a government spokesman said.

Ranneberger has long been an outspoken critic of the government and in recent times has further enraged Kenya's leaders as he pursues a policy of youth empowerment.

Cables released by WikiLeaks also revealed Ranneberger believes corruption is "rampant" in Kenya and that President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are part of the problem.

Local media, citing government sources, have claimed a request to have him recalled is imminent.

"There is a cabinet meeting today to discuss him," government spokesman Alfred Mutua told the German Press Agency dpa. "The concern with Ranneberger has nothing to do with WikiLeaks, it is the activities he has been carrying out, it is the youth meetings."

Ranneberger has been crossing the country as the US throws millions of dollars into its plans to empower Kenya's youth.

Mutua said youth attending those meetings told the government Ranneberger was inciting them to revolution, asking them to "remove the old guard" and "take to the streets."

The cabinet is expected to reach a decision on Ranneberger's future at the meeting, Mutua said.

Both Odinga and Kibaki, whose coalition government was formed in the wake of December 2007's deadly post-election violence, blasted Ranneberger on Sunday during Jamhuri Day - the annual holiday celebrating Kenya's establishment as a republic one year after independence from Britain in 1964.

Although neither man named Ranneberger directly, their angry attacks were clearly directed at the US envoy.

Odinga referred to somebody going around acting as if he were "governor," while Kibaki said Kenya would not be intimidated by people who give their money in an attempt to "corrupt our youth and destabilize our country."

Malaysian courts to halve punishments for guilty pleas

Mon, 13 Dec 2010

Kuala Lumpur - Offenders in Malaysia were soon to enjoy sentence reductions of up to half the maximum sentence if they plead guilty, officials said Monday.

Chief Justice Zaki Azmi said the necessary amendments to the criminal code procedures were currently being made, and aim to help the courts catch up with their backlogs of cases.

The new rules would be extended to cases involving serious crimes such as manslaughter and rape, court officials said, but added that they would not apply to crimes carrying the mandatory death sentence, such as murder and drug trafficking.

"The step was taken to help reduce the numbers of backlogged cases so the cases can be cleared as fast as possible," Zaki was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper.

He did not say when the new code would be in place.

The government last month announced plans to introduce electronic filing systems and other innovations to help the courts clear their backlog of over 58,000 civil and criminal cases.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357867,halve-punishments-guilty-pleas.html.

Asian Gaza convoy arrives in Tehran

Mon Dec 13, 2010

The first Asian humanitarian aid convoy carrying relief material for the besieged Gaza Strip has arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

The Asian People's Solidarity for Palestine convoy, which is traveling through Iran before heading to Turkey, arrived in Tehran on Sunday and was greeted by the city's people and officials, including Tehran's Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

The caravan on Saturday arrived in Qom, where members of the convoy met with a number of religious figures.

The convoy began its journey from New Delhi, India, earlier this month and entered Iran thorough the southeastern city of Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan province on December 9.

It entered Kerman province on Thursday, continued their journey to Yazd province, and arrived in Isfahan on Friday. The convoy will travel through Zanjan and Tabriz en route to Turkey.

Last week, 200 Iranian lawmakers issued a statement expressing their support for the humanitarian convoy with the aim of showing solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The convoy will pass through a number of other countries, including Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, before entering Gaza via the Rafah crossing on December 27, which marks the second anniversary of the Israeli offensive against the people of Gaza at the turn of 2009.

The Israeli onslaught took the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, in the populated coastal strip and left thousands more injured.

The convoy consists of 150 human rights activists with different nationalities and religions from all walks of life, and is established to support the oppressed people of Gaza and collect aid for them.

Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu and Buddhist activists from Asian countries, including Japan, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Iran, are traveling about 10,000 kilometers, hoping to break the Israeli-imposed siege of Gaza.

In addition, there are some people in the convoy who were injured in Israel's attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in spring 2010.

On May 31, nine Turkish activists aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were killed and many others were injured when Israeli commandos opened fire on them in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The aid flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, was carrying aid, medical supplies, and construction materials to Gaza.

Tel Aviv laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after Hamas took control of the coastal sliver. The illegal blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied of their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and the rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 and 60 percent respectively in the Gaza Strip.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155220.html.

Kosovo votes without major trouble

Sun, 12 Dec 2010

Pristina, Kosovo - Voting went ahead in Kosovo's snap parliamentary poll Sunday without major incidents, the central election commission said in Pristina.

Just over 11 per cent of the 1.6 million registered voters had cast their ballots by 11:30 am (1030 GMT), the commission said, without providing figures for turnout comparison. Polling stations opened at 7 am and were due to close 12 hours later.

The election is the first since Kosovo, with its 90-per-cent Albanian majority, declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has been tipped to win the most votes, but is expected to fall short of an outright majority.

Pristina Mayor Mustafa Isa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) is also expected to do well. But two newcomer parties, the Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) and the FER (New Spirit), may stir the political scene in the former province.

Thaci lost a no-confidence vote in November, after his coalition with LDK fell apart amid squabbling over the election of the new Kosovo president and the sale of the national telecommunications firm. That triggered the elections a year ahead of their time.

A total of 29 parties are running for the parliament - 100 of the seats are up for grabs by any candidate, 10 are reserved for Serbs and 10 for representatives of other minorities.

Belgrade refuses to accept Kosovo's independence and has called its compatriots there to boycott the vote, but eight Serb parties still decided to run.

Concerns that the polarization among Serbs could spark violence in areas they dominate did not materialize in the first half of the day.

The entire election process is being closely monitored by almost 850 international and 26,000 local observers.

No officials results are expected Sunday, the election commission said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357792,kosovo-votes-major-trouble.html.

Three dead as Bangladeshi garment workers protest pay

Sun, 12 Dec 2010

Dhaka - At least three persons died and 100 others were injured on Sunday when police opened fire on a demonstration by Bangladeshi garment factory workers, police and witnesses said.

The deaths, in the south-east harbor city of Chittagong, came after protests by the workers, who say that their employers have failed to implement a recent increase in the minimum wage.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Abul Kashem, at a press briefing in the late afternoon, said police found bodies of three persons killed in the clashes.

"It could be known how they were killed only after the post mortem is done," said the city police chief, adding that the law enforcers detained 31 people allegedly involved in the clashes.

Further demonstrations were reported in the capital, Dhaka, where 125 injuries were reported.

Workers put up barricades and vandalized and set fire to cars, halting morning traffic for at least three hours on the road linking the capital to the airport, according to witnesses.

A group of garment workers took to the streets around 8 am (0200 GMT), claiming that salaries for November, which they received at the beginning of December, were not in line with the new minimum wage of 3,000 taka (42 dollars) per month, up from 1,662 taka.

The increased rate was due to take effect from November 1.

The government attempted to reassure workers, saying it would review the minimum wage and urged them to refrain from violence.

The clashes followed demonstrations over the past week in the cities of Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur and Chittagong, as well as the capital.

In Chittagong on Saturday, at least 15 people were injured amid protests by workers at a factory operated by the Korean YoungOne group.

Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse the demonstrators because they were vandalizing machinery and equipment in the factory, police office Tanvir Arafat said.

The company closed the factory on Sunday in response, as fresh demonstrations began by the workers, demanding the reopening of the factory and the raising of their wages.

The textile industry employs more than 3 million in Bangladesh, making it one of the country's most important economic engines.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357795,garment-workers-protest-pay.html.

Moscow police break up anti-government protest

Sun, 12 Dec 2010

Moscow - Police in Moscow on Sunday broke up a peaceful, thought not pre-approved, demonstration by anti-government protesters, making numerous arrests, according to the news agency Interfax.

The opposition supporters wanted to use a so-called "Day of Anger" to protest in front of the city's town hall, police said.

At another demonstration in St Petersburg, around 1,000 people demanded the release of jailed Russian oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

He is accused of stealing 218 million tons of oil during his time as head of the now defunct Yukos oil giant and is currently serving an eight-year jail sentence on tax-evasion charges.

Observers, both inside and outside the country, have criticized his trial as politically motivated.

The judge in the case is due to start delivering his verdict on Wednesday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357806,police-break-anti-government-protest.html.