Jordan welcomes lifting of UN sanctions on Iraq

Sun, 19 Dec 2010

Amman - The Jordanian government on Sunday welcomed the decision by the UN Security Council to lift a major part of the 19- year-old sanctions on neighboring Iraq, as a "constructive" step.

"This constructive and important measure on the part of the UN Security Council should represent an additional incentive for all political forces in Iraq to work out comprehensive national reconciliation and step up the formation of an Iraqi government that involves all main political blocs," Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said in a statement.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to lift its sanctions on Iraqi weaponry and civilian nuclear power. It also decided to return control of Iraq's oil and natural gas revenue to the government next summer and to settle all remaining claims relating to the controversial oil-for-food program.

"This decision reflects a clear recognition by the world community that Iraq has restored its important role in the regional and international security and stability," Judeh said.

He also expressed hope that the UN step would "prevent any meddling in internal affairs of Iraq and help safeguard its political independence and sovereignty over its national soil".

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358902,lifting-un-sanctions-iraq.html.

Mubarak calls for unity, hails economic reform in Egypt - Summary

Sun, 19 Dec 2010

Cairo - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak warned Sunday against internal and foreign threats to national unity while called on the parliament to adhere to the country's reform agenda to ensure further economic growth.

Mubarak, addressing the newly-elected parliament, accused unnamed groups of attempting to instigate sectarian tension in Egypt.

"We still face threats of extremism and terrorism, endeavors to interfere in our affairs and attempts targeting Muslim-Coptic unity or, other times, schemes to drive a wedge between us and our brothers in the Nile Basin countries," Mubarak said.

Last month, violence erupted after authorities ceased construction on a church in Cairo, citing a lack of required permits, reports said. Earlier this year a shooting killed eight Christians and a Muslim policeman guarding a church in southern Egypt, on the eve of Coptic Christmas, celebrated on January 7.

Tensions exist between the country's Christian and Muslim populations, though such instances take place on rare occasions.

Egypt's relations with Nile basin countries soured as the African states objected to a 1929 agreement, which organizes the proportion of Nile water to each country, and gives Egypt and Sudan the lion's share of water.

"The way we handle our foreign policy and national security issues is based on honesty and clarity. What we say in public is the same as we say behind closed doors," Mubarak said, in reference to the leaked US cables by WikiLeaks.

One cable revealed the country's fears that if Sudan is divided into two states, it might threaten Egypt's access to the River Nile. Another said that Mubarak is likely to seek re-election next year and will "inevitably" win.

The country faces a presidential election in 2011, with it still unclear if Mubarak, now 82, will run again. The opposition and some observers believe he is grooming his son, Gamal, for the job.

Despite the opposition's constant calls against Gamal, he seems to be supported by many, as his statements reveal he would maintain the same liberal economic policy currently taken by the government.

Mubarak also announced the country aims to achieve an average annual growth rate of eight per cent over the coming five years as it adheres to its business-friendly reform plan.

"We have to complete, and adhere to, our reform agenda that has strengthened our economy, pushing it for high growth rates and helped us overcome two consecutive global crises with our resources," the president said.

More industrial and commercial zones will be established, as well as others for agribusiness, he added, "to raise our productivity, exports and ability to compete and push our average growth rates to eight per cent during the next five years."

Egypt witnessed a 5-per-cent growth in the last fiscal year, yet the government seeks to get back to the 7-per-cent growth it had seen before the crisis hit.

"Major economies still suffer from repercussions of the global economic recession," Mubarak said. "Our economy stood in front of these repercussions and we did not reach out for any help."

The government have pushed through business-friendly reforms since 2004, which pushed for several years of rapid economic growth until the rate slowed to 4.7 per cent in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The economy was was hurt by declines in several sectors including tourism, exports, Suez Canal traffic and expatriate revenues.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358896,reform-egypt-summary.html.

Lukashenko wins Belarus vote, mass protests by opposition - Summary

Sun, 19 Dec 2010

Minsk - Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko won re- election Sunday, exit polls showed, as more than 20,000 opposition activists defied a government ban and took the streets in protest.

The demonstrators gathered in central Minsk, waving red-and-white flags to protest Lukashenko's election victory. Some chanted "Long live Belarus!" and "Tell the truth!"

"You can beat us, but you can't frighten us!" said Andrei Dmitriev, an opposition leader.

Police presence was heavy, with troops in riot gear blocking the crowd's movement toward nearby government buildings. Police orders to disperse met demonstrator jeers.

Lukashenko had threatened police action against anyone who defied a ban on rallies.

The authoritarian leader won re-election with between 72 and 82 per cent of the popular vote, according to exit polls. The victory was achieved by massive vote fraud, according to Lukashenko opponents.

The first violent clash between police and demonstrators took place shortly after polls closed, when riot police using clubs and percussion grenades assaulted a group of opposition activists walking toward Minsk's central Oktober Square.

The group, led by opposition candidate Vladimir Nekljaew was thrown into snow and arrested, the Belapan news agency reported.

Nekljaew was knocked unconscious for some seven minutes, and was later hospitalized with a concussion, according to news reports.

Earlier Sunday, Lukashenko told Belapan that he would not hesitate to order police to break up "illegal" public gatherings.

"What awaits supporters of the protest demonstrations? Read our laws," Lukashenko said. "Everything will be as per our laws - and that goes for security as well. There is not going to be any demonstration."

Voting during the day appeared to run smoothly, and the Central Elections Committee reported heavy turnout at 84 per cent.

But reports of government intimidation and even attacks against opposition activists were widespread.

Members of the observation group For Fair Elections alleged that authorities on Sunday cut off office and telephone access in retaliation for giving interviews to Western media.

"Our phones just stopped working after we talked with Voice of America," said Sergei Kaliakin, a spokesman for the group.

More than 1,000 international observers led by a 490-member delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were in Belarus to monitor the vote. More than 15,000 Belorussian vote monitors were on hand as well.

Lukashenko, a former collective farm boss, had vowed he would defeat his nine challengers without tampering with the electoral process.

But his critics accused him of ordering police to arrest opposition activists and forcing state-controlled media to support him.

"If they (Belarus' opposition) have been complaining about falsification for six months prior to the election, it means they already knew they would lose," Lukashenko said in comments to Interfax.

Police in the capital Minsk and outlying cities detained more than a dozen opposition activists on the eve of the election and as many as a score more on Sunday, according to independent news reports.

Traffic police were checking vehicles traveling to Minsk from outlying regions, and barring some travelers police believed to be en route to the planned Oktober Square rally.

Vitaliy Rymashevskiy, a campaign worker for opposition candidate Yuriy Klimovich, said police in the city of Gomel arrested him and charged him with swearing in public. He denied the allegation, claiming his detention was part of a government intimidation campaign, according to a Belapan report.

Pro-democracy groups have alleged that Lukashenko's government in the run-up to voting day pushed early ballot casting, which took place outside the observation of monitors, with the intention of falsifying the Sunday ballot counts.

Almost one in four Belorussians had cast early ballots before election day, according to data compiled by the Central Election Commission.

Lukashenko rejected possible international criticism of the election's legitimacy.

"Belarus is not going down on her knees before anyone," he said, responding to a reporter's question about his possible fears of international criticism about the vote. "It is for us to run our election."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358911,protests-opposition-summary.html.

Malaysia aims to build 2 nuclear power plants

Agence France-Presse
12/19/2010

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is looking to build two 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plants by 2022 to counter an "imbalance" in its energy supplies, the energy minister said Sunday.

Peter Chin's comments to state media follow his announcement in May that the cabinet had approved in principle the construction of the country's first ever nuclear power plant by 2021.

"Hopefully, by 2013 or 2014, we will able to finish evaluating (the requirements for the nuclear power plants)," Chin told the Bernama news agency.

Chin said the country was heavily reliant on fossil fuels for its electricity supply, with gas accounting for 64 percent of Malaysia's total energy generation and the rest coming from coal.

"We must get away from this. (It is) very much (an) imbalance. Most countries have a good balance," he added.

The nuclear plan has been attacked by environmental activists who say the government has not thoroughly considered other forms of energy generation such as solar, hydroelectric and wind power.

But Chin said the potential for renewable sources was limited.

"Yes, very good, everyone wants to say that we want renewables, but what about cost? Can we force the people to accept high tariffs?" he said.

"We want hydropower to assume a prominent role as it is clean, but this can only be achieved in Sabah and Sarawak (on Borneo island) where there is much potential -- but not in peninsular Malaysia."

State energy firm Tenaga has said it could construct the first nuclear power plant at a cost of 3.1 billion dollars.

Source: Inquirer.
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20101219-309876/Malaysia-aims-to-build-2-nuclear-power-plants.

Top Muslim leader dies in China's Xinjiang

Agence France-Presse
12/19/2010

BEIJING – Over 5,000 Muslims poured into the streets of the capital of western China's restive Xinjiang region to mourn the death of a key religious figure amid a massive police presence, a mosque official said.

Mahemuti, the mullah of the Hantenggeli Mosque – also known as the Great South Gate Mosque – died on Thursday leading to an outpouring of grief by Muslim followers in the regional capital Urumqi, a mosque official said.

"About 5,000 Muslim mourners came to the mosque on Thursday to mourn his passing," the official, who identified himself only as Gelimu, told AFP by phone on Sunday. Mahemuti died from heart disease, he said.

The mosque was at the center of ethnic rioting between Xinjiang's minority Uighurs and China's Han majority in Urumqi in July 2009 that left nearly 200 people dead and 1,700 injured, according to official tolls.

Chinese authorities blamed the unrest on "separatists" but provided no evidence of any organized campaign. More than 25 people have either been executed or received the death penalty for their involvement in the violence, state media has said.

Gelimu said that Thursday's mourning parade was peaceful and that the large police presence mainly aimed to regulate traffic as the body of the mullah was taken away for burial.

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, over 1,000 armed police implemented martial law in central Urumqi around the mosque following the mullah's death.

Mahemuti, 74, had been a prominent Muslim religious leader for over 30 years and was well-known throughout Xinjiang, the center said.

Police had stepped up surveillance on mourning activities throughout the region, the center added, fearful that simmering ethnic tensions could spark renewed rioting.

The far-western Xinjiang region, where Uighurs have long seethed under Chinese rule, has experienced several violent bouts of unrest in recent years.

In August, seven people were killed when a man drove a vehicle loaded with explosives into a crowd in the outskirts of Aksu, a city near China's border with Kyrgyzstan, officials said at the time.

Source: Inquirer.
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20101219-309867/Top-Muslim-leader-dies-in-Chinas-Xinjiang.

مسرحية بلجيكية عن القضية الفلسطينية

19/12/2010 م

فاتنة الغرة-أنتويرب

احتضن مسرح مونتي الشهير في مدينة أنتويرب البلجيكية انطلاق مسرحية "الملموس" التي تناقش القضية الفلسطينية للمخرج فرانك فيركوسن. وتضمن النص أشعارا للفلسطينيين محمود درويش ومريد البرغوثي واللبنانية إيتيل عدنان. وشارك في وضع الموسيقى التصويرية الفنان اللبناني مازن كرباج.

يبدأ العمل بمشهد افتتاحي يخطف قلوب المشاهدين، حيث يدوي صوت الطائرة المروحية في الخلفية المظلمة للمسرح، فيما يتوزع الممثلون في ظلال تجري تحته قصة حب يفرقهما السجن وتجمعهما الرسائل المتبادلة.

ويجعل المخرج فرانك فيركوسن محور مسرحيته القضية الفلسطينية من خلال تلخيص ما يدور في الشرق الأوسط. واستخدم لذلك نصوصا للشعراء الفلسطينيين محمود درويش ومريد البرغوثي واللبنانية إيتيل عدنان.

وتنوع العمل في بنائه الفني بين الحوار والرقص التعبيري، لتصوير حالة الصراع والتمزق التي تعانيها الساحة الفلسطينية. وبنيت المسرحية على رسائل في كتاب "من إي إلى إكس" أي من عايدة إلى إجزافير للكاتب الفرنسي جون بيتر بيرجير.

الإنسانية والفقد

ويعمد المخرج إلى استقدام تقنية الراوي في العمل في عرضه الواقع الفلسطيني في الأرض المحتلة وفي لبنان، كما يوظف الشاشة الإلكترونية ليعرض صور الأزقة والحارات الفارغة والمباني المدمرة والمحلات المغلقة, ويشارك المخرج نفسه في العرض فيتدخل بين الفينة والأخرى ليقول فكرة ويمضي.

وأعرب المخرج عقب انتهاء العرض عن سعادته بردة فعل الجمهور البلجيكي، موضحا أنها عرضت في أكثر من بلد. وقال في حديث للجزيرة نت إن المسرحية ليست عملا وثائقيا.

وأوضح "نحن لسنا مؤرخين أو سياسيين, كما أن المسرحية ليست عملا عن فلسطين وحدها، وإن كانت هي محور العرض، وإنما عن الإنسانية وعن الفقد من خلال مشاعر بسيطة وأحلام عادية نقلها الممثلون بأدائهم، في محاولة للتوازن بين ما هو واقع وما هو متخيل".

وأضاف فيركوسن أن استخدامه الرقص والموسيقى واللوحات جزء من مفردات العمل التي تكمله، فالكل سجين يتحرك ضمن مساحة مرسومة له. وقال "تجربتنا المعرفية في غزة وبيروت ورام الله ساعدت على تكوين الأداء التعبيري من خلال رقصة الجنود ورقصة حطام بيروت".

رسالة وواقع

من جهتها قالت الممثلة المغربية بثينة الفكاك التي قامت بدور "إي" إنها مشاركة صعبة، فهي لم تعرف الحرب و"لست فلسطينية، أنا مجرد ممثلة وإنسانة أعطتني الحياة الكثير، وهنا كان عليّ أن أكون شاهدة على واقع بعيد عني لاستنطاقه".

أما الممثلة الإيطالية فيدريكا بوريلو, فوصفت تجربتها بأنها محاولة لإيجاد شيء مشترك بين "الثقافة التي أقدمها من خلال دوري وثقافتي الخاصة البعيدة عن هذا الواقع".

وقالت "أنا فخورة بكوني عضوة في مجموعة تحاول إيصال رسالة إنسانية حول الواقع المعيش في الشرق الأوسط, وهو عمل جعلني أفهم أكثر عن الثقافات التي لا تشبهنا ولكنها تتقاطع معنا إنسانيا".

وبدوره، قال الممثل العراقي مخلد راسم الذي قام بدور "إكس" أنا أؤدي دور سجين يعيش في زنزانته لأسباب تتعلق بالديمقراطية والحرية, التي أرى أن السجن هو المكان الوحيد لتحققهما, ومن زنزانتي أتبادل رسائل مع حبيبتي عايدة، أحدثها فيها عن كل شيء أعيشه".

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/906D0EE4-7FA1-44C4-826A-3F4AFFEB2387.htm.

البشير: الشريعة مصدر التشريع الرئيسي

20/12/2010 م

في حال انفصال الجنوب
البشير: الشريعة مصدر التشريع الرئيسي

أعلن الرئيس السوداني عمر حسن البشير الأحد أنه سيتم تعديل الدستور وستكون الشريعة المصدر الرئيسي للتشريع، في حال انفصال الجنوب في الاستفتاء المقرر الشهر القادم.

وقال البشير -في خطاب ألقاه بمدينة القضارف شرقي السودان- ""إذا اختار الجنوب الانفصال فسيعدل دستور السودان، وعندها لن يكون هناك مجال للحديث عن تنوع عرقي وثقافي، وسيكون الإسلام الدين الرسمي والشريعة الإسلامية المصدر الرئيسي للتشريع". وأكد أيضا أن "اللغة الرسمية للدولة ستكون اللغة العربية".

يشار إلى أنه بعد توقيع اتفاق السلام الشامل -الذي وضع حدا للحرب الأهلية في البلاد عام 2005- أصدر البشير والحركة الشعبية لتحرير السودان دستورا مؤقتا ينتهي العمل به في يوليو/تموز 2011.

ويعترف هذا الدستور المؤقت، المستند إلى الشريعة الإسلامية والتوافق الشعبي، بالتنوع العرقي والثقافي والديني في السودان، كما جعل الإنكليزية لغة رسمية إلى جانب العربية.

كما قلل الرئيس السوداني في خطابه من أهمية فقد الشمال للنفط في حال الانفصال، وأضاف أن بترول الشمال سيكون أكثر من بترول الجنوب وأطول عمرا.

واعتبر أن الجنوب قطعة من جسم السودان "لكن انفصاله لن يكون نهاية الدنيا"، مشيرا إلى أن السودانيين كانوا "عايشين" قبل بترول الجنوب، وبالتالي لن يضرهم ذهاب البترول.

وأكد وجود اكتشافات جديدة للبترول في شمال البلاد وغربها وشرقها "بكميات كبيرة وواعدة".

ودافع البشير عن رجال شرطة أظهرهم تسجيل على موقع يوتيوب على الإنترنت وهم يجلدون امرأة، وقال إنه "لن يجري تحقيق في حالة جلدها وفقا لأحكام الشريعة الإسلامية".

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/D530DCDB-470A-4B78-B31C-940D3240B2E6.htm.

Bestial Moscow police beat Russian children demanding independence for Caucasus

19 December 2010

Demands of the National Democratic Alliance to exclude the Caucasus Emirate from Russia, formulated and substantiated in a program article by its ideologist Alexei Shiropayev, aroused great interest among citizens of the dying Russian Empire.

Imperial propaganda was unable to put forward arguments against the justified demand of the NDA to the withdraw Russian invaders troops from the territory of the Caucasus Emirate.

These demands are intended solely to protect the interests of ordinary Russians. On the question of a national democrat in the blog of an imperial, who criticized the position of the NDA, "Where is Shiropayev wrong?", the only objection that the imperial could present, was as follows:

- By letting the Caucasus leave, we will get an enemy state on our borders, with which we will still have to wage war, but then this state will legally invite for its defense anyone - from other Muslim states to NATO.

The NDA and the Caucasus will only laugh at such "argument".

- The Caucasus Emirate will never be a borderline "enemy state" in relation to Russia, because according to the program of National Democrats, there would be no Russia at all, but there will be a series of free and independent countries instead, over which the Caucasus Emirate has absolutely no reason to be hostile.

- The Caucasus Emirate will never "invite to its defense Muslim states, NATO", because:

- First, there will be nobody to hold defense from, and

- Second, NATO is waging war against Islam.

Meanwhile, according to media reports, the Kremlin regime has not allowed Russian youth to participate in the rally for the exclusion of the Caucasus from Russia.

On December 18, Russian National Democrats held a meeting near the KGB TV Center "Ostankino" demanding the exclusion of the Caucasus and reminding that Russia is for Russians and Caucasus is for Caucasians.

The protest action was held as a continuation of public spill of discontent by Muscovites over misbehavior of the KGB/police punishers and executioners, but turned into a "Children's Crusade".

Organizers of the rally called for exclusion of the Caucasus Emirate from Russia. The imperial media outlets do not say that the CE is already de facto excluded, and it remains only to formalize de jure the separation, which is a Russian problem.

National Democrats managed to mobilize with the calls for the separation not only adult Russians, but also Russian youth.

Putin's punisher cops attacked Russian school children who supported the secession of the Caucasus Emirate, when they moved with a march with slogans and burning fires in the direction of the KGB TV Center which ordinary Russians call the Lies Empire.

A part of school children marching with justified slogan "Russia for Russians and Caucasus for Caucasians", was captured and beaten by imperial chasteners.

Most of them are 15-17-year old school students, and are future active fighters for the total destruction of bloody KGBist Russia, the World Evil Empire.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/12/19/13159.shtml.

Do Russia and Austria conspire behind the back of Chechen refugees?

17 December 2010

The Austrian state news agency APA reports about new developments around Chechen refugees in Austria:

"A political warming occurred between Austrian interior minister Maria Fekter and her Russian colleague Nurgaliyev (see photo) at a meeting in Moscow.

During her working visit to Russia, Fekter was received in the Kremlin - an honor that is very rarely granted for simple ministers.

The visit's topic was "hot". A way has been paved for a new agreement on deportation of refugees from Austria to Russia in negotiations with the Russian Federal Migration Service. This agreement will not affect many cases. This year 36 people were deported to Russia, but 516 Russian citizens returned voluntarily (? - KC).

For several years, refugees from Russia were the largest group in Austrian asylum statistics. However, in 2010, asylum applications were filed only by 1,900 Russian citizens, which is significantly less than in previous years.

Meanwhile, the number of Russian citizens receiving refugee status sharply declined. In 2006, this status was given to 71% asylum seekers, but in 2009, the asylum was given in only 30% of cases.

However, the number of deportations to Russia is still small. This is due to the fact that the majority of asylum seekers are from Chechnya, where Putin's protege Kadyrov is ruling.

That is why it is pracrically impossible to be deport most of the Chechens, who are denied the refugee status.

In an interview with Austrian state radio, Fekter said: "We will send Austrian policemen to Chechnya, so that they get a better understand about the situation on site (i.e., Kadyrov will tell them that sending him Chechen refugees from Austria is possible and desirable - KC). Currently, 25,000 Chechens are residing in Austria.

It's about Chechnya that the talks were held in Moscow on Wednesday. Fekter signed a security partnership agreement with Nurgaliyev. Its goal is a coordinated action in the field of terrorism.

As has previously been reported, only last week a resident of Lower Austria, a Chechen, was arrested on suspicion of terrorism, the APA reports on December 16.

Russian media outlets have not reported a single word about the conspiracy of terrorist policemen against Chechen refugees. Fekter was surely received in the Kremlin not because of her ugly, shameless eyes.

An Austrian newspaper Kurier supplied additional information about the conspiracy against Chechens (see photo of the signing the Anti-Chechen Agreemet, it looks like a Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). The newspaper writes:

"Russian and Austrian authorities will closely cooperate in the future against Islamic terror. Russian citizens could be deported easily for crimes. In addition, Austrian Evaluation Office (it evaluates refugees, whether to give them asylum or not - KC) attached to the Refugee Administration will get access to the troubled region of Chechnya.

Austria and Russia have common interests in fighting Islamists, as shown by the arrest of an alleged Chechen terrorist (in fact, he is only a dissident - KC) from Neunkirchen.

The official's (policemen - KC) from both countries will actively share their experience, first of all, the special units, such as EKO COBRA and WEGA (Austrian SWAT - KC). An Austrian liaison officer in Moscow and a Russian official in Vienna will ensure a rapid data exchange.

Chechnya, however, remains a special case. On one hand, terrorists are trying to obtain asylum in the West (the West has a too high opinion about itself - KC).

On the other hand, there are Chechens, who are entitled to the asylum status. A decision basis for the Federal Asylum Administration are "Country Records". They are formed by intelligence and newspaper reports only, and they are considered by all parties as unsatisfactory. The optimal solution is an investigation on site.

Until now, the Russian side rejected this idea. Now, Austrian officials may receive permission to enter Russia for investigations (in short, Russian terrorists from the gangs FSB-KGB, MIA, and Kadyrov himself will now decide to whom the political asylum may be given in Austria - KC)".

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/12/17/13149.shtml.

Chechen refugees feel defenseless in Austria

18 December 2010

A Vienna Demo newspaper Die Presse published an article entitled "Kadyrov's Chechen critics feel defenseless in Austria".

The article says:

"Nearly two years after the murder of Umar Israilov in Vienna, the members of the Chechen community criticize Austrian authorities that they had left them stitch.

In the early days of the war in Chechnya in December 1994, Huseyn Ishanow was often sitting in the basement of the presidential palace in Grozny. As a personal aide to the Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov, he participated in the defense of the Chechen capital.

Today he sits in his living room in Vienna. There two laptops in one corner, the phone rings constantly. Ishanow, a 55-year-old with clear vision and a gray beard, answers phone calls sometimes in Chechen, sometimes in Russian, rare in German.

Ishanow in lobbying in the EU Parliament to establish a UN tribunal to investigate Russian crimes in Chechnya. He took part in the Chechen world congress in the Polish city of Pultusk (it's about the failed controversial attempt by Zakayev to present his show as a "world congress" - KC).

"I do this for my descendants", Ishanow replies when asked why he, the father of 6 children, is so active in exile, while he calls himself an "old man". He was granted a refugee status, and he says he's today on a "diplomatic mission" to Europe for independent Chechnya, "Ichkeria", as it is called by the followers of the nationalist Akhmed Zakayev, who call himself Maskhadov's successor.

After the assassination of Umar Israilov, his persecutors - Kadyrov's followers - got special attention in the spotlight. The Austrian Green party MP Peter Pilz estimated the number of Kadyrov's thugs in Vienna as 30 persons, the total number of his sympathizers in Austria are 5,000 elements.

However, not only Kadyrov's men and representatives of Zakayev - the inner circle of whom is "about 100 men", as claimed by Ishanow - are active in Austria, but also the supporters of the Islamist rebel leader Dokku Umarov. A suspected follower of Umarov was arrested on December 1 at Vienna's Schwechat airport. He is accused of planning an attack against NATO. Umarov in 2007 embarked on a radical Islamist course.

Despite the fact that his followers in Austria are represented in minority (in fact, they are reüresented in majority - KC), many young people find attractive his radical rhetoric. "First Sharia, then Republic", is their motto, says Ishanow. His motto is the other way around.

For demonstrations - such as against a Putin's visit to Vienna - a few hundred Chechens are mobilized.

Bert Scharner from the European-Chechen Society does not believe that Chechens have close relationship with the front at home. "The contestants are living somewhere in the woods, making contact with them not so easy".

Anti-Kadyrov's activists in Austria are like "supporters of a football club": "They want their players win". They disseminate information, collect money. From the thesis of "imported conflicts" Scharner holds little: "The largest group is the one that goes nowhere. People are afraid".

Fear is also felt by Aslan B., so that he does not want his real name to be published in the newspaper. "I am not protected by the police". The young man draws a threat scenario: "Kadyrov's men amongst Chechens in Austria collect information and forward it to Grozny. Those who are critical are subjected to pressure and even worse.

"Our members receive threatening phone calls in Chechnya". Kadyrov makes no bones about the fact that he wants to pursue critics outside Chechnya. Recently in his TV address, he threatened all his enemies, even abroad. Since the incident with Israilov, Austrian Chechens are skeptical of the police. Austria does not want to quarrel with Russia - this is a widespread opinion.

Cases like that of Kosum Yeshurkayev, a state security informer and older brother of the suspect Turpan-Ali Yeshurkayev at the Israilov's process increase the distrust.

As an example, a Russian embassy employee Said Selim Peshkhoyev, the alleged representative of the FSB, who specifically "takes care" of Chechen refugees and is allegedly in close contact with the Aiustrian ministry of interior.

For Kadyrov's critics, all this is incomprehensible. "Why has the Austrian police an adviser from the Russian secret service or Kadyrov?" asks Aslan B. "The police must protect us" (let us recall that Ausria just signed an new agreement with Russia that along with Austrian police spies like a Kadyrov's man Yeshurkayev and a terrorist killer from the KGB-FSB Peshkhoyev, additional Russian terrorists from the the Russian gang "Ministry of Internal Affairs" will be "protecting" from now on in Vienna Chechen refugees", the Vienna Islamophobic Demo newspaper Die Presse writes.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/12/18/13156.shtml.