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Friday, December 31, 2010

Denmark minister probes banning Islamist party

Dissolving Danish branch of Hizb-ut-Tahrir considered
Denmark minister probes banning Islamist party

Thursday, 30 December 2010
COPENHAGEN (AFP)

Danish Justice Minister Lars Barfoed said Thursday he had asked the attorney general to examine whether it was legally possible to dissolve the Danish branch of an international Islamist party.

"I am now asking the attorney general to reconsider whether it is possible to bring a case to trial to dissolve Hizb-ut-Tahrir," Barfoed told the Ritzau news agency, speaking of a pan-Islamist group whose goal is to establish a global Islamic caliphate.

When contacted by AFP, his spokesman Emil Melchior confirmed the information, saying the minister made his request following an invitation sent out by Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) Tuesday to a meeting in Copenhagen.

The invitation reportedly hailed armed battle against Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, and portrayed pictures of coffins draped with Danish, Swedish and Norwegian flags on a map of the war-torn country.

All three Scandinavian countries have troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and proportionally Denmark has suffered the heaviest losses of all participating nations, with 39 Danish soldiers killed since they arrived in 2002.

After the invitation appeared, the far-right anti-immigrant Danish People's Party, a key ally of the center-right government, immediately called for the organization to be banned, while other parties called for a probe of its activities.

Melchior would not say whether Barfoed's request for a probe was linked to the dramatic arrests of five men in Denmark and Sweden Wednesday suspected of planning an imminent massacre of staff at a Danish newspaper that first published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed five years ago.

This is the third time Denmark's top prosecutor is pressured to take a stand on the legality of the Islamist party, which has already been banned in a number of countries, mainly in Central Asia and the Middle East.

In 2004, public prosecutor Henning Fode ruled there was no legal reason to ban the party, and his finding was echoed four years later by his successor, current attorney general Joergen Steen Soerensen.

The party, Soerensen said at the time, aims to "establish a Caliphate (Islamic state) notably in the Muslim countries. But that is not illegal in and of itself."

"As long as it does not use violence or other punishable methods, there is nothing illegal in advocating a system that is fundamentally different from the one we have in Denmark," he said.

Source: Al-Arabiya.
Link: http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/12/30/131600.html.

Yemen's Coffee Industry Smells a Market Share

Felice Friedson
Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Although coffee is a major industry for Yemen, is still has hurdles to overcome in its quest for a global market share. The Media Line’s Felice Friedson was in Sana’a for the conference and filed this exclusive report.

(Sana’a, Yemen) They came from as far away as the United States and New Zealand to attend the Second International Conference on Arabica Naturals: the diplomats; the cuppers; the distributors, consultants and farmers. All in Sana’a to smell the rich aromatic Yemeni coffee and to seek the internationalization of standards for natural coffees.

Underwritten by the Small Micro Enterprise Promotion Service (SMEPS), a subsidiary of the Social Fund for Development and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Arabica Naturals Conference was the first to be held in Yemen, with a strong emphasis on showcasing the sweeter side of a country that to westerners, is primarily branded a terrorist haven.

SMEPS Executive Director Wesam Qaid, the moving force behind and chairman of the conference, said the meeting -- drawing from groups representing the world’s premier coffee producing nations including Ethiopia, Mexico, Indonesia and New Zealand -- put Yemen back on the coffee map. “Yemen coffee is rich and is 100% taken care of by hand, no machines,” Qaid told The Media Line, explaining what differentiates Yemen’s coffee from other coffee grown elsewhere.

The two-day confab, held at Sana’a’s beautiful but heavily-fortified Movenpick Hotel, included workshops on cupping, roasting and espresso, along with professional and trade presentations and coffee exhibitions.

Kicking-off the first day of events, Yemen’s Prime Minister Dr. Ali Muhammad Mujawir praised the coffee farmers, asserting “that there is no better coffee than those of Yemen’s mountains; and we thank the farmers who raise the name of Yemen high in the world…[making] coffee an original, national symbol.” Addressing the fact that Yemen’s coffee industry lacks international standing in large part because it does not adhere to a system of grading recognized by coffee producers world-wide, the prime minister raised the industry’s concerns, admonishing that, “We must conform to the international standards of producing coffee. This requires cooperation among governments; and among international and expert officials.”

Deputy Prime Minister Abdulkarim Al-Arhabi, who is the managing director of the Social Fund for Development, told participants representing 26 countries including the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Eritrea and Lebanon, that, “$1.2 billion has been mobilized in a program to microfinance enterprise industry in Yemen: 90% of which is coming from foreign sources.”

Yemen, with its rich history and century-old techniques, is unique in that it consumes two-thirds of the coffee it produces. The United States has committed to contribute millions of dollars to boost Yemen’s economy, which is one of the poorest countries in the world and supports a population of 24,000,000 people.

U.S. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein is one of those who sees the focus on coffee as a welcome diversion from the typical blood-and-mayhem coverage Yemen typically receives. He told The Media Line that most Americans don’t know that Yemen is so closely associated with coffee and “I think if the American people have an opportunity to try it, they’ll also have a great experience with it. It’s a way of showing Yemen in a more positive light.”

The earliest written evidence of coffee drinking appears in the mid-15th Century, from the Sufi Yemeni monasteries in southern Arabia. But 21st-Century Yemen today faces several challenging obstacles in its quest to attain a significant global market share.

Coffee here is grown in remote areas, on steep mountain sides reaching thousands of meters in height, restricting farmers’ access and making it physically difficult to reach the growing fields with heavy manure – the natural fertilizer of preference. Qaid explained that chemicals are too difficult to carry into these remote areas.

A large percentage of the farms are located on mountains – on open patches of land scattered across mountains and terraces, some shaded by larger trees, and some by clouds according to Nadia Al-Sakkaf, editor-in-chief of The Yemen Times. Speaking to The Media Line, Al-Sakkaf painted a visual image describing “men and women jumping rocks in risky areas.” “Yet,” she said, “they still feel at home.”

Rural areas are home to 70% of Yemen’s population. Of rural dwellers, more than 80% are women because the men -- and particularly the younger men -- have gone to the cities in search of a better life leaving the women to tend the farms, according to Al-Sakkaf. Qaid explained the link between the nation’s agricultural and demographic concerns, saying that, “If we can improve life in rural Yemen, we can limit migration to urban areas. We need to promote economic development.”

In the conference exhibition hall, Fatma -- all covered in black – manned a table sponsored by the Talouq Womens Association, an organization comprised of 164 female farmers. Fatma expounded on the problems her group is addressing, telling The Media Line that, “We lack the staff to train women on the machinery and a budget for training.”

Coffee used to be a source of income for many but because of the drought (coffee-growing requires a great deal of water); and the lack of marketing strategy, most farmers have given up on traditional farming techniques (trimming trees and shading) and many have left farming altogether. According to Al-Sakkaf, the women, who are increasingly central to the nation’s coffee farming industry, need the support of the international community to open Yemen’s access to the international market. Qaid charged that, “the Yemeni coffee private sector is marketing coffee the same as they marketed coffee 300 and 400 years ago. However, markets have changed.”

Dressed in a colorfully appliquéd hejab headcovering and jelbab, the traditional black gown, Amira Al-Hemyari tells The Media Line that as a distributor her company, El Ezzi Industries, cares about the farmers’ needs as well as its bottom line. She says it has alleviated the water shortage by supplying farmers with water storage tanks and has helped their farmers to rid their farms of the harmful Qat plant which soaks the coffee plant dry. Amira says that the narcotic-like plant, which is farmed as a separate crop – and a lucrative one at that -- “takes a lot of water and gives good profit but kills the land.”

But Abd Al-Rahman Mohamed of Musallam Trading disagrees. The water shortage is a natural occurrence, he says. “We need dams for water because of the drought.”

Qat farmers outnumber coffee farmers by a margin of 680,000 to 110,000. The majority of farms have women tending trees, pruning and picking cherries. It’s common among small farmers to pick their coffee beans and store them for years, saving them for a rainy day when they are in need of immediate cash. They all work through middlemen and several key distributors who then sell the coffee beans to the local and world markets.

The Al-Hamdani and Al-Kbous companies are the two oldest and largest exporters, both of which have been around for more than 100 years.

Al-Kbous has one of the largest factories in the Middle East. Hamida Hamden Al-Safi told The Media Line that the firm currently supplies Japan, the US, Canada and the Gulf States through their forty distributors who deal directly with the farmers. The company’s mocha coffee is a source of both corporate and national pride. Al-Safi told The Media Line, “We are trying to keep the Mocha brand for our company. It belongs to Yemen and we don’t want someone stealing it.”

CUPPING

Mario Fernandez is an expert “cupper” who comes from a line of Mexican coffee- growers dating back to the 1830s. Fernandez came to Yemen to contribute to two indispensable elements necessary in order for the nation’s coffee trade to prosper: his ancient art and to consult on an international grading system for natural coffees. “Cupping” is a sensory analysis of coffee utilizing the tongue and mouth to identify whether a cup of coffee is good or bad. His presence was timely: “The public needs to be educated about how to prepare coffee,” Fernandez said. “Until last week no one in Yemen knew how to cup.” The cuppers are typically buyers or suppliers of coffee.

David Roche, the technical director for the Coffee Quality Institute based in Long Beach, California, explained further: “It’s a slurping technique,” he said. “You vaporize the flavors in your mouth and have an instant reaction. You take note of that specific technique for evaluating coffee. Any country can claim they have the best coffee; there is good and bad in all countries.”

The conference was Roche’s second trip to Yemen. Previously, he visited the coffee farms for a first-hand look when he came to the country to teach cupping. He told The Media Line that, “Yemen coffee is unique and has always been high priced. Yemen’s biggest problem is quantity. They fell to almost one-third of their production level of 15 years ago in part because of the better price of other crops such as Qat; the price of coffee on the world market; and the shortage of healthy trees in fields. [In Yemen] the farmers grow it on roof tops and sometimes store it in caves for years. They also need to understand what the consumer wants. Our role is in standardizing the coffee.”

The reference to “naturals” means the whole coffee bean is picked and dried with the skin on it. The opposite is “washed,” which one coffee producer described as “the difference between red wine and white wine.”

Yet, there is currently no world-wide system for grading naturals. The “Q System,” implemented by the Coffee Association of America and The Coffee Quality Institute, is geared for top quality coffees and specialty coffees; and not applicable beyond the top ten per cent of the world’s coffees.

Of the 18,000 tons of coffee it produces annually, Yemen only exports 4,000 – 6,000 tons, the rest being consumed by Yemenis. That figure is growing, with coffee houses springing up seemingly everywhere, but remains small when compared to Columbia or Brazil, each exporting hundreds of thousands of tons annually. The largest importers of Yemen’s coffee are Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, along with the United States. Europe and Japan follow.

In the United States, roughly half the population – an estimated 150 million Americans -- consumes some type of coffee. World-wide, coffee is a $16 billion industry – the second-most traded commodity after petroleum. In 2011, about 135 million 60 kilogram (132 pound) bags of coffee will be produced – some 1.7 billion pounds of coffee.

A stop at The Coffee Trader revealed a mix of societies melding around coffee. Dressed in Western-style clothing but wearing a jelbab covering, Susan Coleman, the Wisconsin expatriate who is co-owns the Sana’a café and coffee store stayed busy serving customers. Featuring U.S.-style service and decked-out with Christmas ornaments, the café’s ambiance is distinctly American – until you notice that some of the men are dressed in traditional Yemeni clothing and some of the young women working on their laptops are garbed in floor-length jelbabs, sipping their coffee through a narrow slit in the veil.

Meanwhile, at the conference, the coffee competition was the final event. Q-certified cuppers from around the world tasted and rated fruity, spicy and chocolaty coffees. Yemen’s own coffee – featuring a tinge of chocolate and raisin -- took second place to Tanzania’s blueberry and fresh fruit flavors. Ethiopia came in third place.

Qaid told The Media Line that one of the conference’s successes is that SMEPS has been commissioned to prepare a report with recommendations for developing Yemen’s coffee sector -- including plans for a coffee fund with buy-ins from farmer groups -- that will be presented to the government in March 2011, with Yemen poised to enter the International Coffee Organization. Also coming from the conference is newfound hope that the coffee market will become more balanced as sun dried coffees continue to gain international exposure and new cupping procedures for them have now been introduced.

David Roche shared the optimism for his Yemeni hosts. “Change in Yemen will take a decade,” he told The Media Line. “But sophisticated drinkers who buy whole bean coffee will buy Yemini coffee and they’ll pay more for it. It’s boutique,” he said.

Qaid agreed. “Yemini coffee is experiencing a renaissance. New coffee shops are popping up all over the place. Young Yeminis are learning the skills of coffee,” he said.

Asked which his own favorite coffee is, he replied “ancient Typica from Haraz.” In Yemen, of course.

Copyright © 2010 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.

Source: The Media Line.
Link: http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=30961.

Jordanians split over New Year festivities

By Taylor Luck and Rand Dalgamouni

AMMAN - While it may be a time-honored tradition elsewhere in the world, people in Jordan remain split on whether and how to celebrate New Year.

As the clock nears midnight on Friday, citizens’ approach to the holiday will vary wildly, ranging from those putting it all on the line for a night to remember to citizens with complete apathy towards a “foreign holiday”.

Amman is not short on New Year festivities: endless newspaper, SMS and e-mail ads have been distributed for the last month promoting concerts by big-name Arab artists, five-course gourmet dinners and open bars.

But with tickets running up to JD300, double the JD150 monthly minimum wage, many Jordanians said they feel priced out of the festivities altogether.

Hassan Mahmoud, a 34-year-old insurance clerk, said that he took out a personal loan in order to afford going out with his friends to a hotel party, with preparations that included a new suit.

“At the end of the day, you have to go out for New Years,” he said.

Eman, a Yarmouk University graduate student, said that she will drop up to JD400 to go out with her friends to celebrate the holiday at one of the capital’s hotels.

“This is the one night of the year that we all go out together. They do it in New York, they do it in London, and we definitely do it in Amman,” she said.

Some Jordanians said they believe that despite the hype and high ticket prices, a “night out on the town” simply isn’t worth the trouble.

Hind Bashtawi, a hotel receptionist, said that after living in Dubai, the capital’s New Year festivities pale in comparison.

“In Dubai there are celebrations everywhere, but here I don’t feel that there is a party atmosphere,” she said, adding that she is planning to mark the New Year with a quiet night at home.

Yazeed, a 17-year-old resident of Jabal Nuzha, said that despite not having a source of income, he will find his own way of taking part in the festivities. To mark the new year, he said he will spend New Year’s Eve driving around with friends in west Amman eating sunflower seeds and “watching the rich pass by” on their way to five-star hotels, clubs and restaurants.

“It’s like having our own cinema, but for free,” Yazeed said.

While some Amman hotels and restaurants are reporting sold out events, others are privately anticipating smaller turnouts than previous years.

Hassan Hamdeh, an event coordinator at an Amman hotel, said that he expected a poor showing come this New Year’s Eve.

“I’ve been in this business since the 1990s; things used to be different back then. We used to have guests who were regulars, now we never see their faces,” he said.

Raymon Haddad, organiser of a hotel concert, said that economic situation may affect turnout, which may be “the lowest yet”.

“People are hard up these days, so they might not come to the concert.”

“If you want my personal opinion, I don’t think this year is worth a celebration, anyway,” he added.

‘Against Islam’

Not all are concerned with getting into the spirit of New Year.

Some Jordanians said they view the night as a product of commercialism, foreign culture and even depravity.

Suhail Raghib, a department store manager, said that he shuns the holiday on religious grounds.

“Celebrating the New Year is haram [religiously forbidden] in Islam,” he said.

Raghib said he associates New Year’s Eve with a night of excess, noting that one customer recently purchased JD200 worth of groceries for her New Year party.

“This shows the great gap in Jordan between the rich and the working class,” he said.

Taxi driver Mohammad Louay said the focus on drinking rather than cultural, religious and social norms and traditions make New Year an “empty holiday”.

“Drinking and dancing - this is not a holiday. This is disgusting,” he said.

Despite his abhorrence of New Year festivities, he admitted that he will use the opportunity to pick up passengers going out to enjoy the night.

Reyadh Naeim, who also drives a taxi for a living, said that the celebrations represent a foreign intrusion into Arab and Islamic culture.

“We only have two occasions to celebrate in Islam: Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. This is a blind imitation of the West,” he said.

Some Jordanians said they are avoiding the “party dilemma” altogether and are using the holiday to get a change of scenery to start off the New Year.

Mahmoud Kreishan, an employee at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, said that he will head down to Aqaba with his family for the holiday.

“It’s good to celebrate the New Year amidst all these gloomy developments,” he said.

Forty-four-year-old plumber Abu Ahmed said that rather than worrying about how to best mark the start of 2011, he will settle on spending the night smoking argileh (water pipe) and calling and texting family, friends and acquaintances from across the Kingdom.

“This is the Jordanian way of celebrating the New Year,” he said.

31 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=33085.

Kashmir sees record tourists, hundreds more for New Year

2010-12-31

Gulmarg, Dec 31 (IANS) The Kashmir Valley welcomed a record 7.25 lakh tourists this year despite the four-month unrest that paralyzed the region in summer. And the popular winter sports destination of Gulmarg, now covered with a pristine white blanket of snow, saw around 500 visitors arriving on New Year's eve Friday.

'We had around 700,000 domestic tourists this year in addition to 25,000 foreigners. This is a record that beats even the number of tourists we had before the beginning of the violence,' an official of the tourism department said here.

In 2008, the Valley hosted 5.72 lakh tourists, including 5.50 lakh domestic tourists and 22,000 foreigners.

'In 2009, we had 5.77 lakh domestic tourists and 23,000 foreigners. The number of tourist arrivals this year has crossed all previous records with 7.25 lakh tourists,' the official said.

He pointed out that the figure does not include the thousands of pilgrims who arrive here each year for the annual Amarnath Yatra.

'We had been expecting over one million tourists this year and had the unrest not occurred, we would have hosted such a number,' the tourism official said.

And the year ends on a more than positive note for the tourism industry with around 500 sports enthusiasts and snow lovers arriving in this picture-postcard destination, home to the highest ski point and now covered with a fresh blanket of snow.

'Gulmarg has recently been categorized as the seventh most sought after winter sports destination in Asia by CNN-International,' said Farooq Shah, director of tourism.

'We have the world's highest ski point at Afarwat heights, which is 13,500 feet above sea level. Besides, Gulmarg also has the world's highest Gondola facility that carries skiers to Afarwat, covering a distance of five kilometers,' he said here.

Besides skiing, other popular winter sports like ice hockey, skating and snow boarding are also held at Gulmarg, which attracts sports lovers from different parts of the country and the world.

'Our main worry so far had been the lack of adequate snowfall to cover the slopes. By the grace of god, Gulmarg had nice snowfall yesterday (Thursday),' the director said.

Source: Sify.
Link: http://www.sify.com/finance/kashmir-sees-record-tourists-hundreds-more-for-new-year-news-default-km5nOeedfja.html.

الشباب: جيبوتي تخرب أمن الصومال

31/12/2010 م

عبد الرحمن سهل-كيسمايو

شن أمير حركة الشباب المجاهدين شيخ مختار عبد الرحمن أبو زبير هجوما شديد اللهجة على جيبوتي لرعايتها ما أسماه مخططا جديدا يهدف لتخريب الصومال، كما تحدث عن عودة أمراء الحرب السابقين، وعن شركات أمنية تهدف خلق اضطرابات أمنية في البلاد.

في كلمة صوتية بثتها وسائل الإعلام المحلية الصومالية، قال أمير حركة الشباب المجاهدين "إنه يجري في جيبوتي مخطط، ومؤامرة جديدة تهدف إلى تخريب الأمن وعرقلة تطبيق الشريعة في البلاد"، مشيرا إلى أن السلام قد انتشر وعم في المناطق الخاضعة لسيطرة الحركة.

وذكّر بوجود قوات وصفها بالمرتزقة، وشركات أمنية أجنبية تخطط لخلق اضطرابات أمنية في البلد، مستخدمة عناصر صومالية قال إنها باعت دينها ومبادئها بالمال، ودعا الشعب إلى أن يكون حذرا من أعمال تلك الشركات الأمنية، غير أنه لم يكشف أسماءها.

وكشف أبو زبير في كلمته عن مخطط جديد يهدف إلى إعادة أمراء الحرب السابقين الذين وصفهم بمصاصي الدماء، معربا عن خشيته باستخدامهم مرة ثانية لتدمير الشعب الصومالي.

ورحب أمير الشباب المجاهدين بانضمام الحزب الإسلامي إلى حركته، وأشار إلى أهمية الوحدة وضرورتها في المرحلة الحالية، كما دعا أعضاء الحركة وأنصارها إلى حفظ ورعاية وحدة المجاهدين "بمواصلة الجهاد في سبيل الله".

المرحلة القادمة

وتحدث أبو زبير عن وسائل عدة للحفاظ على وحدة مجاهدي الصومال، وتقوية صفوفهم، ولخصها في خمس وسائل هي أولاها "الاستقامة على المنهج الصحيح القائم على التوحيد والجهاد، وثانيتها ""تنقية الشبكة الاجتماعية من الشوائب، بتحقيق الأخوة الصادقة بين المجاهدين، ونشر الأخلاق الفاضلة".

وثالثة هذه الوسائل "إحياء عقيدة الولاء والبراء"، وحذر من القبلية لكونها من الوسائل الهدامة للوحدة"، أما رابعة الوسائل فهي "التضحية والعطاء في الشدائد، والإيثار في السراء، والابتعاد عن الطمع والجري وراء الدنيا، ودعا الجميع إلى مشاركة الأعمال الجهادية في سبيل الله، كما شدد على ضرورة بذل الطاقة لنصرة الإسلام.

وتتمثل الوسيلة الخامسة بالمحافظة على الوحدة في ظل تهديدات من وصفهم بالمرجفين الذين ينشرون الدعاية والإشاعة في صفوف المجاهدين.

مساعدة الفقراء

وتحدث أمير حركة الشباب المجاهدين عن الجفاف الذي يضرب على مناطق واسعة من المناطق الواقعة في الجنوب، والوسطى الخاضعة للشباب.

وطلب من التجار الصوماليين إحياء قيم التكافل بين المجتمع، والتبرع بأموالهم، لتقديم المساعدة العاجلة إلى هؤلاء الفقراء المتضررين جراء الجفاف.

كما وجه دعوة خاصة إلى الولايات التابعة للحركة بأن تلعب دورا محوريا في إدارة الجهود الرامية إلى إيصال المساعدات إلى المتأثرين بالجفاف، كما طلب منها أن تركز من الآن بوضع خطة تهدف بتقديم الخدمات التعليمية، والصحية، وخلق فرص عمل للشعب، وتشجيع الاستثمار.

نذر حرب

تأتي كلمة أمير حركة الشباب المجاهدين بعد انضمام الحزب الإسلامي إلى الحركة، حيث يرى مراقبون صوماليون أن كلمته لخصت الخطوط العريضة للحركة في المرحلة القادمة على الصعد كافة.

ورغم أن معظم الكلمة دارت حول مناسبة دمج الإسلامي بالشباب، والمهددات الخارجية، فإن الجديد فيها –وفق مراقبين- هو التطرق إلى مشاكل المواطنين اليومية، وتقديم حلول لها عبر تقديم الخدمات العامة إليهم.

وتنذر كلمة (أبو زبير) بوقوع مواجهات مسلحة دامية بين أطراف النزاع، في إشارته إلى إعادة أمراء حرب جدد، ومخطط جيبوتي، غير أنه لم يشر إلى الوسائل التي ستتخذها الحركة ضد جيبوتي.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/AC2F6439-472A-4965-9680-B01369FFF5C1.htm.

UN peacekeepers attacked in Ivory Coast

Friday 31 December 2010
Samuel Okocha, AfricaNews reporter in Lagos, Nigeria

The United Nations peacekeepers in the West African country, Ivory Coast, fired at by hidden gunmen when a hostile crowd blocked their vehicles. The peacekeepers reportedly fired warning shots in return to disperse the crowd.

"It was a routine patrol that went to Abobo and was blocked by barricades. The patrol lifted the barricades and continued on its route, but was encircled by a crowd that was growing bigger and bigger," AFP quoted spokesman for the United Nations Operation in Cote d' Ivoire [UNOCI], Hamadoun Toure as saying on Thursday.

"They received shots from a building, and that's when we shot in the air, because there was a sort of mob preventing them from moving. So they shot in the air. We did not shoot into the crowd, just so that is clear."

The state media in Ivory Coast was said to have alleged that civilians were wounded when UN peacekeepers [also called blue helmets in Ivory Coast] fired into a crowd in the Abobo district of the main city of Abidjan.

But UN spokesman Toure said "the patrol did not fire on the crowd."

State television RTI which remains loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo had reportedly showed clips of two young men with fresh wounds, saying they were injured due to gun shot from UN patrol.

The head of UNOCI's human rights department, Simon Munzu, said the incident was under investigation but added he was yet to receive reports of casualties.

Source: AfricaNews.
Link: http://www.africanews.com/site/UN_peacekeepers_attacked_in_Ivory_Coast/list_messages/36828.

Uyghur Student Sentenced to Death

2010-12-30

A 19-year-old Uyghur becomes the second woman sentenced to die following ethnic violence last year.

A female Uyghur student in northwestern China was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension following a trial last April on charges of participating in ethnic riots that left hundreds dead, according to a classmate.

Pezilet Ekber became the second Uyghur woman to receive the death penalty in connection to the unrest. Another woman was executed by Chinese authorities earlier this year.

“Nobody knows what exactly led to Pezilet Ekber receiving such a heavy punishment, other than her ‘involvement in violence,’ because the trial was secret and her parents were only just informed of the decision,” her classmate, who asked to remain anonymous, wrote in a letter.

“After the trial, her parents were just given the judgment, and were warned to keep silent and to refrain from telling the content of judgment to anyone,” the letter said.

Pezilet Ekber, 19, had been enrolled in Russian language classes at Xinjiang University in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) capital of Urumqi just before the violence erupted, her classmate wrote.

But she had temporarily left the school because of her family’s financial difficulties and was working for a Han Chinese-owned business in the city’s Grand Bazaar as a translator and saleswoman at the time of the riots, the letter said.

Urumqi’s Grand Bazaar was one of the locations central to Uyghur demonstrations and violence during the July 5, 2009 riots, which left nearly 200 people dead, according to official Chinese estimates.

Pezilet Ekber was arrested two months after the unrest while visiting her parents in her hometown of Suydung, in the XUAR’s Qorghas [in Chinese, Huocheng] county, Ili prefecture.

In the letter, Pezilet Ekber’s classmate wrote that the two had met on July 4 last year, and that her friend had no plans to attend the demonstration the following day.

“Her workplace was at the center of the event so she was probably unable to keep herself away when she saw the demonstrators and witnessed the tragic event of the demonstrators being shot by police,” the letter said.

“She usually always took a careful approach to such subjects related to the ethnic problem, even if it was a class discussion, because of her family background—being the granddaughter of a former independence fighter.”

A concerned father

Pezilet Ekber’s father, Ekber, 45, was a former state security officer in Qorghas county, but was forced out of his job due to his family background when ethnic tension began to build in the XUAR in the late 1990s.

Her grandfather had served in Ili prefecture's Gulja city as a member of the East Turkestan Liberation Army shortly after its founding in 1944, seeking independence from China.

A friend of Mr. Ekber, reached by telephone, said he had traveled to Urumqi on April 16 to visit his daughter in detention, but police ordered him to leave the city within a day of his arrival.

“He left without seeing his daughter. It happened just a few days before Pezilet’s trial,” the friend said.

“After that, I never saw him again—I guess it was in order keep his daughter’s life safe. Now he has isolated himself from the public to avoid leaking ‘state secrets.’ I don’t know whether or not he was able to visit his daughter after the trial.”

Pezilet Ekber’s boss at the shop in the Grand Bazar, a man surnamed Zhang, briefly answered questions about her detention and subsequent trial.

When asked if Pezilet Ekber was available to speak, Zhang said she hadn’t worked at the store since September.

When asked when she would return to work, he answered, “My guess is that will never happen,” but hung up the phone before responding to questions about why she was unable to return.

Employees who answered the phone at the Urumqi Intermediate Court, which handed down the punishment to Pezilet Ekber, and the Ghalibiyet Police Station, which ordered her father to leave Urumqi in April, both refused to speak with reporters.

Family a factor?

Ilshat Hassan, U.S.-based spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, said Pezilet Ekber may have been singled out by the court due to her family history.

“Usually family background is the most considered factor at the time of a decision, especially in political and ethnic cases tried by Chinese courts,” Hassan said.

“A Communist-oriented family background might save your life, even if you are a murderer, while an anti-communist or pro-independence family background can lead to a death sentence, even if you are innocent,” he said.

“I think Pezilet Ekber’s family background was one of the factors which influenced the decision.”

Pezilet Ekber is the second woman known to receive the death penalty in the aftermath of the Urumqi unrest, according to information made public by Chinese authorities.

In January, Hayrinsa Sawut, 20, was executed for committing murder during the riots.

A third woman, Gulmire Imin, received life in prison for her role as an “illegal organizer” during the 2009 demonstrations.

Reported and translated by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/death-12302010153000.html.

Haneya urges Jordan's king to press to prevent Israeli attack on Gaza

December 30, 2010

Deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya on Thursday called on Jordan's King Abdullah II to move to curb possible Israeli military operation against Gaza.

Haneya made his remarks when he received a Jordanian official delegation in Gaza City.

"The role of the Jordanian King is important in preventing any escalation by the Israeli occupation," Haneya said.

Violence has flared up in recent weeks along the borders, as Palestinian militants stepped up their attacks against Israel, using mortars and short-range crude missiles.

Israel responded to the Palestinian rocket fire by airstrikes that targeted some Hamas security and military sites for the first time since the end of Operation Cast Lead nearly two years ago.

Israeli fire killed 17 Palestinians this month in Gaza, including a civilian shepherd and five militants preparing to fire a rocket from central Gaza Strip.

In the light of escalation, Hamas renewed its commitment to the fragile ceasefire that Israel and the Islamic movement separately announced after the end of the three-week offensive in the winter of 2008 and 2009.

Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, said his movement would remain committed to the truce as long as Israel did.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7247327.html.

Railway tracks being doubled in Jammu and Kashmir

2010-12-30

The Northern Railway has commenced the doubling of the tracks between Pathankot and Jammu in Samba region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The railway tracks would soon witness quick passage of trains with the doubling of tracks as the work is going on at a fast pace.

With the doubling of this stretch, the detention of trains on the existing single line waiting for the trains coming from opposite direction would come to an end.

Residents are happy with the development of the double railway track, as it would prove beneficial to the pilgrims who visit the Vaishno Devi shrine.

"We will be benefited by the double line railway track. The tourists will be benefited and the trains would run on time. The tourists coming to the 'Vaishno Devi' would be the most benefited lot. We want that trains coming from other states should also reach Jammu," said Vikas Sambyal, a resident.

The Permanent Way (PW) officials of the railways said the double tracks would also improve the punctual running of the trains.

"The tracks would soon be double line and on the doubled tracks many trains can run. The trains, which earlier waited for other trains to pass by, would end. The speed of train would also increase. This double track would be introduced on other station as well," said Dharam Singh, Chief Administrative Officer, Pathankot Division, Northern Railway.

He also mentioned that the subsequent plans are the electrification of this route for which work would commence soon.

Source: Sify.
Link: http://www.sify.com/news/railway-tracks-being-doubled-in-jammu-and-kashmir-news-national-km4s4cdggjc.html.

People rejoice as Kashmir receives first snowfall

2010-12-30

People rejoiced as the valley region of the Jammu and Kashmir state witnessed the maiden snowfall of the season on Thursday ending the two-month long dry spell of cold wave.

"I am very happy because when I came out of my house for going to the tuition, I saw that snow was falling heavily and right now also snow is falling. We prayed to God that snow should fall soon and the prayers came true. Because of dry cold, people were falling ill," said Aquib Ahmad, a resident.

The mercury touched the point of minus 3.2 degree Celsius.

The Jammu -Srinagar National Highway was closed for traffic due to the snowfall.

The heavy snowfall led to power disruptions at many places in the valley region.

Meanwhile, the civic authorities have begun snow clearance operations by deploying trucks fitted with shovels to the bumpers.

Source: Sify.
Link: http://www.sify.com/news/people-rejoice-as-kashmir-receives-first-snowfall-news-national-km4qEhadecc.html.

Egypt permits 'Asia 1' convoy entry into Gaza

Wed, 29/12/2010

Egyptian authorities have given the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid convoy "Asia 1" permission to cross into the Gaza Strip through its Rafah border crossing, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) said on Wednesday.

Sources told MENA the convoy would be moving within a few days from the Syrian port of Latakia to Arish and then on to the Rafah border crossing.

The authorities agreed to allow 120 activists in the convoy entry into Egypt, the sources said, adding that the convoy is comprised of activists from 15 Asian countries, in addition to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

"Asia 1" began its journey in New Delhi, India earlier this month and then traveled by road to Pakistan where it was denied entry. The convoy then traveled to Iran by air and on to Turkey until it finally reached Syria.

The convoy is expected to board the Sierra Leone-flagged “Peace Ship,” which is carrying over 300 tons of food, medical equipment, medicine and toys.

Translated from the Arabic Edition.

Source: Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/egypt-permits-asia-1-convoy-entry-gaza.

School Principal In Jaffa Prohibits Arabic

Wednesday December 29, 2010
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

On Tuesday, dozens of residents of Jaffa held a protest in front of a school after its principal decided to prohibit Arab students from speaking Arabic inside the classrooms. The issue pushed the protesters to accuse the Jewish principal of racism, Israeli Ynet News reported.

Arab member of the Tel-Aviv Yafo city council, Ahmad Mashrawi, said that Arabic is an official language in Israel, and added that “maybe the school principal should prohibit Israeli foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, from speaking Russian at the Knesset”.

A student of the school said that the principal just walked into the classroom and told the Arabs students that they should not use their mother-tongue in school.

“This is humiliation”, the student said, “he should have acted as a mediator, and should have found another way to address us”.

Another student stated that this issue represents the growing level of racism in Israel, and that the principal is acting like a dictator.

Associate Mayor of Tel Aviv, Meital Lahavi, said that he did not know about the issue until Mashrawi told him about it several days ago, and added that integrated schools should not favor Jewish students over their Arab colleagues.

The Ynet News said that, so far, the school principal himself made no comments on the issue.

In July this year, dozens of municipal Rabbis in Israel signed a letter prohibiting selling or renting lands and apartments to non-Jews.

The Halachic “rabbinical ruling” was signed by more than 50 rabbis who work for several municipalities in Israel.

The Rabbis, from the Safad area, said that renting apartments to Arabs is forbidden, while chief Rabbi in Israeli, Ovadia Yosef, also affirmed the ruling.

The Ynet reported that one Rabbi from the Petah Tikva hesder Yeshiva, Yuval Sherlo, stated said that although its is preferred to rent apartments to Jews, yet it is not right to ban renting to Arabs.

Source: International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).
Link: http://www.imemc.org/article/60290.

Hamas MP among 6 detained by Israel overnight

30/12/2010

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained Hamas MP Khalil Ar-Rabai from his home in the southern West Bank town of Yatta on Thursday morning, bringing back up to ten, the number of elected Legislative Council members detained by Israel.

Family members of Ar-Rabai said troops surrounded then entered the home, then conducted a search of the building, causing damage to property.

The official, who was detained in 2006 from Ramallah during a mass arrest campaign targeting Hamas lawmakers, was released less than one year ago.

Israeli military officials said they were unable to comment as to the nature of his arrest, but confirmed that he was detained.

A statement on the military's Twitter page said "6 Palestinians wanted for terrorist activity were arrested overnight in the West Bank & taken for security questioning."

On Tuesday, troops arrested Hamas MP Mohammad At-Tal in a similar dawn raid on his home in the village of Zakariya, also near Hebron. Like Rabai, Tal was set free last year after a three-year stretch in jail.

On December 1, Israeli troops arrested Naif Ar-Rajub just months after he was freed after four years in prison. The former Palestinian minister for religious affairs had been released in June.

In the northern West Bank, local officials said five were detained from the village of Barta’a, south of Jenin.

Member at the village council Tawfiq Kabha told Ma'an that troops entered the area in the early morning, entering homes and shops, and confiscating goods.

Four residents and a fifth man from Jenin were taken by the invading troops, he said.

AFP contributed to this report

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=346669.

British archives show fears Israel could nuke Arab states

30/12/2010

LONDON (AFP) - British diplomats feared Israel would use nuclear weapons in the event of another war with its Arab neighbors, secret files have shown.

In 1980, British officials were concerned that Israel could be heading for a new conflict, despite signing a peace treaty with Egypt the year before, according to official papers released from the National Archives after being kept secret for 30 years.

"The situation in the region is deteriorating and with it Israel's dangerous mood of isolation and defiance will grow," warned a cable from the British embassy in Tel Aviv, dated May 4.

"If they (Israel) are to be destroyed they will go down fighting this time. They will be ready to use their atomic weapon. Because they cannot sustain a long war, they would have to use it early."

Israel has never confirmed or denied reports that it has produced nuclear warheads.

The files also showed how prime minister Margaret Thatcher, elected to office the year before, found Middle East diplomacy exasperating.

She confided in then French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing that she "had never had a more difficult man to deal with" than Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin.

She had also tried to tell Begin that his policies towards Jewish settlement building on the West Bank were "unrealistic" and "absurd".

"His response was that Judea and Samaria had been Jewish in biblical times and that they should therefore be so today," she told Giscard d'Estaing.

Thatcher was also unimpressed by Foreign Office attempts to persuade her that the Palestine Liberation Organization should not be seen as a "purely terrorist organization", but also as a political movement.

"This analysis just doesn't stand up. It is riddled with inconsistencies," she scrawled on one briefing paper.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=346618.

Fatah bans Dahlan from meetings

30/12/2010

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Fatah's Central Committee decided Tuesday to continue to ban member Muhammad Dahlan from meetings until an investigation into his conduct is completed.

Meeting in Ramallah, the committee appointed Nabil Abu Rudeina to replace Dahlan as Fatah's Media Commissioner, and named Abu Rudeina as the party's official spokesman.

Sources close to the committee said Thursday that Dahlan was being investigated but declined to say what the Fatah strongman was accused of.

On Saturday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Palestinian Authority had questioned men who admitted they were hired by Dahlan to start a militia in the West Bank.

Dahlan denied the reports, calling them "false and malicious information."

The investigation committee, he said, was formed by the party in an effort to dispel the "misunderstanding," because the accusations launched against him "abuse the Palestinians."

Tension between Dahlan and President Mahmoud Abbas has increased recently, amid unsubstantiated rumors that the former Fatah leader sought to depose Abbas.

In December, a television station said to be affiliated with Dahlan was shut down, with PA officials saying the station had failed to pay its licensing fees.

Tuesday's meeting in Ramallah was headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, and the committee also discussed efforts to revive the peace process and internal Palestinian issues.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=346215.

Palestinians 'routinely denied lawyer'

29/12/2010

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Palestinians being interrogated by Israel's internal security agency Shin Bet are routinely denied access to a lawyer and are often ill treated, an Israeli rights group said on Tuesday.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel said in a report made available to AFP that up to 90 percent of West Bank Palestinians interrogated by the agency, known as the General Security Service, were denied legal access.

Israeli civil and military law allows incommunicado detention in "emergency situations or unique cases," the group said, but data collected between 2000 and 2007 showed denial of legal access was the rule rather than the exception for Palestinians being interrogated by the GSS in the West Bank.

The report, co-authored with the Palestinian Prisoner Society, estimates that up to 10,773 Palestinians interrogated by the GSS in the West Bank were denied legal access, with nearly half going more than two weeks without a lawyer.

In addition to violating legal guidelines that allow interrogators to deny access to a lawyer in exceptional cases only, the report said detainees held incommunicado were exposed to harsher conditions, and even torture.

"All the detainees who gave affidavits to PCATI regarding their interrogations under incommunicado detention testified to having been exposed to violence, including physical and/or psychological ill treatment, and were held under especially hard conditions," the report said.

The rights groups said prisoners described being shackled to chairs for prolonged periods, sleep deprivation, threats, and abysmal detention conditions.

"It is doubtful that a single one of the cases... would have occurred without the conditions of incommunicado detention," the report said.

While the report only provides detailed statistics on the period up to 2007, PCATI said information gathered between 2008-2010 "shows the scope of GSS' use of 'incommunicado detention'... has not decreased."

The group called for new rules on when prisoners can be denied access to a lawyer "so as to reduce to a minimum the implementation of this tool," and for cameras to placed in GSS interrogation facilities to monitor questioning.

It also urged the courts to force the release of additional official information on incommunicado detention by the GSS.

Rights groups have regularly petitioned for the release of official statistics under Israel's freedom of information law, but the courts have usually sided with the GSS, permitting them a security exemption.

"This comprehensive confidentiality of information... permits the GSS to continue its mass use of incommunicado detention unimpeded, under cover of obscurity," the report said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=346154.

Algiers re-housing plan sparks protests

Angry residents who felt neglected by a government re-housing program took to the streets in violent demonstrations.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 29/12/10

Efforts to re-house people living in Algiers' working-class suburbs resumed on Sunday (December 26th) following heated clashes between law-enforcement officers and families.

"We've been waiting to be re-housed since independence, and we still haven't got anything other than promises from officials that are taking an age to be honored," Said told Magharebia.

Last spring, city authorities vowed to move 10,000 families into safer homes by the end of the year and eliminate "insecure housing" from shanty towns surrounding the capital city.

For some angry residents, the pace has been too slow. Last week-end, they decided to express their discontent.

Clashes broke out Saturday between residents and security officials in the eastern suburbs of Algiers, including Les Palmiers and Baraki. Rioters attacked law-enforcement officers with stones and blocked busy roads with barricades.

Boualem, a young demonstrator aged 25, said he could not understand how the survey committee forgot his "family of seven living in an old house that has been at risk of ruin for years" while "other people, who bought shanty towns more recently just so that they could be among the high-priority group, were chosen".

Mohamed Ismail, the official in charge of housing in Algiers Province, stated that a re-housing program was launched for some "1,600 families living in shanty towns and temporary housing that were built in the capital after the devastating earthquake of May 2003".

"The turn of those who deserve to be re-housed will come, because the housing allocation committee is processing cases in less than 10 days and all applicants who provide evidence of their situation will receive new homes, unless their applications are incomplete," Ismail said.

Ismail claimed on Monday that 84,000 homes are being built in Algiers Province, of which 48,000 units will be rented social housing and 18,000 units will be part-owned homes.

"It's just a matter of time, all candidates for new homes in Algiers Province will be re-housed," he said in an effort to allay fears.

The way in which social housing is allocated regularly leads to demonstrations in Algeria, as construction programs have not kept pace with population growth. Violent riots broke out earlier in the year in some working-class districts of Algiers, such as Diar Echems and Diar El Kef in the hills overlooking the city.

According to the Housing Ministry, there are 553,000 insecure homes in Algeria. The government plans to re-house all families living in shanty towns and houses in the south of the country built with toub (bricks made of clay and straw).

The 2010-2014 development program targets building a million homes altogether, with 70,000 homes built in 2010 to re-house families living in insecure housing.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/29/feature-02.

Mauritania passes new Civil Status Code

2010-12-28

Mauritania on Monday (December 27th) passed a new Civil Status Code, PANA reported. In response to new challenges facing the country, such as terrorism and illegal immigration, legislators agreed to adopt new methods of identifying people. Biometrics and advanced techniques in data management will replace the identification system in place since 1996. Effective implementation of the previous code was reportedly plagued by lost records, the need for too many physical documents and unreliable data.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/28/newsbrief-02.

'Great Green Wall' planners meet in Nouakchott

2010-12-26

A regional meeting on the "Great Green Wall" anti-desertification project opens in Nouakchott on Sunday (December 26th), PANA reported. Along with planting trees to combat desertification, the Senegal-led initiative includes income-generating activities that also protect African ecosystems. Upon completion within the next 5-years, the 15-kilometer wide "Great Green Wall" will cover 7,000 kilometers from Dakar to Djibouti.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/26/newsbrief-04.

Mauritania passes press reform bill

2010-12-26

Mauritanian legislators on Thursday (December 23rd) passed a bill legalizing the electronic press and amending certain provisions related to press freedom, PANA reported on Thursday (December 23rd). According to a statement released by the Council of Ministers, electronic media outlets have multiplied over the last five years. Forced to operate until now without any legal framework, however, they were unable to benefit from any government support.

The Union of Mauritanian Journalists (SJM) hailed the move, describing it as a response to journalists' demands and a reflection of positive change of the media landscape of the country, Journal Tahalil reported.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/26/newsbrief-03.

Morocco looks towards secularism

Students raise the controversial question: can secularism be introduced in Morocco?

By Imrane Binoual for Magharebia in Casablanca – 26/12/10

The idea of separating politics and religion is stirring up fresh controversy in Morocco, following a debate hosted last week-end by students at Casablanca's Institut des Hautes Etudes de Management (Institute of Higher Management Studies).

Mohamed Sghir Janjar, anthropologist and publication director of academic journal Prologues, was very blunt about the subject. "Morocco is experiencing secularization at a faster pace than was seen in European countries. This is due to colonization, changes in the nuclear family and urbanization," he said.

In his view, there has been a change in the role of religion and the religious era. He called this "latent secularization".

"There is a gap between what is said and the situation in reality," Sghir Janjar said. "While religious ideas are promoted, there is latent secularization which is experienced but not consciously thought about. This is why when you ask people if they are in favor of adopting a degree of secularism, they reject it, even though they are experiencing it."

Ali Bouabid, a politician and member of the USFP (Social Union of Popular Forces) central office, asked several questions. "Is the separation of religion and politics beneficial for a country such as Morocco? Might this not be divisive?"

"This separation is the outcome of a process, it is not a decision to be taken," he continued. "For instance, in France it took five centuries for secularism to be introduced and more than a century for laws to be passed."

Like Sghir Janjar, he believes that Morocco has set about a process of secularization on several levels. Bouabid argues it can be seen in urbanization, changing lifestyles, birth rate, the drafting of laws and the activities of Parliament.

"The problem lies in working out how the public authorities, politicians and many other people can lend their weight to all of the support for this separation of the two spheres", Bouabid noted.

Lahcen Daoudi, a leading member of the Party of Justice and Development, opposed the secularization process.

"Secularism originated in a society that is different from Morocco. It was introduced as a response to the dictatorship of the church. Each society follows its own path," he said. "The question is: can one be secular without being liberal?"

Daoudi equated the two concepts in philosophical terms. "I refuse to let people dictate to us that we should adopt secularism or liberalism," he said. "Secularism is contrary to democracy. I believe that separating politics from religion is impossible because I cannot, as an individual, live with such a separation."

In an attempt to arrive at a balanced view, the director of the Moroccan Center for Contemporary Studies and Research, Moustapha El Khalfi, called for a kind of distinction to be drawn between religion and politics, instead of a total separation leading to secularism. "You can't think about the future of Morocco without discussing the issue of separating religion and politics. In this country, I think we should distinguish between the two areas without keeping them entirely separate."

"The changes that we are witnessing are leading in the direction of such a distinction," he said. "The problem that arises [is that] in our society we have to deal with both religious despotism and secular despotism.

In Morocco, "we should not trap ourselves within a ready-made answer", El Khalfi said. "We must come up with ideas that suit us."

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/26/feature-02.

Private radio stations face challenges in Morocco

The biggest audience for Morocco's private radio stations is youth. But not everyone is happy with how they are serving their listeners.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 27/12/10

Morocco authorized private radio stations four years ago, as part of the effort to end the government's monopoly of the audio-visual sector.

Experts decided it was time for a progress update.

"The radio stations run into challenges, in terms of respecting the plurality in society and presenting democratic media that mirrors the existing multiplicity within society," said Moroccan Center for Contemporary Studies and Research (CMERC) chief Moustapha El Khalfi, whose organization hosted a December 18th forum in Rabat to assess the status of the stations.

"Language constitutes yet another challenge, as some stations – though a few – slipped into using a rather debased variant of the language," El Khalfi added. "There is also the challenge of content, at a time when entertainment has prevailed over serious programs: e.g. news programs and cultural programs. Another challenge lies in professional ethics and the boundaries between media and publicity."

The biggest audience for radio stations is Moroccan youth, the CMERC chief admits. But things have not worked out as planned.

"Unfortunately, they were unable to undertake the positive role they were supposed to shoulder within the framework of enhancing values of democracy and citizenship," El Khalfi noted.

In 2006, the High Authority for Audiovisual Communications (HACA) granted the first ten radio licenses to Radio Aswat, Atlantic, Cape Radio, Chada FM, Hit Radio, MFM Saiss, Souss FM, Atlas FM Radio Plus Marrakech and Radio Plus Agadir.

Med Radio, Radio Mars, Medina FM Radio Lux received their licenses in 2009. Despite the many positive aspects to these private radio stations, such as enhancing the principle of diversity, broadcasting live shows and boldly raising issues, some problems remain, according to media researcher Yahya El Yahyaoui.

The biggest issue is what he calls the "linguistic calamity", which leaves listeners totally confused, unable to decide whether the language being used is Arabic, French or even a new colloquial variant.

For his part, media professor Mustapha Taleb wondered whether the radio stations "were in line with the identity and values of the Moroccan society". He agreed that it took some boldness to discuss certain topics, which was "indeed positive".

"The problem lies in the manner of handling them, which may risk promoting moral degeneracy," Taleb noted.

On a gloomier note, he said that the radio stations "constitute a rupture between the old generation and the new".

For Miloud Belkadi, who runs Radio MFM, the effect of "the private radio stations launched in Morocco in 2006 is relatively positive, on a number of levels, in terms of seeking to reinforce the culture of proximity as well as that of interaction".

"Further, they served as a channel for discussions of a number of topics that were until recently regarded as taboos," he told Magharebia.

Privately-owned stations, he said, should now be able – after four years of experience – to "undergo some objective self-evaluation…so as to determine the positive aspects and build on them, and pinpoint the negative aspects that still constitute a challenge".

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/27/feature-03.

Algerian unemployment falls

Unemployment fell for the fourth straight year in Algeria, according to recent government data.

By Mohand Ouali for Magharebia in Algiers – 27/12/10

Joblessness remains on the decline in Algeria.

According to a National Statistics Office survey published December 19th, the unemployment rate fell to roughly 10%, with 1,076,000 out of work.

Unemployment was at 30% in 1999. By 2007, the rate had dropped to 11.8% in 2007. The trend continued: 11.3% in 2008 and 10.2% in 2009.

Unemployment affects different social groups in different ways, the survey also showed. The proportion of jobless women (19.1%) is higher than that of men (8.1%).

Young people are affected the worst. Among those aged 16-24, just over one in five (21.5%) is unemployed, whereas the rate is just 7% for those aged 25 and over.

While unemployment in Algeria affects young people the most, which has certain far-reaching effects, the survey also highlighted another troubling trend. The findings appear to show that unemployment among university graduates – currently 21.4% - is much higher than the 7.3% of those without degrees.

Women with university education fare the worst, with a jobless rate of 33.6%.

The survey showed that 9,735,000 Algerians are employed (up from 6 million in 1999). Of these, 1,474,000 are women. Two out of every three workers are employed by companies. The commerce and service sectors account for more than half of jobs (55.2%), followed by construction (19.4%), manufacturing (13.7%), and finally agriculture (11.7%). The private sector, which numbers 6.39 million workers, employs two-thirds of the workforce.

While presenting the government's Statement of General Policy to the Council of the Nation on December 19th, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said that the progress made in human development, improved living standards and the fall in unemployment were made possible by Algeria's large-scale public investment in recent years.

Ouyahia recalled that the government’s three main objectives over the last five years have been to achieve annual growth of 8% in the agricultural sector, to raise the manufacturing sector’s contribution to overall added value to 10%, and to bring unemployment down to well below 10%. He warned that the use of public funds could not go on forever and called on the private sector to take a more active role in investment in economic growth.

Senators voiced concerns about the scale of unemployment and its impact on young people. Brahim Ghouma spoke of the "marginalization" suffered by many university graduates in Illizi Province, saying the Algerian state invested in their training but had yet to offer them jobs.

Messaoud Femama suggested that young people in the southern provinces be offered a "special scheme" to prevent them from falling prey to political chicanery.

Several senators stressed the need to focus on young people in all regions, in order to integrate them into the national economy.

Zohra Drif-Bitat questioned whether the state "has really done what is necessary to enable young people to face the challenges of the twenty-first century and to have a decent standard of living, as they deserve to".

Louisa Chachoua stressed the importance of finding jobs for young graduates, describing their potential exodus as a "serious problem".

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/27/feature-01.

First Super-Earth Atmosphere Analyzed

by Staff Writers
Moffet Field CA (SPX) Dec 28, 2010

The atmosphere around a super-Earth exoplanet has been analyzed for the first time by an international team of astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope.

The planet, which is known as GJ 1214b, was studied as it passed in front of its parent star and some of the starlight passed through the planet's atmosphere. We now know that the atmosphere is either mostly water in the form of steam or is dominated by thick clouds or hazes. The results appear in the 2 December 2010 issue of the journal Nature.

The planet GJ 1214b was discovered in 2009 using the HARPS instrument on ESO's 3.6-meter telescope in Chile. Initial findings suggested that this planet had an atmosphere, which has now been confirmed and studied in detail by an international team of astronomers, led by Jacob Bean (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), using the FORS instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope.

"This is the first super-Earth to have its atmosphere analyzed. We've reached a real milestone on the road toward characterizing these worlds," said Bean.

GJ 1214b has a radius of about 2.6 times that of the Earth and is about 6.5 times as massive, putting it squarely into the class of exoplanets known as super-Earths. Its host star lies about 40 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus (the Serpent Bearer).

It is a faint star, but it is also small, which means that the size of the planet is large compared to the stellar disc, making it relatively easy to study. The planet travels across the disc of its parent star once every 38 hours as it orbits at a distance of only two million kilometers: about seventy times closer than the Earth orbits the Sun.

To study the atmosphere, the team observed the light coming from the star as the planet passed in front of it. During these transits, some of the starlight passes through the planet's atmosphere and, depending on the chemical composition and weather on the planet, specific wavelengths of light are absorbed.

The team then compared these precise new measurements with what they would expect to see for several possible atmospheric compositions.

Before the new observations, astronomers had suggested three possible atmospheres for GJ 1214b. The first was the intriguing possibility that the planet was shrouded by water, which, given the close proximity to the star, would be in the form of steam.

The second possibility was that this is a rocky world with an atmosphere consisting mostly of hydrogen, but with high clouds or hazes obscuring the view. The third option was that this exoplanet was like a mini-Neptune, with a small rocky core and a deep hydrogen-rich atmosphere.

The new measurements do not show the telltale signs of hydrogen and hence rule out the third option. Therefore, the atmosphere is either rich in steam, or it is blanketed by clouds or hazes, similar to those seen in the atmospheres of Venus and Titan in our solar system, which hide the signature of hydrogen.

"Although we can't yet say exactly what that atmosphere is made of, it is an exciting step forward to be able to narrow down the options for such a distant world to either steamy or hazy," says Bean. "Follow-up observations in longer wavelength infrared light are now needed to determine which of these atmospheres exists on GJ 1214b."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/First_Super_Earth_Atmosphere_Analyzed_999.html.

2011 decisive for US strategy in Af-Pak

by Staff Writers
Kabul (AFP) Dec 28, 2010

US strategy to defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban tripled American troops fighting in Afghanistan and doubled missile strikes in Pakistan, but ushers in a make-or-break 2011 after a year of record violence.

Since taking office, President Barack Obama ordered more than 50,000 extra troops into battle to reverse Taliban momentum and build up Afghan government forces so that combat troops could start leaving in 2011.

There are now 140,000 US-led NATO troops on the ground -- two-thirds of them American -- and 2010 has proved to be the deadliest year on record with the deaths of at least 707 foreign soldiers, or an average of two a day.

The United Nations declared the first 10 months as 20 percent deadlier for Afghan civilians than the same period in 2009.

The Taliban have made increasing inroads into the north and west. Killings and kidnappings of Western aid workers have put much of rural Afghanistan, which suffers from huge poverty and social problems, off-limits.

In a damning assessment of America's key ally, US memos leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks said no amount of aid money would ever convince Pakistan to abandon support of the Afghan Taliban.

Nevertheless, Obama treated the United States to a cautious one-year review of the surge, saying strategy was "on track" and that progress was sufficient to permit a "responsible reduction" of US forces in July 2011.

Gains were fragile and reversible, the president acknowledged, but Al-Qaeda was now weaker than ever since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan even if the network was still planning follow-ups to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The fact that he himself stayed only three hours under the cover of darkness and never left Bagram Air Field during a visit to American troops on December 3 spoke volumes about the real state of security.

The White House attributed the decision to bad weather and the Afghans insisted there were no hard feelings, but the cancellation of talks with Karzai in Kabul did nothing to dispel fears of a fraying political alliance.

There are still four years before the international community aims to hand over responsibility for security to the Afghan government.

Even Petraeus, the lauded US general who took over from the sacked Stanley McChrystal in June, has expressed doubt about victory by 2014, admitting that a "resilient" Taliban, squeezed out of some areas, simply pops up in others.

Questions about diplomatic continuity have also been raised by the death of Obama's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, and the decision to replace him by his much less well-known deputy Frank Ruggiero.

David Cameron, prime minister of Britain, which after the United States contributes the most foreign troops to Afghanistan, has said that progress made in 2010 must become "irreversible" in 2011.

Despite escalating drone strikes, Washington still considers Pakistan's tribal belt on the Afghan border the most dangerous place on Earth, the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and a rear base for Afghan Taliban.

According to an AFP tally, around 100 drone strikes have killed more than 650 people since January 1, compared to 45 killing 420 people in 2009. But there seems no shortage of Islamist extremists willing to attack the West.

A bomb plot in New York on May 1 was hatched by a financial analyst trained in Pakistan's North Waziristan. Alleged plots to attack Europe in October were also rooted in Pakistan's tribal belt, Western intelligence agents said.

Politically, the Afghan and Pakistani governments seem weaker than ever, tainted by corruption despite near unconditional financial support running into billions of dollars from Washington.

US ambassador Karl Eikenberry wrote in one cable that Karzai was "paranoid and weak" and "unfamiliar with the basics of nation building", raising the question as to whether Washington can succeed without a solid partner in Kabul.

Parliamentary polls that the West hoped would clean up massive fraud that marred Karzai's re-election in 2009 threw out a quarter of votes for graft.

In Pakistan, the popularity of President Asif Ali Zardari sank to new lows as catastrophic flooding left a fifth of the country under water, affected 21 million people and saw the already faltering economy take a further nosedive.

Zardari's weak government has no hold over the military, which has withstood US pressure to launch an offensive against Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network in North Waziristan.

Pakistan, the only nuclear power in the Muslim world, has lost nearly 4,000 people over the last three years in a series of suicide and bomb attacks blamed on Taliban allied to Al-Qaeda, including more than 1,000 people in 2010.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/2011_decisive_for_US_strategy_in_Af-Pak_999.html.

China steps up anti-carrier missile tests: US commander

by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 28, 2010

China is stepping up efforts to deploy a "carrier-killer" missile system, the commander of the US Pacific Command has said in an interview with a Japanese newspaper, published Tuesday.

"The anti-ship ballistic missile system in China has undergone extensive testing," Admiral Robert Willard told the Asahi Shimbun in Honolulu, according to a transcript of the interview on its website.

Willard said China appeared to have achieved "initial operational capability" but it would take "several more years" before fully deploying the system.

US military analysts have warned China is developing a new version of its Dongfeng 21 missile that could pierce the defenses of even the most sturdy US naval vessels and has a range far beyond Chinese waters.

Washington has expressed rising concern over China's military intentions following a string of double-digit increases in Chinese military spending and the rapid modernization of its armed forces.

In the interview, Willard also said China aims to become a global military power by extending its influence beyond its regional waters.

"They are focused presently on what they term their near seas -- the Bohai, Yellow Sea, South China Sea, East China Sea," Willard said.

"I think they have an interest in being able to influence beyond that point, and they have aspirations to eventually become a global military," he said. "In the capabilities that we're seeing develop, that is fairly obvious."

Referring to tensions on the Korean peninsula, Willard warned that North Korea is ready to take another provocative step and called on China, Pyongyang's sole major ally, to play its role in defusing the situation.

"I think, for now, we're past this particular crisis, but we have no doubt, given North Korea's history, that a next provocation is readied," Willard told the daily.

"It's a matter of assessing how it might be deterred or how the North Koreans might be dissuaded from exercising the next provocation," he said.

"We think the US-Republic of Korea (South Korea) alliance is part of that deterrence effort," he said. "We think the international community and China in particular are another part of it."

Tensions have been high following the North's shelling of a South Korean border island, which killed four people, including two civilians. The South's forces are on alert for any fresh attacks.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/China_steps_up_anti-carrier_missile_tests_US_commander_999.html.

U.S. may cut Israel missile shield funds

by Staff Writers
Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Dec 27, 2010

Israel's increasingly troubled missile defense shield has taken another knock with media reports that budgetary problems could force the U.S. administration to delay funding for the system still being developed by Israel's defense industry.

The aid could be put back several months, the liberal Haaretz daily reports.

That's likely to heighten Israeli concerns over the vulnerability of the country's cities at a time when the Jewish state faces the growing threat of missile attack on an unprecedented scale from almost every quarter.

Haaretz said the problem stems from U.S. President Barack Obama's difficulties in pushing next year's budget through a recalcitrant U.S. Congress.

That could result in "a long wait before the weapons can be bought" from the main manufacturer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

The state-owned company, one of Israel's leading arms manufacturers, has produced one anti-missile defense system known as Iron Dome, and is developing another, David's Sling, with the Raytheon Co. of Maryland.

The Israeli government has bought two mobile Iron Dome batteries, each costing around $37 million. It needs at least a dozen more in the near future to provide minimal protection but doesn't have adequate funds.

Iron Dome, which was supposed to have been certified operational several months ago, is designed to intercept and destroy short-range missiles and rockets such as the Soviet-designed Katyushas and Grads used by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

David's Sling would be used to shoot down medium-range missiles. The third layer in the defense shield, the high-altitude, long-range Arrow-2 system designed to down ballistic missiles, has been deployed since 2000.

It is built by the flagship Israel Aerospace Industries, which is developing a more advanced variant, Arrow-3.

In May, the U.S. House of Representatives approved Obama's decision to provide $205 million in special aid to buy additional Iron Dome batteries.

The Americans are also jointly funding the Arrow program, although it's not clear if this will be affected.

In September, the United States and Israel agreed to advance work on David's Sling being developed by Rafael and Raytheon. But it isn't expected to be operational until 2012.

However, Obama, whose administration has been reeling since Republicans scored heavily in the midterm elections, is seen as having problems getting many of his measures through Congress.

He signed a presidential order outlining his administration's plans until March. That covers the current budget and permits him to spend 1/12th of the 2010 budget every month until March.

Haaretz reported that "under these circumstances, funding for Iron Dome will have to wait until the annual U.S. budget is approved in March."

It said the delays will mean the planned increase of overall U.S. military aid to Israel will also be slowed down.

Israel was to have received $3 billion in 2011 but the aid package will likely remain at this year's level of 2.775 billion. That will affect the Defense Ministry's annual planning.

Haaretz reported the delays mean that "no plan or estimated timetable is in place for producing and purchasing" Iron Dome because there is no U.S. or Israeli funding in place.

The Israeli government has yet to decide on "additional funding to buy more Iron Dome batteries," the newspaper said.

Even without these problems, Iron Dome, and indeed the three-tiered missile defense shield, was facing mounting skepticism about its capabilities against mass salvos of missiles.

Iron Dome was unveiled with great fanfare in July, two years ahead of schedule after Rafael reportedly had been paid a big bonus to get the system ready before its original 2012 target date.

And then, surprisingly, the military put the two batteries it had in storage in November, claiming crews needed more training on such a complex system.

On Dec. 12, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Northern Command facing Hezbollah, dropped a bombshell: Even though Israeli cities are expected to be primary targets for enemy missiles, the anti-missile systems "are designed to protect military bases, even if this means that citizens suffer discomfort."

These developments have fueled suspicions the defense shield is unlikely to protect the civilian population from what many fear will be the most sustained and destructive bombardment unleashed against Israel.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_may_cut_Israel_missile_shield_funds_999.html.

UN troops in Ivory Coast may use force to defend self, civilians

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

New York - United Nations peacekeepers in Ivory Coast have been authorized to use "all necessary means" to defend themselves and government officials under their protection, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.

Ban also warned that any attack against the peacekeepers would be a violation of international law.

Ban said he remained "very concerned" by the deteriorating situation in Ivory Coast, where incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step down after losing the November 28 presidential runoff elections to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.

Ban said the UN headquarters at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan has been threatened with attacks from the Young Patriots, a group supporting Gbagbo, starting on the New Year. Ouattara and some government officials have taken refuge in the hotel.

The UN mission in Ivory Coast, known as UNOCI, has about 10,000 military and civilian personnel deployed to provide security to the government and key political stakeholders.

Ban said UNOCI is "authorized to use all necessary means to protect its personnel, as well as the government officials and other civilians at these premises of the hotel."

"The secretary general therefore wishes to warn that any attack against peacekeepers constitutes a crime under international law, for which the perpetrators and those who instigate them will be held accountable," the UN said in a statement.

"Any attack on the Golf Hotel could provoke widespread violence that could reignite civil war," it said. "The secretary general calls on all those who may be contemplating participation in the attack to refrain from such dangerous irresponsible action."

Assange vows to release all files in case of death or incarceration

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Cairo/Paris - In the event of his untimely death or long- term incarceration, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would make public all the leaked documents his group has, the activist reiterated Thursday in an interview with the broadcaster al-Jazeera.

"If I am forced, we could go to the extreme and expose each and every file that we have access to," he said, according to media groups reporting on the interview.

In the interview, Assange reportedly said that 2,000 websites are prepared to flood the internet with information if it is deemed necessary. Right now, that information is under strong password protection.

Assange noted that the safeguard showed his group was acting responsibly.

In the interview, the last part of which was aired in the Arab world on Wednesday night, Assange alleged that many senior Arab leaders have close ties to the United States' CIA spy agency and that several Arab countries had set up torture centers to which Washington could send suspects for questioning.

Separately, in France, the latest release from WikiLeaks was causing scandal by alleging that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had in the past received financial support from former Gabonese president Omar Bongo.

The released documents said that money had been paid to several French political parties, with some of it used to support Sarkozy.

The Elysee did not comment on the allegations.

WikiLeaks has been publishing the leaked US cables for more than a month now, based on a trove of tens of thousands of documents the whistle-blower site came into possession of earlier this year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360203,case-death-or-incarceration.html.

US revokes visa of Venezuelan ambassador - Summary

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Washington/Caracas - The US revoked the visa of Venezuela's ambassador to Washington after Caracas refused to accept its envoy to the South American nation.

The Venezuelan government confirmed late Wednesday in Caracas that the visa had been revoked. Bernardo Alvarez's ouster follows remarks by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez about breaking off ties with the United States over Caracas' refusal to welcome Larry Palmer as ambassador there.

On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the US regretted Chavez's stance on Washington's would-be ambassador, but did not say whether Alvarez would be asked to leave.

"We did say that we regret, obviously, the Venezuelan government's decision to withdraw agreement for ambassador designate Palmer," he told reporters. "It affects our ability to carry out normal diplomatic relations, and we also said that there could be consequences for that action with that."

Venezuela rejected Palmer for comments he made in August before the US Senate, when he spoke about the low morale for the Venezuelan Armed Forces and about the interference of Cubans in Venezuelan barracks. Caracas regards such comments as an interference.

"We have denied credentials to that aspiring ambassador. Now the US government threatens that they are going to retaliate. Well, let them do what they want to, but that man will not come here as ambassador. For someone to come here as ambassador he has to show respect," Chavez said Tuesday.

Venezuela exports to the United States some 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360192,venezuelan-ambassador-summary.html.

Turkish president in Kurd region: one-language policy stands

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Istanbul - Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday reiterated that Turkish is the country's only official language during a trip to the country's primarily Kurdish south-eastern region.

The trip was aimed at easing recent tensions over Kurdish issues.

"The official language of the Turkish Republic is Turkish, and it will continue this way. Moreover, the language of the state and of public institutions is Turkish; it is our common language," Gul said, according to the semi-official Anatolia Agency.

Gul's two-day trip to Diyarbakir, Turkey's largest Kurdish- majority city, comes in the wake of a period of heated debate in Turkey about Kurdish rights following a recent proposal by Kurdish groups for the establishment of a politically autonomous Kurdish region in south-eastern Turkey.

Earlier this month, the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) also called for education of Kurdish citizens in their mother tongue and for a policy of "bilingualism" in municipalities that are largely Kurdish.

Kurds are estimated to make up around 20 per cent of Turkey's population, but have long faced discrimination against and restrictions on their linguistic and cultural self-expression.

The recent debates prompted Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) on Wednesday to issue a strong statement against proposals for more widespread use of the Kurdish language. Stating that Turkish is the country's official language, the MGK warned that: "Initiatives aiming to change this fact are unacceptable."

Though Gul characterized his visit to Diyarbakir - his second since he became president in 2007 - as a regular visit, it was nonetheless timed as a goodwill trip to soothe political tensions.

"I am here to see Diyarbakir's problems first-hand," the president announced at a meeting with Diyarbakir mayor Osman Baydemir.

Baydemir, who belongs to the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), presented Gul with a Turkish-Kurdish dictionary and said attempts to deal with Kurdish issues solely as a security problem have been unsuccessful.

Calling the Kurdish issue "Turkey's biggest problem," Baydemir said, "The lack of tolerance toward demands and suggestions by Kurdish politicians regarding the mother tongue and democratic autonomy is very worrisome."

The president accepted the dictionary and acknowledged that the different languages spoken by Turkish citizens add to the country's diversity.

"Our constitution gives us the duty of protecting cultural heritage. These [languages] are partly a cultural heritage, partly a living heritage," he said.

Gul, who received a warm welcome in Diyarbakir without any political protest, was also scheduled to meet with other officials, tour the city's industrial zone and visit Dicle University.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360191,region-one-language-policy-stands.html.

Yemen releases 428 Shiite rebels after Qatari mediation

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni authorities on Thursday released 428 detained members of a Shiite rebel group that had fought the national army for around five years in the north of the country, the rebels announced in a statement.

The Houthi group said in its emailed statement that it received 428 of its detained members and handed over to authorities 10 military vehicles in exchange.

It said Qatari mediators supervised the men's release and the military equipment handover.

Fierce battles between the rebels - known as Houthis after the family of their leaders - and army forces have left hundreds of soldiers and insurgents dead in five years of conflict that was halted with a peace accord in February.

Authorities have accused the rebels of trying to reinstall the rule of imams, which was toppled by a republican revolution in northern Yemen in 1962. The Houthis belong to the Zaidi sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360199,shiite-rebels-qatari-mediation.html.

Facebook beats Google as most visited, searched, in 2010

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

San Francisco - Facebook passed Google as the most visited website in the US in 2010, according to a survey released Thursday by the web tracking firm Experian Hitwise.

The social networking site also claimed the top search term of the year, with variations on its name filling four of the ten most popular searches, the survey found. In all, Facebook searches accounted for 3.48 per cent of all web searches in the US in 2010, a 207-per-cent increase over 2009.

The study found that Facebook accounted for 8.93 per cent of all US website visits in the year, ahead of Google.com's 7.19 per cent and third-placed Yahoo Mail with 3.85 per cent.

However if all Google's various properties are taken into account, the web search giant did overtake Facebook with 9.85 per cent of all website visits. Microsoft's msn.com and bing.com also made it into the list of top ten websites, as did myspace.com.

Other terms in the top ten searches included "youtube," "craigslist," "myspace," "ebay" and "yahoo."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360215,google-visited-searched-2010.html.

Rousseff hosts Bulgarian prime minister in Brasilia

Thu, 30 Dec 2010

Brasilia - Brazilian president-elect Dilma Rousseff, whose father was born in Bulgaria, received as a guest Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyco Borisov Thursday in Brasilia.

Rousseff is to become the first female president in Brazil's history Saturday, when she succeeds Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Her father, poet-businessman Petar Roussev (known as Pedro Rousseff in Brazil), left Bulgaria in 1929. He eventually married a Brazilian schoolteacher, the president-elect's mother, and became a relatively wealthy man.

The Brazilian presidency's foreign affairs adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia said Borisov presented Rousseff with a photograph of a sister of her late father. He also insisted on an invitation made earlier by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov for her to visit the land of her forebears.

"She promised to visit the country, probably in the next European summer," Garcia said.

He noted that Borisov also gave Rousseff a message of congratulations from Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council.

Rousseff and Borisov met at Itamaraty Palace, the seat of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, where the Bulgarian visitor also met with Brazil's designated foreign minister under Rousseff, Antonio Patriota.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360217,bulgarian-prime-minister-brasilia.html.

الإبداع العربي في صدارة "أميركا"

29/12/2010 م

الدبس ومطاوع يفوزان بجائزة الزمالة
الإبداع العربي في صدارة "أميركا"

جاكلين سلام

لأول مرة يحصد الشعر والفن العربي الأميركي جوائز مرموقة في أميركا، فقد ذهبت جائزة الزمالة الفنية لعام 2010 إلى المخرجة الأميركية من أصل فلسطيني شيرين دبس عن فيلم "أميركا"، وذهبت جائزة الزمالة الشعرية إلى الشاعر الليبي الأصل خالد مطاوع لتميزه في الشعر والترجمة.

وتقدر الجائزة بـ50 ألف دولار لكل فنان تم اختياره من القائمة الطويلة التي ضمت 302 اسم من مختلف المشارب والألوان، من 18 ولاية أميركية.

وتكمن أهمية الجائزة في أنها الأولى التي تضع الإبداع العربي على خارطة التقدير والاحتفاء في أميركا. فهذا مكسب وفرصة للتعريف بالصورة الإنسانية الحقيقية للإبداع القادم من العالم العربي، بعد أن لحق به الكثير من التشويه وبخاصة في السنوات العشر الأخيرة.

حقق فيلم "أميركا" للمخرجة شيرين الدبس انتشارًا وشهرة عربية وعالمية منذ بداية عرضه عام 2009، في أميركا وكندا وعدد من الدول العربية. كما شارك في عدة مهرجانات سينمائية، ليس آخرها مهرجان "كان" الفرنسي عام 2009.

وتكمن قوة الفيلم في المعالجة الشفافة التي مزجت بين الاجتماعي والسياسي والفكاهة في إطار كاشف لعمق المأساة التي يعيشها الشعب الفلسطيني سواء في الداخل أو الشتات.

تجربة الاقتلاع

ويقدم الفيلم تجربة الاقتلاع من خلال تجربة امرأة فلسطينية قوية وشجاعة تتخذ بصعوبة قرار الهجرة كي تنقذ ابنها من مستقبل غير مضمون، وخاصة بعد أن تجد نفسها وابنها يتعرضان للإهانة على إحدى نقاط التفتيش من قبل جنود الاحتلال الإسرائيلي.

تفكير المرأة في مستقبل ابنها دفعها إلى مغامرة الرحيل، ولكن تجربتها لم تكن سهلة حين وجدت نفسها دون عمل ولا نقود، واقعة تحت عبء العيش في منزل شقيقتها وزوجها الذي لم يكن كريمًا معهم في البداية.

تمثل شيرين فاعور دور منى، الشخصية الرئيسية التي تقوم بالبحث عن عمل منذ الأسبوع الأول، ورغم دراستها الأكاديمية وخبرتها العملية الطويلة في البنوك، فإنها لم تجد فرصتها إلا في محلات الهامبرغر.

وهناك تتعرض لإهانات عنصرية من قبل طلبة المدرسة التي يتعلم فيها ابنها الوحيد. إلا أن التجربة لم تكن سلبية في كل جوانبها حيث وجدت تعاطفًا وتقديرًا من قبل مدير المدرسة الأميركي الذي اكتشفت أنه -يا للمفارقة- يهودي.

من خلال الكلمات التي ألقتها والحوارات العديدة التي تناولت تجربة شيرين دبس وهذا الفيلم نجد أنها تمر بتجربة التمييز العنصري ووصمة الإرهاب التي علقت بالعرب المسلمين، إذ يتعرض منزل والدها الطبيب للتفتيش.

وهنا تبدأ الأسئلة تكبر في ذهنها وهي لا تزال فتاة عمرها 14 سنة. حين تقول لوالدها: يجب أن أفعل شيئا، أن أقدم فيلما عن هذا الوضع. يجيبها الأب: ولكن أنت عربية، لا يمكن. وفعلا تواجه الفنانة بعض الصعوبات في إيجاد ممول لفيلمها لكنها لا تعدم الحيلة، بل تصل بقوة فنها وقضيتها إلى مصاف النخبة فنيًّا وإنسانيًّا وتكلل جملة نجاحاتها الفنية بجائزة مادية قدرها 50 ألف دولار.

خالد مطاوع

أما الشاعر خالد مطاوع ( 46 عاما) ، فقد هاجر من بلده الأصلي ليبيا إلى أميركا وهو لا يزال يافعًا وهناك تشرب فنون اللغة الإنجليزية وآدابها. ودرس الكتابة الإبداعية في الجامعات الأميركية ومن ثم قام بتدريسها.

لم ينسلخ الشاعر عن لغته الأم وثقافتها، فانكفأ على ترجمة الشعر العربي إلى الإنجليزية مقدما بذلك عددا من الأسماء العربية إلى قراء الإنجليزية الجاهلين تمامًا بأبعاد الشعر العربي.

كما سجل الشاعر المترجم خطوة مميزة تحسب له حين أقدم مؤخرا على ترجمة الشاعر السوري أدونيس للقارئ الإنجليزي، وساهم مع الشاعر في عدد من الجولات الشعرية في عدة مدن أميركية.

ويرى مطاوع أنه يعيش الترجمة كحالة إدمان لا يمكن كبحها. ويثمن تجربة الترجمة ويذكر مثالا الأثر الذي تركته قصيدة الشاعر العراقي الكبير سعدي يوسف عن أميركا، حيث استخدمها المتظاهرون ضد الحرب على العراق.

وجاء ترشيح مطاوع لهذه الجائزة لأن تجربته الشعرية تمزج بين الفردية المركبة بنكهة وطقوس الشرق والتجربة المهجرية التي تنهل من نبع المعرفة والحساسية الفنية كما يرى النقاد الذين ثمنوا ديوانه "خسوف الإسماعيلية" الذي ترجم الشاعر نفسه إلى العربية.

يذكر أن جائزة الزمالة الفنية الأميركية هي جائزة سنوية وهذه هي الدورة الخامسة لها، وقدمت مكافآت مادية لـ52 فنّانًا تتراوح أعمارهم بين 32 و71 سنة، في حقول إبداعية عديدة تشمل: المسرح، و"الميديا"، والتصميم، والسينما، والشعر، والرقص، والرسم، والتمثيل وغير ذلك.

ويتسلم بموجبها الفنان 50 ألف دولار غير مشروطة بأي التزامات. وهي بالتأكيد "تجعل الحياة أسهل" وفق تعبير الشاعر مطاوع.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/5C4860F9-A26C-4BDF-86DC-D7C119EE1CE8.htm.