DDMA Headline Animator

Monday, August 29, 2011

Egypt releases Iranian diplomat after spying investigation: MENA

CAIRO, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Egypt released on Sunday an Iranian diplomat arrested over spying charges after the Foreign Ministry confirmed his diplomatic status, state news agency MENA reported. The Iranian diplomat, identified as Qassem al-Husseini, was released by the Higher State Security Prosecution where he was questioned earlier on Sunday.

Husseini was arrested by Egyptian security authorities a few days ago in Cairo on charges of spying. He worked at the Iranian diplomatic mission in Egypt.

Initial investigation showed that he has been gathering and sending to Tehran the economic, political and military intelligence information of Egypt after the political unrest, in addition to that of other Gulf countries and Yemen, according to MENA.

He was part of a spy network that was trying to recruit agents in Arab Gulf countries, the official Al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

Egypt and Iran have had no normal diplomatic relation since 1979 when Cairo signed the peace treaty with Israel and offered asylum to Iran's deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

After 30 years of strained ties, Egyptian and Iranian officials voiced their hope for normalization and improving long-frozen relations between the two Islamic countries after the anti- government protests ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year ruling in Egypt.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi met his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi last week on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Indonesia, and discussed the possibility of exchanging ambassadors with Iran.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/29/c_13900107.htm.

French ex-Minister in Libya, would defend Gaddafi

By Peter Graff
TRIPOLI | Sun May 29, 2011

(Reuters) - Former French foreign minister Roland Dumas visited Libya as a lawyer to prepare a legal case on behalf of victims of NATO bombing and said he was prepared to defend leader Muammar Gaddafi if he is sent to The Hague.

Dumas, who served as foreign minister under socialist President Francois Mitterrand, said he had seen several civilian victims of NATO bombing in a hospital and had been told by a doctor there that there were as many as 20,000 more.

NATO says it has struck only military targets. Despite repeated promises by Gaddafi's media officials, Western journalists based in Tripoli have been shown no evidence of large numbers of civilians killed or injured by NATO bombing.

"This is brutal, brutal aggression against a sovereign country," Dumas told a news conference in a Tripoli luxury hotel on Sunday, attended by people introduced as family members and supporters of relatives of civilian casualties.

"At the moment we have been retained, we have a mandate on behalf of the victims of the military bombardment of NATO, who carried out their military action against civilians with the artificial -- very artificial -- cover of the United Nations," Dumas said.

"Following an approach by the government of Libya, we have decided to make this trip to see for ourselves the condition of the victims and the situation," he said.

"UNMASK THOSE ASSASSINS"

Dumas was accompanied by prominent French defense lawyer Jacques Verges, who said his goal was to "unmask those assassins" responsible for NATO air strikes. Verges said he had wept in hospital upon meeting civilians wounded "solely because they are Libyans."

Verges -- whose clients have included Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie -- and Dumas had been among lawyers expected to defend ousted Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo, who is being investigated for alleged human rights abuses during the conflict sparked by the disputed 2010 presidential election.

Their names were dropped from the most recent list of Gbagbo's lawyers.

Dumas was not able to describe the exact nature of the case he intended to launch on behalf of the wounded victims, but told Reuters he would make a more detailed announcement after returning to France and studying the case in more depth.

The Western alliance is leading an air campaign against Libya under a United Nations resolution permitting force to prevent Gaddafi's forces from killing civilians.

Human rights groups say scores of people were killed by Gaddafi's forces cracking down on demonstrators before the air strikes began, and hundreds have since died as a result of government troops' siege of the rebel-held city of Misrata.

Dumas, long an opponent of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said he would be prepared to defend Gaddafi if the Libyan leader were forced to appear before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, although he described such a scenario as unlikely.

"If he asked me, yes, of course. Yes of course. (But) I don't think it is going to happen," he told Reuters.

The court's prosecutor has called for indictments against Gaddafi, one of Gaddafi's sons and the head of Libyan intelligence, for killing civilians and other offenses.

Libyan officials said Dumas and Verges had offered their services "as volunteers" to represent the civilian victims of NATO bombing. Dumas declined to say whether they planned to accept payment from Gaddafi's government for their services.

Asked if he had received money from Gaddafi's government, Dumas told Reuters: "No, no. Nothing for the moment."

Asked if that implied he would accept money from Gaddafi's government in the future, he said: "We are working as a lawyer. Like the English lawyer or the American lawyer. Okay?"

(Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/29/us-libya-france-dumas-idUSTRE74S2UA20110529.

Libyan opposition's treasury almost empty

BENGHAZI, Libya, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan opposition's financial and oil representative said Sunday the rebel is running out of cash to fund its war economy and some friend countries have not realized the urgency of the situation.

Ali Tarhouni, who is in charge of the finance for the opposition's National Transitional Council, said finding sources of income is really a tough challenge although he believes the opposition would finally win.

"I don't have any resources. Not a single dinar came in to the treasury on Sunday," the former economics lecturer at the University of Washington told a press conference, adding "we only exported one shipment (of oil) and got 150 million U.S. dollars for that. So far we've spent 408 million dollars on fuel. It's not a good number."

He told Xinhua that the top priority of his job now is to help the besieged areas and the refugees in Tunisia. However, the oil export, which was expected to be a major source of income, would not be resumed until the safety of the oil fields is ensured.

In a complaint that many countries that pledged aids actually do not understand the urgency of the situation, Tarhouni said, "we are besieged. People are dying every day. I'm not sure that this simple straight message is even reaching our friends."

But he singled out Qatar and Kuwait, saying he appreciated the aid from the Gulf friends and is expecting more help from them.

Asked whether the donated money would be used to spent on armament, Tarhouni said the mechanism has safety measures and transparency to make sure the assets would be used to buy fuel, food and medicine, not arms, "although I wish we have the money to buy arms."

Tarhouni has recently returned to the opposition bastion Benghazi from a trip to Europe and the United States seeking financial aids.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/30/c_13900131.htm.

Shuttle Endeavor prepares to leave space station

By Kerry Sheridan (AFP) – May 29, 2011

WASHINGTON — The US space shuttle Endeavor on Sunday prepared to undock from the International Space Station and jet back to Earth, wrapping up its final journey before entering retirement, NASA said.

Endeavor's last mission is the penultimate flight for the 30-year US shuttle program, which will end for good after the Atlantis mission to the orbiting research lab in July.

The six-member crew of the Endeavor bid farewell to three astronaut colleagues on board the space station (ISS) and closed the hatches between the shuttle and station at 7:23 am (1123 GMT), NASA said.

The astronauts were to spend the afternoon sleeping in preparation for the late night undocking set for 11:55 pm (0355 GMT), NASA said.

Endeavor's 16-day mission began with the shuttle's launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 16 and will conclude when the shuttle lands back on Earth early on June 1.

The team spent a total of 10 days, 23 hours, and 45 minutes at the space station.

During that time, the crew delivered and installed a massive physics experiment, the Alpha-Magnetic Spectrometer-2, that will be left at the space station to scour the universe for clues about dark matter and antimatter.

They also brought up a logistics carrier with spare parts for the orbiting lab and performed some maintenance and installation work during four spacewalks, the last to be done by an American shuttle crew.

A spacewalk is planned during Atlantis's mission in July but it will be done by space station crew, not astronauts who arrive aboard the US shuttle.

Endeavor is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 2:35 am (0635 GMT) on Wednesday, carrying its crew of five US astronauts and Italian Roberto Vittori.

The shuttle commander is Mark Kelly, whose lawmaker wife Gabrielle Giffords is recovering from a bullet wound to the head. The Arizona congresswoman was shot by a lone gunman during a meeting with local voters in January. Six people were killed.

Giffords was granted leave by her rehabilitation doctors to watch the launch from Kennedy Space Center along with other astronaut family members two weeks ago, but is not expected to return for the middle-of-the-night landing.

After the final shuttle missions, the three spacecraft in the flying fleet and the prototype Enterprise will be sent to different museums across the country.

Discovery, the oldest in the group, was the first shuttle to retire after its final journey to the ISS ended in March. Endeavor is the youngest, and flew its first space mission in 1991. STS-134 marks its 25th and final mission.

Endeavor is the sixth US space shuttle ever built, and was commissioned after the Challenger exploded in 1986.

The other original members of the fleet include Enterprise, a test model that never flew in space, and Columbia which disintegrated on its return to Earth in 2003.

A total of 14 astronauts were killed in the Columbia and Challenger disasters.

With the US shuttle program closing, the world's astronauts will rely on Russia's space capsules for transit to the ISS at a cost of $51 million per seat until a new American spacecraft can be built by private enterprise, possibly by 2015.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Bahrain renames former Pearl Roundabout

Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
May 29, 2011

Manama: Bahrain has renamed the area of the former Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Roundabout, popularly known as the Pearl Roundabout, as the Al Farooq Junction.

The 300-foot monument, six swords representing the six GCC countries holding a pearl at the top, erected in 1982 in tribute to the GCC as Bahrain hosted, for the first time, the annual Gulf summit, was turned into the epicenter of demonstrations and protests in February and March.

However, the authorities on March 18 demolished the monument and removed the huge roundabout, replacing it with a crisscross of roads where the movement of vehicles is to be controlled by traffic lights.

In comments about the demolition of the roundabout, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, Bahrain's foreign minister, said that the monument had been brought down because "it was a bad memory."

"We are not waging war, we are restoring law and order," Shaikh Khalid said.

The roundabout was used initially as a symbol of Manama, the capital, but was superseded in 2008 by the Bahrain World Trade Center, the first skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its design.

Source: Gulf News.
Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/bahrain-renames-former-pearl-roundabout-1.814302.

Malaysia's new rare earth plant provokes radiation fears

By Julia Yeow
May 29, 2011

Kuala Lumpur - In the quiet town of Gebeng in Malaysia's central state of Pahang, a new rare earth plant has evoked fears of radiation contamination as residents desperately seek to stop the construction of the world's largest such refinery.

The plant is expected to meet up to 30 per cent of the world's demand for rare earths outside China.

Rare earth elements, a group of 15 metals, are used in electronic devices for the defense, alternative energy and communications industries.

The 700-million-ringgit (233 million dollars) refinery is being constructed by Australia's Lynas Corp, which plans to ship rare earth ore mined from Western Australia's Mount Weld to the Gebeng plant by September.

News of negotiations between the Malaysian government and Lynas began surfacing in 2008, but it was only earlier this year that public outcry peaked after it was discovered that construction had already begun on the 20-hectare plant.

The main concern is the possibility of contamination from low-level radioactive waste from the rare earth refining process.

Gebeng is an industrial town of 10,000 people located 265 kilometers from Pahang's capital of Kuantan.

While the Malaysian government and Lynas have stressed that the facility will have state-of-the-art technology for contamination control, opponents claim crucial questions remain unanswered especially regarding the safe disposal of radioactive waste.

'We have read the facts, we know about the risks, and we have simply decided that this is not what the people of Pahang want in our backyards,' said Jonathan Wong, the spokesman for the Stop Lynas citizen's movement.

'Lynas itself has not seen the people, they have not even come up with a solid plan to manage the waste, and they expect us to just accept that they know best,' Wong told the German Press Agency dpa.

Those opposing the Gebeng plant have pointed to the Asian Rare Earth plant built in the northern state of Perak in the 1980s by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp as an example of the refinery being a 'disaster in the making.'

That facility was blamed for the unusually high number of birth defects and leukemia cases among the 11,000-strong population living nearby. It ceased operation in 1992 after protests from locals and environmentalists.

The owners were never sued and no compensation has been paid to the plant's alleged victims.

Almost a decade later, Mitsubishi is still cleaning up the radioactive waste from the area in a project estimated to cost at least 300 million ringgit.

Lynas has been quick to distance itself from that disaster by stating that different ores of lower radioactivity would be used in Gebeng, but critics complained of the apparent lack of transparency in the mining company's dealings with Malaysian authorities.

'There has been no full public disclosure of this proposed project,' said SM Mohamed Idris, president of the Friends of Nature environmental group.

'A detailed environmental impact assessment was not required due to a loophole in our law,' he said.

The government is keen to continue with the Lynas project as the refinery is expected to generate up to 5 billion ringgit (1.67 billion dollars) a year in exports as well as hundreds of jobs.

Protesters insist that radiation contamination is too high a price to pay for any economic gain.

'If the government failed to regulate the Asian Rare Earth plant, what makes us believe it will be different now?' said Wong.

'They are asking us to take a gamble with our lives and those of our children.'

Authorities eager to allay public fears said last month that the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was assessing the threat of contamination from the planned plant.

The government assured the public it would only approve the operation based on the findings of the agency's nine-member panel scheduled to visit the proposed site on Sunday for six days.

But the move has failed to win over the critics, who claim that officials from the nuclear watchdog would be pro-nuclear and therefore fail to produce a fair assessment of the Lynas plant.

Calls for local and environmental groups to be represented in the monitoring team have also gone unheeded, critics said.

'While it is agreed that IAEA scientists are experts in many fields, we believe their findings will be a biased report and on that ground, we reject it,' Wong said.

'Whatever their findings, our final agenda - which is our ultimate goal - is to stop Lynas.'

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1642157.php/Malaysia-s-new-rare-earth-plant-provokes-radiation-fears.

Al-Qaida declares Yemen's southern city as capital of its "Islamic Emirate": residents

SANAA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The Yemen-based al-Qaida wing on Saturday declared the provincial capital city of southern Abyan province as the capital city of its "Islamic Emirate" in a statement the group read in front of local residents.

The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has almost taken over all parts of Abyan province after it seized the province capital city of Zinjibar on Friday, according to the residents.

A local government official told Xinhua that the "fighters of AQAP took over the whole city of Zinjibar on Friday and on Saturday the group seized 30 police cars after two police camps surrendered to AQAP."

"They (AQAP) transported the 30 police cars to the neighbor city of Jaar, which is believed to be the stronghold of the group, " he added, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, a doctor of al-Razi Hospital in Jaar told Xinhua that the death toll among al-Qaida militants from the Friday's clashes with government forces rose to four as dozens of the militants were still suffering serious injuries.

Residents from several cities of Abyan said blackouts have hit the majority part of the province since earlier Friday.

An aid to the Abyan governor said the governor was not available to reach for security reasons.

Late on Friday, the AQAP militants gunned down five Yemeni policemen, including a high-ranking officer, hours after they took over several government buildings and two state-run banks in Abyan, according to a local security official.

Since the eruption of the four-month-long anti-government protests aimed at ousting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, the AQAP has launched sporadic heavy attacks on Zinjibar.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/28/c_13899125.htm.

Bahrain's mercenary security forces hound protesters in villages

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Bahrain’s mercenary security forces backed by Saudi troops on Friday hounded protesters in villages across the country.

The forces physically attacked the anti-regime protesters. Witnesses say regime troops used tear gas and concussion bombs to disperse protesters in Diraz, Bani Jamrah and some other villages on Friday.

The protesters called for an end to the Al Khalifa rule and the immediate release of detained anti-government protesters.

According to witnesses, Bahraini protesters in recent days have their faces covered to avoid recognition by regime forces.

Saudi-backed Bahraini troops have arrested hundreds of anti-government protesters during overnight operations after identifying them based on pictures taken from opposition rallies.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or arrests on Friday.

Since the beginning of anti-regime protests in Bahrain in mid-February, Manama has launched a harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters, rounding up senior opposition figures and activists in dawn raids and arresting doctors, nurses, lawyers and journalists who have voiced support for the protest movement.

While the whereabouts of many detainees are still unknown, Bahraini authorities have begun to try a number of detained activists in what the opposition calls kangaroo courts.

Protesters have been charged with several counts such as attempting to overthrow the monarchy, and they are being tried in a special security court set up under martial law.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Bahraini government for its brutal crackdown on civilians.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which visits detainees in conflict situations, has been trying to see and contact Bahraini detained activists since mid-March. But so far Manama has refused to grant it permission.

Meanwhile, Bahrain's state news agency says that military prosecutors have asked the country's highest court to review death penalties issued against two anti-regime protesters.

Human Rights Watch as also called on the country to stop trying civilians in military courts.

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://old.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=241583.

Hundreds of women raped by Gaddafi militia

Sunday, 29 May 2011
By Michelle Faul in Benghazi

Answers to a doctor's questionnaire reveal the attacks that have left their victims in fear of shame, Aids and abandonment.

At first, the responses to the questionnaire about the trauma of the war in Libya were predictable, if tragic: 10,000 people suffering post-traumatic stress, 4,000 children with psychological problems. Then came the unexpected: 259 women said they had been raped by militiamen loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Dr Seham Sergewa had been working with children traumatized by the fighting in Libya, but soon found herself being approached by troubled mothers who felt they could trust her with their dark secret.

The first victim came forward two months ago, followed by two more. All were mothers of children whom the London-trained child psychologist was treating, and all described how they were raped by militiamen fighting to keep Col Gaddafi in power. Dr Sergewa decided to add a question about rape to the survey she was distributing to Libyans living in refugee camps after being driven from their homes. The main purpose was to try to determine how children were faring in the war; she suspected many were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

To her surprise, 259 women came forward with accounts of rape, which has been a common weapon of war throughout the ages, most recently in conflicts in the Balkans, Sri Lanka and in sub-Saharan Africa, where Congo has been described as the epicenter of sexual crimes.

Across the world, rape carries a stigma. But it can be a deadly one in conservative Muslim societies such as Libya, where rape is considered a stain on the honor of the entire family. Victims can be abandoned by their families and, in some cases, left in the desert to die. Speaking to a journalist is out of the question.

Dr Sergewa's questionnaire was distributed to 70,000 families and drew 59,000 responses. "We found 10,000 people with PTSD, 4,000 children suffering psychological problems and 259 raped women," she said, adding that she believes the number of rape victims is many times higher but that woman are afraid to report the attacks. The women said they had been raped by Col Gaddafi's militias in numerous cities and towns: Benghazi, Tobruk, Brega, Bayda, Ajdabiya (where the initial three mothers hail from) and Saloum in the east; and Misrata in the west.

Some just said they had been raped. Some did not sign their names; some just used their initials. But some felt compelled to share the horrific details of their ordeals on the back of the questionnaire. Reading from the scribbled Arabic on the back of one form, Dr Sergewa described an attack in Misrata in March, while it was still occupied by Col Gaddafi's forces. "First they tied my husband up," the woman wrote. "Then they raped me in front of my husband and my husband's brother. Then they killed my husband." Another woman in Misrata said she was raped in front of her four children after pro-Gaddafi fighters burned down her home.

Doctors at hospitals in Benghazi, the rebel stronghold, said they had heard of women being raped but had not treated any. However, a doctor in Ajdabiya, 100 miles south of Benghazi, said he had treated three women who said they were raped by fighters loyal to Col Gaddafi in March, when the town was invaded. "These women were terrified their families would find out – two were married, one was single," Dr Suleiman Refadi said. "They only came to me because they were terrified that they may have been infected with HIV." He added that the women had tested negative, but doubted they would return for follow-up tests.

Earlier this month, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he had "strong evidence" of crimes against humanity committed by Col Gaddafi's regime, including allegations of "women arrested and gang-raped". One of Libya's leading psychiatrists, Dr Ali M Elroey, told the Associated Press that he has set up three mobile teams to treat trauma victims of the war in their homes or in temporary shelters: one for PTSD, one for other psychological problems and one for rape survivors.

Dr Sergewa said she has interviewed 140 of the rape survivors in various states of mental anguish, and has been unable to persuade a single victim to prosecute. None would speak to the AP about their ordeal, even with a promise to hide their identity. "Some I diagnosed with acute psychosis; they are hallucinating," Dr Sergewa said. "Some are very depressed; some want to commit suicide. Some want their parents to kill them because they don't want their families to bear the shame."

Some have already been abandoned by their husbands and fear that seeking treatment could get them ostracized or cast out of their communities. Others have kept their rape a secret for fear of retribution from spouses. "They fear their husbands will take them out to the desert and leave them there to die," Dr Sergewa said. She added that it is likely more rapes could occur as the conflict drags on.

"They are using rape not just to hurt women but to terrorize entire families and communities," Dr Sergewa said. "The women I spoke to say they believed they were raped because their husbands and brothers were fighting Gaddafi. "I think it is also to put shame on the tribes or the villages, to scare people into fleeing, and to say: 'We have raped your women'."

Dr Sergewa says women will continue to be targets of the militiamen, and this makes it all the more urgent to finish her study. "We must throw light on what is really happening in Libya and fight to bring justice for these women, to help heal them psychologically," she said.

Source: The Independent.
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/hundreds-of-women-raped-by-gaddafi-militia-2290609.html.

Benghazi palace offers up refuge, history

By Kate Thomas
May 29, 2011

Benghazi, Libya - On the eastern edge of Benghazi, the Abdu Ismail palace sprouts from the earth like a fantasy wedding cake, nestled between expensive villas.

Skinny date palms rise from its grounds, towering above long-rusted lamp posts and towards the turrets of whitewashed pagodas. This was once the home of one of Benghazi's wealthiest families, decorated with antique furniture and three-tier fountains.

Now it is a refugee camp, a temporary home for people displaced from Misurata and Ajdabiya. On the rungs of the steps that lead to the empty swimming pool, their washing dries in the sun - long dresses, fuschia hijabs and soft white jalabiyas.

As fighting continues in Misurata - and near the outskirts of Ajdabiya and Brega - Benghazi has been flooded with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Libyans.

Most are staying with relatives or host families, while some are housed inside former construction sites, schools and university dorms. Others, like Mohammed Al Hussein, have found more unusual accommodation.

The retired customs officer and his family left their home in Ajdabiya three weeks ago, when a stray bullet ricocheted into their garden.

'Though our house was untouched, we drove to Benghazi and registered with the Libyan Red Crescent, who offered us a choice of places to stay,' he says. 'I chose the palace even though other families said it was frightening for the children at night. There were rumors of wild dogs roaming the grounds.'

He smiles, wringing his roughened, wrinkled hands together. 'After the things the children saw, I knew they wouldn't be afraid of this place.'

The children, it turns out, saw tanks and Grad missiles and spent cartridges and, on the road that winds east, corpses by the side of the road. 'Now it's just dried up fountains, stagnant ponds and overgrown palace gardens,' he says.

Ahead of him, a boulevard stretches towards the palace gates, flanked by elm trees and juniper bushes. In the muddy shell of what was once a fish pond, discarded belongings languish. A pair of three-inch black heels. A can of deodorant. A child's jumper.

The site is a far cry from the original intentions of the Abdu Ismail family. Commissioned in 1994 by Yusuf Abdu Ismail, the son of a successful textile factory owner, it was supposed to be a family base for generations to come.

'I envisaged my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren growing old here,' says Abdu Ismail, now 55 and gently greying.

Instead, in 1995, Abdu Ismail and his wife were woken at 4:30 am by the night guard. Pulling on a cotton gown, he was met at the main door by government soldiers, who demanded the keys to the palace and the rights to everything inside.

'They said I had no right to live in a palace,' he says, smoothing the silk handkerchief in the pocket of his blazer. 'They said only the Gaddafi family could have a palace like this.'

The family left and were not able to return until six months before the revolution began, when they bought back the palace from regime officials. Over the years, everything had been taken.

'They took the cars, the vases and two Renoir portraits,' he says. 'There was a metal sculpture of a lion by the swimming pool and a rhino horn. Those disappeared too. The regime was cruel to everyone - not only the poor but to the so-called velvet families too.

'Ever since I was young, I had everything I wanted,' he says. 'I realized that others did not, so when I continued my father's business after his death, I started to give money away.'

The palace, he says, became known among families who were struggling to make ends meet.

'Every morning I would find a few people waiting outside the gates. I used to give them 100 or 200 dinars to buy food and things. But the government found out and accused me of running a social security center. They said, you are trying to be like the brother leader of this country, with your palace and your handouts. Six months later they took the palace from me,' he says.

'I think the Gaddafi family was jealous of my success. They wanted Libyans to pretend to be simple and humble, while they rolled around in wealth. But if they can enjoy their money, why couldn't I? He's going to go down in history, which is what he wants, but in the worst way and through the darkest door.'

Abdu Ismail is now completing an adjacent property, designed to resemble the Alhambra Palace in Spain, and says he plans to house more displaced families from Misurata inside. A project to build a mosque is also nearing completion.

Inside the grounds, Al Hussein's three daughters chase each other around the empty swimming pool. He sits on the edge, his legs dangling freely over the abyss.

Still, he never expected to one day be moving his belongings into a palace. 'Growing up, my friends and I daydreamed about life in Al Kufra or Ajdabiya,' he says. A good job. A car. Opening a bank account and the front door of a flat in the city.

'Nobody dared dream of palaces,' he says. 'But nobody thought about war in Libya either.'

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1642156.php/Benghazi-palace-offers-up-refuge-history.

Libyan Rebels Offer Amnesty to Pro-Gadhafi Soldiers

MAY 28, 2011
By SAM DAGHER

BENGHAZI, Libya – The political leader of Libya's rebels offered amnesty on Saturday to those ready to abandon Col. Moammar Gadhafi and rejected all peace initiatives that were not predicated on the departure of the Libyan strongman, his family and senior regime figures.

"Those still betting on Moammar Gadhafi's regime should wake up to reality and abandon it and join the righteous and just cause," said Mustafa Abdel-Jalil head of the rebels' National Transitional Council reading from a prepared statement during a press conference.

Mr. Abdel-Jalil, a former judge and justice minister in Col. Gadhafi's regime who joined the rebel movement in its early days, explained that defectors guilty of crimes before the start of the uprising on Feb. 17 would be guaranteed "a fair trial."

He said those who committed crimes after this date would be forgiven if they left the regime now.

A senior Western diplomat stationed in Benghazi said on Friday that such an amnesty was crucial to encourage pro-Gadhafi troops and officers to stop fighting thereby hastening the regime's collapse.

Libyan rebel fighters stand next to a destroyed fighter plane belonging to forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi during a patrol at Misrata's airport.

Apart from high profile figures like the head of the National Oil Co. Shorkri Ghanem, who left Libya earlier this month and was believed to have defected, it has been more difficult to assess loyalty in the ranks of the military and security forces still fighting alongside Col. Gadhafi and their willingness to switch sides.

Mr. Abdel-Jalil also welcomed the shift in Moscow's position toward Libya and the rebels. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France on Friday that his country was ready to mediate an end to the Libyan crisis and for the first time called on Col. Gadhafi to leave power.

The Kremlin said on Saturday that its special envoy to the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Margelov has left for Benghazi but Mr. Abdel-Jalil said he did not know when the Russian official was expected to arrive telling reporters it would be sometime in the coming week.

Mr. Abdel-Jalil avoided mention of an African Union initiative to end hostilities in Libya but made sure he sent an unequivocal message to South African President Jacob Zuma, who was expected this weekend in the Libyan capital Tripoli this weekend.

"For the last time, we would like to stress that the goals of any initiative to resolve the crisis in Libya should be to get rid of the root cause of this crisis," he said referring to Col. Gadhafi.

—Greg White in Moscow contributed to this article.

Source: The Wall Street Journal.
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576351492261311076.html.

Senegal grants diplomatic recognition to Libya rebels

May 28, 2011

DAKAR — Senegal announced Saturday it was granting diplomatic recognition to Libya's rebels, saying it regarded the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council as the country's legitimate representative.

The decision by President Abdoulaye Wade comes after he held talks with a top envoy of the Benghazi-based NTC rebels, his office said.

After consultations with the presidents of the two house of parliaments, Wade has decided to "recognize the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and grants it authorization to open a representative bureau in Dakar," said a statement from the president's office.

The move comes after Wade met in Paris on Friday with Ali Zeidan, a special envoy of the NTC's supremo Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the statement added.

Abdul Jalil spoke last week by telephone with Wade ahead of a key African Union meeting on the conflict in Libya when he asked for the support of Senegal and promised to "respect democratic principles, human rights and to pursue good relations with the AU and the states of Africa".

He also invited Wade to Benghazi, the headquarters of the rebels.

Senegal's neighbor Gambia was one of the first countries to recognize the NTC, along with France, Italy and Qatar.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Activists plan solidarity trip to Bergesh Forest

By Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN - Environmentalists and activists will go on a solidarity trip next month to Bergesh Forest, the site selected for the construction of a military academy.

The activists are calling for the relocation of the academy, the construction of which could entail uprooting hundreds of centennial trees in one of Jordan's few forests.

The solidarity trip, organized by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) and the Save Bergesh Forest from Execution Campaign, is one form of objecting to the construction of the project. Over the past five months, activists have held several sit-ins in different locations.

"Participants will come with their families to highlight that Bergesh Forest is one of Jordan's last remaining breathing spaces. It is another stand against the construction of the project at the expense of our trees," Omar Shoshan, head of the RSCN’s environmental policies section, told The Jordan Times yesterday.

Construction work on the military academy started in early January but was halted after several environmental NGOs and MPs objected to the site, situated in the heavily wooded Bergesh Forest.

If the project had gone ahead in the original site, located 90 kilometers northwest of the capital in Ajloun Governorate, it would have resulted in the uprooting of 2,200 oak, pistachio, hawthorn and strawberry trees, each over a century old, according to environmentalists.

Following deliberations between the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) and a Lower House committee probing the academy’s construction, the project was relocated to another site where fewer trees would be cut.

Earlier this month, the JAF issued a statement announcing that the blueprints for the academy had been altered to limit the number of uprooted trees to 200 non-centennial trees.

The statement said that for each uprooted tree, 20 saplings will be planted in the area, and that 2 per cent of the 1,200-dunum area slated for use by the academy includes forest trees and will only be used for training purposes.

“The JAF has worked to ensure that the project does not include any industrial elements that could potentially harm the environment and [the project] meets green building requirements,” added the statement, which was carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

But environmental NGOs, activists, MPs and local residents say they want to avoid cutting down a single tree - pointing to the Kingdom’s rapidly depleting green cover.

Forests constitute less than 1 per cent of the Kingdom’s area, while the green cover in Bergesh stands at 90 per cent, according to the RSCN.

The forest represents an integrated ecosystem that houses over 100 plant species - 13 per cent listed as rare, 4 per cent as locally or internationally threatened and 13 per cent as holding medicinal value.

Shoshan said an alliance of environmental NGOs operating in Jordan will this week send a letter to all decision makers involved in the project, including the JAF, the ministries of environment and agriculture and MPs among others.

"The letter will again clarify our point of view that we don’t oppose the project, but call for its relocation to avoid cutting down Bergesh trees. The letter will remind decision makers of the laws that will be violated if the project continues," he added.

If the project goes ahead, it will be in clear violation of Article 35, paragraph B of the Agriculture Law, which forbids uprooting, damaging or violating any centennial or rare forest trees and threatened wild plants, according to the RSCN.

29 May 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=37940.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Forecast: Spain's protests to 'go global'

KINGSTON, N.Y., May 27 (UPI) -- Growing unrest in Spain will spread throughout Europe this summer and "go global" by winter, a U.S. trends forecaster said in an interview posted Friday.

"Young people have wised up. They know the score," Trends Research Institute Director Gerald Celente told King World News. "Those are the people that are ahead of all of these revolutions."

Inspired by the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests taking place in the Middle East and North Africa, tens of thousands of young Spaniards, expressing distress over 45 percent youth unemployment and severe government-imposed austerity measures, have taken over central squares in 60 cities -- including Madrid's busy Puerta del Sol -- seeking to overhaul Spain's socioeconomic and political systems, which they allege favor special interests, especially financial institutions.

Like the so-called Arab Spring, the growing Spanish movements are spread via social media networks and led in the streets by the young.

And "they're not leaving the streets," Celente told King World News, because "when you lose everything and have nothing left to lose, you lose it."

"These revolutions are going to spread through the summer in Europe, and by the winter it's going to go global," he said.

A French youth-led group plans a large demonstration in Paris this weekend in solidarity with Spain's protesters, known as "los indignados," or "the outraged." The French protest would follow Friday's close of the Group of Eight summit of world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, in the French seaside resort town of Deauville.

Another Spanish-style uprising could emerge in neighboring Portugal next week, ahead of a June 5 snap election, The New York Times said.

Celente said Europe's Internet-savvy youth are "getting everyone out to join them because they know now that if they don't fight against the machine, the machine is going to grind them up."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/05/27/Forecast-Spains-protests-to-go-global/UPI-81871306528540/.

Spain's election results may lead to a more unpopular government

Saturday 28 May 2011
Luke Stobart

If the authoritarian Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba takes over from Zapatero, it's likely to worsen relations between public and state.

The growing gulf between Spain's PSOE government and its population is not likely to close after Zapatero steps down as prime minister, as is expected to take place shortly. His now very likely successor is the government's "strongman" – seen by some as the most able to push through unpopular austerity.

Despite the conservative Popular party's success in last Sunday's municipal and regional elections, there is little evidence that Spaniards want a more rightwing administration. The center-left PSOE lost three times more votes than the Popular party gained – hardly an endorsement of the latter. Furthermore, surveys continually detect hostility towards both parties and politicians in general. In an April survey, over 46% of interviewees said they "strongly distrusted" opposition leader Mariano Rajoy; almost the same figure as for Zapatero.

This historic level of disaffection with Spain's political class has been a major factor in the continued city square occupations. These have now spread out into local neighborhoods and are confronting eviction attempts by police.

Disaffection with Spanish democracy also may help explain one of the biggest upsets in the municipal elections on Sunday: the pro-independence coalition Bildu in the Basque country picked up more council seats than any other party in that territory. This leftwing party, which the Spanish right has described as "pro-terrorist" but has openly condemned violence, was very nearly prevented from standing by the supreme court at the request of the government. It is a great irony that the biggest victor in the elections was the only political option previously deemed unsuitable for Spanish democracy.

The PSOE has lost great popularity, which reached a peak after it removed Spanish troops from Iraq in 2004 – by adopting a far-reaching austerity program. Previously, Zapatero repeatedly promised he would "not make workers pay for the crisis".

Yet since the elections there have been two responses by the PSOE that suggest it will stay on its new course. Firstly, it has announced it shall not modify its economic program, which includes labour "reforms" against "absenteeism" and on union bargaining rights.

It is hoped that by the general elections such measures will have helped resuscitate collapsed investment. However, similar gambles by the Greek and Irish governments have not worked. Instead, reduced public spending has depressed private demand and larger crises have ensued. Such a panorama is unlikely to weaken the current protest by the "no future" generation and may encourage more.

A second issue is that of Zapatero's likely successor. After the PSOE's worst election result under democracy, regional "barons" (presidents) successfully managed to dissuade Carme Chacón, the young defense minister, from standing for prime minister in primaries. They did so by threatening an emergency congress in which less PSOE members would directly vote.

Most commentators agree that this leaves the door wide open to the man who already arguably wields the most governmental power, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. Since last autumn he has been deputy prime minister, interior minister and government spokesman.

General consensus has it that Rubalcaba, an ex-university lecturer, is highly intelligent. A sign of this was when he stepped into ministry of labor discussions with the unions when an agreement on pensions was stalling. Union leaders had held a general strike in September against legal changes facilitating dismissals of an already precarious workforce. So Rubalcaba suggested a limited tempering of the changes in exchange for the unions accepting an increase in the retirement age to 67 years. The union leaders accepted, much to the outrage of the population, 79% of whom rejected the increase.

Arguably, Rubalcaba's ability as a self-defined "strategist" is matched by his authoritarianism. Not only was he responsible for the attempt to ban Bildu, but was also a key player in the controversial militarization of the airports during a labor dispute before Christmas. In this conflict, air-traffic controllers were forced to land planes in front of armed soldiers. Since then, strikers have been sacked and threatened with long-term prison sentences.

When once asked to describe himself, Rubalcaba quoted a literary detective: "If I were not bad, I would be dead, and if I were not sweet, I could not live" – an intriguing answer but one which acknowledges a dark side.

If Rubalcaba does take over, it is hard to imagine a new convergence between government and the street. Instead, the political crisis of recent weeks may just be the beginning.

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/28/spain-election-zapatero.

Tunisia protects ancient treasures

As Tunisia recovers from revolutionary upheaval, officials hope the country's ancient artifacts can be a springboard to attract visitors and renew youths' interest in their history.

By Mohamed El Hedef for Magharebia in Sfax – 27/05/11

Tunisian officials are launching renewed efforts aimed at preserving the country's ancient treasures while at the same time educating the next generation on the nation's rich history.

As part of those efforts, the culture ministry chose International Museum Day (May 18th) to celebrate Tunisia's antiquities. Two events were held simultaneously in Sfax and at the Bardo Museum in Tunis.

The choice of Sfax for the launch of the celebration reflected a real will to give back to the region its place in the memory of Tunisia and its role in the cultural system, Interim Culture Minister Azzedine Bach Chaouch said. The minister also announced the foundation of a museum of traditions and folklore and another for maritime heritage in the southern city.

Meanwhile in Tunis, Education Minister Taieb Baccouch joined other officials to mark the occasion, including international experts from the International Council of Museums and Mohamed El Aziz Achour, Director-General of the Arab League Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ALESCO). The Bardo Museum event showcased extensive renovation works that were launched in 2009.

The occasion also served to highlight the recovery of stolen archaeological artifacts. The culture minister said that, since February, over three quarters of the stolen pieces were recovered, including some that were smuggled outside the country.

It is hard to imagine how much was robbed from the national Tunisian heritage, Bach Chaocuh said. He alleged that the thieves would have not gone as far as they did without the help of officials from the former regime. He claimed they made available vehicles for transporting the archaeological pieces and unique statues to the villas and ostentatious palaces of the ousted president's family-in-law. The minister said vehicles were used as cover to get through checkpoints.

In early February, Bach Chaouch formed a specialized committee within the culture ministry to investigate stolen historic items. He explained that he had previous experience in tracking down lost artifacts while working with UNESCO where he successfully retrieved Cambodian treasures with help from Interpol. He added that he intends to ask Interpol to help Tunisia retrieve its antiquities.

Several former officials are currently being investigated for complicity in smuggling historic pieces. For instance, the investigating judge in the court of first instance began questioning Beji Ben Memmi, the former mayor of Tunis and former director of the National Institute of Archaeology. He was later released but his personal driver was arrested on May 21st, accused of providing assistance in transporting artifacts to houses owned by the Trabelsis and Materis, both in-laws of the ousted president. Some of the pieces were allegedly used as columns, kitchen tables and as the balustrade of a swimming pool.

An official at the National Institute of Archaeology admitted that the Bardo Museum's collection was missing 87 pieces that were stolen from its warehouse in 2009.

The visit by the education minister underlined the joint efforts with the culture ministry to spread knowledge about Tunisian's rich history in educational institutions. Officials hope to trigger new interest in students about their national identity. Baccouch reiterated to Magharebia the intent of his ministry to include heritage in education curricula beginning with preschool.

The next generation of Tunisians must become the protector of their heritage, Ali Marzouki said. He suggested that educational institutions adopt programs for school trips and excursions to museums and archaeological sites to bring the children and youths closer to their history and heritage. Marzouki also brought attention to the importance of the role of citizens in reporting to any kind of looting or robbery.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/05/27/feature-04.

Mauritanian divorcees wield uncommon power

Divorce is usually met with tears and pain. In Mauritania – at least for women – it is cause for a party.

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud for Magharebia in Nouakchott -27/05/11

Mauritania is outpacing its Maghreb neighbors when it comes to gender equality. Polygamy is rare. Women achieve high government office. They can also divorce and remarry as often as they like.

It is the divorce part that worries Mauritanian men the most.

Four out of ten Mauritanian marriages end in divorce, often because the husband cannot support his household. High unemployment makes the situation worse. For men contemplating marriage and those trying to keep their wives, times are tough.

Mauritanian women, on the other hand, have parties. Friends and family of the runaway brides join in the celebrations.

There is no social stigma attached to a failed marriage. If a woman does not get it right the first time, she can always give it another go.

"According to Mauritanian customs, the divorced woman is received with trills of joy and overwhelming happiness by her family, friends and neighbors, which lifts up her spirits and gives her the confidence to build another nest after the destruction of her first one," says social analyst Ahmed Ould Abdellatif.

"Society's excessive leniency toward divorced women and high dowry are behind many divorce cases in Mauritanian society," he tells Magharebia.

"There is no shame or sadness if the marriage ends," he explains. "In some areas of the country, celebratory gunshots are fired in the air to welcome the divorcee back home."

Aminetou Mint El Moustaffa married at 18, gave birth to a son and then sought a divorce. Before she turned 20, she had a new husband.

"I was certain I'd get married again, and why not?" she laughs. "Marriage is in God's hands. He gives it to whom He pleases and when He pleases. It's fate and divine decree!"

Meimoune Bint Taher, a housewife, says, "As Mauritanians, we are proud of this custom and adhere to it, as we consider it to be a humane custom and not in opposition to religion or good morals."

"Some women in other countries fall prey to their husbands and society is behind that," she says. "That's unjust and inhumane, and strikes at the heart of women's freedom," she stresses.

More than 70% of Mauritanian divorcees wed a second time, and approximately 55% marry a third time. There is no fear of social stigma.

"Mauritanian men have a great understanding of the psychological and social circumstances of divorced women," she says with a smile.

Mauritania also differs from some other Arab countries in that polygamy is uncommon. Social analyst Moktar Ould Alyen says: "The norm in marital agreements is to add the following sentence: 'no spouse before, no spouse after, and if so, the decision is in the woman's hands' , which implies dissolution of the marriage if the groom gets married to another woman."

"Mauritanian women attained all their rights without any real struggle, contrary to their sisters in many Arab and Islamic countries," he adds. "Women in Mauritania sit on the most important ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, occupy all positions and even run for the presidency."

All things considered, Moktar concludes, "Mauritanian women are pampered. And leblouh, or fattening, is evidence of that."

Some men in Mauritania are alarmed by what they call "the power of women", arguing that it threatens men economically, psychologically and socially.

Mohamed Ould Zein El Abidine in 2008 launched a non-governmental organization to defend men's rights. In his fifties, he appears tired and worn out, with sweat dripping on his face.

It has been a long fight, this battle to "protect men from women's oppression and establish a ministry for the protection of men's stolen rights", he says.

"Women stole everything from men in this country," he exclaims. "The judiciary sympathizes with women, as does society, and the ministries are all occupied by women!"

"When I tried to fight this reality by filing an application for a license to found an organization defending men's rights, a group of female secretaries at the Ministry of the Interior detained the request for nine months in the labyrinths of the ministry," he says.

The social affairs ministry contains a bureau for family conflicts. Magharebia asked the ministry's legal adviser, Sidi Athman Mohamed, about Ould Zein El Abidine's position that men are in such dire straits that they need their own NGO to protect their rights.

"I think, simply, that this man did not come to this ministry," Mohamed tells Magharebia. "It is clear that he has prior judgments. Perhaps he has personal problems with some women that he is trying to generalize."

He adds, "The ministry is here to serve both sexes, with full equality and justice, and to attend to the resolution of family disputes, not only for women."

"Women must get all their rights, but that was not and will not be at the expense of men," Mohamed says.

Many women take pride in having a number of ex-husbands, seeing serial marriages as proof of their beauty and desirability.

"Some women boast about the number of times they entered wedlock," says social activist El Mamy Ould Mohamed. "We often hear someone say she was married four or five times, as though that were the biggest proof of her beauty, lineage and femininity, which enabled her to attract more husbands."

This means that a divorce is welcome even before it happens, the activist explains. "This has negative consequences for society in general," he tells Magharebia.

"We have the saying, 'The most hated permissible thing to God is divorce'." Mohamed adds. "Quite simply, I do not see a winner in the divorce process, whatever happens."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2011/05/27/reportage-01.

Tunisia, Morocco ink defense cooperation deal

2011-05-27

Tunisia and Morocco on Thursday (May 26th) finalized a military co-operation agreement, TAP reported. Under the accord signed in Tunis, the countries will launch a joint military committee, which will be charged with improving information exchanges and organizing training partnerships.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/05/27/newsbrief-03.

Mauritania plans national elections

2011-05-27

In preparation for next fall's municipal and legislative elections, Mauritania will begin revising the national electoral rolls on June 1st, ANI reported on Thursday (May 26th). The interior ministry said it would rely on the list from the 2009 presidential election because the vote was based on the consensual Dakar Agreement. The 2009 rolls, however, do not list some 600,000 voters, including 200,000 returnees from Senegal who lack national identity documents.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/05/27/newsbrief-04.

North Korea frees American detained for half year

By LOUISE WATT - Associated Press
Sat, May 28, 2011

BEIJING (AP) — North Korea freed an American held for a half year for reportedly proselytizing, handing him Saturday to a U.S. envoy who said Washington had not promised to provide aid in exchange for the man's release.

The envoy, Robert King, accompanied Eddie Jun on a flight from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and told reporters after arriving in Beijing that Jun would return to the United States to be reunited with his family "within a day or two."

Jun did not appear with King before reporters in Beijing. Jun, dressed in a dark windbreaker, appeared in good spirits, smiling with King as they boarded the plane in Pyongyang, according to footage from Associated Press Television News.

Jun, a Korean-American from California who traveled to North Korea several times and had business interests there, was arrested in November, with the North's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, saying he was accused of committing a serious crime. Pyongyang didn't provide details about the alleged crime, but South Korean press reports say Jun was accused of spreading Christianity.

King, the U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights, traveled to Pyongyang with a team of specialists earlier in the week to assess the severity of the latest of North Korea's chronic food shortages. He said he spent 3 1/2 days in talks with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials. He did not specify how much time was spent discussing Jun but tried to quash any speculation that the U.S. had offered aid to obtain his freedom.

"We did not negotiate or agree to any provision of food assistance," King told reporters. He said he would report back to Washington.

KCNA announced Friday that North Korea would release Jun after King "expressed regret at the incident on behalf of the U.S. government and assured that it would make all its efforts to prevent the recurrence of similar incident."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday that he did not have details on the talks and could not confirm whether King had expressed regret. He said Jun was in decent health, with King having visited him Thursday.

"We welcome their decision. It's certainly a positive step," Toner told a news conference.

Toner said the release would have no bearing on the U.S. decision on whether to provide food aid and on restarting dialogue with the North. On engaging North Korea, Toner said the U.S. was still looking for "concrete actions" in other areas and an improvement in the North's relations with South Korea.

The United States, which fought on South Korea's side during the 1950-53 Korean War, doesn't have diplomatic staff based in North Korea. Negotiations on establishing relations have gotten snagged amid North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles and its provocations toward South Korea.

In recent years, North Korea has detained several Americans, one of them for trying to proselytize, and they were often freed only after high-profile negotiations. North Korea has said that former President Jimmy Carter asked for Jun's pardon during a visit last month.

North Korea officially guarantees freedom of religion, but authorities often crack down on Christians, who are seen as a Western-influenced threat to the government. The distribution of Bibles and secret prayer services can mean banishment to a labor camp or execution, defectors from the country have said.

The news on Jun came on the same day North Korean leader Kim Jong Il returned home from a weeklong trip to China. Kim's visit there, his third in just over a year, was seen by many as an attempt to secure aid, investment and support for his dynastic transfer of power to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Il, in a thank-you letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, said the China-North Korea friendship, "sealed in blood and handed down by the elder generations of the two countries, will develop steadily through generations in the common interests and wishes of the two peoples," according to the North's state media.

North Korea is thought by many to be in dire need of outside help, and China is its only major ally. The North has antagonized many through its pursuit of nuclear weapons. It pulled out of international six-nation talks aimed at ridding it of nuclear programs more than two years ago.

Beijing supports a resumption of the negotiations, but South Korea and the United States demand that North Korea first exhibit sincerity toward disarmament.

North Korea's population also faces chronic hunger.

The U.N. World Food Program launched a $200 million dollar international appeal late last month after it concluded that more than 6 million of North Korea's 23 million people were in urgent need of aid. It said the North's public distribution system would run out of food between May and July.

___

Associated Press writers Foster Klug in Seoul, South Korea, and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Egypt permanently opens Gaza border crossing

By IBRAHIM BARZAK - Associated Press
Sat, May 28, 2011

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Egypt lifted a four-year-old blockade on the Gaza Strip's main link to the outside world Saturday, bringing relief to the crowded territory's 1.5 million Palestinians but deepening a rift with Israel since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year.

The Egyptian move will allow thousands of Gazans to move freely in and out of the area — heightening Israeli fears that militants and weapons could easily reach its doorstep.

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after the Islamic militant Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007. The closure, which also included tight Israeli restrictions at its cargo crossings with Gaza and a naval blockade, was meant to weaken Hamas, but it also fueled an economic crisis in the densely populated territory.

Hundreds of Gazans gathered early Saturday as the first bus load of passengers crossed the border at 9 a.m. Two Egyptian officers stood guard next to a large Egyptian flag atop the border gate as the vehicle rumbled through.

Rami Arafat, 52, was among the earliest arrivals. He said he hoped to catch a flight out of Cairo on Sunday to Algeria for his daughter's wedding.

"All we need is to travel like humans, be treated with dignity, and feel like any other citizens of the world who can travel in and out freely," Arafat said. He said he believed the relaxing of travel restrictions "will guarantee more support from all Arabs and Palestinians for the new Egyptian regime."

Nearby, 28-year-old Khaled Halaweh said he was headed to Egypt to study for a master's degree in engineering at Alexandria University.

"The closure did not affect only the travel of passengers or the flowing of goods. Our brains and our thoughts were under blockade," said Halaweh, who said he hadn't been out of Gaza for seven years.

Until Saturday, the Rafah border terminal had functioned at a limited capacity. Only certain classes of people, such as students, businessmen or medical patients, were eligible to travel and the crossing was often subject to closures, leading to huge backlogs that forced people to wait for months.

Under the new system, most restrictions are being lifted, and a much larger number of Palestinians are expected to be able to cross each day.

Inside the border terminal Saturday, the atmosphere was orderly, as Hamas police called up passengers one by one to register their travel documents.

After 5½ hours of operation, terminal officials said 340 people had crossed from Gaza into Egypt. None were forced to return, a departure from the past when Egypt had rejected passengers found to be on "blacklists." Another 150 people crossed from Egypt into Gaza.

"Today is a cornerstone for a new era that we hope will pave the road to ending the siege and blockade on Gaza," said Hatem Awideh, director general of the Hamas border authority in Gaza. "We hope this facilitation by our Egyptian brothers will improve travel and will allow everyone to leave Gaza."

One after another buses crossed Rafah, pulling blue carts behind them with luggage piled high. Inside the terminal, many waited with high hopes.

One woman, who gave her name as Aisha, said she was headed for a long overdue medical checkup in Cairo. She underwent surgery for blocked arteries at a Cairo hospital in October, but Egyptian authorities had prevented her from returning for checkups because a distant relative was caught — and killed — operating a smuggling tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border. During the four-year blockade, a thriving smuggling business has grown along the border.

Salama Baraka, head of police at the Rafah terminal on the Gaza side, said travel has been limited to about 300 passengers a day under the old system. He said it was unclear how many people would pass through Saturday, but that officials hoped to get about three days' worth of people, or roughly 900, across.

About 100 Hamas supporters marched with Palestinian and Egyptian flags outside the border terminal in a gesture of gratitude to Egypt.

"This courageous step by Egypt reflects the deep historic relations between the Palestinian and Egyptian nations," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zahri. "We hope this will be a step in the long process to end the blockade imposed on Gaza."

The new system will not resolve Gazans' travel woes completely.

While Egypt has dropped its restrictions on who can travel, bureaucratic obstacles remain. Men between the ages of 18 and 40 will have to apply for Egyptian visas, a process that can take weeks. Women, children and older men need easier-to-obtain travel permits, which can be obtained in several days.

Israel, which controls Gaza's cargo crossings, allows most consumer goods into Gaza, but it still restricts exports as well as the entry of much-needed construction materials, saying they could be used by militants. Israel also enforces a naval blockade aimed at weapons smuggling.

Israeli and American officials have expressed concerns that Hamas will exploit the opening to bring weapons and fighters into Gaza. In January 2008, masked militants blew open the Rafah border wall, allowing thousands of people to pour in and out of Egypt.

Egyptian officials say they have security measures in place to keep weapons from crossing through Rafah.

Hamas has long used tunnels to get arms into Gaza. Gaza militants now have military-grade rockets that have hit cities in southern Israel.

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official, told Channel 2 TV Friday that Israel's primary concern is that military training personnel could cross to instruct Hamas fighters.

"One trainer who tells them how to set up the rockets and how to use them is equal to a large quantity of weapons," Gilad said.

Egypt's decision to open the border is also meant to boost an Egyptian-mediated unity deal between the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah. Hamas has governed Gaza since routing Fatah forces in 2007, leaving the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in control only of the West Bank.

Last month, the Egyptian regime brokered a reconciliation deal. With details still being worked out, Hamas will be in charge of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, but Egypt coordinated the opening with the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, said Yaser Afnan, Egypt's ambassador in the West Bank.

Obama nominates new defense, CIA chiefs

May 26, 2011

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday formally nominated Leon Panetta as his new secretary of defense and David Petraeus, who commands the international force in Afghanistan, as Panetta's successor at the CIA.

Obama had first said he planned to nominate Panetta and Petraeus on April 28, just days before US commandos entered Pakistan and shot and killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The US Senate must confirm both men, but neither is expected to encounter any serious opposition there.

The White House hopes that Panetta, whose mission would include cutting spending at the Defense Department, would be able to move into the job on June 30, the day current Defense chief Robert Gates is set to leave.

Petraeus will continue to lead the international force in Afghanistan until his successor, General John Allen, takes over in September. Petraeus will retire from the military before moving to the CIA.

The United States began troop withdrawals from Afghanistan this year, making good on a promise by Obama to reduce US troop levels there, although it is not clear how soon or how many additional troops will leave.

A new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is the president's top military adviser, is also expected to be nominated next month. General Martin Dempsey, the current Army chief of staff, is considered Obama's likely choice to replace Admiral Michael Mullen, according to Pentagon officials.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Jordanians protest, demanding government change

AFP, Friday 27 May 2011

More than 1,000 Jordanians demonstrated in the southern town of Tafileh Friday, demanding the fall of the government and urging an end to corruption, protesters said.

Rallied by a group calling itself "The Youth of Tafileh", protesters chanted slogans such as "People want the government to fall", "We will not be silent and continue to expose corruption", and "Destiny will help the people who want to survive."

The Friday protests come as King Abdullah II urged the government Wednesday to "protect the innocent victims of slander and hatred", including members of his family.

Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit said Thursday that "the government will take the necessary legal measures against all those who accuse officials of corruption without proof."

Since January, Jordan has been facing a protest movement demanding political and economic reforms, and an end to corruption.

In response, King Abdullah on April 26 created a commission to propose constitutional reform.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/13079.aspx.

Turkey: Israel should avoid flotilla face-off

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 27, 2011

ANKARA: Turkey’s foreign minister says he hopes Israel will avoid confrontation as a new aid flotilla prepares to depart for the Gaza Strip.

Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview aired on Ulke TV late Thursday that he believes Israel “has gained sufficient experience” after last year’s Israeli raid on a flotilla that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American and sparked international outrage. Each side accused the other of starting the violence.

A coalition of pro-Palestinian groups say a flotilla will set sail in the third week of June. Israel has vowed to stop any attempt to breach its sea blockade of Gaza.

A Turkish Islamic aid group said it expects the convoy to be at least twice as big as the one that attempted to reach Gaza last year.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article434744.ece.

Chaos, fatal battles spread outside Yemeni capital

By AHMED AL-HAJ | AP
May 27, 2011

SANAA, Yemen: The deadly fighting that rocked the Yemeni capital this week has spread beyond Sanaa after armed tribesmen seeking to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh seized two military camps in battles that killed at least 18 and prompted airstrikes by government warplanes, a tribal leader said.

Friday’s fighting brought to at least 124 the number killed in the past five days of bloodshed, which has hiked fears that the Arab world’s poorest country could be thrown into civil war as Saleh clings to power in the face of peaceful protests demanding his ouster.

There were new signs that the fighting in and around Sanaa could cause a wider breakdown in a country where numerous armed groups operate. On Friday, Islamic militants went on a rampage in a southern city, taking control of a police station, banks and government buildings, security officials and witnesses said.

This week’s street battles in Sanaa have pitted Saleh’s security forces and fighters from Yemen’s most powerful tribal confederation, the Hashid, which has joined the popular uprising against the longtime ruler.

Friday’s assault on the Republican Guard base in the Fardha Nehem region was the most significant escalation yet outside the capital. Tribal fighters allied to the Hashid stormed the camp, 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Sanaa, and killed tens of troops — including the base commander — in the fighting, said local tribal leader Sheik Ali Saif.

After the fighters captured the camp, government airplanes bombed them and other forces clashed with them on the ground, he said. At least 18 tribesmen were killed, Saif said.

Tribal fighters then assaulted two helicopters that landed nearby, capturing them and a number of soldiers and shooting down a third helicopter, Saif said. Yemen’s Interior Ministry denied the base’s capture in a statement.

Saif said the tribe attacked the base to prevent its soldiers from heading to Sanaa to reinforce government troops there. The Republican Guard is one of Yemen’s best trained and equipped forces. It is commanded by one of Saleh’s sons and has remained loyal to the president even as other military units have defected.

Late Friday, tribal fighters seized another army base nearby after striking a deal with the soldiers inside that allowed them to leave with their personal weapons, local tribal leader Abdul-Moin Al-Sharif said. No one was injured.

The week’s fighting has terrified residents of the capital Sanaa, and many have packed up their cars and fled the city. Tens of thousand massed in the central square that has been the focus of the anti-Saleh protests for a march they said sought to “confirm the peacefulness of the revolution.” Addressing the crowd, Sheik Sadeq Al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid, blamed Saleh for the week’s violence.

“The war came down on our heads, but are holding strong and victorious,” the 55-year-old leader said. “We want to remain peaceful, but if Ali Abdullah Saleh wants war, we are ready to face him and those around him.” For the first Friday since the uprising began, Saleh did not hold a boisterous rally for his supporters, apparently due to security concerns.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said she was “deeply alarmed by the escalating violence in Yemen” and called on all parties to protect civilians “and to spare them from the effect of further hostilities.” She cited reports of many families leaving Sanaa and expressed concern that “continued confrontations could force large numbers of people to flee their homes, with serious humanitarian consequences.” “Many Yemenis already face shortages of food, fuel and other basic necessities,” Amos said in a statement. “The UN is monitoring the situation, and stands ready to offer assistance if needed.” The battles broke out Monday after an attempt by government forces to storm Al-Ahmar’s compound in the heart of Sanaa. By Thursday, the clashes had widened to include areas around Sanaa’s airport, and other tribes had joined in alongside Al-Ahmar’s Hashid. On Friday, however, there were no reports of fighting in Sanaa, and Hashid gunmen solidified control over government buildings they’d seized, setting up checkpoints and searching those seeking to pass.

The fighting could open a new chapter in Yemen’s turmoil.

Until now, Saleh’s opponents have stuck to peaceful protests massing hundreds of thousands around the country.

Several military units, along with tribal powerhouses like the Hashid, have joined the opposition, but they have avoided violent confrontations with Saleh’s loyalists.

But Saleh has managed to cling to power despite defections, protests and pressure from Arab neighbors and Western powers to leave office. Efforts to mediate his exit collapsed last week when the president refused to sign a deal for him to step down in 30 days.

Saleh has retained the loyalty of the regime’s most elite military units — all commanded by close relatives.

The escalation with the tribes could strain that hold.

Under Yemen’s ancient codes, tribal leaders can declare that members follow their orders above all others — potentially forcing soldiers in pro-Saleh units to choose between their clan and military loyalties. So far, there have been no apparent signals of mass defections from the pro-Saleh units since the fighting with the Hashid began.

Most of Yemen’s tribes boast heavily armed militias loyal to their chiefs. The northern-based tribes that make up the Hashid confederation hold powerful business and government interests. Yemen’s other main tribal confederation, the southern-based Bakeel, is larger but has less political and economic power and, with many more tribes, is less cohesive. Most Bakeel tribes have turned against Saleh.

Also Friday, hundreds of Islamic militants seized control in Zinjibar, the capital of the southern province of Abyan, killing eight policemen and two civilians in gunfights with guards, security officials said. The fighters took over two banks, the city’s tax bureau and two security offices.

After the fight, the men could be seen driving freely around the city. A local army division made no effort to confront the militants, witnesses said.

Many fear militants will exploit Yemen’s turmoil to take power. Officials said Friday’s attackers were likely local Islamic militants who could be associated with Al-Qaeda.

They spoke on condition of anonymity under government rules.

But Yemen has numerous Islamic militants who are not members of Al-Qaeda’s branch in the country. Veterans of “jihad” in other countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, they have often been used by Saleh’s regime to fight its opponents.

Ali Dahmis, a political analyst in Zinjibar, accused the regime of collusion in the assault on the city Friday.

“This is a theater produced by the regime to distract from the events in Sanaa and show that Al-Qaeda is a threat,” he said.

The escalating violence has prompted the State Department to order nonessential US diplomats and their families to leave the country. Britain said it would scale back its embassy staff, while Germany and other countries issued travel warnings.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article435085.ece.

As toll mounts, Syrians opt for nighttime protests

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 27, 2011

BEIRUT: Syrian security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrations Friday, killing at least eight people as thousands took to the streets, human rights activists and witnesses said.

The casualties included three people in Qatana, a suburb of the capital, and four in the southern village of Dael, according to local coordination committees in Syria, which helped organize the protests. One person was also reported killed near the border with Lebanon.

The 10-week protests have evolved from a disparate movement demanding reforms to a resilient uprising that is now seeking President Bashar Assad's ouster. On Friday, protests erupted in the capital, Damascus, and the coastal city of Banias, the central city of Homs and elsewhere.

Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed since the revolt began in mid-March.

Many activists have been opting for nighttime demonstrations and candlelight vigils in recent days, aiming for a time when the security presence has thinned out. "We refuse to let them sleep," a 28-year-old Dael resident said of the security forces. "We drive them crazy, as soon as they come to the neighborhood we go quiet and they get lost. And then we start again when they leave," he told The Associated Press.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article434912.ece.

Jordan premier under fresh pressure to resign

By ABDUL JALIL MUSTAFA | ARAB NEWS
May 27, 2011

AMMAN: Hundreds of Jordanians demonstrated in Tafileh, 180 km south of Amman, on Friday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit’s government, eyewitnesses said.

The protesters also urged the dissolution of the lower house of Parliament and severing diplomatic ties with Israel.

“The people want the resignation of Bakhit,” one of the slogans chanted said. Another read “You should step down, Bakhit, because you have no intention of conducting reforms”.

The demonstrators celebrated the resignation on Thursday of the Justice Minister Hussein Megalli and Health Minister Yassin Hosban.

Bakhit told a press conference on Thursday the two ministers resigned in connection with the illegal departure from the country on Feb. 25 of the convicted businessman Khalid Shahin.

However, the two ministers indicated in remarks to the local media that their quitting from the Cabinet had nothing today with Shahin’s affair which dominated local politics over the past three month.

Shahin, who is currently in London, was serving a three-year jail term when the authorities caught the public opinion with surprise by declaring that he was allowed to travel abroad to receive medical treatment which he lacked locally.

Bakhit apparently had ordered the two ministers to submit their resignation after King Abdallah sent him a strongly-worded letter ordering him to take “transparent legal steps” to punish those were involved in corruption cases that surfaced recently, political sources said.

In his resignation letter to Bakhit, Megalli said he had decided to step down “after he found the government’s priorities in disarray and the path of reform deadlocked”.

The demonstrators in Tafileh also burned an Israeli flag and urged the abrogation of the peace treaty with Israel.

They said that they were responding to a move by the extremist member of the Israeli Knesset, Arieh Eldad, who on Monday approached the Jordanian Embassy in Israel with a petition calling on King Abdallah to set up a Palestinian state in Jordan instead of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The Jordanian diplomatic mission refused to receive the document and called Israeli police who removed Eldad, a member of the National Union Party, from the area.

A similar demonstration was also staged after Friday prayers in the city of Maan, 210 km south of Amman.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article434739.ece.

Yemen: Call for 1 million to join march

Friday 27 May 2011
Tom Finn

Huge demonstrations expected after Friday prayers as opposition figures accuse President Saleh of fomenting violence.

As Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh's troops and Sadeq al-Ahmar's guards wage war in the eastern Sana'a neighborhood of Hasaba, protesters at Change Square a few miles north of the capital are continuing their peaceful efforts to oust Saleh, saying they are determined to stop their country from sliding into civil war.

Senior opposition figures have accused Saleh of deliberately stirring violence with the Hashid tribe to divert attention from a peaceful uprising that is entering its fifth month.

"Saleh is trying to portray this as a conflict between him and al-Ahmar's family when really it's between him and the entire Yemeni people," said Fatima al-Rayzi, one of thousands of veiled female protesters in Change Square. "Our demand and our methods remain the same. We want a new, accountable, corruption-free government and a better distribution of wealth, and we will continue to demand peacefully for those things until we get them."

Others protesters say they have joined Ahmar and his tribe, but only as volunteers helping to treat the wounded in a field hospital.

Huge demonstrations are expected across Yemen after prayers on Friday, after protesters called for a "million-man" march and a "day of peaceful revolution to defy the small minority seeking violence".

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/27/yemen-call-for-million-march.

Tunisia blocks access to porn sites

Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
May 27, 2011

The court of first instance issued the ruling on Thursday after three lawyers filed a case to re-impose a block of porn sites.

Manama: A Tunisian court has ordered the blocking of all pornographic websites in the country within 48 hours.

The court of first instance issued the ruling on Thursday after three lawyers, Ahmed Hasana, Monem Turki and Imed Saadia, last week filed a legal case to re-impose a block of porn sites that was lifted following the uprising that toppled the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14.

In their pleadings, the three lawyers highlighted the "negative psychological, physiological, social and educational effects" of pornographic websites and said that pornography clashed with the values of the Arab-Islamic society.

The ban on access to the sites was lifted in January following calls for more individual freedoms and rights. In December, the British government said that it wanted to combat the early sexualization of children by blocking internet pornography unless parents request it, British media reported.

The move followed warnings about the hidden damage being done to children by sex sites. "Instead of using parental controls to stop access to pornography - so-called ‘opting out' - the tap will be turned off at source. Adults will then have to ‘opt in'," Sunday Times reported. However, according to internet service providers (ISPs), plans to block pornography "at source" are unlikely to prove effective.

"Technical challenges mean any large scale filtering system is doomed to failure," they said.

Source: Gulf News.
Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/tunisia/tunisia-blocks-access-to-porn-sites-1.813640.

Qatar suspends Yemen embassy oper.

Thu May 26, 2011

Qatar has temporarily suspended the operation of its embassy in Yemen and has withdrawn its diplomatic staff members from the country due to violence.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the decision was made because of the lack of response to the initiative and appeals to resolve the crisis in Yemen, Xinhua reported.

The diplomatic mission would return after the demands of the Yemeni people and their choices are met, the ministry said.

Qatar has taken the decisive step after Britain announced a similar move on Thursday to trim down its staff as the situation in Yemen is worsening since March 23.

The United States on Wednesday said it had ordered all non-essential embassy staff and family members to leave the Arab state.

More than 40 people were killed in clashes in the Libyan capital, Sana'a, on Thursday after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign a power transition deal brokered by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council for the third time.

The deal calls on Saleh to step down within 30 days after signing the deal in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Saleh said on Wednesday that he is prepared to escalate the campaign against anti-regime tribesmen, who are calling for his immediate ouster after almost 33 years of authoritarian rule.

“I will not leave power and I will not leave Yemen. I don't take orders from outside,” Saleh said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/181916.html.

Bomb blast injures 8 in Turkey

Fri May 27, 2011

A bomb blast in the uptown Istanbul neighborhood in Turkey has wounded at least eight people, including a police officer.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that happened on Thursday morning.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he suspects Kurdistan's Workers Party (PKK) to be responsible for the attack, Hurriyet daily reported.

The PKK is the main militant group whose insurgency began in the 1980s and has killed more than 40,000.

During an election campaign in the Central Anatolian province of Nigde, Erdogan told journalists that the explosion clearly points to the brutal face of terrorism.

He said once the investigation is completed, the details will be made public.

The blast was caused by a medium-strength bomb that was mounted on an electric bicycle near a bus stop in the Etiler neighborhood, the daily quoted Istanbul Police Chief Huseyin Capkin as saying.

Two people are seriously injured, including a 38-year-old woman who has reportedly lost her leg, he said.

The blast also damaged a public bus and a private vehicle passing by, as well as several buildings.

The bomb's target might have been the police, as the electric bicycle carrying the bomb was placed close to a nearby technical college for police.

Turkey is scheduled to hold general elections on June 12 with 50 million eligible voters voting for 15 political parties running for 550 seats in the parliament.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/181927.html.

Chaos spread in Yemen despite truce

Fri May 27, 2011

Despite a truce between Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the powerful Hashid tribe, fighter jets continue to strike tribesmen in the country's rural areas.

At least 18 loyalists of the Hashid tribe were killed in the aerial bombing of the al-Fardha Nehem region, 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of the capital Sana'a on Friday, a Press TV report said.

The air strikes came after tribesmen surrounded and captured two military camps belonging to the Republican Guards, led by the president's son, in order to stop troop deployment to Sana'a.

More than a dozen soldiers -- including a base commander -- were killed in the fighting, AP reported local tribal leader Sheik Ali Saif saying.

The tribesmen also seized two military helicopters and shot down a third, capturing all soldiers on board, Saif added.

Yemen's Interior Ministry, however, denied the base's capture in a statement.

The latest deaths bring to over 124 the number of tribesmen killed during the past five days.

This week's fighting has stoked local and international fears that the Arab world's poorest country could be thrown into civil war.

This is while, tens of thousands of Yemeni anti-government protesters once again massed in the capital's central square on Friday, seeking to confirm the peacefulness of their revolution.

Addressing the crowd, Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid tribe, renewed calls on President Saleh to step down and blamed the embattled president for the recent violence.

“We want to remain peaceful, but if Ali Abdullah Saleh wants war, we are ready to face him and those around him,'' the 55-year-old leader said.

Ahmar made the warning after declaring that he had reached a ceasefire with forces loyal to Saleh, following five days of intense street battle.

International pressure on President Saleh continues to mount up, urging him to sign the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC) brokered deal.

The isolated Yemeni president, who has been in power for almost 33 years, has repeatedly refused to sign the [P]GCC initiative that would see him resign in return for immunity from prosecution.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/182050.html.

Bahraini forces attack villages

Fri May 27, 2011

Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have attacked anti-government protesters in several villages across the Persian Gulf sheikdom.

Witnesses say regime troops used tear gas and concussion bombs to disperse protesters in Diraz, Bani Jamrah and some other villages on Friday.

The protesters called for an end to the Al Khalifa rule and the immediate release of detained anti-government protesters.

According to witnesses, Bahraini protesters in recent days have their faces covered to avoid recognition by regime forces.

Saudi-backed Bahraini troops have arrested hundreds of anti-government protesters during overnight operations after identifying them based on pictures taken from opposition rallies.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or arrests on Friday.

Since the beginning of anti-regime protests in Bahrain in mid-February, Manama has launched a harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters, rounding up senior opposition figures and activists in dawn raids and arresting doctors, nurses, lawyers and journalists who have voiced support for the protest movement.

While the whereabouts of many detainees are still unknown, Bahraini authorities have begun to try a number of detained activists in what the opposition calls kangaroo courts.

Protesters have been charged with several counts such as attempting to overthrow the monarchy, and they are being tried in a special security court set up under martial law.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Bahraini government for its brutal crackdown on civilians.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which visits detainees in conflict situations, has been trying to see and contact Bahraini detained activists since mid-March. But so far Manama has refused to grant it permission.

Meanwhile, Bahrain's state news agency says that military prosecutors have asked the country's highest court to review death penalties issued against two anti-regime protesters.

Human Rights Watch as also called on the country to stop trying civilians in military courts.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/182019.html.