Syrian protesters attack US, French embassies

July 11, 2011 — BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of Syrian government supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus Monday, smashing windows and spray-painting walls with obscenities and graffiti that called the American ambassador a "dog." Guards at the French Embassy fired in the air to ward off another group of protesters.

The sharp escalation in tensions followed a visit last week by the American and French ambassadors to the city of Hama, a stronghold of opposition to authoritarian President Bashar Assad. Syrian authorities were angered by the visit and American Ambassador Robert Ford's harsh criticism afterward of the government crackdown on a four-month-old uprising. Ford's residence was also attacked on Monday.

The U.S. and France both accused Syrian forces of being too slow to respond and demanded the government abide by its international obligations to protect diplomatic missions and allow envoys freedom of movement. The U.S. formally protested, calling the attacks "outrageous," and saying protesters were incited by a television station heavily influenced by Syrian authorities.

"Ford get out now," protesters wrote on a paper hung on the U.S. Embassy's fence. "The people want to kick out the dog," read graffiti scrawled in red on the wall of the embassy, along with another line cursing America. The protesters smashed the embassy sign hanging over one gate.

The U.S. said it would seek compensation for damage. Syrian-U.S. relations have been mired in mutual distrust for years. But Monday's attacks were the worst such violence since 2000, when a stone-throwing mob attacked and vandalized the U.S. Embassy and ambassador's residence over American and British airstrikes against Iraq.

The attacks pose a renewed challenge to the Obama administration. The White House has criticized the Syrian regime's violent crackdown on peaceful protests but has refrained from calling for an end to the Assad family's four decades of rule, seemingly wary of pressing too hard as it tries to wind down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and faces criticism for being part of the coalition battling Moammar Gadhafi in Libya.

The U.S. said about 300 "thugs" breached the wall of the embassy compound before being dispersed by American Marine guards. No injuries were reported. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the mob got onto the roof of the chancery building, spray-painted graffiti and broke windows and security cameras. They lobbed fruits and vegetables at the compound.

A witness told The Associated Press that protesters scaled a fence, smashed windows and raised a Syrian flag at the embassy. Nuland said that Syrian security forces, who are supposed to guard the mission, were slow to respond.

After the crowd at the embassy was dispersed, the protesters moved to the ambassador's residence and attacked it, causing unspecified damage, Nuland said. The ambassador's residence is not inside the embassy compound but is nearby.

"We consider that the Syrian government has not lived up to its obligations ... to protect diplomatic facilities and it is absolutely outrageous," she told reporters. There were similar scenes at the French embassy, where guards fired in the air to hold back Assad loyalists who attacked the compound.

The French Foreign Ministry said three embassy workers were injured as "well organized groups" smashed windows and destroyed the ambassador's car. "Faced with the passivity of security forces, embassy security agents were forced to make three warning shots to stop intrusions from multiplying," a French government statement said.

The French flag was removed and replaced with a Syrian one. "God, Syria and Bashar. The nation that gave birth to Bashar Assad will not kneel," read graffiti scrawled outside the embassy. One witness said three protesters were injured when guards beat them with clubs. The witness asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Hiam al-Hassan, a witness, said about 300 people were at the French Embassy while hundreds targeted the American diplomatic compound. "Syrians demonstrated peacefully in front of the French embassy but they were faced with bullets," said al-Hassan.

Another protester at the French Embassy, Thuraya Arafat, 58, said: "I am here to find out why the French ambassador visited Hama. Did he go there to meet armed gangs?" French Ambassador Eric Chevalier and Ford both made separate visits to Hama on Thursday.

Ford was greeted by friendly crowds who put flowers on his windshield and olive branches on his car, chanting: "Down with the regime!" The State Department said the trip was to support the right of Syrians to demonstrate peacefully.

Syrian authorities called the ambassadors' visits to Hama interference in the country's internal affairs and accused the envoys of undermining Syria's stability. On Sunday, Ford attacked the government for allowing its supporters to demonstrate while violently suppressing anti-regime demonstrators.

"And how ironic that the Syrian Government lets an anti-U.S. demonstration proceed freely while their security thugs beat down olive branch-carrying peaceful protesters elsewhere," he said. On Sunday, the State Department complained that pro-government demonstrators threw tomatoes, eggs and rocks at the embassy over the weekend to protest Ford's visit to Hama.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the attacks demonstrated the Syrian president was not serious about reform, but stopped short of calling on him to step down. "From our perspective, he has lost legitimacy," Clinton told reporters at the State Department in a joint news conference with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. "He has failed to deliver on promises he has made, he has sought and accepted aid from the Iranians as to how to repress his own people."

Congressional Republicans have pressed the administration to withdraw Ford from Syria, an ally of Iran that supports the Islamic militant groups Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. did not send an ambassador to Damascus for five years in protest of Syria's alleged role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut.

Monday's protests coincided with government-organized talks in Damascus on possible political reforms after four months of unrest. But the talks were boycotted by the main opposition factions and are unlikely to produce any breakthroughs to immediately end bloodshed.

The two days of meetings, however, were seen as a major concession by Assad's regime after the most serious challenge to its rule. The talks did not stop Syrian forces from pressing their crackdown. Before the embassy attacks, Syrian troops stormed the country's third-largest city of Homs with armored personnel carriers and heavy machine guns, a rights activist. At least two people were killed and 20 wounded, activists said.

Activists including the Local Coordination Committees, a group that tracks anti-government protests in Syria, also reported gunfire and a "massive wave" of arrests and raids in the Jabal al-Zawiya region in Idlib province, near the Turkish border.

Clashes between protesters and Assad's supporters have resulted in the deaths of 1,600, in addition to 350 members of the security forces. Syria blames what it calls "armed gangs" and Muslim extremists for the violence.

Egypt protesters vow to stay in Tahrir Square till demands met

2011-07-11

Stocks fall nearly three percent as heightened tensions raised fears unrest will spread across Egypt.

CAIRO - Protesters prepared to spend their fourth night in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday, as stocks fell nearly three percent on fears of widespread unrest.

Pro-democracy activists have been camping out in Cairo, Alexandria and the canal city of Suez since mass nationwide rallies on Friday calling for political change.

"We're not going anywhere until our demands are met," said Ahmed al-Sayyed, a protester in Tahrir Square where traffic has been blocked since Friday.

The Mugamma, a huge government complex housing Egypt's sprawling bureaucracy, was blocked to employees for a second day running.

In Alexandria, hundreds vowed not to budge from their sit-in in Qayed Ibrahim Square, and hundreds more packed into Al-Arbaeen Square in the canal city of Suez.

Friday's protest and the ensuing sit-ins have been one of the biggest challenges to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power when a popular uprising toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February.

On Monday, Egypt stocks fell as heightened tensions raised fears the unrest would spread.

The main EGX-30 index closed down 2.93 percent at 5,116.21 points. On Sunday it had closed down 1.67 percent.

"There has been a big wave of selling by foreign investors... influenced by the sit-ins and demonstrations in the main squares of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez," said financial analyst Marwa Abu Ouf.

Among protesters' key demands are an end to military trials of civilians, the dismissal and prosecution of police officers accused of murder and torture -- before and after the revolution -- and open trials of former regime officials.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf pledged to sack all police officers accused of killing protesters, as part of a series of measures aimed at placating protesters.

But his government has been criticized as weak in the face of the ruling military council, which is headed by Mubarak's longtime defense minister Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47147.

Assad supporters storm US embassy in Syria

2011-07-11

US official says embassy has sustained some physical damage, mob has then moved on to ambassador's residence.

DAMASCUS - An angry mob stormed the US embassy in the Syrian capital on Monday, after Washington's ambassador visited the flashpoint city of Hama, a hub for protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"Today there was an attack by a mob on the US embassy," a US embassy official said, adding that no embassy personnel were injured although the Syrian authorities were slow in providing additional security measures.

The official said the embassy sustained some physical damage and that the crowd then moved on to the ambassador's residence.

Opposition protests were also staged overnight in several towns against Sunday's opening of a "national dialogue" hailed by the regime but boycotted by the opposition, rights activists said.

Monday's embassy attack comes four days after US Ambassador Robert Ford visited the central city of Hama, 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Damascus, sparking outrage in the capital.

The embassy official said "no staff were injured" on Monday and were never in "imminent danger," although the "Syrian government was slow to respond with extra security measures that were needed."

"The Syrian government has assured us that it will provide the protection required under the Vienna Convention and we expect it to do so."

He added that a Syrian television channel had "encouraged this violent demonstration," which followed protests at the embassy on Friday and Saturday calling for the ambassador's resignation.

A senior US official on Sunday accused Damascus of orchestrating the protests over Ford's trip to Hama, which the authorities slammed as a "flagrant interference" in Syria's "domestic affairs."

Ford and his French counterpart Eric Chevallier both visited Hama on Thursday amid fears of a bloody crackdown after Friday prayers the next day by Assad's forces, with tanks encircling the city.

France on Sunday summoned Syria's envoy to Paris Lamia Shakkour over damage done to the French embassy in Damascus and a consulate in Aleppo on Saturday after Chevallier's trip to Hama.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe's cabinet chief called her to the foreign ministry to receive a "vigorous protest", ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in a statement.

Tensions have been escalating for months between Damascus and Washington over the Syrian government's fierce response to opposition protests that erupted in mid-March, seeking to oust Assad.

Human rights groups say that since the protests broke out, the security forces have killed more than 1,300 civilians and made at least 12,000 arrests.

In overnight protests, some 5,000 people demonstrated in Deir Ezzor in the east, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday, adding there were also protests in three districts of Damascus.

The army was also reported to be continuing a search and sweep operation in the Jebel al-Zawiya area of Idlib province in the northwest.

"Soldiers supported by tanks carried out searches in the villages of Kafarhaya, Sarjan and Al-Rami, and arrests were made in Kfar Nubol," the Observatory said.

People were also detained in Hama and in the coastal city of Banias, where the rights group reported five arrests of people "for filming demonstrations."

Shooting was also heard at around dawn in the central city of Homs.

A meeting of the "national dialogue" in the capital was due to take place later on Monday.

Sunday's inaugural session saw some 200 delegates take part, including independent MPs and members of the Baath party, in power since 1963.

Opposition figures boycotted the gathering in protest at the government's continued deadly crackdown on the anti-regime protests.

Meanwhile, the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey fell to around 8,500 as hundreds decided to return home over the weekend, Turkish officials in Ankara said on Monday.

The number of refugees fleeing the government crackdown and entering Turkey peaked at 11,739 at the end of June, when Syrian troops stormed border villages where many displaced people had massed.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47149.

Iraqis who sought refuge in Syria, now returning

2011-07-11

Deadly unrest in Syria force Iraqi refugees who fled 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq to return home.

By Sammy Ketz - BAGHDAD

When his six-year-old son was killed in a 2006 Baghdad gun battle, Seif Rashid decided to flee with his family to Syria, but the deadly unrest there forced him to return to Iraq last month.

"When I saw the lifeless body of my little Abdel Rahman I decided to leave with my wife and two girls. I could not stand my country, which was overwhelmed by hatred," Rashid said.

The boy had been killed by a stray bullet in Baghdad's Adhamiyah neighborhood.

Rashid moved to Kafar Batna, on the outskirts of Damascus, because he had no work and the rent and life was cheaper.

But the wave of protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that began in March once again upset their lives.

"There were protests, they burned public buildings, posters of Bashar al-Assad -- and there have been arrests -- the situation was untenable," Rashid said. "So, we took our bags and left again."

Rashid, a 30-year-old shoe designer, mingled in Baghdad with a crowd of other returnees like him, all waiting to sign up at the National Registry office for refugees.

Registration entitles displaced Iraqis like him to a government installation allowance of four million dinars ($3,400/2,380 euros) per family, to help with the costs of resettling.

Many lost everything they had when they fled the violence that followed the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled leader Saddam Hussein and triggered an insurgency and Shiite-Sunni bloodletting.

Rashid, unemployed since he fled Iraq, has been living on his savings.

In Iraq, after the turmoil of the invasion and the extreme violence that began in 2004 and peaked in 2006 and 2007, neighboring Syria quickly became the preferred escape for many Iraqis.

It was next door, not very expensive, and it had open borders. Between 300,000 and one million Iraqis are estimated to have fled to Syria during the violence.

Security is better than in Syria

In 2004, 45-year-old Yaqub Khalaf Nussayef was shot in the abdomen and leg during a settling of scores between Sunni and Shiite groups.

Nussayef is a Sunni and former soldier who was living in the Shiite neighborhood of Abu Ghraib, which gained worldwide notoriety after publication of photographs showing American soldiers humiliating and torturing prisoners.

A father of five, he first fled to Jordan and then to Damascus, where he collected and sold empty soft drink cans for recycling in order to feed his family.

"The Syrian capital was quiet, but elsewhere there was chaos. I have tasted the bitter taste of sectarian war and bloodshed, and I did not wish to be part of a new wave of violence," he said.

"I am convinced that what is going on over there is a sectarian war," said Nussayef, who arrived only days ago in Baghdad, searching for a home before he brings his family.

Syria is majority Sunni, but the Alawites, who comprise only 12 percent of the population, have been in power since 1963.

Hayat Saad, legal officer at the Baghdad refugees center, said "every day we deal with between 60 to 70 cases of families who have returned to the country."

"Daily, about 20 come from Syria -- the largest contingent -- followed by Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Libya," she added.

Since the beginning of May, 1,171 families -- about 7,000 people -- have returned from Syria, and three-quarters have taken up residence in Baghdad province, the International Organization for Migration said.

"We still do not have any evidence of a large 'wave' of return in the past few months due to unrest," said the IOM's Nuray Inal.

In addition to assisting in housing, the ministry of refugees also helps in settling utility bills such as for water, electricity and telephones that may have accumulated over the years that owners were absent from their homes. It also helps in recovering homes that may have been taken over by squatters.

Qahtan Sabri, a 61-year-old carpenter, went to Damascus in 2005. "The situation was getting worse day-by-day. The confessional killings were increasing, and I had to stop working.

"I decided to return to Iraq when I realized that security is better in my own country than in Syria. I have resumed my business and will never leave my country," he said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47133.

Is France turning its back on Libya rebels?

2011-07-11

Gahtafi’s son Seif Al-Islam says Tripoli is negotiating with Paris, not rebels, France denies direct talks.

ALGIERS - Tripoli is negotiating a way out of the Libyan crisis with France not with its rebel foes, the son of embattled Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi said in an interview published Monday.

"We are in fact holding real negotiations with France and not with the rebels," Seif Al-Islam said during the interview with the Algerian daily El Khabar conducted in the Libyan capital.

He said Tripoli had received a "clear message" from Paris through a special envoy who met with the French president.

Seif Al-Islam said French President Nicolas Sarkozy bluntly told the Libyan emissary: "We created the (rebel) National Transitional Council and without France's backing, money and weapons, it would not exist."

And he added that Sarkozy made it clear that "he, not the rebels, was Tripoli's interlocutor."

"The French officially informed us that they wanted to set up a transitional government in Libya. Sarkozy told a Libyan envoy: I have a list and those on it are the men of France," Gathafi's son said.

However, Paris denied on Monday reports it has begun direct negotiations with Tripoli.

France said it has made indirect contact with Libyan strongman Moamer Gathafi's regime, the foreign ministry said.

Paris is a leading member of the NATO-led international coalition bombing Gathafi's forces and a cheerleader for the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) battling to overthrow his rule.

Sunday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in Addis Ababa that Paris would work with the African Union to find "political solutions" to the Libya crisis, but insisted that the ouster of Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi was a "key point".

And earlier this month, France said it supplied light arms including rifles and rocket launchers to the rebels for "self-defense" in line with a UN resolution.

However it later said the rebels, increasingly confident on the ground, no longer need the weapons drops.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47142.

Shared Maghreb identity builds momentum for UMA

Maghreb residents are beginning to embrace a regional identity.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 10/07/11

After more than two decades, the Maghreb Union (UMA) may finally be ready to complete its institutions and compete on a global scale.

The popular momentum is there to make it happen, observers note. Especially in Morocco.

The [Arab] Maghreb Union offers advantages to every member country involved, economist Najib Boulif told Magharebia, adding that each country would stand to gain by an amount equal to 5-6% of its GDP.

"When the flow of trade is increased, monetary union is implemented and the movement of money and people is made easier, this will give a boost to the regional economy," he said.

Morocco's economy needs to open up more towards other Arab markets, according to MP Lahcen Daoudi.

Moreover, he said, the countries of the Maghreb share the same set of values, the same way of thinking and the same language.

"It's a sentimental link. Moroccan identity is made up of several components, including Muslim values, Arab values and Maghreb characteristics. The latter are much stronger and closer to us," Daoudi said.

"You can't deny geography or change history," agreed sociologist Ali Chaabani said. "There are several things in common: the language, the religion, feelings and cultural and artistic expression. For instance, when you listen to an Algerian singer, it's as though you could just as easily be listening to a Moroccan singer."

Despite their similarities, citizens of the Maghreb do not feel as though they belong to the same society when they are in their home countries, Chaabani said. When they go abroad, however, the feeling of kinship emerges.

Ahmed Cherrat, a senior manager, echoed that sentiment, saying when he was on business trips abroad, Maghreb citizens got along best with each other.

"We feel as though we come from the same region. People aren't interested in petty politicking," Cherrat said.

Siham Atlass, a student in Montpellier, France said that when she was in Morocco, she was unaware of the degree of cultural and social affinity within the Maghreb.

"I knew we shared the same values, but I never imagined we had the same identity," she said.

"The Tunisian and Algerian students I've met in France are no different from Moroccans. We're open-minded."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/10/feature-01.

Cosmonaut Kotov: Enjoying International Cooperation in Space

by Eugene Nikitenko for Voice of Russia
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Jul 11, 2011

Number 100 spaceman Oleg Kotov, a Hero of the Russian Federation, was in London last week to see the photo exhibition put together by Russia's news agency RIA and Britain's Science Photo Library. The display that was opened in early June at the Royal Albert Hall, was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the first-ever space flight of Yuri Gagarin.

A physician by education and a great follower of Gagarin, Oleg Kotov, made 2 flights to the International Space Station in 2007 and 2009. Of late he has been often traveling around the world to speak to foreign audiences about Yuri Gagarin, whom, he says, many in the West view as a man belonging to the whole world rather than solely his native Russia.

Now, 50 years since the first-ever space flight, space crews and their tasks are much more different than before.

If in the past, space exploration programs were based on national ambitions of the states which conducted those programs, at present the situation is totally different.

According to the official space exploration program of the Russian Federation, the nation's space agency, Roskosmos, does not see activities outside Earth's orbit without cooperation with other countries.

The International Space Station - ISS - the largest space station ever constructed, is an internationally-developed research facility assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed next year. The station is expected to remain in operation until at least 2020, and potentially to 2028. Like many artificial satellites, the ISS can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

The ISS serves as a research laboratory of microgravity environment where crews conduct experiments in biology, astronomy and meteorology. They also test spacecraft systems to prepare future missions to the Moon and Mars. It is operated by expedition crews, and has been continuously staffed since 2 November 2000-an uninterrupted human presence in space for more than a decade. As of June 2011, the crew of Expedition 28 is aboard.

The recent session of the UN General Assembly declared April 12, the date of Yuri Gagarin's flight, to be marked internationally as the First Space Flight Day. Oleg Kotov who attended the session, speaking on UN Radio, said that 50 years after that first-ever flight the mankind stands on the threshold of a new breakthrough in space.

The results of space flights, he also said, form the base for armies of specialists who work out uniform technology standards that help to overcome differences in technological, cultural and scientific approaches, so that they can be used in future both in space and on Earth. "It's not just working in space, we live there, with the scheduled working hours, days off and all the subtleties of the environment," he said.

Speaking to journalists after the Gagarin exhibition closed last Monday, spaceman Kotov stressed that if previously ISS exploitation rules, principles of engine designs, their controls as well as after-flight rehabilitation and health saving procedures were mainly based on the Soviet and Russian expertise, at present foreign partners add up to these.

"During my first flight in 2007 we were happy to work in the interests of the U.S. science, while U.S. researchers did their bit to assist in our work. National interests and the necessity of working together are no longer antagonistic," concluded Oleg Kotov, Russia's spaceman 100 last week in London.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Cosmonaut_Kotov_Enjoying_International_Cooperation_in_Space_999.html.

NASA tracking space debris in space station's path

Washington (AFP) July 10, 2011

The US space agency is tracking a piece of space junk that could be on a path toward the International Space Station, where the shuttle Atlantis has just docked on its final mission, NASA said Sunday.

However, NASA is not ready to say for sure whether the object is projected to collide with the shuttle and station, though the paths were likely to cross on Tuesday, said deputy manager of the space shuttle program LeRoy Cain.

"What we were told today is very preliminary," Cain said. "It is a potential right now."

Cain said he was unaware what size the object may be, but expected more information later Sunday or Monday.

Tuesday is the scheduled day for a spacewalk by two US astronauts aboard the ISS as part of Expedition 28.

On June 28, a piece of space debris narrowly missed the ISS in a rare incident that forced the six-member crew to scramble to their rescue craft, space agency officials said.

The high-speed object hurtled toward the orbiting lab and likely missed it by just 1,100 feet (335 meters). The crew moved to shelter inside two Soyuz spacecraft 18 minutes before the debris was expected to pass, NASA said.

"It was probably the closest object that has actually come by the space station," NASA's associate administrator for space operations, Bill Gerstenmaier, said afterward.

"We didn't have any information that it was coming until it was very, very close."

The size of the space junk remains unknown and no harm was done by its fly-by.

Source: Space Mart.
Link: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/NASA_tracking_space_debris_in_space_stations_path_999.html.

Atlantis docks at space station for last time

Washington (AFP) July 10, 2011

The shuttle Atlantis docked at the orbiting International Space Station for one last hitch-up Sunday, on its final space voyage before the entire 30-year US shuttle program shuts down for good.

The shuttle docked at 11:07 am (1507 GMT), just over an hour after the spacecraft performed its habitual slow backflip so that the ISS crew could take pictures of Atlantis's heat shield before clasping onto the lab, NASA said.

Hatches opened between the two spacecraft at 12:47 pm (1647 GMT), and the four Atlantis astronauts floated across to greet their ISS crewmates with hugs and smiles.

Shortly afterward, NASA said it was tracking a piece of space debris that could be on a path to collide with the ISS by Tuesday, the day that two US astronauts are scheduled to step out on a spacewalk.

"What we were told today is very preliminary," said deputy manager of the space shuttle program LeRoy Cain. "It is a potential right now."

Atlantis began its 12-day journey on Friday with a picture-perfect liftoff from Kennedy Space Center that was watched locally by hundreds of thousands of tourists, and marked the last-ever blastoff of the three decade long program.

The flight marks the end of an era for NASA, leaving Americans with no actively operating government-run human spaceflight program and no method for sending astronauts to space until private industry comes up with a new capsule, likely by 2015 at the earliest.

With the shuttle gone, only Russia's three-seat Soyuz capsules will be capable of carrying astronauts to the ISS at a cost of more than $50 million per seat.

Asked on CNN Sunday about headlines that proclaim the start of a period of Russian dominance in spaceflight, the US space agency's administrator Charles Bolden said: "I don't think I could disagree more with the headlines."

"We have been the leader for many years, many decades now, and that will -- we will maintain that leadership," said the former astronaut.

Atlantis is carrying 8,000 pounds (3,000 kilograms) of supplies, which the combined crew of 10 -- four aboard the shuttle's STS-135 mission and six aboard the ISS as part of Expedition 28 -- will transfer during the mission.

A failed ammonia pump will then be transferred to the shuttle payload bay for return to Earth.

Monday will be occupied with setting up the transfer of the Raffaello multipurpose module, which holds the extra supplies, from the shuttle to the Earth-facing side of the station's Harmony module.

A spacewalk by American ISS crew members Garan and Mike Fossum is set for Tuesday.

The duo has already stepped out together on three spacewalks in June 2008 as part of the STS-124 mission that delivered the Japanese Kibo lab to the ISS.

"Poetry in motion," said a commentator at mission control in Houston after the shuttle began its nine-minute somersault ahead of approach, also known as the rendezvous pitch maneuver.

The one-degree-per-second backflip was a key maneuver in Atlantis's approach to the lab, allowing ISS crew members already at the station to take photos of the shuttle's exterior and check if any damage was incurred during the takeoff.

The approach and latch-on were "flawless," said mission control.

Three ISS crew, including Japanese flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa, snapped high-resolution photos of the shuttle as it circled in toward the orbiting lab.

On Saturday, the Atlantis crew performed the first inspection of the craft's thermal protection system, the outer barrier that protects it from the searing heat upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Careful inspections of the shuttle body have become a primary activity since the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere in 2003.

A panel of experts concluded that a heat shield tile on the craft's wing was damaged at blast-off, fatally compromising the craft's re-entry protection and killing all seven crew on board.

The shuttle's return to Earth is currently scheduled for July 20, though NASA may add an extra day to the mission.

After that, NASA will continue working with private industry on plans to build a next generation spacecraft to tote astronauts and cargo to the ISS, while NASA focuses on a multipurpose crew vehicle that could take astronauts to deep space, Bolden said.

"The president has set the goals: an asteroid in 2025, Mars in 2030. I can't get any more definitive than that," he said.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Atlantis_docks_at_space_station_for_last_time_999.html.

High costs, risks, policy shift make U.S. quit space shuttle program

Washington (XNA) Jul 11, 2011

Space shuttle Atlantis will soar into the sky Friday on NASA's 135th and final flight. Its scheduled return to Earth later this month will mark the end of NASA's 30-year space program.

Since its onset with the launch of space shuttle Columbia, the program has been seen as a cheap, safe and reliable way for space exploration.

Despite its great contributions to U.S. manned space flight, it has also left some grave and tragic lessons, making its termination inevitable.

Soaring Costs
Launched in 1972 by then President Richard Nixon, the shuttle program aimed to provide a new system of affordable space travel and proved to be NASA's most enduring project in its 50 years of existence.

In 1981, shuttle Columbia made its first shuttle flight for two days. It was the ultimate hybrid and the first reusable spacecraft.

Launched like a rocket and gliding back to Earth like an airplane, space shuttles not only can act as a space taxi to carry astronauts, but have the muscle of a long-distance trucker to haul heavy machinery.

The spaceship boasts more than 3,500 subsystems and 2.5 million parts and is nine times faster than a speeding bullet as it climbs heavenward. That versatility, however, has translated into higher costs.

NASA originally estimated the program would cost about 90 billion U.S. dollars. However, its actual cost stands at about 200 billion dollars, compared with the 151 billion dollars spent on Apollo which took Americans to the moon in 1969.

In an article in Technology Review, John Logsdon, former head of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, drew a direct connection between the ravenous shuttle budget and the lack of other large advances in manned space flight.

"By operating the system for 30 years, with its high costs and high risk, rather than replacing it with a less expensive, less risky second-generation system, NASA compounded the original mistake of developing the most ambitious version of the vehicle," he wrote.

"The shuttle's cost has been an obstacle to NASA starting other major projects," he added.

High Risk
In terms of safety, the shuttles have never been as reliable as their designers had envisioned.

On average, one out of every 67 flights ended up with fatal accidents. Based on the rate of deaths per million miles traveled, the space shuttle is 138 times riskier than a passenger jet.

Seven astronauts onboard died when Challenger exploded about a minute after launch in 1986. Nearly two decades after the tragic blast, a new catastrophe descended when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated moments before landing in 2003, killing another seven spacemen.

Again, the shuttle program was shelved for more than two years as NASA stepped up efforts to make it safer. But experts say the fundamental problem related to shuttles' safety cannot be solved due to their "birth defects."

"It is in the nation's interest to replace the Shuttle as soon as possible," concluded the panel that investigated the 2003 Columbia accident.

Policy Shift
In 2004, former U.S. President George W. Bush made the decision to retire the space shuttles in 2004. Bush wanted astronauts to go back to the moon, and eventually go to the Mars. In order to save money for building a new spaceship to attain that goal, NASA had to stop spending about 4 billion dollars a year on the shuttle program.

President Barack Obama, however, unrolled a fresh project to build a giant rocket to send astronauts to an asteroid, and eventually to the Mars, while transferring to private companies the job of carrying cargo and astronauts to space stations.

During his first-ever Twitter town hall meeting on Wednesday, Obama said NASA needs new technological breakthroughs to revitalize its mission to explore the universe.

Admitting the shuttles' "extraordinary work in low-orbit experiments, the International Space Station," Obama said: "But now what we need is that next technological breakthrough."

He said that the United States should move beyond the space travel models it used in the 1960s for the Apollo program.

"Rather than keep on doing the same thing, let's invest in basic research around new technologies that can get us to places faster, allow human space flight to last longer," Obama said.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/High_costs_risks_policy_shift_make_U_S__quit_space_shuttle_program_999.html.

New Research and Technology Experiments Headed to the International Space Station on STS-135/ULF7

by Lori Meggs - International Space Station Program Science Office
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 11, 2011

The space shuttle Atlantis launched to the International Space Station on July 8, carrying with it a mix of research ranging from microscopic cell research to macroscopic technology development equipment deliveries. In addition, both plants and animals will be the subject of microgravity tests.

For a joint project of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, hardware for the Robotic Refueling Mission, or RRM, will be delivered and installed on the station's Express Logistics Carrier 4 for future demonstrations that will test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space - even satellites not designed to be serviced.

The tests, using Canadarm2, its Dexterous Manipulator System and a variety of specialized tools, will be the first on-orbit tests of techniques to refuel spacecraft not built with on-orbit servicing in mind. The hardware will be installed during the flight's only spacewalk.

Another facility being delivered to the station is Ultrasound-2, a cardiovascular ultrasound system that will replace and upgrade a 10-year-old ultrasound unit that stopped operating earlier this year.

The device will be used for general crew health assessment, and in NASA investigations such as Integrated Cardiovascular, which looks at the weakening of heart muscles associated with long-duration spaceflight, and the Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study, or Sprint, which looks at high-intensity, low-volume exercise training to minimize loss of muscle, bone and cardiovascular performance in astronauts.

A European Space Agency experiment called Vascular Echography, or Vessel Imaging, will use the device to evaluate changes in central and peripheral blood vessel wall properties - thickness and compliance - and cross sectional areas of station astronauts during and after long-term exposure to microgravity.

Commercial Biomedical Test Module - 3, or CBTM-3, experiments will use a validated mouse model to examine the effectiveness of experimental drug therapies against bone loss that results from prolonged life in low gravity.

One investigation will look at whether the use of a sclerostin antibody can induce bone formation and thereby prevent skeletal deterioration, while another will examine whether changes in the blood supply to the bones and bone forming tissues may contribute to bone loss in low gravity.

Plant experiments will look at terrestrial food supply issues, and provide educational opportunities for students on Earth. The NASA-sponsored Biological Research in Canisters Symbiotic Nodulation in a Reduced Gravity Environment, or BRIC-SyNRGE, will look at how microgravity affects the infectiousness of bacteria in plants. The symbiotic relationships of plants and bacteria affect a large portion of human and livestock food production on Earth.

The Canadian Space Agency-sponsored Tomatosphere-III will carry 400,000 tomato seeds to the station and back to Earth, where students in 10,000 classrooms throughout Canada will measure germination rates, growth patterns and vigor of the seeds as they grow.

A Department of Defense experiment will study the effects of tissue regeneration and wound healing in space. Space Tissue Loss-Regeneration-Keratinocytes experiments will look at how cellular degeneration and decreased immune response associated with traumatic wounds and unused limbs, with potential application in the treatment of both military and civilian injuries and immune response on Earth.

Two distinct types of smart phones also will fly to the station, where they will be tested for potential use as navigation aids and as mobile assistants for astronauts.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/New_Research_and_Technology_Experiments_Headed_to_the_International_Space_Station_on_STS_135_999.html.

Panetta in Iraq as another US soldier killed

Baghdad (AFP) July 10, 2011

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Baghdad on Sunday to urge Iraqi leaders to act against Iran-backed Shiite militias, as another American soldier was killed in the south of the country.

Panetta, who took office 10 days ago, flew in after visiting Afghanistan and was also to urge Iraqi leaders to decide soon on whether they want US troops beyond the scheduled pullout at the end of this year, a senior US defense official said.

About 46,000 US troops remain in Iraq, down from a high of 170,000 after the 2003 US-led invasion. They are scheduled to leave in less than six months unless a deal is reached between Baghdad and Washington.

"If they are to make a proposal with regards to the continuing US presence there, they have to make a formal request that we would obviously consider," Panetta told reporters shortly after his arrival.

He is due to meet President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massud Barzani.

"The issues for Iraq are security there and what's being done, particularly to deal with the Iranian supply of weapons to militants in Iraq," Panetta said.

Three American soldiers have been killed so far this month, after June was the deadliest month in three years for US troops, with 14 killed.

A US military statement said a soldier was killed in southern Iraq on Sunday, but gave no other details.

Asked about increased attacks on US forces by Shiite militants backed by Iran, Panetta expressed "tremendous concern," and called on Iraq to do more to "go after those extremists that are making use of these weapons" supplied by Tehran.

"If we're all gonna be partners, they have a responsibility to protect against that kind of attack. It's in the interest of Iraq to provide for their own security," he said.

Iran has denied US accusations that it was smuggling weapons to insurgents in two of its neighbors, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Panetta said the United States was open to a request by Iraq on a troop extension.

"If they are to make a proposal with regards to the continuing US presence there, they have to make a formal request that we would obviously consider," Panetta told reporters.

"I think the secretary will convey to the Iraqis... that there's some urgency for them to make that request if they're going to make it," said a senior US official traveling with the defense secretary.

Panetta is the latest top US official to arrive in Iraq, asking officials to accept a contingent of American troops beyond 2011. US diplomatic sources in Baghdad say there has been no talk on the possible number who could remain.

A possible extension would be deeply unpopular among the public in Iraq, where many people look upon the American soldiers as "occupiers."

Talabani, a Kurd, said on Saturday that political parties would announce their decision in two weeks on whether they want some US forces to remain.

Ali Mussawi, Maliki's media adviser, told AFP on Sunday that a decision within two weeks was unlikely.

"I believe that political leaders will not reach an agreement during the two-week deadline," he said, adding that leaders were too busy arguing over small issues instead of focusing on more important issues such as the future of American forces in Iraq.

Some Kurdish officials have said they want US forces to stay beyond the deadline, but the powerful Shiite movement of Moqtada al-Sadr has threatened to resume armed struggle against American troops if they extend their stay.

In a statement posted on his website on Sunday, Sadr said that due to internal issues he would not reactivate his powerful Mahdi Army even if US forces stayed, but added that the elite Promised Day Brigade would be at the forefront of the fight against American forces staying on.

It is one of three militias that US military officials say receives weapons from Iran and has been behind attacks on US troops.

Panetta said he would also press Iraqi leaders to speedily appoint defense and interior ministers, posts which remain vacant because of political bickering, despite the formation of a unity government last December.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Panetta_in_Iraq_as_another_US_soldier_killed_999.html.

Turkmen authorities admit to 15 blast deaths

Ashgabat (AFP) July 10, 2011

Authorities in reclusive Turkmenistan admitted Sunday that 15 people were killed in a series of blasts last week that left a village on the outskirts of the capital in ruins.

The toll was the first reported by the Central Asian republic's authorities since Thursday's accident and contradicted claims from the Turkmen opposition living abroad of up some 200 fatalities.

But the republic's strongman leader said in rare remarks that the village Abadan would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

"In place of the old Abadan -- a satellite city of the Turkmen capital -- an essentially new city will be built," TDH quoted the republic's strongman leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov as saying.

TDH said the toll included two servicemen and 13 civilians.

It added that the initial blast went off at a fireworks storage facility and that flying debris later hit a munitions dump "storing Soviet-era explosives and armaments that were awaiting dismantlement."

Members of the opposition said the village was home to a Soviet-era military air field used in the 1980s during the war in Afghanistan.

Satellite images of the area showed high-rise apartment buildings standing in close proximity to the military base.

The opposition Ferghana.ru site showed pictures of shattered houses and cited witnesses as saying that bodies littered the street in the initial hours after the blasts.

Turkmenistan filed a formal protest with Russian on Friday for allowing its media to report the opposition claims.

The incident in the energy-rich republic -- which the United States has described as an authoritarian state -- had been barely mentioned by the Kazakh authorities since it occurred.

But it prompted a series of unusual steps from the Berdymukhamedov that included a surprise offer for opposition figures living abroad to take part in presidential elections scheduled for February.

The president followed that up on Saturday by inviting his entire government and all senior media representatives to leave the capital and take a 10-day vacation.

Berdymukhamedov did not explain his move.

Sunday's state news report said the president had delivered a "sharp reprimand" to his defense minister and reduced his ranks to colonel. He also threatened to court martial military officials responsible for the munitions dump blaze.

But the statement that the life in the village was quickly returning to normal and basic communications had been restored.

The desert republic had been ruled until 2006 by a bizarre personality cult developed around Saparmurat Niyazov -- a despot who named months after family members and was accused of amassing a vast personal wealth.

Berdymukhamedov had taken gradual steps to remove some of the more striking features of Niyazov's rule and also indicated a readiness to mend ties with the United States.

He formally ended the single-party state era in Turkmenistan in 2010, but the move made no perceptible difference to his grip on power.

The leaders of the opposition now live abroad, in Western Europe and Russia, and one top foe of Niyazov told AFP on Saturday that he suspected 600 political prisoners were still locked up in Turkmen prisons today.

"It would be naive to listen to the promises of the president and to return to the country," Nurmukhammed Khanamov told AFP be telephone from Austria. "We would be thrown in prison."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Turkmen_authorities_admit_to_15_blast_deaths_999.html.

Jordan opposition leader claims security apparatus controls government

Jamal Halaby, The Associated Press
Jul 08, 2011

AMMAN, Jordan - Jordan's Islamist opposition leader Friday issued a rare public denunciation of the country's feared security apparatus, accusing it controlling government policies and seeking to limit free expression.

"Enough is enough," shouted Hamza Mansour of the Islamic Action Front in a speech to 300 protesters outside the prime minister's office to press for his dismissal.

The broadside by Mansour underlines growing frustration with the tight security grip in this pro-U.S. Arab kingdom. In street protests over the past six months — inspired by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia — Jordanians accused police and intelligence of using excessive force to quell the demonstrations.

"Intelligence approves Cabinets and dismisses them at will if Cabinet ministers did not implement the policies of limiting the freedom of expression, intimidating citizens and frightening the regime's opponents," claimed Mansour, who leads Jordan's biggest opposition party.

Jordan's Western-trained intelligence network is widely seen as one of the region's most highly regarded spy agencies. It closely co-operates with the United States in its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and played a role in efforts to battle al-Qaida.

Within Jordan, the intelligence service maintain close control over state affairs. It must approve civil servants before taking up public office, acquiring emigration visas or even driver's licenses.

Mansour did not provide evidence to backup his allegation on intelligence approving and dismissing Cabinet — which is in the hands of King Abdullah II, who has the final say in all matters.

But Mansour insisted that government policies "are meant to maintain the status quo, which is the tight grip of security over everyone."

Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit, a former army general, is accused of dragging his feet on promised political reforms, which include amending legislation to give the public a wider say in politics.

Jordanian opposition and protesters say they want Abdullah to remain their king, but want to limit some of his powers. They want the king to stop appointing prime ministers and allow the post to be picked by the elected parliament.

Elsewhere, about 800 Jordanians took to the streets in various demonstrations to demand al-Bakhit step down.

Source: 680 News.
Link: http://www.680news.com/news/world/article/251348--jordan-opposition-leader-claims-security-apparatus-controls-government.

Israel Deports, Detains, Allows Some Activists

By Shannon Liao
Jul 10, 2011

Israel on Sunday deported over 30 activists who were arrested Friday after flying into the country as part a West Bank-bound pro-Palestinian "flytilla," according to media reports.

The Jerusalem Post reported that 124 activists were arrested while 50 to 100 were allowed to enter Israel. The fate of the other activists remains unclear.

Around 600 activists were planning to fly into Israel to spend a week of solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank, according to one of the groups organizing the fly-in, Bienvenue Palestine.

The French-based group reported that Israel was still holding 46 French activists on Sunday, but did not know the status of the other detainees.

The activists were deported via Lufthansa airlines to Frankfurt, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported.

Lufthansa also refused to allow some activists black-listed by the Israeli authorities to board planes to Israel.

Lufthansa said its actions were not political and that it was only complying with Israel’s country regulations.

"The fact that we prevented the activists from boarding the planes is no evidence of our supporting the State of Israel against the activists, or the opposite. Our actions are bereft of any political statement, for one side or the other," the Israeli Lufthanza manager said, according to Haaretz.

A Lufthansa representative was told that certain passengers did not have permission to enter Israel.

"Lufthansa is obliged to honor the immigration rules and regulations of the countries we fly to. … As a result, Lufthansa is obligated not to fly passengers that do not have entry visas and passengers whose entry is refused by the destination country, as in this case," the representative explained to Haaretz.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israel had been successful in preventing the activists.

“Last week, we stopped the defiant fly-in against the State of Israel. We acted methodically and successfully in a variety of spheres—diplomacy, intelligence, public security, migration control, and others, in order to frustrate this provocation. And indeed the provocation was foiled,” he said.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/israel-deports-detains-allows-some-activists-58912.html.

Iraq's Sadr: I will not reactivate Mahdi Army

2011-07-10

Anti-US Shiite cleric says his "Promised Day Brigade" militia will oppose US forces if they extended their deployment in Iraq.

By Ammar Karim - BAGHDAD

Anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has withdrawn a threat to reactivate his powerful Mahdi Army but said an elite unit would oppose American forces if they extended their deployment in Iraq.

In a statement posted on his website on Saturday, Sadr said his "Promised Day Brigade" militia would remain at the forefront of the opposition to American forces remaining in Iraq beyond a scheduled pullout at the end of 2011.

But Sadr, who is close to Iran, said he was "freezing the activities of the Mahdi Army," even if the Americans stayed.

"Because of (criminal acts) that were committed -- or could be committed (by people claiming to be members of the Mahdi Army), I decided to limit military action to the Promised Day Brigade," he said.

About 46,000 American forces remain in Iraq, down from a high of 170,000 after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted leader Saddam Hussein.

All are scheduled to leave at the end of 2011, but Washington has said it is negotiating with Baghdad about the possibility of some forces remaining beyond then if requested.

Last April, Sadr had threatened to revive the Mahdi Army if American troops remained in Iraq beyond the deadline.

"If the Americans don't leave Iraq on time, we will increase the resistance and restart the activities of the Mahdi Army," Sadr had said in a fiery statement read by a spokesman to thousands of followers in Baghdad.

In his latest statement, he said he had hoped that "one day the Mahdi Army could be revived in a new fashion, but there is no hope until these criminals mend their ways," he said.

The Mahdi Army, which fought repeated battles against Iraqi and US-led coalition forces between 2004 and 2007, has been identified by the Pentagon as the main threat to stability in Iraq.

The Promised Day Brigade was created in November 2008 by Sadr to fight against US forces.

American military officials have blamed it, and two other breakaway Shiite groups, for the majority of attacks against American troops, accusing neighboring Iran of backing the militias.

US forces suffered their deadliest month in three years last June, when 14 soldiers were killed in separate attacks, most of them by rockets fired at military bases.

Washington's top US military officer said Thursday that Iran is stepping up support for Shiite militants in Iraq, supplying them with more sophisticated weapons.

Admiral Mike Mullen said Iran had made a decision to curtail its support for Shiite factions in 2008 but has now increased its activity in Iraq, sending in lethal arms that were being used against American forces.

Sadr said his decision about the Mahdi Army came after a recent incident in the Amine district of eastern Baghdad where a militiaman in a local dispute had called in gunmen who had shot and killed one resident and wounded another.

"I am innocent of all the abuses that people commit in my name," Sadr said.

Before it was disbanded in 2008, the Mahdi Army numbered some 60,000 fighters with fierce loyalty to Sadr.

The anti-US cleric, who has been pursuing off-and-on religious studies in the Iranian clerical center of Qom, is the son of revered Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, who was assassinated by Saddam's regime in 1999.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47129.

Nations welcome world's newest state South Sudan

2011-07-10

UN chief says new chapter has been opened when people of South Sudan claim their freedom, dignity that is their birthright.

PARIS - World leaders hailed the birth on Saturday of the Republic of South Sudan, the world's newest nation, as a historic event bringing to a close 50 years of conflict in northeastern Africa.

Amid tears of joy in Juba, South Sudan's parliament speaker on Saturday proclaimed his state's independence, splitting in two what had been Africa's largest nation.

US President Barack Obama led official recognition of the country, calling it "another step forward in Africa's long journey toward opportunity, democracy and justice."

"I am proud to declare that the United States formally recognizes the Republic of South Sudan as a sovereign and independent state upon this day, July 9, 2011," Obama said in a statement.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the official ceremony in Juba, said a new chapter had been opened "when the people of South Sudan claim their freedom and dignity that is their birthright."

Messages of congratulation flooded in from nations around the world including Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Switzerland and Turkey.

"Today a new country is rising in Africa. I congratulate South Sudan on its independence and wish its people a prosperous and peaceful future," said EU president Herman Van Rompuy in a Twitter message.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said Africans from the Cape to Cairo were proud of South Sudan's independence, after decades of conflict between the southern rebels and successive Khartoum governments that left the region in ruins and claimed millions of lives.

"We have always aspired to witness the dawn of peace, security and stability prevailing in the whole of the Sudan. That dream is coming to fruition," said Zuma, adding however that "change always brings uncertainty and discomfort."

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, in Juba said the day marked the beginning of "a new dawn" for the people of the new country, a statement from his office said.

Nigeria would support and assist the new country in every possible way as they began the task of building a new nation, he added.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed on his country's best wishes in a letter to the new country's President Salva Kiir.

"We applaud your commitment to addressing all outstanding issues with North Sudan in an amicable and peaceful manner," he said.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the move as "a day of joy and great hope for the people".

Offering help to the new nation, she said it was now important "to back South Sudan on the road to stability that will bring people peace, security and economic development."

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the independence declaration was the fulfillment of an exceptional process, initiated by a peace accord in 2005, that all the international community supported and that "the North and South (of Sudan) brought courageously to completion."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said an ambassador to Juba had already arrived to take up his post.

"This is an historic day, for South Sudan and the whole of Africa," he said, adding that Britain was proud to be "among the first to recognize South Sudanese independence".

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent a telegram of congratulation to his South Sudanese counterpart and also expressed interest in the vast oil reserves in South Sudan.

"The Russian business world has expressed a strong interest in working with their South Sudanese partners, notably in developing and extracting its natural resources," he said.

China's special envoy extended President Hu Jintao's "warmest congratulations" to the "young Republic" of South Sudan, while noting the ongoing negotiations between north and south.

He said Beijing, Sudan's main trading partner and the largest investor in its key oil industry, hoped the two sides could be "good neighbors, partners and brothers forever."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47120.

Egypt PM orders all police accused of murder sacked

2011-07-10

Thousands of people protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square to push for political change.

CAIRO - Egypt's Prime Minister said Saturday he had ordered the sacking of all police officers accused of killing protesters during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, one of a series of measures aimed at placating demonstrators.

Essam Sharaf said he "issued direct orders to the interior minister to stop all police officers accused of killing protesters from working," in an address broadcast on state television.

Sharaf was speaking as thousands of people protested in Cairo's Tahrir Square to push for political change, a day after mass nationwide rallies denounced the country's military rulers.

Among the key demands raised at Friday's protests were an end to military trials of civilians, the dismissal and prosecution of police officers accused of killing protesters, and speedy and transparent trials for former regime officials.

Sharaf vowed to meet the demands of the protesters, promising swift trials of Mubarak regime officials.

He "ordered the creation of a panel to review the trials (of those accused of) killing protesters and corruption as soon as possible," without waiting until after the judicial summer recess.

"The public prosecutor will appeal all rulings acquitting people in those cases," Sharaf said.

He said he would also create "a mechanism for dialogue with all the political forces."

But the speech received a cold reaction from activists.

Longtime activist Mohammed Waked, a member of the Justice and Democracy Front, rejected the speech as "empty rhetoric."

Waked said that protesters want to see all police officers accused of torture face justice, including those who practiced it before the revolution.

"There are many police officers accused of torture before the revolution, some were even sentenced, and they are still showing up for work. This is not serious," he said.

Riham Abdel Salam, 23, who has been demonstrating in Tahrir Square -- the epicenter of protests that ousted Mubarak-- said there were many demands not addressed.

Abdel Salam said Sharaf made no mention of an end to the military trials of civilians, a central demand of protesters.

Protesters who first took to the streets to topple Mubarak have recently directed their anger at the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power when the veteran strongman was ousted in February over the pace of reforms.

The military has also come under fire for alleged abuses, after the January 25 uprising that left 846 people dead and more than 6,000 injured.

Pro-democracy activists have vowed to continue protesting until all their demands are met.

Hundreds were also participating in sit-ins in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the canal city of Suez.

Mubarak, who is in custody in hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, is due to face trial along with his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, on August 3.

Several former ministers are currently in jail on charges of corruption, but activists have criticized the handling of legal proceedings, demanding a transparent and thorough process for the sake of justice, not revenge, they say.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47124.

Malaysia gov't fights criticism after rally chaos

July 10, 2011 — KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities sought Sunday to deflect criticism that the government was suppressing dissent after making mass arrests and unleashing tear gas against at least 20,000 demonstrators who marched for electoral reforms.

The political fallout from rare scenes of mayhem in Kuala Lumpur is certain to complicate efforts by Prime Minister Najib Razak's ruling coalition to bolster its support ahead of general elections that many expect to be held within a year.

International rights groups and Malaysian opposition parties denounced the government's response to the country's largest political rally in four years, which resulted in the arrest of 1,667 people Saturday. All were freed without immediate charges by Sunday.

Amnesty International called it "the worst campaign of repression we've seen in (Malaysia) for years," while Human Rights Watch said it was "a maelstrom of the Malaysian authorities' own making." Najib's declaration that the rally was unlawful and repeated warnings over the past month for people to avoid it have sparked criticism that his National Front coalition wants to extend its 54-year rule by ensuring that election policies favor the government. The coalition's mandate expires in mid-2013 but many expect national polls by next year.

The rally was organized by civic groups backed by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's three-party alliance. They were urging authorities to clean up voter registration lists, implement stricter measures to curb electoral fraud and allow fair access to the government-linked media for all parties.

Anwar's alliance said a 59-year-old member died from a heart attack during the rally, though police denied opposition allegations that he was hit by tear gas. Anwar himself was hospitalized overnight because of a knee injury after slipping when police tried to break up his group.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein insisted in a statement received Sunday that the demonstrators sought to "create chaos in this country and hoped to be arrested in order to portray the government as cruel."

Hishammuddin praised police, saying they performed their duties with "bravery, fairness and integrity" while confronting what he called provocative actions by protesters. He also claimed authorities over the past week discovered hidden stashes of weapons, homemade firebombs and other dangerous items that protesters might have used.

The minister's statement contrasted sharply with narratives by participants, who said they were marching peacefully to a stadium from various parts of downtown Kuala Lumpur when riot police repeatedly fired tear gas and chemical-laced water and charged at them to make arrests.

Anwar said the crackdown showed the "extent of desperation of brutal action approved by Prime Minister Najib." Many demonstrators posted photos on Twitter and Facebook that they claimed were evidence of police brutality, including tear gas canisters apparently lobbed into a hospital compound where protesters sought shelter.

By midday Sunday, more than 58,000 people have joined a new Facebook group calling for Najib's resignation following the crackdown. The prime minister criticized the protesters late Saturday, saying they wanted to project "the impression that Malaysia had no political stability and exploit the issue as much as possible."

Government-linked media said numerous businesses suffered because stores and restaurants closed amid public transport disruptions and fears of violence. Protest organizers had no immediate plans for similar rallies. But Amnesty International urged the U.S. government to speak out against how Malaysian authorities handled Saturday's event, saying Washington's "credibility and effectiveness on human rights in the region" would suffer if it stays silent.

"Such silence will give (the) green light to other governments that they too can brutally suppress peaceful protests," Amnesty official T. Kumar said in a statement.

Yemeni troops killed civilians 'like chicken'

By AGENCIES
Jul 10, 2011

SANAA: Yemeni troops may have killed dozens of civilians caught in the crossfire over the past two months as government forces battled Al-Qaeda linked militants in the country's restive south, a leading human rights group said Saturday.

Human Rights Watch cited accounts from several residents who fled the fighting in southern Abyan province, where Yemeni troops are fighting militants after losing control of the provincial capital, Zinjibar, and another town, Jaar.

In a statement released Saturday, the New York-based group also said the militants in Abyan "may have unlawfully placed civilians at risk by deploying in densely populated areas and engaging in looting and other abuses."

There are concerns Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen is exploiting the country's turmoil amid a months-long popular uprising seeking the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The president has been in Saudi Arabia since June 5, undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in an attack on his presidential compound, but massive daily street protests demanding he relinquish power have continued unabated.

The fighting in Abyan has displaced around 70,000 people who have taken shelter in schools and abandoned homes in the adjoining Aden province, HRW said.

"Civilians are paying the price," said Joe Stork, deputy Mideast director at HRW. "Both sides need to be doing much more to protect civilians from harm."

Stork also urged the government in Sanaa to investigate laws-of-war violations committed by Yemeni forces in Abyan and prosecute those found responsible for violations that amount to war crimes.

HRW said it could not visit Abyan because of the security situation but its statement followed interviews conducted in late June in the port city of Aden with witnesses from Abyan, including some who were wounded.

In one incident described by HRW, government forces in May retaliated after a militant attack by opening fire at a crowd in the central market in Zinjibar, killing six civilians and wounding 35 others.

HRW cited an unnamed witness as saying the troops shot at people "right in front of them as if they were chickens," then chased after fleeing residents, "continuing to shoot them as they tried to escape."

The group also highlighted another incident, when Yemeni warplanes in late June fired at least two missiles at a passenger bus on a highway near Zinjibar, killing six and wounding 12.

The government later said the incident was an accident.

According to a statement on Friday by Yemen's Embassy in the United Sates, at least 70 soldiers and 50 militants have been killed in the fighting in Abyan. More than 300 soldiers and dozens of militants have been wounded, the statement said.

Military sources in Yemen meanwhile said an army officer and two of his troops were killed in an ambush by gunmen near Aden on Saturday. They said the unidentified assailants opened fire with automatic weapons on a jeep outside the town of Daleh. Apart from the military casualties, two civilians were wounded, witnesses said.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article469260.ece.

Turkey hopes for Cyprus referendum in early 2012

By REUTERS
Jul 9, 2011

NICOSIA: Turkey hopes terms for the reunification of Cyprus can be agreed by the end of the year so that a referendum can take place in early 2012, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday during a visit to the Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north of the island.

“We hope to find a solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of the year, and hold a referendum in the early months of next year so that Cyprus can take on the presidency of the EU as a new state that represents the whole island,” Davutoglu said in the divided Cypriot capital of Nicosia.

Cyprus was divided by a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. Its Greek Cypriots represent the island internationally and in the European Union, while Turkey is the only country to recognize the Turkish Cypriot state. The Cyprus dispute is a major obstacle for Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, aside from opposition from EU heavyweights France and Germany.

Greek Cypriots say Turkey cannot join the bloc until the Cyprus conflict is resolved.

The EU also expects Turkey to implement the Ankara Protocol, whereby Turkish ports and airports will be opened to traffic from Cyprus. Turkey says the EU should also end its blockade of the Turkish Cypriot enclave.

“A solution will bring real peace to the eastern Mediterranean and truly unite Europe,” Davutoglu said during the joint news conference with the president of northern Cyprus, Dervish Eroglu.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said after meeting Eroglu and Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias in Geneva on Thursday that he expected the two sides to overcome their differences by October.

Peace talks between the estranged Cypriot sides have been limping along since their re-launch in 2008. The talks are Cypriot-led, with a United Nations team acting as facilitator in the process.

But in an implicit acknowledgement that the present system had its flaws, Ban said the United Nations was prepared to offer enhanced involvement, without prejudice to the central principle that it was a Cypriot initiative.

In principle, both sides agree to reunite Cyprus as a two-zone federation, but they have been unable to reconcile differences ranging from re-drawing existing boundaries, to property claims by thousands uprooted in conflict.

Ban said in Geneva that if the sides were able to reach convergence on all core issues — defined by the UN as EU issues, economy, governance, property, security and territory — it would pave the way toward convening a final, international conference.

Territorial and broader security issues involving the roles of Cyprus’s guarantor powers - Britain, Greece and Turkey - have barely been touched in negotiations.

Any agreement the two sides reach must go to a plebiscite. In a referendum in 2004 Turkish Cypriots voted for reunification, but Greek Cypriots rejected it.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article469172.ece.

Egypt to probe 3 officers in Islamist torture death

By REUTERS
Jul 10, 2011

CAIRO: Egypt has ordered the detention and questioning of three police officers in the case of a man who relatives say was tortured to death by authorities, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday, citing Alexandria’s public prosecution.

Also on Saturday, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said in an address on state television that he ordered the interior minister to issue a decree ending the service of ministry officials and police officers accused in cases involving the killing of protesters.

Mohamed Sayyid Bilal, 32, was arrested in January after a so far unidentified bomber killed 23 people on Jan. 1 at a church in Alexandria. Bilal’s body was turned over to relatives a day later and bore signs of torture and burns, his family said.

MENA said initial investigations showed that Bilal, who was one of many Salafists — followers of strict Sunni Muslim teachings — rounded up along with others as suspects in the bombing, had no link to the attack on the church.

Egyptians have accused the government of ousted President Hosni Mubarak of failing to bring to justice those responsible for police brutality. The interim government has been under pressure to weed out corruption and hold to account those responsible for abuses.

Mubarak is due to stand trial on Aug. 3 for the killing of protesters on charges that could carry the death penalty. An emergency law in place since 1981 allows indefinite detention without charge and was used under Mubarak to crush dissent.

Sharaf said he also urged the public prosecutor to put together a team to speed up investigations into cases about the killing of protesters, and that the prosecutor had decided to appeal all acquittals that had been issued in such cases.

A UN human rights team in June urged Egypt’s interim military authorities to move quickly to lift the long-standing state of emergency and to declare that torture would no longer be tolerated.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article469314.ece.

'Sadr to use force if US overstays'

Sat Jul 9, 2011

Iraq's Sadr Movement says it would take up arms against US troops, if Washington fails to honor an agreement requiring it to withdraw all its forces from Iraq by December 31, 2011.

“We [the Sadr movement] will do our best ... to refuse these troops ... by protests and by military works,” says Salah al-Obeidi, a spokesman for the Sadr Movement, adding that “[the movement's leader] Muqtada al-Sadr has further said that we will not leave our weapons if the Americans stay in Iraq after 2011.”

“If the American troops stay in Iraq ... We will do our best to press or to put further number of our fighters to kill them,” he added.

Washington has reportedly offered Baghdad to keep up to 10,000 US forces in Iraq for at least another year. On Tuesday, the Iraqi parliamentarians petitioned the government against extending the US military presence in the country.

The appeal, signed by 100 lawmakers, warns Baghdad against the dire consequences of the continued deployment of the American troops beyond the December 31, 2011 deadline stipulated in the US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement.

The US invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of destroying alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD) belonging to the executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime.

However, it was later found that the country did not possess any WMDs at the time and that the US and Britain, which led the invasion, were well-aware of the non-existence of such weapons in Iraq.

Over one million Iraqis have been killed as a result of the occupation, according to a study by the credible British polling group, Opinion Research Business.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188345.html.

Bahrain targets athletes, students: BCHR

Sat Jul 9, 2011

The Bahraini regime has systematically targeted famous athletes as well as university students for practicing their legitimate right to peaceful protests, a rights group says.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) says that more than 150 athletes have been targeted with arrests, military trials, prison sentences as well as suspensions from sport activities for expressing their dissatisfaction with the Bahraini Al Khalifa regime through peaceful protests.

The crackdown came as Naser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the king's son and the head of the Higher Council for Youth and Sports ordered the formation of an investigation committee into the alleged anti-regime activities of the athletes.

The friends and relatives of the Bahraini footballers say the players were beaten up and subjected to long interrogations and humiliation in custody.

"The men who were beating them were not Bahraini. They didn't care who they were," a friend of the players told Times on the condition of anonymity.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights have also expressed deep concerns for continuing and escalating systematic targeting of university students by the regime as well as the Ministry of Education.

So far, some 400 students have been reportedly expelled in less than two months, the BCHR said.

Local rights groups added that many of the students are Shia Muslims.

Since mid-February, Bahraini protesters have been holding anti-government protests demanding an end to the rule of Al Khalifa dynasty which they say has instituted despotic governance, discrimination and the suppression of any dissent.

The US-backed regime, which has ruled the Persian Gulf country for over 40 years, has met the popular protests with a brutal crackdown that has left scores dead and many more arrested.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188304.html.

South Sudan celebrates birth with raising of flag

July 09, 2011 — JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan celebrated its first day as an independent nation Saturday, raising its flag before tens of thousands of cheering citizens elated to reach the end of a 50-year struggle.

U.S. President Barack Obama called the day a new dawn after the darkness of war, while visiting dignitaries offered both congratulations and prodding for South Sudan and its former ruler, Sudan, to avoid a return to conflict over serious and unresolved disagreements.

"The eyes of the world are now on us," said South Sudan President Salva Kiir, who was inaugurated during a scorching midday ceremony. Kiir stressed that the people of South Sudan must advance their country together, and unite as countrymen first, casting aside allegiances to the dozens of tribes that reside here.

Saturday meant that South Sudan and its black tribesmen would for the first time be linked politically with sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya and Uganda are already laying strong economic ties with their northern neighbor, an oil-rich country that may one day ship its oil to a Kenyan port, instead of through the pipelines controlled by Khartoum.

"From today our identity is southern and African, not Arabic and Muslim," read a hand-painted sign that one man carried as he walked through the crowds. South Sudan first celebrated its new status with a a raucous street party at midnight. At a packed midday ceremony, the speaker of parliament read a proclamation of independence as the flag of Sudan was lowered and the flag of South Sudan was raised, sparking wild cheers from a crowd tens of thousands strong.

"Hallelujah!" one resident yelled, as other onlookers wiped away tears. The U.S. and Britain, among others, announced their recognition of South Sudan as a sovereign nation. "A proud flag flies over Juba and the map of the world has been redrawn," Obama said in a statement. "These symbols speak to the blood that has been spilled, the tears that have been shed, the ballots that have been cast, and the hopes that have been realized by so many millions of people."

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, a deeply unpopular man in Juba, arrived to a mixture of boos and murmurs. He stood beside Kiir and smiled during the ceremony, and said in a speech that he respected the south's choice to secede, even as he prodded Obama "to meet his promsie and lift the sanctions imposed on Sudan."

The U.S. has promised economic and political rewards to Khartoum if it allows the south to secede peacefully, but military standoffs in the contested border region of Abyei and new fighting in South Kordofan — a state in Sudan with many south-supporting residents — risk new north-south conflict. The U.S. has indicated that those issues need to be resolved before normalization of relations occur.

Obama said that South Sudan and Sudan must recognize that they will be more secure and prosperous if they move beyond past differences peacefully. He said the 2005 peace deal must be full implemented and the status of Abyei resolved.

In Khartoum, the former capital of the south, newspaper headlines bid goodbye, with one saying: "Time to Let Go." "Today we have decided it is time to move forward toward the future," wrote Adil Al-Baz, the editor of Al-Ahdath independent daily. "Great people make use of big events to create new opportunities."

The black African tribes of South Sudan and the mainly Arab north battled two civil wars over more than five decades, and some 2 million died in the latest war, from 1983-2005. It culminated in a 2005 peace deal that led to Saturday's independence declaration.

Thousands of South Sudanese poured into the ceremonial arena when gates opened. Traditional dancers drummed in the streets as residents waved tiny flags. Activists from the western Sudan region of Darfur, which has suffered heavy violence the past decades, held up a sign that said "Bashir is wanted dead or alive." Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur.

"Wow, this is a great day for me because it's a day that reflects the suffering that all southerners have had for almost 50 years," said David Aleu, a 24-year-old medical student. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and the American envoy at Saturday's celebration, urged South Sudan residents and leaders to build a country worthy of the sacrifice of all the lives lost during the five decades of conflict.

"Independence was not a gift you were given. Independence is a prize you have won," she said. "Yet even on this day of jubilee we remain mindful of the challenges that await us. No true friend would offer false comfort. The path ahead will be steep ... but the Republic of South Sudan is being born amid great hopes."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointedly noted that Sudan and South Sudan have not yet resolved the status of Abyei, where northern and southern troops are standing off. He called for consultations in South Kordofan, where northern troops are attacking southern supporters.

"Let their differences be resolved around the negotiating table," Ban said. South Sudan is expected to become the 193rd country recognized by the United Nations next week and the 54th U.N. member state in Africa.

It follows on the heels of East Timor in 2002 and Montenegro in 2006 which quickly became full-fledged members of the United Nations after being recognized by the vast majority of the international community within a few weeks or months of independence. Kosovo, however, declared its independence in 2008 and is recognized by 76 nations, but is still waiting to be recognized by the U.N.

Though Saturday was a day of celebration, residents of South Sudan must soon face many challenges. Their country is oil-rich but is one of the poorest and least-developed on Earth. The 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) north-south border is disputed in five areas, several of which are being illegally occupied by either northern or southern troops.

The young government must also begin delivering basic needs such as education, health services, water and electricity to its more than 8 million citizens. While South Sudan is now expected to control of more than 75 percent of what was Sudan's daily oil production, it has no refineries and southern oil must flow through the north's pipelines to reach market.

But for Saturday, at least, those problems lay on the back burner. Smiles, singing and dancing instead took precedence. "I'm very grateful to see many people from other countries," said 22-year-old Adut Monica Joseph. "I'm appreciating that they have come to celebrate with us. I hope when we have independence we shall have freedom and education for women."

Associated Press writer Jason Straziuso in Nairobi, Kenya and Mohamed Osman in Khartoum, Sudan contributed to this report.

Iran says fires missiles to Indian Ocean for first time

By REUTERS
Jul 9, 2011

TEHRAN: Iran said on Saturday it test-fired two long-range missiles into the Indian Ocean earlier this year, the first time it has fired missiles into that sea, according to state television.

“In the month of Bahman (Jan 21-Feb 19) two missiles with a range of 1,900 km (1,180 miles) were fired from Semnan province(in northern Iran) into the mouth of the Indian Ocean,” Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division, told a news conference some of which was shown on television.

Iran usually tests its missiles in extensive deserts in the heart of the country, so the firing into the Indian Ocean is an unusual move, aimed to prove Tehran’s longstanding claims it can hit targets beyond its borders.

Television showed a missile being fired but the announcer did not specify if the pictures were of the Indian Ocean test-firing. No pictures were shown of a target being hit at sea.

The announcement came after a 10-day military exercise by the elite Guards that was designed to deter Iran’s enemies by showing Iran is ready and able to hit back at US bases in the Middle East and at Israel.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military strikes on Iran if necessary to stop it getting nuclear weapons.

Iran says it has home-made missiles with a range of 2,000 km, designed specifically to hit US interests and Israel. But it denies it is seeking nuclear bombs and the means to deliver them.

Analysts have often doubted Iran’s claims of technological progress in its defense industry which is under tight international sanctions due to western concerns it is seeking nuclear weapons capability.

Hajizadeh said US spy planes were operating in the area where the missiles hit. “It is interesting that they did not publicize it,” he said.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article468984.ece.

Egypt, US recognize new state of South Sudan

By REUTERS
Jul 9, 2011

CAIRO/WASHINGTON: Egypt and the United States declared their recognition of the state of South Sudan on Saturday after its split from the north.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed el-Orabi announced Egypt’s support for the new state following that of the Khartoum-based government of Sudan, which was the first to recognize South Sudan on Friday, a few hours before it formally became a new country at midnight.

Egypt has watched the split warily. It depends on the Nile’s water to survive and the creation of South Sudan adds a new state on that river. East African states have argued to review colonial-era quotas for the use of Nile water.

Orabi was speaking after his arrival in Juba, the south’s capital, the official Egyptian news agency MENA reported.

The Cairo-based Arab League said South Sudan had the right to join the league, Egypt’s state television reported.

Obama hails birth of a new nation

In Washington, President Barack Obama hailed the “birth of a new nation” but stopped short of announcing any immediate changes in longstanding US sanctions on Sudan itself that Khartoum has been hoping will be lifted.

Obama’s statement came amid jubilant celebrations in Juba, capital of the new Republic of South Sudan, an under-developed oil producer. It won its independence in a January referendum — the climax of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north.

“I am proud to declare that the United States formally recognizes the Republic of South Sudan as a sovereign and independent state upon this day, July 9, 2011,” Obama said. “Today is a reminder that after the darkness of war, the light of a new dawn is possible.”

But serious tensions remain between north and south and the fractured region now heads into a new period of uncertainty.

Northern and southern leaders have still not agreed on a list of issues, most importantly the line of the border, the ownership of the disputed Abyei region and how they will handle oil revenues, the lifeblood of both economies.

Obama made clear that more work needed to be done.

“Lasting peace will only be realized if all sides fulfill their responsibilities,” he said. “The Comprehensive Peace Agreement must be fully implemented, the status of Abyei must be resolved through negotiations, and violence and intimidation in Southern Kordofan, especially by the government of Sudan, must end.”

The Obama administration’s strategy has been to offer Khartoum financial and diplomatic incentives in return for completing the north-south split in an orderly way.

But Obama made no specific promises as he welcomed South Sudan’s independence and pledged US partnership with the new nation in efforts toward security, development and good governance.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said South Sudan’s independence marked an opportunity for Khartoum to demonstrate its commitment to resolving outstanding problems.

“By continuing on the path of peace, the government of Sudan can redefine its relationship with the international community and secure a more prosperous future for its people,” Clinton said in a statement.

Washington has had a trade embargo on Sudan since 1997 and also lists the country as a state sponsor for terrorism. Khartoum has been hoping Washington would end all sanctions, normalize diplomatic relations and remove Sudan from the terrorism blacklist.

But US officials remain concerned about the Sudanese government’s harsh handling of insurgencies in its Darfur and South Kordofan regions.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article468987.ece.