Russians stage 'Day of Rage' protests

Sun Apr 10, 2011

In Russia, the opposition has held “Day of Rage” anti-government protests to demand political reform, fair elections and an end to corruption.

Hundreds participated in the rallies held in Moscow on Sunday. Protesters say corruption threatens the Russian society and needs to be stopped before it would destroy the country, a Press TV correspondent reported.

“We want the authorities to see that citizens are angry at lack of self government and lack of control over the action of officials. The situation leads to enormous corruption and social injustice,” Left Front movement coordinator Sergei Udaltsov told Press TV.

After the rally, some attempted to march with their demands towards the Presidential Administration. The march was banned by city authorities and six activists were detained by police, including Udaltsov, Reuters reported.

Protesters say the average bribe in Russia is USD 136,000, while 90 percent of all bribe takers walk free. They are demanding anti-corruption investigations and an independent judiciary, saying that the earnings and expenses of officials should be controlled.

“Corruption has a systematic nature in Russia. It's part of the leaders' policy, and maybe the aim of their policy. Experts estimate corruption is worth USD 300 billion. That's how much our people, country and the economy loose every year,” Gennady Gudkov of the Russia State Duma Security Committee told Press TV.

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a clampdown on corruption after taking office three years ago. Transparency International has ranked Russia at 154 on its level of corruption out of 178 countries.

The organizers say this demonstration is the first in a series of rallies, marches and conferences to be held in key Russia cities.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174126.html.

Spaniards protest against ETA in Madrid

Sun Apr 10, 2011

Tens of thousands of protesters have staged a rally in Madrid to show their anger at the Spanish government's "submission" to the Basque separatist group ETA.

Demonstrators shouted "no more lies" and "no more fake ceasefires" and carried Spanish flags and banners reading "ETA barred from elections" after the separatists launched a new party to field pro-independence candidates in May 22 elections, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday.

On Feb. 7, the separatists formed Sortu -- a Basque socialist political party -- in an attempt to represent pro-independence candidates in the upcoming regional and municipal elections.

The party's legal status was refuted by the Spanish Supreme Court on March 24 on the grounds that the new political group is just a new iteration of ETA's political wing, Batasuna, which has been banned since 2003.

However, the chances for the Basque separatists are not written off as they can appeal to the constitutional Court and keep their hopes alive to compete in the elections.

ETA on January 10 declared a "permanent ceasefire" to be verified by the international community. The group has called 11 truces throughout its history of separatism.

Meanwhile, the organizers of the rally "Voices Against Terrorism" along with 30 others accused socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of being deferential to ETA and called on him to resign.

They also urged the government to scrap any decision to commute the prison terms for ETA members as well as a ban of any political party that has ETA sympathizers among its members.

Founded in 1958, ETA has been blamed for more than 825 deaths in campaign for independence in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174151.html.

France bans burqa but tolerates nudity

Wed Apr 13, 2011

The recent move by France to impose a ban on burqa, a cover-all headdress some Muslim women choose to wear, has come in contrast with the country's tolerance of public nudity.

The ban came into force on Monday and was followed by immediate arrest of nearly 60 women that defied the ban by walking outside the famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, reported a Press TV correspondent from the French capital.

A recently-surfaced video, meanwhile, featured a naked male running around the country's streets while trying to cut a figure as a pole vaulter.

Kenza Drider, a young Muslim that left the southern city of Avignon for Paris to participate in a television program on the day the ban became law, was among the detainees.

"This law infringes my European rights; I cannot but defend them, that is to say my freedom to come and go and my religious freedom," she said.

"This law breaches these rights," said the mother of four.

Her husband, Allal, said, "According to this law, my wife would have to remain cloistered at home, do you find that normal?”

“They come here for their liberty for their freedom to dress as they want. I thank them to come here to defend this form of liberty,” said a female supporter of the Muslim women.

“I think the law is nonsense. Politicians have nothing better to do than attack our veils,” said another Muslim woman that had taken his child out while observing the Islamic dress code in spite of the restriction.

Advocates of the ban in country that purportedly advocates democracy and basic freedoms say the regulation protects women's freedoms as well as France's firmly-embedded principles of secularism.

“Quite a large part of the people believe that the women are weak. So they think that the republic has to protect the minorities, the people, who are weak and then they thought that it was necessary to make a law,” said Velentine Zuber, religious practices professor at Sorbonne -- the University of Paris.

Based on the procedures dictated by the burqa ban, the police would take the female violators to a police station until they consents to be unveiled for identification.

A spokesperson for the police officers' union warily stated that the police have many other problems to solve.

There are fewer than 2,000 women wearing a full-face veil in France, which is home to five million Muslims -- the largest Muslim community in the EU.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174611.html.

Iceland rejects debt repayment plan

Sun Apr 10, 2011

Voters in Iceland have rejected the latest plan to repay EUR 3.9 billion (USD 5.6 billion) worth of deposits in a failed online bank to The Netherlands and UK.

Partial results of a national poll show that 57 percent of Icelanders voted against the plan on Sunday. British and Dutch governments had compensated some 400,000 citizens who lost their savings when Iceland's Landsbanki (Icesave) collapsed in 2008, AFP reported.

The Netherlands and Britain expressed dissatisfaction, and said they are prepared to bring the dispute to the European Free Trade Association court.

Icelandic lawmakers in February backed a repayment plan they had worked on for more than two years. It had been agreed upon by creditors, but the president refused to sign the bill, leading to the referendum.

The agreement would have allowed Iceland to gradually repay its debt at a 3.0 percent interest rate for the EUR 1.3 billion it owes to The Netherlands and the remainder at a 3.3 percent interest rate to Britain until the year 2046.

The amount to be repaid by the Icelandic citizens was calculated to be around EUR 12,000 per person before interest, for a nation with a population of 320,000.

Iceland's Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson said the voters' decision would not affect the country's existing debt repayments nor would it derail its efforts for membership in the European Union.

A previous repayment deal was also rejected by a 93 percent majority in another referendum last year.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174121.html.

Italy urges arming anti-Gaddafi forces

Wed Apr 13, 2011

Italy has called on the international community to arm Libyan revolutionaries in efforts to aid their fight against the country's embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

"The discussion about arming the rebels is definitely on the table ... to defend themselves," AFP quoted Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari as saying on Wednesday.

Massari stressed that the measure is not against UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1973, which states that "all necessary measures" should be used to protect civilians.

His comments come as members of the Libya Contact Group gather in Qatar's capital of Doha for talks on the Libyan conflict.

"We want some sort of oil-for-food program like in Iraq," Massari explained.

But Belgium's foreign minister said his country was opposed to the plan and that arms were not covered by UNSC Resolution 1973.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also lent voice to his Belgian counterpart, saying that he sees no military solution to the crisis in Libya.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi's former allies, the United States, Britain, France, Canada, Denmark and Belgium have launched airstrikes on Libya since March 19, under the same mandate.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174588.html.

Gbagbo under house arrest: Report

Wed Apr 13, 2011

Ivory Coast's deposed President Laurent Gbagbo has been placed under house arrest, a statement by the government of president-elect Alassane Ouattara says.

The Tuesday statement, however, did not disclose where Gbagbo is being held, Xinhua reported.

On Monday, forces loyal to Ouattara -- backed by French and UN troops -- stormed Gbagbo's residence in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan.

Gbagbo was captured by Ouattara's troops after a fierce battle, and moved to his rival's headquarters, the Golf Hotel.

Earlier, the UN said the Ivorian deposed president was still in the hotel and had not been moved.

Meanwhile, Gbagbo's former Army Chief Philippe Mangou has urged Ivorian security and police personnel to back Ouattara.

Ouattara is internationally recognized as the winner of the November 28 presidential run-off last year. However, Gbagbo has refused to cede power.

Tensions further escalated after they both claimed victory and appointed separate cabinets.

Hundreds of people have been killed since the controversial presidential election in Ivory Coast.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174546.html.

Iran pres. envisions US-Israel free ME

Wed Apr 13, 2011

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has envisaged a new Middle East without the United States and Israel amid the duo's 'ploys to spark an Iranian-Arabian Shia-Sunni conflict.'

“A new Middle East will emerge without the presence of the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel) and their allies in the near future,” said President Ahmadinejad in an address to thousands of people in the southeastern city of Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

He denounced the US imperialism in the region and added, “Regional governments and nations should remain vigilant to overcome US plots and to not play in the US court.”

The Iranian chief executive emphasized that Israel is nearing its end and pointed out, “Regional nations have awakened but the global arrogance intends to sow discord among countries in the region.”

He said regional nations, particularly the Iranian nation, are disaffected by the “colonialist and arrogant” plans of the US and its allies.

“The Iranian people and regional nations are unhappy with the existence of the Zionist regime (Israel) and are against it. They will continue their fight until the defeat of the US and Zionist regime in the region,” the Iranian president reiterated.

He said the bullying powers have been the main supporters of all dictators for the past 50 years, adding that they are currently seeking to sow dissension among regional people in an attempt to save Israel.

President Ahmadinejad warned against efforts by the bullying powers to disintegrate Jordan, saying that they are hatching the plot to claim that two governments will be formed.

He called on all regional countries to keep a watchful eye on such conspiracies and emphasized, “You should know that regional nations will never ever recognize the Zionist regime.”

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174570.html.

'West using depleted uranium in Libya'

Wed Apr 13, 2011

Western coalition forces have been using depleted uranium in their airstrikes on crisis-hit Libya, says an expert, despite the forces' denial of using the highly-poisonous metal.

Conn Hallinan, a columnist with Foreign Policy in Focus, told Russia Today news network on Wednesday that after examining the impact wounds left on tanks in Libya, he is almost certain that depleted uranium is being utilized.

“Politically, it's a bad idea. Medically, it's an extremely bad idea. It's just one of those things that's an effective weapon that you have to step away from,” he went on to say.

He added that given the amount of depleted uranium in the hands of Washington, the US military is going to only further saturate foreign battlefields with the toxic metal for years to come.

Depleted uranium has a half-life of 4.5 billion years and has thus earned the title “The silent killer that will never stop killing” in troubled Libya.

Shells, bombs and cruise missiles tipped with depleted uranium and tungsten easily pierce through heavy armor and fortifications.

Air, water and soil are also contaminated when such weapons are used.

Dr. Doug Rokke, the ex-director of the Pentagon's Depleted Uranium Project, says there is no way to totally decontaminate an area hit with uranium.

Serious long-term health problems caused by the use of depleted uranium in bombs can range from cancer to leukemia and genetic mutations.

The United Nations has prohibited the manufacture, testing, use, sale and stockpiling of depleted uranium weapons.

The US dropped thousands of depleted uranium bombs on the Iraq city of Fallujah in 2003, which killed thousands of people.

A great proportion of all births in Fallujah since the strike have suffered from abnormalities and the rate of mutation among newborns is higher than what was found in Japan after America attacked the Asian country during the Second World War.

US, British, French, Canadian, Danish and Belgian warplanes have launched strikes on Libya since March 19 under UN Security Council Resolution 1973 that authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

This is while Libya continues to be struck with the conflict between revolutionaries and forces loyal to the North African country's embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi.

AFP says that Gaddafi's forces have killed at least 10,000 people during the ongoing fighting; and Libya's National Transition Council said Tuesday that another 30,000 were wounded and 20,000 more are still missing.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174566.html.

'Gaddafi forces killed 10,000 in Libya'

Tue Apr 12, 2011

Forces loyal to embattled Libyan ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have killed at least 10,000 people during the ongoing fighting in the North African country, the opposition says.

Libya's National Transition Council said on Tuesday that another 30,000 were wounded and 20,000 more are still missing, AFP reported.

The revolutionary council, headed by Libya's former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, plans to lead the country to an election.

Jalil was among the first high-profile Libyan figures to join protesters following Gaddafi regime's brutal crackdown on the opposition.

The developments come as there are grave concerns regarding the humanitarian situation and the safety of civilians in the city of Misrata which is under siege by Gaddafi's forces.

Misratah has been the scene of heavy bombardments for more than a month now, with fighting reaching its central parts.

Meanwhile, the Western coalition says it has destroyed over 20 tanks belonging to forces loyal to Gaddafi over the weekend.

Libya's state-run television says a NATO airstrike on the town of Kikla has killed a number of civilians and police members.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Libya since the Western military alliance launched aerial and sea attacks on the North African country.

Human rights groups say Libyan troops have also killed thousands of civilians since a revolution started against Colonel Gaddafi in mid-February.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174468.html.

Mubarak, sons detained for two weeks

Wed Apr 13, 2011

Ailing deposed 82-year-old Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons have reportedly been arrested and placed in detention for 15 days.

Egypt's top prosecutor, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, authorized the detentions "as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters during the unrest in January and February,” AFP reported Wednesday.

Mubarak's arrest was announced shortly after state media reported his two sons, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, had been detained over accusations of embezzlement of public funds.

They are also accused to have ordered the use of fire against demonstrators during anti-government protests, which finally drove Mubarak from power.

Almost 800 people died during the Egyptian revolution, according to AFP.

On Tuesday, Mubarak was hospitalized in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh soon after he suffered a heart attack during an investigation by Egypt's Justice Minister Mohamed el-Guindy.

In an interview with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel, Mubarak had said he was prepared to aid any probe into his family's assets outside Egypt, but threatened to sue his accusers.

Mubarak's younger son Gamal was the head of the higher political committee of the country's former ruling party and was believed to be the heir to his father's decades-long iron-fisted rule.

Outrage at corruption among government officials was one of the incentives for the Egyptians to revolt against Mubarak's regime.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174536.html.

Japan building foreign spy service: WikiLeaks

February 21, 2011

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan is setting up its first fully-fledged post-war foreign spy service, modeled on the CIA and Britain's MI6, according to a classified US cable obtained by WikiLeaks, a report said Monday.

The new intelligence service aims to spy on China and North Korea and to gather information to prevent terrorist attacks, said Australia's Sydney Morning Herald, citing a US cable WikiLeaks exclusively provided to the daily.

The espionage unit is being created under the wing of Japan's top intelligence agency, the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (Naicho), which reports to the prime minister, the Herald said.

Then-Naicho director Hideshi Mitani revealed in 2008 that a "human intelligence collection capability" was a priority, in talks with then head of the US State Department's bureau of intelligence and research, Randall Fort.

Two former Japanese prime ministers of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Aso, had kicked off the project, according to a secret cable to Washington from the US embassy in Tokyo.

"The decision has been made to go very slowly with this process as the Japanese realize that they lack knowledge, experience, and assets/officers," the US embassy cable said, according to the Herald.

"A training process for new personnel will be started soon."

Japanese officials had told Fort that Japan's most pressing intelligence priorities were "China and North Korea, as well as on collecting intelligence information to prevent terrorist attacks".

Fort had urged Japanese officials to tap "underutilized assets" in the worldwide network of Japanese businesses and trading companies.

An expert on intelligence issues in Japan, who asked not to be named, told AFP that Japan does not yet have an operational "human intelligence branch".

Japan does not seek to recruit foreign nationals as agents or informants, the expert said, instead relying on Japanese businessmen and journalists abroad to gather intelligence, paying them out of "secret funds" controlled by the foreign ministry and cabinet office.

Obama declares himself candidate for re-election

By Jeff Mason and Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 4, 2011

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama declared himself a candidate for re-election in 2012 on Monday, jumping ahead of a slow-starting Republican field and hoping an economic recovery will boost his case for a new term.

Obama's announcement, made through an email and video sent to supporters, set in motion a plan to tap donors and raise as much as $1 billion, which would shatter the $750 million campaign finance record he set in 2008.

Five months after his Democrats were routed by Republicans in November congressional elections, Obama looks in fairly good shape for re-election when paired against any of a group of potential Republican challengers.

It is early yet. The economic recovery has picked up pace in recent weeks but could be slowed by rising gasoline prices or any number of unpredictable events in the next 18 months, such as an unexpected expansion of the Libya conflict.

The stubbornly high jobless rate was the leading factor in Republican victories last November and Americans weigh the state of their pocketbooks far more than anything else when they vote. The jobless rate has dropped a full percentage point to 8.8 percent in the last five months.

"If the economy does chug along the way it is now a lot of people may be more comfortable going with Obama," said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri.

Obama became the first black U.S. president in 2009, and scored big legislative victories when Congress approved reforms of healthcare and financial regulation laws last year. But the economy has been slow to recover from recession despite a stimulus package of more than $800 billion.

Obama's path to re-election will depend greatly on how he fares with independent voters, who were crucial to his 2008 victory but who abandoned Democrats last November.

The president has adopted a more centrist tone in recent months in response to that midterm election loss, emphasizing his desire to work with both Democrats and Republicans.

While the president is publicly trying to distance himself from politicking, his every move now will be viewed through a re-election prism, such as two trips he is taking this week to states that he won in 2008 and will need in 2012: Pennsylvania and Indiana.

Obama said in an email to supporters that he was filing papers to start his re-election bid in a formal way.

"So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today," he said in the email.

"WE AREN'T FINISHED"

He has been sounding the themes of his campaign in fund-raising speeches, telling Democratic loyalists, "the promise that we made to the American people has been kept. But we aren't finished. We've got more work to do."

Republicans acknowledge it will be a difficult task to defeat an incumbent Democratic president. Only two incumbents have been defeated in the last 30 years -- Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.

"Obama's the favorite, but 18 months in advance, you'd be foolish to call anybody a lock," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia.

Several Republicans are willing to try, including former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, both of whom are planning campaigns.

Reacting to Obama's announcement, Pawlenty released a 35-second video of his own highlighting high unemployment, weakness in the housing market and surging federal debt.

"How can America win the future, when we're losing the present?" Pawlenty asks in the video. "In order for America to take a new direction, it's going to take a new president."

The Republican field is off to a slow start as potential candidates work quietly to build networks of donors and supporters and visit early voting states. By holding off on campaign announcements, they are saving money that will be needed in the months ahead.

Early polls show Obama leading potential Republican rivals. The first scheduled debate of the Republican nominating race was postponed last week from May until September because of a lack of candidates.

Events taking place now in Washington may play a role in the campaign battle to come. Republicans elected on pledges to cut government spending are attempting significant reductions that Democrats oppose.

If the two parties cannot find common ground, it could force a government shutdown that the White House says could hurt the nascent economic recovery.

(Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/04/us-usa-election-obama-idUSTRE7312G620110404.

Tennessee backs off anti-Shariah bill

NASHVILLE, March 23 (UPI) -- Tennessee legislators are amending an anti-terrorism bill to remove constitutionally questionable language targeting Muslim Shariah law.

The sponsors, Sen. Bill Ketron and Speaker Pro Tempore Judd Matheny, told The (Nashville) Tennessean Tuesday they are rewriting it to delete all references to religion after its constitutionality was questioned.

The new text drops language that branded Shariah a "legal-political-military doctrinal system" that promotes "the abrogation, destruction, or violation of the United States and Tennessee constitutions ... through violence and criminal activity."

"It is about protecting our citizens from those who would use religious doctrine as a justification to commit criminal activities or terrorist acts," Matheny said.

The Material Support to Designated Entities Act of 2011 echoes a federal law that authorizes the U.S. Treasury freeze the assets of designated terrorist groups.

The Tennessee bill would authorize the governor and the state attorney general to identify terrorist organizations and make it a felony to support one, punishable by life in prison.

Mohamed Ahmed, imam of the Islamic Center of Nashville, welcomed the removal of language targeting Muslims but questioned the need for a state law when the federal government already has broad powers to fight terrorism.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/23/Tennessee-backs-off-anti-Shariah-bill/UPI-45961300899047/.

Protests against Shimon Peres in England

31-03-2011

Al Qassam website - Scores of Brits gathered outside Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London to protest the institute's reception of Israeli President Shimon Peres to mark 60 years of Israeli-British diplomatic ties.

Protesters shouted pro-Palestinian calls and condemned Israeli policies concerning Palestinians and called Peres a war criminal. They also demanded that Peres be arrested.

Zahir Beirawi, the spokesman of the Palestinian forum in Britain, one of the organizations behind the demonstrations, said the protests came to object that a war criminal would be allowed into the capital of England and to condemn Chatham House's invitation to have him give a lecture on the relations between Israel and the UK.

Beirawi added that the semi-official position of Chatham House encourages Israel to proceed in its crimes against the Palestinians.

”The time has come for this government to be honest with itself and its people and to stop giving Israel a cover for its crimes,” he said.

Peres began his visit to England Tuesday and arrived from Switzerland where he received condemnation by several rights groups who demanded he be arrested for war crimes committed during the 2008-2009 war on Gaza.

Source: Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades - Information Office.
Link: http://qassam.ps/news-4353-Protests_against_Shimon_Peres_in_England.html.

Company planning biggest rocket since man on moon

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer – Tue Apr 5

WASHINGTON – A high-tech entrepreneur unveiled plans Tuesday to launch the world's most powerful rocket since man went to the moon.

Space Exploration Technology has already sent the first private rocket and capsule into Earth's orbit as a commercial venture. It is now planning a rocket that could lift twice as much cargo into orbit as the soon-to-be-retired space shuttle.

The first launch is slotted for 2013 from California with follow-up launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Space X's new rocket called Falcon Heavy is big enough to send cargo or even people out of Earth's orbit to the moon, an asteroid or Mars. Only the long retired Saturn V rocket that sent men to the moon was bigger.

"This is a rocket of truly huge scale," said Space X president Elon Musk, who also founded PayPal and manufactures electric sports cars.

The Falcon Heavy could put 117,000 pounds into the same orbit as the International Space Station. The space shuttle hauls about 54,000 pounds into orbit. The old Saturn V could carry more than 400,000 pounds of cargo.

The old Soviet Union had a giant moon rocket bigger than the Falcon Heavy, but it failed in all four launch attempts. Another Soviet rocket, also bigger than Falcon Heavy and designed to launch its version of the space shuttle, had one successful flight more than 20 years ago.

While the new Space X rocket is designed initially for cargo, it satisfies NASA's current safety requirements for carrying humans and after several launches could carry people too, Musk said. He has said that if NASA does buy rides on commercial rockets, he would be able to fly astronauts to the space station in his smaller Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule within three years.

Potential customers for the new larger rocket are NASA, the military, other governments and satellite makers.

Musk said Falcon Heavy will be far cheaper than government or private rockets. Launches are about $100 million each. He said the Air Force pays two older more established aerospace firms about $435 million for each of its launches. Over its 40 year design history, the space shuttle program has cost about $1.5 billion per launch, according to a study by the University of Colorado and an Associated Press analysis of NASA budgets.

Musk, who has a contract to supply the space station with cargo using the smaller Falcon 9, said his pricing is more fixed than traditional aerospace firms. He joked: "We believe in everyday low prices."

To get costs that low, Musk said he needs to launch about four Falcon Heavy rockets a year but plans on launching about 10. He doesn't have a paying customer for his first launch, but is in negotiations with NASA and other customers for flights after his company proves the new rocket flies.

"It would be great if it works, if it's safe," said Henry Lambright, a professor of public policy and space scholar at Syracuse University. "I don't want to come across as skeptical, but I am."

Lambright said companies have often made big claims about private space without doing much. But, he added, Musk has some credibility because of his successful Falcon 9.

If Musk's plans work, it will give President Barack Obama's space policy a needed boost, Lambright said. Obama has been battling some in Congress over his plans to use more private space companies, like Space X, for getting people to orbit with NASA concentrating on missions to send astronauts to new places, such as nearby asteroids.

Several companies are vying to launch private rockets that could replace the shuttle. NASA is now paying Russia to send astronauts to and from the space station on Soyuz spacecraft.

Howard McCurdy, a space policy expert at American University, said of Musk: "If he's not in the lead, he's well positioned for the finish."

McCurdy said NASA's space shuttle was a technological marvel, but had a bad business model and wasn't cost effective. He said Musk, who is using his own money in his privately held firm, has incentive to be more financially savvy.

Iran plans to promote ties with EU, regional states

TEHRAN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi announced Wednesday the Islamic Republic is planning to promote relations with regional and Islamic countries as well as the European Union (EU) members states in the new Iranian calendar year started on March 21.

Salehi said that there has, recently, been some "good efforts" from Iran's side to enhance relations with the neighboring states, Islamic world and the European Union.

"Of course, there are some challenges to this end, but Iran is planning to overcome these difficulties," Salehi said at local satellite Press TV.

About ongoing changes in the region and Iran's foreign policy in this regard, Salehi said that Iran's Foreign Ministry is to develop a program on the basis of the new developments in the Middle East region and this program will benefit both Iran and the Islamic nations.

In such a condition, Tehran is determined to promote relations with neighboring countries, particularly with the Muslim states, according to Press TV.

Iran's plans are sketched out in a way to serve the interests of Iran and Muslim countries and against arrogant powers which pursue nothing but enmity with nations, said the report.

Among the regional states, Salehi specifically referred to relations with the influential Arab state of Egypt and said Wednesday that Tehran welcomes resumption of diplomatic ties with Cairo. The Egyptians strived to materialize their justice seeking moves which was regarded as a new chapter in the country's history, Salehi was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

"There have been many ups and downs in the two countries' relations and we hope that under the new conditions we will witness further expansion of relations between the two great nations," Salehi said.

There is no doubt that good ties between Iran and Egypt would help restore stability, security and development to the entire region, Salehi said, according to the report.

"We hope to witness the expansion of relations between the Iranian and Egyptian nations ... in the emerging new era," according to Press TV.

Egypt's new Foreign Minister Nabil el-Arabi said Wednesday that the Egyptian government does not consider Iran as an enemy and is ready to open a new chapter with Iran.

Egypt and Iran do not have full diplomatic relations since Iran 's 1979 Islamic revolution, when Iran cut ties after Egypt gave asylum to the deposed Iranian Shah in Cairo and made peace with Israel.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/30/c_13805883.htm.

Archaeologists discover saber-toothed vegetarian

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer – Thu Mar 24

WASHINGTON – Surprised scientists have discovered the remains of a saber-toothed vegetarian. The leaf-crunching animal — about the size of a large dog — lived 260 million years ago in what is now Brazil, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science. Its upper canine teeth were nearly 5 inches long.

Such large teeth are more often the mark of a meat-eating animal, used to capture and kill prey.

The enormous canines were likely used by the plant-eating animals to fight each other or protect against predators, said research leader Juan Carlos Cisneros of the University of Piaui in northeastern Brazil.

For example, they might have fought for territory, resources or females, like the modern musk deer, which also have a pair of large, tusklike teeth, he said via email.

"These situations are extremely important for the survival of an individual and the success of a species," he said. Discovering animals like this "shows us how nature is extremely creative in providing solutions for several life tasks."

In addition to its saber shaped fangs, the newly discovered animal named Tiarajudens eccentricus (tee-AH-ruh-HOO-denz ek-SIN-trik-us) had rows of teeth on the roof of its mouth for chewing, the researchers said. The lower jaw was incomplete, but they expect it would have had similar rows of teeth.

Tiarajudens was part of a group of animals known as anomodonts, sometimes called "mammal-like reptiles" and a major plant eater of their time.

The discovery provides novel insights into early tooth differences in these ancient animals and the evolution of plant eating and its complex social interactions, commented Joerg Froebisch of Humboldt University in Berlin, who was not part of Cisneros' research team.

The evolution of saber teeth is exceedingly uncommon in plant-eating animals, said Froebisch, calling the canines in the Brazilian anomodont "extraordinary."

He said the animal seems to belong to a new, unusual group of anomodonts that lived on the ancient southern supercontinent now called Gondwana. Before drift formed the present continents, Gondwana included what is now Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar and Australia.

India's tiger population 'on the rise'

Sat Mar 26

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India's tiger population has increased for the first time in decades, a newspaper said on Saturday, citing a national tiger census report slated to be released next week.

According to the 2009-10 tiger census report, the number roaming India has jumped to 1,510-1,550 from 1,411 in 2004-05, The Indian Express newspaper said.

The newspaper report came ahead of an international tiger conservation conference due to open on Monday in the Indian capital New Delhi.

India is home to more than half of the world's rapidly dwindling wild tiger population, but its conservation program, said by the government to be the world's most comprehensive, has been struggling to halt the big cat's decline.

Tiger conservationists welcomed the news and said that the population increase was due to the authorities surveying more areas to conduct the census and creating more tiger reserves.

Tito Joseph, program director at the Wildlife Protection Society of India, said "the latest census included some of the areas they left out last time because of problems accessing the terrain, like the Sunderbans" which is home to hundreds of tigers.

The Sunderbans mangrove forest straddles the borders of India's West Bengal state and Bangladesh and lies on the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta.

"They have also set up more tiger reserves. In 2004 there were only 28-33 tiger reserves, now there are 39 reserves, so that's obviously helped," Joseph told AFP.

"It's a good strategy, because tigers need space above all, and if you can create inviolate space their numbers will naturally go up," he said.

The current tiger population still remains a long way off the numbers registered in 2002 when some 3,700 tigers were estimated to be alive in the country.

There were estimated to be around 40,000 tigers in India at the time of independence from Britain in 1947.

Authorities across Asia are waging a major battle against poachers and other man-made problems such as destruction of the tigers' habitat due to industrial expansion.

A major poacher trafficking route begins in India and ends in China where tiger parts are highly prized as purported cures for a range of ailments and as aphrodisiacs.

"Tiger skins fetch anywhere around 11,000-21,000 US dollars and bones are sold for about 1,000 US dollars in China," said Rajesh Gopal, chairman of National Tiger Conservation Authority in New Delhi.

Rare lion cubs rescued from traffickers in Somalia

Authorities intervened before the young animals were shipped to Dubai and potentially sold to private buyers as pets.

Associated Press
Sunday 27 March 2011

Somali officials have intervened to save two three-month-old lion cubs smuggled on board a ship in the port of Berbera, Somalia. The brother and sister are believed to be rare Berbera lions.

They were confiscated four weeks ago after Mogadishu's port manager told Bancroft, an organization training African Union peacekeepers in the Somali capital, of his suspicions that the animals were being trafficked as pets.

The cubs, believed to have been destined for Dubai, are now being cared for by Bancroft staff, who have suitable facilities and veterinary care because they provide teams of bomb-sniffing dogs.

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2011/mar/27/rare-lion-cubs-rescued-traffickers-somalia.

OIC Relocates Displaced People on the Libyan Borders

RAS JDIR (Tunisia), April 6 (Bernama) -- The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has started relocating displaced people on the Tunisian-Libyan border in a humanitarian plan which had been developed since the beginning of stranded people crisis on the Libyan borders with Tunisia and Egypt, reports Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

The OIC has dispatched a plane that transported the displaced Sudanese from Ras Jdir on the Tunisian border to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. It also dispatched another plane which transported refugees from Mali to their country.

This evacuation plan, which will also include transporting Mauritanians to their home country, is to continue until the end of next week.

The evacuation operations are financed by Islamic humanitarian organizations from the Republic of South Africa, including the Organization of the Islamic Waqf.

In the meantime, the OIC has embarked on distribution of large quantities of relief items to about 7,000 people in displacement camps in Ras Jdir.

-- BERNAMA

Mujahideen of Kyrgyzstan swear to Emir of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Mullah Omar

22 March 2011

A video of the oath of allegiance of the Kyrgyzstan Mujahideen to Emir Muhammad Omar Mujahid, Emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, has been posted online.

A US opposition website, The Unjust Media, posted on March 20, 2011 a video with a pledge of the Bay'at (allegiance) by the Kyrgyz Mujahideen from the Islamic group Jama'at Jaysh al-Mahdi to the Emir-ul-Mu'minin (Leader of the Believers) Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid.

The website said that the video was first released on December 20, 2010.

On the video, the Mujahideen of Kyrgyzstan give the Bay'at and urge the faithful to join the Jihad.

It is to be pointed out in this connection that, according to the puppet regime that now rules in Kyrgyzstan, the Mujahideen consider the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan as the weakest part in Central Asia. That was stated at least by the vice-premier of the Bishkek regime, responsible for the "security" of infidels, a certain Atakhanov.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/03/22/13881.shtml.

Arab League states: a recent history of protests

With the league supporting military intervention in Libya, Mark Tran looks at how member states are handling unrest at home.

Mark Tran
Tuesday 22 March 2011

The Arab League's support for military intervention in Libya has been pivotal in persuading the US and the UN security council to act. But a glance through membership reveals that the governments of 18 of its 22 states do not have democratic credentials: they are suppressing – often violently – protest movements inside their own borders, have already undergone popular revolutions or have a checkered history regarding their support for democracy.

Libya

Currently suspended from the league because of Muammar Gaddafi's brutal suppression of the popular uprising. Protests spread to Libya in February, when security forces reportedly shot 35 protesters. In the ensuing unrest, Benghazi and other cities quickly fell into the hands of anti-government forces. By early March, it looked as if the opposition would topple Gaddafi, but the Middle East's longest-serving autocrat hit back. His forces, backed by aircraft, tanks and heavy artillery, started to retake territory. Only air strikes authorized by the UN security council prevented Gaddafi from capturing Benghazi.

Egypt

Egyptians have overwhelmingly endorsed amendments to the constitution that will provide a blueprint for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held within the next six months. The vote followed mass protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down as president on 11 February. Demonstrators continue to protest to ensure the new military rulers carry out promises of reform and their protests have forced out Ahmed Shafiq, who was appointed prime minister by Mubarak. Essam Sharaf, his successor, visited Tahrir Square, to pledge that he will work to meet protesters' demands.

Yemen

A military showdown looms after the defense minister announced that the army would defend President Ali Abdullah Saleh against any "coup against democracy". Saleh, however, looks increasingly isolated as military commanders, diplomats and MPs have either quit or declared their allegiance to the protesters. The army split followed Saleh's decision to sack his entire cabinet after snipers fired on demonstrators on Sunday, killing at least 52 people. The president and his sons still have control over powerful sections of the military. The instability in Yemen is a headache for the US as it has depended on Saleh to stamp out al-Qaida operatives who have taken refuge there.

Bahrain

The government imposed a three-month period of martial law this month after weeks of violent clashes between citizens and riot police. The clashes have taken on a sectarian tone. The kingdom, which is ruled by Sunnis but has a Shia majority, is anxious to play these down. Bahrain's rulers claim to have uncovered a plot involving outside powers – an implicit reference to neighboring Iran. The government asked Iranian diplomats to leave the tiny Gulf state and later accused Lebanon's Hezbollah of destabilizing the region and impinging on Bahrain's sovereignty. A decision to call in troops from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Sunni-ruled Gulf states has inflamed tensions.

Tunisia

In the country where the "Arab spring" started, a court has ruled that the party of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali be dissolved, clearing away one of the last vestiges of the regime that ruled Tunisia for two decades. Ben Ali was toppled by mass protests in January after an unemployed graduate set himself alight. An election has been called for 24 July to choose a national assembly that will rewrite the constitution. Meanwhile, Ben Ali's secret police service, a domestic spy agency notorious for human rights abuses, has been dismantled.

Morocco

Morocco shares some of the key trends that fanned the flames of revolution in Tunisia and Egypt. They include a young, internet-savvy population confronted by endemic corruption and what some call hogra – humiliation by the state. In the latest protests, hundreds of teachers marched through Rabat on Monday for better pay, a day after one of Morocco's largest protests in recent decades against corruption. They demanded a change of government. "As in other countries of the region, Morocco is asking itself whether its economic or political foundations are not among the worst," L'Economiste, a daily business newspaper, said in an editorial this week. "There is a need for the social contract to be renewed."

Saudi Arabia

King Abdullah has promised a multibillion-pound package of reforms, pay rises, cash, loans and housing, even though protests have been limited in the oil-rich kingdom. Saudi demonstrators have mostly come from the Shia-dominated eastern area. They share similar grievances to their fellow Shias in neighboring Bahrain. But the changes announced by Abdullah did not loosen the monarchy's tight hold on power, a key demand of Saudi opposition figures.

Syria

At least five people died last week in the southern city of Dera'a in the worst violence in Syria since 2004 when at least 25 people died. President Bashar al-Assad told the Wall Street Journal in February that Syria was insulated from the upheaval in the Arab world because the leadership was not out of touch with the people and because of its strong stand against Israel. But analysts say the unrest could escalate into something much bigger and more decisive, with the regime's own reactions – now consisting of the usual brute force with a novel, nervous dose of conciliation – constituting the key factor as to whether it does or not.

Oman

The normally sleepy Gulf state has just carried out its third cabinet reshuffle in a month in the latest of a string of concessions to appease protesters demanding jobs and political reforms. Sultan Qaboos bin Said has promised 50,000 new jobs and other benefits to ward off unrest.

Jordan

In February King Abdullah swore in a new government, led by a former general who has promised to widen public freedoms in response to anti-government protests. Scores of such demonstrations have been staged, with a mix of tribal- and Islamist-led opposition calling for moves towards a constitutional monarchy that limits the powers of the throne.

Kuwait

Protesters say they want Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah to resign as prime minister but do not want to overthrow the whole regime. Last month, about 1,000 stateless residents, known as bedoun, protested west of Kuwait City to demand improved rights. Tensions eased after legislators vowed to discuss a draft law that would grant them basic civil rights.

Algeria

Thousands of people have taken to the streets and numerous strikes have been held since unrest erupted in neighboring Tunisia. To placate demonstrators, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was elected in 1999, last month lifted the state of emergency which had been in place since 1992 to combat an insurgency by Islamist extremists that has killed about 200,000 people. A long-standing ban on protests in Algiers, however, remains in place, although demonstrations have taken place.

Comoros

The country has had a history marked by numerous coups d'état since independence in 1975. Colonel Mohammed Bacar, a French-trained former gendarme, seized power as president in one of the four islands, Anjouan, in 2001. He fled in March 2008, when hundreds of soldiers from the African Union and Comoros took back Anjouan.

Lebanon

Bedeviled by sectarian grudges, Lebanon experienced its worst political crisis in three years in January, when Najib Miqati, a Syrian-backed businessman, was sworn in as prime minister, replacing Saad Hariri. Once an international tribunal investigating the assassination of former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri, indicts members of Hezbollah as expected, there are fears of renewed violence .

Djibouti

In February, protesters demanded that President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, who was elected in 1999, step down.

Somalia

The weak government has been fighting Islamist insurgents for the past two years. It launched an offensive against al-Shabab militants linked to al-Qaida, involving 17,000 African Union and Somali troops to reclaim territories, starting with the capital, Mogadishu.

Sudan

Since the end of January, regular protests have taken place in northern Sudan, but they have not had the same impact or turnout as those in Egypt or Yemen, perhaps because of weariness from long-term political instability.

United Arab Emirates

To pre-empt dissent, Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, last month toured the country to gauge the public mood. Afterwards, he ordered a $1.5bn investment in electricity and water projects in the northern emirates. It is one of the few Arab states to have said it will contribute to the military action enforcing the Libya no-fly zone.

Mauritania

Several thousand young demonstrators rallied in the capital, Nouakchott, in early March to demand economic, political and social reforms.

• The remaining three members of the league are Qatar (which has also said it will participate in the no-fly zone), the Palestinian Authority and Iraq.

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/22/arab-league-states-protests.

Comoros President thanks Turkey for Libya help

20 March 2011 Sunday

President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi of the Union of Comoros has thanked Turkish government for evacuating their citizens from Libya during the uprising in the north African country.

In a statement, the Consulate General of Comoros in Istanbul quoted President Sambi as saying, "Ottoman fleet saved our great grandfathers from occupation of the Portuguese navy back in the 16th century. Now, some 450 years later, great grandsons of the Ottoman Empire mobilized to rescue their Comorian brothers. I want to thank the Turkish government, Turkish army, Turkish diplomats, the Turkish Airlines and Turkish people on behalf of Comorian people."

"Turkish ports and planes are welcomed at all our ports and airports. Opening of a Turkish embassy in Comoros will be a great source pride to us," he added.

The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa. It is the third smallest African nation by area with 1,862 square km. With a population estimated at 798,000, it is the sixth-smallest African nation by population. The country consists of the four islands in the volcanic Comoros archipelago as well as many smaller islands.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=71387.

Arabs Back Allied Offensive on Libya as Leader Qaddafi Remains Defiant

By Vivian Salama - Mar 20, 2011

Middle Eastern leaders backed an offensive by international forces seeking to protect Libyan civilians as President Muammar Qaddafi said his country would become hell for the “monsters” attacking it.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Al Thani said the emirate will join the U.S., U.K., Canada, France and Italy against Libya, making it the first Arab country to commit military forces. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Arab participation in talks in Paris yesterday “extraordinarily important” and said more can be expected from Middle East states.

“Patrolling the skies from afar is fine but they must not enter the country,” Osama Lamloum, 58, a sales manager at an Egyptian advertising firm, said in Cairo today. “How can someone bomb civilians? Enough bloodshed!”

Libya was pummeled yesterday by more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the first phase of an assault dubbed “Operation Odyssey Dawn.” The coalition struck after European, U.S. and Arab officials gathered in Paris yesterday to discuss the crisis. Leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar and Morocco participated in yesterday’s talks.

Regional Unrest

The Libyan revolt seeking an end to the four-decade rule of Qaddafi is the bloodiest of popular uprisings in the Middle East this year that have toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt. Anti-government demonstrations continue in Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Morocco and Oman, with protesters calling for democracy and improved living standards.

“Qaddafi deserves this,” Naif al-Saleh, 31, a Saudi Arabian investment banker, said in an interview in Riyadh, the capital. “As an Arab, I wish the decision had been an Arab one enforced by Arab military forces. There’s no need for foreigners to come and protect us.”

President Barack Obama said that American involvement would not include ground troops and, after helping at the onset, the U.S. would leave enforcement of the no-fly zone to allies, including Arab nations.

The coalition offensive against Libya has been greeted with widespread support across the region, in contrast to regional reaction following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which sparked mass demonstrations and anti-American sentiments across the Middle East.

Iraq War

“Iraq was an occupation based on faulty information,” said Theodore Karasik, director of the Institute of Near East and Gulf Analaysis in Dubai. “For Libya, the information is right there before their eyes as they watch television so nobody doubts the validity of this response. It’s game over for Qaddafi.”

Arab officials attending the Paris summit yesterday included Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, U.A.E. Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri and Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Al Thani, according to an e-mailed list of the participants.

Jordan will not take part in the UN-backed measures to impose a no-fly zone, the Jordan Times reported today, citing Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. No one was immediately available at the U.A.E. Foreign Ministry when contacted by Bloomberg.

Opposition

Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa said the no-fly zone does not require the use of force, the Middle East News Agency reported, citing remarks by him.

Iraq will not participate in any military operations in Libya and does “not support unilateral action,” Iraqi State Minister Ali Al-Dabbagh said in a telephone interview from Baghdad. “We support actions carried out under United Nations resolutions to stop the violence against the Libyan people.”

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia today, said that the military intervention “will end the civil war.”

“What the international community is doing in Libya now is a positive thing in terms of protecting these civilians,” Rabie Abdel Ati, a senior official of Sudanese President Umar al- Bashir’s National Congress Party and adviser to the information minister, said today by phone from Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. “It is not acceptable that the whole population gets murdered for one person to remain in power.”

Still, some are wary of the involvement of international forces, saying that foreign intervention can often become problematic.

‘Own Agendas’

“They may have their own agendas,” said Reda Mohammed, a former official with the Egyptian Ministry of Finance, who added that a better solution would have been to offer support to the rebels fighting against Qaddafi.

The decision to launch an offensive in Libya came less than a week after troops from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia, moved into Bahrain, launching the first cross-border intervention since the wave of popular uprisings began in January. Bahrain declared a three-month state of emergency March 15 as protesters, most of them from the Shiite Muslim majority, continued to stage against the Sunni monarchy.

Bahrain’s government condemned what it called “blatant Iranian interference” in its internal affairs, state-run Bahrain News Agency reported, citing several memos written by officials including Bahrain’s ambassador to the United Nations. At least 13 people have been killed in violent clashes since the protests began Feb. 14, according to a statement by the Bahraini Human Rights Society.

Yemeni Protests

In Yemen, tens of thousands gathered in the capital, Sana’a, today for a day of mourning after at least 44 people were killed in clashes between police, pro-regime gunmen and anti-government demonstrators, in the deadliest crackdown in two months of unrest.

Demonstrations calling for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s three-decade rule have been held almost every day for the past two months in Yemen, and before yesterday at least a dozen people had been killed. The Arabian Sea nation declared a state of emergency March 18 following the unrest.

Residents of two Syrian cities where protests broke out March 18 handed a list of demands to authorities to halt an escalation, Damascus-based Al Watan newspaper reported.

In the southern Syrian city of Daraa near Jordan, protesters called for the release of detainees recently jailed on political charges, the dismissal of some officials and permission to sell land on border territories without prior government approval. They also want those responsible for the killing of two during the March 18 clashes put on trial, the newspaper said.

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-20/qatar-says-it-will-join-libya-military-operations-as-arabs-back-offensive.html.

Jihad in Caucasus Emirate quickly grows

1 April 2011

A Moscow' paper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported good news about the growth of Jihad in the Caucasus Emirate. It writes in particular:

"There is an undeclared guerrilla war going on in the Caucasus and its scale is ever growing. The main focus of the tensions is centered in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic (KBR) and Dagestan. A significant number of Russian internal troops have been deployed in those regions.

The chief of staff of internal troops of the interior ministry, general-colonel Bunin, considers the situation in Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria as "unstable."

"Around 6,000 military personnel of the internal troops have been deployed in Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria," Bunin said on Monday.

At the same time, he emphasized that such a troop buildup is only a redeployment of interior troops within the North Caucasus.

The situation in KBR and Dagestan is a cause of much anxiety.

In 2010, the internal troops stationed in the North Caucasus were reinforced with an artillery regiment of the 46th division of the operational brigade (Jokhar, Province of Chechnya) - KC) and the 450th division of the special motorized battalion (Kaspiysk, Province of Dagestan - KC).

"6,000 army soldiers which are now stationed in Dagestan and KBR are twelve full battle battalions, a military expert col. Popov points out. - The number of the troops being sent to the troubled republics is increasing. There is an undeclared guerrilla war going there. And, I regret to tell you, the scale of it is ever increasing."

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/04/01/13997.shtml.

Emir Supyan: 17 years in Jihad

1 April 2011

A confirmation of the martyrdom (Insha'Allah) of Emir Supyan (Supyan Abdullayev), one of the most experienced commanders of the Mujahideen of the Caucasus, a mentor of young Muslims, a teacher and educator of the Mujahideen, the closest companion of Emir Dokka Abu Usman, has come.

Supyan went to the Jihad on November 26, 1994, the day when Russian armored columns of Kantemirov and Taman divisions first entered Grozny (Jokhar) under a banner of so-called "opposition forces".

His first fighting Supyan had near the House of the Press and the military camp of a newly formed Islamic military Jamaat which has become the Islamic Battalion that day.

There were hundreds of such fightings since then, including the bloody battles for Grozny in 1994-1995-1996-1999.

An audacious assault on the positions of Russian troops in a sewing factory, and their defeat in the first days of the battle for Grozny by a small, hastily formed detachment of volunteers from village boys, whom Supyan brought with him, showed him as a talented commander, instructor and organizer.

Then there were many other battles, injuries, death of relatives and brother-in-arms, the hardest days of ordeals and defeats, joy of victories and bitterness of losses. He was always calm, thoughtful, smiling and kind, but stern and resolute towards the enemy.

Being an experienced teacher, scout and commander, Supyan trained hundreds of young Mujahideen in warfare, Islam and Jihad.

The last 17 years of his life - November 26, 1994 to March 28, 2011 - Supyan spent in the Jihad. He was one of those men who never ask for help, but always ready come to help, never complain, but always ready to share the woes and sorrows of the others. And they never, never give up...!

He was a dada (father) as the Mujahideen in Chechnya and Ingushetia respectfully called him.

The enemies cursed him as a Wahhab. They cursed him using one of the greatest names of the Almighty - Al-Wahhab (meaning The Bestower), thereby attesting with their own words ​​that Supyan was really a true servant of Allah, Who bestows the martyrs the highest place in Paradise - Jannatul Firdaus, Insha'Allah!

It is impossible to make the time of parting more distant or close. The pen was picked up and the ink dried. And it happens only what the Lord of the Worlds wishes. I feel sadness in my heart of and tears the eyes while parting with the beloved brother, but we will say only what Allah be pleased with - wa inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un - we all belong to Allah and to Him shall we return!

Movladi Udugov

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/04/01/13990.shtml.

Peace activist among 4 gunned down in Somalia's Puntland state

“The assailants were onboard luxury 4x4 Car as they shot and killed the peace activist while passing through a street which heavily populated” said Ayub.

Abdi Hajji Hussein
Garowe, Puntland, Somalia
April 6, 2011

Armed gunmen on Wednesday shot and killed four people including a peace activist in Garowe, the capital of Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland, witnesses and officials said.

The target of the assassination was Mohammed Yasin Isse, an official of the Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC), a local non-governmental organization that promotes peace building, a resident of Garowe, Sa’diyo Ayub, told All Headline News by telephone.

“The assailants were onboard luxury 4x4 car as they shot and killed the peace activist while passing through a street which heavily populated,” said Ayub.

She added that at least three pedestrians were also killed and five others injured in the shootout. The assailants escaped.

A Puntland police official told local media that security forces started search operations, vowing that the perpetrators would be captured and put on trial.

Garowe has been a relatively peaceful town in the last few years, but Wednesday's incident shows that insecurity and planned assassinations are spreading like a wildfire in Puntland towns.

The Puntland Development Research Center, founded in 1999, aims to promote peace building and the reconstruction of Somalia. It also hopes to provide Somalia with a democratic system of government, and help in social and economic development.

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/90043648?Peace%20activist%20among%204%20gunned%20down%20in%20Somalia%26%23146%3Bs%20Puntland%20state.

New semiautonomous region in Somalia vows to fight Al Shabab

The creation of Jubaland/Azania was driven by the need to fight the Al Qaeda-linked militant group, Al Shabab, but it's unclear whether the new region will be able to do that effectively.

Alex Thurston, Guest blogger
April 6, 2011

The country called Somalia contains a host of would-be governments, including the Transitional Federal Government (which claims jurisdiction over Somalia as a whole) and the two semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. Now Somalia has a third major semi-autonomous region: Jubaland, or Azania, whose creation was celebrated yesterday.

Jubaland/Azania now has a president, former Somalia Defense Minister Professor Mohamed Abdi Gandhi, who has said a main goal of his administration will be to defeat al Shabab, Somalia’s Islamic rebel movement. This, Kenya’s Daily Nation reports, is one of the driving goals of the new region’s creation, but Somalia’s neighbors disagree on whether this tactic is a wise one:

"The idea to create an autonomous region near the Kenyan border is hinged on the reason that it will prevent the movement of al Shabaab extremists within the region.

As the conference ended on Sunday, it was not clear whether the Kenyan Government supported the election but recent WikiLeaks revelations showed that the country supported the creation of an autonomous region near its border with Somalia to prevent the flow of illegal arms.

The meeting had been opposed by both Ethiopia and Djibouti, who argue that creating autonomies in the war-torn country could inspire further insurgency by other regions or degrade the gains made by the TFG."

The Jubaland initiative has a long history. A Wikileaks cable shows Kenyan support for the idea in early 2010, and “Kenya has been pouring money [and] supplies into the Jubaland area for some time to fight [al] Shabaab.” But momentum toward the creation of an official state picked up with a seven-day conference last week that culminated in the formalization of Jubaland/Azania. Now it remains to see how Jubaland will negotiate its relationships with the TFG, with Kenya, and with the rest of Africa.

Commenter James Gundun, responding to an earlier piece, leaves us with some questions and issues to think about:

Jubaland has been in the works for years – forming a presidential cabinet electing a parliament is expected – although it’s difficult to say what comes next. While TFG officials attended the week-long conference before appointing Mohamed Abdi Gandhi, how much overlap are they willing to cede to Kenya? This arrangement can squeeze al-Shabab through local governance and attempt to remedy the refugee crisis, but friction may easily develop between Nairobi and the TFG. Ethiopia also opposes the formal recognition of Jubaland, citing fears of increased insurgency, as it monitors the newly-created Shabelle Valley administration and aspiring Somali Central State. Positive interplay between the TFG, Kenya, and Ethiopia is vital to stabilizing Somalia.

What do you think? Will this move hurt or help al Shabab, or make no substantive difference?

Source: The Christian Science Monitor.
Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/0406/New-semiautonomous-region-in-Somalia-vows-to-fight-Al-Shabab.

China to turn restive Xinjiang capital into global city

Wed Mar 30, 2011

(Reuters) - China will turn the restive capital of the far western region of Xinjiang into an "international trade center" for central Asia by 2020 as part of plans to win the hearts and minds of residents, state media said on Wednesday.

Regional capital Urumqi was rocked by ethnic violence in 2009 between majority Han Chinese and minority Uighurs that killed nearly 200 people. Many of the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs, who call Xinjiang home, chafe at Beijing's rule.

The government has subsequently turned its attention to boosting development there and providing greater job opportunities.

New plans for remote and dusty Urumqi call for it to be turned into a "core city", complete with improved transport links and two brand new districts built "with world-class standards", the Xinhua news agency said.

Urumqi will get a new rail link with central China, an expanded train station, a new airport terminal and possibly a new airport too, the report said, summarizing an urban development blueprint for the city up to 2020.

"Local authorities will build faster and more convenient transportation networks to strengthen links between Urumqi and inland Chinese regions as well as areas in central and west Asia," Xinhua added.

"Greater efforts have been made to boost the development of the far western ethnic region of Xinjiang after a deadly riot rocked Urumqi in 2009," it added.

The city's population is also expected to double to around 5 million by 2020, while its GDP will rise from a predicted 131.1 billion yuan ($19.9 billion) this year to 420 billion yuan by 2020, the report said.

Xinhua gave no investment figures for the ambitious scheme, nor said if any of the projects would be specifically aimed at the Uighur population.

Urumqi is a predominantly Han Chinese city. Many Uighurs complain of discrimination in the jobs market and say that government efforts to boost development in Xinjiang have mainly benefited the Han and attracted more of them to migrate there.

Xinjiang is strategically vital to China. A vast swathe of territory, it holds rich oil and gas deposits and borders Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Central Asia. ($1 = 6.561 Yuan) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/china-xinjiang-idUKL3E7EU1H920110330.

Kashmir's literacy rate rises by 10 percent in 10 years

2011-03-27

Teachers in Jammu and Kashmir say that the literacy rate in the state has increased by 10 percent in the last decade.

A report by the state's Education Ministry recently said male literacy in the region has risen to 75.30 percent and the female literacy rate has touched 57.11 percent.

Tasleema Sheikh, principle of a girl's school in Srinagar said: " The survey, which was conducted 10 years back in 2001 stated the literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir was 55 percent. The latest survey reveals that the literacy rate has increased to 65 percent, which means an increase of 10 percent in 10 years."

" When the survey was carried out in 2001, the literacy rate of males was 65 percent and the female literacy rate was 41 percent. The recent survey shows that the literacy rate of males has risen to 75 percent and the female literacy rate has risen to 57 percent," she added.

The reason for the rise in literacy rate is attributed to various schemes sponsored by the government like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and others schemes under which the state government constructed schools in far flung rural areas, provided mid-day meals and free books to the poor students.

Currently, 1660000 children are studying in government schools in the state with a total dropout of 39150 as against 376000 in 2004-05.

A total of 680 middle school buildings and 5,467 additional classrooms were constructed in the state during the period.

Aiming to further promote education, the government has also announced free school uniforms for the students who join in the next academic year.

Source: Sify.
Link: http://www.sify.com/news/kashmir-s-literacy-rate-rises-by-10-percent-in-10-years-news-national-ld1nuffjaha.html.

Amnesty Urges Scrapping Of Draconian Law In Indian Kashmir

3/21/2011

(RTTNews) - London-based rights group, Amnesty International (AI) has called for repeal of a draconian law used to detain people without trial in Indian-administered Kashmir, reports said on Monday.

Under the provisions of Public Safety Act (PSA), persons could be held under detention for up to two years without chance of securing bail.

Amnesty, while urging New Delhi to do way with the tough measure, pointed out that around 20,000 people have been detained in Kashmir using the PSA's provisions.

The border state has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan, having waged three full-fledged wars over Kashmir. New Delhi has often accused Islamabad of fighting a low-intensity war by arming militant separatists and pushing them across the border to carry out terror strikes on Indian targets.

However, Pakistan has termed this as mere anti-Pakistan propaganda alleging that it was being used as a ploy to deflect attention from serious problems. India for its part says it has hard evidence to establish Pakistan's role in fomenting trouble.

According to an Amnesty report released in the Kashmiri capital Srinagar on Monday, the detentions coincided with the onset of insurgency in the Kashmir valley in 1989. It is also critical of the judiciary for failing to prevent rights violations.

"The Jammu and Kashmir authorities are using PSA detentions as a revolving door to keep people they can't or won't convict through proper legal channels locked up and out of the way. Hundreds of people are being held each year on spurious grounds, with many exposed to higher risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment," an Amnesty official said.

Among those detained under PSA are lawyers, journalists and anti-government protesters with not even children spared. The Amnesty has urged the J&K government to set free all those held under the PSA's provisions.

There was a brief lull in militant separatism which peaked in Kashmir in the late eighties. However, lately a spurt in militant activity has been witnessed there.

Source: RTT News.
Link: http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1580337&SM=1.

Pak delegation to travel to Europe to lobby on Kashmir

Mar 22, 2011

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's parliamentary panel on Kashmir led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will soon visit Belgium, Germany and Poland to lobby for support on the Kashmir issue.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved visits to the three countries by a six-member delegation "to win their support on the Kashmir issue," said a statement issued by his office on Monday.

Besides Rehman, the other members of the delegation are parliamentarians Muhammad Yousuf Talpur, Attiya Inayatullah, Ayaz Sadiq and Ramesh Lal.

A member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference will also be part of the delegation, the statement said.

Noting that the European Union is gaining political and economic importance in world affairs, the statement said the delegation will "proactively highlight the Kashmir issue and Pakistan's principled stance as supported historically by the UN resolution".

Source: The Times of India.
Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-delegation-to-travel-to-Europe-to-lobby-on-Kashmir/articleshow/7758075.cms.

Jordan releases 4 jailed members of radical Islamist group in effort to stave off protests

By Jamal Halaby, The Associated Press

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan has released four jailed members of a radical Islamist group that had threatened to stage a mass demonstration over their detentions, the group's leader said Tuesday.

Abed Shihadeh al-Tahawi said the four were released late Monday under a deal between the security forces and his ultraconservative Salafi group, which is banned in Jordan.

"We warned that we will hold a large demonstration today, which was seen as a security risk for the government," al-Tahawi said. "The government knows that we mean business and that we do not get intimidated by security forces."

Al-Tahawi himself has recently served a prison term for plotting terrorist strikes against the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Jordan in 2004.

Government officials did not answer repeated calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Earlier Tuesday, dozens of anti-riot police with batons and helmets were deployed at the site of the planned protest near the Interior Ministry in the capital Amman, chocking traffic and drawing onlookers.

Al-Tahawi said security officials got in touch with him and other group members on Monday "to persuade us not to hold our protest."

He said the rally was meant to publicly articulate his group's demand for the release of its four followers, who were arrested in an anti-government rally last week.

"When our four brothers were released, we canceled the planned protest," he said.

But he insisted the group will continue staging demonstrations to press its demand for the release of 300 other Salafis serving prison terms for plotting al-Qaida--linked terror attacks in Jordan.

Jordan has seen 14 weeks of mostly peaceful protests, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world and pressing for reforms. The authorities have been tolerant of the gatherings and there has only been rare violence.

Salafis have held five separate demonstrations, saying they were taking advantage of the government's more lenient stance toward public protests to make their own demands public.

A key U.S. ally, Jordan is ruled by King Abdullah II and a parliament. The king has final say in all state matters.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Jordan launches largest online public antiquities database, mapping every site in country

By Dale Gavlak, The Associated Press

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan on Tuesday launched the world's largest online antiquities database, which details every archaeological site in the country and aims to help preserve its treasures. Its creators said the Web platform could be a model for Iraq, where looters have plundered its ancient heritage.

Experts said the Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities is the first such countrywide system. The site uses Geographic Information System, similar to Google Earth, to map 11,000 registered sites in the country — and a click on each reveals inventories of what they contain and reports on their conditions.

The public can use the material for planning visits. Scholars and inspectors approved by Jordan's Antiquities can update the information in a user-friendly way for other professionals to follow and for authorities to keep track of threats to the sites.

Jordan hosts a number of World Heritage sites, most famously the 2,000 year-old rose rock city of Petra — but also Umm er-Rassas, a city dating back to the 5th century that features ancient Byzantine churches, and Qasr Amra, an 8th century Islamic castle. It is also dotted with sites dating from the Neolithic Age, through Biblical times to the Crusades.

The $1 million MEGA program was developed in co-operation with Getty Institute of Los Angeles and the New York-based World Monuments Fund.

"Jordan is at the forefront of safeguarding its heritage," Getty's director Tim Whalen said at an Amman press conference with antiquities chief Ziad al-Saad unveiling the system.

"A piece of software is not going to stop looting," Whalen said, but MEGA's cataloging system will enable "greater protection and attention to archaeological heritage."

Archaeologists have increasingly used GIS and similar technologies to inventory digs and other uses. But Barbara A. Porter, director of the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, said that MEGA "is the first of its kind."

"It has been a huge undertaking in terms of its breadth, time and finance. Rarely do you find that amount of money involved in creating such a system," said Porter, whose center was not involved in developing MEGA.

Joseph Greene, the assistant director at Harvard University's Semitic Museum, said MEGA stands out from among other GIS archaeological systems, which have been more narrow in scope and intention.

MEGA is the "first countrywide system used by an antiquities department" and is unique because it can used both for research and for managing sites in a readily usable format, he said.

The online system defines the boundaries of each site, an important factor in trying to prevent urban encroachment on antiquities zones, its creators say. It can help authorities in planning strategies for research and tourism development, and makes it easier for government agencies to share information. Those working in the field can report theft of wear and tear caused by tourist traffic.

Al-Saad said the system is expected to be used regionally, especially in Iraq, which has seen widescale damage and theft of its extensive archaeological treasures.

Whalen said MEGA will give Iraqi colleagues a modern way to inventory the country's sites, their condition, potential threats, but "most importantly identify their geographical boundaries in a relatively easy-to-use system."

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.