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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Israeli army beefs up security on Gaza borders

GAZA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli army beefed up security measures along the Gaza Strip's borders, Palestinian security sources said Saturday.

The new measures aim at expanding a 300-meter-wide buffer zone that Israel has collocated on Gaza's eastern and northern borders, the sources added.

The army installed a new observation tower near the closed Nahal Oz, which Israel has closed for nearly two years, the sources said, adding that the tower is the tallest in Gaza.

The army also sent more reconnaissance balloons over the area.

On Thursday, Israeli army destroyed several warehouses and installations during an incursion in eastern Gaza City.

The military operation took place in an industrial zone that has not been functioning since Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007, mainly blocking export.

The sources said that Thursday's operation was part of the new security measures. It comes weeks after a wave of cross-border violence, in which some 19 Palestinians, the majority of them members of Gaza's Hamas rulers, were killed and a rocket by Hamas killed an Israeli student.

The last surge of violence was the deadliest since the end of a three-week Israeli military operation here in January 2009, in which as many as 1,400 Palestinians were killed.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/23/c_13842812.htm.

Israeli intellectuals call for Palestinian state based on 1967 line

20 Apr 2011

A group of prominent Israeli intellectuals and artists have come out in favor of creating a Palestinian state based on the 1967 line marking the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

The 47 signatories include 17 recipients of the Israel Prize, the country's highest civilian honor. Among them are Shulamit Aloni, the civil rights pioneer, the actress Hannah Marom and Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer.

Their statement backs the Palestinian drive for recognition by the United Nations, in the absence of progress in peace talks with Israel. The Israeli government opposes the unilateral initiative.

The statement, released on Wednesday, calls for an Israeli pullout from the West Bank. It says, "The complete end of occupation is a fundamental condition for the freedom of both peoples."

The Israel laureates plan to sign the petition on Thursday, in a symbolic ceremony in front of the building where the state of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948.

Source: The Telegraph.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/8463788/Israeli-intellectuals-call-for-Palestinian-state-based-on-1967-line.html.

Gun found in Israeli officer's luggage

BUDAPEST, Hungary, April 18 (UPI) -- Authorities in Budapest, Hungary, released an Israei Air Force officer who had been detained after a handgun was found in his flight luggage, officials said.

Haaretz reported Monday the officer was detained at the Budapest Airport while waiting to board an American Airlines jet to the United States.

Officials later told Ynetnews.com the officer was released and had returned to Israel.

Security officers at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel should have discovered the gun during checks when the officer initially boarded there, officials in Budapest said. The officer first denied knowing about the gun but later said it belonged to a relative who left it in the luggage.

The incident reportedly angered U.S. officials and hurt Israel's reputation for having tight airport security.

Officials said the gun, clip and bullets were found in luggage and not in the officer's carry-on bags.

"As far as we know the gun was in the passenger's suitcase and not in his handbag," an official said. "And therefore the passengers and plane were in no danger."

It isn't illegal to fly with a weapon, but it must have proper documentation and its presence must be reported to officials, which the officer failed to do.

The officer was not on duty and was traveling with his family when the incident occurred Friday.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/18/Gun-found-in-Israeli-officers-luggage/UPI-94361303126855/.

Nigerian leader wins presidential poll amid riots

JON GAMBRELL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 18, 2011

ABUJA, Nigeria - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan won the oil-rich country's election as riots swept across the Muslim north and left buildings ablaze and people hiding in their homes, highlighting the religious and ethnic tensions still dividing Africa's most populous nation.

The violence Monday cut across 13 states, hundreds wounded. Heavy gunfire echoed through cities, as shouting crowds burned tires and threw stones at security forces. Many were feared dead, though federal officials declined to offer any figures for fear of further stoking tensions.

In a televised address to the nation late Monday, Jonathan called on Nigerians to "quickly move away from partisan battlegrounds and find a national common ground."

"Nobody's political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian," he said, hours after police said an angry mob in Katsina state engineered a prison break.

While Christians and Muslims have shared the same soil in the nation for centuries, the election result showing the Christian president's more than 10 million vote lead over Muslim candidate Muhammadu Buhari spread accusations of rigging in a nation long accustomed to ballot box stuffing.

Jonathan took office last year only after the country's elected Muslim president died from a lengthy illness before his term ended, and many in the north still believe the ruling party should have put up a Muslim candidate instead in this year's election.

"The damage is immense. A lot of buildings have been torched: houses, businesses and religious centers," said Umar Mairiga of the Nigerian Red Cross. More than 270 people had been wounded and some 15,000 had been displaced by the violence, he said.

Nigeria has a long history of violent and rigged polls since it abandoned a revolving door of military rulers and embraced democracy 12 years ago. Legislative elections earlier this month left a hotel ablaze, a politician dead and a polling station and a vote-counting center bombed in the nation's northeast. However, observers largely said Saturday's presidential election appeared to be fair, with fewer cases of ballot box thefts than previous polls.

Election chairman Attahiru Jega announced results Monday night that showed Jonathan won 22.4 million votes, compared to the 12.2 million votes of his nearest rival, the former military ruler Buhari. Jonathan also received enough votes across Nigeria's 36 states and capital to avoid triggering a runoff.

The West African nation of 150 million people is divided between a Christian-dominated south and the Muslim north.

A dozen states across Nigeria's north have Islamic Shariah law in place, though they remain under the control of secular state governments. Thousands have been killed in religious violence in the past decade, but the roots of the sectarian conflict are often embedded in struggles for political and economic dominance.

Buhari carried northern states where poverty remains endemic and opportunities few. Many there supported Buhari, a disciplinarian who took power after a 1983 New Year's Eve coup, as his campaign promised change in a nation ruled by the same ruling political party since it became a democracy.

Buhari's party brought a formal complaint against the nation's electoral commission even before the vote count ended, alleging massive rigging in Jonathan's homeland of the Niger Delta. The letter also alleged that the computer software used to tally results had been tampered with in northern states to favor the ruling People's Democratic Party.

"What is being exhibited to the world is not collated from polling units but ... a lot of manipulations," the letter read.

Both Buhari's party and the opposition party Action Congress of Nigeria refused to sign off on the results.

Violence began Sunday in the north, but took full hold Monday morning. Witnesses said youths in the northern city of Kano set fires to homes that bore Jonathan party banners. Heavy gunfire also could be heard. An Associated Press reporter there saw hundreds of youths carrying wooden planks in the street, shouting "Only Buhari" in the local Hausa language.

"What I am looking for now is rescue, the mob is still outside. I need rescue," said Mark Asu-Obi, who was trapped inside his Kano home with his wife and three children. "There are hoodlums all over the place. It's not just my place that they are attacking. I am not a politician. I am an independent observer."

In Kaduna, home to the oil-rich nation's vice-president, angry young men burned tires in the streets and threw stones at police and soldiers trying to restore order, witnesses said. Youths targeted ruling party officials in Bauchi state as well.

"All of you came out in the sun and elected the person after your heart, I thank you for doing that but let us remain peaceful in all our conducts so that we will not be plunged into a crisis situation in the state," Bauchi state Gov. Isa Yuguda said in a statewide radio and television broadcast.

The violence did not affect Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, where foreign companies pump more than 2 million barrels of crude a day out of a country crucial to U.S. gasoline supplies. A statement attributed to former militant leaders there warned they would defend Jonathan's mandate "with the last drop of our blood." The statement said leaders also ordered fighters to return to the delta's winding muddy creeks to await instructions.

Jonathan came to power after the May 2010 death of Nigeria's long-ill elected leader, President Umaru Yar'Adua. Still, many in Nigeria's Muslim north remain uneasy about Jonathan, a Christian from the country's south. The north's elite political class wanted the ruling party to honor an unwritten power-sharing agreement that would have placed another northern candidate into the presidency. However, Jonathan ultimately prevailed in a ruling party primary.

___

Associated Press writers Maggie Fick and Salisu Rabiu in Kano, Nigeria; Krista Larson and Yinka Ibukun in Lagos, Nigeria; Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria; Shehu Saulawa in Bauchi, Nigeria and Saadatu Mohammed in Gombe, Nigeria contributed to this report.

Source: Metro.
Link: http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/world/article/835638--opposition-protests-nigeria-election-in-north--page0.

Iran, Iraq sign extradition treaty

By REUTERS
Apr 25, 2011

TEHRAN: Iran and Iraq have signed an extradition agreement, the latest step in warming relations between the former warring neighbors, but Baghdad denied it would be used to repatriate exiled militants to Iran.

The accord, signed by justice ministers of both countries in Tehran late Sunday, followed a raid by Iraqi forces on April 8 on Camp Ashraf, home of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), which wants to overthrow the Iranian government.

Iranian media speculated that the agreement would allow for PMOI members to be extradited back to their homeland where they are considered terrorists.

But Iraqi Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim said the deal would not affect Ashraf residents. “No. They are not detainees or prisoners. This agreement is to trade criminals between the two countries,” he said.

“It is a judicial cooperation agreement. The other (Ashraf) is a case of refugees, while this agreement concerns criminals.”

According to the UN human rights chief, 34 people were killed in the raid on the camp which was set up under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein but which the new government has said must close.

Iraq, Iran and the United States consider the PMOI, also known as the Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO), terrorists though the European Union removed the group from its terrorism blacklist in 2009.

The group mounted attacks on Iran from Iraq before Saddam’s 2003 downfall. In the 1970s, it led a militant campaign against the US-backed Shah of Iran, including attacks on US targets. Saddam gave it refuge in Iraq in the 1980s and some of its fighters joined him in the 1980-1988 war against Iran. The group surrendered its weapons to US forces after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.

The camp’s fate has been in question since the US military turned it over to Baghdad government in 2009 under a bilateral security agreement. Baghdad has said Ashraf residents would be given until year-end to leave the country.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article372614.ece.

Iran, Iraq sign agreement to possibly repatriate Iranian opposition group

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran and Iraq on Sunday signed agreements to return each others' detainees, which could lead to the forced repatriation of an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq, Iranian state TV reported.

The countries' respective justice ministers signed agreements that including provisions for the repatriation of each others criminals and convicts to their country of origin, which could include members of the People's Mujahedeen, an Iranian opposition group long based in Iraq.

Iraqi Justice Minister Hassan al-Shimari took the opportunity of the signing ceremony to repeat his country's stance that the group, once close to previous ruler Saddam Hussein, would be expelled from the country by the end of 2011.

The People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran won refuge at Camp Ashraf years ago during the regime of Saddam, who saw them as a convenient ally against Iran. But since then, the exiles have become an irritant to Iraq's new Shiite-led government, which is trying to bolster ties with Iran.

Iran considers the group a terrorist threat and has long urged they be expelled.

The Iraqi army on April 8 raided the group's camp killing 34 of its members.

Spokesmen for the group say camp residents are willing to move to the United States or countries in the European Union if those governments will give them asylum.

They also said the group would be willing to return to Iran but only if it is certain they will not be attacked or oppressed by the government in Tehran.

According to Iranian state TV, there are 302 Iranians in Iraqi prisons and 184 Iraqi nationals in Iranian prisons, mostly due to illegal crossing of the borders.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Iran says it offers 'moral' support to Bahrainis

By Farhad Pouladi (AFP)

TEHRAN — Iran said on Friday it gives "moral support" to the demands of Bahrain's people but without any involvement in the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

"Other than offering moral support to the legitimate and peaceful demands of the people," Tehran has "no role in the events," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a statement emailed to AFP.

His remarks came after a joint GCC-European Union statement issued on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi backed the March 14 deployment of a Saudi-led Gulf force including UAE police in Bahrain.

The move freed up Bahraini security forces to crush the protest movement in the only Shiite-majority Arab state of the Gulf, in a move repeatedly condemned by Shiite-dominant Iran.

The GCC-EU statement said the two blocs played up "the importance of respect for the sovereignty of GCC members" -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- and "recognized the GCC is entitled to take all necessary measures to protect their citizens."

But Mehmanparast hit out at the European Union.

"Doesn't your silence in the face of these crimes show you taking sides in the situation and adopting double standards?" he asked.

On Monday, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa said the Gulf troops had entered his country "to deter an external threat," a reference to Iran.

Tension between Iran and its Arab neighbors across the Gulf has risen, with the two sides locked in a war of words since the Shiite-led protests against Bahrain's ruling Sunni dynasty broke out in mid-February.

But Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammed Sabah al-Salem Al-Sabah said on Thursday that Arab states in the Gulf were opposed to a break in relations with Tehran, even as he renewed charges of Iranian meddling in Arab affairs.

Twenty-four people were killed in the month-long uprising in Bahrain, according to its interior ministry. Four others have died since in detention, drawing condemnation from the EU, Washington and rights groups.

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported on Friday that two boats carrying Iranian students from the southern port city of Bushehr and heading to Bahrain were stopped and turned back by the Iranian coast guards.

Iranian protesters, meanwhile, continued with their sit-in outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran for a second consecutive day, as part of a three-day demonstration.

MP Mehdi Kouchakzadeh, addressing them, said the "hand of God" will "destroy the bloodthirsty regime of Al-Saud soon," he said, quoted by Fars news agency, in reference to the Saudi kingdom's ruling dynasty.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

One of Iranian engineers abducted in Afghanistan released

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

TEHRAN -- One of Iranian engineers who were kidnapped in western Afghanistan was released thanks to the efforts of the Iranian Embassy in Afghanistan, Tehran’s ambassador to Kabul announced on Tuesday.

Unidentified gunmen abducted 12 Iranian engineers in Farah province, located around 700 kilometers away from the capital city of Kabul, on Monday. They were working for a construction company in western Afghanistan and were building a road whose budget is being provided by the Islamic Republic.

“The kidnappers has set one of the abductees free and let the others to have a phone conversation with their families,” Fada-Hossein Maleki told the Mehr News Agency in Kabul on Tuesday.

“We have evidence that the Iranian nationals are in perfect health, and we (Iranian and Afghan officials) will continue our joint efforts to make them all released,” Maleki added.

Afghan provincial government spokesman Naqibullah Farahi told the Mehr News Agency in Herat on Monday that the abduction was carried out by armed members of Taliban on Sunday evening.

However, the Taliban forces have not yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Maliki said he is holding intensive and fruitful dialogues with Afghan officials in efforts to release the abductees and to that end he was scheduled to meet Afghanistan’s interior minister on Tuesday.

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=239033.

Art and cultural festival promoting Persian Gulf established

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

TEHRAN -- Iran has established an artistic and cultural festival to promote the Persian Gulf.

The southern Iranian seaport of Bandar Abbas will playing host to the first edition of the Persian Gulf International Artistic and Cultural Festival, which will begin on April 30, which is Iran’s National Persian Gulf Day.

“It is our duty to protect the cultural and historical identity of the Persian Gulf and due to the interest of Iranian artists and literati in this issue, the festival was established, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini said during a press conference in Tehran on Monday.

The festival will be held in the fields of the visual arts, music, photography and literature.

The organizers of the festival are scheduled to launch a digital library, which will be offering books focusing on Persian Gulf issues.

A selection works submitted to the festivals and exhibits held on the Persian Gulf over the past few years will also be showcased on the sidelines of the event.

Hosseini said that artists from Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, France and Switzerland have been invited to the festival.

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=239010.

Jordan court starts trial of Danish journalists

By ABDUL JALIL MUSTAFA | ARAB NEWS
Apr 25, 2011

AMMAN: A Jordanian court on Monday started trial of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and 19 other Danish journalists and newspapers charged with "blasphemy" for publishing Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) cartoons six years ago.

None of the defendants appeared in the court and the judge, Nathir Shehadah, decided to conduct the trial in absentia after he considered the publication of the warrants and the indictment sheets in local press as legal notification, judicial sources said.

The court adjourned the session until May 8, when the tribunal is scheduled to hear witnesses.

The lawsuit was filed by the "God's Prophet Unites us Campaign," a coalition of Jordanian academics, lawmakers, unionists, journalists, lawyers and politicians.

Westergaard published 12 cartoons of the Prophet (pbuh) in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on Sept. 30, 2005, inciting outrage in the Muslim world as well as a boycott of Danish products.

The charges, which have already been approved by the Jordanian public prosecutor, include "blasphemy against the Prophet and humiliation of Islam and Muslims," which are punishable under the Jordanian penal code, the campaign's lawyer Tareq Hawamdeh said.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article372637.ece.

Somalia govt postpones vote to 2012 amid security crisis

* Lawmakers say parliament not consulted
* Cabinet reiterates need to tackle insecurity

By Mohamed Ahmed and Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU, April 24 (Reuters) - Somalia's U.N.-backed government said on Sunday it planned to postpone elections to next year, saying it had to tackle insecurity first, further deepening its dispute with parliament.

A 2009 deal envisioned the mandate of the Somali government and parliament would expire on Aug. 20 this year, by which time they were supposed to have enacted a new constitution and held elections.

In March the transitional cabinet extended its term by a further year saying it wanted to ensure continuity in its fight against insurgents, joining the parliament in lengthening its mandate.

"The cabinet ministers have underlined that election is impossible because of insecurity," a cabinet statement said. "This decision strengthens our previous decision that elections should be postponed by one year. This is to ensure that ongoing security and political developments (are completed)."

The U.N. has called for elections to be held to bring an end to the transitional phase, but it is unclear how such a vote could take place in the war-torn country.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's Transitional Federal Government is seen by the international community as the best hope of restoring order in the anarchic Horn of Africa country after two decades of armed conflict.

Ahmed has expressed interest in running for a second term.

On Saturday, the president and prime minister failed to convince parliament to approve extending the government's term.

Often rated as a failed state, Somalia has lacked effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Somalia is embroiled in war with Islamist al Shabaab rebels who want to topple its Western-backed government, and piracy is rife off its lawless coast.

On Saturday the government said legislators failed to turn up for a meeting to resolve differences between the executive and the government and the parliament.

"It was not passed by the parliament and so it is illegal. The government can only propose," lawmaker Ismail Ahmed said of the decision to postpone elections. (Editing by George Obulutsa)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://af.reuters.com/article/somaliaNews/idAFLDE73N0AH20110424?sp=true.

IAEA declares Pak nuclear program as safe

Islamabad, April 26: The International Atomic Energy Agency has declared Pakistan's nuclear program as safe and secure.

Talking on the sidelines of the “International seminar on nuclear safety and security” held in Islamabad from 21-23 April, IAEA Deputy Director General Denis Flory said that the agency emphasizes the importance of national responsibility for security, which Pakistan takes seriously.

In fact, Pakistan has had an Action Plan in place to strengthen nuclear security since 2006, The Nation quoted Flory, as telling a news agency.

Giving details of Pakistan’s Nuclear Security Action Plan (NSAP), he said that it covers items such as the Management of Radioactive Sources, Nuclear Security Emergency Co-ordination Center (NuSECC) and Locating and Securing Orphan Radioactive Sources.

Pakistan has worked with the IAEA both to implement that plan and to provide resources for its implementation, he maintained.

Flory also said that the IAEA has worked with Pakistan to provide detection instruments, to give “on the job training” to Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) staff, and to improve security at a number of Pakistani facilities using radioactive sources.

When asked about the future of the nuclear industry in the light of the Fukushima incident in Japan, Flory said that this industry’s future is not written down.

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-196920.html.

Authorities shut historical school in Miramshah

April 24, 2011

MIRAMSHAH, April 23: The political administration closed down a historical semi-government English medium school in Miramshah, North Waziristan Agency, owing to financial constraints.

Officials said that political administration issued notification about the closure of Tochi Public School, having historical importance as it was the oldest English medium educational institution in the tribal areas.

The school, established in 1967, used to receive Rs700,000 annual grant from federal government.

The closure of Tochi Public School exposed tall claim of the government regarding provision of quality education to the tribal youths. Earlier Razmak Cadet College was shifted from North Waziristan to Peshawar because of insurgency and its building was occupied by security forces. The students of the college attend classes in a rented building at the provincial capital.

A teacher of the school said that staff had been intimated that political administration could not manage funds to run the institution.

He said that teachers had not been paid their salaries for the last eight months.

The strength of the teaching staff was reduced from 30 to 16 and they had been running from pillar to post for payment of salaries. The administration had also banned fresh recruitments in the school that badly affected quality of teaching.

Initially over 700 students from different areas of North Waziristan were studying in the school. Presently around 200 students were studying in Tochi Public School.

Sources said the administration closed the school at a time when federal government had approved Rs50 million for construction of hostels for students and teachers. They said that the school`s building situated near security installations would be used for other purposes.

The parents and elders expressed anguish over the closure of school and asked government to review decision.

The head of the action committee, Mohammad Kahlil, asked government to reopen the school to save future of hundreds of children.

He said that government should open more schools in the tribal areas to provide quality education to youths.

Source: DAWN.
Link: http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/24/authorities-shut-historical-school-in-miramshah.html.

Massive two-day anti-U.S. protest begins in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people in northwest Pakistan Saturday started a two-day sit-in against the U.S. drone strikes in the country's tribal regions, blocking main supply route for NATO troops in the neighboring Afghanistan.

Anger runs high in Pakistan against the U.S. drone strikes in the Waziristan tribal area, which CIA considers as the base for al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants for planning attacks across the border into Afghanistan.

Despite the public resentment and Pakistan's protest, the U.S. administration has rejected any possibility to halt the strikes.

The protesters blocked Khyber Pass, the main supply route for NATO troops in the neighboring Afghanistan, in the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.

The protest forced the authorities to suspend for two days supplies for nearly 150,000 U.S.-led foreign forces.

Officials said that nearly 70 percent of NATO supplies are transported through Pakistan, the most risky but shorter supply route. Suspected militants regularly attack NATO trucks in Pakistan, which has also forced the United States to sign agreements with Russia for alternate supply route.

The protesters will continue the sit-in till Sunday and the organizers said they would announce future strategy at the conclusion of the protest.

Cricketer-turned politician, Imran Khan, head of Tehrik-e-Insaf (Justice Movement) is leading the protest. Several opposition and Islamist groups as wells as tribal elders have also backed the protest plan. Campaigners against the strikes from Waziristan region have also joined the protest, in a sign of fast growing opposition to the U.S. attacks.

"I congratulate the people on the successful protest," Imran Khan told the protesters. He said the people of Pakistan will continue protest unless the United States halts the strikes. He demanded of the government to shut supply route on the NATO supplies through Pakistan.

"Pakistan will not be made a servant of the United States," he said, asking the government to quit the U.S-led international coalition. He added that anti-U.S. protest will gain momentum in the coming days.

The protest comes just a day after two U.S. drone aircrafts rained missiles into North Waziristan tribal region which killed 25 people including women and children, according to tribesmen in the region.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/23/c_13842844.htm.

No deal with Saleh regime: Protesters

By SAEED AL-BATATI | ARAB NEWS
Apr 25, 2011

SANAA: Young Yemeni protesters vowed Monday to resort to more aggressive means to remove President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime and build a democratic country.

Khaled Al-Ansi, a leading member of the organizing committee of the youths who have been protesting on the streets of the capital Sanaa for weeks, told Arab News that they would welcome any initiative from any party either national or international that stipulated the immediate and unconditional end of Saleh's regime.

"We only accept initiatives that ask Saleh to leave at once and without condition. Last Friday was the last chance for him to leave and we have many means to bring him to his knees," Al-Ansi said.

He blamed both the opposition and the government for the current turmoil in a clear sign of a split between the protesters and the opposition following the latter's acceptance of a Gulf Cooperation Council plan under which the president would hand power to his deputy within 30 days of a deal being signed in exchange for immunity from prosecution for Saleh and his sons.

"The problem lies with those two parties (the government and the opposition). They have been engaged in fruitless dialogues for ages that have led the country to this crisis," Al-Ansi said.

He accused the international community of paying lip service to the protesters while the regime killed them with impunity.

Al-Ansi denied news reports that a delegation from the young protesters met with the US ambassador in Sanaa. "We didn't meet the American ambassador. Some ambassadors do like the regime's officials. They meet some rank-and-file members of the revolution and then come to claim that they have negotiated with us."

The hardening of the protesters' stance came as three more demonstrators were killed in the country on Monday. Reuters quoted witnesses as saying security men opened fire to stop protesters marching through the city of Taiz, south of the capital. They were trying to join a pro-democracy rally that would take them past a palace belonging to Saleh. "There were thousands in a march who came from outside Taiz, but the police, army and gunmen in civilian clothes confronted them, opening fire with bullets and tear gas," said Jamil Abdullah, a protest organizer. "They opened fire heavily from every direction."

A woman watching the clash from her balcony was shot dead and medical sources said 25 others were shot and wounded in the town.

Similar clashes broke out in Ibb, where one protester was shot dead and a dozen were wounded by live fire as police tried to break up a march. Security forces also shot dead a protester in the southern province of Al-Baida.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article372669.ece.

Dozens of protesters wounded, others arrested in clashes with police across Yemen

by Mohamed al-Azaki, Wang Qiuyun

SANAA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of protesters demanding Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh immediately resign were injured Monday when police forces used live ammunition and tear gas to confront them from marching in five Yemeni provinces, including Sanaa, Taiz, Al-Hodayda, Ibb and Aden, protest organizers said.

The escalating tension came a day after the youth-led protesters issued a statement to reject the recent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plan for Saleh to transfer power in exchange for immunity, vowing to step up their protests to force Saleh to leave and prosecute him along with his family members.

The protesters said in a statement Sunday that the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), which accepted the U.S.-backed Gulf initiative, "only represents itself," calling JMP to refrain from engaging in any deal with Saleh and to merge entirely with the protests that seek to ouster Saleh right away and rapidly prosecute his aides.

Dozens of protesters were injured in Sanaa, Al-Hodayda, Ibb and Aden by police live rounds, batons and tear gas. More than 57 were injured in Taiz, seven of them hit by bullets, and at least 10 others were arrested, a protest media organizer named Ali al-Fakih told Xinhua.

The clashes between protesters and armed government backers were still going on in the southern province of Taiz, where a local police official told Xinhua that the protesters were trying to storm into the presidential palace of Taiz during their march.

"This is riot, chaos and coup ... this is not a peaceful demonstration ... they attacked us and they were attempting to break into the presidential palace," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Such accusations were denied by protest organizers, while two eyewitnesses, who asked not to be named, said the march was heading to besiege Saleh's presidential palace in Taiz.

Eyewitnesses said sounds of warplanes could be heard over Taiz.

Elsewhere in southern Ibb province, at least three protesters were injured by police bullets and up to 30 others were wounded by batons and tear gas in clashes during the protest march in Al- Odain street in downtown Ibb, an eyewitness named Mohamed Qasim told Xinhua.

Provinces of Aden, Al-Hodayda and the capital Sanaa also witnessed sporadic clashes Monday, and protest organizers said tens of protesters suffered suffocation because of tear gas.

"In Al-Hodayda, the protesters today removed all pictures and posters of President Saleh," a provincial police official told Xinhua.

Yemen has faced since mid February political crisis ignited by opposition-backed street protests, which undermined the security and stability of the country.

Saleh, who earlier admitted losing control of several provinces, has accepted the recent Gulf plan for transfer power within 30 days, but repeatedly warned of civil war and national split if he is forced to step aside by protesters.

More than 130 demonstrators have been killed in clashes with the security forces since late January. There are also fears that the violence could escalate, as the majority of the country's 23 million people own guns.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/25/c_13845376.htm.

Saleh quits Yemen presidency

Saturday, 23 April 2011

By MUNA KHAN
Al Arabiya with Agencies

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has agreed to a proposal by Gulf Arab mediators to step down within 30 days, and hand power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution, Yemen’s state TV said on Saturday evening.

His imminent departure from office made Mr. Saleh the third key Arab leader to step down in the face of social and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. The other leaders are Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia. Mr. Mubarak is under detention at a military hospital in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh; Mr. Ben Ali is reported to be gravely ill in Saudi Arabia.

There were unconfirmed reports early Sunday morning that members of President Saleh’s immediate family have left Sana’a for the United Arab Emirates. It is not inconceivable that an informal arrangement has been made to ensure safe passage for the president’s family to nearby countries.

The protest movement demanding Mr. Saleh’s immediate departure from office said Saturday it also has agreed to the mediators’ proposal but with reservations. It objects to an article that gives parliament the right to reject the president’s resignation.

Members of the 68-year-old Mr. Saleh’s party, the General People’s Congress, dominate the parliament. Mr. Saleh, who has been in power for the last 32 years, steadfastly refused to resign from the presidency in the face of more than two months of massive street protests against his authoritarian rule.

State TV said Saturday evening that Yemen’s foreign minister delivered the government’s acceptance to mediators from the Gulf Cooperation Council earlier on Saturday.

Hours after the government officially accepted the GCC new proposal to tackle the Yemeni crisis, the Joint Meeting Parties, representing the opposition coalition, said it had accepted the Gulf initiative too. 
The coalition held a meeting to discuss the proposal; it backed down from an earlier insistence that Opposition leaders lead a new government.

Instead, a spokesman for the coalition, Muhammad Qahtan, said: “We agreed that the General People’s Congress, the governing party, forms the national unity government from the government, the opposition and other political forces on condition the protests continue on the streets.” Sultan Al-Atwani, Secretary General of the Nasserite Unionist People’s Organization, said that the proposal was to be welcomed in general, but he added that his group needed further clarification regarding the GCC-brokered deal. 


President Saleh seemed predictably bitter in accepting the deal. He warned on Saturday of civil war unless the current crisis was tackled. In a speech to deans, commanders and students of Yemen’s military and security colleges, Mr. Saleh accused his foes of receiving funds from unnamed countries “to incite chaos and oust the regime.”

“The Joint Meeting Parties receive dirty money to topple the government, and those who joined them from the ruling party were agents for the opposition,” Mr. Saleh said. “We are very interested in preventing bloodshed because the Yemeni blood is very precious and the opposition can’t drag us to killing each other. Civil war will not only affect Yemen, but also the whole region and the international security. Change is necessary but through peaceful means and without destruction or sabotage. The demands of the youths, who are on the streets, are the people’s demands and I truly support these demands and suggest that the youth form their own political party.”

The Wall Street Journal broke the story of his resignation on Saturday evening. It quoted a presidential aide, Tariq Shami, as saying, “Though President Saleh has constitutional rights to stay in power, he is willing to leave office willingly.”

In the end, President Saleh had little choice but to yield to pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two Gulf States most vigorously involved in diplomatic efforts concerning the Yemen crisis. Although Mr. Saleh remained defiant in speeches on Friday, vowing to complete his term until 2013, backdoor diplomacy by Gulf states—worried at the possible gains made by Al-Qaeda network in Yemen—was able to convince Mr. Saleh that he would be accorded a dignified exit, according to The Journal.

Analysts will now eagerly await the opposition’s reaction to this deal as various groups are divided on the controversial clause of the president and his aides receiving any form of immunity from prosecution. While some have agreed to President Saleh handing over power to the vice-president in 30 days and his son and nephew, who hold key positions in the military and national security, handing over their posts within 60 days, it is the youth movement that remains adamant in their stance, The Journal said.

“We the youth of revolution reject any proposal that does not hold Saleh accountable for the killing of more than 140 revolutionary protesters during the street demonstrations this year,” said a statement released by the students’ organizing committee.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, Yemenis boarded up their shops and businesses across the country in protest against the president’s rule.

According to a Reuters witness, up to 90 percent of shops, markets and schools were closed in the southern port city of Aden. There were few pedestrians in the streets and hardly any traffic.

Many businesses were also closed for the day in Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city and an epicenter of opposition to the 69-year-old-president, and Hodeida on the Red Sea.

Yemenis flooded the streets of Sana’a and Taiz on Friday in rival demonstrations for and against Mr. Saleh, who offered guarded approval to a Gulf Arab plan for a three-month transition of power.

The proposal of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called for Mr. Saleh to hand power to his vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, one month after signing an agreement.

He would appoint an opposition leader to lead an interim cabinet charged with preparing presidential elections two months later, a Yemeni official said on Friday.

The plan, presented on Thursday, also gives immunity from prosecution to Mr. Saleh, his family and aides—anathema to his foes, who would also have to end protests under the proposal.

“We stress that we will hold on to the constitutional legitimacy, in loyalty to our people, as we categorically reject the attempted coups on freedom, democracy, and political pluralism,” Mr. Saleh told regime supporters in Sana’a.

As on past Fridays, a huge rival rally by anti-regime protesters kept up the pressure for Mr. Saleh’s immediate departure on what they branded a “Last Chance Friday.”

A correspondent of Agence-France Presse said the gathering covered a four-kilometer stretch, in what appeared to be the largest anti-Saleh rally since protests erupted in late January.

Yemeni army and police were deployed in force to prevent clashes between the two camps.

Parliamentary opposition groups are still studying the GCC plan, but the spokesman of the Common Forum coalition said that “forming a national unity government while the president is still in office is not accepted.”

“The president’s departure is essential to any solution,” he told AFP.

Many protesters on the streets on Friday dismissed the proposal out of hand.

“Neighboring countries: no negotiations, no dialogue,” read posters carried by demonstrators.

Mr. Saleh has since January faced anti-regime protests calling for his ouster in which more than 130 people have been killed in clashes with security forces and rival demonstrators.

Meanwhile al-Qaeda militants and tribesmen gunned down 13 soldiers in separate attacks in the eastern Marib province.

Another soldier was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the restive southern province of Abyan.

Mr. Saleh’s long-time Gulf and Western allies, concerned that the chaos in Yemen will open more opportunities for ambitious al-Qaeda militants, are trying to broker an orderly transition to the president’s 32-year rule.

Source: al-Arabiya.
Link: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/23/146477.html.

Ankara on alert over escalating tension in Syria

Monday, April 25, 2011

Turkey is alarmed at the escalating tension in neighboring Syria, where security forces’ deadly crackdowns on protesters threaten to trigger a flood of refugees across the border, Turkish officials have said.

“Syria is the top priority for us,” a senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Monday. “We have already taken measures considering all sorts of scenarios, including massive migration and other potential complications.”

Turkey has called its ambassador to Damascus, Ömür Önhon, to Ankara for routine consultations, sources said, adding that Önhon has met with newly appointed Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar and he will brief Ankara about those discussions.

Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄŸlu briefed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan about the developments in Syria on Monday. The Syria issue is also expected to top the Turkish Cabinet meeting Tuesday, while developments will be further assessed Thursday at a routine National Security Council, or MGK, with the participation of military and civilian authorities.

Turkey released its last official statement on the matter late Saturday, calling on the Syrian regime to stop the killings of demonstrators as the death toll neared 350 since the beginning of popular revolts last week. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s reluctance to heed Turkey’s calls to heed the demands of his people has diminished Ankara’s support for his regime.

“The reason for our relatively silent position is not to give the impression that we are backing a regime that suppresses democratic protests,” an official said, adding that the continuation of the reform process was still Turkey’s expectation from Damascus.

“But those reforms cannot be performed while people’s demands are responded to violently,” the official said.

ErdoÄŸan already urged al-Assad at a meeting in February to urgently implement reforms if he does not want to see his reign ended. “But he did not listen to us then. He delayed many reforms, which caused today’s situation,” the Foreign Ministry source said. “If he had acted adequately at that time, perhaps he would not be at this point now.”

Syria, not Libya

Underscoring that Turkey shares an 877-kilometer border with Syria and has close economic, cultural and historical ties with the country, Foreign Ministry officials dismissed analogies between the situations in Libya and Syria.

“Syria has critical importance for us. Turmoil in Syria could spark intersecting clashes and regional instability through exporting the tension to neighboring countries like Lebanon,” an official said.

Noting that an international campaign to impose sanctions against al-Assad’s regime has already been launched, Turkish officials warned that such moves will not be helpful at the moment.

“The mistakes committed during the first days of Libyan crisis should not be repeated,” an official said. “This effort allowed some countries to change the regime in Libya, something the United Nations resolutions did not impose.”

Northern border quiet

Despite the growing tension in southern Syria, Turkish officials said they have been observing silence in northern Syria, where the majority of the population is of Turkish or Kurdish descent.

An official from the Customs Directorate said measures have been prepared but not implemented because they are not needed for the time being. Mayors of Turkish cities on the Syrian border have also taken some steps to deal with a massive potential influx of refugees.

“The only thing we see is that there is a growing concern on this side of the border as many of our people have relatives in Syria,” one official said.

Turkey and Syria abolished visa requirements last year in a move to boost economic and trade ties.

Source: Hürriyet.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=ankara-on-alert-for-syria-2011-04-25.

476 inmates escape from Afghan prison, Taliban claims responsibility

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Over 470 inmates escaped from a prison in Kandahar, south of Afghanistan early Monday, an official said.

"Some 476 inmates made their good escape from the Kandahar jail early today," chief of the Kandahar jail Ghulam Dastgir Mayar told Xinhua.

He also admitted that the prisoners made their escape after digging a hole.

Meantime, deputy to Kandahar provincial police chief Shir Shah Yusufzai told Xinhua that so far eight escaped prisoners had been re-arrested.

Some 1,000 inmates, according to an official who declined to give his name, had been held in the Kandahar jail. This is the third time that the Kandahar jail has been attacked over the past few years and the detainees have been able to escape.

On the other hand, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit stressed that over 500 Taliban detainees have escaped from the jail.

In talks with media via telephone from an undisclosed location, the Taliban purported spokesman emphasized that militants, after digging a 360-meter long tunnel, enabled 541 militants including 106 commanders to escape.

Kandahar, the former stronghold of Taliban, is the second major base of the NATO and U.S. troops after Bagram, in Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/25/c_13844690.htm.

Turkey backs independent Palestine

NEW YORK, April 23 (UPI) -- Turkey, historically one of Israel's few allies in the Middle East, has declared its support for a unilateral Palestinian independence declaration.

Ertugrul Apakan, the Turkish ambassador to the United Nations, said Thursday during a Security Council debate other countries must not "turn a blind eye" to Palestinians' legitimate claims, Today's Zaman reported.

"Through their state-building efforts, the Palestinian Authority has proven to all the skeptics that they deserve to attain their decades-long target of internationally recognized statehood, even though they continue to suffer under occupation," he said.

Palestinian leaders have said if the peace process remains unresolved in September they will seek U.N. recognition as an independent country.

Relations between Turkey and Israel became strained when several Turks participating in a humanitarian convoy to Gaza were killed in a confrontation with the Israeli military.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Thursday in an op-ed piece in The New York Times the future of the movement for democracy in the Middle East depends on creating a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace and a broader peace between Israel and its neighbors in the region.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/04/23/Turkey-backs-independent-Palestine/UPI-54681303594672/.

Iraqi Shiites fear Sunni power in Syria

Monday, 25 April 2011

By MUSTAPHA AJBAILI
Al Arabiya

Despite their dreadful experiences with the Baath party, Iraq’s Shiite religious political blocs are concerned over the possible collapse of the party in Syria and fundamentalist Sunnis coming into power, experts told Al Arabiya.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said that “tyranny” and “oppression” justify the popular protests sweeping the Arab world from Morocco to Syria.

But other Shiite political figures in Iraq have been more cautious in their support for demonstrators calling for freedom and democracy in the Arab world.

Sheikh Jalal Eddin Al-Saghir, a top leader in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (SCIRI), explained the differences between the ruling Baath party in Syria and the Baath party of Saddam Hussein.

“Syria has stood with the opposition [in Iraq]…and we cannot talk about the two in the same manner. There is a difference between the criminal regime that used to rule in Iraq in the name of a party and the Baath party in Syria,” he said.

Mr. Saghir added, “We have to take into consideration that Iraq would be the most affected by instability in Syria.”

Meanwhile, Khalid al-Asadi, a member of the National Alliance, said foreigners instigated the unrest in Syria; he denied the protests were motivated by a genuine demand for reform and freedom.

“The unrest in Syria is a very sensitive issue for Iraq and we must not compare it to other Arab uprisings,” Mr. Asadi said.

Latif al-Amidi, a scholar at the Islamic School in Najaf, said he was “afraid of [Sunni] fundamentalists reaching power in Syria if President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party is overthrown.”

Hamid Fadil, a political science professor at Baghdad University said that the Shiites, who waited for 80 years to reach power in Iraq, “are afraid to be surrounded by Sunni regimes in the region.”

Michel Aflaq, a Christian, and Salah al-Bitar, a Muslim, established Syria’s Baath party in 1947. The secular party, which combines Arabic nationalism and socialism, came to power in Syria in 1963 and in Iraq in 1968.

Source: al-Arabiya.
Link: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/25/146715.html.

'Fueled by Viagra' Gaddafi forces using rape as weapon against rebel children, women

Tripoli, Apr 26: Fueled by Viagra, the forces of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, are reportedly using rape as a weapon of war against rebels, including children as young as eight years.

The Daily Mail quoted aid workers as describing how Gaddafi''s forces are carrying out widespread sexual abuse, including an incident in which a group of girls was abducted and held hostage for four days.

Some of these children were too traumatized to speak about the incident after their release, while others said they were being forced to watch as their fathers were murdered and their mothers raped.

Harrowing stories of sexual assaults against women and children have emerged from those who have fled the besieged cities of Misrata, Ajdabia and Rus-Lanuf.

Michael Mahrt, child protection adviser of Save The Children, said the reports of sexual violence against children are unconfirmed but they are ‘consistent and were repeated across the four camps we visited’.

“Children told us they have witnessed horrendous scenes. Some said they saw their fathers murdered and mothers raped. They described things happening to other children but they may have actually happened to them and they are just too upset to talk about it - it''s a typical coping mechanism used by children who have suffered such abuse,” the paper quoted her, as saying.

“What is most worrying is that we have only been able to speak to a limited number of children - what else is happening to those who are trapped in Misrata and other parts of the country who do not have a voice?” Mahrt said.

Earlier, 28-year-old Iman al-Obeidi had claimed that she was assaulted for two days by 15 men after being abducted at a checkpoint. She was arrested after trying to tell her story to foreign journalists and has subsequently been charged with slander.

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-196857.html.

Bahrain soccer players detained, clubs shut

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Three players from Bahrain's national soccer team have been detained and six clubs have withdrawn from domestic leagues following widespread anti-government protests, the country's governing soccer body said Monday.

Meanwhile, the pro-democracy group Youth of Feb. 14 Revolution has launched a Facebook campaign urging Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone not to reschedule the Bahrain Grand Prix until "until basic human rights and freedoms are restored." Bahrain has until May 1 to decide if it wants to reschedule the auto race, which was called off March 13 because of the unrest.

The turmoil surrounding soccer and Formula One are the latest illustrations of just how badly sports in the Gulf nation have been hit since the protests began Feb. 14 and left 30 people dead.

The moves against the soccer players are part of a government crackdown on dissent following protests that have resulted in journalists, bloggers, doctors, lawyers and activists being detained. More than 150 athletes, coaches and referees also have been suspended since April 5 for their alleged involvement in protests against the country's Sunni rulers.

Sheik Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the vice president of the Bahrain Football Association, acknowledged the three players have been detained but could provide no further information. He said the clubs — two in the top division and four in the second — have withdrawn from the league, which resumed two weeks ago because of "pressure from Shiite political groups."

Al Khalifa said all could be fined for refusing to play and possibly face other sanctions, including relegation to a lower division.

"Some of the clubs during the problems refrained from participating," Al Khalifa said. "We haven't suspended anyone. They are just not participating. There is a fine and punishment, of course."

A human right group, however, says the clubs from mostly Shiite villages were suspended last week from the league for two years and fined $20,000. Along with soccer teams, the clubs sponsor a range of sports in their communities.

Mohammed al-Maskati, president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, said clubs had stopped playing during the protests partly because they felt it was too dangerous and also to acknowledge the deaths of protesters.

But he said that when the clubs announced they were ready to resume playing, the authorities imposed suspensions and fines.

"They could not work normally when protesters are killed in their villages," Al-Maskati said.

"The authorities want to tell them that you are supporting the protests and this is the punishment. It's not fair," he added. "Just because you are a sportsman doesn't mean it's wrong to be political. Everyone in the world has ideas about something. Everyone has the right to get involved."

Officials from three of the clubs — Al Malkiya, Al Ittihad and Sitra — confirmed the six had been fined for refusing to participate in the league and that the top two clubs, Al Malkiya and Al Shabab, were relegated and drew additional fines for refusing to take part in the GCC Club Championship.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Kuwait gives $180 million to Libyan rebels

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — Kuwait on Sunday gave 50 million dinars ($180 million) to the Libyan opposition Transitional National Council (TNC), its chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said.

"This amount will help us pay part of the salaries of employees," Jalil told reporters after talks with Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. "We are in need of urgent assistance."

Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah said "Kuwait will provide large and urgent humanitarian aid through the national council."

Sheikh Mohammad said Kuwait and the TNC "will work closely so that it becomes the legitimate channel of the Libyan people," but stopped short of officially recognizing the council.

"Recognition is a secondary issue," Abdel Hafiz Ghoqa, spokesman for the TNC in Benghazi told reporters, adding that the quality of cooperation with Kuwait showed the friendly nation's "approval" for east Libya's nascent government.

France, Gambia, Italy and Qatar are the only countries so far to have recognized the TNC, Libya's parallel government.

The Kuwaiti foreign minister also said the emir informed Jalil that Kuwait fully complies with UN Security Council resolution 1973 which called for using all means necessary to protect Libyan civilians.

Jalil, on his first visit to Kuwait, said the TNC welcomes any initiative that would lead to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and his sons leaving the country, "but there is no initiative on the ground right now."

He also repeated allegations that Kadhafi used Algerian planes to fly African mercenaries to fight with his forces.

"We have evidence that there are mercenaries from Mauritania and Serbia, military experts from Russia and women from Columbia," Jalil said.

Libyan rebels have not received any weapons or military training from Arab neighbors Egypt or Tunisia, said Jalil, adding that the TNC understood their situation.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Kazakhstan to host OIC meet in June, no invite for KMR separatists

Astana, Kazakhstan, Apr 24: Kazakhstan will host the 38th Session of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in capital Astana from June 28-30 mainly to discuss the crisis in the Arab World and will not invite Kashmiri separatists, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov said here.

Mr Umarov told UNI that all the 57 member-countries would be invited to attend the meet which would be "the first of its kind".

Asked whether Kashmiri separatists would also be invited, Mr Umarov said they would not be invited.

Kashmiri separatists are a regular participants of the OIC meets.

"We are not going to take up such (Kashmir) issues...

Real necessity for Islamic countries is to modernize," he added.

Officials said the Foreign Ministers and Heads of Delegations of the OIC Member States will discuss a wide range of political, economic, cultural and other issues of interest to Member States, including Palestine and the Middle East, Implications of Islamophobia, ten-Year Program of Action, Statutory, Organic and General Matters, Legal Affairs, Conditions of Muslim Minorities and Communities in non-OIC Member States, Information Affairs, Administrative and Financial Affairs, and Humanitarian Affairs.

They will adopt, in addition to Astana Declaration, a set of resolutions on these issues.

The country will also host the next Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana.

Although a secular State, Kazakhstan has nevertheless historically considered itself part of the global Muslim community.

For that matter, Astana desires to further expand mutually advantageous cooperation with Islamic countries and is committed to more active engagement in the OIC activities during its leadership in 2011.

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-195796.html.

Syria closes border with Jordan

April 25, 2011

A Jordanian security official says Syria has sealed the border with Jordan and is preventing people from leaving the country.

The Jordanian border crossing lies close to the southern Syrian town of Daraa, where government forces were launching a sharp crackdown on protesters Monday. Some of the fiercest protests against the Syrian regime have taken place in Daraa.

The official spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The border closure may aim to prevent Syrian demonstrators and activists from feeling to nearby Jordan.

The head of Syria’s Customs Department denied that Damascus has closed its land borders with Jordan.

Mustafa al-Bouqai told The Associated Press that crossings across the frontier are open as normal. AP

Source: Ya Libnan.
Link: http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/04/25/syria-closes-border-with-jordan/.

Syrians in Jordan call on Assad to step down

AMMAN, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Syrians residing in Jordan staged a sit-in on Sunday, calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

The participants, who demonstrated in solidarity with the people killed during the clashes in Syria, called for immediate halt of attacks against civilians.

Holding banners that called for the toppling of the president, the demonstrators burnt pictures of Assad.

"People want the toppling of the regime ... Bashar you should leave and make people live in comfort and peace," chanted the demonstrators.

Anti-government protests erupted in major Syrian cities on Friday. Reports said dozens of people were killed as the security forces using live bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/25/c_13843929.htm.

PRC announces meetings with Hamas, Fatah

25/04/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The Popular Resistance Committees will meet with officials from both the Fatah and Hamas movements in an effort to spur unity efforts between the parties, Secretary-General to the group Abu Qasem Dughmush said Sunday.

The PRC, a coalition of factions in support of resistance against Israel and active only in Gaza, issued a statement saying the meeting came in line with a recent visit to Egypt, where unity was also the central topic.

Meetings will be held separately, Dughmush said, with the aim of "achieving the highest Palestinian interest."

Dughmush said the movement had also discussed truce terms for a deal with Israel, adding that leaders from Hamas, the Popular Front-General command, and Popular Struggle Front had also attended.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381828.

Tunisian Islamist leader says no to extremism

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Apr 25, 2011

PARIS: A noted Tunisian Islamic thinker has called on the country’s Muslims to reject extremism and restore the true nature of Islam worldwide.

Rachid Ghanouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s Muslims, said Monday at the close of an annual Muslim gathering outside the French capital Paris that extremism takes root in injustice, but must be fought.

He said today Islam “is associated with violence, terrorism ... It is presented as a plague.” But extremism “isn’t a legitimate child of Islam ... our challenge is to respond to restore the image of Islam,” he added.

Ghanouchi founded Tunisia’s Ennahdha party, branded a terrorist group by the country’s ex-leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was toppled in a January uprising.

Ennahdha is now legal — among 50-some parties formed since Ben Ali fled.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article372554.ece.

Egypt's new PM starts diplomatic tour of Gulf countries on Sunday

Egypt’s interim PM Sharaf’s Gulf countries tour, including Kuwait and Qatar, is welcomed by Saudi ambassador.

Ahram Online, Saturday 23 Apr 2011

Essam Sharaf, Egypt’s interim prime minister, will start touring Arab Gulf countries on Sunday, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

Originally, Sharaf planned to visit the Emirates, but this has been postponed as officials from Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be abroad and unavailable to meet. That leg of the trip was regrouped with another, later tour that includes Oman and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador, Ahmed El-Qetan, has welcomed Sharaf’s visit and emphasized its importance as the first and stressed that the meeting’s aim will be to strengthen relations on all levels and to discuss several future projects.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/10620.aspx.

Egypt political and revolution forces to hold unprecedented national conference May 7

Dozens of leaders of the country's political and revolutionary movements have received invitations to to take part in an unprecedented National Conference aimed at fully realizing the aims of the Egyptian revolution.

Ahram Online, Saturday 23 Apr 2011

Cairo's International Conference Center is to witness a first of its kind national conference, bringing together leading representatives of the movements and political parties involved in the Egyptian revolution, as well as a wide array of intellectuals, academics, trade unionists and members of the legal profession and the judiciary. Foreign guests have also been invited.

The invitation only conference, called by a coalition of revolutionary youth and political groups, will have a four-point agenda, including: 1) the basic principles of the forthcoming constitution; 2) Vision for the future and the requisites of social justice; 3) establishing unity of action among the various revolutionary forces ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary elections, and 4) the setting up of a national council, made up of representatives of the various political and revolutionary forces to support the fulfillment of the revolution's demands, give voice to the people's aspirations and coordinate with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to ensure the achievement of these objectives.

The conference will be held in the conference center's Khufu Hall, named after the fourth dynasty Pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/10648.aspx.

Three Coptic brothers accused of killing sister, her husband and child for converting to Islam

Three Coptic brothers are arrested on suspicion of murdering their sister, her husband and five-year-old son, allegedly as punishment for her conversion to Islam.

Ahram Online, Saturday 23 Apr 2011

Three Coptic brothers have been arrested on suspicion of murdering their sister, her husband and five year-old son in what seems to be a sectarian hate crime.

The couple’s six year-old daughter, Nada, was the only survivor, even though she sustained neck wounds. The outrageous murder took place in the Cairo district of Boulaq Al-Dakrour.

Salwa Atallah, 33, converted to Islam over six years ago and reportedly that’s the reason why her siblings decided to finish her off, according to initial investigations.

Over the past few years Atallah’s three brothers, two manual laborers and a driver, paid regular visits to their sister without showing any signs of hostility.

Husband, Khaled Ibrahim, was still alive when the police arrived on the crime scene. He was rushed to Boulaq Al-Dakrour Hospital where he was pronounced dead after succumbing to his fatal injuries.

However, police say he was able to give a testimony before his demise at 48.

Ibrahim said his late wife’s younger brother Momen, 22, paid them a visit and stayed till the crack of dawn, before the other two arrived to carry out their murders.

Police have given the following transcript of Ibrahim's deathbed testimony:

“I was hesitant to open the door but he [Momen] told me ‘open it I am with you’” (meaning that he's got his back) said Ibrahim.

“I went to the kitchen to bring a knife to defend myself… when I opened the door my wife started to scream.”

“Her elder brother followed her to the bedroom while Raafat [third brother] punched me in the face and stabbed me many times.”

“Momen also snatched my knife to stabbed me… I lost control, I tried to get up more than once but I was bleeding heavily.”

“After killing my wife, Raafat brought a scarf and wrapped it around my son’s neck. He squeezed till he died.”

The three men reportedly confessed their crime upon being held captive by neighbors.

Atallah converted to Islam on 15 March, 2005.

The crime is expected to contribute to sectarian tensions, which have been rampant in the southern province of Qena since the appointment of Christian Emad Mikhail as governor.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/10609.aspx.

Egypt's fallen president faces execution or life imprisonment if found guilty

Deposed President Hosni Mubarak could face execution or life imprisonment if convicted of the charges of complicity to murder, corruption and plunder of public money, for which he is currently being investigated.

Gamal Essam El-Din, Saturday 23 Apr 2011

All of Egypt was taken aback by Prosecutor-general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud ordering that the detention of deposed President Hosni Mubarak should be extended for a further 15 days. Not only did Abdel-Meguid’s order come after conflicting reports on the health condition of the deposed president, who is currently being held in Sharm El-Sheikh International Hospital, but also after widespread rumors that he might not be taken to Cairo to face more extensive questioning or to be placed at the hospital attached to Tora prison, where his two sons and most of his ex-regime’s henchmen are held in custody.

An official statement emphasized that Mubarak was questioned on two serious charges: ordering the killing of pro-democracy protesters in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in the country, and helping business tycoon Hussein Salem monopolize the sale of Egypt’s natural gas to Israel, at very cheap prices against a hefty commission. Mubarak was questioned in the presence of his lawyer, Farid El-Deeb. A team of doctors are to examine Mubarak on 26 April to see whether he can be moved to Tora prison in south Cairo or to the prison hospital.

The questioning of Mubarak came just a few days after several of his defunct ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) senior officials and business tycoons came under investigation on charges of involvement in mass murder, corruption and profiteering.

Questioned as a witness, Mubarak’s 13-day vice-president and former chief of intelligence Omar Suleiman said on 18 April that Mubarak had never issued orders to former interior minister Habib El-Adly to open fire on protesters. “On the contrary,” said Suleiman, “Mubarak was very clear in instructing El-Adly and police forces to exercise restraint, and to seek the help of the army in peacefully containing the protesters,” said Suleiman. The 13-day vice-president rather placed all the blame on the former interior minister for the killing of protesters on the 28 January (the Friday of Rage). “Though El-Adly was instructed by Mubarak to exercise restraint and seek the help of the army, El-Adly opted to issue orders for security forces to withdraw and open fire on protesters to protect themselves,” Suleiman said.

However, the former intelligence chief added, “I has strong suspicions that many of the NDP’s senior officials were implicated in masterminding the attacks on protesters at Tahrir Square on the 2nd of February (popularly known as the Battle of the Camel) but I do not know whether Mubarak had a hand in this battle or not.”

In his own questioning, Mubarak's son and heir apparent Gamal vehemently denied that he had ever given orders to El-Adly to open fire on protesters.” In Gamal’s words “I have never been a state official, and never had the authority to give orders to anybody.”

Mubarak himself told investigators during a very brief questioning on 13 April that he never issued orders for El-Adly to open fire on protesters. “El-Adly told me that a lot of Muslim Brotherhood members had infiltrated the Tahrir Square demonstrations, and we had fears that the revolution of the youth would be stolen by radical Islamists, but we never went to the extent of giving orders to kill the protesters.”

All these testimonies were given the lie, however, by a report issued by a fact-finding committee on the bloody events of the 28 January and the Battle of the Camel on February 2nd. The report, released in a press conference on 19 April, pointed accusing fingers at Mubarak himself and his ex-interior minister Habib El-Adly.

In the words of the report, El-Adly could not issue orders for opening fire on protesters without the clear consent of Mubarak in his capacity as the President of the Republic. The report deplored that “neither the president nor the interior minister had ordered any investigation into these bloody incidents, nor did they intervene to bring a stop to the attacks or to hold accountable those who fired live rounds.” This, concluded the report, “means that Mubarak and his interior minister should be held accountable either by actual involvement or by complicity.”

Concerning the “Battle of the Camel”, the report shied away from pointing direct accusing fingers at Mubarak. It stressed, however, that several senior officials of the defunct NDP participated in masterminding and sponsoring these attacks. Fathi Sorour, the former parliamentary speaker, also held in detention, told prosecutors on 20 April that he had never received orders by phone from Mubarak to send thugs and hooligans from south Cairo’s densely-populated El-Sayeda Zeinb district to attack protesters by use of knives, daggers, cudgels and molotov cocktails. Testimony provided by other former NDP MPs – especially the deputy of Al-Haram (the Pyramids) district, Abdel-Nasser El-Gabry, told investigators that top-ranking NDP officials, including Mubarak and his son Gamal, masterminded the attacks on protesters on 2nd February by camel and horse-back hooligans wielding swords and cudgles.

Mubarak was also questioned over his part in the signing of a natural gas export deal with Israel at prices below international markets, which amounted to a waste of public funds. On 21 April, prosecutor-general Abdel-Meguid ordered that former minister of petroleum Sameh Fahmi and five ex-ministry officials be remanded into custody for 15 days pending investigation into the sale of natural gas to Israel at below market prices. On 20 April, Abdel-Meguid ordered police authorities to ask Interpol to arrest businessman Hussein Salem who is charged with giving Mubarak a hefty commission in return for being given a monopoly of the sale of natural gas to Israel.

The prosecutor-general’s office unveiled that the selling of cheap Egyptian natural gas to Israel at prices far below international market rates lost the state treasury some $714 million. Israel gets 40 percent of its natural gas from Egypt, under an agreement signed in December, 2005. The fugitive Hussein Salem and other Israeli, American and Tai investors own, East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), which has a monopoly of the supply of Egyptian natural gas to Israel via a pipeline between Al-Arish, the capital of north Sinai, and the port city of Ashkelon in Israel.

It is widely rumored that the ex-minister of petroleum, Sameh Fahmi, was formerly a consultant to Hussein Salem and he was rewarded in 1999 by being appointed a minister of petroleum to facilitate the selling of gas to Israel. Fahmi was helped several times by NDP officials to dodge answering questions leveled by opposition MPs during the 2005-2010 People’s Assembly on the sale of gas to Israel.

As for Salem, he has been branded by the press as Mubarak’s “front man” and “the king of Sharm El-Sheikh”. Salem told an Egyptian newspaper few years ago that he "knew Mubarak in the late 1960s and that since then they have held a strong friendship.” Several Western and local press reports have revealed evidence that Mubarak and Salem made a vast fortune from commissions gained from transporting American military assistance shipments to Egypt after signing peace with Israel in 1979. In 1994, Salem built the Mubarak family three luxurious villas at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh where Mubarak opted to stay after being deposed from power on 11 February.

Several judicial experts believe that Mubarak may be executed or jailed for life if convicted of the charges against him. Zakaria Shalash, a legal expert, said Mubarak could face execution if found guilty of ordering the killing of protesters and peddling influence to embezzle public funds.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/10607.aspx.

Egypt's PM Sharaf meets with Sinai tribes chiefs

Interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf meets with heads of the North and South Sinai ‎tribes.

MENA, Saturday 23 Apr 2011

Egypt’s interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf met with heads of the North and South Sinai ‎tribes in Moussa Coast Village today Saturday. ‎

The meeting was held to discuss the Sinai Bedouin tribes’ complaints and demands, and also to ‎suggest solutions for their problems. ‎

A number of governmental officials and dignitaries attended the event, including Minister ‎of Interior Mansour Al-Essawi and Minister of State for Military Production Sayed Moshaal.‎

Commander of the Second Field Army General Sobhi Sedki kicked off the event with a ‎speech, during which he stressed the importance of Sinai’s tribes as integral part of the ‎community. ‎

‎“These men have proven that they can contribute to protecting this nation, ‎and we do not forget their role in all the wars we got into, the last of which was the ‎October War [against Israel in 1973]. All love and respect for them,” he said. ‎

Boosting Sinai's financial status and revamping its infrastructure were brought into ‎discussion, ‎among other issues.‎

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/10629.aspx.

Amr Moussa optimistic over Nile Basin dispute

The head of the Arab League voices optimism over the Nile Basin water dispute, predicting "positive developments".

Ahram Online, Saturday 23 Apr 2011

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa voiced optimism over the Nile Basin water dispute, saying "positive developments" appear on the cards.

The statements of Moussa came in the wake of his meeting with Ethiopia’s newly-appointed Ambassador to Egypt Mahmoud Dardir.

The presidential hopeful believes that Egypt’s relations with Nile Basin countries will "notably improve, thanks to the January 25 Revolution". “The meeting was held to get to know Ethiopia’s new ambassador. Bilateral relations were also discussed,” Moussa said.

“I think the Nile Basin saga will see positive developments,” he added.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/10658.aspx.

Confessions of an Algerian recruited by Gaddafi's son to blow up the airport in Geneva

25 April, 2011

The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal, planned to blow up the Geneva airport and major infrastructures in Switzerland by using an Algerian bartender working in recreation centers for high Personality in Tripoli, to carry the mission. The attacks were then to be attributed to the Al Qaeda organization.

The security services have detained an Algerian who fled to Algeria, after providing important information to the Consulate of France in Annaba.

The indictment of Algiers court transferred the one of the most serious cases related to espionage, to the criminal court. This will probably be scheduled towards the end of the current criminal session.

The principal defendant in this case, the so-called "Iskander" reportedly said that the son of Libyan leader Kadhafi, Hannibal, had charged him of a secret mission in Switzerland, England and France, which consists of committing attacks in Geneva International Airport and in major economic infrastructure that would subsequently be awarded to the organization of Al Qaeda, this would have led him, according to his saying, to flee to Algeria March 7, 2010 through Debdab where he informed the Algerian authorities of all he had experienced in Libya for fear of being accused of spying.

In Annaba, he headed towards the consulate of France where he asked for the number of the Swiss Embassy to inform them of what had happened to the so-called “Kamel Mortada.” He was then held inside the embassy for 20 days and questioned about Hannibal Gaddafi.

Ennahar / Asma B.

Source: Ennahar.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/6360.html.

The opposition wants a transition before a constitutional referendum

24 April, 2011

ALGIERS - A faction of the opposition called Sunday for a political transition in Algeria and the establishment of a governmental authority with broad powers to lead the country to a constitutional referendum.

The National Coordination for Change and Democracy (CNDC) proposes a national conference that should appoint a National Council for Democratic Transition (CNTD), composed of personalities firmly committed to democratic change. The term of office can not exceed 12 months," according to a "platform for Democratic Change," presented at a press conference in Algiers.

"The CNTD will ensure to dissolve all elected and appoint a transitional government to manage daily affairs and prepare to engage the country in a national overhaul whose cornerstone will be the drafting of a constitution to be proposed to the Algerian people by referendum," the document said.

Source: Ennahar.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/6354.html.

Hostages in the Sahel AQIM wants France out of Afghanistan

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

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23 April, 2011

BAMAKO - Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) holding hostage four French for seven months, calls especially for the departure of French troops from Afghanistan in addition to a ransom of 90 million euros, said Saturday a source close to the mediation.

"People of AQIM also claimed and especially the departure of French troops from Afghanistan to free the four French hostages still being held. They stressed that," said the source close to the mediation, which included elected officials and Malian Nigerian personalities.

This requirement for a withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan had already been made twice by the leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, to which AQIM has made allegiance.

March 21, the same source close to the mediation had told AFP that AQIM claimed "at least 90 million euros" and the "liberation of prisoners held in several countries" in exchange for the release of the French, a demand which was immediately rejected by France.

A group of mediators is currently in the stronghold of the kidnappers in an unnamed country in the Sahel, for a new round of negotiations, also said a Malian source close to the case. "These are long and difficult negotiations. We hope very soon to obtain, why not, the release of some hostages," the source added.

AQIM is holding hostage four French nationals who were among a group of seven people kidnapped Sept. 16, 2010 in Arlit, a uranium mining site in northern Niger, of a French nuclear group Areva.

On 24 February, three of the hostages (a French, a Togolese and a Malagasy), were released near the junction of the borders between Algeria, Mali and Niger.

AQIM has bases in Mali where it operates in several countries in the region of Sahel-Saharan desert where it is guilty of the attacks, carries out kidnappings, mostly of Westerners, and engaged in smuggling.

Source: Ennahar.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/international/6344.html.

Missing Algerian opposition leader found dead

Apr 23, 2011

Algiers/Paris - A prominent member of the Algerian opposition who went missing five days ago beforehand was found dead Saturday in a building belonging to the MDS opposition party, according to the newspaper El Watan.

It was unclear under which circumstances Ahmed Kerroumi, a 53- year-old academic, died. Authorities would not comment on the matter.

Opposition groups in Algeria have felt emboldened against the government in recent months, following the examples of anti- government protesters in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, with growing criticism of both the governing system and social abuses in the country.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1634809.php/Missing-Algerian-opposition-leader-found-dead.

Police use truncheons to stifle Algeria protests

ALGIERS — Truncheon-wielding Algerian police Saturday beat hundreds of pro-reform activists outside parliament and prevented another anti-government rally Saturday, the organizers said.

Hundreds of teachers gathered in central Algiers but police beat them back and swooped down on marchers gathered about two kilometers away in another protest called by the National Coordination for Democracy and Change (CNDC).

"The police stopped our gathering outside the parliament. The demonstrators received baton blows," said Mourad Fertaki, the national coordinator of graduate assistants at middle and high schools.

Fertaki however said there were no injured and put the number of demonstrators between 2,500 and 3,000. They are demanding higher salaries and a higher grade.

In the other protest, some 30 demonstrators turned out on May 1 Square in central Algiers with the intention of marching to Martyrs Square some three kilometers (two miles) away.

Police surrounded the demonstrators, who included lawmakers from the Rally for Culture and Democracy and the honorary president of the Algerian League of Human Rights, Ali Yahia Abdennour, 90.

The demonstrators waved Algerian flags and signs calling for "freedom, justice and honor" before dispersing.

It was the 11th attempt since January organized by the CNDC to stage a weekly demonstration, along the lines of pro-democracy protests sweeping the Arab world, in defiance of a ban on rallies in the capital imposed in 2001.

The group was established after rioting at January 21 protests over the high cost of living left five dead and 800 injured, but has since split amid differences over the strategy for regime change.

Algeria has been shaken by protests at all levels of society with strikes by students, doctors and auxiliary police.

Ahead of last Saturday's demonstration President Abdelaziz Bouteflika proposed reforms including changes to the constitution and electoral law, and enhancement of the role of political parties.

But he failed to mention any of the demonstrations in his own country calling for political and social change, and general reactions were critical of the 74-year-old president in power since 1999.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.