Moroccans vote on new constitution

Tensions flared in the run-up to today's decisive vote.

By Imrane Binoual for Magharebia in Casablanca – 01/07/11

More than 13 million Moroccans are expected to cast their ballots on Friday (July 1st) in a referendum on constitutional amendments. About forty thousand polling stations opened across the kingdom, with another 520 at foreign sites to accommodate MREs.

For ten days, parties and civil society groups rallied for or against the changes announced by King Mohammed VI on June 17th. The proposed constitution aims to enhance the powers of the prime minister and mold "a distinctively Moroccan constitutional model".

While the youth-led February 20th Movement called for a boycott of the vote, Zaouia Boutchichia mounted a massive campaign in support of the reform plan.

The Sufi group mobilized thousands of people last week-end to take to the streets, with the biggest march held in Casablanca.

"This is all motivated by pure patriotism, to support the popular referendum which His Majesty the King has called for, and to say 'yes' to the new constitution," said Bensaoud, a member of the organizing committee behind the march.

At least 200,000 people took part in the Casablanca rally last Sunday, he said. "In addition, there were many people in the various towns and cities who came to knock on the brotherhood's doors asking if they could come with us. It was our lack of resources that let us down," he said.

"Voting for the constitution is not a political activity," Sufi brotherhood official Ghazi Abdessamad told Magharebia. "It's more of a nationalist undertaking. Besides, this isn't the first time that the brotherhood has turned out to demonstrate in the streets."

"Every time it's been necessary to take a position on a national issue, the brotherhood has done so," he added. "We have a clear position, and we support the throne and the king. That's why our zaouia has called on people to vote ‘yes' on the constitution."

For their part, the February 20 Movement staged a protest against the proposed reforms, saying that the amendments do not go far enough.

"There were demonstrations in around 70 towns and cities," said Sara Soujar, a member of the movement's organizing committee in Casablanca. The main point was to call for a "no" vote and speak out against those had drafted the constitution.

The protestors called for democracy, a new regime and an end to deprivation and marginalization.

"Don't grant us our constitution" and "Down with the proposed constitution" were their slogans.

"Members of the February 20 Movement carried out a mass burning of their polling cards in Chefchaouen (a city in the north)," said group member Aziz Ait Taha. "This is to show that they are boycotting this referendum and reject the new proposed constitution."

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

Moroccans debate role of Islam in new constitution

The place of Islam under the law is guaranteed in Morocco's draft constitution. What do voters think?

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 01/07/11

Moroccans vote Friday (July 1st) on a draft constitution that retains Islam as the state religion.

According to the draft preamble, the pride of place given to Islam in the law goes hand-in-hand with Morocco's commitment to "openness, moderation, tolerance and dialogue for mutual understanding between all cultures and civilizations in the world".

Debate over this issue probes the nature of Moroccan identity. Some people welcome the preservation of the traditional arrangement, while others contend that the importance attached to religion might hinder development and democracy.

Before the final text of the draft was published, proponents of the traditional definition – including the Justice and Development Party (PJD) – threatened to boycott the referendum if the text did not stipulate clearly the pre-eminence of Islam.

These views on Islam and the constitution indicate various undercurrents in Moroccan society, said Rajae Naji Mekkaoui, professor of law and member of the Constitutional Reform Advisory Committee.

Speaking to Magharebia, Mekkaoui said the Committee never considered the idea of discarding Islam or King Mohammed VI's role as Commander of the Faithful. A moderate and tolerant form of Islam prevails in Morocco, she said, which is why Moroccans do not tolerate certain forms of extremism and fanaticism.

Despite the explicit role of Islam in the Moroccan Constitution, the law also guarantees freedom of religion. The Jewish community has always played a part in Moroccan society, Mekkaoui said, adding that Jewish Moroccans were represented on the Committee by Albert Sasson, a former dean of the Faculty of Sciences in Rabat.

The draft has been welcomed by Morocco's Jewish community. The Council of Israelite Communities of Morocco called on Jews to vote "yes" in the referendum.

"We are delighted that the draft highlights the rich diversity of our national identity, which is a major asset in our bid to come to terms with our history and build our common future together," reads a statement issued June 23rd by the Council.

Some public figures are calling for vigilance, however.

Khadija Rouissi, president of NGO Bayt Al Hikma, warned Moroccans to be wary of those who "use religion to attack innovative and modern ideas that promote values and principles of human rights", citing the march against the Moudawana in 2002 as a past example.

This view was shared by Ahmed Assid, an Amazigh activist who told Magharebia that "although moderate Islam prevails in Morocco, it is known that there are certain strands, parties and organizations within society that espouse a rigid and intransigent interpretation of Islam and may seek to block certain rights and freedoms".

Reda Hnaoui, a professor of Islamic education, rejected these arguments, saying it was the king as Commander of the Faithful who guaranteed the open and tolerant nature of Islam.

It was he who intervened to ensure that the Family Code was adopted, by setting up a committee made up of ulemas and experts in various fields," he said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/01/feature-02.

Protests erupt throughout Egypt

CAIRO, July 1 (UPI) -- Protesters turned out across Egypt calling for the resignation of the interior minister and faster trials for former regime officials, witnesses said Friday.

Demonstrators occupied Cairo's central Liberation Square earlier this week and dozens of people were arrested after storming government buildings in the capital.

Witnesses told Egyptian daily newspaper al-Masry al-Youm that as many as 2,000 people showed up in Alexandria calling for the prosecution of policemen accused of killing civilian demonstrators during the revolution early this year. Protesters were also calling on Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy to step down.

Hosni Mubarak and former members of his regime are under investigation for allegedly ordering attacks on demonstrators during the revolution that ended his presidency.

Former Interior Ministry Habib al-Adly is accused of ordering snipers positioned at key locations in Cairo. His defense team said he was issuing orders based on false information from his deputies.

International observers expressed concern the recent demonstrations in Egypt were a sign the situation there was unraveling. Washington attributed the unrest to growing pains, however.

Egyptian military authorities promised to hold parliamentary and presidential elections later this year.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/07/01/Protests-erupt-throughout-Egypt/UPI-10881309541284/.

Iraq: Attacks by Government-Backed Thugs Chill Protests

Security Forces Offered No Protection; Joined Assaults
Human Rights Watch

HRW, June 30, 2011

(Baghdad) - Iraqi authorities should order a prompt and impartial inquiry into the role of state security forces in attacks by pro-government gangs against peaceful demonstrators in Baghdad on June 10, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. The groups of mainly young men, armed with wooden planks, knives, iron pipes, and other weapons, beat and stabbed peaceful protesters and sexually molested female demonstrators, witnesses told Human Rights Watch.

In the days following the attack, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 25 demonstrators who said they were punched, beaten with sticks or other weapons, or stabbed during the June 10 assault. Human Rights Watch observed and witnesses said that security forces stood by and watched in several instances. Several organizers told Human Rights Watch that the attacks have had a severe chilling effect on people exercising their right to peaceful assembly. In the two Friday demonstrations since then, on June 17 and 24, many regular protesters and organizers have stopped attending the demonstration, mainly because of fear of attacks, they said.

"Instead of protecting peaceful demonstrators, Iraqi soldiers appear to be working hand in hand with the thugs attacking them," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The Iraqi government needs to investigate why the security forces stood by and watched as thugs beat and sexually molested protesters - and take action against those who did so."

Two separate Defense Ministry sources told Human Rights Watch that a ministerial order authorized more than 150 plainclothes security forces from both the police and army to infiltrate the June 10 protests. The sources indicated that the government was worried about increased numbers of demonstrators on that date because the 100-day period for improvements that Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki had promised in February would have ended.

During the attacks, four government supporters, some carrying planks and chasing after demonstrators, identified themselves to Human Rights Watch as members of Iraqi security forces. Two others showed Human Rights Watch concealed Interior Ministry police ID badges.

"It's not every day that thugs with clubs flash their police IDs at us," Stork said. "The government needs to find out who was responsible for the assaults and punish them appropriately."

Protesters told Human Rights Watch that when they arrived at Baghdad's Tahrir Square on June 10 for their regular Friday demonstrations against the government, they found the area already occupied by thousands of government supporters and hundreds of army troops. Human Rights Watch saw the government supporters threaten and then attack unarmed protesters.

The assailants also assaulted at least eight female demonstrators by beating and groping them or attempting to remove their clothing, and taunting them as "whores" and using other sexually degrading terms.

Despite the tight security surrounding the protest site, Human Rights Watch witnessed multiple instances in which government supporters chased and beat protesters as army troops stood by. In some cases, the soldiers laughed as they watched. Uniformed Iraqi soldiers also handed out food and beverages to the government supporters, including frozen bottles of water, some of which were used to beat protesters.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iraq is obligated to protect the right to life and security of the person, and the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch received no response from a government spokesman to requests for information about the involvement of security forces in the June 10 attack.

"Prime Minister Maliki's government has an obligation to protect people peacefully exercising their right to free expression and assembly," Stork said. "The US and other governments claiming to support democratic reform and accountability should press the Iraqi government to stop these inexcusable assaults."

Iraq's Widening Crackdown on Peaceful Protests

As they have every Friday since February 25, 2011, hundreds of demonstrators arrived in Baghdad's Tahrir Square in small groups on the morning of June 10 to protest official corruption and the lack of government services. That morning, thousands of government supporters filled the square, many carrying identical 2x4 style wooden planks and shouting slogans in support of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

The government supporters warned the rival protesters to leave or face violence, and then attacked those who refused to leave. Human Rights Watch observed bruises, lacerations, and indications of blunt force trauma on the heads, torsos, and extremities of protesters who were interviewed in the days following the attack.

One protester had a bleeding laceration on the right side of his abdomen when Human Rights Watch spoke with him on June 12:

Someone warned me to leave, that we would be dragged and beaten. All of a sudden, everyone surrounding us was carrying planks and screaming that we were Baathists [Saddam Hussein's former ruling party] and terrorists. They yelled, "All of us are with you, Maliki! All of us with you, State of Law [Maliki's political party]!" They were hitting us, and I was stabbed. Three women thought they would be spared the violence and tried to protect us, but they were cut with the knives, too. On the loudspeaker, they were saying, "If you don't leave, you will be beheaded." We escaped by holding onto each other for support and running away.

A protester who uses crutches because of a medical condition said assailants knocked him to the ground and hit him while he tried to help another protester who was being attacked.

Three demonstrators who had been injured in the attack told Human Rights Watch separately that they avoided seeking medical help for fear of arrest. The protester who had been stabbed in the abdomen said, "We were scared to be taken by an ambulance or to go to the hospital, because now they are using ambulances to arrest people."

In recent weeks, Iraqi authorities have detained, interrogated, and beaten several protest organizers in Baghdad. In one incident, on May 27, men in civilian clothing assisted by uniformed security forces arrested four student protesters, who were then held by the authorities until June 7. All four students and three witnesses to the arrests, told Human Rights Watch that security forces had used an ambulance to detain and remove them from the protest area.

"As they arrested me, they put a bag over my head to blindfold me," one student said. "Once I was put in a vehicle, I could see a little bit under the bag, and was surprised to see an oxygen tank and other medical equipment and realized I was in an ambulance. When they took me out of the ambulance, I saw it was the same kind that had been parked at the protest."

Attacks on Female Demonstrators

Among the female demonstrators who were sexually attacked on June 10, a 19-year-old the following day showed Human Rights Watch swelling in her mouth around a broken tooth and bruises on her abdomen. She told Human Rights Watch that she was groped by several men, who forced their hands into her pants:

I saw that those who were yelling at us started attacking a woman from our group. I tried to get to her, but I was pulled down to the ground and was then being hit, mostly in my stomach. I tried to get up, but I got hit in the face, and my tooth was broken. I fell back to the ground and was still being hit, and they restrained my hands. One of them unzipped my pants and tried to pull them off. I was kicking and trying to free myself. They called me a whore and yelled that they were going to make an example of me, so others wouldn't come to demonstrate. I felt that I was going to be raped, from what they were doing.

Another female protester told Human Rights Watch:

Not long after we arrived, many people surrounded us. Some men behind me were touching me all over, and put their hands under my clothes. I tried to stop someone who was doing this, and he grabbed my wrist and pulled my hands back. While they were holding me, they yelled that I was a whore and asked how much I charged to do sexual acts. I know the army could see us from where we were, because I made eye contact with them.

A protester with bruises on her shoulder, thigh, and back, said, "First, they took away my sign, saying that we were all bitches and whores. After that, I was knocked on the ground, dragged and getting hit all over. I thought they were kidnapping me."

Another woman protester said:

At the security check on the way in, one of the women who was searching females said we should not go into the square today, that it would be very bad for us. We didn't realize how bad it would get, and continued in. After they started to hit us and I was trying to get away, I heard someone say, "This bitch is with them. Hit her."

A 51-year-old female protester told Human Rights Watch that thugs punched her in the chest and took away her sign. Another woman reported being hit in the back with a stick while trying to escape.

Security Forces' Lack of Response

Human Rights Watch observed hundreds of state security personnel surrounding the protest site on June 10, but they failed to intervene to stop attacks or to disarm or arrest the attackers. Human Rights Watch witnessed multiple incidents in which government supporters chased and beat protesters as army troops stood by, and in some cases even laughed.

The protester who was stabbed in the abdomen said,"We were searched many times on the way in by security [army] forces, and they prevented most of us from bringing signs in - even an Iraqi flag, but the crowds of Maliki supporters were walking in without even being searched."

More than 20 protesters told Human Rights Watch they saw government supporters carrying small knives, iron pipes, box cutters, stun guns, and even handguns. The most prevalent weapons used by assailants were 2x4-style wooden planks often used to prop up posters and banners, which the assailants carried in full view of security forces. Several of the planks observed by Human Rights Watch appeared to have no marks from staples or adhesives and may have been brought to the protest site to be used as weapons.

In one instance, Human Rights Watch saw a protester who had been attacked run up to a group of soldiers, pleading for help. The soldiers looked away. The protester fled into an opening between concrete blast walls, into an adjacent market. The soldiers then stepped aside to allow the assailants to chase him, and then moved back in front of the opening, some laughing among themselves.

Other protesters told Human Rights Watch that security forces mocked them when they approached for help. The 19-year-old protester who said she was groped told Human Rights Watch:

One of the men of our group managed to drag me away from [the men attacking her], and we ran away, as the crowd was hitting both of us. When we got out of the crowd, I was upset and I asked the army soldiers why they didn't help us. One of them told me, "We don't interfere - this is between you guys." As we walked away, soldiers surrounding the square taunted us. Some were laughing that I had been hurt, and one said, "Let them come every Friday and get beaten up. I think they will stop coming."

Another protester told Human Rights Watch, "As we walked out of Tahrir Square, many of the aggressive people followed us, threatening us and holding sticks and iron pipes in the air, as we all walked right past Iraqi security forces."

Involvement by Security Forces

In the days before the demonstration, on June 3 and June 6, two Defense Ministry sources, one a high-ranking officer, independently told Human Rights Watch of a ministry order for more than 150 plainclothes security forces from both the police and army to infiltrate the June 10 protests. The officer voiced concern over the safety of the protesters, saying the nature of the infiltration on June 10 would be "different" than in previous weeks, because the 100-day period for making improvements that Maliki had announced after the February 25 demonstration would have ended. The officer said that the government was "very sensitive about protesters coming out in large numbers on June 10 and making Maliki look bad."

During the protest, four men who were with the government supporters separately identified themselves to Human Rights Watch as members of Iraqi security forces, though they were dressed in civilian clothing and two showed Human Rights Watch concealed Interior Ministry (police) ID badges.

Unlike on previous Fridays, uniformed Iraqi soldiers handed out food and beverages, including frozen bottles of water, to the government supporters. Some of the protesters told Human Rights Watch that the government supporters used the frozen water bottles to beat them or as projectiles.

The government supporters included more than 1,000 people brought from outside the city on buses, some of which had government license plates. One protester from Baghdad told Human Rights Watch that as he walked into Tahrir Square, members of his extended family who had come by bus from Nasriyya, 370 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, recognized him and quickly removed a flag he had wrapped around his shirt that identified him as a protester. They forcibly ushered him away from his fellow protesters. "They warned me that I would get hurt by the Maliki supporters if they knew I was one of the regular protesters," he said.

The large pro-government contingent appeared to be well-organized - supporters had access to air-conditioned tents and dozens of large, professionally printed banners, including some with a big red "X" over the face of Firas al-Jabouri, a former human rights activist who had been charged with taking part in a 2006 sectarian attack on a wedding party in the city of Dujail. In the days leading up to June 10, state-sponsored Iraqiya television repeatedly broadcast a videotaped confession by Jabouri and graphic footage of a crime scene, while repeatedly referring to him as a human rights activist. Iraqi human rights advocates told Human Rights Watch that they fear that Jabouri's confession was coerced and that the government is using his alleged involvement in the Dujail attack to portray all opposition activists and demonstrators as terrorists.

On June 10, government supporters in Tahrir Square chanted that Jabouri should be executed and circulated what appeared to be an official statement from Iraq's Human Rights Ministry calling for him and his alleged conspirators to be given "the strictest punishment possible." On June 16, all 15 defendants in the Dujail case, including al-Jabouri, were convicted and sentenced to death by Iraq's Central Criminal Court.

Silencing Critics

On June 20, Baghdad-based daily newspaper al-Mada received notice that Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad Operation Command, had filed four lawsuits against members of the newspaper staff after the leftist opposition newspaper published a series of articles and columns criticizing the treatment of protesters by the security forces and government authorities, according to the newspaper's executive editor, Amer al-Qaisi. Baghdad Operation Command, which coordinates security in Baghdad, reports directly to the prime minister's office. The four lawsuits seek a total of 8 billion Iraqi dinars (US$6.85 million) in damages. On June 11, the al-Mada organization, a registered civil society group to which the newspaper belongs, held a news conference, presenting seven protesters who said they had been injured by government supporters in the previous day's demonstration.

The Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) scheduled a Baghdad news conference on June 13 for some of the female victims who were groped and beaten on June 10 to tell their stories. OWFI staff and two journalists who were present said that three men in civilian clothes walked in as the event was about to begin and questioned local journalists in a threatening manner. Most of the journalists left, and the news conference was cancelled.

Afterward, the three men remained in the office for over an hour. Staff members of the women's organization said that when they asked the three men for identification, one of them showed a badge from the army's 6th Division. Journalists and participants said that, as they exited the office gate, they saw a large presence of army personnel and vehicles blocking the street.

Background

Iraqi authorities have taken several steps in recent months to keep protests in Baghdad from public view. On April 13, officials issued new regulations barring street protests and allowing protests only in three soccer stadiums but never enforced the regulation.

In late February, Iraqi police allowed dozens of assailants to beat and stab peaceful protesters in Baghdad. In the early hours of February 21, dozens of men, some wielding knives and clubs, attacked about 50 protesters who had set up two tents in Tahrir Square. During nationwide February 25 protests, security forces killed at least 12 protesters across the country and injured more than 100. On that day, Human Rights Watch observed Baghdad security forces beating unarmed journalists and protesters, smashing cameras, and confiscating memory cards.

Iraq's constitution guarantees "freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration." As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iraq is obligated to protect the right to life and security of the person, and the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=79114&s2=01.

Sabotage of M.V. Saoirse in Turkey 'an act of international terrorism'

Irish Ship to Gaza

June 30, 2011

The Irish-owned ship, the MV Saoirse, that was meant to take part in Freedom Flotilla 2 has been sabotaged in a dangerous manner in the Turkish coastal town of Göcek, where it had been at berth for the past few weeks. Visual evidence of the undership sabotage, which was carried out by divers, will be presented today at a press conference in Dublin at 11am in Buswell's Hotel. Photographs and video footage of the damage are available from the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign.

Concerns for the boat first emerged on Monday evening following a short trip near the Göcek marina and an inspection was carried out by divers and by skipper Shane Dillon on Tuesday morning. Evidence was found that the shaft of the starboard propeller has been interfered with and it was decided to take the boat out of the water for a further visual inspection. On Wednesday, the boat was put on land at a local shipyard and the extent of the sabotage was immediately visible.

The propeller shaft had been weakened by saboteurs who cut, gouged or filed a piece off the shaft. This had weakened the integrity of the shaft, causing it to bend badly when put in use. The damage was very similar to that caused to the Juliano, another flotilla ship, in Greece. The consequent damage would have happened gradually as the ship was sailing and would have culminated in a breach of the hull.

The Irish Ship to Gaza campaign believes that Israel has questions to answer and must be viewed as the chief suspect in this professional and very calculating act of sabotage.

Commenting on the attack from Göcek in Turkey, Dr Fintan Lane, national coordinator of Irish Ship to Gaza, who own the vessel, said, "This is an appalling attack and should be condemned by all right-thinking people. It is an act of violence against Irish citizens and could have caused death and injury. If we had not spotted the damage as a result of a short trip in the bay, we would have gone to sea with a dangerously damaged propeller shaft and the boat would have sunk if the hull had been breached. Imagine the scene if this had happened at nighttime."

"Israel is the only party likely to have carried out this reckless action and it is important that the Irish government and the executive in Northern Ireland insist that those who ordered this act of international terrorism be brought to justice. This was carried out in a Turkish town and shows no respect for Turkish sovereignty and international law."

He continued, "One of the most shocking aspects is the delayed nature of the sabotage. It wasn't designed to stop the ship from leaving its berth, instead, it was intended that the fatal damage to the ship would occur while she was at sea and this could have resulted in the deaths of several of those on board. This was a potentially murderous act."

Dr Lane, who was on board Challenger 1 in last year's flotilla, said, "The Freedom Flotilla is a non-violent act of practical and humanitarian solidarity with the people of Gaza, yet Israel continues to use threats and violence to delay its sailing. They attacked us in international waters last year, now they are attacking us in Turkish and Greek ports. There is no line that Israel won't cross."

"We will not be intimidated by attacks like this - it simply highlights the aggression that the Palestinian people of Gaza have to put up with on a daily basis. It strengthens our determination to continue until this illegal and immoral blockade is lifted."

Calling on the government and northern executive to demand safe passage for Freedom Flotilla 2, Dr Lane said, "The Irish government needs to publicly condemn this dangerous act of sabotage but it also should insist on the flotilla being allowed to make it to Gaza unhindered. Israel has no right to interdict the flotilla and even less right to carry out attacks against vessels in Greek and Turkish ports."

"It is important that everybody make their voices heard in solidarity with the people of Gaza and in support of the flotilla. The Israeli embassy should become a focal point for street demonstrations. These saboteurs came very close to killing Irish citizens."

Also speaking from Göcek, the skipper of the MV Saoirse, Shane Dillon, said, "The damage sighted and inspected on the starboard propeller shaft on the MV Saoirse had the potential to cause loss of life to a large number of those aboard. The nature of the attack and malicious damage was such that under normal circumstances the vessel would most likely have sunk at sea. If the ship was operating at high engine revs, the damage done by the saboteurs would have caused the shaft to shear and the most likely outcome would be the rupturing of the hull and the vessel foundering. If, as was intended, the vessel had proceeded to Gaza at reduced revs, the stern tube would have been forced off line and a large and rapid ingress of water would have resulted, sinking the vessel."

Mr Dillon continued, "The shaft was filmed and photographed when the vessel was lifted from the water on Wednesday afternoon in a shipyard in the Turkish coastal village of Göcek. A local marine engineer inspected the shaft and his opinion was that the interference was the work of professional saboteurs intent on disabling the Saoirse. However, the most shocking aspect of the attack was that its intention was to cause failure of the shaft when the vessel was offshore and this shows a total disregard for human life."

He ended, "It is also worth noting that the damage inflicted on the Saoirse was identical to that that caused to the Greek/Swedish ship, the Juliano, which was sabotaged in the Greek port of Piraeus a few days ago."

Pat Fitzgerald, a Sinn Fein member of Waterford County Council and chief engineer on the Saoirse, commented, "We were very lucky to discover this act of sabotage when we did. We felt vibrations from the shaft as we were returning to the berth on Monday evening following a short trip in the bay for refueling purposes. Close inspection by divers on Tuesday and then on land on Wednesday revealed a large man-made gouge on one side of the propeller shaft. The integrity of the shaft had been compromised and a very serious bend had developed. This could have caused fatalities had we set to sea and almost certainly would have sunk the boat when the engine revs were increased. It was an act of sheer lunacy and endangered the lives of all on board."

The sabotage has been reported to the harbor master in Göcek and Irish Ship to Gaza are asking for a full investigation by the Turkish police.

The repairs have yet to be fully costed but could be more than E15,000 and they will take some time, meaning that the Saoirse cannot participate in Freedom Flotilla 2.

However, six of the 20 crew and passengers aboard the Saoirse will transfer to another ship in the flotilla. The six Irish who will join the Italian/Dutch ship are Fintan Lane, national coordinator of Irish Ship to Gaza and a member of the Free Gaza Movement, Trevor Hogan, former Ireland and Leinster rugby player, Paul Murphy, Socialist Party MEP for Dublin, Zoe Lawlor of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Hussein Hamed, a Libyan-born Irish citizen, and Gerry MacLochlainn, a Sinn Fein member of Derry City Council.

The MV Saoirse will be repaired and used in future flotillas to Gaza if they are needed.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=79111&s2=01.

Serbia requests OIC observer status

Friday 1.07.2011

Source: Tanjug

ASTANA -- The states that had requested observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) include Serbia, it has been announced.

Other countries that requested this status are South Africa, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Nepal, Belarus and Brazil.

This is according to OIC Secretary-General Ekmeledin Ihsanoglu who spoke on Thursday.

Addressing the participants of the 38th session of OIC (former Organization of the Islamic Conference) Council of Foreign Ministers, held in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan, Ihsanoglu said that the countries that had asked for OIC full membership were Congo, the Central African Republic, Mauritius and Kenya, according to a report by the Russian news agency Itar-Tass.

The name of the organization was changed from the Organization of the Islamic Conference to the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation on the first day of the June 28-30 session.

The OIC was founded upon a decision of the summit of heads of state of Muslim countries which took place in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, on September 25, 1969. Its main goal is to ensure Islamic solidarity in the social, economic and political areas. The organization says it is involved in the struggle against colonialism, neocolonialism and racism and gives support to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The organization maintains its headquarters in Saudi Arabia, and the countries that have observer status include Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Central African Republic, Russia and the Moro National Liberation Front in the Philippines.

Source: B92.
Link: http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=01&nav_id=75211.

Mauritania combats child malnutrition

2011-06-30

The Mauritanian Health Ministry and UNICEF on Thursday (June 30th) launched a preventive campaign against child malnutrition, ANI reported. The program will begin in the Tagant region with the distribution of nutritional supplements to some 7,000 children under age 2. Seven mobile teams will travel to 130 rural communities to provide the supplements. More than 16,411 children will be screened for malnutrition. The most severe cases will be transferred to hospitals for free care.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/06/30/newsbrief-05.

Morocco debates constitutional changes

As Morocco prepares to head to the polls, many are debating whether or not to even bother voting.

By Mawassi Lahcen for Magharebia in Casablanca – 30/06/11

Moroccan voters will take to the polls on Friday (July 1st) in a national referendum on constitutional amendments. But some opposition parties are calling for a boycott of the vote on the grounds that the changes do not go far enough.

Thousands of people marched in the streets during the tense ten-day campaign, both for and against the proposed reforms. The main controversy surrounded the way in which the draft constitution was drawn up and the royal privileges it preserved.

The February 20 Movement, together with different left-wing factions and the Islamist Justice and Charity Group, called for a boycott. The group has opposed the reform committee since it was announced by the king in his March 9th speech.

Instead of the appointed committee headed by Abdeltif Menoui, the activists called for an elected constituent assembly to draw up constitutional amendments. Some members of the February 20 Movement have adopted the protest slogan, "Don't grant us our constitution."

Other parties announced their opposition to the proposed changes after the draft was released, saying that the amendments left too much power concentrated in the hands of the monarch. The king will remain the head of the ministerial council, the Judiciary Power Supreme Council, the Supreme Scientific Council and the Supreme Security Council. He will also retain the right to choose half of the constitutional court's judges and its presiding member.

"It is undeniable that the proposed draft included very important cornerstones that go in the right direction towards a parliamentary monarchy, nonetheless it also included some part that cut this step short," said Mohamed Sassi, Vice Secretary-General of Unified Socialist Left Party. "Basically, the amended constitution takes with one hand what the other hand just gave."

Sassi explained that the new constitution gave more power to the government but failed to sever the link between ministers and the king. The monarch will still head the ministerial council, which declares policies and programs.

"The place given to the king in the draft, as a supreme commander and warrantor of the supreme interests of the motherland, was a popular and urgent political request, especially in such a phase in which political parties do not have the trust of the people," said Mohamed Krin, from the Party of Progress and Socialism.

Several civil society associations support of the new constitution but the Amazigh Tamaynut association has called for a boycott. They accused the drafting committee of making last-minute changes and dropping the plan to make Tamazight an official language alongside Arabic after pressure from the Justice and Development Party and the Independence Party.

The proposed changes are "a real path to build new Morocco in which powers are separate", according to Ahmed Laraki, a former minister from the socialist party. "On the other hand, some other sections fail to be as positive".

"We can't consider the draft as an achievement of our expectations, but it would be wrong to consider that what was accomplished doesn't go in the right direction. Thus we support this amendment, providing that July 1st will mark the start of a new era, in which we will upgrade the political and legal institutions and will break with the faulty methods of the past," he added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/06/30/feature-02.

Moroccans vote on king's new constitution

Friday, July 1, 2011

BENSLIMANE, Morocco (AP) — Moroccans braved searing temperatures Friday to vote for a new constitution their king says will bring the country much needed democratic reform.

While the constitution, like all past referendums, is expected to be approved by a landslide, the real test will be in the turnout indicating whether Moroccans have faith in the reform process of 47-year-old King Mohammed VI.

The February 20 pro-democracy movement, whose demonstrations across the country sparked the king to amend the constitution, has called for a boycott, denouncing the new document as little more than democratic window dressing on a monarchy that continues to be absolute.

The voters who showed up at the nearly 40,000 polling stations around the country Friday tended to talk more about their faith in the king, rather than something as abstract as a new constitution.

"There has already been so much progress and it is much better than before," said Cafile Roqiya, a 54-year-old teacher as he prepared to cast a yes vote in the Benslimane, a small city of 40,000 45 miles (60 kilometers) from Rabat. "The king has kept us stable and at peace amid much upheaval."

In Washington Friday, a State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, said that the United States welcomed the peaceful conduct of the referendum during what it called a period of profound change for Morocco.

"We welcome the referendum as an important step in Morocco's democratic development. We feel this referendum did allow the people to express their views" on some of the issues outlined in King Mohammed's reforms.

A popular tourist destination, this generally stable Muslim kingdom is a staunch United States ally in a strategic swath of northern Africa that has suffered terrorist attacks — and in recent months, popular uprisings against autocratic regimes.

Morocco, like the rest of the Middle East, was swept by pro-democracy demonstrations protesting a lack of freedoms, weak economy and political corruption.

Even as the government and many politicians are despised, the king remains popular and for now seems to have managed the popular disaffection by presenting a new constitution that guarantees the rights of women and minorities, and increases the powers of the parliament and judiciary, ostensibly at the expense of his own.

Preliminary results are expected late Friday. Though the outcome is not in doubt, the constitution has still been backed by a huge media campaign, with government institutions, religious preachers, political parties, and non-governmental organizations all mobilized to get out the "yes" vote.

In some cases pro-constitution demonstrators have attacked democracy activists protesting against the vote.

A low turnout would either indicate support for the February 20 call for a boycott or a continuing disenchantment with the king's policies.

"Can you imagine if he got just 15 percent of the vote, the king would have to abdicate," joked Maati Monjib, a political analyst and president of the Ibn Rushd Center, which promotes investigative journalism. "They say yes for the king, like he's a candidate."

Turnout for much of Friday was light as people appeared to be staying away from the polls as the temperature reached 100 degrees (38 C). In the rural villages outside Benslimane, polling stations reported about 25 to 30 percent turnout by noon, while in Rabat's working class Yacoub Mansour district the transparent ballot boxes were still fairly empty by 2 p.m.

The Interior Ministry, however, reported that turnout was 70 percent at the two-thirds of the polling stations that had been counted by 9:45 pm.

Activists have emphasized the need to be wary of the government playing number games because of the sensitivity of vote, noting that turnout was officially 37 percent in the 2007 parliamentary elections.

"There was a lot of fraud in the last election and certainly there will be in today's referendum, particularly over the level of participation," said Abdel Qader Fartouti, an activist with the Islamist Adel wal Ihsane (Justice and Charity) movement in Benslimane, which supports the boycott.

He noted how in the 2007 election there were 15.5 million voters and now, despite the rise in population and a drop in the voting age, there were 13 million, even though there are 20 million people of voting age in the country.

Activists say the government is keeping the official number of voters low so apparent turnout will be higher.

In another possible sign of plans to manage the outcome of the vote, poll workers with reformist sympathies were asked not to work on the referendum.

Ahmed Arib, a 49-year-old civil servant who for two decades worked at polling stations in Benslimane during elections, was told by the Interior Ministry not to participate.

"They told me we respect your opinions and since you are part of February 20 movement, we don't want to offend your sensibilities," he said, adding that he knew at least three other colleagues this had happened to.

Traditionally in Morocco's countryside, local party officials and rural notables mobilize the often illiterate peasants and bring them en masse to the polls to vote.

Older people are also more likely to vote because they remember a time when not voting could get them into trouble with the authorities.

Younger people, however, could be seen in the Yacoub Mansour district in Rabat as a few drifted into a school serving as a voting station and searched for their balloting room.

"The constitution can't solve all the problems, it is not a magic wand, but it will set the ground work for real political and legal reform," maintained Marwan Akroum, a 37-year-old businessman wearing a striped traditional robe as he sheltered from the bright sun after casting his vote.

"It depends on whether you see the glass as half full or half empty, whether you are optimist or pessimist, a lot (of good) has happened in the last six months."

US Rejects Demands to Vacate Pakistan Drone Base

By REUTERS

July 01, 2011 "Dawn" - -The United States is rejecting demands from Pakistani officials that American personnel abandon a military base used by the CIA to stage drone strikes against suspected militants, U.S. officials told Reuters.

U.S. personnel have not left the remote Pakistani military installation known as Shamsi Air Base and there is no plan for them to do so, said a U.S. official familiar with the matter, who asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive material.

"That base is neither vacated nor being vacated," the official said. The information was confirmed by a second U.S. official.

The U.S. declaration that drone operations in Pakistan will continue unabated is the latest twist in a fraught relationship between security authorities in Washington and Islamabad, which has been under increasing strain for months.

Regarding the Shamsi base in particular, Pakistani officials have frequently suggested it is being shuttered, comments that may be aimed at quieting domestic opposition to U.S. military operations using Pakistani soil.

Earlier this week, Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar told the Financial Times that Pakistan had already stopped U.S. drone operations there.

On Thursday, Mukhtar told Reuters: "When they (U.S. forces) will not operate from there, no drone attacks will be carried out."

He said Islamabad had been pressuring the U.S. to vacate the base even before the May 2 commando raid in which U.S. Navy SEAL commandos killed Osama bin Laden. After the raid, Mukhtar said, "We told them again."

A senior Pakistani military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that when U.S. forces first launched counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan "provided Americans two bases in Jacobabad and Shamsi. Jacobabad base has been vacated for long time ago, but Shamsi is still with them."

"They are vacating it," the official insisted. "Shamsi base was for logistic purpose. They also used it for drones for some time but no drones have been flown from there."

DIFFERENT STORIES

The official said no base in Pakistan was presently used by the Americans for drone operations. But he did not give a precise date for when drones supposedly stopped operating from Shamsi.

The U.S. officials disputed that account. If anything, the Obama administration is moving to a counter-terrorism strategy based more on drone strikes and other covert operations than on deploying large numbers of troops.

On Wednesday, John Brennan, president Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, promised that in the tribal regions along the Afghan/Pakistan border, the U.S. would continue to "deliver precise and overwhelming force against al Qaeda."

"And when necessary, as the President has said repeatedly, if we have information about the whereabouts of al Qaeda, we will do what is required to protect the United States -- as we did with bin Laden," Brennan said in a speech.

Pakistani officials have faced fierce criticism for tacitly allowing the CIA to conduct drone operations on Pakistani soil. Allegations that civilian bystanders have been killed in drone attacks have only compounded the political problems facing Pakistani authorities.

Brennan rejected suggestions that U.S. drone attacks had caused numerous civilian casualties, claiming that the U.S. had been "exceptionally precise and surgical" in its operations. "Not a single collateral death" had been caused by U.S. counter-terrorism operations over the last year, he said.

U.S. officials have said that since the United States in July 2008 greatly increased the rate of drone-borne missile strikes against suspected militants along the Afghan/Pakistan border, the number of civilian deaths caused by such attacks has totaled under 40. Some Pakistani officials and human rights activists have claimed the death toll is much higher.

(Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Chris Allbritton; Editing by Warren Strobel and Anthony Boadle)

Source: Information Clearing House.
Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28448.htm.

Protesters in Jordan pelt parliament with eggs

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Dozens of Jordanians have pelted the parliament with eggs, demanding the dismissal of the prime minister and all parliament members.

The Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan —

Dozens of Jordanians have pelted the parliament with eggs, demanding the dismissal of the prime minister and all parliament members.

The police briefly scuffled with the egg-hurling protesters, after which the rally ended peacefully.

Protests inspired by Arab uprisings have spread to Jordan but on a lesser scale.

Thursday's protesters were angered that lawmakers this week cleared Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit of involvement in a casino scandal during his previous 2005-2007 term.

At the time, his Cabinet approved the country's first gambling house in violation of Islamic law.

The parliament implicated al-Bakhit's ex-tourism minister, but acquitted the premier. The protesters say al-Bakhit is also responsible. They plan more demonstrations for Friday.

Source: The Seattle Times.
Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015470481_apmljordanprotest.html.

Jordan's old guard thwart reform drive

30/06/2011

By Suleiman al-Khalidi

(Reuters) - Under a Bedouin tent in the dusty desert city of Maan, Western-educated King Abdullah pledges $20 million (12.5 million pounds) to build a hospital nearby to cheers from tribal chiefs who form the ruling Hashemite family's power base.

Shouts of "Long live his Majesty," ring out at the ceremony, one of an increasing number of royal visits to tribal areas where demands for state jobs and services have been piled on a king, torn between the desires of traditional Jordanians and addressing calls for reform inspired by the Arab uprisings sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.

Abdullah, who has ruled since 1999, has opted for timid steps towards democracy in response to regional turmoil, constrained by a tribal power base which sees reforms as a threat to political privileges and economic benefits.

Palace insiders say that more than ever during his reign, the monarch has been frustrated by the efforts of an old guard -- entrenched in the state bureaucracy and intelligence apparatus -- to block reforms.

They say the old guard have stepped up demands for favors and patronage since the protests began this year, threatening the finances of Abdullah's resource-poor kingdom.

"Every time the king expresses pro-reform leanings they raise the ante and ask for unreasonable demands that only add to the already strained budget and aggravate the political scene. They put spikes in the wheel," said Jawad Anani, a former royal court chief and prominent economist.

Jordan witnessed weeks of protests earlier this year calling for an end to corruption and wider political freedoms. In recent weeks hundreds of youths have also taken to the streets in the country's tribal south demanding jobs and decrying what they term as inequality in favor of a more prosperous capital.

Critics dismiss the argument that the monarch is a reformist shackled by conservatives around him, seeing it as an excuse for a lack of progress towards greater democracy since Abdullah succeeded his late father, King Hussein, in 1999.

"Democracy has retreated to a degree that the regime, from the monarchy to the government to the security apparatus, treats Jordan as if it was a farm or a corporation they own to ensure the regime's longevity," said Musa al-Hadeed, a retired general in the Jordanian army and a leading advocate of a reduction in the executive powers of the monarchy.

OPPORTUNITY OF "ARAB SPRING"

Abdullah's supporters insist an old guard who effectively run the country through the security forces stand in the way of deeper reform, seeing sweeping changes in the Arab world and Jordan's moves towards a merit-driven economy as a threat to their decades-old grip on power.

Abdullah, in contrast to autocratic rulers elsewhere in the Arab world, has long complained about his frustration over the pace of reform and saw the Arab uprisings across the region as a chance to finally surmount resistance, palace insiders say.

"The Arab spring gave me, in a way, the opportunity that I've been looking for the past 11 years," he said in an interview with the Washington Post on June 16.

Earlier this month Abdullah said that he was committed to pushing ahead with democratic reforms, but a vague promise he would devolve some of his executive powers to parliament failed to address wider political demands from Islamists -- the country's largest political force -- and other groups.

In a country where the monarchy is a guarantor of stability among feuding tribes who seek his protection and acts as a balance between the country's majority Palestinian and East Bank native Jordanians, no one wants to topple the king.
Jordan has largely avoided much of the turmoil that has swept through the Arab world this year and saw nothing on the scale of protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen or neighboring Syria. The demands of street demonstrators were limited to calls for an end to absolutism and corruption.

Politicians say Abdullah's room for maneuver is limited and that the powerful mukhabarat (intelligence service) have even disregarded his calls to curb their involvement in politics.

They say security officials meddle in university appointments, harass and expel student activists, and play a role in revoking citizenship for Jordanians of Palestinian origin despite reprimands from the king.

QUEEN TARGETED

Even the monarch's immediate family has not been spared the attacks of some ex-military members of the old guard who have criticized his high profile Palestinian wife Queen Rania. Irked by her high international profile, advocacy of women's rights and image among westerners as the savvy face of Arab feminism, they say she is too vocal and interferes in politics.

"He is handcuffed and they have raised the ceiling of extortion to get more from him," said one former official.

More significantly, the old guard continue to play on the long-standing fears of their East Bank and tribal allies that rapid political change would allow the country's Palestinian majority to dominate Jordan's national identity.

They have been accused of being behind the counter-mobilization of loyalist demonstrations across the kingdom to overshadow small opposition rallies.

This has not only helped fragment popular pressure for reform in recent months and undermined the monarch's efforts to move faster, but also helped divert the reform discourse towards ethnic polarization, analysts and politicians say.

"Some agencies within the state have accentuated the fears of East Bankers and linked their demands for political reforms with losing their political gains," said Mohammad Abu Ruman, a researcher at Jordan's University Center for Strategic Studies.

But old guard figures argue the regime's stability depends on thwarting any calls to empower Palestinians in Jordan under the guise of a democratic agenda.

"There are suspicious demands for reforms coming from some people that will not serve the interests of the Jordanian people and we oppose it," said Nayef al-Qadi, a prominent conservative politician, tribal leader and former minister.

"Any reform that leads to the permanent settlement (of Palestinians) in Jordan would be a coup d'etat attempt that we will never allow," Qadi added. "Anything that allows Jordan to become a victim of resolving the Palestinian problem at Jordan's expense we would not accept."

The kingdom's powerful traditional political elite representing East Bank tribal groups have forced the monarch to lean more and more to their side.

Their biggest victory was to frustrate efforts for a more representative electoral law that was publicly backed by Abdullah as a key democratic reform
The law would have had to address the long-standing grievances of Jordanians of Palestinian origin, including their under-representation and discrimination by the state.

A proposed new electoral law charted by a government-appointed panel will ensure the East Bank power structure and status quo remains unchallenged.

The state already extracts more taxes from Jordanians of Palestinian origin, who remain pillars of the business community but feel increasingly abandoned by the state.

In contrast native Jordanians who depend on state jobs and are the backbone of the security forces and state bureaucracy have become the focus of government's largesse.

A cabinet headed by conservative ex-security chief Marouf al-Bahkhit has raised civil servant salaries and created more jobs in an already bloated civil service that eats into the country's $8.98 billion budget, threatening to sink Jordan into greater debt.

Some analysts say this will further polarize the country, as a government that is seen as serving East Bankers further alienates the country's large population of Palestinian origin.

So far pliant and shunning politics, their continued exclusion from any future discourse on Jordan's future bodes ill for the country's long term stability, they say.

Source: Jordan Property.
Link: http://www.jo-property.com/aDetails.aspx?aid=1099&iid=31.