ICC requests Gaddafi arrest warrant

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhuanet) --The International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on charges of crimes against humanity. Warrants are also being sought for his son-- Saif al-Islam-- including, the country's spy chief.

Gadhafi and his son Saif are jointly accused of ordering, planning and participating in illegal attacks on civilians.

The prosecutor says Gaddafi's forces carried out a range of atrocities, including attacking civilians in their homes, shooting demonstrators, shelling funerals, and deploying snipers outside mosques. Judges must now evaluate the evidence before deciding whether to confirm the charges and issue international arrest warrants.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Int'l Criminal Court Prosecutor, said, "Based on the evidence collected, the prosecution has applied to pre-trial chamber one for the issuance of arrest warrants against Moammar Muhamad abu Minyar Gaddafi, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Sanoussi."

The ICC prosecutor says his team has gathered so much direct evidence that he is almost ready to go to trial.

Experts say the warrants are not expected to have any immediate impact on the war in Libya, but they could make it harder for their targets to end the conflict by going into exile.

Because the Security Council ordered the ICC investigation, all UN member states would be obliged to arrest him if he ventures into their territory.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2011-05/17/c_13878741.htm.

Where can new Arab League chief lead Arab course?

By Marwa Yahia

CAIRO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The newly-elected Secretary General of the Arab League (AL) Nabil el-Arabi is likely to start his mission at the beginning of July amid political turmoil in the Arab world without signs of calming down.

As the Egyptian Foreign Minister, el-Arabi, 76, was unanimously chosen on Sunday as the new chief of the pan-Arab organization to replace Amr Moussa.

Local observers believed that overcoming the crises of the Arab countries and reaching an Arab integration among highly sensitive situation are the most difficult challenges facing the new AL chief.

According to Ahmed Elwi, a professor of political science in Cairo University, el-Arabi is characterized by rich diplomatic experience to face challenges.

"His diplomatic wisdom was recognized apparently during his recent visit to Ethiopia to solve the problem of the Nile basin," he added.

"The first task for the new chief is to evaluate the Arab situation in light of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Yemen," said Nabil Zaki, a political expert and chief of Arab affairs committee of Egypt's Tagammu Party.

"The current stage requires an AL chief with highly political skills. The situation is very complicated on supporting the governments or the inflamed rebels," Zaki added.

The new chief will face difficulties in unifying the Arab stands towards massive political movements. To tackle such difficulties, the coming secretary general should exert more effort to gain more independency for AL from Arab governments, Zaki said.

END OF MOUSSA ERA

The AL witnessed a lot of achievements by former chief Amr Moussa in the past decade. Hany Khalaf, former Egyptian deputy in the Arab league, said the general secretariat had it's own initiatives under Moussa's leadership.

"A lot of new aspects such as the civil society and commercial activities were concluded in AL agenda in Moussa's effort," Khalaf said, adding that Moussa has established forums between Arab and other international powers.

However, many political analysts also criticized that Moussa's era also witnessed negative impact on the Middle East peace process.

AL should play prominent role in the Palestinian cause but it didn't achieve anything tangible, said Zaki, stressing the Arab countries were divided over the Palestinian issue.

Khalaf said AL wasn't negative concerning Libya and it called for international interference, which was a big mistake in Moussa era.

"Moussa gave the chance for foreign countries to interfere under AL legitimacy," he added, criticizing the suspension of Libyan participation in the AL.

"There is no Libyan representative in the Arab league and that is a disaster, how can we just get the information from the news agencies not from legitimate Libyan source," he added.

Saed al-Lawendi, expert of international relation at al-Ahram center for political and strategic studies, considered the performance of AL in Moussa time was zero and all the Arab courtiers weren't unified.

ARAB UNITY IN NEED

Al-Lawendi added that the new chief should seek the Arab unity since no political or economic coherence is among Arab countries. He said the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is more effective than the AL comparing their influence. "The Arab should move on the path of the European Union when they started with iron and coal projects," said Khalaf, referring repeated calls for more roles of Arab parliament and Arab peace- keeping forces. He suggested that Arab countries could start developing the common Arab framework by establishing highway networks, joint scientific research projects and projects to reduce the unemployment rates. Officially established in 1945, the 22-member pan-Arab body has been led by Egyptians except for the period from 1979 to 1990, when its headquarters was moved to Tunisia from Cairo due to the peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/17/c_13877809.htm.

Iran's Larijani protests Bahrain

TEHRAN, May 16 (UPI) -- Iran is upset that regional players are helping Bahrain suppress a rebellion against the ruling Sunni minority, the speaker of Parliament said.

Iranian lawmaker Mostafa Kavakebian announced May 6 that the Iranian Parliament was conducting a review of the "massacre of Bahraini people by al-Saud and al-Khalifa (regimes)."

Tehran is upset with a decision by Saudi Arabia to send forces to Bahrain under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The minority Sunni leadership in Bahrain is struggling to control mounting frustration from the country's Shiite majority.

Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, in a letter to the Inter-Parliamentary Union that Bahrain's reaction to the unrest was out of step with human rights norms.

"Parliaments, as representatives of the people, are expected to act upon their human duty and react to the massive violation of human rights and the critical situation in Bahrain ... and to help prevent further continuation of the current situation," he was quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency as saying.

The IPU describes itself as the "focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue and works for peace and co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy."

Iran faced its own human rights backlash for its response to the unrest that greeted the contested 2009 re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/05/16/Irans-Larijani-protests-Bahrain/UPI-16901305571499/.

Al Shabab warns Djibouti not to send troops to Somalia

Monday, May, 16 2011

Djibouti on Saturday announced that it will send two battalions of troops to the war-torn Somalia to join the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMSIOM).

Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Al-Shabab militias have warned the government of Djibouti no to send troops in Somalia.

The spokesman for Al Shabab, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, held a press conference in Mogadishu, and warned the government of Djibouti against sending any forces to Somalia as part of the African Union Peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

He says that if Djibouti troops are sent to Somalia, they should expect the same reception given to the Ugandan and Burundian soldiers.

Rage asserts that Al Shabab is already angered by the support the Djibouti government is offering to the transitional federal government of Somalia and the western countries.

Djibouti on Saturday announced that it will send two battalions of troops to the war-torn Somalia to join the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMSIOM).

However, Mr. Yusuf said that their troops will not participate in any confrontation between the Somali government forces and the opposing militias. He said the Djibouti troops will mainly participate in providing technical support to the other peacekeepers.

By Rooble Dirir

Source: Suna Times.
Link: http://www.sunatimes.com/view.php?id=1032.

Ron Paul Warns U.S. Could Become Like Middle East

by Jack Kenny
Monday, 16 May 2011

America could see the kind of violent uprisings that have cost countless lives and convulsed societies in the Middle East if the nation does not stop rolling up massive deficits and devaluing its currency, Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate warned in a front-page interview published in the New Hampshire Sunday News.

Paul, who declared his candidacy for President in New Hampshire last Friday, said he and other advocates of limited, constitutional government are often wrongly accused of not caring about people. "Our critics say we're going to throw people out on the street," he said, "but what's going on in Washington now is going to throw a lot of people out on the street." By running up massive deficits and printing more money to cover the national debt, the government is leading the nation toward an economic collapse, he warned.

"What happens if you pass that money that has no value, and then Social Security checks bounce?" Paul asked. Violent uprisings could result, as the promised benefits in the large network of government programs are no longer provided. "I think it's very possible," he said. "I think people are going to get very angry."

Paul spent last Thursday and Friday in New Hampshire, where he announced his candidacy for President, first in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America on Friday and a few hours later at a Town Hall rally in Exeter. He later delivered the keynote address at the Grafton County Republican dinner in Lebanon. In his interview with the Sunday paper, Paul described the same belief in personal freedom and limited government that fired up the hundreds of supporters at the rally in Exeter.

"I take a strict constitutional position that the government has very little authority to get involved in our personal or economic lives," said Paul, explaining his opposition to the national "War on Drugs," as well as myriad economic regulations that limit freedom and impede the productivity of businesses both large and small. Americans "have conceded way too much to the government to decide what we put in our bodies," he said, defending his belief that even a ban on heroin is an unconstitutional overreach by the federal government. But his speeches and writings have been mostly about economic and monetary regulation and, increasingly, the manipulation of the currency by the Federal Reserve. His bill to require an audit of the "Fed" has been passed in the House, and his book End the Fed is one of several bestsellers he has penned in the past few years. Following the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in the 2010 election, Paul became chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and the hearings he has chaired on the workings of the Federal Reserve have raised public awareness of how the agency controls interest rates and money supply.

Paul has also been a longtime critic of America's policy of military interventions all around the world. He was one of a small number of Republicans who voted in the House against the resolution that authorized President George W. Bush to take military action against Iraq, since that nation had neither attacked nor threatened the United States. In every speech, he warns against the maintenance of a worldwide military empire that he maintains is largely responsible for the massive burden of debt weighing down the American economy and threatening the nation's future.

Paul's interest in monetary policy goes back half a century or more. It grew during his first term in Congress in the mid-1970's, just a few years after President Richard Nixon had imposed the only peacetime comprehensive wage and price controls in the nation's history and severed the tie between the U.S. dollar and the gold that used to back it. While not a professional economist, the retired obstetrician has been reading and studying for decades the writings of authors prominent in what is called the Austrian school of economics, including Frederick Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Murray Rothbard. Though economics has often been called "the dismal science" and is famous for making eyes glaze over when expounded by economists, Paul has helped make popular the libertarian economic model he champions. In the speeches he delivers around the nation, he has people from varied backgrounds and occupations on their feet and cheering his call for economic liberty and a return to "honest money," backed by gold.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Paul, 75, is a resident of Lake Jackson, Texas. He is serving in his 12 term as a U.S. Representative from Texas, starting with the single term he served in 1976-77. He was returned to Congress from 1979 through 1985 and again from 1997 to the present. Though a lifelong Republican, he ran for President as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in 1988 and received roughly one percent of the vote. He was little known nationally when he sought the Republican nomination for President in 2008, but the fervor and dedication of his followers and the campaign's reputation for raising millions of dollars in one-day "money bombs" on the Internet heightened awareness of Paul and his message. He received slightly more than seven percent of the vote in the 2008 New Hampshire primary and, while outlasting most of the better-known aspirants, he was generally regarded by the major news media as one of the "second-tier" candidates, below the top-tier roster that featured the more familiar names of John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani. But as he prepares to enter the Republican caucuses and primaries of the 2012 campaign, Paul and his followers believe the economic crisis of the past few years and deficits of more than $1 trillion a year are focusing American minds on economic realities and bringing to the fore his message of sound money, personal liberty and the need for a government that obeys the limits established by the Constitution of the United States.

"The groundwork has been laid," he told the New Hampshire Sunday News. "The political revolution, as a consequence of the intellectual revolution, is upon us."

Source: The New American.
Link: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/7495-ron-paul-warns-us-could-become-like-middle-east.

Beggars charged with destabilizing Somalia's Puntland

Abdi Hajji Hussein
Bosaso, Somalia
May 16, 2011

The statement of Puntland comes only day after three people including two famous businessmen in Bosaso town, Puntland’s commercial hub.

The semi-autonomous state of Puntland in northern Somalia has accused displaced beggars from southern regions of the country of destabilizing the security of its territory.

Muse Abdurrahman, a Puntland police officer, said they had learned that most of the culprits who customarily carry out insecurity activities in Puntland arrive in Puntland under the guise of displaced beggars.

“The authorities will step up efforts attesting that the vagabonds are involved insecurity and terrorist actions in the towns under the control of Puntland,” Abdurrahman explained. The officer declined to give details about how needy and displaced people could be involved in conducting crimes including assassinations and planting roadside bombs.

The statement comes one day after three people, including two famous businessmen, were gunned down in Bosaso, Puntland’s commercial hub.

Unidentified men armed with pistols on Saturday shot and wounded a civilian at the center of the town of Galka’yo in Mudug region in central Somalia. The assailants fled the scene.

Security in Puntland has been precarious and unreliable despite the deployment of more security forces in Galka’yo.

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90048581?Beggars%20charged%20with%20destabilizing%20Somalia%26%23146%3Bs%20Puntland.

Morocco -Algeria Borders to open on June 2

05/16/11

The Algerian daily “Voice of Oran “ reported in its May 15 edition that The opening of the borders between Algeria and Morocco, closed since 1994, will take place on June 2.Citing well informed sources, the Algerian newspaper stated that this decision was made at the highest level of the Algerian Government. Up until now, the Algerian Government has rebuffed Moroccan overtures to open the borders describing them as attempts by Rabat to salvage its economy. Recent regional and international developments have exposed Algiers’ foreign policy shortcomings in North Africa.

Experts following the developments of the Algerian Moroccan relations have noticed an unusual coolness in the coverage of Morocco in the habitual anti-Moroccan press organs in Algiers. This noticeable calm was coupled with a muted Moroccan reaction to news of a new wave of Saharan escapees from the Algeria controlled Tindouf Camps to the Moroccan territories. Recent positive press declarations by high-ranking Algerian officials are all signs that Morocco and Algeria are close to re-establish full diplomatic and economic relations and reopen their closed borders.

As the Algerian government of Bouteflika finds itself “truly” cut off from all its neighbors, the Algerian military establishment, that has controlled the political decision process in the country since independence, started to look at ways to move the regime out of this impasse. Algeria’s foreign policy fiasco in Libya and the cool relations with the new Tunisian Government have made the idea of improving relations with Morocco an attractive way for Algeria’s military to distract a restless Algerian public.

Recent Exchange of official visits between the two countries and encouraging press declarations by Morocco’s Foreign Minister and Algeria’s Agriculture Minister regarding the possible opening of the borders are signs of a thawing in the relations between Rabat and Algiers.

In the past, observers wrongly construed some of these same diplomatic activities as a prelude to a warming of relations between the two neighbors. However, a rare “shortage” of the usual Algerian political, media and diplomatic coverage of the activities of the self-proclaimed Saharan Republic may signal a different approach by the Algerian military establishment in their handling of the conflict with Morocco over the Western Sahara. Since the collapse of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia and the beginning of the conflict in Libya, the Algerian Government and its official press “drastically” reduced the exposure of the Western Sahara rebels (the Polisario Front) activities in Algeria and curtailed the “diplomatic maneuvers” of the Algerian diplomacy on this dossier.

During Algeria’s Foreign Minister last visit to Washington, the Western Sahara was not on the agenda, according to reports in the Algerian press. In fact pro-military news outlets in Algiers have been circulating articles “reproving” Washington and Paris of pressuring Algeria to open its borders with Morocco to “save” the Moroccan regime. Moroccan and Algerian observers regard these stories as means to prepare the Algerian public for a soon to be announced change of position by the Algerian government on the Sahara issue.

In addition, the website "Polisario Confidential “reported that the Algerian intelligence service, the DRS (Department Intelligence and Security), has taken over all the international activities of the Polisario and has asked the Algerian President Bouteflika to limit the role of the Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs, known for his fervent anti-Moroccan positions- in handling this sensitive dossier. The DRS, weary of further negative ramifications resulting from Algeria’s pro-Gaddafi policy and reports of Polisario elements fighting for the account of Tripoli, has decided to limit Polisario’s activities inside and outside Algeria unless approved by the Algerian Military Security Agency.

For its part and according to the Algerian newspaper “Liberte”, the Moroccan government has asked the Moroccan militant group “Association for the Moroccan Sahara” (ASM) to curb its activities. If confirmed, the news of the dissolution of the ASM, Morocco most virulent critic of Algeria’s position in the Western Sahara conflict, will be an indicator of vigorous and serious back room negations between Rabat and Algiers over resuming normal relations.

The ongoing domestic social tensions In Morocco and Algerian make the decision of open the borders attractive to both governments. However, for now, the information remains a rumor that needs official confirmation to become a reality.

By HASSAN MASIKY

Source: Morocco Board.
Link: http://www.moroccoboard.com/viewpoint/68/5248.

Endeavor blasts off on next-to-last shuttle flight

Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) May 16, 2011

The space shuttle Endeavor blasted off Monday toward the International Space Station on the penultimate flight for the US shuttle program.

The six-member crew of astronauts including five Americans and one Italian, Roberto Vittori, is delivering a potent physics experiment to probe the origins of the universe during the 16-day mission, which will include four spacewalks.

On a cloudy morning, as many as 500,000 onlookers crowded into coastal viewing spots in Brevard County, the area around Florida's Kennedy Space Center, with the US shuttle program set to end later this year after the final flight by Atlantis.

"This mission represents the power of teamwork, commitment and exploration," shuttle commander Mark Kelly said shortly before liftoff at 8:56 am (1256 GMT).

"It is in the DNA of our great country to reach for the stars and explore. We must not stop. To all the millions watching today including our spouses, children, family and friends, we thank you for your support."

US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords -- shuttle commander Kelly's wife who is recovering from a gunshot wound to her head -- watched the launch along with other astronaut spouses and family members from Kennedy Space Center.

The STS-134 mission, initially set to begin April 29, was postponed when technicians discovered a power failure in a heating line that served to prevent fuel from freezing in orbit. NASA completed exhaustive repairs last week.

Mission control in Houston described the takeoff as "a fairly routine ascent" and added "there were no anomalies discussed whatsoever on the way uphill for today's launch."

The shuttle is set to dock at the ISS Wednesday at 6:15 am (1015 GMT), and will stay there until May 30, returning to the United States on June 1, the US space agency said.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, a two-billion-dollar, 15,000 pound (7,000 kilogram) particle detector, will be left behind to scour the universe for hints of dark matter and antimatter over the next decade.

"It's a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack," said French scientist Jean-Pierre Vialle, part of the international team that worked on the AMS-02 project.

"But if we find it, it will show beyond a doubt that stars made of antimatter exist in some part of the universe. That would be a major revelation."

Giffords, who was allowed a break by her rehabilitation doctors in Houston to watch the launch, is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, after she was attacked in January during a meeting with local voters.

She and her husband swapped wedding rings before the shuttle hatch closed and the spacecraft whisked her husband into orbit, said Giffords' spokeswoman Pia Carusone.

"Mark brought her wedding ring the last two launches. This time, she wanted his."

Giffords also handwrote a note, which has been hidden on the shuttle for her husband to read later, and Kelly brought along a photograph of the two of them.

The 30-year US space shuttle program formally ends later this year with the flight of Atlantis, leaving Russia's space capsules as the sole option for world astronauts heading to and from the orbiting research lab.

Endeavor's delay has pushed back Atlantis' planned liftoff from June 28 to mid-July, but no final date has been set.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Endeavour_blasts_off_on_next-to-last_shuttle_flight_999.html.

Endeavor flies to ISS for the last time

Bonn, Germany (SPX) May 17, 2011

On 16 May 2011 at 08:56 EDT (14:56 CEST), Space Shuttle Endeavor lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) on the penultimate shuttle mission (STS-134) to the International Space Station (ISS). On board are the commander Mark Kelly, pilot Gregory H. Johnson, mission specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and Italian ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori.

Endeavor is carrying the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and the external carrier platform 'EXPRESS Logistic Carrier 3' to the ISS. The AMS is equipped with several particle detectors that will investigate cosmic radiation. The task of the magnetic spectrometer is to explore fundamental questions about the origin, matter and structure of the Universe.

DLR's Space Administration is supporting significant participation by German scientists in the AMS experiment with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (Bundesministerium fur Wirtschaft und Technologie; BMWi) to the amount of ten million Euro.

In Germany, the Institute of Physics at RWTH Aachen University and the Institute of Experimental Nuclear Physics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie; KIT) are responsible for the Transition Radiation Detector, components of the particle tracker and a lateral particle shield.

Staff at DLR's German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Oberpfaffenhofen will work closely with the shuttle and the ISS crews during the mission. They will support the crew as they work in the station's European Columbus module - such as when they are replacing a disk drive in one of the experiments.

In advance of the shuttle's arrival, GSOC engineers together with the ISS astronauts have already removed parts from an ESA experiment rack. These will be brought back to Earth by Endeavor for repair.

Also on board Endeavor is a sample container with spores of the microorganism 'Bacillus subtilis MW01' from the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne. "These are descendants of the space-proven bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which we bred for the space experiment ADAPT and the Phobos Grunt mission to Mars' moon. Phobos Grunt is scheduled for launch later in 2011.

Now, around 100 million of these tiny and very resistant life forms are flying on Endeavor in order to temporarily subject them to the conditions in low Earth orbit. The samples will remain aboard the shuttle and will not be taken onto the ISS," said DLR researcher Wassmann Marko, who grew the bacteria.

The planned duration of mission STS-134 is 16 days and ends with the return of the Endeavor on 1 June 2011. It is the 235th Shuttle flight, the 25th use of the Endeavor and the penultimate flight of the NASA Space Shuttle program.

Four spacewalks are planned - the last ones scheduled in the space shuttle era. Mission specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Andrew Feustel will be working in teams of two during extravehicular activities on 20, 22, 24 and 26 May, performing maintenance and installing new experiments.

The last space shuttle mission, STS-135 with the shuttle Atlantis, is scheduled for launch on 28 June 2011.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Endeavour_flies_to_ISS_for_the_last_time_999.html.