Abbas awards Palestine Star to Amr Moussa

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas has awarded Amr Moussa the Palestine Star on conclusion of his role as secretary-general of the Arab League, officials said Friday.

Palestinian Authority Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Maliki said Abbas granted the medal to Moussa in appreciation of his brave and supportive stances toward Palestinians as leader of the Arab body.

Abbas also commended the Arab League chief's continued support to the Palestinian leadership in its efforts to defend Palestinian rights and establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, Al-Maliki said.

The medal is the highest honor awarded by the PA. A ceremony to deliver the award would be held on Abbas' next visit to Cairo, Al-Maliki said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=389479.

Gaza group rejects U.S. terror classification decision

GAZA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A Gaza-based extremist group on Friday rejected a recent U.S. decision that labeled it a foreign terrorist group.

"We completely reject this decision and consider it unfair," said a spokesman for the Army of Islam, calling himself Abu Al- Abbas. "This American decision only aims at harming Islam," he said.

The U.S. State Department said the group was responsible for kidnapping Americans, Britons, New Zealanders over the past few years in the Gaza Strip. It noted the group, comprising former members of various Palestinian groups, threatened the security of Israel and Egypt.

The al-Qaida-inspired group appeared in 2006, when it joined the Islamic Hamas movement in capturing an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid near Gaza. A year later, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip by force. The State Department did not mention anything about the kidnapping of soldier Gilad Shalit.

Abu Al-Abbas said his people did not use Arab lands near Gaza in their attacks on Israel. Earlier this year, Egypt, then in the final days of former President Hosni Mubarak's rule, accused the Army of Islam of being responsible for a deadly attack at an Alexandria church on the eve of the New Year.

A Brussels-based conflict and politics research organization, the International Crisis Group, said recently that ties between Hamas and Jihadist groups in Gaza have shifted from cooperation to confrontation.

The first confrontation was in 2009 when one of these pro-Qaida groups defied Hamas' rule and declared an Islamic emirate in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. Hamas crushed the group after hours of deadly clashes.

In April, Hamas also killed two members of a similar group after they captured and killed a pro-Palestinian Italian activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, also in Gaza.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/20/c_13886076.htm.

Turkish NGO reiterates plans for second Gaza flotilla

May 20, 2011

Istanbul - The Turkish non-governmental organization that was the main sponsor of an aid flotilla to Gaza last May that ended in the killing of nine pro-Palestinian activists by Israeli forces reiterated its plans on Friday to launch another flotilla in June.

Bulent Yildirim, the chairman of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), said the Freedom Flotilla 2 would set sail in the last week of June and again attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Yildirim said the flotilla, which is being organized by the IHH and 21 other groups, would consist of 15 ships with a total of 1,500 activists from more than 100 countries.

'If you interfere this time, it will be your loss,' Yildirim said, addressing the government of Israel.

Turkish-Israeli relations have been at rock bottom since Israeli commandos shot eight Turkish citizens and a Turkish-American onboard the Mavi Marmara, one of six ships in the flotilla, in international waters.

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel and demanded an official apology and compensation from Israel in response to the attack, which was condemned by many countries.

Israel has refused to make an apology or consider compensation, saying it acted in self-defense.

The IHH had previously announced that it would send a second flotilla on the one-year anniversary of the Mavi Marmara incident but later decided to delay the launch until after Turkish parliamentary elections on June 12.

The United States has warned Turkey that sending another flotilla to the Gaza Strip would not be helpful, Turkey's semi-official Anatolia Agency reported Thursday.

'In the year since the last flotilla episode, Israel has changed the humanitarian regime for Gaza, (and) made very clear that there are alternative ways to get humanitarian assistance to Gaza,' Philip Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, was quoted as saying.

'We have asked [the Turkish government] to make clear to any Turkish NGOs that might want to send a ship that they should really find this other path,' Gordon said at a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing Wednesday.

Yildirim criticized the United States' government's support for Israel, which he said was isolating itself internationally due to its treatment of the Palestinians.

'This is just one step in the path towards freedom,' he said. 'If you don't stop this unjustness, the entire Arab Spring will fail,' Yildirim said.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1640389.php/Turkish-NGO-reiterates-plans-for-second-Gaza-flotilla.

Medvedev says poor rule of law holds Russia back

Fri May 20, 2011

* Medvedev calls for rule of law, property rights
* Says corruption holding back Russian economy

By Alexei Anishchuk

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, May 20 (Reuters) - Corruption and the lack of a consistent rule of law hinder Russia's development, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday, as he sought to present himself as a reformer ahead of a 2012 election.

Russia, the world's largest energy producer, says it needs trillions of dollars in investment to reduce reliance on oil, gas and metals exports and to bolster economic growth rates which are forecast far below those in China and India.

Medvedev, who has pitched himself as an alternative to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ahead of the March 2012 presidential election, called on senior officials and judges to ensure property rights were protected and the law implemented.

"Even the best laws will not work, will remain simple declarations, if judicial institutions don't work, or if the institutional procedures are too flabby or excessive," Medvedev told a legal forum in his hometown of St Petersburg.

"Shortcomings in implementing laws, a lack of respect for courts and corruption are not just the perceptions of society but they are basically macro-economic factors which restrain the growth of national prosperity," he said.

With oil prices hovering at $100 a barrel, Russia forecasts that its economy will grow 4.5 percent annually over the next four years to about $2.3 trillion in 2015, half the growth rates forecast for China's $5.9 trillion economy.

Western executives agree that a lack of respect for the rule of law holds back Russia's economy, but many say privately that Medvedev has done little to improve the situation since Putin steered him into the Kremlin in 2008.

Investors say they run the risk of extortion when seeking a slice of the vast profits on offer in Russia and anti-bribery groups say corruption has increased under Medvedev.

Transparency International rated Russia joint 154th out of 178 nations in its corruption perceptions index last year, along with Cambodia, Kenya and Laos. It was Russia's lowest ranking since the index began in 1995. In 2009 it was 146th.

Russia was perceived to be more corrupt than any other member of the G8, G20 or even peers such as India, China and Brazil, which were ranked at 87th, 78th and 69th, Transparency said.

"Corruption is a challenge. It exists in every country. In countries that are swiftly developing, like Russia, it is very significant, it is huge," Medvedev said. "The trillions of dollars we pay for such development is an unacceptable price."

Medvedev said he had made progress in creating what he called a "lawful state" but admitted there was still a vast amount of work to be done to help businesses.

"Honest entrepreneurs must be confident in property rights, in the rights to what they have purchased in any deals," Medvedev said. (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Michel Rose)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/20/russia-medvedev-idUSLDE74J0SM20110520.

Israeli 'spy' sought info on Russia-Arab arms trade: FSB

May 20, 2011

MOSCOW — The Israeli military attache expelled from Moscow was trying to obtain details about Russia's arms trade with the Arab world, the country's powerful Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday.

Russia's foreign ministry said that Soviet-born Colonel Vadim Leiderman was "caught red-handed" while trying to receive secret information on May 12.

RBC television channel later aired footage of a man identified as Leiderman being approached by several men while he was dining with another man in a Moscow restaurant.

The Israeli official was then shown being interrogated in a Russian office, with his various accreditation and bank cards being laid out on a table for the camera.

His expulsion sparked protests in Israel and was the first such incident to occur between the two countries in nearly 20 years.

An unnamed Russian security official told news agencies on Thursday that Leiderman had engaged in industrial espionage.

But the FSB issued an official statement Friday saying the attache was trying to collect details about Russia's arms trade with its Soviet-era partners in the Arab world.

Leiderman had approached "a number of Russian state workers for secret information about ... Russia's military and technological cooperation with -- and assistance for -- a number of Arab nations," the FSB statement said.

It added that Russia had decided to keep the expulsion secret as a "gesture of goodwill."

The information about Leiderman's expulsion initially appeared in Israel and was sourced to local defense officials.

The FSB said the Israeli media leak left it "seriously perplexed".

Israeli media reports said the brief detention and search prior to Leiderman's expulsion appeared to breach his diplomatic immunity. Channel One television said he was the first Israeli military official to be expelled from Russia since the early 1990s.

Russia and Israel now enjoy close economic ties based on the Jewish state's vast ex-Soviet diaspora.

But Russia is also a key arms supplier to the Arab world and continues to sell advanced missile systems to Syria that Israel fears make their way to the Shiite Hezbollah movement in neighboring Lebanon.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Algeria to ease primary school program

In a nod to demands from pupils and parents, the Algerian education ministry decided to slim down the school curriculum.

By Hayam El Hadi for Magharebia in Algiers – 20/05/11

Algerian parents used to complain that their children are overwhelmed with schoolwork. With the start of a new school year, students will enjoy reduced lesson timetables, the education ministry announced last week.

Primary school days will now be split into two sessions. The morning session will run from 8 to 11am, with the afternoon session shortened to 1-2:30pm. The weekly timetable will range from 24 to 25 hours compared with the current 30 hours.

"The slimmed-down timetable does not mean we are affecting the main subjects taught to children," Education Minister Aboubakeur Benbouzid said May 12th. "The ad hoc committee is conducting a far-reaching study of the issue, because what is at stake here is our children's future and the credibility of the education system in Algeria."

The committee in charge of drafting the new curriculum included education directors from wilayas, ministry officials, the director of the national office for examinations and entry competitions and representatives of trade unions.

Though the news received a warm response from parents and teachers, some parents have been left wondering what to do with their children during this free time.

Education ministry adviser Ahmed Tessa reassured them, saying that pupils will remain on the school site 2:30-3:30pm, where they will be offered a range of cultural and sporting activities.

"Since my daughter started school, I've felt that she's been pushed too hard," Mahdia Terra, a 37-year-old mother, told Magharebia. "The syllabus is overloaded. There's no room for play; the children's time is completely taken up with learning and they don't have a moment to breathe."

"At the end of the day, they're so tired that they can barely get through their homework," added Terra, who has an eight-year-old daughter. "They don't have the time to get involved in out-of-school activities. With this reduction in workload, they'll have time for a breather, and so shall we."

Primary school teacher Mohamed Dali shared the parents' enthusiasm. "Children are bombarded with information and have no room for leisure," he said. "They are put under pressure in spite of their age. For a long time now, we've been calling for play activities to be introduced into schools."

"A school should not be seen as a place for educational input alone," he added. "It's a school for life, and children must be introduced to other experiences there, which can only help them with their learning. We hope we'll find that children are a little less stressed and better disposed to learn."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/05/20/feature-04.

Libya's defected oil minister seeks interim refuge in Algeria: report

ALGIERS, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem, who has defected his country and crossed the border with Tunisia, is seeking an interim refuge in neighboring Algeria, Algerian An- Nahar newspaper reported on Friday, citing well-informed sources.

The Arabic-language paper said Ghanem, also head of the National Oil Company, will head from Algeria to Qatar, the first Arab state to recognize the Libyan rebels as the official Libyan government and to join NATO-led air strikes.

Media reports have said Ghanem crossed the border by car last Saturday and since he has stayed in a hotel in the Tunisian island of Djerba, near the border with Libya.

But the Libyan government denied he had defected, saying he was on "a mission in Tunisia".

Ghanem has been in charge of the oil ministry since 2006 and was previously prime minister. His oil ministry is the biggest income generator for the country.

If his defection was confirmed, Ghanem would be among the most senior officials to abandon embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi since the start of the revolt aiming to end his 42-year- old rule.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/20/c_13885988.htm.

Russia Says U.S. May Extend Missile Shield to Bulgaria, Turkey

By Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer - May 20, 2011

Russia is concerned the U.S. may expand its planned missile shield in Poland and Romania to other eastern European countries and Turkey, a senior military official said.

“Russia is deeply concerned that after Poland and Romania, elements of U.S. missile defense will emerge in the Czech Republic, Turkey, Bulgaria and some other NATO members,” the deputy chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, told foreign diplomats today in Moscow. “In the future, it may create risks for Russian strategic nuclear forces.”

A U.S. factsheet on its proposed missile shield, published May 3, mentions only Romania and Poland as sites where hardware would be based. The U.S. embassy in Moscow declined to comment.

Russian leaders complain the shield, which the U.S. says is needed to guard against threats from countries such as Iran, will blunt their nuclear deterrent. They have warned of a new arms race within the next decade unless the U.S. and its allies agree to cooperate with Russia on missile defense.

Russia may quit a nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. if it doesn’t get legally enforceable guarantees it won’t be targeted by the shield, President Dmitry Medvedev said May 18.

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/russia-says-u-s-may-extend-missile-shield-to-bulgaria-turkey.html.

Kuwait elected to U.N. rights panel instead of Syria

By Patrick Worsnip
Fri May 20, 2011

(Reuters) - Kuwait was among 15 nations elected on Friday to the U.N. Human Rights Council after Syria, under pressure over its crackdown on protesters, dropped its bid for an Arab slot on the controversial panel.

Kuwait stepped into the race last week after Western countries persuaded Arab states that Syria was not a suitable candidate. In a General Assembly vote, the Gulf emirate was elected along with India, Indonesia and the Philippines on a clean, or uncontested, slate of Asian nations for three-year council terms.

Africa and Western Europe also presented clean slates but there were contested votes for Eastern Europe -- where the Czech Republic and Romania defeated Georgia -- and Latin America, where Chile and Costa Rica edged out Nicaragua.

The 47-nation Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, is the main U.N. body charged with monitoring member states' compliance with international rights norms.

Critics say it spends too much time denouncing Israel while ignoring violations by Sri Lanka, Bahrain, China, Russia and other countries. Libya, elected to the council last year, is suspended because of its civil war.

Syria told a closed meeting of Asian U.N. members on May 11 it had agreed to swap candidacies with Kuwait, which was set to run for the council in 2013, and drop out of the 2011 race, diplomats said.

Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari denied at the time that the decision was connected with events in his country, where troops and tanks have killed hundreds of anti-government demonstrators in recent weeks.

He said the move was based on "reconsidering our priorities" and Syria would run for the council in 2013.

SYRIA RECEIVED VOTES

Even though Syria was not standing up for membership, five of the 192 countries in the General Assembly voted for it on Friday, assembly president Joseph Deiss said in announcing the results. Because the ballot was secret it was unclear who they were.

Elected for the so-called "Western European and others" group were Austria and Italy, while Burkina Faso, Botswana, the Congo Republic and Benin were elected for Africa.

Human rights groups have hailed the fact that Syria will not be elected this year but, as they have done in past years, criticized the clean slate system under which regional groups present only as many candidates as seats are available.

"Without competition for seats on the Human Rights Council, the membership standards set by the General Assembly become meaningless," said Peggy Hicks of New York-based Human Rights Watch. "Manufactured slates of candidates may be easier for states, but they are bad for the council."

Geneva-based group UN Watch said Kuwait and Congo were "not qualified" to be on the council.

Kuwait's "ruling family largely sets the policy agenda and dominates political life. Formal political parties are banned," it said, adding that the country limits freedom of the press and assembly and has no independent judiciary.

In Congo, the group said, recent elections were "marred by irregularities," press freedom was limited and the judiciary was subject to corruption and political influence.

The defeat of Nicaragua was a setback for left-wing governments in the Latin America group, which also includes Caribbean states.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/20/us-rights-un-council-idUSTRE74J5IO20110520.

Spanish protests swell as youths defy rally ban

May 20, 2011

Madrid - Protests demanding a reform of Spain's democracy were gathering momentum Friday after the national electoral commission banned them ahead of Sunday's local and regional elections.

The commission prohibited rallies on Saturday, which is the pre-election 'reflection day,' and on election day itself.

But the ban instead resulted in even more people joining sit-in protests being staged in more than 30 cities.

Some protesters vowed not to move if police tried to disperse them. Other announced meetings at which they would decide how to proceed.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the Interior Ministry would deal with the situation 'correctly, with intelligence.' The Justice Ministry was reviewing the extent of the rally ban, the premier said.

The government was trying to avoid pre-election violence which could cost it votes, analysts said.

Zapatero's Socialists had already been expected to suffer a heavy defeat to the opposition conservatives.

More people joined protesters at Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, where thousands had spent the night in tents or out of doors.

'We are not participating in electoral campaigns nor asking for votes,' a spokesman for the protest movement stressed.

Smaller gatherings were reported in more than 30 cities all over the country.

'If police comes, we will resist peacefully,' protest movement spokeswoman Lucia Basurto said at Barcelona's Catalonia Square.

In Valencia, about 200 demonstrators entered a bank office to protest the influence of bankers on politics. In Murcia, demonstrators staged a sit-in at a roundabout surrounded by banks, department stores and official buildings.

Madrid organizers called a 'silent cry' event at which demonstrators would seal their mouths with tape in a sign of protest when the electoral commission's order entered into force at midnight.

The protest rallies which began last week-end have been overwhelmingly peaceful so far.

The movement is becoming known as M-15 in a reference to May 15, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets in more than 50 Spanish cities.

They called for a radical overhaul of the country's political system which the protesters describe as corrupt, following the interests of banks and capital, and favoring only two large parties.

The movement emerged on the internet a few months ago in response to Spain's two-year economic crisis, which caused unemployment to soar to 20 per cent. Among young people, the jobless rate exceeds 40 per cent.

The movement has not sided with any political party, nor called for abstention or blank votes. The government, however, is concerned that its criticism of recent laws could encourage many potential Socialist voters to abstain.

The movement has divided expert opinion, with some dismissing it as little more than a street party, while others compare it with the Arab protests, or historic social movements such as France's May 1968.

'We are witnessing the birth of a new type of social movement which is independent of parties and trade unions,' sociology professor Jaime Pastor said.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1640410.php/Spanish-protests-swell-as-youths-defy-rally-ban.

Algeria to hold reform talks, boycotted by opposition

By Beatrice Khadige (AFP) – May 20, 2011

ALGIERS — Algerian political leaders are preparing to start talks on democratic reforms on Saturday, but the opposition plans a no-show to protest what they call a feeble attempt at real change.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April pledged a number of reforms to be introduced before the end of the year including modifying the constitution and revising electoral law, as popular uprisings swept through the Arab world against authoritarian regimes.

He asked a panel of members of recognized political parties and experts in constitutional law to come up with further proposals that would be submitted to parliament or a referendum.

He invited all political parties, regardless of whether they are represented in parliament or not, to take part in the process.

He has tasked speaker of the National Council (Senate) Abdelkader Bensalah to start sounding political parties, flanked by two advisers to Bouteflika -- General Mohamed Touati and a former minister Mohamed Ali Boughazi.

But already opponents view the choice of the trio of negotiators as a thinly-veiled attempt by Bouteflika to keep his grip on power.

"We wait for concrete action towards change in order to re-establish trust in power and the state, not just fiddling around," said Karim Tabbou, secretary of the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) which will boycott the talks.

Said Sadi, leader of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) which was established after January 21 riots that left five dead and 800 injured, said that the government-initiated talks were simply a "monologue against change."

"The era of political tinkering is over," he added.

The French-language daily El-Watan on Thursday said that the government "will find itself consulting itself. It might as well ask its traditional clients to participate, which will be presented as external contributions to the regime."

The independent newspaper earlier wrote that the president's proposals are aimed at supporting a system which "wants to keep things in hand while making it appear it is reforming, which it is not."

Algeria's 1996 constitution was last amended in 2009 to allow the 74-year-old Bouteflika, first elected in 1999, to seek a third term. He has not indicated his intentions when his mandate ends in 2014.

His promises came amid Algerian discontent over wages, jobs, working conditions, and corruption at the top echelons of the government.

Protesters have staged regular protests since the beginning of the year, although they are often quashed by police.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Renewed Protests in Amman Blast Corruption

2011-05-20

By Banan Malkawi

AMMONNEWS - Hundreds of Jordanians on Friday protested in central Amman against government corruption and called for genuine political and economic reforms.

The demonstration, organized by political opposition parties, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Jordanian Professional Associations, marched from King Abdullah I Mosque to the Interior Ministry Circle, chanting anti-corruption slogans and accusing the government of "slacking" in implementing reform measures.

Over 1,500 protestors marched amidst heavy security presence, and were blocked from reaching the Interior Ministry Circle, where major clashes had taken place on March 24th during a youth sit-in, leaving over 100 injured and one protestor dead.

Friday witnessed several major protests throughout Jordan, calling for reforms and blasting government and security forces' violent handling of pro-reform demonstrations last week.

Other protests also took place near the Israeli Embassy in Amman calling for annulling the Jordanian-Israeli peace process, and others in Karak, Tafileh, and Zarqa governorates.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Zaki Bani Ersheid blasted that the widespread economic corruption in the country is caused by political corruption, leading to the loss of trust and confidence in the government.

He stressed that tangible reform cannot materialize unless powers are given to the people.

Bani Ersheid criticized US President Barack Obama's speech delivered on Thursday, blasting that the American administration is the "power that gives international legitimacy, enables corruption, and creates corrupt governments in the region."

In referring to the "Arab Spring," the Islamist leader applauded the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, and addressed Arab leaders warning "you either implement reform, or be ousted."

On his part, Head of the Jordanian Engineers' Professional Associations Abdullah Obeidat noted that the demands of the Jordanian people are legitimate and that what "we ask for here is much less than what peoples of other countries are demanding."

He stressed that the regime and the government ought to respect the people, blasting that "we were surprised that the government did indeed implement reforms; however they were security reforms."

"An opposition activist used to be taken to a jail cell and beaten there, now, activists are being beaten by security forces publicly in the streets," he added.

Obeidat charged that the widespread corruption in the country has transformed Jordanians in both the public and private sectors into a deprived and poor society that is facing grave economic conditions.

An activist in the March 24th Youth Movement, Abdul Rahman Hassanain, said that the movement is preparing for a major demonstration that would surpass the sit-in two months ago at Gamal Abdul Nasser Square (Interior Ministry Circle).

Senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Hammam Saeed told Ammon News during the protest that the movement is part of the Jordanian society and that their protest today is part of the popular demands all Jordanians are demanding.

"We do not act individually, our activism is part and parcel of the demands of the Jordanian street," he added.

The protestors chanted slogans against corruption, and calling for freedom, reform, and change.

Chants included:

"Change and reform are the demands of the people,"

"Freedom where are you, the government stands between us and you,"

"The people demand saving the economy."

* Additional reporting by Shaheera Khatatbeh and Heba Malkawi

Source: Ammon News.
Link: http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=11999.