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Friday, October 14, 2011

South Sudan to become new nation amid war worries

July 07, 2011 — JUBA, Sudan (AP) — The people of South Sudan finally get their own country on Saturday, an emotional independence celebration few thought possible during a half century of civil wars and oppression that left more than 2 million dead.

Military parades and celebrations will burst forth Saturday in front of dozens of visiting world leaders. But when that party ends, South Sudan must face grim realities: It will be one of the most underdeveloped countries on the planet, only 15 percent of its citizens can read and fears of renewed conflict abound.

South Sudan's successful independence drive was made possible by a 2005 peace deal between Sudan's north and south. Last January, former guerrilla fighters shed tears as they cast votes to break away from the control of the Khartoum-based north.

Among those who cast ballots at special U.S. polling stations were some of the 3,800 war orphans known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, who ran away from war and were taken in by communities in the United States.

In the southern capital of Juba this week, the Republic of South Sudan's new national anthem blared from cell phones. "It took a combination of bullets and ballots to attain our hard-earned independence," reads a new sign next to a main intersection here.

Albino Gaw, a member of a minority tribe who works for the government in Juba, said he's excited about the south's independence. The 30-year-old former child soldier said he's pessimistic though about how much work lies ahead.

"The day will be good but people are expecting something more than we've gotten in the past five years," he said. "A lot of work needs to be done by the government. Otherwise things will be like they were before."

The world's newest capital, the Nile River city of Juba, was war-ravaged ruins six years ago, when the 1983-2005 north-south civil war ended. It was the second war between the mostly Arab north and the south, where traditional African religions and Christianity are practiced.

Now the presidential motorcade is practicing its run through the city for Saturday afternoon, when world leaders will watch South Sudan President Salva Kiir host the country's inauguration. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend, as will former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice and Gen. Carter Ham, commander of the U.S. Africa Command. Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, a deeply unpopular man in Juba, is also expected to attend.

Despite the excitement, South Sudan is saddled with problems. Violence — from cattle raids and rebel battles — has killed nearly 2,400 people this year, the U.N. says. Seven different rebel militias operate in the south.

More ominously, troops from north and south Sudan are facing off in the contested region of Abyei. Fighting between the north and forces loyal to the south is raging in Southern Kordofan, a state that lies in the north.

A major undercurrent is fight for the oil that lies near the north-south border — oil that South Sudan gains and Khartoum loses, though for now the south's crude can reach the world market only by moving through the north's pipelines.

Despite the south's oil wealth, the Texas-sized region has only about 30 miles (50 kilometers) of paved road. In an advisory sent out this week for the independence celebration, the government reminded incoming guests that Juba doesn't have any credit card processing machines.

Lise Grande, who leads the U.N.'s humanitarian operations in South Sudan, says the region is "one of the most underdeveloped on the planet." Only 15 percent of the population can read. Most live on a $1 a day. Education and health facilities are sorely underdeveloped.

"You don't get the kind of statistics you have in Southern Sudan if you're not dealing with years of marginalization," Grande said. "It is their legacy. It is the price that these people have paid. Someone who could be my daughter has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than finishing school. That says everything you need to know about Southern Sudan."

Still, Zach Vertin of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group says there is reason to be "cautiously optimistic" about the years ahead for the 6-year-old government. It had just two employees when it started — the president and vice president — but now runs 32 ministries, 17 commissions and 10 state-level governments.

The young government faces the massive challenges of reforming its bloated and often predatory army, diversifying its solely oil-based economy, and deciding how political power will be distributed among the dozens of ethnic and military factions.

The government must also begin delivering basic services like education, health services, and water and electricity to its more than 8 million citizens. Isaac Boyd with the American aid group Catholic Relief Services says that it will take decades for the new country to construct a road network that connects remote communities and allows them to participate in a market economy.

"Only a handful of secondary schools throughout the country serve a population where 51 percent is under the age of 18," Boyd said. "Aid agencies will do what they can but the long-term solution rests with the people of Southern Sudan."

Grande said the problems South Sudan faces are "bigger and harder than what any other country in Africa faced" when most nations on the continent gained independence from the colonial powers in the 1960s.

On top of that, the prospect for a return to all-out war between north and south seems higher than it's ever been since the signing of the 2005 peace deal. More than 100,000 people were displaced in May after the northern army seized the disputed border area of Abyei, and activists fear an ethnic cleansing of the black African Nuba people is under way in Southern Kordofan.

The hostilities dashed hopes that the two governments could reach a "divorce deal" over unresolved north-south issues related to the peace deal before Saturday, including oil-sharing arrangements and the final demarcation of the border.

A draft constitution was passed this week that lays the groundwork for the president and legislature, who were elected in April 2010, to serve out their five-year terms. The legislature's few opposition legislators are unhappy with the draft, but it now serves as an interim constitution until the first multiparty elections are held.

On Saturday at least, politics will be on the backburner. During times of celebration in the south — at weddings or on Martyr's Day — gunshots ring out, symbolic of the history of violence and the fact many civilians own weapons.

The south's information minister is predicting a less violent entry into statehood. As the clock reaches midnight and the calendar turns to July 9 early Saturday, he said, the only thing to be heard will be "church bells ringing, the beating of drums and women ululating."

Pet shop turns away drunks seeking pups

NEW YORK, July 7 (UPI) -- A New York pet shop said it has instituted a policy of not allowing intoxicated customers to buy puppies.

Fernanda Moritz, manager of Le Petit Puppy in the West Village, said the store sees a lot of drunk customers due to number of nearby bars and many of them seek to buy the puppies, which cost $1,200 to $3,000, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

"It happens very often," Moritz said. "If the person is completely drunk, I won't sell them the dog ... or I say they can't leave with the dog that day ... I can see it in their eyes if they've been drinking."

Moritz and store employees said drunken customers are more likely to experience buyer's remorse the next day when they realize the responsibility that comes with pet ownership. They said one woman returned a puppy she had named "Miller" after the beer she had been drinking the night she bought it.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/07/07/Pet-shop-turns-away-drunks-seeking-pups/UPI-50431310022000/.

Libyan rebel leaders to hold talks with NATO Council

Brussels (AFP) July 6, 2011

Libyan rebel leaders for the first time will hold talks with NATO's 28-nation North Atlantic Council on July 13 to present their plans for democratic transition, the organization's chief said Wednesday.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the rebel forces were making progress in their battle against Moamer Kadhafi's troops while the Libyan leader's "plans to retake country by force have fallen apart."

NATO's air war, meanwhile, has damaged or destroyed more than 2,700 military targets since March 31, including 600 tanks and artillery pieces and 800 ammunition stores, he said.

On the diplomatic front, a delegation led by Mahmud Jibril of the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council (NTC) will hold informal talks with the NATO's decision-making council in Brussels on July 13.

"The goal of this meeting is to exchange points of view," Rasmussen said. "The NTC has drafted a roadmap and it is important for the NATO Council to discuss this subject with Mr Jibril."

Ramussen will also hold a bilateral meeting with Jibril the same day.

The rebel delegation is also expected to meet in Brussels next week with European Union president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

While the 27-nation EU has opened a mission in Benghazi, NATO does not have an office there.

Rasmussen has met NTC officials at meetings abroad of the international contact group on Libya.

Several NATO nations, including the United States, Britain and France, have recognized the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Turkey became the latest alliance member to recognize them on Monday.

NATO is in the fourth month of an air war conducted under a UN mandate to protect civilians from Kadhafi troops.

Rasmussen refused to assess an offensive launched by the rebels on Wednesday in a bid to retake Tripoli.

But, he added, "it is clear that Kadhafi is losing ground every day."

"His war machine is degraded, his generals and ministers are abandoning him and he has lost the support of the international community.

"In short, it's game over."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Libyan_rebel_leaders_to_hold_talks_with_NATO_Council_999.html.

Mass grave with 900 corpses found in Iraq

Diwaniyah, Iraq (AFP) July 6, 2011

Iraqi authorities uncovered a mass grave with 900 corpses near the central city of Diwaniyah on Wednesday, believed to be Kurds killed during the rule of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, an official said.

The corpses were found in the Shanafiya region, 70 kilometers (45 miles) west of Diwaniyah.

"The corpses were buried in a trench. There were 900 bodies," said Dakhil Saihoud, provincial head of the Justice and Accountability Commission which investigates issues related to Saddam's regime.

"Initial indications show the remains are those of Kurds. They were transferred to laboratories in the city of Najaf to help in identification," Saihoud said. He said the corpses apparently dated back to the 1980s.

Last April, authorities said they had found another mass grave in Anbar province of western Iraq containing the bodies of more than 800 people, including women and children, executed during Saddam's regime.

During Iraq's 1980-1988 war with Iran, deserters were executed and the Sunni Arab dictator intensified a crackdown on Shiites suspected of sympathizing with Iraq's predominantly Shiite neighbor.

Kurds were persecuted because they were the main opposition to Saddam.

The number of people missing as a result of atrocities committed by Saddam, who came to power in 1979, is estimated at anywhere between 300,000 and 1.3 million, according to various sources.

Human rights groups believe there are hundreds of mass graves in Iraq of people killed during Saddam's rule.

Shortly after the 2003 invasion, the US-led coalition said there were 263 mass reported graves of people executed in Iraq under Saddam, including 40 containing evidence of systematic killings.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Mass_grave_with_900_corpses_found_in_Iraq_999.html.

Britain to pull 500 troops from Afghanistan: Cameron

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

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London (AFP) July 6, 2011

Britain will withdraw a further 500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year, but will keep soldiers there in a training role until at least 2023, Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday.

His confirmation that the second largest foreign contingent in Afghanistan will be reduced to 9,000 came a fortnight after President Barack Obama announced a big drawdown of US forces in the war-torn country.

Despite concerns expressed by US and British military officers, Cameron said the withdrawal was possible because Afghanistan's fledgling army and police were increasingly confident as the West prepares to hand over security duties by 2015.

"Today I can announce that the UK will be able to reduce its force levels by a further 500 from 9,500 to 9,000 by the end of 2012," Cameron told the House of Commons.

The announcement comes a day after Cameron returned from a two-day visit to Afghanistan to meet British troops based in the troubled southern province of Helmand and to hold talks with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

He added: "This decision is not only right for Britain, it is right for Afghanistan too. It has given the Afghans a clear deadline against which to plan and has injected a sense of urgency into their efforts.

"Having taken such a huge share of the burden, and having performed so magnificently for a decade, the country needs to know that there is an end point to the level of our current commitment and to our combat operations."

Britain has already announced the withdrawal of 426 auxiliary military personnel by February 2012.

But Cameron stressed that Britain's commitment to Afghanistan would endure after the last NATO combat troops leave the country at the end of 2014.

He said Britain would lead a Sandhurst-style military academy for Afghan army officers "for 10 years starting from 2013."

He announced the creation of the academy during a press conference with Karzai on Tuesday but without giving a timeline for the commitment.

Western governments are heading for the exit door in Afghanistan, with Obama saying this month he would withdraw 33,000 US "surge" troops by the end of 2012, bringing total US forces there down to 65,000.

Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan ends this week while France, Belgium and Spain have also said they will soon bring home some troops.

US and British military commanders have expressed fears that bringing too many troops out too soon could hurt the delicate process of handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces.

During the trip Cameron was forced to cancel a visit to Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand and one of the first towns due to be handed over to Afghan control, after a British soldier went missing from his base and was later found dead.

The mysterious death of 21-year-old Scott McLaren appeared to undermine Cameron's claim that security had improved enough for Britain to withdraw some troops soon.

McLaren was the 375th member of the British forces to die since the US-led invasion in October 2001, which came after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden died in a US raid in Pakistan in May.

But Cameron insisted that Afghan forces were now ready to take on the baton after international forces had "driven Al-Qaeda from its bases" and "halted the momentum of the Taliban insurgency."

"In many places across the country the Afghan National Security Forces now stand ready to begin the process of taking over security responsibility," he told lawmakers.

In Kabul, Cameron made a plea to the Taliban to lay down their weapons and join the political process, and pointed to the example of Northern Ireland where erstwhile bitter foes now share power.

Afghanistan on Wednesday said its troops had killed 276 Taliban-linked rebels in the past fortnight while the military lost 59 troops.

Defense ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi also claimed around 240 rebels had been captured.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Britain_to_pull_500_troops_from_Afghanistan_Cameron_999.html.

Tunisian Amazighs campaign for equal rights

Members of Tunisia's Amazigh community hope their language will be part of the country's new democratic constitution.

By Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis – 06/07/11

Tunisians of Amazigh descent are calling for the inclusion of their culture in the country's new constitution.

"Amazigh is not just a language; it is a civilization as well as the history of Tunisia and the culture of the Tunisian people," Hajer Welhezi told Magharebia. "That needs to be secured by the constitution to protect it and to prevent any forced or voluntary extinction or eradication."

"It is the responsibility of each Tunisian to do so because it is a national treasure that all Tunisians have to value. It is time to stop talking about Amazigh as a minority. Only the Amazigh language is a minority not the people. Thus, defending and rehabilitating Amazigh civilization and its branches is not only a matter for the speakers of the language, it is a national affair," Welhezi said.

Activists are using social media to campaign for the inclusion of two articles in the new constitution. The first stipulates that Tunisia is a free, independent and sovereign state with Islam as its religion and Arabic as its language with a republican form of government. The second article calls on the government to recognize the Amazigh language and culture as part of the national identity and to work towards its development.

Badis Kachtilou, a young Tunisian of Amazigh descent, told Magharebia that the call for recognition was aimed at all Tunisians, including the government, political parties and civil society.

"It also asks them to step forward for their historical duty and work toward the inclusion of the two aforementioned articles in the new constitution of Tunisia, in order to make the future in post-revolution Tunisia a place where all Tunisians enjoy their lives without feeling excluded or marginalized," Kachtilou said.

He added, "Our Amazigh brothers in Morocco made great achievement and saw their language become part of the constitution as another official language, besides Arabic. According to the new constitution, the Arab identity of Morocco was abolished and replaced by an Islamic identity. The term Arab Maghreb was also dropped and replaced by Greater Maghreb."

"We hope that Tunisia will also achieve that," he said.

"Tunisian identity can't be summarized neither in one religion nor in one language," Ahmed Welhezi said. "It is a combination of this group of human beings sharing the same land and common history, and the North African Amazigh civilization and culture, sharing also the same aspirations, dreams, and all the likes that make a living people."

"We aspire to build a new Tunisia that is open, modernist, and tolerant. We are driven by a deep understanding of the particularities of our civilization and of its historical and geographical position," declared Mourad Zitouni, another young Tunisian. "Our people are not one or two centuries old but rather thousands of years."

Nizar Ferchichi said it was "necessary to recognize the cultural and civilization diversity".

"Some people want to summarize our national identity in one dimension that represents a certain era which enriched our history and civilization, so how can we force the Tunisian people to accept only the option of an Arab identity?" he asked.

"Amazigh is an indelible part of the identity of any Tunisian. Degrading, fighting, or denying that part of our identity would be treason of our country and our ancestors, and even worse it would be denying one's origin," Ferchichi told Magharebia. "Yes for recognizing a Tunisian Arab-Amazigh identity and no for eradicating and denying the Amazigh identity".

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/06/feature-01.

Morocco seeks to thaw relations with Algeria

2011-07-06

King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Tuesday (July 5th) expressed his "firm determination" to surmount obstacles to relations with Algeria, MAP reported. In a congratulatory message to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika marking the 49th anniversary of Algerian independence, the sovereign called for "a new dynamic to fruitful co-operation and active solidarity…worthy of two brothers and neighbors, as part of our Maghreb Union". He also affirmed his support for Algeria's efforts to achieve enduring security and stability.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/07/06/newsbrief-03.

Cassini Spacecraft Captures Images and Sounds of Big Saturn Storm

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 07, 2011

Scientists analyzing data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft now have the first-ever, up-close details of a Saturn storm that is eight times the surface area of Earth.

On Dec. 5, 2010, Cassini first detected the storm that has been raging ever since. It appears at approximately 35 degrees north latitude on Saturn. Pictures from Cassini's imaging cameras show the storm wrapping around the entire planet covering approximately 1.5 billion square miles (4 billion square kilometers).

The storm is about 500 times larger than the biggest storm previously seen by Cassini during several months from 2009 to 2010. Scientists studied the sounds of the new storm's lightning strikes and analyzed images taken between December 2010 and February 2011.

Data from Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument showed the lightning flash rate as much as 10 times more frequent than during other storms monitored since Cassini's arrival to Saturn in 2004. The data appear in a paper published this week in the journal Nature.

"Cassini shows us that Saturn is bipolar," said Andrew Ingersoll, an author of the study and a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

"Saturn is not like Earth and Jupiter, where storms are fairly frequent. Weather on Saturn appears to hum along placidly for years and then erupt violently. I'm excited we saw weather so spectacular on our watch."

At its most intense, the storm generated more than 10 lightning flashes per second. Even with millisecond resolution, the spacecraft's radio and plasma wave instrument had difficulty separating individual signals during the most intense period. Scientists created a sound file from data obtained on March 15 at a slightly lower intensity period.

Cassini has detected 10 lightning storms on Saturn since the spacecraft entered the planet's orbit and its southern hemisphere was experiencing summer, with full solar illumination not shadowed by the rings.

Those storms rolled through an area in the southern hemisphere dubbed "Storm Alley." But the sun's illumination on the hemispheres flipped around August 2009, when the northern hemisphere began experiencing spring.

"This storm is thrilling because it shows how shifting seasons and solar illumination can dramatically stir up the weather on Saturn," said Georg Fischer, the paper's lead author and a radio and plasma wave science team member at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Graz.

"We have been observing storms on Saturn for almost seven years, so tracking a storm so different from the others has put us at the edge of our seats."

The storm's results are the first activities of a new "Saturn Storm Watch" campaign. During this effort, Cassini looks at likely storm locations on Saturn in between its scheduled observations.

On the same day that the radio and plasma wave instrument detected the first lightning, Cassini's cameras happened to be pointed at the right location as part of the campaign and captured an image of a small, bright cloud.

Because analysis on that image was not completed immediately, Fischer sent out a notice to the worldwide amateur astronomy community to collect more images. A flood of amateur images helped scientists track the storm as it grew rapidly, wrapping around the planet by late January 2011.

The new details about this storm complement atmospheric disturbances described recently by scientists using Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The storm is the biggest observed by spacecraft orbiting or flying by Saturn. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured images in 1990 of an equally large storm.

Source: Saturn Daily.
Link: http://www.saturndaily.com/reports/Cassini_Spacecraft_Captures_Images_and_Sounds_of_Big_Saturn_Storm_999.html.

Somalia Islamists lift ban on aid agencies to help drought victims

MOGADISHU (BNO NEWS) — Somalia’s militant Islamist group Al-Shabab on Wednesday announced that they were lifting a ban on international and local aid agencies as a severe drought hits the country, RBC radio reported.

“Al-Shabab movement declares today that any aid agency could operate in Somalia whether it’s a Muslim or Non-Muslim agency if they do not hide some special purposes unlike the humanitarian”, the group’s spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mahamud Rage, said in a press conference held in Mogadishu.

“We are standing by to provide any assistance they need if their exact desire is helping the drought affected people”.

Al-Shabab imposed the ban in 2009, alleging the foreign aid agencies are pro-Somalia government.

The announcement comes as the Horn of Africa is hit by its worst drought in 60 years. The United Nations humanitarian agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), estimated that 10 million people across the Horn of Africa are facing a severe food crisis following a prolonged drought in the region.

According to the UN, more than 61,000 Somalis have arrived to Kenya this year alone; 27,000 of them in June. Somali refugees have also been fleeing to Ethiopia, as 55,000 have arrived since the beginning of the year. In addition, 26 percent of them arrived malnourished with the malnutrition rate among children estimated at three in five.

In total, there are more than 750,000 Somali refugees in countries in the region, mostly in neighboring Kenya (which hosts 405,000), Yemen (187,000) and Ethiopia (130,000). There also are about 1.46 million internally displaced people within Somalia.

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/18634/somalia-islamists-lift-ban-on-aid-agencies-to-help-drought-victims/.

South Korea's PyeongChang elected as host city of 2018 Olympic Winter Games

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA (BNO NEWS) — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday elected South Korea’s PyeongChang as the host city of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in 2018.

The announcement ceremony took place in the 123rd Session of the IOC in Durban, South Africa. PyeongChang was selected ahead of the German city Munich and France’s Annecy.

“We have a simple vision. We want to help promote the Olympic movement, and grow winter sports to new regions and connect with new audiences,” said Cho Yang-ho, chairman of the PyeongChang bid committee. “We are glad that the IOC members understood this message and believed that the time was right to give us the Winter Olympics.”

PyeongChang won the bid after receiving 63 votes in the first round against 25 votes by Munich and only 7 by Annecy. IOC President Jacques Rogge congratulated the PyeongChang team and praised the high quality of their file and final presentation.

“PyeongChang presented a strong and inspiring project that enjoys massive support from the government and the public,” said Rogge after the ceremony. “I have every confidence that PyeongChang will deliver on its commitment and host excellent Games in 2018.”

This was the third attempt of the South Korean city to host the Winter Olympics but the first to be successful. It lost out to Vancouver, Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics and to the Russia’s Sochi for the 2014 edition by a narrow margin (3 and 4 votes respectively).

“PyeongChang will become a new winter sports hub in Asia, allowing athletes and young generations to practice winter sports at home, be exposed to the Olympic Values of Excellence, Friendship, and Respect, and pursue their Olympic dream,” added Rogge.

The Host City Contract will be signed shortly. This document sets out the legal, commercial and financial rights and obligations of the IOC, PyeongChang and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of South Korea in relation to the Olympic Games.

“PyeongChang’s inspiring project sets out to have the heart of the Olympic Winter Games beating in the mountains. The IOC looks forward to collaborating with them over the next seven years,” concluded Rogge.

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/18637/south-koreas-pyeongchang-elected-as-host-city-of-2018-olympic-winter-games/.

Indonesia and South Korea sign martitime and fisheries agreement

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) — The governments of Indonesia and South Korea on Wednesday agreed to increase their maritime and fisheries cooperation, officials said.

On Tuesday, Indonesia’s Secretary General of the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry Gellwynn Jusuf signed the cooperation agreement with South Koreas’s President of the Korea Maritime Institute Hak So Kim in Jakarta, the ministry told Antara news agency Wednesday.

In December 2006, both countries had previously signed a strategic partnership declaration to support each others’ development in the maritime and fisheries sector by contributing in technical knowledge and experience, said Maritime and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad.

The latest agreement is an upgrade of the declaration made almost five years ago, allowing both the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry and the Korea Maritime Institute to actively explore the possibility of cooperation in conducting maritime and fisheries research, developing marine technology capacity and marine resource-based alternative energy, managing marine and coastal ecosystem in a sustainable and integrated way, conserving fishery resources and forming a marine policy studies center, Fadel explained.

During the signing, a 30-member Korean delegation was present to also accompany Chief of the Land, Transportation and Maritime Commission of the South Korean House of Representatives Kwang Keun Chang.

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/18640/indonesia-and-south-korea-sign-martitime-and-fisheries-agreement/.

Israel Denies Healthcare to Refugees

By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours

JAFFA, Jul 2, 2011 (IPS) - Medication and pillboxes fill two white bookcases, lining the wall behind a volunteer Israeli doctor. He talks to a patient in Hebrew about the man’s medical condition, as another man is examined behind a curtain that divides the small office. In the next room, at least 40 people – mainly of Eritrean and Sudanese origin – sit quietly on plastic chairs, waiting for their turn to be seen.

This is one of only two open clinics that treat refugees and asylum seekers in Israel who, without medical insurance or access to non-emergency services, have virtually no other options to receive medical care.

"Basically what we have is a group of people who are here, they are living here now, Israel recognized them as able to live here, but that’s it," explained Shahar Shosham, the Project Director of the Migrant Workers, Refugees and Asylum Seekers Project at Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), which runs the clinic in Jaffa.

"They are getting a protection from deportation, and that’s it. They don’t have any access to health services. They don’t have any access to welfare services," Shosham told IPS.

The Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel (ASSAF) estimates that there are presently 35,000 refugees living in Israel. Many fled civil wars, genocide or military dictatorships in countries like Eritrea and Sudan, among others. The majority of the African refugees in Israel arrive via Egypt, having been smuggled into the country through Sinai at great personal risk to themselves and their children.

It has been widely documented that by the time many African refugees enter Israel, they have been tortured, sexually assaulted and even held for large ransoms by the traffickers. But the problems don’t end once they cross the border.

Thousands of refugees and asylum seekers living in Israel are without access to medical treatment and medical insurance. While they have the right to be admitted to Israeli hospitals in emergency situations, they cannot receive follow-ups or treatment for psychological problems or long-term medical conditions such as cancer or HIV/AIDS.

"Refugees can be accepted to hospitals but they will stay there only until they will be stable, (then) they will be release with a debt to the hospital. A stable situation can be if you broke your arm, you will have a cast. But then you won’t be able to go back to the hospital to do a follow-up or take off the cast because it’s not an emergency situation any more," Shosham said.

Shosham explained that the PHR-I clinic, set up in 1998, offers medical services without an appointment three days a week, and handles approximately 40 patients daily for a total of around 700 each month. The clinic struggles to meet the demand, she said, and a drastic change in Israeli policy is needed to provide refugees with the medical care they need.

"There are people living now here with no health rights and no welfare access and what we are saying is that the government should grant them social residency. By social residency, we’re saying to separate between the question of granting status and the access to the health system and the welfare system," Shosham said.

This is exactly what a group of about a dozen Israeli students demanded in early June, during a demonstration in front of the Jerusalem office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as the Health Minister.

"We are asking to apply the law of national health insurance on asylum seekers," Yael Goren, a 25-year- old social work student from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, told IPS during the demonstration.

Wearing clear bubble wrap to illustrate the idea that refugees are invisible people in Israel and that "no one can see them (and) no one can hear their voice," Goren explained that Israeli society is largely fearful of refugees and asylum seekers.

"First, (Israelis say that it’s) a demographic threat. They are afraid that if we give them rights, thousands of people will come and want to get to Israel. The second (thing) is that people are afraid because they’re different from us. People are afraid of something that is different," Goren said.

"We were refugees," she added, "and now we’re closing our doors."

Since large numbers of African refugees and asylum seekers began coming into the country, Israeli politicians have routinely vilified them as "infiltrators", saying they bring in diseases, are a danger to Jewish women and girls, and most importantly, threaten the "Jewish and democratic" nature of the state.

"The infiltrators conquered Eilat and Arad, and they are conquering Tel Aviv from north to south. Only a small amount are actually refugees. A stream of refugees threaten to wash away our achievements and harm our existence as a Jewish and democratic state," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January 2011.

To counter this supposed threat, the Israeli government has begun building a fence along its southern border with Egypt and is planning what many call an open-air prison in the Negev desert in which to hold asylum seekers and refugees before they can be deported back to their country of origin.

According to Shahar Shosham, the Israeli government’s official stance towards refugees and asylum seekers reflects the state’s deteriorating struggle to maintain a Jewish majority at all costs.

"Israel is doing whatever it can so it will keep a Jewish majority and Israel is very afraid of the stranger, the other, that is not Jewish. It shows in the discussion. It shows in the legislation. It shows actually also in the policy towards them and in practical actions that it’s doing."

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56338.

Rifts Weaken Women's Protest

By Suad Hamada

MANAMA, Jul 4, 2011 (IPS) - Women activists in Bahrain have acknowledged their poor showing in the recent unrest as well as in efforts to fight sectarianism, and blamed it on rifts within their organizations.

Many have accused Bahraini women – with their long history of struggle and victory – of failing to leave their mark in the recent uprising in the country.

Shortly after sectarian tensions broke out in Manama in February, women activists and their societies launched at least three initiatives to bring their advocacies to the people and help improve the plight of women.

But the political agenda of other groups got mixed up with women’s causes. "Most of our societies were forced to stop all activities either because women-oriented programs weren’t suitable then or because some members tried pushing their political agendas," a human rights activist and founder of one of Bahrain’s oldest women’s societies told IPS on condition of anonymity.

"In my own experience, we had many female members who wanted to misuse the society and its programs in pushing for the agendas of their own political societies, which isn’t something we wanted to happen. So we froze almost all activities to protect our neutrality," she said, stressing that the same problem occurred in other groups.

An example was the Women for Bahrain project, which had a grand launch last March but started to fade in less than a month.

"Women for Bahrain was lucky to have a strong start, but received a deadly end when its Facebook page turned into a war zone between youth from different sects," she said, explaining that the group’s presence in the social networking site became a battleground for opposing views. "All efforts to control the activities of the page and bar angry youth failed, hence the organizers decided to shelve the project."

Abdulnabi Al Ekri, president of the Bahrain Transparency Society, told IPS that women’s participation across all political parties did not exceed 25 percent of all activities during and after the unrest.

Women took part in rallies and processions organized by opposition and pro-government groups, but their involvement was mainly as participants and not as leaders or speakers.

"Political societies have female members but they aren’t in leading positions, hence their roles were overshadowed by top male members," Al Ekri says.

He urges female activists to end their silence and grab the golden opportunity for greater women empowerment offered by the national dialogue to commence on Jul. 1 with the participation of all segments of society.

Bahrain Women’s Union led the way when it submitted on Jun. 23 the points it thought should be included in the general agenda for the talks. The Union, with 12 women’s societies as members, demanded an amendment to the outdated nationality law to give females the right to pass their nationality on to their children, just as men married to foreigners are able to. It also asked for the implementation of the second part of the Family Law to cover Shiite Shariah Court under the legislation. The current law covers only Sunni Shariah Court.

"We have submitted our views and they are supported by almost all women’s societies, but we have no idea if they will be given priority," said Mariam Al Ruwai, president of the Bahrain Women’s Union. But she noted that the talks would focus on "correcting the political situation and creating political changes," and that gender equality needs to play a key role.

Writer Saeed Al Hamad said women’s voices have been hijacked and are no longer as loud as they were during the 1960s when Bahrain was fighting for independence from British rule.

"The backwardness of the Arab world in the last 30 years turned women in the region into followers and not leaders," Al Hamad told a recent seminar by the state-run Supreme Council for Women. "Bahraini women felt the pain of unrest more than males, so they have to have a bigger role in the future by having greater participation in society. The upcoming by-election in September could be a good start," he said.

But religious lecturer Fatima Bosoundel refuses to accept that Bahraini women played a minor role in recent political events. "Females had great roles at home by keeping children calm and unaffected when things were out of control in the streets. They cannot be underestimated for being the strongest element in the house," she tells IPS.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56345.

Anger Grows Over Slow Pace of Justice

By Cam McGrath

CAIRO, Jul 4, 2011 (IPS) - The violence that engulfed downtown Cairo last week and left over 1,000 civilians injured took everyone by surprise, but was not unexpected. It had been brewing for nearly five months.

On Wednesday morning, Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square appeared much as it did during the 18-day uprising that led to the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak. Tear gas lingered in the air, hastily erected metal barricades blocked access roads, and the streets were littered with chunks of pavement, broken glass and spent tear gas canisters.

"It was January 25 all over again," said one man nursing a bandaged arm, referring to the historic day that Egypt's uprising began. "Mubarak is gone, but nothing has changed. The police are still using the same brutal tactics."

The clashes began during a memorial service for people killed during the revolution after a group of the victims' families arrived to complain that they were not invited to the ceremony. A scuffle broke out when the group tried to force its way into the theater where the service was being held.

Eyewitnesses say police beat and arrested the families who had been barred from joining the service. One video taken near the theater and quickly posted on YouTube allegedly shows an unarmed relative of a revolution martyr being tackled to the ground, beaten and tasered by a group of police and plainclothes officers.

"When I saw that video it made my blood boil," says student Randa Hashem.

As word spread that police had used excessive force on the "families of the martyrs of the revolution," protests erupted on the other side of the Nile near the interior ministry and Tahrir Square. Social media sites buzzed with activists' calls to join the protests, and when truckloads of overzealous riot police arrived the situation quickly spiraled out of control.

Over 1,000 protesters and 40 security personnel were injured in overnight clashes by a barrage of tear gas, rocks, Molotov cocktails, and rubber bullets.

Egyptian authorities blamed thugs hired by remnants of the old regime for inciting the turmoil, possibly as payback for a recent court decision to dissolve local councils. Activists who earned their stripes during Egypt's revolution say the only thugs they saw were those working with the police.

"Do I look like a thug?" asks Mohamed Habib, a bespectacled actuary who was in a downtown café when the fighting broke out. "This was people venting because the new regime is the same as the old regime."

Many Egyptians are frustrated by the slow pace of reform since the military removed Mubarak in February. They are particularly angered by the perceived laxity in prosecuting former regime officials who orchestrated attacks on protesters during Egypt's uprising that left at least 846 dead and 6,400 injured.

Only one police officer accused of killing protesters has been sentenced. He was tried in absentia and is still at large.

Families whose loved ones were killed in the revolution have complained of unacceptable delays in the trial of former interior minister Habib El-Adly and his aides, who allegedly ordered security forces, thugs and snipers to use deadly force. On Jun. 26, a Cairo court adjourned the high-profile trial for the third time, prompting the angry families to toss stones at a truck they suspected was carrying El-Adly away from the courthouse.

Meanwhile, Mubarak has yet to see a courtroom. The 83-year-old former dictator – accused of embezzlement, abuse of power, and ordering the killing of protesters – remains in a military hospital in the Red Sea Resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh. Many Egyptians suspect he is faking or exaggerating various health conditions to avoid trial.

"Mubarak's first court appearance isn't scheduled until August," says Habib. "Why is it taking so long?"

The glacial pace of trials involving senior officials from the former regime contrasts with the hasty trials of citizens arrested since the start of the uprising.

Egyptian military courts have handed down sentences to thousands of civilians since February, say rights lawyers. Most court sessions last just five minutes and lack the elements of a fair trial. Sentences are severe and cannot be appealed.

"It is inexplicable that civilians, including protesters arrested during peaceful demonstrations, are being tried in unfair military courts, while those responsible for murdering over 800 protesters will stand before civil courts," says Adel Ramadan, a lawyer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56346.

Syrian Opposition Remains Divided on Engagement

By Samer Araabi

WASHINGTON, Jul 5, 2011 (IPS) - Despite countless attempts by the Bashar al-Assad regime to subdue the sporadic protests that have appeared across Syria since February, the demonstrations have consistently grown in both size and intensity.

Last week, a march in the town of Hama may have attracted over 100,000 protestors, quite likely the largest anti-Assad demonstration in Syria thus far.

While the opposition grows, however, its leadership remains bitterly divided, geographically disparate, and unable to agree on tactics to oust the Assad regime or a collective political vision for a post- Assad future.

As another round of crackdowns broke out this week, opposition figures in Syria and abroad have continued to battle one another on the central question of how to engage with the regime.

At a meeting last week in Washington hosted by the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the New American Foundation, policy analysts and international advocates met with Syrian American figures involved in the opposition movement to discuss the role of the international community in resolving the Syrian crisis.

A particularly passionate debate raged around the role of the United States in assisting the Syrian opposition movement. Some, such as international human rights lawyer Yaser Tabbara, argued that Washington was purposely pulling its punches, and could be doing much more to help.

Over the course of the morning, Tabbara called for tighter sanctions, stronger condemnations of government heavy-handedness, more international political leverage, and a direct appeal from President Barack Obama for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government.

Others, including author and historian Mark Perry, gave words of support for the Syrian people, but asked the audience, "What should we do? Nothing. This is a revolution in the hands of the Syrian people."

Perry was confident in the "inevitability" of the revolution, but maintained that "a revolution is very difficult to stop, to influence, or to make succeed. They have their own internal dynamic."

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, a professor at the College of William & Mary and the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, agreed that the U.S. had very limited leverage, and a very low willingness to use it.

He reminded attendees that all policy decisions "have to be considered in a bigger tapestry than just Syria", adding that "the U.S. strategic interests in the region are significant in other countries where there's turmoil going on. We have to handle this with finesse, in the scope of U.S. national interests, against a fiscal backdrop that's absolutely frightening. To ask [the Assad regime] for some kind of deadline without backing it up with the threat of force, or to ask for any more adamant position of the United States, is not useful."

Many others took a middle road, recognizing that U.S. leverage was minimal at best, but certain small steps could be taken to assist the Syrian resistance without overextending Washington's reach.

Nuh Yilmaz, director of the Foundation for Political, Economic, and Social Research, tried to demonstrate Turkey's inclination to take a middle path by refusing to "have a civil war on its border" while trying to maintain relationships with both the Assad regime and the protest movement.

Yilmaz argued that it was in Turkey's strategic interest – and consequently, regional strategic interest – to ensure that Assad produces real reforms and that the opposition moderates their demands.

He emphasized the "need to be strategic" and make better use of the international community's limited leverage, but others were less willing to recognize any legitimacy for the Assad regime.

"The regime is inflexible, and therefore irredeemable," said Louay Safi, a member of the Syrian American Council. He urged the international community to "choke the security apparatus in Syria, make sure they're not getting any outside funding…and take legal action."

The disagreement on the fundamental question of foreign intervention comes as U.S. diplomats have struggled to chart a strategic course in Syria, often deciding on a middle ground that neither side finds particularly satisfying.

Last week, the State Department was rumored to have put forward a "roadmap" for Syrian reforms that would allow Assad to remain in power while overseeing a number of democratic reforms in the country. The roadmap calls for the Syrian government to appoint a "transitional assembly" to oversee the instatement of open elections, the legalization of political parties, and the loosening of media restrictions.

Though Washington has denied pushing for the roadmap, a number of Syrian opposition members have claimed that official sources, including U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, have been encouraging the opposition to seek common ground with Assad.

Many figures, however, have openly condemned the roadmap, reiterating the idea that such reforms are "too little, too late", and calling for nothing less than the downfall of the regime and its Ba'ath party supporters.

These overtures for compromise, emanating from Turkey, and to a lesser extent, the U.S., may be beginning to have an effect on Assad. A large opposition meeting held in Damascus, with the permission of state authorities, was held last week at the Semiramis hotel, the first of its kind in decades.

More recently, government figures have openly invited representatives of the opposition for talks, another first.

The reaction to these developments has underscored the tension between those willing to work with the regime and those who have rejected it categorically.

Though many elements of the opposition blasted the Damascus meeting as a "government sanctioned-ruse", others hailed the gathering as deeply significant.

The divisions within the opposition have shown few signs of easing. Though many signs point to a significant weakening of the Assad regime, no movement as yet appears ready to replace it.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56370.

Syrians, troops in standoff in Hama

HAMA, Syria, July 6 (UPI) -- Syrian troops have killed at least 22 people in a crackdown in the central city of Hama, a human rights organization said Wednesday.

The crackdown began Tuesday, but one witness indicated there was a standoff between citizens and Syrian government forces, a news blog offered by The Guardian in Britain reported Wednesday.

"The people are controlling the whole city," the man identified as Omar wrote.

Omar said government troops made occasional raids on the city but residents were largely keeping troops in check, the British newspaper's blog said.

"It is become more and more difficult to attack and enter the city," he wrote.

In addition to the 22 deaths, the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said more than 80 people were wounded in the confrontations.

"A large number of Hama residents have fled either to the nearby town of al-Salamiya or toward Damascus," Ammar Qurabi, the organization's chairman, said in a statement.

The U.S. State Department Tuesday urged the Syrian regime to withdraw its forces from Hama, a city of 800,000 people that saw a huge anti-government demonstration Friday.

For months, Syrian President Bashar Assad has faced a mounting challenge to his 11-year rule.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/07/06/Syrians-troops-in-standoff-in-Hama/UPI-15361309956040/.

Work starts on German frigate

KOBLENZ, Germany, July 6 (UPI) -- German shipbuilder Bloom + Voss has started production of the first Class 125 frigate for the German navy.

The German navy plans to procure four Class 125 Frigates, a completely new and innovative type of vessel designed for intensive use and long-endurance periods at sea for up to two years without scheduled yard maintenance periods.

The F125 is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and effectors that support stabilization tasks and provide the capabilities to detect, identify and counter asymmetric threats. Equipment includes a TRS-3D/NR multifunctional radar as well as a electro-optical component to ensure the continuous surveillance, detection and tracking of targets at short and very short range.

The German Defense Procurement Agency said delivery of the first vessel, the Baden-Württemberg, is scheduled for March 2016. The remaining three vessels will follow in 11-month intervals so that the last vessel will undergo final acceptance trials and be handed over to the navy in December 2018.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/07/06/Work-starts-on-German-frigate/UPI-69851309959523/.