New Libya PM warns toughest battles lie ahead

2011-09-09

By Andrew Beatty - TRIPOLI

Libya's new de facto premier on Thursday used his first major address in Tripoli to warn that liberation was not yet complete and the hardest battles were yet to come.

Speaking in the capital for the first time since Moamer Gathafi's ouster, Mahmud Jibril laid out the stark challenges ahead for a nation reborn in the fire of a seven-month-long civil war.

If Libyans were expecting a triumphalist address two weeks after Gathafi's fall from power, they would have been chastened.

"The battle of liberation is not finished," said the deputy head of the victorious National Transitional Council (NTC) in comments broadcast live across the country from the former offices of the ousted leader.

"What the Libyans have accomplished is an unprecedented achievement in modern and recent history, however our biggest challenge is still ahead of us."

As thoughts turn to revenge and justice against allies of the 42-year dictatorship, Jibril called for order and reconciliation.

"The first challenge is to win against ourselves, and the second challenge is the ability to forgive.

"So the choice in front of Libyans is either to take action against those who shaped our past, or to build a new future for themselves and their future sons and generations."

A key part of beginning that new chapter will undoubtedly be the capture of Gathafi himself. But Jibril gave few clues about how close the NTC was to tracking him down.

The battle for Libya's liberation will end with the "capture or elimination of Kahdafi," he said, because then his followers will truly know that the strongman is "out of the picture."

When asked about the location of the fugitive leader, Jibril said it would be unwise for the NTC to announce his whereabouts. "We will not be divulging that information."

But there was a message for those towns and villages which remain resolute in their support for the Gathafi regime ahead of a Saturday deadline to lay down their arms that looks increasingly redundant.

After rocket attacks on pro-NTC troops near Bani Walid on Thursday, Jibril said the window for a negotiated surrender was nearly closed.

"Unfortunately, this chance was violated and exploited by putting more soldiers and fomenting Libyans to kill each other. We don't really see that the other side truly wants to take a chance and avoid bloodshed," Jibril said.

"We have the right to defend ourselves even before the deadline," he added.

As life returns to normal in the capital, Jibril also warned against rushing the political process before the battle for Libya has ended and reiterated his promise not to stand for office in the immediate future.

"Some have made preparations and attempts to start the political game, before reaching a common consensus on the rules of the game," he said.

"Once the battle is truly finished, there is an interim government and a constitution is agreed upon, the political game can start. As I promised in the past, I will not take part in that."

Jibril, who is unelected, also vowed to step down if his leadership proves contentious.

"If we discover that we are not in common ground, I will retreat so that I give others who may be more capable in participating in such experiments.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47983.

Erdogan's Turkey emerging as new Mideast power

2011-09-08

ISTANBUL - As the only Muslim member of NATO and the first country in the wider Middle East to forge relations with Israel, Turkey had long been seen as having its diplomatic feet firmly planted in the West.

But under the Islamist-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it has come to increasingly rewrite the script, not only falling out with Israel and breaking ranks with the West over its response towards Iran's nuclear ambitions but also showing a willingness to get tough with Syria.

According to Bertrand Badie, a Paris-based professor of international relations, Erdogan is filling the breach while Arab leaders are busy trying to cling onto their posts in the wake of popular uprisings.

"There is an empty space (in the region) due to the lack of Arab power. Turkey is filling that space," said Badie, an international relations professor based in Paris.

Erdogan's office announced on Wednesday that the prime minister would next week embark on a regional tour which will take in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia -- the three countries to have overthrown their leaders in the Arab uprisings.

He has already indicated the trip to Egypt could include a visit to the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run enclave wedged between Egypt and Israel, which would underline his commitment to the Palestinian cause.

Erdogan has defended Hamas as "resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land."

Regardless of whether Erdogan actually goes to Gaza or not, his willingness to make such a visit is seen as a veiled reproach to Arab leaders who have shunned the impoverished territory since Hamas seized power in 2007.

Last week's decision to expel the Israeli ambassador and suspend all military and defense industry ties put an end, at least temporarily, to years of friendship and cooperation.

Israel lost an ally, while Turkey lost its role as an intermediary between Arabs and Israel. For example Ankara facilitated indirect discussions between Israel and Syria in the 1990s over the Golan Heights.

Analysts have warned that Erdogan's fall-out with Israel could damage Turkey's standing in Washington, particularly in the US Congress where support for the Jewish state has been particular strong.

However, Erdogan showed his willingness to upset Washington when Turkey publicly opposed new sanctions against Iran drawn up by the United States and the European Union over Tehran's nuclear program.

And yet Erdogan has also been willing to alienate Arab leaders, carpeting neighboring Syria for its bloody crackdown on protests.

Writing in Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper, the columnist Mustafa Akyol said that Turkey was reacting to the reality of a world which "is really less black and white" and that it was no longer to stereotype its allegiances.

"We are an ally of neither Iran nor Syria, as we have been busy condemning the latter’s brutality on its own people," he wrote. "On the other hand, we are an ally of the United States, but not its yes-man."

Nor has the frenetic diplomatic activity been limited to the Arab world. Last month, Erdogan visited drought-hit Somalia, becoming the first non-African leader to visit Mogadishu since the beginning of the civil war in 1991.

"The tragedy going on here is a test for civilization and contemporary values... The civilized world must successfully pass this test in order to prove that Western values are not made up of empty rhetoric," Erdogan said.

In an earlier show of solidarity with Muslim suffering, he paid a visit last year to areas of Pakistan ravaged by floods.

Badie said Turkey's "hyperactive diplomacy" was in part possible due to its burgeoning economy. Gross domestic product grew 8.9 percent last year.

"The privilege of being a developing country is that you have your one foot in the rich countries, and the other in the poor," he said.

And as it takes on a higher diplomatic profile among other Muslim countries, Bradie said there should be no surprise if feathers are ruffled.

"Turkey is becoming a world power, an actor you cannot do without. But to achieve this goal, Turkey must first be a regional power. That's what they are doing," he added.

"But, when you become bigger and more powerful, you can't keep all your friends," Badie warned. "That's what is happening with Israel," he added.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47974.

Turkey rebuffs Iran over NATO missile shield

2011-09-09

ANKARA - Turkey said Friday NATO's missile system targeted no specific country after Iran heightened criticism of Ankara's plan to host an early-warning radar.

"This system is not against any country. It aims at the defense of NATO sphere," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal told a weekly news conference in Ankara.

On Thursday, Iran toughened its criticism of the Turkish plan to host the early warning radar system allocated by the United States to NATO, saying it would create tension and lead to "complicated consequences."

Leaders of the 28-member NATO alliance gave their backing last year for the Europe-wide ballistic missile shield -- which US officials say is aimed at thwarting missile threats from the Middle East, particularly Iran.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47996.

Interpol issues arrest notice for Gathafi, son Seif

2011-09-09

LYON - World police body Interpol called Friday for the arrest of fugitive former Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi for his alleged crimes against humanity, following a request by the International Criminal Court.

Interpol said it had issued a "red notice" for the arrest of Gathafi, his son Seif al-Islam and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, one day after ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked for the agency's help.

Interpol asked its 188 member countries "to take all measures consistent with their national laws to help the ICC locate and apprehend Gathafi."

The "request for Interpol Red Notices will significantly restrict the ability of all three men to cross international borders and is a powerful tool to help in their location and arrest," Interpol chief Ronald Noble said.

"Gathafi is a fugitive whose country of nationality and the International Criminal Court want arrested and held accountable for the serious criminal charges that have been brought against him," the secretary general said.

A red notice by the international police co-operation agency, which is based in the central French city of Lyon, seeks the arrest for an extradition or surrender of a person to an international court based on an arrest warrant.

In June, ICC judges issued arrest warrants against Gathafi, 69, Seif al-Islam, 39, and Senussi, 62, for "crimes against humanity" by troops under their orders, using "lethal force" to quell the uprising against his regime.

Gathafi, who had ruled Libya with an iron fist since 1969, "had absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control over the Libyan state apparatus of power, including the security forces," the ICC said in a court document.

His son Seif al-Islam "the most influential person within his inner circle" is his de facto prime minister, the court added.

As head of military intelligence, Senussi "exercised control over the armed forces under his command that were deployed in the city of Benghazi in order to suppress civilian demonstrations," from February 15 to 20 this year.

His plan to quell the February popular demonstrations by all means involved Libyan soldiers killing civilians as they were leaving mosques and funerals, leaving thousands dead, the prosecutor alleges.

Counter-offensive

Troops loyal to fugitive Moamer Gathafi launched a counter-offensive on Thursday to retake Red Valley, an AFP reporter said, a day after new regime forces celebrated its capture.

Gathafi forces fired rockets and artillery shells aiming to recapture Red Valley, 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of the former leader's hometown in Sirte, and one of the lines of defense for troops there.

Forces fighting for the National Transitional Council (NTC) announced the capture of Red Valley on Thursday, but sporadic fighting continued on Friday morning, an AFP correspondent reported.

The counter-offensive began with the arrival of a convoy of 10 pro-Gathafi vehicles along the front line, on the outskirts of Red Valley, an AFP correspondent said.

After two hours of heavy fighting, NTC fighters fired anti-aircraft guns and held their positions under cover along the road and behind two buildings just outside the town.

The NTC on Thursday announced it was going to storm Red Valley in preparation for assaults on strongholds still held by forces loyal to Gathafi, including his hometown Sirte.

They have given the pro-Gathafi forces until Saturday to surrender.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47998.

Israeli ambassador leaves Egypt

Sat Sep 10, 2011

The Israeli ambassador to Egypt has flown out of Cairo, a few hours after demonstrators stormed the Israeli embassy.

Yitzhak Levanon boarded a plane before dawn on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in the early hours of Saturday morning Tel Aviv time and urged Washington to help protect the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

Egyptian protesters stormed the embassy on Friday, destroying a part of a barricade wall around the building in the process.

Egyptian police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

One person died due to asphyxiation after inhaling tear gas, and about 450 demonstrators were injured, medical personnel said.

A protester tore down the Israeli flag at the embassy, to the cheers of thousands of demonstrators on the scene.

In addition, tens of thousands of Egyptians once again gathered at the iconic Liberation Square in Cairo to demand that the military government hand over power to a civilian administration. The protesters gathered in the square after Friday prayers to participate in the "Correcting the Path" demonstration.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/198315.html.

NTC forces enter Bani Walid

Fri Sep 9, 2011

The National Transitional Council (NTC) forces have entered the strategically important Libyan town of Bani Walid, one of the last remaining strongholds of fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

"Sleeper cells of revolutionaries went into action and fighting has taken place between them and armed men loyal to Kadhafi," AFP quoted NTC official Abdullah Kenshil as saying.

The developments come after negotiations aimed at ensuring a peaceful takeover of the strategic town were stalled.

The NTC had given pro-Gaddafi forces in the troubled region until Saturday to surrender or face military force.

Thousands of NTC fighters have been deployed outside Bani Walid and its surrounding region.

In the wake of inconclusive negotiations with tribal leaders in Bani Walid, the revolutionaries say they are ready to enter the town without violence, waiting for orders from their commanders.

Bani Walid is one of the four towns still controlled by Gaddafi supporters. The others towns are Jufrah, Sabha and the dictator's birth place of Sirt.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/198304.html.

Egyptians storm Israeli embassy

Sat Sep 10, 2011

Egyptian protesters have stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo, destroying a part of a barricade wall around the building in the process, and one demonstrator has died, Press TV reports.

Egyptian police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, the Press TV correspondent in Cairo reported on Friday.

One person died due to asphyxiation after inhaling tear gas, and about 450 demonstrators were injured, medical personnel said.

The demonstrators threw documents out the windows of the embassy building and also torched a police car.

The crowd managed to break into the embassy building despite the presence of heavily armed Egyptian security forces in the area.

Gunfire was also heard near the embassy.

A protester tore down the Israeli flag at the embassy, to the cheers of thousands of demonstrators on the scene.

Last month, another Egyptian protester became a national hero after he climbed up the wall of the Israeli embassy, took down the Israeli flag, and hoisted an Egyptian flag in its place during a demonstration held to condemn Israel for killing a number of Egyptian policemen on the border.

Five Egyptian border police officers were killed on August 18 in an attack by Israeli forces.

On Friday, the Egyptian demonstrators also called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and chanted anti-Israeli slogans.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Egyptians once again gathered at the iconic Liberation Square in Cairo to demand that the military government hand over power to a civilian administration. The protesters gathered in the square after Friday prayers to participate in the "Correcting the Path" demonstration.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/198311.html.

Brazilians vent anger over corruption

Sept. 8, 2011

BRASILIA, Brazil, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Brazilians' anger over corruption in government departments and the legislature spilled into the streets in an ironic twist to a campaign spearheaded by President Dilma Rousseff and increasingly seen to be spinning out of her control.

Protesters dressed as clowns marched through the capital and other cities across the country as government-led ceremonies marked Brazil's independence from Portugal in 1822. Organizers chose the occasion to point to the huge challenge posed by endemic corruption that they said threatens to tarnish Brazil's image as a vibrant, emergent regional power.

Political corruption has bedeviled successive democratic regimes since the end of the 1964-85 military rule but, until Rousseff launched a clean-up, it was tolerated by legislators, politicians and the media as part of the scene. With all sides harboring sensitive, often incriminating, information about each other it was difficult for any anti-corruption drive to make headway.

Rousseff set out to change that through internal investigations and disciplinary measures that originally began as discreet acts. The country's popular press latched on to the story with great gusto and soon one embarrassing revelation led to the next, forcing high-profile resignations in the government and congress.

Four government ministers and several members of the National Congress have left over corruption allegations since Rousseff took office in January.

Dozens of government officials have also lost their jobs or been arrested on various charges of malfeasance, while media revelations continue to target other key officials, including several other ministers. All have all denied wrongdoing.

The mood in the protests was mixed. Many of the demonstrators chanted slogans in support of Rousseff's anti-corruption program while others showed their frustration over continuing social problems seen behind corruption. In Brasilia, protesters said they had no political affiliation, countering suggestions the marches could be part of an opposition plan to disorient the president in her first year in office.

The drive against corruption has left many of those affected, their friends and relatives angry with Rousseff. Critics said the campaign was at risk of becoming a witch-hunt that could take the innocent or those wrongly accused in its populist sweep.

"Corruption in our country is a pandemic that threatens the credibility of institutions and the entire democratic system," a statement jointly issued by the College of Lawyers, the Brazilian Press Association and the National Bishops' Conference said.

Rousseff's chief of staff Antonio Palocci was among those who resigned after media reports in June questioned his wealth, seen to be disproportionate to his means. After Palocci's departure the ministers of defense, agriculture and transport also quit following media allegations, though all of them denied wrongdoing.

The campaign, while widely welcomed, has had the unexpected outcome of threatening Rousseff's fragile coalition with other political parties that lost their ministers in the cabinet. Rousseff belongs to the Workers Party, like her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula's huge public approval ratings helped him survive several corruption scandals during his presidency from 2003-10.

The anti-corruption campaign has eclipsed the government's other major endeavor, to clear Brazilian cities of sprawling shanty towns. The favelas are hotbeds of organized crime gangs. The largest of them, the Alemao Complex in Rio do Janeiro, fell back under the control of criminal gangs within days of its "pacification" by military forces.

Brazil is keen to brush up its urban image before it hosts the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/08/Brazilians-vent-anger-over-corruption/UPI-42871315513080/.

Muslim Bros. question ongoing protests

Sept. 9, 2011

CAIRO, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Egypt isn't ripe for another round of mass protests because the country is slowly moving in the right direction, the Muslim Brotherhood said.

Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and members of his inner circle are on trial in connection to the deaths of some 800 protesters killed during the revolution early this year, which ended his 30-year grip on power.

Protesters since the revolution have occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square calling on the country's military leadership to hurry with political reforms and bring those responsible for atrocities during the revolution to justice.

Mohamed Saad el-Katatni, secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said the country was moving in the right direction, al-Jazeera reports.

Mohsen Rady, a high-ranking member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was quoted as saying most Egyptians "have grown bored of these demonstrations."

Thousands of people flocked to Tahrir Square after Friday prayers complaining about the military leadership. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it respected the right to peaceful protest but warned it would respond if demonstrations got out of hand.

Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency and presidential hopeful, maintained that many of the revolutionary goals haven't yet been met.

(Please note when this article was originally done).

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/09/Muslim-Bros-question-ongoing-protests/UPI-64041315580904/.

Italy moves closer to wind energy goals

Sept. 9, 2011

ESSEN, Germany, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- RWE Innogy announced it commissioned its third onshore wind farm in Italy, putting the government closer to its wind energy targets for 2020.

Italy aims to have 12 gigawatts of installed wind capacity by 2020. RWE Innogy, a division of Germany's RWE, announced that, after a year's worth of construction work, its third wind farm was commissioned in Italy.

The eight-turbine wind farm can produce 16 megawatts of energy, enough to meet the annual energy needs of 10,000 homes.

The wind farm is on a plateau 3,600 feet above sea level in the southern Italian region of Basilicata.

"Our aim is not only to compose a portfolio along technology lines but also geographically, for example in order to accommodate a wide range of weather conditions," Hans Bunting, chief financial officer with RWE Innogy, said in a statement.

Italy by the end of last year had 5.8 gigawatts of wind energy installed. The government by the end of this year plans to introduce a tariff system to promote renewable energy.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/09/09/Italy-moves-closer-to-wind-energy-goals/UPI-97191315568846/.

Morocco to begin TGV construction

2011-09-09

Construction will soon begin on Morocco's first high-speed rail line, AFP reported on Thursday (September 8th). "I will be in Morocco at the end of the month with King Mohammed VI to lay the foundation stone for the Rabat-Casablanca-Tangier TGV that we will build," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday. The joint Moroccan-French project for the TGV railway line's design, construction and maintenance was initiated during Sarkozy's visit to Morocco in October, 2007.

The first TGV train in Morocco, which will travel at 350 km/hour, is expected to shorten the travel time between Casablanca and Tangier from over five hours to two hours and ten minutes. It is expected to be fully operational by 2015.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/09/09/newsbrief-06.

New political party unites Mauritanian youth movements

2011-09-09

The Mauritanian interior ministry on Thursday (September 8th) officially recognized new political party "Surge of Youth for the Nation", ANI reported. The new party merges several youth movements. The 53-member provisional executive committee will be chaired by Lalla Cheriva, a former national executive board member of the ruling Union for the Republic (UPR).

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/09/09/newsbrief-05.

Tens of thousands demand ouster of Yemen's President Saleh

SANAA (BNO NEWS) — Tens of thousands of protesters on Friday demonstrated across Yemen to demand the ousting of the country’s long-time ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh, eyewitnesses said.

Protesters took to the streets after Friday prayers in major Yemeni cities amid heavy security to call for the overthrow of the regime, according to Xinhua news agency. They held banners calling for “a rapid, decisive action to settle revolt and unseat President Saleh.”

Meanwhile, government supporters vowed to wait for Saleh’s “soon” return and chanted slogans demanding the president to stay in power until “his constitutional term expires in 2013.” The embattled president is still in Saudi Arabia receiving treatment after he was wounded along with other government officials in the rocket attack which hit the mosque of the presidential palace in Sanaa on June 3.

Saleh said last week that he is “willing now to sign a Saudi-led power-transfer deal initiated in April by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),” and directed his government to begin a power-transfer dialogue with the opposition. The GCC initiative, which Saleh had backed out from signing three times, included guarantees that Saleh will not be prosecuted after his resignation within 30 days from the acceptance date.

The initiative also called for holding presidential elections within two months from the date of Saleh’s departure as well as the establishment of a new government within 90 days. On Wednesday, Saleh’s ruling party proposed an extended 90-day transitional period for him to resign, which was rejected by the opposition that called Saleh to sign the deal first, Xinhua reported.

Protesters have continually demanded the resignation of government leaders and President Saleh, who has ruled the country for 33 years. Tensions have soared as both the government forces and the pro- protests defected army have recently deployed heavily troops in central cities, including the capital Sanaa.

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19995/tens-of-thousands-demand-ouster-of-yemens-president-saleh/.

An Iraqi exile gives outlet to Qaddafi's voice

ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY | AP

Friday 9 September 2011

BEIRUT: Muammar Qaddafi may be on the run, but he’s still talking — and his outlet is a curious one: clandestine, late-night phone calls to a private Syrian satellite TV station run by an Iraqi exile with a shady past.

Qaddafi, who once had multiple state-run Libyan stations at his beck and call, has made three calls from hiding to Al-Rai TV, trying to rally his dwindling supporters and insisting he will never give up. The messages add to the bizarre spectacle surrounding Qaddafi’s downfall and his attempts to stay a step ahead of the former rebels hunting for him.

Al-Rai’s owner, Mishan Al-Jabouri, refuses to divulge much about why Qaddafi chose his station to call into and whether he knows where Qaddafi and his sons are hiding.
“It’s my own secret that I won’t reveal,” Al-Jabouri told The Associated Press by telephone this week when pressed for details. “You shouldn’t ask such questions because I am contacting a person in the war field, how can I say how I contact him? It’s impossible to tell you.”

“We have our own means and methods to keep in contact with them,” he said.
Al-Jabouri, formerly a lawmaker from Iraq’s Sunni heartland, has long touted himself as an Arab nationalist opposed to US interventions in the Middle East and a supporter of Iraqi Sunni insurgents against American troops. He said he has good relations with Qaddafi and his family, and he made his support clear for the man who ruled Libya for more than 42 years.

“We deal with them as strugglers who defend their homeland,” he said.
Al-Jabouri knows what it’s like to be on the run. He fled to Syria in 2006, a year before an Iraqi court convicted him of embezzling millions of dollars. He and his son Yazan were accused of embezzling some $7 million a month intended for units of a special force created to protect oil pipelines from attacks by insurgents.

Al-Jabouri has denied the charges, but he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A private TV station he once ran in Iraq — Al-Zawraa — was raided by Iraqi troops in 2006 trying to shut it down for “inciting hatred” by airing videos of Iraqi insurgents hitting US tanks and troops. The station managed to keep airing from Sunni parts of Iraq, but under US pressure the Egyptian-owned satellite provider that was airing the channel dropped it.

Al-Jabouri said his Al-Rai still follows a broad anti-American movement. “We also keep contact with the Iraqi resistance and take photos of US tanks when they explode.”

His affection for Qaddafi ensures the ousted leader a friendly venue to deliver his voice to his homeland and the world.

Qaddafi’s most recent call came at 3 a.m. Thursday, when he denied rumors he had fled Libya, vowed never to leave the land of his ancestors and exhorted followers to keep fighting.

“We are ready to start the fight in Tripoli and everywhere else, and rise up against them,” Qaddafi said in the recording.

“All of these germs, rats and scum ... they are not Libyans, ask anyone. They have cooperated with NATO,” he said, referring to the former rebels who swept into the capital Tripoli on Aug. 21, toppling him.

Qaddafi disappeared underground and so far has eluded the country’s new rulers’ manhunt. Rumors have put him everywhere from deep in a bunker under Tripoli to any of three final strongholds of his supporters around the country.

Interpol said Friday it has issued red notices — its top most-wanted alert — for the arrest of Qaddafi, his son Seif Al-Islam and the former head of military intelligence, Abdullah Al-Senoussi. Qaddafi went underground after anti-regime fighters swept into Tripoli on Aug. 21.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://www.arabnews.com/node/390407.

Hundreds of Iraqis protest over poor services

Friday 9 September 2011

BAGHDAD: Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Iraq’s capital and other cities on Friday, demanding that the government steps up reforms and provides more electricity and jobs.

Inspired by the Arab Spring, Iraqis have been demonstrating on Fridays for months but protests had petered out in recent weeks.

The rallies came days after a prominent anti-American Shiite cleric, Moqtada Al-Sadr, called on the government to create 50,000 jobs, give Iraqis a share of the nation’s oil wealth and make more reforms or face protests.

Sadr, whose political movement is a key faction in Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s fragile coalition government, earlier this year gave the government six months to improve services. The deadline expired at the end of August.

More than eight years after the US-led invasion, Iraqis still suffer from a lack of basic services and the government has been slow to rebuild the country’s battered infrastructure.

“It is so shameful. Our country is a wealthy oil-rich country and its people are poverty-stricken,” said Tareq Khalil, a protester in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square.

“We’re only demanding an improvement in basic services and an improvement in people’s living standards.”

Military vehicles and soldiers, as well as police, lined the streets. All roads leading to the square were closed to vehicles.

Demonstrations also took place in Diwaniya, Hilla, Najaf and the oil port city of Basra in the south, as well as Baquba in the north.

Dozens protested against the lack of services in Falluja and Ramadi, the two main cities of vast Anbar province in the west. Some demonstrators also called for US troops to leave Iraq and for the resignation of the local provincial council.

The United States is expected to fully withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year although Iraq’s government is currently debating whether to keep some US trainers.

Maliki’s government has taken a series of steps to ease public anger, boosting the national food ration program and pledging free power. But Iraqis say there has been little real improvement since February when the premier gave his ministers a 100-day ultimatum to meet the demands or face the sack.

“So far we haven’t noticed any change in government policy. Services are still missing, there are no reforms and corruption is widespread,” said 21-year-old university student Ahmed Rafaa, who was protesting in Baghdad.

“I will keep attending every Friday to protest against the government’s performance. I will not stop, even if I am alone, until my demands to be able to live a prosperous life are met.”

A separate small demonstration also took place in Baghdad to protest the killing of Hadi Al-Mehdi, a popular radio commentator critical of the government who was killed at his house in Baghdad’s central Karrada district on Thursday.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://www.arabnews.com/node/390410.

GCC to discuss accession of Jordan, Morocco

2011-09-09

RIYADH - The foreign ministers of Jordan and Morocco are to hold talks with their six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts on possible accession to the Gulf bloc, the GCC chief said on Thursday.

Abdulatif al-Zayani said in a statement the foreign ministers of Jordan and Morocco have been invited to discuss the "strengthening of relations and cooperation" on the sidelines of a GCC meeting on Sunday in Saudi Arabia.

The discussions in the port city of Jeddah would focus on implementing decisions taken at a May meeting of the GCC where the organization announced that both monarchies would be considered for membership of the bloc.

The oil-rich Arab states of the Gulf, which have seen entrenched regimes in Egypt and Tunisia fall, are seeking reliable allies in the region, singling out fellow monarchies.

Thousands of retired Jordanian army officers have obtained citizenship in the Gulf states and hold important positions in the region's armed forces.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47988.