China upholds Nobel winner's relative's sentence

August 16, 2013

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court on Friday upheld the 11-year prison sentence handed down to the brother-in-law of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the man's lawyer said.

Relatives have denounced Liu Hui's conviction on fraud charges in a real estate dispute as political payback for the strong pro-democracy stance taken by Liu Xiaobo, who has been imprisoned on subversion charges since 2009.

Lawyer Shang Baojun said the court in suburban Beijing's Huairou district turned down Liu Hui's appeal at a 20-minute hearing attended by the defendant. "We're very disappointed by this outcome," Shang told The Associated Press.

Foreign diplomats and journalists who sought to attend the trial were denied entry to the courthouse, which was cordoned off with crime scene tape and surrounded by dozens of police officers and private security guards in a sign of the case's sensitivity and high visibility.

Liu Hui's sister, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Shang said that Liu Xia, who has protested her extralegal detention, did not attend Friday's hearing because she wasn't feeling well.

The European Union's political officer in Beijing, Charles Parton, said Liu Hui's case was being closely followed because of its possible ties to Liu Xiaobo's conviction. Parton also called for the lifting of what he described as Liu Xia's "illegal house arrest."

"The EU would like to recall the great importance it attaches to the respect of human rights all over the world, the situation of human rights defenders and of their family members, as well as the due process of rule of law in China," Parton said.

Liu Hui's brother, Liu Tong, was permitted to attend the hearing. He said the outcome was "very, very disappointing." "In our family, we were all hoping to see a good result, a result that would give our family and all of us hope," Liu said.

Liu said Liu Hui's case has caused his sister's generally poor health to deteriorate further. "This issue brings a lot of psychological pressure and affects her greatly," he said. Liu Xiaobo was prosecuted after he co-authored a bold call for sweeping changes to Beijing's one-party communist political system in a document titled called Charter '08. A court dismissed his appeal in early 2010.

His Nobel Peace Prize incensed China's leaders, who have retaliated against Norway, where the prize is awarded. It has frozen the country's diplomats out of meetings, halted trade talks and blocked salmon imports.

Liu Hui's lawyers have said his dispute over a development deal in Beijing had already been resolved, with the disputed 3 million yuan ($500,000) handed over to partners in the transaction, before the case went to trial.

Associated Press reporter Aritz Parra contributed to this report.

Israel frees 26 Palestinian prisoners before talks

August 14, 2013

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel released 26 Palestinian inmates, including many convicted in grisly killings, on the eve of long-stalled Mideast peace talks, angering families of those slain by the prisoners, who were welcomed as heroes in the West Bank and Gaza.

Buses carrying the inmates departed the Ayalon prison in central Israel late Tuesday, a nighttime release that was aimed at preventing the spectacle of prisoners flashing victory signs as has happened in the past. Relatives of the victims, many with their hands painted red to symbolize what they say is the blood on the hands of the inmates, held protests throughout the day, and some protesters tried briefly to block the buses from leaving.

The decision to release the men stirred anguish in Israel, where many Israelis view them as terrorists. Most of the prisoners were convicted of killings, including Israeli civilians, soldiers and suspected Palestinian collaborators, while others were involved in attempted murder or kidnapping.

Celebrations erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where thousands of Palestinian well-wishers awaited the buses' arrival. Palestinians generally view the prisoners as heroes regardless of their acts, arguing they made personal sacrifices in the struggle for independence.

Fireworks lit the sky in Gaza, where rival Hamas and Fatah supporters, including several masked gunmen, celebrated to the beat of drums. Some danced while others flashed victory signs and waved flags of the Palestinian factions. Cars with loudspeakers blasted nationalistic songs.

"Today is a day of joy and happiness. I can't wait until I hug my beloved son," said Aicha Abu Setta, the 68-year-old mother of freed prisoner Alla Abu Setta. "I am so excited that he will be free and he will spend his first night among us after more than 20 years," she said, clutching a picture of her 43-year-old son, who was arrested in 1994, charged, along with his cousin, of killing a soldier.

Palestinians hurled rocks at the Israeli military vehicles escorting the bus convoy as it reached the crossing to the West Bank after 1 a.m. About a thousand people took to the streets of Ramallah in celebration, singing and dancing. The released prisoners were met with hugs from well-wishers. They were greeted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas personally at the presidential compound and later laid a wreath at the grave of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Abbas delivered a short speech congratulating the prisoners and said he will "not rest until they are all released." There are about 4,500 Palestinians in Israeli jails. "You are just the beginning and the rest will come," Abbas said.

Tuesday's release was part of an agreement brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to get Israel and the Palestinians back to the table for peace talks that had been paralyzed since 2008. In all, 104 convicts are to be released in four batches, although their freedom is contingent on progress in peace talks.

Israelis and Palestinians are to launch talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday, following a preparatory round two weeks ago in Washington. Among those released Tuesday was a Palestinian convicted in the 1994 slaying of Isaac Rotenberg, a 69-year-old Holocaust survivor who was attacked with an ax as he was working at a construction site where he was a contractor. Others were convicted in the slayings of Ian Feinberg, an Israeli lawyer killed in a European aid office in Gaza in 1993, and Frederick Rosenfeld, an American slain while hiking in the West Bank in 1989.

Thousands of Palestinians have spent time in Israeli prisons since Israel's capture of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967. They were jailed on charges ranging from throwing rocks to killing civilians in bombings, shootings and other attacks.

On Monday, Israel's prison service posted the names online of the first 26 inmates to be released to allow for possible court appeals. Israel's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by families of those killed by the prisoners earlier Tuesday.

The fate of the prisoners is extremely emotional in Palestinian society. After decades of fighting Israel, many families have had a member imprisoned and the release of prisoners has been a longstanding demand.

Most of the inmates already have served around 20 years, with the longest-held arrested in 1985. Fourteen of the prisoners were released to the Gaza Strip and 12 to the West Bank. Palestinians argue that the 104 prisoners slated for release carried out their acts at a time of conflict, before Israel and the Palestinians struck their first interim peace agreement in 1994. They say Israel should have released them long ago, as part of previous peace talks.

Earlier Tuesday, Israel angered Palestinians when it announced it was moving forward with building nearly 900 new settlement homes in east Jerusalem. The Palestinians had refused to resume negotiations with Israel unless it halted settlement construction in territory it wants for a future state. Israel has refused, insisting that settlements and other core issues be resolved through talks.

After six trips to the region, Kerry managed to persuade Abbas to drop the settlement issue as a condition for negotiations to start. In exchange, Israel agreed to the prisoner release. The Palestinians argue the settlements, now home to more than 500,000 Israelis, are making it increasingly difficult to carve out their state and that continued Israeli construction is a sign of bad faith.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, said Israel's settlement plans are a slap in the face of the Palestinians and Kerry. "It is not just deliberate sabotage of the talks, but really a destruction of the outcome," she said.

Ashrawi urged Kerry "to stand up to Israel" and deliver a tough response. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected the Palestinian claim. "The Palestinians know that Israel rejected their demands of a settlement freeze as a precondition to these talks, they cannot say otherwise," Regev said. "The construction that the Israeli government authorized is all in Jerusalem and the large blocs, in areas that will remain part of Israel in any possible final status agreement and this construction that has been authorized in no way changes the final map of peace."

Kerry said he spoke with Netanyahu Tuesday morning. "We had a very frank and open discussion on the issue of settlements," he said. "Let me make it clear. The policy of the United States with respect to all settlements is that they are illegitimate and we oppose settlements taking place anytime."

The latest construction is to take place in Gilo, an area in east Jerusalem that Israel considers to be a neighborhood of its capital. Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their capital, is not internationally recognized.

The housing plan, which received initial approval last year, would expand Gilo's boundaries further toward a Palestinian neighborhood. The plans for 900 housing units in Gilo come in addition to an earlier announcement this week of some 1,200 other settlement homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak in the Gaza Strip and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Japan city votes to destroy tsunami ship landmark

August 13, 2013

KESENNUMA, Japan (AP) — A stranded fishing boat that became a symbol of the devastation of Japan's 2011 tsunami has long divided a northeastern coastal city — between those who wanted to keep it as a monument of survival and those who wanted a painful reminder gone.

Last week, the city announced it will be torn down after a heated debate and citywide vote. The soul-searching over the ship highlights how the aftermath of the tsunami disaster continues to torment Japan two years later.

The 330 metric ton (360 ton) Kyotokumaru was swept by the towering tsunami from the city's dock for about 750 meters (800 yards) into a residential district. It has become a landmark for Kesennuma, a port city of 70,000 people, and a testament to the destructive power of the tsunami set off by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011, which killed nearly 19,000 people.

The nearby smashed buildings and debris were cleared, but the 60-meter (200-foot) tuna-fishing boat has stood, majestic but oddly jarring, on dry ground for more than two years. Opinion on the ship had been so divided it had been put to a vote by the city residents last month. Of the 14,083 responses, 68 percent, or 9,622 people, voted to have the ship destroyed. Only 16 percent voted to keep it.

Yoshimi Abe, a 72 year-old housewife and Kesennuma resident, was among those who wanted to get rid of the ship. It's just a constant reminder of the terrible disaster," she said. "When I walk by it every morning, my heart aches."

The house that Abe grew up in was destroyed by the tsunami, and she now lives in temporary housing. In contrast, Shigeru Saito, 80, voted to keep the boat, which he saw as a plus for drawing business.

"My son owns a store in the temporary market near Kyotokumaru. Many of his customers are out-of-town visitors who drop by to see the ship," he said. For now, Kyotokumaru still towers over the flattened neighborhood, its blue and red paint rusting, propped up with iron beams and fenced off with yellow tape. It's surrounded by bouquets of flowers left by people. They pray and take photos. Some just stand and stare.

Much of the tsunami-hit region's rebuilding remains untouched. Fears grow about people, especially young people, leaving. Some areas will be ghost-towns for decades because of the radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant that went into multiple meltdowns.

The Fukushima fishing company, which owns the Kyotokumaru, has signed a contract with a nonprofit organization that recycles ships. The dismantling is likely to start in the next few weeks. Kesennuma Mayor Shigeru Sugawara was disappointed the landmark would soon be gone.

"I wanted to leave a visible symbol of what happened here for generations to come," said Sugawara. "The decision has been made, and there's nothing much more we can do."

Eid Eve Clashes Stoked by Gunshots Fired at Uyghur Girl

2013-08-12

Clashes between Chinese security forces and Muslim Uyghurs on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr festival last week could have been contained if the armed troops did not open fire at random, killing three and wounding about a dozen other civilians, including an innocent four-year-old girl, according to officials and residents.

Ten policemen were also injured in the clashes Wednesday in the restive Xinjiang region's Aksu prefecture triggered by prayer restrictions imposed ahead of the Eid marking the end of Islam's holiest month of Ramadan.

The girl, identified as Subhinur Memet, who was injured in the leg, was among 13 people admitted to the Aksu No. 1 People's Hospital following the clashes in the No. 16 village of Aykol town, which occurred after the authorities prevented residents from one hamlet in the village from going to another to perform the Eid eve prayers.

"When the four year old girl was injured, people became very angry," Ablet Ghojamniyaz, secretary of the village's ruling Chinese Communist Party branch, told RFA's Uyghur Service. "It was difficult to disperse the crowd and they refused to back down."

As the crowd swelled to about 600 people and with some in the mob hurling stones and bricks at the security forces, the People's Armed Police arrived and "started to shoot haphazardly," he said. "But I do not know what happened after that, because I was also running away."

Ablet Ghojamniyaz, who witnessed the incident, said tensions first erupted when government officials prevented residents from hamlet No. 3 in the No. 16 village from praying at the mosque in hamlet No. 2.

The residents forced their way through to the mosque, prompting Party cadres to call in the police who detained and took away two Uyghurs and returned to take several more into custody, he said.

"When the police herded four Uyghurs into a police car, the people surrounded the vehicle and demanded the reasons for taking them away on the eve of the Eid festival, triggering the clashes."

"The clashes could have been avoided if the cadres allowed them to pray," he said.

Tensions inflamed

Ablet Ghojamniyaz said that Aykol police deputy chief Gheni Osman handled the situation deftly and almost persuaded the crowd to disperse after assuring them that he would release the two who were detained earlier.

But Aykol police station chief Wu Guiliang, a Han Chinese, intervened and used harsh words, inflaming tensions, he said.

"When the situation was getting under control, Wu Guiliang arrived, shouting and hitting the people with the rifle butt. Then people started throwing stones and he fired shots in the air and to the ground," Ablet Ghojamniyaz said. "The people did not back down and chased him [Wu] until he bolted from the scene."

Then, the situation spiraled out of control as four-year-old Subhinur was shot in the melee by the local police station personnel and as three other Uyghurs, including a woman, succumbed to bullet wounds on the spot after being hit by People's Armed Police and SWAT teams.

Subhinur's aunt, identified only as Ayimqiz, said her niece is recovering from her leg injuries.

"I went to see her at the hospital and she is bit better now," said Ayimqiz, the older sister of Subhinur's father, and chief of the No.16 village's women's union.

Subhinur's father has been detained, along with scores of others following the clashes.

In fact, No. 2 hamlet chief Ehet Mahmut said, "All the youths in my area have been detained" for questioning, without giving any specific number.

Only one of the three killed has been identified—Gopur Dawut, 27.

One of four injured woman, identified as Patem Turdi, 40, was shot while looking for her 15-year-old son, according to Ablet Ghojamniyaz.

Recent violence

Uyghurs in Xinjiang say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness, blaming their hardships partly on a massive influx of Han Chinese into the region.

Xinjiang has seen a string of violent incidents since June 26, leaving at least 64 dead in total, as the region marked the anniversary last month of July 5, 2009 clashes in the regional capital Urumqi between the minority Uyghurs and majority Han Chinese.

The rioting left some 200 people dead and 1,700 injured, according to official media reports.

Source: Radio Free Asia.
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/shooting-08122013193025.html.

Top Syria rebel visits fighters in Assad homeland

August 12, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — The military commander of Syria's main Western-backed opposition group visited rebels in the coastal province that is President Bashar Assad's ancestral homeland following recent opposition advances in the area, a spokeswoman said Monday.

Over the past week, rebel fighters in Latakia province have swept through a string of villages that are populated by members of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The advances have not shifted the strategic balance in the area, but they did embarrass the regime in a region that has been under tight government control since the Syrian revolt began more than two years ago.

Assad's forces have launched a counteroffensive to try to dislodge the rebels, and activists say fighting is raging over several villages in the mountainous region. In a video posted on the opposition Syrian National Coalition's Facebook page, rebel military chief Gen. Salim Idris walks with a small group of fighters through hilly terrain. Dressed in civilian clothes with a shoulder holster and a pistol, Idris tells them that he visited the front to see the "important achievements and great victories that were made by our brother rebels in the coast."

"We are here to confirm that the command is fully coordinating with the coastal command," he said. Coalition spokeswoman Sarah Karkour said the visit to Latakia took place Sunday. She did not specify whether he went to the newly captured territory.

Idris is the leader of the Coalition's Supreme Military Council, a loose umbrella group of more secular-minded opposition brigades that serves as the main conduit for Western aid to rebels fighting to oust the Assad regime. He has little more than nominal control, however, over the hundreds of rebel factions that make up the constellation of opposition forces on the ground.

The most effective and efficient rebel groups — the Islamic extremist factions — don't even recognize Idris' authority. In recent months, there have been a rising number of clashes between al-Qaida-linked factions and more moderate opposition brigades. The infighting has undermined the opposition's overall effort to topple the Assad regime.

Despite their ideological differences, Islamic extremist groups and more secular-minded rebels also frequently coordinate their efforts when its suits them and there is a mutual benefit. That has been the case in Latakia, activists say, where more moderate rebel groups fighting alongside al-Qaida-linked jihadi factions, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, captured 11 Alawite villages last week.

The offensive forced residents of the villages to flee their homes and left at least 60 civilians dead, activists say. Another 400 civilians, mostly Alawites, are missing and are presumed to be in rebel custody in the area, according to activists who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The gains in Latakia by anti-Assad fighters have provided a small boost to the opposition after weeks of government victories in central Syria and around the capital, Damascus.

Israeli pain, Palestinian joy over inmate release

August 13, 2013

BRUKIN, West Bank (AP) — Mustafa al-Haj expected to die in an Israeli prison for killing an American-born settler hiking in the West Bank in 1989. Now lights decorate his home to celebrate the planned release of the 45-year-old and more than 100 other Palestinian convicts in a deal that revived Mideast peace talks.

While the Palestinians are joyful, the decision to free the inmates has stirred anger in Israel where victims' families say it is an insult to their loved ones. Israel published the names of 26 men, including al-Haj, to be freed before the first round of talks Wednesday. In all, 104 prisoners have been slated for release in four tranches over a period of nine months that the U.S. has set aside for negotiations. But their freedom is contingent on progress in the talks.

The Israelis have granted early release to Palestinian prisoners in the past, including in swaps. The upcoming round, however, has sparked particularly high-pitched debate because it was linked to resuming talks and many of those to be freed were involved in deadly attacks.

Gila Molcho said the release of one of three men involved in the stabbing death of her brother in 1993 was opening old wounds. Her brother, Ian Feinberg, was killed in the European aid office in Gaza City where he was working as a lawyer.

"My brother's blood is being sold for nothing, as a gesture," Molcho said. "On a very personal level, there is pain." Palestinians argue that those slated for release were acting during a time of conflict, before the two sides struck their first interim peace agreement in 1994, and that Israel should have freed them in previous rounds of negotiations.

"We used violence and the Israelis used violence," said Kadoura Fares, who heads an advocacy group for prisoners and, like many of those to be released, is a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

Fares noted that the number of Palestinians, including civilians, who were killed by Israeli troops in wars and uprisings over the past two decades far outstrips the number of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks.

In the first and second Palestinian uprisings, more than 1,200 Israelis and just under 5,000 Palestinians were killed. The two sides are now making their third major attempt since 2000 to agree on the terms of the Palestinian state alongside Israel. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in 1967, but are willing to make some adjustments.

The last round of substantive talks was held in 2008, but a dispute over settlements kept the two sides away from the table until now. The Palestinians are entering Wednesday's talks with renewed distrust, after Israel promoted Jewish settlements on war-won lands the Palestinians want for their state in three major announcements over the course of a week.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Marie Harf praised Israel's decision to release prisoners as a "positive step." She said the Obama administration also raised serious concerns about the latest settlement plans with the Israeli government.

Abbas had insisted on a construction freeze in settlements, deemed illegal by most of the international community, before going back to negotiations. However, U.S. mediators failed to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to comply and Abbas relented.

As compensation, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brokered the prisoner release and, according to Abbas aides, assured the Palestinians that the U.S. views Israel's pre-1967 lines as a starting point for border talks, even if Netanyahu does not.

Kerry said Monday in Bogota that he didn't think the settlements issue would create a large bump in the road to the talks, which are set to resume on Wednesday. "As the world, I hope knows, the U.S. views the settlements as illegitimate and we have communicated that policy very clearly to Israel," he said.

"I think that what this underscores, actually, is the importance of getting to the table and getting to the table quickly and resolving the questions with respect to settlements, which are best resolved by solving the problems of security and borders. Once you have security and borders solved, you have resolved the question of settlements."

Abbas is returning to talks amid widespread skepticism among Palestinians, but the prisoner release — an emotional consensus issue — could make up for that. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have spent time in Israeli prisons since 1967, on charges ranging from throwing stones and membership in outlawed organizations to involvement in attacks. Palestinians tend to view prisoners as heroes, regardless of their acts, arguing they made personal sacrifices in the struggle for independence.

In Israel, many consider those involved in the killings as terrorists, and some of the attacks are engraved in the nation's collective memory. This includes the death of Amnon Pomerantz, a 46-year-old Israeli reserve sergeant who in 1990 made a wrong turn and ended up driving into Gaza's Bureij refugee camp with his car marked by yellow Israeli license plates.

Pomerantz was stoned and tried to drive away in a panic, but his car rammed into a donkey cart and injured two youngsters. This was followed by another barrage of stones and gasoline-soaked rags that set his car on fire. Pomerantz burned to death.

Another victim is Isaac Rotenberg, who survived the Nazi death camp of Sobibor, fought alongside partisans and made it to Israel after World War II. In 1994, at age 69, the contractor was killed with an ax from behind while at a construction site, his son Pini said, adding he finds it difficult to fathom that one of his father's killers is going free.

"It's painful to pay such a heavy price just as a concession for talks," he said. In the summer of 1989, al-Haj — who made the first list of those to be released — was with two friends when they encountered 48-year-old Frederick Rosenfeld, during a West Bank hike, chatted with him and even posed for pictures before stabbing him to death.

Rosenfeld had immigrated to Israel from Washington, D.C. in the late 1960s and eventually moved to the Jewish settlement of Ariel, near the West Bank town of Brukin. In Brukin, al-Haj's family did not want to speak in detail about Rosenfeld as they decorated his West Bank home with chains of lights ahead of his anticipated homecoming.

"I wish he hadn't killed that man and that he hadn't gone to jail for those long years, but this is God's will," Hamza al-Haj, 55, said of his younger brother. "This was a war time, in which people kill each other. You can't define one as a criminal and one as a victim."

Hamza said his brother was an activist in the first Palestinian uprising, which lasted for six years and ended with a historic accord of mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993.

The family now hopes Mustafa, who earned a bachelor's degree in political science in a correspondence course, can start a family and find a job. In Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, Fatima Nashabat, 48, said she is counting the hours until the release of her husband, Mohammed, 52, who has spent 23 years in prison as an accessory in the killing of Pomerantz, the reserve soldier.

"Last night, when they said he will be in the first group, our house turned into a big dance floor," said the mother of four. "We were cheering and singing."

Laub reported in Jericho, West Bank. Associated Press writers Ian Deitch and Max J. Rosenthal in Jerusalem, Ibrahim Barzak in the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, and Deb Riechmann in Bogota contributed to this report.

Dutch Prince Friso dies after 2012 avalanche

August 12, 2013

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Johan Friso, the bespectacled Dutch prince who avoided the limelight and gave up his position in line to the throne after getting entangled in a scandal with his bride-to-be, died Monday — 18 months after a skiing accident that left his brain gravely injured. He was 44.

The royal house said the prince, known as Friso, died of complications from the accident, without giving more details. It said he had never regained more than "minimal consciousness." Friso was struck by an avalanche while skiing off-trail in Lech, Austria, Feb. 17, 2012, and was buried until rescuers pulled him from the snow, unconscious, 20 minutes later. He was resuscitated at the scene and flown to a hospital, but remained in a coma for months.

His death Monday, though not unexpected, "still comes as a shock," said Prime Minister Mark Rutte. "Prince Friso was only 44 years old, and until the ski accident, in the prime of his life." In addition to the royal family, Friso is survived by his wife, Princess Mabel, and two daughters, Luana and Zaria.

Before the dramatic incidents in Lech, Friso, the second of the former Queen Beatrix's three sons, had sometimes been known as "Prince Brilliant." He studied at UC Berkeley, the Technical University of Delft and Erasmus University at Rotterdam, graduating from the Dutch universities cum laude with degrees in engineering and economics. He later earned an MBA at France's prestigious INSEAD school of business.

But the central event of his life as a royal came when he gave up his claim to the throne in order to marry Dutchwoman Mabel Wisse Smit, in a wedding not sanctioned by the government. The pair got engaged in 2003. Wisse Smit worked for George Soros' Open Society Institute and was seen by the queen as an ideal daughter-in-law. But during her vetting to join the royal house, she and Friso decided not to disclose the full extent of a friendship she had had while she was a college student.

The friend in question: drug baron Klaas Bruinsma, who later became one of the country's most infamous crime lords and was slain in a gangland killing. Wisse Smit denies ever having had any romantic involvement with Bruinsma, and says she hadn't understood who he was at the time. But as details about their relationship emerged in the Dutch press, then-Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said it was clear the pair had held back information, and he wouldn't propose the law needed for Parliament to approve Wisse Smit's entry to the royal house.

The couple acknowledged being "naive and incomplete" in what they told Balkenende. Other spouses of Dutch royalty have endured controversy. Beatrix's own marriage was initially unpopular because of her husband's German nationality. King Willem-Alexander's Argentine wife, Queen Maxima, has been criticized over her father's ties to the former totalitarian regime.

Friso and Mabel decided to marry without seeking parliamentary approval. The decision meant Friso would be cut from the royal house and line of succession. They were still considered members of the royal family, and bore the honorific titles of Prince and Princess of Oranje-Nassau.

After the affair — dubbed "Mablegate" in the Dutch press, because the "cover-up" did most of the damage — Friso seemed relieved at the certainty he would never be called upon to assume the throne. "I am planning to remain available for my mother or brother if it's needed, for supporting roles," he said in a televised statement.

After his studies, Friso worked in consulting and later became a vice president at Goldman Sachs in London. At the time of the accident he was working as CFO of uranium enrichment company Urenco. Although Friso did not have an image as a risk-taker, the skiing accident — off piste despite avalanche warnings — did not stand totally alone. He was also once stopped while driving 200 kilometers per hour (120 mph).

One of Friso's most sympathetic moments in the public eye came shortly after the death of his father, Prince Claus: it fell to Friso to escort his mother at the funeral ceremony. He supported her in a long, stately walk to her seat as she leaned heavily on his arm, deep in grief.

In a lighter vein, the prince was considered very handsome as a young man, but he was not known to have had any girlfriends. The Dutch gay community became convinced he was homosexual. Friso turned a blind eye in amusement as Friso-themed parties became a nightlife fixture.

But after mainstream publications began speculating as to whether he might come out of the closet, he had the Royal Information Service put out a one-line statement in 2001: "Johan Friso is not homosexual, but heterosexual."

The move was mocked by some and others remained unconvinced. Friso's relationship with Wisse Smit was announced the following year.

Keita wins Mali election after opponent concedes

August 13, 2013

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali's presidency after his opponent conceded defeat late Monday in an election aimed at restoring stability to a country wracked by a rebellion, a coup and an Islamic insurgency.

Soumalia Cisse's concession averts a protracted election fight, allowing Mali to move ahead with establishing a democratically elected government, one of the international community's caveats for unlocking some $4 billion in promised aid.

Keita, 68, had been expected to win the runoff easily, having pulled nearly 40 percent of the vote in the first round. Most of the other candidates from the first round also had given their endorsements to Keita, who has had a long career in Malian government.

Official results have not been announced, but Cisse confirmed he had conceded defeat in message on his official Twitter account. "My family and I went to the house of Mr. Keita, future president of Mali, to congratulate him on his victory," read the statement late Monday.

Earlier in the day some of Cisse's supporters had raised allegations of ballot stuffing against Keita's party, raising the specter of a legal battle. Keita ran for the presidency in the two previous elections of 2002 and 2007. He also served as foreign minister and National Assembly speaker during his long tenure in Malian government. During his campaign, he ran on a pledge of restoring honor to the country ravaged by an Islamic insurgency that overtook the northern half of the country until French forces arrived in January to oust them from power.

Many voters said they had chosen Cisse because they thought he could best resolve the crisis in the north, where secular separatist rebels still pose a threat to regional stability. Talks with the rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad are due to begin within 60 days of the formation of Keita's government and many Malians remain wary of negotiating with the group whose rebellion sparked more than a year of chaos in what was once one of West Africa's most stable democracies.

Voter participation in the NMLA's stronghold town of Kidal was a mere 12 percent in the first round, and many there will not pledge allegiance to Mali or its new president regardless of who won. The first round of presidential voting had featured technical glitches, leaving some voters unclear about where their polling stations were located. However, European Union and African Union electoral observers offered praise for the Malian runoff vote.

"Malians should be congratulated because it seems to me they are regaining control of their democratic destiny, which is in fact nevertheless a tradition that exists in Mali," said Louis Michel, the head of the EU observer mission.

Ibrahima Sangho, president of the Malian electoral monitoring group known as APEM, also said Sunday's second-round vote had gone smoothly. "We think the winner is the people of Mali who have come out in large numbers to vote to show that the people have the will to pull the country out of crisis," he said. "However, no politician can run Mali as it has been run over the last 20 years. People are going to watch the new president closely and follow him closely over his campaign promises."

The election was critical to unlocking $4 billion in aid promised by international donors to rebuild the country after political chaos sparked a humanitarian crisis. A democratically elected government is one of the conditions set by the international community, and a transitional government has been in place since not long after the March 2012 coup.

In the aftermath of the government's overthrow, separatist Tuareg rebels and later al-Qaida-linked militants seized control of northern Mali's towns. The radical jihadists imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, turning the once-moderate Muslim country into a place where women were whipped for going out in public without veils.

France, Mali's former colonial ruler, launched a military operation in the African country in January after the extremists begin surging southward from their stronghold in the north. The Malian military has been able to regain control over the northern towns of Gao and Timbuktu though its presence remains highly controversial in Kidal.

Nearly 200,000 Malians remain in refugee camps in neighboring Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso, and an untold number of others are still living in the southern capital of Bamako instead of returning home to the north.

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Moustapha Diallo in Bamako, Mali also contributed to this report.

Malians return to polls for 2nd round of voting

August 11, 2013

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Voters trudged through red muddy roads in Mali's rainy capital Sunday to choose their next president, a leader who will be tasked with reconciling the country after a coup, separatist rebellion and an Islamic insurgency unraveled one of West Africa's most stable democracies.

The presidential runoff vote between former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and former Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse is aimed at unlocking some $4 billion in aid that has been promised to help Mali recover. The funds, though, are contingent on a democratically elected government being in place.

Keita, known by his initials "IBK," has run on a campaign of restoring Mali's honor after a French-led military operation forced the jihadists into the desert earlier this year and paved the way for the Malian military to return to the northern cities it had fled in the wake of the 2012 Tuareg rebellion.

Among the first voters in line at one Bamako polling station was Amara Traore, 65, whose orange boubou — a traditional robe — stood out in the early morning rains Sunday. "I've been here since 6:30 a.m. with great joy, despite the rain, to elect a president who can better lead the country," said Traore, who said he was backing Keita. "We are tired of this crisis and the insecurity we have been living with."

Keita also has drawn supporters in the northern town of Gao, where just six months ago suicide bombers were launching attacks and jihadists were battling Malian troops in the heart of downtown. Gao resident Moussa Tahirou Maiga said despite security improvements, the city's economy remains paralyzed and many are looking to Keita to create jobs.

"He has shown his patriotism," said Maiga, 35, who teaches information technology. "He's viewed here at the man who can change a lot of things." Turnout in the first round of voting was nearly 50 percent, though in the northern provincial capital of Kidal where rebel flags still fly, it was a mere 12 percent. Separatist sentiment there remains high, though some within the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad had endorsed Keita because of his promise to hold a national dialogue on the crisis there.

On Sunday, local election official Fadimata Maiga said polls had opened on time in Kidal. "Turnout appears to be better than the first round," she said. Heavy rains kept many polling stations from opening on time Sunday in the capital.

"There's a possibility the governor will extend the polling stations' closing hours if he deems it necessary," said Issaga Kampo, vice president of the National Independent Electoral Commission. In the first round of voting, technical glitches kept many from casting ballots. Voters showed up at polling stations only to find their names were not on the list. Others encountered difficulties obtaining their voting cards ahead of the July 28 first-round ballot.

Campaigning ahead of the second round was low key because it coincided with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The presidential election is the first since the separatist Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali in early 2012 sparked anger within the military and led to a March 2012 coup that overthrew longtime President Amadou Toumani Toure. The chaotic aftermath allowed the separatists, and later Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaida, to grab control of northern Mali, an area the size of France.

The French-led military offensive sidelined the radical militants though secular rebels have moved back into Kidal, where they maintain a hold despite the return of the Malian military to the area. Those rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation the Azawad are due to hold talks with the Malian government, which will be among the first obstacles to face the new president.

Also of key importance will be finding a way home for the nearly 200,000 Malians who remain refugees in neighboring Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso. Tens of thousands of northerners also poured into the southern capital of this mostly moderate Muslim nation to flee the violence and harsh Islamic Shariah law in which extremists meted out punishments like amputations for alleged thefts and whippings to women who went in public without their heads covered.

The United Nations refugee agency said initial estimates indicated only about 1,220 of them voted in the first round, though election materials also were being flown in for the second round poll.

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal.

Putin: Russia grateful to hold world championships

August 10, 2013

MOSCOW (AP) — Vladimir Putin says he's grateful for the international trust shown to Russia by having Moscow host the athletics world championships.

The Russian president's comments at the opening ceremony of the nine-day championships come as worldwide protests increase ahead of next year's Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi. The protests center on a recently passed Russian law banning homosexual "propaganda."

Putin did not mention the issue in his short remarks on Saturday. But he did say that "our country is hosting the world athletics champions for the first time and we prize the trust that has been shown to us."

Edinburgh Zoo says panda Tian Tian may be pregnant

August 09, 2013

LONDON (AP) — Edinburgh Zoo is hoping for the pitter-patter of tiny paws, saying Friday that there are signs that one of its giant pandas may be pregnant.

The zoo said that nesting behavior and changes in protein and hormone levels suggest Tian Tian could be expecting a cub — or experiencing a phantom pregnancy, not uncommon in pandas. The Scottish zoo said the signs "give us cause for encouragement," although Tian Tian has not cooperated with an ultrasound that could yield more information.

"Confirming a female panda's pregnancy is never straightforward and we would encourage people to try not to get too excited just yet," said Ian Valentine, director of the zoo's panda project. But, he said, "the overall picture is looking quite good."

If pregnant, Tian Tian should give birth in late August or early September. Panda pregnancies typically last about five months and result in one or two pink, hairless cubs. Giant pandas have difficulty breeding, with females fertile for only two or three days a year. No giant panda cubs have ever been born in Britain.

The zoo artificially inseminated Tian Tian, or Sweetie, after she was reluctant to mate with male companion Yang Guang, or Sunshine. Keepers had tried to encourage the pair by building a "love tunnel" between their enclosures, but to no avail.

The two animals arrived from China in 2011 on a 10-year loan, and are the only pandas in Britain.

Gunmen abduct 2 Turkish Airlines crew in Lebanon

August 09, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen ambushed a van Friday carrying a Turkish Airlines crew in the Lebanese capital, kidnapping a pilot and a co-pilot in an attack that appeared linked to the ongoing civil war in neighboring Syria.

Six gunmen stopped the vehicle on an old airport road in Beirut, abducting the two Turkish nationals and letting the rest of the crew go, officials said. The van was travelling between Rafik Hariri International Airport and a Beirut hotel when the ambush took place, said the Lebanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Lebanon's state news agency said a group called the Zuwaar al-Imam Rida claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The group, which was previously unknown, said in a statement carried by the National News Agency that the pilots "will only be released when the Lebanese hostages in Syria return."

The civil war in neighboring Syria has deeply divided the Lebanese. The Syrian rebels, who are backed by Turkey, have been holding nine Lebanese Shiites hostage since last year. There have been other kidnappings on both sides since the war began.

A representative for the Lebanese hostages' families said that there was "no relationship between the kidnapping of Turkish pilots and case of Lebanese hostages in Syria," the NNA reported. However, Sheik Abbas Zougheib of the Higher Shiite Councils said if the abduction "is to settle the question of Lebanese abducted in Syria, we support it," according to the news service.

The Turkish crew had landed a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul early Friday morning, the Lebanese officials told The Associated Press. Authorities were investigating and the road where the kidnapping occurred has been closed off with several police checkpoints, the officials said.

The NNA reported earlier that the driver of the van was being questioned and that eight gunmen were involved in the abduction. The difference in the number of the attackers in the report and the Lebanese officials' account could not immediately be explained.

In Turkey, Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Gumrukcu confirmed the kidnapping. He said the rest of the crew was still in Beirut but were leaving to return to Turkey on Friday evening. "We don't know who did this and for what purpose," Gumrukcu said. He said the Turkish government was in close contact with Lebanese officials over the abduction.

Turkey supports the Sunni Muslim rebels fighting to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which is dominated by Alawites, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam. A spokesman for Turkish Airlines Ali Genc identified the two pilots as Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca. Genc did not offer any other information.

The Lebanese are deeply divided over Syria's civil war, with Shiites largely supporting the regime in Damascus and Sunnis backing the rebels. Both Sunni militants, and fighters from Lebanon's dominant Shiite Hezbollah group, have been fighting on opposite sides in the conflict.

The conflict in Syria that has claimed more than 100,000 lives since it erupted in March 2011. The fighting frequently has spilled into Lebanon.

Associated Press writers Desmond Butler in Istanbul and Ryan Lucas in Beirut contributed to this report.

Nagasaki marks 68th anniversary of atomic bombing

August 09, 2013

TOKYO (AP) — Nagasaki's mayor criticized Japan's government for a lack of effort on international nuclear disarmament as the country marked the 68th anniversary Friday of the atomic bombing on the city.

Mayor Tomihisa Taue said Tokyo's refusal in April to sign a statement rejecting unconditional use of nuclear weapons "betrayed expectations of the global community." Taue said the statement was signed by 80 countries and that Japan, the world's only victim of atomic bomb attacks, contradicted its non-nuclear pledge by refusing.

"I call on the government of Japan to return to the origin of our pledge as an atomic-bombed country," he said at a peace park near the epicenter of the blast. The two atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 prompted Japan's surrender in World War II. The Hiroshima blast killed 140,000 people, and another 70,000 died in Nagasaki.

U.S. Ambassador John Roos attended Nagasaki's event, a year after going to the anniversary ceremony at Hiroshima. About 6,000 people attended Friday's ceremony after offering silent prayers for the victims.

Taue also expressed concerns about Japan's resumption of negotiations with India toward a nuclear cooperation agreement. Despite the public's safety concerns about nuclear energy since the Fukushima crisis, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been aggressively pushing to export nuclear plants and technology to emerging countries, including Turkey and Vietnam, and trying to step up cooperation with France and India.

Taue said nuclear cooperation with India, which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty would render the NPT framework toothless. He offered his support for the reconstruction of Fukushima devastated by the 2011 nuclear crisis.

Key events in rule, trial of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak

August 22, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court ordered Wednesday the release of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, but it is not yet clear if the ailing ex-leader will walk free after over two years in detention, officials said.

Here are some key events in the rule, downfall and criminal trial of the former Egyptian President: May 4, 1928 — Mubarak is born in Kafr El-Meselha in the Nile Delta province of Monofiya. March 13, 1950 — Mubarak graduates from air academy as a pilot and an officer.

April 1975 — Mubarak becomes vice president of Egypt, serving under President Anwar Sadat. Oct. 14, 1981 — Mubarak takes office after militants assassinate Sadat during a military parade. Mubarak, Sadat's vice president, escaped with a minor hand injury. His security forces are empowered by new emergency laws giving police broad powers of arrest and go after Islamists. He also promises Egypt will stick to its 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

1992 — Militants launch an uprising aimed at overthrowing Mubarak's government and setting up an Islamic state. Gunmen attack police, assassinate politicians and target foreign tourists, a key source of revenue.

June 1995 — Militants attempt to assassinate Mubarak as he visits Ethiopia. 1997 — Mubarak crushes the militant movement through the arrests of thousands as police are accused of torture. 2008 — Riots erupt over soaring bread prices amid grain shortages. Mubarak responds by firing up military ovens to help quell discontent.

2005 — Mubarak allows the first ever multi-candidate presidential election, which he won easily over 10 other candidates amid charges of voter fraud and intimidation. 2010 — Parliamentary elections are widely deplored as rigged. The Muslim Brotherhood, which had dozens of its members in parliament as independents, responds by withdrawing its candidates from a second round of voting.

Jan. 25, 2011 — Thousands of anti-government protesters clash with police in Cairo during a Tunisia-inspired demonstration to demand the president's ouster. The day marked the start of Arab Spring in Egypt.

Feb. 11 — After 18 days of massive protests against his rule, Mubarak is forced to resign. A council of military generals takes over Egypt's government. Mubarak is airlifted out of Cairo and stays in his private villa in the Red Sea town of Sharm el-Sheikh. He is later questioned for the first time by prosecutors.

April 13 — Authorities detain Mubarak for investigation of corruption, abuse of power and killings of hundreds of protesters. He later is ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption and conspiracy in the deadly shooting of nearly 900 protesters.

Aug. 3 — Mubarak's trial opens in Cairo. From a gurney in the defendant's cage, Mubarak denies all charges against him. Millions across the Middle East watch, transfixed by the sight of the former strongman behind prison cage bars. He becomes the first and only Arab leader to face trial by his own people.

June 2, 2012 — Mubarak, now 84, is found guilty of failing to stop the killings and sentenced to life in prison. He is ferried by helicopter to Tora prison in Cairo. He does not spend time in a prison cell and is kept in the prison hospital, which was upgraded to accommodate his health conditions.

January 2013 — Investigators interrogate Mubarak over gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars he allegedly received from the country's flagship state-owned newspaper as a show of loyalty while he was in power.

Jan. 13 — Appeals court overturns Mubarak's life sentence in protester killings as the presiding judge says the prosecution's case lacked concrete evidence and failed to prove the protesters were killed by the police.

Jan. 16 — Mubarak and his family agree to pay back 18 million Egyptian pounds ($3 million) for gifts they received from the state newspaper Al-Ahram. April — A new investigation begins into accusations Mubarak and his family embezzled state funds designated for the maintenance and upkeep of presidential palaces.

April 13 — Mubarak's retrial for alleged complicity in the killing of protesters begins. The judge recuses himself and does not specify the reasons behind his decision. A new judge takes over and the trial resumes a month later.

Aug. 19 — A criminal court orders Mubarak's release pending trial in the case regarding the misuse of funds for presidential palaces. The case involves his two sons who were ordered kept in custody. He has already previously been ordered released pending his retrial in the killings of protesters. A petition by his lawyer requesting his release in a third case for gifts from the state newspaper is under review.

Aug. 21 — A court orders Mubarak's release pending the trial of gifts from the newspaper.

Egypt court orders release of Mubarak

August 21, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court ordered Wednesday the release of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, but it is not yet clear if the ailing ex-leader will walk free after over two years in detention, officials said.

Prosecutors may appeal the order, which comes following a hearing on charges against Mubarak of accepting gifts from a state-owned newspaper, the last case that has kept him in detention. It is not known if they will file they appeal.

The possibility of Mubarak going free is likely to fuel the unrest already roiling the country after the autocratic leader's successor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, was removed in a military coup last month.

Top prison official Mostafa Baz told the private CBC TV station that his offices will ask the prosecutors Thursday if Mubarak is wanted in other cases. If not, he would be set free. The hearing was held in Tora prison, where Mubarak, 85, has been held for most of his detention since April 2011. Officials cited security concerns as the reason for holding it in the sprawling, tightly secured facility.

Mubarak is now on trial for the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising against him and other charges. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in Egypt's 2011 uprising. His sentence was overturned on appeal and he is now being retried, along with his security chief and six top police commanders. His trial resumes later this month.

He is facing a number of other corruption charges, but no other trial dates have been set. The court officials spoke anonymously because they are not authorized to speak to the media. Rights lawyer and judicial expert Nasser Amin said procedurally Mubarak should have been released since his sentence was overturned, but that the political circumstances may delay letting him go.

"His release will cause chaos," he said. "It will be used by Islamists as proof of the return of the old regime." Egyptian authorities have continued their crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, arresting the group's supreme leader and other senior figures and sending them to trial.

Muslim Brotherhood Names Mahmoud Ezzat Temporary Leader

20 August 2013

The Muslim Brotherhood announced Mahmoud Ezzat as its temporary leader on Tuesday following the arrest of its Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie.

The Brotherhood said in a statement on its Freedom and Justice Party's website that the decision is in accordance with Article (2) of its code which states that the first deputy replaces the supreme guide when he is unavailable.

Security forces arrested Badie from an apartment in Nasr City earlier for investigations into allegations that he incited violence earlier this year.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201308201055.html.

Media in Egypt stoke the heat, and now feel it

August 21, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — The military says Tamer Abdel-Raouf sped through a military checkpoint, ignoring soldiers' warning shots. A colleague who was with him in the car says he obeyed the soldiers' orders to turn back, but they opened fire anyway as he was making a U-turn.

The result was the same: The reporter for the flagship Egyptian daily Al-Ahram on Monday became the fifth journalist to die as the media are swept up in the bloodshed roiling Egypt. Television and radio stations air patriotic songs while a slew of talk show hosts glorify the military that seized power and denounce the Islamist government it overthrew.

It's a sharp turnaround from the challenges these same journalists faced under President Mohammed Morsi's rule, when reporters were sued by Islamist lawyers for "insulting the president." After his ouster, his Muslim Brothehrood group openly blacklisted 50 of those media personalities.

Now journalists are facing deadlier perils. A week ago Mick Deane of the British TV broadcaster Sky News and two Egyptian journalists were fatally shot while covering the violent breakup of protest camps in Cairo. Other foreign journalists are also feeling the pressure, complaining that security forces fail to respect the exemption that allows them on the streets after nighttime curfew.

The tense media landscape is increasingly mirroring the venomous atmosphere, where people are fractured along political lines. "The whole media scene has been extremely polarized and it's a reflection of the polarization in society," said Rasha Abdulla, a media professor at the American University in Cairo.

TV presenters have sung the national anthem on TV and openly cried tears of joy when Morsi was ousted seven weeks ago. Meanwhile, Morsi's Brotherhood group has waged its own media campaign online and through its spokesmen on social media websites after channels sympathetic to the group were shuttered last month.

In one, a spokesman posted a picture of dead Syrian children online, claiming they were Egyptian kids killed by police. In clashes that the Health Ministry said killed around 80 people, the Brotherhood's emails to reporters initially claimed 200 were killed. At another point it claimed the overall death toll was more than triple what the Health Ministry was reporting.

The discrepancies come from both sides, as the death of reporter Abdel-Raouf demonstrates. A statement by the army said that he sped through a checkpoint after curfew and soldiers fired warning shots.

However, Hamed al-Barbari of Al-Gomhuria newspaper told the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists that the two, riding in the car together, were turned back by soldiers at the checkpoint. He said the soldiers then fired at the car as they were making a U-turn, shooting Abdel-Raouf in the head.

Abdel-Raouf had been critical of Morsi's ouster on Facebook and other social media, though the CPJ said there was no evidence that he was targeted for his views. Western journalists have come under attack from angry citizens. CPJ reported that during violent protests Saturday, Annabell Van Den Berghe, a freelance journalist with the Belgian public broadcaster VRT, and crew were confronted by people who accused them of being American spies and said Western media were biased. They beat a crew member but did not harm the journalists.

The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network, particularly its channel dedicated to live coverage of events in Egypt, has been the only major Arabic-language outlet for the Muslim Brotherhood's views. Its Cairo office was raided by security forces last week and two of its journalists detained.

A number of its presenters quit around the time of Morsi's ouster, saying the station had misled viewers. The network counters that it is covering all events in Egypt with "balance and integrity" Three Turkish journalists, Metin Turan and Heba Zakaria were arrested over the weekend and Tahir Osman Hamde was reported arrested on Tuesday. It's not clear whether any have been released.

Senior Egyptian officials have taken to critiquing the foreign media. The State Information Service released a statement saying some media outlets are "falling short of describing events of June 30 as an expression of popular will."

Meeting foreign journalists recently, interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy expressed his frustration. "You have a problem of your profession frankly," he said, saying the limited space to report complex issues makes the journalists "very superficial in what you are doing." ''And frankly," he added, "many of you have covered the news incorrectly and unfairly."

Adel Iskandar, author of "Egypt in Flux: Essays on an Unfinished Revolution," said that under the rule of autocratic President Hosni Mubarak, "The military was untouchable and invisible" and that "the media, both state and private, were obedient because they were censored.

"Now they are willfully on the bandwagon." Under Mubarak, bloggers were targeted as well. Mostly liberal, leftist and secular protesters active on Twitter and Facebook were beaten and arrested during subsequent rallies against the military rulers who temporarily took over after he was toppled. Similarly, online administrators of Brotherhood websites and online activists sympathetic to the group are now being arrested, shot at and even killed by security forces at anti-government protests.

Noha Radwan, a scholar of Arabic literature at University of California at Davis, follows events in her native Egypt closely, and says the media is actually driving polarization in the country. "For the past three weeks media sources on the ground, whether they are the governmental or the independent channels. have been working the public into nothing short of a mass hysteria," she wrote, blaming both the state media and Islamists.

"Every media source in Egypt is lying, spreading hearsay, and dismissing reports that do not serve their agendas. The result is a frenzied and divided population that is proving uncharacteristically callous to the bloodshed among one group or the other."

Iskandar said that while Egypt may not be in a state of actual war, the battle lines have been drawn in the media Egypt, he said, "is in a state of media and rhetorical war."

Ecuador's president abandons no-drilling plan

August 16, 2013

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Rafael Correa said Thursday that he has abandoned a unique and ambitious plan to persuade rich countries to pay Ecuador not to drill for oil in a pristine Amazon rainforest preserve.

Environmentalist had hailed the initiative when Correa first proposed it in 2007, saying he was setting a precedent in the fight against global warming by lowering the high cost to poor countries of preserving the environment.

"The world has failed us," Correa said in a nationally televised speech. He said the global recession was in part responsible but chiefly blamed "the great hypocrisy" of nations who emit most of the world's greenhouse gases.

"It was not charity that we sought from the international community, but co-responsibility in the face of climate change." Correa had sought $3.6 billion in contributions to maintain a moratorium on drilling in the remote Yasuni National Park, which was declared a biosphere reserve by the United Nations in 1989 and is home to two Indian tribes living in voluntary isolation.

But he said Thursday evening that Ecuador had raised just $13 million in actual donations in pledges and that he had an obligation to his people, particularly the poor, to move ahead with drilling. The U.N. and private donors had put up the cash.

Correa said he was proposing to the National Assembly, which his supporters control, oil exploration in Yasuni amounting to less than 1 percent of its 3,800 square miles His no-drilling plan had envisioned rich countries paying Ecuador half the $7.2 billion in revenues expected to be generated over 10 years from the 846 million barrels of heavy crude estimated to be in Yasuni.

Not drilling in the reserve would keep 410 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, officials had said during their global lobbying campaign that included organizing tours of the reserve for journalists.

But while Correa's proposal generated interest, there were few takers, in part because he insisted that Ecuador alone would decide how the donations would be spent. European countries expressed the most interest but still balked.

Ecuador is an OPEC member that depends on oil for a third of its national budget. The three oil fields in Yasuni represent 20 percent of its oil reserves. Political analyst Jose Fuentes of the Flacso university in Quito said Correa had opted "for economic pragmatism" in abandoning the environmentalist image he had wished to project internationally.

Matt Finer, a scientist at the U.S.-based Center for International Environmental Law, expressed dismay at the decision. "It is deeply disappointing that this alternative model for dealing with oil and gas reserves in mega diverse rainforests did not work," he said via email from Peru. "The Yasuni-ITT Initiative was the lone exception to the relentless expansion of hydrocarbon projects deeper into the most remote tracts of the western Amazon. Now there is really no viable alternative to stop the wave of drilling slated for the most biodiverse region of the world."

Despite championing the project, Correa is not perceived domestically as much of an environmentalist. He has also upset indigenous groups with plans to develop major mining projects for the first time.

Indigenous and environmental groups in Ecuador, a nation of 14 million people, have said that any decision on the fate of Yasuni should be made in a national referendum. Patricio Chavez, director of the environmental group Amazonia por la Vida, criticized Correa for leaving potential donors a single option: "Pay or we drill."

Yasuni is not the only oil drilling that Correa's government plans in the rainforest. He is also seeking to auction oil concessions in 13 blocks of 770 square miles each south of Yasuni closer to the border with Peru.

Oil is Ecuador's chief source of foreign earnings. The country produces 538,000 barrels of crude a day, delivering nearly half its production to the United States.

Associated Press writer Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.

Turkey accuses OIC of inaction on Egypt violence

19/08/2013

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) -- Turkey's Islamic-rooted government on Monday accused the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its Turkish secretary general of remaining indifferent to the bloodshed in Egypt.

"I would say I resign because ... I couldn't accept the stance of an Islamic organization whose name carries the word Islam in the face of such brutality," Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said in televised remarks.

If the OIC's Turkish secretary general Ekmeleddin "Ihsanoglu had made such a decision," to resign over the OIC's inaction in the face of the Egyptian military-backed government's deadly crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, he said, "it would have had an impact."

The 57-member OIC, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is the world's top Islamic body.

Bozdag's comments came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday lashed out at the international response to the violence in Egypt, saying organizations including the United Nations and European Union should be ashamed of their inaction.

Turkey has hardened its tone towards Egypt's new authorities, recalling its ambassador to Cairo over the crackdown last week, prompting a tit-for-tat move by Egypt.

Daily demonstrations in support of Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi have since taken place in Turkey.

The two countries have also cancelled joint naval exercises planned for October.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=622326.

Deadly attack on police as Egypt escalates crackdown

CAIRO (AFP) -- Militants killed 25 policemen on Monday in the deadliest attack of its kind in years, as Egypt's army-installed rulers escalated a campaign to crush ousted president Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

The assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at two buses carrying police in the Sinai Peninsula, sources said, just hours after 37 Brotherhood prisoners died in police custody.

The incidents came after Egypt's military chief vowed a "forceful" response to violence roiling the Arab world's most populous nation.

The Sinai attack raised fears of a return to the wave of deadly Islamist violence that swept the country in the 1990s.

Egypt is struggling to put a lid on a deep political crisis and violence that has killed almost 800 people in several days of clashes between Islamist protesters and security forces across the country.

Western countries have condemned the violence and are threatening to cut off billions of dollars in aid to Egypt in response, but Saudi Arabia said on Monday that Arab nations are ready to step in to fill the financial void.

The developments came as judicial sources said former autocratic president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in a popular uprising in 2011, was granted conditional release in one case against him, but that he would remain in custody in an additional case.

Morsi loyalists vowed new demonstrations on Monday, although a day earlier they had cancelled some marches citing security concerns.

The interior ministry said 25 policeman were killed and two injured in the Sinai attack, which it on "armed terrorist groups."

A border official said afterwards that the Rafah crossing with the Palestinian Gaza Strip, near where the attack occurred, would be closed.

Security sources said another policemen was killed in the northern city of el-Arish, bringing to at least 75 the number of security force members killed in the Sinai since the army deposed Morsi on July 3.

The security situation in the Sinai has deteriorated sharply in the past weeks, with near daily attacks by militants targeting police and military installations.

Elsewhere bloodshed sparked by the Aug. 14 security force crackdown on pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo showed little sign of abating.

Authorities said 36 Islamist detainees died after police fired tear gas in a bid to free an officer taken hostage by prisoners, as the inmates were being transferred to a north Cairo jail.

But the Brotherhood, the once-banned movement from which Morsi hailed, held the police accountable.

"The murder of 35 detained anti-coup protesters affirms the intentional violence aimed at opponents of the coup, and the cold-blooded killing of which they are targets," it said in a statement in English.

Only hours before the deaths, military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned security forces would confront any violence from protesters.

"We will never be silent in the face of the destruction of the country," said Sisi, who overthrew Morsi last month after mass protests against the Islamist president's rule. He pledged a "forceful" response to further attacks on police and government buildings.

According to an AFP tally, more than 1,000 people have been killed since mass demonstrations against Morsi erupted at the end of June.

In response to the violence, EU ambassadors were recalled from their summer break for a meeting in Brussels Monday, with foreign ministers due to review the bloc's ties with Egypt at an emergency meeting on Wednesday.

The European Union has pledged nearly five billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid to Egypt but has cautioned this was under "constant review" after Morsi's ouster.

The United States has cancelled joint military exercises with Egypt.

It has but stopped short of suspending $1.3 billion in annual aid, although some US lawmakers called Sunday for the funds to be cut.

But the international response has not been uniformly critical. Both Saudi Arabia and Jordan have said they back Egypt in its fight against "terrorism".

Egypt's foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said Monday in Sudan that his country was on the "right path".

Israel, meanwhile, an official urged the West to support Egypt's military.

"The name of the game right now is not democracy," he told the Jerusalem Post.

"The name of the game is that there needs to be a functioning state. After you put Egypt back on track, then (you can) talk about restarting the democratic process there."

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=622291.

Thousands rally for Morsi in Nazareth

17/08/2013

NAZARETH, Israel (AFP) -- Thousands of Palestinian supporters of the Islamic Movement in Israel demonstrated on Saturday in support of Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, an AFP correspondent said.

Around 4,000 people led by firebrand preacher Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, took part in the protest in the northern city of Nazareth, the correspondent said.

The demonstrators marched holding Egyptian flags as well as pictures of Morsi and chanting against Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who led the overthrow of Morsi, claiming he was "taking orders from the US."

A police spokeswoman said the demonstration passed without event.

Pro-Morsi rallies took place on Friday in Jerusalem's Old City and in the West Bank city of Hebron, attended mostly by supporters of Hamas.

Some of the participants in the Friday rallies accused Sisi of collaborating with Israel, where officials have refrained from commenting on the events in Egypt.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=621680.

Death toll soars to 638 in Egypt violence

August 16, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Weeping relatives in search of loved ones uncovered the faces of the bloodied, unclaimed dead in a Cairo mosque near the smoldering epicenter of support for ousted President Mohammed Morsi, as the death toll soared past 600 Thursday from Egypt's deadliest day since the Arab Spring began.

World condemnation widened for the bloody crackdown on Morsi's mostly Islamist supporters, including an angry response from President Barack Obama, who canceled joint U.S.-Egyptian military maneuvers.

Violence spread Thursday, with government buildings set afire near the pyramids, policemen gunned down and scores of Christian churches attacked. As turmoil engulfed the country, the Interior Ministry authorized the use of deadly force against protesters targeting police and state institutions.

The Muslim Brotherhood, trying to regroup after the assault on their encampments and the arrest of many of their leaders, called for a mass rally on Friday in a challenge to the government's declaration of a monthlong state of emergency and a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

At least 638 people were confirmed killed and nearly 4,000 wounded in the violence sparked when riot police backed by armored vehicles, snipers and bulldozers smashed the two sit-ins in Cairo where Morsi's supporters had been camped out for six weeks to demand his reinstatement. It was the deadliest day by far since the 2011 popular uprising that overthrew autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak and plunged the country into more than two years of instability.

Also on Thursday, The United Nations Security Council called on both the Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood to exercise "maximum restraint" and end the violence spreading across the country. Council members called for national reconciliation.

The Health Ministry said that 288 of those killed were in the largest protest camp in Cairo's Nasr City district, while 90 others were slain in a smaller encampment at al-Nahda Square, near Cairo University. Others died in clashes that broke out between Morsi's supporters and security forces or anti-Morsi protesters elsewhere in the Egyptian capital and other cities.

Mohammed Fathallah, the ministry spokesman, said earlier that the blood-soaked bodies lined up in the El Iman mosque in Nasr City were not included in the official death toll. It was not immediately clear if the new figures included the ones at the mosque.

Inside the mosque-turned-morgue, the names of the dead were scribbled on white sheets covering the bodies, some of them charred, and a list with 265 names was plastered on the wall. Heat made the stench from the corpses almost unbearable as the ice brought in to chill the bodies melted and household fans offered little relief.

Weeping relatives filled the mosque courtyard and spilled into the streets. In a corner, a woman cradled the head of a slain man in her lap, fanning it with a paper fan. Nearby, an anguished man shouted, "God take revenge on you el-Sissi!" a reference to the powerful military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi.

Slumped over the body of his brother, Ihab el-Sayyed said the 24-year-old was getting ready for his wedding next week. "Last time I heard his voice was an hour or two before I heard of his death," he said, choking back tears.

Over the mosque speakers, announcements urged people to leave because their body heat was making the humid conditions worse inside the mosque, where posters of Morsi lay piled up in a corner. Many people complained that authorities were preventing them from obtaining permits to bury their dead, although the Muslim Brotherhood announced that several funerals had been held Thursday. Fathallah denied that permits were being withheld.

"Bodies are getting decomposed. We only want to bury them. This is unfair," said Hamdan Abdullah, who had traveled from the city of Fayoum to retrieve the body of his niece. Omar Houzien, a volunteer helping families search for their loved ones, said the bodies were carried to the mosque from a medical center at the protest camp in the final hours of Wednesday's police sweep because of fears they would be burned.

Elsewhere, a mass funeral was held in Cairo for some of the 43 security troops authorities said were killed in Wednesday's clashes. Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police, led the mourners. A police band played solemn music as fire engines bore the coffins draped in white, red and black Egyptian flags in a funeral procession.

The deadly crackdown drew widespread condemnation from the Muslim world and the West. Obama canceled joint U.S.-Egypt military exercises scheduled for next month, although he gave no indication that the U.S. planned to cut off its $1.3 billion in annual military aid to the country. The U.S. administration has avoided declaring Morsi's ouster a coup, which would force it to suspend the military aid.

"While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back," the U.S. president said, speaking from his weeklong vacation in Massachusetts.

Obama said he also ordered his national security team to "assess the actions taken by the interim government and further steps that we may take as necessary with respect to the U.S.-Egyptian relationship."

Egypt's interim government issued a late night statement saying the country is facing "terrorist actions targeting government and vital institutions" by "violent militant groups." The statement expressed "sadness" for the killings of Egyptians and pledged to work on restoring law and order.

The statement also warned that Obama's position "while it's not based on facts can empower the violent militant groups and encourage them in its anti-stability discourse." Egypt enjoys "full sovereignty and independence of its decision," the statement said.

The biennial Bright Star maneuvers, long a centerpiece of the deep ties between the U.S. and Egyptian militaries, have not been held since 2009, as Egypt grappled with the fallout from the revolution that ousted Mubarak. Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected president in 2012 during Egypt's first democratic elections.

Despite the curfew and state of emergency, violence spilled over to a second day Thursday. The Interior Ministry said its decision to authorize police to use deadly force came after an angry crowd stormed the governor's office in Giza, the city next to Cairo that is home to the pyramids.

Associated Press reporters witnessed the burning buildings, a two-story colonial-style villa and a four-story administrative office on the road leading to the pyramids on the west bank of the Nile River.

"The ministry has given instruction to all forces to use live ammunition to confront any assaults on institutions or the forces," the statement read. Egypt's military-backed government also pledged to confront "terrorist actions and sabotage" allegedly carried out by Muslim Brotherhood members.

State TV blamed Morsi supporters for the arson and broadcast footage showing firefighters evacuating employees from the larger building. The Brotherhood's website IkhwanOnLine said thousands of Morsi supporters marched through Giza but were attacked by pro-military "militias." It did not say how the government buildings were set on fire.

Attackers also set fire to churches and police stations across the country for a second day Thursday. In the country's second-largest city of Alexandria, Islamist protesters exchanged gunfire with an anti-Morsi rally, leaving scores injured, witnesses and security officials said. Attempts to storm police stations in the southern city of Assiut and northern Sinai city of el-Arish left at least six policemen dead and others injured.

Ishaq Ibrahim of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said his group had documented at least 39 cases of violence against churches, monasteries, Coptic schools and shops in different parts of the country on Wednesday.

Cairo, a city of some 18 million people, was uncharacteristically quiet Thursday, with only a fraction of its usually hectic traffic and many stores and government offices shuttered. Many people hunkered down at home for fear of more violence. Banks and the stock market were closed.

Fearful of more violence Friday in response to calls for more protests by both the Brotherhood and anti-Morsi camps, some main streets were closed and people in many neighborhoods set up cement blocks and metal barricades. Residents checked IDs in scenes reminiscent of the 2011 revolution when vigilante-style groups set up neighborhood watches to prevent looting and other attacks.

In Cairo's Nasr City neighborhood, smoke rose from the burned-out Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque compound that had been the epicenter of support for Morsi, its floor covered with black debris and nearby trees and grass charred. A makeshift field hospital was also gutted, its walls blackened and floors covered in pools of brackish water.

The turmoil is the latest chapter in a bitter standoff between Morsi's supporters and the interim leadership that took over the Arab world's most populous country following a July 3 coup. The military ouster came after millions of Egyptians took to the streets to demand Morsi step down, accusing him of giving the Brotherhood undue influence and failing to implement vital reforms or bolster the ailing economy.

Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location ever since. Other Brotherhood leaders, including several arrested Wednesday, have been charged with inciting violence or conspiring in the killing of protesters.

The Brotherhood has spent most of its 85 years as an outlawed group or enduring crackdowns by successive governments. The latest developments could provide authorities with the grounds to once again declare it an illegal group and consign it to the political wilderness.

Brotherhood leaders and family members wounded and killed by security forces

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

A number of senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their family members have been wounded and killed by Egyptian security forces today in Cairo. Eyewitnesses said that Habeebah Ahmed, the daughter of President Mohamed Morsi's information adviser, was shot and killed. Her father, Ahmed Abdul-Azeez, spoke of her death on Facebook: "I announce the death of my daughter and friend Habeebah."

Deputy Muslim Brotherhood Guide Khayrat Al-Shater's daughter Hafsa and her husband Dr Mostafa Hassan were both killed in Rabaa Al-Adawiyya Square, while Ammar Al-Beltaji, the son of prominent Freedom and Justice Party leader Mohamed Al-Beltaji, said that his sister was also killed as security forces attacked anti-coup protesters with great force and brutality.

Brotherhood spokesman Hussam Abul-Bukhari was reported to be severely wounded, "with blood pouring from his mouth". Abdullah Abdul-Jawwad said that he was grabbed by the police along with Abul-Bukhari who was then shot by the officers. He claimed that they refused to allow him to receive any medical attention. Dr Wesam Abdul-Wareth confirmed that he saw the police shooting at Abul-Bukhari.

An unconfirmed number of protesters were burnt alive when their tents were set on fire by the army and police. At least three charred bodies can be seen in gruesome pictures from the scene of the killings.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/6904-brotherhood-leaders-and-family-members-wounded-and-killed-by-security-forces.

Protesters encircles governor's office in Al-Siwees

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in al-Siwees governorate protesting against the massacres in Rabaa al-Adawiyya and al-Nahda Squares.

The protesters closed the streets leading to the headquarters of the governorates office. They also seized one of the army's armored vehicles in the area.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/6903-protesters-encircles-governors-office-in-al-siwees.

After hundreds of deaths, Egyptians called on to protect protesters

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

The Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance in Egypt has called on Egyptians to take to the streets in order to halt the aggressive attacks against protesters being carried out by the police.

The National Alliance said gatherings would be held at Assad al-Furat Mosque, al-Istiqama in Giza, al-Fatah in Ramsis and al-Nour in al-Abassiya.

Egyptian police began attack against protesters at Rabaa al-Adawiyya and al-Nahda Squares today at dawn.

A prominent leader of the Freedom and Justice party, Mohamed al-Beltaji, said that the number of deaths at the field clinic at al-Adawiya exceeded 300, with thousands wounded, including women and children.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/6895-after-hundreds-of-deaths-egyptians-called-on-to-protect-protesters.

Journalists arrested at Adawiya and Nahda squares including a Reuters reporter

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Egyptian security forces have arrested dozens of journalists and media professionals, both Egyptian and foreign, whilst they have been covering the crimes being committed by the military rulers against the peaceful protesters at Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares.

Among those arrested are Tom Finn, a Reuters news agency reporter in Rabaa al-Adawiya square, two photographers whose photos from their cameras were deleted, as well as a reporter and photographer from al Badeel and Mustafa Darwish, whose camera was confiscated.

The security forces also arrested Ahmad Jodeh, of Al-Jazeera in Nahda square during his coverage of the dispersal of the sits-ins.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/6900-journalists-arrested-at-adawiya-and-nahda-squares-including-a-reuters-reporter.

Noble Peace Laureate expects military operation to lead to a new revolution

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Yemeni activist and Noble Peace laureate, Tawakkol Karman, has said that dispersing the Egyptian protests forcibly would lead to a new, full revolution against the military rule.

Writing on her Facebook page, Karman said, "30 martyrs in the first half hour of the operation and hundreds of wounded inevitably means the beginning of a new revolution."

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/6897-noble-peace-laureate-expects-military-operation-to-lead-to-a-new-revolution.

Today's massacre is unprecedented in Egypt's history

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Muslim thinker and member of the Islamic Research Council, Mohamed Omarah, has said that the ruling regime reached breaking point when it started forcibly dispersing the peaceful pro-Morsi protests and militarized the country by assigning military governors.

He said that there were laws and constitutions in all countries around the world that guarantee the right to peaceful protests. When we see the police dispersing peaceful protests this way, we are watching a massacre never before witnessed in Egyptian history.

Omarah referred to the high number of deaths and injuries caused by the Egyptian army and police while dispersing the pro-Morsi protests.

Hoping that no negative consequences would emerge, he expected the worst was still to come. Omarah's pessimism is based on the fact that such a massacre has never before happened in Egypt. "There has never been such a precedent," he said.

He said that the army opposed all initiatives that had been proposed to remove the protests. Omarah said that this was because the army wanted to secure military rule in Egypt, which has led to more violence. He said that this damages the image of the Egyptian army.

The involvement of the army in such massacres will damage its authority, as has happened with the Iraqi and Syrian armies, such an event would be welcomed by Israel.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/6894-todays-massacre-is-unprecedented-in-egypts-history.

Muslim Brotherhood: At least 250 killed in Cairo crackdown

14/08/2013

CAIRO (AFP) -- Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said at least 250 people were killed and over 5,000 injured Wednesday in a police crackdown on two major protest camps held by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

"250+ confirmed deaths. Drs saying most critical patients will die from their bullet wounds. over 5000 wounded. biggest massacre since #coup," Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad said on Twitter.

There was no independent confirmation of the Brotherhood toll.

An AFP correspondent at the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp had counted 17 bodies at the makeshift morgue there

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=620919.

Protests swell, prompt Egypt to postpone dispersal

August 12, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Supporters of toppled President Mohammed Morsi increased the pressure on Egypt's interim leadership by defiantly flooding into two protest camps Monday, prompting police to postpone moving against the 6-week-old sit-ins because they feared a "massacre."

Morsi's Islamist backers have rejected negotiations with the military-backed government, leaving the most populous Arab nation in an uneasy limbo. Still, the delay by the security forces gave the Sunni Muslim world's top religious institution more time to try to ease the political tensions with a new initiative.

Authorities also showed no signs of meeting key demands by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood to release top Islamists who have been detained and face criminal investigations. A judge ordered the deposed president, detained since he was overthrown July 3, to be held for 15 more days pending investigations of charges he conspired in 2011 with Palestinian militants, a judicial official said.

As news leaked that police were going to cordon off access to the sit-in sites early Monday, protesters took to the streets by the tens of thousands, and many made their way into the protest camps, whose populations include many women and children. Authorities said they wanted to "avoid bloodshed" and delayed taking any action.

The Anti-Coup Alliance, which works with the Brotherhood, said in a statement that the swift response of the people to come to the main sit-in site at the Rabaah al-Adawiya Mosque "is a great message to all parties that deserves our utmost respect."

The group also urged police not to respond to orders to blockade the sit-ins. "Their rifles and bullets must only target enemies of Egypt," the group said. For weeks, the government has been warning protesters to disperse, describing the sit-ins as a security threat.

The Interior Ministry has depicted the encampments as a public danger, saying 11 bodies bearing signs of torture were found near both sites. Amnesty International has also reported that anti-Morsi protesters have been captured, beaten, subjected to electric shocks or stabbed. At least eight bodies have arrived at a morgue in Cairo bearing signs of torture, the human rights group said.

Reporters Without Borders said two journalists were beaten by Morsi supporters while covering a Brotherhood march Friday in Cairo. The group also criticized "harsh measures" taken by authorities against news media supportive of the Brotherhood, saying 52 journalists were arrested since Morsi's removal from office.

Both the protesters and the security forces blame each other for using live ammunition in two major clashes near the Rabaah encampment that have killed at least 130 Morsi supporters. Further violence threatens not only to delay the transition to a democratically-elected leadership, but could also further weaken the economy after more than two years of political instability.

The protests — a main tool of expression after the closure of pro-Brotherhood TV channels — have also stopped traffic and cut off main roads, and are being used by the Morsi camp as a political tool to increase pressure on the interim leadership.

After night fell Monday, speakers at the Rabaah sit-in led the flag-waving crowd in chants of "The police are thugs!" and "Islamic law, not secular law!" Some in the throng hoisted children up on their shoulders as they cheered, waved and made V-for-victory signs.

Security officials in charge of riot police units said they had been given notice Sunday to prepare their forces to cordon off the Rabaah site and another protest across town near Cairo University in Giza. Reports emerged of units coming to Cairo from around the country to take part in the operation.

The security forces had planned to form cordons around the two sites as early as dawn Monday, allowing protesters to leave but preventing others from getting in, to minimize casualties before using water cannons and tear gas, officials told The Associated Press.

After thousands streamed in and swelled the size of the sit-ins, however, security officials became concerned about the increased chance of bloodshed, and they decided not to move on the camps. "We were stunned by the masses" who came to the camps, one military official told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. He added that a push into the sit-ins would trigger a "massacre."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Washington was "very deeply concerned today about the potential for violence in Egypt." "From the start, we've emphasized to those within Egypt that violence only sets back the eventual cause that they claim to be working for and need to allow people to protest peacefully," she added.

While the delay in using security forces to end the sit-ins has helped ease tensions that had spiked overnight, Egypt remains on edge as to how the standoff will end. Morsi was deposed by the military after massive demonstrations across the country June 30, demanding he step down over what protesters saw as his failure to govern inclusively and manage the economy. Many accused him of acting only on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Last month, hundreds of thousands rallied in the streets to answer a call by Egypt's military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, to give him a mandate to act against "potential terrorism" by Morsi's supporters.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights warned Monday that associating terrorism with the Brotherhood allows the military and police to use full force to preserve national security, shifting the debate to stability rather than on human rights and democracy.

Meanwhile, nearly two weeks of efforts by the international community to end the standoff and find a peaceful resolution failed. A locally negotiated solution also faces obstacles. Influential Brotherhood member Mohammed el-Beltagy said he turned down an offer by the head of Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's top religious institution, to negotiate a solution. El-Beltagy said top Al-Azhar cleric Ahmed el-Tayyib was not an impartial mediator because he backed the coup.

However, public figures close to the Brotherhood have been approached to take part in the Al-Azhar talks. Another Brotherhood figure, Saad Emara, dismissed efforts to negotiate a solution, saying the group doesn't recognize the "initiatives from the post-coup era."

"The key to a resolution is the return of legitimate institutions, including the president," Emara said. Harf, the State Department spokeswoman, said the U.S. was "continuing to engage with all parties to push towards an inclusive, democratic process."

She added that the U.S. was urging "an end to all politically motivated arrests and detentions and emphasize that this won't help Egypt move beyond the crisis." Sectarian violence, meanwhile, has flared in southern Egypt, and insurgents have battled the military in the Sinai, with Morsi's removal appearing to have lifted the lid on Islamic militancy in various parts of the country.

"The country is at a standstill," said Abdel-Rahman al-Bagi, part of a group of anti-Morsi demonstrators camped in Cairo's Tahrir Square since his overthrow. "Nothing is functioning because of the Muslim Brotherhood."

The Brotherhood sought to use the momentum of support from those who joined the two pro-Morsi sit-ins Monday to organize more marches. One protest disrupted traffic across a major bridge in Cairo. Another saw about 100 marchers in a metro station holding pictures of Morsi and demanding he be reinstated.

Protesters have been fortifying the sit-ins camps. In Rabaah, men with helmets, sticks and what appeared to be protective sports equipment guarded barricades made of sandbags, truck tires and bricks. They have also built three concrete waist-high barriers against armored vehicles.

Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad says they have no plans to back down. "If they disperse one, we create two," he said.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.