Police fire water cannon to disperse Egypt rally

November 26, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's police fired water cannons Tuesday to disperse dozens of activists protesting police brutality in Cairo, the security forces' first implementation of a controversial new law forbidding protests held without a permit from authorities.

The unrest points to the growing backlash against the law, which imposes heavy restrictions on protests, among the secular political factions that rallied behind the military's ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Now some in the loose coalition are growing impatient with signs the military-backed interim government is taking the country down a more authoritarian path. Many non-Islamist activists say the law aims to silence any dissent ahead of a referendum on an amended constitution and other key elections. Those activists oppose provisions in the revised constitution entrenching greater powers for the military and the president, and curtailing rights to free trials and assembly.

The government says the law is needed to restore security and stability and rein in near daily protests by Morsi supporters demanding his reinstatement. The Islamist rallies have often descended into bloody clashes with security forces, leaving hundreds dead since Morsi's ouster in July. The government's message has a strong resonance among a public weary of constant protests and unrest.

But rights groups and activists say the law, issued Monday by the interim president, will stifle Islamists and non-Islamists alike. They say it is harsher than restrictions on protests during the rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in 2011 in an uprising calling for greater democratic freedoms.

"They don't want anyone in the streets any more. Not us, not the Islamists," said Rasha Azab, a political activist who took part in Tuesday's rally that was broken up by security forces. International criticism of the law has also been growing.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement Tuesday that the law raises concerns because it does not meet international standards and will not move Egypt's transition forward. "We urge the interim government to respect individual rights and we urge that the new constitution protect such rights," she said.

Skeptical of both Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group and the military, activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Mubarak have been organizing limited but rare non-Islamist protests in recent weeks demanding justice from police officials who killed hundreds of protesters during the tumultuous past three years. The activists have openly clashed with the military before — when generals directly ruled Egypt following Mubarak's fall — and then with the Brotherhood during Morsi's one year in office.

On Tuesday, around 100 secular protesters held a rally in downtown Cairo to commemorate the death of protester Gaber Salah, known by the nickname "Gika," at the hands of police a year ago. Police quickly deployed to the area.

As protesters gathered, a police officer came out in front of an armored vehicle and told the crowd that they had no permit, the activist Azab said. He gave two warnings before the police fired water cannons, sending the protesters running into sidestreets, she said.

Azab said she was briefly detained, and an officer told her that while he has the right to arrest her, he was letting her go to tell her colleagues that no protests will be allowed to take place without permits any more.

"I told him: You want me to take a permit after January 2011? He said: This is what the moment calls for," she said. "They want to bring us back" to before 2011. She said for the authorities, the secular activists — though smaller in numbers — "are more of a nuisance than the Brotherhood because we don't have a central leader like the Islamists' guide to tell us what to do."

A police spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abdel-Fattah Othman, told the private CBC station that the rally was dispersed because organizers had not sought a permit from security officials as required by the new law.

"This behavior is a challenge to the state and its prestige. The protesters want to embarrass the state. But the state is capable," Othman told the station. "Any gathering without a permit will be dealt with according to the law."

Security forces had heavily deployed across town where Morsi supporters had planned to hold a rally later Tuesday.

Egypt's president issues law restricting protests

November 24, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's interim president on Sunday banned public gatherings of more than 10 people without prior government approval, imposing hefty fines and prison terms for violators in a bid to stifle the near-constant protests roiling the country.

The new law is more restrictive than regulations used under the rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, overthrown in Egypt's 2011 uprising that marked the start of unrest in the country. Rights groups and activists immediately denounced it, saying it aims to stifle opposition, allow repressive police practices and keep security officials largely unaccountable for possible abuses.

"The law is giving a cover to justify repression by all means," said Bahy Eddin Hassan, head of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, one of the local groups that had campaigned against the law.

The military-backed government first floated the law in October. Interim President Adly Mansour approved a slightly amended version Sunday, which removed a proposed ban on sit-ins and a draft portion criminalizing "insulting the state."

The law requires three-day prior notice for protests. It grants security agencies the right to bar any protests or public gatherings, including election-related meetings of political parties, if they deem it a threat to public safety or order. Protesters can appeal the decision, but the law doesn't force judges to rule ahead of scheduled protests.

The new law also bars gatherings in places of worship, a regular meeting place for all protests in Egypt and one heavily used by Islamist groups. The law also says the police have the right — following warnings — to use force gradually, including the use of water cannons, tear gas and clubs.

Rights groups say the law also gives police unrestricted use of birdshot to put down protests, omitting an article that prohibited the use of force in excess. Penalties in the law range from seven years in prison for using violence in a protest. It calls for one year in prison for covering the face in a country where many women wear full-face veils. It calls for a similar prison sentence for protesting in or around a place of worship.

The law sets fines of $44,000 for being violent at a protest. It sets fines of $1,500 for protesting without a permit, a hefty sum in Egypt, where the minimum monthly salary for public employees has finally been raised to 1,200 Egyptian pounds ($175).

The law comes 10 days after authorities lifted a three-monthlong emergency order that granted security forces sweeping powers. Rights groups and political forces campaigned heavily against the law. "The law is labelled one that regulates protests rights, but in essence it is regulates the repression of the right to protest," Hassan said.

Hassan said government officials and supportive media outlets promoted the law as means to halt protests by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who was removed by the military in July. Morsi's supporters hold near-daily protests that often turn violent, though the size of the demonstrations have dropped due to an intense security crackdown targeting Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Shaima Awad, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, said protests would continue, calling the new law "nonsense." "How can I notify them three days before the protests and give the names of organizers? It would be like handing myself in," Award said. The law "unifies revolutionaries afresh. ... We can now all agree that the military authorities are trying to strangle any voice that says no. We won't accept and others won't accept that either."

A similar law to regulate protests was hotly contested when Morsi was in office. It never passed. Gamal Eid, a civil rights lawyer, said Mansour's approval of the law "wasted a right that was seized through much bloodshed" in the past three years.

"I would have imagined that as a temporary president he would have issued a law that grants rights instead of denies them," Eid said. Hassan said the protest law, along with a proposal allowing for civilians to be tried by military courts and other legislation aimed at combating terrorism, "are all steps to reinforce the basis of the police state that was threatened after the January 2011 uprising."

"The law can't be viewed separately from what happens in other domains," he said. "The worst is yet to come." Meanwhile Sunday, a public prosecutor referred Mubarak to a new trial on charges of embezzling some $18 million worth of state funds to build and renovate family homes. The prosecutor also referred two of Mubarak's sons, two government officials and two contractors to stand trial with the ex-leader.

No date for the trial has been set yet. Mubarak already faces a retrial for his alleged role in the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising against him and separate corruption charges.

Egypt expels Turkish ambassador, scales back ties

November 23, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt downgraded diplomatic relations Saturday with Turkey and expelled its ambassador from Cairo, a sharp escalation in tensions between the two countries that mounted after a military coup ousted the country's Islamist president this summer.

In a quick reaction, Turkey reciprocated by declaring the Egyptian ambassador "persona non grata" and downgrading relations with Egypt to the same level. Egypt's ambassador hadn't been in the country since August over the turmoil.

Saturday's decisions, which fall short of closing diplomatic missions in the two countries, are a dramatic reversal of the warming relations between the two countries over the past year. Egypt's interim government vehemently has protested remarks by Turkish leaders criticizing the popularly backed military coup that toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The decision Saturday followed another critical comment by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters in the Black Sea coastal city of Trabzon, Erdogan appeared unfazed by the diplomatic snub. He said there would be no shift in his position toward Egypt's new rulers. "I will never have respect for those who come to power through coups," Erdogan said Saturday.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it considered the Turkish envoy "persona non grata" and asked him to leave the country. The ministry said it will scale back its diplomatic relations with Turkey to the level of charge d'affaires.

"This (Turkish) leadership has persisted in its unacceptable and unjustified positions by trying to turn the international community against Egyptian interests and ... by making statements that can only be described as an offense to the popular will," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

A Turkish ministry statement said Egypt's interim government, "which came to power in exceptional circumstances," was responsible for the deteriorating relations. "The deep-rooted ties and bonds of brotherhood between the people of Turkey and Egypt will remain," the statement said. "We hope that stability and democracy in Egypt is restored as soon as possible and that relations between the two countries are normalized."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul told reporters that he hoped the two country's relations "will be restored soon." Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he believed ties would be restored "once a government elected by the will of the people" comes to power in Egypt.

Since Egypt's 2011 uprising against Morsi's predecessor, autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Turkey sought to strengthen ties with the country's new political order. The Turkish president was the first to visit Egypt after the fall of Mubarak in February 2011. Trade between the two countries increased by about 27 percent in the following year to $3.8 billion in the first nine months of 2012. Turkey also increased its investment in Egypt and currently has some 26 development projects in Egypt.

Turkey's Islamic-rooted ruling party strongly backed toppled Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi — a leading figure in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood — as an example for the Arab world of a democratically elected Islamist leader. Turkey criticized his popularly backed July 3 overthrow by Egypt's military, while also criticizing the West for what it deemed as a weak response to the coup.

Turkey and Egypt previously recalled their ambassadors in August after Turkey condemned the ouster and a subsequent bloody crackdown on pro-Morsi protests. Turkey's ambassador returned weeks later, but Egypt declined to return its envoy to Ankara.

Saturday's decision comes after Erdogan renewed his criticism of Egypt's new leaders, dismissing the trial of Morsi on charges of inciting murder of his opponents while in office and describing the situation in Egypt as a "humanitarian drama." He had previously called for the trial of Egypt's new leaders for the crackdown.

At a speech Saturday, Erdogan made the four-finger gesture that refers to a sit-in near a mosque in Cairo where a bloody security crackdown killed hundreds of Morsi supporters in a show of solidarity with Islamists.

Egypt's interim President Adly Mansour has said that Turkey should have relations with "Egypt and its people — and not with leaders of a certain group." Egyptian officials and media have repeatedly accused Muslim Brotherhood leaders of meeting in Turkey to plan protests and other ways to undermine the new government in Cairo.

On Saturday, the independent Egyptian daily newspaper al-Watan reported on its front page that the international members of the Muslim Brotherhood continued "their plotting" against Egypt in a meeting in Istanbul. The paper was referring to a human rights conference in which participants said they will take legal actions against Egypt's new leaders for what it said were "massacres" against supporters of Morsi.

Frazer reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writer Desmond Butler in Istanbul contributed to the report.

Egypt gives police free rein to confront threats inside universities

2013-11-21

CAIRO - Egypt's interim rulers gave police on Thursday the power to enter university campuses to quell protests without seeking prior permission, after a student was killed in clashes.

Students who support the new military-installed authorities and those who oppose it have clashed regularly in Cairo and elsewhere since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

The military-installed cabinet said police may now enter campuses "without seeking permissions in case of threats and to confront protests that could harm students."

Previously, police had to obtain permission from the prosecutor general or university authorities before entering campuses or dormitories to deal with demonstrators or fighting.

Thursday's move came after a student was killed overnight at an Al-Azhar University dorm in Cairo's Nasr City district, a security official and a medic said.

The student had been hit by birdshot in the chest and neck.

The clashes were between supporters and opponents of the new army-installed authorities, security officials said, adding that groups of students also confronted each other at Cairo University on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a court in the capital sentenced 38 Al-Azhar University students to 18 months in prison for "participating in violence" at the campus in October, state news agency MENA reported.

The authorities are engaged in a crackdown on Morsi's Islamist supporters in which more than 1,000 people have been killed since the middle of August and thousands more arrested.

Among initiatives announced by the cabinet on Thursday was boosting the powers of the police and military to help fight "terrorism."

Islamist militants have stepped up attacks in the restive Sinai since Morsi's ouster and have also targeted security forces outside the peninsula.

On Wednesday, a car bomb in the Sinai killed 11 soldiers and wounded 34, and another blast in Cairo wounded four policemen.

The Sinai attack was the deadliest in the region bordering Gaza and Israel since an August 19 ambush on a security convoy killed 25 police in the north Sinai town of Rafah.

And on Thursday, a police officer was shot dead north of Cairo while on a mission to arrest militants suspected of assassinating a senior security official on Sunday.

Captain Ahmed Samer Mahmoud was killed at dawn in an operation in the Nile Delta town of Qulubiya when a Special Forces team exchanged fire with militants, the interior ministry said.

The team was chasing "terrorist elements" wanted for Sunday's murder of Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Mabruk, it said.

Mabruk, an officer involved in the crackdown against Islamists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood to which Morsi belonged was shot dead in Cairo.

A Sinai-based group linked to Al-Qaeda, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, said its militants had killed him.

The group had previously claimed it bombed the interior minister's convoy in a failed assassination attempt in September.

Also on Thursday a police officer was shot dead while on patrol in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya, security officials said, adding that one of the two assailants had been arrested.

The cabinet also said it has decided to review recent citizenship offered to non-Egyptians, referring mainly to the nearly three years since long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak quit in February 2011.

The media has reported that Morsi's government had stepped up efforts to grant Egyptian nationality to Palestinians staying in the country.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=62796.

Uighur group urges independent probe into Xinjiang violence

Beijing (AFP)
Dec 31, 2013

An exile Uighur group on Tuesday demanded Chinese authorities allow independent investigations into a clash in Xinjiang where eight "attackers" were shot dead by police, the latest deadly incident in the largely Muslim region.

The Xinjiang regional government should "fully disclose all information" on the Monday violence and allow "an independent investigation to be conducted by international organs", the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) said in a statement.

It also called on Beijing to open Shache county, where the conflict took place, to foreign media and government representatives "to allow transparency surrounding the narrative of the incident".

The area, around 200 kilometers (124 miles) south-east of Kashgar, is known as Yarkand in the Uighur language.

Chinese authorities have described the incident as an "organized and premeditated terrorist attack" on a local police station by a total of nine "terrorists" armed with knives and explosive devices, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

One of the "attackers" was held in the clash, it said, adding police confiscated 25 explosives and nine knives at the site of the "attack".

The group, led by two apparent Uighurs identified as Usman Barat and Abdugheni Abdukhadir, had gathered to watch terrorist videos and promoted religious extremist ideas since August, Xinhua quoted Xinjiang police as saying. They had also raised funds and made and tested explosives for planned terrorist attacks, it added.

Uighurs, who have followed Islam for centuries, are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang, a sprawling and resource-rich region four times the size of Japan and rich in oil and natural gas.

The WUC alleged that the incident was another case of the government silencing dissent by killing Uighurs under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

"This incident testifies to a recent trend of state-sponsored violence used to quell Uighur dissent, whereby authorities ignore due process of the law, shoot and kill Uighurs, label them terrorists, and then use counter-terrorism to justify the unlawful killings," said WUC president Rebiya Kadeer in the statement.

Authorities have blamed "terrorists" for a series of similar incidents this year in Xinjiang.

Rights groups and outside scholars, however, say unrest is spawned by cultural oppression, intrusive security measures and a wave of immigration by China's Han majority.

Information in the area is tightly controlled and difficult to independently verify.

In the worst outbreak of sectarian violence in recent years in China, around 200 people died and more than 1,600 were injured while hundreds were arrested in riots in the Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi in July 2009.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Uighur_group_urges_independent_probe_into_Xinjiang_violence_999.html.

Violence, boycott mar elections in Bangladesh

January 05, 2014

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Many Bangladeshis stayed away from polling stations in Sunday's general elections, marred by an opposition boycott and relentless violence that threatens to deepen the crisis in the South Asian nation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's refusal to heed opposition demands to step down and appoint a neutral caretaker to oversee the election led to the boycott, undermining the legitimacy of the vote. Opposition activists responded with attacks, strikes and transportation blockades in unrest that killed at least 275 people in 2013.

"We never expected such an election. For such a situation both the government and opposition are responsible. They don't want to establish democracy," said Aminul Islam, a Dhaka resident who refused to vote.

Police opened fire to stop protesters from seizing a polling center in northern Rangpur district, killing two people. In a similar incident in neighboring Nilphamari district, police fired into about two dozens of protesters, leaving one person dead.

Police gave no further details, but Dhaka's Daily Star newspaper said the three men belonged to the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party. Elsewhere, police said suspected opposition activists stabbed to death a polling official, and local media reported that attackers torched more than 127 school buildings across the country in overnight attacks. The buildings were to be used as polling stations.

The voting began at 8 a.m. but local television stations showed mostly empty polling stations, still wrapped in early morning winter fog. By midmorning, polling was suspended in at least 120 centers because of attacks, burning of ballots and election materials, an election official said on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to speak to reporters.

At a polling station in Dhaka's Mirpur district, only 25 out of 24,000 registered voters cast their ballot in the first two hours, with polling officials saying fear of violence and absence of any strong opposition kept people away.

The chaos could exacerbate economic woes in this deeply impoverished country of 160 million and lead to radicalization in a strategic pocket of South Asia, analysts say. Hasina's refusal to quit and name an independent caretaker administration, which resulted in the boycott by opposition parties, means the election will mainly be a contest between candidates from the ruling Awami League and its allies. Awami League candidates are running unchallenged in more than half of the country's 300 parliamentary constituencies.

Bangladesh has a grim history of political violence, including the assassinations of two presidents and 19 failed coup attempts since its independence from Pakistan in 1971. "I am fearful that deadly violence could return, people would continue to suffer, political forces with extreme views could emerge in the face of government crackdown and repressive measures," said Asif Nazrul, a law teacher and analyst. "This election will just pollute our very new democracy by shrinking the space for opposite views."

The squabbling between Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia — known as the "Battling Begums" — has become a bitter sideshow as both women, who have dominated Bangladeshi politics for two decades, vie to lead the country. "Begum" is an honorific for Muslim women of rank.

Zia urged people to boycott what she called "farcical" elections. "None at home and abroad will legitimize it," she said. The bickering between the two longtime rivals caused an uproar in October, when the women spoke for the first time in years in an acrimonious telephone call.

"I called you around noon. You didn't pick up," Hasina said, according to a transcript published in the Dhaka Tribune, an English-language newspaper. Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said the prime minister was wrong.

"You have to listen to me first," Zia snapped. Last weekend, after authorities barred Zia from leaving her home to join a rally, she told police that she would change the name of Gopalganj, Hasina's home district, if she came to power. Her outburst was broadcast live on TV while roads around her home were heavily guarded and sand-laden trucks were parked to obstruct her movement.

A key factor in the latest dispute is the role of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamic political party. The party is a key ally of Zia, and was a coalition partner in the government Zia led from 2001 to 2006.

Opponents of Jamaat-e-Islami say it is a fundamentalist group with no place in a secular country. Bangladesh is predominantly Muslim, but is governed by largely secular laws based on British common law.

The execution last month of Abdul Quader Mollah, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader and a key member of the opposition, exposed the country's seething tensions. Mollah was the first person to be hanged for war crimes in Bangladesh under an international tribunal established in 2010 to investigate atrocities stemming from the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators including Mollah, killed at least 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war. The case remains politically volatile because most of those being tried are connected to the opposition.

The European Union, the United States and the British Commonwealth said they would not send observers for the election. U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that Washington was disappointed that the major political parties have not reached a consensus on a way to hold free, fair and credible elections.

Bangladesh Islamist buried after execution

By Justin Salhani
Dec. 13, 2013

Dec. 13 (UPI) --The senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, Abdul Kader Mullah, was buried after his execution by hanging for 1971 war crimes in Bangladesh's war of liberation against Pakistan.

Described as the Butcher of Mirpur, Mullah, 65, has been alleged to have massacred unarmed civilians and killed intellectuals, who were supporting the independence from Pakistan.

Mullah was the first person convicted by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal.

Before his death, Mullah's family was allowed to meet him one last time. "He told us that he is proud to be a martyr for the cause of the Islamic movement in the country," his son Hasan Jamil said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/Blog/2013/12/13/Bangladesh-Islamist-burried-after-execution/3631386933532/.

Bangladesh Islamist party vows to avenge execution

December 13, 2013

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — An Islamist political party has vowed to deepen the role of Islam in Bangladesh to avenge the execution of a party leader who was hanged for war crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

Abdul Quader Mollah, 65, was hanged Thursday night in a case that has exacerbated the explosive political divide in Bangladesh, an impoverished country of 160 million. Mollah was a leader of the party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and a key member of the opposition.

Opponents of Jamaat-e-Islami say it is a fundamentalist group with no place in a secular country. Bangladesh is predominantly Muslim, but is governed by largely secular laws based on British common law.

The execution sparked violent protests Friday as activists torched homes and businesses belonging to government supporters in a fresh wave of bloodshed ahead of elections next month. At least five people died in the violence.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people rejoiced in the streets of the capital, Dhaka, and said justice had been served. In an editorial, Bangladesh's English-language Daily Star newspaper congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for trying and executing Mollah "40 long years" after he committed his crimes.

A Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Makbul Ahmed, said in a statement late Thursday that "people would take revenge on this killing by establishing Islam in Bangladesh, which is stained with the blood of Abdul Quader Mollah."

"I urge all the people who support the cause of the Islamic movement to show utmost patience to build a strong resistance," Ahmed said. Jamaat-e-Islami says Mollah's trial was politically motivated and an attempt to eliminate Islamic parties. Those who support the execution say he was hanged for serious crimes, and that the punishment had nothing to do with Islam.

An analyst said attempts by the government to neutralize Jamaat-e-Islami could backfire, and that the party could become more radicalized despite Hasina's determination to suppress fundamentalist groups.

"Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party has been in operation for a long time, so it's natural that it will hit back with what it has in its possession when you hit it in an extreme way," political analyst Ataur Rahman said.

Mollah was the first person to be hanged for war crimes in Bangladesh under an international tribunal established in 2010 to investigate atrocities stemming from the independence war. Jamaat-e-Islami activists on Friday attacked ruling party supporters and minority Hindus in parts of Bangladesh, torching their homes and shops. At least five people died in the violence, local TV stations reported. Hindus are believed to be supporters of Hasina.

In Dhaka, Jamaat-e-Islami activists torched at least four cars and a motorcycle near the country's main railway station, said Shahzadi Sultana, a fire official. Several homemade bombs were detonated during the attack, Somoy TV reported.

Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators including Mollah, killed at least 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war against Pakistan. The case remains politically volatile because most of those being tried are connected to the country's opposition. Mollah was a key member of Jamaat-e-Islami, which is barred from taking part in next month's national elections. But the group is closely tied to the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The special tribunal convicted Mollah of killing a student and a family of 11, and of aiding Pakistani troops in killing 369 other people during the war. The court had stopped his execution at the last minute Tuesday night — just hours before he was due to be hanged — before rejecting his final appeal.

The execution could complicate an already tense political situation in Bangladesh, where the opposition has carried out violent protests that have left nearly 100 people dead since October, demanding an independent caretaker government to oversee the Jan. 5 general election.

The government has rejected that demand, and an opposition alliance led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia plans to boycott the vote.

Turkey to mull proposals for military re-trial

January 04, 2014

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is considering legal arrangements that could lead to the re-trial of hundreds of military officers and other people who were convicted of plotting to topple the government, the head of Turkey's bar association said Saturday.

Hundreds of people have been jailed in Turkey for separate alleged plots to overthrow the government soon after it came to power in 2002. They include the country's former military chief and other top commanders.

But the legitimacy of their trials was questioned recently after Erdogan's top political adviser suggested that those officers had been framed by groups within the police and judiciary whom the government is now accusing of orchestrating a massive corruption probe that has targeted the prime minister's allies.

The military this week filed a legal complaint, asking prosecutors to look into the claims as well as accusations by government officials that the corruption probe is a conspiracy by a group that has allegedly infiltrated the judiciary and police.

Metin Feyzioglu, the head of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, told reporters after a meeting with Erdogan that the two discussed a set of legal proposals that could lead to the re-trial of the military officers and other people accused of plotting against the government.

Erdogan responded in a "warm and positive" manner to the proposals and instructed Turkey's justice minister to work with the Union on possible legal changes, said Feyzioglu. He said under his group's proposal, cases currently being assessed by a high court of appeals would be returned to a lower court for a review, while new trials would be opened for cases which have already been finalized by the higher court.

All cases would be heard by ordinary criminal courts, instead of the more controversial special courts that oversee terror and security cases, Feyzioglu said. The military officers and their supporters have long complained of unfair treatment and of fabricated evidence during trials.

The government has pointed fingers at the followers of a U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for the corruption investigation, which has ensnared the sons of three former government ministers and the head of a state-owned bank. Gulen, who is based in Pennsylvania and commands a global empire of business, media and education interests, has denied any involvement in the investigation.

Turkey's secular military has staged three military takeovers since the 1960s, but has seen its powers curbed by the decade-long rule of Erdogan's Islam-based government. The trial of the military officers helped end its hold on politics.

Turkish media reports said the military chief has requested the government's help for a review of the officers' cases. Some analysts see that as a sign of an uneasy alliance forming between Erdogan's government and the military against the Gulen movement.

In a separate legal development on Saturday, three Kurdish legislators were released from prison after the country's highest court ruled that the lawmakers' long detention periods pending trial were against the constitution. A similar ruling on Friday led to the release of two other legislators who were on trial for alleged links to Kurdish rebels.

Two legislators from Turkey's main opposition secular party who had been jailed for allegedly plotting against Erdogan's government were released late last year and in August in a similar high court ruling.

Turkish riot police clash with demonstrators

December 27, 2013

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish riot police blasted opposition protesters with water cannons, tear gas and plastic bullets in Istanbul on Friday in scenes reminiscent of the summer's mass anti-government demonstrations.

Some of the protesters threw rocks and firecrackers at police, shouting, "Catch the thief!" in reference to a widening corruption scandal gripping Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Similar protests were held in the city of Izmir, and in Ankara where police also fired water cannons to disperse the crowds.

At least 31 people, including three lawyers, were detained in Istanbul, according to the Istanbul Bar Association. Thousands of Erdogan backers, meanwhile, gathered at other spots showing their support for the embattled Erdogan.

A Turkish high court on Friday blocked the government from changing the rules on how corruption investigations are initiated, dealing another blow to Erdogan's government. Twenty-four people, including the sons of two former government ministers and the head of the state-owned financial institution, Halkbank, have been arrested on bribery charges.

Media reports say the probe is over alleged illicit money transfers to Iran and bribery for construction projects. Erdogan was forced to reshuffle his government this week after the three ministers, whose sons were detained for questioning as part of the corruption and bribery probe, resigned. Erdogan says the probe is part of a wider conspiracy aimed at bringing his government down.

But his government has also removed police officers from posts and changed police regulations to ensure that corruption investigations are initiated by top police and judicial officials — some of whom are believed to be close to Erdogan. Critics have accused Erdogan of trying to stifle the investigation.

The High Administrative Court ruled Friday that the government revert to previous protocols on investigations pending further deliberations on the issue — a case that was prompted by complaints by Turkey's bar association.

Before Erdogan's government changed the regulations, prosecutors could launch investigations and order police to carry out detentions without seeking approval from superiors. Asked to comment on the court's move, Erdogan said the government would do "whatever is necessary" but did not elaborate.

Earlier, he verbally attacked a prosecutor involved in the investigation, calling him a "disgrace" and accusing him of smearing innocent people. Some Turkish media reported that the prosecutor, who has said he was being prevented from expanding the corruption probe, wanted to summon Erdogan's son for questioning.

The prosecutor, Muammer Akkas, complained that police officers had not carried out orders for another wave of arrests. In a written statement he distributed to reporters outside the courthouse late Thursday, he said that the chief prosecutor and police were hampering his probe.

Istanbul's chief prosecutor, Turan Colakkadi, later removed Akkas from the case for allegedly leaking information to the media, and said Akkas was carrying out "random investigations." Aydinlik newspaper and its sister television station both published on their websites what they said was a copy of the prosecutors summons for Erdogan's son, Bilal, to testify as a "suspect" in the investigation. According to the document, the prosecutor would have questioned him on Jan. 2 on suspicion of "forming a criminal gang."

There was no immediate government statement disputing the authenticity of the document, which was also printed in Cumhuriyet newspaper. Akkas could not be reached for comment or to verify the document while officials at the prosecutors' office refused comment.

Erdogan said earlier this week that he believed he was the target of the corruption probe, maintaining that there were efforts to get to him through his son and through an educational foundation, of which Bilal is a board member. He also said that the efforts would fail.

The foundation, TURGEV, which is involved in the building and running of student residences, refused to comment. Erdogan repeated claims of a foreign conspiracy to destabilize Turkey and its economy in four separate speeches on Friday and slammed the prosecutor.

"A prosecutor who distributes press releases to journalists outside a courthouse is a disgrace to the judiciary," Erdogan said. "How can you smear innocent people?" he said. Earlier, three legislators from Erdogan's party, who have been critical of the government's handling of the scandal, resigned over what they said was the government's pressure on the judiciary.

The leader of the opposition also accused the government of protecting "thieves." "We have entered an era where the thieves are being protected and prosecutors who are going after the thieves are rendered ineffective," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party.

Erdogan vowed to fight the graft allegations. "We will go if the people tell us to go, but we will ignore those who tell us to go while the people tell us to stay," Erdogan said in Sakarya. The Turkish currency continued to plunge over the turmoil with the lira reaching new lows against the euro and the dollar.

The military meanwhile, said in a statement that it would not be dragged into politics amid the scandal. The statement came after one of Erdogan's advisers raised the possibility in a regular column published in Star newspaper that the scandal may be a plot to trigger a coup.

Turkey's military has staged three military takeovers since the 1960s but has seen its powers curbed under Erdogan's decade in power.

Turkey: Government reshuffle after ministers quit

December 25, 2013

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday reshuffled his Cabinet after three key ministers resigned over a sweeping corruption and bribery scandal that has targeted his allies and rattled his government.

Erdogan replaced Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Erdogan Bayraktar, the minister for the environment and urban planning. All three men's sons were detained as part of the corruption investigation. They all deny any wrongdoing.

Erdogan also replaced the minister in charge of relations with the European Union who was also implicated in the probe but had not resigned. In all, Erdogan replaced 10 ministers, including three who will contest mayoral elections in March.

The corruption probe is one of the biggest political challenges Erdogan has faced since his Islamic-based party narrowly escaped being disbanded in 2008 for allegedly undermining Turkey's secular Constitution. This summer, he also weathered a wave of anti-government protests sparked by a development project that would have engulfed an Istanbul park.

Erdogan has denounced the investigation as a plot by foreign and domestic forces to thwart his country's prosperity and discredit his government ahead of local elections in March. His government has won three elections since 2002 on the strength of the economy and a promise to fight corruption.

Turkish commentators believe the probe is fallout from an increasingly public feud and power struggle between Erdogan's government and an influential U.S.-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are believed to have a strong foothold within Turkey's police and judiciary. The two men, without naming each other, have been engaged in a war of words since the corruption probe was launched on Dec. 17.

Gulen has denied being involved in the investigation. He left Turkey in 1999 after being accused by the then-secular government of plotting to establish an Islamic state. He was later cleared of that charge and allowed to return to his homeland, but he never has and is living in Pennsylvania.

In Istanbul, meanwhile, police clashed with hundreds of protesters demanding government's resignation, Dogan news agency reported. Authorities have arrested 24 people on bribery charges, including Caglayan's and Guler's sons, along with the chief executive officer of the state-run bank Halkbank. Bayraktar's son, Abdullah Oguz, was detained as part of the probe but later released from custody.

Media reports said police seized $4.5 million in cash that was stashed in shoe boxes at the home of the bank's CEO, while more than 1 million dollars in cash was reportedly discovered in the home of Guler's son.

As he resigned Wednesday, Caglayan questioned the legitimacy of the investigation, which is focusing on alleged illicit money transfers to Iran and alleged bribery for construction projects. "I am leaving my position at the Economy Ministry to spoil this ugly plot, which has involved my colleagues and my son (Salih Kaan), and to allow for the truth to be exposed."

In a telephone interview with NTV television, Bayraktar also denied any wrongdoing, complained of being pressured into resigning by Erdogan and insisted "a great proportion" of construction projects that are allegedly under investigation were approved by the prime minister himself.

"I want to express my belief that the esteemed prime minister should also resign," Bayraktar said. Guler, the interior minister, told reporters Tuesday that he is the victim of a political plot and that there is nothing his family could not account for. He also said alleged wiretap recordings of a conversation with his son — reportedly used as evidence by police for the arrests— were tampered with, and that the cash discovered in his son's house was money earned from the sale of a luxury villa.

In a further headache for Erdogan, lawmaker Idris Naim Sahin — whom Erdogan removed as interior minister in an earlier reshuffle — also announced his resignation from the party, while the Ankara prosecutor's office said a separate probe had been launched into alleged irregularities in the awarding of high-speed train contracts.

In an address to his party's provincial leaders, Erdogan distanced himself from the ministers who resigned by emphasizing his party's record and determination to fight corruption. But he also repeated a claim that his government was the target of an international plot.

"There are media institutions, organizations and gangs in Turkey who think of others' interests rather than their own country's interests, and are working as spies in a treasonous manner," Erdogan said.

Last week, Erdogan threatened to expel ambassadors from Turkey after four pro-government newspapers accused U.S. Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone of scheming against the government.  One newspaper, Sabah, pressed ahead with that allegation Wednesday by claiming that a U.S. diplomat had prodded a business group to join an "anti-government lobby."

That prompted a new rebuttal from the U.S. Embassy. "Allegations targeting U.S. Embassy employees published in some media organs do not reflect the truth," the embassy said.

Turkish PM says foreign plot behind graft probe

December 21, 2013

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to expel foreign ambassadors on Saturday, blaming them for a vast corruption and bribery investigation mounting against people close to his government. Riot police, meanwhile, stood guard as hundreds protested against Erdogan's government.

Erdogan's accusations come after two government ministers' sons were arrested, along with several others including Suleyman Aslan, the CEO of state-owned Halkbank. In total, 24 people were jailed pending trial, accused of taking or facilitating bribes, the Dogan news agency reported. Turkish media reports say the investigation relates to illicit money transfers to Iran and large-scale bribery for construction projects.

Erdogan said the "dirty operation" was timed to harm his government before March local elections. The elections are seen as a vote of confidence in his decade-long tenure which has been shaken by summer protests over what critics call growing authoritarian rule. Erdogan is expected to run in August's presidential elections as he is barred from running for a fourth term as prime minister. General elections are scheduled for 2015.

"Some ambassadors are engaged in provocative acts," Erdogan said Saturday in the Black Sea city of Samsun. "Stick to your duties. If you exceed your powers, this government will exert its authorities to the limit. We are not obliged to keep you in this country."

Some 500 people staged protests in the capital Ankara on Saturday, calling on the government to resign over the corruption allegations. Similar protests were also held in the cities of Istanbul and Izmir. Some of the protesters made a casket of shoe boxes.

Turkish media reports said police seized US$4.5 million in cash stashed in shoe boxes from Aslan's home. Although he didn't name the ambassadors, Erdogan has backed allegations in pro-government newspapers which accuse the United States and its ambassador of being behind the corruption probe that has ensnared close political allies, including Cabinet ministers and the mayor of an Istanbul district that is a stronghold of his Islamic-based Justice and Development Party.

Pro-government newspaper, Yeni Safak, wrote on Saturday: "Get out of this country," a headline that was apparently directed at US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone. The U.S. Embassy denied accusations as "lies and slander."

It said through Twitter in Turkish: "No one should jeopardize Turkish-US relations through baseless claims." The pro-government newspapers have also accused Israel of being involved in fueling the investigation.

The accusations mirror government moves to deflect criticism by blaming foreign forces for the summer's protests which were sparked by a harsh police crackdown on a small environmental sit-in. Commentators in Turkey have accused the United States and Israel of being behind an attempt to pressure Halkbank, a Turkish financial institution. The bank, whose CEO was among those arrested in the investigation Saturday, has been a source of friction between Washington and Ankara over allegations that it was facilitating trade with Iran at a time that the West has been trying to ramp up sanctions.

Saturday's arrests included Salih Kaan Caglayan, the son of Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Baris Guler, the son of Interior Minister Muammer Guler. Erdogan's government has been in power for more than a decade, winning three successive elections on the strength of Turkey's relatively robust economy and promises to crackdown on corruption. It has portrayed itself as being virtuous and incorruptible, often emphasizing the party's initials "AK", which means "white" or "pure" in Turkish.

The government has removed dozens of police officials from duty since the scandal erupted, including Istanbul's police chief, fueling accusations of an attempt to impede the investigation. In another move likely to anger critics, the government changed regulations on police operations on Saturday, forcing officers to seek the permission of most senior officials and prosecutors for investigations and arrests.

The investigation comes amid a deepening feud and a power struggle between Erdogan's government and an influential Islamic movement whose leader, Fethullah Gulen, is in self-imposed exile in the United States. Some believe that Gulen's followers — who are reported to have risen to powerful positions within Turkey's police and judiciary — instigated the investigations.

Gulen on Saturday mounted an unprecedented attack on the government, accusing it of ignoring the corruption allegations but going after police investigating the charges. "Those who don't see the thief but go after those who chase the thief ... May Allah bring fire to their homes," Gulen said in a video message to his followers that was shown on Turkish television stations.

Preacher at the center of Turkish political storm

December 20, 2013

ISTANBUL (AP) — A vast corruption scandal could damage Turkey's powerful leader in a way that anti-government protests which brought thousands into the streets this summer failed to do.

This time, many Turks believe it all comes down to one man: a U.S.-based spiritual leader who the West extols as a model of moderate Islam and who some Turks see as a sinister puppet master. Turkish investigators this week launched early morning raids that targeted close allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan — including the sons of three cabinet ministers as well as key business leaders and civil servants — amid revelations of illicit money transfers to Iran and large-scale bribery for construction projects.

In a country where conspiracy theories are legion, Turks take it as an article of fact that the raid was orchestrated by Fetullah Gulen, part of an epic power struggle with Erdogan, a leader once considered unassailable.

The evidence for that is tenuous and Gulen has denied any involvement in the investigations. But there is little question that he has an outsize influence in his native country and that ties between his movement and Erdogan's Islamic-based government have been broken.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in in Pennsylvania's Poconos resort area, is believed to have millions of followers of his Hizmet movement, a network of Muslim believers who command a global empire of business, media and education interests.

The U.S. has lauded Gulen for his schools around the world, which it sees as a potential alternative to madrassas that teach radical interpretations of Islam. But in a state built on secular principles, many Turks see Gulen's influence in a more ominous light.

Commentators and lawmakers say Gulen, who was acquitted in 2008 on Turkish charges of plotting to establish Islamic law, has so infiltrated the country's justice and police departments with his followers that even the prime minister could be vulnerable.

They allege that the prosecutor who launched the corruption probe against Erdogan's government is a Gulen follower — a theory the prime minister himself has espoused. This week Erdogan warned of a "dirty operation" carried out by "a state with a state."

Professor Dogu Ergil, a political scientist who has published a book on Gulen, says he has sought to create a movement that would help traditional Muslims thrive in the modern world. That includes helping Muslim children get scholarships and admission to elite schools and opening doors for followers through fellow supporters.

"The movement is like a constantly expanding honeycomb," Ergil said. But the image of a long-distance Machiavelli in Pennsylvania orchestrating a plot against the Turkish government by fiat is an unlikely one, he said.

"The man is an inspirational leader. He doesn't have the expertise or skills to steer or manage the enormous movement," Ergil said. Ahmet Sik, a Turkish investigative journalist who wrote a critical book called "The Imam's Army," said the movement's influence is hard to pinpoint.

"The movement is not a transparent structure and they don't walk around with signs on their foreheads," Sik said. "But we know from the goings-on within the bureaucracy that they have organized themselves within the state structure."

Gulen supporters say Erdogan is trying to demonize the movement to distract from the corruption scandal, pointing to threatening outside forces as he did during the protests that rocked Turkey in June.

Since the corruption and fraud investigation came into the open, the government has removed dozens of police officers involved in it from their posts. Erdogan has also vowed to go after "gangs" of alleged conspirators.

Tensions came into the open weeks ago when the government discussed plans to close test prep schools, many of which are run by the Hizmet movement and are a key source of their funding and influence. The plan was met with fury by supporters and even Gulen himself, who preached of the tyranny of "pharaohs."

The split between Erdogan and the Hizmet movement carries some irony. Some of the same investigators probing the corruption allegations were also involved in the prosecutions of an alleged plot to overthrow Erdogan soon after he came to power in 2002.

That prosecution of some 250 people — including Turkey's former military chief, politicians and journalists — was widely credited with defanging Turkey's once-supreme military and putting Erdogan in the preeminent position of power in Turkey.

But the case also removed many of the common enemies that helped forge the alliance between Erdogan and Gulen's movement.

AP writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.

Turkey mobilizes its aid organizations for Syria and Gaza

Friday, 13 December 2013

The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD) has said that it will organize the delivery of aid to Syria and Gaza with the aim of helping Syrians and Palestinians face the cruel winter conditions.

AFAD announced on its website that it plans to hold meetings for humanitarian aid agencies in Turkey in the next few days so as to organize the delivery of aid to Syrians, including Syrian refugees in Turkey, and Palestinians in Gaza, given that the Mediterranean area has been hit by a snowstorm.

A deep low-pressure system has formed over the region in the past two days, heightening the suffering of Syrian refugees in the region and Palestinians in Gaza, the latter who are enduring the harsh weather while under a strict seize imposed by Israel.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/8800-turkey-mobilises-its-aid-organisations-for-syria-and-gaza.

$0.60 for cake: Al-Qaida records every expense

December 30, 2013

TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — The convoy of cars bearing the black al-Qaida flag came at high speed, and the manager of the modest grocery store thought he was about to get robbed.

Mohamed Djitteye rushed to lock his till and cowered behind the counter. He was dumbfounded when instead, the al-Qaida commander gently opened the grocery's glass door and asked for a pot of mustard. Then he asked for a receipt.

Confused and scared, Djitteye didn't understand. So the jihadist repeated his request. Could he please have a receipt for the $1.60 purchase? This transaction in northern Mali shows what might seem an unusual preoccupation for a terror group: Al-Qaida is obsessed with documenting the most minute expenses.

In more than 100 receipts left in a building occupied by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in Timbuktu earlier this year, the extremists assiduously tracked their cash flow, recording purchases as small as a single light bulb. The often tiny amounts are carefully written out in pencil and colored pen on scraps of paper and Post-it notes: The equivalent of $1.80 for a bar of soap; $8 for a packet of macaroni; $14 for a tube of super glue. All the documents were authenticated by experts.

The accounting system on display in the documents found by The Associated Press is a mirror image of what researchers have discovered in other parts of the world where al-Qaida operates, including Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq. The terror group's documents around the world also include corporate workshop schedules, salary spreadsheets, philanthropy budgets, job applications, public relations advice and letters from the equivalent of a human resources division.

Taken together, the evidence suggests that far from being a fly-by-night, fragmented terror organization, al-Qaida is attempting to behave like a multinational corporation, with what amounts to a company-wide financial policy across its different chapters.

"They have to have bookkeeping techniques because of the nature of the business they are in," said Brookings Institution fellow William McCants, a former adviser to the U.S. State Department's Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. "They have so few ways to keep control of their operatives, to rein them in and make them do what they are supposed to do. They have to run it like a business."

The picture that emerges from what is one of the largest stashes of al-Qaida documents to be made public shows a rigid bureaucracy, replete with a chief executive, a board of directors and departments such as human resources and public relations. Experts say that each branch of the terror group replicates the same corporate structure, and that this strict blueprint has helped al-Qaida not just to endure but also to spread.

AL-QAIDA'S GROCERY LIST Among the most revealing documents are the receipts, which offer a granular view of how al-Qaida's fighters lived every day as well as its larger priorities. "For the smallest thing, they wanted a receipt," said 31-year-old Djitteye, who runs the Idy Market on the sand-carpeted main boulevard in Timbuktu. "Even for a tin of Nescafe."

An inordinate number of receipts are for groceries, suggesting a diet of macaroni with meat and tomato sauce, as well as large quantities of powdered milk. There are 27 invoices for meat, 13 for tomatoes, 11 for milk, 11 for pasta, seven for onions, and many others for tea, sugar, and honey.

They record the $0.60 cake one of their fighters ate, and the $1.80 bar of soap another used to wash his hands. They list a broom for $3 and bleach for $3.30. These relatively petty amounts are logged with the same care as the $5,400 advance they gave to one commander, or the $330 they spent to buy 3,300 rounds of ammunition.

Keeping close track of expenses is part of al-Qaida's DNA, say multiple experts, including FBI agents who were assigned to track the terror group in the years just after its founding. This habit, they say, can be traced back more than three decades to when a young Osama bin Laden entered King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia in 1976 to study economics, and went on to run part of his millionaire father's construction company.

After he was exiled to Sudan in 1992, bin Laden founded what became the country's largest conglomerate. His companies and their numerous subsidiaries invested in everything from importing trucks to exporting sesame, white corn and watermelons. From the get-go, bin Laden was obsessed with enforcing corporate management techniques on his more than 500 employees, according to al-Qaida expert Lawrence Wright, author of a well-known history of the terror group. Workers had to submit forms in triplicate for even the smallest purchases — the same requirement bin Laden later imposed on the first al-Qaida recruits, he said.

In Afghanistan, detailed accounting records found in an abandoned al-Qaida camp in 2001 included salary lists, stringent documentation on each fighter, job application forms asking for level of education and language skills, as well as notebook after notebook of expenses. In Iraq, U.S. forces recovered entire Excel spreadsheets, detailing salaries for al-Qaida fighters.

"People think that this is done on the back of an envelope. It isn't," says Dan Coleman, a former FBI special agent who was in charge of the bin Laden case file from 1996 to 2004. One of the first raids on an al-Qaida safe house was led by Coleman in 1997. Among the dozens of invoices he found inside the operative's home in Kenya were stacks of gas station receipts, going back eight years.

TERRORIST EXPENSE REPORTS This detailed accounting system allows al-Qaida to keep track of the significant sums of money involved in feeding, training and recruiting thousands of fighters. It's also an attempt to keep track of the fighters themselves, who often operate remotely.

The majority of the invoices found on a cement floor in a building in Timbuktu are scribbled by hand, on post-it notes, on lined math paper or on the backs of envelopes, as if operatives in the field were using whatever writing surface they could find. Others are typed, sometimes repeating the same items, in what may serve as formal expense reports for their higher-ups. Al-Qaida clearly required such expense reports — in a letter from the stash, middle managers chide a terrorist for not handing his in on time.

In informal open-air markets such as those of Timbuktu, vendors didn't have receipts to hand out. So, traders say, members of al-Qaida came in pairs, one to negotiate the sale, and the other to record prices on a notepad. This practice is reflected in the fact that almost all the receipts are written in Arabic, a language few residents of Timbuktu know how to write.

The fighters would ask for a price, and then write it down in their Bloc Note, a notebook brand sold locally, said pharmacist Ibrahim Djitteye. "It surprised me at first," he said. "But I came to the conclusion that they are here for a very specific mission.... And when you are on assignment, you need to give a report. They have their own higher-ups, who are expecting them to account for what they spent."

The corporate nature of the organization is also on display in the types of activities they funded. For example, two receipts, for $4,000 and $6,800, are listed as funds for "workshops," another concept borrowed from business. A flier found in another building occupied by their fighters confirms that al-Qaida held the equivalent of corporate training retreats. It lists detailed schedules: Early morning exercise from 5 to 6:30 a.m.; lessons on how to use a GPS from 10 to 10:30 a.m.; arms training from 10:30 a.m. to noon; and various afternoon classes on preaching to other Muslims, nationalism and democracy.

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF GOVERNING A relatively small ratio of the receipts are expense reports for fighters and weapons. One unit presented a politely worded request for funds, entitled: "The list of names of mujahideen who are asking for clothes and boots to protect themselves from the cold."

Far more deal with the mundane aspects of running a state, such as keeping the lights on. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb invaded Timbuktu in April 2012, and took over its state-run utilities, paying to have fuel trucked in from neighboring Algeria. One invoice shows they paid $3,720 for 20 barrels of diesel for the city's power station.

There's also an advance for the prison and a detailed budget for the Islamic Tribunal, where judges were paid $2 per day to hear cases. Along with the nuts and bolts of governing, it's clear that the fighters were actively trying to woo the population. They set aside money for charity: $4 for medicine "for a Shiite with a sick child," and $100 in financial aid for a man's wedding. And they reimbursed residents for damages, such as $50 for structural repairs, with a note that the house in question "was hit by mujahideen cars."

And it's obvious that the fighters spent a good part of their time proselytizing, with expense reports for trips to distant villages to impart their ultra-strict vision of Islam. One receipt bluntly lists $200 for a "trip for spreading propaganda."

While not overtly explained, the sizable receipts for car repairs suggest regular missions into the desert. The many receipts for oil changes, car batteries, filters and parts indicate the tough terrain battered the fighters' Toyota Land Cruisers.

Finally, the names on the receipts reveal the majority of fighters on the group's payroll were foreign-born. There's a $1,000 advance to a man identified as "Talhat the Libyan." Another is issued to "Tarek the Algerian."

The names furthermore confirm that the top leaders of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb were based in Timbuktu. Among them is Abou Zeid, probably the most feared of al-Qaida's local commanders who orchestrated the kidnappings of dozens of Westerners until his death this spring.

"In the name of Allah, the most merciful," begins a request for funds dated Dec. 29, 2012, and addressed to Abou Zeid. "We are writing to inform you that we need rockets for our camp — a total of 4 is needed. May God protect you."

The extent of the documentation found here, as well as in the other theaters where al-Qaida operates, does not mean the terror group runs as a well-oiled machine, cautions Jason Burke, author of the book "Al-Qaida."

"Bureaucracy, as we know, gives senior managers the illusion they are in control of distant subordinates," Burke said. "But that influence is much, much less than they would like." Al-Qaida's accounting practices left a strong impression on at least one person in Timbuktu: Djitteye, the convenience store manager.

The al-Qaida commander who came in for mustard was Nabil Alqama, the head of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb's "Southern Command." He became a regular. One day, he asked the store employee to get a receipt book printed so he could provide more official-looking invoices.

Djitteye obliged. The green receipt book with neat boxes now sits under his cash register. These days, whenever customers come in, he always asks if they would like a receipt. No one ever does.

The documents can be viewed here:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/998496-the-multinational.html.

Saudi to give Lebanon $3B to strengthen army

December 29, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia has pledged $3 billion to Lebanon to help strengthen the country's armed forces and purchase weapons from France, Lebanon's president said Sunday, calling it the biggest grant ever for the nation's military.

Michel Sleiman, who made the surprise announcement in a televised national address, did not provide any further details. The Lebanese army has struggled to contain a rising tide of violence linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria, a conflict that has inflamed sectarian tensions in Lebanon and threatened the country's stability.

"The Saudi king decided to give a generous, well-appreciated grant to Lebanon amounting to $3 billion for the Lebanese army, which will allow it to buy new and modern weapons," Sleiman said. "The king pointed out that the weapons will be bought from France quickly, considering the historical relations that tie it to Lebanon and the military cooperation between the two countries."

Sleiman said he hoped Paris would quickly meet the initiative, and help the Lebanese army with arms, training and maintenance. French President Francois Hollande, who was in Riyadh Sunday for talks with Saudi King Abdullah, said that France would help if requested to do so.

"If there are demands that are addressed to us, we will satisfy them," Hollande told reporters. Fragile in the best of times, Lebanon is struggling to cope with the fallout from Syria's civil war. That conflict has deeply divided Lebanon along confessional lines, and paralyzed the country's ramshackle political system to the point that it has been stuck with a weak and ineffectual caretaker government since April.

It has also seen a wave of deadly bombings and shootings that have fueled fears that Lebanon, which suffered a brutal 15-year civil war of its own that only ended in 1990, could be slowly slipping back toward full-blown sectarian conflict.

In a nod to those concerns, Sleiman said in his address that "Lebanon is threatened by sectarian conflict and extremism," and said that strengthening the army is a popular demand. The Lebanese army is generally seen as a unifying force in the country, and draws its ranks from all of Lebanon's sects. But it has struggled to contain the escalating violence in the country since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict. It is also widely considered much weaker than the Shiite Hezbollah militant group, which is armed and funded by regional Shiite-power and Saudi-rival Iran.

The Saudi pledge appeared aimed, at least in part, at boosting the military in relation to Hezbollah. Historically, the Lebanese army has been equipped by the United States and France. Washington has provided hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid in recent years to Lebanon that has included armored vehicles, weapons and training for the Lebanese army. The U.S. says the program aims to strengthen Lebanese government institutions.

Lebanon's tenuous grip on stability was made clear Friday, when a car bomb killed senior Sunni politician Mohammed Chatah, who had been critical of Syria and Hezbollah. On Sunday, hundreds of mourners packed into a landmark mosque in downtown Beirut to bid farewell to Chatah, a former finance minister and top aide to ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Chatah, a Sunni, was affiliated with Hariri's Western-backed coalition, which has been locked in a bitter feud with a rival camp led by Hezbollah. Hariri, whose own father was killed by a massive car bomb in 2005, has indirectly blamed Hezbollah for Chatah's assassination.

After a somber funeral service inside Beirut's blue-domed Mohammed al-Amin Mosque, pallbearers carried Chatah's casket to the adjacent funeral tent where he was buried next to Hariri's father, Rafik. At several points during the ceremony, some in the crowd broke into chants of "a terrorist, a terrorist, Hezbollah is a terrorist!"

Speaking later, Fouad Siniora, an ally of Chatah, praised his late colleague as a voice of moderation, and promised those in the crowd that such political killings will not knock the Lebanese off their course.

"We will not surrender. We will not back down. We are not afraid of terrorists and murderers. It is they who should be afraid. They kill to govern. While we reiterate our commitment to Lebanon of coexistence and civil peace," he said.

Siniora, who is a former prime minister, also took a swipe at Hezbollah, saying "we have decided to liberate Lebanon from the occupation of illegitimate weapons." Hezbollah's critics accuse the group of being a veritable state-within-a-state because it has maintained its own militia.

The car bombing that killed Chatah was reminiscent of a string of assassinations of around a dozen members of the anti-Syrian Hariri camp between 2004 and 2008, the biggest of which was the powerful blast that killed Hariri's father, Rafik, who also was a former prime minister.

Associated Press writers Sarah Di Lorenzo in Paris and Yasmine Saker contributed to this report.

SYRIA. Has American bet on Islamic Front failed?

26 December 2013

The Americans tried to bet on the Islamic Front (IF) in Syria, but failed. Interest in this movement has recently begun to arouse in America, when it became clear that the IF move away the Free Syrian Army (FSA), associated with the pro-western "national coalition".

On November 20, 7 large groups of Mujahideen announced the creation of a coalition - the Islamic Front - which included about 45,000 fighters.

They stated that the Islamic Front was an independent political, military and social entity, whose main objective was to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic order in the country, writes UmmaNews.

According to reports, the movement includes Ahrar al-Sham, Liwa al-Tawhid, Liwa al-Haqq, Sukur al-Sham, The Army of Islam, Ansar al-Sham and The Kurdish Front.

The Islamic Front withdrew from the Supreme Military Council of the FSA which acted in coordination with the pro-western puppet National Coalition. A few days later, the Mujahideen took over the bases and warehouses of the FSA in the province of Idlib, where weapons and military equipment, delivered to Syria from Turkey, had been stored.

Mujahideen took over the headquarters of the Supreme Military Council of the FSA in the town of Atma. Its head - brigadier general Salim Idris - left Syria

Media started writing about the Islamic Front and leaked information that "the IF leaders oppose groups associated with Al-Qaeda".

Following this, American foreign minister Kerry said Washington was ready to bet on the Islamic Front as "its player" and to start negotiations:

"The United States has not yet met representatives of the Islamic Front. There has been no discussion. It’s possible that it could take place", said Kerry.

But very soon, a senior US diplomat admitted that "Islamist rebels" rejected talks with America.

"The Islamic Front has refused to sit down with us without giving any reason", said the American emissary to Syria Robert Ford.

Pro-Assad media condemned Washington attempts to talk with Mujahideen and stated that the Islamic Front "in its principles, strategies and objectives is the same as Jabhat al-Nusrah".

The Islamic Front includes one of the largest Syria's movements, Ahrar al-Sham, which has close relations with Jabhat al-Nusrah. These days, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Front seized together a large Alawite base in Aleppo.

Moreover, as reported, Mujahideen brigades, included in the Islamic Front, not only cooperate with Jabhat al-Nusrah (Al-Qaeda in Syria), but also fight under its leadership.

For example, in the area of Qalamoun, an operational headquarters has been established under the leadership of Jabhat. It includes Ahrar al-Sham, Liwa al-Haqq, which are members of the Islamic Front, and Ahrar al-Sham - a core group of the IF.

It is obvious that in Syria, the west is trying to repeat the scenario of Mali. It is to be recalled that in 2012, vast areas of northern Mali (Azawad) were under the control of Islamic movements, where Mujahideen established the rule of Sharia. In Azawad, there were three major groups: Ansar al-Din, The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The West flatly refused to talk to AQIM and MOJWA but was ready to negotiate with the Ansar al-Din. In exchange, infidels demanded to cut ties with al-Qaeda and abandon "terrorism".

After a meeting between the representatives of Ansar al-Din with emissaries of regional movements, western media wrote that the movement "renounced all forms of terrorism and extremism" and almost agreed to democracy.

But it was all lies.

In his interview with Sahara Media, Emir of Ansar al-Din, Iyad Ag Ghaly, emphasized that it would be mandatory in Mali to set the rule of Sharia, and as for the Al-Qaeda, there were no plans to break ties with it. In an interview to Al Jazeera, the spokesman of the movement, Sanda Ould Bouamama, also stressed that the relations between Ansar al-Din and Al Qaeda had been based on Muslim brotherhood:

"Everyone knows that we are a local independent Islamic group. Our relations with al Qaeda and other groups are the same as our relations with any other Muslims. We share the same faith - that is all. Nothing more, and nothing less", said the representative of Ansar al-Din.

The same policy of disinformation was tried half a year ago, when the Mujahideen of the IEA opened a political office in Qatar for possible talks with US.

In the press, there were the same information leaks about a supposedly moderate wing of the IEA, which, they said, was almost ready to give up "terrorism" and agree to democracy.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2013/12/26/18711.shtml.

Syrian rebels seize strategic hospital in Aleppo

December 21, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels seized control a strategic hospital near Aleppo, giving a boost to beleaguered anti-government forces in the northern city after days of relentless airstrikes on opposition-held neighborhoods there, activists said Saturday.

The rebels' capture of Kindi hospital does not drastically alter the broader battle for Aleppo, which has been divided for more than a year between opposition and government forces. But it does provide a lift to a rebel movement that has been dogged in recent months by infighting that allowed President Bashar Assad's forces to chip away at rebel-held territory on several fronts.

For months, rebels had been trying to capture Kindi hospital, which is close to the besieged central prison on the edge of town and where the government is believed to be holding thousands of detainees.

The hospital finally fell to the rebels on Friday, according to two activist groups — the Aleppo Media Center and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Aleppo-based activist Abu al-Hassan Marea said the rebels who overran the hospital included both conservative Muslim groups and al-Qaida-linked factions.

Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman said at least 42 government troops were killed in Friday's fighting, and at least 19 Syrian rebels and an unknown number of foreign fighters. A Syrian freelance photographer who worked for foreign news outlets, including Reuters, also was killed in the fighting, activists said. The photographer, Molhem Barakat, was with his brother, a rebel fighter, inside a carpet factory near the hospital when they were both killed, said Hassoun Abu Faisal of the Aleppo Media Center. Activists also circulated a photograph of Barakat's corpse, which matched other images of him.

Abu Faisal said Barakat, who activists said was 18 years old, began working as a photographer about five months ago, was considered talented and quickly sold photographs to foreign media. Reuters said Saturday that Barakat had taken pictures for the news agency on a freelance basis.

Media watchdog groups have ranked Syria the world's most dangerous country for reporters. The Committee to Project Journalists says 22 journalists have been killed in Syria this year, not counting Barakat. More than 30 journalists are believed to be currently held by the Syrian government or rebel forces.

Meanwhile, Syrian government forces continued dumping so-called barrel bombs — containers containing hundreds of pounds (kilograms) of explosives and fuel — over opposition-held parts of Aleppo. The British-based Observatory said at least six people were killed in Saturday's air raids, but other groups gave higher death tolls.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders has said that over four days this week government airstrikes killed at least 189 people and wounded 879 more. Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, said in a statement Saturday that the airstrikes in Aleppo were indiscriminate and unlawful.

"Government forces have really been wreaking disaster on Aleppo in the last month, killing men, women, and children alike," said Ole Solvang, senior emergencies researcher at the New York-based group. "The Syrian Air Force is either criminally incompetent, doesn't care whether it kills scores of civilians — or deliberately targets civilian areas."

Syria's civil war, now into its third year, has killed more than 120,000 people, according to activists, while millions have been forced from their homes by the fighting. Syrian officials have not commented on the air raids in Aleppo, the country's largest city and former commercial hub. Aleppo has been a major front in the civil war since the rebels launched an offensive there in mid-2012. The city has been carved into opposition- and government-held areas.

The escalation comes ahead of peace talks scheduled to begin on Jan. 22 in Switzerland. The timing has sparked speculation that Assad may be trying to strengthen his position on the ground and expose opposition weaknesses before sitting down at the negotiating table.

"I think it will have the reverse effect," Aleppo-based activist Abu Raed said via Skype. "The helicopters come. We stop and look. We keep looking until the barrel drops. We shout out God's name. The civil defense comes to dig out people. The media activists go film."

Both Marea and Raed asked that they be identified only by their nicknames, fearing for their own security. In Damascus, the state news agency said the capital and much of southern Syrian plunged into darkness after a rebel attack struck a gas pipeline that supplies a power plant. Blackouts hit Damascus and other government controlled areas on a regular basis.

Associated Press writers Ryan Lucas in Beirut and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

Syrian air raids exact high toll on Aleppo

December 18, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — In a withering four-day air assault, the Syrian government pummeled opposition-held neighborhoods in the northern city of Aleppo, leveling apartment buildings, flooding hospitals with casualties and killing nearly 200 people.

Rebels say the unusually intense airstrikes have prompted civilians to flee to the countryside and could portend a government ground offensive against the opposition-held half of the city, which has been divided for a year and half by grueling fighting.

The air campaign's timing — five weeks ahead of an international peace conference — also suggests that Syrian President Bashar Assad could be trying to strengthen his position on the ground while exposing the opposition's weaknesses before sitting down at the negotiating table.

The stakes are high in the battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a former commercial and industrial hub. For the government, wresting back control of the entire city would deal a devastating blow to the rebels' morale and throw doubt on the opposition's long-term hold on the vast territory in northern Syria that it has captured over the past two years.

Since it began on Sunday, the government air assault has hammered more than a dozen neighborhoods in the rebel-held areas of Aleppo. The campaign has killed at least 189 people and wounded 879, the aid organization Doctors Without Borders said in a statement Wednesday.

Many of the air raids have targeted neighborhoods that have seen infighting between moderate rebel factions and extremist al-Qaida-linked opposition groups, said the commander of the moderate Aleppo Swords brigade, who goes by the nom de guerre, Abu Thabet. He declined to give his full name for security reasons.

The airstrikes have overwhelmed Aleppo's already strapped medical facilities, which are struggling to cope with the influx of casualties and are running out of drugs and medical supplies, Doctors Without Borders said.

The impact has been so devastating, in part, because of the government's choice of weapon: helicopters that drop so-called barrel bombs containing hundreds of pounds (kilograms) of explosives and fuel, causing massive damage. Activists have dubbed the bombs "barrels of blood" because of their deadly effect.

"Civilians have been leaving the neighborhoods being hit and taking refuge either in villages or traveling to Turkey," Abu Thabet said. Other residents, however, have quickly adjusted. On Tuesday, just 100 yards from a bombing site, "people were buying and selling like nothing had happened," said an Aleppo-based activist, Abu al-Hassan Marea.

In the past, the government has heavily bombarded civilian areas before launching a ground offensive, said Abu Thabet, adding that the current campaign may signal a major operation is imminent. "I think the regime is planning for a new offensive. They want to advance on several fronts," he said by telephone from Aleppo.

But Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese army general who closely follows the Syrian conflict, doubted that a ground offensive was looming. He noted that Assad's forces are already waging two large-scale operations, one around Damascus and the other in the rugged Qalamoun region north of the capital, and are unlikely to open a third now.

"I don't think that we will see, at least in the near future, a very large offensive in Aleppo," said Jaber, who also heads the Beirut-based Middle East Center for Studies and Political Research. "The priority for the regime is the capital first, Damascus and around it, and now Qalamoun because it controls the Damascus-Homs highway."

He said the government was merely exploiting its superior fire power in Aleppo. "It's better to use the air force than to carry out a ground attack, it's less costly," he said. Wednesday's air raids hit at least four neighborhoods, said Marea, speaking to the Associated Press via Skype. One exploded near the Ahmad al-Qassar school, while another landed by a student dormitory, he said.

At least two people were killed, Marea and the Observatory said. Syria's main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, accused the international community of "failing to take any serious position that would guarantee a stop to the bloodbath."

The country's conflict, now in its third year, appears to have escalated in recent weeks as both sides maneuver ahead of next month's planned peace talks and ignore calls for a cease-fire. The U.S. and Russian-brokered peace conference is scheduled to begin in January in the Swiss city of Montreux.

The conflict has exacted a staggering price on Syria and the region. More than 120,000 people have been killed, and nearly 9 million Syrians have been uprooted from their homes — some 40 percent of the country's prewar population of 23 million. They include some 2.3 million who have fled to neighboring countries, sparking a region-wide refugee crisis.

Late Wednesday, the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network aired an interview purportedly with the reclusive leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group, Abu Mohammad al-Golani. Al-Golani, who has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri, said Jabhat al-Nusra will not attempt to lead Syria after Assad falls, but will work with other groups, as well as Islamic scholars and intellectuals, to administer the country according to Islamic law.

Al-Jazeera did not say when or where the interview, in which al-Golani's face was not shown, took place, although the Nusra leader appeared to be sitting in a studio.

Associated Press writers Diaa Hadid, Zeina Karam and Yasmine Saker in Beirut contributed to this report.

Kerry heads to Jordan and Saudi Arabia

January 05, 2014

JERUSALEM (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Jordan and Saudi Arabia to discuss his effort to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, yet his conversations with the U.S. allies will undoubtedly turn to other Mideast trouble spots.

Kerry leaves Jerusalem after three days of lengthy meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (mahk-MOOD' ah-BAHS') and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo). America's top diplomat is trying to nudge the two closer to signing an accord, setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Kerry said Saturday that progress is being made, yet key hurdles are yet to be overcome.

Kerry's talks on Sunday with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah are likely to touch on the war in Syria, rising violence in Iraq, and Iran's nuclear program.

Putin backs off Sochi demonstrations ban

January 04, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has rescinded a blanket ban on demonstrations in and around the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi.

An order published on the Kremlin's website Saturday says that meetings, gatherings, demonstrations, marches and picketing that is not connected with the games may be held in places or along routes approved by the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the country's police.

Putin last year ordered a ban on any demonstrations in Sochi not connected with the games from Jan. 7 to March 21. The move was widely criticized by human rights organizations. Although the Saturday order lifts the blanket ban, Russian authorities generally are stingy about granting rally permission to opposition groups and critics.

International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach said last month that Russia had promised to set up public protest zones in Sochi. It was not clear if the order published Saturday envisioned limiting demonstrations to such zones.

"We welcome this announcement — it is in line with the assurances that President Putin gave us last year and part of the Russian authorities' plans to ensure free expression during the games while delivering safe and secure Games," Mark Adams, a spokesman for the IOC.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday appeared to indicate that protests would be allowed only in one place. "The organizers of the Olympic Games together with the leaders of the Krasnodar Region and Sochi City Hall have been ordered by the president to choose a square in the city where rallies, demonstrations and other events — including of a protest character where necessary — could be held freely," Peskov was quoted as saying by the R-Sport news agency.

The Russian law passed last year that bans promotion of "non-traditional sexual relations" to minors prompted calls by gay activists and others for a boycott of the Sochi games, which begin Feb. 7. Even before the law, Russian authorities routinely banned applications to hold gay rights rallies and quickly broke up attempts at unauthorized gatherings.

Putin was in Sochi on Saturday to inspect preparations for the games, which are the signature project of his presidency. The day included a ride on the light-rail line connecting the snow-sports area in the mountains to the cluster of arenas on the Black Sea coast where the ice sports will be held.

Concern about security at the Olympics spiked this week after two suicide bombings in the city of Volgograd killed 34 people. Although there has been no claim of responsibility for the bombings, the leader of the Islamist insurgency in Russia's Caucasus region had called last year for attacks aimed at the Olympics or undermining them.

Russia has implemented high security measures for the Olympics themselves, but the Volgograd attacks showed that public transportation in Sochi and non-Olympics venues could be vulnerable to terrorism.