Iraq death sentence to ex- PM threatens to damage ties with powerful tribe

2014-11-23

By Salam Faraj and Ammar Karim – BAGHDAD

An Iraqi court sentenced former Sunni MP Ahmed al-Alwani to death on Sunday for murder, a verdict that could damage Baghdad's ties with a powerful tribe that is battling jihadists.

"The central criminal court sentenced Ahmed al-Alwani to death... for his killing of two soldiers," judicial spokesman Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said, without saying when the murders took place.

He has a month to appeal the decision, Bayraqdar said.

Alwani is a member of the Albu Alwan tribe, members of which are fighting against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in the Ramadi area of Anbar province, a key front in the war against IS, which has seized key parts of Iraq since June.

Sheikh Omar al-Alwani, a leader of the Albu Alwan, said that any decision about Alwani should be put on hold and that the verdict could harm the fight against IS.

"All the Albu Alwan tribe is standing against (IS) on the side of the government," but "half of the Albu Alwan fighters will withdraw if they actually executed Alwani in these circumstances," the sheikh said, adding that even the former MP's guards were fighting against IS.

He said the government should wait until the fighting is over and IS defeated, then "take any decision it considers appropriate."

Illustrating their importance, the US Department of Defense has requested that Congress authorize $18.5 million in arms, ammunition and other equipment for tribes in Anbar and a further $5.5 million in contingency funding.

The gear includes 5,000 assault rifles, 12,000 grenades, 150 heavy machineguns, 50 82mm mortars and other items, according to a document outlining the request.

"Failure to equip these forces mean a less effective armed opposition to counter the Islamic State," it said.

"Engagement from Sunni tribes is critical to the long-term defeat" of IS, the document said.

The arrest of Alwani, a prominent supporter of a now-collapsed Sunni Arab anti-government protest movement, was one of the factors that sent Anbar province spiraling into chaos.

He was detained during a raid on his house in late December 2013 that killed his brother Ali and five guards, inflaming Sunni Arab anger with the Shiite-led government, which many Sunnis view as having marginalized and unjustly targeted their community.

The defense ministry said at the time that one security forces member was also killed and five were wounded in the raid.

It said Ali was the target of the raid, but that both brothers and the guards opened fire when security forces arrived.

Ahmed had parliamentary immunity, but the constitution permits MPs to be arrested without their immunity being waived in cases of serious crime.

Just days after the raid, security forces demolished the country's main Sunni anti-government protest camp near Anbar capital Ramadi, setting off a series of events that led to the government losing control of parts of that city and all of Fallujah, farther east.

Almost 11 months later, Fallujah is still entirely out of Baghdad's control and is now a stronghold of the IS, while security forces and allied tribesmen are still battling for control of Ramadi.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=69040.

Tensions rise between Israel and Jordan over Jerusalem situation

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

The Washington Post recently highlighted the growing tensions between Israel and Jordan and commented on King Abdullah II and the Jordanian people's anger over Israel's actions in occupied Jerusalem. The current situation in the Holy City poses a threat to the peace agreement currently in effect between the two countries.

The American newspaper also noted in on its website on Monday, that a feud between Jordan and Israel could undermine the efforts of the US-led fight against Islamic extremists and it also threatens the natural gas deal worth billions of dollars for both countries.

It was also noted that Jordan had made an unusual decision by choosing to recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv as a form of protest to Israel's actions in the Holy City and the escalation of conflict due to Israel's mistreatment of Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque. The Jordanian ambassador has yet to return to his post.

Jordanian officials emphasized that King Abdullah's inability to protect the Aqsa mosque is something that could undermine his credibility in his own country as his legitimacy or claim to the throne stems from the idea that he is a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad and a member of the Hashemite tribes. Jordan's inability to act in defense of al Aqsa would also undermine its image within the Muslim community as well as hinder any progress in the fight against Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15464-tensions-rise-between-israel-and-jordan-over-jerusalem-situation.

Tunisian party gives up support for Marzouki

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Tunisia's Popular Front, a coalition of democratic and left-wing forces, announced it would not support the presidential candidate Moncef Marzouki, Al-Arab Al-Yawm reported today.

The announcement came in the wake of reports that Marzouki and the leader of Nidaa Tunis Party Beji Caid El-Sebsi are going for a second round of elections.

Mohamed Al-Jamour, a senior leader of the Popular Front who made the surprise announcement, said that the Front had not yet decided on its final position. He said that the group is to meet soon and would study what it would do in light of the results of the elections. Adding that the group would take the decision that is in the country's best interests.

The Front had its own nominee in the presidential elections, Hamma Hammami, who did not have any support from the other political groups in Tunisia.

Hammami obtained nine per cent of the votes in the elections, according to the Anadolu Agency, which Al-Jamour described as an okay result.

Marzouki obtained 34 per cent of the votes in the first round of elections, while El-Sebsi attained 42 per cent.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/15461-tunisian-party-gives-up-support-for-marzouki.

Marzouki, Essebsi set for runoff in Tunisia presidential vote

2014-11-24

By Antoine Lambroschini - TUNIS

Tunisia's incumbent President Moncef Marzouki on Monday appeared set for a runoff vote against an anti-Islamist party ex-premier after the first free leadership vote since the 2011 revolution that sparked the Arab Spring.

The election is a milestone in the North African country where a popular uprising set off a chain of revolts that saw several Arab dictators toppled by citizens demanding democratic reform.

The campaign manager for Marzouki said he is neck and neck with former premier Beji Caid Essebsi, the pre-polling favorite among 27 candidates vying for the top job.

"At the worst we are even but at best we're between two and four percent ahead," Adnene Mancer told reporters after polling closed.

"Our chances are good as we go into a runoff" next month, he said.

But the camp of Essebsi, the 87-year-old political veteran whose anti-Islamist Nidaa Tounes party won October's parliamentary polls, said he had come out ahead in Sunday's vote.

Essebsi, "according to preliminary estimates, is ahead and has a large lead", his campaign manager Mohsen Marzouk told journalists.

But with Essebsi "not far short" of the absolute majority needed to win outright, a second round was likely, Marzouk added.

Marzouki's campaign manager said he was concerned that "fraud" had been committed by the Essebsi camp, and urged election monitors to stay vigilant.

- Exit polls -

Exit polls conducted by a private organisation gave Essebsi between 42.7 percent and 47.8 percent of the vote with Marzouki trailing at between 26.9 percent and 32.6 percent, a state television report said.

Official results from what Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa called a "historic day" will be known by Wednesday and a runoff second round vote will be held in late December if there is no outright winner.

Marzouki called on "all democratic forces" to back him in a second round against his rival.

Another presidential hopeful, Hamma Hammami, who according to exit polls came in third, told the media that his political group will meet "as soon as possible" to examine how they should vote in case of a runoff.

Though Tunisia's march towards democracy has been fraught by crisis, it has won international plaudits for not slipping into the post-revolution chaos seen by other Arab Spring states, such as neighbor Libya.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini called the election a further step in Tunisia's "democratic transition" and said it was up to the people to "complete the electoral process with transparency and respect".

Whatever the outcome, Tunisians hailed the election as a landmark which they hoped would lead to economic and political stability.

"This election is very important. It's the culmination of the revolution and something that we really should not pass up," said one observer who gave his name only as Moez.

Bechir Yahyaoui could hardly control his emotions as he voted in Tunis, saying that for once he was "voting for who I want, with no pressure, no bribes".

"Before (under Ben Ali) you had to go and vote, regardless of the outcome. This time the election is free and transparent," he said.

Turnout was around 64.6 percent, authorities said, with some 5.3 million people eligible to vote.

Tens of thousands of police and troops were deployed to guarantee security amid fears that Islamist militants might seek to disrupt the polling.

Other candidates included ministers who served under ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, leftwinger Hammami, business magnate Slim Riahi and a lone woman, magistrate Kalthoum Kannou.

- Powers restricted -

Until the revolution, Tunisia knew only two presidents -- Habib Bourguiba, the "father of independence" from France in 1956, and Ben Ali, who deposed him in a 1987 coup.

To prevent another dictatorship, presidential powers have been restricted under a new constitution, with executive prerogatives transferred to a premier from parliament's top party.

Essebsi's campaign focused on "state prestige", with a wide appeal to Tunisians dissatisfied with Islamist rule in the post-revolution era.

But his critics have warned that Essebsi is out to restore the old regime, having served under both former presidents.

Marzouki argues that only he can preserve the gains of the uprising, while his critics say he hijacked the spirit of the revolution by allying himself with the moderate Islamist party Ennahda in 2011.

The rule of Ennahda, which came second in the October parliamentary election, was marred by a surge of radical Islamism and the assassination of two leftist politicians by jihadist suspects.

If Essebsi wins he will have to form a coalition government, even with Ennahda, because Nidaa Tounes fell short of securing an absolute majority in October.

Whoever wins, the economy will be a priority, with unemployment, a leading cause of the revolution, running at 15 percent.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=69047.

Tunisia votes for president in first free and multi-candidate election

2014-11-23

By Antoine Lambroschini – TUNIS

Tunisians voted Sunday in their first presidential election since the 2011 revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, in a ballot set to round off an often fraught transition to democracy.

Among the 27 candidates the favorite is former premier Beji Caid Essebsi, an 87-year-old veteran whose anti-Islamist Nidaa Tounes party won a parliamentary election last month.

Others vying for the presidency include outgoing President Moncef Marzouki, several ministers who served under ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, leftwinger Hamma Hammami, business magnate Slim Riahi and a lone woman, magistrate Kalthoum Kannou.

Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa hailed the vote.

"It's a historic day, the first presidential election in Tunisia held under advanced democratic norms," Jomaa said. "God willing, it will be a great festival of democracy."

Some 5.3 million people are eligible to vote, with tens of thousands of police and troops deployed to guarantee security amid fears Islamist militants might seek to disrupt polling day.

Polling hours were restricted to just five in some 50 localities close to the Algerian border, where armed groups are active. Everywhere else, polls were due to close at 1700 GMT.

A run-off vote will be held at the end of December if no one secures an absolute majority.

Jomaa, who heads a caretaker government of independents charged with overseeing the completion of Tunisia's transition, has repeatedly contrasted its relative peacefulness with the violence rocking other Arab Spring countries.

The election represents "hope, a big hope for the region," Jomaa said during a last-minute inspection of polling stations late on Saturday.

"We were the first to enter into this cycle of change which they have called the Arab Spring. We will be the first (to make the transition) but others will follow," he said.

Tunisia has won international plaudits for largely steering clear of the violence, repression and lawlessness of other Arab Spring countries such as neighboring Libya.

Until the revolution, Tunisia knew only two presidents -- Habib Bourguiba, the "father of independence" from France in 1956, and Ben Ali, who deposed him in a 1987 coup.

To prevent the emergence of another dictatorship, presidential powers have been restricted under a new constitution, with executive prerogatives transferred to a premier drawn from parliament's top party.

Frontrunner Essebsi has run on a campaign of "state prestige", a slogan with wide appeal to Tunisians anxious for an end to instability.

Supporters argue only he can stand up to the Islamists who first held power in the post-Ben Ali era, but critics charge he is out to restore the old regime, having served under both former presidents.

"Long live Tunisia," Essebsi said as he cast his ballot at polling station in a Tunis suburb, where he was among the first to vote.

A driver in his 30s who gave his name only as Moez said that he had volunteered as an electoral observer because of the importance of the vote.

"This election is very important. It's the culmination of the revolution and something that we really should not pass up," he said.

Outgoing president Marzouki has been hammering home the argument that he is the only leader capable of preserving the gains of the uprising, and has said Sunday's vote is the "last stand" for the old guard.

Islamist party Ennahda, which came second in the parliamentary election, has not put up a candidate and has invited its members "to elect a president who will guarantee democracy".

Speculation has been rife on the make-up of a new government and the possibility of a coalition between Nidaa Tounes and Ennahda despite their fundamental differences.

Whoever wins, tackling the faltering economy will be a top priority, with unemployment, a leading cause of the revolution, running at 15 percent.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=69037.

Voters bet on stability in crucial Bahrain elections

2014-11-22

MANAMA - Bahrain went to the polls Saturday for its first legislative elections since a failed uprising in 2011, with the opposition boycotting the vote.

Bahrain's electorate of almost 350,000 is being called to choose 40 deputies. Most of the 266 candidates are Sunnis.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) and are due to close at 8:00 pm. Municipal elections are being held at the same time.

In Rifaa, a Sunni-dominated district south of Manama, dozens of people, mostly men dressed in traditional long white robes, lined up ahead of the start of voting.

"This election will help the development of the country under the leadership of the king," said Naima El-Heddi, a civil servant in her 30s.

Voters were scarcer further north in the Shiite village of Jidhafs, where a witness reported seeing just 100 people casting ballots in the first two hours.

The boycott means turnout will be a key marker of the validity of the vote.

Information Minister Samira Rajab stressed ahead of the polls that the government would not tolerate "chaos, unrest and foreign meddling" -- a reference to Shiite Iran.

Attacks that cause death or injuries can now be met with capital punishment or life imprisonment.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=69031.

Hong Kong police arrest student protest leaders

November 26, 2014

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities cleared more street barricades from a pro-democracy protest camp in a volatile district Wednesday, part of a two-day operation in which police arrested more than 100 people, including key student leaders.

Police in helmets swiftly cleared obstructions from the 2-month-old protest site in Mong Kok, across Victoria Harbor from the main occupied area in the financial district. Some officers used shears to cut apart plastic ties holding together metal barricades while others tore down tents and canopies and carried away other objects, including a sofa. Ranks of officers, some equipped with backpack pepper sprayers, advanced down the street.

Police said 116 people have been arrested for offences including unlawful assembly and assaulting or obstructing police. One man was held for possessing offensive weapons including an axe, hammer and crowbar. Among those arrested were student leaders Joshua Wong, the 18-year-old head of the Scholarism group, and Lester Shum, deputy secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, according to the groups' Facebook pages.

The arrests of Wong and Shum could reinvigorate the protest movement, which has been losing steam as the Hong Kong government's apparent strategy of waiting out the student-led protesters left them with few options. Organizers estimated that as many as 200,000 people took to the semiautonomous Chinese city's streets at the start of the protests, but numbers have since dwindled sharply, along with public support.

The protesters are demanding that Hong Kong's government scrap a plan mandated by China's Communist leaders to use a panel of Beijing-friendly elites to screen candidates for top leader in inaugural 2017 elections.

Local media reports said 4,000 officers were on hand to enforce the court injunction granted to taxi drivers to remove obstructions from a 450-meter (1,475-foot) stretch of Nathan Road, a busy artery in Kowloon, where the blue-collar Mong Kok district is located.

An effort Tuesday by authorities working under a separate court order to clear a smaller, adjacent part of the protest site descended into chaos as protesters scuffled with police for hours into the evening. Twenty officers were hurt in the scuffles, police said.

Wong and Shum were among those arrested for storming a courtyard next to government headquarters on the evening of Sept. 26. Their prolonged detentions helped spark the ongoing protest movement by angering other young supporters, who poured into the streets two days later to take over busy thoroughfares in Mong Kok and two other districts across the city.

Cash cut to Ukraine rebel areas in risky strategy

November 25, 2014

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — For hours, small crowds in Donetsk huddle hopefully in the cold around cash machines that never get filled, as artillery rumbles in the distance.

Money is running short in the rebel heartland since the government announced this month that it will suspend banking services as it piles on the pressure. Almost all ATMs have stopped working and the remainder are expected to stop operating over the next two weeks.

The move is part of Ukraine's plan to suffocate its separatist foe, now that its costly military campaign has foundered. Authorities say they are also withdrawing all state services from rebel areas, although hospital and school workers in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk say it has been a while since they last saw funding anyhow.

Yet if the government of President Petro Poroshenko hopes to turn people in eastern Ukraine against the separatist leadership, evidence on the ground suggests the strategy may only be hardening their resolve.

"What Poroshenko is saying to us is: 'You are no longer Ukrainians. You won't get pensions, you won't get social payments. When you croak, then we'll stop this war against you,'" said Donetsk retiree Georgy Sharov. "But I don't want to go to Ukraine and beg for their mercy."

The lines have typically formed in front of cash machines belonging to state savings bank Oshchadbank, which handles pensions and social support payments. "Even they don't always have money," said Donetsk resident Sergei Smotovsky, standing outside a branch of the bank. "The worst thing is that not only can you not get social payments. You can't even withdraw money that you earned, your salary."

Even though cash machines don't work, account-holders wait from early morning until lunchtime in the hope that bank workers will top them up, but the doors to the banks often remain firmly shut. Despite the unremitting fighting taking place across Donetsk and Luhansk, the two regions affected by the armed separatist conflict, large supermarkets are still reasonably stocked.

Supplies come from other parts of Ukraine and customers often use bank cards to pay for shopping. Ukraine's government is now about to block bank cards, cutting off another means of sustenance. Hard-pressed recipients of state benefits have for months turned expectantly to the rebel government for cash. Crowds of pensioners and single mothers assemble daily before the separatist headquarters. When anybody in the crowd becomes especially vocal, one of the gunmen guarding the building rushes to bundle them away, accusing them of being "provocateurs."

The brunt of the rage, however, is still directed at the Ukrainian government. "Ukraine says Donetsk is Ukrainian territory, and yet they came here with tanks and weapons instead of paying pensions properly," said Donetsk retiree Anatoly Visly. "I am a disabled veteran and I haven't received my pension for three months."

Many pensioners have re-registered in towns outside rebel zones, meaning payments have still accrued to their accounts. The challenge for those people will now become making the monthly trip to banks in government-controlled areas, which can be costly and difficult, especially for the most infirm.

Prospects for the rebels to set up a welfare system any time soon are bleak. Anna Kharzhevskaya, an official with the rebel social affairs and labor ministry, said separatist authorities have only a crude notion of how many people are eligible for social payments.

Ukraine's government has been blocking access to state records and is trying to spirit away hard copies of databases still in rebel-held areas, Kharzhevskaya said. Separatist authorities say militiamen are under instructions to stop any unsanctioned removals of government records by Ukrainian authorities.

Without a properly functioning tax system in place, there is no immediately obvious and transparent way for money to be raised. As a result, Kharzhevskaya said she could not estimate when her department would begin paying regular pensions.

Things are even grimmer in the Luhansk region. Separatist command there is divided fractiously among the self-styled Luhansk People's Republic and an assortment of armed Cossack leaders. One Cossack commander, Pavel Dryomov, had to admit to rebel media that he had overextended himself in promising 500 hryvnia one-off payments ($35) to pensioners — grossly miscalculating the number of people who needed to be paid. "We had no idea of that figure," he said in a video interview.

If hospitals are still working, it is in large part down to the sheer determination of the staff. Viktoria Lubintseva, director of Donetsk central hospital, said the government had stopped providing funding since the start of November, well before Poroshenko announced the cutoff of state support.

"Medicine is usually bought by the patients as we need different kinds of medicines to do operations," Lubintseva said. "Staff is working voluntarily because they sincerely want to help people, as their conscience dictates."

As state support and cash supplies dwindle, reliance is growing on outside aid. Some of it is coming from Russia, but there are also substantial supplies being provided by the charitable fund of billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, whose wealth is built on eastern Ukraine's vast industrial resources.

Despite such help, many in eastern Ukraine plan to leave: "It is impossible to live here," Smotovsky said as he waited in vain outside the bank.

Syrians on hunger strike outside Greek parliament

November 24, 2014

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — More than 200 Syrian civil war refugees started a hunger strike Monday in front of Greece's Parliament, urging the government to grant them temporary working and residence rights.

The protesters began gathering last week at Athens' main square, complaining that refugees are being forced to pay exorbitant black-market rates to live in squalid apartments in Athens. "People are living in bad conditions. We get (temporary) travel documents, but we can't go anywhere. We can't work, or go to hospital, or rent a place to live," said Khaldoon Fadel, a 31-year-old former resident of Damascus, who joined the hunger strike.

The hunger strikers said they were only eating sugar. Several dozen of them sat on the marble-paved sidewalk with strips of box tape covering their mouths, and packages of flatbread placed in front of them.

"For an (apartment) that would cost 250 euros ($310) to rent per month, we have to pay 1,000 euros ($1,245)," Fadel said. Fadel, who had worked as a chain store manager and fashion designer for women's clothing before fleeing Syria, made the hazardous journey across Turkey and by boat illegally to the Greek island of Kos.

Greece is a busy entry point for immigrants and refugees seeking entry to the European Union. The financial crisis-hit country has seen a spike in the number of Syrians crossing by boat illegally from nearby Turkey.

Authorities expect a three-fold increase in illegal immigration this year, compared with 2013, with nearly two-thirds of the illegal traffic now coming from Syria. On Sunday, the regional governor of greater Athens, Rena Dourou, visited the protesters and said she had contacted the Greek Orthodox Church and the government to try and make arrangements to provide temporary shelter for Syrian refugees.

France suspends delivery of warship to Russia

November 26, 2014

PARIS (AP) — France suspended the delivery of a warship to Russia on Tuesday, after months of speculation about what would be the biggest arms sale ever by a NATO country to the Kremlin.

French President Francois Hollande's office announced the suspension "until further notice" after growing pressure from allies due to tensions over Russia's actions in Ukraine. The decision exposes France to eventual fines for not fulfilling the contract.

The Vladivostok, meant for delivery this month, is docked at the French port city of Saint Nazaire, where about 400 Russian sailors have spent months training aboard the vessel. A second French-made ship, named the Sevastopol, after a port on the Crimean Peninsula, was slated for delivery next year and recently arrived at the Saint Nazaire docks for finishing touches. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March.

Hollande had said in September that conditions weren't right for a ship delivery given continued violence in Ukraine. Tuesday's statement stopped short of cancelling the two-ship deal, suggesting the French government is reluctant to give up on a contract worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.24 billion) and thousands of jobs during an economic slump.

Russia's ambassador to France told The Associated Press on Tuesday that there's a grace period in the contract and Russia isn't demanding any compensation for the delayed deal yet. But when that period passes, Alexander Orlov said, "France will have to either hand over the ship or return the sum that we paid. That's it."

Suggesting that France suspended the deal under U.S. pressure, he said French-Russian relations are being held "hostage to political games that weren't started by Russia or France, but which all countries of the EU and NATO have been pulled into."

The Vladivostok can carry 700 troops, 16 helicopter gunships and up to 50 armored vehicles. Analysts say the two warships would give Russia an enhanced ability to move large numbers of troops and equipment but were not game-changers for Moscow's military.

Laura Mills in Moscow and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

Tanzania: Maasai group looks likely to keep land

November 24, 2014

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Maasai community near Tanzania's Serengeti National Park may be able to keep its traditional homeland after the country's president said on Twitter that the government would not take their land.

President Jakaya Kikwete said over the weekend that there never has been and never will be any government plan to evict the Maasai. The advocacy group Avaaz has publicized the case of the Maasai land near the town of Loliondo, making it a global cause that mobilized more than 2.3 million people to sign an Internet petition. Avaaz says there has been a plan to evict 40,000 Maasai from Loliondo to allow a United Arab Emirates company to open a game-hunting business. Avaaz said the government evicted some Maasai communities in 2009 for such a purpose.

The land is close to Serengeti which is considered to be one of the world's natural treasures. The land, used by the Maasai for cattle-grazing, is a vast plain dotted with acacia trees and watering holes, where wildebeest and zebra gather in huge herds for annual migrations. More than 2 million animals migrate north from Serengeti into Kenya's adjacent Maasai Mara reserve every year.

The Tanzanian president's Twitter pledge is "a massive breakthrough," said Sam Barratt, an Avaaz official. But a community leader, Samwell Nangire, said by telephone that he is still wary. He noted that Kikwete said on Twitter that there had never been a plan to evict the Maasai, and Nangire said that isn't true.

"He should have said we had the plan but we dropped the plan," Nangire said. "The plan was there for sure. But he said there was no plan. He should put in writing the commitment. That is what everyone is waiting for."

When the last debate about the Loliondo land broke out last year, the government said it would reclassify the land as a "wildlife corridor" that would have prevented the Maasai from living on it.

Israel leader vows to pass nationality law

November 24, 2014

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister vowed Monday to pass a contentious nationality law that has threatened the stability of his fragile coalition government, but he left the door open for negotiations to soften it.

The bill formally would identify Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. But language favored by hard-liners has drawn racism accusations, been questioned by Israel's attorney general and prompted the justice minister to warn that the coalition could fall apart.

Addressing his Likud Party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was determined to pass it. The bill is "expressing the fact that Israel is the national state of the Jewish people and only theirs, alongside preserving the rights of every single citizen of the state of Israel," Netanyahu said.

Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 defined the country as both Jewish and democratic. The new legislation seeks to enshrine these principles as a Basic Law, Israel's de facto constitution. But elements of the proposal have raised concerns. Among the proposals are making Jewish law a source of legislative inspiration and delisting Arabic as an official language.

"That will endanger really the very sensitive relationship between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority inside Israel," said Ibrahim Sarsour, an Arab lawmaker. A parliamentary vote scheduled for Wednesday was postponed for a week to allow time for a compromise proposal.

The centrist members of Netanyahu's coalition, Hatnuah and Yesh Atid, have vowed to oppose the measure in its current form. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of Hatnuah, warned that the bill's passage could topple Netanyahu's coalition and force early elections.

Debate over the nationality law comes amid soaring tensions between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of the population of 8 million. Over the past month, Palestinian attacks have killed 11 Israelis. The latest attack took place Monday, as an Arab assailant stabbed a Jewish man outside the old city of Jerusalem, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Rosenfeld described the assault as a terror attack and said the victim was taken to a hospital.

Russian envoy: Ferguson shows US racial problems

November 25, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — The violent protests in Ferguson, Missouri, reflect simmering U.S. tensions over racial discrimination that could undermine the country's stability, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday.

The comments by the Russian Foreign Ministry's human rights envoy, Konstantin Dolgov, were among the sharpest from a foreign official as images of violent protests in Ferguson topped newscasts around the world. The protests came after a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the killing of an unarmed black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown.

"The developments in Ferguson and other cities highlight serious challenges to the American society and its stability," Dolgov said in remarks broadcast by Russian state television. Moscow appeared to relish turning the tables on the U.S. after repeated U.S. criticism of Russia's rights record and its policies toward Ukraine. Relations between the two nations are at their lowest point since the Cold War due to the crisis in Ukraine.

All of Russia's state-controlled nationwide television stations began their newscasts with the footage of street violence in Ferguson, casting it as mounting public anger against the discrimination, injustice and police brutality found in the United States.

"Racial discrimination, racial and ethnic tensions are major challenges to the American democracy, to stability and integrity of the American society," Dolgov said. "We may only hope that U.S. authorities seriously deal with those issues and other serious challenges in the human rights field in their own country and stop what they have been doing all along recently — playing an aggressive mentor lecturing other countries about how to meet human rights standards."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Americans who were disappointed at the grand jury's decision "to refrain from any violence" and echoed the appeal by Brown's parents "to turn this difficult time into a positive moment for change," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, said he would have to see the evidence to be able to judge the grand jury's verdict. Still he voiced concern at the "disproportionate" number of young black Americans who die in encounters with police officers and the high rate of blacks in U.S. prisons and on death row.

In a statement Tuesday, Zeid urged calm but said clearly there is a "deep and festering lack of confidence in the fairness of the (U.S.) justice and law enforcement systems." Officials in most nations avoided the sensitive subject. In China, where authorities don't welcome scrutiny of the police, the state-run media reported prominently on the Ferguson decision but added little or no commentary. There also appeared to be moves to stifle discussion of the Ferguson news online in China.

Asked whether China, a frequent target of U.S. criticism over its human rights record, had any comment on the grand jury's decision, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the case is an internal U.S. affair but took the opportunity to note that no country is perfect regarding human rights.

"We can learn from each other in this area," she said. On Twitter, well-known jihadis used the grand jury's decision in recruitment efforts, saying it was the result of America's racism and that jihad and revolution would be fitting responses, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

The group, which analyzes international terrorists' messages, quoted a tweet by a prominent Dutch jihadi in Syria as saying: "March against tyranny and arm yourselves against the true terrorists of our time: The US Government. #FergusonDecision."

In Hungary, where the government has faced U.S. criticism for its crackdown on civil rights groups, news from Ferguson received prominent coverage on state television, which noted "it was predictable that the decision would enrage millions."

In France, Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who has faced racial slurs herself since taking office in 2012, wrote a series of emotional English- and French-language tweets and Facebook posts in response to the Ferguson decision.

"Racial profiling, social exclusion, segregation, cultural marginalization ... arms .. fear .. Fatal cocktail!" she wrote. Referring to some of those fatally shot in the U.S., she wrote: "How old was #MichaelBrown? 18. #TrayvonMartin? 17. #TamirRice? 12. How old next? 12 months? 'Kill them before they grow' Bob Marley."

Lori Hinnant and Angela Charlton in Paris, John Heilprin in Geneva, Laura Mills in Moscow, Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Russia gets greater control over Black Sea region

November 24, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia tightened its control Monday over Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia with a new treaty envisaging closer military and economic ties with the lush sliver of land along the Black Sea.

The move drew outrage and cries of "annexation" in Georgia and sent a chill through those in Abkhazia who fear that wealthy Russians will snap up their precious coastline. It also raised further suspicions in the West about Russian President Vladimir Putin's territorial aspirations after his annexation of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March.

Under the treaty signed by Putin and Abkhazia's leader in the nearby Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russian and Abkhazian forces in the territory will turn into a joint force led by a Russian commander. Putin said Moscow will also double its subsidies to Abkhazia to about 9.3 billion rubles (over $200 million) next year.

"I'm sure that cooperation, unity and strategic partnership between Russia and Abkhazia will continue to strengthen," he said. "Ties with Russia offer us full security guarantees and broad opportunities for socio-economic development," Abkhazian President Raul Khadzhimba said.

Russian troops have been deployed in Abkhazia for more than two decades since the region of 240,000 people broke away from Georgia in a separatist war in the early 1990s. Still, Monday's agreement reflected a clear attempt by Moscow to further expand its presence and came only after a change of leadership in the territory.

Coming amid a chill in Russia-West ties over the Ukrainian crisis, the deal raised concern about Moscow's plans. The Black Sea region has always been important for Putin, who justified the annexation of Crimea by saying it would guarantee that NATO warships would never be welcome on the peninsula, the home base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

NATO's secretary-general condemned the treaty, stressing that the alliance supports Georgia's sovereignty. He also called on Russia to reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, another breakaway province, as independent states.

"This so-called treaty does not contribute to a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia," Jens Stoltenberg said. "On the contrary, it violates Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and blatantly contradicts the principles of international law, OSCE principles and Russia's international commitments."

The U.S. also said it wouldn't recognize Russia's move and expressed continued support for Georgia's sovereignty. "The United States will not recognize the legitimacy of any so-called 'treaty' between Georgia's Abkhazia region and the Russian Federation," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Abkhazia's former leader, Alexander Ankvab, was forced to step down earlier this year under pressure from protesters who reportedly were encouraged by the Kremlin. Khadzhimba, a former Soviet KGB officer, was elected president in an early vote in August that Georgia rejected as illegal.

Unlike Ankvab, who had resisted Moscow's push to let Russians buy assets in Abkhazia, Khadzhimba has appeared more eager to listen to Russia's demands. The Georgian Foreign Ministry denounced the new agreement as a "step toward the de-facto annexation" of Abkhazia and called on the international community to condemn the move.

Russian-Georgian relations were ruptured by war in August 2008 after former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili attempted to restore control over South Ossetia. The Russian military routed the Georgian forces in five days and Moscow recognized both rebel provinces as independent states.

The Georgian Dream bloc led by Russia-friendly billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, which unseated Saakashvili's party in the 2012 vote, has sought to repair ties with Moscow. But while economic relations have improved, political ties have remained frozen because of Moscow's refusal to compromise on the status of Georgia's separatist regions.

Saakashvili's United National Movement party has accused the Georgian government of kowtowing to Moscow. "The Georgian government has done practically nothing," said party leader David Bakradze, who urged the government to join Western sanctions against Russia and opt out of political talks with Moscow.

The deal with Abkhazia appears to reflect Moscow's concerns that Saakashvili's party could mount a political comeback and push for stronger ties with the West.

Lynn Berry in Moscow and Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia contributed to this report.

Iran hardliners resist possible nuclear deal in rare protest

2014-11-23

TEHRAN - Tensions over a possible nuclear deal between Iran and world powers were on display Sunday outside an atomic facility in Tehran where a rare protest saw hardliners criticize government negotiators.

While the crowd was small -- about 200, mostly students, gathered at the entrance to the Tehran Research Reactor -- the event was the first such officially approved demonstration in months.

It coincided with the penultimate day of talks in Vienna between Iran and the United States and other leading states about a permanent nuclear deal.

"Nuclear energy is our absolute right," and "Sanctions won't stop us," read placards held by protesters, many of them suggesting there should be no compromise on Iran's disputed atomic activities.

They chanted "Death to America" while a designated speaker rounded on the conduct of the year-long negotiations which entered their final 36 hours with a deal hanging in the balance.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister who is leading the talks in the Austrian capital, "do not know how to do diplomacy", the speaker said.

One woman held a banner that said: "The centrifuges are not working, nor is the economy," alluding to Rouhani's pledge to restart talks with the West to help Iran's sanctions-hit economy recover.

One demonstrator, a medical student who did not want to give her name, said she was "pessimistic about the Americans involved in the negotiations."

"We want an agreement where if we give something we get something in return, and what we want is a total removal of sanctions," she said.

Despite the protest back home, an Iranian source in Vienna signaled openness to extending the talks by six months or even up to a year.

Such an extension would be under terms of an interim deal reached in Geneva a year ago that traded a temporary freeze on some of Iran's nuclear activities for limited sanctions relief, the source said.

"We are still focused on agreeing to a kind of political" understanding which would not be written but which would allow for negotiators to fine-tune technical aspects of the agreement later, the source said.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and United States plus Germany -- the so-called P5+1 -- have been locked in talks with Iran since February to turn the interim Geneva accord into a lasting agreement.

Such a deal is aimed at easing fears that Tehran could develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian activities.

The Islamic republic denies it wants to build an atomic bomb and insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=69039.