In battle against IS, Iraqi forces retake town near Tikrit

March 10, 2015

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security forces on Tuesday retook a town next to the militant-held city of Tikrit as they pressed their offensive against Islamic State militants, two military officials said.

The Iraqi forces entered Alam early in the morning and hours later gained full control of the town adjacent to Tikrit, the two Iraqi officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The battle for Saddam Hussein's hometown is a key test for the Iraqi forces as they struggle to win back some of the Islamic State group's biggest strongholds in Iraq. Ahmed al-Karim, the Salahuddin provincial council chief, told The Associated Press that progress had been slow due to roadside bombs and sniper attacks.

Tikrit, Salahuddin's provincial capital that lies about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, fell to the Islamic State group last summer, along with Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, and other areas in the country's Sunni heartland.

The offensive to wrest Tikrit from IS has received significant assistance from Iranian military advisers who are guiding Iraq's Shiite militias on the battlefield. U.S.-led coalition forces have said they are not providing aerial support for this particular mission because the Iraqis have not requested it.

Before Alam, the offensive succeeded in clawing back a few villages and towns, most notably Dawr, south of Tikrit. Among those directing operations is Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani, commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force. The overt Iranian role and the prominence of Shiite militias in the campaign have raised fears of possible sectarian cleansing should Tikrit, an overwhelmingly Sunni city, fall to the government troops.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Syria, activists said Tuesday that more than 70 prisoners escaped from an Islamic State jail in a town held by the militant group. The militants then went house-to-house and set up checkpoints around the northern town of Al-Bab, searching for those who fled.

The prisoners took the opportunity to escape when clashes erupted between rival militant groups, said Bari Abdelatif, an activist from al-Bab who is now based in Turkey. "There are checkpoints everywhere," Abdelatif said of the situation in the town. He said he was contact with residents and added that IS fighters were driving through town streets and calling on people over loudspeakers to hand over any prisoners they were hiding.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Abdelatif said those who fled included Kurdish fighters who were captured by the Islamic State group in recent months. The Observatory said the IS extremists were able to recapture some of those who fled but did not provide details or numbers.

Along with a third of Iraq, the Islamic State last year also captured a third of Syria last year. In the past months, the group has been defeated in some areas, including the Syrian border town of Kobani and several surrounding villages.

U.S. military officials have that said a coordinated military mission to retake Mosul will likely begin in April or May and involve up to 25,000 Iraqi troops. But the Americans have cautioned that if the Iraqis are not ready, the offensive could be delayed.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said while on a visit to the region on Monday that he is "a bit concerned" about whether the international coalition fighting the Islamic State is sustainable for the longer-term challenge of confronting extremists elsewhere.

Dempsey said that in military terms the campaign against IS is "on path." But he put equal emphasis on the importance of sustaining the coalition for the longer term. Shiite dominance in Baghdad has upset predominantly Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Associated Press writers Vivian Salama in Baghdad and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Erdogan slams brakes on Kurdish peace process ahead of polls

April 08, 2015

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AP) — The peace process to end decades of violent strife between Turkey and Kurdish rebels has been one of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's signature achievements.

But with key parliamentary elections looming in June, the president has hit the brakes on peace talks — and exposed a rare rift within his own party. Until recently, chances looked good for a deal that could see the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, lay down its arms after a three-decade insurgency that has left tens of thousands dead. Last month, imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was allowed to release a statement in Kurdish read out to hundreds of thousands of Kurds celebrating a Kurdish holiday in Diyarbakir, the symbolic heart of Turkey's Kurdish southeast. A decade ago, neither the celebration, nor the statement would have been conceivable.

The event was part of a calibrated effort toward a final deal that would include legislating greater autonomy and rights for Kurds, who make up 20 percent of Turkey's 78 million people. The negotiations, begun secretly in late 2012 with Ocalan, were a political risk for Erdogan in a country that has often demonized the Kurdish rebels. Turkish leaders going back to the Republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had maintained harsh repressions of Kurdish culture, even calling Kurds "mountain Turks" to deny their separate ethnic identity.

But the ceasefire negotiated in the talks has been a boon to Erdogan and the country. In return Erdogan has eased some of the restrictions pending a more comprehensive deal. Early last month, negotiators under Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Kurdish members of parliament held a joint press conference, while emissaries shuttled to Ocalan's island prison for talks. The rebel leader, in statements read at the festival, called on PKK militants to abandon arms for good and seek a democratic solution.

Then, Erdogan abruptly sounded a halt. Just days before the Kurdish celebration, he asserted that "there is no Kurdish question" — implying that Kurds grievances had already been addressed. Then he castigated his own party members for considering a key concession demanded by the Kurds.

This provoked rare criticism of Erdogan by a party elder, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, who was a co-founder with Erdogan of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. Arinc accused Erdogan of meddling in the negotiations, which he said should be the responsibility of the prime minister, and vowed that the government would plow ahead.

Erdogan, who sits astride an increasingly authoritarian government, appears to have won. Last month, in a blow to the peace process, parliament passed a security bill giving broad new powers to the police. Kurdish parties and PKK militants had included defeat of the bill among a list of demands for the talks to move forward.

The explanation for Erdogan's gambit appears to lie in electoral politics and his own future ambitions to change the constitution and head a strong presidential system. Amid signs that opposition parties including the Kurdish HDP are gaining support, Erdogan appears to have concluded that further peace moves won't aid his cause.

In previous elections the HDP has sent a relatively small number of legislators to parliament by running as independents. But this time, the party, led by the charismatic Selahattin Demirtas, seems to be in reach of a 10 percent threshold required for entering parliament as a party. If they make it, Erdogan will almost certainly not obtain the supermajority needed to make constitutional changes.

"Erdogan has a plan and that is to increase tensions and polarization ahead of the elections. This plan has worked well for him in the past," said Sukru Kucuksahin, a columnist for the liberal Turkish daily Hurriyet. "The HDP falling below the threshold would greatly benefit the AKP and the government is doing all it can to ensure it does."

But the gamble could backfire, as many non-Kurdish liberals seem intent on voting HDP to catapult it into parliament. One such voter, Cem Terzih, a doctor and peace activist from the staunchly secularist redoubt of Izmir, was in in Diyarbakir for the Kurdish celebrations. "HDP getting in will stop Erdogan's big ambitions," he said.

Erdogan may hope that in that event he can trade concessions to the Kurds for HDP support on constitutional changes. But following Erdogan's recent comments, Demirtas ruled that out. "Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as long as the HDP exists, as long as the HDP continues to breathe on these lands," he said, "you will never be the head (of a presidential system)."

Despite the escalation of rhetoric, Kurds in Diyarbakir seem confident that the peace process is already too far along to go backwards. "All the people in this country have suffered violence for so long, they know the value of peace," said H. Sherife Farqin, an 84-year-old practitioner of traditional Kurdish verse. "After the election, they will demand it."

New Gaza-bound 'Freedom Flotilla' expected to sail this summer

Simona Sikimic
Tuesday 31 March 2015

A new “Freedom Flotilla” is scheduled to embark for Gaza in two months’ time, organizers said on Tuesday.

The voyage is scheduled to begin in the first half of the year, which means the flotilla could set sail within weeks, Mazen Kahel, an organizer with the European Campaign to end the Siege on Gaza, told MEE.

Like its 2010 predecessor, this year's flotilla aims to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip which has been in place since 2007.

Former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki has given his “full support” to the mission. He is expected to take part and will be on one of the boats, several organizers have confirmed.

“Marzouki has always been engaged with the cause and has openly supported the Palestinians in his time of power,” Kahel told MEE.

Negotiations are currently underway with other political, religious and business figures, but their names have yet to be confirmed and will be announced at a later date, Kahel added.

Activists from across Europe, the US and the Middle East will participate in the flotilla, organised by a string of civil society groups and NGOs working under the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

Three to four boats are currently undergoing preparation for the voyage, but several more could yet join. The boats are expected to depart from several European ports, including one in Greece and possibly Turkey, although no specific information is being released as yet.

For now, much of the information about the flotilla is being kept under wraps for security reasons, although more details are expected to emerge in the coming weeks.

“There is a huge problems there [in Gaza]. It is an open prison,” Kahel said.

“The situation there is unhuman. It is criminal and human beings cannot continue like this. We need to see an end to this blockade.”

The first flotilla that set sail in 2010 was attacked by Israeli soldiers in international waters. Nine activists were killed in the attack that sparked widespread international outrage.

A second flotilla was set to sail in 2011 but the voyage never materialized.

Source: Middle East Eye.
Link: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/new-gaza-bound-freedom-flotilla-expected-sail-summer-1262594650.

Ukrainian leader lifts objections to vote on regional power

April 06, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday publicly lifted his objections to a referendum that could give more powers to the restive regions engulfed in more than a year of warfare, reversing his government's previous position. Russia-backed separatists, however, dismissed Poroshenko's gesture as meaningless.

The conflict between Russia-backed rebels and government troops in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 6,000 lives. When it began, protesters in the east demanded a vote on giving their regions more autonomy. Such calls were rejected by the Ukrainian government at the time.

But Poroshenko on Monday met a parliamentary commission that is drafting amendments to the country's constitution and said in a televised meeting that if the commission decides a referendum is necessary, he would not stand in the way.

"I'm ready to launch a referendum on the issue of state governance if you decide it is necessary," he said. Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland was the support base for Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February last year after months of protests. Several months into the fighting, however, pro-Russia rebels said they no longer wanted autonomy, but rather an independent state.

Hostilities have subsided in the region after the parties agreed in February to a cease-fire deal brokered by Western leaders in Minsk, Belarus. Russia-backed separatists on Monday balked at the idea of a referendum as offering too little.

Senior rebel official Andrei Purgin told The Associated Press on Monday that none of their representatives were invited to sit on the constitutional commission to start with, "which already says a lot."

"Everything that Kiev does shows that they have to decide to find agreement but dictate their terms to us, which contradicts the Minsk accords," Purgin said, adding that "Poroshenko's statement does not mean anything" because there are no details of the referendum — if it happens at all.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Monday dismissed suggestions of direct talks with the rebels. "When we talk about our dialogue with the east, we mean a dialogue with legitimately elected representatives of the east of the country, not Russian gangsters and terrorists."

Yatsenyuk said he looks forward to a local election in the rebel-occupied areas that, he said, both Russia and the rebels had committed to in Minsk. Moscow sided with the rebels, calling on Kiev to include them in deliberations on constitutional reform. Speaking at a televised news conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that reform should go ahead "only with the approval and agreement of Luhansk and Donetsk," the two biggest cities under separatist control.

Poroshenko on Monday insisted that he still opposed federalization, which Russia has advocated, but favors decentralizing power in favor of the regions. Decision-making on security, defense and foreign policy, Poroshenko said, would remain in the hands of the central government.

Poroshenko added that he still opposes making Russian a second official language. "Ukrainian has been and will be our only state language." Purgin said Poroshenko's insistence shows that "he doesn't listen to the voice of the east: we speak Russian here."

Poland marks 5th anniversary of presidential plane disaster

April 10, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is marking the fifth anniversary of the plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 members of his presidential entourage on a visit to Russia, the worst catastrophe to strike the Polish state since World War II and an event that deepened historical strains between the two Slavic neighbors.

Although the disaster briefly united the nation's 38 million people in profound shock and grief, it has since deepened divisions within Polish society. There are some, including the president's surviving twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who believe that the president was assassinated by Russian authorities. They are deeply at odds with the majority of Poles, who trust a state investigation which laid a large share of the blame on pilots who chose to land in heavy fog. State investigators also put some blame on Russian air traffic controllers for giving faulty guidance.

The national bitterness was revived this week with the leak of transcripts from the cockpit shortly before the plane crashed near Smolensk. It added to evidence that an air force general was in the cockpit pressuring the pilots to make the dangerous landing — further undermining the theory of an assassination.

The president's daughter, Marta Kaczynska, who also lost her mother in the disaster, placed flowers early Friday at her parents' grave at Wawel Cathedral in Krakow. In Warsaw, President Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and other leaders attended a memorial ceremony at the Powazki military cemetery, gathering next to a memorial shaped like airplane wings entering the ground.

Earlier, Parliament Speaker Radek Sikorski and other parliamentary leaders placed wreaths in the building to remember the 18 lawmakers who were also killed in the crash on April 10, 2010. Many other commemorations were scheduled throughout the day, including a memorial march to be led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The crash deepened tensions with Russia. Poles are angry that the wreckage still has not been returned to Poland., Russian authorities say Poland has failed to hand over evidence needed in their investigation, but Polish officials say they are doing their best to cooperate.

Ordinary folk take up military training over Russia threat

April 06, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO aircraft scream across eastern European skies and American armored vehicles rumble near the border with Russia on a mission to reassure citizens that they're safe from Russian aggression.

But these days, ordinary people aren't taking any chances. In Poland, doctors, shopkeepers, lawmakers and others are heeding a call to receive military training in case of an invasion. Neighboring Lithuania is restoring the draft and teaching citizens what to do in case of war. Nearby Latvia has plans to give university students military training next year.

The drive to teach ordinary people how to use weapons and take cover under fire reflects soaring anxiety among people in a region where memories of Moscow's domination — which ended only in the 1990s — remain raw. People worry that their security and hard-won independence are threatened as saber-rattling intensifies between the West and Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, where more than 6,000 people have died.

In Poland, the oldest generation remembers the Soviet Army's invasion in 1939, at the start of World War II. Younger people remain traumatized by the repression of the communist regime that lasted more than four decades.

It's a danger felt across the EU newcomer states that border Russia. "There's a real feeling of threat in our society," Latvian defense ministry spokeswoman Aija Jakubovska told The Associated Press. Military training for students is a "way we can increase our own defense capabilities."

Most people are still looking to NATO's military umbrella as their main guarantor of security. Zygmunt Wos waved goodbye to a detachment of U.S. armored vehicles leaving the eastern Polish city of Bialystok with apprehension: "These troops should be staying with us," he said, "not going back to Germany."

Poland has been at the forefront of warnings about the dangers of the Ukraine conflict. Just 17 hours by car from the battle zone, Poland has stepped up efforts to upgrade its weapons arsenal, including a possible purchase of U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles. It will host a total of some 10,000 NATO and other allied troops for exercises this year. Its professional army is 100,000-strong, and 20,000 reservists are slated for test-range training.

It's the grassroots mobilization, however, that best demonstrates the fears: The government has reached out to some 120 paramilitary groups with tens of thousands of members, who are conducting their own drills, in an effort to streamline them with the army exercises.

In an unprecedented appeal, Parliament Speaker Radek Sikorski urged lawmakers to train at a test range in May, while Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak called on men and women aged between 18 and 50, and with no military experience, to sign up for test-range exercise. So far, over 2,000 people have responded.

"The times are dangerous and we must do all we can to raise Poland's ability to defend its territory," President Bronislaw Komorowski said during a recent visit to a military unit. The Poles believe they have grounds for feeling particularly vulnerable because they have been invaded by Russia repeatedly since the 18th century. Russian leader Vladimir Putin seems to have singled out Poland, a staunch U.S. ally, as a prime enemy in the struggle over Ukraine, accusing it of training "Ukrainian nationalists" and instigating unrest.

Recently Moscow said it will place state-of-the-art Iskander missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave, bordering Poland and Lithuania, for a major exercise. Last week, over 550 young Polish reservists were summoned on one hour's notice to a military base for a mobilization drill. In their 20s and 30s, in jeans and sneakers, the men and women arrived at a base in Tarnowskie Gory, in southern Poland for days of shooting practice. One of them, 35-year-old former soldier Krystian Studnia, said the call was "absolutely natural."

"Everyone should be willing and ready to fight to defend his country," he said. In Warsaw, Mateusz Warszczak, 23, glowed with excitement as he signed up at a recruitment center. "I want to be ready to defend my family, my relatives, from danger," he said.

Even older Poles feel obliged to take responsibility for their own safety. In September, Wojciech Klukowski, a 58-year-old medical doctor, and his friends organized a civic militia group of about 50 men and women of various ages, and called it the National Guard. They practiced skirmishes and shooting, with the aim of becoming citizen-soldiers in their hometown of Szczecin, on the Baltic Sea coast.

"We do not feel fully safe," Klukowski said. "Many people ... want to be trained to defend their homes, their work places, their families."

Rayyan Sabet-Parry in Riga, Latvia and Jari Tanner in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.

Czech president, US envoy in rare public spat over Ukraine

April 06, 2015

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech President Milos Zeman and the U.S. ambassador to Prague are in a rare public dispute over Zeman's decision to attend a Russian military parade, and the country's prime minister together with Czech lawmakers are siding with the American.

In an interview with online publication Parlamentni Listy on Sunday, Zeman bristled at the envoy's implied criticism of his decision to attend Moscow's traditional May 9 military parade despite the crisis in Ukraine. Zeman said U.S. Ambassador Andrew Shapiro is no longer welcome in the Prague Castle, the seat of presidency.

"I think that the reaction of President Zeman was not adequate," Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said. "I would naturally welcome it if the attitude of Mr. President to foreign policy in general was a bit more professional," Sobotka told the Czech public television on Monday.

"We should be able to communicate with our friends and allies," Sobotka added. Parliament's lower house speaker, Jan Hamacek, said he thought Zeman was overreacting; the deputy speaker of Parliament's upper house, Premysl Sobotka, said Zeman demonstrated a lack of "diplomatic thinking."

Jan Mlejnek, an analyst, said Zeman's rhetoric was unfortunate and will harm Czech-U.S. relations. In an emailed statement from the U.S. embassy, Shapiro said "it would be unfortunate for President Zeman to be there as perhaps? the only EU head of state."

Zeman, whose is critical of European Union sanctions against Russia, said he wanted to honor Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives to liberate his country in World War II. The Czech presidency is a largely ceremonial post and the government is in charge of foreign policy. Sobotka said he accepted Zeman's explanation for the trip.

Shapiro said he regretted that Zeman felt offended. "I value a good working relationship with everyone, and I want him to know that my door will be open to him,"? Shapiro said. "I also want the Czech people to know that the United States government, and the people of America, value our relationship as partners and allies more than ever."

Greek police: 2 injured, 9 arrested during overnight clashes

April 08, 2015

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities say two policemen were injured and nine people were arrested during a night of clashes between rioting youths and police in central Athens after a demonstration by hundreds of anarchists calling for the closure of a maximum-security prison.

Police said Wednesday the arrests were made on charges including attempted grievous bodily harm, arson and vandalism. A further 21 people were temporarily detained. Tuesday night's clashes saw dozens of youths throwing petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas. At least two cars were burnt.

Anarchists want authorities to close a prison where many convicted militant anarchists are held — and have continued their protests despite pledges to do so from the new radical left-led government elected in January.

Tsipras heads to Moscow, Europeans keeping wary eye on visit

April 07, 2015

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's new left-wing prime minister, whose cash-strapped country is embroiled in tortuous negotiations with its European creditors, is heading to Moscow for a visit that has stirred high hopes in Athens but caused consternation elsewhere in Europe.

The trip starting Tuesday night couldn't come at a more critical time. Greece, dependent on international bailouts worth 240 billion euros since mid-2010, will run out of funds within weeks unless it reaches a deal with its creditors to release at least part of the last remaining 7.2 billion-euro bailout installment.

Alexis Tsipras' government — a coalition of the radical left and nationalist right elected in January on promises to repeal the austerity measures imposed as a condition of the rescue — has been flirting with Moscow from the start.

His trip may clarify whether he views his relationship with Russia as a potential bargaining chip, or whether he simply aims to enhance Greece's international relations and deepen the two countries' traditionally warm ties.

"It's a move clearly of high symbolism on the part of Greece," said Constantinos Filis, research director at the Institute of International Relations. "From there on, one must see what the substance is and whether there will be any substance."

He noted, however, that "Russia is not and cannot be a (EU) substitute for Greece, it can only be a supplementary option." Russia, whose own economy is struggling, could only offer limited financial help to Greece.

But Tsipras, who meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev the following day, has been cultivating the impression that Athens might see Moscow as a potential means of pressure in its current negotiations.

"Greece lost a large part of its economic power in the last 4 ½, five years," Tsipras said Monday in an unrelated Parliamentary debate. But, he added, "it is a sovereign country that partners and creditors cannot play with. You will see that, and the partners and creditors will see that."

Tough talk, particularly in relation to Greece's creditors, has made Tsipras' popularity soar at home, with many Greeks saying they have regained a sense of lost national pride. And Greece is seeking any financial leverage it can get. Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis returned last week from his own Moscow trip with pledges to deepen energy cooperation and hopes that an embargo on Greek fruit imports to Russia might be lifted.

The U.S. and EU have imposed crippling economic sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for an insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Moscow retaliated by banning most Western food imports, which hurt Greek agricultural exports.

Moscow hopes talks with Tsipras will help further weaken the EU's resolve to maintain the sanctions against Russia, said Sergei Oznobishchev, head of Russia's independent Institute of Strategic Assessment.

"We see a group of countries ... which are against the prolongation of sanctions against Russia, and Greece is among them," Oznobishchev said. "Now it's time to move further. For the Russian side, this is one more possibility to raise (the issue of) sanctions, to make the European Union less strong and to acquire some economic privileges."

But analysts warn Tsipras is playing a dangerous game, particularly if the tough talk reflects actual intentions rather than just rhetoric aimed at a domestic audience. "If Greece goes to Moscow with the logic of showing, as the prime minister said, to its creditors that it cannot be blackmailed, and it attempts itself to blackmail its partners through the so-called deepening of its relations with Russia, then I fear this will be a very strong blow to the confidence of our partners toward us," said Filis.

Tsipras has made no secret of his disagreement with the EU's position on Russia. Yet the EU has made clear it expects every country in the 28-nation bloc to follow the common line on Russia. "We expect that all member states are treated equally and we expect as well that all member states speak with one voice to all our trade partners, including Russia," EU Commission spokesman Daniel Rosario said. Potential bilateral agreements to lift import bans from any state "are for the moment speculation," he said.

Not everyone in Greece's government has been playing the Russian card. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has insisted the country's place is firmly within the EU. "The solution to the Greek social economic crisis concerns the European family, and must be found within the framework of the EU," he said in an interview with the financial daily Naftemporiki published Monday.

"The tightening and cultivation of relations with countries outside the eurozone and outside the EU, which have common interests with Greece ... is a totally different issue."

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed.

Huge French protests as strikes close schools, Eiffel Tower

April 09, 2015

PARIS (AP) — Thousands of protesters, many blowing whistles and waving union flags, marched through Paris and other French cities on Thursday in a day of nationwide strikes that kept many children out of school, forced the closure of the Eiffel Tower and cancelled some 2,000 flights in and out of France.

Stepping up pressure on President Francois Hollande's already-unpopular Socialist government, the protesters aired an array of grievances against state funding cuts, planned increases in the retirement age, and business-friendly reforms that could make firing workers easier.

The strikes, called by key unions like the Communist-backed CGT, in the protest-friendly country follow recent complaints by groups as diverse as doctors and notaries against new government reforms, and come on top of ongoing strikes by air traffic controllers and workers at the state radio.

Workers have traditionally made up the bedrock of support for Hollande's Socialists, and the protests suggested that his government's recent move to the political center — including with business-friendly reforms — has rankled many on the left.

Analyst Pascal Perrineau said the mishmash of movements suggested that Hollande, who has cast himself as primarily a negotiator since he was elected in 2012, has not been clear enough with the French about his plans for getting the economically struggling country back on track.

"This proves that, if you will, he (Hollande) has lost control. When you're the president, it's not enough to be a negotiator. You have to able to fix a clear line for everyone," said Perrineau, a professor at Paris' Sciences Po political university.

The air traffic controllers were holding the second half of a two-day strike. It led to the cancellation of some 2,000 flights, mostly short- and medium-haul routes, in and out of France Thursday, according to Eric Heraud, spokesman for the French civil aviation agency DGAC.

Their walkout, in part over plans to raise their maximum retirement age to 59, was expected to resume in each of the next two weeks. Many European carriers were avoiding French airspace. Employees at Radio France, the state-backed broadcaster, were entering the third week of their walkout to protest budget cuts — and many of them were expected to be carrying banners at the Paris protest.

Railway workers, health care providers, teachers and energy sector personnel and others honored Thursday's general strike, partially to register discontent against the government's proposed so-called "Macron Law" that would reduce workplace protections coveted by many French employees.

"All the established social rights of our labor law are being questioned with this bill," said Nicolas Mas, a teacher marching in Paris. "We are back to the nineteenth century. It is incredible. A total loss of all the benefits of the working class obtained through years."

The CGT's website laid out 10 of its reasons for employees to stay off the job — such as to end wage stagnation for state workers, demand equal pay for women and men and defend the state-supported health care system.

A spokeswoman for the Eiffel Tower said it closed because many employees of the famed Paris landmark took part in the protest in solidarity with the overall movement. A sign out front said it was closed until 6:30 p.m. local time, frustrating some eager would-be visitors.

"The Eiffel Tower closed because of the strike in the peak season, it's kind of disappointing," said Diane Powell, a 49-year-old tourist from New York.

Oleg Cetinic and Nicolas Garriga contributed to this report.

40 percent of flights canceled in France amid strike

April 08, 2015

PARIS (AP) — French air traffic controllers went on strike Wednesday to demand better working and retirement conditions, prompting the cancellation of nearly half of flights across France.

The powerful SNCTA union called the two-day strike, saying the government has refused to open negotiations about matters such as how to better organize their work schedules to account for downtime and more traffic.

The start of the walkout led to the cancellation of 40 percent of flights across France on Wednesday, and the French civil aviation agency called for the cancellation of 50 percent of flights on Thursday due to staffing shortages.

Air France said long-haul flights were not affected, and guaranteed some 60 percent of medium-haul flights from and to Paris' main airport, Charles de Gaulle. The carrier said it would ground two of three flights at Paris' second-largest airport, Orly.

Among other things, strikers are protesting against government plans to increase the maximum retirement age for air traffic controllers from 57 by 2017 to 59 in 2020, said Nicolas Bertolissio, an SNCTA representative and a controller in the Basel-Mulhouse airport in eastern France.

While the union isn't altogether opposed to that, it wants a study into the health effects of controllers working till age 59, Bertolissio said. He said many other countries in Europe generally allow for traffic controllers to retire at 55 or 56.

The strike caused passengers like Mathias Mourier, 24, who was trying to fly to his job in southern England as an au pair, to scramble for alternatives. He said he will be spending an extra couple of nights at his grandmother's house in the Paris region.

"I was about to get my flight to go to Exeter ... and finally it was cancelled because of the strike," he said at Paris' Roissy airport. "So I have to wait until Saturday because all the other flights were full ... It is the only solution."

Jackie Knight, who was hoping to return home to Somerset, England, after a family visit to Disneyland Paris, said they were forced to connect through London, but was taking it in stride. "Rather than being home at about 3 or 4 (p.m.), it will be in the evening — but we'll get there," she said.

Further strikes are planned April 16-18 and April 29-May 2, coinciding with spring school holidays in France.

Venezuela urged by former leaders to free jailed politicians

April 06, 2015

MADRID (AP) — Nineteen former leaders from Latin America and Spain are pressuring Venezuela to release opposition politicians who have been detained.

In a statement released by the foundation of former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the leaders called for the politicians' immediate release and for groups like the Organization of American States and the United Nations to craft "an alternative solution that respects constitutional principles and international standards."

The statement was released on Monday, four days before the Summit of the Americas starts in Panama. Leaders from 35 nations, including Latin American and Caribbean countries, the U.S. and Canada, are expected to attend.

The detentions in Venezuela are sure to be a summit issue. The biggest theme is the thaw in relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

Zimbabwean president arrives in South Africa for state visit

April 08, 2015

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Zimbabwe's president has arrived in South Africa for his first official state visit in more than 20 years.

President Robert Mugabe arrived with his wife, Grace, on Tuesday at the Waterkloof air force base outside the capital Pretoria. "This is a bilateral visit," said Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. "The focus is largely on consolidation of our bilateral ties."

One of the main aims of Mugabe's visit is strengthen economic cooperation between Zimbabwe and its wealthier neighbor, South Africa, according to an earlier statement by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Mugabe will visit the Union Buildings, the seat of South Africa's government, on Wednesday where the two presidents will sign an agreement to increase trade. South Africa's exports to Zimbabwe amount to about $2 billion dollars, while in contrast Zimbabwe exports goods worth about $170 million to South Africa.

Mugabe has visited South Africa on other occasions, such as presidential inaugurations and the state funeral of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela in 2013.

Putin gives visiting Greek PM Tsipras historic Greek icon

April 09, 2015

MOSCOW (AP) — In a sign of a blossoming friendship, Russian President Vladimir Putin has given visiting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras an historic Greek icon stolen by Nazis during the German occupation of Greece as the two countries mulled a series of economic projects.

Greece's international creditors are watching Tsipras' visit to Russia with concern amid speculation that Greece might seek aid from Russia, as a bargaining chip with Western creditors. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin presented the icon depicting St. Nicholas and St. Spyridon to Tsipras following Wednesday's talks at the Kremlin. He said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that the icon was stolen by a Nazi officer when Greece was under German occupation in the Second World War, and was recently bought by an unidentified Russian man from the officer's descendants.

Speaking Thursday, Tsipras reaffirmed his opposition to Western sanctions slapped on Russia last year and said his government helped block proposals to strengthen the sanctions. "Greece could become a bridge between the EU and Russia," he said.

Both he and Putin rejected, however, allegations that they were trying to weaken the European Union's united front on Russia's actions in Ukraine. Speaking to students, Tsipras said he and Putin have found a way to resume Greek agricultural exports, which were blocked last year under Russia's ban on Western food in retaliation to the EU sanctions. Putin said Wednesday it could be done by setting up joint ventures.

Tsipras also confirmed the two countries have agreed to look into the possibility of extending a Russian gas pipeline to Greece and encourage Russian companies' participation in the privatization of Greek industry.

Report: Iran sends navy vessels near Yemen amid airstrikes

April 08, 2015

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Iran dispatched a naval destroyer and another vessel Wednesday to waters near Yemen as the United States quickened weapons supply to the Saudi-led coalition striking rebels there, underlining how foreign powers are deepening their involvement in the conflict.

Iran's English-language state broadcaster Press TV quoted Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari as saying the ships would be part of an anti-piracy campaign "safeguarding naval routes for vessels in the region."

The maneuver comes amid an intense Saudi-led Gulf Arab air campaign targeting the Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, who come from a Shiite sect. Critics say Shiite power Iran backs the Houthis, though both the Islamic Republic and the rebels deny any direct military assistance.

Speaking a day earlier in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed the violence in Yemen on the Houthis, and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, saying that the U.S. is committed to defending Saudi Arabia.

"We have expedited weapons deliveries, we have increased our intelligence sharing, and we have established a joint coordination and planning cell in the Saudi operations center," he said in a statement to reporters after meeting with Saudi royals and Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled his country amid rebel advances.

Intelligence sharing includes making available raw aerial imagery the coalition could use to better strike anti-Hadi forces, said a U.S. defense official who was not authorized to comment publicly. Blinken said the U.S. and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council must coordinate closely and press all parties to seek a political solution.

The Gulf Arab-backed air campaign supporting Hadi, which began on March 26, has so far failed to stop the Houthis' advance on Aden, Yemen's second-largest city, which was declared the provisional capital by Hadi before he fled.

The U.S. says that the chaos has allowed the local al-Qaida branch, which it considers the world's most dangerous wing of the group, to make "great gains" on the ground, causing Washington to rethink how it prevents it from launching attacks in the West.

Speaking from Tokyo, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the collapse of the central government in Yemen makes it harder to conduct counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida, which has ambitions to strike Western targets, including the United States. Regarding the weapons deliveries, he said it involved "some resupply of equipment and munitions" to Saudi Arabia.

The World Health Organization warned Tuesday of an unfolding humanitarian crisis, saying at least 560 people, including dozens of children, have been killed, mostly in the air campaign and ground battles. The aid group said that over 1,700 people have been wounded and another 100,000 have fled their homes as fighting has intensified over the past three weeks.

The first boat carrying medical aid to Yemen since the coalition began bombing arrived in the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday, international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders said.

The group's head of mission in Yemen, Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, said the ship carried some 2.5 tons of supplies from Djibouti for its hospital in Aden. The group is concerned about how it will transport the supplies and wounded people given the chaos in Aden's streets, where the situation continues to deteriorate and combat intensified overnight.

"We have street fighting, snipers, tanks in the street, roads cut and areas not accessible, and electricity, water and fuel cuts," she said. "Last night the different groups were fighting around the hospital. It lasted all night into the morning and continues now, so all our employees were forced to sleep at the hospital."

Tons of desperately needed aid awaits clearance to be flown into Yemen, including a Red Cross shipment with 17 tons of medical supplies from Jordan which emergency workers hope can be flown into the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday. Another 35 tons of supplies were also ready for shipment.

Also Wednesday, Human Rights Watch cited witnesses as saying that Houthi forces fired into crowds of demonstrators in the cities of Taiz and Torba the day before the bombing campaign began, killing at least 7 people and wounding over 80 others. The New York-based group called on Houthi authorities to investigate the incidents.

"Yemen's spiraling conflict is causing a calamitous breakdown in law and order," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Security forces in control, whatever side they are on, have responsibilities to uphold and protect people's rights and to take action against their members who commit abuses."

Rohan reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Iran, and Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.