Freedom & Justice Party media statement on the sentencing to death of President Morsi

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Today, May 16th, President Mohammed Morsi, the first ever democratically elected President of Egypt, along with tens of others, were sentenced to death by an Egyptian court following a political show trial on charges of espionage and jailbreak.

This is the second of four separate trials of President Morsi, all of which started last November. The death sentence was handed down as a result of charges supposedly related to allegedly conspiring with various foreign powers in the region.

Speaking in response to the sentence, Amr Darrag, a former Morsi Minister and a co-founder of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said:

"Today will be remembered as one of the darkest days in Egypt's history. Today, the aspirations of millions of Egyptians have been broken and sentenced to death along with their first ever democratically elected President. Since July 2013, the Egyptian society's dreams have turned into living nightmares, worse than ever.

"Today, we are not only grieving the tragic fate of a martyr who had only started to implement the hopes of his fellow citizens, we are mourning the January 25th 2011 Revolution's martyrs who gave their lives so that their dreams of a free society may come true. Did those hundreds of Egyptian civilians die for nothing?

"These latest charges are another deeply disturbing attempt to permanently erase democracy and the democratic process in Egypt.

"In today's judgment, the court relied on lies, hearsay and paranoid conspiracy theories, not evidence. Any impartial legal expert will see that this entire process is profoundly flawed. It is simply a kangaroo court.

"It is becoming very clear that a government sanctioned campaign is underway not only to silence Dr Morsi and his supporters, but to suffocate freedom and democracy in Egypt. These trials symbolize the dark shadow of authoritarianism, that is now cast back over Egypt.

"I firmly believe that this illegitimate government will not achieve its goals and that the Egyptian free conscience will never die. Today, democracy in Egypt bleeds over this scandal but we shall overcome. The strong and dignified behavior of President Morsi throughout this difficult time is an example for all supporters of freedom in Egypt.

"We solemnly call the international community to be coherent and thus to condemn, react and stop this unlawful regime which purges the opposition, silences the media, brutally crushes any dissent and despises its own people's will. Dr Morsi's sentence is a tragedy. But there is something far larger at stake – the rights of millions of Egyptians to live freely and without fear, and to choose their leaders through the ballot box."

Yehia Hamed, a former Morsi Minister, said: "Dr Morsi is an example of resistance against tyranny in Egypt. This corrupt regime is condemning him to death for no other reason than his refusal to let go of the aspirations and dreams of our young people that were demonstrated so vividly during the 25th January revolution."

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/18661-freedom-a-justice-party-media-statement-on-the-sentencing-to-death-of-president-morsi.

16 dead, scores injured in apartment fire in Azerbaijan

May 19, 2015

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijani officials say 16 people have died and more than 50 have been injured in a fire at an apartment building in Baku, the capital.

The massive fire quickly engulfed 16-story apartment building Tuesday and took hours to contain. Azerbaijan's chief prosecutor, Zakir Garalov, said the bad quality of plastic paneling covering the building contributed to the fire and a criminal probe has been launched to determine the fire's cause.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev has taken personal control of the investigation. A similar fire erupted in Baku earlier this month, but there were no injuries.

Turks in US begin voting in Turkey's elections

17 May 2015 Sunday

Turkish citizens in the U.S. began voting at polling stations set up inside the Turkish embassy and consulates Saturday to participate in their country’s general election that officially begins on June 7.

Some 14,000 Turkish citizens are eligible to vote in Washington D.C., while the overall number in the U.S. is about 90,000.

Along with the U.S. capital, Turkish citizens will vote in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston, Miami until May 31, 7 p.m., local time.

Hasan Kocahan, who was the first to vote in Washington D.C., had traveled all the way from Florida, where he was registered as a voter.

"I am happy to be the first in the line," Kocahan said, adding that: "I thought there will be a long queue, but I ended up being first."

Serdar Kilic, Turkey's ambassador to the U.S., called on Turkish citizens to participate in the elections by casting their vote at the nearest polling station.

"We are expecting a high number of participants for the election," Kilic said.

According to Turkey's Supreme Election Board, 112 polling stations would be set up for almost three million Turkish nationals living abroad.

"No one should doubt the security of the votes," Ibrahim Uyar, Washington representative of ruling Justice and Development or AK Party, said.

According to Uyar, the votes at the consulates and embassy would be secured in a room with three different locks; only one key to a unique lock would be given to each of the three party representatives, including AK Party, Republican People's Party (CHP), and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The room's door would open only when all three keys are used together, he added.

Yurter Ozcan, CHP’s U.S. representative, also said that no one should be worried about the security of the votes and called on Turks living in the U.S. to participate in the process.

Voting has also started in the Turkish consulate in New York where more than 34,000 eligible voters are registered in the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Turkey's New York Consul General Ertan Yalcin supervised the process during the early hours of the voting.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159266/turks-in-us-begin-voting-in-turkeys-elections.

Turkey's Erdogan, at German rally, urges compatriots to vote

May 10, 2015

BERLIN (AP) — Speaking in Germany, Turkey's president has urged his countrymen to preserve their homeland's values and language and to vote in the upcoming Turkish election.

News agency dpa said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a warm welcome Sunday from over 14,000 people in the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe. Germany has a large ethnic Turkish minority, including many Turkish citizens who can vote in the June 7 parliamentary election.

Dpa said Erdogan didn't call directly for votes for his ruling AKP party but said: "No one can ignore you in the world if you vote. Not even those in the EU who held a minute of silence for Armenians can ignore you."

Germany's president has irked Turkey by describing the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide.

APNewsBreak: Turkey, Saudi in pact to help anti-Assad rebels

May 08, 2015

ISTANBUL (AP) — Casting aside U.S. concerns about aiding extremist groups, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have converged on an aggressive new strategy to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The two countries — one a democracy, the other a conservative kingdom — have for years been at odds over how to deal with Assad, their common enemy. But mutual frustration with what they consider American indecision has brought the two together in a strategic alliance that is driving recent rebel gains in northern Syria, and has helped strengthen a new coalition of anti-Assad insurgents, Turkish officials say.

That is provoking concern in the United States, which does not want rebel groups, including the al-Qaida linked Nusra Front, uniting to topple Assad. The Obama administration worries that the revived rebel alliance could potentially put a more dangerous radical Islamist regime in Assad's place, just as the U.S. is focused on bringing down the Islamic State group. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issues, said the administration is concerned that the new alliance is helping Nusra gain territory in Syria.

The coordination between Turkey and Saudi Arabia reflects renewed urgency and impatience with the Obama administration's policy in the region. Saudi Arabia previously kept its distance and funding from some anti-Assad Islamist groups at Washington's urging, according to Turkish officials. Saudi Arabia and Turkey also differed about the role of the international Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, in the Syrian opposition. Turkey supports the group, while the Saudi monarchy considers it a threat to its rule at home; that has translated into differences on the ground — until recently.

"The key is that the Saudis are no longer working against the opposition," a Turkish official said. He and other officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Turkish officials say the Obama administration has disengaged from Syria as it focuses on rapprochement with Iran. While the U.S. administration is focused on degrading the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, they say it has no coherent strategy for ending the rule of Assad, Iran's key ally in the region.

The new Turkish and Saudi push suggests that they view Assad as a bigger threat to the region than groups like Nusra. Turkish officials discount the possibility that Nusra will ever be in a position to hold sway over much of Syria.

Under Turkish and Saudi patronage, the rebel advance has undermined a sense that the Assad government is winning the civil war — and demonstrated how the new alliance can yield immediate results. The pact was sealed in early March when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Riyadh to meet Saudi's recently crowned King Salman. Relations had been tense between Erdogan and the late King Abdullah, in great part over Erdogan's support of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Saudi shift appears to be part of broader proxy war against Iran that includes Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The new partnership adds Saudi money to Turkey's logistical support.

"It's a different world now in Syria, because the Saudi pocketbook has opened and the Americans can't tell them not to do it," said Joshua Landis, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. "It's quite clear that Salman has prioritized efforts against Iran over those against the Muslim Brotherhood."

The Turkish-Saudi agreement has led to a new joint command center in the northeastern Syrian province of Idlib. There, a coalition of groups — including Nusra and other Islamist brigades such as Ahrar al-Sham that Washington views as extremist — are progressively eroding Assad's front. The rebel coalition also includes more moderate elements of the Free Syrian Army that have received U.S. support in the past.

At the end of March, the alliance — calling itself "Conquest Army" — took the city of Idlib, followed by the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour and then a government military base. "They have really learned to fight together," the Turkish official said.

Turkish officials say that Turkey provides logistical and intelligence support to some members of the coalition, but has no interaction with Nusra — which it considers a terrorist group. But the difference with IS, the officials say, is that Turkey does not view Nusra as a security threat and therefore does not impede it.

The Turkish official who touted the Conquest Army's ability to fight cohesively said, however, that Turkey and Saudi Arabia have moved to bolster Ahrar al-Sham at Nusra's expense. This strays from the U.S. line that al-Sham is an extremist group, but Turkish officials say they distinguish between international jihadist groups and others with more localized aims. They place al-Sham in the latter category.

Moreover, they hope to use al-Sham's rise to put pressure on Nusra to renounce its ties to al-Qaida and open itself to outside help. Turkish officials say that the U.S. has no strategy for stabilizing Syria. One Turkish official said that the CIA has even lately halted its support for anti-Assad groups in northern Iraq. U.S. trainers are now in Turkey on a train-and-equip program aimed at adding fighters to counter the Islamic State group and bolster moderate forces in Syria, but Turkish officials are skeptical that it will amount to much.

Usama Abu Zeid, a legal adviser to the Free Syrian Army, confirmed that the new coordination between Turkey and Saudi Arabia — as well as Qatar — had facilitated the rebel advance, but said that it not yet led to a new flow of arms. He said rather that the fighters had seized large caches of arms from Syrian government facilities.

So far, Abu Zeid said, the new understanding between the militia groups and their international partners has led to quick success. "We were able to cause a lot of damage and capture more territory from the regime," he said.

But Landis said that it is a dangerous game — especially for Turkey. "The cautionary tale is that every power in the Middle East has tried to harness the power of Islamists to their own ends," he said, noting that Assad's government also backed Islamists in Iraq who later turned their guns on him. "It always seems to blow back."

Albania says could block Macedonia's NATO bid

May 20, 2015

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama warned on Wednesday that his country could block Macedonia's bid to join NATO unless it improves its record on respecting the rights of the country's ethnic Albanian minority.

The tiny republic's accession has already been blocked by neighbor Greece because of a dispute over the republic's name. Rama gave the warning while speaking an anti-terrorism conference in the capital, Tirana.

Relations between to the two Balkan neighbors have further soured following a shootout in northern Macedonia this month between police and suspected ethnic Albanian militants that left eight officers and 10 others dead.

Rama accused Macedonia's government of using the attack to try to tarnish the entire Albanian minority. "Unfortunately the word 'terrorism' and the word 'Albanian' have been combined in a reckless attempt to give terrorism an ethnic label," he said.

Macedonia, in one of its deepest political crises since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, has a sizeable ethnic Albanian minority which has been decisive in forming governing coalitions. Albania became a NATO member in 2009.

Syrian insurgents seize last military base in Idlib province

May 19, 2015

BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents in Syria captured the last military base and several small villages in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, marking the latest collapse of government troops in the region now almost entirely in opposition hands, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said factions — including al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, and the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham — captured Mastoumeh base after days of fighting. It said government forces left the base and withdrew to the nearby town of Ariha.

The Local Coordination Committees said the Islamic militants targeted the government forces as they were retreating, heading toward Ariha. In an implicit acknowledgement of defeat, state-run Syrian TV said army units in Mastoumeh base were moving to reinforce defenses in Ariha further south. Ariha is one of the last government holdouts to remain in Idlib.

Government troops withdrew from the provincial capital of Idlib after it fell to opposition fighters in March, followed by the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour and Qarmeed military base days later. The Idlib offensive is being led by a unified command known as Jaysh al-Fateh, or Conquest Army, and aided by a new strategic alliance between Turkey and Saudi Arabia to strengthen insurgents fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

Assad recently acknowledged what he said were recent military "setbacks," in the war against insurgents trying to topple him, promising a comeback by his troops in northern Syria. His forces are also engaged in heavy fighting with Islamic State group militants trying to advance toward government-held areas in the central town of Palmyra, an ancient heritage site.

Meanwhile, Assad received support on Tuesday from his top ally, Iran. State-run news agency SANA said Iran is extending a credit line to make up for market needs and reported that the two countries have signed several agreements in the fields of electricity, industry, oil and investment.

The new credit was announced during a visit to Damascus by Ali Akbar Velayati, a top aide to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran is believed to have supplied his government with billions of dollars since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011. Tehran extended a $1 billion credit line to Syria to help support the local currency in June 2013.

The new credit — it was not clear how much — comes as the Syrian pound's depreciation has accelerated. Velayati, who met with Assad on Tuesday, promised continued Iranian support for Syria with everything necessary to boost the Syrian people's "resistance in defending their homeland and confronting terrorism" and its sponsors. Assad's government refers to those trying to topple him as "terrorists."

Freedom Flotilla III arrives in Germany en route to France

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza said the group's Marianne ship which left Sweden last week arrived in Germany's Kehl port on Sunday en route to the French port of Brest.

A member of the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, Khamis Kart, said in a statement yesterday that the ship was received by a large gathering of activists and Palestinians living in Germany and members of the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza as well as representatives of the Palestinian assembly in Germany.

The campaign continues its meeting with the Freedom Flotilla III team in the Greek capital Athens where the two are expected to hold a press conference on Tuesday.

Deputy President of the Palestinians Assembly in Germany, Fadi Al-Tayesh, who joined the crowds who welcomed the ship, said people cheered for the ship and called for freedom for Palestine and condemned the Israeli siege on Gaza.

The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza has launched an international campaign to mobilize support and advocacy politically and diplomatically for the Freedom Flotilla III which included a number of meetings with European parliamentarians and parties' advisers.

The campaign confirmed during these meetings on the need to press Israel to immediately lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The first Freedom Flotilla was led by Turkish Mavi Marmara ship which set off towards the besieged Gaza Strip in May 2010 before Israeli forces attacked it in international waters killing ten activists and injuring others.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/18721-freedom-flotilla-iii-arrives-in-germany-en-route-to-france.

Turkey's head of Religious Affairs vows to rebuild all destroyed mosques in Gaza

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

Israel has violated human rights of Palestinians and used internationally banned weapons against civilians in Gaza, Turkey's head of religious affairs said Sunday.

Mehmet Gormez, president of Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs, made the remarks during his first trip to the Gaza Strip Sunday. Gormez is in the coastal enclave on the invitation of Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ismail al-Sheikh.

Referring to Israeli government's eight-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, Gormez said that the people of Gaza had free minds and free hearts despite the daily horrors they faced.

He said that the Israeli army had used internationally banned weapons in its anti-Palestinian deadly operations in the Gaza Strip. "Israel used internationally banned weapons and violated religious and human rights [of Palestinians]. Israel must be prosecuted," he added.

During his visit, Gormez vowed to support the rebuilding of all the mosques destroyed during Operation 'Protective Edge'.

Gormez also met with Ismail Haniyeh, deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, in Gaza. Haniyeh praised Turkey's assistance to Palestinians, which he said was an indication of the "reliable and sacred" bond between the two sides.

"Gaza in particular and Palestine in general praises Turkey's support in all domains...We will never forget the Turkish That blood was spilled on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla in a bid to break the siege on the Gaza Strip" the senior Hamas leader said.

On July 8, 2014, Israel launched its "Operation Protective Edge" offensive in the Gaza Strip that left more than 2,000 people, most of them civilians, dead. The Israeli bombardment had also left around 11,855 housing units destroyed or severely damaged, and at least 425,000 people were displaced, according to an August 2014 UN report.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/18723-turkeys-head-of-religious-affairs-vows-to-rebuild-all-destroyed-mosques-in-gaza.

Tajikistan closes eastern region to tourists

16 May 2015 Saturday

Tajikistan has closed its eastern border to tourists as a result of fighting in the Badakhshan province.

In a statement to Asia Reports, Rezo Nazarzoda, the deputy head of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, said that entry of foreign citizens to Gorno Badakhshan has been temporarily suspended because of uneasy situation in Afghanistan’s districts bordering the region.

The Gorno Badakshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) makes up roughly 45 percent of Tajikistan’s territory, but is home to only 3 percent of the population. Nazarzoda said that 80 percent of Tajikistan’s tourists come to visit the province specifically to see the breathtaking Pamir Mountains. The Pamir Highway that traverses the mountains is one of the highest roads in the world, an ancient piece of the Silk Road, and modern GBAO’s only real supply line.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159235/tajikistan-closes-eastern-region-to-tourists.

Local elections in Spain test upstart parties' voter appeal

May 24, 2015

MADRID (AP) — Local elections in much of Spain could see two upstart parties end nearly four decades of dominance by the conservative Popular Party and the center-left Socialists.

At stake in Sunday's vote are 8,100 town halls as well as parliament seats in 13 of Spain's 17 regions. Opinion polls indicate voters are fed up with Spain's economic downturn and the corruption scandals that have rocked the ruling Popular Party and the opposition Socialists, which have alternated in power.

That dissatisfaction has opened the door to the centrist, pro-business Citizens party and the left-wing We Can party — both relative newcomers that began operating on a national scale only last year. Polling booths open at 9 a.m. and close 11 hours later, with final results expected by midnight.

Ukrainian lawmakers suspend military cooperation with Russia

May 21, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's parliament on Thursday voted to suspend military cooperation with Russia in a long-anticipated move signaling a further break in relations between the once-close partners.

Kiev also produced what it claimed was fresh confirmation of involvement by Russian intelligence in sowing unrest in breakaway eastern regions, saying it is evidence of continued Russian plans to destabilize Ukraine.

The five cooperation agreements scrapped by the Verkhovna Rada include one giving the Russian military transit rights to reach Moldova, whose territory is partly controlled by a Moscow-supported separatist government.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine plummeted after the overthrow in February 2014 of Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Russia subsequently annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Kiev also accuses Moscow of arming and staffing separatist insurgencies in eastern Ukraine.

Russia staunchly denies it is involved with the armed separatist insurgency in Ukraine. In turning away from Russia, Ukraine has increasingly reached out for assistance to NATO, an organization the current government hopes the country will eventually join.

Russia has about 1,500 troops stationed in Trans-Dniester, a landlocked separatist strip of Moldova that borders Ukraine. Rescinding the transit rights for those troops creates a logistical problem for Russia and no solution was immediately apparent.

"As it now stands, we have to think about it, find a way. We shouldn't toss away Trans-Dniester and Moldova," said Vladimir Komoedov, chairman of the defense committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, according to the Interfax news agency.

But he said Russia wouldn't consider retaliatory measures for the time being. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the decision by Ukraine's parliament isn't expected to affect the implementation of the Minsk cease-fire agreement for eastern Ukraine.

Also Thursday, Ukraine unveiled what it said was new evidence showing that Russian foreign intelligence services have played a decisive role in provoking unrest in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. Two Russian citizens captured there over the past week were active officers with Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, Ukrainian Security Service counterintelligence chief Vitaliy Naida said at a press conference.

The service published the names and pictures of 12 other people it said served in the same unit as the captured men. Naida said the unit ran sabotage operations, planned ambushes for Ukrainian troops, set mines and laid bombs targeting the civilian population.

Russia has confirmed the two paraded on television by Ukrainian authorities are Russian citizens and that they were formerly in the military, but says they are no longer in active service and went to Ukraine as volunteers.

In video statements posted by the Ukrainian Security Service, the men say they were taking part in a reconnaissance operation in the Luhansk region Saturday when they were fired on, wounded and captured. Both say they were members of an army brigade based in the Russian city of Togliatti and had been deployed in Ukraine for more than a month.

Ukraine open to hosting missile-defense system

May 20, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is open to considering proposals to place a ballistic missile-defense system on its territory to ward off the risk of attacks from Russia, a senior Ukrainian defense official said Wednesday. So far no one has offered.

Oleksandr Turchynov, the head of Ukraine's National Security Council, told Ukrinform news agency in an interview that Russia has become an increased threat since annexing the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and increasing its military presence there.

Russian news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Wednesday that the deployment of a missile-defense system in Ukraine would force Russia to adopt countermeasures. Ukraine has repeatedly raised alarms about what it sees as Russia's aggressive military posture. It says Moscow has actively supplied separatists in east Ukraine with arms and manpower and that it routinely bolsters offensive capabilities in western Russia.

President Petro Poroshenko's government is concerned that Russia is making concerted efforts to move its nuclear capabilities to Crimea, which was absorbed by Moscow in 2014 following a referendum almost universally rejected by the international community.

"That the annexation of Crimea has significantly increased Russia's military capabilities and changed its balance of military power in the Black Sea and Mediterranean is understood by all our partners," Turchynov said. "But nobody goes beyond issuing statements and expressing deep concern."

"Ten Iskander-M tactical missile systems have already been delivered to the peninsula near the village of Shcholkine and Krasnoperekopsk," Turchynov told Ukrinform. Russian Defense Ministry officials have also said they will deploy long-range, nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers to Crimea.

Turchynov suggested that the West should consider improving its own security by barring Russian warships from passing through the Bosporus Strait — the narrow stretch that divides Turkey between its European and Asian parts and links the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

NATO's U.S.-led missile-defense plans envisage deploying elements of the missile shield around Europe for what it says would be defense against Iran. Moscow sees this as a threat to its nuclear deterrent.

Unrest in eastern Ukraine has diminished markedly since a cease-fire was agreed between government and Russian-backed separatist forces in February, but skirmishes continue daily. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Wednesday that three government troops had been killed in action over the previous day.

Poroshenko said at a press conference in Kiev with Slovakian counterpart Andrej Kiska that Russia has between 4,000 and 14,000 soldiers stationed in Ukraine at any given time. "This is not just Ukrainian information. This is intelligence from NATO countries and other sources," Poroshenko said.

Ukrainian authorities this week showed off two men they say are Russian soldiers who were captured while on active duty in the rebellious east. In video statements posted by the Ukrainian Security Service, the men say they were taking part in a reconnaissance operation in the Luhansk region Saturday when they were fired on, wounded and captured. Both say they were members of an army brigade based in the Russian city of Togliatti and had been deployed in Ukraine for more than a month.

Ukraine erases communist reminders as it tries to ditch past

May 12, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A hulking steel statue of a victorious female warrior bearing aloft sword and shield looms in dour majesty over the Ukrainian capital. The Motherland Monument's shield bears the Communist hammer-and-sickle, but maybe not for much longer.

Ukraine's leaders are eager to be seen as reinventing the nation. And erasing all visible reminders of the communist past, they say, is an important step toward that goal. "Elimination of communism has to happen in people's heads and consciousness," said Kiev deputy mayor Oleksiy Reznikov. "Symbolism irritates some people and creates a certain aura that we need to get rid of."

Parliament opened the way last month by backing a package of laws that included a loosely formulated ban on communist, as well as Nazi, imagery and ideology. The provisions, which still require approval from President Petro Poroshenko, will make it illegal to show symbols from the Soviet era, such as the logo of Communist Party, or play Soviet-era anthems. It will also become an offense to deny the criminal nature of the Soviet regime.

Taking down all the communist symbols will take time, money and a fair dose of acrobatics, especially in the case of objects like the 100-meter (330-foot) tall Motherland Monument. "We will find alpinist patriots, like the famous ones who painted a star at the top of a Moscow hotel the blue-and-yellow (of the Ukrainian flag)," Reznikov said. "We will ask for help from brave guys like that to get this work done."

Eager Ukrainian nationalists have for the past year been racing ahead of the authorities by pulling down dozens of statues of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik revolutionary and founder of the Soviet Union. The sight has typically been greeted with a mixture of glee, indifference or, among mostly older people, dismay.

The thrust of what has been dubbed de-communization has sharply divided views. Supporters argue it has been long in the waiting and will set the stage for Ukraine to leave its history behind. "I would have got rid of it all years ago. It simply doesn't reflect the mood of the Ukrainian people," said Kiev resident Vasiliy Babkov. "We have to build up that which is truly in the blood of Ukrainians."

But others, like Halyna Coynash, a journalist and member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, said some measures risk reverting to the censorship of the communist era. She sees particular danger in a measure that forbids any positive assessment of the Soviet era.

"They have ended up with a law that seriously endangers freedom of speech," Coynash said. Dismantling Soviet emblems and renaming streets named in honor of figures known to have been part of the Soviet Union's machine of repression has garnered a wide approval. But misgivings abound.

"Saying that people cannot themselves wear a red star or even have a hammer-and-sickle on their clothing," Coynash said, "is really quite absurd." Repeated violations could result in prison sentences lasting several years, also a source of anxiety.

"Imprisonment for up to five years for any display of Nazi or communist symbols is manifestly and undeniably in breach of international human rights standards," Volodymyr Yavorsky, an expert with Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, wrote in an article analyzing the laws.

The campaign against the anti-communist laws has been joined by the several dozen signatories to a letter to Poroshenko pleading with him to reject the bill, which sailed through parliament with little debate.

"However noble the intent, the wholesale condemnation of the entire Soviet period as one of occupation of Ukraine will have unjust and incongruous consequences," said the letter, which was signed by dozens of international and Ukrainian historians.

The letter argues that the legislation is so loose as to possibly punish anybody writing approvingly of any policies implemented over 74 years of Communist rule. "Anyone calling attention to the development of Ukrainian culture and language in the 1920s could find himself or herself condemned," the letter said.

One especially thorny provision makes it illegal to justify historical instances of repression of Ukrainian independence movements in the 20th century. Those include the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists headed by WWII-era insurgent leader Stepan Bandera, who briefly allied himself with the Nazis. Efforts by Bandera-led forces to carve out an independent territory for Ukraine led them to perpetrate hideous atrocities against Soviets, Poles and Jews alike.

Bandera's name is tantamount to a curse word among many ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine's east, where government troops have since last year been battling Moscow-backed separatists in a war that has already claimed more than 6,000 lives.

And Russia has warned darkly of more trouble for Ukraine should the anti-communism measures go ahead. "Attempts by Kiev to distort the country's past and to disregard the achievements made in Russian and Soviet periods will only lead to a deep split in society," the foreign ministry in Moscow said in a statement in April. "Doing that by imposing nationalist ideologies will only further cast into doubt the prospects of Ukraine's statehood."

Vatican recognizes state of Palestine in new treaty

May 13, 2015

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in a new treaty finalized Wednesday, immediately sparking Israeli ire and accusations that the move hurt peace prospects.

The treaty, which concerns the activities of the Catholic Church in Palestinian territory, is both deeply symbolic and makes explicit that the Holy See has switched its diplomatic recognition from the Palestine Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine.

The Vatican had welcomed the decision by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 to recognize a Palestinian state and had referred to the Palestine state since. But the treaty is the first legal document negotiated between the Holy See and the Palestinian state, giving the Vatican's former signs of recognition an unambiguous confirmation in a formal, bilateral treaty.

"Yes, it's a recognition that the state exists," said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was "disappointed." "This move does not promote the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations," the ministry said in a text message.

The United States and Israel oppose recognition, arguing that it undermines U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of Palestinian statehood. Most countries in Western Europe have held off on recognition, but some have hinted that their position could change if peace efforts remain deadlocked.

The treaty was finalized days before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visits Pope Francis at the Vatican. Abbas is heading to Rome to attend Francis' canonization Sunday of two new saints from the Holy Land.

"This is a very important recognition as the Vatican has a very important political status that stems from its spiritual status," said Abbas' senior aide, Nabil Shaath. "We expect more EU countries to follow."

The Vatican has been referring unofficially to the state of Palestine since 2012. During Pope Francis' 2014 visit to the Holy Land, the Vatican's official program referred to Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine."

The Vatican's foreign minister, Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, acknowledged the change in status, but said the shift was simply in line with the Holy See's position. The Holy See clearly tried to underplay the development, suggesting that its 2012 press statement welcoming the U.N. vote constituted its first official recognition. Nowhere in that statement does the Vatican say it recognizes the state of Palestine, and the Holy See couldn't vote for the U.N. resolution because it doesn't have voting rights at the General Assembly.

The Vatican's efforts to downplay the move seemed justified given the swift condemnation of the development by Israeli groups: The American Jewish Committee said it was "counterproductive to all who seek true peace between Israel and the Palestinians." The Anti-Defamation League said it was "premature."

"We appreciate that the Vatican's basic intention is to promote Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, but believe that this diplomatic recognition will be unhelpful to that end," the ADL's Abraham Foxman said.

The 2012 U.N. vote recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state, made up of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians celebrated the vote as a milestone in their quest for international recognition. Most countries in Africa, Asia and South America have individually recognized Palestine. In Western Europe, Sweden took the step last year, while several parliaments have approved non-binding motions urging recognition.

This isn't the first time that the Vatican under Francis has taken diplomatic moves knowing that it would please some quarters and ruffle feathers elsewhere: Just last month, he referred to the slaughter of Armenians by Turkish Ottomans a century ago as a "genocide," prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador.

AP writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank contributed.

Romania turns hacking crisis into advantage, helping Ukraine

May 13, 2015

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Ukraine is turning to an unlikely partner in its struggle to defend itself against Russian cyber warfare: Romania.

The eastern European country known more for economic disarray than technological prowess has become one of the leading nations in Europe in the fight against hacking. The reason: the country's own battle against Internet renegades and a legacy of computing excellence stemming from Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's regime.

Both historic twists have ironically turned Romanian cyber sleuths into some of Europe's best. So much so that NATO tapped Bucharest to defend Ukraine from Russian digital espionage by sending experts to monitor Kiev government institutes and train Ukrainian IT specialists.

Ukraine says Russia's Federal Security Service is coordinating attacks on government offices as part of a proxy war against Ukraine's government, amid real fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels in the east. Ukrainian security operatives say that, with Romania's help, they have foiled attempts to spread malicious software intended to disable the government's computer network or steal intelligence.

At NATO's summit last year in Wales, President Barack Obama and other leaders decided to create five "trust funds" — or narrowly focused programs funded by NATO member counties that are meant to help Ukraine reform and modernize its defense capabilities. — including one for cyber defense to help Ukraine's military modernize.

Romania, a member of NATO's cyber coalition exercises, volunteered to lead the Ukraine Cyber Defense Trust Fund — and tapped the state-owned Rasirom company. The alliance notes the Rasirom, the cyber-security provider for Romania's top state institutions, has "a rich experience in cyber defense."

"We are trying to be a regional leader," Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said in e meeting with foreign media outlets. "That is why Romania ... has been appointed by NATO to be in charge of (Ukraine's) cyber security and preventing cyber warfare."

At the opening of a regional conference on cyber security, U.S deputy Secretary for Commerce Bruce Andrews on Monday praised Romanian company Bitdefender which created "Bitdefender Box." one of the first security products made specifically for home networks. It protects devices by scanning network traffic to detect and block potential security threats and noted that Romanian was the second language spoken at Microsoft in offices around the world, after English.

Ukraine itself had no say on which country NATO tapped to provide its cyber security. But since 2013 it has cooperated with Romania on fighting hacking, phishing, child porn and DDoS attacks, which attempt to disable a website by swamping it with traffic.

Europol is also tapping into Romania's cyber savvy. The European police agency's chief, Ron Wainright, said 20 percent of Europol's cyber defense experts are Romanian police officers. "The expertise that Romanian specialists bring in their daily fight against this threat is extraordinary," he said on a recent visit to Bucharest.

If Romania is a leader in cyber policing today, it can perhaps thank a string of high-profile cases of Romanian hackers attacking the United States in 2011. That year, Romanian cyber criminals stole $1 billion from victims in the U.S., and an unemployed Romanian taxi driver calling himself "Guccifer" hacked the emails of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and former President George W. Bush. Marcel Lehel Lazar accessed and published private Bush family photos, including selfies of Bush who appeared to be shaving in the shower and soaking his feet in a bathtub.

The security breaches so alarmed Washington that the FBI launched a program to train 600 Romanian law enforcement officers on fighting cybercrime. Last month, Romanian police broke up an alleged cybercrime ring and arrested 25 Romanians. The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism said that between February and December 2013, a group of 52 Romanians and foreign citizens carried out more than 34,000 fraudulent cash withdrawals in 24 countries, netting more than euros 15 million ($17 million).

The gang targeted banks in Puerto Rico and Oman. Romanian police said the group broke IT firewalls to obtain the details of corporate clients which were used to clone credit cards. Romania's tradition of computer skills dates back to the communist era when Ceausescu decided to make engineering and math education priorities at top universities.

Microsoft, Google and Oracle all have businesses in Romania and there are 93,000 employed in the industry with 6,500 graduating in IT every year, according to Anis, the Romanian software industry association.

Romanians also have computer success abroad. Gabriel Marcu has worked at Apple since 1996 and is a senior scientist there, responsible for color calibration on all Apple products.In 2008, Razvan Olosu , the former CEO of Nokia Germany, founded Novero, a company making Telematics products for automotive clients which he ran until 2013.

One industry expert said Romania's success relies on teaching IT from a young age. "Faculties are turning out very good specialists who are highly sought after by big companies," said Rasirom general manager Aurelian Tolescu.

Peter Leonard in Kiev, Ukraine, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels contributed to this report.

Conservative challenger Duda wins Polish presidential vote

May 25, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Conservative challenger Andrzej Duda has won Poland's presidential election and ousted the incumbent in a runoff vote, according to official results Monday.

Duda, a right-wing member of the European Parliament, won with 51.55 percent of the vote, the State Electoral Commission said. President Bronislaw Komorowski, allied with the ruling pro-business Civic Platform, garnered 48.45 percent in the second round of voting on Sunday.

Turnout was 55.34 percent in this nation of more than 37 million people. Duda, a 43-year-old lawyer with experience in the government, will be taking office in August. Duda's win is a serious warning for the ruling government before fall parliamentary elections. It could herald a major political shift in the European Union's sixth-largest economy, a country that has been able to punch above its weight in Europe without belonging to the 19-nation eurozone. Poland's influence is underlined by the fact that one of its own, Donald Tusk, now heads the European Council in Brussels.

Poland's president is the head of the armed forces, and can propose and veto legislation. In foreign policy, the president's role is chiefly ceremonial. The return of the Law and Justice party to power would cement Poland's turn to the right, create a new dynamic with other European countries and possibly usher in a less welcoming climate for foreign investors.

Law and Justice presents itself as a protector of those who haven't benefited from the capitalist transformation and as a defender of national interests abroad. It is staunchly pro-U.S., but has a sometimes defiant stance toward other European partners, which has created tensions in the past with the EU and neighboring Germany.

Duda says he wants new taxes on the foreign-owned banks and supermarkets to protect Polish interests, suggesting an approach similar to that of Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary. He also said he wants banks returned to Polish control.

Analyst Jacek Kucharczyk said Poland's relations with other European powers will now depend on whether Duda sticks to the relatively moderate agenda he campaigned on or whether he embraces his party leader's more combative foreign policy stance.

"That would be a nightmare scenario for Polish foreign policy, because it would mean getting into conflicts with Germany and anti-EU stunts and aggressive rhetoric toward Russia," said Kucharczyk, president of the Institute of Public Affairs, an independent think tank in Warsaw. "We are in for a bumpy ride. The only question is how bumpy it will be."

Party supporters, however, have been rejoicing since Duda's apparent victory was announced late Sunday. They say the party will do much more to help the many Poles who have not benefited from the country's economic growth, those who face low wages and job insecurity despite a quarter-century of growth. In his campaign speeches, Duda often spoke of the more than 2 million Poles who left in the past decade to seek better economic opportunities abroad.

Supporters also say Duda will do more to fight for the country's economic interests. "Andrzej Duda is a responsible person and will be a responsible president," said Zbigniew Ziobro, a former justice minister when the Law and Justice party led the government. "He will fulfill Poland's obligations toward NATO and the European Union, but he will definitely put more stress on Poland's interests."

In Moscow, the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin congratulated Duda and "expressed confidence that building constructive relations between Russia and Poland ... would strengthen security and stability in Europe."

The rise of Duda also marks a generational shift in Polish politics. He would be the sixth president since the fall of communism in 1989, but at 43, the first who is too young to have been a major participant in the 1980s struggle between communist authorities and the Solidarity opposition movement. He apparently won a significant share of young voters on Sunday.

Duda said Monday he plans to leave Law and Justice, following a tradition of Polish presidents breaking formal ties to their parties to represent the entire nation. Komorowski left the pro-EU Civic Platform party when he won the presidency in 2010, but remained closely tied to it. Observers say was a key factor in his undoing, with voters punishing him for government corruption scandals and unpopular measures such as a rise in the retirement age.

Associated Press writers Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, and Lynn Berry in Moscow, contributed to this report.

Polish president concedes defeat after exit poll released

May 25, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski conceded defeat in the county's presidential election Sunday after an exit poll showed him trailing Andrzej Duda, a previously little-known right-wing politician.

If the exit poll is confirmed by official results, which are due Monday, it marks a significant blow to the ruling Civic Platform party ahead of more important parliamentary elections this year. The pro-market and pro-European party has overseen unprecedented growth during its eight years of power but is now being punished by voter discontent.

Many Poles say they are fed up with corruption scandals involving members of the ruling party, and with the fact that economic growth has not trickled down to many ordinary Poles. The exit poll said 52 percent of the votes in Sunday's final round of the presidential election went to Duda and 48 percent to Komorowski. It was conducted by Ipsos and reported by the private broadcaster TVN. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

"I congratulate my competitor Andrzej Duda and wish him a successful presidency," said Komorowski, whose term ends in August. Duda belongs to the Law and Justice party of former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a right-wing party that mixes traditional national values like Catholicism with calls for a stronger state role in the economy. The party ran the government from 2005-2007 and the presidency from 2005 to 2010, when President Lech Kaczynski, the party chairman's twin brother, was killed in a plane crash in Russia.

During the campaign, Duda, a lawyer and member of the European Parliament who was previously little known in Poland, called for a reduction in the retirement age. He also said he wants Poland to retake control of the banks, two-thirds of which are foreign owned.

The mood was joyous at the election night gathering in Warsaw of Duda's Law and Justice party as supporters celebrated what is apparently its first significant electoral victory in nearly a decade. There was an explosion of cheering and people flashed V-for-victory signs.

In a brief speech, Duda, 43, vowed an open presidency based on unity and said that it would take a lot of hard work to fix the country's problems. "We can change Poland," Duda said with his wife and grown daughter by his side. After his speech the family and the crowd sang the national anthem.

Polish presidents have fewer powers than prime ministers and their governments, but the president does represent the nation internationally and helps set a political and moral tone at home. During the campaign, Duda often spoke of the more than 2 million Poles who have left the country in the past decade for Britain and other countries in Western Europe.

Most people "have not benefited from the economic change," said Marcin Wolski, a well-known satirist at Law and Justice's election night gathering. "Poland needs change and Duda is the sign of the change that Poland needs."

Associated Press writer Vanessa Gera contributed to this report.

Poles vote in cliffhanger presidential election runoff

May 24, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poles were voting Sunday in the final round of a cliffhanger presidential election race between the conservative incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski and an even more conservative challenger.

In his five years in office, the 62-year-old Komorowski has been popular and was easily expected to win re-election. But he narrowly lost in the first round of voting to Andrzej Duda, a little-known 43-year-old lawyer and member of the European Parliament with the Law and Justice party who waged an energetic campaign.

Polls in recent days have shown Sunday's race as being too close to call. Duda's strong showing in a first round on May 10, which helped force a runoff, has exposed a rising disillusionment with the long-ruling Civic Platform party, which Komorowski is allied with. The party has governed Poland since 2007 and been marred by a string of corruption scandals. Its fortunes have also fallen somewhat with the departure from Poland of its former charismatic leader and prime minister, Donald Tusk, who is now the European Union president.

The first round had a large protest vote for a rock star, and political analysts say a majority of those votes will probably go to Duda. On the other hand, many people who didn't vote then are expected to vote this time, and many of those votes are expected to go to Komorowski.

The president has limited powers but the election is being closely watched as a sign for how Civic Platform and Law and Justice will fare in the more significant parliamentary election this fall. Although both parties are conservative, the ruling Civic Platform party has a more liberal stance on some issues such as in vitro fertilization, and is more pro-European than Law and Justice, which has a nationalistic streak and has demanded more sovereignty from Brussels. Duda has called for higher taxes on banks and large supermarket chains, which are mainly foreign owned. He also said he wants Poland to retake control of the banks.

The Polish currency, the zloty, weakened in the final days of the campaign. Exit polls will be published when polling stations close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT), but final results are not expected until Monday at the earliest.

UK airport expansion threatens to take out entire villages

May 25, 2015

LONDON (AP) — With its classic red phone booth, pub, and medieval church, Harmondsworth's center looks quintessentially British. But the search for a twee English village isn't what brings millions of people within a stone's throw of its boundaries.

The attraction is neighboring Heathrow Airport, which served 73 million travelers last year. Now Europe's busiest airport is proposing to build a runway roughly through the center of town, leveling the ivy-covered brick walls of the Harmondsworth Hall guest house and two-thirds of its homes. A village that traces its history to the 6th century would be forever altered, and some argue even what's left would be uninhabitable.

"There's no compensation package that would interest me," said Neil Keveren, who chairs a local community group opposed to the expansion. "We have a historic village with buildings that go back 600 years. You cannot replace that. You cannot buy memories."

Harmondsworth is under threat because London and southeastern England need more airport capacity to meet the growing demands of business travelers and tourists. Heathrow and rival Gatwick, 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of central London, have offered competing projects that will cost as much as 18.6 billion pounds ($29.1 billion). Whichever proposal is selected, homes will be destroyed and surviving neighborhoods will have to cope with increased noise, pollution and traffic.

The issue is so toxic that politicians created an independent commission to weigh the options. Government officials then postponed a decision until after the May 7 election, effectively taking the matter off the political agenda, if but briefly.

The commission is set to make its recommendation as soon as next month. It will then be up to political leaders to make the final decision. A furious public relations battle has raged in advance, with placards all over London's subway system, for example, extolling the virtues of Heathrow or Gatwick. The commission has already rejected other options, including Mayor Boris Johnson's proposal for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

According to the commission, all three remaining proposals, including two different plans to expand Heathrow, would meet the region's needs, though the costs and potential benefits would vary. Gatwick, for instance, would cost an estimated 9.3 billion pounds and boost Britain's gross domestic product by as much as 127 billion pounds. The most expensive Heathrow project would cost twice as much and boost GDP by up to 211 billion pounds, the commission estimates.

Making the right decision is crucial as London seeks to retain a competitive edge. In a globalized world, airports offer the opportunity for investment bankers, lawyers, consultants and engineers to make face-to-face connections in major markets where deals are made, said John Kasarda, director of the center for air commerce at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

"This is contact sport, particularly at the global level," Kasarda said. "This isn't done over the net." And the ability to move — and connect — faster makes a country and its economy more competitive. Opting not to expand is a tacit acknowledgement that the government is willing to have some of those jobs go to a competitor, such as Paris, Amsterdam or Dubai.

"It's the survival of the fastest," Kasarda said. "It's no longer the big eating the small. It is the fast eating the slow." But there is a human cost, as communities like Harmondsworth and others that might be affected know all too well.

Heathrow external relations director Nigel Milton said he understands that some people are very upset, though he claims there are residents in Harmondsworth who support the project but might not want to come forward to support the idea. He acknowledges the local impact, but said the company would offer compensation packages — even to those whose homes would not need to be leveled but who would find themselves living next to a runway.

"We believe we are being fair," he said. Countries like Britain have struggled with the notion of balancing national gain with local pain. Harmondsworth and the nearby village of Sipson are "stylized examples of the challenge all big societies face: progress meets obstacles," said Tony Travers, a professor of government at the London School of Economics.

Britain has sought to strike a balance between growth and safeguarding its heritage, and grassroots conservation movements have grown up to protect cultural landmarks. Unlike communities such as Venice in Italy, Britain hasn't allowed beauty to hamper progress — but that doesn't mean it isn't taken into account.

"If Harmondsworth were not this beautiful village, this decision would be that much easier to make," Travers said. Local campaigners say they've been told the latest proposal would avoid landmarks like St. Mary's Church, which traces its history to the mid-11th century and the Great Barn, a 15th century oak-framed behemoth — 192 feet long, 37 feet wide and 39 feet high — dubbed the "Cathedral of Middlesex" by the late poet laureate John Betjeman.

But opponents say the proposed runway would be so close to what's left of the village that no one would be able to stand to live there because of the noise and the bad air. In other words, there'd be a church but no congregation, said archaeological scientist Justine Bayley.

"They have no concern that they are screwing up the lives of hundreds of thousands of people for their shareholders," she said of her village and others along the flightpath and in west London who are affected by the noise.

Keveren nods. His fury is evident as he waves a 2010 election leaflet in which Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party pledged to fight Heathrow expansion. Keveren says he feels deceived. "My grandparents worked this land. I have war dead in the cemetery of the church. This is my home and if I am forced to leave here, who will it be for? Foreign investors," he said spinning with outrage. "The message I would give to the world is that the British government can be bought."

Opposition leader claims Burundi not ready for polls

May 25, 2015

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) — Burundi is not ready for parliamentary or presidential elections next month because the government is curtailing freedoms including preventing the opposition from campaigning, a leading opposition candidate said, as protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term continued in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

Burundian Red Cross reported that 21 people were injured in the streets protests Monday bringing the total of those injured to 471 since the start of the street battles that have seen police fire at demonstrators. At least 20 people have died in the clashes with police, according to the Red Cross.

Nkurunziza cannot win if the elections are free and fair, said Agathon Rwasa, who is running as an independent candidate in the June 26 elections. Rwasa, the leader of a former rebel group National Forces for Liberation who is now an opposition politician, said there is widespread intimidation of those opposed to Nkurunziza.

"I don't believe elections can be held in this environment," Rwasa said. "Many are not there especially in opposition strongholds," he said, referring to the more than 100,000 refugees who have fled Burundi for fear of violence ahead of the polls. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 5, while presidential polls are slated for June 26.

Protesters, who have been demonstrating for four weeks in opposition to Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in office. In Bujumbura's Bwiza neighborhood one protester was wounded after being shot by police, according to a witness who insisted on anonymity for fear of retribution.

Protesters in the capital's Buterere area put feces on their barricades, of rocks and cut-down telephone poles, to hinder their removal. Those opposed to Nkurunziza's bid for a third term say he is violating the constitution that limits a president to two five-year terms, and some protesters are vowing to stay on the streets until Nkurunziza says he will not run for re-election. Nkurunziza maintains he is eligible for a third term because he was elected by parliament for his first term, not a by a direct vote.

Associated Press writer Gerard Nzohabona contributed to this report.