Pakistan, Turkey agree to deepen trade, defense relations

17 November 2016 Thursday

Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday agreed to further expand the mutual cooperation between the two brotherly countries in diverse fields.

They agreed to further deepen the existing cooperation in trade and defense relations, settlement of Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions, joint efforts for durable peace in Afghanistan and elimination of terrorism.

The two had one-on-one meeting which was followed by a delegation level meeting at the Presidency.

Mamnoon proposed to conclude a comprehensive and long-term "Framework Agreement for Defense Cooperation" between Pakistan and Turkey, which was agreed by the visiting dignitary.

He expressed satisfaction at Turkey's cooperation for its submarine upgrade and acquiring of Super Mashshak trainer aircraft from Pakistan by Turkey.

Erdogan said that bilateral defense cooperation between the two countries would grow further in the coming days, adding that in that regard all necessary measures would be taken.

The two leaders agreed that Kashmir dispute should be resolved in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations. Expressing concern over human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir, President Mamnoon Hussain called for an inquiry of these atrocities under the UN auspices.

The Pakistani president thanked Turkish president on Turkey's support on Kashmir issue and reaffirmed Pakistan's support for Turkey's position on Cyprus. He hoped that the issue would be resolved soon on which the Turkish president thanked the president and the government.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Deputy Secretary General and Spokesperson Ibrahim Kaln, Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan Sadik Babur Girgin, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and other senior officials were also present.

He noted that bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkey had declined during the last few years and emphasized the need to enhance it.

Agreeing to the suggestion, Erdogan stressed the need for joint ventures for enhancing bilateral trade and said soon there would be improvement in that regard.

Mamnoon hoped that Turkish investors would invest in Pakistan's energy and infrastructure sectors.

He expressed satisfaction over growing Turkish investment in Pakistan.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/headlines/180314/pakistan-turkey-agree-to-deepen-trade-defence-relations.

Turks in Pakistan challenge their expulsion order in court

November 17, 2016

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's order for 400 Turkish nationals, mostly schoolteachers and their families, to leave the country within 72 hours was being challenged in court on Thursday as hundreds of students took to the streets to denounce the expulsions.

The developments come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making a high-profile visit to Pakistan. The Turkish nationals include staff at the PakTurk International school chain and their family members. Ankara has accused the school of links with the movement of U.S.-based dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Pak-Turk denies.

Erdogan has accused Gulen supporters of staging the failed July 15 coup in Turkey. The school on Thursday posted a new statement on its website saying the "PakTurk International Schools and Colleges in Pakistan have no affiliation or connection with any political individual or any movement or organization."

The Islamabad High Court, which took up the petition by the 400 Turkish nationals, heard arguments from the school's lawyer on Thursday before a break in the proceedings, according to court official Faheem Rizvi.

The petition said the expulsion would adversely affect 11,000 students in 28 branches of the school across the country. It requested that the orders be rescinded and that the school's expatriate staff be allowed to continue to work in Pakistan, he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of PakTurk students blocked the main road in the eastern city of Lahore to protest the expulsion orders, said Pakistani police officer Adnan Naseer. "Don't play with our future," student Tariq Ahmad told Pakistani Capital News TV.

After talks in Islamabad, Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a joint press conference, pledging to enhance bilateral cooperation, share their experience in fighting terrorism and complete a free trade agreement by the end of 2017.

Erdogan was to address the Pakistani parliament later in the day. On the expulsion issue, Erdogan thanked the Pakistani government for taking action against what he described as supporters of Gulen's network, and assured the media that PakTurk students will not suffer.

Erdogan also said Turkey is seeking help from allies in dismantling Gulen's "evil netywork," which he claimed was also a threat to Pakistan's security.

Pakistan PM to witness military drills at India border

November 16, 2016

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the country's powerful army chief left Wednesday for a strategically located secret area bordering India to witness a military exercise of ground and air power amid increasing tension with India over Kashmir.

Planes, tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons will be used during Wednesday's exercise, which is aimed at checking preparedness of the army in reacting to any hostile situations, two officials said.

The drills come three days after Indian fire in Kashmir killed seven Pakistani soldier. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif will witness the exercise less than two weeks before he retires after completing his three-year term. The government has not announced who will be the new army chief.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals have increased in recent months after militant attacks on Indian military facilities in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. India has blamed Pakistan-based militants for the attacks, a charge Pakistan denies.

Despite pleas from the United Nations, the two sides have continued to exchange fire in the disputed Himalayan region. The violence has forced thousands of villagers on the Pakistani side to flee for safety.

India says it has been retaliating for Pakistani violations of a 2003 cease-fire. Two of the three wars between India and Pakistan since 1947 have been fought over their competing claims to Kashmir. Each has administered part of Kashmir since 1947.

Pakistan warns of escalation after clashes in Kashmir

November 14, 2016

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's military says Indian troops fired on its soldiers in Kashmir on Monday, killing seven of them and prompting return fire, as officials warned that the tense standoff between the nuclear-armed rivals could escalate.

The two sides have traded fire repeatedly in recent weeks across the Line of Control, which divides the Himalayan region into Indian and Pakistani-controlled zones. The two nuclear rivals each claim the entire territory, and have fought two of their three wars over it.

"The international community should pay attention," Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif told Geo News TV. "It can escalate. This could be catastrophic for the region." He added that Pakistani troops had also inflicted losses on the Indian army, without elaborating.

An Indian army officer said Pakistan had fired on Indian troops in a breach of the cease-fire, and that they "effectively retaliated." The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said there were no casualties on the Indian side.

The latest escalation was set off by a September attack on an Indian military base by Pakistani militants. India blamed the attack on Pakistan, which has denied involvement. Tensions have run high since Indian troops killed a Kashmiri militant leader in July. The killing ignited some of the most violent protests in years, and dozens of people have been killed in India's resulting crackdown.

Pakistani foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz said there has been an increase in the duration and frequency of indiscriminate firing by India, which has in recent weeks killed 26 civilians and wounded over 100 in villages near the frontier.

"The Indian actions, which constituted a threat to the maintenance of peace and security, may lead to strategic miscalculation," he said.

Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India contributed.

Malaysia PM signs defense deal in tilt toward China

Beijing (AFP)
Nov 1, 2016

Malaysia and China signed a defense deal and pledged closer cooperation in the South China Sea Tuesday, signalling a potential strategic shift by Premier Najib Razak as his ties with the United States fray over a corruption scandal.

Najib's week-long trip marks another potential setback for Washington's "pivot" toward Asia, two weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte of longtime US ally the Philippines visited China with olive branch in hand.

Meeting at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Najib and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang witnessed the signing of nine agreements spanning defense, business and other spheres.

"I believe this visit will bring our bilateral ties to a new high... a historic high," Najib said prior to meeting with Li.

Asked for details of the defense arrangement, Chinese vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin said that the two countries were "focusing on naval cooperation," adding that the deal "marks a big event in our bilateral ties."

China and Malaysia have an outstanding territorial dispute in the South China Sea, which is claimed almost in its entirety by Beijing.

Parts of the vast maritime region are also claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam, among others, who have found themselves caught in an increasingly tense dispute between the US and China over Beijing's construction of military-capable artificial islands in the region.

"China and Malaysia are littoral states of the South China Sea so we need to enhance our cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the South China Sea and enhance our mutual trust," Liu said.

-- Separation anxiety --

Last month in Beijing, Duterte stunned observers by announcing his country's "separation" from longstanding partner the United States.

Though he subsequently backed off, saying their alliance remained intact, the episode underlined China's increasing diplomatic and economic gravitational pull at the expense of the United States.

Najib's visit provides fresh evidence, said Southeast Asia politics analyst Bridget Welsh.

"This is the new regional norm. Now China is implementing the power and the US is in retreat," she said, adding Washington's Asia "pivot" was "dead in the water".

Taking office in 2009, Najib reached out to Washington, and relations warmed following decades of periodic distrust.

But he has increasingly leaned toward China as it became Malaysia's biggest trading partner, and especially after the eruption last year of a massive corruption scandal implicating Najib and a state investment fund he founded.

Billions are alleged to have been siphoned from the fund, 1MDB, in a stunning international campaign of embezzlement and money-laundering that has sparked investigations in several countries.

Najib's ties with Washington became strained when the US Justice Department moved in July to seize more than $1 billion in assets it says were purchased by Najib relatives and associates using stolen 1MDB money.

Justice Department filings said a "Malaysian Official 1" took part in the looting. Malaysia has since admitted that official was Najib.

Najib and 1MDB deny wrongdoing and have railed at foreign forces they say concocted the scandal.

1MDB launched a fire sale of assets to stay solvent, and China's biggest nuclear energy producer China General Nuclear Power Corporation came to the rescue last year, purchasing its power assets for $2.3 billion.

Depressed oil prices have slashed government revenue in energy-exporting Malaysia, which also faces rising public-sector debt.

"This trip reflects not only Malaysia's geostrategic re-alignment to China as the 'regional banker' but also the reality that Najib is desperate for alternative financial sources," Welsh said.

China has increasingly won major infrastructure and other projects in Malaysia.

Among the agreements was one to build a new rail line on Malaysia's east coast.

Later this week Najib will meet President Xi Jinping, as well as Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba...

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Malaysia_PM_signs_defence_deal_in_tilt_toward_China_999.html.

In drawn-out battle of Mosul, limits of Iraqi military show

November 29, 2016

BAGHDAD (AP) — When Iraq's top generals finalized the plan to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group, they gave themselves six months to finish the job. "It was the maximum time cap," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said last week. "We had to plan for the worst, so we don't get surprised."

Six weeks into the battle, the force made up of 50,000 troops, Shiite and Sunni tribal militias and Kurdish fighters is a long way from winning back the country's second-largest city. The fight is showing the limitations of Iraq's military and security forces, suggesting it has still not fully recovered from the collapse it suffered two years ago in the face of the militants' blitz across much of northern and western Iraq.

As expected, IS militants are tenaciously defending their last major foothold in Iraq, and the 1 million civilians who remain inside prevent the use of overwhelming firepower. But what is alarming, according to Iraqi field commanders, is that the progress so far has been lopsided. The battle-seasoned special forces are doing most of the fighting and slowly advancing inside the city. Other military outfits are halted outside the city limits, unable to move forward because of resistance, battle fatigue, inexperience or lack of weaponry suited for urban warfare.

Another major challenge for the Iraqis is the command of large and disparate forces maneuvering for a coordinated assault on a large city, according to retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the top American soldier in northern Iraq during the troop surge of 2007-2008.

"This will continue to be a tough fight," he said. Many of the Iraqi army commanders are seasoned, but "most of the soldiers are young, new and have not experienced combat." The special forces are under considerable pressure to push on, slugging it out through treacherously narrow streets and alleys while enduring a daily barrage of suicide bombings and mortar and rocket shells.

As policy, the Iraqi military does not release casualty figures, but special forces' officers speak privately of scores killed and wounded. "We must continue to advance because we suffer fewer casualties than if we hold still and wait for other units to advance in their sectors," said Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil of the special forces. "We are trying to advance cautiously to minimize casualties, and we are convinced that we will eventually be asked to liberate the western sector of the city when we are done here."

That may be a while yet. The special forces have driven IS militants from about 15 of eastern Mosul's estimated 39 neighborhoods, some of which are no more than a handful of blocks. Their progress to date places them about 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) from the Tigris River, which divides the city in half.

It's a deceptively short distance: The area is densely built up and heavily populated, and the men are advancing on multiple fronts, constantly assigning valuable resources to securing their flanks and rear as they capture more territory. For example, in a week of fighting, they have only taken about 60 percent of the large and densely populated Zohour neighborhood, site of one of Mosul's busiest food markets.

Mosul's eastern half has a greater population than the western half. In a positive note, coalition airstrikes that cut off the city's four bridges across the river have helped reduce the number of car bombs, commanders say.

In contrast, the regular forces, which have been battling for weeks through towns and villages on the way to the city, are now stalled on the edges, facing the prospect of diving into an urban battle, according to commanders in the field.

The 16th Infantry Division met stiff resistance about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the city and has had to halt its advance and hold its positions. It did send a brigade to the eastern side of Mosul to help hold territory taken by the special forces there. South of Mosul, forces from the 9th Division along with some 10,000 members of the paramilitary federal police have stopped about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) short of the city's boundaries to regroup and rest after the long fight to reach that point.

"We are not equipped or trained to fight inside cities. We are an armored outfit with tanks," acknowledged a senior officer from the 9th Division, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. "Even if we are able to advance toward the city, we need forces to hold the territory we liberate. Our men are exhausted after a six-week battle deployment."

The IS militants are putting up resistance not seen in past major battles with the Iraqi military north and west of Baghdad. They are drawing on a vast arsenal of weapons, while fighting in a city they called home for the past two years. The militants have also dug an elaborate network of tunnels, some as long as 3,000 meters (yards), that offer cover from drones.

The battle "will require a combination of siege warfare and continuous attacks against targets identified by sophisticated intelligence, all taking place while civilians are still in the city and its surroundings," Hertling wrote in response to questions emailed by The Associated Press. "It will take longer than any of them have predicted, and they will sustain significant casualties."

Commanders suspect the worst may yet to come. Up to 6,000 IS fighters remain in Mosul, including as many as 1,500 foreign fighters, with French and Belgians believed to number several hundreds, according to a senior military intelligence officer in Mosul.

"Their escape from Mosul is now difficult, so they will either fight to the death or become suicide bombers," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. IS also appears to use its own drones to gather intelligence on troop movements. An example of their information-gathering abilities came Thursday, when fighters accurately hit with several mortar rounds a tent near the airstrip outside the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul. The attack took place just minutes after the prime minister concluded a meeting there with leaders of the Shiite militias tasked with liberating Tal Afar.

Two senior militia leaders and four members of their security details were hurt, according to Jaafar al-Husseini, a militia spokesman.

Iraq's parliament adopts law legalizing Shiite militias

November 27, 2016

BAGHDAD (AP) — Rekindling sectarian rivalries at a sensitive time, Iraq's parliament on Saturday voted to fully legalize state-sanctioned Shiite militias long accused of abuses against minority Sunnis, adopting a legislation that promoted them to a government force empowered to "deter" security and terror threats facing the country, like the Islamic State group.

The legislation, supported by 208 of the chamber's 327 members, was quickly rejected by Sunni Arab politicians and lawmakers as proof of the "dictatorship" of the country's Shiite majority and evidence of its failure to honor promises of inclusion.

"The majority does not have the right to determine the fate of everyone else," Osama al-Nujaifi, one of Iraq's three vice presidents and a senior Sunni politician, told reporters after the vote, which was boycotted by many Sunni lawmakers.

"There should be genuine political inclusion. This law must be revised." Another Sunni politician, legislator Ahmed al-Masary, said the law cast doubt on the participation in the political process by all of Iraq's religious and ethnic factions.

"The legislation aborts nation building," he said, adding it would pave the way for a dangerous parallel to the military and police. A spokesman for one of the larger Shiite militias welcomed the legislation as a well-deserved victory. "Those who reject it are engaging in political bargaining," said Jaafar al-Husseini of the Hezbollah Brigades.

"It is not the Sunnis who reject the law, it is the Sunni politicians following foreign agendas," said Shiite lawmaker Mohammed Saadoun. The law, tabled by parliament's largest Shiite bloc, applies to the Shiite militias fighting IS as well as the much smaller and weaker anti-IS Sunni Arab groups. Militias set up by tiny minorities, like Christians and Turkmen, to fight IS are also covered.

According to a text released by parliament, the militias have now become an "independent" force that is part of the armed forces and report to the prime minister, who is also the commander in chief. The new force would be subject to military regulations, except for age and education requirements — provisions designed to prevent the exclusion of the elderly and uneducated Iraqis who joined the militias. The militiamen would benefit from salaries and pensions identical to those of the military and police, but are required to severe all links to political parties and refrain from political activism.

The legislation came at a critical stage in Iraq's two-year-long fight against IS, a conflict underscored by heavy sectarian tensions given that the group follows an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam and the security forces are predominantly Shiite. The Shiite-led government last month launched a massive campaign to dislodge IS from predominantly Sunni Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and the last major urban center still held by the extremist group.

Through the military, the government has used the campaign to project an image of even-handedness, reaching out to the city's residents and promising them a life free of the atrocities and excesses committed by IS. It has also excluded the Shiite militias from the battle, winning a measure of goodwill from the Sunnis. But Saturday's legislation may stoke the simmering doubts of many Sunnis about the intentions of the government.

The Shiite militias, most of which are backed by Iran, have been bankrolled and equipped by the government since shortly after IS swept across much of northern and western Iraq two years ago. Many of them existed long before IS emerged, fighting American troops in major street battles during the U.S. military presence in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. Their ranks, however, significantly swelled after Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for jihad, or holy struggle, against IS in June 2014.

They now number over 100,000 men and fight with heavy weaponry, including tanks, artillery and rocket launchers. The larger militias have intelligence agencies and run their own jails. Since 2014 they have played a key role in the fight against IS, checking its advance on Baghdad and the Shiite holy cities of Samarra and Karbala and later driving the militants from areas to the south, northeast and north of Baghdad.

Their heavy battlefield involvement followed the collapse of security forces in the face of the 2014 IS blitz, but their role has somewhat diminished in recent months as more and more of Iraq's military units regained their strength and chose to distance themselves from the occasionally unruly militiamen.

Iraq's Sunni Arabs and rights groups have long complained that the militiamen have been involved in extrajudicial killings, abuse and the theft or destruction of property in Sunni areas. They viewed them as the Trojan Horse of Shiite, non-Arab Iran because of their close links to Tehran and their reliance on military advisers from Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Many in the Sunni Arab community wanted them integrated into the military and police, a proposition long rejected by Shiite militia leaders, some of whom have on occasion spoken of their aspiration of evolving into a force akin to Iran's Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah — both well-armed military groups with substantial political leverage and large economic interests.

Senior Shiite politician Amar al-Hakim sought to reassure Sunnis on Saturday, saying several laws to be issued by the prime minister to regulate the work of the militias would allay many of their fears. He did not elaborate, but added "The law creates a suitable climate for national unity."

In a statement, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi welcomed the legislation and said the "Popular Mobilization Forces" — the formal name of the militias — would cover all Iraqi sects. "We must show gratitude for the sacrifices offered by those heroic fighters, young and elderly. It is the least we can offer them," said the statement. "The Popular Mobilization will represent and defend all Iraqis wherever they are."

But Sunni lawmaker Mohammed al-Karbooly said the law ignored pleas by Sunni politicians for the expulsion and prosecution of Shiite militiamen accused of abuses. "The law, as is, provides them with a cover," he said.

Return of secret informants scares Sunnis in Iraq

November 26, 2016

The reactivation of a program of secret informants in the predominantly Sunni Arab Iraqi province of Diyala has frightened residents who fear this would lead thousands of them to prisons by vengeful and deceitful informers, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported yesterday.

During the reign of former prime minister and current Vice President Nouri Al-Maliki, thousands of Iraqis were sent to prisons based on false information provided by secret informants. After an agreement with Sunni political groups and tribes, current Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi agreed to stop the use of these informants.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed cited a member of Diyala’s ministerial council as saying that the Shia militias in cooperation with the governorate’s administration “had reactivated and organised the work of secret informants.”

“The informants get funds and protection from the [Shia] militias in return for information they provide to the judiciary under what is described as support and cooperation with the security services.”

The unnamed source in Diyala added: “The [Shia] militias agreed with Diyala’s governor, Muthana Al-Tamimi, who is a leader in the militias, in order to release funds and provide protection for the informants, [using the excuse] that they would provide information about people cooperating with Daesh.”

The official said that the informants had already provided information about 150 people accused of “dealing with Daesh,” noting that the security services had already started inspection and arrest campaigns.

The use of informants has been likened to “witch hunts” whereby people with grudges inform on those with whom they have personal or business problems with, accusing them of being Daesh members or sympathizers.

Based upon such information, the Iraqi authorities then arrest these individuals, largely from the Sunni Arab community, and incarcerate them or even put them to death.

In light of this, the Tribal Council of Diyala warned against the reactivation of secret informants, saying that it would return the issue of “revenge” to the fore of Sunni Arab disenfranchisement which led to Daesh being able to find recruits who felt they had an opportunity to avenge themselves against what they deemed to be a sectarian government in Baghdad.

Sheikh Manaf Al-Majma’e told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Diyala needed to “revive the spirit of peaceful coexistence among its people,” expressing his sadness over measures taken by the officials in the province which are “completely against our needs.”

He reiterated that the Iraqi judiciary recognized that most of those arrested over information provided by secret informants in the past were innocent, yet this has not stopped the Iraqi government from utilizing them in coordination with Iran-backed Shia militias who operate similar to organised crime outfits.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161126-return-of-secret-informants-scares-sunnis-in-iraq/.

Iraqi troops capture 3 more neighborhoods in eastern Mosul

November 24, 2016

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi troops on Thursday drove Islamic State militants from three more neighborhoods in the northern city of Mosul, pushing toward the city center in a slow, street-to-street fight that's now in its sixth week, according to a senior Iraqi commander.

Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil of the special forces told The Associated Press that his men have retaken the neighborhoods of Amn, Qahira and Green Apartments and were expanding their foothold in the densely populated district of Zohour.

The neighborhoods are all in the eastern sector of Mosul, east of the Tigris River, where most of the fighting has taken place since the government's campaign to liberate the city began Oct. 17. Government troops are backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against IS positions in the city.

Mosul, captured by IS in 2014, is the last major urban center still held by the Sunni extremist group in Iraq. Late Wednesday, a spokesman for one of the larger state-sanctioned Shiite militias fighting on the ground near Mosul said the militiamen have seized a road to the northwest of Mosul linking the city to Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS group's self-styled caliphate in neighboring Syria. The militias have been converging on Tal Afar, an IS-held town west of Mosul that had a Shiite majority before falling to the extremists in 2014.

"We have cut off Tal Afar from Mosul and we cut off Mosul from Syria," Jaafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, told the AP. Also Wednesday, a pre-dawn airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition struck a bridge across the Tigris River, which divides the city in two, leaving only one bridge for cars functioning in the city and disrupting IS supply lines. It was the second bridge to be struck this week, and two other bridges were destroyed by airstrikes last month.

Iraqi forces move to retake another Mosul neighborhood

November 22, 2016

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi troops moved on Tuesday to retake another neighborhood in the eastern sector of the northern city of Mosul but were facing stiff resistance from Islamic State militants, according to a top Iraqi commander.

Brig. Gen. Haider Fadel of the special forces told The Associated Press that IS fighters were targeting his forces with rockets and mortars as they slowly advanced in the densely populated Zohour neighborhood.

"We are cautiously advancing. There are too many civilians still living there," he said. Iraqi troops began their siege of Zohour on Sunday as they fortified their positions in neighborhoods they had already retaken in eastern Mosul. Suicide bombings, sniper fire and concerns over the safety of civilians — there are 1 million civilians still in Mosul — have combined to slow down progress in the campaign to liberate the city, which began Oct. 17.

Mosul was captured by IS in the summer of 2014. It is Iraq's second-largest city and the last major IS urban bastion in the country. Most gains in the campaign so far have been made by the special forces operating east of the Tigris River. Other forces, including the Kurdish Peshmerga troops and volunteer Sunni militiamen, are advancing on the city from different directions, and the U.S.-led coalition is providing airstrikes and other support.

An airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on Monday destroyed a major bridge over the Tigris in the southern part of the city, a move that appears designed to limit the IS capacity to reinforce or resupply fighters on the east bank of the Tigris where most of the fighting is taking place.

It was the third of the city's five bridges on the Tigris to be targeted by the coalition — the first two were destroyed in airstrikes shortly before and after the start of the Mosul campaign — a sequence that two Iraqi officers said was likely to soon extend to the remaining two bridges to completely separate the city's eastern sector from the western bank of the Tigris.

The officers spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The Iraqi military is known to have received U.S.-made pontoon bridges which Iraqi troops would use as a substitute for the destroyed bridges.

Iraqi troops face stiff resistance from IS in eastern Mosul

November 19, 2016

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi troops faced stiff resistance Saturday from Islamic State militants as they pushed deeper into eastern Mosul, backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led international coalition, a senior military commander said.

Troops moved into the Muharabeen and Ulama neighborhoods after fully liberating the adjacent Tahrir neighborhood on Friday, said Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces. Al-Aridi said IS militants were fighting back with snipers, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds.

Thick black columns of smoke were seen billowing from the two areas, while dozens of civilians were seen fleeing to government-controlled areas. Shortly before noon, a suicide bomber emerged from a house in the Tahrir neighborhood and attacked security forces, wounding four troops. Later in the afternoon, another suicide car bomber hit the troops in Aden neighborhood, killing a soldier and wounding three others.

Late on Friday, a group of IS militants attacked the village of Imam Gharbi south of Mosul, controlling most of it for hours before airstrikes from the U.S.-led international coalition were called in, an officer said. The clashes and multiple suicide bombings left three policemen dead, including an officer, and four others wounded, he said. Nine IS fighters were killed, he added. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief media.

On Saturday, after the fighting had quietened down, the Kuwaiti government in coordination with a local NGO distributed 1,000 boxes of humanitarian aid to residents of the Samah and al-Arbajiyeh district in eastern Mosul, which had been cleared of IS militants earlier.

Residents sat on the ground in a long queue waiting to receive the aid. As they emerged from their districts, some opened their jackets and raised their hands in the air to show troops they were not wearing an explosive belt. Some waved white flags.

"We don't have any medical support," said Ibrahim Saad, a Mosul resident. "There is no food, no water. I am not talking about electricity, but these three fundamental things are not available." he said.

To the west of Mosul, government-sanctioned Shiite militias took full control of the Tal Afar military airfield Friday night, said Jaafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for the influential Hezbollah Brigades. Al-Husseini said the clashes almost destroyed the airport and that it will be an important launching pad for the troops in their advance.

The extremist group captured Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, in the summer of 2014. The offensive to retake the city, which was launched on Oct. 17, is the biggest military operation in Iraq since American troops left in 2011. If successful, the retaking of Mosul would be the strongest blow dealt to IS' self-styled caliphate stretching into Syria. The Shiite militias are leading an assault to drive IS from Tal Afar, which had a majority Shiite population before it fell to the militants in the summer of 2014, and to cut IS supply lines linking Mosul to Syria.

According to the United Nations, more than 56,000 civilians have been forced from their homes since the operation began out of nearly 1.5 million civilians living in and around Mosul. In the heavily damaged town of Bashiqa, about 13 kilometers (8 miles) northeast of Mosul's outskirts, Christians rang the bells of Saint George's church for the first time to celebrate its liberation from IS, which was driven out earlier this month. Much of the town has been reduced to rubble from artillery strikes and air raids.

Parishioners, peshmerga fighters and Kurdish officials sang hymns and played band music as they walked in procession into the church, which was heavily vandalized by IS fighters. Men prepared a large cross to mount on the rooftop, replacing one destroyed by the extremists.

"The first thing they did was break the cross, we want to replace it and tell Daesh that the cross is still here and we are not leaving at all," said Rev. Afram al-Khoury Benyamen, using the Arabic acronym to refer to the group.

Bullet holes marked the walls inside the church courtyard, strewn with garbage and graffiti left by the extremists, including some of their names. Much of the church's inside had been smashed, with rubble strewn across the ground and holy inscriptions covered with black paint. In an upper level, pews had been pushed back to make room for cushions and carpet beneath a broken window that had been used as a sniper's nest, marked out by scattered spent bullet casings.

Broken brass instruments and a torn bagpipe from the church's boy scout band lay scattered across the site, with pills and syringes on the floor in one area. The church graveyard was desecrated, with graves broken into and tombstones smashed and painted over.

"It's good they're gone, but how happy can we be? Look at this mess," said 22-year old Youssef Ragheed, a drummer from the band who had fled the town when IS controlled it but returned for Saturday's ceremony.

Rohan reported from Bashiqa, Iraq. Mstyslav Chernov and Hussein Malla, in Mosul, Iraq, contributed to this report.

Preparations set for Thai prince to succeed to throne

December 01, 2016

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand prepared Thursday to welcome a new king, with final arrangements scheduled to formalize the accession of Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn to the throne. National Legislative Assembly President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai is set have an audience with the prince later Thursday to invite him to become king, a constitutional formality, according to the assembly Vice President Peerasak Porchit.

Pornpetch's public announcement of Vajiralongkorn's acceptance, expected Thursday night, will complete the succession process, making the 64-year-old prince King Rama X, the tenth monarch in the Chakri dynasty that was founded in 1782.

Vajiralongkorn's father, the much-revered Bhumibol Adulyadej, who took the throne in 1946, died on Oct. 13 at age 88 after many years of ill health. In 1972, Bhumibol designated Vajiralongkorn — his second child and only son — as his successor.

Vajiralongkorn was originally expected to assume the throne the day his father died, but in a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the prince asked for the succession to be put off so he had time to mourn. In the interim, royal affairs have been overseen by a regent, Prem Tinsulanonda, who along with Prayuth and Supreme Court Chief Justice Veerapol Tungsuwan will accompany the assembly president at his audience to invite the prince to take the throne.

Thailand has been in a state of national mourning since Bhumibol's death, and huge crowds have been paying respects to the late king's remains at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. His body will be cremated in an elaborate ceremony that may take place a year or more after his death.

The coronation ceremony for Vajiralongkorn will take place only after the cremation.

Iraqi army, militias capture villages, base near Mosul

17 November 2016 Thursday

Iraqi army troops and Shia militiamen have captured six more villages near Mosul -- along with a military base -- from the ISIL terrorist group, a military source said late Wednesday.

According to Abdul-Amir Yarallah, a lieutenant-general in the Iraqi army, federal police forces had managed to "liberate" the village of Al-Azbah, located south of the ISIL-held city.

Yarallah also said the army’s Ninth Division had captured Aaqub village southeast of Mosul, while Hashd al-Shaabi militiamen had taken the villages of Tel Suwan, Tel Izzo, Tel Shiyan and Al-Hamra, all of which are located to the west of the city.

The Hashd al-Shaabi, an umbrella group of pro-government Shia militias, confirmed late Wednesday that it had seized Tal Afar Airport from the terrorist group.

Tal Afar is a majority-Turkmen city in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the provincial capital.

On Monday, the Hashd al-Shaabi -- in coordination with the Iraqi army's Joint Operations Command -- launched the third phase of an ongoing operation to retake areas east of Tal Afar, which is located some 65 kilometers west of Mosul.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/180319/iraqi-army-militias-capture-villages-base-near-mosul.

Iraqi special forces pause in Mosul push due to poor weather

November 17, 2016

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Due to poor weather and cloudy skies, Iraq special forces on Thursday paused temporarily in their push into the northern city of Mosul held by the Islamic State group but still faced deadly attacks, including a suicide car bomb.

In the city's eastern Tahrir neighborhood, a car packed with explosives sped out from its hiding spot in a school complex, ramming into Iraqi troops' position and exploding into a ball of fire. A soldier was killed and three were wounded, two officers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Clouds over the city obscured the visibility of drones and strike aircraft, said Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil, adding that troops are using the pause to secure areas they have taken with checkpoints and are sweeping for explosives.

The U.S. coalition providing air cover and reconnaissance for the advancing forces has been a key element in the success of the Mosul battle so far, and the fighting stalls when the air power cannot be used.

On Wednesday, heavy fighting broke out in Tahrir, where an IS suicide car bomber disabled an Abrams tank belonging to the Iraqi army. Iraqi forces launched the long-awaited operation to retake Mosul nearly a month ago but have only advanced into a few eastern districts. The troops have faced fierce resistance, with snipers, mortar fire and suicide bombers driving armor-plated vehicles packed with explosives.

After swift initial advances into the city's outskirts, the offensive slowed in more densely populated areas, where Iraqi troops cannot rely as much on airstrikes and shelling because of the risk posed to civilians, who have been told to stay in their homes.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, is the last major IS holdout in the country. Driving the militants out of Mosul would deal a severe blow to their self-styled caliphate stretching into Syria.

Iraq sacks Fallujah police chief after attacks

16 November 2016 Wednesday

Iraqi authorities Tuesday dismissed the police chief of the western city of Fallujah one day after the city was shaken by twin suicide bombings that killed nine and injured dozens.

Police commander Eissa al-Sayer was sacked due to his mismanagement of the situation in the city, Salah Kahrout, the head of the Anbar local council.

He said al-Sayer “was also dismissed because he was illegally elected by the Fallujah local council,” declining to elaborate.

A suicide bomber on Monday drove his explosive-laden vehicle into a security checkpoint, blowing it up at the entrance of Fallujah’s central Nazal district. A second bomber blew himself up shortly afterward at a local police department.

Following the attacks, Ragai Barakat, a member of the Anbar local council’s security committee, said the Sunni city was a victim of conspiracy.

Barakat said ISIL sympathizers have infiltrated Fallujah, where they have prepared car-bombs and planted explosive devices.

"There is a conspiracy being hatched against the city," he alleged, going on to accuse police officers in Fallujah of "failing to shoulder their responsibilities".

"They are the same officers who had earlier abandoned Anbar and Fallujah. Now, they have returned to their posts," he said.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when ISIL captured the northern city of Mosul -- now the target of a wide-ranging army offensive -- and overran vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.

Since then, some 58,000 people countrywide have been killed in sporadic acts of violence, according to UN figures.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/180268/iraq-sacks-fallujah-police-chief-after-attacks.

Indonesia protests awaken fears for minority Chinese

November 30, 2016

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The capital of Muslim-majority Indonesia is on edge ahead of what is expected to be a second massive protest by conservative Muslims against its Christian governor and no group more so than its Chinese minority.

They have reason to be concerned. The movement against the governor, who is being prosecuted for allegedly insulting the Quran, has overflowed with racial slurs against his Chinese ancestry, an unnerving sign in a country with a history of lashing out violently against the ethnic minority that makes up 1 percent of its 250 million people.

The first major protest against Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama on Nov. 4 drew more than 100,000 people to Jakarta's streets. Some held up banners calling for Ahok to be killed or decrying Chinese influence. It ended in violence, with one death and dozens injured after hard-liners attacked police. A separate mob tried to invade the apartment complex where Ahok lives in the north of the city and vandalized property in the area, which is home to many Chinese.

Hard-line organizers of the protest, who were unsatisfied by a police decision earlier this month to formally name Ahok as a suspect in the blasphemy case instead of arresting him, are promising another giant rally on Friday. After police pressure, they have agreed to concentrate the rally around a national monument in central Jakarta and insist it will be peaceful.

The furor over Ahok, sparked by his criticism of detractors who argued the Quran prohibits Muslims from having a non-Muslim leader, has highlighted religious and racial fault lines in Indonesia, the world's most populous nation, and the growing challenge from proponents of Shariah law to its secular system of government.

For Chinese Indonesians, the controversy has awakened painful memories of the mass protests that ousted late dictator Suharto during the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Boiling resentment against immigrant Chinese tycoons who profited from ties to Suharto and his famously corrupt family spilled over into mob attacks on Chinese property and people, killing many. Nearly two decades later, Jakarta's Chinatown is still scarred by the burned out shells of buildings torched in the chaos.

"Certainly as Chinese descendants, we are still traumatized by the riots in 1998," said Clement Alexander, a grocery store owner in a narrow lane of the bustling Petak Sembilan market in Chinatown. "We heard that horrible event may happen again if the government fails to control the protests. It's scared us, but we cannot do anything except pray," he said.

"For rich ethnic Chinese, they could flee to Singapore or to other countries, but for lower-class people like me it is rather difficult, we just survive and depend on the government for protection." When Ahok in 2012 became the first Chinese to be elected deputy governor of Jakarta, and the first Christian in half a century, it was seen as a sign of the pluralistic tolerance fostered by the moderate form of Islam practiced in Indonesia.

But his rise to governor in 2014 to replace political ally Joko "Jokowi" Widodo after his election as president was unpalatable to hard-liners. With the support of moderates that hope to gain from Ahok's fall, they have elevated their agenda to the national stage, and revealed that intolerant interpretations of Islam adapted from the Middle East have made greater inroads than believed.

Ahok is running for a second term as governor in elections due in February but since the blasphemy accusations erupted in September, his sky-high popularity in opinion polls has melted away. A pro-tolerance rally in Jakarta on Nov. 19 attracted less than 10,000 people. A military-organized event in the city on Wednesday meant to showcase respect for all of Indonesia's six officially recognized religions was mainly populated by soldiers, schoolchildren and police, who had no choice about attending.

For the Nov. 4 protest, the normally clogged streets of Jakarta were nearly emptied of cars, embassies closed, countries such as Australia issued advisories against travel to the city and many businesses shuttered for the day, particularly in Chinatown.

"We are afraid the riots in 1998 would be repeated. But I don't want to talk about that horrible event," said Jhony Tan, owner of a store selling Buddhist worship paraphernalia. "I hope the government can handle this issue, so there's no negative impact to any other community, especially to ethnic Chinese here. If they fail, Indonesia will be ruined," he said. "I'm sure the majority of Indonesian people are willing to see that this problem has nothing to do with us."

Christianto Wibisono, an ethnic Chinese businessman and former government adviser whose home was burned in the 1998 riots, said that despite communal tensions, he is hopeful the government will maintain calm during Friday's protest and beyond.

The government's approach needs to sap the momentum of a vocal and highly motivated minority but faces challenges: the moderate, silent majority is intimidated by the hard-liners' tactics and months of campaigning for the Jakarta gubernatorial election as well as Ahok's blasphemy trial will keep divisive issues in the spotlight.

"Now is really the crucial test for Indonesia to maintain the country's secular philosophy rather than be run over by Shariah groups. That would affect the whole world, if Indonesia became like the Middle East," he said. "We should not import Middle East extremism. We should export our moderate Islamic philosophy and pluralism."

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.

Turkey: Fire at a dormitory for girls kills 12, injures 22

November 29, 2016

ISTANBUL (AP) — A fire at a middle school dormitory for girls in southern Turkey left 12 people dead and 22 injured Tuesday night, a Turkish governor and state-run media said. Adana Governor Mahmut Demirtas said one teacher and 11 students were killed in the fire in the town of Aladag and the wounded were taken to a hospital, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, which described the building as a middle school dormitory for girls.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, Demirtas said the dormitory had 34 people and the fire may have been caused by an electrical problem. No one was left in the building, he said. Turkish television showed flames rising from a three-story building and firefighters battling the blaze. Several windows on the building were scorched black and ashen debris littered the dormitory entrance. Footage broadcast by TRT showed a man being evacuated in an ambulance stretcher with an oxygen mask on.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak were heading to the scene, according to Anadolu.

Syrian forces press on in Aleppo, as attacks kill civilians

November 30, 2016

BEIRUT (AP) — A barrage of artillery fire struck a housing area for displaced residents in rebel-held eastern Aleppo Wednesday, killing at least 21 civilians, activists said, as another eight civilians were killed in shelling on the government-held western side of the city, according to state media.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which maintains a network of contacts in the war-torn country, said it was the second time the Jub al-Quba neighborhood in eastern Aleppo was struck in two days. An airstrike killed 25 civilians Tuesday. Thousands of east Aleppo residents have moved to Jub al-Quba and other such neighborhoods fleeing a government advance on the rebel-held east.

The Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group operating in eastern Aleppo put the toll at 45 killed. Images published by the Civil Defense showed bodies strewn on a debris-filled road in an attack they It blamed on government forces.

Syrian Observatory chief Rami Abdurrahman said he predicts death tolls will spiral in east Aleppo as the internal displacement creates more residential density. Syrian state media said two children were among the eight killed in shelling on the city's western neighborhoods, which it blamed on the rebels.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Aleppo as pro-government Syrian forces press on with their campaign to reclaim the divided city. The Observatory said more than 50,000 out of an estimated quarter-million inhabitants have been displaced by attacks on rebel-held eastern Aleppo over the past 4 days. Many of them fled to safer ground in areas under government or Kurdish control. The International Committee of the Red Cross says around 20,000 people have fled.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the Aleppo countryside that pro-government forces were advancing in the southern portion of the city's rebel enclave. The government has seized much of the northern half of the enclave in a swift advance that began Saturday.

Colombia's congress ratifies peace accord with rebels

December 01, 2016

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — After five decades of war, more than four years of negotiations and two signing ceremonies, Colombia's congress late Wednesday formally ratified a peace agreement allowing leftist rebels to enter politics.

The 310-page revised accord was approved unanimously by the lower house, which voted a day after the Senate approved the same text 75-0 following a protest walkout by the opposition led by former President Alvaro Uribe.

The accord introduces some 50 changes intended to assuage critics who led a campaign that saw Colombians narrowly reject the original accord in a referendum last month. President Juan Manuel Santos has said there won't be a second referendum.

Revisions range from a prohibition on foreign magistrates judging alleged crimes by government troops or by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to a commitment from the rebels to forfeit assets, some amassed through drug trafficking, to help compensate their victims.

But the FARC wouldn't go along with the opposition's strongest demands — jail sentences for rebel leaders behind atrocities and stricter limits on their future participation in politics. "There needs to be a balance between peace and justice, but in this agreement there's complete impunity," Uribe, now a senator, said during Tuesday's heated debate. Other senators accused him of standing in the way of a peace deal that he pursued with the FARC as president in 2002-10.

Santos says ratification will set in motion the start of a six-month process in which the FARC's 8,000-plus guerrillas will concentrate in some 20 rural areas and turn over their weapons to United Nations monitors.

"Tomorrow a new era begins," Santos said Wednesday, celebrating the Senate's endorsement before the vote in the lower house. But the rebels insist that their troops won't start demobilizing until lawmakers pass an amnesty law freeing some 2,000 rebels in jail.

"D-Day starts after the first actions are implemented," the rebel leader "Pastor Alape," a member of the FARC's 10-member secretariat, told foreign journalists last week after the new accord was signed. "The president unfortunately has been demonstrating an attitude that creates confusion in the country."

The debate over amnesty highlights one of the peace deal's early challenges: the need for congress to pass legislation implementing the accord and setting up special peace tribunals. Santos was initially counting on swift approval of the needed changes that in some cases require constitutional amendments. But the referendum loss has left the status of his fast-track authority in doubt, awaiting a ruling by the constitutional court. Experts say a solid pro-peace coalition could crumble if implementation drags on and butts against the political maneuvering for the 2018 presidential election.

Beyond the legal hurdles, there is also concern FARC fighters will wind up joining criminal gangs rampant throughout the country or the much-smaller rebel National Liberation Army, which for months has been playing cat and mouse with the government over opening a peace process of its own. On Wednesday, both sides said they would delay until January any decision about when to start talks.

Combating security threats will test the state's ability to make its presence felt in traditionally neglected rural areas at a time of financial stress triggered by low oil prices. There is also a risk that peace could trigger more bloodshed, as it did following a previous peace process with the FARC in the 1980s. At that time, thousands of former guerrillas, labor activists and communist militants were killed by right-wing militias, sometimes in collaboration with state agents.

Worries about new bloodshed, although less prevalent than in the darker days of Colombia's half-century conflict, has become more urgent with more than a dozen human rights defenders and land activists in areas dominated by the FARC being killed by unknown assailants since the initial signing ceremony in September. So far this year, 70 have been killed, according to Bogota-based We Are Defenders, more than in all of 2015 and 2014.

Trump effect unknown in tight Austrian presidential election

November 30, 2016

VIENNA (AP) — Austrians are choosing Sunday between a moderate and a populist for president — and both candidates are hoping to exploit the Trump effect in the first European Union nation facing such a choice since the U.S election.

Surveys show most Austrians think that populist Norbert Hofer stands to benefit to the detriment of left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen in the Dec. 4 vote. Whoever wins, the election has significance beyond who will claim the largely ceremonial post.

How the Trump bump plays out here could be a barometer of its resonance in other countries with upcoming national elections that also feature strong populist and euroskeptic contenders inspired by the U.S. billionaire's triumph in the U.S. presidential election.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has welcomed the Trump victory as a "sign of hope," while xenophobe Geert Wilders, who hopes to become prime minister in the Netherlands, has hailed the Trump "revolution."

At his hate-speech trial, Wilders described Trump's victory as the start of a movement "making short shrift of the politically correct doctrines of the elite and their subordinate media." "It's about to be proven in Austria," he added.

Van der Bellen won the vote earlier this year. But it is being re-run by a court order on claims by Hofer's Freedom Party of major irregularities, and with Trump's victory still fresh in the minds of Austria's electorate both candidates hope to benefit.

Van der Bellen says he hopes that Trump's triumph will serve as a "wake-up call" to vote for him and against Hofer. Hofer, whose support ranges from voters disaffected with the political establishment to the neo-Nazi fringe, greeted the U.S. election result as a victory for democracy, blasting opponents who "wildly berate" Trump.

Of 800 Austrian respondents in a Gallup survey with a margin of error of 3.5 percent, 53 percent say the Trump victory will benefit Hofer, with only 9 percent thinking it will help Van der Bellen, and the rest undecided.

Potential voters on the streets of Vienna, however, say the "Trump effect" could cut both ways. "I would think it helps Hofer," said Fanny Holzer, 19, and Van der Bellen supporter. "On the other hand, if you consider the nonsense that Trump could do, then maybe Van der Bellen."

Others said the U.S. election result has not affected whom they will vote for. "I remain with the choice I made originally," said Leo Ebner, 67. "America is a good distance away from Austria." Anne della Rossa, in her early 40s, said many U.S. voters backed Trump because "people think he will give them something because he is rich."

"I don't think he will influence smart Austrians," she added. Analyst Thomas Hofer, who isn't related to the candidate, also downplays the Trump factor. He says that while immigration concerns and terrorism fears were common in both campaigns "domestic political themes in Austria" are playing a greater role in deciding the Dec. 4 vote.

He also notes that whereas Trump dumped any pretense of political correctness in his attacks on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Norbert Hofer has worked to soften his image to appeal to undecided voters opposed to the euroskeptic, rabidly anti-immigrant stance of his Freedom Party.

While Hofer has pounded law-and-order and anti-immigrant messages at rallies, Hofer the analyst says the populist "has tried to sketch his hard message in softer terms" in television debates that show him as "friendly and obliging."

Van der Bellen says "the nastiness in the Austrian campaign is comparatively harmless" when measured against the mudslinging in the U.S. But there is no denying a harsher tone from the Freedom Party since Trump's triumph. On Facebook, it placed a Van der Bellen campaign poster against an alpine backdrop with a photo of Hitler in similar surroundings.

In response, Van der Bellen campaign manager Lothar Lockl commented on "methods possibly used by Mr. Trump ... but which should have no place in Austria." The effectiveness of such attacks is unclear. Still, with hundreds of thousands of Austrian voters still undecided, even a slight bounce from the U.S. election could be decisive in a race that for now is too close to call.

"Not many voters are going to be influenced by Trump's success," political scientist Anton Pelinka said. "But even the smallest shifts could be decisive in this close contest."

Moise says he's ready for tests facing Haiti's next leader

November 30, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Repeating their stance from last year's annulled election, Haitian voters appear to have reached outside the intrigue-heavy political class to pick a first-time candidate to steer the deeply divided country as president for the next five years.

Jovenel Moise, an entrepreneur who routinely sticks to an optimistic tone, said Tuesday that he is looking forward to the challenge of building consensus with lawmakers and helping fix a political culture perpetually at war with itself.

"I am working hard to be close with the Parliament because there's no way a president can work without deputies, without senators," Moise told The Associated Press in his first interview with an international news agency since officials issued preliminary results indicating he won a Nov. 20 election redo in a landslide.

If the preliminary results withstand challenges by three of his closest rivals in coming weeks, Moise earned the presidency with 55 percent of the votes in a field of 27 candidates. He got 385,000 votes more than his nearest competitor, Jude Celestin, who had 19 percent of the vote.

Haiti's electoral council will not certify the preliminary results until all challenges are resolved by a special tribunal. Electoral winners are to be certified Dec. 29. In a presidential election held in October 2015, Moise finished at the top of 54 candidates in first-round results after ads for the government-backed candidate blanketed Haitian TV and radio for weeks. A businessman from northern Haiti, he had never run for office until he was hand-picked to be the Tet Kale party candidate by outgoing President Michel Martelly.

Opponents quickly alleged fraud by Haiti's electoral council and Martelly's political operation. An array of rights groups, local election monitors and others made similar charges. The disputed results were annulled following a review of a special Haitian commission.

Some critics continue to view his ascent with suspicion, suggesting Martelly is using the candidate as a proxy. Moise laughed off the criticism, saying it is mostly about the snobbery of political elites in the capital.

"In Haiti, when you come from the countryside, the people here in Port-au-Prince, they think they know everything. But it's not true and I'm the example. In the countryside you have good people also — with knowledge, with vision, with capacity," Moise said in the interview at his campaign office.

The 48-year-old father of three said Martelly would be an adviser when he becomes president, and he wants to study his predecessor's successes and mistakes. Other previous presidents will also serve as advisers, he said.

Moise laid out his top priorities for strengthening the hemisphere's poorest country, a plan that focuses on agriculture, education, energy reform, and foreign investment. Reviving an economically blighted countryside, including Haiti's southwest region, which was devastated by last month's Hurricane Matthew, is perhaps his main goal as he has repeatedly spoken about agriculture as the engine of his homeland's fragile economy.

Although almost 80 percent of rural households farm, agriculture receives less than 4 percent of the government's budget despite the persistent litany of natural disasters afflicting mostly subsistence farmers.

During his campaign, Moise touted his business background in agriculture as a central selling point. In 2014, he launched the Agritrans banana exporting joint venture with the government on about 2,470 acres (1,000 hectares) in northeast Haiti with a $6 million loan approved by Martelly's administration. He proudly refers to himself by his campaign moniker, "Neg Bannan Nan" — Banana Man in Haitian Creole.

His first business venture was an auto parts company in Port-de-Paix, and he also distributed drinking water and created a project to bring renewable energy to several towns. Moise's first hurdle is getting past electoral challenges from other candidates. Electoral authorities say they will thoroughly investigate all accusations of irregularities.

A revamped Provisional Electoral Council has been trying hard to show that the Nov. 20 election, organized with mostly Haitian resources, was clean in a country where accusations of vote-rigging and election fraud have long been common and are sometimes accurate. But three of the council's nine members declined to sign the preliminary tally sheet, one of them telling local radio that he was "uncomfortable" with the results.

A monitoring team from the Organization of American States said Tuesday that its observations were in line with Haiti's preliminary tally. Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born politics professor at the University of Virginia, said he wasn't surprised that losing political factions are claiming vote-rigging again. "This is the traditional way of dealing with defeat in Haiti," he said.

Fatton noted that in spite of some irregularities and logistical problems, the election was perceived by virtually all observers, both national and foreign, as fair and free. "The next few weeks and months will be bumpy and will test Jovenel Moise's statecraft and capacity to move the country in a new and hopeful trajectory," he said.