Jordan's troubled relationship with its mosques

2017-02-13

Jordan appears to be tightening its grip on religious messages coming out of its mosques but it may be offering its preachers more sticks than carrots.

Jordanian chief justice Ahmad Hilayel resigned two days after delivering a Friday sermon during which he rebuked Gulf states for not stepping up their financial aid to Jordan.

“As an imam of this country and one of its scholars, I am addressing the Gulf’s leaders, kings, emirs, sheikhs and wise men,” he said in a sermon broadcast live on Jordanian state television January 20th from Amman’s King Hussein mosque.

“The (financial) situation has reached a tipping point (in Jor­dan)… so where is your help, where is your money and where are your riches?”

Hilayel said the Jordanian state could collapse if people were to take to the streets, warning that would lead to chaos and destruction as in Syria, Iraq and Libya. “Would you like to see such a scenario (happen in Jordan)?” he asked.

Many criticized Hilayel for embarrassing the government in front of its financial backers in the Gulf and some took issue with his use of the Friday sermon to deliver a political message. Musa al-Odwan, a retired army general and writer, told Al Jazeera that Hilayel had “no business talking politics” as he is a religious judge.

It is thought that Hilayel agreed to resign to save face rather than being fired.

Jordan’s Religious Affairs Ministry on January 10th said it had dismissed 15 mosque preachers and disciplined seven others for refusing to take part in nationwide memorial prayers for Jordanian troops killed in clashes with gunmen who had attacked a tourist site in Karak province.

The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed the December 18th attack in which 11 members of the security forces and three civilians, including a Canadian tourist, were killed. The kingdom has been hit by number of ISIS attacks in the past year.

Observers said Jordan may be changing course from its policy of trying to contain hard-line preachers towards a more confrontational approach.

“In the past, the authorities opted for negotiation. Two years ago they released two leading jihadists, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and Abu Qatada al-Filastini, in an attempt to co-opt their followers into their own war on Islamic State,” the Economist wrote in September 2016.

“More recently, though, they have gone for round-ups. Hundreds of cells have been broken up. And so far this year 1,100 Jordanians have been hauled before military courts on terrorism charges,” it added.

However, the government would still have to rely on cooperative preachers to do its bidding in reli­gious circles.

One preacher, Ali al-Halabi, issued a religious edict saying that Jordanians must not pray for the souls or attend the funerals of the “terrorists” killed by the army in Karak. Halabi insisted they would still be regarded as Muslims but added that the militants cannot have ordinary burials and the public must always be reminded of their “deviant creeds”.

The government has installed closed-circuit cameras in a number of mosques, although the vast majority of them are not electronically monitored. Local informants attending prayers are reportedly the most common way for the government to keep an eye on places of worship.

Local media reported that the government promised to award bonuses to state-appointed mosque preachers who are “distinguished in their work”. The proposal includes studying the preachers’ sermons as part of the evaluation process.

The Prime Ministry’s coordinator for human rights, Basil al- Tarawneh, said the Religious Affairs Ministry was carrying out recommendations from the Na­tional Center for Human Rights. The recommendations include familiarizing mosque preachers with matters of human rights and “combating extremist thought”, the offi­cial Petra news agency said.

A similar initiative is reportedly being coordinated with the Ministry of Social Development to make mosque preachers more aware of women’s rights.

However, in improvised areas such as Zarqa governorate, where the spread of radicalization is more likely, officials are warning that the housing accommodations for mosque imams are “not suitable for habitation”.

Many of the accommodations are damp and have no access to sunlight as they are built under the mosques, Youssef al-Shalabi, the head of the religious endowment department in Zarqa, said in late January.

Some of the residents are exposed to flooding from nearby mosque toilets, creating a smell that was making some preachers ill.

A government report released last October stated that many of the imams’ children have asthma and other illnesses due to poor housing conditions.

One imam told the Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad that he lives with his wife and five children in a 90-sq.-metre residence.

Accommodation is not provided to all imams. Most cannot afford to live elsewhere as they are required to be in the mosque from early hours of the day until late at night due to the timing of prayers.

Such living conditions may put additional strain on the relationship between the state and the imams it employs.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81413.

Jordan alarmed by rising familicide

2017-02-13

In a span of six days in January, Jordan witnessed several gruesome crimes in which people were killed or injured by immediate family members, creating an unprecedented level of fear of what is known as familicide.

Jordanians followed closely the killings that struck families in various parts of the country. While some saw the attacks as signs of society’s decay, others were simply appalled by the nature of the crimes involving children.

A man in his 20s stabbed his wife and three daughters in Ram­tha, north of Jordan. The mother and two girls died; the third is in critical condition. Also in January, a man shot his brother in the head in Madaba, south-west of Amman and a father killed his 6-year-old daughter before committing suicide.

In other familicide incidents, a man in his 20s killed his sister, who was in her 40s, in front of a hospital in Amman. Police investigated the case of a 26-year-old woman found hanged in her house in Irbid, north of Amman, to establish whether it was a suicide or a death by a family member.

Depression is the main reason behind the incidents, human rights activist Rana Husseini said. “De­pression, in my opinion, is the leading cause in which a father in a moment of weakness goes on a killing spree ending the lives of his own family,” Husseini said.

“Of course, there are other reasons such as cases of schizophre­nia, which is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves and which might appear in a cer­tain age and a certain situation and sometimes it can go undetected,” she added.

Husseini, who has focused on social issues with a special emphasis on violence against women, recalled an incident in 1989 when a high school student killed his entire 11-member family and a friend due to the pressure his family placed on him.

“That crime is considered among the most horrific in Jordan. The 18-year-old boy killed his whole family because he could not face the pressure they placed on him when he failed his high school exams. The student was executed but authorities should have studied this case and dug deeper to see why it happened,” Husseini said.

Drug addiction is also often mentioned as a cause of familicide. A 20-year-old man who decapitated his mother in 2016 was high on a drug called “the joker,” which is a mix of tobacco and lethal substances such as rat poison.

Dr Momen Hadidi, director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Jordan, said that addiction to drugs such as the joker could cause unpredictable actions.

“Due to the fact that some drug mixtures vary, the effect on a person varies from one to another, which might lead to murder or rape of your closest family members even if it was taken once,” he said.

“Those who take drugs become vulnerable and you cannot predict their actions. They become extremely dangerous and tend to hurt those who are around them, starting with their families.”

Whatever the reasons behind the crimes, they are unjustifiable for Gaby Daw, 49, a social worker.

“Recently, we have been reading more about tragic cases of famili­cide,” Daw said. “Usually there are no apparent signs to suggest that anyone is in danger or will commit such hideous crimes, leaving everyone shocked and in a state of disbelief.

“I believe that the current (socio-economic) situation plays a big role in turning a person into a monster whereby one cannot think reasonably anymore and turns to violence and suicide. Difficult financial conditions, economic crises, depression and mental disorders are all factors.

“I personally witnessed several cases in which a person tried to kill himself just because he was re­jected asylum in a foreign country. When you are desperate you will do anything to hurt yourself, but to hurt your family, your children, this I cannot understand,” Daw added.

A report by Assabeel news website stated that 12 people have committed suicide in Jordan since the start of 2017. In 2016, there were 117 suicides in Jordan compared to 113 in 2015.

Hussein Khazai, a professor of sociology at Jordan University, said weak family ties and poor faith in addition to drugs contribute to these acts in Jordan. “Authorities need to study each case separately and spread awareness about them in the society,” he said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81412.

Jordan interior, foreign ministers unseated in reshuffle

Sunday 15 January 2017

Jordan's interior minister lost his job Sunday after criticism following a deadly attack, in a government reshuffle that also saw long-serving foreign minister Nasser Judeh cast aside.

Ten people including a Canadian were shot dead at the popular Jordanian tourist destination of Karak on 18 December, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

Following the attack, some 50 lawmakers called for a motion to censure interior minister Salama Hammad.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Hani Mulqi said in a statement from the royal palace that Hammad was being replaced by Ghaleb Zohbi, a lawyer who had previously held the same post.

The same statement announced that Judeh, who had served as foreign minister since 2009, was making way for Ayman Safadi, formerly an adviser to the king and deputy prime minister.

It did not say why the ministers were being replaced. It is the second reshuffle since 28 September.

Last month's attack in Karak, home to one of the region's biggest Crusader castles, killed seven policemen, two Jordanian civilians and a female Canadian tourist.

Four assailants were killed by the security forces after an hours-long siege of the castle, where the suspects had fled to after opening fire on police.

IS claimed responsibility on 20 December, saying four "soldiers of the caliphate" used machineguns and hand grenades in the attack.

Jordan is part of the US-led military coalition against IS and has carried out air strikes targeting the extremist group.

It also hosts coalition troops on its territory.

The kingdom was hit by four attacks last year, including a suicide attack in June that killed seven guards near the border with Syria that was also claimed by IS.

Source: Middle East Eye.
Link: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordan-interior-foreign-ministers-unseated-reshuffle-1787269023.

Morocco to withdraw from Western Sahara tension zone

2017-02-26

RABAT - Morocco said Sunday it will pull back from a zone of the contested Western Sahara that has raised tensions with Algeria-backed Polisario Front separatists.

"The Kingdom of Morocco will proceed from today with a unilateral withdrawal from the (Guerguerat) zone," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said the decision was taken by King Mohammed VI at the request of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Rabat now "hopes the secretary general's intervention will allow a return to the previous situation in the zone concerned, keep its status intact, allow the flow of normal road traffic and thus safeguard the ceasefire", it said.

In a telephone call to Guterres on Friday, the king called on the United Nations to take urgent measures to end "provocation" by the Polisario Front threatening a 1991 ceasefire.

Morocco insists that the former Spanish colony is an integral part of its kingdom, but the Polisario is demanding a referendum on self-determination.

The two sides fought for control of the Western Sahara from 1975 to 1991, with Rabat gaining control of the territory before the UN-brokered ceasefire took effect.

In the phone call, King Mohammed VI condemned "repeated incursion by armed Polisario men" in the Guerguerat district.

Tensions flared last year after the Polisario set up a new military post in Guerguerat district near the Mauritanian border, within a stone's throw of Moroccan soldiers.

The move came after Morocco last summer started building a tarmac road in the area south of the buffer zone separating the two sides.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81693.

Algeria's reclusive president to mark 80th birthday

2017-03-01

ALGIERS - Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has rarely appeared in public since a crippling stroke in 2013, marks his 80th birthday on Thursday amid persistent doubts over his health.

He suffered a bout of bronchitis in February, forcing German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the last minute to cancel a scheduled visit to Algiers and sparking renewed speculation about his future.

"The president has not directly addressed the Algerians since 2012. No Algerian can believe that there is not a power vacuum," Ahmed Adhimi, a professor of political science at the University of Algiers, said.

In a May 2012 speech, Bouteflika hinted he would give up power at the end of his third term in 2014.

"For my generation, it's game over," the president told a room full of young Algerians.

But despite a stroke the following year which forced him to spend nearly three months recovering in France, he fought the 2014 election and soundly beat his longtime rival, former prime minister Ali Benflis.

Bouteflika attended his inauguration in a wheelchair, barely able to deliver more than a few paragraphs of his speech and mumble through the oath of office.

Since then, he has rarely appeared in public, receiving foreign heads of state or government in privacy at his official residence in Zeralda, west of the capital.

- 'Power vacuum' -

His opponents repeatedly speak of a power vacuum at the top of government.

But Bouteflika has clung to power, restructuring the army and intelligence services and keeping rivals at bay.

In 2015, he dismissed the Abdelkader Ait Ouarabi, a powerful counter-terrorism chief known as "General Hassan" who was later sentenced to five years in jail for destroying documents and disobeying orders.

The following day, Bouteflika dismissed secret service boss General Mohamed Mediene, a political kingmaker during his 25 years at the head of the DRS intelligence agency.

But the cancellation of the octogenarian's meeting with Merkel last month rekindled doubts about the state of political life in Algeria.

"Bouteflika's illness is not a problem in itself," said Redouane Boudjemaa, a media expert at the University of Algiers.

"The real debate is not about whether the president goes or stays, but about the fate of this system, (which is) corrupt, resistant to any change and ready to keep him president for life," he said.

For many Algerians, the president's long disappearances reflect an opaque system dominated by the military.

"I sometimes question the authenticity of the images broadcast on (public) television showing President Bouteflika receiving foreign guests," said Mourad, a retiree aged nearly 70 who struggles to get by on a derisory pension.

He said he is "convinced that the army has ruled the country since the country's independence in 1962".

But Djamel, an employee of Algeria's state railway company, said Bouteflika had achieved a lot and "sacrificed himself" for Algeria.

"He accepted a fourth mandate to complete the projects he launched," he said, underlining the division of public opinion on Bouteflika.

A veteran of Algeria's war of independence, "Boutef" was born on March 2, 1937 in the Moroccan border town of Oujda to a family from Tlemcen, western Algeria.

In power since 1999, he has faced a decade of health problems that have forced him to spend long periods being treated abroad.

A bleeding stomach ulcer dispatched him to Paris for an operation in late 2005, one of multiple stays in French hospitals.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81772.

Algerians take steps to prosecute France for nuclear tests

February 15, 2017

The top human rights organisation in Algeria announced yesterday that it has contacted the UN Human Rights Council regarding France’s refusal to admit to the crimes of its nuclear test program. The French government carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian desert, causing the death of 42,000 individuals; thousands more were left chronically ill due to being exposed to nuclear radiation.

The details were revealed in a statement by the National Secretary of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Houari Kaddour, who is tasked with this issue, during an interview with Anadolu news agency. Kaddour stressed that his organisation “is trying to use all legal means to put the French authorities on trial and prosecute them in all international legal bodies, as well as in the EU, for their crimes.”

Algeria marked the 57th anniversary of the French nuclear tests two days ago. They were carried out between 1960 and 1966; Algeria gained independence from France in 1962. The French authorities still refuse to admit to these crimes and instead have announced that they will pay financial compensation to the victims.

According to Kaddour, his organisation contacted the UN Human Rights council and requested it to look into the crimes. “We also urged the Algerians in Europe to help us find lawyers specializing in international law to file a lawsuit against France in the next three months, before the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights in the EU. We also plan to prosecute France in the local courts in Switzerland which specialize in international crimes.”

Kaddour said that his organisation is coordinating with a number of human rights and international bodies in this regard, including all international human rights organisations, international organisations against nuclear testing, and French human rights groups. He noted that the Algerians had submitted over 730,000 compensation cases that were rejected by the compensation committee due to the impossible conditions imposed on the victims. Civilian victims, he added, are not recognized.

The Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights accused the Algerian authorities of “not putting enough pressure on France to admit to these crimes.”

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170215-algerians-take-steps-to-prosecute-france-for-nuclear-tests/.

Algeria: How cancelling elections led to war

January 11, 2017

What: 1992 elections are cancelled by the military

Where: Algeria

When: 11 January 1992

What happened?

By October 1988, Algerians’ anger was made tangible for the country’s ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party, and deadly protests in Algiers forced the FLN to accept the reality that they were no longer infallible against the masses.

As a result, new constitutional reforms introduced by President Chadli Bendjedid enabled multi-party participation for the first time since the inception of the autocratic FLN regime in 1962. The party which benefited the most from this new introduction was the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), formed on 18 February 1989, whose popularity exploded amongst marginalized Algerians tired of their exclusion from the socio-political environment.

The FIS were able to make considerable gains in their first year by building bridges with the young urban poor. Indeed, it was mainly due to meetings between Bendjedid and FIS’ Ali Benhadj, as well as members of the Muslim Brotherhood, that the October riots began to peter out.

By 12 June 1990, the first free local elections since independence took place, with Algerian voters choosing the FIS and winning 54% of votes; more than double what the FLN received or any other parties.

However, the Gulf War against Iraq in January 1991 provoked a change in the FLN’s tolerance of FIS. Benhadj, a charismatic preacher, delivered an impassioned speech for volunteers to fight alongside Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and this was seen as an affront to the military hierarchy. A strike called by the FIS against the realignment of electoral districts provoked a state of emergency in June 1991 in which parliamentary elections were postponed till December. Soon after, FIS leaders Abassi Madani and Ali Benhadj were arrested and later sentenced to twelve years in prison.

Despite all this, FIS participated in the first round of legislative elections on 26 December 1991 and won with a resounding majority in a voter turnout of 59%. The party was able to secure 231 seats with more predictable gains in the second round of ballots on 13 January 1992. The FLN came second with just 16 elected deputies and Hocine Ait Ahmed’s Socialist Forces Front in third place.

The inevitability of a victory, a first for an Islamist party, was beginning to make the Algerian elite uncomfortable, not to mention elites in Paris who were watching their former colony. For the US, the possibility of a party, despite being democratically elected, that could be hostile to the United States and indeed their interests in the region was enough to justify the FLN’s forthcoming action, which led to a bloody civil war that lasted until 2002.

On 11 January 1992, the military stepped in, cancelling the electoral process and banning FIS as a party which was later completely dissolved by March. According to the Algerian authorities, 5,000 FIS members were arrested. However, French researcher Gilles Kepel put the number at 40,000 members, including then-leader Abdelkader Hachani. President Bendjedid was forced to resign and his successor, a former exiled independence fighter, Mohamed Boudiaf, was sworn in as president. His reign was short-lived by his assassination four months later.

Offshoot organisations of FIS, mainly the Islamic Armed Movement (MIA) and Armed Islamic Group (GIA), saw the military’s actions as a cause for war and a justification to take up arms against the state.

This war would last ten brutal years, with depraved levels of violence recorded towards the latter part by both the military and secret services and militant groups guilty of senseless violence and massacres.

Around 200,000 Algerians would perish in the war, 18,000 would disappear and one million forced to leave the country. The state of emergency would only be lifted in 2011 by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has held office since 1999, as a response to protests during the onset of the Arab Spring.

Benhadj and Madani were later released in 2003, and in 2005 Bouteflika offered a general amnesty to end legal proceedings against former fighters which was supported by 97% of the country in a national referendum. The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was implemented on September 2006, formally reconciling the warring parties and leading to the Algeria we see today.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170111-algeria-how-cancelling-elections-led-to-war/.

Turkmenistan's leader wins presidential election

February 13, 2017

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan's Central Election Commission says the incumbent leader has won the presidential election. Commission chairman Gulmurat Muradov told reporters on Monday that Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov won 97.7 percent of the vote in the gas-rich Central Asian nation. Muradov said the results from Sunday's election are preliminary and that election authorities still have to count ballots cast in Turkmenistan's embassies abroad.

Berdymukhamedov has been the overwhelmingly dominant figure in the former Soviet republic since late 2006, when he assumed power after the death of his eccentric predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov. The country last year amended the constitution to extend the presidential term to seven years from five, and eliminated the age limit of 70, effectively allowing Berdymukhamedov to be president for life.

Turkmenistan's leader set to win re-election

February 11, 2017

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — The authoritarian president of Turkmenistan is set to sail to victory in Sunday's election where eight other candidates are on the ballot, but all praise his polices. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has been the overwhelmingly dominant figure in the former Soviet republic since late 2006, when he assumed power after death of his eccentric predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov.

Berdymukhamedov has made small reforms of the single-party system imposed by Niyazov and some aspects of the latter's cult of personality, which included naming the months of the year after his family members and mandating all schoolchildren read his book of philosophical musings.

Some of Niyazov's more notoriously odd initiatives, such as banning opera and gold teeth, also were rolled back. Notably, Berdymukhamedov expanded public access to the internet and increased compulsory education from nine years to 12.

Under Berdymukhamedov, a law was adopted to allow non-government parties, although these parties are strictly vetted. The candidates nominally competing with Berdymukhamedov have been allowed to meet with voters in theaters and cultural centers, but the encounters were not televised and no debates were held.

The country last year amended the constitution to extend the presidential term to seven years from five, and eliminated the age limit of 70, effectively allowing Berdymukhamedov to be president for life.

Meanwhile, Berdymukhamedov has established a considerable personality cult of his own. He is regularly shown on state media successfully acquitting himself in a wide array of physical and competitive disciplines, such as horse-riding, racing cars, cycling, sailing and lifting weights. More recently, the president has taken up music with gusto, on occasion regaling wildly applauding crowds with performances on the guitar and piano.

State television reported on how during a pre-election visit to a gas refinery last month, Berdymukhamedov watched as workers serenaded him on a severely out-of-tune guitar. Later, the president was shown strumming the same guitar — now properly tuned — and performing a song of his own composition as workers clapped along.

Authorities in Turkmenistan have secured quiescence among the country's 5 million people through a combination of authoritarianism and generous welfare subsidies, like free household gas and salt. But the state's ability to dispense that largesse has come under intense strain as the price for natural gas — Turkmenistan's only significant export commodity — has plummeted.

Until a few years ago, Turkmenistan could count on selling gas to China, Russia and Iran. Russia and Iran have recently stopped buying the fuel, however, following pricing disputes. Turkmenistan is placing strong hopes on an ambitious plan to build a gas pipeline serving Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, but construction so far is underway only in Turkmenistan.

The economic crisis triggered by the collapse in gas revenue has led to devaluation of the national currency, the manat, and shortages for many staples including cooking oil and sugar. Because of the intense secrecy which the government imposes on economic data, there are few ways of being certain about the depth of the problem.

Although tight visa procedures make it difficult for outsiders to visit, Turkmenistan has built an elaborate resort complex on the Caspian Sea. Gas revenues spurred a spectacular construction boom in the capital Ashgabat, turning swaths of the city into gleaming white marble residential towers flanking wide, lightly trafficked thoroughfares.

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.

Kyrgyz court confirms life sentence for journalist

January 24, 2017

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — A court in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday upheld a life sentence for an ethnic Uzbek journalist in a case that has drawn international criticism. Azimzhan Askarov was convicted in 2010 for stirring up ethnic hatred, a charge related to ethnic unrest in the south of Kyrgyzstan in 2010 when more than 450 people, mostly ethnic Uzbeks, were killed and tens or even hundreds of thousands were displaced.

The majority of those convicted for taking part in the deadly clashes have been ethnic Uzbeks. Askarov, who can appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court, shouted out after Tuesday's decision that he would go on hunger strike in protest.

Askarov's case was sent for review last year after the U.N. Human Rights Committee in April urged Kyrgyzstan to release him, finding that he had been arbitrarily detained, tortured and denied his right to a fair trial.

Askarov's lawyer, Tolekan Ismailov, told reporters that his client would appeal the ruling, which he dismissed as unlawful. Askarov had been documenting human rights violations by the police and prison authorities in his hometown near the Uzbek border for more than 10 years before he was arrested in 2010.

Kyrgyzstan ministry says cargo plane crash kills 37

January 16, 2017

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — A cargo plane crashed Monday in a residential area just outside the main airport in Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 37 people, the Emergency Situations Ministry said on Monday.

The Turkish Boeing 747 crashed just outside the Manas airport, south of the capital Bishkek, killing people in the residential area adjacent to the airport as well as those on the plane. Reports of the death toll on Monday ranged from 37 people according to emergency officials in the Central Asian nation, to 31 reported by the presidential press office which also said rescue teams had recovered parts of nine bodies. Fifteen people including six children have been hospitalized.

Images from the scene showed the plane's nose stuck inside a brick house and large chunks of debris scattered around. Several dozen private houses cluster just outside the metal fence separating the cottages from the runway. Manas has been considerably expanded since the United States began to operate a military installation at the Manas airport, using it primarily for its operations in Afghanistan. American troops vacated the base and handed it over to the Kyrgyz military in 2014.

"I woke up because of a bright red light outside," Baktygul Kurbatova, who was slightly injured, told local television. "I couldn't understand what was happening. It turns out the ceiling and the walls were crashing on us. I was so scared but I managed to cover my son's face with my hands so that debris would not fall on him."

More than a thousand rescue workers were at the scene by late morning in the residential area where 15 houses were destroyed, Deputy Prime Minister Mukhammetkaly Abulgaziyev said. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Kyrgyz Emergency Situations Minister Kubatbek Boronov told reporters that it was foggy at Manas when the plane came down but weather conditions were not critical. The plane's flight recorders have not yet been found.

The plane, which had departed from Hong Kong, belonged to Istanbul-based cargo company ACT Airlines. It said in an emailed statement that the cause was unknown. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday called his Kyrgyz counterpart, Erlan Abdildaev, to offer Turkey's condolences, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara.

After rocky start, second day of Syria talks in Kazakhstan

January 24, 2017

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) — The U.N. envoy for Syria pressed on with efforts Tuesday to shore up a shaky cease-fire between the Damascus government and its allies and rebel factions, as he shuttled between delegates from the two sides on the second day of peace talks in Kazakhstan.

Staffan de Mistura said there were reasons for "optimism" and promised an "outcome" for later in the day. The talks in Astana on Monday saw only a brief face-to-face meeting between the government and rebel representatives — their first since the Syrian war began in 2011 — that was quickly followed by harsh exchanges.

The U.N. envoy told reporters outside the venue in Astana's Rixos Hotel on Tuesday that discussions were underway to finalize a declaration to ensure that the cease-fire "becomes more solid." He did not elaborate.

"We are not far from a final declaration," he said. "There has been a lot of work done on it. If the one we are seeing is going to take place, there is some optimism." "There are very intense discussions because this is not about a paper but about a cessation of hostilities, and that means saving lives," de Mistura added.

Syrian rebel spokesman Osama Abo Zayd said that despite encouraging signs, the opposition is "waiting for something more than statements." The rebels have pinned their hopes on Russia and Turkey, which brokered the cease-fire that took effect on Dec.30. Iran, a Damascus government ally, has approved of the cease-fire and co-sponsored the Astana conference.

"The people of in the besieged areas (in Syria) ... are waiting for action on the ground," Abo Zayd said. The rebel delegation is seeking to extend the Russia- and Turkey-mediated cease-fire to all of Syria. Violence has subsided since the truce, but fighting continues around the capital, Damascus, where the government and rebels accuse each other of violating the cease-fire.

The government says it is targeting members of al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria in rebel-held areas, a group that is not part of the cease-fire. The rebels say the cease-fire should only exempt the Islamic State group and not al-Qaida-linked fighters.

Along with the cease-fire, the United Nations has also been demanding access to rebel areas besieged by government forces areas around the country. Rebels have also besieged two villages in northern Syria.

Abo Zayd said the government's policy of forcing the surrender of rebel-held areas needs to stop. "For this conference to be successful, we need a cease-fire and a halt to forced displacement," he said.

In recent months, the government has signed a number of capitulation agreements with rebel groups, particularly around Damascus, whereby after intense fighting and a tight siege, the rebels agree to evacuate along with other government opponents to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

Damascus sees these as "reconciliation" agreements, while the U.N. says residents and rebels are often not given a choice, which amounts to forced displacement.

Qatar pays Gaza electricity costs for three months

January 16, 2017

The Amir of Qatar, Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, has ordered his government to pay the costs of Gaza’s electricity supply for three months, official sources announced on Sunday. Qatar’s Ambassador to Palestine told the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah that his country will pay $4 million per month as part of this agreement.

Mohamed Al-Emadi released a press statement to explain that the funds will be transferred to the PA “immediately” in order to relieve the suffering of the Palestinian in Gaza. He also noted that there are intensified contacts with the authority regarding current proposals to find a permanent solution for the crisis.

The ambassador explained that these decisions were made after a meeting between Amir Tamim and senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in Doha.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170116-qatar-pays-gaza-electricity-costs-for-three-months/.

Saudi Arabia sees China rise as stabilizing

Davos, Switzerland (AFP)
Jan 17, 2017

The rise of China will be a source of global stability not conflict, major oil supplier Saudi Arabia said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

"As China gets integrated into the world, and into the world financial and economic systems, it has a tremendous interest in stability of those systems," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.

"And so I think the rise of China should be one that is welcomed, not one that is viewed as a source of a threat," he told a discussion in the Swiss resort, where 3,000 members of the political and business elite gathered for annual talks.

Asia is the number one market region for Saudi Arabian oil.

Jubeir's comments came after China's President Xi Jinping warned, also at Davos, against scapegoating globalization for the world's ills or retreating behind protectionist walls.

US President-elect Donald Trump has blamed China and globalization for the loss of millions of American factory jobs.

Washington is a longstanding ally of Saudi Arabia but ties were strained under President Barack Obama, who hands power to Trump on Friday.

Riyadh felt Obama was reluctant to get involved in the civil war in Syria and other regional conflicts while tilting towards Saudi Arabia's rival Iran.

Jubeir said he expects the Trump administration to be more engaged in the Middle East, and the world in general, while "rebuilding" relationships with allies.

"I think the change will happen," the Saudi minister said.

Among Saudi concerns has been the regional role of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement, which is backed by Iran.

"Our concern is that Lebanon not be a source of danger to us, mainly Hezbollah," Jubeir said.

But the election in November of Lebanon's President Michel Aoun, who was backed by Hezbollah, will contribute to a "healing process" in Lebanon, Jubeir said.

"He has acted as a statesman as soon as he was elected" and last week visited Riyadh as his first foreign stop, the Saudi minister said.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Saudi_Arabia_sees_China_rise_as_stabilising_999.html.

Dubai tests hover-taxi for July release

2017-02-13

DUBAI - Dubai has tested a Chinese prototype of a self-driving hover-taxi, its transport authority said on Monday, with the aim of introducing the aerial vehicle in the emirate by July.

The test of the one-man electric vehicle comes as the city state in the United Arab Emirates seeks to ensure a quarter of its means of transport are self-driving by 2030.

The EHang 184 can travel on a programmed course at 100 kilometers an hour (60 mph) at an altitude of 300 meters (1,000 feet), the authority said in a statement.

A passenger simply needs to select a destination for the autonomous taxi to take off, fly the route and touch down in the chosen spot monitored by a ground control center, it said.

The vehicle, made by Chinese drone manufacturer EHang, can recharge in two hours and make trips of up to 30 minutes.

"The autonomous aerial vehicle exhibited at the World Government Summit is not just a model," authority head Mattar al-Tayer said on Monday.

"We have already experimented (with) the vehicle in a flight in (the) Dubai sky," he said in English.

The authority was "making every effort to start the operation of the autonomous aerial vehicle in July 2017" to help reduce traffic congestion, Tayer said.

The quadcopter is powered by eight propellers, the authority said.

It has highly accurate sensors and can resist extreme temperatures, it said. The emirate is known for its scorching summers.

In November, Dubai agreed a deal with US startup Hyperloop One to study the construction of a near-supersonic transport link to the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi.

Home to Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, Dubai is a leading tourist destination in the Gulf, attracting a record 14.9 million visitors in 2016.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=81424.

Bahrain city hall set ablaze as execution protests rage

Monday 16 January 2017

Protesters set abalze a city hall was set ablaze overnight in Bahrain, the government said Monday, as fresh violence erupted over the executions of three men convicted of a deadly bomb attack on police.

The fire in the building at Shamalia, south of the capital Manama, was eventually brought under control, said the interior ministry, without explicitly linking it to the executions.

"According to initial reports, the fire was intentional and the specialized services are taking the necessary measures," the ministry wrote on Twitter.

The blaze came after three men were put to death by firing squad on Sunday over the bomb attack on police in 2014, sparking clashes between angry protesters and security forces.

"Sami Mushaima, Ali al-Singace and Abbas al-Samea were convicted of manufacturing and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were detonated remotely after luring first responders into the fatal ambush," said a statement by Bahrain's London Embassy.

Their executions were the first in the country since 2010. Rights campaigners said the three men were tortured into confessions.

Protests continued overnight, with dozens of men and women marching through the streets of Sanabes village chanting slogans against the Khalifa dynasty, according to witnesses.

Demonstrators tried to reach the main street of Sanabes, the hometown of the three executed men.

Sanabes is the closest village to the Pearl roundabout, the epicenter of a month-long uprising that the security forces crushed in mid-March 2011.

The square's famous monument was razed to the ground after the protesters were driven out.

Protests turned violent overnight in several other villages, according to other witnesses who said police opened fire to disperse demonstrators, wounding several of them.

Bahrain's authorities do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently.

The executions were criticized by international human rights groups, as well as Britain and the European Union.

Iran and the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah strongly condemned the executions.

Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Sunni Khalifa monarchy for more than two centuries, has a majority Shia population which has long complained of marginalization.

It has been rocked by sporadic unrest since the Gulf-backed security forces brutally crushed the Arab Spring-inspired uprising in 2011.

Source: Middle East Eye.
Link: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bahrain-city-hall-set-ablaze-execution-protests-rage-63460128.

Bahrain executes 3 convicted in deadly police bombing

January 15, 2017

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.

The executions of the Shiite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked outrage among opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.

Bahrain's public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad. Photos shared by activists purporting to show the bodies of the men showed a tight grouping of multiple gunshot wounds to the heart.

The executions were the first in the U.S.-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men. Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were found guilty in 2015 of killing two Bahraini policemen and an Emirati officer deployed to bolster the country's security forces in a bomb attack the previous year. A court upheld their death sentences last Monday.

Bahrain is a tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and is the naval counterweight to nearby Shiite powerhouse Iran.

Government forces crushed the 2011 uprising with help from allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the country continues to face low-level unrest led by a majority Shiite population that feels marginalized by the Sunni monarchy.

Bahrain also maintains close ties to Britain, which is building a naval base of its own in the country. Over the past two and a half months, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have all paid visits to the island.

Johnson made a point of underscoring Britain's opposition to the death penalty hours after the sentences were carried out. "The Bahraini authorities are fully aware of our position and I have raised the issue with the Bahraini government," he said in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men as rumors spread that their executions were imminent. Images shared on social media showed activists blocking roads with burning debris and hurling petrol bombs in clashes with police.

Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher who monitors Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, called the executions inflammatory and unjust as he urged the kingdom's allies to "publicly and unequivocally condemn these killings." Amnesty International deputy director Samah Hadid called the executions "a deeply regressive step."

Protests and clashes continued Sunday despite a heavy presence of riot police deployed in predominantly Shiite areas. Witnesses said shops were shuttered in Daih, where the 2014 bombing happened. Garbage bins were seen overturned and set alight in the streets.

One police officer was wounded when several people shot at a police patrol in Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. It gave no further details. The Ashtar Brigade, a Shiite militant group that claimed the 2014 police attack and a number of other bombings in Bahrain, took responsibility for the attack on the police officer on social media. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the post, though it came in a forum often used by the group.

Iran, which supported the 2011 uprising but denies any role in the violence, condemned the executions. "The lack of transparency in the unfair trial of the three Bahraini citizens was confirmed by the international community, human rights and all popular bodies all around the world," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in remarks carried by state-run media.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah also condemned the execution of the three men, calling it "a crime" and "extrajudicial killing" that would undermine any chance for a political solution in Bahrain.

The militant group, which has been critical of the Bahraini government's crackdown on the Shiite uprising, said international silence toward what takes place in Bahrain must be met with the "largest solidarity campaign."

Al-Samea and Mushaima alleged they were subjected to electric shocks, beatings, cigarette burns, sleep deprivation and sexual assault while in custody, Amnesty International reported in 2015. Al-Singace's mother says her son was also tortured, according to British rights group Reprieve.

"It is nothing short of an outrage — and a disgraceful breach of international law — that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said. "The death sentences handed to Ali, Sami and Abbas were based on 'confessions' extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham."

Government officials did not respond to a request for comment Sunday on the torture allegations. Bahraini officials have previously said the government is opposed to any kind of mistreatment and has safeguards in place to prevent it.

Bahrain's last execution was of a Bangladeshi man in 2010. A number of death sentences have been issued since then. The three put to death Sunday were the first who had held Bahraini citizenship executed since 1996, according to Reprieve, though they were technically stateless at the time of their deaths after being stripped of their citizenship when convicted.

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy re-elected as Popular Party leader

February 12, 2017

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was re-elected as the leader of the conservative Popular Party for a fourth term, sweeping 95 percent of the vote at a party congress in Madrid.

"It's an honor because I have spent all my life in this party," the 61-year-old Rajoy said Saturday night as he thanked party members. He ran unopposed. Hours later on Sunday, his political rival Pablo Iglesias likewise won a vote to maintain his leadership of the left-wing Podemos ("We Can") party at its congress in the Spanish capital. The pony-tailed former political science professor fended off a challenge by the party's No. 2 leader, Inigo Errejon, then called for party "unity and humility."

"This is a party of the 21st century that advances alongside the people, while other parties are entrenched in the institutions," Iglesias said in a fiery speech. Podemos erupted onto the political scene three years ago, harnessing the widespread discontent caused by the hard economic times and major corruption cases involving Spain's traditional political parties. It became the third largest political force in the Spanish parliament last year.

Rajoy maintained most of the Popular Party's leadership, including Maria Dolores de Cospedal, Spain's minister of defense, as the party's second-in-command. Rajoy has been Spanish prime minister since 2011, when he took power during a severe economic recession. He is credited with helping Spain avoid an international bailout. He has led a minority government since October when he won support from other parties to end 10 months of deadlock following two indecisive elections.

"Spain today doesn't resemble the Spain when we took charge, not in growth, general welfare, employment, and, above all, confidence," Rajoy said in a speech Sunday to close the party congress. "Some might think that our job is now easier because Spain is recovering, but it is also true that our (party's) strength has weakened. We don't have the majority. We must talk" with other parties in parliament.

Rajoy also addressed efforts by the regional government of Catalonia to secede from the rest of the Spain, which is the biggest challenge facing his government besides his party's ongoing corruption scandals.

"We are not going to accept a referendum (on independence) that seeks to tear Spain apart," Rajoy said.

Spanish ritual of horses and fire survives time and critics

January 17, 2017

SAN BARTOLOME DE PINARES, Spain (AP) — Once every winter, thick smoke begins to swallow up the houses in this village in the barren lands of Avila, northwest of Madrid. It means the town's bonfire festival honoring St. Anthony the Abbot has begun.

The music of a small bagpipe and a drum drift through the gloom. Then comes the clack of hooves on the cobblestone street. Suddenly, the flames roar up and horses and riders emerge to begin leaping through the flames.

St. Anthony the Abbot is the patron saint of domestic animals, and some townspeople say the celebration dates back five centuries to when the plague was fought with Roman Catholic rituals that used the smoke for purification.

San Bartolome de Pinares has kept its "luminarias" festival alive with religious intensity and unswerving pride, fending off criticism from animal rights groups. When agriculture was far more important, mules and donkeys also were led past the bonfires in a purifying ritual. Now, horses are the only animals used.

In recent years, tourists, journalists and photography aficionados have put attention on the ritual, which has come under attack from animal rights groups. "There is no logic in forcing these animals into a stressful situation against their own nature," said Juan Ignacio Codina, one of the most vocal critics of the "luminarias" festival. "In the midst of the 21st century, this is something from a bygone era. There is no superstition or belief that should justify an act of such cruelty."

Codina's group, Observatory of Justice and Animal Defense, contends the "luminarias" break regional and national laws of animal protection and public entertainment shows and it filed a complaint with the regional government in 2013.

The government of Castille and Leon, the region where San Bortolome sits, replied that veterinarians sent by authorities couldn't find any injuries on the horses from the bonfires. "Not one burn, not even one harmed horse," said the mayor, Maria Jesus Martin, who insists that no horse is forced to jump over the frames.

"It makes me angry to hear the insults without those speaking knowing anything at all about the tradition," she said. "They call us stubborn, hicks. They have even openly called on social media to throw me, the mayor, into the bonfire."

Still, some in the village of 600 people think it would be better to return to a more moderate version of the festival. They say branches of pine and shrub for the bonfires used to arrive in small quantities on the backs of donkeys, but now the fuel is hauled in by trucks and the bonfires are much bigger and the smoke thicker.

Some people also would like to see a halt to the controversial jumping of the bonfires, since the original tradition only envisioned purifying the animals by walking them around — and not over — the flames.

Protesters in Barcelona aim to claim city back from tourists

January 28, 2017

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Protesters rallied Saturday in Barcelona over what they considered an out-of-control tourism boom that has damaged their ability to live and work in the northeastern Spanish city.

A soaring tourism business has fueled higher prices for rent and property sales, leaving many of the city's 1.6 million residents priced out of the city center. Under a large banner saying "Barcelona is not for sale," protesters marched and read a manifesto in which they denounced the tourist boom has overtaken the city. Local police said over 1,000 people demonstrated in the famed central walkway of Las Ramblas, while protesters estimated the total as closer to 2,000.

"This march is a way to portray the fact that we have lost our city, and are hoping to claim it back. Rent and property prices have risen back to what they were in 2008, before the economic crisis, and residents can no longer afford them," said Camilo Ramos, 63, a representative of the Barcelona Neighbors Association.

Despite fierce opposition from hotel and business owners, the City Council agreed Friday to curb the number of rooms for tourists in the city. Many protesters felt the move fell short of expectations.

"It was a necessary measure, but it's still not enough. We need to decrease the number of hotels and increase public space for residents," said Anna Moreno, a 59-year-old high school professor. Asha Nen, a visiting 35-year-old French engineering assistant, watched the scene from a distance.

"We are enjoying our stay, although it's true that the city is quite full. Some locals seem to be weary of us tourists," she said.

Dutch PM Rutte claims win over 'wrong kind of populism'

March 16, 2017

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Wednesday claimed a dominating parliamentary election victory over anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, who failed the year's first litmus test for populism in Europe.

Provisional results with over half the votes counted suggested Rutte's party won 32 seats in the 150-member legislature, 13 more than Wilders' party, which took only third place with 19 seats. The surging CDA Christian Democrats claimed 20.

Following Britain's vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump's election as U.S. president, "the Netherlands said, 'Whoa!' to the wrong kind of populism," said Rutte, who is now poised for a third term as prime minister.

"We want to stick to the course we have — safe and stable and prosperous," Rutte added. Wilders, who campaigned on radical pledges to close borders to migrants from Muslim nations, close mosques, ban the Quran and take the Netherlands out of the EU, had insisted that whatever the result of the election, the kind of populist politics he and others in Europe represent aren't going away.

"Rutte has not seen the back of me," Wilders said after the results had sunk in. His Party for Freedom clinched 24 seats in 2010 before sinking to 15 in 2012, and Wednesday's total left him with about 12 percent of the electorate, far less than populists in Britain and the United States have scored.

"Those are not the 30 seats we hoped for," Wilders told reporters early Thursday, adding that he'd "rather have been the biggest party." Both France and Germany have elections this year in which far-right candidates and parties are hoping to make an impact.

French President Francois Hollande congratulated Rutte on his election success and his "clear victory against extremism." In Germany, Socialist leader Martin Schulz tweeted. "I am relieved, but we need to continue to fight for an open and Free Europe."

Rutte, who for much of the campaign appeared to be racing to keep pace with Wilders, may have profited from the hard line he drew in a diplomatic standoff with Turkey over the past week. The fight erupted over the Netherlands' refusal to let two Turkish government ministers address rallies in Rotterdam about a referendum that could give Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more powers. It gave Rutte an opportunity to show his statesmanship by refusing to bow to foreign pressure, a stance with widespread backing in the nation.

"I mean this is your electoral campaign dream, right? You can't script this if it was a movie," Amsterdam Free University political scientist Andre Krouwel said. "It's really helped Mark Rutte to take the lead and a big lead over Geert Wilders."

Under brilliant skies, the Dutch went to vote in huge numbers, with turnout estimated to have reached at 82 percent. In a subplot of the elections, the Green Left party registered a historic victory, turning it into the largest party on the left wing of Dutch politics, together with the Socialist Party.

The provisional results showed the Greens leaping from four seats to 14 in parliament after a strong campaign by charismatic leader Jesse Klaver, who invites comparisons to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

It remains to be seen if the 30-year-old Klaver will take his party into the next ruling coalition, which looks likely to be dominated by Rutte's VVD and other right-leaning parties. The Labor Party of Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem appeared to have been punished by voters in the election, plunging from 38 seats at the last election to just nine, according to the Ipsos exit poll.

Because of the result, it looked unlikely Dijsselbloem would be able to hang on to his post of leading the 19-nation Eurogroup, which manages the currency of the European Union nations that use the euro.

Rutte had framed the election as a choice between continuity and chaos, portraying himself as a safe custodian of the nation's economic recovery and casting Wilders as a far-right radical who was unprepared to make tough decisions.

Although he drove through unpopular austerity measures over the last four years, the Dutch economic recovery has gathered pace and unemployment has fallen fast under the prime minister. Wilders, meanwhile, attempted to tap into discontent among voters who said they were not benefiting from the economic recovery.

Even if his party had placed first in the election, Wilders stood a remote chance of becoming prime minister in the Netherlands, where a proportional representation system all but guarantees coalition governments.

The main political parties, including Rutte's, had ruled out forming a coalition government with the Party for Freedom. The left-leaning Dutch Labor Party appeared to be hammered by its supporters for its role over the last four years in pushing through a tough austerity package as junior member in a two-party Cabinet with Rutte's VVD.

The coalition Rutte's VVD party had with Labor can no longer be replicated and the prime minister is likely to look to the right for new coalition partners. Rutte has been resolute about not wanting to share power with Wilders, so that tightens the market in which he can acquire the necessary 75-seat threshold.

Weeks, if not months of coalition-building talks may be required before a new government is installed.