Al-Darb Diya

Aden supports National Council

2012-01-28T18:45:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Yemenis have poured into the streets of the port city of Aden in a show of support for the country's newly formed National Council.

On Saturday, the demonstrators chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia and condemned what they called Riyadh's meddling in Yemen's internal affairs, a Press TV correspondent reported.

They also expressed strong opposition to the return of Ali Abdullah Saleh from Saudi Arabia.

Yemen's National Council was unveiled on Wednesday, a day after Saleh said he would return to Yemen soon.

Saleh is currently receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia for injuries he sustained during an attack on his palace in early June.

Popular protests against Saleh broke out earlier this year, encouraged by uprisings that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt in January and February.

Hundreds of protesters have been killed and many more injured in the regime's crackdown on Yemen's popular uprising.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194932.html.

Muslim Turks rap Quran courses age ban

2012-01-28T18:44:00.005+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

A group of Turkish Muslims have demonstrated in the capital city of Ankara in protest over the age restriction that prevents children under 12 from attending Qur'an courses.

The protesters gathered in Kocatepe Mosque on Saturday, calling for an end to the age restriction law, IRNA reported.

Chanting slogans in support of Quran courses for children, the demonstrators urged Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to live up to his commitments.

A spokesman for the protesters said the restriction on teaching Islam's holy book to children was against civil liberties and a violation of human rights.

Turkey's Freedom Association (Ozgur Der), which organized the Saturday protest, has announced plans to hold similar rallies in 20 more provinces across the country.

In July, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said, “We will do what is necessary for Turkey to get rid of such a shame that prevents children learning the book of their own religion. We will change this sloppy law this legislative term and solve the problem.”

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194986.html.

Jordanians urge Israel envoy expulsion

2012-01-28T18:44:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Hundreds of Jordanians have rallied near Israel's embassy in the capital city of Amman, demanding the expulsion of Tel Aviv's ambassador to Jordan.

Late on Saturday, the protesters condemned Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, calling for the closure of the Israeli embassy.

Raising the flags of Jordan, Egypt and Palestine, the demonstrators also demanded the abrogation of Amman's 1994 peace treaty with Tel Aviv, DPA reported.

Israel claims it launched its latest attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday in response to assaults that targeted two buses and a military vehicle near Eilat in southern Israel, in which eight Israelis were killed.

The Israeli offensive claimed the lives of at least 16 Palestinians and injured more than 45 others, including children.

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak quickly accused resistance groups in Gaza for the attacks and vowed a “full response.”

The democratically elected government of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza, however, strongly dismissed the allegations and warned against any act of aggression on the enclave.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza since the Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194953.html.

Pakistan to send more troops to Bahrain

2012-01-28T18:43:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Pakistan has agreed to dispatch more mercenaries to Bahrain to help Al Khalifa regime's crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Persian Gulf state.

The agreement was reached when Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari met King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa during his one-day visit to Bahrain on Wednesday, IRNA reported Saturday.

Manama has been recruiting former soldiers and policemen from Pakistan at a steady rate to strengthen the government's forces.

In many demonstrations Bahraini protesters shouted slogans against Pakistani security forces in Urdu.

Pakistani and Saudi forces have played a major rule in suppressing anti-government protests in Bahrain since the beginning of unrest in the Persian Gulf country.

President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) Nabeel Rajab said Friday that the Pakistani recruits have behaved with a heavy hand toward demonstrators.

"They're told they are going to go to a holy war in Bahrain to kill some non-Muslims or kafir [infidel] or Shias. They are paid well, maybe," Rajab noted.

Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters have been holding peaceful anti-government rallies throughout the Middle Eastern country since February, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa family.

Scores of people have been killed and many more arrested and tortured in prisons in a government-sanctioned crackdown on protests since the beginning of the demonstrations.

According to the BCHR, there are currently over 1,000 political detainees inside the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194995.html.

Jordan-GCC talks in Sept

2012-01-28T18:42:00.002+02:00

Sunday 21/8/2011

The first round of talks for Jordan’s admission to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) will be held between September 10 and 15, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said yesterday.

Judeh is to meet his GCC counterparts in Saudi Arabia to outline a road map for Jordan’s admission to the bloc, he told a private sector panel set up to follow the issue.

In May, GCC leaders decided at a meeting in Riyadh to accept Jordan as a new member. The council comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

Both Jordan and the GCC countries “stand to benefit” from Amman’s admission to the group, Judeh said.

Source: Gulf Times.
Link: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=453936&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17.

A Marine Discovers Islam in Iraq

2012-01-28T18:41:00.002+02:00

8/19/11
Eliana Lopez

Before Ibrahim Abdel-Wahed Mohamed left Sea Cliff for a tour of duty with the Marines in Iraq, he was Anthony Grant Vance, the son of American and Panamanian parents who had raised him as a Catholic.

Despite his Christian upbringing, though, he had been curious about Islam since his childhood in Kansas, where he had two Afghani friends. He thought about pursuing anthropology studies to further learn about religion and different cultures, but instead ended up joining the military.

Mohamed felt the pull toward the faith strengthen in Iraq -- "the heart of the Islamic world," as he says -- and he reached out to the Muslim contractors on his base and started learning about the precepts of the Quran.

Convinced that he was being called to Islam, he officially became a Muslim while still serving in Iraq. There he underwent Shahada, a profession of faith where a person testifies in front of others that "there is no god but God and Mohammad is the messenger of God," as the Sunni declaration reads.

His transformation may seem dramatic, but it's not entirely unique. The number of Latinos in the U.S. converting to Islam is growing, and Long Island is no exception.

In 1997, the American Muslim Council counted approximately 40,000 Hispanic Muslims nationwide, but that number could nowadays be closer to 75,000, according to Latino American Dawah Association (LADO), an organization committed to promoting Islam among the Latino community within the United States.

Juan Galvan, a member of LADO, affirms that Latino converts to Islam are increasing. "Many Muslim organizations have stated that the Latino Muslim community tripled or quadrupled after 9/11," he says.

He explains that after the attacks, people wanted to know more about the religion. "Many people came to learn about Islam for the first time. Some people came to hate Islam, and some people came to love Islam."

Mohamed firmly stands with the latter, as one of a small percentage of soldiers who fought in Iraq and returned with a new faith.

In some ways, his roots may have predisposed him to theological experimentation.

Born in Panama to an American Marine father and Panamanian mother, he was baptized and raised as a Catholic. His parents divorced when he was an adolescent, and his father became a Jehovah's Witness. The conversion led his father to retire from the military after 13 years of service, telling Mohamed that once you decide to follow God, "you don't pledge allegiance to a country, but you pledge allegiance to God."

Still, Mohamed followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Marine Corps after he finished high school. As a Marine, traveled around the country, living in California, Virginia, North Carolina and New York, where he finally settled down.

It was working at the military base in Garden City when Mohamed first saw the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, a place that always intrigued him. "We passed by the mosque a couple times and I had the curiosity" he recalls. After several years on Long Island, he was sent to Iraq in 2008.

Two years have passed since Mohamed converted to Islam. Now he lives in Westbury, attends the Islamic Center of Long Island and is pursuing a major in education at CW Post.

He still maintains an open mind when it comes to other religions.

"I'm not here to put anyone else down for their beliefs," he says. "I still believe that there are many lessons to be learned from other faiths."

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eliana-lopez/a-marine-discovers-islam-_b_929468.html.

Libyan rebels say they are attacking Tripoli

2012-01-28T18:40:00.002+02:00

By DARIO LOPEZ - Associated Press AP
Sun, Aug 21, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan rebels said they launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO late Saturday, and Associated Press reporters heard unusually heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital. The fighting erupted just hours after opposition fighters captured the key city of Zawiya nearby.

Gunbattles and mortar rounds were heard clearly at the hotel where foreign correspondents stay in Tripoli. NATO aircraft made heavy bombing runs after nightfall, with loud explosions booming across the city.

"We planned this operation with NATO, our Arab associates and our rebel fighters in Tripoli with commanders in Benghazi," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, the head of the rebel leadership council, told the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Benghazi, hundreds of miles east of Tripoli, is the rebels' de facto capital.

Abdel-Jalil they said chose to start the attack on Tripoli on the 20th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which fell on Saturday. The date marks the ancient Islamic Battle of Badr, when Muslims first fought for the holy city of Mecca in A.D. 624.

A couple hours after the rebels said they had attacked Tripoli, state television ran what appeared to be a live audio message by Gadhafi. He did not appear on television but sounded like he was calling the message in on a poor phone line which crackled at times. He announced the time and date twice to prove that he was speaking live.

Gadhafi condemned the rebels as traitors and "vermin" who are tearing Libya apart and said they were being chased from city to city — a mirror image of reality.

"Libyans wanted to enjoy a peaceful Ramadan," he said. "Instead they have been made into refugees. What are we? Palestinians?"

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim appeared on Libyan television to deny there was an uprising in Tripoli. But he acknowledged that there was some kind of unusual activity.

"Sure there were some armed militants who escaped into some neighborhoods and there were some scuffles, but we dealt with it within a half hour and it is now calm," he said.

The claims from both sides could not immediately be independently verified.

If the rebel did indeed attack Tripoli, it would be the first time in the 6-month-old uprising. The rebels made early gains in the revolt, capturing most of the east of the country and rising up in a few other major cities such as Zawiya and Misrata. But Gadhafi's forces fought back and until a week ago, the civil war had been mired in a stalemate.

Last weekend, rebels from the western mountains near the border with Tunisia made a dramatic advance into Zawiya, just 30 miles west of Tripoli, and captured parts of the city.

Gadhafi appeared increasingly isolated as the fighters advanced closer to Tripoli, a metropolis of 2 million people, from the west, south and east and gained control of major supply roads into the capital.

After hard-fought battles for a week in Zawiya, the rebels finally wrested the city's oil refinery, central square and hospital from Gadhafi's forces and drove them out in a major victory on Saturday that clearly swung momentum in their favor.

Hours later, the attack on Tripoli was claimed.

Col. Fadlallah Haroun, a military commander in Benghazi, said the battles marked the beginning of Operation Mermaid — a nickname for Tripoli. He also said the assault was coordinated with NATO. Haroun told the AP that weapons were assembled and sent by tugboats to Tripoli on Friday night.

"The fighters in Tripoli are rising up in two places at the moment — some are in the Tajoura neighborhood and the other is near the Matiga (international) airport," he told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Tajoura has been known since the beginning of the uprising in February as the Tripoli neighborhood most strongly opposed to Gadhafi's regime.

Earlier Saturday, the government organized a trip for reporters to the airport to show them it was still in government hands.

A representative for Tripoli on the rebel leadership council told the AP that rebels were surrounding almost every neighborhood in the capital, and there was especially heavy fighting in Fashloum, Tajoura and Souq al-Jomaa.

Those three neighborhoods have been bubbling with discontent ever since the beginning of the Libya uprising. They paid the highest price in deaths when protesters took the streets in anti-Gadhafi protests, only to be met with live ammunition by government militiamen.

"We don't have exact numbers yet, but we are hearing that many fighters have fallen — very likely over 100," said Mohammed al-Harizi.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman visited Benghazi on Saturday.

"Gadhafi's days are numbered," he said. "The best case scenario is for Gadhafi to step down now ... that's the best protection for civilians."

In Benghazi, there were thousands celebrating in the main city square, shooting fireworks and guns into the air, and waving the rebel tricolor flag.

They got support from Abdel-Salam Jalloud, a close Gadhafi associate who defected Friday. Speaking on Al-Jazeera TV from Italy, he told the people of Tripoli, "You must rise up all together, at once," and called on Gadhafi's forces to joint the opposition. "The decisive moment is approaching," he said. "You are protecting a clinically dead regime."

The taking of Zawiya, a city of 200,000, cleared the last major hurdle to a rebel march on Tripoli from the west. Rebels said Gadhafi's troops put up little resistance before fleeing their posts in Zawiya's hospital and multistory buildings around the main square — another sign suggesting that the Libyan dictator's 42-year-old regime is crumbling.

Trucks and cars packed with rebels as well as civilians drove around Zawiya's central square, honking horns, flashing V-for-victory signs and yelling "Allahu akbar" or "God is great!" An ambulance crew posed for photos on the sidewalk while a rebel called through a loudspeaker on his truck, "Zawiya is liberated!"

Still, regime troops kept firing rockets and mortars at the city from positions in the east even after rebels said they drove them out, and thunderous booms echoed across the city. The central hospital was hit by mortar rounds early Saturday, several hours after it was taken by rebels. The attack badly damaged the operating rooms, punching a hole into one of the outer walls. Metal slats from the ceiling were strewn across the floor, and soot-covered the operating tables.

Rebels also claimed that they captured the city of Zlitan, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, after more than two months of fighting.

"Zlitan is now completely liberated after a severe fight, and for the first time I can say we have control over it," Bani told reporters Saturday.

In Zawiya, fighters were bogged down around the central square for much of the week, held back by mortar, rocket and anti-aircraft fire from Gadhafi's troops. However, on Friday afternoon, rebel reinforcements arrived and pushed toward the square and the hospital, driving out regime forces before nightfall, said 21-year-old rebel fighter Mohammed Abu Daya.

The rebels said Saturday that they were now driving Gadhafi's forces even farther east, toward the village of Jedaim on the outskirts of Zawiya.

Gadhafi's forces fired rockets and mortars at the city, killing a doctor his wife and their 9-month-old baby when a mortar hit their home, medics said.

Zawiya's main square was covered with traces of the recent fighting. Nearly every window in the surrounding hotel, banks and government office buildings was shattered, and bullet and shrapnel holes marred every wall. Shelling had collapsed two floors of one of the five buildings near the square that had been used as Gadhafi sniper positions.

The dead bodies of two government fighters lay in the square's central plaza, covered by blankets. Rebels held their breath as they passed the bodies, which some said had been there for days.

Zawiya native Faiz Ibrahim, 42, took great pleasure in walking safely through his hometown's central square. Ibrahim, trained as an engineer, had taken up arms to defend the city early in the uprising, but went underground when Gadhafi's forces retook the town. He came out of hiding as soon as rebels from the south entered the city.

"We praise God that we can come here now that we have liberated the square," he said, his Kalashnikov rifle over his shoulder. "We have to see all the destruction that it took to get them out."

___

Associated Press writers Rami al-Shaheibi in Benghazi and Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Cairo contributed to this report

In Morocco, students see more than money in summer jobs

2012-01-28T17:10:00.005+02:00

Summer jobs enable many young people to find fulfillment while also helping them make ends meet.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 19/08/11

While groups of young unemployed graduates continue their protests demanding jobs in the public service, there are many still in school who work during the summer holidays.

Taking jobs during breaks from school in Morocco has long been thought of as something working class students did. Now, middle class students and their parents are coming to see the social value of working for your money.

Working during breaks is an opportunity for students to earn income, but also to train for the future by building character traits that lead to success in the job market. For some, it is a deliberate choice. For others, working is necessary to make ends meet during the school year.

Samira Kassimi, a sociologist, explained that summer jobs for young people are nothing new in Morocco for the working class, but are rarely taken by members of the middle class. She said middle class parents who are anxious to build character in their children are beginning to send them to work on their breaks.

Samira Z. is barely 17 but has been working during the holidays for more than five years to buy school supplies for herself and her two younger brothers. When people sympathize with her situation, she simply explains that her work experience will only help her achieve her goal of becoming an investigative journalist.

"Ambition is what sustains you in life," 21-year-old Zakaria Merouane told Magharebia. "I know lots of young people who have plenty of family around them but don't have the experience you need to get by in life." After he gains a degree in business management next year, he plans to take out a young entrepreneur loan and start up his own business.

Summer jobs help young people to boost their confidence by making them feel useful, according to psychologist Selma Chennaoui. "This has positive effects, because they learn about themselves and overcome their fear of the job market and any preconceptions they may have. This makes them more able to thrive," she explained.

"I was shy and I didn't know the value of money. When I worked for just one month, my personality changed," Ahmed Bachiri, 20, said. When Bachiri was 15 years old, his father, who is an engineer, encouraged him to work for a month during the summer holidays. He said he did not understand his father's intentions at first, but is now immensely grateful.

"My friends don't understand. They think it's shameful for a student to work during the holidays. This culture has to change," he added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/19/feature-04.

Morocco sets legislative elections date

2012-01-28T17:10:00.002+02:00

The long-awaited announcement of the early vote date has generated vivid debates in Morocco.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 19/08/11

After weeks-long talks with political parties, Morocco has finalized early parliamentary elections date. Voters will head to polls on November 25th, Interior Minister Taieb Cherkaoui announced on Tuesday (August 16th).

Consultations with parties will continue to examine all aspects of the preparations for the elections, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The kingdom was kept in suspense for some time after the July 1st constitutional referendum, with rumors circulating about possible election dates.

The election date coincides with the arrival of winter weather, which can prove very harsh in rural areas, particularly in mountainous regions, Justice and Development Party Secretary-General Lahcen Daoudi pointed out. This could have a negative impact, he said, on voter turnout among rural citizens who usually turn out in large numbers.

Others feel that the much-anticipated announcement could solve the wait-and-see attitude among political parties. The Moroccan political scene has been marked by instability and vagueness, according to Mohamed Ansari, who chairs the Istiqlal Party group in the Chamber of Councillors.

"The announcement has breathed new life into political actors, who had been rather unsettled," he told Magharebia.

Parties, human rights groups and the civil society need to work to encourage citizens to vote, since reform can only take place after the elections, Ansari argued.

Abdellatif Oummou, of the Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS), stressed the need to build confidence. Following the results of the referendum, it is clear that the process of reconciliation between the Moroccan people and politics has started, he said, but it will take time to work through. Will this trend continue?

For some politicians, there is not much reason for optimism. The turnout in 2007 was low and will be even lower in the next vote in light of the February 20th Movement protests, predicted Unified Socialist Party (PSU) Secretary-General Mohamed Moujahid.

He called for a genuine dialogue about real problems to prevent political activities from being pushed to the margins of society.

Opinions are divided on the street. While some youths call on people to have faith in the government's desire for change, others are openly skeptical.

"We mustn’t rush things," said Oussama El Mouerd, a 25-year-old trader. "I hope a new elite will emerge out of the forthcoming elections who can respond to the expectations of young people in particular, whether political or social, and deal especially with the issues of unemployment and freedom."

Mehdi Chihabi, a 29-year-old trader who took part in all youth protests, struck a different chord. The elections will not bring the long-awaited answers to a number of questions, including the fight against corruption and deprivation, he said.

"You’re allowed to be hopeful, even if there isn’t much evidence to inspire confidence," he added.

Sociologist Ali Chaâbani argued that despite young people’s lack of trust, "hope is still there". "They have already expressed their aspirations through the February 20th Movement, preaching liberty, equality, improved living standards and the building of a better future," he told Magharebia. "Of course, the constitution has brought something new. But the changes they want cannot be made overnight."

Holding early elections is the first response to the young people's political aspirations, said political analyst Nadir El Moumni. A number of factors will be decisive, he warned, particularly the opportunities offered to them through electoral list quotas.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/19/feature-02.

UN-backed trust fund launched to protect African elephants

2012-01-28T17:09:00.002+02:00

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — A United Nations backed meeting on wildlife conservation and international trade has decided on the launching of a trust fund to ensure the long-term survival of the African elephant population, among other measures to protect various endangered species, the UN reported on Friday.

The 61st meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) concluded on Friday with important decisions to ensure the survival of a number of endangered species, including elephants, rhinoceros and snakes.

The meeting was attended by some 300 participants from all over the world, including observers from the CITES member countries, intergovernmental bodies, business community and non-governmental organizations specialized in wildlife conservation and international trade.

Several countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and France have already contributed to the multi-donor technical trust for the implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan, and more were encouraged to do so during the meeting.

“We expect that donors will hear the urgent needs of Africa and support the implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan,” said John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, whose secretariat is administered by the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

“The target is to raise $100 million over the next three years to enhance law enforcement capacity and secure the long-term survival of African elephant populations,” Scanlon added.

The committee based its conclusions considering alarming reports on elephant and rhino poaching in several parts of Asia and Africa, including illegal trade in rhino horns and elephant ivory.

Elephant conservation and new financial mechanisms were among several issues on the agenda of the CITES meeting, in addition to measures to reduce current levels of poaching of rhinos, tigers and other big cats, illegal trade in mahogany and other timber species, the fate of sturgeon and caviar trade, and the sourcing of reptile skins used in the leather industry.

CITES is an international agreement between governments which entered into force in July 1975 and aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants do not threaten their survival. So far, 175 States have joined the conservation agreement.

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19568/un-backed-trust-fund-launched-to-protect-african-elephants/.

Plan set to evacuate thousands of migrants in Tripoli

2012-01-28T17:08:00.002+02:00

TRIPOLI (BNO NEWS) — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday said it is working to evacuate thousands of migrants who are in need of help in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

The Organization has said that thousands of Egyptian migrants, living in Tripoli and in western Libya, have now registered with their Embassy and are ready for evacuation.

In addition, a large number of other foreign nationals are still present in the Libyan capital and they have requested to leave as their situation becomes increasingly vulnerable. The exact number of the total migrant population in the capital area is unknown.

The IOM has already assisted thousands of migrants elsewhere in Libya but the evacuation from Tripoli poses major obstacles.

Earlier, the Organization evacuated more than 10,000 migrants by road from Tripoli to the Tunisian border point at Ras Adjir. However, that evacuation route had to be abandoned due to increased fighting between rebel and government forces.

As the Organization prepares its Tripoli evacuation plan, taking into account the logistical, political and security challenges, it will soon be in need of significant new funds to carry out the operation.

“A rapid response on this is critical to ensuring that in the small window of opportunity we have to get people out of Tripoli, we are not constrained by funding issues,” said Pasquale Lupoli, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

On Friday, an IOM-chartered ship left the eastern Libyan town of Benghazi for Misrata on the 15th mission to evacuate migrants, mainly from northern Africa.

More than 8,300 migrants and wounded civilians have so far been assisted by IOM on its Misrata operations with funding from the European Commission’s Humanitarian and Civil Aid department (ECHO) and the Australian, British, German, Irish, Japanese and U.S. governments.

Libya has been engulfed in fighting since a pro-democracy movement opposed to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi emerged in February following similar protests in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries across North Africa and the Middle East.

United Nations officials have repeatedly stated that a ceasefire tied to transitional arrangements which address the aspirations of the Libyan people is the only sustainable political solution to the crisis. However, the parties remain divided on how to reach a political solution to the conflict, which has caused an estimated 630,000 people to flee Libya since February and displaced another 200,000 within the country.

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19572/plan-set-to-evacuate-thousands-of-migrants-in-tripoli/.

Famine worries linger in Horn of Africa

2012-01-28T17:07:00.002+02:00

NEW YORK, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- With more than 3 million people on the verge of starvation in Somalia, the United Nations said more help is needed to stem the humanitarian crisis.

A drought plaguing much of the Horn of Africa is creating widespread famine. U.N. humanitarian officials said 3.2 million people in Somalia are at risk of starvation while another 12.4 million in the region are facing a humanitarian emergency brought on by the drought.

Valerie Amos, U.N. under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said following a visit to the region that aid groups on the ground were making progress.

"But we're faced with a still spreading famine in Somalia and with such a scale of suffering that every effort needs to be made and sustained in the months ahead," she said.

Around 500,000 people in the region were getting clean water and vaccinations campaigns were under way, however, the famine in Somalia has killed tens of thousands of people and the crisis is spreading.

"We need to get more food and nutritional supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene equipment and medical care to those who are in desperate need," Amos said.

The regional drought is expected to last for the rest of the year.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/18/Famine-worries-linger-in-Horn-of-Africa/UPI-72651313670447/.

Group calls for mass Egyptian protests

2012-01-28T15:09:00.002+02:00

CAIRO, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A pro-revolution group in Egypt called for mass protests Sept. 9 to express frustration with the lack of political reform in the country.

A group calling itself the Second Anger Revolution Youth, in a statement posted on the group's listing on Facebook, accused the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of "hindering the revolution," Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.

Criticism against the ruling military council is mounting as frustration grows over the slow pace of reform in post-revolution Egypt. Some of the elections promised by the military council were postponed to 2012 while trials for former regime officials, including deposed President Hosni Mubarak, are barely under way.

The revolutionary group said it was frustrated that the military council was still holding civilians on trial. They claim this violates pledges "that military trials are only for thugs and not for the revolutionary youth."

Thousands of protesters flocked to Cairo's central square earlier this year, forcing regime change through peaceful means. Mubarak and members of his inner circle are charged with murder in connection to the deaths of unarmed protesters.

The revolution group said the time for military rule in Egypt has ended.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/19/Group-calls-for-mass-Egyptian-protests/UPI-33031313764832/.

Algeria sends aid to Horn of Africa

2012-01-28T15:08:00.003+02:00

2011-08-18

Algeria on Wednesday (August 17th) dispatched its first planeload of emergency humanitarian aid to Horn of Africa countries hit by famine, APS reported. The flight from Blida carried 54 tonnes of food, drugs and tents and medication to Somalia.

In what the foreign ministry called an "expression of solidarity", Algeria has pledged $10 million in assistance to drought victims in Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Eritrea.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/18/newsbrief-06.

US army to develop next-generation combat vehicle

2012-01-28T15:08:00.000+02:00

Washington (AFP)
Aug 18, 2011

The US Army said Thursday it had awarded nearly $900 million in contracts to British arms manufacturer BAE Systems and US firm General Dynamics to develop its next-generation ground combat vehicle.

The Pentagon said it had given $450 million to BAE and $440 million to General Dynamics to develop "competitive, affordable and executable designs for a new Army Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV)" over the next two years.

The vehicle, which is expected to be able to transport nine infantrymen, is due to be operational by 2018, replacing the aging Bradleys and Strykers, it said in a statement.

The Pentagon, whose budget has doubled since the September 11, 2001 attacks, is bracing for drastic cuts in the coming years as the United States attempts to rein in the spiraling deficit.

The launch of the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program before the severity of the cuts is known allows the Army to ensure it will not die on the chopping block.

"Given the economic environment the nation currently faces, the Army recognizes that it is imperative to continually address requirements as we build a versatile, yet affordable, next-generation infantry fighting vehicle," Secretary of the Army John McHugh said, according to the statement.

"This is an important milestone in our Army's modernization program," said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey.

"GCV is the first combat vehicle designed from inception for an IED (improvised explosive device) environment. It will provide armor protection and the capability to maneuver cross-country with the nine-man infantry squad."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_army_to_develop_next-generation_combat_vehicle_999.html.

'Bullet-Proof Skin', Made With Spider Silk And Goat's Milk, Created By Scientists

2012-01-28T15:07:00.002+02:00

8/18/11
Amanda Chan

Imagine having a gun fired at you, the bullet whizzing toward you at a super-fast speed. But instead of the bullet piercing your skin and traveling deep inside your body, what if it instead repelled off your skin?

What sounds like a scenario straight out of a superhero movie or a sci-fi novel could eventually become reality. Scientists have created a skin made with goat's milk packed with spider-silk proteins, according to news reports. Their hope is that they can eventually replace the keratin in human skin -- which makes it tough -- with the spider-silk proteins.

To make the bullet-proof material, Dutch scientists first engineered goats to produce milk that contains proteins from extra-strong spider silk. Then, using the milk from the goats, they spun a bullet-proof material; a layer of real human skin is then grown around that skin, a process that takes five weeks, the Daily Mail reported.

"Science-fiction? Maybe, but we can get a feeling of what this transhumanistic idea would be like by letting a bulletproof matrix of spidersilk merge with an in vitro human skin," researcher Jalila Essaidi told the Daily Mail.

Does it work? Well, the skin is only able to stop bullets fired at reduced speeds, TechNewsDaily reported. It was not able to stop a bullet from a .22 caliber rifle shot at a normal speed, which is the required standard for today's bulletproof vests.

The skin is currently on display at the National Natural History Museum Naturalis in Leiden, Netherlands, until Jan. 8, 2012, TechNewsDaily reported.

More research must be done before this bullet-proof "super skin" can actually be possible to engineer into humans.

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/18/bullet-proof-skin-spider-silk_n_930389.html.

Former Ivorian President Gbagbo charged with economic crimes

2012-01-28T15:06:00.000+02:00

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (BNO NEWS) — Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and his wife Simone Gbagbo have been charged with economic crimes including looting, armed robbery and embezzlement, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Gbagbo and his wife have been under house arrest in separate locations in the north of the country since they were arrested in April. Public prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi said Simone Gbagbo was charged on Tuesday and taken into custody, while her husband was charged on Thursday.

According to the BBC correspondent in Abidjan, John James, the charges against the former president relate to the post-election period when Gbagbo used state funds, including hundreds of millions of dollars from the central bank, in his attempt to stay in power.

The BBC correspondent also said that by charging the couple only with economic crimes, the prosecutor is leaving the way open for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to start an investigation into the post-election violence.

The Ivorian government has requested the ICC’s involvement, saying it is not competent to judge the more serious allegations of violent crimes.

All key figures arrested along with Gbagbo in April had already been charged, except for the former president himself and his wife Simone. Human rights groups had criticized the Ivorian government for holding the pair for four months without charge.

An armed rebellion in 2002 split the country into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. The UN certified election won by Alassane Ouattara in 2010 reunited the country again.

However, before Ouattara could be sworn in as legitimate president, violent tensions shook the country for five months as former president Gbagbo refused to step down. The fighting killed as many as 3,000 people and left up to 1 million Ivoirians displaced.

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19543/former-ivorian-president-gbagbo-charged-with-economic-crimes/.

Police clashes with anti-Pope protesters in Madrid

2012-01-28T15:05:00.002+02:00

MADRID (BNO NEWS) — More than 150 people protesting against the financial cost of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Spanish capital of Madrid were again removed by police on Thursday night, police said on Friday morning.

Thursday’s protest followed a similar protest on Wednesday evening when eight people were arrested and eleven were injured after police attempted to break up the demonstration.

Police said they initially did not plan to break up the protest but decided to do so to avoid a violent encounter between protesters and Catholic pilgrims. Opponents are protesting against the financial cost of the pontiff’s stay amid one of Spain’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the Spanish capital on Thursday for a four-day visit to celebrate World Youth Day. At least a million pilgrims from across the world have come for the Catholic youth festival which started on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Spanish police arrested a Mexican chemistry student for allegedly plotting to gas the anti-Pope rallies. A Spanish Judge has since released him under probation.

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19548/police-clashes-with-anti-pope-protesters-in-madrid/.

Why Africa is leaving Europe behind

2012-01-28T15:04:00.003+02:00

August 18, 2011

By William Wallis

Africans are relishing something of a reversal in roles. The former colonial powers in Europe are wrestling with debt crises, austerity budgets, rising unemployment and social turmoil. By contrast much of sub-Saharan Africa can point to robust growth, better balanced books and rising capital inflows. There is an opportunity in this novel scenario: for Africa to assert itself on the global stage, and for European countries to take advantage of their historic footprint in Africa by stimulating commercial expansion to their south. But it is far from clear either side will grasp it.

The problems faced by western governments are all too familiar to African countries. They too found their public services hollowed out in the 1980s and 1990s under the strict conditions of World Bank and International Monetary Fund bail-outs. In the worst instances, state authority was fatally weakened as discontent boiled over on the streets.

Today, by contrast they can point to improved economic figures, a reviving middle class and arguably, in places, more effective social control. Even Lagos – much rougher, larger, poorer and unequal than London – has never witnessed looting on the scale that took place in the former capital of empire last week, although inhabitants of the Nigerian mega-city have certainly competed when it comes to arson.

Africa has been enjoying this reversal of roles. As rioting spread from London to other cities, South Africa’s foreign ministry took the unusual step of issuing a travel advisory warning its citizens against visiting the UK. There was also retaliation for past jibes about their country’s capacity to organize the 2010 football World Cup, by questioning whether London can be trusted to host a safe Olympics.

The response from Westminster’s politicians also failed to serve as much of a model. As one veteran Nigerian diplomat wryly put it to me, Prime Minister David Cameron seemed to echo Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi – who blames “terrorists” for the insurgency on his doorstep – when he blamed the worst violence on the UK mainland in generations simplistically to “criminals.”

If British society is sick, and the European project is flailing, there are of course patients in Africa in far worse shape. It only took the improbable appearance this week of Andrew Mitchell, Britain’s development secretary, in Mogadishu – a city no UK minister has visited since 1992 – to serve a reminder.

Mr Mitchell’s visit would have been bolder if it had taken place last year, when the seeds of the current famine were already sown and the absence of a functioning state was blighting the region with piracy and Islamist extremism. But it did serve as a contrast to the abnegation of responsibility in the crisis in the Horn of Africa by regional leaders.

It is Western governments and charities, along with the UN, that have stepped into the African breach, providing the finances and expertise to manage a crisis has already claimed thousands of lives and may have repercussions in the region for years to come. For all Africa’s failures, however, the west must not draw the wrong conclusions. It is tempting to see only a familiar picture of African weakness. But in some ways the famine is a chapter that ill befits the times.

In the decade and more since China began sketching out the terms of its new engagement with Africa, the continent has undergone a transformational shift in its relations with the outside world. A stage once dominated by cautious western donors and jaded former colonial powers now hosts Brazilians, Indians, Russians, Turks and others queuing up to seize the opportunities of African resources and markets. The relative decline of western influence and commercial dominance forms part of the same narrative.

The contours of this new order are still being defined. Yet neither European nor African governments appear to have seized the opportunity presented: for African governments to stake out a more independent role and greater say in world affairs, and for Europeans to unshackle themselves from the unhealthy paternalism of the past and compete on more equitable terms for the business opportunities provided by rapid economic expansion to their south.

Mr Cameron appeared to have at least half understood this on his recent trip to South Africa and Nigeria. He dropped the habitually hectoring tone in favor of an upbeat assessment of Africa’s trading potential. But in comparison with the relentless pursuit of African attentions by Chinese and other emerging power officials, his visit was a barely perceptible blip in between domestic crises.

Many of his western peers still appear unaware of how grating it is for Africans to be lectured on poverty reduction, corruption and financial probity in the light of recent governance failures on their own turf. Africans can, after all, legitimately ask what if not a failure of governance caused the global financial crisis in 2008, among the many other problems that best western governments.

Europe has surrendered moral high ground as well as commercial dominance in Africa. But it is not too late to reverse that. On the former, at least, Europeans and Americans have remained by far the biggest donors during the famine, where African and emerging nation voices have been absent. On the latter, Africa’s economic recovery has only just begun.

Source: Financial Times.
Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3de29606-c834-11e0-9852-00144feabdc0.html.

Protests in Madrid ahead of papal visit

2012-01-28T15:04:00.000+02:00

August 18, 2011

By Victor Mallet and Pascale Davies in Madrid

Seven people were arrested and 11 injured in overnight clashes between Spanish police and thousands of demonstrators protesting in Madrid against the visit on Thursday of Pope Benedict XVI, according to police and emergency services.

An estimated 20,000 protesters demanding a fully secular Spanish state and an end to privileges for the Roman Catholic church marched into Sol, the square in the center of the capital. There they confronted thousands of young pilgrims who have come to Spain to see the Pope and celebrate World Youth Day, held every three years in a different city.

The stand-off between the two sides – despite faint echoes of the hatred between Francoist Catholics and anti-religious republicans during the 1936-39 Spanish civil war - were mostly peaceful and verbal. Police later broke up the anti-Pope demonstration and made the arrests.

“Abortion yes, pederasty no!” was a favorite cry of the anti-papal marchers, recalling the church’s opposition to abortion and several scandals in which priests have molested children in their charge.

They also chanted, “Less religion, more education!” and “Not with my taxes!”, a reference to complaints that the pope’s visit will cost Spain money, despite denials form the organizers, and to the fact that citizens can opt on their income tax forms to give 0.7 per cent of the tax to the church.

Groups of pilgrims, waving national flags from around the world, responded with cries of “More religion and more education!” and in some cases by praying on the pavement. One elderly Spanish man on the anti-Pope march, seeing a prayer group, shouted: “Not for me! I don’t believe in anything.”

The Catholic church expects more than 1m people, many from as far afield as the Philippines and Brazil, to welcome the Pope during his visit to Spain.

Among Spaniards, 71.7 per cent describe themselves as Catholics, about 10 percentage points lower than a decade ago, according to a survey published this month by the Sociological Research Center. Of these, some 13 per cent go to mass on most Sundays of the year, down from 19 per cent.

The proportion of atheists and non-believers has risen to 24.3 per cent of Spaniards from 14.6 per cent in 2001.

But the anti-papal demonstrators hold a wide range of views. Some are atheists, some are liberal Catholics who support a secular state, and many are drawn from the ranks of the “indignados” (the indignant ones) who staged the anti-establishment protests across Spain that began in May.

Source: Financial Times.
Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a2f7c152-c97d-11e0-9eb8-00144feabdc0.html.

U.S., Egypt scrap joint military drills

2012-01-28T15:03:00.002+02:00

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The United States and Egypt agreed to scrap military exercises planned for the region because of the political events in Egypt, the U.S. State Department said.

The U.S. Central Command takes part in the biennial, multilateral military Exercise Bright Star. The drills involve forces from the United States, Egypt and European and Arab allies.

The State Department announced that both sides decided to scrap the 2011 drills and focus on planning for 2013 joint military exercises.

"The Egyptian government and the United States mutually agreed to postpone the 2011 exercise in light of ongoing transition events," the State Department said.

Egyptian military leaders who have been leading the country after the revolution are facing public criticism they're moving too slowly on political reforms.

Ousted President Hosni Mubarak, meanwhile, is on trial, along with his sons and former interior minister, for the deaths of unarmed demonstrators during the country's revolution.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that anti-American sentiment in post-revolution Egypt was at a high. The report points to a cover of a July edition of a state-run news magazine depicting U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson lighting dynamite with a burning wad of U.S. dollar bills. The title of the edition reads in Arabic "Ambassador From Hell Is Setting Tahrir on Fire."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/18/US-Egypt-scrap-joint-military-drills/UPI-29471313684191/.

AP Interview: Filipino rebel forms splinter group

2012-01-28T15:02:00.002+02:00

August 19, 2011 — MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A radical guerrilla commander said he has split from the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group and formed his own with hundreds of fighters to wage a war for a separate homeland.

Ameril Umbra Kato told The Associated Press in a cellphone interview Thursday from his jungle hide-out in southern Maguindanao province that he would not return to the mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has opened peace talks with the government and threatened to expel him after he led a mutiny in December.

Kato denied allegations by Philippine security officials that he has links with al-Qaida-affiliated militants in the country's volatile south and was involved in deadly bombings and terrorist attacks.

He said his new group would be known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Front. Its guerrilla wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, was organized in January, a month after he broke off from the main Muslim guerrilla force over differences with insurgent leaders.

"This is the true jihad, the true revolution," Kato said. Kato, who has about 200 to 300 fighters according to his former comrades, did not give details about his combat force or say what steps he would take next.

Kato, who is in his late 60s, said he left because his former group chose to "waste time" by deciding to negotiate with the government for expanded autonomy instead of waging a battle for an independent Muslim homeland that would liberate minority Muslims from crushing poverty and neglect.

"We've been going around and around wasting money and look where the peace talks have brought us," Kato said. "The roots of the conflict have not been solved." Rebel spokesman Von Al Haq from the main Moro group expressed relief that Kato finally has clearly indicated he wants to lead his own organization but warned "he will be accountable for his actions, which will no longer have any bearing on the MILF."

"It's a process of elimination," Al Haq said. "At the end of the day, all those who couldn't hold firm on our basic principles fall on the wayside." The infighting within the main 11,000-strong rebel force underscores the complexity of the Muslim unrest that has claimed more than 120,000 lives and stunted growth in the impoverished but resource-rich south of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.

The main guerrilla force currently led by Murad Ebrahim split in 1978 from the Moro National Liberation Front, which dropped its secessionist bid for autonomy and signed a landmark peace accord with Manila in 1996. Murad's group dropped its bid for independence last year but demanded a more powerful type of autonomy with greater control over wider territory.

Murad's group said Kato, who used to head one of its largest and most battle-tested commands, resigned in December, citing his age and poor health. But Kato then formed a breakaway group and accused Murad's group of betraying the Muslim cause by seeking autonomy instead of independence.

"They did that without consulting the Muslims. They cheated," Kato said. Philippine officials have expressed concern over the infighting, which they say casts doubts about the main rebel group's ability to enforce any future accord in peace talks brokered by Malaysia.

Security officials have accused Kato in the past of providing refuge to members of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah, the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group and Filipino militants. They include Usman Basit, who has been sought by U.S. and Philippine authorities in connection with deadly bomb attacks.

Kato said he and his men lead honorable lives and were ready to die for their convictions if they come under attack. He condemned groups like the Abu Sayyaf, which he described as bandits "who exist for money and engage in forbidden business."

"They have stained my names with all these allegations of bombing malls and bus terminals," Kato said. "These are all big sins and un-Islamic. I have no contact with al-Qaida." "Who are the real terrorists?" he asked. "They are government troops who drop bombs anywhere even if there are civilians."

Abbas hoists Palestinian flag in Beirut

2012-01-24T17:34:00.002+02:00

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hoisted the Palestinian flag atop the new Palestinian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, officials said.

"In these days it delights us as Palestinians to see the Palestinian flag flying in the heart of Lebanon, in the heart of the Lebanese people, and in the heart of every Lebanese who loves Palestine," the Lebanese Web site Naharnet.com quoted Abbas saying at Wednesday's ceremony.

The inauguration of the embassy came after the Lebanese cabinet officially recognized the state of Palestine and raised the level of diplomatic ties, the Web site said.

Abbas, accompanied by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati unveiled a plaque at the entrance to the building.

"We will go with Lebanon to the United Nations to seek a full membership for the state of Palestine at this international forum," Abbas said adding he hoped "to see the day when the Lebanese flag will be hoisted in Jerusalem."

"The Lebanese government will exert utmost efforts within its available resources to improve the living conditions of our Palestinian brothers residing in Lebanon," Miqati said.

Abbas, on a two-day visit to Beirut to garner Lebanon's support ahead of the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations in September, said so far, 122 of the 193 member countries support the Palestinians.

Lebanon takes over temporary presidency of the U.N. Security Council in September.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/08/18/Abbas-hoists-Palestinian-flag-in-Beirut/UPI-25591313671963/.

Dagestan: Martyrdom of Emir Daud confirmed

2012-01-24T17:33:00.003+02:00

15 August 2011

The news about the martyrdom of Emir Daud, one of the most experienced commanders of the Mujahideen of the Caucasus, has been confirmed, reports Dagestani news website Guraba.

Since the first war, his dream was to fight hand in hand with his brothers against the Russian invaders and to become a martyr in Allah's path. Since 1999, he was doing Jihad for Allah, and was close to many of Emirs of the Mujahideen of the Caucasus.

In his long struggle, Daud received numerous injuries, but he never left the land of Jihad. Every time he was treated, rose again and continued his Jihad. Daud was hard against the enemies of Islam and gentle with his brothers.

Infidels and apostates greatly feared him since because of him, they repeatedly suffered heavy losses, especially in the battles in the plains of Dagestan and Ichkeria and therefore they made attempts on him on several occasions. But by the will of Allah, Daud survived each time, rose to his feet and continued to fight. Insha'Allah, Allah strengthens the Islamic Ummah by such personalities, in these difficult times.

In order to kill Daud, the infidels and their apostates henchmen created a special "commission", and detained and tortured many brothers and sisters whom they suspected could be associated with him.

By the will of Allah, the infidels were able to assassinate Mujahideen, and Allah in His mercy, has granted Martyrdom (Insha'Allah) to 6 Mujahideen, among whom there is Emir Daud. What the believer feels when someone from the people he knew or heard about, departs by the death of Allah's soldiers?

Yes, there is the bitterness of loss. But is this accompanied by sadness? [No] It's tears of joy for the brethren. They, Insha'Allah, have achieved everything that could be taken from this life. And this worldly life they squeezed with fist, as if they rejected and despised it. [...] They purified their hearts of all that can possibly detract them from attaining the eternal life. And Allah the Almighty fulfilled his promise to anyone who is ready to sell his worldly life for eternal life.

Between us, the veil of worldly life - they easily got rid of it, while we have not yet. They went to settle in the hearts of paradise birds. And while we can not break free from the fetter of this dunya, their souls are probably already flying under the throne of Allah.

The brothers, who only yesterday trampled down this worldly life in forest puddles and in cold tents, stepped into eternity, and disappeared from us. Gaping wreckage of homes, where they fought their last battle against the infidels, they are no longer in this worldly life cursed by Allah. But the curse of Allah will not touch the remembrance and glorification of Him, and that is precisely what the brothers took with them.

Brothers depart and hearts brim with unavoidable sorrow. And tears run of happiness for them and of pure envy for their lot.

May Allah accept their Martyrdom and welcome them into the Gardens of Jannah!

"That was not a difficult loss for us, this entire Jihad, this entire struggle, continues only because Allah strengthens and sustains us, no more and no less... Even if we become Martyrs, Allah will bring better people, better people than we are, to liberate these lands from disbelief so that the law of Allah will triumph in this territory."
(Sayeed Abu Saad on the Martyrdom of the Emir of Province of Ghalghaycho, Abd al-Aziz)

In the end, we want to say to the enemies that since the beginning of Jihad in the Caucasus, the Mujahideen lost great sons... And the infidels screamed every time that the Mujahideen were 'finished'.

On television, they slander the Mujahideen, trying in every way to weaken the morale of the Mujahideen and the people. But during all this time they have failed Alhamdulillah! Yes, there are losses in Jihad and every time we grieve over the loss of Mujahideen but this Jihad is not for any Emirs and commanders, this Jihad is for the sake of the Word of Allah.

Insha'Allah, Allah will give the Jihad in the Caucasus new Mujahideen, similar to the heroic Emir Daud, who will rush to the aid of their brothers. Living heroes never die. Their names are inscribed in blood, into the history of the revival of Jihad in the Caucasus Emirate.

Abu Sayfullah

***

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/08/15/14974.shtml.

Thousands Fast in India to Fight Corruption

2012-01-24T17:33:00.000+02:00

By Shannon Liao
August 17, 2011

Government accuses movement of being undemocratic.

Thousands of protesters in major Indian cities began a fast on Wednesday evening, not sated by the Indian prime minister’s explanation of why leading anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare had been arrested the day before.

Hazare, 74, and six of his followers had been arrested on Tuesday, on the basis that their plan to maintain a hunger strike until a key piece of anti-corruption legislation passed Parliament was illegal. They were released on Wednesday after the government reached a compromise with Hazare.

The original plan of “fast unto death” was deemed illegal by the police because Hazare’s team had refused six preconditions, including one that limited the fast to three days, explained Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a speech to Parliament.

“Delhi Police came to the conclusion that Shri Anna Hazare and his supporters would commit a cognizable offense and there [could be] a breach of peace,” said the prime minister.

In a negotiated concession, the new fast started Wednesday night and will last 15 days.

The drastic protest is over the so-called Jan Lokpal Bill that is designed to stop corruption, arbitrate grievances, and protect whistle-blowers. Different versions of the bill have appeared before Parliament since 1968, but none have passed. Corruption is rife in India in all levels of government and society.

Anti-corruption watchdog organization Transparency International (TI) said that the Indian government has not been able to stop rising corruption and is instead trying to silence those who speak out against the problem, according to a statement by TI India’s Executive Director Anupama Jha.

While Hazare has proven himself a charismatic leader, the protest is not for his personality, said Partha Turaga, a representative in New Jersey of the India Against Corruption movement that is organizing the protests.

“It’s not just out of emotion. We trust him emotionally, but we also read all the drafts. We’ve seen and understood what this is all about,” said Turaga.

In his speech, Singh blamed Hazare for not approaching things in a democratic manner. “There will be opportunities for Shri Anna Hazare and others to present their views,” said the prime minister, adding that Hazare’s current path “is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our Parliamentary democracy.”

Singh acknowledged the issue of government corruption, and both the government and the protesters share a desire to see the bill passed quickly.

But they differ on the content of the bill. The version of the bill supported by protesters was drafted with input from civil society and has stronger punitive measures. The government amended that draft into another version.

One of key differences between the two is the independence of the judiciary body. In the protesters’ bill, a new anti-corruption body, called Lokpal, would monitor the judiciary. In the government’s version, the judiciary would be accountable under the Judicial Accountability Bill.

Turaga said that the protesters didn’t concern themselves with whether success was in sight but focused on whether they could make even the slightest impact.

“You’ve got to try your best; you’ve got to do the best you can, and that applies to all of us,” Turaga added.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/thousands-fast-in-india-to-fight-corruption-60503.html.

Railway strike halts train transportation in Egypt's Delta

2012-01-24T17:32:00.000+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

Railway workers block the railroads, halting train movement in Cairo, Ismailiya, Assiut, Sohag and Aswan to demand for better bonuses.

A strike by train employees has brought all train movement in Egypt's delta region to a grinding halt since early this morning.

According to the head of the National Railways Authority, Hany Hegab, employees of the Cairo, Alexandria, Zaqaziq and Tanta stations have been sitting on the train tracks, blocking all movement since 10 am Wednesday.

The employees demand better incentives and, according to Hegab, the authority is now in negotiations with the workers to end the strike.

Tuesday railway workers in the governorate of Tanta also held a two-hour protest on the train tracks, demanding better incentives. The protest was dispersed after the railway authority agreed to consider their demands.

Strikes by railway workers are not new to Egypt, with various strikes and protests being held by train conductors and maintenance crews in recent months.

On 23 July train conductors stood on the rail tracks in the Ramses Station in central Cairo after one of their colleagues died when his train crashed into a truck. The drivers also called for an increase in their bonuses.

On 15 June railway employees blocked the tracks in Cairo, Ismailiya, Assiut, Sohag and Aswan because they were not happy with their bonuses.

It’s not always railway employees who block the trains, with protesters in the town of Bani Kora in Assiut, blocking the tracks last April over a spat concerning the delivery of subsidized bread to the town. Also last April, protesters in Qena blocked the governorate’s railway crossing after Prime Minister Essam Sharaf appointed a governor they didn't approve of.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19105.aspx.

Tribes in South Sinai cut road after two members killed

2012-01-24T17:31:00.002+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

Two young men were shot dead by a security official after failing to stop their car when asked.

South Sinai tribes have cut the road between Cairo and the city of Abu Dreis in South Sinai because two members of the El Sawalha tribe died, after being shot with live ammunition as they headed home.

Moussa Hussein Saleh Abu Gaber, 18 and Salem Saleh Hussein, 22, members of the tribe in Abu Dreis, were heading home in their private car when a security official shot them.

The official had signaled to them to stop the car, but when they did not respond, he fired shots at them, leading to their immediate death.

Only minutes after the shooting, families from the El Sawalha tribe, and others in South Sinai headed to the site of the incident, and cut the road between Abu Dreis and Cairo.

This led to heavy traffic congestion, as cars attempting to leave and enter South Sinai were unable to move.

The families threaten that they will not unblock the roads until the security official that murdered Abu Gaber and Hussein is brought to justice.

The families stress that the two murdered young men were not criminals, were not suspected of any crime and did not have any illegal items in the car.

The families argue that that the two young men probably did not stop the car because they did not hear the calls of the security official asking them to halt.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19073.aspx.

Egypt Military council cancels poll for presidential candidates after reported rigging

2012-01-24T17:30:00.002+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

The SCAF Facebook poll, running since 19 June, has been removed due to rumors surrounding its legitimacy.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has removed the online poll for presidential candidates, being conducted on its Facebook page, in the wake of reports claiming that it had been rigged by anonymous people.

Mohamed ElBaradei, former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), topped the list for a while by quite a margin.

Recently, however, Omar Suleiman, the ex-intelligence chief who served as vice president in the last days of Mubarak’s regime, took the lead even though he was only fifth on the list nearly two months ago.

According to El-Masry El-Youm, electronic militias paid a host of Facebook users to vote for Suleiman, who had previously announced that he would not run for presidency.

The poll was launched on 19 June and included 15 presidential hopefuls. Among them were: Mohamed Selim El-Awa, Ahmed Shafiq, Kamal El-Ganzouri, Hamdeen Sabahi and Hesham El-Bastawisi.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19109.aspx.

Egypt's Islamic and liberal powers agree on general principles for the constitution

2012-01-24T17:29:00.002+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

The statement, containing five principles, is considered by many to end the debate about the upcoming constitution.

Representatives of liberal and Islamist parties reached an agreement on a statement of general principles for the upcoming constitution, after a meeting on Tuesday night at the Al-Wasat Party.

Abul Ela Mady, chairman of the Al-Wasat Party, told Ahram Online on Wednesday that the different parties' representatives have primarily agreed on the proposed statement and that they still need time to discuss it with their parties. Mady added that there would be another meeting early next month.

The statement contains five principles, all of which are related to the identity of the country and citizenship rights and liberties.

According to Mady, all who signed the agreement see the principles as obligatory. Mady claims that the statement was made to calm those who are concerned with the leadership of the upcoming parliament, and the provisional committee who will implement the constitution. The statement according to Mady is consistent with the results of the referendum.

The parties and groups that participated in the meeting were: the April 6 Youth Movement, El-Asala Salafist Party, the Civilization Party, Al-Jamaat Al-Islamiya and the Salafist Front.

Al-Wasat Party hopes to attract more political parties to sign the statement.

Egypt’s Minister of Health, Amr Helmy, attended the meeting as well.

The meeting, organized by Al-Wasat Party is considered by other political parties and institutions such as Al-Azhar, to end the debate about the upcoming constitution.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19107.aspx.

Gaza students prevented from leaving for studies abroad

2012-01-24T17:28:00.000+02:00

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aug 18, 2011

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian human rights group is condemning Gaza’s Hamas rulers for preventing teenage students with scholarships to study in the US from leaving the territory.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a statement Wednesday that Hamas is refusing to allow eight students leave Gaza. It said the students were granted AMIDEAST scholarships, a program that educates talented teenagers from the Middle East and North Africa for a year in the US

The ban comes a day after rights groups criticized orders by Hamas forcing aid workers and employees of nongovernment organizations to register with them before they travel.

Hamas also recently began auditing aid group accounts.

Hamas overran Gaza from the secular Palestinian Fatah party in bloody street battles in 2007.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article490043.ece.

Eastern Mediterranean olive oil producers seek markets in Far East

2012-01-24T17:27:00.002+02:00

August 17, 2011

There’s a revolution taking place in the eastern Mediterranean and it’s all about oil… olive oil.

A decade after planting tens of millions of trees, Turkey expects next year to become the world’s second largest producer of olive oil, surpassing Italy, Greece, Tunisia and Syria, and cater to the growing market in the Far East.

“We have increased the number of trees in past 10 years from 90 million to about double that and so we are expecting an increase in production and in the very near future to be the number one producer of table olives and number two producer of olive oil in the world,” Metin Olken, deputy chairman of the Turkish Olive and Olive Oil Publicity Committee, told The Media Line.

According to Olken, Turkey produced 160,000 tons of olive oil in 2010 and expects a crop of 200,000 tons this year. Within two years it expects to surpass the half-million mark and by 2015, 700,000 tons. While becoming the prince of olive production, Turkey still falls well behind the king – Spain -- which makes 1.2 million tons, or over half of the world’s olive oil.

“We will take over from Greece, Italy, Tunisia and Syria,” Olken said.

According to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), Italy produced 480,000 tons, Greece 336,000, Syria 193,000 and Tunisia 120,000 last year. About 95 percent of the world’s olive trees are in the Mediterranean region. Olive oil is so well liked here that according to the UNCTAD, Mediterranean basin countries also account for 77 percent of the world’s consumption.

Italy and Spain have long ago branded themselves as supreme olive oil producers and have virtually cornered the market in North America and Europe. Olken told The Media Line that Italy and Spain supplement their brand by repackaging oil from Turkey, Greece and Tunisia.

Olive oil consumption has dramatically risen over the past decade – largely due to the popularity of the “Mediterranean diet.” World olive oil consumption will reach 2.98 million tons, with a 3.65 percent increase from 2009. New markets have also opened up as the world became aware of the health benefits of the one of nature’s oldest commodities.

Turkey made the strategic move into higher olive oil production during the height of negotiations to enter the European Union as a way to gain European Union agriculture subsidies. Those talks have floundered, but the trees have matured, needing at least seven years to begin producing marketable quantities of fruit. Olken said the government helped boost production of olives by offering financial incentives and subsidies to help cover the cost of planting and cultivation in initial years. Hundreds of thousands of people earn their livelihood from the olive oil industry.

EU members such as Spain, Italy and Greece have a virtual monopoly in the lucrative European market since they not only subsidize their farmers, but also impose heavy duties on imports.

“In the United States or Canada we would have to try and take a share from the Italians and Spanish, but if we go to China and India, these countries are only now starting to know what olive oil is and we don’t have strong competition from the Italians or Spanish yet,” Olken said.

This is one of the main reasons that Jordan, the world’s eighth largest olive oil producer, has decided to reach out to the Far East as well. They are pushing for quality branding over quantity.

“There is no way we can compete with the Italian and Spanish oils. Even the Turks have huge tracts of land and much water. The olive oil production in Jordan is very expensive due to the high cost of water. But our oil is very good,” Ruba Dagmish, the director of the Jordan Olive Products Exporters Association (JOPEA), told The Media Line.

Dagmish said they saw opportunities in Japan because they are willing to pay higher prices for quality olive oil and Indonesia because as a Muslim country they are able to get Hallal certification (religious approval of foods deemed “fit” by Islamic law).

Jordan produced some 24,000 tons of olive oil last year. Only about 30 percent of its olive oil is exported, with the bulk kept for local consumption. Despite the lack of water, olive trees cover around 75 percent of agricultural land in the kingdom.

“We are packaging it in fancy bottles and going for branding Jordanian oil as high quality extra virgin oil. We also export to the Gulf countries,” Dagmish said. “|But it is hard to compete in the Arab countries because they are bringing in cheaper Italian and Spanish oils.”

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90057399.

Palestinian factions reconsider relations with Assad

2012-01-24T17:26:00.000+02:00

By DAVID E. MILLER / THE MEDIA LINE
08/18/2011

Leadership must decide loyalties as Syrian attacks on refugees lead to turning point in once circumspect policy.

A fierce attack by the Syrians on a Palestinian refugee camp has led Palestinian factions, both Islamist and staunchly secular, to relook at their traditionally close ties with Damascus.

Headquartered in the Syrian capital as the Bashar Assad regime falters, Palestinians were cautious not to badmouth the Syrian president personally as they condemned Sunday’s naval bombardment of the Raml Palestinian refugee camp.

Navy gunships struck at the camp located in the port city of Latakia, killing an unknown number of residents and sparking 10,000 refugees to flee. Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo condemned the attack as "a crime against humanity," while the United Nation's Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) demanded access to the camp, to survey the scope of damage.

Before the attack on Raml, the Palestinian leadership had been circumspect in speaking out against Assad's regime, which has fiercely oppressed a domestic mass protest movement since March. But the most recent surge of violence, directed for the first time against the country's Palestinian population, may be a turning point in Palestinian policy.

"The PLO does not intervene in the internal politics of countries," Taisir Khaled, head of expatriate department of the PLO, told The Media Line. "But the safety of Palestinians in refugee camps must be safeguarded; regardless of the country they live in."

Khaled is a senior member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a Marxist-Leninist Palestinian party, whose leader Nayef Hawatmeh sits in Damascus. He was careful not to blame Assad personally.

"We want political reform in Syria," Khaled added. "It should be a democratic civil state which grants freedom to all its citizens. We hope that a political solution prevails over any other."

The political leadership of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas is also situated in Damascus, explaining perhaps its minimal media coverage of the Syrian attack on Latakia.

In April, the London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat reported that Hamas' political leadership was ordered to leave Syria following its neutral stance towards the country's popular unrest. According to the report, Qatar agreed to host political bureau chief Khaled Mashal, who has operated in Damascus since 1999. At the time, Hamas denied the report, and its leadership remained in the country.

A Hamas spokesman refused the Media Line's request on Wednesday to comment on matters concerning Syria. But Basem Ezbidi, a political scientist at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, said Hamas was facing the greatest dilemma of all Palestinian groups.

"On the one hand, Hamas does not want the Syrian regime to disappear," Ezbidi told The Media Line. "But on the other hand, how can it justify its strategic alliance with a state that kills Palestinians? Hamas has always regarded itself as a resistance movement which represents the Palestinian people, and that's the bottom line." He said Hamas will find it extremely difficult to reconcile the two conflicting interests.

Ezbidi added, however, that some Palestinian factions will never criticize the Syrian regime, as they are fully funded and protected by it.

"Smaller groups, like Ahmad Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) will forever remain loyal to Syria, which supports it financially, logistically and politically," he said. "Other movements will certainly reexamine their ties with Syria, because what it has done is inexcusable."

Ayman Shaheen, a political scientist at Gaza's Al-Azhar University, said that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, also led from Damascus, maintained stronger links with Iran than with Syria, making it relatively independent of Al-Assad's regime. However, Hamas, he said, likely would show flexibility in adapting to the new political reality in the region.

"Hamas is wise. It will create a new set of alliances to replace the Teheran-Damascus-Gaza axis," Shaheen told The Media Line. "Qatar is always open to Hamas and there is rapprochement with Egypt as well."

But Taisir Khaled of DFLP said most Syria-based Palestinian movements, including his own, were not considering relocation.

"We will remain in Syria as long as Palestinians reside there," he told The Media Line, noting that between 350-400,000 Palestinians currently live in Syria. "We are not there because of the regime but because of our ties with the Syrian people."

Source: The Jerusalem Post.
Link: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=234254.

Yemen opposition forms national council

2012-01-24T17:25:00.002+02:00

Wed Aug 17, 2011

The Yemeni opposition has formed a broad coalition tasked with leading the country's popular revolution towards the removal of Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime from power.

The 800 representatives of different opposition groups elected the 143-member National Council for the Forces of the Peaceful Revolution on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The move marked a notable blow to the unpopular 33-year-old government, which has been facing countrywide protests since January.

The development comes only one day after Saleh vowed to return to Yemen soon. He is currently being treated for injuries he received in a June 3 RPG attack on the presidential palace in Saudi Arabia.

"The National Council will lead the forces of the revolution, determined to stand strong until Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure," said a key opposition leader, Sultan al-Atwani.

The council includes members of the parliamentary opposition umbrella of the Common Forum, the young protesters, and the north-based Shia minority, which has for long been repressed by the government and Saudi Arabia.

The members will now vote for a 20-member executive committee.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194379.html.

'US, Israel plan civil war in Lebanon'

2012-01-24T17:24:00.002+02:00

Wed Aug 17, 2011

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says the US and Israel are trying to cause a civil war in Lebanon by destroying people's coexistence.

In his speech on Wednesday, Nasrallah said Washington and Tel Aviv are laying the foundation for sectarian strife in a bid to ruin the social fabric in Lebanon.

The Hezbollah leader also rejected the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, saying its indictments lack credibility.

The former Lebanese premier and over 20 other people were killed on February 14, 2005 in massive explosions in downtown Beirut.

The STL, which was authorized by a US-sponsored Security Council resolution in 2007, was set up to look into the deadly incident.

The tribunal issued indictments and arrest warrants in June 2011 for four men identified by Lebanese officials as Hezbollah members.

Nasrallah said on Wednesday that the tribunal has refused to consider other scenarios such as Israel's involvement in the murder.

He also accused media outlets and figures associated with the March 14th movement of jumping to conclusions, adding that they make accusations against Hezbollah without any basis.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194411.html.

'Protesters attacked in Saudi Arabia'

2012-01-24T17:23:00.000+02:00

Thu Aug 18, 2011

Government forces have attacked Saudi Arabian peaceful demonstrators in the east of the oil-rich kingdom.

Protesters took to the streets of Awamiyah town in the Eastern Province late on Wednesday, witnesses said.

During the protest, people demanded respect for human rights and the release of political prisoners in the country.

At least two demonstrators were arrested after breaking up the rally, according to reports.

The Eastern Province has been the scene of anti-government protests in recent months.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the Middle East, is an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate any form of dissent.

Protest rallies and any public displays of dissent are considered illegal.

The government has become increasingly nervous about the protests that have taken the Arab world by storm, toppling the Egyptian and Tunisian leaders, and which reached Bahrain, Yemen and Libya.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194431.html.

Ramadan Curbs Follow Violence

2012-01-24T17:22:00.002+02:00

2011-08-04

China curtails religious practices in Xinjiang during a Muslim holy month.

China is placing restrictions on its Muslim Uyghur population during the fasting month of Ramadan, following a string of violent attacks in its northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, said Ramadan, which runs roughly from Aug. 1-30 this year, has brought a fresh clampdown on Muslims in the wake of violent attacks in the Silk Road cities of Kashgar and Hotan.

The group has said that more than 100 Uyghurs were detained in the wake of an attack on a market in Kashgar last weekend. Most of those detained as suspects were committed Muslims who attended mosque and whose wives wore veils, residents say.

Raxit said the chief restriction lies in a ban on mosques from advertising Ramadan-linked events or in encouraging people to observe the month-long fast.

"If any religious figure discusses Ramadan during the course of religious activities, or encourages people to take part, then they will lose their license to practice," Raxit said.

"The more serious cases will result in arrests for incitement to engage in illegal religious activity," he said.

Ramadan restrictions

During Ramadan, Muslims who are able should take no food, water, or cigarettes during daylight hours. Restaurants in Muslim countries close during the day, re-opening to break the fast after sunset.

However, government campaigns in previous years have forced restaurants to stay open, and required Uyghur government cadres throughout Xinjiang to sign “letters of responsibility” promising to avoid fasting, evening prayers, or other religious activities.

Officials have also targeted Muslim schoolchildren, providing them with free lunches during the fasting period.

Raxit said similar restrictions were in place for government cadres, who risk losing pensions and other benefits. Private companies are offering lunches to Uyghur Muslims, and any who refuse to eat could lose their annual bonus, or even their job, he added.

According to the Beijing-based Uyghur Online website, the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has announced a ban on any religious activities during the Muslim holy month.

The restrictions were being imposed "to preserve social stability," the website reported.

An employee who answered the phone at a local government neighborhood committee office in the regional capital Urumqi, which saw deadly ethnic rioting in July 2009, confirmed the restrictions.

"Fasting during Ramadan is a traditional ethnic custom, and they are allowed to do that," she said. "But they aren't allowed to hold any religious activities during Ramadan."

And she added: "Party members are not allowed to fast for Ramadan, and neither are civil servants."

Mosque guidelines

An employee who answered the phone at a mosque in Urumqi said people from out of town are banned from attending mosques in Urumqi for prayers during August.

Everyone attending prayers has to register with their national identity card, he added.

"They have to register," he said. "[After prayers] they aren't allowed to [congregate and] talk to each other."

Foreigners have been barred from entering mosques in the region, mosque officials said.

A Uyghur resident of Beijing said students under 18 are forbidden from fasting during Ramadan.

And an employee who answered the phone at a Muslim restaurant in Urumqi said it would remain open all month.

Kashgar prefecture Communist Party chief Cheng Zhenshan vowed to fight "separatists," "religious extremists," and "terrorists" with "iron fists," following the weekend violence in the Silk Road city that left at least 14 people dead and 40 others injured.

The attacks in Kashgar and those in the nearby city of Hotan two weeks ago in which 20 people were killed are the bloodiest violence in a year in Xinjiang, where Muslim Uyghurs chafe under Chinese rule.

Deadly riots in Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi left at least 200 dead in July 2009 following clashes between Han Chinese and Uyghurs.

Chinese commentators say the slew of recent attacks in Xinjiang show that Beijing's policy on ethnic minorities has gone badly wrong.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/ramadan-08042011113617.html.

Checkpoints Circle Urumqi

2012-01-24T17:21:00.002+02:00

2011-08-16

Chinese security forces increase patrols in Xinjiang's capital following a series of deadly attacks.

Authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have announced a fresh "strike hard" campaign targeting "terrorism" and "Islamic extremism" following a wave of violent attacks.

Security forces will set up a total of 39 checkpoints encircling the regional capital Urumqi, where nearly 200 people died in ethnic clashes between Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese in 2009, according to a statement on the Xinjiang government website.

A resident of Urumqi surnamed Li said there had been an increase in police patrols on the city's streets in the wake of three deadly attacks in Hotan and Kashgar in recent weeks.

"There were patrols before but they are closer together now, and there are more people than before," Li said.

"They don't really stop cars for checks so much in the daytime. They mostly do it at night."

The campaign, announced on the regional government website on Tuesday, will run from Aug. 11 to Oct. 15, and will increase police focus on potential trouble spots.

It would also include spot checks of identity and searches of people and vehicles, the statement said.

More police manpower would be directed to investigations, and the courts would speed up trials to process the larger number of suspects.

Penalties from theft to endangering state security would be harsher during the campaign, it said.

Kashgar targeted

Residents of Kashgar said they had also seen an increased security presence in recent days.

“All of Kashgar city is experiencing a stepped-up investigation into suspicious activities," said one woman from Kashgar.

"Public security units at all level across the city have been strengthened and security forces are patrolling around the clock in the main Uyghur residential area," she said.

The woman said that police had established checkpoints to check the IDs of residents in the streets.

"Police are conducting searches of the people and their vehicles. They are detaining people without IDs. It's creating fear. Government security personnel have forced women to remove their veils while out walking. If they don’t comply, they will be detained.”

A student in Kashgar told RFA that local authorities had increased ideological education on campuses, instructed students not to gather in groups anywhere in the city, and to carry their IDs at all times.

He added that many of the restrictions were meant to prevent the mostly-Muslim Uyghurs from observing the holy month of Ramadan, which runs from Aug. 1-30 this year.

"People aged 18 and under are not allowed to go to the mosque to pray ... School authorities have been distributing snacks to students to make sure they aren't fasting and preventing students from leaving campus until Friday’s prayers are over,” he said.

Underlying problems

However, an exile Uyghur group said the "strike hard" campaigns have not addressed the root cause of recent violence, which left three dozen people dead across the region.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, said the real aim of the campaigns is gradually to strip Uyghurs of their legitimate rights and demands, as part of a system-wide oppression of the Uyghur people.

"Striking hard will only lead to an even stronger backlash," Raxit said of the latest campaign. "I think that the Chinese are provoking and inciting local people."

"If they don't change [their policies], and desist from the 'strike hard' approach, then there will be a fresh wave of unrest in the region," he warned.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Some Chinese commentators say the slew of recent attacks in Xinjiang show that Beijing's policy on ethnic minorities has gone badly wrong.

This year's Ramadan has brought a fresh clampdown on Muslims in the wake of a July 31 attack in the Silk Road city of Kashgar that left at least 14 people dead and 40 others injured.

The attacks in Kashgar and in the nearby city of Hotan two weeks earlier, in which 20 people were killed, mark the bloodiest violence in a year in Xinjiang, where Muslim Uyghurs chafe under Chinese rule.

Riots in Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi left at least 200 dead in July 2009 following clashes between Han Chinese and Uyghurs.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/urumqi-08162011120352.html.

Farmers Sent to Reeducation Camp

2012-01-24T17:07:00.002+02:00

2011-08-15

Uyghurs who protested farm policies were detained in Beijing.

Seven Uyghurs from China’s restive Xinjiang province who went missing after petitioning the central government last year over what they called unfair farm policies have been sent to reeducation camps, according to relatives of the men.

The seven were part of a larger group of 25 who had traveled to Beijing in November last year by train from Guma county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s Hoten prefecture.

They were detained after they attempted to hold a demonstration in Tiananmen Square, demanding a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao to complain about a policy that required them to sell their produce to the local government in Xinjiang for below-market prices.

The father of one of the detainees, 46-year-old Sirajidin Eziz, said that since that time, the whereabouts of the seven men had been unknown.

It wasn’t until April that he and the other relatives received a notice from the Department of Reeducation of the 14th Division Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which governs their village of Karataghiz, that the men were being held in a detention center in Sachengzi in Xinjiang’s western Aksu prefecture.

“We only came to know his whereabouts exactly five months after he was taken by police,” Eziz’s father said.

Reeducation camp

The notice, which was read to RFA by Eziz’s son, said that the seven had been detained in the camp since Dec. 4 and were undergoing reeducation through labor because they had created "public disorder" by gathering illegally.

The group had been sentenced to terms of 16-24 months, the notice said, and included Nurabla Nurmemet, 43, Abla Ablikim, 34, Sirajidin Eziz, 45, Eli Hapiz, 43, Ahmet Osman, 51, Ablet Abdurehim, 41, and Omer Salih, 50.

“I’m 94 years old now. I don’t know whether or not I will see him again because he was given two years of reeducation through labor,” Eziz’s father said.

Eziz’s father said the men had never received a court hearing.

“I don’t understand how it can be crime when all you are trying to do is to meet with your prime minister to address your problem,” he said.

Local politics

Ablet Kasim, a Uyghur from Guma county, said that farmers have been losing money for years and are willing to risk punishment to reverse the policy that forces them to sell their produce to state-owned buyers at prices 50-70 percent lower than those on the open market.

They had been forced to sell at a discount for produce such as red dates and cotton.

A brother of one of the detainees said that the local police chief, angered that the farmers had sought assistance from the central government, might have pushed to have the seven sent to the labor camp.

He said that the police chief had warned the 25 Uyghurs when they boarded the train to Beijing last year that they would be punished upon their return.

“’You can go if you want,’ the police chief told them, ‘but you had better know that when you finally come back, I will send you to jail in the first week of your return,’” the brother said.

“Well, he finally did what he said—he showed us his power … I’m surprised he hid this information from us for so long. Maybe he wanted to force us to beg him or he was trying to punish the families.”

Repeated petitions

The farmers originally numbered more than 100 when they first took their complaints to higher authorities in July 2010.

Up until their visit to Beijing, the group filed protests four times to division officials and three times to provincial officials in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi.

In an interview from Beijing last November, Abla Ablikim, one of the seven Uyghurs in the labor camp, said police from Karataghiz village had tried to block the group from boarding the train to the capital at the Urumqi train station in addition to threatening them with imprisonment upon their return.

Eventually, Abla Abilkim said, Uyghur merchants at the station protected the farmers from the police and allowed them to board the train.

Abla Abilikim said authorities at both the local and provincial levels told him they could do nothing to help the farmers because the XPCC has the right to implement a planned economy instead of a market economy.

“Some of them said, ‘The state is building roads, schools, and hospitals for you, so you must support the state companies,’” he said.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/farmers-08152011181847.html.

Pakistan Deports Uyghurs

2012-01-24T17:06:00.003+02:00

2011-08-10

Five Uyghurs have been sent back to China, where they face punishment.

Pakistani authorities have deported five ethnic Uyghurs to China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where they may face persecution on their return, according to the head of a Uyghur exile group.

“According to the information we received, all five were Uyghurs,” said Omer Khan, the founder of the Omer Uyghur Foundation in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

They were believed to have been forcibly repatriated this week to Xinjiang, where Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness.

“The deportation of Uyghurs is happening a lot these days [in Pakistan], but this is one of the rare cases which has been exposed to the media,” Omer Khan said.

On Tuesday, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that five “Chinese citizens” had been arrested in different parts of the country and deported on Monday.

The report claimed that the group, which included two children and a woman, was brought to Benazir Bhutto International Airport where they boarded flight CZ6008 operated by China’s Southern Airline to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

Dawn quoted an unnamed source who said that another “Chinese national,” Abduxur Ablmit, was to accompany “his compatriots,” but was offloaded because the flight captain refused to accept him for “unspecified reasons.”

“Ablmit, blindfolded and handcuffed like the other five, had been allotted a seat on the flight,” the newspaper reported.

Dawn also identified one of the five as Manzokra Mamad, who it said was accompanied by a young girl and boy.

The report said that the reason for the deportation was unclear, but noted that Pakistani security agencies had extradited “Xinjiang separatists” before on at least three occasions—14 in 1997, seven in 2002, and nine in 2009.

Pakistani authorities could not be reached for comment on the deportation or the identities of those involved.

“We have been able to confirm the names of two people—Abdushukur Ablimit and Menzire Memet,” Omer Khan said.

Exile reaction

The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) issued a statement Wednesday condemning “in the strongest possible terms” Pakistan’s decision to extradite the five Uyghurs, saying the group “will face harsh punishment.”

“Uyghurs who have been extradited to China in the past, were detained, imprisoned, sentenced, tortured, executed, or disappeared after their return to China,” the exile group said.

The WUC said that following a series of violent attacks by Uyghurs on Chinese security personnel in Xinjiang over the last month, Pakistan immediately affirmed that it would extend its full support to China over the Uyghur issue.

“The WUC believes Pakistani authorities acted on request of the Chinese government in order to underline the positive relations between the two countries,” the group said.

It said that by extraditing the Uyghurs to China, Pakistan violated the U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT) which prohibits parties from returning anyone to a state "where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture."

Group detained

Omer Uyghur said that he believed the five deportees may have been part of a larger group of 12 Uyghurs who were captured by police in western Pakistan last year as they made their way to Turkey to seek asylum. He said he was unsure what had become of the remaining seven.

He added that another Uyghur, named Omer Muhter, 33, has been missing from Rawalpindi in Pakistan since last January and may have been deported to China as well.

The group of 12 came from various parts of Xinjiang and had been living in Central Asian countries working as traders since the beginning of 2000, but after participating in activities sponsored by local Uyghur exiles, found themselves placed on a wanted list by police back home.

They gathered in Pakistan and decided to make their way through Iran to Turkey where they would apply for asylum, but were detained by authorities in the restive Pakistani province of Balochistan because they lacked the requisite travel documents. The next day, they were transferred to a jail in Islamabad.

While in detention in the capital, they met a Turkish citizen named Mujahid Elwerdi and asked him to pass on information about their case to the outside world.

Elwerdi mentioned the situation of the Uyghurs in a phone call to his father, Saleh Elwerdi, who then passed the information on to the East Turkestan Foundation in Turkey.

“The situation of these 12 Uyghurs is severe,” Mujahid Elwerdi told his father. “Their passports are fake and they have no money and one of their kids is sick. If they are deported back to China, they could face execution. You need to inform relevant groups of what is happening to them.”

In a telephone conversation last year in August, a staff member of the Turkish embassy in Islamabad named Ali Beg, confirmed that the group of Uyghurs were being held by Pakistani authorities.

However, Beg said that because the Uyghurs were not Turkish citizens, the embassy could not help them.

Threat of deportation

China has used its economic influence in the region to detain and repatriate a number of Uyghurs who have fled the country after being accused of carrying out “separatist” activities against the state.

Another Uyghur, Nur Muhemmed, was arrested by Thai authorities Saturday for illegally entering the country, and exile groups have expressed concern that he could be deported to China and face punishment.

Cambodia deported the majority of 22 Uyghurs who sought refuge status through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Phnom Penh shortly after they fled China in the aftermath of deadly ethnic violence that gripped Urumqi in July 2009.

China also used its influence in May to convince Kazakh authorities to deport another Uyghur, Ershidin Israil, a former geography teacher, who was initially given refugee status by the UNHCR and accepted for resettlement by Sweden.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/pakistan-08102011175506.html.

Uyghur Held in Thailand

2012-01-24T17:06:00.000+02:00

2011-08-08

Thailand arrests a Uyghur for illegally entering the country.

Authorities in Thailand have arrested a Uyghur fleeing China’s restive northwestern Xinjiang region, according to reports Monday as Uyghur exile groups expressed concern he could be deported home and be severely punished like many of his compatriots.

Nur Muhemmed was arrested by Thai authorities Saturday for illegally entering the country, Japanese newspapers reported over the weekend, quoting Thai sources.

The reports said he may have had fled Urumqi after Chinese authorities accused him of involvement in deadly ethnic unrest in the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in July 2009.

He was allegedly part of a group of Uyghurs that took flight from China in the aftermath of the violence and sought refuge with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cambodia after traveling through Vietnam, according to the reports.

Twenty-two members of that group eventually made it to Cambodia, though most were deported to China and prosecuted.

Muhemmed was believed to have escaped from Cambodia, and moved to Burma and then entered Thailand illegally via the border town of Mae Sai nearly two years ago, according to Thai officials quoted in the reports.

The Thai Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Bangkok could not be reached for comment.

Concern for fate

Uyghur groups disputed the circumstances under which Muhemmed landed in Thailand, but expressed concern about his fate as they feared that Bangkok would also repatriate him.

Dolkun Isa, general secretary of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), said Thailand should not bow to pressure from the Chinese to repatriate Muhemmed, where Isa said he could face torture and even death upon his return.

“No matter who he is or how he got there, the reality is that Uyghurs inside and outside of China face various tragedies because of China’s long and strong reach,” he said, calling on members of the international community to prod Thailand to respect Muhemmed’s right as a refugee.

Thailand has repatriated a number of ethnic minorities in the past several years, including the Hmong to Laos and the Rohingya to Burma, where they may face persecution and mistreatment.

“It is no secret how dangerous the current situation in East Turkestan [Xinjiang] is after the Hotan and Kashgar incidents,” Isa said, referring to deadly attacks in the two Silk Road cities by Uyghur groups against Chinese security personnel over the past month.

“It is easy to imagine what the fate of a Uyghur refugee might be in the case of a deportation at this time,” he said.

Isa said Muhemmed may have been one of two men who fled China in March and went missing.

“In March of this year, two Uyghur men seeking help called us from Yunnan province as they prepared to cross the China-Burma border.

They asked for information related to the refugee process in Southeast Asian countries,” Isa said.

“Just two days after the call, when we tried to reach them, we failed. Since then they have been silent and I’m assuming that maybe the person who is facing deportation in Thailand now was one of them.”

Missing in Vietnam

Ilshat Hasan, vice president of the exile group the Uyghur American Association, believed Muhemmed was among two Uyghurs who may have tried to enter Cambodia while fleeing China but ended up in Vietnam.

“It is possible that he was one of the two Uyghurs missing in Vietnam in October 2009,” Hasan said.

Those men later tried to cross into Cambodia on their own, but ended up in Laos where one was apprehended. The whereabouts of the other man were unknown.

“I guess that the one who failed to escape has already been returned to China or is in jail in Vietnam,” Hasan said.

“The other one who escaped probably had hidden in Thailand. Maybe disaster has finally caught up with him this time.”

In addition to the repatriation of the group of Uyghurs from Cambodia, China also used its influence in May to convince Kazakh authorities to deport another Uyghur, Ershidin Israil, a former geography teacher, who was initially given refugee status by the UNHCR and accepted for resettlement by Sweden.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/deportation-08082011175204.html.

Russia's stealth fighter performs first demonstration flight

2012-01-24T17:00:00.003+02:00

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) — Russia’s Sukhoi T-50 5th generation fighter performed its first demonstration flight at the 10th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2011 on Wednesday, Russian agencies reported.

The flight was observed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other dignitaries who attended the MAKS show to address the participants and guests as well as to get familiarized with the exposition of Russian and foreign aerospace equipment, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

However, the pilots did not perform any aerobatic stunts aboard the new T-50 stealth fighter because the plane is still going through a series of test flights.

The T-50 aircraft, developed under the program Future Aviation System for Tactical Air Force (PAK-FA) at the Sukhoi OKB, is Russia’s first new major combat aircraft designed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Since the 1980s, the Russian Air Force has relied on aircraft which are now obsolete.

An operational fighter based on the T-50 will be put into service possibly as soon as 2015, becoming the Russian Air Force’s first stealth fighter which features low-observable technology that makes it almost impossible to detect with radar.

Like its U.S. counterpart, the F-22 Raptor, the T-50 will be able to cruise at supersonic speeds and be capable of pulling high-G maneuvers that older aircraft cannot match thanks to thrust-vectoring exhaust nozzles and a hi-tech flight control system.

The T-50 made its first flight at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur factory airfield in Siberia in January, and since then two prototypes have been undergoing flight tests at the Zhukovsky flight test center near Moscow.

MAKS is an international air show held since 1992 on Zhukovskiy Lll air field near the Russian capital of Moscow. It is one of the world’s largest air forums which its main goal is to demonstrate the latest achievement of Russian and world aviation industry.

Although it started as an entertainment event, MAKS is also important for establishing business contacts and development of industrial cooperation between Russia and foreign aerospace manufacturers.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19524/russias-stealth-fighter-performs-first-demonstration-flight/.

Nigeria successfully launches two satellites

2012-01-24T17:00:00.000+02:00

ABUJA, NIGERIA (BNO NEWS) — Nigeria on Wednesday successfully launched two satellites into orbit on a Russian rocket, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) said.

The two satellites – the NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X – were launched on a Russian Dnepr rocket from Yasny, which is located in southern Russia. The spacecrafts were built at SSTL in Guildford, United Kingdom, but under the Nigerian National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA). 26 Nigerian engineers worked at the SSTL, assembling NigeriaSat-X, which weighs around 100 kilograms (220 pounds).

SSTL stated that the satellites would provide Nigeria with the ability to enhance food security through monthly crop monitoring, assist with burgeoning urban planning demands and, through the development of engineering skills, would advance the growth of new technologies in Nigeria.

Director of the National Center for Remote Sensing (NCRS) Gajere Nduke noted that the high resolution of the satellites would not only allow further development for Nigeria, but for the West African Sub-region and all of Africa. He said the NCRS would create a 1:25,000 scale map of Nigeria with the use of the satellites.

In addition, Director-General of the NASRDA, Dr. Seidu Mohammed, said key data will be made available through the satellites, supporting different sectors such as national food security as well as environmental monitoring and evaluation by making data available to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. NASRDA engineers will control both satellites from their ground station in Abuja.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated the successful launching of the two satellites, stating that the event was a milestone which could solve different national issues through space technology.

“We will continue to emphasize investment in science and technology as a tool to drive the transformation agenda of this administration,” Jonathan stated, congratulating the “resourceful Nigerians who made this history possible.”

In 2003, Nigeria launched NigeriaSat-1, and while it has surpassed its five-year lifespan, the two new satellites are expected to replace NigeriaSat-1 to ensure data continuity.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19525/nigeria-successfully-launches-two-satellites/.

President Chavez plans to nationalize Venezuela's gold industry

2012-01-24T16:59:00.002+02:00

CARACAS (BNO NEWS) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced on Wednesday that he will approve a new law to nationalize the country’s gold industry, the El Nacional newspaper reported.

“Soon I will propose a law to start taking the gold zone and I count with you, because there’s anarchy, mafia and smuggling in that zone,” Chavez said.

Chavez further stated that he has the laws which allow him to nationalize the gold industry in Venezuela, which includes exploration and exploitation of the metal as well as other related activities.

The president urged the minister of Planning and Finance, Jorge Giordani, and the president of the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV), Nelson Merentes, to speed up the process of transferring the Venezuelan gold reserves.

Giordani explained that the government’s decision to nationalize the gold reserves seeks to diversify the resources and enable them for the national economy’s development. “We are going to nationalize the gold and we are going to turn it into an international reserve, because its value keeps increasing,” he said.

Venezuela has around $12 billion in gold reserves, Chavez said. “We cannot allow them to keep taking it away.”

Chavez returned to Venezuela on Saturday after having completed a second round of chemotherapy in the Cuban capital of Havana. The left wing president has been in office since 1999 and plans to run for re-election in late 2012 despite his disease.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19527/president-chavez-plans-to-nationalize-venezuelas-gold-industry/.

Pressure rises in Morocco after self-immolation

2012-01-24T16:52:00.005+02:00

Suicide as a form of protest has grabbed the attention of citizens and officials alike.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 17/08/11

The suicide of a young Moroccan bread vendor is raising fresh concerns about freedom and reform ahead of the November 25th parliamentary elections.

Hamid Kanouni, 27, set himself on fire outside a police station in Berkane on Sunday (August 7th), stirring up a fresh debate in Morocco and evoking memories of how the suicide of another young man, Tunisia's Mohamed Bouazizi, launched the Arab Spring.

"Hamid wouldn't have set fire to himself if he didn't have good reasons for doing such a thing. It's a real sign that the supposed change hasn't happened," February 20th Movement member Zohra Meliani said. She added that people's grievances have yet to receive a practical answer, and that nothing has been done about scorn and corruption and respect for personal liberties.

But according to student Fadoua Gertouli, young people must not let their despair push them to the point of suicide.

"I can understand the fact that Hamid, after being so badly treated, felt that no-one could vindicate him, given the way that people are going unpunished. But we have to campaign and be patient in the midst of our troubles," she said.

Hmida Taji, a teacher of Islamic education, said that the suicide was a reprehensible act banned by Islam. He called on young people to be aware of this reality and not to believe that anyone using self-immolation as a form of protest can be a martyr.

The February 20th Movement is helping to transport the body from Casablanca to Fez and organize a number of protest marches, particularly in Berkane, where the incident took place. Young people are calling for people to rise up against hogra (scorn).

There were different accounts of the incident given by police and onlookers. According to eyewitnesses, the police beat and insulted the victim, seizing his bread cart following a complaint from the owner of the bakery outside which he was selling his goods.

On Tuesday (August 9th) police denied the accusations of abuse in the Hamid Kanouni incident.

The police claimed that that the man had been overwhelmed when, on leaving the police station, he discovered that his merchandise had been destroyed by an unknown party. This drove him to douse his clothes with petrol and set fire to them.

The government has not yet issued a reaction to the event. Government spokesman Khalid Naciri avoided answering questions about Kanouni at a press briefing on August 10th. Instead, he simply indicated that justice would take its course.

Self-immolation is becoming increasingly commonplace amongst marginalized youth and unemployed graduates, according to Sociologist Samira Kassimi.

"It's a form of political protest against injustice. These young people prefer to draw attention to themselves rather than remain in the shadows," she said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/17/feature-01.

Moon younger than previously thought

2012-01-24T16:52:00.002+02:00

Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX)
Aug 18, 2011

Analysis of a piece of lunar rock brought back to Earth by the Apollo 16 mission in 1972 has shown that the Moon may be much younger than previously believed.

This is concluded in new research conducted by an international team of scientists that includes James Connelly from the Center for Star and Planet Formation, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen. Their work has just been published in Nature.

The prevailing theory of our Moon's origin is that it was created by a giant impact between a large planet-like object and the proto-Earth very early in the evolution of our solar system. The energy of this impact was sufficiently high that the Moon formed from melted material that began with a deep liquid magma ocean.

As the Moon cooled, this magma ocean solidified into different mineral components, the lightest of which floated upwards to form the oldest crust. Analysis of a lunar rock sample of this presumed ancient crust has given scientists new insights into the formation of the Moon.

Luna rock from Apollo 16
"We have analyzed a piece of lunar rock that was brought back to Earth by the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Although the samples have been carefully stored at NASA Johnson Space Center since their return to Earth, we had to extensively pre-clean the samples using a new method to remove terrestrial lead contamination.

Once we removed the contamination, we found that this sample is almost 100 million years younger than we expected," says researcher James Connelly of the Center for Star and Planet Formation.

According to the existing theory for lunar formation, a rock type called ferroan anorthosite, also known as FAN, is the oldest of the Moon's crustal rocks, but scientists have had difficulty dating samples of this crust.

Newly-refined techniques help determine age of sample
The research team, which includes scientists from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Carnegie Institute's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and Universite Blaise Pascal, used newly-refined techniques to determine the age of the sample of a FAN that was returned by the Apollo 16 mission and has been stored at the lunar rock collection at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

The team analyzed the isotopes of the elements lead and neodymium to place the age of a sample of a FAN at 4.36 billion years. This figure is significantly younger than earlier estimates of the Moon's age that range to nearly as old as the age of the solar system itself at 4.567 billion years.

The new, younger age obtained for the oldest lunar crust is similar to ages obtained for the oldest terrestrial minerals - zircons from Western Australia - suggesting that the oldest crust on both Earth and the Moon formed at approximately the same time.

This study is the first in which a single sample of FAN yielded consistent ages from multiple isotope dating techniques. This result strongly suggests that these ages pinpoint the time at which this sample crystallized.

The extraordinarily young age of this lunar sample either means that the Moon solidified significantly later than previous estimates - and therefore the moon itself is much younger than previously believed - or that this sample does not represent a crystallization product of the original magma ocean. Either scenario requires major revision to previous models for the formation of the Moon.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Moon_younger_than_previously_thought_999.html.

What caused a giant arrow-shaped cloud on Saturn's moon Titan?

2012-01-24T16:51:00.000+02:00

Los Angeles CA (SPX)
Aug 18, 2011

Why does Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have what looks like an enormous white arrow about the size of Texas on its surface?

A research group led by Jonathan L. Mitchell, UCLA assistant professor of earth and space sciences and of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, has answered this question by using a global circulation model of Titan to demonstrate how planetary-scale atmospheric waves affect the moon's weather patterns, leading to a "stenciling" effect that results in sharp and sometimes surprising cloud shapes.

"These atmospheric waves are somewhat like the natural, resonant vibration of a wine glass," Mitchell said. "Individual clouds might 'ring the bell,' so to speak, and once the ringing starts, the clouds have to respond to that vibration."

The fascinating clouds, including arrow-shaped ones, that result from the atmospheric waves can cause intense precipitation - sometimes more than 20 times Titan's average seasonal rainfall - and could be essential in shaping Titan's surface by erosion.

The research was published Aug. 14 in the online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience and will be published in an upcoming print edition.

Mitchell and a colleague have described Titan's climate as "all-tropics" - the entire planet experiences the types of weather phenomena that on Earth are confined to the equatorial region.

"Our new results demonstrate the power of this analogy, not only for general features of Titan's climate but also for individual storms," Mitchell said. "In future work, we plan to extend our analysis to other Titan observations and make predictions of what clouds might be observed during the upcoming season.

"Titan's all-tropics climate gives us the opportunity to study tropical weather in a simpler setting than on Earth," he added. "Our hope is that this may help us understand Earth's weather in a changing climate."

NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since late 2004 and has revolutionized our understanding of Titan, which is larger in volume than the planet Mercury and the second largest moon in the solar system after Jupiter's Ganymede. Titan has a thick nitrogen atmosphere and experiences rain made of natural methane gas.

"Titan is like Earth's strange sibling - the only other rocky body in the solar system that currently experiences rain," Mitchell said.

Titan is an alien world, but strangely not so different from Earth. Like Earth, the main component of its atmosphere is molecular nitrogen. Water, too, is abundant on Titan, although it is all frozen in the crust at very low temperatures.

Methane is thermodynamically active in the lower atmosphere, and much like water vapor on Earth, Titan's methane forms clouds, precipitates and is resupplied from surface sources, Mitchell said. The runoff then weathers the cold surface of Titan, creating what appears to be river patterns.

Scientists think that Earth, shortly after it formed an atmosphere, had large amounts of methane and very little oxygen. Methane provided an important greenhouse warming that probably prevented Earth from staying perpetually in a completely frozen state that otherwise would have resulted from the weaker sunlight from the very young sun, Mitchell said.

"Therefore, by studying Titan's modern climate, we may gain new insights about the way the early Earth's climate was," Mitchell said.

He and his research group have developed an atmospheric model to study the climate and cloud patterns of Titan.

Source: Saturn Daily.
Link: http://www.saturndaily.com/reports/What_caused_a_giant_arrow_shaped_cloud_on_Saturn_moon_Titan_999.html.

PLO accuses Syrian forces of 'crime against humanity'

2012-01-24T16:47:00.000+02:00

August 16, 2011

DAMASCUS/RAMALLAH: An assault by Syrian security forces on a Palestinian refugee camp in the coastal city of Latakia amounts to a crime against humanity, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization said.

Syria came under sharp Arab and international condemnation after rights activists said gunboats pounded Latakia port, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee a refugee camp Monday.

As activists reported new deaths at the camp, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency reported that more than 5,000 refugees had fled the Ramel camp in southern Latakia under fire Monday.

"The shelling is taking place using gunships and tanks on houses built from tin, on people who have no place to run to or even a shelter to hide in," Yasser Abed Rabbo, the PLO secretary general, told Reuters. "This is a crime against humanity."

Residents of Latakia say Syrian security forces have been targeting areas where demonstrators have been protesting against President Bashar Assad’s rule.

UNRWA, the U.N. agency that cares for Palestinian refugees, Tuesday said its latest reports indicated that Ramel camp, home to 10,000 refugees, was now almost completely deserted.

UNRWA reported Monday, that four refugees had been killed and 17 wounded in the violence. "Our fear is that without access, the figures are higher, but we simply don’t know," Chris Gunness, UNRWA spokesman in Jerusalem, said.

"It’s obviously been the scene of a security or military operation. We remain extremely concerned. UNRWA needs to get in there. We need urgent humanitarian access," he said.

"Things get more and more grim and worrying by the minute. A forgotten population has now become a disappeared population," he said.

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported Monday Palestinian factions condemned UNRWA’s statements, labeling the allegations "baseless" and a "provocation."

It said the Palestinian powers’ Alliance Factions condemned allegations of shelling at the Ramel camp, "calling for not involving the Palestinians in the latest events in Syria."

"The Palestinian factions deny what has been included in the UNRWA leadership about shelling the refugees camp in Lattakia, considering this provocation as part of attempts to harm the Syrian and Palestinian stances," official spokesman of the Palestinian Alliance said in a press statement, published by SANA.

It said Ali Mustafa, director of the Arab Palestinian Refugees General Committee called on UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi to "correct" reports claiming that the Syrian Security forces launch heavy fires inside the camp in Lattakia.

"We would like to bring your attention that what has been included in the UNRWA statement was baseless and untrue … the issue that is being tackled by the Syrian competent authorities takes place in the camp’s neighboring area," SANA reported Mustafa said in a message sent to Grandi.

The United States said it was unable to confirm reports of the Syrian navy shelling Latakia Monday, in what would amount to a dramatic escalation in its bid to crush pro-democracy protests.

"We have been unable to confirm actually the use of naval assets," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, adding the "jury is still out" on whether or not Syrian warships opened fire.

She added there were "some inconsistencies" in the reporting on the alleged incident but did not elaborate.

"However, we are able to confirm that there is armor in the city and that there is firing on innocents again, in the pattern of carnage that you have seen in other places," she said.

Many residents were allowed to flee Latakia at dawn, but soldiers opened fire at a checkpoint, killing a man and a woman as they tried to leave Ramel, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=8&p=80561&s2=18.

Why Pakistani Military Demands a Veto on Drone Strikes

2012-01-24T16:46:00.002+02:00

By Gareth Porter

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16, 2011 (IPS) - Pakistani civilian and military leaders are insisting on an effective veto over which targets U.S. drone strikes hit, according to well-informed Pakistani military sources here.

The sources, who met with IPS on condition that they not be identified, said that such veto power over the conduct of the drone war is a central element in a new Pakistani demand for a formal government-to-government agreement on the terms under which the United States and Pakistan will cooperate against insurgents in Pakistan.

The basic government-to-government agreement now being demanded would be followed, the sources said, by more detailed agreements between U.S. and Pakistani military leaders and intelligence agencies.

The new Pakistani demand for equal say over drone strikes marks the culmination of a long evolution in the Pakistani military's attitude toward the drone war. Initially supportive of strikes that were targeting Al-Qaeda leaders, senior Pakistani military leaders soon came to realize that the drone war carried serious risks for Pakistan's war against the Pakistani Taliban.

A key turning point in the attitude of the military was the unilateral U.S. decision to focus the drone war on those Pakistani insurgents who had already decided to make peace with the Pakistani government and who opposed the war being waged by Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban against the Pakistani military.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was allowed to run the drone war almost completely unilaterally for years, according to former Pakistani military leaders and diplomats, and the Pakistani military has only mustered the political will to challenge the U.S. power to carry out drone strikes unilaterally in recent months.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf allowed the drone strikes from 2004 to 2007 in order to ensure political support from the George W. Bush administration, something Musharraf had been denied during the Bill Clinton administration, Shamshad Ahmad, who was Pakistan's foreign secretary and then ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 to 2002, told IPS.

"Those were the days when we felt that we had to work with the Americans on Al-Qaeda," recalled Gen. Asad Durrani, a former director general of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI), in an interview with IPS.

The choice of targets "usually was done by the U.S. unilaterally", said Durrani. Two Pakistani generals confirmed that point in a separate interview with IPS.

The Musharraf regime even went so far as to provide cover for the drone strikes, repeatedly asserting after strikes that the explosions had been caused by the victims themselves making home-made bombs.

But that effort at transparent deception by the U.S. and Musharraf quickly fell apart when drone strikes were based on faulty intelligence and killed large numbers of civilians rather than Al- Qaeda leaders.

The worst such strike was an Oct. 30, 2006 drone attack on a madrassa in Chenagai village in Bajauer agency, which killed 82 people. Musharraf, who was primarily concerned with avoiding the charge of complicity in U.S. attacks on Pakistani targets, ordered the Pakistani military to take complete responsibility for the incident.

The spokesman for the Pakistani military claimed "confirmed intelligence reports that 70 to 80 militants were hiding in a madrassa used as a terrorist training facility" and said the Pakistani military had fired missiles at the madrassa.

But eyewitnesses in the village identified U.S. drones as the source of the attack and said all the victims were simply local students of the madrassa. Local people compiled a complete list of the names and ages of all 80 victims, showing that 25 of the dead had been aged seven to 15, which was published in the Lahore daily The News International.

Senior military officers believed the CIA had other reasons for launching the strike in Bajaur. The day before the drone attack, tribal elders in Bajaur had held a public meeting to pledge their willingness to abide by a peace accord with the government, and the government had released nine tribesmen, including some militants.

Former ISI chief Durrani recalled that the strike "effectively sabotaged the chances for an agreement" in Bejaur. That was "a very clear message" from the CIA not to enter into any more such peace agreements, Durrani told IPS.

The Bejaur madrassa strike was a turning point for many officers. "So many of us went in and said this is stupid," Durrani recalled.

When Musharraf was pressured to step down as Army chief of staff, and was replaced by Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in November 2007, the unilateral character of the CIA's drone war "pretty much continued", according to Gen. Jehanger Karamat, who was ambassador to the United States from 2004 to 2006 after having retired as Army chief of staff in 1998.

The CIA's drone war became more contentious in 2008, as the Bush administration concentrated the strikes on those who had made peace with the Pakistani government. Two-thirds of the drone strikes that year were on targets associated with Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Nazeer, both of whom were involved in supporting Taliban forces in Afghanistan, but who opposed attacks on the Pakistani government.

Targeting the Haqqani network and his allies posed serious risks for Pakistan. When the Pakistani Army was fighting in South Waziristan, it had its logistic base in an area that was controlled by the Haqqani group, and it had been able to count on the security of that base.

Meanwhile, ISI had given the CIA accurate information on anti- Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud's location on four occasions, but the U.S. had failed to target him, according to a May 2009 column by retired Pakistani Gen. Shaukat Qadir.

In 2009, more of the drone strikes - almost 40 percent of the total - focused on the Taliban under Mehsud, and Mehsud himself was killed, which tended to mollify the Pakistani military.

But that effect did not last long. In 2010, only three strikes were aimed at Mehsud's anti-Pakistan Taliban organization, while well over half the strikes were against Hafiz Gul Bahadur, an ally of Haqqani who had signed an agreement with the Pakistani government in September 2006 that he would not shelter any anti-Pakistani militants.

The Barack Obama administration had made a deliberate decision around mid-2010 that it didn't care if targeting the Haqqani network and other pro-Pakistani Taliban groups upset the Pakistanis, as the Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 23, 2010.

But two events caused Pakistani army chief Kayani to demand a fundamental change in U.S. policy toward the drone war.

The first was the arrest of CIA operative Raymond Davis on the charge of killing two Pakistanis in cold blood in January, which was followed by intense U.S. pressure for his release.

The second was a drone strike on Mar. 17, just one day after Davis was released, which was initially reported to have been an attack on a gathering of Haqqani network officials.

It turned out that the drone attack had killed dozens of tribal and sub-tribal elders who had gathered from all over North Waziristan to discuss an economic issue.

A former U.S. official admitted that the strike was carried out because the CIA was "angry" over the fact that Davis had been kept in prison for seven weeks. "It was retaliation for Davis," the official said, according to an Aug. 2 Associated Press story.

That strike helped galvanize the Pakistani military leadership. ISI chief Shuja Pasha took it as a slap in the face, because he had personally intervened to get Davis out of jail. Kayani shocked the Americans by issuing the first denunciation of drone strikes by an Army chief.

When Pasha went to Washington in April, he took with him the first official Pakistani demand for an equal say in drone strike decisions.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=8&p=80557&s2=18.

HRW asks what's different post-Mubarak

2012-01-24T16:45:00.002+02:00

NEW YORK, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Prosecutors operating in Egypt under military authority aren't much better at permitting dissenting voices than the previous regime, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch said there were a large number of civilians on trial in military courts for what it said were nothing more than "major" attacks on free expression.

Human Rights Watch said military authorities prosecuted youth leader Asamaa Mahfouz for insulting the military.

"The military is using her to silence potential critics, sending the message that criticizing the current military government will land them in jail," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch said military authorities last week questioned Mahfouz about statements posted on her Twitter account in July complaining the military wasn't doing enough to protect civilians.

As many as 43 cases similar to Mahfouz's are ongoing in military courts, the rights group said.

At least 10,000 civilians were sentenced this year in what Human Rights Watch said were unfair proceedings. All of them should be retried, the group added.

"Egypt needs to urgently review the legal framework which (deposed President Hosni) Mubarak used for years to silence his critics," concluded Stork.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/17/HRW-asks-whats-different-post-Mubarak/UPI-27011313593303/.

Two Young Chechens Saved the Lives of 23 Teenagers in the Norway Massacre

2012-01-24T15:16:00.003+02:00

Aug 18 2011

Two Chechens Movsar Jamaev and Rustam Daudov first met on Wednesday July 19, this year on the island Utøya. They quickly became good friends, and were going to dinner, when the first shots were fired on Friday, July 22 – says on its pages the well-known Norwegian newspaper “Dagbladet”.

With the prior permission of their parents, they told the reporters of this newspaper about the terrible hours spent on the island of Utoya.

“We heard the first shots and saw a group of teenagers standing near an armed man who was shooting them at a point-blank. Three of them were shot in front of us”, – said the young Chechens. “From there the two young men ran towards the woods, pulling a group of terrified Norwegian youth, who did not know how to save themselves.” 16-year-old Norwegian said he was so frightened that he could not move. “Therefore, Movsar took my arm and dragged me into the forest” – he said. From there Movsar called his father, who gave him instructions, how to behave in a similar situation.

“I have witnessed how people were shot earlier in my country by the Russian occupiers, when I was a kid. After talking with my father, I was able to pull myself together. My dad told me that I must possess myself and that I should think not only about themselves, but also about the other children on the island. He told me that I should tried to save as many as possible. “Attack on the offender should be done properly” said dad”- says Movsar.

“The murderer, dressed in the form of a police officer, shouted to us to come to him. At first I thought to do it, until I realized that he was going to kill us. Soon, he began to shoot the children who came to him, believing that he is a policeman. He did calmly and cooldbloodedly kill defenseless children.”- said Movsar. According to his friend, Rustam, they were armed with stones, decided to stop the offender. Rustam states, that both of them with stones in their hands began to move towards Anders Breivik.

“We were maybe a meter away from him and were going to throw stones at him, but he shot one of our friends. Then we threw stones at him and ran to save our lives and the lives of other children who were still alive – said Rustam. Movsar has no doubt that he got the murderer with a stone. He says that after this killer howled and shouted at him “f***ing nigger”.

After that, the young men decided to seek and rescue the remaining children. They found a cave in the rock, where they hid terrified children (a total of 23 people), among whom was even an eight-year boy. Movsar says that he carried him on his shoulders for nearly an hour.

Then they stood on duty at the cave entrance hoping to protect children. From there, they saw several young people drowning in the water. “I could not let them drown, and swam to help them. Three times I did it, but I was totally exhausted due to the cold water. I did not have the strength to save the boy, who was only ten feet from me. He drowned “. – Movsar said.

Source: The Ugly Truth.
Link: http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/two-young-chechens-saved-the-lives-of-23-teenagers-in-the-norway-massacre/.

Lebanon adopts law regulating smoking

2012-01-24T15:16:00.000+02:00

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Lebanon's new no-smoking law bans some tobacco advertising and requires a pictorial warning about smoking hazards on cigarette packs, officials said.

The Parliament Wednesday backed a law putting an end to smoking in all enclosed public places, including bars, restaurants, offices and airplanes, The Daily Star in Beirut reported.

The law bans tobacco advertising on billboards and in magazines, and prohibits tobacco companies from sponsoring events and music concerts. It also requires tobacco companies to print a pictorial warning covering 40 percent of the area on each pack of cigarettes.

Hotels will be allowed to set aside up to 20 percent of their rooms for smokers.

Parliament said businesses will have a set period of time to prepare for the law, although no time frame was mentioned in the report.

Officials said Lebanon was obligated to pass legislation controlling tobacco products since it signed onto the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/08/18/Lebanon-adopts-law-regulating-smoking/UPI-70311313671313/.

حراك الكرك مهاجما بيان '43': النواب جزء من الفساد

2012-01-24T15:15:00.002+02:00

2011-08-18

خبرني- هاجم الحراك الشبابي والشعبي في محافظة الكرك البيان الصادر عن 43 نائباً يصفون فيه مطلقي الهتافات خلال بعض المسيرات والاعتصامات بالخيانة وإثارة الفتنة وزعزعة الأمن والاستقرار.
وقال الحراك في بيان صادر عنه الخميس" طالعتنا الصحافة المكتوبة والمرئية والإلكترونية ببيان موقع من بعض نواب الـ (111) يعتبرون الآلاف التي اعتصمت أمام محافظة الكرك بالقلة التي لا تعبر عن إرادة الشعب وتهدف إلى زعزعة الأمن والاستقرار ".
ووصف البيان النواب بـ "جزء من متوالية الفساد والمحسوبية وأنهم نتاج سيء لقانون الصوت الواحد والدائرة الوهمية والتزوير المبرمج" .
وأكد الحراك على مطالبته بإصلاح النظام واحترام إرادة الشعب ومحاسبة الفاسدين بالقضاء المستقل كوسيلة لمنع زعزعة الأمن والاستقرار، وتابع "الاستقرار لن يكون بالعصا الغليظة ولا بالجزرة ، وإنما بإعطاء الناس حقوقهم الدستورية والسياسية ومشاركتهم بصنع القرار السياسي ورفع الوصاية عنهم كون الشعب دوماً مصدر السلطات".
ووجه الحراك تساؤلات للنواب للإجابة عليها، وهي :- هل تبرئة أصحاب الكازينو تعبيراً عن إرادة الشعب ؟
- هل تبرئة الوزراء المعروفين لشعبنا تعبيراً عن إرادتنا ؟- هل ثقة الــ (111) دامت أكثر من أربعين يوماً ؟
- هل تم فتح ملفات الفوسفات ، البوتاس ، الإتصالات ، الكهرباء، المطار … ومجموعة الكابيتال وغيرها وغيرها من اختصاص غيركم ؟؟!!!
وختم الحراك بيانه" نطمئنكم أيها النواب ان التغيير قادم لا محالة".

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60276.

Sadrists condemn U.S. military action

2012-01-24T15:14:00.002+02:00

KARBALA, Iraq, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Alleged movement of U.S. forces into Karbala last week was an act of terrorism that violates bilateral security arrangements, an Iraqi official said.

A lawmaker in the Sadrist political party, loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr, said U.S. forces entered parts of Karbala last week. Tariq al-Khekany told the Voices of Iraq news agency that U.S. forces spent about six hours in a Sadrist stronghold in the city.

"We condemn the said 'terrorist' operation, which stood counter to the (2008) security agreement, signed between Iraq and the United States," he was quoted as saying.

U.S. combat forces withdrew to their military bases in Iraq in June 2009 under the terms of a bilateral Status of Forces Agreement with Baghdad. That agreement left Iraqi security forces in the lead of major operations.

A series of attacks and bombings Monday killed at least 89 people. Iraqi officials blamed national security forces in part for the attacks.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during comments Tuesday said that although no group had claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks, it was likely a sign that al-Qaida in Iraq was "trying to assert itself."

Iraqis are considering whether some U.S. forces would stay beyond a Dec. 31 deadline to withdraw. Sadrists blame the U.S. military presence for many of the country's problems.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/17/Sadrists-condemn-US-military-action/UPI-79211313590570/.

Belarus may get gas discount from Russia

2012-01-24T15:13:00.002+02:00

MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Belarus could get a discount on natural gas prices for 2012, though Gazprom stressed market conditions were tough.

Inflation in Belarus is in the double digits and the country's president in June threatened to close the borders if there were a fiscal emergency. Minsk blamed rising prices of natural gas from Russia for some of its economic woes.

A gas discount from Russia would expire this year, after which natural gas prices will be pegged to market conditions.

Putin said Minsk would start to get a better gas price formula starting next year, noting the matter was tied to Gazprom taking on the remaining 50 percent stake in Belorussian gas transportation company Beltransgaz, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports.

Alexei Miller, the chief executive officer at Gazprom, said negotiations could begin as early as September and new contracts could be signed by the end of the year.

"Hydrocarbon market conditions are hard for consumers," he stressed. "Gas prices are high and it is tough for former USSR republics, including Belarus."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/16/Belarus-may-get-gas-discount-from-Russia/UPI-19541313497896/.

Iran, Kurds to work to combat PJAK

2012-01-24T15:10:00.000+02:00

TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Iran and Kurdish officials in Iraq have plans to set up a joint committee to fight Kurdish rebels along their border, an Iranian official said.

Hassan Danaifar, the Iranian envoy to Baghdad, said delegates from Tehran discussed forming an action plan with authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq to combat the guerrilla campaign of the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK, Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

Danaifar added that high-ranking military officials from both sides would work to establish the committee.

Iranian officials have acknowledged sending troops to the border region and moving across the Iraqi border allegedly in pursuit of PJAK gunmen. Baghdad expressed frustration over Iranian action against PJAK, though Kurdish leaders told Iranian media recently that PJAK militancy presents a serious security concern in the region.

PJAK is considered a close affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which was blamed for killing Turkish soldiers near the border with Iraq in July.

Reports from Turkish news agency Today's Zaman say Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech marking the 10th anniversary of his Justice and Development Party that Ankara's patience with the PKK was wearing thin.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/16/Iran-Kurds-to-work-to-combat-PJAK/UPI-39591313515829/.

Allowing cats to hide may help relax them

2012-01-22T17:58:00.003+02:00

BRISBANE, Australia, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Allowing cats to hide may play an important role in having them relax, a University of Queensland researcher suggests.

Honors student Mark Owens' project focuses on the behavior and welfare of domestic cats in shelters.

Working in the Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics, Owens studied 37 cats over seven days for their behaviors and emotions, which indicate if they are feeling stressed, anxious, frustrated or content.

"Welfare is a major issue in many countries for animals that are kept in cages, shelters and captive environments like zoos," Owens says in a statement.

Half of the cats Owens is observing are provided with a hiding box, and the remaining cats are in open view.

"A big part of my research is whether hiding provides a certain type of enrichment for cats in stressful situations," Owens says. "Unfortunately I am not sitting in a room playing and watching cats, I have prerecorded the cats for 24 hours over seven days, and have just finished coding their behaviors on the videos."

A cat's position in the cage, its posture and certain escape behaviors are all observations that contribute to identifying its emotions, stress levels and ability to adapt to their environment, Owens says.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/08/17/Allowing-cats-to-hide-may-help-relax-them/UPI-76901313560531/.

Chinese turbine maker enters Irish project

2012-01-22T17:58:00.000+02:00

DUBLIN, Ireland, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Chinese wind turbine maker XEMC Group has forged a strategic partnership with Irish renewables firm Gaelectric Holdings, the companies announced this week.

Under the deal, Gaelectric will work with XEMC to develop three onshore wind farms in Ireland totaling 13.6 megawatts, worth a combined $26 million, Gaelectric Chief Executive Brendan McGrath told reporters at a Monday signing ceremony in Dublin.

"With the backing of XEMC's industrial strength and technological capacity and their track record and commitment to long term relationships, we are confident that Gaelectric's portfolio of wind farm sites will be realized to the highest commercial and technical standards," he said.

The deal marks the European debut of turbines made by the state owned XEMC Group of Hunan, China, which says it has 820 of its XE series direct-drive, permanent magnet generator, or PMG, wind turbines installed in China.

Another key element of the deal, McGrath said, is that XEMC will co-develop Gaelectric's remaining wind energy projects in Ireland and the United States.

Initially, the agreement covers three onshore farms at Roosky in County Roscommon, Leabeg in County Offaly and Crowinstown in Westmeath, Ireland, the companies said.

McGrath said his March visit to China satisfied him that XEMC had a sufficient commitment to research and development, which "combines Dutch engineering design and pedigree with Chinese industrial power."

Together, he said, the companies "share a vision for the significant opportunities from offshore wind energy generation on which we are already working closely together."

"Gaelectric's pipeline of wind farm projects in key locations in Ireland and the U.S., combined with our shared focus on innovation in renewable energy technologies, makes us ideal allies in co-developing Gaelectric's portfolio of renewable power projects," XEMC Group Chairman Zhou Jianxiong told reporters.

The Irish Industrial Development Agency called the XEMC-Gaelectric partnership an important development in the history of Chinese-Irish business cooperation, the Irish technology news Web site SiliconRepublic.com reported.

It said XEMC is putting its research and development emphasis on its PMG technology -- a prototype of its new 5-megawatt turbine has been installed at a test center in the Netherlands.

Gaelectric, established in 2004, has assets and projects under development in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and North America, including up to 3,000 megawatts of wind power projects in the U.S. state of Montana. The company says the first of its farms there, a 430-megawatt effort, is to be commissioned in 2014 or 2015.

Gaelectric announced in March it had secured planning approval for 42-megwatt wind farm at Dunbeg in Northern Ireland's County Derry, which it built for $98 million.

It called Dunbeg "one of the most significant wind farm developments on the island of Ireland," generating enough renewable power to meet the electricity demand of 24,000 homes.

The big wind farm will consist of 14 wind turbines with a maximum hub height of 260 feet and a maximum blade diameter of 295 feet, the company said.

The project had initially been quashed by the Northern Ireland Planning Service because Dunbeg, between Coleraine and Limavady, Northern Ireland, was designated as a scenic preserve, The Irish Times reported.

But an appellate commission subsequently overruled the planning shouldn't stand in the way of green energy projects, the newspaper said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/17/Chinese-turbine-maker-enters-Irish-project/UPI-25531313576520/.

Top Israeli singer suspected of mob ties

2012-01-22T17:57:00.002+02:00

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Popular Israeli singer Margalit Tzanani was arrested by police for alleged ties to a local mobster and extorting a music agent over a debt, police said.

The Rishon Lezion Magistrates court Wednesday extended Tzanani's remand for an additional nine days, Israel Radio reported.

On Tuesday, Tzanani, 58, and several members of the alleged crime organization headed by mob kingpin Amir Mulner were arrested.

Police said Tzanani, who also plays a judge on the Israeli TV series "Star is Born," accused her agent, Assaf Atadegi, of failing to pay a debt and allegedly turned to members of Mulner's organization to help resolve the dispute, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel Radio said police suspect Tzanani approached other underworld figures.

Police suspect Tzanani believed Atadegi also owed her royalties from a young singer they represent who appeared on the talent show series, Ynetnews.com reported.

Tzanani allegedly admitted she hired an arbitrator to settle the disagreement, but said it was done in full agreement with Atadegi, Ynetnews.com said.

The Web site said Tzanani denied the charges and told police she did not hire criminals and is not familiar with the underworld.

Tuesday's arrest culminated a two-month undercover investigation by the National Economic Crimes Unit and Lahav 433, which allegedly had members of Mulner's organization and Tzanani under surveillance, the Post said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2011/08/17/Top-Israeli-singer-suspected-of-mob-ties/UPI-41281313582685/.

India's Anti-Corruption Figurehead Arrested

2012-01-22T17:56:00.002+02:00

By Shannon Liao
August 16, 2011

New Delhi police detained the figurehead of India’s anti-corruption movement on Tuesday, the day he was to start a hunger strike unto death or until the Indian government agreed to pass strong anti-corruption legislation.

The arrest of Gandhian social activist, Anna Hazare, 73, sent thousands of supporters into the streets to protest. India Against Corruption (IAC), the organization behind the protests, reported that 10,000 people joined demonstrations in 20 locations across India resulting in 2,500 arrests. Hours after the arrests, the roughly 1,100 detained protesters in Mumbai were released, reported the Hindustan Times.

Hazare and IAC are demanding that the government adopt the Jan Lokpal Bill—an anti-corruption bill drafted by ministers, legal experts, and civil society designed to stop corruption, resolve grievances, and protect whistle-blowers.

The bill calls for a central government institution called Lokpal whose members would be appointed by judges and would be supervised by the Cabinet secretary and the Election Commission. Under the bill, corruption whistle-blowers would receive protection for their efforts.

The Indian government drafted its own version of the bill, which activists consider too weak to be effective. The activists’ version gives Lokpal more authority and extends the maximum punishment for corruption from seven years to a life sentence.

Chairman of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International India, P.S. Bawa, said in a statement on the organization’s website that the government shouldn’t ignore activists’ complaints about the bill because they have a lot of validity.

Hazare declared that he would start fasting on Aug. 16 until the Jan Lokpal Bill passed, according to a letter he wrote to the Indian prime minister on Aug. 14. He had also told the PM that fellow activists would join him.

“I and my team are ready to give our lives away,” wrote Hazare. According to his letter, the plan was to practice civil disobedience until the bill is passed, even if they are arrested for illegal protests and have to protest from jail cells.

On June 5, Swami Ramdev, a renowned yoga guru, was arrested, a day after he began an indefinite fast in support of the Lokpal Bill.

“The country is today ridden by corruption,” states the Lokpal Bill Public Consultation website. “What we need is an effective and independent institutional mechanism for tackling the malaise of corruption in this country. That institution is the Jan Lokpal.”

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/indias-anti-corruption-figurehead-arrested-60463.html.

Haiti: Little Rain But Troubles Remain

2012-01-22T17:55:00.002+02:00

By Giordano Cossu & Elodie Vialle
August 16, 2011

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—In early August, several western media turned to storm Emily and its threatening arrival to Haiti. Eventually it lost power and did not cause the expected damage. As a result, Haiti disappeared once again from the headings, pushed away by other news.

Yet living conditions are still deplorable in the country: living under tarps surrounded by rubble since the earthquake, no access to proper health care, employment or education, and plagued by insecurity. Whether the storm came or not, Haiti is devastated and far from any acceptable level of reconstruction.

A Haitian joke says that when a storm approaches Haiti, it looks at the country from the sky. Seeing its terrible conditions it says, “Ah, I must have already been here,” and it steers away. This is what storm Emily may have thought when it reached the coasts of Haiti last week: in Port-au-Prince, only a light rain was recorded.

"The international opinion only turns its eyes to Haiti when a disaster is looming over us," says Maryse, a woman living in Pacot, to the east of Port-au-Prince, adding that several Haitians grin ironically at this attention as their day-to-day struggles are forgotten.

Cholera

The authorities and international organizations also fear a surge in cholera cases as a consequence of rising water levels and the lack of drinkable water for over 600,000 people who are still living in makeshift camps, 18 months after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. Cholera has already resulted in nearly 6,000 victims in Haiti since its arrival last October.

Gabriel Thimothé, general director of the Health Ministry, insisted on the priorities to be tackled in partnership with the World Health Organization: providing free drinkable water to the population; and preventing water contamination as well as the overflow of latrines. This might ease the further spread of the disease in a country where hygienic conditions are appalling, and waste treatment is virtually nonexistent.

Security

Just as the latest news about storm Emily was announced at the National Center of Emergency Operations to Haitian and international organizations and the media, repeated gunshots were heard a few meters from the compound. The emergency center is located near Parc Jean Marie Vincent, one of the largest tent camps in Port-au-Prince with tens of thousands of disaster victims living there. The number has gradually decreased over time from the original 48,000, specifically because of security issues.

In June 2010, the camp had been subject to a clean-up mission by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and Haitian police evicted criminal gangs who used it as their base. Yet in spite of those efforts, violent incidents remain frequent, as larger and smaller gangs use the camp as a base for criminal activities. In a survey taken last December, 68 percent of people said that they did not feel safe in the camp.

At the sound of the gunshots, some 20 inhabitants of the area quickly found refuge inside the compound while other passersby scattered in all directions. “It’s only sporadic, roughly three days per week,” explained the police guard at the gate, without stress.

“Some gangs shoot around to intimidate the people. Wait 10 minutes before leaving, and then drive as fast as you can, without stopping” he advises the journalists who came here for the press conference on storm Emily. Bullets are part of the day on this side of Port-au-Prince.

Among those who have found refuge in the compound, Augustine, a young mother carrying her infant in her arms, looked scared as she did not want to go back to her tent for fear of the thugs who spread terror within the population. The risk of rain and flooding, for them, is clearly their last worry now.

Unemployment

Even in quieter areas, those living in camps find it difficult to meet their basic needs. Most have no job and struggle to feed their families. The world thinks that plastic sheets and tarps were donated to those in need, but in fact the great majority of those in the camps had to buy them. Second-hand of course, often already ripped apart and offering only minimal shelter from sun, wind, and rain.

Joseph, 49 years old, living in the camp at Canapé Vert, paid 500 gourdes (US$12) for each of the five sheets that give shelter to him and his family. He makes flower arrangements for funerals, but he sells very little since the earthquake. He spent the whole day in Carrefour (about one hour from Port-au-Prince) unsuccessfully looking for clients.

“No way I can be ready for the storm. I have no means. We just tightened the ropes around the tent,” he says, adding complaints about “the absence of the authorities who left us alone.”

Political deadlock

Haitian President Michel Martelly did send warnings to the homeless in the camps. He encouraged people living in the lower-ground of the city to move up to the hills. Martelly was recently inaugurated as president but is still struggling to form a new government due to harsh contrasts with the Inite opposition party who has majority in the Senate. This political deadlock contributes to creating tensions amid the feeling that the state is not in control, hence no strong actions or reforms are being employed despite election promises.

Lack of Resources

All those living in the camps would certainly like to move out to a safer area; where to go is their dilemma.

“We don’t know where to go, and we are afraid that we will not find our tents and things again when we come back,” confides 27-year-old Anouza, mother of two girls aged 13 and 11 and a young boy aged 4, pointing to the small tent, ripped on the side, where they all live. The school year re-opens in September, but she has no money to send her two girls to school, just like the majority of families in the camps. In a country in desperate need for the younger generations to take the lead for a better future, the lack of free education accessible to the poor represents a handicap for decades to come.

If Emily closely missed Haiti, what if the next hurricane does take a toll on the country? According to OCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, between 200 and 300 emergency sites (for 30,000 to 50,000 people) were available to host earthquake victims if a forced evacuation by the Haitian Civil Protection became necessary. However, the list is still not consolidated as inspections at these sites are still ongoing, which raises concerns about the effectiveness of emergency evacuation procedures.

When compared with the 600,000 still living under tents and tarps, these figures appear largely insufficient. The Haitian population can still pray “Bondye” (the Good Lord) that the next hurricane, too, will take compassion on them and stay away from their country. Because nobody else seems to have the will and strength to seriously address the structural issues of post-earthquake Haiti.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/haiti-little-rain-but-troubles-remain-60442-all.html.

Algerian harragas caught off Annaba coast

2012-01-22T17:54:00.000+02:00

2011-08-16

Annaba coast guard (GTCC) officers on Monday (August 15th) intercepted a boat carrying 23 Algerian harragas, El Watan reported. Two women and three children, including an 18-month-old baby, were among the illegal immigrants from Annaba, Algiers, El Tarf and Batna. They were headed to Sardinia when they were stopped several miles off El Tarf's Chatt Beach.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/16/newsbrief-07.

Police disperse Tunis protests

2012-01-22T17:53:00.003+02:00

2011-08-16

Tunisian security forces on Monday (August 15th) used tear gas to disperse protests in Tunis, TAP reported. The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) organized a large rally to demand that the interim government respect the principles of the revolution and undertake judicial and legislative reforms. When lawyers protesting separately outside the Justice Ministry attempted to join the UGTT march on Mohamed V Avenue, police intervened. According to TAP, protestors were prevented from filming the clashes with their mobile phones.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/16/newsbrief-05.

Difficult Ramadan for Libyan refugees in Tunisia

2012-01-22T17:53:00.000+02:00

Forced from their homeland by Kadhafi's battalions, Libyan refugees in Tunisia are struggling to find peace during the holy month.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 16/08/11

Libyans in Tunisia have little to celebrate this Ramadan. Thousands of stranded refugees are being forced to spend the holy month away from home, as the war enters into its seventh month.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that it planned to distribute free Ramadan meals to more than 55,000 Libyan refugees, including 11,000 families, in the Tunisian wilayas of Medenine, Tataouine, Kebili and Sfax.

The food consists of basic items such as cooking oil, milk, eggs, cheese, and dough-based products along with vegetables or dates, according to UNHCR representative Maness Ghanem. He explained that the aid organization would provide support to Tunisian families hosting Libyan refugees, helping them deal with the costs of electricity and water. The UN official added that some 800 families from Tataouine wilaya have already benefited from assistance.

Despite efforts to aid the displaced families, some Libyans in Tunisia have criticized the level of assistance. Libyans interviewed by Magharebia said that the food provided could not restore the Ramadan atmosphere from Libya before the revolution.

"I only obtained several kilograms of dates, a few liters of oil and a little rice and macaroni," Younis Abd Allah Assayar said, adding that it was not enough for his three-member family.

He said that he felt bitterness and anguish when he saw his iftar table missing fruit, milk, honey and Libyan sweets associated with Ramadan. He said he has not received his pension in four months and must rely on aid organizations to provide for his family's needs.

Libyan Jannet Mediane, who fled the village of Al Majabira, said that despite her new friendships in Tunisia, she was struggling to create a Ramadan air similar to that in her homeland.

She added that what she missed most about her home was "the dish bazin, the foremost popular food in Libya and the main meal in the month of Ramadan, which the iftar table cannot be without for Libyans".

"I discovered that the customs of Tunisian society are no different from what exists in Libya, but in truth, I found it difficult to cope with some of the meals provided to us, yet we thank God," she said.

Normally, the Libyan Ramadan table is filled of many types of dishes, including bazin, couscous and boric. But this year, refugees are forced to mark the holy month not at home but in temporary shelters or with host families across southern Tunisia.

"It is true that Ramadan this year is very different from others and we are suffering, but we must be patient and call for victory for the rebels during this holy month until we get rid of the tyrant and return to our homes safe and sound," said Abid Arifi.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/16/feature-03.

Iran's Green Movement Lie

2012-01-22T17:51:00.002+02:00

February 20, 2011

Shirin Sadeghi
Host, New America Now. Former producer, the BBC and Al Jazeera.

The Iranian people have been in the streets for decades. The big moments are crystallized in media memory -- 1979, 1999, 2009, and now. There are people in the streets in Iran this week, as they were last week. They do not want an Islamic Republic of Iran. They want Iran.

In 2009, it was declared all across the international media that these people -- young, old, men, women -- are part of an organized movement called the Green Movement. "Iran's Green Revolution" flashed across cable news networks and front pages worldwide.

Immediately, in the moments, then days, weeks, and now years of the discontent surrounding the election dispute, this green thing -- the scarves, the flags, the color, the word -- suddenly appeared in the protests and from the mouths of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and other figures who ultimately did not secure a win in the presidential election against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

And then the phrase "where is my vote?" appeared. In English. On placards and posters, and t-shirts, and buttons.

You haven't seen any of this behavior in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen -- anywhere where similar anti-government protests have taken place in the last month. It is not how people protest -- they don't get together and name their revolution, then color it, and choose a catchphrase for it, then pour into the streets to let everyone know.

It didn't happen in Iran either.

The millions -- and there were millions -- who were in the streets in 2009 could care less about the Green Movement -- in 2009 or today. They want rid of the Islamic regime -- whether it is Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, or the old guard of Mousavi, Karroubi and the "Greens" who were and still are, so powerful in the Islamic establishment.

The Green leadership is a morally-compromised faction of the establishment -- as any other element of the establishment -- that wants power in an Islamic Republic of Iran, but cannot seem to get it or regain it because old friends have become new enemies in the regime.

As their individual histories and powerful political records have clearly reflected, they are not secular, they are not democratic, and they do not care about the inherent rights of the Iranian people, let alone see them as a priority.

For most Iranians, the Green Movement is what the international media is calling the massive mobilization to dismantle the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Even outside of Iran, if you attend rallies claiming to be of the Green Movement, many of them are actually rallies against the Islamic regime. Some of the speakers openly address the fact that the Iranians do not want more figures from that regime, they do not want the Green Movement's leaders, they want the whole regime to be replaced with a government that is elected by the people.

And yet, the irony is that while so many Iranians say this, they know, and so does the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office and the other governments who support the Green leaders, that the Iranian people are so miserable, so trapped in a nation overtaken by Islamists and their massively powerful military and security complex, that they will accept the Greens.

Iranians will accept them -- there is no other option anymore. The hope is that change -- any change -- will finally open the door to serious reform. In a poverty so deep as that which the Iranian soul has experienced in the last 32 years, hope is the only chance for survival.

But Iranians are not nearly as politically and internationally naïve as they were in 1979 and 1999. After the current Green Leader, former President Mohammad Khatami, crushed the student protests of 1999, refusing to support the students, many of whom died or suffered in the violent prisons of the Islamic Republic, everyone in Iran realized that the Islamic Republic's establishment -- a boy's club of unshorn Islamists, many of whom are actually clerics -- has not produced individuals who care about changing Iran into a government that represents the people.

In the last 32 years, any individual who displayed any loyalty to the people of Iran above the Islamic Republic has been eliminated. Anyone who could have been a sincere leader of the people -- a person who valued inherent rights, a person whose religion did not supersede the people's needs -- that person was not allowed to live. So there remains no one powerful but those from the regime. The Green Leaders know this very well.

But what they don't know -- and the reason they shuffled into the background when they didn't get the power they wanted -- is that in this Internet age, in this age when Iranians are some of the most educated and knowledgeable people in the world, they do not need a leader to change their country. They are doing it themselves in the streets.

Listen to them this year as compared with 2009 -- they are no longer merely denouncing Ahmadinejad -- they are denouncing the system itself.

They have been shouting "down with the system", "down with the velayat-e faqih." Iranians have for millennia been of different tribes, religions and ethnicities but they have always survived as a nation. They do not want this 'velayat-e faqih' system -- rulership of the supreme Islamic cleric, to put it simply -- which is the foundation of power of the Islamic Republic establishment and the Green Leaders.

So as you watch the new protests -- these demonstrations that were inspired by recent Arab revolts which were in turn inspired by Iran's earlier demonstrations -- remember this: the Iranian people do not want the Islamic Republic, whatever shade it comes in.

They want a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. When the Green Leaders win the power they have sought for years -- and they will eventually win -- they will not be off the hook, because the people want real change, not another game of musical chairs.

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shirin-sadeghi/irans-green-movement-lie_b_825737.html.

Dangerous Voyage To Site of Israeli Attack on USS Liberty

2012-01-22T17:50:00.002+02:00

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

by Ann Wright

At the site, Toenjes will be holding a memorial service honoring those killed on the USS Liberty by the Israeli military.

Larry Toenjes, 74, from Clear Lake Shores, Texas, is sailing his 39-foot sailboat, the s/v Liberty, to the coordinates of the June 8, 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 sailors and wounded another 173. 207 were killed or wounded out of the 294 on board the USS Liberty in the 90 minute attack by strafing attack planes and torpedoes. At the site, Toenjes will be holding a memorial service honoring those killed on the USS Liberty by the Israeli military.

Toenjes is a 5 year Coast Guard veteran with a PhD in economics. He worked for years in the Bureau of Budget in the state government of Illinois and upon moving to Texas in 1983, taught at the University of Texas in Austin and was a research professor at the University of Texas.

Toenjes and Joe and Sherrie Wagner, his 2 person crew also from Texas, set sail from Texas in July. They have sailed over 7,000 miles and are currently in Malta. According to Joe Meadors, the President of the USS Liberty Veterans Association (www.usslibertyveterans.org), Toenjes has Egyptian government permission to travel in Egyptian territorial waters to the site of the attack.

A Call for Congress to Listen to the Survivors of the Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty

Toenjes said: “I do not intend to go near Gaza. All I intend to do is exercise my right as an American citizen to proceed to a point in international waters where a grave injustice was perpetrated against US sailors and express my dismay that that injustice is being extended by the failure of Congress to have the “courage” to listen to what these men have to say. Members of Congress never seem to miss an opportunity to say to a service man or woman, “We thank you for your service!” It seems, however, that their service is not to be acknowledged if it would have the effect of embarrassing the State of Israel and the pro-Israel Lobby here in the US.”

Meadors said Toenjes told him he is considering mooring at the coordinates of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty for a few weeks. Toenjes will be staying well clear of the coordinates of the Israeli blockade of Gaza as published in the Israeli Notices to Mariners, but Meadors said contact with the Naval Attaché’s office in the US Embassy, Tel Aviv had not produced written assurances from the Israeli government that Toenjes will not be harassed or attacked by the Israeli military, even though Toenjes will be in Egyptian waters.

US Embassy Refuses to Send a Delegation to the Ceremony

Meadors has been assisting Toenjes in getting the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to be concerned about the safety of Toenjes. He said the US Embassy in Tel Aviv has been invited to attend the ceremony but that representatives have refused to send an official delegation to rendezvous with the s/v Liberty and attend the memorial service because “they cannot find a single vessel in all of Israel that is capable of making the trip.”

Meadors added, “You know as well as we do that the last thing the US government wants to do is to send an official to attend a memorial service honoring the 34 of our shipmates who were killed in action during the attack on the USS Liberty (because of the U.S. Government cover-up of the Israeli attack). We want the Naval Attaché to convey to American Embassy officials in Israel that their refusal to attend the memorial service for Americans who were killed on the USS Liberty is unacceptable and not in keeping with the way America treats its honored dead.”

Meadors said that he also has invited the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to send an official representative to attend the memorial service.

Letter of Concern for Toenjes’ Safety from President of the USS Liberty Veterans

On August 10, 2011, Meadors wrote an extensive letter to Assistant Naval Attaché Lieutenant Commander Jason K. Edgington at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel giving details of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty 44 years ago and his concern for the safety of Larry Toenjes.

Given our history with the US Navy, the US government and the Israeli government I’m sure you will understand when I tell you that your reassurances do nothing to quell our concerns for Larry’s safety and the sanctity of the memorial service for our fallen shipmates.

If you will recall your US Navy history you will remember that our skipper, Capt. McGonagle, recognized the potential danger involved in working at the station to which we were sailing. He asked the Sixth Fleet for a destroyer escort but that request was denied because we were “a clearly identified US Navy ship.”

Further, the Israeli government did not issue any NOTMARS to inform ships sailing in the area of any danger.

When we were attacked, two flights of Sixth Fleet aircraft that had been launched to come to our assistance were both recalled while we were still under attack and calling for help which allowed the Israelis to continue their attack for over an hour more unhampered by the threat of Sixth Fleet intervention. To this day the US government has refused to conduct an investigation of the attack on our ship despite accounts of USS Liberty survivors telling them that we were attacked by unmarked aircraft, that our radios were jammed on both US Navy tactical and international maritime distress frequencies, that our life rafts were deliberately machine gunned in the water and that the torpedo boats slowly circled our burning and torpedoed ship while firing from close range at Liberty crewmen who ventured topside to help our wounded shipmates. More information about the attack on our ship is available at usslibertyveterans.org files/Docs.pdf. I would like to specifically direct you to the War Crimes Report we filed with the Department of Defense (DOD). To date they refuse to investigate the allegations contained in that report and they refuse to send a spokesperson to USS Liberty reunions to explain their actions vis-à-vis our War Crimes Report.

Move to May, 2010 and the Freedom Flotilla. The Israelis issued no NOTMARS closing any areas near where the Freedom Flotilla was sailing. Regardless, the Israelis intercepted the Freedom Flotilla some 60 miles from shore, attacked the Flotilla and killed 9 passengers – one an American citizen. This elicited not a single word of concern from the US government despite the fact that one of the vessels was of American registry.

Just this year the Israelis intercepted, boarded and impounded the French ship Dignite as it participated in Freedom Flotilla 2. That was done in international waters well clear of the coordinates provided by the Israelis for their blockade of Gaza and very near to the coordinates of the attack on the USS Liberty. They did this without issuing any NOTMARS closing the area.

That said, I am sure you will understand that your reassurances to the contrary we do not have any confidence whatsoever that Larry will be allowed to proceed to the coordinates and conduct the memorial service absent any harassment from the Israeli government. Despite his being well outside the area defined by the Israeli government as the boundaries of their blockade of Gaza and despite the s/v Liberty being a US flagged and registered vessel he will be harassed by the Israeli Navy to the extent that his vessel will be boarded and impounded by the Israeli Navy and the US government will do absolutely nothing either to prevent it or to assist Larry in getting the Liberty released from Israeli custody.

In closing, let me respectfully submit that the reason I believe the US government will not provide an official to represent them during the memorial service is not because they cannot find a single vessel in all of Israel capable of making the trip as they claim but because they know the s/v Liberty will be intercepted, boarded and impounded by the Israeli Navy (even in Egyptian waters).

Warmest regards,

Joe
Joseph L. Meadors
USS Liberty Survivor
President
USS Liberty Veterans Association

Israeli Military Attacks on Vessels in International Waters

The Israeli military’s history of attacking ships in international waters extends from 1967 to the present. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, a vessel carrying a Nobel Peace Laureate and a US Congresswoman was rammed and seriously damaged. Six ships in the 2010 Gaza flotilla were attacked with eight Turkish citizens and one American citizen executed by Israeli commandos and over 50 wounded. A seventh ship in June, 2010 was attacked, as well as another boat in September, 2010. In April, 2011, a cargo ship came under a barrage of bullets from the IDF, but, with the help of the Egyptian navy returned into Egyptian waters. In June, 2011, one ship out of ten in the Gaza flotilla escaped the Israeli diplomatic offensive that resulted in a Greek government ban on ships sailing from Greece to Gaza. It was forcefully boarded by the IDF and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod...

Source: Veterans Today.
Link: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/08/16/texas-man-making-dangerous-voyage-to-site-of-1967-israeli-attack-on-the-uss-liberty/.

China successfully launches maritime satellite

2012-01-22T17:49:00.002+02:00

Taiyuan, China (XNA)
Aug 17, 2011

China successfully launched a maritime satellite at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China at 6:57 a.m. Tuesday Beijing Time.

The orbiter, Haiyang-2, was boosted by a Long March-4B carrier rocket from the launch center in the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province.

The satellite is for the supervision and survey of the maritime environment, an important measure for prevention and reduction of maritime disasters.

China launches Haiyang-2 maritime satellite

Beijing (RIA Novosti) China launched a rocket carrying a Haiyang-2 (Ocean-2) maritime satellite early on Tuesday, the Xinhua agency said.

The Long March-4B rocket carrying orbiter Haiyang-2 lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province.

The satellite was developed by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

"The Haiyang-2 satellite is for the supervision and survey of maritime environment, an important measure for prevention and reduction of maritime disasters," Xinhua said.

Using the space remote-sensing technology to monitor China's 3 million square kilometers of sea area is very important and necessary for safeguarding the ocean rights and interests of China, CAST said.

This was the 144th launch of Chinese Long March rockets.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/China_successfully_launches_maritime_satellite_999.html.

NASA Plans to Visit a Near-Earth Asteroid

2012-01-22T17:48:00.002+02:00

by Dauna Coulter for NASA Science News
Huntsville AL (SPX)
Aug 17, 2011

In a few years a NASA spacecraft will seek the building blocks of life in a shovelful of asteroid dirt. The OSIRIS-REx1 spacecraft, targeted for launch in September 2016, will intercept asteroid 1999 RQ36, orbit it for a year, and then reach out a robotic arm to touch its surface.

"We call it 'touch and go,'" explains principal investigator Michael Drake of the University of Arizona. "OSIRIS-REx will approach the surface at 0.1 m/sec (only 0.2 mph, less than a tenth of walking pace) and, without landing, stretch out its arm equipped with a sample collector. We'll simply agitate the asteroid's surface with ultra-pure nitrogen to stir up material for capture."

Asteroids appear to be as lifeless as Yorick's skull, yet material captured from 1999 RQ36 could hold clues to life's origin on Earth.

Some scientists believe Earth's surface was sterilized2 soon after the planet was formed some 4.5 billion years ago. Planetoids and other debris left over from the genesis of planets pummeled Earth, turning it into a cratered wasteland. The tremendous kinetic energy from the collisions heated Earth to the boiling point.

"Earth at 'time zero' had a steam atmosphere that was wrung out to make a boiling hot ocean," says Drake. "Imagine standing on a lava lake in Hawaii, but it's a planet-wide, 600 mile deep lake. You and everything else, including any organics and any one-celled organisms, would be converted to carbon dioxide and water. Gone."

In this scenario, an infusion of organics from elsewhere might be required to ignite life here. The building blocks for life on our planet may have come, at least in part, from asteroids.

"Observations by ground-based telescopes suggest that asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a wealth of carbon-based compounds, but we don't know exactly what is there. Are there amino acids? To find out, we need to bring a sample home where we have sophisticated, exquisitely precise instruments, plus the ability to react to new discoveries."

Obtaining that sample is a key part of OSIRIS-REx's mission.

Upon reaching 1999 RQ36 in 2019, the spacecraft's suite of cameras and instruments will spend a year photographing the asteroid and measuring its surface topography, composition, and thermal emissions while its radio provides mass and gravity field maps. This information will increase our understanding of asteroids as well as help the mission team select the most promising sample site.

Like the ancient Egyptian god Osiris, the OSIRIS-REx mission is associated with death as well as life, with both our destiny and our origin. That's because 1999 RQ36 is the Near Earth Object "Most Likely to Succeed" - in affecting our destiny, that is. It has a 1/1800 chance of hitting Earth by the 22nd century.

Evidence suggests that a 6-mile wide asteroid smashed into Earth about 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and altering the history of life. Instead of dinosaurs prevailing, mammals flourished, evolving into humans.

"We're the first species that can mitigate asteroid extinction," notes Drake. "With enough information, we can project the orbit of a threatening asteroid."

If researchers can track an NEO's precise path, they can devise a way to nudge the object out of a collision course with Earth. OSIRIS-REx wil help NASA learn to navigate near an asteroid, laying the groundwork for landing on one. That could be pretty tricky, considering asteroids like 1999 RQ36 have so little gravity.

"If you simply pushed your finger into the surface, you'd fly off into space, disappear, and never come back!"

OSIRIS-REx, however, will hang close, and its cameras will give us window seats to watch its delicate sampling maneuvers. The mission team plans near-live coverage of the operations. But the real action starts, says Drake, when the sample is returned to Earth in 2023...

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Plans_to_Visit_a_Near_Earth_Asteroid_999.html.

SpaceX plans November test flight to space station

2012-01-22T17:47:00.003+02:00

Washington (AFP)
Aug 15, 2011

California-based rocket maker SpaceX said Monday that it will make a test flight in late November to the International Space Station, now that NASA has retired its space shuttle program.

"SpaceX has been hard at work preparing for our next flight -- a mission designed to demonstrate that a privately-developed space transportation system can deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS)," the company, also called Space Exploration Technologies, said in a statement.

The mission is the second to be carried out by SpaceX, one of a handful of firms competing to make a spaceship to replace the now-defunct US shuttle, which had been used to carry supplies and equipment to the orbiting outpost.

"NASA has given us a November 30, 2011 launch date, which should be followed nine days later by Dragon berthing at the ISS," the company said.

It said the arrival of the vessel at the space station would herald "the beginning of a new era in space travel."

"Together, government and the private sector can simultaneously increase the reliability, safety and frequency of space travel, while greatly reducing the costs," SpaceX said.

The company won $75 million in new seed money earlier this year, after it became the first to successfully send its own space capsule, the gumdrop-shaped Dragon, into orbit and back in December 2010.

The shuttle Atlantis completed its final journey to the ISS and back last month, ending the 30-year-old US space shuttle program.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_plans_November_test_flight_to_space_station_999.html.

Egyptian groups condemn military trials for civilians

2012-01-22T17:47:00.000+02:00

CAIRO (BNO NEWS) — Several political groups and public figures on Tuesday condemned Egypt’s military trials of civilians after a prominent activist was arrested and referred to a military court on charges of insulting the Armed Forces, the Al-Ahram state-owned newspaper reported.

Egyptian military prosecution officers on Sunday detained and interrogated activist Asmaa Mahfouz, who is accused of inciting violence against the military and insulting members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. She was summoned by the military prosecution on Tuesday after being released on a 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,355) bail on Sunday.

The military’s action against Mahfouz has angered many, reviving support for the campaign against the military trials of civilians. According to the No to Military Trials Campaign, more than 10,000 civilians have received prison sentences through military prosecution in the past six months.

Mahfouz is not the first activist to be tried in a military court, however. Activists arrested during demonstrations and sit-ins were tried by the military and some received prison sentences, varying between six months and five years in length.

The case prompted previously silent groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, to speak out. The Deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, argued that the military trials are unconstitutional and violate the United Nation’s declaration of human rights, the newspaper reported.

According to the organization’s official website, Ezzat said that the Brotherhood have been harmed in the past by the military trials of civilians and that hundreds of its members have been put in prison as a result. He added that after the revolution, such trials should no longer exist.

Presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei also condemned the trials and warned that the path to democracy is being hampered. He wrote on his twitter account: “Military trials for young activists, while Mubarak & Co. stand before civilian courts, is a legal farce. Don’t abort the revolution.”

Several of those arrested during clashes at Cairo’s Tahrir Square in late June were also being interrogated by the military prosecution on Sunday. In addition, clashes erupted between families of those killed during the January 25 Revolution and Central Security Forces between June 28 and 29.

According to Amnesty International, at least 840 people were killed and over 6,000 people were injured in the violent repression that took place during the January uprising. Activists and protesters have been asking for the prosecution of those implicated in the killings of protesters.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19493/egyptian-groups-condemn-military-trials-for-civilians/.

Thousands protest against carbon tax in Australia

2012-01-22T17:45:00.002+02:00

CANBERRA (BNO NEWS) — Thousands of Australians protested in front of Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday to protest against the Prime Minister’s plan to introduce a carbon tax, local media reported.

An estimated 4,000 protesters called on Prime Minister Julia Gilliard to abandon her carbon tax plan and allow an immediate election after she had ruled out a carbon tax during her re-election campaign.

“I don’t rule out the possibility of legislating a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a market-based mechanism [during the next parliament]. I rule out a carbon tax,” Gilliard told The Australian newspaper during last year’s re-election campaign, after which she won a second term as prime minister.

However, in February, Gilliard announced a plan to implement a fixed price to be imposed on carbon pollution from July 2012. The carbon tax would be placed for three to five years before a complete trading scheme on carbon emissions is implemented and some key issues are further discussed and negotiated.

Tuesday’s rally was organized by the Consumers and Taxpayers Association to mark the first anniversary of Gilliard’s pledge that she would not introduce a carbon tax. The government has meanwhile blamed Tony Abbot, the leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives, for calling for a “people’s revolt” against the carbon tax.

Abbot was very careful to tell the protesters that, while he supported their opposition to the carbon tax and their call for a fresh election, he did not agree with every sign he saw or all of their opinions. This comes after some signs were considered disrespectful for insulting PM Gilliard in a similar demonstration earlier this year.

Other Members of Parliament also attended the rally and encouraged the protesters to keep up the fight, local media reported. But despite Tuesday’s protest, the carbon tax looks set to pass Parliament in September with the support of the Australian Greens and the three lower house independents.

Next week, truck drivers from all over the country will converge on the capital in an attempt to close down roads around Parliament, in protest against the controversial carbon tax.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19496/thousands-protest-against-carbon-tax-in-australia/.

UN: Somali death rates at Ethiopian refugee camp 'alarming'

2012-01-22T17:44:00.003+02:00

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — Death rates of Somalia refugees have reached “alarming levels” at a camp in Ethiopia where an average of 10 children under the age of five die every day, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.

The United Nations refugee agency said that while malnutrition is the greatest concern, a suspected outbreak of measles is responsible for many deaths. Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva that a measles vaccination campaign in the Kobe camp, which hosts 250,000 refugees, was completed on Monday.

“An assessment of the mortality rate in one of four refugee camps at the Dollo Ado complex in southern Ethiopia found that since the Kobe camp opened in June, an average of 10 children under the age of five have died every day,” the UNHCR said.

Elsewhere in Ethiopia, some 17,500 refugees from Somalia have crossed into the Gode and Afder areas over the past six weeks. The new arrivals are mainly women and children who are “in very poor nutritional and health states,” according to the UN.

The United Nations recently declared famine in five areas of Somalia where acute malnutrition and starvation has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Before the current crisis, the Somali capital hosted some 370,000 internally displaced persons, who have now been joined by an additional 100,000 who flocked into the capital in June and July from the famine-hit southern areas in search of food, water, shelter and medical assistance.

The hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa has also affected large areas of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti and has left an estimated 12.4 million people in need of assistance. According to the UN, the drought is expected to continue until early 2012, and the number of people in acute livelihood crisis is expected to increase from 8.8 million in the coming months.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19499/un-somali-death-rates-at-ethiopian-refugee-camp-alarming/.

Malawian rights groups postpone anti-government protests after court action

2012-01-22T17:44:00.000+02:00

LILONGWE (BNO NEWS) – Malawian rights groups announced on Tuesday they have postponed a nationwide anti-government demonstration scheduled for Wednesday after a court injunction was issued to stop it, local newspaper The Maravi Post reported.

“We have postponed the vigils to allow the court process and dialogue to move on but the issues still stand until the government responds to them,” activist Rogers Newa, one of the main organizers, told a news conference in the country’s capital of Lilongwe.

The organizers decided to postpone the protest after loyalists of President Bingu Wa Mutharika filed an application to a Malawi high court to revive an injunction which stops demonstrations against or in support of the government.

Newa said that by suspending the rally, the civil society was also giving a chance to a dialogue process long due since President Mutharika announced last month that he had established a presidential committee on dialogue.

The society groups announced the protests, to be held across the country, after Mutharika’s government failed to immediately address their concerns over the economy and governance issues.

Last month, 19 people were killed and several others were injured when police opened fire on those taking part in anti-government protests which lasted for two days. Around 500 people, including human rights defenders, were arrested.

The protests in July brought together students, human rights activists and religious groups over a range of issues including repressive legislation, poor governance and fuel shortages.

According to an Amnesty International report released on Tuesday, over the recent months, the Malawian government has intensified its harassment and intimidation of critics and dissidents, many journalists and human rights activists among them.

The rights group has also urged the Malawian authorities to start an investigation into the lethal use of force during last month’s protests and to respect the citizen’s right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

“If Malawians want to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration, they should be allowed to do so in safety,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Program Director.

Earlier this week, President Mutharika accused the European governments of seeking to overthrow his government by funding the demonstrations. He also claimed that the economic problems besetting the country were not unique of Malawi as there is economic turmoil elsewhere.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19502/malawian-rights-groups-postpone-anti-government-protests-after-court-action/.

Syrian Opposition Members Disappearing in Lebanon

2012-01-22T17:42:00.002+02:00

By Mona Alami

BEIRUT, Aug 11, 2011 (IPS) - A wave of mysterious disappearances is befalling members of the Syrian opposition in Lebanon, where Syria’s military and intelligence apparatus had a strong presence during its occupation of the country from 1976 until 2005.

On May 24 at 4:30 in the afternoon, 86-year-old Shibli al-Ayssami, a Syrian former politician and opposition member, left his daughter’s house on the outskirts of the Lebanese mountain city of Aley. He was going for a walk, as he had done every day since he had arrived in Lebanon from his home in Washington five days earlier. Two hours later, the elderly man had vanished without a trace.

"We have not heard from him since," Ayssami’s daughter, Rajaa Charafedine, told IPS

After several months with no leads, some new information surfaced last week. According to a source that is close to the investigation, three dark-colored four-wheel drive vehicles with tinted windows were seen circling the area before Ayssami’s disappearance. At one point, the cars blocked the road leading to Charafedine’s house, and two men pushed Ayssami into one of the cars. The three vehicles were then spotted a few hours later crossing the border into Syria, en route to Damascus, added the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the case is still under investigation.

Ayssami was one of the founders of the Syrian Baath Party. He was the minister of education, culture and agriculture in the 1960s and was vice-president of Syria in 1966, before the government was toppled by Hafez al-Assad, the father of current president, Bashar al-Assad. He was imprisoned and sentenced to death but was able to escape to Lebanon. Two years later he co-founded the Baath Party in Iraq. He retired from political life in 1992.

Walid Saffour, president of the Syrian Committee for Human Rights, said his organization has information that Ayssami was kidnapped by a patrol led by a Lebanese security forces officer who is "known for his loyalty to a major Lebanese political party that is allied with the Syrian authorities."

"Our information points to Ayssami being detained in one of the branches of the military intelligence in Damascus," said Saffour.

Ayssami’s kidnapping is not the first of its kind to take place in Lebanon since the beginning of the Syrian pro-democracy uprising and the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on it.

In February, when anti-regime activity was just beginning in Syria, Lebanese military intelligence agents arrested six Syrians belonging to the Jasem family while they were distributing flyers calling for democratic change in Syria. Three of them disappeared in the early hours of the morning after their release on Feb. 25, according to Nadim Houry, head researcher at Human Rights Watch’s Beirut office.

"Three civilian cars were seen waiting by the police station the night of the Jasems’ disappearance. One of the drivers was identified as a member of the Lebanese security services who was at the time in charge of security at the Syrian Embassy," a high-ranking officer from the Lebanese security services, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IPS. The Lebanese security officer who allegedly led the kidnapping was identified as Salah al-Hajj by pan-Arab daily ‘al-Hayat’.

"We could not arrest him due to the current fiery political situation, but he was stripped of any official responsibilities," the Lebanese security services officer said. In March, the Syrian embassy issued a statement denying that anybody associated with it had played any role in the disappearance of the Jasem brothers.

The Jasem case bears many similarities to a host of disappearances that occurred in Lebanon during the heyday of Syria’s occupation of the country in the 1990s, and even after its military withdrew in 2005.

In one instance, Nawar Aboud - an accountant at the United National Alliance (UNA), a political group affiliated with Syrian opposition figure Refaat al-Asad - was arrested on Dec. 24, 2008 by members of the Lebanese Military Intelligence in Tripoli, Lebanon’s northern capital. Aboud was taken to a local military base for interrogation along with two other UNA employees. Like the Jasem brothers, he disappeared after his release the next day.

"Lebanon has a painful history of people being detained and illegally transferred to Syria. This issue is too sensitive to be dealt with lightly," said Houry. If members of the security services are involved in the kidnapping of members of the Syrian opposition, they should be prosecuted. Lebanon’s judiciary should open an independent and transparent inquiry to shed light on these disappearances and establish responsibility for them… Only a credible and transparent investigation will put to rest fears that Lebanon’s security services may have acted outside the law and cooperated with Syrian security services in the kidnapping of Syrian opposition members."

Source: Inter-Press Service.
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56819.

PKK takes blame for pipeline blast

2012-01-22T17:41:00.003+02:00

ANKARA, Turkey, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party said it was responsible for an attack on a natural gas pipeline in Turkey, it's second this month.

An explosion last week on a gas pipeline near the Turkish border with Iran could severe gas transits for about a week, Iran said. The rebel group, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK, took responsibility for last week's attack.

"On Aug. 11, our guerrillas carried out a sabotage action against the Iran-Turkey natural gas pipeline near Dogubeyazit town of Agri," CNN quoted the group as saying.

A PKK attack in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir killed 13 soldiers last month. Iran and Iraq are arguing over Iran's military operations along the border targeting PKK affiliates in the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan.

Turkey last week announced it was planning to extend police operations in southern parts of the country as part of counter-terrorism operations against the PKK, which seeks autonomy for parts of the border regions.

The PKK claimed responsibility for a separate Aug. 3 attack on a natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/15/PKK-takes-blame-for-pipeline-blast/UPI-90971313411236/.

Gulf of Guinea pirates trigger alarm

2012-01-22T17:41:00.000+02:00

PORTO-NOVO, Benin, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Pirate attacks off the coast of West Africa are increasingly sharply in a region that is becoming a major oil-producing zone and trading hub.

Security and shipping analysts say the number of attacks is underreported and that, left unchecked, the emerging crisis could soon rival the Somali piracy scourge off East Africa that now extends deep into the Indian Ocean.

Nigeria, the main oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, and Benin, its tiny eastern neighbor, have reported 27 attacks this year.

Piracy in these waters and the Gulf of Guinea, which runs along the Atlantic coasts of a dozen countries from Guinea to Angola, has gone from low-level robberies at sea to hijackings, cargo seizures and major holdups over the last eight months.

So far, there have been no hijackings for ransom, the primary tactic used by the Somali pirates.

But London's maritime insurance market has added Benin to its list of high-risk zones for shipping, on a par with the Gulf of Aden off Somalia on the other side of the continent.

Benin is the maritime access point for land-locked states such as Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso and its economy depends heavily on shipping.

"Dozens of ships are already fleeing our shores because of fear of these pirates," Maxime Ahoyo, commander of Benin tiny navy, said last week.

The Gulf of Guinea, the center of the West African oil boom, is the main focus of the pirate gangs, who are becoming increasingly organized. Oil tankers are prime targets.

Earlier this month, Lloyd's Market Association, a London umbrella for a group of insurers, listed Nigeria, Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as lawless Somalia, where there has been no central government since 1991 and anarchy has flourished.

That could signal higher insurance rates for Nigeria's shipping agency, which exports crude oil across the Atlantic to the United States. The West African oil fields, many of them offshore, are crucial to U.S. efforts to reduce dependence on Middle Eastern oil imports.

Within the next few years, as much as one-quarter of U.S. oil imports will come from West Africa. So any serious threat to supplies could have an impact in the United States.

The International Maritime Bureau's reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, says 12 tankers have been attacked in Benin's water since March.

The area was relatively free of pirates until late 2010, although the maritime marauders have been around since the 1980s.

One reason for the sudden growth of piracy in the region is the lack of naval combat forces and the absence of any maritime security cooperation among the countries, many of them impoverished and politically volatile, along the coast.

Even so, West Africa's waters are nowhere near as dangerous as the Gulf of Aden and the busy trade routes and tanker lanes of the Indian Ocean.

The IMB, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce, reported 163 attacks or attempted attacks by Somali pirates in the first half of 2011.

These attacks, carried out by gangs that have become increasingly sophisticated, with international sponsors and financiers and are capable of long-range operations, cost the international community up to $8.3 billion a year, says Geopolicity Inc., a consultancy that specializes in economic intelligence in the Middle East and Asia.

That could escalate to $13 billion-$15 billion by 2015, it cautioned in a recent analysis of the piracy threat.

The Somali pirates continue to intensify operations despite the presence of NATO and EU naval task forces deployed in the Gulf of Aden two years ago.

There are no such forces operating off West Africa, so security and shipping analysts expect the piracy problem to escalate sharply.

As it is, they say the crisis is undoubtedly far more serious than the number of attacks that are actually reported.

Some ship owners are reluctant to report such incidents to avoid having insurance premiums hiked, particularly if illegal cargoes are involved.

In other cases, many attacks that take place within the territorial waters of the littoral states aren't considered acts of piracy under international law and thus aren't recorded as such.

"In Nigeria, it's estimated that approximately 60 percent of pirate attacks go unreported," the London security firm AKE Ltd. says.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/15/Gulf-of-Guinea-pirates-trigger-alarm/UPI-31951313431324/.

جهاديو الأردن ينفون تهم الإرهاب

2012-01-22T17:38:00.000+02:00

الأربعاء 17/8/2011

محمد النجار-عمان

نفى المتهمون من أعضاء التيار السلفي الجهادي بالأردن وعددهم 150 متهما التهم الموجهة إليهم في الجلسة الثانية التي عقدتها محكمة أمن الدولة اليوم الأربعاء داخل أسوار سجن الموقر (50 كلم شرق عمان).

وتجري المحاكمة التي تعتبر الأكبر لأعضاء التيار في الأردن على خلفية المواجهات التي جرت بين منتمين للتيار ورجال الأمن بعد اعتصام أقيم بمدينة الزرقاء منتصف أبريل/نيسان الماضي وأدى إلى جرح العشرات من الشرطة، وفقا للرواية الرسمية، إضافة لجرح 12 من السلفيين.

وأجاب المتهمون الـ98 الذين يحاكمون حضوريا أمام المحكمة بأنهم غير مذنبين، ردا على سؤال القاضي لهم عن اتهام الادعاء العسكري لهم بتهمتي القيام بأعمال إرهابية وإثارة النعرات والفتن الطائفية.

ويحاكم 52 متهما غيابيا باعتبارهم "فارين من وجه العدالة"، كما يحاكم ضمن القضية شبان من غير المنتمين للتيار السلفي الجهادي وآخرون أكدوا أنهم لم يشاركوا باعتصام الزرقاء.

واستمعت المحكمة لشاهدي نيابة أحدهما من جهاز الأمن الوقائي والآخر من الأمن العام حول اعتقال الأول أحد المتهمين "من حملة الفكر التكفيري" وفقا لما جاء بشهادته.

واعترض المحامي ماجد اللفتاوي على إدانة الشاهد للمتهم مسبقا بأنه من حملة الفكر التكفيري، في حين أفاد الشاهد بأنه اعتقل المتهم بناء على أوامر من مسؤولين عنه.

وقال اللفتاوي للجزيرة نت إن الدفاع قرر العودة لحضور الجلسات التي قرر مقاطعتها الأسبوع الماضي بناء على طلب الأهالي الذين عبروا عن مخاوفهم من تأثير غياب الدفاع على أبنائهم.

ولفت إلى أن الدفاع كرر طعونه برفض التهم الموجهة للمتهمين والطعن بإجراءات الاعتقال والتحقيق والطعن بمكان المحاكمة، كما كرر الطلب من المحكمة الإفراج عن المتهمين مقابل كفالة نظرا لأن القضية ستحتاج لسنوات للانتهاء منها، حيث دعت النيابة نحو مائة شاهد في القضية في حين ينتظر أن يقدم الدفاع عددا أكبر من الشهود والبيّنات.

وفي بداية الجلسة تحدث منظر التيار في شمال الأردن أبو محمد الطحاوي الذي نفى تهمة الإرهاب عن أعضاء التيار، وقال إنهم نفذوا سبعة اعتصامات قبل اعتصام الزرقاء ولم تسجل أي مخالفة تذكر.

واتهم الطحاوي من وصفهم بـ"البلطجية" بالتسبب بالأحداث والاعتداء على شبان التيار السلفي الجهادي، وطالب المحكمة بإحضار البلطجية باعتبارهم طرفا في القضية وبيان إن كانوا مدنيين أم أعضاء في جهاز سري تابع لوزارة الداخلية.

اعتراض على المحكمة
وحضر المحاكمة المعارض البارز ليث شبيلات، ومقرر لجنة الحريات في النقابات المهنية المهندس ميسرة ملص.

واعتبر ملص في تعليق للجزيرة نت أن موقع المحكمة غير مناسب حيث إنها تجري داخل أسوار سجن، وتطبق على المحامين والحاضرين إجراءات السجون "وهو ما يتناقض مع إجراءات المحاكمة العادلة".

وتابع "القاعة التي يحاكم بها المتهمون لا يمكن اعتبارها قاعة محكمة فهي ضيقة للغاية ودرجة الحرارة فيها مرتفعة".

واعتبر ملص أن تاريخ محكمة أمن الدولة "غير مريح من ناحية استقلاليتها وعدالة أحكامها".

وأضاف "حجم التهمة وهي الإرهاب لا يتناسب مع حجم الفعل المتهم به المتهمون وهو حمل سكين أو قطعة خشب وحتى الاعتداء على رجال أمن"، معتبرا أن الأصل محاكمة المتهمين أمام القضاء المدني كونهم مدنيين.

واستغرب الناشط الحقوقي محاكمة السلفيين الجهاديين بتهم الإرهاب "بعد أن اقتنعوا بأساليب التعبير السلمي المدني من حيث التعبير عن آرائهم بطرق مدنية متوافقة مع أساليب المجتمع المدني".

وشهدت المحاكمة حضور نحو أربعين من أهالي المتهمين في القاعة التي انتقلت لها هيئة المحكمة، في حين نفذ العشرات من أهالي المعتقلين اعتصاما أمام السجن احتجاجا على استمرار اعتقال أبنائهم ورفض الإفراج عنهم بكفالة.

ورفع المعتصمون لافتات منها "الموقر=غوانتانامو"، وأخرى تنفي تهم الإرهاب عن المتهمين.

وقال القيادي البارز في التيار السلفي وسام العموش للجزيرة نت إن الأهالي سيتقدمون بطلبات جديدة لكفالة أبنائهم غدا، لافتا إلى استمرارهم بإجراءاتهم التصعيدية المتمثلة بإقامة الاعتصامات حيث سيقيمون اعتصاما الجمعة بمدينة السلط، في حين سينفذون اعتصاما الأحد المقبل أمام رئاسة الحكومة.

وكانت محكمة أمن الدولة حكمت الشهر الماضي بسجن منظر التيار السلفي الجهادي أبو محمد المقدسي لمدة خمس سنوات بتهمة دعم حركة طالبان.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/BF4B772B-A641-47B2-9319-5E769C2C16FC.htm.

نقابيو الإصلاح: ما يحدث بسوريا ينزع شرعية النظام

2012-01-22T17:37:00.002+02:00

2011-08-17

خبرني- دان تجمع نقابيون من اجل الاصلاح الاربعاء القمع الوحشي الذي يتعرض له الشعب السوري المطالب بالحرية والكرامة على يد قوات الامن السورية.
وقال التجمع في بيان حصلت "خبرني" على نسخة منه ان "ندين ممارسات السلطات السورية بالقتل والتنكيل والاعتقال والتعذيب للمعارضين المسالمين الذي يدعون الى الاصلاحات الجذرية في بلدهم لنستغرب ان كان متابعة الإرهابيين والجماعات والعصابات المدعومة من الخارج تبرر للسلطات هناك قتل المواطنين!".

وتاليا نص البيان:

يتابع "تجمع نقابيون من أجل الإصلاح" بقلق بالغ التصعيد الأمني والقمع الذي يقوم به النظام السوري ضد شعبه، ويرى أن سلوك الخيارات العسكرية في التعاطي مع المطالب الشعبية السلمية من شأنه أن يفاقم أزمة أي نظام سياسي وينزع الشرعية عنه.
وإذ نعلن وقوفنا إلى جانب شعبنا السوري المطالب بالحرية والعدالة والديمقراطية، و ووقوفنا معه في الكيفية التي من خلالها يقرر مصيره ويصوغ رؤيته السياسية المستقبلية ،فإننا نؤكد حرصنا القاطع على وحدة كامل التراب السوري، ورفضنا التدخل الأجنبي مهما كانت هويته، ومهما كانت ذرائعه، و حرصنا على استمرار موقف سوريا الداعم لخيار المقاومة إننا في "تجمع نقابيون من أجل الإصلاح" نحترم خصوصية الشعب السوري، والشعوب العربية كافة في أن تختار قياداتها الوطنية التي تدعم المقاومة ومعركة المواجهة الحتمية مع الكيان الصهيوني، ومع سائر قوى الشر والظلام التي لا تضمر الخير للشعوب العربية والإسلامية.
اننا اذ ندين ممارسات السلطات السورية بالقتل والتنكيل والاعتقال والتعذيب للمعارضين المسالمين الذي يدعون الى الاصلاحات الجذرية في بلدهم لنستغرب ان كان متابعة الإرهابيين والجماعات والعصابات المدعومة من الخارج تبرر للسلطات هناك قتل المواطنين!
فهل متابعة الارهابيين في دولة اجهزتها الامنية تعرف من يفكر بالعمل ضدها قبل ان يقوم بتنفيذه مبرر لقتل كل هولاء الشهداء واصابة كل هذا العدد من الجرحى و الزج بكل هذا العدد من المعتقلين بالسجون والتنكيل بهمّ!؟ اننا في التجمع ونحن ندافع بكل قوة عن المعارضين المسالمين لنرفض وبشدة ما قام به بعض المعارضين بعقد مؤتمرات للمعارضة بمشاركة الصهاينة والسلطات الغربية المتصهينة في الولايات المتحدة وفرنسا و غيرها من دول العالم.

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60214.

الاتحاد العام لطلبة الاردن يؤيد القيادة السورية

2012-01-22T17:36:00.002+02:00

2011-08-17

خبرني- زعمت وكالة الإنباء السورية " سانا" اليوم الأربعاء انها تلقت بيانا من"الاتحاد العام لطلبة الأردن " يؤكد في وقوفه الى جانب القيادة السورية ضد المؤامرة .
ويمثل هذا الاتحاد المظلة التي تجمع كافة الطلبة الدارسين في الجامعات السورية، حيث يتعين على الطالب الذي يرغب بالدراسه هناك الحصول على وثيقة من الاتحاد تؤهله للالتحاق بالجامعات السورية.
وقال الوكالة السورية إنها تلقت بيانا من "الاتحاد العام لطلبة الأردن" يؤكد فيه "وقوفه إلى جانب سورية قيادة وشعبا ضد كل ما يستهدف سيادتها وقرارها وأمنها ووحدتها الوطنية مستغربا كل ما يصدر من بيانات تعطي غطاء للتدخل الصهيوامريكي وحلفائه في الشؤون الداخلية لسورية".
وأكد الاتحاد في بيان له أن" سورية رقم صعب وان المساس بها هو مساس بالكرامة العربية وأن التآمر عليها تآمر على الأمة العربية منوها بمواقفها القومية من أجل فلسطين ولبنان والعراق وغيرها من الأقطار العربية". على حد وصف الوكالة .
وأشار البيان إلى أن "الشعب العربي لن ينسى القواعد الأمريكية في المنطقة والتي قتلت أكثر من مليوني عراقي وشردت خمسة ملايين مؤكدا أن جميع شرفاء الأمة العربية سيقفون سدا منيعا بوجه كل المؤامرات التي تستهدف سورية والأمة العربية وسيكونون معها صفا واحدا".
من جانبه اصدر المكتب الإعلامي لاتحاد طلبة الجامعة الأردنيّة الأربعاء بيانا حصلت " خبرني " تمنى فيه نجاح الثورة السورية ودان ممارسات النظام الوحشية بحق شعبه.
وقال البيان " إننا كاتحاد شبابيّ لا علاقة تحكمنا سوى الشعور الإنساني تجاه إخواننا الشباب و ما يواجهونه في شتّى المدن السوريّة من حمامات للدم طالت بشكل مفزع حتى الأطفال و النساء نندّد بهذه الممارسات غير الإنسانية القمعيّة لهذا النظام ".
وتاليا نص بيان اتحاد طلبة الجامعة الأردنية :
وبعد مرور ستة اشهر على قيام الشعب السوري بانتفاضته المجرّدة المطالبة بأبسط حقوقه التي تقتضي بكرامة عيش و حرية طالما فقدها حدّا بلغ به السيل الزبى و بعد أن عاف هذا الشعب الحر نظامه الذي نشر وحشيّته بإجرام ظالم و بقمع غير مسبوق بمثيل جرّد فيه كل معنى للإنسانية فضلا عن القيم الدينيّة.. و بعد أن تجرّع هذا الشعب القهر و الذلّ قتلا و سجنا و تشريدا لأكثر من نصف قرن و خرج بحراكه الشبابيّ الجريء و بكلّ سلميّة تذكر ضدّ حكم سرطانيّ الانتشار عاث في كل بقعة من قلب الشام بظلم و قمع مذهل نجدنا نحن في اتحاد الطلبة في الجامعة الأردنية نقف إلى ثورة الشباب الذين خرجوا معلنين الموت في سبيل كرامة العيش على حياة المذمّة والمذلّة .
لقد ثار الشباب كلّه,, بشتى انتماءاته الحزبية والفكرية والدينية .. ومن غير تخطيط ومن دون قيادة داخلية أو خارجية .. وهو في ثورته تلك لم يستشر العلماء ولا المفكرين ولا أصحاب التجارب السياسيّة وغير السياسيّة لأنّه فقد الأمل من الجميع خصوصاً وهو يرى بعض كبار العلماء أبواق سوء وكذب وافتراء، فهي تدافع عن القاتل ضدّ الضحيّة من غير مشاهدة ولا محاكمة ولا حوار عادل ، في وقت نرى فيه تصعيد للسلطات السورية من سياستها القمعية حين حاصرت المدن وعزلتها عن العالم من أجل ترويع المواطنين وإجبارهم على الخضوع و في الوقت الذي لم يظهر النظام السوري أي إرادة واضحة في الاستجابة ولو للحد الأدنى من مطالب المحتجين السلميين . .
نعم ثار شباب سوريّا الأبيّة ضدّ الظلم ، لكنّ ثورته بتلك الصورة لا تعفي العلماءَ والمفكّرين و النشطاء والإعلاميين و الشباب في ميادينهم المختلفة أن يقفوا إلى جانب هؤلاء الشباب ، وأن يباركوا ثورتهم لا أن يقفوا في طريقها.
بدورنا كاتحاد شبابيّ لا بعلاقة تحكمنا سوى الشعور الإنساني تجاه إخواننا الشباب و ما يواجهونه في شتّى المدن السوريّة من حمامات للدم طالت بشكل مفزع حتى الأطفال و النساء نندّد هذه الممارسات غير الإنسانية القمعيّة لهذا النظام المتوغّل و ندعو الى ضرورة التفاف المبادرات من الجميع و بشكل موحّد لحقن المزيد من الدماء .. و نغتنم فضيلة هذا الشهر الكريم بالدعاء لهم بأن يعجّل الله في نجاح ثورتهم وأن يخفّف الله آلامهم و يحقّق لهم آمالهم .. إنّه القادر على ذلك و المجيب ..

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60217.

Morocco says early elections set for Nov 25

2012-01-19T13:38:00.003+02:00

By REUTERS
Aug 16, 2011

RABAT: Morocco on Tuesday said it would hold a parliamentary election on Nov. 25, ten months ahead of schedule, as the kingdom rushed to adopt constitutional reforms designed to head off an “Arab spring“-style uprising.

The poll was originally planned for September next year. But Morocco’s King Mohammed has said he wants early elections to create a new government to enact the reforms that were approved in a referendum last month.

The measures would see him hand some of his powers to elected officials while retaining a decisive say in strategic areas.

Setting the new poll date has involved delicate negotiations between the interior ministry, which oversees elections, and some political parties who say more time is needed to make sure the vote is fraud-proof.

“The next parliamentary elections will take place on Friday, Nov 25, at the end of consultations with political parties over the electoral laws,” said the ministry in a statement carried by official news agency MAP.

The reforms are intended to satisfy a demand for greater democracy and reduce the risk of street protests like those that swept leaders from power in Tunisia and Egypt this year.

In a July 30 television address, the 47-year old king said the constitutional changes should be implemented swiftly.

“Any delay may jeopardize this dynamic of trust and squander opportunities offered by the new reform,” the king said.

“It’s important to start with the election of a new parliament so that we can proceed ... with the appointment of a head of the government.”

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article489424.ece.

Al-Jazeera reporter arrested in Israel

2012-01-19T13:38:00.000+02:00

Aug 16, 2011

JERUSALEM: Israel has arrested a Palestinian journalist who works for the Arabic language Al-Jazeera satellite network, and a journalists’ advocacy group says he is being held without charges.

Al-Jazeera said in a release issued Monday that Samer Allawi, its bureau chief in Afghanistan, was taken into custody on Aug. 10 as he tried to leave the West Bank to return to the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The Committee to Protect Journalists in New York said in a statement that Allawi has been detained without charges and called on Israel to clarify the legal basis for holding him.

The Israeli military, Shin Bet internal security service and police had no comment on the affair Tuesday.

Al-Jazeera said Allawi was in the West Bank spending his annual vacation with his family in his native village of Sebastia.

The lawyer sent to defend him said he was questioned about his work and personal relationships, dating back to his schooldays in the West Bank, the Al-Jazeera statement said.

Allawi was also interrogated about his personal finances and asked if he had any contact with American, Jordanian and Palestinian intelligence forces, Al-Jazeera said.

Investigators also took his password for his personal e-mail and work password, the statement added.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article489379.ece.

Germany boosts arms sales to Mideast

2012-01-19T13:37:00.002+02:00

Beirut, Lebanon (UPI)
Aug 15, 2011

All of a sudden, it seems, Germany has become a key arms supplier in the Middle East despite stringent export controls that have inhibited weapons sales in the past.

Germany is providing 200 Leopard 2A7+ main battle tanks built by Munich's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall to Saudi Arabia as well as Dolphin-class submarines produced by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft of Kiel, owned by ThyssenKrupp, to Israel.

And now, in a bizarre twist, Israel and Germany are jointly developing the Pilum smart air-to-ground missiles to be sold with the Eurofighter jet in service with Saudi Arabia and other countries.

The Eurofighter, also known as the Typhoon, is produced by a consortium of British, German, Italian and Spanish companies.

In the Libyan conflict, weapons manufactured by German defense companies are being used by both sides.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces use tank transporters built by Mercedes Benz, German-made electronic jamming systems and Milan-3 surface-to-air missiles made by the French-German MBDA company.

NATO forces employ the twin-engined Eurofighters for their air campaign against Gadhafi's beleaguered regime.

Since Germany's post-1945 revival, arms sales have been a highly sensitive issue in the country that started World War II. Such sales were severely restricted under the constitution, putting German manufacturers at a decided disadvantage with the U.S., British and European defense industries.

But in recent years, as Europe's defense spending has been steadily reduced, making exports increasingly important, Germany has eased these restrictions.

These days, 70 percent of German defense manufacturers' products are sold abroad.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which monitors global arms sales, says Germany ranks third among top arms suppliers after the United States and Russia.

Figures released by the Berlin government indicate Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most prolific arms buyers, has been among Germany's top 20 military customers even though its main source of arms is the United States and Germany considers the Middle East a conflict zone.

"Deals involving the export of missile parts, machine guns, munitions and artillery shells to Riyadh were approved -- even in the years when Germany was led by a coalition government made up of the center-left Social Democrats and the Green Party in 1988-2005," the German news magazine Der Spiegel observed in July.

But the Leopard tank deal, unveiled in July, a month after it was quietly approved by Merkel's government, was a game-changer.

The Leopard contract alone is worth an estimated $2.85 billion. That's about one-fifth the value of all Germany's global arms exports in 2009, of which arms sales to Saudi Arabia totaled $167.9 million.

The Leopard contract, approved by Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, stirred a major political controversy and a moral uproar in Germany over its arms export and foreign policies.

It raised questions of whether economic interests were taking precedence over human rights considerations, particularly since Saudi Arabia's monarchy has sought to stifle pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world.

The coalition itself is divided on the issue and the opposition, led by the Social Democrats, has demanded the deal be scrapped.

The deal had been kept secret and Merkel maintained that it would have been made public.

All arms exports are made public every December but the one for 2011 isn't scheduled for publication for more than a year from now.

There were questions that the deal could jeopardize Germany's delicate relations with Israel, which remain heavily influenced by the Holocaust.

German media even mused whether Berlin had sought Israel's approval for the tank deal, as it had with the United States. Israel has been non-committal on the issue.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said during a visit to Berlin: "It's in the nature of such matters that one does not speak about them publicly. But I can assure you we fully and completely trust Germany's government."

That's no doubt because Merkel's coalition is supplying Israel's expanding navy with three more Dolphin submarines, reputedly capable of launching nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, at heavy discounts.

These will double the strength of Israel's submarine fleet and reinforce its strategic reach, particularly against Iran.

The Jerusalem Post said Israeli defense analysts don't see the Leopards as a threat. "What ostensibly took place," it observed, "was that Berlin updated the Israeli government and Israel simply said nothing."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Germany_boosts_arms_sales_to_Mideast_999.html.

Man had 154 reptiles in mobile home

2012-01-19T13:36:00.002+02:00

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Authorities in North Carolina said they seized 154 reptiles, about 60 of them alive, from a mobile home where a man apparently kept them as pets.

Investigators said the reptiles, which were taken to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, were discovered in a single-wide mobile home in Henderson County after the owner was treated for a bite from one of them, the Raleigh News & Observer reported Monday.

Bryan Stuart, curator of herpetology for the museum, said the reptiles include rattlesnakes, cobras, vipers, copperheads, asps, Gila monsters and a Mangshan pit viper, which is usually found only in China's Hunan province.

The Henderson County Sheriff's Office said it is illegal to collect wild rattlesnakes in the state but no charges have been filed against the man, whose name was not released. The sheriff's office has asked for the non-venomous reptiles to be returned to the man.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/08/16/Man-had-154-reptiles-in-mobile-home/UPI-88951313479800/.

Canada orders Falcon III radios

2012-01-19T13:35:00.000+02:00

MELBOURNE, Fla., Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Canada's armed forces are receiving Falcon III AN/PRC-117G wideband manpack radio systems from Harris Corp. of Florida.

The order, worth $4.7 million, includes the RF-7800B tactical Broadband Global Area Networking satellite terminals. Integration of the AN/PRC-117G with the Harris RF-7800B terminals will provide Canadian personnel with unique end-to-end, Type-1 secure beyond-line-of-sight wideband communications connectivity.

"The AN/PRC-117G and RF-7800B will provide Canada's military with new communications capabilities that will lead to enhanced command and control and situational awareness," said Andy Start, president, international business unit, Harris RF Communications.

"This is another illustration of Harris growing capability to deliver reliable, rugged and secure systems that address challenging requirements for communications."

The AN/PRC-117G radio provides unprecedented situational awareness of the battlefield by enabling applications such as streaming video, simultaneous voice and data feeds, collaborative chat and connectivity to secure networks.

Delivery details weren't disclosed.

Harris RF Communications is the leading global supplier of secure radio communications and embedded high-grade encryption solutions for military, government and commercial organizations.

The company's Falcon family of software-defined tactical radio systems encompasses manpack, handheld and vehicular applications. Falcon III is the next generation of radios supporting the U.S. military's Joint Tactical Radio System requirements, as well as network-centric operations worldwide.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/08/16/Canada-orders-Falcon-III-radios/UPI-55801313489109/.

Jordan: Rifts in the valley

2012-01-19T13:34:00.003+02:00

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

August 15, 2011
By Tobias Buck

King Abdullah held on to the brown leather folder for only the briefest of moments, as if grasping a hot stone, before passing it to his son. Crown Prince Hussein, too, wasted not a moment before handing the elegantly bound document, containing 42 proposed amendments to the Jordanian constitution, to the official at his side.

The monarch’s broad smile and effusive rhetoric at a palace ceremony in the capital Amman on Sunday told a different story, however: “The recommendations concerning provisions of our constitution that have been presented here today to me is solid proof of Jordan’s ability to revitalize itself,” he said. The country, he added with visible pride, was “heading confidently towards the future to build the new Jordan”.

The proposed changes to the 1952 constitution are the work of a panel of experts established this year by the palace. Though they fall short of dismantling the king’s sweeping powers, they have been welcomed by most reform activists as a step in the right direction. The changes include the creation of a constitutional court, independent election oversight, steps to curb the powers of the secretive security courts and making it harder to dissolve parliament – measures long demanded by the opposition.

Important as they are in themselves, the proposed reforms also serve a much larger purpose. They represent a crucial part of Jordan’s answer to the wave of political unrest that has swept the Arab world this year – and that has triggered street demonstrations and unusually frank calls for change in the kingdom itself.

Jordan’s pro-democracy protests might seem timid set against the bloody convulsions in neighboring Syria or faraway Libya. But even inside the royal palace, no one doubts that regional turmoil and domestic discontent have presented a searing challenge to the regime as it seeks to balance a desire to preserve stability with the public’s growing demands for economic and political reform.

It is a balancing act that has repercussions far beyond the borders of the Hashemite kingdom. For a start, Jordan is widely seen as a test case for the ability of Arab regimes to pursue democratic reforms from within the system. Unlike other Arab dynasties, King Abdullah’s can still draw on a reservoir of legitimacy and goodwill. Some believe this gives the country a chance of engineering a peaceful and incremental transition to democracy – if the right decisions are made now.

Jordan matters to governments in the region and beyond, furthermore, because it has long played a uniquely important strategic role in the Middle East. Amman is a staunch western ally, a significant US client and a reliable partner for both Israel and the Palestinians. It also enjoys excellent relations with the conservative monarchies and sheikhdoms of the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia.

As one senior western diplomat in Amman points out: “The overriding interest of all these countries is the same: keeping Jordan stable.”

Indeed, the kingdom serves as an invaluable buffer for Israel and the Gulf states alike, shielding them from the chaos that so often torments the region. Israeli leaders, in particular, worry deeply about their eastern neighbor: the future of Israel’s alliance with Egypt is already in doubt, potentially leaving Jordan as its only partner in the Arab world.

Fear of turmoil is not confined to Jordan’s royal palace and allies abroad, however; it is deeply ingrained in society. “Nobody here wants a civil war or chaos or even instability,” says Oraib al-Rantawi, the director of the Al-Quds Center, a reformist think-tank in Amman.

Many analysts and diplomats point to Jordan’s societal make-up as a big factor. It is split between established East Bankers (Native Jordanians), or trans-Jordanians (Native Jordanians), and marginalized West Bankers (Palestinian Jordanians), Jordanians of Palestinian origin. The two groups each account for roughly half the population of about 6.5m, and frequently eye one another with suspicion. The events of Black September in 1970, when Palestinian militants challenged the rule of King Hussein, Abdullah’s father, sparking a brief but bloody civil war, are etched deeply into political consciousness.

“We don’t want to make a leap into the unknown,” says Nawaf Tell, a former Jordanian diplomat who now heads the Center for Strategic Studies in Amman. “Countries like Tunisia and Egypt can afford uncertainty – but Jordan can’t.”

The fear – shared by East Bankers and West Bankers alike – is that any challenge to the regime will unleash confrontation between the two sides. Indeed, the fledgling opposition movement was dealt a severe blow in March, when a protest camp in the center of Amman came under attack from East Bank “loyalists”. The clashes were sparked by rumors the protests were a Palestinian-led effort to weaken the monarchy. The charges had little grounding in reality (most opposition activists were themselves East Bankers (Native Jordanians)) but they forced protest leaders to back down all the same.

. . .

Last month, street protests returned to the capital: one took place outside the royal palace as King Abdullah was hailing the reform proposals. But even opposition activists admit they are a long way from leading a mass movement. The regime clearly has played its part in calming the situation. Since the start of the year, the king and his governments have taken care to show, through a well-publicized blizzard of measures and maneuvers, readiness to address popular discontent.

In January, the government announced it would raise public sector salaries and pensions, and bolster food and energy subsidies. In February, King Abdullah sacked the unpopular government and appointed a new prime minister. He went on to establish the constitutional reform panel and a separate national dialogue committee. The latter reported back in June, suggesting modest revisions to electoral and political party law. The king was quick to endorse the proposals, and promised speedy implementation. Now, in the most important step to date, he has signaled his readiness to rewrite the constitution.

Critics contend that nothing proposed so far is likely to make more than a modest dent in the king’s sweeping powers; he will still be able to appoint and sack prime ministers as he pleases. Nor would the proposals do much to address the under-representation of largely urban West Bank Jordanians (Palestinian Jordanians) in parliament, which is dominated by rural constituencies.

Skepticism lingers even after Sunday’s announcement on the constitution. “This is the classical pattern of reform from above,” says Mustafa Hamarneh, a political analyst. “I think they now see that they have to move forward, but the real test is how far they are ready to go on the ground. They have given the signal – now they must lead the charge.”

According to some observers, the reform process is complicated by a lack of consensus on what is needed – and how much reform the country can stomach. Fault lines are plentiful, and extend far beyond the rift between East Bankers (Native Jordanians) and West Bankers (Palestinian Jordanians). The reform debate pits economic liberalisers against insiders fearful of losing their privileges; and supporters of immediate democratic transition against backers of incremental constitutional reform.

“The king realizes that there is a need for reform, but people are screaming in all kinds of different directions,” says the senior western diplomat in Amman. What is more, some of the screaming is now directed at the palace itself: “People are much more openly critical, not to the point where they question the existence of the monarchy but where they question the choice of people around [the king],” the diplomat adds.

Though feted in the west, King Abdullah is not accorded the same respect and devotion at home as his father. He is said to lack King Hussein’s ability to charm and manipulate leaders of the East Bank tribes, the Hashemite dynasty’s traditional power base. Since the founding of the state in 1922, the tribes and the Hashemites have been bound by an implicit agreement, whereby the former offer unflinching loyalty in exchange for economic and political privileges.

“The East Bankers are now asking a question to the monarchy: ‘This deal that we agreed many decades ago – is it still on?’ So far, they have not heard an answer,” says one well-placed Jordanian observer. East Bankers grumble that the king has surrounded himself with a coterie of wealthy, westernized West Bank Jordanians (Palestinian Jordanians). The fact that his wife, Queen Rania, comes from a Palestinian family has provided further fuel for tribal mistrust.

Most analysts and diplomats caution against reading too much into such complaints. The idea of replacing the king or abandoning the monarchy, they say, remains anathema to the vast majority of Jordanians. He faces neither a strong opposition at home nor political pressure from abroad. Unlike so many rulers in the region, he has the time to make incremental changes.

. . .

One ticking clock the regime cannot ignore, however, is the economy. Jordan, which lacks both oil and water, has long lived beyond its means, making it dependent on the generosity of governments in the US, Europe and the Gulf. Money will almost certainly continue to flow, especially if the country fulfills its goal of joining the Gulf Co-operation Council, a Saudi-led grouping of oil-rich nations. Such transfers, however, may not be enough to cancel out the hit to Jordan’s budget from the rise in global commodity prices – and the corresponding need to boost subsidies for a restive population.

“The protesters raise a number of issues but all of them, if you examine them carefully, have to do with the same thing. Everything revolves around youth unemployment and the bad economic situation,” says Adnan Abu-Odeh, a former minister and ex-head of the royal court.

Economists argue that to boost growth and expand economic opportunities, Jordan will have to prune its bloated public sector and the privileges of regime supporters. Yet few believe such steps will be taken in the current climate. “You cannot take tough decisions without representation,” says a former Jordanian diplomat. “Economic reforms will hit many parts of society hard, and to do that without representation, without accountability and with corruption – that is a recipe for disaster.”

The problem of how to combine economic overhaul with democratic reform adds another layer of complexity. To progress down one track while ignoring the other will be hard. To move ahead on both simultaneously will take skill, determination and a reformist mindset few policymakers in Amman seem to have. “There are,” says Mr Hamarneh, “very few real democrats in the executive.”

Sunday’s announcement of a constitutional overhaul signals that the palace is aware of the risk of standing still. In Jordan, however, it rarely pays to bet against the status quo...

Source: Financial Times.
Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/defa5446-c737-11e0-a9ef-00144feabdc0.html.

Assad targets Palestinian refugees

2012-01-19T13:33:00.002+02:00

By AGENCIES
Aug 15, 2011

BEIRUT: More than 5,000 Palestinian refugees have fled a camp in the besieged Syrian city of Latakia after President Bashar Assad's forces shelled the city during a broad military assault to root out dissent, the UN said Monday.

UNRWA, the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees, said the Palestinians fled after Latakia came under fire from gunboats cruising off the coast and ground troops attacking the city over the weekend. It was not immediately clear where the refugees were seeking shelter.

"We are calling for access to the camp to find out what is going on," said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness. "There were 10,000 refugees in the camp and we need to find out what is happening to them."

Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo denounced the attack on the Ramel camp and said such violence was "part of the crimes against humanity" targeting Palestinians and Syrians alike.

The Local Coordination Committees, an activist group that helps organize protests in Syria, also confirmed troops fired at fleeing families. It said random gunfire erupted Monday in addition to a campaign of raids and house-to-house arrests.

Troops later entered small neighborhoods in the Ramel Palestinian refugee camp, warning people to leave or risk their houses being destroyed, the LCC said. A witness said security forces were rounding up young men in the area and detaining them in a sports stadium nearby.

Amateur videos posted online by activists showed smoke rising from Ramel, the crackle of heavy gunfire and people shouting, "Allah-o-Akbar!"

Assad has dramatically escalated the crackdown on a five-month-old uprising since the start of Ramadan. Despite blistering international outrage, the regime is trying to establish firm control in rebellious areas by unleashing tanks, snipers and — in a new tactic — gunships.

On Monday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on Syria to immediately end the bloodshed and threatened unspecified "steps" if it fails to do so.

"If the operations do not end, there would be nothing more to discuss about steps that would be taken," Davutoglu said, without elaborating.

Turkey, a former close ally of Syria, has been increasingly frustrated with Damascus' brutal crackdown. Davutoglu traveled to Syria last week and urged Assad to end the bloodshed. But Turkey, Syria's neighbor and an important trade partner, has not joined the US and Europe in imposing sanctions.

The military assault in Latakia was in its third day Monday after gunboats off the coast combined with ground troops Sunday for the first time in the uprising. Nearly 30 people, and possibly more, have been killed in the city since Saturday, activists say.

The London-based Observatory for human rights said troops opened fire Monday as a group of fleeing residents approached a checkpoint in the Ein Tamra district of Latakia. One person was shot dead and five wounded. A Latakia resident confirmed the account, saying troops fired as scores of people, many of them women and children, were fleeing.

Soldiers also stormed the area of Houla in the central city of Homs, which has seen massive protests in recent months. A sniper killed an elderly man, according to the Observatory, which has a network of activists on the ground in Syria. The group said more than 700 people have been arrested in and around Homs since the beginning of August.

The attacks in Latakia, which began Saturday, were the latest wave of a brutal offensive that shows Assad has no intention of scaling back despite international outrage and new U.S. and European sanctions.

As the gunships blasted waterfront districts Sunday, ground troops and security forces backed by tanks and armored vehicles stormed several neighborhoods, sending terrified women and children fleeing...

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article489142.ece.

Jordan Islamists see proposed constitutional amendments inadequate

2012-01-19T13:32:00.003+02:00

By ABDUL JALIL MUSTAFA | ARAB NEWS
Aug 15, 2011

AMMAN: Jordan’s main opposition party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), said Monday the recommended amendments to the constitution included "positive aspects”, but fell short of meeting the people’s aspirations.

"We see that the amendments, despite their importance, do not respond completely to the demands of the Jordanian people, given the transformations currently experienced by the region,” the IAF said in a statement.

A royal committee that was set up three months ago by King Abdullah for the revision of the constitution submitted its recommendations to the monarch on Sunday.

The king described the proposed amendments as a "historical” achievement that put Jordan on the threshold of a new era of political reform.

The panel proposed, among other things, the setting up of a constitutional court, the supervision of general elections by an independent body, the trial of cabinet ministers by civil courts and strictly defining the need for the government to adopt temporary laws.

The IAF, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, described the proposed amendments as "positive aspects”, but demanded further revisions of the constitution in order to ensure "a promising transition to the future and to surmount the crisis we live”.

The further amendments proposed by Islamists included naming prime ministers from coalitions enjoying parliamentary majorities and the election of the upper house of Parliament.

"These amendments will prove that the nation is the source of powers and elevates Jordan to the rank of democratic states,” the IAF statement said.

So far, the king used to appoint prime ministers and to name members of the upper house, the senate, from citizens with outstanding records in the public life.

King Abdullah set up the royal committee for the revision of the constitution in May at the height of pro-reform protests that were inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article489136.ece.

Israel to promote pro-abuse colonel

2012-01-19T13:32:00.000+02:00

Tue Aug 16, 2011

The Israeli military plans to promote a colonel that has defended abusive measures against Palestinian detainees to the head commander of the infantry and paratrooper corps.

Colonel Itai Virov is to also become a brigadier-general as part of the promotion, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on Tuesday.

Testifying at the 2009 trial of an Israeli lieutenant, who was convicted of assaulting Palestinians, Virov proclaimed that "a slap, sometimes a blow to the neck or chest, or sometimes choking to calm down [a suspect], is reasonable."

Under certain situations, he testified, "a blow…is an integral part of carrying out an assignment."

Nearly 9,000 Palestinians are held in detention by the Tel Aviv regime. Their relatives have for long been calling on human rights organizations and groups to intervene in efforts to secure the release of their loved ones -- many of whom have been incarcerated without charge, trial or sentencing.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, nearly 200 Palestinian inmates have so far died in Israeli confinement, either due to medical negligence or under torture.

Haim Erlich, director general of Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, said the decision to promote 'someone who justified the beating-up of innocent civilians,' showed that the military “has not come to terms with the importance of attitudes displayed toward a civilian Palestinian population."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194143.html.

Attacks leave at least 10 dead in central Nigeria

2012-01-19T13:31:00.002+02:00

JOS, NIGERIA (BNO NEWS) – At least ten people are feared killed after attacks in two villages in central Nigeria on early Monday morning, officials said.

The attacks occurred at around 12:30 a.m. local time in the villages of Heipang and Korut in the Barkin Ladi area of Jos, Plateau State, government officials told Thisday newspaper on Tuesday.

According to Barkin Ladi’s local government council chairman Emmanuel Lomang, four military ID cards were found at the scene of one of the attacks and are believed to have been behind the attack. The chairman said gunshots were fired to scare the people, but moments later, a house was attacked and seven people of the same family were chopped with machetes and killed.

Another man was killed after answering the door. According to the man’s wife, Margaret Deme, the men who shot her husband were dressed in black and accompanied by military personnel.

The attack continued at another house where two brothers – Samuel and Adamu Gwom – were also shot and killed. The mother of the two brothers, Ngo Chang Gwom, also confirmed that the perpetrators were dressed in black and escorted by the military.

Despite military Special Task Force’s Captain Charles Ekeocha confirming the attack, he argued that military personnel had arrived at the area to repel the attack. During the operation, Ekeocha explained, gun shots were fired against the troops, who retaliated and killed one of the attackers. He was later transferred to the mortuary at Jos University Teaching Hospital, he added.

Following the attacks, local youths protested. Ekeocha said the demonstrations turned violent as vehicles were stoned and military barracks were ransacked. To avoid further problems, troops were withdrawn to the Mararaban-Jama’a area of Jos.

Ethnic clashes between Fulanis, who are majority Muslims, and Beroms, who are mostly Christians, are not uncommon in Jos and its surrounding areas.

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19475/attacks-leave-at-least-10-dead-in-central-nigeria/.

Caspian Sea States sign deal to enhance responses against oil pollution

2012-01-19T13:30:00.000+02:00

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — The five countries bordering the Caspian Sea have undertaken the commitment to strengthen regional responses to oil pollution in the world’s largest enclosed body of water, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced on Monday.

High-level representatives from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan met last week in the Kazakhstan city of Aktau for the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 3) to the Tehran Convention, a legally-binding agreement signed by all parties on the environmental protection of the Caspian region, to which UNEP provides the Secretariat.

“The adoption of the Protocol Concerning Regional Preparedness, Response and Cooperation in Combating Oil Pollution Incidents by the five Caspian States marks a historic milestone in their determination to protect and preserve the Caspian Sea environment against the threats posed by oil pollution,” UNEP said in a statement issued on Monday.

According to UNEP, once the five signing countries ratify the Protocol, it will see the introduction of an emergency response system to deal with oil pollution incidents as well as enhance monitoring measures across national borders.

Over the last two decades, the Caspian Sea has become increasingly exposed to the risk of pollution from oil and gas exploration, exploitation and transport, with the transport of oil or oil products accounting for some 10,000 shipping movements annually.

The countries have also agreed on an environmental impact assessment by establishing a set of common rules that include notifying one another of planned activities which may cause any damage to the marine environment.

The specific characteristics of the Caspian basin such as its climatic and salinity gradients have created a unique ecological system with more than 400 endemic species.

The biodiversity of the site includes 115 species of fish, among them the caviar-bearing Caspian sturgeon and the rare freshwater seal, which are endangered by over-exploitation, habitat destruction and pollution, the UNEP report stated.

“Improving knowledge about potential environmental impacts is the very backbone of international environmental cooperation and good inter-State relationships,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said during the Aktau meeting. “Addressing concerns related to potential adverse environmental trans-boundary impacts is the best recipe for preventing such impacts and safeguarding peace and stability.”

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19479/caspian-sea-states-sign-deal-to-enhance-responses-against-oil-pollution/.

Morocco considers early elections

2012-01-19T13:29:00.003+02:00

2011-08-15

Some 20 Moroccan political parties on Sunday (August 14th) agreed "in principle" to hold early parliamentary elections this fall, Al Jazeera reported. "The (interior) ministry has proposed to political parties that November 11th be the tentative date for early parliamentary polls," government spokesman Khalid Naciri was quoted as saying. "Now the parties and the ministry will need to agree on the election system that needs to be adopted, the election laws and whether we should have separate national lists for (electing) women and young people," he added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/15/newsbrief-04.

'Rahma' restaurants help needy Algerians during Ramadan

2012-01-19T13:29:00.000+02:00

Free meals, food baskets and financial support are being handed out to poor families across Algeria as part of holy month celebrations.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 15/08/11

Many needy Algerian families rely on the generosity of the state and private individuals for food during the holy month of Ramadan. Free meals, home-delivered food baskets and financial support are the primary forms of help.

According to the Ministry of Solidarity, nearly 1.5 million needy families will benefit from the food donations. Disadvantaged families and individuals with special needs, such as the disabled, receive baskets containing vegetables, fruit and dairy products necessary for a balanced diet.

More than five million meals are also being served at some 691 "rahma" (mercy) restaurants across the country. Roughly 13,000 volunteers have been recruited to help with the task. The Algerian Red Crescent, the Muslim Scouts and charities are all involved in running and funding the restaurants. Health inspection committees are monitoring the restaurants to prevent any outbreak of food poisoning.

A national committee with provincial and commune-level offices has been set up to organize the solidarity effort.

In Algiers alone, more than 27,000 food baskets and more than 90,000 envelopes containing money were distributed within the first nine days of the month, Radia Benmiloud, head of the Department for Social Action said August 10th.

Benmiloud stated that the baskets, which contain food between 6,000 and 9,000 dinars in value, include basic essentials such as couscous, flour, sugar, coffee, rice, dried vegetables and oil.

"The work of the national solidarity sector and the province and communes of Algiers has been co-ordinated with the contributions of benefactors in order to ensure that this expression of collective generosity will be successful," she said.

As for the direct financial support, she said: "Money orders of between 6,000 and 10,000 dinars, according to the funds available within each commune, were given after the individual needs of certain needy families had been examined".

In Algiers alone, nearly 190,000 eat-in meals and 57,730 take-away meals have been served, Benmiloud said. Homeless people, travelers passing through Algiers and those who are apart from their loved ones and cannot afford a substantial meal are able to visit any of 143 free restaurants.

Mokrane, who is unemployed, visited a "rahma restaurant" on Rue Larbi Ben M'hidi in central Algiers. Although the meals, which consist of a starter, a main course and a dessert, are free, the way in which they are served left something to be desired, in his opinion.

"In order to serve everyone, over a hundred people, the staff must sometimes serve the meals more than an hour before the fast ends. As a result, the meals are cold and lose their flavor," he told Magharebia.

Hamid, a waiter, told Magharebia that was to be expected "given the large number of diners who queue up before the restaurant opens, if you want to eat when the muezzin calls".

"We don't need to serve up haute cuisine," said Salah, another diner. "The food is given to us free of charge and it's just as good as what you could have at home if your financial situation was better than ours."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/15/feature-03.

Tunisian Amazighs form cultural association

2012-01-19T13:27:00.002+02:00

After years of restrictions under the Ben Ali regime, Tunisia's Amazighs are looking to revive their ancient heritage.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 15/08/11

The Tunisian revolution ushered in a new era of freedom for the country's Amazigh population, allowing the once neglected minority to form its own associations to protect its heritage.

In the latest breakthrough for the community, the Tunisian Amazigh Culture Association (TACA) on July 30th received a license allowing it to work on reviving and developing Amazigh culture after years of restrictions under the former regime.

TACA, whose development began last April, aims to secure recognition of the Amazighs as a main component of the Tunisian identity and to rehabilitate their history by reviving their heritage and recognizing their culture. This is in addition to preserving Amazigh traditions, maintaining the architecture of Tunisian villages that have an Amazigh character and working to include them in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

"The number of Amazighs in Tunisia is not more than 100,000 citizens, but their history is very old. Therefore, the Tunisian society has to recognize them as a minority without any prejudices, marginalization or exclusion," TACA president Khadija Ben Saidane said during a press conference. Amazighs are spread throughout villages in southern Tunisia, such as Matmata and Djerba.

"Our goals are represented by shedding light on the Amazigh civilization of Tunisia both inside and outside the country, appreciating such civilization and using it for the service of economic and social development, especially in Amazigh-speaking areas," TACA secretary-general Jalloul Gharki said. "This is in addition to helping in building an integrated Tunisian culture based on plurality, diversity, difference and participation without any exclusion or marginalization."

The Amazighs predate the Arabs in North Africa, and the two cultures mixed during the Islamic conquest. There are also still some tribes that speak Tamazight in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Khadija Ben Saidane called on the next Constituent Assembly to recognize the Amazigh presence in the next Tunisian constitution, and to include the teaching of Amazigh language in schools as an optional language in the curricula.

"This is our demand, and the Tunisian state must recognize the Amazigh culture and language and work to develop them like Algeria and Morocco," said Abdel Razak Choui, a Tunisian of Amazigh origin.

"It's something that inspires optimism," said Ahmed Ouzal of the establishment of the TACA. "Now, our work will be more organized, and through this association, we will seek to defend our culture and very old history. We will also prove that the Amazigh is a main component of Tunisian society, and that it is still clear in its habits and traditions up till now."

However, some people oppose the demands of the Amazighs in Tunisia and argue that such a representative body could lead to strife and divisions inside the Tunisian society and may even threaten national unity.

In his turn, Amine Moudi, a young Algerian, said: "They were able to penetrate even Tunisia where there is a small percentage of Amazighs. What do they want from us? Tunisia is a part of the Arab Maghreb."

"There is nothing that indicates that there has been an Amazigh problem in Tunisia so far," Abdel Jawad Rhaeim said. "The Amazighs are a part of Tunisia, but this doesn't mean that they are the identity of Tunisia."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/15/feature-02.

DRC gears up for November election

2012-01-19T13:26:00.003+02:00

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Election officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo said more people registered to vote for November presidential elections than expected.

Voters in the DRC head to the polls to elect their next president in November. Slightly more than 25 million people registered for the 2006 vote. Officials at the country's Independent National Electoral Commission said more than 31 million people have registered for November's vote.

"It is more than we expected," election commission Chairman Daniel Ngoy Mulunda was quoted by Zambian newspaper Newsday as saying.

Incumbent President Joseph Kabila will likely square off against rivals including the country's former House Speaker Vital Kamerhe.

The Zambian report notes 2006 runner-up Jean-Pierre Bemba is unlikely to compete in the November contest because he faces charges at the International Criminal Court.

In a July travel warning, the U.S. State Department said elements within the Congolese military and rebel forces pose a significant security threat.

Militants with the Lord's Resistance Army operate along the border with the DRC, Uganda, Central African Republic and South Sudan.

Witness accounts said armed members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, and the Mai Mai militia were behind the sexual violence in DRC. The FDLR is linked to the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/15/DRC-gears-up-for-November-election/UPI-13371313429257/.

Kyrgyz presidential bidders line up

2012-01-19T13:26:00.000+02:00

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The Kyrgyz prime minister entered the race to become the country's next president in elections scheduled for October, his party said Monday.

An April 2010 coup in Kyrgyzstan forced President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee his stronghold in the south of the country to Belarus. Since the 2010 coup, the country had parliamentary elections and formed a unity government under Roza Otunbayeva.

Otunbayeva is ineligible to seek the presidency after her interim tenure expires Dec. 31. Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev was introduced by the country's Social Democratic Party as its candidate for president, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports.

The report adds there are 70 people, ranging from the country's envoy to Kazakhstan, journalists and farmers, who've added their names to the list of presidential candidates.

To run, candidates need to collect more than 30,000 signatures in support of their bid for president by Aug. 25 and raise about $2,500.

After the coup, at least 400 people were killed during June 2010 violence between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the southern regions of Osh and Jalal Abad. Human rights groups note Kyrgyzstan has a long way to go before ethnic rifts are mended.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/15/Kyrgyz-presidential-bidders-line-up/UPI-19781313423979/.

Bahrainis urge release of prisoners

2012-01-14T13:48:00.002+02:00

Mon Aug 15, 2011

Bahraini demonstrators have once again held rallies in several villages to demand the release of political prisoners and the pullout of the Saudi forces from their country.

Despite the government crackdown on protests, peaceful Bahraini demonstrators took to the streets on Monday to continue voicing their demands.

Thousands of protesters poured into the streets in the villages of Sitra, A'ali, Sanabis and several other locations on Sunday, calling for the downfall of the Al Khalifa regime.

Anti-government protesters have been holding protest rallies in Bahrain since mid-February.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed military forces to Bahrain in mid-March to assist the Manama government in its brutal crackdown on the popular protests.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more arrested in Bahrain since mid-February. Numerous protesters have also been detained and transferred to unknown locations during the brutal onslaught on protesters.

Amnesty International has condemned the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests and detention of Bahraini demonstrators.

According to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, there are currently over 1,000 political detainees inside the Middle Eastern country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194028.html.