Libya to host Turkish trade delegation

(Magharebia) Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan will lead a delegation of contracting companies to Libya on Tuesday (January 5th), Turkish press reported. Caglayan will meet with Libyan Prime Minister Ali al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi and attend a Turkish-Libyan contracting business forum. Turkish contracting projects in Libya over the last three years are reportedly worth more than $11 billion.

King Mohammed VI replaces 5 cabinet ministers

(Magharebia) King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Monday (January 4th) appointed five new cabinet ministers. Supreme Court president Taib Cherkaoui replaced Chakib Benmoussa as interior minister, while lawyer Mohammed Naciri replaced Abdelouahed Radi as justice minister. Yassir Znagui was appointed tourism minister, Driss Lachguer was named minister in charge of relations with parliament and Mohamed Saad Alami was appointed deputy minister for modernization of the public sector. The partial cabinet reshuffle aims to "give greater momentum to major development projects and structural institutional reforms", the royal council said in a statement.

Morocco moves to create regionalisation program

Supporters of a recently announced plan to give Morocco's regional governments more control over their future say such moves will boost sustainable development.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 05/01/10

Morocco is moving ahead with an initiative to give regional authorities more power to determine their own paths to development based on local conditions.

King Mohammed VI on January 3rd addressed a 22-member advisory committee tasked with drafting a regionalisation plan within six months.

The king said regionalisation would include the division of power and resources among local councils, within a decentralized system of government. The initiative would also encourage inter-regional coordination, and a more participatory approach to government.

One of the key objectives of the program will be to benefit the "southern provinces," according to the king.

The advisory committee will have to devise "a model that takes account of the situation in Morocco and is inspired by other, successful models on the international stage," said political science professor Fouad Madani.

"Regionalisation will help ensure that development targets are met, because each region will run its own affairs in accordance with its particular circumstances and resources while observing the principle of inter-regional solidarity," added Madani.

The committee must find ways to boost the power of regions so they can effectively contribute to Morocco's socio-economic and cultural development, Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi said in a press statement released on January 3rd.

"The committee will listen to the parties concerned and local, regional and national experts," he said. "It has much work to do."

The committee, which is led by Morocco's ambassador to Spain, Omar Azzamine, is expected to deliver its report within six months.

Observers and politicians welcomed the initiative and said it would have a positive impact on development.

"Regionalisation will enable each region to run its own affairs effectively and allow regions to make the best use of their human, economic and cultural resources," said Zineb El Adaoui, who heads the regional body of auditors in Rabat.

"The enhanced regionalisation plan will create a precedent for how the regionalisation process will be implemented nationwide," said Party of Authenticity and Modernity secretary general Mohammed Cheikh Biadillah. "This will help achieve sustainable development."

Political analyst Mohammed Grine said the purpose of the committee was two-fold. Its first aim, a strategic one, will be to transform initial efforts made towards regionalisation into a concrete and large-scale system.

In this vein, Morocco initiated the regionalisation of health care and services in 2006, which encouraged regions to take responsibility for their own medical infrastructure. It also launched an urban decentralization program in 2009.

The second aim, Grine claimed, is linked to Morocco's concerns about the Western Sahara issue.

"It [the regionalisation initiative] sends out a message to the Polisario," said Grine. "Morocco will not wait forever for negotiations. While seeking a solution through the United Nations, Morocco is taking concrete action."

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/01/05/feature-03.

A Sikh Leader: India Is Behind The Fake Taliban, Why Are Pakistan Officials Silent?

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
By OmEr Jamil

A Sikh Leader: India Is Behind The Fake Taliban, Why Are Pakistan Officials Silent?

The suicide bombers and throat-slitters are not Arab Mujahedeen or Afghan Taliban. This ‘expertise’ has been introduced by the Indians and the Israelis in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The crimes of the Indian-groomed Taliban have nothing to do with the Afghan Taliban fighting inside their own country and the Kashmiri freedom fighters inside their own territory. The question is: Why is the Pakistani government continues to feel ashamed in standing up for Pakistan?

By Dr. Awatar S. Sekhon

July 18, 2009

Proof of Indian weapons and special-ops agents have been discovered in Swat and Balochistan. The evidence is so damning that US officials had no choice but to oblige Pakistan and directly ask Indian Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Defense Miniser to tame Indian terror-breeding operations in Afghanistan aimed at Pakistan. Manmohan Singh, confronted by the Pakistani Prime Minister with evidence in Egypt, had no choice but to agree to refer to Indian terrorism in Balochistan in the joint statement.

It was an amazing revelation by a serving Maj. General of Pakistan army in-charge of the Swat operation during an interview with Aaj television news channel.

Maj. Gen. Sajjad Ghani has revealed the following points backed by evidence:



1. Swat valley was occupied by criminals with full money and logistical support of India.
2. The entire operation was planned by Indian military officers posted to several locations in Afghanistan
3. The Indian ‘footprint’ in Swat and the Pakistani tribal belt includes: Indian currency, Indian bullets, Indian small explosives, Indian heavy explosives, and other items that indicate links to Indian army’s command and control setup.
4. Special hideouts [tunnels, caves, underground passageways] created by Indian expertise and machinery. This technology cannot be available to amateur fighters.
5. Blood banks and all the supporting products, i.e., fresh frozen plasma, etc., to help the fighters sustain a long term war.

All this evidence helps in reaching the following conclusions:

1. Sufi Muhammad, Baitullah Mehsud, Fazlullah are all Indian agents, fully in contact with senior officers from R&AW and Defense Intelligence Agency posted in Afghanistan
2. All crimes on Pakistani soil, including the destruction of schools of girls and boys and the slaughter of innocent people were done on orders from Indian assets on the ground and inside the nearby Afghan provinces. These were effectively Indian actions of war against Pakistan
3. This Indian free hand in Afghanistan and inside Pakistan’s Balochistan and NWFP says a lot about the inefficiency of the Pakistani government
4. All suicide bombings in Pakistan are linked to fake Indian-groomed Taliban in Afghanistan, which was built by recruiting brainwashed young men misled into believing they are fighting a jihad against America. The suicide bombings in Pakistan are Indian acts of war. Make no mistake about it.
5. Islam and Muslims are defamed by Indians and their allies. Unfortunately, the Pakistani government and media are hands in glove with this demonization of Pakistan. Instead of asking questions they simply repeat what is fed to them like parrots.
6. Pakistan is losing the support of the mujahedeen who are keeping the Indians at bay in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
7. This tactic of pitching the fake Taliban with the Pakistani military has resulted in a confrontation between the Pakistani army and the Mujahedeen. The fact is that the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan and Kashmir have nothing to do with the crimes of the Indian-groomed fake Taliban.

The Indian activities in Afghanistan have gone undetected for a long time. But now enough evidence has been collected to indict the Indian government and military for indulging in the worst forms of terror breeding.

Here are some signs of the crimes the Indians are involved in inside U.S.-occupied Afghanistan:

1. Many psychological-operations experts and experts in Islamic indoctrination and what generally is known as ‘mind-messing professionals’ have been deployed in special training camps. These people introduce themselves as Mujahedeen to new recruits, brainwash them and then use them inside Pakistan.
2. The slitting of throats is a new tactic introduced by the Indian terrorism trainers to demoralize Pakistan and show the Afghan Taliban in a wrong light. The suicide bombings are not the result of Arab influence here as the British and American media claims. It is also the result of Israeli experts bringing in their expertise in penetrating Islamic groups. How silly it is that Arabs would arrive in this region to kill Pakistanis and spare the Am-Brit occupiers of Afghanistan all these months.
3. The Mumbai terrorist act appears to be a joint Israeli and Indian event. Both countries have secret close cooperation in the areas of intelligence and countering Muslim groups. The Israeli eagerness to help India against Pakistan is amazing both in Kashmir and Afghanistan is amazing.
4. It is not clear yet if the lone surviving terrorist, Ajmal Qassab, is indeed Pakistani. India has offered no solid evidence proving this and it is shameful that the Pakistani government is not making this public despite the fact that independent investigators from Interpol verify this fact.
5. Qassab means butcher in Urdu/Arabic. In Pakistan, hardly anyone retains this surname. If Qassab is not an Indian who played the role of a Pakistani terrorist, then he certainly is someone who has been duped into joining the group that conducted the operation. Indian explanations regarding the bodies of the rest of the terrorists, their DNA samples, their origins, are misleading and confusing at best, which destroys the entire Indian case against Kashmiri freedom fighters inside Pakistan.
6. Important parts of the Mumbai operation were planned and conducted outside Pakistan. Also, the Indian security failures in Mumbai are suspicious at best. There is more in this case than meets the eye. Pakistan should be under no compulsion to accept the Indian version of events and should advise the same to the international community. Instead, the Pakistani government has chosen complete surrender.

A large number of uncircumcized professionally-trained foreign fighters have been found within the ranks of the so-called ‘Pakistani Taliban’.

All of the above raises serious questions about the silence of the Pakistani government on the disturbing and treacherous Indian behavior:

1. Why the Pakistan Government is not protesting against Indian invasion into Swat and other cities of Pakistan?
2. Why Pakistan Government is silent over the Indian attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team?
3. Why Pakistan Government is not using Interpol services to get Altaf Hussain and hang him for his numerous murders and acts of terrorism? Why the Pakistani Government is not asking Kabul to hand over the terrorist Brahamdagh Bugti and hang him for killing innocent Pakistanis, and for the crimes of his grandfather the tyrant Akbar Bugti who killed hundreds of poor Pakistani Balochis and displaced thousands of poor Pakistani Balochis?
4. Why hardcore criminals have been protected under the umbrella of Musharraf’s NRO?
5. Why Mr. Nawaz Sharif and other Pakistani leaders have sold themselves to the devil, keeping totally silent, deaf and dumb on these issues? Why is power more important to them than anything else?
6. Why are we helping those forces which are supporting Indian and Israeli terrorism in Pakistan? We know the forces behind the so-called BLA and MQM. The question is: Why is the government supporting these forces?
7. Why Hamudur Rehman Commission recommendations have not been implemented in letter and spirit?
8. And why did we not learn lesson from East Pakistan bitter experience?

Source: Haqeeqat.org.
Link: http://www.haqeeqat.org/2009/07/22/a-sikh-leader-india-is-behind-the-fake-taliban-why-are-pakistan-officials-silent/.

Moon rock going back to space

A moon rock collected during the historic Apollo 11 mission more than 40 years ago will be heading back to space and a new home aboard the International Space Station, sharing quarters with a piece of Mt. Everest.

On May 20, 2009, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski carried the rock to the top of Mt. Everest where he collected a rock from the world's highest mountain to accompany the lunar sample for its return to space.

On Jan. 6 at Space Center Houston, Parazynski will present both rocks to NASA astronaut and STS-130 mission Commander George Zamka. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the space station during space shuttle Endeavour's mission next month.

Collected from the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface, the moon rock and its Mt. Everest companion will be displayed inside the station's Tranquility module, which the STS-130 crew will deliver to the station.

During the presentation, Parazynski shared the story of his journey to the top of the world and what inspired him to carry along the lunar sample, followed by an audience question and answer session. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon CST in the Blast Off Theater in the Mission Status Center at Space Center Houston.

NASA Television will air a recording of the event at 3:30 p.m.

Source: Houston Community Newspapers.
Link: http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/01/05/bay_area_citizen/news/1moonrock7.txt.

Spain takes over EU presidency as Turkey eyes progress

January 4, 2010

Spain assumed the presidency of the European Union, the first presidency under the 27-nation’s new structure created by the Lisbon Treaty.

Spain, a staunch supporter of Turkey’s membership bid, which also co-sponsors the UN Alliance of Civilizations together with Ankara, took over the rotating presidency from Sweden. It will hold the position for the next six months.

Turkey’s accession negotiations, however, are unlikely to make drastic progress during the Spanish presidency, although Turkish leaders say the process needs to speed up to avoid a further decline in public support for membership at home. The entry talks risk coming to a standstill now that a number of negotiating chapters have been frozen. The EU suspended talks on eight chapters in 2006 due to Turkey’s refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from member Greek Cyprus, while France and Greek Cyprus have unilaterally blocked the opening of talks on a total of 10 other chapters.

Turkey and the EU opened talks on only two chapters in 2009 and progress is expected to slow down further in the coming years given the small number of chapters left open for negotiations and the level of complexity of the available chapters.

In a short video posted on the official Web site of the Spanish presidency of the EU, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero outlined the priorities for his country’s term at the helm of the EU as a smooth implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, which went into force on Dec.1, and tackling Europe’s economic woes. Zapatero said that under the Lisbon Treaty, the EU must work to assert itself more on the global stage as it deals with powerhouses like the United States and China.

“We have to make Europe an ever stronger factor in the international context; a Europe that defends and extends the values of peace, cooperation, and dialogue among all peoples and nations,” Zapatero said.

One of the key goals of the Lisbon Treaty is to streamline the EU’s decision-making procedures so the bloc can act more quickly. It also created the post of full-time president, Belgium’s Herman Van Rompuy, and named a new foreign policy chief, Britain’s Catherine Ashton, but retained the system of rotating presidencies for handling the bloc’s day-to-day affairs.

Spain will continue to chair important EU ministerial meetings on the economy, the environment and energy during its presidency and will host several summits, including one between the bloc and the United States in May which President Barack Obama is expected to attend.

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=211319.

Hamas pledges loyalty to Arabs

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has assured Saudi Arabia his movement is loyal to Arab states, the kingdom's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said on Tuesday.

"I asked Khaled Meshaal whether the movement stood with Arabs or with others," Prince Saud said, referring to Iran, a strong regional backer of Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza.

"Meshaal insisted that Hamas was an Arab movement and that the Palestinian question was an Arab issue," the Saudi minister said at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The exchange between Prince Saud and Meshaal occurred on Sunday during a visit by the Hamas leader to Saudi Arabia.

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite non-Arab Iran have been traditional rivals in the Middle East.

Tensions have recently mounted between the two as Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supporting Huthi rebels in northern Yemen, which the kingdom has fought along its border with Yemen.

Prince Saud's visit to Egypt is part of a string of regional meetings aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which have been stalled for a year.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II were in Egypt on Monday for talks with Mubarak, a week after a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Sunday in Riyadh, Meshaal said Egyptian-led talks aimed at reconciling the Palestinian Islamist movement and its rival Fatah were close to bearing fruit.

US President Barack Obama has repeatedly called on Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, but the Palestinians have demanded Israel first freeze all settlement activity and commit to a framework for the talks.

The Palestinians have insisted the borders of their promised state encompass all of their land Israel occupied in 1967, including mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- which Israel later annexed in a move not recognized by the international community -- as their capital.

Hamas's takeover of Gaza in 2007, which shrank Abbas' powerbase to the West Bank and deepened Palestinian divisions, has also hampered peace talks with Israel.

Source: The Himalayan Times.
Link: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Hamas+pledges+loyalty+to+Arabs&NewsID=219133.