Fazl demands judicial probe into Peshawar church attack

2013-09-25

APP and DAWN.COM

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Tuesday demanded a high level commission of Supreme Court to probe the twin suicide bombing at a Peshawar church.

He said that anti-peace elements were involved in the incident to destabilize the peace in the country.

In a statement issued by his party’s spokesman Jan Achakzai, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that Taliban have no connection with the incident as they neither take responsibility of the incident nor expressed any link with it.

The main spokesperson for the umbrella Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group told a foreign news agency that they were not responsible of the attack that killed more than 80 and injured at least 140 on Sunday.

“We haven’t done this nor do we attack innocent people,” Shahidullah Shahid, the main TTP spokesperson told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

“Whenever we carry out an attack we claim it, but the Taliban are not involved in this attack. It was an attempt to sabotage the atmosphere of the proposed peace talks.”

Maulana Fazl said elements which do not want an end to US drone strikes in Pakistan were behind linking the attack to Taliban.

“Some people were trying to sabotage the potential dialogue process with Pakistani Taliban by connecting the incident with them,” he observed.

Citing Sri Lankan cricket team attack and kidnapping of Chinese Engineers, the JUI-F chief said that no investigation were carried out to ascertain ‘elements’ behind those incidents also.

Source: DAWN.
Link: http://www.dawn.com/news/1045213/fazl-demands-judicial-probe-into-peshawar-church-attack.

Pakistani Taliban, army exchange prisoners

September 11, 2013

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban and the army exchanged prisoners Wednesday as a confidence building measure ahead of possible peace talks, intelligence officials and a militant commander said.

The exchange included six militants and two paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers, officials and the commander said. It occurred in the Shawal area of the South Waziristan tribal region. The militants were subsequently taken to neighboring North Waziristan, the country's main Taliban sanctuary.

Militants fired in the air with joy when their colleagues were freed, the intelligence officials said. The officials and the Taliban commander spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists

The release occurred only days after Pakistan's main political parties endorsed peace negotiations with the Taliban and their allies Monday as the best way to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

The exchange was meant to build confidence between the government and the militants before formal peace talks, the Taliban commander said. Senior Taliban leaders are currently discussing whether to take the government up on its offer to hold negotiations, said the commander and one of his colleagues.

The Taliban said they were open to talks at the end of last year but withdrew that offer in May after the group's deputy leader was killed in a U.S. drone strike. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif campaigned on a platform of holding peace talks and has maintained that line since he took office in June. He scored a victory when his stance was endorsed by other parties on Monday — a decision that was generally welcomed by the Taliban.

But there are plenty of skeptics who doubt negotiations actually will bring lasting peace. The government has struck various peace deals with the Taliban in the past, but all have fallen apart. Critics say the agreements simply gave the militants time to regroup and continue their fight against the state.

"Not only is the path well worn, it is also a path that has on every previous occasion been attempted and led to failure, mutual recrimination and renewed bloodshed," an editorial published Wednesday in The Express Tribune newspaper said.

The editorial also pointed out that it's unclear with whom exactly the government would negotiate. Analysts say there are more than 100 militant groups operating in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border with varying levels of allegiance.

"Then there is the question of just what is on the table, what is up for negotiation," the editorial said. "No iteration of the Taliban either historically or in recent years has wanted anything other than the dismantling of the democratic process, the dissolution of legislatures at the federal and provincial levels, and the imposition of their own narrow interpretation of religion."

It's also unclear what kind of negotiated peace Pakistan's army, considered the country's most powerful institution, would accept after losing hundreds of its soldiers in combat with the Taliban. A peace deal could worry the United States if it gives more breathing room to Afghan militants in Pakistan who carry out cross-border attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

The Afghan and Pakistani Taliban are allies but have aimed their guns at different targets. The Afghan Taliban have fought coalition forces in Afghanistan, while the Pakistani Taliban have taken on the government at home.

Pakistan to free former Taliban second in command

Reuters
Tuesday, Sep 10, 2013

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will release former Afghan Taliban second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, as soon as this month to help advance peace efforts in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan's foreign policy chief said on Tuesday.

Pakistan is under growing pressure to free senior Taliban figures, particularly Baradar, to boost reconciliation efforts, as most NATO combat troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and anxiety grows over the country's security.

"In principle, we have agreed to release him. The timing is being discussed. It should be very soon ... I think within this month," Sartaj Aziz, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's adviser on foreign affairs, told Reuters.

Baradar's fate is at the heart of Afghanistan's efforts to kick start the stalled peace process and push Pakistan to hand over important Taliban captives who could provide leverage in the negotiations.

Aziz said, however, that Baradar would not be handed over to Afghanistan directly as some in Kabul had hoped, and would instead be released straight into Pakistan.

The Afghan government believes Baradar is more open to dialogue than many of his comrades, but it is not clear whether he would promote peace or war against President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government after his release.

One of the most ruthless Taliban figures, he was given his nom de guerre of "Baradar", or "brother", by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Aziz said it was important to make sure the released Taliban prisoners had a chance to establish contact with their leadership on the ground to persuade them to be part of peace talks - an idea he said Karzai has agreed to.

"Obviously Karzai wanted him to go to Afghanistan, but we feel that if they are to play a positive role in the reconciliation process then they must do it according to what their own Shura (Council), their own leadership, wants them to do," he said.

"That they can't do unless they are released. ... I think he (Karzai) accepted this point that they should play a constructive role in the peace process."

Aziz's remarks followed last month's trip by Karzai to Pakistan, where he sought the handover of some Afghan insurgents as part of the stalled peace process.

On Saturday, Pakistan freed a group of Taliban in an attempt to improve its troubled relations with Afghanistan, but once again risked angering Kabul by not handing them over directly.

Afghanistan fears that Pakistan is only pretending to support dialogue while its intelligence agencies harbor Taliban leaders to project influence across their shared frontier.

It is also concerned the released Taliban would simply go back to the tribal areas and rejoin the insurgency.

REVIVING PEACE TALKS

Aziz said that was not going to happen, adding that allowing them to establish contacts with their leaders would give more credibility to attempts to revive peace talks.

"We monitor their movements and watch where they go," he said. "We have to allow these released detainees to establish contact with their Shura and then decide where to go."

Pakistan is key to the fate of US and Afghan efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan, a challenge gaining urgency as the end of the US combat mission in 2014 draws closer.

But its long-running refusal to hand over Baradar to Afghanistan has been one of the biggest obstacles to peace talks, as mutual suspicions continue to hamper efforts to tackle militancy in one of the world's most explosive regions.

Source: AsiaOne.
Link: http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/pakistan-free-former-taliban-second-command.

Coup forces have killed 7,000 in Egypt

Monday, 20 January 2014

A senior Egyptian judge claimed on Sunday that more than 7,000 civilians have been killed in the country since the coup which overthrew President Mohamed Morsi last July. Judge Mohamed Gharib said that most of the dead were killed by security forces and that he has filed complaints against named army and police officers who carried out the killings for Egyptian courts to investigate.

The judge, who is a member of the legal defense team for the ousted president, made his comments on Al-Jazeera's evening show Hadith Al-Thawra. He offered harsh criticism of the Egyptian judiciary and accused it of being biased against those citizens who are against the coup.

To back-up his claim, he pointed out that court officials have been very quick to issue rules against school pupils who own balloons or school kits with the Rabaa Al-Adawiyya four-finger symbol on them, while the same courts have not even started investigations over the killing of 7,000 Egyptians.

In an ironic act of self-fulfilling prophecy, on Sunday an Egyptian criminal court accused Morsi and other politicians, journalists, activists and parliamentarians of having "contempt" for the judiciary. For Morsi, this is the fourth accusation against him. The Muslim Brotherhood, observers and anti-coup politicians and activists called the accusations "completely political" and accused the Egyptian judiciary of being a "puppet in the hands of the army".

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/9321-coup-forces-have-killed-7000-in-egypt.

Erdogan threatens to unveil graft accusations against rival

ANKARA Fri Jan 24, 2014

(Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threatened on Friday to t divulge a file of corruption allegations against the main opposition candidate for Istanbul mayor, raising the stakes in a political battle after a graft investigation implicating his own government.

The opposition accused Erdogan of bullying and defied him to make public any accusations he cared to level.

Erdogan, speaking to party members in the capital Ankara, also accused a key business leader of "treason" for saying the government's efforts to reform the judiciary might unnerve investors and deter foreign capital from coming to Turkey.

Erdogan called on Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), to disclose what he called corruption allegations in a party file against Mustafa Sarigul, the CHP's candidate for Istanbul mayor in March municipal elections.

"I'm giving you until Sunday. If you don't disclose the corruption file on the Istanbul municipal candidate, I will," Erdogan said in comments aired live on television.

He did not make clear what such a file would contain.

CHP Deputy Chairman Haluk Koc, responding to Erdogan, said:

"No one is holding you back. The security forces, judiciary and police are yours. The CHP is here, Sarigul is here, disclose whatever you know.

"Bring it on. Does extortion suit a prime minister? CHP has never bowed down to bullies. It won't take a step back."

Erdogan also accused Kilicdaroglu himself of involvement in the leak of a 2010 sex tape that forced the resignation of his predecessor at the CHP, Deniz Baykal. Erdogan did not elaborate.

Turkey's popular leader sees a police investigation into corruption and bribery charges that came to light last month and included the arrest of family members of cabinet ministers and businessmen close to the government as a "coup plot" against the ruling AK Party, in power since 2002.

He has responded by removing thousands of police officers and about 120 prosecutors from their posts and reassigned them and by pushing through legal changes that tighten his control over the judiciary.

On Thursday, Muharrem Yilmaz, chairman of the business group Tusiad, said such legal changes may not comply with European Union norms and could raise concerns about the rule of law.

Erdogan lashed out at Yilmaz, saying such a warning amounted to a threat against the government.

"You can't say, 'International capital won't come.' If you do, it's treason against this country.

"They are threatening their own government by saying foreign investment won't come ... We will take a stance against those who take a stance against the AK Party," Erdogan said.

The political turmoil has weighed on Turkish financial markets, with the lira plumbing record lows.

But capital outflows have been relatively limited, with Thursday's successful sale of a $2.5 billion eurobond issue seen as a vote of confidence from foreign investors.

(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/24/us-turkey-corruption-opposition-idUSBREA0N15H20140124.

Turkey purges regulators, state TV in graft probe backlash

ANKARA Sat Jan 18, 2014
BY HUMEYRA PAMUK

(Reuters) - Turkey has extended a purge of official bodies to the banking and telecoms regulators and state TV, firing dozens of executives in moves that appear to broaden Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's backlash against a corruption investigation.

The authorities have already reassigned thousands of police officers and about 20 prosecutors, and fired some state television officials in response to the corruption investigation, the biggest challenge to Erdogan's 11-year rule.

Investigators are believed to have been looking into allegations of corruption and bribery involving trade in gold with Iran and big real estate projects, although full details of their charges have not been made public.

The combative prime minister says the investigations, which began a month ago with arrests of high profile figures including the sons of three of his cabinet ministers, are part of an attempted "judicial coup".

His opponents say they fear a purge of official bodies will destroy the independence of the judiciary, police and media.

"It's like reformatting a computer. They are changing the whole system and people in various positions to protect the government," said Akin Unver, assistant professor of International Relations in Istanbul-based Kadir Has University.

Among dozens of officials dismissed in the latest sackings, Turkish media reported on Saturday that the deputy head of the banking watchdog BDDK and two department heads had been removed.

Five department chiefs were fired at the Telecommunications Directorate (TIB), a body that carries out electronic surveillance as well as serving as telecoms regulator, and a dozen people were fired at Turkey's state channel TRT, including department heads and senior news editors.

A government official said the firings were carried out for "the benefit of the public" and more could come: "Right now we are working on this issue and if we identify cases problematic to the public's benefit, more dismissals could be considered."

Pictures of money-counting machines and reports of cash stacked in the homes of people linked to the graft probe have caused uproar among the Turkish public.

Unver said the aim of the purge at the telecommunications watchdog could be to prevent further videos and pictures being published on the Internet.

"They are seeking a monolithic structure over the Internet," he said.

Several thousand people took to the streets in Turkey's biggest three cities on Saturday demonstrating against a government-led draft bill to increase controls over the Internet.

The bill would give the courts the power to rule on removing online material that "violates individual rights", an article that opponents say is murky and could lead to the arbitrary closure of websites.

In Istanbul's Taksim Square, where police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse the crowd, protesters called for the government to resign. Some chanted: "There are thieves around," referring to the corruption allegations.

SEIZURE OF ASSETS

Erdogan has suggested the graft inquiry, which has led to the resignation of three cabinet ministers and detention of businessmen close to the government, is an attempt to undermine his rule by Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric with influence among the police and judiciary.

Earlier in the week the government reassigned twenty high-profile prosecutors, stepping up the purge of the judiciary.

Many of the people who have been fired are believed to be associated with the cleric's Hizmet movement, which claims more than a million followers and runs schools and charities throughout Turkey.

Gulen's lawyer says the cleric has nothing to do with the graft investigations, and his followers say they are victims of a witch hunt.

In a separate move denounced by the opposition as an attempt to target it, Turkish authorities have seized the assets of Mustafa Sarigul, the main opposition CHP party's mayoral candidate for Istanbul.

The state Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) said it seized Sarigul's assets after he and his business partners failed to repay a loan dating back to 1998.

Sarigul denied he had an outstanding debt, describing the move as "a provocation".

"I have not received one single letter from TMSF in 16 years... Those who have lost the trust of the people and carried out this political attack on me will get the answer at the ballot box on March 30," he said, referring to local elections.

Erdogan, who has presided over an extended economic boom that has transformed Turkey and lifted millions of people from poverty, remains the country's most popular politician.

He and his moderate Islamist AK Party have long battled for influence against the secularist military establishment that dominated Turkey over the past century. Conflicts with the judiciary, police and Gulen followers add to his list of enemies.

It is still not clear what effect the crisis will have on Erdogan's political fortunes ahead of local elections approaching in March.

Last year saw mass street demonstrations among Turks who accuse the prime minister of authoritarianism, but those protests did little to undermine Erdogan's support among his conservative base of followers.

(Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun and Mert Ozkan in Ankara, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Peter Graff and Andrew Heavens)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/18/us-turkey-corruption-idUSBREA0H08820140118.

Palestinians dismiss Israeli al-Qaida plot claim

January 23, 2014

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian security officials on Thursday cast doubt on Israel's claim that it broke up an al-Qaida plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, alleging Israel concocted the story to bolster its position in peace talks.

Israel's Shin Bet security agency says it arrested three Palestinian men — two from Israeli-controlled east Jerusalem and one from the West Bank — over the plot. It said those arrested admitted to planning a suicide bombing at the embassy and other attacks. It said they received their instructions over the Internet through a handler in the Gaza Strip who had direct ties to al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

Adnan Damiri, a spokesman for the Palestinian security services in the West Bank, said there is "no indication" that al-Qaida has a presence in the territory. "Al-Qaida cannot operate here," Damiri said. "It needs broad logistical support and that cannot be here in this small area."

He said Israel had arrested some naive "boys" and claimed they were al-Qaida to halt American pressure to show more flexibility in peace talks. Israel has demanded it retain a presence in parts of the Palestinian-claimed West Bank after any future peace deal due to security concerns.

One of the suspects was identified as Ala Ghannam, 21, from Aqaba, a village near the northern West Bank town of Jenin. His cousin, Arafat Ghannam, told The Associated Press that the 21 year old was arrested by the Israeli military two and half weeks ago in a night raid.

He said Palestinian intelligence forces had arrested him just a week before and had let him go. The Palestinians arrested him because of "Islamic views" he expressed on Facebook, the cousin said without elaborating. He said the family was not aware about his alleged interest in al-Qaida but said they were not shocked to hear about it.

Israeli security officials long have warned of the threat of what they call "global jihad," a word they use for various militant groups in the Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula inspired by al-Qaida's ideology and tactics. But Wednesday marked the first time that Israel explicitly accused the group of being behind an attempted attack. Officials believe there are several hundred of these militants, known as Salafists, in Gaza.

The Salafi presence in the West Bank is far more limited. Palestinian security forces recently arrested about 20 young men who allegedly tried to set up a Salafist organization. Officials have described the men as disaffected youths who had no training in weapons or attacks.

Last November, Israeli forces killed three members of that group in a shootout in the city of Hebron. Israeli security officials say there is some cooperation with their Palestinian counterparts in the West Bank to keep the Salafis under watch.

In Gaza, the Salafis have emerged as rivals to the ruling Islamic militant Hamas group. A Hamas security official said al-Qaida does not exist in the crowded seaside strip. "Al-Qaida has never fired a single shot to liberate the land," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Adnan Abu Amer, a Gaza expert on Islamic movements, said there are groups in the area inspired by al-Qaida "but we haven't found any direct links." Aviv Oreg, a former head of the Israeli military unit that tracks al-Qaida, said that if the group was indeed behind the plot, it would create a "whole new ballgame" since it would show new capabilities inside Israel's borders.

U.S. officials have said little about Israel's claims, only that they could not corroborate the information and that no new security measures were immediately taken at the embassy.

Barzak reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Mohammed Ballas in Jenin, West Bank, and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed reporting.