Syria: 'A kingdom of silence'

Analysts say a popular president, dreaded security forces and religious diversity make a Syrian revolution unlikely.

09 Feb 2011

Despite a wave of protests spreading across the Middle East, so far the revolutionary spirit has failed to reach Syria.

Authoritarian rule, corruption and economic hardship are characteristics Syria share with both Egypt and Tunisia. However, analysts say that in addition to the repressive state apparatus, factors such as a relatively popular president and religious diversity make an uprising in the country unlikely.

Online activists have been urging Syrians to take to the streets but the calls for a "Syrian revolution" last weekend only resulted in some unconfirmed reports of small demonstrations in the mainly Kurdish northeast.

"First of all, I'd argue that people in Syria are a lot more afraid of the government and the security forces than they were in Egypt," Nadim Houry, a Human Rights Watch researcher based in Lebanon, says.

"The groups who have mobilized in the past in Syria for any kind of popular protest have paid a very heavy price - Kurds back in 2004 when they had their uprising in Qamishli and Islamists in the early 1980s, notably in Hama."

The so-called Hama massacre, in which the Syrian army bombarded the town of Hama in 1982 in order to quell a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood, is believed to have killed about 20,000 people.

"I think that in the Syrian psyche, the repression of the regime is taken as a given, that if something [protests] would happen the military and the security forces would both line up together. I think that creates a higher threshold of fear."

Demonstrations are unlawful under the country's emergency law, and political activists are regularly detained. There are an estimated 4,500 "prisoners of opinion" in Syrian jails, according to the Haitham Maleh Foundation, a Brussels-based Syrian rights organization.

'Kingdom of silence'

As pages on Facebook called for demonstrations to be held in cities across Syria in early February, more than 10 activists told Human Rights Watch they were contacted by security services who warned them not to try and mobilize.

"Syria has for many years been a 'kingdom of silence'," Suhair Atassi, an activist in Damascus, says, when asked why no anti-government protests were held.

"Fear is dominating peoples' lives, despite poverty, starvation and humiliation ... When I was on my way to attend a sit-in against [the monopoly of] Syria's only mobile phone operators, I explained to the taxi driver where I was going and why.

"He told me: 'Please organize a demonstration against the high cost of diesel prices. The cold is killing us'. I asked him: 'Are you ready to demonstrate with us against the high diesel price?" He replied 'I'm afraid of being arrested because I’m the only breadwinner for my family!"

Fawas Gerges, a professor of Middle Eastern politics at the London School of Economics, says Syria is one of the Middle Eastern countries least likely to be hit by popular protests, because of its power structure.

He says the allegiance of the army in Syria is different than in both Tunisia, where the military quickly became one of the main backers of the president's ouster, and in Egypt, where the army still has not taken sides.

"The army in Syria is the power structure," he says. "The armed forces would fight to an end. It would be a bloodbath, literally, because the army would fight to protect not only the institution of the army but the regime itself, because the army and the regime is one and the same."

Popular president

But even if people dared to challenge the army and the dreaded mukhabarat intelligence service, analysts say the appetite for change of the country's leadership is not that big.

Many Syrians tend to support Bashar al-Assad, the president who came to power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez, who had ruled the country for 30 years.

"An important factor is that he's popular among young people," Joshua Landis, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma and author of Syria Comment, says.

"Unlike Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, who's 83, Bashar al-Assad is young. Young people are quite proud of him. They may not like the regime, they don't like corruption and a lot of things, but they tend to blame this on the people around him, the 'old guard'."

A Syrian student echoes these comments. "The president knows that reform is needed and he is working on it", she says.

"As for me, I don't have anything against our president. The main issues which need to be addressed are freedom of speech and expression as well as human rights. I believe that the president and his wife are working on that. New NGOs have started to emerge.

"Also, many things have changed since Bashar came to power, whether it has to do with road construction, salary raises, etc. Even when it comes to corruption, he is trying hard to stop that and limit the use of 'connections' by the powerful figures in Syria. However, he won't be able to dramatically change the country with the blink of an eye."

Al-Assad's tough stance towards Israel, with which Syria is technically at war, has also contributed to his popularity, both domestically and in the region.

Multi-religious society

Analysts stress that Syria's mix of religious communities and ethnic groups differentiates Syria from Egypt and Tunisia, countries which both have largely homogeneous populations. Fearing religious tensions, many Syrians believe that the ruling Baath party's emphasis on secularism is the best option.

"The regime in Syria presents itself as a buffer for various communities, essentially saying 'if we go, you will be left to the wolves'," Houry says. "That gives it ability to mobilize large segments of the population."

Sunni Muslims make up about 70 per cent of the 22 million population, but the Alawites, the Shia sect which President al-Assad belongs to, play a powerful role despite being a minority of 10 per cent. Kurds form the largest ethnic minority.

Landis says Alawites and Christians tend to be al-Assad's main supporters.

"If his regime were to fall, many of the Alawites would lose their jobs. And they look back at the times when the Muslim Brotherhood targeted them as nonbelievers and even non-Arabs.

"Then of course the Christians, who are about 10 per cent of the population, are the biggest supporters of al-Assad and the Baath party because it's secular. They hear horror stories of what has happened in Iraq, about Christians being killed and kidnapped."

The proximity to Iraq, another ethnically and religiously diverse country, is believed to play a major role in Syria's skepticism towards democracy and limited hunger for political change. About a million Iraqi refugees have come to Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"The Iraqi refugees are a cautionary tale for Syrians," Landis says. "They have seen what happens when regime change goes wrong. This has made Syrians very conservative. They don't trust democracy."

Parties banned

Syria is essentially a one-party state, ruled by the Baath Party since 1963. Many political groups are banned. But Landis says the lack of political freedom does not appear to be a major concern among the people.

"I'm always astounded how the average guy in the street, the taxi driver, the person you talk to in a restaurant or wherever, they don't talk about democracy. They complain about corruption, they want justice and equality, but they'll look at elections in Lebanon and laugh, saying 'who needs that kind of democracy'?"

"The younger generation has been depoliticized. They don't belong to parties. They see politics as a danger and they have been taught by their parents to see it as a danger. They look at the violence out there, in places like Iraq."

Tunisia and Egypt both have a longer tradition of civil society and political parties than Syria and Landis describes the Syrian opposition as "notoriously mute".

"In some ways, being pro-American has forced Egypt to allow for greater civil society, while Syria has been quite shut off from the West," he says. "The opposition in Syria is very fragmented. The Kurds can usually get together in the biggest numbers but there are 14 Kurdish parties ... And the human rights leaders - half of them are in jail and others have been in jail for a long time."

Facebook sites calling for protests to be held in Syria on February 4 and 5 got about 15,000 fans but failed to mobilize demonstrators for a "day of anger". In fact, countercampaigns set up online in favor of the government garnered as much support.

Ribal al-Assad, an exiled cousin of President al-Assad and the director of the London-based Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria, said the people calling for protests were all based abroad and he is not surprised that nothing happened inside Syria.

"The campaign was a bit outrageous. First, they've chosen a date that reminds people of the uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood [the 29th anniversary of the Hama massacre]," he says.

"People don't want to be reminded of the past. They want change, they want freedom, but they want it peacefully. And the picture they used on Facebook, a clenched fist and red color like blood behind, it was like people calling for civil war and who in his right mind wants that?

"But of course people want change, because there is poverty, corruption, people get arrested without warrants, the government refuses to disclose their whereabouts for months. They are sentenced following unfair trials, a lot of times with stupid sentences such as 'weakening the nation's morale' for saying 'we want freedom and democracy'. But the only one weakening the nations moral is the government itself."

'Not holding hands with Israel'

One Syrian who became a "fan" of a Facebook page opposed to protesting says he cannot imagine, and does not want, Egyptian-style anti-government rallies to spread to Syria.

"I love my country and I don't want to see people fighting. I can't imagine the events occurring in Egypt to happen in Syria because we really like our president, not because they teach us to like him," he says.

"In the formation of ministries, he's made use of 100 per cent talent with the multiplicity of religions. There are not Alawites only. There are also Sunnis and Kurds and Christians. The president is married to Asma and she is Sunni. He shows the people we are brothers.

"And he is the only president in the Arab region that did not accept any offers from Israel, like other presidents. I, and most Syrians, if not all, can't accept a president who will hold hands with Israel."

As in Egypt and Tunisia, unemployment in Syria is high. The official jobless rate is about 10 per cent, but analysts say the double is a more realistic estimate. According to a Silatech report based on a Gallup survey last year, 32 per cent of young Syrians said they were neither in the workforce nor students.

Since the current president took office, the Syrian economic system has slowly moved away from socialism towards capitalism. Markets have opened up to foreign companies and the GDP growth rate is expected to reach 5.5 per cent by 2011.

Last year, the average Syrian monthly salary was 13,500SP ($290), an increase of six per cent over the previous year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

But like in some other countries in the region, state subsidies have been slashed on various staples, including heating oil, and analysts say the poor are feeling the pinch.

"The bottom half of Syrians spend half of their income on food. Now, wheat and sugar prices have gone up in the last two years by almost 50 per cent," Landis says.

"Syria is moving towards capitalism. This has resulted in a greater growth rate but it's expanding income gaps. It's attracting foreign investment and the top 10 per cent are beginning to earn real salaries on an international scale because they're working for these new banks and in new industries. But the bottom 50 per cent are falling because they're on fixed incomes and they get hit by inflation, reduced subsidies on goods, coupled with the fact that Syria's water scarcity is going through the roof."

However, Forward Magazine recently quoted Shafek Arbach, director of the Syrian Bureau of Statistics, as saying there is nothing in new data to suggest a growing gap between the rich and the poor in Syria.

'Reforms needed'

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal late January, President al-Assad acknowledged the need for Syria to reform and but also said his country is "immune" from the kind of unrest seen in Tunisia and Egypt.

"We have more difficult circumstances than most of the Arab countries but in spite of that Syria is stable. Why? Because you have to be very closely linked to the beliefs of the people. This is the core issue. When there is divergence between your policy and the people's beliefs and interests, you will have this vacuum that creates disturbance," he said.

But Ribal al-Assad says it is obvious that the government is worried in the light of the discontent and anger spreading in the Middle East.

"Right after the Tunisian uprising they reduced the price for 'mazot' for the heating. They were supposed to bring up the price of medicines but then they didn't. They distributed some aid to over 450,000 families. And, today we're hearing that Facebook has been unblocked. They should have started this process a long time ago but better late than never."

Houry says the lesson from Tunisia, which has been hailed as an economic role model in North Africa, is that economic reform on its own does not work.

"It will be interesting to watch how things are going to unfold over the coming few months," he says. "The Syrians, like any other Arab household today, have their TVs turned on to Al Jazeera. They're seeing what's happening in Tunisia and Egypt. Freedom is an infectious feeling and I think people will want more freedom."

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/201129103121562395.html.

The resurrection of pan-Arabism

The Egyptian revolution has resurrected a new type of pan-Arabism, based on social justice not empty slogans.

Lamis Andoni
11 Feb 2011

The Egyptian revolution, itself influenced by the Tunisian uprising, has resurrected a new sense of pan-Arabism based on the struggle for social justice and freedom. The overwhelming support for the Egyptian revolutionaries across the Arab world reflects a sense of unity in the rejection of tyrannical, or at least authoritarian, leaders, corruption and the rule of a small financial and political elite.

Arab protests in solidarity with the Egyptian people also suggest that there is a strong yearning for the revival of Egypt as a pan-Arab unifier and leader. Photographs of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the former Egyptian president, have been raised in Cairo and across Arab capitals by people who were not even alive when Nasser died in 1970. The scenes are reminiscent of those that swept Arab streets in the 1950s and 1960s.

But this is not an exact replica of the pan-Arab nationalism of those days. Then, pan-Arabism was a direct response to Western domination and the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel. Today, it is a reaction to the absence of democratic freedoms and the inequitable distribution of wealth across the Arab world.

We are now witnessing the emergence of a movement for democracy that transcends narrow nationalism or even pan-Arab nationalism and which embraces universal human values that echo from north to south and east to west.

This is not to say that there is no anti-imperialist element within the current movement. But the protests in Egypt and elsewhere promote a deeper understanding of human emancipation, which forms the real basis for freedom from both repression and foreign domination.

Unlike the pan-Arabism of the past, the new movement represents an intrinsic belief that it is freedom from fear and human dignity that enables people to build better societies and to create a future of hope and prosperity. The old "wisdom" of past revolutionaries that liberation from foreign domination precedes the struggle for democracy has fallen.

The revolutionaries of Egypt, and before them Tunisia, have exposed through deeds - not merely words - the leaders who are tyrants towards their own people, while humiliatingly subservient to foreign powers. They have shown the impotence of empty slogans that manipulate animosity towards Israel to justify a fake Arab unity, which in turn serves only to mask sustained oppression and the betrayal of Arab societies and the aspirations of the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian pretext

The era of using the Palestinian cause as a pretext for maintaining martial laws and silencing dissent is over. The Palestinians have been betrayed, not helped, by leaders who practice repression against their own people. It is no longer sufficient for regimes in Syria and Iran to claim support for Palestinian resistance in order to stifle freedom of expression and to shamelessly tread on human rights in their own countries.

Equally, it is no longer acceptable for the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas to cite their record in resisting Israel when justifying their suppression of each other and the rest of the Palestinian people. Young Palestinians are responding to the message of the movement and embracing the idea that combating internal injustice - whether practiced by Fatah or Hamas - is a prerequisite for the struggle to end Israeli occupation and not something to be endured for the sake of that struggle.

Events in Egypt and Tunisia have revealed that Arab unity against internal repression is stronger than that against a foreign threat - neither the American occupation of Iraq nor the Israeli occupation galvanized the Arab people in the way that a single act by a young Tunisian who chose to set himself alight rather than live in humiliation and poverty has.

This does not mean that Arabs do not care about the occupied people of Iraq or Palestine - tens, sometimes hundreds, of thousands have taken to the streets across Arab countries at various times to show solidarity with Iraqis and Palestinians - but it does reflect the realization that the absence of democratic freedoms has contributed to the continued occupation of those countries.

The Arab failure to defend Iraq or liberate Palestine has come to symbolize an Arab impotence that has been perpetuated by the state of fear and paralysis in which the ordinary Arab citizen, marginalized by social injustice and crushed by security apparatus oppression, has existed.

When they were allowed to rally in support of Iraqis or Palestinians it was mainly so that their anger might be deflected from their own governments and towards a foreign threat. For so long, they put their own socio-economic grievances aside to voice their support for the occupied, only to wake up the next day shackled by the same chains of repression.

All the while, both pro-Western and anti-Western governments continued with business as usual - the first camp relying on US support to consolidate their authoritarian rule and the second on anti-Israel slogans to give legitimacy to their repression of their people.

But now people across the region - not only in Egypt and Tunisia - have lost faith in their governments. For make no mistake, when protesters have gathered in Amman or Damascus to express their solidarity with the Egyptian revolutionaries in Tahrir Square, they are actually objecting to their own rulers.

In Ramallah, the protesters repeated a slogan calling for the end of internal Palestinian divisions (which, in Arabic, rhymes with the Egyptian call for the end to the regime), as well as demanding an end to negotiations with Israel - sending a clear message that there will be no room left for the Palestinian Authority if it continues to rely on such negotiations.

In the 1950s and 1960s, millions of Arabs poured onto the streets determined to continue the liberation of the Arab world from the remnants of colonial domination and the creeping American hegemony. In 2011, millions have poured onto the streets determined not only to ensure their freedom but also to ensure that the mistakes of previous generations are not repeated. Slogans against a foreign enemy - no matter how legitimate - ring hollow if the struggle for democratic freedoms is set aside.

The protesters in Cairo and beyond may raise photographs of Gamal Abdel Nasser, because they see him as a symbol of Arab dignity. But, unlike Nasser, the demonstrators are invoking a sense of pan-Arab nationalism that understands that national liberation cannot go hand-in-hand with the suppression of political dissent. For this is a genuine Arab unity galvanized by the common yearning for democratic freedoms.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/201121115231647934.html.

Tunisian foreign minister resigns

Ahmed Ounaies steps down after being embroiled in controversy over compliments he paid to his French counterpart.

13 Feb 2011

Ahmed Ounaies, the Tunisian foreign minister, has resigned from his post, just over two weeks after first taking the job, the state news agency says.

He was embroiled in a row over compliments that he paid to Michele Alliot-Marie, his French counterpart.

"In effect, he really hasn't been pursuing his role as foreign minister for about a week now, since he made those comments, which really angered people here in Tunisia," Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kesserine, reported.

Tunisians suspect that the French played a role in propping up Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the former president who was forced to flee the country last month. A week before his departure, the French government had offered assistance to his security forces.

"So you can imagine what people felt when they had their foreign minister going to Paris last week and saying that it was 'a dream' to meet the French foreign minister," our correspondent said.

It is as yet unclear who would replace Ounaies.

Hundreds of workers at the Tunisian foreign ministry began a strike last week in protest at the minister's praise of Alliot-Marie.

Some French politicians have suggested that Alliot-Marie, too, should step down, after she suggested during the protests against Ben Ali that France could supply riot-control assistance to the Tunisian security forces.

Ounaies's resignation is likely to cause more disruptions for a coalition government that has already seen several ministers either resign or be fired since it stepped in to fill the vacuum left by the departure of Ben Ali.

Kemal Mourjan, the previous foreign minister who had also served under Ben Ali, had also resigned from his post.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/201121314913447933.html.

Egypt's army dissolves parliament

Military rulers say they will remain in charge for six months until elections are held as some protesters vow to remain.

13 Feb 2011

Egypt's military has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, two days after Hosni Mubarak, the long-serving president, stepped down in the wake of a popular uprising.

The country's Supreme Council of Armed Forces announced on Sunday that it would remain in charge of the country for six months until a new government is formed.

The military council announced the move in a statement on state television, adding that it would form a panel to amend the constitution before submitting the changes to a popular referendum.

The announcement came shortly after Egypt's prime minister announced that the cabinet appointed by Mubarak shortly before he stepped down, would stay in place.

Ahmed Shafiq, speaking after his first cabinet meeting since Mubarak left on Friday, said Egypt's caretaker government will remain for the country's transition towards democracy.

He said that security would remain a priority and pledged to fight corruption and restore peace in the country, following 18 days of pro-democracy protests.

"The first priority for this government is to restore security and to facilitate daily life for its citizens," he said. "I guarantee that this [cabinet] will return rights to the people and fight corruption."

Military in charge

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Cairo, said the two announcements do not indicate that the prime minister and military council are talking against each other.

But it is "quite clear that the power now rests entirely" with the military council, he said.

"They've taken on the role of the presidency and the prime minister and the other ministers carry out their orders.

"The key point is the military is saying they are only in power for a temporary basis, for six months or they'll go earlier if elections are called before six months.

But our correspondent noted that "one thing that wasn't in that communique that protesters have asked for, was the repeal of emergency laws".

Protest organizers had called for both the dissolution of parliament and the lifting of a 30-year-old state of emergency.

Some protesters have vowed to remain in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the epicenter of the uprising - until all of their demands are met

Scuffles broke out early on Sunday as soldiers tried to remove activists from the square.

Soldiers shoved pro-democracy protesters aside to force a path for traffic to start flowing through Tahrir Square for the first time in more than two weeks.

Our correspondent in Cairo said the confrontations between troops and protesters was something of a "flashpoint".

"I think it reflects a bigger problem, that the military believes that now Mubarak is out, it's time for stability," he said.

"But some of the protesters think not enough has been done yet. They don't want to clear that square until the army has handed over to a civilian government."

Police protest

At one point a group of several dozen police officers marched into the square bearing flowers, proclaiming their solidarity with the uprising and chanting: "The police and the people! With one hand!"

But they were soon chased away by protesters, who accuse the police of decades of arbitrary arrests, torture and extortion, as well as a heavy-handed attempt to crush the revolt that left hundreds dead.

Elsewhere, even as the demonstrations against Mubarak wound down, new challenges emerged as workers went on strike.

In the latest such moves, employees at two public sector banks in Cairo went on strike demanding better pay. In addition, about 2,000 policemen demonstrated in front of the Interior Ministry, complaining about the gap in salaries between officers and enlisted.

Egypt's state news agency said that in light of the strikes, the Central Bank decided it will suspend work in banks on Monday. Banks will reopen on Wednesday, because Tuesday is also a public holiday.

Meanwhile, normality began to return to other parts of Egypt. The tents, where protesters camped out during the 18 days of protests, were removed from Tahrir Square.

In the northern city of Alexandria, Al Jazeera's Jamal ElShayyal said people had also begun to get back to work, adding that Sunday's military announcement was likely to reassure activists in the city.

"Alexandria didn't have the same amount of sit-in protesters that we've seen in Tahrir. However those that have said they will continue their demonstrations have been assured a lot more by this time frame given by the military."

But Ashraf Ahmed, a protester in Cairo, vowed that he was not going to leave "because so much still needs to be done. They haven't implemented anything yet".

Protest organizers have threatened more rallies if the governing military council fails to accept their agenda for reform.

"If the army does not fulfill our demands, our uprising and its measures will return stronger," Safwat Hegazi, a protest leader, said.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/2011213132610927713.html.

Hamas lawmaker sentenced without charge, trial

14/02/2011

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- An Israeli military court sentenced on Sunday Hamas lawmaker Mohammad Jamal An-Natsha to six months of administrative detention.

An-Natsha, 53, was sentenced without trial and without charge at the Ofer military court after spending two weeks in the Etzion detention center. He was given the maximum term for administrative detention.

The official was detained on January 31 from his home in the West Bank city of Hebron five months after his release from an Israeli prison. Party members indicated that he spent nine years in Israeli prison, six of them in solitary confinement, and another five years in the PA preventative security prisons.

An-Natsha was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council from prison. He has a wife and three sons.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said An-Natsha was rearrested "because he's a Hamas activist," but did not elaborate.

Administrative detention -- detainment without trial or charge -- is regularly handed down to Palestinians seized in the West Bank and is often prolonged without hearing or appeal.

Under the provision, individuals can be held for a period of up to six months without charge. The term is indefinitely renewable.

According to Israel rights group B'Tselem, Israel's use of administrative detention "blatantly violates" internationally-recognized restrictions on its use.

"It is carried out under the thick cover of privilege, which denies detainees the possibility of mounting a proper defense. Over the years, Israel has administratively detained thousands of Palestinian for prolonged periods of time, without prosecuting them, without informing them of the charges against them, and without allowing them or their attorneys to study the evidence," the rights group says.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=359618.

Arab world calls for peaceful transition in Egypt

Sat, 12 Feb 2011

Cairo - The Arab world expressed support on Saturday for a peaceful transition in Egypt, one day after president Hosny Mubarak resigned following 18 days of political unrest across the country.

The Arab League said it appreciated the role of the Higher Council of the Armed Forces in "managing this delicate transitional phase to achieve democracy, social justice and reform" in Egypt.

Saudi Arabia welcomed "the peaceful transition of power" and expressed hope that "the efforts of the armed forces would restore peace, stability and tranquility," the state news agency reported.

The Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said that the Muslim world is witnessing "historical transformations" that require a "high degree of wisdom and precise vision."

OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu congratulated the Egyptian people on the triumph of their will and wished them progress and prosperity.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani, meeting in Damascus, also voiced their full confidence in the ability of the Egyptian people to improve the country's status and restore its natural Arab and international role, the Syrian news agency reported.

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, meanwhile, reiterated the "necessity for the peaceful transformation of power" and said that Egyptians should be able "to impose their free will, away from any foreign interference."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/367050,calls-peaceful-transition-egypt.html.

India plans to withdraw 10 battalions from Kashmir

Sun, 13 Feb 2011

New Delhi - India plans to pull out 10 battalions of paramilitary forces from the disputed Kashmir region in 2011, a top government official said Sunday.

India's Muslim-majority Kashmir region has had a heavy presence of troops since the outbreak of a militant secessionist movement in the 1980s.

At least 110 people - mostly teenagers and young men - were killed in anti-India protests between June and September 2010, the majority shot by troops trying to disperse stone-throwing mobs.

Much of the anger was directed at the troops who were accused by activists of human rights abuses.

"I think this year, we can easily take out 10 battalions if not more. Irrespective of the situation, I can take out 10 battalions and it would not have any impact," PTI news agency quoted Indian Home Secretary Gopal Pillai as saying.

"There is scope of reduction of troops is the Home Ministry's view. There are more than adequate forces in Kashmir and it can do with less central forces," Pillai said.

He said there were an estimated 70 battalions of paramilitary troops in Jammu and Kashmir state.

At a battalion level of 1,000 soldiers, the reduction would be around 10,000 troops.

Troop reductions in the area was one of the promises made by the government during efforts to quell the June-September unrest.

The disputed Kashmir region is divided into two parts, one administered by India and the other by Pakistan.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/367124,withdraw-10-battalions-kashmir.html.