New semiautonomous region in Somalia vows to fight Al Shabab

The creation of Jubaland/Azania was driven by the need to fight the Al Qaeda-linked militant group, Al Shabab, but it's unclear whether the new region will be able to do that effectively.

Alex Thurston, Guest blogger
April 6, 2011

The country called Somalia contains a host of would-be governments, including the Transitional Federal Government (which claims jurisdiction over Somalia as a whole) and the two semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. Now Somalia has a third major semi-autonomous region: Jubaland, or Azania, whose creation was celebrated yesterday.

Jubaland/Azania now has a president, former Somalia Defense Minister Professor Mohamed Abdi Gandhi, who has said a main goal of his administration will be to defeat al Shabab, Somalia’s Islamic rebel movement. This, Kenya’s Daily Nation reports, is one of the driving goals of the new region’s creation, but Somalia’s neighbors disagree on whether this tactic is a wise one:

"The idea to create an autonomous region near the Kenyan border is hinged on the reason that it will prevent the movement of al Shabaab extremists within the region.

As the conference ended on Sunday, it was not clear whether the Kenyan Government supported the election but recent WikiLeaks revelations showed that the country supported the creation of an autonomous region near its border with Somalia to prevent the flow of illegal arms.

The meeting had been opposed by both Ethiopia and Djibouti, who argue that creating autonomies in the war-torn country could inspire further insurgency by other regions or degrade the gains made by the TFG."

The Jubaland initiative has a long history. A Wikileaks cable shows Kenyan support for the idea in early 2010, and “Kenya has been pouring money [and] supplies into the Jubaland area for some time to fight [al] Shabaab.” But momentum toward the creation of an official state picked up with a seven-day conference last week that culminated in the formalization of Jubaland/Azania. Now it remains to see how Jubaland will negotiate its relationships with the TFG, with Kenya, and with the rest of Africa.

Commenter James Gundun, responding to an earlier piece, leaves us with some questions and issues to think about:

Jubaland has been in the works for years – forming a presidential cabinet electing a parliament is expected – although it’s difficult to say what comes next. While TFG officials attended the week-long conference before appointing Mohamed Abdi Gandhi, how much overlap are they willing to cede to Kenya? This arrangement can squeeze al-Shabab through local governance and attempt to remedy the refugee crisis, but friction may easily develop between Nairobi and the TFG. Ethiopia also opposes the formal recognition of Jubaland, citing fears of increased insurgency, as it monitors the newly-created Shabelle Valley administration and aspiring Somali Central State. Positive interplay between the TFG, Kenya, and Ethiopia is vital to stabilizing Somalia.

What do you think? Will this move hurt or help al Shabab, or make no substantive difference?

Source: The Christian Science Monitor.
Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/0406/New-semiautonomous-region-in-Somalia-vows-to-fight-Al-Shabab.

China to turn restive Xinjiang capital into global city

Wed Mar 30, 2011

(Reuters) - China will turn the restive capital of the far western region of Xinjiang into an "international trade center" for central Asia by 2020 as part of plans to win the hearts and minds of residents, state media said on Wednesday.

Regional capital Urumqi was rocked by ethnic violence in 2009 between majority Han Chinese and minority Uighurs that killed nearly 200 people. Many of the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs, who call Xinjiang home, chafe at Beijing's rule.

The government has subsequently turned its attention to boosting development there and providing greater job opportunities.

New plans for remote and dusty Urumqi call for it to be turned into a "core city", complete with improved transport links and two brand new districts built "with world-class standards", the Xinhua news agency said.

Urumqi will get a new rail link with central China, an expanded train station, a new airport terminal and possibly a new airport too, the report said, summarizing an urban development blueprint for the city up to 2020.

"Local authorities will build faster and more convenient transportation networks to strengthen links between Urumqi and inland Chinese regions as well as areas in central and west Asia," Xinhua added.

"Greater efforts have been made to boost the development of the far western ethnic region of Xinjiang after a deadly riot rocked Urumqi in 2009," it added.

The city's population is also expected to double to around 5 million by 2020, while its GDP will rise from a predicted 131.1 billion yuan ($19.9 billion) this year to 420 billion yuan by 2020, the report said.

Xinhua gave no investment figures for the ambitious scheme, nor said if any of the projects would be specifically aimed at the Uighur population.

Urumqi is a predominantly Han Chinese city. Many Uighurs complain of discrimination in the jobs market and say that government efforts to boost development in Xinjiang have mainly benefited the Han and attracted more of them to migrate there.

Xinjiang is strategically vital to China. A vast swathe of territory, it holds rich oil and gas deposits and borders Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Central Asia. ($1 = 6.561 Yuan) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/china-xinjiang-idUKL3E7EU1H920110330.

Kashmir's literacy rate rises by 10 percent in 10 years

2011-03-27

Teachers in Jammu and Kashmir say that the literacy rate in the state has increased by 10 percent in the last decade.

A report by the state's Education Ministry recently said male literacy in the region has risen to 75.30 percent and the female literacy rate has touched 57.11 percent.

Tasleema Sheikh, principle of a girl's school in Srinagar said: " The survey, which was conducted 10 years back in 2001 stated the literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir was 55 percent. The latest survey reveals that the literacy rate has increased to 65 percent, which means an increase of 10 percent in 10 years."

" When the survey was carried out in 2001, the literacy rate of males was 65 percent and the female literacy rate was 41 percent. The recent survey shows that the literacy rate of males has risen to 75 percent and the female literacy rate has risen to 57 percent," she added.

The reason for the rise in literacy rate is attributed to various schemes sponsored by the government like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and others schemes under which the state government constructed schools in far flung rural areas, provided mid-day meals and free books to the poor students.

Currently, 1660000 children are studying in government schools in the state with a total dropout of 39150 as against 376000 in 2004-05.

A total of 680 middle school buildings and 5,467 additional classrooms were constructed in the state during the period.

Aiming to further promote education, the government has also announced free school uniforms for the students who join in the next academic year.

Source: Sify.
Link: http://www.sify.com/news/kashmir-s-literacy-rate-rises-by-10-percent-in-10-years-news-national-ld1nuffjaha.html.

Amnesty Urges Scrapping Of Draconian Law In Indian Kashmir

3/21/2011

(RTTNews) - London-based rights group, Amnesty International (AI) has called for repeal of a draconian law used to detain people without trial in Indian-administered Kashmir, reports said on Monday.

Under the provisions of Public Safety Act (PSA), persons could be held under detention for up to two years without chance of securing bail.

Amnesty, while urging New Delhi to do way with the tough measure, pointed out that around 20,000 people have been detained in Kashmir using the PSA's provisions.

The border state has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan, having waged three full-fledged wars over Kashmir. New Delhi has often accused Islamabad of fighting a low-intensity war by arming militant separatists and pushing them across the border to carry out terror strikes on Indian targets.

However, Pakistan has termed this as mere anti-Pakistan propaganda alleging that it was being used as a ploy to deflect attention from serious problems. India for its part says it has hard evidence to establish Pakistan's role in fomenting trouble.

According to an Amnesty report released in the Kashmiri capital Srinagar on Monday, the detentions coincided with the onset of insurgency in the Kashmir valley in 1989. It is also critical of the judiciary for failing to prevent rights violations.

"The Jammu and Kashmir authorities are using PSA detentions as a revolving door to keep people they can't or won't convict through proper legal channels locked up and out of the way. Hundreds of people are being held each year on spurious grounds, with many exposed to higher risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment," an Amnesty official said.

Among those detained under PSA are lawyers, journalists and anti-government protesters with not even children spared. The Amnesty has urged the J&K government to set free all those held under the PSA's provisions.

There was a brief lull in militant separatism which peaked in Kashmir in the late eighties. However, lately a spurt in militant activity has been witnessed there.

Source: RTT News.
Link: http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1580337&SM=1.

Pak delegation to travel to Europe to lobby on Kashmir

Mar 22, 2011

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's parliamentary panel on Kashmir led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman will soon visit Belgium, Germany and Poland to lobby for support on the Kashmir issue.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved visits to the three countries by a six-member delegation "to win their support on the Kashmir issue," said a statement issued by his office on Monday.

Besides Rehman, the other members of the delegation are parliamentarians Muhammad Yousuf Talpur, Attiya Inayatullah, Ayaz Sadiq and Ramesh Lal.

A member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference will also be part of the delegation, the statement said.

Noting that the European Union is gaining political and economic importance in world affairs, the statement said the delegation will "proactively highlight the Kashmir issue and Pakistan's principled stance as supported historically by the UN resolution".

Source: The Times of India.
Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-delegation-to-travel-to-Europe-to-lobby-on-Kashmir/articleshow/7758075.cms.

Jordan releases 4 jailed members of radical Islamist group in effort to stave off protests

By Jamal Halaby, The Associated Press

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan has released four jailed members of a radical Islamist group that had threatened to stage a mass demonstration over their detentions, the group's leader said Tuesday.

Abed Shihadeh al-Tahawi said the four were released late Monday under a deal between the security forces and his ultraconservative Salafi group, which is banned in Jordan.

"We warned that we will hold a large demonstration today, which was seen as a security risk for the government," al-Tahawi said. "The government knows that we mean business and that we do not get intimidated by security forces."

Al-Tahawi himself has recently served a prison term for plotting terrorist strikes against the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Jordan in 2004.

Government officials did not answer repeated calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Earlier Tuesday, dozens of anti-riot police with batons and helmets were deployed at the site of the planned protest near the Interior Ministry in the capital Amman, chocking traffic and drawing onlookers.

Al-Tahawi said security officials got in touch with him and other group members on Monday "to persuade us not to hold our protest."

He said the rally was meant to publicly articulate his group's demand for the release of its four followers, who were arrested in an anti-government rally last week.

"When our four brothers were released, we canceled the planned protest," he said.

But he insisted the group will continue staging demonstrations to press its demand for the release of 300 other Salafis serving prison terms for plotting al-Qaida--linked terror attacks in Jordan.

Jordan has seen 14 weeks of mostly peaceful protests, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world and pressing for reforms. The authorities have been tolerant of the gatherings and there has only been rare violence.

Salafis have held five separate demonstrations, saying they were taking advantage of the government's more lenient stance toward public protests to make their own demands public.

A key U.S. ally, Jordan is ruled by King Abdullah II and a parliament. The king has final say in all state matters.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Jordan launches largest online public antiquities database, mapping every site in country

By Dale Gavlak, The Associated Press

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan on Tuesday launched the world's largest online antiquities database, which details every archaeological site in the country and aims to help preserve its treasures. Its creators said the Web platform could be a model for Iraq, where looters have plundered its ancient heritage.

Experts said the Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities is the first such countrywide system. The site uses Geographic Information System, similar to Google Earth, to map 11,000 registered sites in the country — and a click on each reveals inventories of what they contain and reports on their conditions.

The public can use the material for planning visits. Scholars and inspectors approved by Jordan's Antiquities can update the information in a user-friendly way for other professionals to follow and for authorities to keep track of threats to the sites.

Jordan hosts a number of World Heritage sites, most famously the 2,000 year-old rose rock city of Petra — but also Umm er-Rassas, a city dating back to the 5th century that features ancient Byzantine churches, and Qasr Amra, an 8th century Islamic castle. It is also dotted with sites dating from the Neolithic Age, through Biblical times to the Crusades.

The $1 million MEGA program was developed in co-operation with Getty Institute of Los Angeles and the New York-based World Monuments Fund.

"Jordan is at the forefront of safeguarding its heritage," Getty's director Tim Whalen said at an Amman press conference with antiquities chief Ziad al-Saad unveiling the system.

"A piece of software is not going to stop looting," Whalen said, but MEGA's cataloging system will enable "greater protection and attention to archaeological heritage."

Archaeologists have increasingly used GIS and similar technologies to inventory digs and other uses. But Barbara A. Porter, director of the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, said that MEGA "is the first of its kind."

"It has been a huge undertaking in terms of its breadth, time and finance. Rarely do you find that amount of money involved in creating such a system," said Porter, whose center was not involved in developing MEGA.

Joseph Greene, the assistant director at Harvard University's Semitic Museum, said MEGA stands out from among other GIS archaeological systems, which have been more narrow in scope and intention.

MEGA is the "first countrywide system used by an antiquities department" and is unique because it can used both for research and for managing sites in a readily usable format, he said.

The online system defines the boundaries of each site, an important factor in trying to prevent urban encroachment on antiquities zones, its creators say. It can help authorities in planning strategies for research and tourism development, and makes it easier for government agencies to share information. Those working in the field can report theft of wear and tear caused by tourist traffic.

Al-Saad said the system is expected to be used regionally, especially in Iraq, which has seen widescale damage and theft of its extensive archaeological treasures.

Whalen said MEGA will give Iraqi colleagues a modern way to inventory the country's sites, their condition, potential threats, but "most importantly identify their geographical boundaries in a relatively easy-to-use system."

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.