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قضايا الدولة" تطالب رشيد وعز وعسل برد 660 مليون جنيه للدولة

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خالد سعيد رحمة الله عليه

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الرئيس الأمريكى باراك أوباما

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الدكتور محمد البرادعى

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الرئيس السابق حسنى مبارك

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الاثنين، أبريل 22، 2013

Two bishops kidnapped in northern Syria, state media reports

A man pictured in the al-Amirya neighborhood of the city of Aleppo. (AFP)

An armed group kidnapped two bishops in a village in Aleppo province in northern Syria, the state news agency SANA reported late on Monday.

"An armed terrorist group today kidnapped Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim, head of the Syrian Orthodox Church [in Aleppo] and Bishop Boulos Yaziji, head of the Greek Orthodox church [in Aleppo] while they were on humanitarian operations in the village of Kafr Dael in Aleppo province," the news agency said.

"Terrorists intercepted the bishops' car in Kafr Dael village, took the driver out of the car and kidnapped the bishops," it added.

Reached by AFP, sources in the Greek Orthodox diocese of Aleppo declined to comment on the incident.

Christian residents of Aleppo reached by AFP said Ibrahim set out in his car to pick up Yaziji from the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Turkish border, which is under rebel control.

The car was intercepted on the way back by gunmen who kidnapped the bishops and killed their driver, the residents said on condition of anonymity.

Kidnappings have become increasingly prevalent in Syria as law and order has broken down with the spread of the conflict between rebels and loyalist troops.

Activists and human rights groups say minority groups, including Christians, have been particularly vulnerable.

Christians account for about five percent of Syria's population, and they have remained largely neutral or supportive of the regime since the outbreak of the uprising against the government in early 2011.

But the Syrian opposition also includes prominent Christian members, including George Sabra, a long-time dissident who was named interim head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition on Monday.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/23/Two-bishops-kidnapped-in-northern-Syria-state-media-reports.html
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U.S. appalled by reports of Syria massacre

U.S. appalled by reports of Syria massacre

More than 100 people were found dead in a town near Damascus after a five-day operation to retake the town by regime troops. (AFP)

The White House said Monday it was appalled by "horrific" reports of a new massacre in Syria after a watchdog group said over 100 people, many of them civilians, were killed in a town near Damascus.

"We are appalled by horrific reports that hundreds of Syrians were killed over the weekend in a Damascus suburb," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

"As the violence drags out while President Assad clings to power, we cannot lose sight of the men, women and children whose lives are being so brutally cut short."

"We reinforce our solidarity with the Syrian people, even as we strongly condemn this massacre."

Earlier, a watchdog group said that more than 100 people were found dead in a town near Damascus after a five-day operation to retake the town by regime troops.

"There are 101 martyrs who have been identified in Jdaidet al-Fadl, which was taken completely by the army on Sunday. The victims are 10 women, three children and 88 men, including 24 rebels," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

On Sunday, the group said it has confirmed the deaths of at least 80 people killed during shelling on the area, fighting and in summary executions.

The organization distributed several gruesome videos shot by activists showing bodies that bore signs of torture or mutilation.

An activist in Damascus said Sunday that all communications, water and electricity had been cut off in Jdaidet al-Fadl, adding that some of the corpses were "found in one of the hospitals" in the town.

She said some of the bodies had been beaten, and others burnt.

Since last year, the army has tried to root out rebels positioned southwest and east of Damascus, in a bid to secure the capital.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/23/U-S-appalled-by-reports-of-Syria-massacre.html
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Bombing suspect charged, could face death penalty

Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L), 26, is pictured in 2010 in Lowell, Massachusetts, and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is pictured in an undated FBI handout photo in this combination photo. (Reuters)

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged by federal prosecutors in his hospital room Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill - a crime that carries a possible death sentence.

Officials have said Tsarnaev, 19, and his older brother set off the two pressure-cooker bombs at last week's race that sprayed shrapnel into the crowds, killing three people and wounding more than 180. His brother, Tamerlan, 26, died Friday after a gun battle with police.

Tsarnaev was listed in serious but stable condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, unable to speak because of a gunshot wound to the throat.

In a criminal complaint outlining the evidence, the FBI said Tsarnaev was seen on surveillance cameras putting a knapsack on the ground near the site of the second blast and then manipulating a cellphone and lifting it to his ear.

After the first explosion ripped through the crowd, a calm-looking Tsarnaev quickly walked away, and about 10 seconds later, the second blast occurred where he left the knapsack, the FBI said.

The FBI did not make it clear whether authorities believe he used his cellphone to detonate one or both of the bombs or whether he was talking to someone.

The court papers also said that during the long night of crime Thursday and Friday that led to the older brother's death and the younger one's capture, one of them told a carjacking victim: "Did you hear about the Boston explosion? I did that."

Tsarnaev was charged with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property, resulting in death. He is also likely to face state charges in connection with the shooting death of a university police officer.

The Obama administration said it had no choice but to prosecute Tsarnaev in the federal court system. Some politicians had suggested he be tried as an enemy combatant in front of a military tribunal, where he would be denied some of the usual U.S. constitutional protections.

But Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen from Russia who has lived in the United States for about a decade, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and under U.S. law, American citizens cannot be tried by military tribunals, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Carney said that since the Sept. 11 attacks, the federal court system has been used to convict and incarcerate hundreds of terrorists.

In its criminal complaint, the FBI said it searched Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Sunday and found BBs as well as a white hat and dark jacket that look like those worn by one of one of the suspected bombers in the surveillance photos the FBI released a few days after the attack.

Seven days after the bombings, meanwhile, Boston was bustling Monday, with runners hitting the pavement, children walking to school and enough cars clogging the streets to make the morning commute feel almost back to normal.

Residents to observe a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m., the time the first of the two bombs exploded near the finish line. Bells were expected to toll across the city and state after the minute-long tribute to the victims.

Also, hundreds of family and friends packed a church in Medford for the funeral of bombing victim Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant worker. A memorial service was scheduled for Monday night at Boston University for 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, a graduate student from China.

As of Monday, 51 people remained hospitalized, three of them in critical condition and five listed as serious. At least 14 people lost all or part of a limb; three of them lost more than one. Two children with leg injuries remain hospitalized at Boston Children''s Hospital. A seven-year-old girl is in critical condition and 11-year-old Aaron Hern is in fair condition.

At the Snowden International School on Newbury Street, a high school set just a block from the bombing site, jittery parents dropped off children as teachers - some of whom had run in the race - greeted each other with hugs.

Tsarnaev was captured Friday night after an intense all-day manhunt that brought the Boston area to a near-standstill. He was cornered and seized, wounded and bloody, after he was discovered hiding in a tarp-covered boat in a Watertown backyard.

He had apparent gunshot wounds to the head, neck, legs and hand, the FBI said in court papers.

Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that Tsarnaev's throat wound raised questions about when he will be able to talk again, if ever. It was not clear whether the wound was inflicted by police or was self-inflicted.

The wound "doesn't mean he can't communicate, but right now I think he's in a condition where we can't get any information from him at all," Coats told ABC's "This Week."

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/23/Bombing-suspect-charged-could-face-death-penalty.html
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Egypt says Russia to help revive nuclear program

Egypt froze its nuclear program after the 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, but in 2006, the government of deposed President Hosni Mubarak announced it would revive the program. (AFP)

Russia will help Egypt develop its nuclear power program, Trade and Industry Minister Hatem Saleh said on Monday, signaling that the Islamist-led state will press ahead with its quest for atomic energy.

Egypt froze its nuclear program after the 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, but in 2006, the government of deposed President Hosni Mubarak announced it would revive the program.

Five months before Mubarak was swept from power in February2011, his administration announced plans for an international bidding process to build Egypt's first nuclear power station at Dabaa near the Mediterranean coast.

The agreement on Russian support was reached during a visit to Russia by President Mohamed Mursi last week.

"We spoke on this issue and agreed that the Russians will help us in conducting studies at the Dabaa nuclear station and to develop the experimental reactor in Anshas," Saleh said.

"There will be a Russian delegation to lay out the details of these issues as soon as possible," he added.

Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted by Russian news agencies on Friday as saying Egypt had proposed that Russia participate in construction of a nuclear power plant and in development of the country's uranium deposits.

Mursi met Russian President Vladimir Putin last week during an official visit to Russia. Saleh denied that Egypt had sought financial support from Russia to ease a severe economic crisis, which saw its foreign reserves drop to a critical low of $13.4billion in March, less than three months' worth of imports.

Egypt has also been talking to the IMF about a $4.8 billion loan to prop up the economy, shattered by the turbulent transition from Mubarak's rule that has driven away tourists and investors alike, as well as accepting help from Arab allies and emerging powers.

Qatar and Libya have agreed to provide $5 billion in support. Turkish economic officials and banking sources have said Ankara will transfer within two months the remaining $1billion of $2 billion it pledged last year.

Russian officials said on Friday that Moscow would consider an Egyptian loan request - which one Moscow-based source had put at $2 billion - and that it might also increase grain supplies to Egypt if its harvest reached target level this year.

However, in response to a question on the loan, Saleh said: "There was no request or plea for any assistance from the Russian side and what you heard in some of the media is news that does not deserve a response and is untrue."

When asked about the loan from Russia on Friday, Saleh said: "We have reached no conclusion on that loan."

He also said Egypt had not requested aid in the form of wheat. Typically the world's biggest importer of wheat, Egypt has cut back on wheat imports this year and is hoping for a bumper crop that the agriculture minister said on Sunday could be close to 10 million tons.
 

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Egypt-says-Russia-to-help-revive-nuclear-program.html
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Canada thwarts plot to blow up U.S.-Canada rail line

U.S. security and law enforcement sources also said the suspects had sought to attack the railroad between Toronto and New York City. (Reuters)

Canadian security forces thwarted a plot to blow up a rail line between Canada and the United States and will announce arrests on Monday afternoon, police and intelligence agencies said.

U.S. security and law enforcement sources also said the suspects had sought to attack the railroad between Toronto and New York City. Canadian media said two men had been arrested after raids in Toronto and Montreal, Canada's two biggest cities.

Canadian police are holding a briefing about a "national security criminal investigation" at 3:30 p.m. ET (1930 GMT).

The police statement, which gave no details of arrests, said various Canadian security forces had conducted joint operations in the two cities.

A U.S. law enforcement source told Reuters the alleged plot was not linked with last week's Boston Marathon bombings.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said the operations was conducted with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and he FBI.

The arrests follow not only the Boston bombings but revelations that Canadians took part in an attack by militants on a gas plant in Algeria in January.

It also recalls the arrests in 2006 of a group of more than a dozen Toronto-area men accused of planning to plant bombs at various Canadian targets. Eleven men were eventually convicted of taking part on the plot.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/22/Canada-thwarts-plot-to-blow-up-U-S-Canada-rail-line.html
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Moscow says EU aid to Syria rebels ‘counter-productive’

Russia's vice-foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said the decision by the EU to ease an oil embargo against Syria in favor of the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad was "counter-productive". (AFP)

Russia said Monday that a decision by the EU to ease an oil embargo against Syria in favor of the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad was "counter-productive".

"This deepens the impasse and does not contribute to a political solution to problems which have built up over a long time," said Russia's vice-foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov in comments to the Ria Novosti news agency.

"That is why we think this decision is counter-productive. We consider such unilateral actions to be against the principles of international law."

Bogdanov added that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would discuss the EU decision during a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg formally adopted measures enabling EU companies on a case-by-case basis to import Syrian crude and export oil production technology and investment cash to areas in the hands of the opposition.

Moscow is one of Assad's few remaining backers. It frequently provides the regime with military and other assistance, though it says it opposes foreign intervention in the Syrian conflict.

Along with China, Russia has blocked several U.N. Security Council draft resolutions threatening sanctions against Assad's regime.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Moscow-says-EU-aid-to-Syria-rebels-counter-productive-.html
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Hezbollah says actions in Syria ‘national, moral duty’

Hezbollah's Sheikh Nabil Qauk evoked the plight of Lebanese citizens living in a string of villages inside Syria. (Photo courtesy LBCI)

A senior Hezbollah leader has defended the group's actions in Syria as a "national and moral duty" to defend Lebanese inside the war-torn country, Lebanon's National News Agency reported on Monday.

Speaking at a ceremony mourning a Hezbollah fighter killed in Syria, the vice-president of the group's executive council Sheikh Nabil Qauk evoked the plight of Lebanese citizens living in a string of villages inside Syria.

"What Hezbollah is doing with regard to this issue is a national and moral duty in the defence of the Lebanese in border villages," the official news agency quoted Qauk as saying.

"To those who ask us to allow our brothers in these border villages to be victims of murders, kidnaps, massacres and expulsions, I respond to you: 'Can we leave these Lebanese hostage to this situation?" he added.

"Hezbollah's martyrs are the martyrs of the entire nation because they are defending their Lebanese compatriots," he said.

Inside Syria, along the border with Lebanon, are five villages that are home to mostly Lebanese Shiites and another eight that are mixed but have large Shiite populations.

Qauk's remarks came as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said the Lebanese Shiite group -- a staunch ally of President Bashar al-Assad -- was leading the fight in the Qusayr area of Syria's central province of Homs.

Fierce fighting has raged in the strategic area in recent days, and the newly appointed interim rebel chief George Sabra warned Monday night that Hezbollah's role in the fighting was a "declaration of war."
 

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Hezbollah-says-actions-in-Syria-national-moral-duty-.html
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Iraq makes contingency plans for Syria dam collapse

A dam on the Euphrates river in Raqa province fell under the control of rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad in February. (AFP)

Iraq has prepared contingency plans in case a dam in northern Syria that fell under rebel control two months ago collapses, an official told AFP on Monday.

The dam on the Euphrates river in Raqa province fell under the control of rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad in February. It generates 880 megawatts of power.

"We put plans in place to prevent the major damage that could be caused by such an incident," Ali Hashem, the general director of Iraq's national center for managing water resources, told AFP.

"We have to be ready for these kinds of incidents. When we saw what is happening in Syria, we put our plans in place."

Hashem did not give details on what the plans specifically entailed, or what had sparked Iraqi officials' concerns, as the area surrounding the dam has largely been peaceful since it fell under rebel control in February.

Completed in 1973 after five years of construction, it was dubbed al-Thawra or "revolution" dam for the 1966 military coup that brought Hafez al-Assad, the father and predecessor of the current Syrian president, to power.

According to the Syrian ministry of water resources website, the dam is 4.5 kilometers long, 60 meters high and 512 meters wide at its base.

It holds back Lake Assad, also named for the former ruler, a 14.1 billion cubic meter (500 billion cubic feet) man-made reservoir midway along the 2,800 kilometer Euphrates, which flows from Turkey to the north to Iraq in the east.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Iraq-makes-contingency-plans-for-Syria-dam-collapse-.html
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Turkey unhappy with Kerry call for Erdogan to delay Gaza trip

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc expressed his dismay with the way U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to delay his visit to the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)

Turkey expressed its dismay on Monday with the way U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to delay a visit to the Gaza Strip planned for next month, saying that an experienced diplomat would not do so.

Kerry's statement "is not correct diplomatically," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters. "It is up to our government to decide where our prime minister or a Turkish official will go and when."

The top U.S. diplomat said Sunday a possible trip by Erdogan to Gaza would be "distraction" to U.S. efforts to revive the moribund Middle East peace process.

"We have expressed to the prime minister that it would be better delayed," Kerry told reporters in Istanbul, a day after attending the core group meeting of the Friends of Syria, urging Erdogan to wait for the "right circumstances."

"It was our feeling in a constructive way that we thought that the timing of it is really critical with respect to the peace process that we're trying to get off the ground," emphasized Kerry.

He added Washington would like "as little outside distraction as possible" as it tries to breathe life back into the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

His comments highlight Washington's efforts aimed at breaking the ice in its two allies' relations at a time of growing war at their doorsteps in Syria.

Erdogan announced last week that he was planning to visit the impoverished Palestinian territory at the end of next month after a key trip to Washington on May 16.

The Turkish leader said his visit would be aimed at pushing for the lifting of Israel's embargo on the Gaza Strip but Washington fears such a trip could hurt a fresh U.S.-brokered rapprochement between the former allies after a three-year rift.

"We are not in a situation to receive permission, or to accept in advance a go-ahead from anybody," Arinc said. "The world and Mr. Kerry know that Turkey is a country which can do whatever it wants to and when."

He stood firm on Erdogan's plans to visit Gaza but said no timetable was set yet for such a trip.

"It could be May, or any other date. Our goal and thought is that the prime minister will make the visit," said the official.

Kerry's comments before the cameras, Arinc said, represented an effort not to cause any misunderstanding.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Turkey-unhappy-with-Kerry-call-for-pm-to-delay-Gaza-trip-.html
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FIFA Twitter accounts hacked by Assad sympathizers

A series of corruption allegations were made on the Twitter accounts of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and the World Cup. (AFP)

Two of FIFA's Twitter accounts have been hacked in the latest wave of cyberattacks claimed by Syrian government sympathizers.

A series of corruption allegations were made on the accounts of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and the World Cup.

With FIFA unable to regain control of either account, the media department confirmed by e-mail that they had been hacked, saying: "We are looking at this issue at the moment."

The Syrian Electronic Army - hackers sympathetic to Syrian President Bashar Assad - posted messages claiming it had posted the tweets.

The group also recently claimed to have hacked the Twitter accounts of other news broadcasters.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/22/FIFA-Twitter-accounts-hacked-by-Assad-sympathizers.html
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EU aid chief warns of risks of spreading Syria crisis

The Syrian crisis risks unsettling Lebanon and causing a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe's backyard, EU's Kristalina Georgieva says. (Reuters)

The Syrian crisis risks unsettling Lebanon and causing a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe's backyard, the European Union's humanitarian chief said on Monday, calling for a new drive to help refugees and strained neighboring states.

Kristalina Georgieva said the two-year-old crisis in Syria was the most dramatic of recent years with 4.3 million people internally displaced and nearly 1.4 million refugees in neighboring countries.

"Once we have the virus of inter-community violence spreading, what could the consequences be? Lebanon in flames, a humanitarian catastrophe of unimaginable proportions in a region that is close to our backyard," Georgieva said.

"So it is a tremendously important moral issue to help inside Syria and support the neighborhood, but it is also in European self-interest to do so," she said.

The flow of refugees outside Syria was exceeding capacity to cope and placing great strain on neighboring countries that are giving them shelter, she told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers' meeting that discussed the crisis.

Many communities sheltering refugees had turned hostile toward them and attitudes would turn even more negative if more skirmishes took place on Lebanese territory, Georgieva, who is from Bulgaria, said.

At least 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war, which began as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad but increasingly pits majority Sunnis against minority Alawites.

Syrian troops and Lebanese Shiite militias attacked rebel-held areas on the two countries' border on Sunday, in the heaviest clashes of the civil war in the strategic region, Lebanese and Syrian sources said.

More aid

Georgieva said Europe had provided some 600 million euros ($782 million) in humanitarian aid to Syria, of which 200 million had come from the EU's executive Commission.

The commission had asked the European Parliament for permission to tap a 250-million-euro emergency reserve to increase aid. "Once this authorization comes… we will be announcing significant additional resources to Syria," she said.

She said the European Commission was looking at ways to mobilize more coordinated economic support for the refugees and host communities.

She also said she believed war crimes had been committed in Syria by both Assad's forces and the rebels.

"We have lost more than 30 humanitarian workers in Syria, primarily Syrians who work in our organizations, we have had kidnappings on a regular basis of humanitarian workers," she said.

"The main offender is the Assad regime, because Assad was the one who chose in July last year to use artillery and aircraft to bomb civilians and there is plenty of evidence to indicate that hospitals and bakeries have been targeted," she said.

Rebels had also shot at humanitarian convoys, she said.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/EU-aid-chief-warns-of-risks-of-spreading-Syria-crisis.html
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Egypt cabinet reshuffle to take place next week, PM says

President Mohamed Mursi's opponents have been demanding the formation of a new government to oversee parliamentary elections expected to begin this year. (AFP)

A reshuffle of the Egyptian cabinet will be done early next week, Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said in remarks carried on state newspaper al-Ahram's website on Monday, but he declined to give details on which ministries will be affected.

President Mohamed Mursi's opponents have been demanding the formation of a new government to oversee parliamentary elections expected to begin this year.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that propelled Mursi to power last year, has also become increasingly critical of the Kandil government.

On Sunday, Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky resigned ahead of the cabinet reshuffle in which he was expected to be replaced, state media reported.

According to Justice Ministry spokesman Ahmed Salam, Mekky submitted his resignation to Mursi on Saturday. It followed a protest on Friday by Mursi's Islamist backers demanding the "purification" of the judiciary.

A bill has been submitted to parliament which critics say would give the government too much control over the make-up of the judiciary.

Mekky, who was appointed in August, had been quoted in local media as saying he would resign if the law was passed. The Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament has yet to vote on the legislation.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Egypt-cabinet-reshuffle-to-take-place-next-week-PM-says.html
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Egypt’s Judges Club slams bill to retire thousands of judges

Ahmed al-Zend, head of the Judges Club, slams bill to retire thousands of judges. (Reuters)

The Egyptian Judges Club lashed out Monday at a draft law being discussed by Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament to retire thousands of judges.

Ahmed al-Zend, head of the Judges Club, said during a press conference held in Cairo that the Shura Council was not entitled to issue such a law concerning the judiciary.

The club threatened to "internationalize" what it said were threats against the country's judges by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist dominated parliament.

The liberal opposition National Salvation Front offered support for the embattled judges, calling for a protest in front of the Shura Council on Tuesday.

Former opposition presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi described the parliament's draft law on the judiciary as a "crime."

The draft law was proposed by the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and seeks to send about 3,000 judges into retirement. This would be done by reducing the retirement age from 70 to 60 years.

Judges and opposition members say the law is an attempt to inject brotherhood members into the judiciary and ensure Mursi's full grip on power.

The draft law came after Friday's mass protests in Cairo which called for "purging the judiciary" following the acquittal of several top officials in the former regime.

Egypt's justice minister submitted his resignation Sunday in a move that signaled strong disapproval of the president's handling of a prolonged showdown with the country's judiciary.

The resignation highlights how the judiciary has become a significant battleground. It is the sole branch of government not dominated by Mursi's Islamist allies, although he does have some backers among the judges.

The president has been accused by some judges of trying to undermine their authority, particularly after the judiciary dealt his backers several setbacks including dissolving the Islamist-led lower house of parliament last year and forcing a delay for fresh elections.

Mursi's supporters engaged in violent street clashes Friday with opponents over calls to "cleanse the judiciary."

The president said he sees calls to purge the judiciary to fall in the framework of people's worries over acquittals of Mubarak-era figures.

Some fear Islamists would take over the courts and get rid of secular-minded judges, which could consolidate the power of the president's Muslim Brotherhood group.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Egypt-s-Judges-Club-slams-bill-to-retire-thousands-of-judges.html
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Azerbaijan jails 8 Muslim activists over pro-hijab protest

A woman wearing the hijab walks in Azerbaijan's capital Baku. (AFP)

A Baku court jailed on Monday eight Muslim activists arrested last year after they clashed with police in a protest against a ban on the Islamic hijab for schoolgirls.

The activists were sentenced for five to six years in prison "for resisting and using violence against police, and disrupting public order", the court said in a statement.

The eight men were among 40 protesters arrested last October in the mainly Shiite Muslim country's capital, Baku, in violent clashes with police.

The Muslim headscarf is prohibited under rules that define what kind of uniforms pupils must wear in Azerbaijan, where the authorities have been seeking to prevent the rise of radical Islam.

After decades of Soviet rule, Azerbaijan emerged as one of the most secular states in the Islamic world, becoming an important energy supplier to the West and an ally in the NATO-led campaign in Afghanistan.
 

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/22/Azerbaijan-jails-8-Muslim-activists-over-pro-hijab-protest-.html
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Egypt probes prosecutor who ordered drunk flogged

Egypt's penal code does not mention flogging, however. Years ago police had the right to lash disobedient prisoners, but even that has been banned. (AFP)

An Egyptian prosecutor who cited the Quran as he ordered police to flog a man with 80 lashes for public drunkenness has been suspended and put under investigation, the prosecutor-general's office said.

Spokesman Mahmoud el-Hefnawi said late Sunday that the country's top prosecutor had ordered Hussein Anani's decision cancelled and a judicial inquiry launched.

The order by Anani comes amid growing fears by some in Egypt that Islamists, emboldened by election wins, are seeking to slowly enshrine a religious system based on conservative interpretations of Islamic law.

President Mohammed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood group has emerged as the most powerful political force in Egypt since the uprising that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak two years ago.

As is the case in most countries, public intoxication has long been a criminal offense in Egypt. Penalties range from small fines to around three months in prison.

Egypt's penal code does not mention flogging, however. Years ago police had the right to lash disobedient prisoners, but even that has been banned.

Additionally, the sale and consumption of alcohol in Egypt is legal, and local beer is a common feature of street weddings in popular quarters.

The man who escaped the lashing, Mohammed Eid Hassan from the province of Minya, said he was arrested for public intoxication after attending a friend's wedding where beer was served.

"In such events I cannot refuse drinks because it is considered rude, even though such practices are taboo," he told The Associated Press on Monday.

He said he was questioned by prosecutors near his hometown of Matai, a city some 180 kilometers south of Cairo, for three hours. Hassan said the lashing was ordered after a heated argument with them.

"I told his highness the prosecutor to go ahead and carry out the lashing," he said defiantly. "I am not guilty if something like this to happens to me."

In a copy of the now-overturned decision obtained by The Associated Press, Anani wrote that he had ordered a police officer to carry out "Islamic punishment" against Hassan for consumption of alcohol. He then cited two verses of the Quran to try to back up the punishment with Shariah, or Islamic law.

One of the verses warns Muslims against alcohol, gambling and idolatry. It states that alcohol is the workings of the devil.

None of the verses prescribe lashing as a punishment, however.

Anani also cited another three verses of the Quran, which state that those who do not carry out God's rule are infidels, unjust and transgressors.

The flogging order was hailed as a triumph on jihadist forums Monday, with one person calling Anani's decision "grand" and another saying that his actions "embarrassed the oppressors who do not want to apply Shariah."

Police had refused to carry out the order and instead reported it to their superiors in the Interior Ministry, who then contacted the prosecutor general's office.

Rights lawyer Anas Sayid Saleh says that only judges, not prosecutors, have the right to order punishments.

"Proof of this is that police refused to carry out the order," Saleh said.

A high-level security official in Matai said he suspects ultraconservative Islamists may have precipitated the punishment in order to gage government and public reaction. He said that a state prosecutor like Anani knows the law well. He spoke anonymously because he is not authorized to speak to the media while the investigation is under way.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Egypt-probes-prosecutor-who-ordered-drunk-flogged.html
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Assad says Qusayr now ‘main battle,’ Lebanon ex-MP says

Abdel Rahim Mrad a former MP says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main battle is in the Qusayr area, close to the Lebanese border. (Photo courtesy of LBCI)

Syria's "main battle" at present is raging in the Qusayr area, close to the Lebanese border, President Bashar al-Assad reportedly told Lebanese politicians this weekend.

Speaking to a delegation of Lebanese backers of his regime, Assad said his forces were determined to succeed in the area "at any cost," according to Abdel Rahim Mrad, a former MP who spoke to AFP after the meeting in Damascus.

"The main battle is taking place in Qusayr," he quoted Assad as saying.

"We want to finish it at any cost and we want to do the same in Idlib," a province on the Turkish border in the northwest which is a major rebel stronghold.

Syrian regime forces, reportedly backed by fighters from the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement, are engaged in fierce battles in the Qusayr area.

Government forces reportedly retook a string of strategic villages in the area over the weekend, raising concerns that the town of Qusayr -- a rebel stronghold -- could itself fall too.

The area is strategic because of its proximity both to the Lebanese border and the main road connecting Damascus to the coast.

The As-Safir daily also reported the meeting, quoting Assad as mocking Lebanon's official policy of neutrality in the conflict in Syria.

"What is this policy of neutrality, I don't understand it," it quoted him as saying.

"Is Lebanon going to move to Africa until the end of the Syrian crisis and then return to its normal place? Lebanon can't be on the border and separate itself."

Mrad told AFP that Assad also voiced confidence that U.S. support for the rebels fighting his rule would eventually dwindle.

"The United States is pragmatic and, with time, when they see we are strong, they will change their position and drop those they are currently betting on."

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Assad-says-Qusayr-now-main-battle-Lebanon-ex-MP-says-.html
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Over 100 dead in army capture of Syrian town, NGO says

A boy walks past a burnt house in a Syrian village. (AFP)

More than 100 people have been found dead in a town near the Syrian capital of Damascus after a five-day operation to retake the town by regime troops, a watchdog said on Monday.

"There are 101 martyrs who have been identified in Jdaidet al-Fadl, which was taken completely by the army on Sunday. The victims are 10 women, three children and 88 men, including 24 rebels," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

On Sunday, the group said it has confirmed the deaths of at least 80 people killed during shelling on the area, fighting and in summary executions.

The organization distributed several gruesome videos shot by activists showing bodies that bore signs of torture or mutilation.

An activist in Damascus said Sunday that all communication, water and electricity had been cut off in Jdaidet al-Fadl, adding that some of the corpses were "found in one of the hospitals" in the town.

She said some of the bodies had been beaten, and others burnt.

Since last year, the army has tried to root out rebels positioned southwest and east of Damascus, in a bid to secure the capital.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Over-100-dead-in-army-capture-of-Syrian-town-NGO-says.html
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Watchdog: Hezbollah leads fight in Syria’s Qusayr

A handout from the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows smoke billowing from Qusayr after it was shelled by Syrian forces on July 3, 2012. (AFP)

Elite fighters from the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, are leading the fight against rebels in the region of Qusayr in the central province of Homs, a watchdog said on Monday.

"It's Hezbollah that is leading the battle in Qusayr, with its elite forces," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

"It's not necessarily fighters coming from Lebanon. It's Hezbollah fighters from Shiite villages on the Syrian side which are inhabited by Lebanese," he said.

Over the weekend, Syrian regime forces retook control of a string of strategic villages in the region, which is along the border with Lebanon.

That raised fears among rebels that the town of Qusayr itself, a stronghold of the uprising, could fall into government hands.

The Observatory said fighting was raging Monday morning between rebels and Hezbollah fighters around several other villages in the area, leaving two rebels dead.

The area is of key strategic importance because it runs along the border with Lebanon and is near the route running from Damascus to the coast.

On Sunday, the main opposition National Coalition urged Hezbollah to "immediately withdraw its forces from Syrian territory", adding its involvement in Syria's conflict "could drag Lebanon and the region into an open-ended conflict with disastrous consequences".

In the past, Hezbollah has insisted that its members fighting in Homs province were Shiite residents of Syrian border towns engaged in self-defense against rebel forces. The group has not commented on the intensified fighting near Qusayr.

Fighting in the area has spilled over into Lebanon, with rebels reportedly targeting border towns inside Lebanon in response to Hezbollah involvement in the conflict.

Elsewhere in Syria, the Observatory said eight regime security forces were killed when rebels, including from the jihadist Nusra front, detonated a car and fuel tanks at a government checkpoint and security outpost in Damascus province.

On Sunday, 116 people were killed throughout the country, including 39 civilians, 46 rebel fighters and 31 regime forces, said the Observatory, which relies for its information on a network of activists and medical staff on the ground.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Watchdog-Hezbollah-leads-fight-in-Syria-s-Qusayr.html
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EU ends Myanmar sanctions, arms embargo remains

The European Union began easing sanctions against Myanmar a year ago as the military, in power for decades, progressively ceded power to civilians and implemented wholesale reforms of the economy. (AFP)

EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to lift the last of the bloc's trade, economic and individual sanctions against Myanmar, hailing "a new chapter" with the once pariah state.

"In response to the changes that have taken place and in the expectation that they will continue, the Council [of ministers] has decided to lift all sanctions with the exception of the embargo on arms," said a statement approved without a vote.

"The EU is willing to open a new chapter in its relations with Myanmar/Burma, building a lasting partnership," it added.

The European Union began easing sanctions against Myanmar a year ago as the military, in power for decades, progressively ceded power to civilians and implemented wholesale reforms of the economy.

Ministers noted, however, that there were "still significant challenges to be addressed," in particular an end to hostilities in Kachin state and improving the plight of the Rohingya people.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Monday that Myanmar has waged "a campaign of ethnic cleansing" against Rohingya Muslims, citing evidence of mass graves and forced displacement affecting tens of thousands.

HRW Asia head Phil Robertson said lifting the sanctions was "premature and regrettable," warning that the move lessens leverage over Myanmar.

To help Myanmar's economy, the EU will also look at the feasibility of a bilateral investment agreement, as well as more development assistance.

To help it deal with inter-communal violence, the EU is studying the possibility of assisting reform of the police service, in partnership with its parliament, the statement said.

In April last year, foreign ministers agreed to a one-year suspension of measures targeting almost 500 individuals and more than 800 firms to bolster a reform process which the same month saw opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's election to parliament.

Among the sanctions, hundreds of people were targeted by a travel ban and asset freeze, while on the economic front the EU had barred investments and banned imports of the country's lucrative timber, metals and gems.

During a visit to Brussels last month, the first by a Myanmar head of state, President Thein Sein urged the EU to lift sanctions, saying "we are one of the poorest countries in the world."

He received pledges of EU economic assistance coupled with calls to protect his country's ethnic minorities.

Since the former premier took over the presidency in March 2011, hundreds of political prisoners have been released and elections held.

EU development aid since has more than doubled to around 150 million euros for 2012-2013.

22 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/22/EU-ends-Myanmar-sanctions-arms-embargo-remains-.html
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Hagel touts arms deal on Israel trip

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel looks out of the window during a helicopter tour of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights April 22, 2013. (Reuters)

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel and his Israeli counterpart on Monday hailed a major arms deal as a sign of "ironclad" U.S. support for the Jewish state after talks on Iran's nuclear drive and Syria's war.

The U.S. defense secretary, who has been accused of being too critical of Israel, sought to convey a message of solidarity on his first visit to the region since he took office two months ago.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in Tel Aviv, Hagel confirmed the two had agreed on a multi-billion dollar weapons deal that will see Israel receiving an impressive array of advanced U.S. missiles and aircraft.

"Today we took another significant step in the U.S.-Israel defense relationship," Hagel said, reiterating Washington's "ironclad pledge" to ensure Israel's military edge in a region rocked by turmoil.

"Minister Yaalon and I agreed that the United States will make available to Israel a set of advanced new military capabilities," including anti-radiation missiles, radars for fighter jets, KC-135 refueling aircraft, and the V-22 Osprey, which the United States has not released to other countries, he said.

Yaalon admitted Israel had already "acted" to stop advanced weapons from falling into militant hands, in what was seen as implicit confirmation of Israeli involvement in a strike on an arms convoy inside Syria in January.

He said Israel had laid down three "very clear red lines" for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the first of which was "not to allow sophisticated weapons to be delivered or be taken by rogue elements like Hezbollah or other rogue elements."

"When they crossed this red line, we acted," he said, in what was widely understood to be the January 30 strike which hit what a U.S. official said were surface-to-air missiles near Damascus that Israel suspected were en route to Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.

The second red line was maintaining security along the Israeli-Syrian ceasefire line on the occupied Golan Heights, and the third was the transfer of chemical weapons into the hands of militants, which "has not been tested yet," Yaalon said.

European diplomats have alleged the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against rebels, and Hagel said Washington was investigating the accounts.

"Currently our intelligence agencies are assessing what happened and what did not happen," he said.

The White House has warned that use of chemical agents in the Syrian civil war would constitute a "game changer" but Hagel refused to be drawn on any possible U.S. response.

"I'm not going to discuss contingency options," he said.

The U.S. defense secretary said he had had "clear, direct conversations" with Yaalon that covered the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program, which Washington and much of the West believes is a drive for a weapons capability, but which the Islamic republic denies.

U.S.-Israeli relations have been strained over how to address the Iranian threat but Hagel insisted there was no major disagreement on the issue.

Before arriving in Israel on Sunday at the start of a six-day regional tour, Hagel had said the arms deal sent a "very clear signal" to Tehran that military action remains an option to stop it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Israel, believed to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, has refused to rule out a pre-emptive military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, and Hagel on Monday said that "every sovereign nation has a right to defend itself".

During the afternoon, the U.S. defense chief took a helicopter tour over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights after which he returned to Jerusalem for talks with President Shimon Peres.

On Tuesday morning, he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before leaving for a brief stopover in Jordan, then on to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, where he will wrap up details of the $10 billion arms deal that will also provide missiles to Saudi and U.S. F-16 fighter jets to the UAE.

He will also visit Cairo.
 

22 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Hagel-touts-arms-deal-on-Israel-trip-.html
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Up to 500 feared dead in Damascus suburb-activists

A man prays at the grave of a Free Syrian Army fighter at a cemetery at al-Karak al-Sharqi in Deraa March 30, 2013. Picture taken March 30, 2013. (Reuters)

At least 109 people have been documented as killed and up to 400 more are likely to have died in an almost week-long offensive by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a rebellious Damascus suburb, opposition activists said.

If the accounts are confirmed, the killings in the mainly Sunni Muslim suburb of Jdeidet al-Fadel would amount to one of bloodiest episodes of the two-year-old uprising against Assad. Many of the dead were civilians, the activists said.

Syrian state media gave no death toll but confirmed the army had been fighting in Jdeidet al-Fadel. It said it had saved the town from what it described as criminal terrorist groups, killing and wounding an undisclosed number of them.

On Sunday activists said at least 85 people had been killed and the toll might reach 250, but with the army beginning to pull back they said more accounts were emerging which suggest the final figure could be even higher.

The activists, speaking from the area, 10 km southwest of Damascus, said residents had buried some victims in the early stages of the five-day attack by elite forces and pro-Assad militias. More bodies are now being found burnt or summarily executed in buildings and streets.

They said rebel brigades who numbered around 300 fighters withdrew two days ago, leaving Assad's forces in total control.

The working-class district is one of several Sunni Muslim towns surrounding the capital that have been at the forefront of the uprising. It is situated near hilltop bases of elite forces which are mostly from Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has dominated Syria since the 1960s.

Documented deaths of people who were discovered in the street and buildings on Saturday and Sunday and later buried in mass graves stood at 109, the opposition activist said. Activist Abu Ahmad al-Rabi' said they included seven refugees from nearby towns found shot dead inside a residential building.

Dozens of bodies were also seen near a disused railway line in the center of the district but the presence of army patrol shave prevented the collection and documentation of victims.

"Assad's forces are beginning to withdraw from Jdeidetal-Fadel but they are still there patrolling the streets and there are snipers deployed," he said.

Bodies lying in streets

In addition to those buried over the weekend, and those bodies reported lying in the streets, between 100 to 200 people were killed and buried in the first three days of the fighting, the activists said.

Shamel al-Golani of the opposition Sham News Network said among the hardest hit areas was a neighborhood adjacent to the100 army brigade, one of several elite units based around Jdeidet al-Fadel.

"In the first three days the army would go into neighborhoods and commit killings and withdraw and come back the next day," he said.

"Many of them who were killed early were refugees from Daraya and al-Mouadamiya and were buried quietly," he said, referring to two adjacent suburbs that have been the scene of fighting and several army incursions.

Assad's forces have been accused of massacring hundreds of Sunni Muslims in areas they stormed in Hama and Homs provinces and Damascus suburbs. International rights groups say rebel forces have also committed atrocities, although on a smaller scale.

Jdeidet al-Fadel lies on the road from Damascus to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Its residents are Golan refugees and in the last year thousands of families from nearby areas took shelter in the town.

The Local Coordination Committee, an organization of grassroots activists, put the death toll at 450, while the Syrian Organization for Human Rights (Sawasiah) said the number of victims was at 500.

In a statement, Sawasieh said the army forces included elite Republican Guards, the 100 and 153 artillery brigades and the555 brigade, formerly known as the Defense Brigades.

Units of "sectarian militia" supported by members of air force intelligence, one of the most feared of a myriad of secret police branches, accompanied the army units, it said.

According to witness accounts interviewed by the Syrian organization, water and electricity were cut off from the town and residents were not allowed to leave as Assad's forces blocked the entrances of the suburbs.

Many of the victims, Sawasiah said, were civilians, targeted because the suburb was an "incubator for armed resistance" and showed solidarity with refugees in adjacent towns also subjected to mass killings.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Up-to-500-feared-dead-in-Damascus-suburb-activists.html
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Syrian opposition names George Sabra interim chief

George Sabra is elected as the interim chief of Syria's main opposition group until elections for a new president. (AFP)

The Syrian National Coalition named veteran dissident George Sabra as caretaker leader of the main opposition grouping on Monday, following the resignation of Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib.

Sabra "was assigned today to carry out the functions of the head of the Coalition until elections for a new president," one of the Coalition's main constituent groups, the Syrian National Council, said in a statement.

The announcement came a day after the widely-respected Khatib submitted his resignation for a second time, officially in protest over the failure of the international community to stop the conflict in Syria, which has killed at least 70,000 people.

Sabra, who until now led the Syrian National Council, will be the Coalition's caretaker leader until at least May 10, when the Coalition is scheduled to meet for leadership elections.

Sabra is a veteran communist opponent of the Damascus regime and one of the most prominent Christian members of the opposition.

He was imprisoned for eight years under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad's father and predecessor Hafez.

He was subsequently detained after the uprising against Assad began in March 2011, and secretly left Syria in early 2012 to help contribute to the formation of the opposition.

22 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Syria-opposition-names-George-Sabra-interim-chief-.html
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Bikini ban: Emirate sets fines for skimpy swimwear

Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah posted signs on public beaches warning of possible fines for revealing swimwear. (AFP)

Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah, the northernmost emirate in the United Arab Emirates, have posted signs on public beaches warning of possible fines for revealing swimwear such as two-piece bikinis for women and brief trunks for men.

The Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reports Monday that the move followed complaints from local families who did not like sharing the sands with tourists showing too much skin. The emirate is located about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Dubai.

The UAE hosts a patchwork of different social mores among its seven semi-autonomous emirates, ranging from conservative to relatively liberal. Dubai for example urges "respectful" attire but rarely objects to outfits such as miniskirts or bikinis.

23 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Bikini-ban-Emirate-sets-fines-for-skimpy-swimwear.html
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Qatar court orders lashing of Muslim barber over drinking alcohol

In addition to the lashes the man was fined 500 rials ($135) for causing disturbance. (Reuters)

A Qatari court has sentenced a Muslim barber from an unknown Asian country to 40 lashes over consuming alcohol in the Gulf state, a local daily reported on Monday.

The man was arrested following a complaint by another who accused him of harassing his domestic worker by throwing at her a piece of paper on which he scribbled his phone number, Al-Sharq daily reported.

Police found him drunk when they arrived, it said.

"As a Muslim, the sharia applies in his case," said the paper, referring to the Islamic law that prohibits alcohol consumption and is the main source of legislation in Qatar.

In addition to the lashes the man was fined 500 rials ($135) for causing disturbance.

Alcohol consumption is banned in Qatar, except in hotels and for non-Muslims who obtain special licences.
 

22 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/22/Qatar-to-lash-Muslim-barber-over-drinking-alcohol-.html
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Pakistan government refuses to try Musharraf for treason

Musharraf has been threatened with death by the Taliban and barred from running in next month's general election. (Reuters)

Pakistan's caretaker government on Monday refused to put former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason, telling the Supreme Court that it was beyond its mandate.

The move will give at least temporary breathing room to Musharraf, who is already under house arrest in connection with one of three other cases dating back to his 1999-2008 period in office.

The cases are being heard in lower courts.

He has been threatened with death by the Taliban and barred from running in next month's general election, a humiliating blow to the retired general who returned home in March promising to "save" Pakistan after four years in exile.

"The caretaker government should avoid taking any controversial step and should not commit any process that is not reversible by the incoming elected government," the administration said in a statement read out in Pakistan's top court.

The Supreme Court is hearing a petition from lawyers demanding that Musharraf face trial for treason for subverting the constitution. In Pakistan only the state can initiate charges of treason, which can carry the death penalty.

The interim administration, which took office last month, is tasked with guiding the nuclear-armed country of 180 million towards the May 11 vote, which will mark a historic democratic transition of power in a country used to periods of military rule.

The administration will step down after the new elected government takes office and as a result said it had no mandate to order a trial of Musharraf for treason.

With less than three weeks to go, it said overseeing the vote was a full-time job, not least given the threat level against candidates. The Taliban have claimed a series of deadly attacks on politicians and political parties.

The government cautioned there was "no urgency" to try Musharraf and said it needed "to confine their work to day-to-day routine matters" and "maintain the status quo" for the incoming elected government.

Musharraf is serving his two-week arrest order in his luxury villa in the upmarket suburb of Chak Shahzad on the edge of Islamabad.

His arrest was ordered by an anti-terrorism court on Saturday in connection with the sacking of judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.

On Sunday, his party spokesman said he had been confined to two rooms and stripped of his personal staff, with his lawyers also denied access.

Musharraf faces separate charges of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and over the 2006 death of a Baluch rebel leader.

The Supreme Court adjourned hearing the treason petition until Tuesday and ordered the authorities to allow Musharraf's lawyers to meet him.

Presiding Judge Jawad S. Khwaja told the court: "It appears that the government is determined not to take any legal action in this matter."
 

22 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2013/04/22/Pakistan-government-refuses-to-try-Musharraf-for-treason-.html
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