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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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الرئيس السابق حسنى مبارك

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الخميس، مارس 14، 2013

Iranian fighter tries to intercept American drone in Gulf: U.S.

Iranian fighter tries to intercept American drone in Gulf: U.S.

In December 2011, the Iranians captured a sophisticated Sentinel spy drone after it crashed on Iranian territory. (AFP)

 An Iranian fighter jet tried to intercept a U.S. Predator drone over the Gulf but backed off after encountering two American military aircraft, the Pentagon said Thursday.

"One of the U.S. aircraft discharged a flare as a warning to the Iranian plane, which then broke off pursuit," spokesman George Little said in a statement.

No shots were fired in the confrontation on Wednesday, which the Pentagon said took place over "international waters."

At one point the Iranian F-4, an old U.S.-built warplane dating from the Vietnam War era, was within 16 miles (25 kilometers) of the unmanned Predator drone, the statement said.

In November, an Iranian fighter jet fired at a Predator plane, provoking a strongly-worded protest from the United States.

As after the November incident, the Pentagon vowed to continue to conduct surveillance flights over what it deems international waters and to safeguard U.S. forces in the region.

Little said that "we reserve the right to protect our military assets as well as our forces and will continue to do so going forward."

In December 2011, the Iranians captured a sophisticated Sentinel spy drone after it crashed on Iranian territory, in an embarrassment for Washington.

The United States expanded its military presence around the Gulf over the past year after Iran threatened to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for tough international sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.

U.S. officials and military commanders worry about an accidental clash in the area that could escalate into a serious crisis and conflict.

But they are also keen to maintain a robust American military role in the region to counter Iran and to monitor its naval deployments.

President Barack Obama has repeatedly warned that he has not ruled out possible military action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

15 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/15/Iranian-fighter-tries-to-intercept-U-S-drone-in-gulf-U-S-.html
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U.S. says Greek businessman helps Iran smuggle oil

U.S. placed sanctions on a Greek businessman for using Iranian funds and transported Iranian oil, to evade an international effort to shut down much of Tehran's earnings from oil sales. (Reuters)

The U.S. placed sanctions on a Greek businessman and his companies Thursday for allegedly helping Iran avoid international restrictions to export oil.

The Treasury Department said Dmitris Cambis bought oil tankers using Iranian funds and transported Iranian oil, disguising its origin, to evade an international effort to shut down much of Tehran's earnings from oil sales.

"Today we are lifting the veil on an intricate Iranian scheme that was designed to evade international oil sanctions," said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen.

The Treasury said in a statement that Cambis, the president of Impire Shipping Limited, bought the tankers on behalf of the National Iranian Tanker Company.

Iranian oil was loaded on them by ship-to-ship transfers to mask the origin of the oil, the Treasury said.

The Treasury extended the sanctions to 10 companies in Greece and four in the United Arab Emirates and eight vessels that it said Cambis used to help Iran ship oil abroad.

The Treasury said the four UAE-based firms were Iranian government front companies.

The sanctions forbid Americans and U.S. companies from undertaking transactions involving the companies and vessels named.
 

15 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/U-S-says-Greek-businessman-helps-Iran-smuggle-oil-.html
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Syrian army captures truck full of weapons: Syrian TV

Syrian television station Ikhbariyah reports that the Syrian army captured a truck full of weapons headed to southern Damascus. (Reuters)

Syria's Ikhbariyah TV on Thursday showed pictures of a truck full of weapons and reported that it was captured by the Syrian army.

The weapons included Israeli rockets and pictures were shown of weaponry, military jackets and binoculars.

The truck was reportedly headed to Sbeineh in southern Damascus, when the Syrian army captured it and seized the weapons on board.

At least 70,000 people have been killed in the two-year-old revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the violence has stoked tensions across the Middle East.

France and Britain have stepped up calls to lift the arms embargo to permit supplies to the Syrian opposition to level the playing field in the conflict.

But other EU governments, including Germany, have resisted the move, fearing it will fuel violence in the region.

Britain and France hope the threat of arming the rebels will force Assad into talks and a transition of power.


 

15 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/15/Syrian-army-captures-truck-full-of-weapon-Syrian-TV.html
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Syria refugee numbers jump 10 percent in week: U.N.

Syria refugee numbers jump 10 percent in week: U.N.

Fighting in Syria has intensified, prompting growing numbers of Syrians to flee their country. (Reuters)

The U.N. said Thursday that the number of registered Syrian refugees jumped 10 percent in the past week alone, part of what the U.N. commissioner for refugees called a "staggering escalation."

France, meanwhile, pushed for quickly lifting a European Union ban on arming Syrian rebels.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his country is ready to supply weapons even if other EU countries disagree. The United States and other countries have been reluctant to send weapons partly because of fears they may fall into the hands of extremists.

Fighting in Syria has intensified, prompting growing numbers of Syrians to flee their country.

The human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday that the regime is increasingly using lethal battlefield weapons, including widely banned cluster bombs, in attacks on residential areas.

"The frequency and scale of such attacks - which constitute war crimes - has increased in recent months, with disastrous consequences for the civilian population," the group said in a report.

On Thursday, Syrian warplanes struck several areas across the country, activists said.

In Israel, the military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, warned that the regime is making "advanced preparations" for using chemical weapons, but has not given the order yet to activate them.

Kochavi did not elaborate. He also said Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah are fighting alongside Assad.

The Syria conflict began two years ago as a largely peaceful uprising against Assad. A government crackdown triggered an insurgency that turned into a civil war last summer.

U.N. officials said some 4 million of Syria's 22 million people have been forced from their homes by the fighting, including 2 million who remain in Syria. The U.N. estimates more than 70,000 people have been killed.

The number of Syrians who fled to neighboring countries is growing well beyond initial estimates, the U.N. refugee agency said. At the same time, donor governments have sent only about one-fifth of the $1.5 billion needed to help displaced Syrians for the first six months of this year.

Last week, the U.N. announced that the number of registered refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq and North Africa had reached 1 million.

On Thursday, Reem Alsalem of the U.N. refugee agency said more than 121,000 refugees registered since then, a jump of more than 10 percent.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres noted that the average number of Syrians fleeing their country every day rose from 3,000 in December to 8,000 in February.

"This represents a staggering escalation," he said in a visit to Lebanon on Thursday, urging decision-makers to do more to end the conflict.

France and Britain have been pushing for a review of the EU's ban on sending weapons to Syria's opposition fighters. The current embargo expires in May.

The French foreign minister said Thursday that France and Britain will ask for an EU meeting to lift the embargo, possibly by the end of the month.

"Lifting the embargo is one of the only means left to make things move politically" in Syria, Fabius said, adding that he believes France should arm the rebels.

Asked by France-Info radio if France and Britain could join efforts to arm the opposition, Fabius said, "to lift the embargo, exactly."

Asked what France would do if European partners insist on a continued embargo, he said France and Britain could refuse to renew it. "France is a sovereign nation," he said, but did not elaborate.

A French diplomat said France is not talking about breaking the EU embargo but is leaning toward refusing to extend it in May. The diplomat, who wasn't authorized to be publicly named according to government policy, said it was too early to discuss what kind of arms France might supply.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also hinted this week that his country might refuse to extend the embargo.

Russia, which is supplying weapons to the Syrian military, strongly opposes arms supplies to the rebels, and some international diplomats warn that more fire power is the last thing that Syria needs.

15 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Syria-refugee-numbers-jump-10-percent-in-week-U-N-.html
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Assad regime raids rebel-held areas across Syria: NGO

A number of neighborhoods of Homs been devastated by nine months of a suffocating military siege and an escalated week-long campaign to crush the insurgency there. (AFP)

Warplanes bombarded rebel positions across strife-torn Syria on Thursday, a watchdog said, while fierce clashes raged near the ancient citadel in the central city of Homs.

Fighter jets rained bombs on targets in the southern province of Daraa, on Homs and Hama in the center, Raqa in the north and Idlib in the northwest, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.


Rebels meanwhile assaulted a checkpoint near the army-held citadel in the heart of Homs city, killing eight soldiers, the Britain-based Observatory said.

A number of neighborhoods of Homs been devastated by nine months of a suffocating military siege and an escalated week-long campaign to crush the insurgency there.

Also in Homs, fighting raged for the sixth consecutive day over the symbolic district of Baba Amr, which rebels infiltrated at the weekend in a surprise counter-offensive on an area captured a year ago by the army.

The air force has escalated its use of fighter jets as rebels seize more and more territory across Syria.

Thursday's violence comes a day after at least 159 people were killed across the country, among them 63 civilians.

The conflict in Syria has left some 70,000 people dead in the past two years, the U.N. says, and has forced more than one million people to flee the country.

The conflict broke out after regime forces unleashed a brutal crackdown against a peaceful uprising that erupted on March 15, 2011. The uprising later morphed into a bloody insurgency.

15 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Assad-regime-raids-rebel-held-areas-across-Syria-NGO-.html
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Palestinians to push for release of 1,000 prisoners

Young Palestinian protesters hold portraits of Samer Issawi, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for more than 200 days, during a solidarity sit-in outside the Red Cross offices in Jerusalem on March 14, 2013. (AFP)

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's top priority is to secure the release of more than 1,000 prisoners held by Israel, an official said Thursday ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

"Abbas's instructions, correspondence and political meetings aim at making concerted efforts to free 107 prisoners arrested before 1994," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said in a statement, referring to those jailed before the signing of the Oslo accords.

"This is in addition to the release of 1,000 other prisoners, which was agreed on in a deal between Abbas and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and of 15 who were re-arrested after the [Gilad] Shalit prisoner swap," he said, referring to an Israeli soldier held by Hamas for more than five years.

Palestinian leaders are currently preparing for a top-level visit by Obama as part of a three-day tour that will begin in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Obama is scheduled to hold talks with Abbas at the Palestinian leader's political headquarters in Ramallah on March 21, then visit Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity the following day, Palestinian officials said on Thursday.

Obama will be accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who said in February he was intent on giving $700 million (540 million euros) in aid to Abbas's Palestinian Authority, $495 million of which has been blocked for months by Congress.

The Palestinian Authority is currently living through its worst financial crisis since its creation in 1994, caused by the non-delivery of aid promised by the U.S. and Arab countries, as well as Israel's blocking of monthly tax monies it collects on behalf of the PA.

15 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Palestinians-to-push-for-release-of-1-000-prisoners-.html
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Syria plans to use chemical arms: Israel

The United States and its allies are trying to keep close track of Syria's arsenal of suspected chemical and biological warfare agents. (AFP)

Israel's military intelligence chief on Thursday said the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has contingency plans to use chemical weapons as it battles insurgents.

Speaking at Israel's annual Herzliya Conference on security and policy, Major General Avi Kohavi said Assad was still in control of his stockpile of chemical weapons, which the Jewish state fears could fall into the hands of militants.

"Assad is making advance preparations to use chemical weapons. He did not give the order yet, but is preparing for it," he told delegates, while stressing that the Syrian leader was still in control of Damascus's chemical stockpiles, military hardware and the air force.

Addressing the same conference earlier this week, army Chief Benny Gantz warned that "terrorist" groups fighting alongside insurgents seeking to bring down the Assad regime were becoming stronger.

"The situation in Syria has become exceptionally dangerous. The terrorist organizations are becoming stronger on the ground. Now they are fighting against Assad but in the future they could turn against us," Gantz said.

Several radical Islamist groups have joined the two-year uprising against Assad, with al-Nusra Front being the most prominent.

Kohavi also said Assad's collapse would harm his allies, Iran and Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah militant group.

When Assad falls, Iran "will lose the ability to transfer weaponry through Syria to Hezbollah," he said.

"Iran and Hezbollah are both doing all in their power to assist Assad's regime. They support Assad operationally on the ground, with strategic consultation, intelligence, weapons," the intelligence chief told delegates.

"They are establishing a popular army trained by Hezbollah and financed by Iran, currently consisting of 50,000 men, with plans to increase to 100,000,' he said.

"Iran and Hezbollah are also preparing for the day after Assad's fall, when they will use this army to protect their assets and interest in Syria."
 
The United States and its allies are trying to keep close track of Syria's arsenal of suspected chemical and biological warfare agents. U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper noted on Tuesday, U.S. intelligence agencies' concern that Assad's government "might be prepared to use chemical weapons" against his own people and that outside groups could gain access to them.

He added that Iran is doing what it can to prop up Assad's government, through aid and training, despite being weakened by international sanctions seeking to keep Tehran from developing nuclear weapons capability.

"Iran continues to be a destabilizing force in the region providing weapons and training to Syrian forces and standing up a militia force there to fight the Syrian opposition," Clapper said, with the goal of having at least a foothold in Syria even if Assad falls.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Syria-plans-to-use-chemical-arms-Israel-intel-chief-.html
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Islamic states hope for better ties with new pope: OIC

Francis, an Argentine who was elected on Wednesday, replaces Benedict XVI, whose papacy was plagued by a series of public relations blunders at the start of his reign that offended many. (AFP)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 countries, expressed hope on Thursday for better relations between Muslim states and the Vatican under newly elected Pope Francis.

OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a letter of congratulations to the pope, said he hoped "the relationship between Islam and Christianity will regain its cordiality and sincere friendship" under the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Francis, an Argentine who was elected on Wednesday, replaces Benedict XVI, whose papacy was plagued by a series of public relations blunders at the start of his reign that offended many.

Benedict angered the Muslim world with a speech in 2006 in which he appeared to endorse the view that Islam is inherently violent, sparking deadly protests in several countries as well as attacks on Christians.

In his letter, Ihsanoglu said that "over the last eight years, the OIC has called for and worked hard to propagate the idea of 'historic reconciliation between Islam and Christianity'".

"I would like at this historic moment to reiterate this call," he wrote, adding that he was "praying for success in your holiness's lofty and noble mission."

Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, al-Azhar, had also called for "better relations" with the Vatican under the new pope following the suspension of inter-faith dialogue after statements from Benedict sparked Muslim anger.

"As soon as a new policy emerges, we will resume the dialogue with the Vatican which was suspended in early 2011," Mahmud Azab, adviser for inter-faith affairs to al-Azhar imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb, told AFP.
 


 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Islamic-states-hope-for-better-ties-with-new-pope-OIC.html
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New pope gives hope to Arab Christians

Newly elected Pope Francis I, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, prays before an icon of Mary during a private visit to the 5th-century Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. (Reuters)

The Catholic Church's election on Wednesday of Argentina's Jorge Bergoglio as its new pope is giving hope to faithful Catholics across the Arab world.


He is the first-ever pontiff from the Americas, and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.


He has shown a special interest in the Middle East, highlighting the plight of the Palestinians in his book "Sobre el cielo y la tierra," or "On Heaven and Earth," published in 2010, said Lebanese Father John Maroun from the Mariamite Maronite order.


"With the new pope, there will be more Arab elements in the Vatican," said Father Maroun, adding that there is a large Arab Christian community in Latin America, with whom the pope has already made contacts.


A new role, a new name


The pope has chosen to be named after the 12th-century St. Francis of Assisi, the son of wealthy merchants who abandoned his material possessions for a life of poverty in the path of Jesus Christ.


The new pontiff, who lived in a modest apartment in Buenos Aires, frequently prepared his own meals and commuted by bus, has already garnered the admiration of many Arab Christians.


Pope Francis will have to leave his austere apartment opposite the Cathedral of Buenos Aires to the 10-room papal residence inside the vaulted gates of the Holy See.


He is set to give his much-awaited first address to the Catholic world in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 19.


Arabs in Latin America


There is a sizable population in Latin America who are of Arab ancestry, mostly Christians from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. It is said that Argentina has the highest percentage of Arabs on the continent.


The pope's background as a Latin American and non-European has struck a chord with Arab Christians, who believe he will be more understanding of their problems.


"Choosing his papal name to be Pope Francis, and coming from the southern hemisphere and not from a rich country like Germany, he has set the tone for his papal term as one of understanding," Father Maroun said.


"He'll work to consolidate the presence of Christians in the Middle East," Father Maroun added.


"I'm happy to see the Vatican choosing Pope Francis. His background heralds the age of a more open Vatican, especially towards poorer nations," Lebanon's Father George Iskander told Al Arabiya.


The new pope's background is also being hailed by Latin Americans, who comprise 42 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.


"A Latino is more open to others, while a European is more closed," said Ana Solis from Chile. "A change like this ... will be very important for us Latin Americans."


Al-Azhar welcomes new pope


Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, al-Azhar, is "hoping for better relations with the Vatican" under Pope Francis, said Mahmud Azab, adviser for inter-faith affairs to al-Azhar Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb.


"As soon as a new policy emerges, we will resume the dialogue with the Vatican which was suspended in early 2011," Azab said. "We congratulate the Church of St. Peter and all Catholics around the world."


The previous Pope Benedict angered Muslims in 2006 when he described an anecdote in which Islam's Prophet Mohammed was portrayed as a "warmonger" who "spread evil teachings by the sword."


While relations resumed three years later, they were severed again when Pope Benedict called for the protection of Christian minorities in the Arab world following a Jan. 2011 suicide bombing at a church in Alexandria, Egypt's second city.


Al-Azhar viewed his reaction as negative towards Islam.

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/New-pope-gives-hope-to-Arab-Christians.html
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Tunisia’s Larayedh to take charge as street vendor buried

Tunisian's President Moncef Marzouki (R) arrives with Prime Minister Ali Larayedh at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Islamist-led government of office at the Carthage Palace in Tunis March 13, 2013. (Reuters)

Tunisia's outgoing premier was to hand power on Thursday to fellow Islamist Ali Larayedh, who takes on the mammoth task of bringing to an end the political and economic crisis gripping the country.

Larayedh was to formally assume the post from Hamadi Jebali at 1500 GMT, a day after winning parliament's approval for his new government, with Thursday's funeral of a street vendor who burnt himself to death serving as a stark reminder of the problems it faces.

The new cabinet, an awkward alliance between the dominant Islamist party Ennahda, two secular parties and independent technocrats, was "not entitled to make mistakes," one Tunisian newspaper warned.

Larayedh's coalition received 139 votes, or 30 more than needed, in Wednesday's parliamentary session, which came weeks after Jebali quit following his failure to form a new government in a bid to defuse tensions caused by the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid.

French-language daily Le Quotidien said the new premier's "intentions are good" but in his policy speech Larayedh "only repeated the desire for slogans and objectives without presenting a specific political program."

"The basis and content remain desperately vague... We cross our fingers and wait to see before casting judgment. Perhaps the age of miracles is not yet over."

La Presse, another daily, said the government had to pull Tunisia out of a "vicious circle," and must "relaunch investment to create jobs, with unemployment creating the instability in the country that is deterring investors."

Tunisia is struggling to revive its economy and confront the social woes afflicting it two years after the revolution that toppled ex-dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, with unemployment and poverty still major sources of discontent.

The death on Wednesday of Adel Khazri, 27, after he set himself on fire, has revived the haunting memory of Mohamed Bouazizi, another street vendor whose self-immolation in December 2011 in protest at his precarious living conditions sparked the Tunisian uprising.

Khazri, who was due to be buried at midday in Souk Jemaa, in northwestern Tunisia, had arrived in the capital a few months ago to look for work, officials said.

The revolution badly affected the economy, paralysing the strategic tourism sector, although Ennahda has claimed credit for bringing the country out of recession, with 3.6 percent growth registered in 2012.

Unemployment stands at about 17 percent, and is especially high among young graduates.

Larayedh has promised to resolve the country's institutional crisis this year, by ensuring the adoption of a new constitution and organizing elections, while creating the conditions for an economic recovery and the re-establishment of security.

In a brief interview with AFP on Wednesday, Larayedh said the principle threats facing Tunisia were "terrorism" and social unrest.

"The main danger to national security is terrorism, whether it comes from abroad or from inside the country," he said, adding that another threat was "social violence fed by politics."

In addition to economic hardships and the political turmoil caused by killing of Belaid, an outspoken critic of the ruling Islamists, a wave of violence blamed on hardline Salafists has rocked Tunisia since the revolution.

The authorities have accused the radical Islamists for Belaid's murder and made a number of arrests, but the suspected killer remains at large.

Tunisia, meanwhile, remains without a fixed political system because of a lack of consensus between the main parties, with Ennahda pushing for a pure parliamentary system while others are demanding the president retain key powers.

The National Constituent Assembly is due to vote on a timetable for the adoption of a new constitution, after a proposal was submitted on Monday that the charter be adopted in July, with elections held in October.

But observers are not overly confident that those dates will be met, given previous failures.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Tunisia-s-Larayedh-to-take-charge-as-street-vendor-buried-.html
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Blasts strike near ministries in Baghdad: sources

Violence continues to reoccur making Iraq one of the most dangerous countries in the world. (Reuters)

A string of apparently coordinated bombings struck Baghdad near several government offices on Thursday, a security official and witnesses told AFP.

The blasts went off near the foreign ministry, culture ministry and an office of the communications ministry in the Allawi neighbourhood in the centre of the capital.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties from the explosions.

One car bomb and two suicide bombers were responsible for the attacks, witnesses told Al Arabiya.

While violence is down from its peak in 2006-07, when thousands of people were killed in sectarian strife, bombings continue to hamper progress in Iraq making the country one of the most dangerous in the world.

In early February, a suicide bomber attacked a government-backed Sunni militia group in Iraq's al-Sahwa, killing at least 22 people in an apparent attempt by Sunni insurgents to provoke unrest against Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Blasts-near-Iraq-s-foreign-ministry-in-Baghdad-correspondent-.html
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Philippines to keep its U.N. forces in Golan heights

Philippines to keep its U.N. forces in Golan heights

Twenty-one U.N. peacekeepers from the Philippines arrive in Jordan after they were held captives for three days by the Syrian opposition fighters in the Golan Heights. (Reuters)


 


Twenty-one U.N. peacekeepers from the Philippines arrive in Jordan after they were held captives for three days by the Syrian opposition fighters in the Golan Heights. (Reuters)

said Thursday it would keep its contingent of United Nations peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, after Syrian rebels held 21 of them hostage for three days last week.

"The Philippine contingent to the UNDOF (U.N. Disengagement Observer Force) would remain stationed in the Golan Heights to perform its obligation in the name of peace," foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez told reporters.

"The Philippines, as a founding member of the U.N., remains fully committed to the U.N. mandate of promoting peace and security."

The UNDOF has been in the Golan Heights since 1974, monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel.

But senior U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday there were fears there that Syria's civil war could spark new withdrawals from the peacekeeping force.

The force of less than 1,000 troops comprises troops from the Philippines, Austria and India. There are more than 300 Filipinos in the force.

Previously the force also included soldiers from Canada, Japan and Croatia.

The U.N. has recently cut peacekeeper patrols and closed down some observation points at the Golan Heights ceasefire zone amid the fresh turmoil there, the diplomats said on Wednesday.

The U.N. has complained to the Syrian government about incursions by President Bashar al-Assad's forces into the Golan zone and about rebels who have built up their presence.

Shots were fired at one observation post after the Filipino peacekeepers were freed last Saturday.

The U.N. peacekeeping spokesman, Kieran Dwyer, acknowledged the growing concerns on Wednesday and said changes to the force were started several months ago. However he gave no details.

Philippine military spokesman Arnulfo Burgos told AFP that the 21 peacekeepers who were abducted last week would likely go back on patrol soon.

"The 21 peacekeepers have finished their stress debriefing and there are no (adverse) findings," Burgos said.

"They are continuing with their medical exams and by all indications, by next week, they might be on full duty status."

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Philippines-to-keep-its-U-N-forces-in-Golan-heights-.html
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U.S. commander warns Karzai remarks may fuel violence

U.S. commander warns Karzai remarks may fuel violence

The president has also clashed with the U.S. military over repeated delays to the scheduled handover of Afghan detainees. (Reuters)

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan has warned troops that they face an increased threat of attack after a series of inflammatory anti-U.S. comments by President Hamid Karzai.

NATO's International Assistance Security Force (ISAF) on Thursday confirmed the contents of a strongly-worded advisory sent by U.S. General Joseph Dunford to his senior commanders on Wednesday.

Karzai on Sunday accused the United States of colluding with militants to justify its presence in Afghanistan and banned international troops from university campuses due to unproven claims of harassment of students.

"Karzai's remarks could be a catalyst for some to lash out against our forces - he may also issue orders that put our forces at risk," Dunford said in the advisory, which was obtained by The New York Times.

The president has also clashed with the U.S. military over repeated delays to the scheduled handover of Afghan detainees.

The unproven allegation of collusion provoked fury among U.S. officials, as both nations negotiate the framework that could allow some American troops to remain in Afghanistan when most NATO combat troops leave next year.

"This advisory was prudent given increased coalition casualties in recent days. General Dunford's email is simply an example of this vigilance," ISAF said in a statement.

Seven American soldiers died on Monday, the deadliest day for NATO troops in Afghanistan so far this year.

Two US soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in a suspected "insider" attack by a man dressed in Afghan army uniform, who also killed several Afghan soldiers. Five Americans were also killed in a helicopter crash, blamed on bad weather.

Last month Karzai ordered U.S. special forces out of Wardak, a strategic province adjacent to Kabul, and stopped Afghan forces from calling in US air strikes.

"We're at a rough point in the relationship," Dunford said in the advisory. "(Militants) are also watching and will look for a way to exploit the situation - they have already ramped up for the spring."

NATO is training Afghan soldiers and police to take over the fight against the Taliban as 100,000 international troops prepare to head home by the end of 2014.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/U-S-commander-warns-Karzai-remarks-may-fuel-violence.html
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Philippines to keep its un forces in Golan heights

Twenty-one U.N. peacekeepers from the Philippines arrive in Jordan after they were held captives for three days by the Syrian opposition fighters in the Golan Heights. (Reuters)

The Philippines said Thursday it would keep its contingent of United Nations peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, after Syrian rebels held 21 of them hostage for three days last week.

"The Philippine contingent to the UNDOF (U.N. Disengagement Observer Force) would remain stationed in the Golan Heights to perform its obligation in the name of peace," foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez told reporters.

"The Philippines, as a founding member of the U.N., remains fully committed to the U.N. mandate of promoting peace and security."

The UNDOF has been in the Golan Heights since 1974, monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel.

But senior U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday there were fears there that Syria's civil war could spark new withdrawals from the peacekeeping force.

The force of less than 1,000 troops comprises troops from the Philippines, Austria and India. There are more than 300 Filipinos in the force.

Previously the force also included soldiers from Canada, Japan and Croatia.

The U.N. has recently cut peacekeeper patrols and closed down some observation points at the Golan Heights ceasefire zone amid the fresh turmoil there, the diplomats said on Wednesday.

The U.N. has complained to the Syrian government about incursions by President Bashar al-Assad's forces into the Golan zone and about rebels who have built up their presence.

Shots were fired at one observation post after the Filipino peacekeepers were freed last Saturday.

The U.N. peacekeeping spokesman, Kieran Dwyer, acknowledged the growing concerns on Wednesday and said changes to the force were started several months ago. However he gave no details.

Philippine military spokesman Arnulfo Burgos told AFP that the 21 peacekeepers who were abducted last week would likely go back on patrol soon.

"The 21 peacekeepers have finished their stress debriefing and there are no (adverse) findings," Burgos said.

"They are continuing with their medical exams and by all indications, by next week, they might be on full duty status."
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Philippines-to-keep-its-un-forces-in-Golan-heights-.html
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Netanyahu reaches deal for governing coalition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal for a governing coalition in which a new centrist party will serve as his main partner. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal for a governing coalition in which a new centrist party will serve as his main partner, spokeswoman for his right-wing Likud party said on Thursday.

"There is a government," the spokeswoman, Noga Katz, said.

She said Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu list would be allied with centrist Yesh Atid led by political newcomer Yair Lapid and far-right Jewish Home, headed by high-tech millionaire Naftali Bennett.

It will include a smaller centrist faction led by former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and control at least 68 seats in the 120-member parliament.

Coalition agreement signing ceremonies were expected later in the day, with a new government likely to take office next week before a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

"It's apparently the end. Or actually the start," Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid wrote on his Facebook page, saying the signing of the deal was "likely to be tonight

Israel held a general election in January in which centrists made surprising gains at the expense of Netanyahu's conservative Likud-Beitenu party.

Netanyahu's traditional coalition allies, ultra-Orthodox parties now at odds with Yesh Atid and Jewish Home over social benefits and military draft exemptions for religious Jews, will not be in the new coalition.

The deals were reached just three days ahead of a March 16 deadline for Netanyahu to announce a new government.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/14/Netanyahu-reaches-deal-for-governing-coalition.html
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Delaying vote on Lebanon’s electoral law could destabilize country

On Tuesday Lebanon's influential Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said that any delay would amount to "a jump into the unknown." (AFP)

A divisive debate over Lebanon's electoral law may delay parliamentary elections scheduled for June 9, stoking fears of instability in a country already rattled by the conflict in neighboring Syria.

Nominations opened on Monday but no candidate has yet been registered. Meanwhile, rival political groups have quibbled over how legislative power should be shared out in the multi-confessional country.

The same as in domestic politics, Lebanon is divided into two camps over the conflict in Syria.

One is led by the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is backed by Damascus and Tehran. The other is supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and it is bitterly opposed to the Damascus regime.

The raging war in Syria has worsened tensions in Lebanon, which suffered its own civil war from 1975 to 1990. For nearly 30 years, Damascus dominated Lebanon politically and militarily until Syrian troops pulled out in 2005.

Hezbollah allegedly provides military backing to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, while Sunni Islamists in Lebanon aid the rebels, with Syria's violence at times spilling over into the small Mediterranean country.

"Lebanon's main parties are all strategically linked to what is happening in Syria. Each of them is betting on the Damascus regime falling or staying in place," said Beirut-based analyst Fadia Kiwane of Universite Saint-Joseph.

But with the Syrian war entering its third year, pressure has increased on Lebanon's leaders to hold the vote on time.

"There is international pressure to meet the deadline" for the parliamentary elections, said Kiwane, amid fears that Lebanon could otherwise slide into a new civil war of its own.

In Beirut, Western ambassadors -- mainly the United States and France -- have stepped up calls for the vote to go ahead on schedule, for fear of a political vacuum.

Lebanon's influential Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said on Tuesday that any delay would amount to "a jump into the unknown."

For its part, Syria favors the status quo in Lebanon, where Hezbollah heads the current government, said Kiwane, since fresh elections could return the anti-Assad opposition back into power.

"But the status quo may become impossible to manage and the situation may degenerate at any moment," she warned.

With repeated cases of violent incidents along the border with Syria, sectarian tensions have grown in Lebanon, where the political system is based on a complex distribution of power along sectarian lines.

Every parliamentary vote has been held under a different law, following long and arduous negotiations as alliances shift. "The Lebanese are used to adapting laws to suit their circumstances," said Kiwane.

At least six draft electoral laws have been presented for the next elections, including a so-called "Orthodox" law under which voters select their candidates according to sect for the 128-member parliament.

Despite criticism of the law as a "project for a new civil war," it has gained the support of Christian parties.

Experts predict that the debate will end in a compromise, but that the ongoing talks would force a delay to allow candidates to organize their campaigns.

"We are probably heading towards a technical delay of three months," said Kiwane, with the vote likely to be rescheduled to "after the summer."

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Delaying-Lebanon-s-electoral-law-vote-could-destabilize-the-country-.html
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Netanyahu reaches deal for governing coalition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal for a governing coalition in which a new centrist party will serve as his main partner. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal for a governing coalition in which a new centrist party will serve as his main partner, spokeswoman for his right-wing Likud party said on Thursday.

"There is a government," the spokeswoman, Noga Katz, said.

She said Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu list would be allied with centrist Yesh Atid led by political newcomer Yair Lapid and far-right Jewish Home, headed by high-tech millionaire Naftali Bennett.

It will include a smaller centrist faction led by former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and control at least 68 seats in the 120-member parliament.

Coalition agreement signing ceremonies were expected later in the day, with a new government likely to take office next week before a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Israel held a general election in January in which centrists made surprising gains at the expense of Netanyahu's conservative Likud-Beitenu party.

Netanyahu's traditional coalition allies, ultra-Orthodox parties now at odds with Yesh Atid and Jewish Home over social benefits and military draft exemptions for religious Jews, will not be in the new coalition.

The deals were reached just three days ahead of a March 16 deadline for Netanyahu to announce a new government.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/Netanyahu-reaches-deal-for-governing-coalition.html
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Paris and London to fund Syria’s rebels without EU support

France and the United Kingdom on Thursday said they will fund Syria's opposition fighters even without the support of the European Union. (Reuters)

France and Britain are prepared to arm Syrian rebels even without unanimous EU support, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday.

Paris and London will call for moving up the date of the next European Union meeting on the Syria arms embargo, and will decide to arm the rebels if the EU does not give unanimous agreement, he said.

The UK has been pushing for this along side France.

"We've just amended [the arms embargo] so we can supply non-lethal equipment. I hope we can persuade our European partners, if and when a further change becomes necessary, they'll agree with us. But if we can't then it's not out of the question that we might have to do things in our own way. It's possible" said British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday.

The UK has been pushing for this. Cameron made his remarks after being asked by the chairman of the commons foreign affairs select committee whether he was prepared to veto the EU arms embargo when it's reviewed in May.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday also called for lifting the EU arms embargo.

"We must go further and allow the Syrian people to defend themselves against this bloody regime. It's our duty to help the Coalition, its leaders and the Free Syrian army by all means possible," Fabius wrote in the daily Liberation newspaper.

France and Britain want the European Union to amend the arms ban to Syria, which is part of a package of sanctions that rolls over every three months.

"We must convince our partners, particularly in Europe, that we no longer have any other choice than to lift the embargo on arms to benefit the Coalition," Fabius wrote in the article, timed to mark the conflict reaching two years.

"More than 70,000 dead and a million refugees, the systematic destruction of a country: the second anniversary of the launch of the Syrian revolution is an anniversary of blood and tears," he said.

After weeks of wrangling, Britain has persuaded the EU to agree to relax its embargo to allow non-lethal but quasi-military aid such as body armor and armored vehicles to be supplied to the Syrian opposition.

But Germany has warned that giving the rebels arms could lead to a proliferation of weapons in the volatile region and spark regional conflagration and a proxy war.

Russia has warned that supplying Syrian rebels with arms would breach international law.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said, "International law does not allow, does not permit supplies of arms to non-governmental actors and in our point of view it is a violation of international law."

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/14/Paris-and-London-to-fund-Syria-s-rebels-without-EU-support.html
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Hezbollah members killed in Syria's Qusayr, says FSA

The Free Syrian Army read a statement which was then posted on the internet claiming they killed Hezbollah fighters in Syria's town of Qusayr. (Al Arabiya)

The Free Syrian Army said in a statement on Thursday that it had killed members of Hezbollah after the Lebanese Shiite group seized control of a checkpoint in one of Syria's towns.

"The Free Syrian Army (FSA) killed a number of Hezbollah members situated at checkpoint 14 in the town of Qusayr along the Syrian-Lebanese border and seized control of the checkpoint," the statement said.

The FSA has repeatedly accused Hezbollah members of attacking Syrian villages, primarily in the region near the Lebanese border. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has admitted some party members fought in Syria but insists that it was of their own accord and not under his orders.

Meanwhile, the FSA noted it had opened a front against the regime in the area between Damascus and the Golan Heights.

It said it had attacked a military barrier belonging to the republican guard forces and the army's elite Fourth Armored Division in Khan al-Sheikh, which is situated on the outskirts of Damascus.

Furthermore, Reuters has quoted activists as saying the regime troops, which were located in the mountains that overlook Khan al-Sheikh, attacked the area with a barrage of rockets. This was supposedly an attempt to force opposition fighters to retreat from the area surrounding the army barricade.

According to the opposition, more than 1,000 fighters headed to Khan al-Sheikh which is 25 kilometers away from the Golan Heights area.

The uprising in Syria erupted in March 2011 and has now escalated into a civil war. The United Nations said the bloody conflict has cost 70,000 lives.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/14/Hezbollah-members-killed-in-Syria-s-Qusayr-says-FSA.html
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‘Freedomization’ depicts hope, disappointment in Iraq

A U.S. marine watches a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Baghdad on 9 April 2003. (Photo courtesy AP)

Expectations ran high that soon after the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, a new, free Iraq would be born. The reality is a country whose progress has been halted by violence and chaos.

Dustin Langan, who worked as a translator and interpreter for the Coalition Provisional Authority, the transitional government in the immediate aftermath of the war, seized that hopeful sentiment and wrote the book "Freedomization," about those who wanted to make a real difference after the toppling of the Baathist regime.

Dustin Langan, author of "Freedomization"

"The novel is fiction, and while some characters may be partially inspired by people I have known in my life, all are composites at best and fictional," Langan told Al Arabiya.

The main character is the idealist Jeremy, an American fluent in Arabic, who works as a CPA translator and interpreter in Baghdad. His passion in helping to rebuild the country wins him the support and trust of the Iraqi people, who see in him the personification of all that is good in the United States.

Jeremy befriends two Iraqis, Hisham and Omar, who are also CPA translators. They symbolize Iraq's Shiites and Sunnis, and want to see their country on its feet again.

However, the idealism they all share begins to dissipate as reality bites, and sometimes kills.

"I wanted to show that Iraq is full of individuals with many different ideas and desires, and many people wanted the best for the country, but there were so many competing forces, and chaos and instability," Langan said.

The author, who was involved in mass-grave excavations, land-mine removal, de-Baathification interviews and human-rights promotion, uses his real-life experiences in the fictional work, and highlights the lack of any real progress in Iraq.

"So few real promises were made. Even the best of intentions from the Americans, Europeans and Iraqis weren't enough," he said.

The story prioritizes the human aspect of the situation in Iraq, and showcases the complexity of domestic society and politics that the U.S. government failed to appreciate during the rebuilding phase.

"I was trying to capture as many competing points as I could, even though I'm not Iraqi. I wanted to show the impact of the occupation on Iraqi people. I wish I could've developed Iraqi characters more," he said.

Langan criticized policies initiated by the CPA's head Paul Bremer, especially de-Baathification and the dissolution of the Iraqi army.

"There was a society and economy that was functioning in Iraq for some time," he said, adding that it would have been better to fix existing problems rather than start from scratch, and to seek help from experienced members of Iraq's former leadership.

Despite the heart-breaking stories of human-rights abuses committed by the former regime, a sense of American humor pervades the book.

Asked if the war was worth it, the author said he is not Iraqi, and so could not give an appropriate response.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/14/-Freedomization-depicts-hope-disappointment-in-Iraq-.html
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High-level inquiry blames Egyptian police for revolt deaths

Egypt's police force is still hated by most Egyptians and is currently in upheaval, with segments of them on strike. (AFP)

The highest-level inquiry into the deaths of nearly 900 protesters in Egypt's uprising has concluded that police were behind nearly all the killings and used snipers on rooftops overlooking Cairo's Tahrir Square to shoot into the huge crowds.

The report, parts of which were obtained by The Associated Press, is the most authoritative and sweeping account of the killings and determines that the deadly force used could only have been authorized by Hosni Mubarak's security chief, with the ousted president's full knowledge.

The report of the fact-finding commission, created by Islamist President Mohammed Mursi, could weigh heavily in the upcoming retrial of Mubarak, as well as his security chief, former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, and six top police commanders. It is likely also to fuel calls for reforming the powerful security forces and lead to prosecutions of members of the police force.

The findings were leaked at a sensitive time for the country's police. Still hated by most Egyptians, the force is in upheaval, with segments of police on strike and its chief, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, pleading not to drag it into politics. The force is also facing a challenge from Islamist groups threatening to set up "popular committees" to fill what they call a security vacuum created by the police strike.

Part of the force also is protesting what some officers see as an attempt by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood to control the force. The Brotherhood denies the charge.

The Interior Ministry, which controls the police, has repeatedly rejected charges that it bore responsibility for the killings in Cairo and other cities during the 18-day uprising that began on Jan. 25, 2011, and ended with Mubarak stepping down. In contrast, the pro-democracy activists behind the uprising have long maintained that police were to blame.

Mubarak and el-Adly, the second most powerful figure after the ousted leader, were convicted and sentenced to life in jail in June 2012 for failing to stop the killings, but the two have successfully appealed their convictions. The six top police commanders put on trial with Mubarak and el-Adly - including the head of security in Cairo and the commander of the riot police - were acquitted of charges related to the killings. The prosecution appealed that verdict and a new trial of the eight will start next month.

The report was submitted to Mursi and the nation's top prosecutor late last year. Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president, has repeatedly vowed to seek retribution for the victims of the revolution and has ordered pensions and monetary compensation for families of the dead and wounded.

He has also decreed the creation of a special prosecution office to investigate and refer to trials criminal cases related to the uprising.

One of the report's authors, lawyer and rights activist Mohsen Bahnasy, said he planned to submit relevant parts of the report to the prosecution in the Mubarak case as well as to other courts trying policemen charged with killing protesters. In the past two years, trials of policemen over protester killings have almost all ended with acquittals.

It is up to the top prosecutor to officially request that the report be included in the new Mubarak trial, according to human rights lawyer Gamal Eid.

Police brutality during Mubarak's 29 years in office was a key cause of the uprising, but the army generals who took over for him, and Mursi, who followed them, have so far failed to reform the force.

The 16-member fact-finding panel included rights activists, lawyers, judges and a representative from the military prosecutor's office. It conducted about 400 interviews with police and witnesses.

The report went into extensive detail, citing police logs of the issuing of assault rifles and rounds of ammunition, and listing the officers who received them. It also cited logs on the rounds returned to storerooms, showing that a large amount was used, according to one member of the commission. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal that part of the report.

"The use of firearms can only be authorized by the interior minister who must in turn inform the political leadership (Mubarak)," said the report. "And if the police continue to use firearms for more than one day, then the political leadership must be informed."

The report cites witnesses as saying police snipers were positioned on the roofs of a hotel and the American University in Cairo, overlooking Tahrir, and the Interior Ministry nearby, firing down on crowds of protesters.

Police officials told the commission that snipers' equipment of the kind used during the uprising could only be found with members of an elite counterterrorism unit that worked under Mubarak's pervasive state security agency and took orders directly from the interior minister.

Most the victims were shot in the head or chest, suggesting the use of snipers, and bystanders were also killed or wounded as they watched the clashes from their homes, the report said.

From interviews with witnesses and doctors, the report gave a detailed look on the extent of the turmoil, particularly on Jan. 28, 2011, the deadliest day of the uprising, when protesters battled police in and around Tahrir. By the end of the day, the police forces melted away from the streets, plunging the country into chaos and lawlessness.

One young Cairo protester just avoided being run over by a speeding police vehicle and then was shot 14 times. Another's head was cracked open by gunfire as he carried a banner reading "peaceful" outside a mosque in Tahrir, the report reads.

Qasr el-Eini Hospital, the largest of several facilities near Tahrir, received 32 bodies on Jan. 28, a senior surgeon told the commission. Another doctor at the hospital said more than 100 wounded, most shot in the face and chest, were brought in immediately after he started his shift at 8 p.m. In the next 10 hours, the hospital dealt with a total of 200 cases.

The report also established that two of the six police generals who were Mubarak's co-defendants - Cairo security chief Ismail el-Shaer and director of general security Adly Fayed - were positioned in or near Tahrir Square on that day. Investigators determined this by looking at police records of tracking devices carried by the generals for their own security.

The commission documented a total of 846 deaths during the 18 days - including 71 in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, 13 in the province of Beni Suef south of Cairo and 19 in northern Sinai. In addition, the Interior Ministry told the commission that 26 policemen were killed in the uprising.

The 84-year-old Mubarak, according to the report, received at his palace a dedicated live TV feed from Tahrir arranged by Anas el-Fiqi, his information minister. He also authorized el-Adly during a meeting held four days before the start of the uprising to suspend the cellphone network and the Internet if needed. Mubarak later denied in court that he knew the extent of the protests and crackdown against them.

But el-Adly, who served Mubarak for more than a decade, told investigators in his prison cell that the former president was kept "fully abreast" of what was going on, starting with the uprising's first fatal shootings by police in the coastal city of Suez on Jan. 25, 2011.

The court said it ruled to acquit the six police generals because it was not "comfortable" with the statements made by prosecution witnesses against them, that the policemen who did the actual shooting have not been identified and arrested, and that the prosecution did not present material evidence against them, such as voice or video recordings and the Interior Ministry's weapons and ammunition logs.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/14/High-level-inquiry-blames-Egyptian-police-for-revolt-deaths.html
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France wants to arm Syrian rebels, Russia says that would be illegal

Free Syrian Army fighters carry mortar shells as they move towards their position prior to an offensive against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Houla near Homs March 13, 2013. (Reuters)

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called Wednesday for lifting a European arms embargo on Syria as a way to begin supplying weapons to the opposition there. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that arming Syrian rebels would breach international law.

"We must go further and allow the Syrian people to defend themselves against this bloody regime. It's our duty to help the Coalition, its leaders and the Free Syrian army by all means possible," Fabius wrote in the daily Liberation newspaper.

France and Britain want the European Union to amend an arms embargo on sending arms to Syria which is part of a package of sanctions that rolls over every three months but they face opposition, notably from Germany.

"We must convince our partners, particularly in Europe, that we no longer have any other choice than to lift the embargo on arms to benefit the Coalition," Fabius wrote in the article, timed to mark the conflict reaching two years.

"More than 70,000 dead and a million refugees, the systematic destruction of a country: the second anniversary of the launch of the Syrian revolution is an anniversary of blood and tears," he said.

After weeks of wrangling, Britain has persuaded the EU to agree to relax its embargo to allow non-lethal but quasi-military aid such as body armor and armored vehicles to be supplied to the Syrian opposition.

But Germany has warned that giving the rebels arms could lead to a proliferation of weapons in the volatile region and spark regional conflagration and a proxy war.

Russia has warned that supplying Syrian rebels with arms would breach international law.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said, "International law does not allow, does not permit supplies of arms to non-governmental actors and in our point of view it is a violation of international law."

Lavrov rejected any chance of Moscow urging Assad to step aside to end the two-year-old conflict, which the United Nations says has claimed 70,000 lives.

"I believe the destiny of Bashar al-Assad should be decided by the Syrians themselves," he said.

With the conflict in Syria worsening, Western powers have stepped up non-military support for Syria's rebels, even as Russia has continued to arm its ally Assad.
 

14 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/14/France-wants-to-arm-Syrian-rebels-Russia-says-that-would-be-illegal.html
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