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

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الخميس، مارس 21، 2013

Obama booed during speech to Israelis, responds with joke

U.S. President Barack Obama was booed during a speech in front of Israeli students in Jerusalem on Thursday and responded with a joke, saying, "I wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't have at least one heckler."

"This is part of the lively debate that we talked about," Obama added.

The man who booed Obama spoke in Hebrew, the White House said in a pool report, cited in The Huffington Post.

"A reliable Hebrew speaker seated near pool says the shouting was about [Jonathan Jay] Pollard," the pool report said. "We presume calling for his release."

Pollard was convicted in the United States in 1987 for spying for Israel, passing classified information to the Jewish state. He pleaded guilty and was handed a life sentence. Israel admitted in 1998 that Pollard had worked for it and since then various Israeli officials lobbied for his release.

During an interview earlier this month with Israel's Channel 2, President Obama said, "I have no plans for releasing Jonathan Pollard immediately."

22 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Obama-booed-during-speech-to-Israelis-responds-with-joke.html
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Leading pro-Assad cleric killed in Damascus bombing: state TV

Senior cleric Dr. Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti was killed in an explosion at the Iman Mosque in Mazraa in Damascus. (Al Arabiya)

A top Syrian cleric was killed Thursday in a large explosion that hit a mosque in the center of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria's state television reported.

"Senior cleric Dr. Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti was martyred in a terrorist suicide attack at the Iman Mosque in Mazraa in Damascus," the channel reported, adding that there were reports of more dead and wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 15 people were killed in the attack in addition to Bouti, with dozens more injured at the mosque in Mazraa district, just north of the city center.

Al Arabiya television quoted Syrian activists opposed to President Bashar al-Assad as saying that Sheikh Bouti was a staunch supporter of the regime.

They said he is one of the most senior pro-regime Sunni clerics in Syria. His weekly addresses at Friday prayers were frequently broadcast live on state television, AFP reported.

After news of the attack broke, one state television station interrupted its regular program to broadcast verses from the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

Syria's official al-Ikhbariya television channel broadcast gruesome footage from inside the mosque, where dozens of bodies were strewn on the carpeted floor. Body parts including limbs and hands were scattered on the floor.

The footage showed emergency workers collecting corpses from inside the mosque and carrying them out in grey body bags.

A presenter on the channel said a suicide bomber had entered the mosque and blown himself up.

22 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/-Leading-pro-Assad-cleric-killed-in-Damascus-bombing-state-TV.html
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Gaza hardline Islamists claim rocket attack

Israeli children look at the remains of a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip which hit the southern city of Sderot on March 21, 2013. (AFP)

A hardline Islamist group claimed a rocket attack against southern Israel on Thursday, in a statement that condemned a historic visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to the region.

In a statement headlined "The demolition of Sderot by rocket bombardment in reaction to the visit of the dog Obama," the Salafist Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis group said it was responsible for an attack launched from Gaza.

Two rockets hit southern Israel, one landing in the town of Sderot on Thursday morning before Obama travelled from Jerusalem to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with president Mahmud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority.

Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis (The Guardians of Jerusalem) "declares its responsibility for the rockets fired towards the Zionist violator Sderot this morning March 21 2013," the statement said.

Israeli officials had blamed Thursday's rocket attacks on Hamas, Abbas's rival movement that governs the Gaza Strip.

But the Islamist Hamas implicitly denied responsibility.

Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP Hamas "considers talk of rocket fire to be merely Israeli accusations aimed at gaining sympathy from Obama... and inciting him against Palestinians."

Hamas's relations with hardline groups in Gaza have sharply deteriorated since the movement violently cracked down on Salafist radicals in 2009.
 

22 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Gaza-hardline-Islamists-claim-rocket-attack-.html
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Hezbollah member convicted in Cyprus of plotting against Israeli interests

Hossam Taleb Yaacoub admitted he was a member of Hezbollah who would carry out innocent errands for a handler code-named Ayman. (Photo courtesy of AP)

A court in Cyprus on Thursday convicted a Hezbollah member of plotting against Israeli interests on the island in a verdict likely to increase pressure on the European Union to declare the Lebanese group a terrorist organization.

Hossam Taleb Yaccoub was arrested in the Cypriot port city of Limassol last year, two weeks before a suicide bomber killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in July, an attack Sofia blamed on Hezbollah. The group denies involvement.

*World should call Hezbollah a terrorist organization: Obama


Yaccoub was found guilty on five of eight counts, including that of participating in a criminal organization, two of agreeing to commit a crime and of legalizing revenue from ill-gotten gains by a criminal organization.

Yaccoub, 24 when arrested, was accused by prosecutors of tracking movements of Israeli tourists on Cyprus, a popular holiday destination. That included noting arrival times of Israeli flights and registration numbers of buses taking them to hotels.

"Any rational explanation which could render these actions innocent is lacking," the three-bench Criminal Court convening in Limassol said in its verdict, according to the semi-official Cyprus News Agency.

Yaccoub had pleaded not guilty to all charges. He admitted he was a member of Hezbollah who would carry out innocent errands for a handler code-named Ayman, whom he could not fully identify because he was always wearing a hood.

The EU has resisted pressure from the United States and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing this could destabilize Lebanon's fragile government and add to regional instability.

Officially EU member Cyprus, which neighbors Lebanon, does not consider the Shi'ite Islamist group terrorist.

Hezbollah, a powerful faction in the Beirut government, says accusations against it are part of an Israeli smear campaign.

The court will hear mitigation pleas on March 28. Three of the five charges carry maximum sentences of 14 years in jail and the others up to three years, the news agency said.

22 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Hezbollah-member-convicted-in-Cyprus-of-plotting-against-Israeli-interests.html
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World ‘should call Hezbollah what it truly is - a terrorist organization:’ Obama

World 'should call Hezbollah what it truly is - a terrorist organization:' Obama

The European Union has declined to put Hezbollah on a blacklist of terrorist movements. (AFP)

U.S. President Barack Obama demanded Thursday that foreign governments blacklist Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization," slamming the Shiite Lebanese militia for attacks on Israelis.

"Every country that values justice should call Hezbollah what it truly is -- a terrorist organization," the U.S. President said, in remarks aimed at the European Union which has declined to put the group on a blacklist of terrorist movements.

Obama added that the "world cannot tolerate an organization that murders innocent civilians, stockpiles rockets to shoot at cities, and supports the massacre of men, women and children in Syria."

Obama also issued a new call for Hezbollah's embattled ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power amid a bloody uprising that has claimed 100,000 lives.

"The fact that Hezbollah's ally – the Assad regime – has stockpiles of chemical weapons only heightens the urgency. We will continue to cooperate closely to guard against that danger." Obama said.

"I have made it clear to Bashar al-Assad and all who follow his orders: we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people or the transfer of these weapons to terrorists. The world is watching, and we will hold you accountable," he added.


The U.S. president used his speech in Jerusalem to seek to bolster a sense of security among Israelis, and to touch on regional turmoil raging around the Jewish state.

"When I consider Israel's security, I also think about a people who have a living memory of the Holocaust, faced with the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iranian government that has called for Israel's destruction," Obama said.

22 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/World-should-call-Hezbollah-what-it-truly-is-a-terrorist-organization-Obama.html
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Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptians ‘living in the past,’ lack trust: judge

Judge Zaghloul al-Balshi, deputy justice minister for judicial inspection, and former secretary general of the Higher Committee for the Constitution Referendum talks about the Muslim Brotherhood. (Al Arabiya)

Muslim Brotherhood members are afraid of going back to prison, while the Egyptian people are afraid of the return of repression, said judge Zaghloul al-Balshi, deputy justice minister for judicial inspection, and former secretary general of the Higher Committee for the Constitution Referendum.

"Both parties are living in the past, and neither trusts the other," he told Al Arabiya's Special Interview, to be aired Thursday 23:30 GMT and Friday 07:30 and 23:30 GMT.

"We, as judges, are trying to give them the reassurance they need."

Balshi said he could not tell how long the people's feelings of insecurity would last, and blamed the main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front, for not providing the necessary reassurances.

"Egypt isn't only Tahrir Square. Members of the Front need to go to villages and other governorates, and organize conferences to reassure the Egyptian people. They leave the stage for the Muslim Brotherhood, then lay the blame on it later."

The Egyptian judiciary is in "chaos" due to "the suspension of work at courts," the "siege of the prosecutor general," the "siege of the Supreme Constitutional Court," and "the slogans against it," Balshi said.

This is unacceptable because it puts pressure on judges, some of whom have asked for cases to be postponed, or to leave cases altogether, he added.

"However, the judiciary is still intact and is doing its job, despite all the harsh conditions it's facing."

Balshi attributed divisions in the judiciary to past mistakes, such as dismissing former Prosecutor General Abdel Miguid Mahmoud, and reducing the number of judges in the Supreme Constitutional Court.

"This was supposed to be a transitional stage. Judges at the Supreme Constitutional Court should've been allowed to continue working until retirement age without appointing new ones, so that the number remains as stipulated in the new constitution."

When asked if the judiciary is loyal to the former regime and needs to be "purged," Balshi said it rather needs to be "developed."

He added: "Throughout its history, the Egyptian judiciary has never been subordinate to any regime, and it stood against late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. At the time, Nasser resorted to exceptional courts, and regardless of whether we agree or disagree with Nasser, we have to admit that what he did was a grave mistake."

There are attempts, Balshi added, to repeat the same mistakes now, "but the Egyptian judiciary will be very firm with anyone who tries to undermine its independence. Judges shouldn't be politicized, and can't belong to any party."

The violations that took place during the referendum on the constitution do not nullify its results, he said.

"Several problems did happen during the referendum, like overcrowding and the way it drove many people to leave polling stations without voting."

Balshi urged that such mistakes be avoided in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

"The number of voters for each polling station shouldn't exceed 2,000 or 2,500 at most. I hope this is part of the reason why the elections will be held in four stages."

22 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/-Muslim-Brotherhood-Egyptians-living-in-the-past-lack-trust-judge.html
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Syria rebels gain ground in Golan: watchdog

Syrian rebels seized an officers' club in Jaline village, "after the withdrawal of soldiers," while regime forces shelled the town of Sahem al-Jolan. (Reuters)

Syrian rebels have gained ground in the Golan Heights, which is partly occupied by Israel, launching coordinated attacks in the area and in nearby Daraa province, a watchdog said on Thursday.

"It appears that the rebels launched coordinated attacks on multiple parts of the Golan, taking control of areas and villages in the province of Quneitra," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Overnight, the Observatory said, "rebels took control of the Mashati al-Khodr and Dawar Khan Arnaba regions, as well as artillery bases" after heavy fighting in Quneitra province.

"Violent clashes have also been underway since this morning in the areas of Sahem and Wadi al-Yarmuk" in Daraa province, in southern Syria, the group said.

Rebels seized an officers' club in Jaline village, "after the withdrawal of soldiers," while regime forces shelled the town of Sahem al-Jolan.

The offensive came as a Syrian security official in Damascus told AFP some 2,500 trained and equipped rebel fighters had entered the Daraa region in recent weeks.

The region borders Jordan, which the Damascus regime has accused of facilitating the flow of weapons and fighters into Syria.

Earlier this month, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported rebels were being trained in Jordan by American specialists, a claim U.S. officials have refused to comment on.

Louay Moqdad, a spokesman and coordinator for opposition forces, was circumspect on the claims.

"Several states including the U.S., the Europeans and several Arab countries have offered training to the rebels but I cannot say where or when," he told AFP.

"Some of these states have started to give this training," he acknowledged, without giving further details.

Last week, a Syrian security official said Jordan had "opened its borders," allowing fighters and weapons to cross into Syria.

"There's been a change of attitude because up until now, Jordan had imposed strict controls on its border to prevent the passage of terrorists and weapons," said the source, blaming "pressure by countries that are hostile to Syria" for the change.

According to the Observatory, at least 169 people were killed throughout Syria on Wednesday.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Syria-rebels-gain-ground-in-Golan-watchdog-.html
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U.N. to probe alleged Syria chemical weapons attack: Ban

U.N. to probe alleged Syria chemical weapons attack: Ban

The U.N. is to probe alleged chemical weapon attacks in Syria. (Reuters)

 The United Nations will open an investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.

"The investigation will start as soon as practically possible," Ban told reporters. The probe will be into an alleged chemical weapons attack Tuesday near the city of Aleppo.

He added that the investigation will look into "the specific incident brought to my attention by the Syrian government."

Ban said he was aware of other allegations of the reported use of chemical weapons, but did not make clear whether these would be part of the investigation.

The secretary-general said he hopes the mission "will contribute to ensuring the safety and security of chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria."

Ban said the investigation will start "as soon as practically possible" but "will not happen overnight."

He said full cooperation from all sides will be essential and stressed that this includes "unfettered access."

Britain, France and the United States called on Wednesday for a United Nations inquiry into accusations by the Syrian government and the opposition of chemical weapons attacks.

London and Paris cited Syrian opposition claims that there were two chemical weapons attacks, one in Damascus and another in Aleppo, on Tuesday and demanded that both be investigated.

But Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's last major ally, insisted at a U.N. Security Council meeting that only the government's allegations should be investigated.

Syria has asked the United Nations to order an "independent" investigation into its claim that opposition rebels used chemical weapons in an attack at Khan al-Assal near Aleppo on Tuesday.

Divisions over the two year-old Syria conflict again erupted at a Security Council meeting where France raised the allegations.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/U-N-to-probe-alleged-Syria-chemical-weapons-attack-Ban-.html
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Iran will 'annihilate' cities if Israel attacks: Khamenei

Iran's Islamic leader said Tehran will "annihilate" the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if it comes under attack by the Jewish state. (Reuters)

Iran will "annihilate" the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if it comes under attack by the Jewish state, the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Thursday.

"Every now and then the leaders of the Zionist regime threaten Iran with a military attack," Khamenei said in a live televised speech from the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, referring to Israel.

"They should know that if they commit such a blunder, the Islamic republic will annihilate Tel Aviv and Haifa," he said.
This comes after Israel welcomes the assurances U.S. President Barack Obama gave on the Iranian nuclear programme, a cabinet minister said on Thursday.

"The president is firmly committed to acting against Iran's nuclear programme and to strengthening military, diplomatic and intelligence cooperation between the two countries," newly sworn-in Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said.

"The president also announced the start of discussions on the extension of US military aid to Israel beyond 2017," said Steinitz, whose responsibilities also include international relations.

At a joint news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, Obama said Washington would enter talks to renew a multi-billion-dollar military aid package for Israel after it expires in 2017.

He also said he "would not expect that the prime minister would make a decision about his country's security and defer that to any other country."

"The important thing is that aid to Israel is not conditional on Israel abandoning its right to self-defence and ability to make independent decisions on all threats, including the Iranian one," Steinitz said.

Israeli public radio said Netanyahu and Obama had "reached a deal" whereby the Israeli premier for the first time clearly said he believed in the president's commitment to not allow Iran to achieve military nuclear arms, and in exchange Obama acknowledged Israel's right to self-defence.

Western powers suspect Iran's civilian nuclear programme is a cover for a quest to achieve nuclear arms, a claim the Islamic republic denies.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/-Iran-will-annihilate-cities-if-Israel-attacks-Khamenei.html
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Syrian refugees drown on their way to Greece

The UNHCR and Amnesty International say closing the borders of European countries to illegal immigrants bound to put the lives of refugees in danger and compromise their rights to asylum. (AFP)

Six Syrian refugees, including a pregnant woman and three children, drowned as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey, reported the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Greece.

The report also said that another three women were missing.

The UNHCR and Amnesty International pointed out the risks involved in closing the borders of European countries to illegal immigrants. It says such an action is bound to put the lives of refugees in danger and compromise their rights to asylum.

According to the UNHCR, relatives of the victims were waiting for them to arrive in Lesbos, east of the Agean Sea, and were able to identify the bodies and report that another three were missing. The victims, they said, sailed across on a rubber boat from Turkey.

Based on testimonies, a family of five had recently gone back to Syria from Greece yet decided to flee once again as part of the sailing group.

Greek Coast Guards announced the retrieval Friday of the bodies of a woman, two boys of six and seven, two teenagers, and a young man. According to the relatives, the group tried reaching Greece on March 6.

"This was a tragedy waiting to happen," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director of the Europe and Central Asia Program.

He added that as Greece tightens security on its land borders with Turkey, refugees start taking "more and more dangerous routes."

The Greek branch of Doctors without Borders criticized last week the deplorable conditions that await Syrian refugees upon their entry into Greece and the European Union.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Syrian-refugees-drown-on-their-way-to-Greece.html
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British charities operating in Syria appeal for aid

Civilians carry their belongings as they flee the area after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet launched missiles at El-Edaa district in Syria's northwestern city of Aleppo, September 1, 2012. (Reuters)

British charities started a public appeal for assistance to the Syrian people on Wednesday, reported the BBC.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella organization representing a number of aid agencies, expressed the dire need for assistance for the Syrian people.

The dismal state of Syria's humanitarian situation continues to be exacerbated by the two-year conflict, states the DEC.

While it has been possible to donate to the Syria appeal since early Wednesday, the official launch of the fundraiser started Thursday. The UK's main media broadcasters, including the BBC, will take part.

The majority of DEC's members already supported charitable initiatives inside Syria, however, further details couldn't be disclosed without putting their work and workers at risk.

'Urgent needs in Syria'


"Despite the efforts of our member agencies and others, there are huge and urgent un-met needs, both in Syria and the surrounding countries," DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said.

"In Syria, the greatest challenge to meeting those needs remains the barriers to delivering aid which are faced by impartial humanitarian agencies such as our members," he explained.

"The lack of funds are also a critical constraint though - both for work in Syria and the surrounding countries" which are struggling to take on the waves of Syrian refugees.

On Wednesday, staff with Islamic Relief, Save the Children, Christian Aid and the Catholic aid agency for England and Wales– all members of DEC - admitted for the first time that they were working inside Syria, The Independent reported.

"By coming together under the banner of the DEC we can reveal a little more about the extent of the aid effort inside Syria," Saeed said.

The U.N. refugee body, UNHCR, says more than 400,000 Syrian refugees have fled Syria since Jan. 1, 2013. This number is expected to triple if the current crisis continues unchecked.

More than three million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes as the fighting spreads and at least 70,000 people have been killed, according to official U.N. estimates.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/British-charities-operating-in-Syria-appeal-for-aid.html
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Russian ships divert to Beirut, abandon Syrian port

"The port of Tartous continues to be the only official (facility) for Russian ships (in the Mediterranean)," a source explained. (Reuters)

Russian warships will dock in Beirut instead of Syria's Tartous port, where Moscow has a naval facility, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

"The escalating conflict in Syria and [doubts] over the entry of Russian ships into the port of Tartous forced us to search for safer ports for [docking], and one of them is in Beirut," a diplomatic source told Interfax.

A flotilla of Russian Baltic Sea vessels came into the port in Beirut recently, added the source.

However, the source insisted that Russia was not considering abandoning its position in Tartous for the moment. The Syrian port currently serves as a refueling station for Russian ships, its acts as Moscow's only Mediterranean Port.

"The port of Tartous continues to be the only official [facility] for Russian ships [in the Mediterranean]," the source explained. "Once events in Syria become more predictable, we will be able to [come to] a position on continuing the use of Tartous."

Russia is one of the Syrian regime's key allies and offers both diplomatic and military support to the embattled President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has killed around 70,000 people – according to the U.N. – since the March 2011 uprising.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Russian-ships-divert-to-Beirut-abandon-Syrian-port.html
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Syrian asylum seekers triple in rich nations: UNHRC

Syrian refugees in a border town refugee camp in Hatay province of Turkey on June 13, 2011. (Reuters)

The number of Syrians seeking asylum in developed nations tripled last year, the U.N. refugee agency said Thursday, amid an eight-percent overall rise in people looking for a safe haven in rich countries.

Syrian asylum claims in 44 industrialized countries jumped to 24,800 from 8,400 in 2011, the year the civil war began.

UNHCR however contrasted that with the number of Syrians fleeing to neighboring countries, which has surpassed one million.

Turkey, for example, has taken in some 400,000, and Lebanon, over 360,000.

"The total number of Syrian asylum seekers that you had in the 44 industrialized countries, some 24,000, is probably what we see in terms of outflow (of refugees from Syria) in just two days," said Volker Turk, the UNHCR's head of international protection.

A total of 479,300 asylum claims were registered across the 44 countries, the highest since 2003.

"But it's still nothing compared to the situation in the 1990s," Turk told reporters.

Numbers exceeded 800,000 in 1992 during the bloody collapse of Yugoslavia.

Underling the impact of Syria's conflict, in terms of country of origin of asylum seekers, it leapt from 15th place in the 2011 table to second in 2012.

Afghanistan remained number one, with a total of 36,600 claims in 2012 marking a slight increase on 2011.

"On the one hand, we have the old conflicts not really going away, and on the other hand, you have new conflicts emerging," said Turk.

Numbers from Serbia and Kosovo -- which UNHCR counts together -- leapt 14 percent to 24,300.

Chinese claimants were in fourth place, at a barely-changed 24,100, while Pakistanis rose 21 percent to a record 23,200.

Europe was the main recipient of applications in 2012, with 355,500 across 38 countries versus 327,600 in 2011.

Germany saw the highest number, with 64,500 claims marking a 41-percent increase over 2011. Those in France rose by five percent to 54,900.

Sweden saw a massive jump of 48 percent to 43,900. Home to a long-established Syrian community, it was the top destination for Syrian asylum seekers, with 7,800 applications.

Some 6,200 Syrians sought asylum in Germany, meanwhile.

The number of applicants in Britain rose six percent to 27,400, while Switzerland saw a 33 percent increase to 25,900.

With anti-immigration politicians finding fertile ground in some European countries amid the economic crisis, echoed by sections of the media, UNHCR said it was crucial to defend asylum for legal immigrants.

Global asylum rules were introduced after the persecution of World War II.

"That value shouldn't be tainted and poisoned... The vast majority of people who apply for asylum have a good reason to apply. You will of course have a minority who may not need protection, but in most instances, there isn't abuse of the system," said Turk.

The single largest recipient of asylum requests was the United States, with 83,400 claims -- up 10 percent -- mostly from China, Mexico and El Salvador.

Numbers in Australia jumped 37 percent to 15,800, while Japan saw a 36 percent rise to 2,540, and South Korea, a 13 percent increase to 1,140.
 

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Syrian-asylum-seekers-triple-in-rich-nations-UNHRC-.html
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Turkey awaits ‘historic’ ceasefire call by Kurdish rebel leader

Brother of slain soldier Yunus Yilmaz, who was killed during the clashes against PKK militants, reacts as the Turkish honor guard carry the flag-draped coffin of Yilmaz during a funeral ceremony at Kocatepe mosque in Ankara in this October 20, 2011 file photograph. (Reuters)

Jailed Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan was set to call a "historic" ceasefire on Thursday, raising expectations for an end to a three-decade conflict with Turkey that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

The widely anticipated ceasefire call is to come in a letter penned by the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from his isolated island prison cell, and millions of people nationwide are set to tune in to hear his words read out on television and radio.

The announcement, which Ocalan in a previous letter said would be "historic," has been timed to coincide with the Kurdish New Year, or Newroz, that will see hundreds of thousands gather for celebrations in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir.

The ceasefire call would cap months of clandestine peace talks between Turkey's spy agency and the state's former public enemy number one Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence for treason and separatism on Imrali island off Istanbul since 1999.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ocalan both appear to have staked their political futures on the renewed push to end the 29-year armed campaign for self-rule that has killed some 45,000 people, mostly Kurds.

Erdogan said he was putting his faith in the peace process "even if it costs me my political career," in the face of accusations that Ankara was making concessions to Ocalan -- routinely labeled a "terrorist chief" and "baby-killer" by Turks.

A solution to Turkey's ingrained Kurdish problem could etch Erdogan's name in history, in much the same way the abolition of slavery enshrined Lincoln's memory for Americans a century ago, wrote Murat Yetkin, editor-in-chief of the Hurriyet Daily News.

"If he can do this and convince people that a political solution to Kurdish problem is on track and the conflict is over, yes, there is a chance that Erdogan can be the Lincoln of Turkey," he wrote in February.

Ocalan -- known as "Apo" or uncle to Kurds -- has said he wants peace for the greater good of his people.

"Consider Apo dead if this process fails. I am simply out," the burly 64-year-old was quoted as saying in a rare prison meeting with Kurdish lawmakers last month.

Ocalan's expected ceasefire is likely to be in return for wider constitutional recognition and language rights for Turkey's up to 15 million Kurds.

The peace plan is expected to be the result of written consultations between Ocalan, pro-Kurdish lawmakers and PKK bodies in Europe and northern Iraq, under the close monitoring of Turkish agents.

Fragile road ahead

Talks with the PKK, considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union as well as Turkey, were long unthinkable to most Turks. But Erdogan has promoted the contact since a worsening of the conflict brought rising guerrilla violence and large-scale arrests of Kurdish activists.

Growing Kurdish assertiveness in neighboring northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and in war-torn Syria have only added to the sense of urgency.

Abdullah Demirbas, a district mayor in Diyarbakir, said there were likely to be more attempts to sabotage the process ahead.

"There are deep forces who want war and they are pervasive. They feed off blood," he told Reuters.

"The PKK, Ocalan and the government must be brave... There is massive social support for this process. There is hope, albeit restrained. That stems from disappointments in the past."

Demirbas said this was a last chance for peace.

"The next generation is like a storm. It is more radical. It has never known peace between Kurds and Turks. Now you can still convince many of them, we can still win them over. But if we lose them this time, they will never listen to us again."

Kurdish lawmakers say Ocalan might ask for commissions to be established to properly monitor the ceasefire, and call for safe passage for fighters wishing to leave Turkey.

Under Erdogan, in power since 2002, the Kurdish minority has been granted more language rights in recent years, including the establishment of a Kurdish-language television channel.


 

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/Turkey-awaits-historic-ceasefire-call-by-Kurdish-rebel-leader-.html
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Kuwait passes bill to naturalize 4,000 stateless people

Kuwaiti MPs take part in a parliament session at Kuwait national assembly in Kuwait City on March 20, 2013. Kuwait's parliament passed a bill to grant citizenship to up to 4,000 foreigners in 2013 to resolve the problem of stateless people in the state. (AFP)

Kuwait's parliament on Wednesday passed a bill to grant citizenship to up to 4,000 foreigners in 2013 in a move to resolve the problem of stateless people in the oil-rich state.

Forty-three members, including all cabinet ministers present, voted in favor of the law while only two MPs abstained without any opposition. To take effect, the law also must be signed by the emir.

Last month, parliament passed the first reading of the law which stipulated naturalizing at least 4,000 stateless people, but under government pressure the bill was changed to a "maximum of 4,000 foreigners."

MPs urged the government to use the legislation to start resolving the humanitarian problems of more than 106,000 stateless people, known locally as bidoons.

"The majority of those to be granted nationality must be bidoons... We will hold the government to account if it commits any violations in this issue," Islamist MP Khaled al-Shulaimi said.

"Today, we have laid down a roadmap to resolve the crisis of bidoons... who are suffering and being deprived" of many of their rights, independent MP Khaled al-Adwah told the house after the vote.

State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Sabah said the government hopes the law will be "the foundation for resolving the bidoon problem."

Stateless people were born and raised in Kuwait and claim they have the right to Kuwaiti citizenship, but the government says only 34,000 of them qualify for consideration, while the rest hold other nationalities.

The emirate alleges that bidoons or their ancestors destroyed their original passports to claim the right to citizenship in order to gain access to state-provided services and benefits.

Bidoons have been deprived of basic rights to force them to reveal their original nationalities.

Stateless people have been protesting for the past two years to demand citizenship and basic rights.
 

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Kuwait-passes-bill-to-naturalize-4-000-stateless-people.html
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Syrian opposition PM ‘more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood’

Syria's opposition prime minister Ghassan al-Hitto (L) "is more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood," Washington's envoy to Syria Robert Ford told U.S. lawmakers. (Al Arabiya)

The new Syrian opposition prime minister Ghassan al-Hitto "is more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood," Washington's envoy to Syria Robert Ford told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday.

Dismissing concerns at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ford insisted that Hitto, narrowly elected this week by the Syrian National Coalition as interim premier, was "not a religious extremist -- far from it."

"I've met him twice... and he struck me as more Texan than Muslim Brotherhood, frankly," Ford said of Hitto, a former IT executive who has lived in the southwestern U.S. state of Texas for decades.

"I don't know what his political affiliations are. But I do know that he also has a tolerant vision of Syrian society," Ford stressed.

"He has, at some self-sacrifice, gone over to help with the humanitarian crisis in Syria. He did not have to do that."

Hitto is expected to name a technocratic government that plans to operate inside Syria, attempting to bring rule of law and basic services to large swathes of rebel-held territory.

His election has exposed rifts in the fractured Syrian opposition, with at least 12 key members saying Wednesday they had suspended their membership.

"The Coalition is a non-elected body, and as such it does not have a right to choose a prime minister on a majority vote. There should have been consensus," dissenting member Kamal Labwani told AFP in Istanbul.

Hitto was elected Tuesday by 35 of approximately 50 Coalition members present in Istanbul, after some 14 hours of consultation. Some members who opposed his election walked out before the vote.

The United States has been working hard behind the scenes to help mold the Syrian opposition into a viable alternative to President Bashar al-Assad, as the battle to oust the long-time leader enters a third year.

Assad "has not yet decided that his days are numbered and that he's going to have to leave," Ford told the House committee.

"But I think he also must understand -- as his windows rattle because the fighting is getting closer -- he must be thinking about whether or not his calculations are correct."

Ford also stressed that Hitto's appointment was seen as an interim step before a transitional government is established, and it was not yet clear if the new prime minister would have a role in that.

"We view this as a short-term step to help provide services, to help provide humanitarian assistance into areas of Syria liberated from regime control, and that's how he defines his role."

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/Syrian-opposition-PM-more-Texan-than-Muslim-Brotherhood-.html
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West calls for U.N. to probe Syria chemical attack allegations

West calls for U.N. to probe Syria chemical attack allegations

A girl, injured in what the government said was a chemical weapons attack, is treated at a hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo March 19, 2013. (Reuters)

Britain, France and the United States called Wednesday for a United Nations inquiry into accusations by the Syrian government and the opposition of chemical weapons attacks.

Britain and France cited Syrian opposition claims that there were two chemical weapons attacks, one in Damascus and another in Aleppo, on Tuesday and demanded that both be investigated.

But Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's last major ally, insisted at a U.N. Security Council meeting that only the government's allegations should be investigated.

Syria has asked the United Nations to order an "independent" investigation into its claim that opposition rebels used chemical weapons in an attack at Khan al-Assal near Aleppo on Tuesday.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-Moon gave no immediate sign as to how he would respond to the calls for an investigation. U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said a written request has been from the Damascus government "and it is being studied."

Divisions over the two year-old Syria conflict again erupted at a Security Council meeting where France raised the allegations.

'No evidence'
 


French U.N. ambassador Gerard Araud said there was no proof yet of the use of chemical weapons by any side.

He told reporters that a majority of the 15 members of the council had wanted to send a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calling for an investigation into "all allegations of the use of chemical weapons."

If proved "it would be a very serious violation of international law," Araud added.

The U.S. ambassador to Syria also said on Wednesday there is no evidence so far to back reports that chemical weapons were used in Syria on Tuesday, but the United States has a large team investigating the issue.

"So far, we have no evidence to substantiate the reports that chemical weapons were used yesterday. But I want to underline that we are looking very carefully at these reports," Robert Ford, who was recalled from Damascus in February 2012, told a hearing of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Britain and the United States back the calls for an investigation into all allegations. The Western countries said they would send a letter to Ban seeking the signatures of as many council members as possible.

"The facts need to be clarified," said Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador Philip Parham.

"If chemical weapons have been used, this would be abhorrent, it would be very grave, it would warrant a serious response by the international community."

Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin said however the western initiative was an attempt "to delay" any investigation into claims of weapons use in Aleppo. He said France had sought an investigation into "rumors."


The Syria war has torn apart the Security Council.

Russia and China have blocked three council resolutions, proposed by the west, which sought to increase pressure on Assad's government.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/West-calls-for-U-N-to-probe-Syria-chemical-attack-allegations-.html
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After Israeli backslapping, Obama faces Palestinian discontent

Palestinians acting as Israeli soldiers, who are depicted as ghosts, stand behind a wheelchair with a man playing the role of Palestinian prisoner Samer al-Issawi inside a mock cage during a protest against the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama. (Reuters)

U.S. President Barack Obama faces a stony reception when he travels to the West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian leaders who accuse him of letting Israel ride rough-shod over their dream of statehood.

Obama has said he will not bring any new initiatives to try to revive long-dormant peace talks and has instead come to Israel and the Palestinian territories for simple consultations.

Arriving in Israel on Wednesday, the main focus of initial discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be pressing regional concerns, primarily Iran's nuclear ambitions and the civil war in neighboring Syria.

After repeated run-ins with Netanyahu during Obama's first term in office, the mood between the two men appeared to be much warmer, angering Palestinians, who blame the 2010 collapse of U.S.-backed peace negotiations on the Israeli leader's expansion of Jewish settlements on land where they want their state.

Obama is to address the decades-old conflict in talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and also in a keynote speech just hours later to a large audience of carefully screened Israeli students in Jerusalem.

But after the lofty ambitions of his first term, when he appointed a special envoy to the Middle East on his very first day in charge and said peacemaking was a priority, it was clear that Obama has now set the bar significantly lower.

"I will consider this a success if, when I go back on Friday, I am able to say to myself I have a better understanding of what the constraints are," he told a joint news conference on Wednesday, standing alongside Netanyahu.

The three-day visit is Obama's first to Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank since entering the White House in2009, and the inaugural foreign trip of a second and final four-year term that began in January.

Sporadic protests flared in the West Bank and Gaza Strip this week, with Palestinians accusing Obama of not doing enough to halt Israeli settlement-building on land seized in the 1967 Middle East war.

In 2009, Obama bluntly told Israel it had to halt settlement construction, but he later backed away from the demand and made no mention of the enclaves on Wednesday.

Posters depicting Obama were defaced in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem earlier this week and anti-U.S. sentiment bubbled up on social media.

"Do Not Enter," said one poster put up on Facebook, showing Obama's face with a red line crossed through it. "The people of Palestine do not welcome you here."

Back-slapping

Obama was feted when he arrived at Tel Aviv airport on Wednesday, with Israeli leaders lining up to praise the U.S. president for his firm commitment to the security of the Jewish state and his pledge not to let Iran develop nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu, while citing what he described as Israel's right to defend itself, said effusively that he was "absolutely convinced" that Obama was determined to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Tehran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes.

After four years of often icy relations with Netanyahu, the body language suddenly changed. Gone were the pursed lips and ill-disguised scowls. In came firm handshakes and back-slapping.

"Israel has no better friend than the United States of America," Netanyahu said, adding that he hoped his visit would help "turn the page" in relations with the Palestinians.

"Israel remains fully committed to peace and to the solution of two states for two peoples. We stretch out our hand in friendship to the Palestinian people," he added.

Watching from Ramallah, the Palestinian administrative center just outside Jerusalem, Abbas's allies accused Netanyahu of repeating empty rhetoric and said Obama showed no inclination to re-engage with an issue that confounded his predecessors.

"The primary purpose of this visit is Israeli security, Israeli-American relations and saying that the U.S. has its back," said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Obama will fly by helicopter the few miles from Jerusalem to Ramallah on Thursday morning, giving himself a birds' eye view of the walls and fences of the separation barrier between the two cities and of Israeli settlements on surrounding hilltops.

Before that, he will go to a museum in Jerusalem to see the Dead Sea Scrolls - ancient Jewish parchments discovered in the West Bank in the 1940s.

Israeli diplomats say that will help make amends to Israel for a speech Obama made in Cairo in 2009, when he appeared to argue the Jewish state derived its legitimacy from the Holocaust rather than an attachment to the land dating back to the Bible.

Obama will travel to Bethlehem on Friday to visit the Church of the Nativity, and will also lay a wreath on the grave in Jerusalem of Theodor Herzl, the Zionist visionary who died more than four decades before the 1948 founding of Israel.

The U.S. leader will then fly to neighboring Jordan, one of only two Arab states that has made peace with Israel.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/21/After-Israeli-backslapping-Obama-faces-Palestinian-discontent.html
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Muslim Brotherhood breaking promises: Egyptian bakers

The Muslim Brotherhood – from which Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi hails – had previously promised the people that all crises, such as that of the bread, will be resolved.

However, the government's decision to ration bread does not put the Brotherhood in a good light. Many citizens believe that, so far, the Muslim Brotherhood leadership has not been able to keep its promises.

Owners of Egyptian bakeries have protested in Cairo following the government's decision to implement a new plan to ration bread.

Some people believe this new regulation will resolve the wheat crisis, while others believe it will contribute to the failure of the current government.

The Ministry of Supply has confirmed that the new regulation will take effect in 15 provinces, adding that it will prevent the theft of wheat that the government is providing.

The low-cost bread is often the best food for the nation's poorest people.

Egyptian Bakers object to the new plan, noting rising costs and shortages in Egypt's long-held policy of subsidizing bread and fuel prices.

According to the ministry, such a move aims to reduce Egypt's deficit and will involve issuing electronic cards to control how much bread people can buy.

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Muslim-Brotherhood-breaking-promises-Egyptian-bakers.html
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Assad regime has nuclear weapons, possibly in mountains: former VP to Al Arabiya

Khaddam told Al Arabiya that there is a department in the army that handles "chemical war" and "the production of weapons." (AFP)

Abdel Halim Khaddam, Syria's former vice president, said that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad was storing a huge supply of chemical weapons following attempts to make nuclear bombs in the 1970s.

"It is difficult to know the location of these weapons, especially to those who are outside the [Assad] circle," Khaddam told Al Arabiya in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

However, he added that the arms may be in mountainous regions of the country.

The former VP said that nothing connects the Syrian president to the country's people, and that Assad feels no sense of responsibility towards his countrymen.

Khaddam told Al Arabiya that there is a department in the army that handles "chemical war" and "the production of weapons."

He also said that there are specific research centers that work on the chemical weapons.

"Nothing prevents Bashar al-Assad from using chemical weapons, because he has failed in beating the uprising," Khadam said. "That is why [Assad] is using Weapons of Mass Destruction, like cluster bombs and long-range missiles."

The former VP also said that is the international community responsibility that the Assad regime still exists.
 

21 Mar, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/21/Assad-regime-has-nuclear-weapons-possible-in-mountains-former-VP-to-Al-Arabiya.html
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