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

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خالد سعيد رحمة الله عليه

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الرئيس الأمريكى باراك أوباما

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الدكتور محمد البرادعى

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الرئيس السابق حسنى مبارك

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الثلاثاء، أبريل 02، 2013

Division grips Egyptian state institutions: interior minister

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim says division grips Egypt's state institutions. (AFP)

The political division that has gripped Egypt since President Mohammed Mursi came to power has affected state institutions, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim told al-Hayat television on Monday.

"Political division has become a characteristic of the Egyptian people. Even [state] organs have divisions within them," said Ibrahim, adding that his ministry is working under difficult circumstances but does not differentiate between political parties.

His statement follows the latest dispute between the judiciary and the presidency.

An Egyptian court last week overturned a decision by Mursi to sack Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmud and ordered his reinstatement.

However, the prosecutor general's office said Talaat Abdallah, who replaced Mahmud in November, will remain in his post in accordance with the constitution.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Division-grips-Egypt-state-institutions-minister.html
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Worldwide support for Egyptian satirist’s fight for free speech

Jon Stewart commenting on the Egyptian presidency's treatment of satirist Bassem Youssef. (Screenshot: The Daily Show)

With nothing to declare but his wit, Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef's fight for free speech has been buoyed on Monday by top U.S. satirist Jon Stewart, who Youssef has been internationally likened to.

Continuing Youssef's theme of poking fun at the Egyptian president, Stewart did the same.

"I know Bassem pretty well," Stewart said on his Monday night episode of The Daily Show, "so you can imagine I was shocked that this whole time I was consorting with a criminal!"

"If insulting the presidency and Islam here were illegal [in the U.S.], Fox News would go bye-bye!"

"Sounds like Egypt's Mohammed Mursi's got his hands full," adds Stewart after a brief rundown of crises in Egypt which have peaked since the revolution, including diving tourism revenues, economic drawbacks, aging infrastructure and a spike in sexual harassment.

"Can't wait to see how President Mursi tackles these complex and urgent issues," he satirically says before beginning to chew over the arrest of Youssef for insulting the presidency, which included mocking Mursi for his English skills and for the hat he wore in Pakistan while being awarded an honorary degree.

"Making fun of the president's hat and his less-than-fluent English, that was my entire career for eight years!" Stewart said, bringing up an image of a previous George Bush sketch, in which he wore a hat identical to that one worn by the former U.S. president.

"Has he [Youssef] been sabotaging Egypt's infrastructure? Harassing Egyptian women on the streets, or unemploying the Egyptian people? What did he do?" Stewart asks mockingly.

Stewart then proceeded to show clips of Mursi insulting Jews and Zionism, with one clip showing Mursi labeling them the "descendants of apes and pigs."

International eyes on Youssef

Turning up at the prosecutor's office after an arrest warrant was issued from him, then placed on bail last week, Youssef has attracted support from a host of international observers, slapping him on the back for his comedic free speech.

Youssef "isn't scared of anybody," CNN presenter Christiane Amanpour previously said of the satirist.

"With so much political turmoil in the country, Youssef's mission is to make Egyptians laugh, while informing them at the same time," Amanpour added, before an interview with the comedian in December 2012.

Back then, Youssef had said the "president has been accepting [his sketches] well," and that he even invited Mursi to the show.

"This is the best time to have a politically satire program in Egypt. We are the drama queen of the world with everything that's happening …. Comic satire is the best way to comment on everything," he told Amanpour.

But the presidency's targeting of Bassem Youssef was described as a "political witch hunt" by UK-based newspaper The Independent this week after his arrest.

In an article questioning whether the comedian's jokes "went too far," the newspaper tied in Youssef's arrest with another set of arrests of Mursi's prominent opponents.

"Last week, following a series of clashes between anti-government protesters and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's general prosecutor issued arrest warrants for five prominent opponents of Mr. Mursi's. They included the high-profile blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah, who was arrested in 2011 and also back in 2006 during the time of Hosni Mubarak."

Youssef's arrest has also raised questions over the possibility of a wider censorship of the media, a report from the UK-based newspaper The Guardian noted.

"For several months, the prosecutor-general has summoned journalists for questioning on charges of criminal defamation. But no related legal proceedings have yet been set in motion, which is why this week's developments have so alarmed the opposition," the report stated.

With the news reaching across Europe and the rest of the world, comments from France24 on Youssef's 15,000 Egyptian pound bail release, included a mention of his "irreverent humor" when he arrived wearing an oversized version of the hat Mursi wore in Pakistan.

"Bassem Youssef was even cracking jokes via Twitter even when he was in the prosecutor's office," a Cairo correspondent from France24 noted.

Youssef's tweets via his verified Twitter account included: "Police officers and lawyers at the prosecutor-general's office want to be photographed with me, maybe this is why they ordered my arrest?"

"Then they asked me: What is the color of your eyes Bassem?" tweeted the green-eyed former physician turned satirist.

Local Egyptian press has generally sided with Youssef, as seen in daily online English-language newspaper Egypt Independent and even state-owned outlets, such as Ahram Online. News reports on comedian's arrest have been fast and frequent, with protests from Youssef's supporters also dominating the headlines. 

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Worldwide-support-for-Egyptian-satirist-s-fight-for-free-speech.html
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Israeli source denies reports of Egypt Copts feeling to Jewish state

An Israeli government source denies reports Egyptian Copts are fleeing to the Jewish state. (AFP)

Israel did not open its immigration doors to Egyptian Copts, an Israeli government source told Al Arabiya on Monday, denying earlier reports that Copts were flocking to the Jewish state for asylum.

Egyptian newspaper Youm7 reported Monday that Israel was accepting application forms from Egyptian Copts wanting to enter the country.

Mansour al-Samueily, who the daily identified as head of the Israeli office in charge of receiving asylum applications, told Youm7 that 237 Coptic families seeking asylum have already arrived to Israel.

He said Copts illegible for asylum were those who can prove they are being persecuted in Egypt, according to the newspaper, adding Israel's decision was linked to U.S. President Barack Obama's recent visit to the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper and Egypt's Akhbar Elyom published similar reports on Tuesday citing Israel's Haaretz newspaper. However, no article on the issue was found on Haaretz's website.

Israel's YNet News carried a story saying that 50 Egyptian Copts arrived last week in Jerusalem to celebrate Easter despite a ban by late Pope Shenouda III on Copts visiting the city as long as it is under Israeli occupation.

Al Arabiya correspondent in Jerusalem quoted an unnamed Israeli official dismissing the report as baseless, saying: "There is no such thing as asylum from a friendly country with which we have a peace treaty."

03 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Israeli-source-denies-reports-of-Egypt-Copts-feeling-to-Jewish-state.html
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Oman rescues crew of partly submerged Turkish ship

The team of a Turkish ship was evacuated by Omani rescue teams after the ship was partly submerged in the Arabian Sea. (AFP)

Omani rescue teams evacuated on Tuesday the crew of a Turkish ship loaded with iron that listed and became partly submerged in the Arabian Sea after its engine room caught fire, the transport ministry said.

Units from the armed forces of the Gulf sultanate were working on securing the Atlantik Confidence while waiting for teams specialized in rescuing ships to arrive to stabilize it, said a statement carried by ONA state news agency.

The crew of 21 members was evacuated to a commercial ship nearby.

The Atlantik Confidence, located 266.7 kilometers southeast of Masirah Island, tilted 20 degrees to port and became partly submerged after the fire erupted, the ministry said.

It is carrying iron frames to be used in a new terminal at the Muscat airport, ONA said.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Oman-rescues-crew-of-partly-submerged-Turkish-ship-.html
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Egyptian students protest mass food poisoning case

The Monday outbreak at al-Azhar University forced the hospitalization of 479 students. (AFP)

Hundreds of Egyptian students angered by a mass outbreak of food poisoning at a Cairo university stormed on Tuesday the offices of the country's top Muslim cleric, who presides over the institution.

The Monday outbreak at al-Azhar University forced the hospitalization of 479 students, health ministry official Khaled el-Khateib said. It occurred after a meal served at the university dormitories in Cairo's Nasr City district.

The university is affiliated with al-Azhar mosque, the world's foremost seat of Sunni Muslim learning, and awards degrees in sciences and humanities as well as in religious studies. Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar whose offices were attacked, is the university's ultimate authority.

Underlining the gravity of the incident, Egypt's top prosecutor ordered an investigation into the outbreak and Islamist President Mohammed Mursi visited one of the several Cairo hospitals to which victims were taken.

Food poisoning is not uncommon in Egyptian university dormitories, where basic hygiene standards are often not observed, but the latest outbreak is the biggest in years.

In Tuesday's protest, thousands of al-Azhar students blocked the Salah Salem road, a vital artery linking the city's south to its eastern districts. Some of them broke into el-Tayeb's offices on Salah Salem road near the university's main campus in the medieval part of Cairo.

The students also protested on Monday, blocking roads outside their dormitories and chanting slogans against the university's management.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Egyptian-students-protest-mass-food-poisoning-case.html
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New chief starts job of restoring BBC’s reputation

New BBC director-general Tony Hall took up his post, starting the task of restoring the reputation of the world's biggest broadcaster. (Courtesy BBC)

New BBC director-general Tony Hall took up his post on Tuesday, starting the task of restoring the reputation of the world's biggest broadcaster that has been rocked by a child sex abuse scandal.

Hall walked into the BBC's Broadcasting House headquarters in central London to tackle an in-tray topped with the fallout from police investigations which concluded that the corporation's late presenter Jimmy Savile was one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.

The British Broadcasting Corporation was subsequently damaged by a botched television report wrongly indicating that a lawmaker was a pedophile.

Engulfed by the scandals, Hall's predecessor George Entwistle resigned as director-general in November after just 54 days in the job.

Hall, 62, a former head of BBC news, returns to the corporation after more than a decade as chief executive of the Royal Opera House.

In an internal email to staff, he said the corporation was "learning the lessons" from recent "difficult times".

"We are now winning back trust, something which will always be the most precious commodity for our organization.

"The BBC sets incredibly high standards. At our best we provide a service like no other.

"Our challenge is to perform at our best all of the time."

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/02/New-chief-starts-job-of-restoring-BBC-s-reputation-.html
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Hamas law promotes gender segregation in Gaza strip schools

The law, published Monday, is set to go into effect throughout the coastal enclave next year and also mandates separate classes for girls and boys from the age of nine upwards. (Reuters)

Hamas' education ministry has released a new ruling that bans men from teaching at girl's schools in the Gaza strip.

The law, published Monday, is set to go into effect throughout the coastal enclave next year and also mandates separate classes for girls and boys from the age of nine upwards.

Private and Christian-led schools, where classes are mixed until secondary school, are set to be the most affected by the decision. United Nations schools will also be forced to adapt.

Gaza's government-run schools are already mostly gender-segregated.

Proponents of the new law state that it is simply a way to codify Palestinian values into law.

"We are a Muslim people. We do not need to make people Muslims, and we are doing what serves our people and their culture," said Waleed Mezher, the education ministry's legal advisor, to Reuters.

Critics, alternatively, believe that the new measures represent Hamas' attempt to force its ideology on society.

Zeinab al-Ghoneimi, a woman's rights activist in Gaza, said, "instead of hiding behind traditions, why don't they say clearly they are Islamists and they want to Islamize the community," to Palestinian radio.

"To say that the old law did not respect the community's traditions and that they [Hamas] wanted to reform people now is an insult to the community," she added.

With regards to its effects on education, some activists are not worried.

"It's not that it will severely affect the standard of education to either gender," said a rights activist, Rula Muhtad, to Al Arabiya.

"But we want to understand what the intention of Hamas is, are they being motivated by traditional ideas, do they want to force us to accept their ways?"

She showed disappointment at the lack of decision making involvement by local schools; "this wasn't an all-inclusive process."

However, the education ministry stated that private schools had been invited to discuss the legislation, according to the ministry they failed to do so.

Hamas has administered Gaza since fighting a brief civil war with its Palestinian rivals in the secular Fatah party in 2007, a year after it won a surprise majority in Palestinian parliamentary polls.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Hamas-law-promotes-gender-segregation-in-Gaza-strip-schools.html
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Sri Lanka frees monks after anti-Muslim attack

An angry mob of hardline Buddhists vandalized and set fire to the store in a suburb of Colombo, leading police to boost security for Muslim businesses nationwide. (AFP)

A Sri Lankan court Tuesday freed three Buddhist monks and 14 others suspected of torching a Muslim-owned clothing store in an attack that scaled up the country's religious tensions.

In the latest in a wave of attacks targeting minority Muslims, an angry mob of hardline Buddhists vandalized and set fire to the store in a suburb of Colombo, leading police to boost security for Muslim businesses nationwide.

"The case was dropped because the parties (police and the victim) did not want to proceed," a court official said, declining to be named, after the 17 suspects were discharged.

"The magistrate warned the monks to follow Buddha's teachings or face serious consequences," the official said.

The owner of the smashed Fashion Bug store was not immediately available for comment, but the management had previously said that they suffered extensive damage and their staff was living in fear after Thursday's attack.

Local television footage, some of it posted on YouTube, showed a Buddhist monk bringing down a store CCTV camera in front of a cheering mob outside the store, watched by at least four police constables.

Another monk is seen threatening a news cameraman who was later hospitalized after being assaulted by the mob.

Sri Lanka's main Muslim political party in the ruling coalition said the attack was a "sequel" to an ongoing hate campaign against minority Muslims.

Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the country's 20 million population, the second largest minority after the mainly Hindu ethnic Tamils. Seventy percent of the population are Sinhalese and mostly Buddhists.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2013/04/02/Sri-Lanka-frees-monks-after-anti-Muslim-attack-.html
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Central Nigeria ethnic violence kills 19, displaces 4,500

Southern Kaduna state, where the attack occurred, is located in the Middle Belt region dividing Nigeria's mainly Christian south and its mostly Muslim north. (AP)

Weekend attacks on three communities in volatile and ethnically divided central Nigeria have left 19 people dead and displaced some 4,500 others, a local official said on Tuesday.

"From the death toll we've compiled, 19 people including women and children were killed by gunmen we suspect to be Fulani herdsmen in attacks on three communities on Saturday night through Sunday," local government official Kumai Badu told AFP of the violence in the Kaura district, a remote area of Kaduna state.

He added that some 4,500 were displaced and two camps had been set up to house them.

The attacks were believed to be reprisals in a dispute involving mainly Muslim Fulanis and the mostly Christian Atakar ethnic group.

Fulanis in the area tend to be nomadic herdsmen, while Atakar are mainly farmers. Land disputes often flare-up between the two groups.

Southern Kaduna state, where the attack occurred, is located in the Middle Belt region dividing Nigeria's mainly Christian south and its mostly Muslim north.

Hundreds were killed in riots in southern Kaduna after 2011 elections, with most of the victims Muslim, according to Human Rights Watch.

Speaking of the weekend violence, Badu said "the attack we believe was in response to the poisoning of some herds by some local farmers over encroachment into their farmlands."

Dozens have been killed over the last couple weeks in similar ethnic violence in neighboring Plateau state.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2013/04/02/Central-Nigeria-ethnic-violence-kills-19-displaces-4-500-.html
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Worldwide support for Egyptian satirist’s fight for free speech

Jon Stewart commenting on the Egyptian presidency's treatment of satirist Bassem Youssef. (Screenshot: The Daily Show)

With nothing to declare but his wit, Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef's fight for free speech has been buoyed on Monday by top U.S. satirist Jon Stewart, who Youssef has been internationally likened to.

Continuing Youssef's theme of poking fun at the Egyptian president, Stewart did the same.

"I know Bassem pretty well," Stewart said on his Monday night episode of The Daily Show, "so you can imagine I was shocked that this whole time I was consorting with a criminal!"

"If insulting the presidency and Islam here were illegal [in the U.S.], Fox News would go bye-bye!"

"Sounds like Egypt's Mohammed Mursi's got his hands full," adds Stewart after a brief rundown of crises in Egypt which have peaked since the revolution, including diving tourism revenues, economic drawbacks, aging infrastructure and a spike in sexual harassment.

"Can't wait to see how President Mursi tackles these complex and urgent issues," he satirically says before beginning to chew over the arrest of Youssef for insulting the presidency, which included mocking Mursi for his English skills and for the hat he wore in Pakistan while being awarded an honorary degree.

"Making fun of the president's hat and his less-than-fluent English, that was my entire career for eight years!" Stewart said, bringing up an image of a previous George Bush sketch, in which he wore a hat identical to that one worn by the former U.S. president.

"Has he [Youssef] been sabotaging Egypt's infrastructure? Harassing Egyptian women on the streets, or unemploying the Egyptian people? What did he do?" Stewart asks mockingly.

Stewart then proceeded to show clips of Mursi insulting Jews and Zionism, with one clip showing Mursi labeling them the "descendants of apes and pigs."

International eyes on Youssef

Turning up at the prosecutor's office after an arrest warrant was issued from him, then placed on bail last week, Youssef has attracted support from a host of international observers, slapping him on the back for his comedic free speech.

Youssef "isn't scared of anybody," CNN presenter Christiane Amanpour previously said of the satirist.

"With so much political turmoil in the country, Youssef's mission is to make Egyptians laugh, while informing them at the same time," Amanpour added, before an interview with the comedian in December 2012.

Back then, Youssef had said the "president has been accepting [his sketches] well," and that he even invited Mursi to the show.

"This is the best time to have a politically satire program in Egypt. We are the drama queen of the world with everything that's happening …. Comic satire is the best way to comment on everything," he told Amanpour.

But the presidency's targeting of Bassem Youssef was described as a "political witch hunt" by UK-based newspaper The Independent this week after his arrest.
In an article questioning whether the comedian's jokes "went too far," the newspaper tied in Youssef's arrest with another set of arrests of Mursi's prominent opponents.

"Last week, following a series of clashes between anti-government protesters and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's general prosecutor issued arrest warrants for five prominent opponents of Mr. Mursi's. They included the high-profile blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah, who was arrested in 2011 and also back in 2006 during the time of Hosni Mubarak."

Youssef's arrest has also raised questions over the possibility of a wider censorship of the media, a report from the UK-based newspaper The Guardian noted.

"For several months, the prosecutor-general has summoned journalists for questioning on charges of criminal defamation. But no related legal proceedings have yet been set in motion, which is why this week's developments have so alarmed the opposition," the report stated.

With the news reaching across Europe and the rest of the world, comments from France24 on Youssef's 15,000 Egyptian pound bail release, included a mention of his "irreverent humor" when he arrived wearing an oversized version of the hat Mursi wore in Pakistan.

"Bassem Youssef was even cracking jokes via Twitter even when he was in the prosecutor's office," a Cairo correspondent from France24 noted.

Youssef's tweets via his verified Twitter account included: "Police officers and lawyers at the prosecutor-general's office want to be photographed with me, maybe this is why they ordered my arrest?"

"Then they asked me: What is the color of your eyes Bassem?" tweeted the green-eyed former physician turned satirist.

Local Egyptian press has generally sided with Youssef, as seen in daily online English-language newspaper Egypt Independent and even state-owned outlets, such as Ahram Online. News reports on comedian's arrest have been fast and frequent, with protests from Youssef's supporters also dominating the headlines. 

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/04/02/Worldwide-support-for-Egyptian-satirist-s-fight-for-free-speech.html
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First political prisoners freed in Sudan under amnesty

Sudanese authorities allegedly released six political prisoners fter President Omar al-Bashir vowed to free all political detainees. (AP)

Sudanese authorities released six political prisoners early on Tuesday, an AFP photographer reported, after President Omar al-Bashir vowed to free all political detainees.

The six men walked free to tearful relatives waiting outside Kober Prison in Khartoum North.

Most of them are believed to have been held for more than two months in connection with a conference in Uganda in January, which led to a charter for toppling Bashir's 24-year regime using both armed and peaceful means.

Farouk Abu Issa, who heads the opposition alliance of more than 20 parties, could not be immediately reached for comment.

The US-based Human Rights Watch had called in February for the detained opposition party members to be charged or freed.

Mashood Adebayo Baderin, the UN's independent expert on human rights in Sudan, also expressed concern about the "detention of political opposition figures and other individuals" by the national security service.

In a speech opening a new session of parliament on Monday, Bashir said all political prisoners would be freed as the government seeks a broad political dialogue, a move welcomed by the opposition as tensions ease with South Sudan.

"We confirm we will continue our communication with all political and social powers without excluding anyone, including those who are armed, for a national dialogue which will bring a solution to all the issues," the president said.

But opposition members are waiting to see whether prisoners belonging to the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North will be among those set free.

The SPLM-N has been fighting government forces for almost two years in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and had been demanding a prisoner release, according to the political opposition.

Farouk Mohammed Ibrahim, of the Sudanese Organization for Defense of Rights and Freedoms, said there are "a large number" of detainees in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. These include 118 SPLM-N prisoners whose cases are being handled by his organization in southern Blue Nile alone.

Ibrahim said on Tuesday that it is not yet clear whether those 118 will be included in the release.

SPLM-N chairman Malik Agar declined to comment on Bashir's announcement, saying he was "not sure which political prisoners he is referring to".

A diplomatic source late Monday called Bashir's statements positive but said it is too early to know where they are leading.

"We should wait until we see clear results," said the source, asking for anonymity. "Action is what counts here in Sudan."

Bashir's speech elaborated on an offer made last week by Vice President Ali Osman Taha, who reached out to the SPLM-N and opposition political parties, whom he invited to join a constitutional dialogue.

Sudan needs a new constitution to replace the 2005 document based on a peace agreement which ended a 23-year civil war and led to South Sudan's separation in July 2011.

Bashir's regime had long rejected negotiations with the insurgents.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2013/04/02/First-political-prisoners-freed-in-Sudan-under-amnesty-.html
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Gunmen attack Pakistan power station, kill 7: officials

Dozens of gunmen attacked an electricity plant in northwest Pakistan overnight, killing seven people. (AFP)

Dozens of gunmen attacked an electricity plant in northwest Pakistan overnight, killing seven people and destroying machinery that disrupted power to many areas, officials said Tuesday.

Around 50 militants carried out the attack in Badh Bher in the suburbs of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which is rife with Al-Qaeda-linked militants and Taliban insurgents.

"They attacked the power station at around 2:30 am (2130 GMT). They killed two officials on the spot and abducted 10 others," Javed Khan, a senior police official in the area, told AFP.

"They threw five dead bodies of the kidnapped officials in the fields close to the power house on Monday morning. Five others are still missing," Khan said.

A spokesman for the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (PESCO) said the militants killed four of its staff and three policemen.

"One PESCO employee and one policeman were killed on the spot. The militants then kidnapped seven PESCO employees and three policemen. Later, we found the bodies of three PESCO officials and two policemen," said Shaukat Afzal.

"Four power house employees and one policeman are still missing," he said.

Violence has been increasing in the northwest as Pakistan prepares to hold general and provincial elections on May 11, which are due to mark the country's first democratic transition of power.

Pakistan says more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks on the United States.


 

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2013/04/02/Gunmen-attack-Pakistan-power-station-kill-7-officials-.html
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U.N. set to adopt arms treaty despite blocks by Syria and Iran

U.N. set to adopt arms treaty despite blocks by Syria and Iran

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to adopt the first global treaty on the conventional arms trade. (Reuters)

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to adopt the first global treaty on the conventional arms trade Tuesday after the 193 member states failed to reach consensus on it last week, diplomats said.

After 10 days of arduous talks, Iran, Syria and North Korea on Thursday blocked the accord to regulate the $80 billion annual industry despite widespread support from Western, African and Latin American states.

Other countries refused to let the treaty die. Mexico proposed that the conference go ahead and adopt the treaty Thursday without the support of the three countries, saying there was no definition of "consensus." Several countries supported the idea, but the Russian delegation objected and called the proposal "a manipulation of consensus."

Kenya, with the backing of 63 other countries -- including the United States, Britain and France -- proposed that the General Assembly take up a resolution containing the blocked text.

If adopted, the treaty would then be open for signature.

The vote requires a simple majority, which practically guarantees adoption of the accord. The General Assembly session is set to start at 10:00 am (1400 GMT).

Once adopted, every country would be free to sign and ratify the treaty. It will take effect after the 50th ratification, which could take up to two years.

The first major arms accord since the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty would cover tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, as well as small arms and light arms.

It would aim to force countries to set up national controls on arms exports. States would also have to assess whether a weapon could be used for genocide, war crimes or by terrorists or organized crime before it is sold.

The United States -- the world's biggest arms dealer -- is ready to sign the treaty but its ratification by the U.S. Congress is not assured.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for International Security Tom Countryman predicted Thursday that other countries would join the objectors in voting against the treaty at the General Assembly.

But he added: "We think an overwhelming majority of states will vote in favor. I am happy to vote the opposite direction of such states as Iran, North Korea and Syria on this text."

Two major players in the arms trade market -- Russia and India -- have left others guessing how they would vote and could very well not sign the treaty.

Moscow, a major exporter of weapons, has said there are "omissions" in the treaty and "doubtful" provisions, such as the failure to control arms transfers to non-state groups.

Russia is particularly worried about weapons getting into the hands of Chechen rebels.

New Delhi, a major buyer, also heavily criticized the text.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/U-N-set-to-adopt-arms-treaty-despite-blocks-by-Syria-and-Iran.html
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Baghdad’s Camp Nama: brutal prison torture during Iraq war revealed

The 10th anniversary of the U.S-led war on Iraq prompted a number of former servicemen to describe human rights abuses witnessed at Camp Nama. (AFP)

A U.S. detention facility in Baghdad, shrouded in secrecy during the Iraq war, has been disparaged by British military officers speaking out about the human rights abuses they witnessed.

British army personnel from two RAF squadrons, and one Army Air Corps squadron, were given guard and transport duties at the secret prison during the Iraq war, UK newspaper the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The paper quoted one British serviceman, who served at Nama, recalling the rights abuses he witnessed.
"I saw one man having his prosthetic leg being pulled off him, and being beaten about the head with it before he was thrown on to the truck," the unnamed serviceman said.

The report highlighted that the joint U.S.-UK special forces unit, Codenamed Task Force 121 (TF 121), had initially been deployed to detain individuals thought to have information about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

But when information on WMDs dried out, the unit was "re-tasked with tracking down people who might know where the deposed dictator and his loyalists might be, and then with catching al-Qaeda leaders who sprang up in the country after the regime collapsed," the Guardian reported.


Brutal interrogation methods


Last month marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S-led war on Iraq, the occasion prompted a number of former members of the TF 121 unit to describe the human rights abuses they witnessed, the newspaper said.

Brutal interrogation methods were documented at Camp Nama, based at Baghdad International airport. These included Iraqi prisoners being subjected to electric shocks, routinely hooded and being held for lengthy periods in "cells the size of large dog kennels," the newspaper found.

"The methods used were so brutal that they drew condemnation not only from a U.S. human rights body but from a special investigator reporting to the Pentagon," the report stated.
 

British defense secretary at the time, Geoff Hoon, insisted he had "never heard" of the secret prison, Britain's Ministry of Defense also "repeatedly failed to address questions about ministerial approval of British operations at Camp Nama," the Guardian stated.


Defending the decision


In March, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair defended Britain's role in the Iraq war.

"If we hadn't removed Saddam from power just think, for example, what would be happening if these Arab revolutions were continuing now and Saddam, who's probably 20 times as bad as Assad in Syria, was trying to suppress an uprising in Iraq. Think of the consequences of leaving that regime in power," he told the BBC's Newsnight.

The war resulted in the death of around 162,000 people, almost 80 percent of them civilian, from the start of the U.S.-led invasion until the withdrawal of U.S. forces in December 2011, according to British NGO Iraq Body Count.
 

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Baghdad-s-Camp-Nam-brutal-prison-torture-during-Iraq-war-revealed.html
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Syrian regime fortifying its Damascus headquarters

Photos published online shows the Syrian regime building fortifications to protect its headquarters. (Al Arabiya.net)

As clashes rage between Syrian regime troops and rebels in Damascus's suburbs, photos published online showed the regime is resorting to building fortifications to protect its headquarters.

One of these defenses is a wall built in front of the criminal security apparatus' structure in the center of the Syrian capital.

The neighborhoods of Jawbar, Al-Qaboun and Al-Hajar al-Aswad are considered to be three of the axes witnessing the fiercest of clashes as rebels attempt to progress through them towards Damascus. Meanwhile, the regime is attempting to deter this attempt.

The regime is using cannons and warplanes to shell cities and neighborhoods where rebels are located, but civilians are the ones falling victim to such shelling. On Monday, Moadmiya, Daraya, Yalda and Duma were all hit by Syrian regime forces with dozens injured or killed in Al-Ghouta al-Sharkya.

Meanwhile, revolution coordination committees said the regime has committed a massacre in Idleb's Maarat an-Naaman as it randomly shelled the town after residents returned to it. That attack killed at least ten people, including women and children. The committees added that the town of Hass was also struck.

Neighborhoods of Masken Hanano, al-Shaar in Aleppo have too been bombarded.
 

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/02/Syrian-regime-fortifying-its-Damascus-headquarters-.html
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Jolie’s Jewelry: Angelina funds Afghanistan girls school with design line

Angelina Jolie plans to fund a newly opened girl's school in Afghanistan with proceeds of a jewelry line. (Reuters)

Angelina Jolie plans to fund a newly opened girl's school in Afghanistan with proceeds of a jewelry line that she helped to design, celebrity website E! News reported on Monday.

Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, will further fund the girls-only primary school in an area outside Kabul that has a high refugee population, E! News said in an exclusive report.

Jolie plans to expand her charitable budget with profits from the "Style of Jolie" jewelry line that she helped create with jewelry maker to the stars, Robert Procop.

"Beyond enjoying the artistic satisfaction of designing these jewels, we are inspired by knowing our work is also serving the mutual goal of providing for children in need," Jolie was quoted as saying by E!

Procop's website said the "first funds from our collaboration together have been dedicated to the Education Partnership for Children in Conflict, founded by Jolie."

The particular school educates 200-300 girls and was opened in November, a plaque acknowledging Jolie's previous contributions is visible in the building.

Jolie, an avid supporter of girl's education in the country, also funded a female-only school in eastern Afghanistan that opened in 2010, according to the UNCHR.

The collection

According to the Style of Jolie website, the newly expanded collection includes versions of the black and gold necklace that the actress wore to the premiere of her 2010 Hollywood movie 'Salt,' a pear-shaped citrine and gold necklace, and rose gold and emerald tablet-shaped rings, earrings and bracelets. No price details have been released so far.

The jewelry will go on retail sale for the first time on April 4 through a Kansas City, Missouri, jewelry store named Tivol, the shop has announced according to Reuters.

Procop told E! that it was "an honor to have the opportunity to be part of creating this line with Angie, as we both believe every child has right to an education."

A noble cause gone awry

Jolie is not the first celebrity to open schools in faraway places. Both Oprah Winfrey and Madonna have funded the building of schools in South Africa and Malawi in the past six years, although both ran into trouble.

Madonna's project provoked controversy over costs and mismanagement, while a staff member at Winfrey's school was arrested on charges of assault and abuse of students.

02 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/02/Jolie-s-Jewelry-Angelina-funds-Afghanistan-girls-school-with-design-line.html
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