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

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خالد سعيد رحمة الله عليه

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الرئيس الأمريكى باراك أوباما

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الرئيس السابق حسنى مبارك

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الاثنين، أبريل 29، 2013

Report says two missiles target Russian passenger plane over Syria

Unidentified assailants fired two land-to-air missiles at a Russian passenger plane carrying over 150 people when it flew over Syria on Monday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing an informed source in Moscow.

"The Syrian side informed us that on Monday morning unidentified people had fired two land-to-air missiles which exploded in the immediate proximity of a civilian plane belonging to a Russian airline," the source was quoted as saying.

"The crew was able to move the aircraft to the side on time and save the lives of the passengers," the source said, adding that it was unclear whether the attackers knew that the plane was Russian.

The plane was returning from a resort in Egypt, a popular destination for Russian tourists.

The federal air transport agency Rosaviation issued a statement later Monday, saying the crew of a charter plane flying from the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh to the Russian city of Kazan had detected "signs of combat actions" when it was flying over Syria.

The crew of the A-320 plane, which belongs to Nord Wind Airlines, believed that those actions threatened the aircraft's safety, said the agency, adding that the plane landed in Kazan on time.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a separate statement that it was taking "urgent measures" to clarify the situation and was in contact with the Syrian authorities. It said the plane carried 159 passengers.

Neither the air transport agency nor the foreign ministry made any mention of the missiles.

Russia, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's staunchest allies, is firmly opposed to foreign intervention in Syria.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/30/Report-says-two-missiles-target-Russian-passenger-plane-over-Syria.html
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Egypt walks out of nuclear talks in Geneva

Egypt walks out of a round of global nuclear talks in protest Monday. (AFP)

Egypt walked out of a round of global nuclear talks in protest Monday, saying other nations are not acting quickly enough to establish the Middle East as a zone free of nuclear weapons.

A statement from Egypt's Foreign Ministry said the nation ended its participation in two weeks of Geneva talks out of frustration that the zone has yet to be created. The talks run through this week.

"We can't wait forever for the implementation of this decision," said the ministry's statement Monday night, explaining that Egypt's walkout was meant to send a message to the world that it can no longer accept what it considers to be a lack of seriousness on the issue.

But establishing the Middle East as a zone free of nuclear weapons has long been an elusive goal.

The Geneva talks, which have included no negotiations on such a zone, are meant to prepare for the next major review of the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2015. Such reviews are held once every five years.

The NPT, which has been signed by 190 nations, is the world's single most important pact on nuclear arms, credited with preventing their spread to dozens of nations since it was adopted. Israel and Iran, along with North Korea, India and Pakistan, remain outside the treaty.

At the 1995 review, nations adopted the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East, in a concession by the U.S. and others to the Arabs, who wanted Israel to join the treaty and to give up its unacknowledged arsenal of nuclear weapons. In exchange, the Arabs backed the treaty's permanent extension.

But after 15 years of inaction on a nuclear-free zone, Egypt proposed that the 2010 conference endorse launching negotiations to establish one. With no talks started, Egypt said Monday that some other members of the treaty - and non-members - are "obstructing" the goal. Though it did not specify, the reference to non-members was seen as implying Israel.

Ahead of the Geneva talks to prevent the spread of nuclear arms, the U.N. Security Council's five major powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - had again called for progress in establishing a nuclear-free Middle East.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/30/Egypt-walks-out-of-nuclear-talks-in-Geneva.html
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Egyptian Islamist cleared over 1995 bid to murder Mubarak

An Egyptian court acquitted Monday Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya party leader Mustafa Hamza. (Courtesy: Ahram)

An Egyptian court acquitted Monday a Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya party leader who had been sentenced to death in absentia after a foiled bid in 1995 to assassinate ex-President Hosni Mubarak, a judicial source said.

Mustafa Hamza was a military commander of the fundamentalist group – an organization outlawed under Mubarak – which had been implicated in deadly attacks in the 1990s alongside another jihadist group, notably the Luxor massacre which killed about 70 people, mainly tourists, in 1997.

An Egyptian court had sentenced him to death in absentia for his membership in the Gamaa, but on Monday the Giza criminal court acquitted him.

The Mubarak government had accused Hamza of masterminding a bid to assassinate the now ousted president during an official visit to Addis Ababa to attend an African summit.

Gunmen opened fire on Mubarak's motorcade, but the former strongman's bodyguards were quick to return fire and he escaped unscathed.

Hamza ended years on the run and returned to Egypt after the January 2011 popular uprising that toppled Mubarak and surrendered to the authorities in Cairo, where he also asked for a retrial.

The Gamaa, which renounced violence at the end of the 1990s, set up a political party – Building and Development – after Mubarak's ouster.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/30/Egypt-Islamist-cleared-over-1995-bid-to-murder-Mubarak-.html
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Al-Qaeda chief’s brother warns France of retaliation for Mali

A VBCI armored vehicle is parked outside the French military base at the Malian airport in Gao, March 9, 2013. (Reuters)

France is "playing with fire" in Mali, the brother of Al-Qaeda's chief said in an interview published Monday, warning that Islamic fighters would retaliate in the African nation and "on French territory."

France launched a military offensive in Mali in January to help the army push back Islamic extremists who had taken hold of the north, and has now begun a phased withdrawal of its 4,500-strong force.

"France is playing with fire... By attacking Mali, France lit the fuse and will suffer the consequences," Mohammed al-Zawahiri, the brother of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, told French weekly Le Point.

"The reaction of jihadi fighters is likely to be strong, be it in Mali or on French territory.

"France kills our children, we must respond. We have neither bombs nor planes, but our resources allow us to take hostages to defend ourselves," said the Egyptian Islamist.

"Will we, Muslims, come to Europe and attack you because we are opposed to secularism and Catholicism? You have no right to intervene in our beliefs."

France's military intervention in Mali saw French-led troops recapture key towns in northern Mali that had been occupied for months by Islamist groups linked to Al-Qaeda.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as Al-Qaeda chief in 2011, had already warned France at the beginning of April that it would meet in Mali "the same fate as America in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Mohammed al-Zawahiri was sentenced to death in absentia in Egypt in 1998 on charges of undergoing military training in Albania and planning militant operations in Egypt.

He was arrested a year later in the United Arab Emirates and handed over to Egyptian authorities.

He was released along with other prisoners in 2011 after the fall of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, only to be rearrested within 48 hours.

He was subsequently awarded a retrial and was acquitted in March 2012.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2013/04/30/Qaeda-chief-s-brother-warns-France-of-retaliation-for-Mali-.html
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Obama, Putin address Syrian chemical weapons over the phone

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, discuss Syrian chemical weapons over the phone Monday. (Reuters)

President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Russia over Syria on Monday, telling President Vladimir Putin of his concern about the reported use of chemical weapons by the Damascus regime.

Obama also thanked Putin in the telephone call for his help after the Boston marathon bombings, and expressed condolences over a fire that killed 36 patients in a Russian psychiatric facility on Friday, the White House said.

The call came with Obama under increasing political heat himself, after the White House said last week that it believed there was growing evidence that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons in the civil war.

"President Obama and President Putin reviewed the situation in Syria, with President Obama underscoring concern over Syrian chemical weapons," a White House statement said.

Obama is under pressure because last year he said that the use or movement of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad's embattled forces would cross a U.S. "red line."

Key political players in Washington are now warning that his credibility is on the line, though the White House is seeking more detailed intelligence into exactly how and when such weapons may have been used.

Obama and Putin agreed to stay in touch on Syria and tasked Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with working together on the issue.

Washington has been deeply frustrated that Russia has blocked tougher action in the U.N. Security Council, including new sanctions, against its long-time ally Syria.

The United States is also now calling on Assad to allow a United Nations team into the country to assess reports that chemical weapons have been used.

Obama also used the call to thank Russia for its assistance in the probe into the Boston bombings two weeks, blamed on two brothers of Chechen origin, one of whom had raised flags with Moscow's intelligence services.

"The two leaders discussed cooperation on counterterrorism and security issues going forward, including with respect to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi," the White House statement said.

One of the brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston bombings had links with two figures in the Islamist anti-Kremlin insurgency in the Northern Caucasus, a Russian security source told AFP on Monday.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in a police shootout, had been in touch with a Dagestan militant named Makhmud Nidal and a militant of Canadian origin named William Plotnikov, the source in the Northern Caucasus said.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/29/Obama-Putin-address-Syrian-chemical-weapons-over-the-phone-.html
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Italian reporter in Syria missing for 20 days, paper reports

Italian journalist Domenico Quirico has not been heard from in 20 days. (Courtesu: La Stampa)

Italian journalist Domenico Quirico, a correspondent for Turin's la Stampa newspaper, has not been heard from for 20 days after entering Syria from Lebanon earlier this month, the daily's editor-in-chief Mario Calabresi said on Monday.

The 62-year-old Quirico, an experienced war reporter, entered Syria on April 6 to report on the country's civil war, and has not been in contact since April 9.

After six days of silence, la Stampa together with the journalist's family contacted the Italian Foreign Ministry crisis unit, Calabresi said in an article published on the newspaper's website.

After a fruitless search for the reporter, it was decided to publicize his disappearance in the hope that it turns up some leads, Calabresi said.

Quirico has reported on conflicts in Sudan, Uganda and Libya and on the Arab spring uprisings, Calabresi said, and it was not uncommon for him to disappear for several days at a time, though never as many as 20.

The last time Quirico was in Mali, he was not heard from for six days, Calabresi said.

Four Italian journalists were kidnapped in Syria earlier this month, and were released after a little more than a week in captivity. The civil war has made Syria one of the most dangerous countries in the world, including for reporters.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/29/Italian-reporter-in-Syria-missing-for-20-days-paper-reports.html
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Israel OKs barrier in Palestinian Christian area

Clergy gathered Monday in Bethlehem outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus. (Reuter)

A lawyer for a convent in a Palestinian Christian town near Bethlehem says she will appeal an Israeli court ruling allowing construction of a segment of Israel's separation barrier through properties owned by the Vatican and Palestinian residents.

Lawyer Manal Hazzan Abu Sinni said Monday the barrier's route will separate the Beit Jala convent from a monastery, leaving the convent's land on Israel's side of the barrier.

The district court ruling last week dismissed alternative routes for the barrier, citing security concerns. The decision comes after a seven-year court battle by area Palestinians.

Israel has been erecting the barrier in the West Bank since 2002 to keep out Palestinian attackers. Palestinians say the barrier is a land grab because much of it is built on West Bank territory.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Israel-OKs-barrier-in-Palestinian-Christian-area.html
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Israel evicts Palestinian villagers for army exercise

Israeli security officers arrive to stand guard as a bulldozer hired by the Jerusalem municipality destroys a Palestinian house in the Israeli annexed East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur on April 29, 2013. (AFP)

Israeli soldiers evicted several hundred Bedouins from a village in the occupied West Bank on Monday after the army declared the area alive-fire training zone.

The residents of Wadi al-Maleh, a village mostly inhabited by shepherds in the arid area bordering Jordan, had almost all left their homes by an evening curfew and retreated to neighboring villages, Aref Daraghmeh, a local leader told Reuters.

The displacement coincided with several demolitions of Arab properties in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which come as the United States is trying to revive stalled peace.

In January, villagers received a similar eviction order and left without resisting, only to return after 48 hours. Almost all of their 90 buildings, including shelters for their animals, were demolished in 2010, local rights groups said.

Israeli troops prevented outsiders, including journalists, from accessing the area saying it was a "closed military zone." The military did not respond to a request for comment.

Wadi al-Maleh is located in "Area C," a swath of land making up two-thirds of the West Bank under full Israeli control and where most Jewish settlements are located.

Half a million settlers live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory captured in the 1967 Middle East War which Palestinians want for a future state.

Israeli army firing zones comprise 18 percent of the West Bank, roughly the same size of "Area A," the land including major cities and towns which is under full Palestinian control.

According to the U.N. Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 5,000 Palestinians in 38 herding communities live on army firing zones, along with several sprawling Jewish settlements and farms.

Besides al-Maleh, 12 Bedouin villages throughout the length of the Jordan Valley have received eviction orders since 1999, according to the Association for Human Rights in Israel.

The International Court of Justice and most governments deem Jewish settlements in the West Bank illegal. Israel disputes this and cites Biblical and historical links to the land.

Israeli authorities razed two family homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur on Monday morning, displacing18 Palestinians who failed to acquire elusive building permits, local officials said.

The army also demolished a well near a Palestinian refugee camp south of the city of Hebron and cleared an agricultural area of dozens of olive trees east of Bethlehem, according to Palestinian government media. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Israel-evicts-Palestinian-villagers-for-army-exercise.html
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Sources to Al Arabiya: 30 Hezbollah bodies arrive to Lebanon from Syria

The Lebanese Shiite group, Hezbollah, has repeatedly stated that it was not taking part in the fighting in Syria. (Reuters)

Thirty bodies belonging to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah arrived to Lebanon from Syria, Syrian opposition sources told Al Arabiya on Monday.

The sources added that Al-Quds Brigade commander, whose known by his nickname, Abu Ajeeb, was also killed in Syria in battles against rebels.

Reports have emerged that members of the Lebanese Shiite group were fighting with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels.

Former Hezbollah chief Subhi al-Tufaili told Al Arabiya in an interview earlier this week that at least 138 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in the Syria fighting.

Tufaili added that Hezbollah, who is backed by Iran and the Syrian regime, was told to fight with the Assad forces in direct orders from Tehran.

However, the Shiite group has repeatedly stated that it was not taking part in the fighting in Syria.

Hezbollah leads fight in Syria's Qusayr

Hezbollah is reportedly leading the fight against the rebels in a strategic town in Homs province, a rebel Free Syrian Army (FS) commander told Al Arabiya on Friday.

Colonel Fateh Hassoun, who is the deputy chief of Staff and commander of FSA front in the central province of Homs, said the Syrian army is bombarding certain areas to help camouflage Hezbollah fighters.

He added it is the latest military tactic that is being employed by the Syrian government.

Qusayr, a town near a key highway that links Damascus to Syria's coast, has witnessed fierce fighting between Syrian rebels and Hezbollah fighters, according to activists.

The two-year Syrian conflict, which started with peaceful protests against the president, has morphed into a civil war that has affected its neighboring countries, including Lebanon.

At least 70,000 people have been killed since the start of the Syrian conflict and about 1.4 million left their conflict-ravaged country, the U.N. says.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Sources-to-Al-Arabiya-30-Hezbollah-bodies-arrive-to-Lebanon-from-Syria.html
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45,865 Syrians return home from Jordan since July

A Syrian refugee woman washes her clothes at the Mrajeeb Al-Fhood refugee camp, 20 km (12.4 miles) east of the Jordanian city of Zarqa April 29, 2013. (Reuters)

More than 45,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their war-torn country from a northern Jordanian refugee camp over the past nine months, a Jordanian official said on Monday.

Colonel Zaher Abu Shehab, who runs the Zaatari refugee camp, said a total of 45,865 Syrian refugees "have agreed to voluntarily leave the camp and return home" since July 2012, Petra news agency reported.

"Every day between 300 and 400 refugees express the desire to go back to Syria," he added.

Earlier this month the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR also reported that more Syrians were opting to return home from Jordan, with around 300 now crossing back each day, voicing concern for the safety.

Syrians were opting to return home for a number of reasons, including reports of improved security in a number of border villages, and to protect their property, UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva on April 12.

Others were returning to reunite with family members or fetch left-behind relatives and bring them back to Jordan, she said, adding however that a far larger number of Syrians were streaming across the border to Jordan.

"The total number of Syrian refugees who have spontaneously returned is less than one percent of the total arrivals," she said.

Jordan is hosting more than 500,00 Syrian refugees, including over 160,000 in Zaatari -- making it the kingdom's fifth largest city, according to the United Nations.

Zaatari is the scene of frequent rioting.

On April 19 violence broke out as 100 refugees protested against living conditions in the desert camp, where water and electricity are scarce and services are poor.

The authorities said 10 policemen were injured in confrontations with camp residents and that eight refugees were arrested.

"A new security unit has been established in Zaatari. Police will patrol the camp to make sure everything is under control," Petra quoted Abu Shehab as saying.

The UNHCR expects the number of refugees in Jordan to soar to 1.2 million by the end of 2013, equivalent to a fifth of the population.
 

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/45-865-Syrians-return-home-from-Jordan-since-July-.html
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First female Iraq war resister to be court martialed

U.S. soldier Kimberly Rivera is charged with desertion and faces up to five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted. (Photo courtesy ABC)

The first female soldier to flee the U.S. military for Canada to avoid the Iraq war is to be court-martialed Monday.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Kimberly Rivera was charged with desertion and faces up to five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted.

Rivera was assigned to Fort Carson's 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Colorado and served in Iraq in 2006. She says she became disillusioned with the mission.

While on a two-week leave in the U.S. in 2007, she crossed the Canadian border after she was ordered to serve another tour in Iraq. Rivera applied for permanent residency, but Canadian immigration officials ordered the mother of four to leave the country or face deportation.

She was arrested last year at the U.S. border.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/First-female-Iraq-war-resister-to-be-court-martialed.html
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Israel lawmaker claims Hezbollah getting chemicals

Former Israeli defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who also called for international intervention in the Syria's civil war to stop mass civilian deaths, did not supply any evidence for his claim that Hezbollah is getting chemicals. (AFP)

A former Israeli defense minister alleged Monday that Syria's chemical weapons are "trickling" to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the first claim by a senior politician in Israel that one of the country's nightmare scenarios is coming true.

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who also called for international intervention in the Syria's civil war to stop mass civilian deaths, did not supply any evidence for his claim.

"The process of weapon transferal to Hezbollah has begun," Ben-Eliezer told The Associated Press. He refused to elaborate.

Ben-Eliezer, a retired general who is now a lawmaker from the opposition Labor party, also told Israel Radio that he "has no doubt" that Syrian President Bashar Assad has already used chemical weapons and that that "these weapons are trickling to Hezbollah."

His statements do not represent an official assessment and defense officials say that, while they are concerned about Hezbollah getting chemical weapons, they are assuming it has not yet done so.

Israel has repeatedly expressed concern that Syria's chemical arsenal could fall into the hands of anti-Israel militants like Lebanon's Hezbollah, an Assad ally, or an Al-Qaeda-linked group fighting with the rebels. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that militants getting chemical arms or other sophisticated weapons is a red line that could trigger military action.

Israel is widely believed to have carried out an airstrike in Syria early this year on a shipment of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles allegedly bound for Hezbollah. Israel has all but confirmed it carried out the attack.

Although Assad is a bitter enemy, Israel has been careful not to take sides in Syria's civil war, partly because the Assad family has kept the border with Israel quiet for the past 40 years and because of fears of what would happen if he is overthrown. Israeli military officials believe some Syrian opposition groups, especially those affiliated with the Al-Qaeda terror group, will turn their focus toward Israel once Assad is ousted.

Ben-Eliezer said he is "amazed by the silence of the world" and that the international community needs to intervene to end the high civilian death toll in Syria's civil war. He said Israel should consider action if there is no international intervention.

"I wouldn't rule out preparing a plan for Israel to act if the world continues to remain silent and the weapons continue to flow to Hezbollah. These are crazy people, terrorists who will not hesitate to use this tomorrow morning," he said.

This week another former defense chief, Environment Minister Amir Peretz, also called for international action in Syria.

Both sides in Syria's civil war accuse each other of using chemical weapons in the war, which according to the U.N. has killed more than 70,000 people.

30 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Israel-lawmaker-claims-Hezbollah-getting-chemicals.html
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UAE pardons more than 100 Egyptian prisoners

The United Arab Emirates pardoned more than 100 Egyptian prisoners on Monday in a move hailed by the Egyptian ambassador to Abu Dhabi as a gesture that will improve relations between the two countries.

Ties between Egypt and the UAE soured after veteran Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak, a longtime Gulf ally, was toppled in 2011. The UAE has voiced distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood that helped propel Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to power last year.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan also paid the outstanding fines for the 103 inmates, state news agency WAM said, but those freed did not include 11 Egyptians detained last year on suspicion of training Islamists how to overthrow governments.

WAM said the pardon "underlines the president's keenness to offer the released prisoners the opportunity to start a new life and alleviate the suffering of their families."

It gave no further details on who the prisoners were, nor their crimes.

The Egyptian Ambassador in Abu Dhabi, Tamer Mansour, said the decision was "an initiative that is bound to open all paths of good deeds between Egypt and its sister, the UAE."

"It will also remove all the harmful residues that had clung to their historic relations in the previous period," he added in a statement emailed to Reuters.

In January, the Arabic-language al-Khaleej newspaper said 11 Egyptian men were under investigation by state security prosecutors over "serious charges." Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said at the time some of the detainees were its members, adding they had been wrongfully arrested.

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/UAE-pardons-more-than-100-Egyptian-prisoners.html
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Ban makes new plea to Syria to let in chemical arms inquiry

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon urged Syria to stop blocking an international inquiry into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country's conflict. (Reuters)

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon made a new plea to Syria on Monday to stop blocking an international inquiry into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country's conflict.

Ban met the head of the investigation team, Ake Sellstrom, as international suspicions about the use of the weapons grow and on the day designated to remember the victims of chemical weapons attacks.

Ban told reporters he "takes seriously" U.S. reports about the weapons and said "I again urge the Syrian authorities to allow the investigation to proceed without delay and without any conditions."

Sellstrom and an advanced team now in Cyprus can deploy to Syria "within 24 to 48 hours," the U.N. secretary general said.

President Bashar al-Assad's government asked for a U.N. inquiry but has refused to let investigators into the country, demanding that they be limited to its claims that opposition rebels used chemical weapons near Aleppo on March 19.

Britain and France have asked that the inquiry also look at opposition claims that chemical arms also had been used in Homs and near Damascus.

Ban wrote a new letter to President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday seeking access as the United States revealed its suspicions that chemical arms have been used. Diplomats said the Syrian government is barely communicating with U.N. and other international bodies.

The U.N. chief said that while waiting the experts "have been doing what they have to do and what they can to gather and analyze available information." Sellstrom visited London last week.

"This is a crucial moment in our efforts to get the team on the ground to carry out its important task," Ban said.

"I take seriously the recent intelligence report of the United States about the use of chemical weapons in Syria. On-site activities are essential if the United Nations is to be able to establish the facts and clear up all the doubts surrounding this issue.

"A credible and comprehensive inquiry requires full access to the sites where chemical weapons are alleged to have been used," he added.

"I encourage all involved to uphold their responsibilities in enabling us to properly police these heinous weapons of massive destruction."

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Ban-makes-new-plea-to-Syria-to-let-in-chemical-arms-inquiry-.html
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Egyptian opposition leader Moussa says Brotherhood out for revenge

Egyptian opposition leader Amr Moussa says ruling Muslim Brotherhood is trying to exact revenge on the judiciary for years of imprisonment and political exclusion. (Reuters)

Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood is trying to exact revenge on the judiciary for years of imprisonment and political exclusion, but is attacking the wrong target, opposition leader Amr Moussa said on Monday.

The elder statesman told Reuters that Egypt faced an exceptional "to-be-or-not-to-be crisis" worse than after its1967 defeat by Israel, and Islamist President Mohamed Mursi would do better to pursue national unity rather than division.

Mursi appeared to back down when he agreed with senior judges on Sunday to seek a compromise on judicial reform instead of acting on proposals by his Islamist supporters to force more than 3,000 judges into retirement.

Moussa, 76, a former Arab League secretary-general and Egyptian foreign minister, said the assault on judicial independence should never have happened in the first place.

"This is not a concession. This is what should have been done from the start," he said in an interview in his liberal opposition Congress Party's office, saying Mursi's climb down came after strong public disapproval.

Asked what had prompted the campaign against the judiciary, Moussa said: "I believe it is a strange feeling of revenge, of punishment. Some say that the judges were responsible for it (their imprisonment). In fact this was not true. They got a lot of rulings from the judges that they were innocent."

The Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed for much of its nearly 80-year existence, and its members were repeatedly imprisoned, tortured and barred from most political activity under former President Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown in a 2011 uprising.

Paranoia

Moussa said the Brotherhood was wrong to brand him a "remnant" of the old regime, simply because he had served Mubarak for a decade as foreign minister. That argument had not prevented many Egyptians from voting for him in last year's presidential election, when he came fifth.

"Egypt is not divided between the Muslim Brotherhood and others, or between people of today and people of yesterday. Egypt is for all Egyptians... the previous regime is finished, is gone," he said.

Even though Mubarak was now on trial in a courtroom cage, he said the Brotherhood seemed to fear "that he might come again, the former president. This is paranoia."

Asked whether the former ruler should be pardoned or punished over charges of corruption and killing protesters, he said: "I have faith in the Egyptian judiciary, that things will be put in the right perspective."

Moussa said there were dangerous precedents in Egyptian history of rulers interfering with the judiciary. He was referring to President Gamal Abdel Nasser's 1969 action to sack about 100 judges, which became known as the "judicial massacre."

Mursi's Islamist allies had proposed a law to force judges to retire at 60 instead of 70 that would have purged nearly one-third of the 13,000 judges and prosecutors at a stroke, and replace them with new appointees.

These newcomers would be an unknown quantity, Moussa suggested. "Are they going to be judges in the right sense of the word or just political agents?" he asked.

Moussa said a growing number of Egyptians were so discontented with the political and economic situation that they were beginning to call for a return to military rule. This was a failure of both the government and the opposition, he said.

"That shows the effects of the wrong policies, the ill-considered policies that have been formed by the Brotherhood. It brought back the desire of the people for the protection of the army against policies that they disagree with," he said.

A member of the National Salvation Front opposition coalition of secular, liberal and leftist parties, Moussa said the army had no desire to get involved in politics but he did not totally rule out military intervention.

The armed forces could feel a responsibility to act "if and when a country gets into major confrontation, total breakdown, something like that. But we are not at this stage," he said.

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Opposition-leader-Moussa-says-Brotherhood-out-for-revenge.html
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Kuwait court cuts opposition tweeter’s jail term

Kuwaiti courts have over the past few months handed down prison sentences to several opposition activists and former MPs for remarks deemed offensive. (AFP)

Kuwait's court of appeals on Monday reduced a two-year jail term handed to an opposition tweeter for insulting the emir to one year, the director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights said.

"The court reduced the sentence on Sager al-Hashash to one year in jail with immediate effect," Mohammad al-Humaidi said on his Twitter account.

The lower court sentenced Hashash to two years in prison on March 7 for insulting the oil-rich Gulf state ruler through remarks on Twitter.

He has been in jail since then and will remain there until the supreme court reviews his case.

Hashash is also on trial in a number of other cases on similar charges and is one of 70 opposition activists and former MPs being tried for storming the parliament building in November 2011.

Kuwaiti courts have over the past few months handed down prison sentences to several opposition activists and former MPs for remarks deemed offensive and insulting to the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Earlier in April, the lower court sentenced opposition leader and former MP Mussallam al-Barrak to five years in jail over remarks he made at a public rally in October deemed offensive to the emir.

The ruling sparked street protests by opposition activists and condemnation by international human rights groups.

Criticizing the emir in Kuwait is considered a state security offense. Those convicted face up to five years in jail.

Dozens of opposition activists gathered in the capital Kuwait City on Sunday night in solidarity with detainees but were prevented by riot police from staging a march.

Kuwait has seen many opposition-led demonstrations in protest against changes to the electoral law, which opposition groups say allowed the government to influence election results and elect a rubber-stamp assembly.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Kuwait-court-cuts-opposition-tweeter-s-jail-term.html
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Iraq parliament chief calls for government to resign

Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi called for the current government to resign. (Reuters)

Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi called on Monday for the cabinet to resign and for early elections to be held, as a seven-day wave of violence killed more than 230 people in Iraq.

The initiative is aimed at "national reconciliation and maintaining the gains of democracy," as well as "sparing the country from the specter of civil war and sectarian strife," Nujaifi's office said in a statement.

Nujaifi, a Sunni and leading member of the secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc which has long been at odds with Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, addressed the proposal to the heads of political parties represented in parliament.

He called for the current government to resign and be replaced by a smaller one made up of independent members who cannot stand in the next elections, for the electoral commission to prepare for early polls and for parliament to then be dissolved.

Nujaifi's proposal came during a wave of violence that began on April 22 when security forces moved against Sunni anti-government protesters near the northern Sunni Arab town of Hawijah, sparking clashes that killed 53 people.

Subsequent unrest has killed dozens more and brought the seven-day death toll to more than 230 on Monday, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict.

So far this month, more than 450 people have been killed and over 1,150 wounded in violence across Iraq, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Iraq-parliament-chief-calls-for-government-to-resign-.html
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Gaza militants fire mortar at southern Israel

Netanyahu had last week vowed Israel would "exact a price" from the Gaza militants who fired missiles from Sinai at the southern resort city of Eilat. (AFP)

Militants in the Gaza Strip on Monday sent a mortar shell crashing into an open area in southern Israel, a day after a rare retaliatory air strike by Israeli forces, the army said.

Over the past two months, Gaza militants have begun firing sporadically across the border, ending a period of complete quiet that followed a full-scale Israeli aerial bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave in mid-November.

"A mortar shell struck an uninhabited area in the Eshkol region near the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip," an army spokeswoman said on Monday.

The incident came 24 hours after Israeli warplanes launched air strikes against the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, targeting weapons depots and a training site for the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the military said.

The strikes, which came in response to rocket fire that hit open fields in southern Israel on Saturday, caused no casualties.

The Israeli authorities on Sunday also closed the Kerem Shalom goods crossing until further notice after Saturday's rocket attack, the defense ministry said, and restricted movement of people across the separate Erez crossing to "humanitarian cases".

Israel also cancelled visits that Gaza-based Palestinians were to make Monday to see family members held in Israeli jails, the Red Cross said.

"The Israeli authorities told us yesterday that the planned visits of Palestinians from Gaza today were cancelled," ICRC spokeswoman Noora Kero told AFP.

"This affects 87 people who were supposed to travel to Israel."

A spokesman for the Israeli defense ministry said the visits were only cancelled because of the restrictions on the Erez crossing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting that Israel would retaliate with great force against any rocket or missile fire.

"I want to make it clear that we will respond in a very offensive way against any rockets or missiles. We will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of Israelis... on all fronts," he said.

Israel had not carried out air raids on Gaza since early April, when it launched the first strikes since a truce brokered by Egypt in November ended a deadly eight-day conflict between the Jewish state and members of Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the territory.

Netanyahu had last week vowed Israel would "exact a price" from the Gaza militants who fired missiles from Sinai at the southern resort city of Eilat on April 17.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Gaza-militants-fire-mortar-at-southern-Israel.html
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Gunmen keep Libyan foreign ministry under siege

A group of armed block the entrance of the foreign ministry as they demand it be "cleansed of agents" and ambassadors of ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi on April 28, 2013 in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (AFP)

Dozens of gunmen kept Libya's foreign ministry under siege for a second straight day on Monday demanding it sack officials from the previous regime of Moamer Qaddafi, an AFP correspondent said.

Around 30 vehicles, some mounted with anti-aircraft guns, and armed men have encircled the ministry since Sunday.

On Monday, placards calling for the adoption of a law aimed at political expulsions of Qaddafi-era officials hung on the gate of the ministry building.

"The ministry is closed," Aymen Mohamed Aboudeina, part of a group of protesters, told AFP, adding that "talks will be initiated in the coming hours with the concerned ministries".

He said the "siege" will be lifted when the protesters' demands are met through a vote in the General National Congress -- the highest political authority in Libya -- on a bill calling for the expulsion of former regime employees.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan denounced the encircling of the foreign ministry and other attacks targeting the interior ministry and the national television in Tripoli.

He appealed to the people to support the government in resisting armed groups "who want to destabilize the country and terrorize foreigners and embassies," but added that the government would "not come into confrontation with anyone".

The Congress is studying proposals for a law to exclude former Qaddafi regime officials from top government and political posts.

The proposed law could affect several senior figures in the government and has caused waves in the country's political class.

In March, demonstrators encircled the assembly itself, trapping members in the building for several hours as they called for the adoption of the law.

After the siege was lifted, gunmen targeted Congress chief Mohammed Megaryef's motorcade without causing any casualties.

Libya's government is struggling to assert its influence across the country, where former rebels who fought Qaddafi in the 2011 uprising still control large amounts of territory.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Gunmen-keep-Libyan-foreign-ministry-under-siege.html
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Iraq car bombs kill at least nine people

Iraqis inspect the site of a car bomb explosion in Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad, on April 29, 2013. (AFP)

Three car bombs exploded south of Baghdad on Monday, killing nine people and wounding 70 others, police said, the latest attacks in a seven-day wave of violence that has left more than 230 people dead across Iraq.

In the deadliest attack on Monday, two car bombs exploded in Amara in south Iraq, killing seven people and wounding 45, a senior police officer and a doctor said.

A third car bomb exploded in Diwaniyah, also south of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 25, police Brigadier General Abduljalil al-Assadi and a doctor said.

A wave of violence began on Tuesday when security forces moved against Sunni anti-government protesters near the northern Sunni Arab town of Hawijah, sparking clashes that killed 53 people.

Subsequent unrest, much of it apparently linked to the Hawijah clashes, killed dozens more and brought the seven-day death toll to more than 230 on Monday.

The violence was the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of Shiite-majority Iraq more than four months ago.

The Sunni protesters have called for Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's resignation and railed against authorities for allegedly targeting their community with wrongful detentions and accusations of involvement in terrorism.

More than 440 people have been killed and over 1,150 wounded in violence across Iraq so far this month, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Iraq-car-bombs-kill-at-least-nine-people-.html
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UK to set up Arab Spring asset recovery team, says foreign office official

British foreign office Alistair Burt told the Deutsch Press Agency (DPA) a specialized UK-based team will be set up for asset recovery

Britain is committed to help the return of stolen assets belonging to Arab Spring countries, a foreign office official said this week.

A specialized UK-based team will be set up for asset recovery, minister of Middle East affairs at the British foreign office Alistair Burt told the Deutsch Press Agency (DPA).

"The UK itself remains fully committed to helping return stolen assets to the people of the Arab Spring countries, and we have created an operational task force dedicated to this end.

"It includes investigators working full time on asset recovery cases, plus lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service, and officials from HM Treasury who lead on asset freezing," said Burt.

The ex-leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, toppled during Arab Spring revolts, had been in power for years when the protests began. They had accumulated fortunes, which they often stashed in foreign accounts in the United States, Switzerland or in the United Kingdom.

"Tackling illicit financial flows through increased transparency of our financial systems is a key priority of our Presidency of the G8," said Burt.

"Improved transparency will also help us trace stolen assets in cases where they have already been laundered and where the origin of the assets have been disguised. We believe it is vital that there is an effective international response to stolen assets," he added.

Last month it was revealed that the family of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak still owns assets on British territory, Egypt's largest investment bank disclosed.

Mubarak's son Gamal has a 17.5 percent stake in a fund registered in the British Virgin Islands, the fund's co-owners EFG Hermes said.

It has been 20 months since the territory's authorities issued an order for the freezing of Gamal's assets.

He has received around $880,000 annually from the fund since it was incorporated in July 2002, though it currently does not contain any "meaningful" assets, said EFG-Hermes.

Six months ago, a BBC investigation revealed that members of the former regime had millions of unfrozen assets in mainland Britain.

Meanwhile, Burt said the Deauville Partnership aims to keep the spotlight on the political and economic changes underway in countries of the Middle East & North Africa.

"It is not for us to dictate solutions. But the Partnership will work with the six Arab countries in reform: Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen," but added.

The Deauville Transition Fund has been funded by key "donors" including Gulf states and Turkey.

"The Gulf partners – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE - and Turkey have made pledges to the fund totaling $50 million," Burt said.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/29/UK-to-set-up-Arab-Spring-asset-recovery-team-says-foreign-office-official.html
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Syrian prime minister ‘survives’ Damascus bomb attack

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi presides over a Syrian cabinet meeting in Damasus, capital of the country. (Courtesy: Xinhua)

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survived a bomb attack that targeted his convoy in central Damascus on Monday, according to a television channel run by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is close to President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's state television had earlier reported that a "terrorist explosion" in the capital's Mezze district had caused casualties.

In August 2012, Halqi, a former health minister, was appointed to replace Riad Hijab, whose defection to the opposition was announced earlier.

Halqi, born in 1964, is from the southern province of Deraa where the uprising against Assad erupted. He replaced caretaker premier Omar Ghalawanji who was appointed hours after Hijab's defection.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Syrian-prime-minister-survives-Damascus-bomb-attack.html
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Iranian nuclear threat is ‘exaggerated,’ says Israel’s Olmert

Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert makes a statement following a meeting of Israel's security cabinet in Tel Aviv. (Reuters)

Israel's former Prime minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that Iran's nuclear program threat is "exaggerated" since it has not shown progress in the past years, Ynet quoted Olmert as saying.

Speaking at the annual Jerusalem Post conference in New York, Olmert said "Iran has yet to cross the 'red line'" defined earlier by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when speaking at the U.N..

Olmert said the extent through which Iran nuclear program can present a threat has been "exaggerated," Ynet reported.

The former prime minister recalled that when the Israeli Cabinet was told by analysts that "in the year 2008, and at the latest 2009, the Iranians will have a nuclear capacity, we took it very seriously. Now, we are in the middle of 2013 – and they still don't have it."

However, Olmert added that Iranians should truly consider "the U.S.'s statement that it would do all in its power to ensure Iran did not reach nuclear capabilities," the website said.

Meanwhile, Olmert also said he expects that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "might suffer a fall," adding that "it was a matter of time before he would be toppled," Ynet said.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Iranian-nuclear-threat-is-exaggerated-says-Israel-s-Olmert-.html
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Violence restricts Pakistan’s election campaign

A Pakistani boy walks past election posters in Quetta on April 28, 2013 after two Taliban bomb attacks targeted the offices of election candidates in Pakistan. (AFP)

Attacks by the Pakistani Taliban are forcing the main party in the country's restive northwest, an important battleground in the upcoming general election, to campaign in the shadows.

The Awami National Party (ANP) ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for the past five years, but it is now bearing the brunt of a wave of Taliban violence as the country heads towards the May 11 general election.

The umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction has vowed to target the country's three main secular parties which formed the outgoing national government -- the ANP, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan People's Party of President Asif Ali Zardari.

More than 50 people have been killed in shootings and bombings on political targets since April 11, according to an AFP tally, and around half of the deaths have come in attacks targeting the ANP.

Ghulam Bilour, a leading figure in the ANP, narrowly escaped with his life on April 16 when a suicide bomber targeted his car in Peshawar, the main city of the northwest, killing 16 people.

Since the TTP assassinated his younger brother Bashir, the number two in the provincial government, in December, Ghulam has carried the fight and is determined to carry on.

"Every day I think I might not make it home at night. But I am a Pashtun: I'll face death and won't surrender," he told AFP.

But in the face of Taliban threats, the ANP has abandoned large meetings and only meets activists and supporters in small secure places.

Haroon Bilour, Bashir's son and a candidate for the provincial assembly, says the threats have hampered the party's ability to campaign.

"Our hands and feet are tied and we are supposed to run a marathon," he said.

His rivals from the conservative right -- religious parties and ex-cricketer Imran Khan's PTI party -- already boosted by a desire for change among voters, have had no problem organizing large meetings.

Haroon complained that his rivals "are not even condemning Taliban attacks against us".

The TTP is opposed to secular democracy in principle, viewing it as incompatible with Islamic belief, and their dislike of the secular PPP, ANP and MQM was intensified by the federal government's backing of military operations against militants in the northwest.

Even in its traditional stronghold Peshawar, the ANP has suffered the pains of incumbency: judged to be incapable of stopping Taliban violence and held responsible for the rampant inflation and crippling power shortages that make ordinary voters' lives a misery.

Its strong stance against the TTP and association with military offensives have also led to the ANP being accused of being too "pro-American" -- electoral poison in a country where anti-US feeling runs high.

The party has a fight on its hands, but the threat of violence has forced Haroon to order his activists to mount a low-key campaign.

"Go door-to-door in small groups. And go at night. And focus on evening, late night because people are home. Ask them if there is any complaint, and if so I'll go and meet them personally!" he told them at a meeting in the gardens of the Bilours' luxurious -- and heavily guarded -- Peshawar mansion.

He has learned from his father Bashir, who he says never missed a single reception in Peshawar, sometimes going to 12 weddings in a single day.

"Being present, coming to receptions and weddings, is very important for people and voters. Bilour supporters know that if there is a problem, Bilours are there," a local journalist explained.

His colleague Mian Iftikhar Hussein, another ANP leader, has also been reduced to pacing like a caged lion in the party headquarters in Peshawar, because the threats have stopped him campaigning for reelection even in his home town of Pabbi.

Hussein's rival in Pabbi, Khaliq ur-Rehman of the PTI, is doing well with a plan promising to eradicate hepatitis C and his calls for dialogue with the Taliban. The attacks on the ANP do not move him.

"Deaths threats are the consequences of what they did and said since five years. They should have been more careful. They promised to bring peace, but it's not our war," he said, echoing a common complaint that Pakistan has become embroiled in an American fight against Islamist militants.

But where Hussein and most of the rest of the ANP candidate are fighting the election with one hand tied behind their backs, the Bilours at least have the local strength of the family name to fall back on.

Ghulam faces Imran Khan, the rising star of Pakistani politics, as he seeks re-election and the old campaigner has form for seeing off celebrity candidates -- in 1990 he beat the PPP icon and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
 

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Violence-restricts-Pakistan-s-election-campaign-.html
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Report: CIA pumps ‘ghost money’ to Afghan president’s office

CIA pumps "Ghost money" to Afghanistan president's office. (AFP)

For more than a decade, suitcases, plastic bags, and backpacks filled with tens of millions of U.S. dollars were delivered monthly to the office of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai as a "courtesy" from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), The New York Times reported, citing current and former Afghan advisers on Monday.

Karazi's former chief of staff, who served between 2002 until 2005, Khalil Roman told NYT that the money which they called "ghost money" came in "as secret, and it left in secret."

Although the "ghost money" was snuck to buy influence for the CIA, a U.S. official told NYT that instead the money fuelled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington's exit strategy from Afghanistan.

"The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan", one American official said, "was the United States."

When asked for a statement by the U.S. newspaper, the CIA declined to make any comment over this matter. According to the newspaper, the CIA is known to support some of Karzai's relatives.

For more than a decade the cash was dropped off every month or so at the Afghan president's office, the newspaper said.

Handing out cash has been standard procedure for the CIA in Afghanistan since the start of the war.

The cash payments to the president's office do not appear to be subject to oversight and restrictions placed on official American aid to the country or the CIA's formal assistance programs, like financing Afghan intelligence agencies, and do not appear to violate U.S. laws, said the New York Times.

There was no evidence that Karzai personally received any of the money, Afghan officials told the newspaper. The cash was handled by his National Security Council, it added.

U.S. and Afghan officials familiar with the payments were quoted as saying that the main goal in providing the cash was to maintain access to Karzai and his inner circle and to guarantee the CIA's influence at the presidential palace, which wields tremendous power in Afghanistan's highly centralized government.

Much of the money went to warlords and politicians, many with ties to the drug trade and in some cases the Taliban, the New York Times said. U.S. and Afghan officials were quoted assaying the CIA supported the same patronage networks that U.S. diplomats and law enforcement agents struggled to dismantle, leaving the government in the grip of organized crime.

In 2010, Karzai said his office received cash in bags from Iran, but that it was a transparent form of aid that helped cover expenses at the presidential palace. He said at the time that the United States made similar payments.

The latest New York Times report said much of the Iranian cash, like the CIA money, went to pay war lords and politicians.

For most of Karzai's 11-year reign, there has been little interest in anti-corruption in the army or police. The country's two most powerful institutions receive billions of dollars from donors annually, according to Reuters, but struggle just to recruit and maintain a force bled by high rates of desertion.

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/04/29/CIA-pumps-Ghost-money-to-Afghanistan-president-s-office-.html
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Fighting reported near suspected chemical arms site in Syria

Fighting erupted in Damascus on Sunday near a complex linked to Syria's chemical weapons program, on the third day of an offensive by President Basharal-Assad's forces aimed at driving rebels from main sectors of the capital, activists said.

The fighting occurred near the Scientific Studies and Research Center on the foothills of Qasioun Mountain in the northern Barzeh district, opposition sources said from Damascus.

Barzeh is one of several working class neighborhoods that have turned into footholds for opposition brigades, who have infiltrated Damascus from swathes of farmland dotted with built-up areas on the outskirts of Damascus known as al-Ghouta.

The rebels lack the firepower to breach the heavily fortified Research Center complex and the compound is being used to shell Barzeh, the sources said.

The U.S. administration said last week that Assad's forces had probably used chemical arms in the conflict and congressional pressure has mounted on the White House to do more to help the rebels.

Republican senators on Sunday pressed President Barack Obamato intervene, saying America could attack Syrian air bases with missiles but should not send in ground troops.

Neutralizing Assad's air advantage over the rebels "could turn the tide of battle pretty quickly," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told a CBS news program.

In Barzeh at least nine people were killed and 70 were wounded in the last three days, mostly from army shelling. The district is home to a military hospital, hit by rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds on Sunday, and an electronic eavesdropping facility, as well as a military police compound and another army unit, the sources said.

Air raid

Syrian warplanes bombed on Sunday the adjacent district of Qaboun, through which Barzeh is being supplied from the Ghouta. There were no immediate reports of casualties, according to activists in the neighborhood.

The Syrian official state news agency said "units of the heroic Syrian army have inflicted heavy losses on terrorists" in Barzeh, eastern Damascus and Ghouta.

Speaking form Barzeh, opposition activist Abu Ammar said there search center was the only military facility in Barzeh that the rebels have not managed to hit. He added that a chemical weapons storage facility is located near the center.

"It is very heavily fortified and there are heavy calibrate-aircraft guns deployed in the complex and in large tracts of land that are part of it," he said.

He said opposition fighters in Barzeh repulsed an attack on their strongholds in the district from the adjacent Ushal-Warwar area, part of several hilltop enclaves inhabited by Assad's minority Alawite sect.

"Barzeh has been besieged for the last fifty days; with an arrow supply line to Ghouta through Qaboun," Abu Ammar said.

"Fighting has intensified in the last three days and the regime sent down his militia today from Ush al-Warwar but the fighters forced them to turn back," he added.

Activists reported fighting in the nearby district of Jobarto the south, where an air strike near a mosque set off a huge plume of white smoke, according to video footage taken by the opposition, as fighting continued across the Ghouta.

The army seized the town of Otaiba, near the Damascus International Airport, in Ghouta last week, cutting a weapons supply route into the eastern fringes of Damascus that rebels had used for eight months.

Syria's uprising is the bloodiest and longest of Arab revolts that erupted more than two years ago.

It began with peaceful protests against Assad that were met with force, sparking armed opposition and eventually civil war pitting Assad's minority Alawite sect against the Sunni Muslim majority.

The army appears to have made gains in the north and center of the country in recent weeks.

29 Apr, 2013


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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/29/Fighting-reported-near-suspected-chemical-arms-site-in-Syria.html
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