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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Closed Zone

Beirut opens embassy in Damascus

Lebanon opens an embassy in Damascus, Syria, for the first time Sunday. Syria dominated Lebanese politics for 30 years until the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces.Lebanon will open an embassy in Damascus for the first time Sunday under a 2008 agreement which followed years of international pressure on Syria to treat its smaller neighbour as a fully sovereign country. "The embassy will open from Sunday. We have appointed the acting charge d'affaires until the ambassador arrives in the first half of April," Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh told Reuters on Friday. Syria has in the past resisted establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon, saying the two countries had an especially close relationship. For much of history, rulers based in Syria controlled what is now Lebanon. But Syria's critics, including France and the United States, said that, by resisting normal diplomatic relations with Lebanon, Syria was trying to undermine its sovereignty. Syria dominated Lebanese politics for 30 years until the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, which led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree in October to open diplomatic relations with Lebanon after a Lebanese political crisis ended in May and relations improved between Syria and the new Lebanese government. In December a Syrian flag was raised over the building that houses the Syrian embassy in Beirut. Three Syrian diplomats are posted there, but Damascus has yet to name an ambassador.

Embattled president defiant, ready for referendum

A day after opposition chief Andry Rajoelina called on him to “humbly resign,” Madagascar’s President Marc Ravalomanana said he would not quit and was ready to face a “referendum if necessary”.Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana said Sunday he is ready to hold a referendum to settle a months-long deadly stand-off with a rival leader on the Indian Ocean island. "I remain in power. I have no fear of a referendum if necessary," he told 5,000 of his supporters gathered outside the presidential palace moments after telling reporters he would "never" bow to calls to quit office. Ravalomanana was accompanied by a plain-clothes armed guard -- while his rival Andry Rajoelina, guarded by troops, led prayers at a separate religious service in the centre of Antananarivo attended by 3,000 of his backers.Madagascar's opposition claimed to have toppled the government and taken control of the army Saturday, calling on Ravalomanana to "humbly leave power in the next four hours" as his side promised fresh elections.

NASA Hopeful Repairs Will Permit Sunday Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA is unsure what caused the hydrogen gas leak that prevented space shuttle Discovery from flying, but nonetheless will attempt another launch Sunday. Shuttle managers are hopeful that repairs at the launch pad have solved the problem. There's "a potential risk" that the leak will recur, said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team. That would mean yet another delay for theinternational space station construction mission, which already is running more than a month late. "We did everything we could, which is to replace all the hardware," Moses told reporters Saturday. "Yeah, we'd like to have that root cause, because now you'd feel comfortable. But I'm still going to sleep just as good tonight knowing that our chances tomorrow are really good that we did lick this problem." NASA has until Tuesday to launch Discovery before having to wait for a Russian Soyuz rocket that is set to blast off to the space station March 26. The latest delay occurred Wednesday, just hours before liftoff, as NASA was almost finished loading Discovery's external fuel tank. Hydrogen gas began leaking where a vent line hooks up to the tank.

Round one to Sharif, By Imran Khan in Lahore

They say that a week is a long time in politics. Well, in Pakistan it would seem five hours is a long time. At 11am local time, the lawyers' movement was floundering. In a crackdown on key players, the government had placed men like Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and leader of the biggest opposition party, under house arrest, said one spokesman. Then the rumours started. I first heard it from Ahzar. Bedecked in his party colours and with a Sharif flag in one hand, he told me "Mian Sharif is coming ... you wait". I asked him what he meant.  "We will go to the Lahore high court. Mian is in his car and there is not a policeman in Lahore who would dare stop him," he said. I looked at him and cast a glance at the massed police. In dark blue body armour and armed with guns, batons and tear gas canisters, they made a fearsome sight.
'Riot of song'
If there was to be a clash, Azhar would certainly come off worst.Then in a dramatic turn of events, the gates to Sharif's house were thrown open and lorries laden with his supporters crept out into the street, as a heavily armoured jeep carrying Nawaz Sharif came into view.The police braced themselves.For a moment the situation was tense.Then something extraordinary happened.The police moved out of the way. Sharif was free to drive to the high court. He says what he saw was incredible: "The police just left their posts."As the news of Sharif's escape from supposed house arrest broke, thousands (at least according to his party) came out onto the streets.At the high court, where hours earlier there were violent clashes between police and protesters, the scene was now a riot of colour and song. Every inch of the roads outside the high court had been transformed into a carnival.Flags of every political hue, except the government's, were being waved as the Sharif convoy inched its way across the city.
Gathering support
 Sharif was due to give a speech addressing the crowd, but perhaps buoyed by his supporters, he decided to mount what effectively turned into a victory rally around the streets of Lahore. At the time of this writing, Sharif was on the road to Islamabad for what is normally a journey of four to five hours. But Sharif will stop at every town and village on the way to gather support. It will likely take him upwards of 12 hours. His supporters say that they have overcome. "Ding ding, round one Sharif" as one person put it. Round two will take place outside of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, when, and indeed if, the long marchers get there.

Four foreign tourists killed in blast

Four tourists believed to be South Korean and a Yemeni man were killed in an explosion at a tourist site in Yemen. The origin of the blast remains unclear, although it is believed to have been caused by a suicide bombing.Four foreign tourists thought to be South Korean were killed by an explosion in the town of Shibam in southeast Yemen on Sunday, local authorities in Hadramawt province said. "Preliminary information indicates there may have been a suicide attack, but this has not yet been confirmed," said one official. Shibam is a UNESCO world heritage site and dubbed the "Manhattan of the Desert" because of its high-rise mud-brick buildings. In January 2008 two Belgian tourists were shot dead along with their local guide and driver in Hadramawt, in the east of the Arabian Peninsula country.  A car bomb attack in Marib, east of Sanaa, in July 2007 killed eight Spanish holidaymakers and two Yemeni drivers. That attack took place at the entrance to Mahram Bilqis, an ancient oval-shaped temple which legend says belonged to the Biblical Queen of Sheba. Few tourists visit Yemen, which also has a history of abductions of Westerners by powerful tribes who then use them as bargaining chips with the authorities. Those kidnapped are generally freed unharmed.

Taliban threaten to kill aid workers as spies

KABUL, Afghanistan A top Taliban commander has issued a new threat to foreign aid workers, saying that under the insurgent group's new "constitution" they will execute them as spies or hold them in exchange for the release of Taliban fighters. Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said the Taliban intelligence wing was actively gathering information on foreign aid workers. "If we get someone, that is how we will deal with it under our new constitution," he said. He added that he was telling "Afghan brothers not to work with NGOs." In the 15-minute interview,Hanafi repeated the Taliban's pledge to keep girls out of public schools. "Our law is still the same old law which was in place during our rule in Afghanistan," he said. "Mullah Mohammad Omar was our leader and he is still our head and leader and so we will follow the same law as before."

Sharif defies ‘illegal’ house arrest

Defying his house arrest, Pakistan’s opposition leader Nawaz Sharif emerged Sunday to denounce the government for turning the country into a “police state” as protestors clashed with security forces.Pakistani protesters clashed with police on Sunday as former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said the government had turned the country into a police state.  Sharif has thrown his support behind a protest campaign by anti-government lawyers that threatens to bring turmoil to Pakistan as the government struggles to stem militancy and to revive a flagging economy.  Several hundred protesters, many of them members of the Jamaat-e-Islami religious opposition party, threw stones at police outside the High Court in the city of Lahore, where Sharif had been due to address a rally. Police responded with tear gas and lashed out with batons. Sharif said the protests against the government would go on. "You have seen that the entire country has been turned into a police state. They have blocked all roads, they have used all sorts of unlawful tactics," Sharif told a throng of reporters gathered at the front step of his Lahore home. "We will continue marching towards our destination. Sons and daughters, the time has come to take to the streets." If the political crisis gets out of hand, the army could feel compelled to intervene, though most analysts say a military takeover is highly unlikely. The United States is deeply worried that the crisis is a distraction to Pakistan's efforts to eliminate Taliban and al Qaeda enclaves on the Afghan border, vital to U.S. plans to stabilise Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda. Earlier, Sharif's party said he had been ordered detained at his home for three days. Police officer Babur Awan also said a detention order had been issued. Police in riot gear virtually sealed off Sharif's house with road blocks on all approaches, but government officials denied he had been placed under house arrest. "I categorically confirm no restraining orders, no arrest warrant, no house arrest," Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told. Another government official said Sharif had been placed under "protective security" for three days after he had refused options for addressing his supporters under government protection. Malik said earlier security agencies had information "enemies of Pakistan" would launch suicide bomb attacks on the protest. But Sharif said the government was acting illegally in order to stop the protest campaign. He later drove off in his bullet-proof vehicle to address protesters.