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Sunday, October 30, 2011

The G show (Day 4) Party Day


Saturday, October 29, 2011

RA one Mistake


Syrian security forces kill 30 protestors


The popular revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad s regime has proved remarkably resilient, with protests erupting every week despite the near-certainty the government will respond with bullets and tear gas. The U.N. estimates the regime crackdown on the protests has killed 3,000 people since March. Much of the bloodshed Friday happened after the protests had ended and security forces armed with machine guns chased protesters and activists, according to opposition groups monitoring the demonstrations. Authorities disrupted telephone and Internet service, they said. The Syrian opposition s two main activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordinating Committees, gave figures for the protesters killed on Friday ranging from 29 to 37. The flashpoints were Homs and Hama in central Syria, where opposition to the regime is strong. Hama is the site of a massacre nearly 30 years ago which has come to symbolize the ruthlessness of the Assad dynasty. Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the observatory, said security forces in Homs were firing machine guns as they conducted raids in search of protesters and activists. In Hama, there were heavy clashes between the army and gunmen believed to be army defectors. Syria has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground. Key sources of information are amateur videos posted online, witness accounts and details gathered by activist groups. Communications were spotty Friday in the Damascus suburb of Douma and in Homs. The move appeared to be an attempt to cut off the opposition s ability to organize and report on the protests."There was a very fierce reaction to the protests in Homs today," said Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso. Syrian forces opened fire as some 2,000 people gathered for protests, he said. "There are many injured as well. Hospitals are having a hard time coping with the casualties," Osso told The Associated Press. Majd Amer, an activist in Homs said sporadic gunfire could be heard as protesters poured out of mosques following Friday prayers. It is difficult to gauge the strength of the revolt in Syria, a country of 22 million people. The crackdown does not appear to have significantly reduced the number of protests, but neither does the regime appear to be in any imminent danger of collapse. The regime appears to lack sufficient numbers of loyal troops to garrison all the centers of unrest at the same time, so government forces will often sweep through an area in the wake of protests, breaking up new gatherings and hunting activists, before being deployed elsewhere. The result has been a monthslong stalemate. Still, the capture and subsequent death of Libya s Moammar Gadhafi, under still-unclear circumstances, has energized the opposition. Last week, thousands of Syrians took to the streets shouting that Assad will be next. The protests come amid efforts by the Arab League to end the bloodshed, and debates within the opposition on how to bring international pressure to bear on the regime. On Friday, many protesters said they wanted a no-fly zone established over Syria to protect civilians in case the Syrian regime considers attacking protesters from the sky, the activist groups said. The protesters also called for international monitors, although most opposition groups reject the idea of foreign military intervention. The Syrian government insists the unrest is being driven by terrorists and foreign extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Wall Street protesters hold vigils for injured vet


He was injured in a clash with police in California as some occupy encampments came under growing pressure from authorities to abandon sites in parks and plazas. A crowd of at least 1,000 people, many holding candles, gathered Thursday night in Oakland in honor of 24-year-old Scott Olsen, who is hospitalized with a fractured skull. In Nashville, police cracked down overnight on an Occupy protest camp near the Capitol under a new policy setting a curfew for the complex. They moved in a little after 3 a.m. and arrested about 30; they later were released. About 20 protesters who stayed on a nearby sidewalk were not arrested and were still there later in the morning as state troopers stood guard at the steps to the Capitol. In Britain, meanwhile, church and local government officials in London said Friday they would go to court to evict anti-capitalist protesters camped outside St. Paul s Cathedral, as the iconic church reopened after a weeklong closure Protesters also held a vigil for Olsen in Las Vegas, which drew a handful of police officers. Afterward, protesters invited them back for a potluck dinner. "We renewed our vow of nonviolence," organizer Sebring Frehner said. The Marine veteran, who won medals in Iraq, has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators across the nation, with Twitter users and protest websites declaring, "We are all Scott Olsen." Joshua Shepherd, 27, a Navy veteran who was standing nearby when Olsen got struck, called it a cruel irony that Olsen is fighting an injury in the country that he fought to protect. Despite the financial underpinnings of the protests, Olsen himself wasn t taking part out of economic need. His friends say he makes a good living as a network engineer and has a nice apartment overlooking San Francisco Bay. Still, he felt so strongly about economic inequality in the United States that he fought for overseas that he slept at a protest camp after work. "He felt you shouldn t wait until something is affecting you to get out and do something about it," said friend and roommate Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq. It was that feeling that drew him to Oakland on Tuesday night, when the clashes broke out and Olsen s skull was fractured. Fellow veterans said Olsen was struck in the head by a projectile fired by police, although the exact object and who might have been responsible for the injury have not been definitively established. Officials are investigating exactly where the projectile came from. Even as the vigil was held in Oakland, protest organizers prepared to defy Oakland s prohibition on overnight camping at a plaza near City Hall. Shake Anderson, an organizer with Occupy Oakland, said half a dozen tents were erected on the plaza Thursday evening where police armed with tear gas and bean bag rounds disbanded a 15-day-old encampment Tuesday. More tents, food and supplies arrived during the meeting and vigil for Scott Olsen, with about 25 tents erected late Thursday. "We believe in what we re doing," Anderson said. "No one is afraid. If anything, we re going to show there s strength in numbers." Few police were seen in the area during late Thursday night, though Oakland Mayor Jean Quan issued a statement asking protesters not to camp at the plaza. Elsewhere across the United States, protesters brushed off pressure from authorities and maintained the camps that have sprung up in opposition to growing economic inequality. Protesters at San Francisco s Justin Herman Plaza braced for a police raid early Thursday that never came. Still, police have warned the protesters that they could be arrested on a variety of sanitation or illegal camping violations. Officials told protesters in Providence, Rhode Island, that they were violating multiple city laws by camping overnight at a park. Anti-Wall Street protesters camped out in downtown Los Angeles said they re planning to continue their demonstration indefinitely, although both they and the mayor s office were eyeing alternate sites. Meanwhile, Olsen has been improving. Doctors transferred him from the emergency room to an intensive care unit and upgrading his condition to fair. Dr. Alden Harken, chief surgeon at Alameda County Medical Center, said Olsen was still unable to speak but had improved dramatically since he was hospitalized unconscious with a fractured skull and bruised brain that caused seizures. By Thursday afternoon, Harken said, Olsen was interacting with his parents, who flew in from Wisconsin in the morning, doing math equations and otherwise showing signs of "high-level cognitive functioning." The doctor said he may require surgery, but that s unlikely. "He s got a relatively small area of injury and he s got his youth going for him. So both of those are very favorable," Harken said. Dearen reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee, Garance Burke in San Francisco, Julie Watson in San Diego, Lucas L. Johnson II in Nasvhille, Tennessee, and Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Syrians stage another pro-regime rally


The demonstration in the coastal city of Latakia came one day after a similar pro-regime rally in the capital, Damascus, as authorities try to galvanize supporters in the face of a seven-month West-sponsored uprising against Assad. The regime is strong as well and in no imminent danger of collapse, setting the stage for what could be a drawn-out stalemate. Assad s main bases of support include Syrians who have benefited financially from the regime, minority groups who feel they will be targeted if the Sunni majority takes over, and others who see no clear and safe alternative to Assad. For the most part, the military, a key factor, has remained loyal to Assad. The Syrian government insists the unrest is being driven by terrorists and foreign extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Taliban vow to punish those attending Afghan Jirga


The possibility of long-term US military bases in Afghanistan will be discussed in the meeting, the group warned in a statement on Wednesday. The unusually specific threat, in an English-language message from spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, said participants will be pursued "all over the country and will face severe repercussions".  It called on Taliban supporters "to target every security guard, person with intention, participant and every caller of this convention."  The four-day gathering, known in Afghanistan as a  Loya Jirga , will be held in the capital Kabul in late November, where it will bring together more than 2,000 politicians, tribal elders, community leaders, businessmen and civil society representatives from across the country. The assembly will be a consultative process, and its decisions are not legally binding on the government. Earlier this month, Taliban vowed to fight until all foreign forces have left Afghanistan.  President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers have agreed that all foreign combat troops would return home by the end of 2014, but the West has promised continued support beyond then in the form of funds and training for Afghan security forces. Despite the presence of tens of thousands of Western soldiers in Afghanistan, the United Nations and other groups say violence is at its worst since U.S.-led Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in late 2001. NATO-led forces say they have seen a decline over recent months in attacks launched by insurgents against their troops. Safia Sediqi, a spokeswoman for the grand assembly, said she was unaware of the threat. "I have not read the statement yet and it s early to comment about it," she said.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan laid to rest


Sultan's body, swathed in a brown cloth, was carried through the throng of mourners on a bier amid the flashes of cameras in the sprawling Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh for funeral prayers before burial. The funeral of Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Sultan set the stage for King Abdullah to name a new heir, widely expected to be veteran Interior Minister Prince Nayef, a move that would emphasise stability in the world s top oil-exporting country. At stake in the transition is the direction of a major U.S. ally with an ageing leadership trying to reconcile its conservative traditions with the needs of a modern economy and a young, increasingly outward-looking population. "In the political system this is an important event, but the system is designed to ensure continuity," said Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economist at National Commercial Bank in Jeddah. "Economic policy is put in place over a much longer period and is not likely to change at all." In his six-year-old reign, King Abdullah has pushed changes aimed at creating jobs by liberalising markets and loosening the grip of religious hardliners over education and social policy. The death of Crown Prince Sultan, who was also defence minister, might also lead to a wider cabinet reshuffle. Saudi Arabia, which dominates world oil markets and holds profound influence over Muslims through its guardianship of Islam s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, faces turbulence in its neighbours and a confrontation with regional rival Iran.

Turkish quake survivors camp out, death toll 279


Tens of thousands of people spent a second night under canvas, in cars or huddled round small fires in towns rattled by aftershocks from a massive earthquake in eastern Turkey that killed hundreds. Early on Tuesday (October 25) the death toll from Sunday s quake stood at 279 and hundreds more were still missing. Quake survivors struggled to free relatives known to be trapped. "It was very cold inside the tents and despite all that, I pulled out one of my brothers and one of my nieces from under rubble," said one man, standing outside rows of tents bearing the Turkish Red Crescent symbol at an encampment in the town of Ercis. Casualties were concentrated, so far, in Ercis and the provincial capital Van, with officials still checking outlying areas. Seven people were rescued overnight, broadcaster CNN Turk reported. As grieving families prepared on Tuesday to bury their dead, others kept vigil by the mounds of concrete rubble and masonry, praying rescue teams would find missing loved ones alive. The Disaster and Emergency Administration said 1,301 people had been injured and 2,262 buildings had collapsed. Rescue teams concentrated efforts in Ercis, a town of 100,000 that was worst hit by the 7.2 magnitude tremor. The Turkish Red Crescent distributed up to 13,000 tents, and was preparing to provide temporary shelter for about 40,000 people, although there were no reliable estimates of the number of people left destitute. The relief agency was criticised for failing to ensure that some of the most needy, particularly in villages, received tents as temperatures plummeted overnight. Other survivors lamented the lack of facilities in the emergency encampments. "We spent the night under freezing temperature. We shivered all night long, nobody provided us any blankets or heaters, we don t even have a toilet. People are getting sick. It is very dirty here," said a women who spent the night in a tent in Ercis. Whatever the shortcomings of the relief operation, the disaster posed little risk to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who secured a third consecutive term with a strong majority at a national election in June. The trauma of the quake is one more problem to bear for Kurds, the dominant ethnic group in southeast Turkey, where more than 40,000 people have been killed in a three-decade-long separatist insurgency. The centre of Van, a city of 1 million people, resembled a ghost town with no lights in the streets or buildings. Hardly any people could be seen. The sense of dislocation was greater in Ercis. With no homes to return to, thousands of people, mostly men, paced the streets, stopping to look at the destruction or whenever there was some commotion at a rescue operation site.

Gaddafi buried in unknown place in desert

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was buried early Tuesday morning in a secret location in desert, Al-Jazeera television reported, quoting officials of the ruling Libyan National Transitional Council. Muammar Gaddafi's body has been buried in secret after being displayed in public, in an ignominious end for Libya's longtime ruler.The last top figures of his ousted regime, Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, meanwhile, were poised to cross the border into Niger. A Misrata military council member said Gaddafi was buried on Monday night in a religious ceremony, along with another of his sons, Mutassim and former defence minister Abu Bakr Yunis Jaber. Saif al-Islam was "near the Niger border, he hasn't entered Niger yet but he's close", a local official from the northern Niger Agadez region said.  The bodies had been put on display in a market freezer on the outskirts of Misrata, with thousands of Libyans queuing up since Friday to view and photograph them. According to guards at the entrance to the market, a convoy of four or five military vehicles took the bodies away to an unknown location, being kept secret to avoid the site turning into a rallying point for Gaddafi supporters. Three Muslim religious figures loyal to the ousted dictator prayed and performed a religious ceremony before the burial, according to the military council member. The overnight burials come amid raging controversy over the circumstances of Gaddafi's death after he was taken alive last Thursday during the fall of his hometown Sirte, the last hold out after an eight-month armed revolt.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Turkey quake


Scientists estimated that up to 1,000 people could have been killed. The worst damage was caused to the town of Ercis, in the mountainous eastern province of Van, close to the Iranian border. The city of Van also suffered substantial damage. The powerful quake, the strongest to hit the country in years, and its aftershocks struck Van, a large eastern city populated mainly by Kurds. The worst damage was caused to the town of Ercis in Van, close to the Iranian border. The city of Van also suffered substantial damage. “Around 10 buildings have collapsed in the city of Van and around 25 or 30 have collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory,” Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said. Atalay said authorities had no information yet on remote villages, adding that the governor was now touring the region by helicopter to assess damage. The quake s epicenter was in the village of Tabanli. Authorities did not provide a casualty figure but the Kandilli observatory, Turkey s main seismography center, said the quake was capable of killing many more people. “We are estimating a death toll between 500 and 1,000,” Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, told a televised news conference. His estimate was based on the structure of the housing in the area and the strength of the quake. The Turkish Red Crescent said its rescuers pulled several injured people out of the collapsed dormitory in Ercis, which sits on a geological fault line. In Van, a bustling city with many apartment buildings, at least 50 people were treated in the courtyard of the state hospital, the state-run Anatolia news agency said. “There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is too much destruction,” Zulfikar Arapoglu, the mayor of Ercis, told NTV television. "We need urgent aid. We need medics.” Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis. Some houses also collapsed in the province of Bitlis, where at least one person, an 8-year-old girl was killed, authorities said. The quake also toppled the minarets of two mosques in the nearby province of Mus, reports said. Terrified residents spilled into the streets in panic as rescue workers and residents using their bare hands and shovels struggled to find people believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings, television footage showed. Several Cabinet ministers headed to the area as authorities mobilized rescue teams across the country. The quake had a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), which is relatively shallow and could potentially cause more damage. Turkey is earthquake-prone due to being crossed by several fault lines. And a powerful earthquake in the town of Caldiran in Van province killed 3,840 people in 1976. In 1999, two strong quakes in the heavily-populated and industrialised regions of north-west Turkey left some 20,000 dead.

Libya declares liberation


Mustafa Abdul-Jalil also told thousands of supporters at a ceremony on Sunday that Islamic Sharia law would be the “basic source” of legislation in the country and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified. In an address that set an Islamist tone for post-Gaddafi Libya, he said new banks would be set up to follow the Islamic banking system, which bans charging interest. “This revolution was looked after by God to achieve victory,” he told the crowd. Mounting calls for an investigation into whether Moammar Gaddafi was executed in custody overshadowed plans by Libya s new rulers Sunday to declare liberation and a formal end to the eight-month civil war that toppled the longtime dictator. An autopsy confirmed that Gaddafi died from a gunshot to the head, Libya s chief pathologist, Dr Othman al-Zintani, said hours before the liberation declaration was to start the clock on a transition to democracy. However, the pathologist said he would not disclose further details or elaborate on Gaddafi s final moments, saying he would first deliver a full report to the attorney general. Libya s acting prime minister said he would not oppose an investigation, but cited an official reporting saying a wounded Gaddafi was killed in cross-fire following his capture.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

US "on active duty" Libya

US officials looked ahead to where they might shift American aircraft and drones that have played a role in Libya for seven months, right through to the assault on Moammar Gadhafi's convoy. And they were looking toward the formation of a stable Libyan nation, despite worries about the difficulties of forming disparate rebel groups into a unified government. As international leaders tried to sort out the details of the ousted Libyan leader's death, U.S. officials confirmed on Friday that an American Predator drone took part in the airstrikes that hit Gadhafi's convoy. It's still not clear exactly how he got his fatal wounds. The officials said the Predator fired on the convoy Thursday as it was fleeingGadhafi's hometown of Sirte, and French aircraft launched guided missiles. According to accounts a number of vehicles in the convoy were damaged or destroyed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operations. The day after his death, NATO's top commander said he will recommend ending the alliance's mission in Libya. Gadhafi was wounded when revolutionary fighters captured him, and later died. He had gunshot wounds to his head, chest and stomach. State Department spokesman Mark Toner declined to go into the details ofGadhafi's "ignominious end" and argued that the dictator of four decades got what he deserved. He suggested the focus on how Gadhafi died was misplaced. "This is a man who brutalized his people, and he's now gone. It's a cathartic moment for the country," Toner said. "They're moving forward. They're dealing with the death itself as well as the aftermath in as transparent a way as I think they can." Gadhafi had set his own fate, Toner said, when he refused to step down and decided to "put countless lives at risk and to fight to the bitter end. And so, what happened, happened." Nevertheless, Toner called on Libyan authorities to provide a transparent account of how Gadhafi died. He said the U.S. government had the same information about it as the public, and was watching the same online videos. He said the U.S. has urged Libyan authorities to "treat prisoners humanely and abide by international standards of justice and human rights," but declined to say whether the video evidence of Gadhafi's capture suggested American advice was being followed. Toner said the important things now are how Libya's Transitional National Council establishes security and stability throughout the country and moves toward a democracy. There are currently about 70 U.S. aircraft as well as a number of ships, three unmanned Global Hawk surveillance drones and several Predators assigned to the Libya mission. So far, none of those aircraft or ships have been moved or taken out of the mission, but many could move on fairly quickly. U.S. military officials said they anticipate moves to scale back the U.S. assets there, but it's not clear how long it may take to do that. There is fervent demand particularly for the drones, both at the battlefronts of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in other hotspots around the world, including Africa, South America and the Asia-Pacific region. A senior U.S. military official said Friday that there are a number of Islamic extremists in Libya who will likely play a role in the new government. And military leaders are concerned about former insurgents in the country who reportedly had renounced extremism but had strong ties to al-Qaida leadership. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters, said the U.S. military also remains worried about weapons proliferation in Libya, amid ongoing suspicions that thousands of shoulder-launched missiles have gone missing and could end up in the hands of terrorists. Libya was believed to have about 20,000 of the missiles _ known as Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, or MANPADS _ in its arsenals before civil war began in March. The Obama administration froze some $37 billion in Gadhafi assets earlier this year. It has released $700 million so far to the National Transitional Council. Toner said the Obama administration wants to get more of the money into the National Transitional Council's hands. "Going forward, we're going to look at ways to provide more of that money, unfreeze it, because it belongs to the Libyan people." NATO warplanes have flown about 26,000 sorties, including over 9,600 strike missions. They destroyed Libya's air defenses and over 1,000 tanks, vehicles and guns, as well as Gadhafi's command and control networks. The estimated cost of the Libya military operation as of Sept. 30 was about $1.1 billion, which includes military missions, munitions, Defense Department supplies and humanitarian assistance. In addition, the U.S. sold participating allies about $250 million worth of ammunition, spare parts, fuel and other support.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Gaddafi killed in his hometown


This brought to end his 42-year rule. "We announce to the world that Gaddafi has died in the custody of the revolution," National Transitional Council spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga said in the eastern city of Benghazi. "It is an historic moment. Gaddafi has met his fate," he said. However, Gaddafi saved himself a walk to the gallows unlike oil-rich Iraq’s Saddam Hussain. He died his boots on. The NTC spokesman said Gaddafi’s death had been "confirmed by commanders on the ground in Sirte, those who captured him after he had been badly wounded in the battle for Sirte." Reports emerged that Gaddafi was denied medical treatment in a display of utter cruelty. In Tripoli, interim premier Mahmud Jibril told reporters that interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil was to declare by Friday that the country has been liberated and also give details on Gaddafi s killing. As Libyans poured out on to the streets, firing automatic weapons into the air and some dancing, western leaders welcomed Gaddafi s demise as the end of despotism, tyranny, dictatorship and ultimately war in the north African state. NTC fighters who had fought in the bloody eight-month conflict that in August toppled the veteran despot at a cost of more than 25,000 lives, erupted in jubilation at the news of his death, which followed reports that Gaddafi had been captured alive. A photograph taken on a mobile phone appeared to show the 69-year-old Gaddafi heavily bloodied. In the blurry image, Gaddafi is seen with blood-soaked clothing and blood daubed across his face. A video that later circulated among the NATO-backed NTC fighters in Sirte showed mobile phone footage of what appeared to be Gaddafi s bloodied corpse. In the grainy images, a large number of NTC fighters are seen yelling in chaotic scenes around a khaki-clad body which has blood oozing from the face and neck.The body is then dragged off by the fighters and loaded in the back of a pick-up truck. Another NTC commander said one of Gaddafi s sons, Mutassim, was also killed in Sirte. "We found him dead. We put his body and that of (former defence minister) Abu Bakr Yunis Jabar in an ambulance to take them to Misrata," said Mohamed Leith. News of Gaddafi s death came as new regime troops overran the last redoubt of his loyalists in Sirte, bringing to an end a two-month siege. Fighters moving in from east and west overcame the last resistance in the city s Number Two residential neighbourhood where his diehard supporters had been holed up. "Sirte has been liberated, and with the confirmation that Gaddafi is dead," Libya has been completely liberated, a top NTC military official, Khalifa Haftar, told AFP in Tripoli. "Those who were fighting with Gaddafi have either been killed or captured," he added. Gaddafi was wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity but Libyan leaders had said they wanted him captured alive so he could be put on trial in his home country. In Brussels, a NATO spokesman said two alliance aircraft on Thursday morning struck two pro-Gaddafi military vehicles near Sirte, amid speculation the fugitive leader was fatally wounded in the air strike and died soon afterwards. The Pentagon, however, said there was no indication Gaddafi was in the convoy. "We know there was an air strike on a small convoy of vehicles that were deemed to be and in the act of threatening Libyan civilians" outside of Sirte, spokesman Captain John Kirby told reporters in Washington. "But there s no indication or identification of the people that were in that convoy," said Kirby. World leaders began to weigh in on the death of the man who had ruled the oil-rich nation. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Gaddafi s death was an occasion to remember his victims, while hailing it as a chance for a "democratic future" for Libya. "I think today is a day to remember all of Colonel Gaddafi s victims" including those who died in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, Cameron said in a statement outside his office. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe hailed the "end of 42 years of tyranny" in Libya and said France was "proud" to have helped bring freedom to the country, referring to the role of French forces in NATO actions during the conflict. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Gaddafi s death ushered in a "historic transition" for Libya. "The road ahead for Libya and its people will be difficult and full of challenges. Now is the time for all Libyans to come together," he said at the UN headquarters.In Rome, Libya s former colonial ruler, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was the first to declare after the death of his onetime ally: "Now the war is over." Sirte once had 100,000 inhabitants, almost all of whom have fled. Fierce artillery battles and heavy gunfire over the past month have not left a single building intact, while looting has become commonplace as NTC fighters take their revenge on what was a Gaddafi bastion.

Kurdish rebels kill 24 Turkish soldiers


Turkey’s Prime Minister says his country’s forces are in hot pursuit of Kurdish guerillas who killed 24 soldiers in attacks on Turkish military posts. Simon Hanna reports. At least 24 Turkish soldiers were killed and 18 wounded - the biggest single death toll for Turkish security forces in years. Ankara promised a swift and strong response, launching air raids on Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq. Turkish commandos also crossed the border in pursuit of the rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK. Underlying the gravity of the situation, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a planned trip to Kazakhstan. Erdogan vowed to breathe down the necks of those responsible for the killing of the 24 soldiers. The Prime Minister said that wide reaching operations were underway in hunting down the rebels, within the framework of international law. Kurdish rebels took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, and more than 40,000 people have since died in the conflict.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Palestinian prisoners for Israeli soldier

Tuesday's exchange of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has brought happiness to many in the region -- but the underlying confrontations remain. Israel's release of 477 Palestinian prisoners brought celebrations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.  Under the deal, 550 more Palestinians are to be freed in two months. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said it made sure that prisoners from other Palestinian groups and from the West Bank were included in the swap.  This has raised hopes of reconciliation with its rival, Fatah, which controls the West Bank. Some believe the release has strengthened Hamas and weakened support for the head of Fatah and Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, because of the lack of progress in peace talks with Israel. Gaza-based analyst Mahmoud Ajrami says historically, Palestinians held by Israel have been freed only through such exchanges. Ajrami believes the success of this release will lead to attempts to repeat it. "The Palestinian resistance movement will arrest more Israeli soldiers [in order] to release our brothers and sisters in the Israeli jails," Ajrami said. The Palestinians were freed in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by militants five years ago during a clash.  As Shalit was welcomed home Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a stiff response to any acts of violence. He said Israel will continue to fight terrorism, and that any released "terrorist who returns to terrorism" will be taking his life into his hands. There are hopes that Shalit's release could lead Israel to ease its economic blockade of Gaza.  The blockade of the land and sea boundaries has raised poverty levels in Gaza.  Consumer goods are being smuggled through tunnels from Egypt, but so are weapons -- some used later for attacks on Israel. There are also hopes the prisoner exchange will boost efforts to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.  The Mideast Quartet, made up of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, is making a push to restart the talks. But Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and rejects the negotiations.  After the successful release of prisoners, its leaders say their goal is to free the remaining 5,000 Palestinians still in Israeli jails.  Many Israelis fear this means more attempts to seize Israeli soldiers in the future.  

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Suicide car bomb rattles Somali capital


According to a report, at least 15 people were killed in the blast even as Somali and Kenyan leaders met and agreed to cooperate on military action against insurgents. The blast rattled central Mogadishu and killed at least 14 passers-by and the suicide bomber, said police official Ali Hassan. Six people were wounded and taken to the hospital, he said. The explosion did not damage the ministry building but did tear down a stone wall in front of it. Hundreds of on-lookers gathered to see the demolished car scattered across the road. Several body parts littered the street. "The car bomb blew up among people and cars passing down the street. I don t know if his target was the civilians, but thanks the loss was not so big," said Mohamed Nor Siyaed, an eyewitness. African Union and Somali troops battling al-Shabab militants have mostly pushed the insurgents out of Mogadishu, but al-Shabab has vowed to carry out attacks in the capital. Earlier this month al-Shabab unleashed a suicide blast that killed more than 100 people, many of them students. It was the deadliest bombing in Somalia by al-Shabab. Tuesday s blast came as Kenya s ministers of foreign affairs and defense traveled to Mogadishu to meet with Somalia s president following Kenya s launch of military operations in southern Somalia against al-Shabab militants. The explosion occurred several miles (kilometers) from where those meetings are believed to have taken place.

US troops start operation along border with NWA


Hundreds of US soldiers have been deployed on the Afghan side along the N Waziristan border. Equipped with sophisticated arms and weaponry, including helicopters, they completely sealed off the border and are carrying out a search operation. Apart from this, curfew has been imposed in Garbaz area of Khost province and home-to-home search operation is being conducted. The main road of Khost has also been sealed off for every kind of traffic. The US has moved hundreds of new troops to the Afghan area bordering Pakistan's insurgent-infested North Waziristan tribal region along with heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and sealed movement on the The troops occupied nearby vantage heights on hilltops, setting up observation posts, The News International said quoting Pakistani security officials and tribal elders.The NATO fighter jets are having low flights in the border areas, terrorizing villagers on both sides of the border.  On the other hand, certain officials say that the issue is being blown out of proportion.   Geo television reported that tribesmen living in the border areas said Afghan and US authorities had clamped a curfew in parts of Afghanistan's eastern Khost province and started house-to-house search. The villagers in Ghulam Khan said NATO warplanes were also seen flying over the border region several times during the day. The News reported that the abrupt deployment of US forces near the border area with Pakistan has escalated tension in the militancy-plagued North Waziristan tribal region as US forces immediately sealed the main road connecting Pakistan border town of Ghulam Khan and Khost for traffic. Pakistani security officials in North Waziristan confirmed the latest development and said they were monitoring the situation on the border with Afghanistan, The News reported. There is no word from the US and NATO forces on the Pakistani media reports. The American troop movement has been reported as US unmanned spy planes have stepped up strikes in the Waziristan tribal belt over the past few days. Washington has said that North Waziristan is a haven for members of the Haqqani network. Washington Post quoting US officials has said that US has opened a new more aggressive approach towards the dreaded Haqqani network. The post quoted officials as saying that the new operation may include intensified drone strikes on Miranshah, centre of North Waziristan and was made "at a National Security Council meeting chaired by President Obama two weeks ago." "The Obama administration has launched the opening salvos of a new, more aggressive approach towards an Afghan insurgent group it asserts is supported by Pakistan's government," the report said. Military options debated at the September 29 meeting were set aside for now, including the possibility of a ground operation against Haqqani leaders similar to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May. It is intended to 'send a signal' that the United States would no longer tolerate a safe haven for the most lethal enemy of US forces in Afghanistan, or Pakistan' s backing for it, the paper said. Although the administration has left the raid option on the table, the potential negatives of such an operation --including the possible collapse of Pakistan's military leadership and civilian government -- are seen as far outweighing its benefits. The massing of US troops and the sealing of the border, Pakistani media claimed had stranded more than 900 loaded trucks, including those carrying NATO consignments, and passenger vehicles the whole day. Tribal elders of the Gurbaz tribe inhabiting both sides of the Durand Line said US forces had clamped a curfew in Tarkhobi area and asked villagers to stay at home.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Gallup survey


A new Gallup survey has revealed that only Imran Khan, chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was gaining popularity in Pakistan. While all politicians, including Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s popularity graph has decreased. Meanwhile, the survey shows that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif is the most popular politician of the country. The Gallup survey for the month of July 2011 showed that PM Gilani amongst the politicians with popularity in the negative. It showed that PM Gilani on the minus-29th position, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on minus-41st, PML-Q chief Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain minus-40th, Maulana Fazlur Rehman minus-38th and JI chief Munawwar Hassan on minus-18th. The topper on the minus list was ANP chief Asfand Yar Wali who was shown on the minus-48th position in the Gallup survey. The survey shows that on the positive list, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was at top with 18 points (down 8 points from previous survey). Amongst politicians, Nawaz Sharif is at the top with 12 points (down 4 points) followed only by his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif with 10 points (down 10 points from the last survey). However, Imran Khan is the only politician whose popularity has increased. The survey shows him on the third position with 5 points (up 1 point from the last survey). In the CM’s category, Punjab’s Shahbaz tops with 27 points, whereas Balochistan CM Aslam Raisani is down at minus-30 with KPK’s Ameer Haider Hoti at minus-20 and Sindh’s Qaim Ali Shah at minus-22. The study was released by Gilani Foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

US sanctions on Iran


Treasury Department said the airline secretly transported members of a military force accused of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador on US soil. The Treasury Department said commercial carrier Mahan Air transported members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp-Qods Force -- a force directly linked to the plot -- and Hezbollah across the Middle East. Any of the airline s assets in the United States will now be frozen and US citizens will be barred from doing business with the firm. The announcement came a day after Washington leveled the accusations at Tehran and the Treasury Department moved to block the assets of five individuals directly linked to the alleged assassination plot, which has sent diplomatic shockwaves around the world. The Treasury Department accused Mahan Air of ferrying Iranian operatives between Iran and Syria for military training and Revolutionary Guards officers in and out of Iraq, and of transporting members of Lebanon-based Hezbollah -- which the US deems a terrorist organization. "Mahan Air s close coordination with the IRGC-QF -- secretly ferrying operatives, weapons and funds on its flights -- reveals yet another facet of the IRGC s extensive infiltration of Iran s commercial sector to facilitate its support for terrorism," said the Treasury s sanctions czar David Cohen. "Following the revelation about the IRGC-QF s use of the international financial system to fund its murder-for-hire plot, today s action highlights further the undeniable risks of doing business with Iran.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Bangkok under threat from flood

"The flooding situation is now considered a serious crisis," Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said in a nationally televised address, noting that 252 people have died across the country due to more than two months of heavy rains. While the capital has so far escaped major flooding, Yingluck said the city of 12 million people would not escape unscathed. "It is going to directly affect Bangkok," she said. Homes, roads and factories are already inundated just north of the low-lying capital and more storms are expected in the days to come. Many residents in affected areas have ignored the government s appeal to evacuate to safe areas, preferring to stay and guard homes submerged by the rising waters.The authorities raced to put up flood walls alongside canals and rivers on Bangkok s northern outskirts as huge amounts of muddy water flow down river. "Nothing could be worse than the current situation, but the most important thing is to prevent flooding in Bangkok and two industrial estates" north of the city, said Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi. A key test is expected in mid-October, when large amounts of run-off water reach the capital and high tides make it harder for the floods to flow out to sea.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Pak aid only if US interests watched, says Obama


However, he said the United States would not be comfortable in a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistan if it felt that Islamabad was not mindful of US interests. Obama told a news conference the United States remained committed to helping Pakistan confront its own problems despite concern over ties between some elements of the Pakistan intelligence services with extremist groups. "But there s no doubt that we re not going to feel comfortable with a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistan if we don t think that they re mindful of our interests as well," Obama said. US President Barack Obama also accused Pakistan of hedging its bets on Afghanistan s future. "I think they have hedged their bets in terms of what Afghanistan would look like and part of hedging their bets is having interactions with some of the unsavory characters who they think might end up regaining power in Afghanistan after coalition forces have left," Obama said in a White House news conference. Obama said the US will constantly evaluate relationship with Pakistan in light of US Interests. About the South Asia region, Obama said a more peaceful relationship between India and Pakistan would be beneficial, in everyone s interest. The US president said says it is in Pakistan s interest to have a stable Afghanistan, but have more work to do. He said Pakistan has been an effective partner in the fight against al Qaeda. 

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Israel atom bomb a threat to region: Turkey


"I right now see Israel as a threat for its region, because it has the atomic bomb," Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency, during an official visit to South Africa. He also accused Israel of committing "state terrorism." Erdogan in the past has accused the West of "double standards" in the way that it has tried to ban Iran from building nuclear weapons without taking similar measures against Israel. Israel has never officially admitting to possessing nuclear weapons. Turkey downgraded relations with one time ally Israel after the latter refused to apologise for its raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla, in which nine Turkish activists died on May 31, 2010. Last month, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and froze military ties and defence trade deals. Ankara has also threatened to send warships to escort any Turkish vessels trying to reach Hamas-ruled Gaza. Erdogan s remarks came in response to comments from an Israeli embassy diplomat in South Africa, who blamed radical Islamic organisation Hamas for launching rocket attacks into Israeli territory, said the private NTV television. The prime minister responded that Israel bombed Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip as well as the UN buildings in Gaza with phosphorus bombs, reported NTV. In recent months, the United States has been alarmed at the estrangement between Turkey and its closest Middle East ally Israel. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to urge Turkey to defuse tension and repair strategic ties with Israel when she visits Istanbul to attend a conference on Afghanistan next month. Clinton will visit Turkey on November 2, Marc Grossman, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was quoted as saying in the Turkish media.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Over 70 killed in Mogadishu blast


The truck blew up in front of the Ministry of Education in the Somali capital, officials said on Tuesday. According to Somali police, the vehicle blew up after pulling up to a checkpoint at the entrance to the ministry offices. The al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a website it uses. The blast has shattered over a month of relative calm in Mogadishu. Al-Shabab withdrew from the city in August amid an offensive by African Union forces, and as victims of a famine in the south began flooding into the city. Al-Qaida-linked militants launched their deadliest single bomb attack ever in Somalia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and demonstrating how the group that blocked aid to famine victims can still mount devastating violence even after most of its fighters fled the capital in August.  Al-Shabab is waging an insurgency against the weak U.N.-backed Somali government. The deadliest attack comes as Somalia struggles to rebound from its worst famine in 60 years, a crisis that has brought even more misery to this country that descended into anarchy and war in 1991. A truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded outside the Ministry of Education, where students accompanied by their parents registered for scholarships offered by the Turkish government. The thunderous blast covered the city in dust more than a half-mile away, leaving blackened corpses sprawled on the debris-strewn street amid burning vehicles. One woman used a blue plastic bucket to pour water on a smoldering body. Al-Shabab fighters have compounded the suffering by preventing aid agencies from helping famine victims in areas under militant control in southern Somalia. The U.S. says 29,000 children have died since the famine began, and the U.N. says 750,000 more are at risk of starving to death in the next several months.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

US wants us to join Afghan gov't: Haqqani


He denied that his militant group was behind the killing of the top Afghan peace envoy. The Pakistan-based Haqqani network is affiliated with both the Taliban and al-Qaida and has been described US and other western nations as the top security threat in Afghanistan. The group has been blamed for hundreds of attacks, including a 20-hour siege of the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters last month. The group s is led by Jalaludin Haqqani, but the ailing leader has relinquished most operational control to one of his sons, Siraj. Last week, US officials accused Pakistan s spy agency of assisting the Haqqanis in attacks on Western targets in Afghanistan.  The United States and other members of the international community have in the past blamed Pakistan for allowing the Taliban, and the Haqqanis in particular, to retain safe havens in the country s tribal areas along the Afghan border particularly in North Waziristan. The outgoing chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, has also claimed Pakistan s military spy agency helped the group. However, Haqqani told the BBC Pashtu service that while the group had contacts with a number of spy agencies, including that of Pakistan, during the Soviet invasion, he said there are now "no such links that could be beneficial." "Right from the first day of American arrival till this day not only Pakistani, but other Islamic and other non Islamic countries including America contacted us and they still doing so, they are asking us to leave the ranks of Islamic Emirates," he said referring to the Taliban leadership.He said that the outsiders have promised an "important role in the government of Afghanistan," as well as negotiations.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Iran calls for one-state Palestinian solution


He said the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations is doomed to fail. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Palestinians should not limit themselves to seeking a country based on the pre-1967 borders which would implicitly recognize Israel because "all land belongs to Palestinians." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has asked the U.N. Security Council to recognize an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Khamenei, who spoke at a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran, once again called Israel a "cancerous tumor" that should be removed. Iran supports the militant Palestinian Hamas group, which rules Gaza and which does not back the statehood bid pushed by Abbas and his Western-backed Fatah. "Our claim is freedom of Palestine, not part of Palestine. Any plan that partitions Palestine is totally rejected," Khamenei told the gathering. "Palestine spans from the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean), nothing less." Khamenei claimed that a two state solution would mean "giving in to the demand of the Zionists" and that it would "trample the rights of the Palestinian people" to live on their land.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Obama: Pakistan must sort out Haqanni problem


In a radio show on Friday US President Barack Obama on Friday said Pakistan must "take care" of the extremist Haqqani network, as a fierce dispute raged over US claims the group was an arm of Islamabad s intelligence agency. Obama did not endorse the accusations, made by retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, but said US intelligence was not entirely clear on links between Haqqani operatives and Pakistani spy agencies. "I think Mike s testimony expressed frustration over the fact that safe havens exist, including the Haqqani network safe haven inside Pakistan," Obama said on the Michael Smerconish syndicated radio show. "I think that the intelligence is not as clear as we might like in terms of what exactly that relationship is," Obama said. "But my attitude is whether there is active engagement with Haqqani on the part of the Pakistanis or just passively allowing them to operate with impunity in some of these border regions, they have got to take care of this problem." Last week, Mullen accused Pakistan of exporting violence to Afghanistan through proxies and charged that the Haqqani network, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, was a "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence. His comments triggered new tensions with Islamabad, with Pakistani leaders closing ranks against US pressure for action against the Haqqanis and refusing to be pressured into doing more in the war on terror. Obama said in the interview that there was "no doubt" that the US relationship with Pakistan "is not where it needs to be" though he did note outstanding cooperation with Islamabad in the fight against Al Qaeda. The US president credited Pakistan with "outstanding cooperation in going after Al Qaeda" and vowed to keep working with Islamabad on the militant issue. "We are going to keep on pressing them to recognize it is in their interests, not just ours, to make sure extremists are not operating within their borders."

19 loses battle of life in Syrian clashes


While another eight died during a crackdown on protests in flashpoint Homs, rights activists said. The killings came as thousands of protesters took to the streets on the Muslim weekly day of prayer that is a lightning rod in the six months of anti-regime protests in which the UN says 2,700 people have been killed by a fierce crackdown. The activists said those killed in Homs province were shot dead by security forces who opened fire on protesters, even as around 250 tanks and armoured vehicles entered Rastan, a major city in the province where there have been intense military operations against army defectors for days. It said 32 soldiers were wounded in clashes overnight in Rastan and Talbisseh.