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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Land Day protests


Israeli police and troops were on high alert on Friday ahead of a raft of Land Day protests across Israel and the Palestinian territories, as supporters in Lebanon and Jordan readied to march to the borders. Land Day is held every year on March 30 to mark the deaths of six Arab Israeli protesters at the hands of Israeli police and troops during mass demonstrations in 1976 against plans to confiscate Arab land in Galilee. This year, there have been numerous calls for peaceful demonstrations in Israel, the occupied territories and in neighbouring countries, where supporters have been urged to march towards the borders. The main Land Day march will take place in the Galilee town of Deir Hanna, with another march in Israel’s southern Negev desert, both of which were to start in the mid-afternoon. In the West Bank, demonstrations are to take place after the Friday prayers at Qalandia checkpoint near Ramallah, by the main Bethlehem checkpoint and in many villages in the northern West Bank which normally host weekly popular protests. Another rally was to take place outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, while in Gaza, all the main factions were to attend a march from the northern town of Jabaliya to Beit Lahiya. Israel is hoping to avoid the bloody confrontations that took place last May when thousands gathered along Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria on Nakba Day to protest on the anniversary of Israel’s creation in 1948. Troops opened fire on protesters trying to breach the line from Syria and Lebanon, killing 11 and injuring hundreds, UN figures showed. More than 120 people were also injured by gunfire in similar protests in northern Gaza. A month later, at least 10 people were killed and hundreds injured in the Golan when Syrian protesters tried to cross onto the Israeli side on Naksa Day, which marks the anniversary of the 1967 Six Day-War.

New US Ambassador for India

The Obama administration has repeatedly said it puts a priority on building relations with India. The US Senate has confirmed ambassadors to 16 countries including India, a position that had been left vacant for a year despite calls in both countries for stronger relations. The Senate late Thursday gave its nod to a slew of appointments by President Barack Obama, overcoming a political impasse. A Republican aide said the rival party allowed the vote after a promise by the administration not to bypass Congress by making appointments when lawmakers are in recess. Lawmakers approved career diplomat Nancy Powell as ambassador to India. Obama s first ambassador to India, former congressman Timothy Roemer, announced his resignation in April 2011. Obama tapped Powell in December but the nomination has since languished in the Senate. The Obama administration has repeatedly said it puts a priority on building relations with the world s largest democracy, although relations have recently seen friction over import-dependent India s refusal to cut off oil from Iran. Powell has previously served as US envoy in Pakistan and Nepal and holds the prestigious rank of career ambassador. US presidents have often chosen political appointees instead of career diplomats for India to highlight the importance of the relationship. The Senate also confirmed ambassadors to Barbados, Cambodia, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Haiti, Kosovo, Latvia, Libya, Malta, Nicaragua, Panama, Togo, Tunisia and Uruguay. Also approved were a number of other senior officials who have been working without Senate confirmation including Roberta Jacobson, named the assistant secretary of state in charge of Latin America. The long delays in Senate confirmation recently led Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to urge ambassadors, who traditionally step down with the end of an administration, to stay until their replacements are in place.

Systematic action for Syria

Clinton sought to work out a unified strategy on the crisis in Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to work out a unified strategy on the crisis in Syria in talks with Saudi officials on Friday as further violence stymied U.N. efforts to convince Damascus to implement a cease-fire. Clinton s talks with Saudi King Abdullah and other officials come ahead of a 60-nation gathering of the "Friends of the Syrian People" in Istanbul over the weekend aimed at finding ways to aid Syria s opposition. The U.S. is hoping to help unify the splintered opposition s ranks while pushing for humanitarian aid and further isolation of Assad s regime. Saudi Arabia, along with fellow Gulf nation Qatar, has called for a more aggressive approach, including arming the rebels and carving out a safe haven inside Syria from which the opposition can operate. International opponents of Assad are struggling to pin down a strategy on Syria as a peace plan put forward by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has so far failed to get off the ground. Syria has accepted the six-point plan, which includes a call for it to implement a cease-fire, but so far there has been no halt in fighting, and the opposition suspects Assad has no intention of stopping his crackdown and is only playing for time. Assad said Thursday that he wants the plan to succeed, but insisted that the opposition must first commit to a cease-fire as well. Annan urged the Syrian government to halt its troops first. "The government must stop first and then discuss a cessation of hostilities with the other side," Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Friday. "We are appealing to the stronger party to make a gesture of good faith. ... The deadline is now." "Clearly, we have not seen a cessation of hostilities and this is of great concern," he said. Syrian activists say fresh fighting erupted Friday between soldiers and rebel fighters in the country s northern Idlib province. More than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria s violence since last March, according to U.N. estimates. Clinton arrived in Riyadh and began talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said. She was to meet later Friday with King Abdullah. "Clinton will hold extensive talks with Saudi counterpart on the situation in Syria and on American efforts to stop bloodbath in Syria," a Saudi Foreign Ministry official in Riyadh said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he not authorized to discuss the talks. The talks came a day after an Arab League summit in Baghdad, where divisions among Arab nations over Syria were clear. In a sign that they see little hope in diplomatic efforts from the League, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf countries sent only low-level officials to the summit. In the end, the summit issued a joint resolution that held little new beyond expressing support for Annan s efforts. President Barack Obama has publicly challenged Assad to leave power, but has refused to entertain U.S. military options to achieve that end. Washington has said it opposes military intervention in Syria, fearing that it would fuel an outright civil war that could break along dangerous sectarian lines. The opposition is born mainly from Syria s Sunni Muslim majority,while Assad s regime is backed by his own minority Alawite community, a Shiite offshoot sect. For the U.S. and its allies, Syria is proving an especially murky conflict and one with no easy solutions. Assad s regime is of Washington s clearest foes, a government that has long been closely allied with Iran and anti-Israel groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-led Gulf countries are eager to see Assad s fall in hopes of breaking Syria out of its alliance with their regional rival, Shiite-majority Iran.