Republican plan stalls US bail-out
McCain has been accused of bringing presidential race politics into the financial crisis debate [AFP]
US Republicans have proposed an alternative bail-out plan in a bid to solve the country's financial crisis, but the move has been criticised for further stalling government efforts to stay the country's economic meltdown.
Talks were due to start again on Friday on the government's proposed $700bn bail-out plan that aims to use taxpayers' money to buy up bad debt held by US financial institutions.
A deal on the government's proposal seemed within reach, according to both Republican and Democratic legislators, but later stalled after a White House meeting between George Bush, the US president, Barack Obama and John McCain, the two US presidential candidates, and congressional leaders.
The government's plan, proposed by Henry Paulson, the US treasury secretary, has been under discussion in congress where legislators have called for changes.
Bush, who backed the plan, appears to be open to Democratic demands to broaden the package to hard-pressed mortgage holders.
A compromise that would give legislators oversight of the deal's implementation, and US taxpayers an equity stake in a bailed-out company, as well as cap the pay of executives of rescued firms had seemed in the works until the White House meeting.
Republican proposal
Inside the White House session, John Boehner, the House Republican leader, announced his concerns about the emerging plan and asked that the Republican alternative be considered, aides said.
Alternative plan
McCain backs alternative Republican planSenior Democrats put the blame squarely on McCain, saying his decision to endorse the new Republican plan that differs markedly from the one that had been under deliberation for about a week, threw the process into disarray.
"John McCain did nothing to help, he only hurt the process," Harry Reid, the senate majority leader, said after the White House talks.
At an impromptu news conference, Barney Frank, the Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives financial services committee, brandished a single sheet of paper that he said was the sum of new Republican proposals introduced at the last minute after a week of sleepless nights in congress.
But McCain stood by the Republican proposal.
"The plan that has been put forth by the administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect the taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favour of Wall Street," McCain's campaign said in a statement.
Sceptical public
Reflecting the unease of many Republicans at the government's unprecedented intrusion into private enterprise, the new plan calls for an independent entity to dispose of bad assets, and a cut in capital gains tax.
Few Americans support the government's proposed bail-out.
"It needs to be modified so that it helps the everyday person who is losing their home," Carole Bailey, from California, told Al Jazeera.
James Berard, a voter in New York, said: "They should let the companies and the executives suffer, I myself have lost $150,000 from my retirement accounts."
In New York on Thursday, hundreds of labour unionists protested against the plan near the New York Stock Exchange.
"We want our tax dollars used to provide a hand up for the millions of working people who live on Main Street and not a handout to a privileged band of overpaid executives," union leaders said.
McCain has come under fire for bringing presidential race politics into the debate.
Christopher Dodd, the senate banking committee chairman, called the White House meeting, convened by Bush at McCain's request, a "photo op and political theatre that had nothing to do with us getting to work".
McCain 'hopeful'
But McCain said legislators were on track for a deal and Steve Schmidt, one of his senior advisers, said it was Reid who had said McCain's help was needed to help corral Republican support for the plan.
McCain also said he was "very hopeful that we'll have enough of an agreement tomorrow [Friday] that I can get to" a televised debate with Obama on Friday night in Mississippi.
On Wednesday, McCain urged Obama to postpone the debate - the first of three that may prove pivotal in the November 4 election - a call the Democratic candidate rejected.
Rob Reynolds, Al Jazeera's senior Washington correspondent, said it did appear as if the injection of presidential politics had had an adverse effect on the delicate process of negotiations to come up with a deal.
Asian stocks and the US dollar fell on Friday as the US bail-out plans stalled.
Banks around the world are seeking to ensure a flow of credit amid the financial turmoil.
The Bank of Japan pumped a total of 1.5 trillion yen ($14bn) into the Tokyo money market, according to data on its website, on Friday.
Meanwhile, new evidence of the sector's distress came late on Thursday as the US government shut down Washington Mutual, allowing JPMorgan Chase to buy the bank's operations for $1.9bn.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
fredag 26 september 2008
torsdag 25 september 2008
How the financial bubble burst in USA
How the financial bubble burst
By Rob Reynolds, Al Jazeera's senior Washington correspondent
Are more US financial houses about to come crashing down? [AFP]
The roots of the panic in financial markets around the world are deep and complex but they lie in the convergence of three factors.
Millions of people pursuing the "American dream" of home ownership, politicians and regulators who dismantled a system of financial safeguards and then ignored warnings of impending disaster, and financial markets and institutions disregarding risk in their headlong pursuit of profit.
Let's go back to the beginning - or at least to the year 2000 - when the 'Dotcom' boom went bust.
That drove down stocks and sparked a recession and then came the attacks of September 11, 2001 - a body blow to the US economy.
To hasten economic recovery, the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, headed by Alan Greenspan, used the most powerful weapon in its arsenal - it cut interest rates repeatedly.
Lower rates made it easier for banks to lend and consumers to borrow and spend.
"It did stimulate the economy," says Clyde Prestowitz, the head of the Economic Strategy Institute.
"And it stimulated housing, because effectively the cost of investment was negative, you could borrow money for virtually nothing."
Easy borrowing
Home-ownership is the bedrock of the "American dream".
US tax laws encourage home ownership by allowing people to deduct the interest they pay on their mortgages.
Freddie Mac underwrote thousands ofUS mortgages during the boom [AFP]And government-sponsored financial institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributed by underwriting mortgages and making it easier for people of modest means to put down the money for a home.
From around 2001 and 2002, with mortgage interest rates at near-record lows, millions of Americans went shopping for homes.
With demand soaring, the price of housing nearly doubled from 2000 to 2006.
But many of those buyers couldn't really afford what they were getting, Prestowitz says.
"They wanted to buy a house and it's understandable, they wanted a piece of the dream and the mortgage industry was encouraging them to buy.
"It got to the point where the brokers were offering mortgages to people who had little or no income, who somehow thought they could put these payments together."
Sensing a potential bonanza, banks and mortgage companies began peddling loans to riskier segments of the population - especially low-income first-time homebuyers.
These were called "sub-prime" mortgages.
"Many of the mortgages were adjustable-rate mortgages," Prestowitz explains.
"They were built so that in the first year your interest rate was low, but somewhere down the road, your interest rate jumped."
Ideological drive
But something else was at work as the housing bubble grew: The US government, under the sway of the free-market, anti-regulation ideology, had begun to systematically dismantle rules and regulations established after the Great Depression of the 1930s.
In 1999, the US congress and Bill Clinton, the former president, repealed laws designed to stop financial crashes - saying markets should regulate themselves.
Government regulation, we've been told, is bad, it's evil, and the government doesn't know what it's doing economically.
Lawrence Mitchell, financial analyst and author
Why?
Lawrence Mitchell, the author of The Speculation Economy: How Finance Triumphed Over Industry says it was the triumph of ideology over caution.
"Since Ronald Reagan became president in 1980, free markets have been preached in this country as being our economic salvation," Mitchell says.
"'Government regulation' we've been told, 'is bad, it's evil, and the government doesn't know what it's doing economically'."
"'It should be out of people's business'. That's nonsense, but that was the ideology that was driving it. 'Regulation is bad, free market is good'."
The next president after Clinton, George Bush, continued to de-regulate housing and financial markets and bragged about the results at the 2004 Republican convention, saying: "Another priority for a new term is to build an ownership society, because ownership brings security and dignity and independence.
"Thanks to our policies, homeownership in America is at an all-time high."
Mortgages sold
Of course, it wasn't just the politicians who allowed the reckless financial frenzy to grow. It was also the man who the financial press was hailing as a genius - Alan Greenspan.
Alan Greenspan has been blamed for deregulating markets [AFP]"The Fed is responsible for oversight of the banking system, but under Alan Greenspan it basically stopped doing oversight," Prestowitz says.
"That allowed for fraudulent practices and, as a result mortgages being given to people who had no assets and no income, prudent lending went out of the window."
In the new, hands-off regulatory environment, banks and mortgage companies transformed the loans they were making into commodities.
The change was the banks no longer held the mortgages and the home finance industry began to securitise, or underwrite, them.
In the past, when you would buy a house, you would get a mortgage from your bank.
The bank would hold that mortgage and you would pay it off, with interest.
Today, you get the mortgage from your bank and the bank immediately sells your mortgage to Goldman Sachs or Lehman Brothers, or Deutsche Bank or any of literally tens of thousands of mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, or private-equity firms.
Those pools of mortgages are then bundled together into securities, just like bonds or stocks.
Millions of securitised loans were sold to firms all over the world.
At first it was a lucrative deal with high returns and little apparent risk.
The bubble bursts
But there was a worm in Wall Street's apple: Millions of the mortgages being sold - more than 20 per cent at the peak of the frenzy - were high-risk "sub-prime" loans.
"What was happening was a lot of bad stuff was being mixed with good stuff and it was being called good," Prestowitz says.
Thousands of homes have beenforeclosed [GALLO/GETTY]The global financial community seemed to believe housing prices would just keep going up and up but then the bubble burst.
The Federal Reserve began raising rates to fend off inflation.
As the rates rose, people who had taken on balloon-style mortgages - thinking they could easily pay the initial rate - found their payments being increased and suddenly ... they couldn't pay.
In 2006 home prices started to drop. Houses glutted the market and stayed unsold month after month.
In formerly red-hot housing markets, like Florida and California, home prices fell 10, 15, even 20 per cent. A huge wave of loan defaults and home foreclosures began.
In 2007, mortgage lenders with lots of risky loans on their books started going bankrupt.
Then major investment banks came under pressure and began to fail. In March, Bear Stearns was the first of the majors to go under.
The problem then was not, and is not now, about houses. It's about credit - or the lack of it.
With so much bad debt out there - and no one really knows how much there is - banks around the world have become extremely risk-averse.
They've stopped lending money to individuals, businesses and even each other.
Unable to get loans, Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest US investment bank, went belly up.
Central banks have by now pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the global financial system, but the flow of credit, known as liquidity, has slowed to a sluggish trickle.
Bleak future
For the first time since the 1930s, a true, systemic financial crisis is under way.
That's why the US government is considering sweeping and costly measures to buy up millions of bad mortgages.
But while the plans announced late this week seem to have boosted confidence on Wall Street, no one really knows what will happen next.
"It could get a lot worse, said Mitchell, gloomily.
"I haven't read any significant empirical evidence to suggest we are anywhere near the bottom."
"Where's the bottom?" I asked him.
He replied: "The bottom could be very deep.
"I really don't want to know."
By Rob Reynolds, Al Jazeera's senior Washington correspondent
Are more US financial houses about to come crashing down? [AFP]
The roots of the panic in financial markets around the world are deep and complex but they lie in the convergence of three factors.
Millions of people pursuing the "American dream" of home ownership, politicians and regulators who dismantled a system of financial safeguards and then ignored warnings of impending disaster, and financial markets and institutions disregarding risk in their headlong pursuit of profit.
Let's go back to the beginning - or at least to the year 2000 - when the 'Dotcom' boom went bust.
That drove down stocks and sparked a recession and then came the attacks of September 11, 2001 - a body blow to the US economy.
To hasten economic recovery, the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, headed by Alan Greenspan, used the most powerful weapon in its arsenal - it cut interest rates repeatedly.
Lower rates made it easier for banks to lend and consumers to borrow and spend.
"It did stimulate the economy," says Clyde Prestowitz, the head of the Economic Strategy Institute.
"And it stimulated housing, because effectively the cost of investment was negative, you could borrow money for virtually nothing."
Easy borrowing
Home-ownership is the bedrock of the "American dream".
US tax laws encourage home ownership by allowing people to deduct the interest they pay on their mortgages.
Freddie Mac underwrote thousands ofUS mortgages during the boom [AFP]And government-sponsored financial institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributed by underwriting mortgages and making it easier for people of modest means to put down the money for a home.
From around 2001 and 2002, with mortgage interest rates at near-record lows, millions of Americans went shopping for homes.
With demand soaring, the price of housing nearly doubled from 2000 to 2006.
But many of those buyers couldn't really afford what they were getting, Prestowitz says.
"They wanted to buy a house and it's understandable, they wanted a piece of the dream and the mortgage industry was encouraging them to buy.
"It got to the point where the brokers were offering mortgages to people who had little or no income, who somehow thought they could put these payments together."
Sensing a potential bonanza, banks and mortgage companies began peddling loans to riskier segments of the population - especially low-income first-time homebuyers.
These were called "sub-prime" mortgages.
"Many of the mortgages were adjustable-rate mortgages," Prestowitz explains.
"They were built so that in the first year your interest rate was low, but somewhere down the road, your interest rate jumped."
Ideological drive
But something else was at work as the housing bubble grew: The US government, under the sway of the free-market, anti-regulation ideology, had begun to systematically dismantle rules and regulations established after the Great Depression of the 1930s.
In 1999, the US congress and Bill Clinton, the former president, repealed laws designed to stop financial crashes - saying markets should regulate themselves.
Government regulation, we've been told, is bad, it's evil, and the government doesn't know what it's doing economically.
Lawrence Mitchell, financial analyst and author
Why?
Lawrence Mitchell, the author of The Speculation Economy: How Finance Triumphed Over Industry says it was the triumph of ideology over caution.
"Since Ronald Reagan became president in 1980, free markets have been preached in this country as being our economic salvation," Mitchell says.
"'Government regulation' we've been told, 'is bad, it's evil, and the government doesn't know what it's doing economically'."
"'It should be out of people's business'. That's nonsense, but that was the ideology that was driving it. 'Regulation is bad, free market is good'."
The next president after Clinton, George Bush, continued to de-regulate housing and financial markets and bragged about the results at the 2004 Republican convention, saying: "Another priority for a new term is to build an ownership society, because ownership brings security and dignity and independence.
"Thanks to our policies, homeownership in America is at an all-time high."
Mortgages sold
Of course, it wasn't just the politicians who allowed the reckless financial frenzy to grow. It was also the man who the financial press was hailing as a genius - Alan Greenspan.
Alan Greenspan has been blamed for deregulating markets [AFP]"The Fed is responsible for oversight of the banking system, but under Alan Greenspan it basically stopped doing oversight," Prestowitz says.
"That allowed for fraudulent practices and, as a result mortgages being given to people who had no assets and no income, prudent lending went out of the window."
In the new, hands-off regulatory environment, banks and mortgage companies transformed the loans they were making into commodities.
The change was the banks no longer held the mortgages and the home finance industry began to securitise, or underwrite, them.
In the past, when you would buy a house, you would get a mortgage from your bank.
The bank would hold that mortgage and you would pay it off, with interest.
Today, you get the mortgage from your bank and the bank immediately sells your mortgage to Goldman Sachs or Lehman Brothers, or Deutsche Bank or any of literally tens of thousands of mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, or private-equity firms.
Those pools of mortgages are then bundled together into securities, just like bonds or stocks.
Millions of securitised loans were sold to firms all over the world.
At first it was a lucrative deal with high returns and little apparent risk.
The bubble bursts
But there was a worm in Wall Street's apple: Millions of the mortgages being sold - more than 20 per cent at the peak of the frenzy - were high-risk "sub-prime" loans.
"What was happening was a lot of bad stuff was being mixed with good stuff and it was being called good," Prestowitz says.
Thousands of homes have beenforeclosed [GALLO/GETTY]The global financial community seemed to believe housing prices would just keep going up and up but then the bubble burst.
The Federal Reserve began raising rates to fend off inflation.
As the rates rose, people who had taken on balloon-style mortgages - thinking they could easily pay the initial rate - found their payments being increased and suddenly ... they couldn't pay.
In 2006 home prices started to drop. Houses glutted the market and stayed unsold month after month.
In formerly red-hot housing markets, like Florida and California, home prices fell 10, 15, even 20 per cent. A huge wave of loan defaults and home foreclosures began.
In 2007, mortgage lenders with lots of risky loans on their books started going bankrupt.
Then major investment banks came under pressure and began to fail. In March, Bear Stearns was the first of the majors to go under.
The problem then was not, and is not now, about houses. It's about credit - or the lack of it.
With so much bad debt out there - and no one really knows how much there is - banks around the world have become extremely risk-averse.
They've stopped lending money to individuals, businesses and even each other.
Unable to get loans, Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest US investment bank, went belly up.
Central banks have by now pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the global financial system, but the flow of credit, known as liquidity, has slowed to a sluggish trickle.
Bleak future
For the first time since the 1930s, a true, systemic financial crisis is under way.
That's why the US government is considering sweeping and costly measures to buy up millions of bad mortgages.
But while the plans announced late this week seem to have boosted confidence on Wall Street, no one really knows what will happen next.
"It could get a lot worse, said Mitchell, gloomily.
"I haven't read any significant empirical evidence to suggest we are anywhere near the bottom."
"Where's the bottom?" I asked him.
He replied: "The bottom could be very deep.
"I really don't want to know."
FGM continues in rural secrecy
LIBERIA: FGM continues in rural secrecy
MONROVIA, 24 September 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of young girls annually prepare for their initiation into a women's secret association, Sande Society, which operates mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. As part of their initiation, young women take a vow of secrecy after weeks of training in the forest, promising not to not tell uninitiated girls or men what happens to them, to assume new names, and to have their clitorises cut off - known as female genital mutilation (FGM) - according to women in the secret society.
About half of Liberia's some 16 ethnic groups, including the Bassa, Mende, Gola and Kissi, observe the rules of this historically-secret, centuries-old society.
One Mende member from Tubmanburg, Western Liberia, who asked not to be named, told IRIN removing a girl's clitoris helps her become a "prolific child bearer."
Another member, 42-year-old Jebbeh Sonneh, explained to IRIN, "Those who perform such [FGM] acts are typically elderly women in the community designated for the task, or traditional birth attendants."
Secrecy shrouds outreach
Sociologist Theo Kerkulah at the University of Liberia in Monrovia says even though the practice of rural forest initiations is common in Liberia, it is not openly discussed. "It is a difficult topic to teach. Most girls who joined the society are now in the classroom and never feel happy when you talk about it in the open. They feel [it is a betrayal]. Perhaps because of the myths that are associated with it."
Kerkulah says the girls are bound by secrecy vows and the time they spend together in the forest where they undergo training to enter adulthood, learning domestic skills and moral lessons.
The lecturer told IRIN many girls believe the spirit of Sande, the guardian of women, guides them into and during adulthood.
Monrovia-based medical researcher Deddeh Siah says physical pain is an additional factor binding the young girls, "In some Sandes [initiates], not only is her genitalia removed, the student is marked [cut] so that large scars remain on the skin of the initiate for life."
She estimates about 5,000 puberty-aged adolescents join the group every year, either by force or choice.
Culture can kill
Sandes are a part of Liberia's cultural heritage, says Jomo Weah who works at a government-run culture centre in Kendeja, on the outskirts of Monrovia. "We cannot stop it. It is our culture. We can only intervene by allowing them to go about doing it when the girls are on school break."
Local civil society groups including Girls Movement for Education have tried to discourage parents from allowing their girls to join Sande Society.
Government health worker Mary Mah says FGM is killing hundreds of girls in Liberia every year. "Over 20 percent of the initiates die from excessive bleeding after their clitoris has been removed."
Mah told IRIN if excessive pain and extreme bleeding do not kill the girls, FGM can scar or disfigure her for life. "Risk of serious potentially life-threatening complications [include] ongoing bleeding, infection including HIV, urine retention, stress, shock.[and] psychological trauma."
Catherine Watson Khasu, an elected leader in Grand Cape Mount County in Western Liberia, about 140 km from Monrovia, dismisses these risks, "People have said all sorts of things against our cultural heritage, which are not true. I am a member of the Sande [Society] and I'm proud of it. There is nothing harmful about the Sande."
She told IRIN the government and human rights organisations should respect the tradition of Liberia's indigenous groups, "We know the [1989-2003 civil] war did a lot of damage to our country, but that does not mean we should desecrate our traditional shrines."
pc/pt/aj
[END]
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org
MONROVIA, 24 September 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of young girls annually prepare for their initiation into a women's secret association, Sande Society, which operates mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. As part of their initiation, young women take a vow of secrecy after weeks of training in the forest, promising not to not tell uninitiated girls or men what happens to them, to assume new names, and to have their clitorises cut off - known as female genital mutilation (FGM) - according to women in the secret society.
About half of Liberia's some 16 ethnic groups, including the Bassa, Mende, Gola and Kissi, observe the rules of this historically-secret, centuries-old society.
One Mende member from Tubmanburg, Western Liberia, who asked not to be named, told IRIN removing a girl's clitoris helps her become a "prolific child bearer."
Another member, 42-year-old Jebbeh Sonneh, explained to IRIN, "Those who perform such [FGM] acts are typically elderly women in the community designated for the task, or traditional birth attendants."
Secrecy shrouds outreach
Sociologist Theo Kerkulah at the University of Liberia in Monrovia says even though the practice of rural forest initiations is common in Liberia, it is not openly discussed. "It is a difficult topic to teach. Most girls who joined the society are now in the classroom and never feel happy when you talk about it in the open. They feel [it is a betrayal]. Perhaps because of the myths that are associated with it."
Kerkulah says the girls are bound by secrecy vows and the time they spend together in the forest where they undergo training to enter adulthood, learning domestic skills and moral lessons.
The lecturer told IRIN many girls believe the spirit of Sande, the guardian of women, guides them into and during adulthood.
Monrovia-based medical researcher Deddeh Siah says physical pain is an additional factor binding the young girls, "In some Sandes [initiates], not only is her genitalia removed, the student is marked [cut] so that large scars remain on the skin of the initiate for life."
She estimates about 5,000 puberty-aged adolescents join the group every year, either by force or choice.
Culture can kill
Sandes are a part of Liberia's cultural heritage, says Jomo Weah who works at a government-run culture centre in Kendeja, on the outskirts of Monrovia. "We cannot stop it. It is our culture. We can only intervene by allowing them to go about doing it when the girls are on school break."
Local civil society groups including Girls Movement for Education have tried to discourage parents from allowing their girls to join Sande Society.
Government health worker Mary Mah says FGM is killing hundreds of girls in Liberia every year. "Over 20 percent of the initiates die from excessive bleeding after their clitoris has been removed."
Mah told IRIN if excessive pain and extreme bleeding do not kill the girls, FGM can scar or disfigure her for life. "Risk of serious potentially life-threatening complications [include] ongoing bleeding, infection including HIV, urine retention, stress, shock.[and] psychological trauma."
Catherine Watson Khasu, an elected leader in Grand Cape Mount County in Western Liberia, about 140 km from Monrovia, dismisses these risks, "People have said all sorts of things against our cultural heritage, which are not true. I am a member of the Sande [Society] and I'm proud of it. There is nothing harmful about the Sande."
She told IRIN the government and human rights organisations should respect the tradition of Liberia's indigenous groups, "We know the [1989-2003 civil] war did a lot of damage to our country, but that does not mean we should desecrate our traditional shrines."
pc/pt/aj
[END]
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org
onsdag 24 september 2008
Pakistan’s West…America's New Enemy
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent
PESHAWAR — Pakistan's troubled west makes international headlines with every attack by or on its local Taliban militants.
But the region made history on Tuesday, September 23, when US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress it posed the "greatest threat" to America's national security.
Pakistan’s west comprises the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), seven semi-autonomous tribal areas.
The region borders war-stricken Afghanistan from over ten different sides and the two sides are divided by an unmarked 2200 kilometer Durand Line.
NWFP
The NWFP is the third largest province of Pakistan after Punjab and Sindh with a population of around 25 million out of the total 170-million populace.
Around 75 percent population of the province is Pushtu-speaking people commonly known as Pushtuns.
Peshawar, one of the oldest cities in South Asia, is the province's capital and is heavily dominated by Pushtuns.
The second largest section of the population, nearly 18 percent, is Hindko-speaking people who are known as Hazarawal.
Other ethnic communities include Punjabi, Baloch, Urdu and Siraiki speaking.
FATA
FATA comprises seven semi-autonomous regions, known as agencies, which are Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
The main towns include Miramshah, capital of North Waziristan, Razmak, capital of Kurram, Bajaur, capital of Bajur agency, Darra, capital of Khyber, and Wana, capital of South Waziristan.
FATA has a total population of around 6 million, or roughly 3 percent of Pakistan's population.
Pushtuns constitute ninety nine percent of FATA'S population.
The fiercely independent Mehsud, Wazir, Bhitiani, Burki, Afridi, Mohmind and Yousafzai are the prominent Pushtun tribes that inhabit the areas.
The region is controlled by the central government under a law called Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which was introduced by the British in the 19th century.
The head of each tribal Agency is called a Political Agent and wields extensive powers.
Under the FCR law, the Political Agent acts like a king as tribesmen cannot challenge his decision in any court of law.
Under an ironic Joint Responsibility clause of the FCR, if there is a bomb blast in an area, the nearest located house will be razed and the owner of that house cannot go to any court against that.
Political parties are not allowed to work in the tribal areas and can contest the elections as independents.
About 30 percent area of the region is virtually inaccessible politically and administratively.
Economy
The local economy mainly depends on agriculture, opium production, and smuggling through Afghan transit.
Medicines business is also flourishing in the region.
Wana, the capital of South Waziristan, is the hub of medicines supply to all the seven tribal agencies and even northeastern Afghanistan.
Though thousands of tribesmen are settled in the US, Europe and Middle East, working mainly as laborers, drivers, and small businessmen, there is virtually no banking system in the region.
A few branches of local banks only operate in the capitals of agencies.
The literacy rate is 17.42 percent, which is far below the 43.92 percent average nationwide.
Only 29.5 percent of men and 3 percent of women receive education in the tribal belt.
Literacy rate is highest in Wana, where some of the various high and secondary schools and colleges apply the Cambridge system.
Militancy
Pakistan Militant GroupsThe region, especially South and North Waziristan, has a five-year history of military operations targeting pro-Taliban militants commonly known as local Taliban.
The first military operation was launched in March 2003, when army troops fought bloody battles against Faqeer Mohammed-led Taliban in South Waziristan.
The months-long operation inflicted huge casualties to both sides, especially the army.
Mohammed, a member of the Wazir tribe, was killed in an alleged US missile attack in July 2004.
Baitullah Mehsud, a member of the powerful Mehsud tribe, took over as head of local Taliban after Mohammed's death.
Last year, Mehsud was elected as Ameer of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomerate of all pro-Taliban militant groups operating from South Waziristan to Bajur, and from Kyber to North Waziristan.
A recent military operation in South Waziristan forced 200,000 tribesmen to migrate, whereas the ongoing military operation in Bajur agency has displaced around 500,000 people, who have been living in refugee camps set up in different parts of the NWFP.
Currently, there are some 80,000 Pakistani troops detailed along the border to contain the Taliban activities, and stop cross-border infiltration.
Around 10,000 more troops have been sent to the region after Islamabad’s Marriott hotel on Saturday, September 20.
The government and the local Taliban have so signed several peace agreements from 2005 to April 2008, which could not hold mainly due to US pressure.
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent
PESHAWAR — Pakistan's troubled west makes international headlines with every attack by or on its local Taliban militants.
But the region made history on Tuesday, September 23, when US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress it posed the "greatest threat" to America's national security.
Pakistan’s west comprises the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), seven semi-autonomous tribal areas.
The region borders war-stricken Afghanistan from over ten different sides and the two sides are divided by an unmarked 2200 kilometer Durand Line.
NWFP
The NWFP is the third largest province of Pakistan after Punjab and Sindh with a population of around 25 million out of the total 170-million populace.
Around 75 percent population of the province is Pushtu-speaking people commonly known as Pushtuns.
Peshawar, one of the oldest cities in South Asia, is the province's capital and is heavily dominated by Pushtuns.
The second largest section of the population, nearly 18 percent, is Hindko-speaking people who are known as Hazarawal.
Other ethnic communities include Punjabi, Baloch, Urdu and Siraiki speaking.
FATA
FATA comprises seven semi-autonomous regions, known as agencies, which are Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
The main towns include Miramshah, capital of North Waziristan, Razmak, capital of Kurram, Bajaur, capital of Bajur agency, Darra, capital of Khyber, and Wana, capital of South Waziristan.
FATA has a total population of around 6 million, or roughly 3 percent of Pakistan's population.
Pushtuns constitute ninety nine percent of FATA'S population.
The fiercely independent Mehsud, Wazir, Bhitiani, Burki, Afridi, Mohmind and Yousafzai are the prominent Pushtun tribes that inhabit the areas.
The region is controlled by the central government under a law called Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which was introduced by the British in the 19th century.
The head of each tribal Agency is called a Political Agent and wields extensive powers.
Under the FCR law, the Political Agent acts like a king as tribesmen cannot challenge his decision in any court of law.
Under an ironic Joint Responsibility clause of the FCR, if there is a bomb blast in an area, the nearest located house will be razed and the owner of that house cannot go to any court against that.
Political parties are not allowed to work in the tribal areas and can contest the elections as independents.
About 30 percent area of the region is virtually inaccessible politically and administratively.
Economy
The local economy mainly depends on agriculture, opium production, and smuggling through Afghan transit.
Medicines business is also flourishing in the region.
Wana, the capital of South Waziristan, is the hub of medicines supply to all the seven tribal agencies and even northeastern Afghanistan.
Though thousands of tribesmen are settled in the US, Europe and Middle East, working mainly as laborers, drivers, and small businessmen, there is virtually no banking system in the region.
A few branches of local banks only operate in the capitals of agencies.
The literacy rate is 17.42 percent, which is far below the 43.92 percent average nationwide.
Only 29.5 percent of men and 3 percent of women receive education in the tribal belt.
Literacy rate is highest in Wana, where some of the various high and secondary schools and colleges apply the Cambridge system.
Militancy
Pakistan Militant GroupsThe region, especially South and North Waziristan, has a five-year history of military operations targeting pro-Taliban militants commonly known as local Taliban.
The first military operation was launched in March 2003, when army troops fought bloody battles against Faqeer Mohammed-led Taliban in South Waziristan.
The months-long operation inflicted huge casualties to both sides, especially the army.
Mohammed, a member of the Wazir tribe, was killed in an alleged US missile attack in July 2004.
Baitullah Mehsud, a member of the powerful Mehsud tribe, took over as head of local Taliban after Mohammed's death.
Last year, Mehsud was elected as Ameer of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomerate of all pro-Taliban militant groups operating from South Waziristan to Bajur, and from Kyber to North Waziristan.
A recent military operation in South Waziristan forced 200,000 tribesmen to migrate, whereas the ongoing military operation in Bajur agency has displaced around 500,000 people, who have been living in refugee camps set up in different parts of the NWFP.
Currently, there are some 80,000 Pakistani troops detailed along the border to contain the Taliban activities, and stop cross-border infiltration.
Around 10,000 more troops have been sent to the region after Islamabad’s Marriott hotel on Saturday, September 20.
The government and the local Taliban have so signed several peace agreements from 2005 to April 2008, which could not hold mainly due to US pressure.
Drought/Food Crisis in Ethiopia - 23 Sep 2008
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Date: 23 Sep 2008
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Situation report: Drought/Food Crisis in Ethiopia - 23 Sep 2008
Highlights:
- Government announces enhanced food distribution mechanism for the Somali Region
- Cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) reported in Afar, Amhara and Tigray Regions
- Concern grows about the impact of food insecurity on communities in Afar and Somali Region.
Humanitarian Overview
Current Context
Government and humanitarian partners continue to respond to the range of health, nutrition and livelihood needs generated by the combined effects of the drought and food crisis in Ethiopia. In Oromiya and SNNPR, children continue to access treatment at therapeutic feeding programmes whilst concern grows about the impact of food insecurity on nutrition status of vulnerable groups in Afar and Somali Regions. The government has recently announced a revision of the estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance from 4.6 million to 6.4 million. The revision of the figures will necessitate additional resources in order to ensure that those in need receive appropriate level of assistance.
Sectoral Updates
Health and Nutrition
Key Issues
Nutrition: Government and humanitarian partners continue to support feeding programmes for children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in drought-affected regions of the country. In Oromiya and SNNP regions, where the crisis first manifested, children continue to access life-saving treatment at Therapeutic Feeding Units (TFUs) and Stabilisation Centres(SCs). In SNNPR alone, 2,901 children with SAM were admitted between 22nd and 28th August to TFPs bringing the total number of new admissions reported between 27th June and 28th August to 31, 236 children1.
In Afar Region, reports from a range of actors point towards compromised food security at the household level with direct consequences for the nutrition status of vulnerable groups including children. The Regional Health Bureau and DPPA in Afar Region has identified an initial 12 hotspot woredas including Elidaar and Kori (Zone 1), Erebti, Berhale and Bidu (Zone 2), Gewane and Bure Mudaytu (Zone 3), Teru, Yallo and Gulina (Zone 4) and Dalifage and Semurobi (Zone 5). The Emergency Nutrition Coordination Unit (ENCU) is urging all partners with the capacity to carry out nutrition surveys and subsequent interventions in Afar Region to scale-up response.
Health: The number of woredas reporting active cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) continues to increase despite ongoing multi-agency efforts to minimise a further outbreak of the disease. The primary triggers for the spread of the AWD are increased rainfall in selected areas, poor quality of drinking water, limited access to sanitation services and poor hygiene practices.
Health and nutrition partners are particularly concerned about cases of AWD in areas classified as hotspot areas on the basis of nutrition and food security situation. According to WHO, Amibara woreda in Afar Region, Goncha, Dejen, Takusa, Ebenat and Fogera woredas in Amhara Region, Ada'a, Gimbichu and Lome woredas in Oromiya Asegede Tsmbila, Tahtay Adiyabo and Tahtay Koraro woredas in Tigray Region, are currently reporting cases of AWD.
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)Date: 23 Sep 2008
Date: 23 Sep 2008
Print E-mail Save
Situation report: Drought/Food Crisis in Ethiopia - 23 Sep 2008
Highlights:
- Government announces enhanced food distribution mechanism for the Somali Region
- Cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) reported in Afar, Amhara and Tigray Regions
- Concern grows about the impact of food insecurity on communities in Afar and Somali Region.
Humanitarian Overview
Current Context
Government and humanitarian partners continue to respond to the range of health, nutrition and livelihood needs generated by the combined effects of the drought and food crisis in Ethiopia. In Oromiya and SNNPR, children continue to access treatment at therapeutic feeding programmes whilst concern grows about the impact of food insecurity on nutrition status of vulnerable groups in Afar and Somali Regions. The government has recently announced a revision of the estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance from 4.6 million to 6.4 million. The revision of the figures will necessitate additional resources in order to ensure that those in need receive appropriate level of assistance.
Sectoral Updates
Health and Nutrition
Key Issues
Nutrition: Government and humanitarian partners continue to support feeding programmes for children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in drought-affected regions of the country. In Oromiya and SNNP regions, where the crisis first manifested, children continue to access life-saving treatment at Therapeutic Feeding Units (TFUs) and Stabilisation Centres(SCs). In SNNPR alone, 2,901 children with SAM were admitted between 22nd and 28th August to TFPs bringing the total number of new admissions reported between 27th June and 28th August to 31, 236 children1.
In Afar Region, reports from a range of actors point towards compromised food security at the household level with direct consequences for the nutrition status of vulnerable groups including children. The Regional Health Bureau and DPPA in Afar Region has identified an initial 12 hotspot woredas including Elidaar and Kori (Zone 1), Erebti, Berhale and Bidu (Zone 2), Gewane and Bure Mudaytu (Zone 3), Teru, Yallo and Gulina (Zone 4) and Dalifage and Semurobi (Zone 5). The Emergency Nutrition Coordination Unit (ENCU) is urging all partners with the capacity to carry out nutrition surveys and subsequent interventions in Afar Region to scale-up response.
Health: The number of woredas reporting active cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) continues to increase despite ongoing multi-agency efforts to minimise a further outbreak of the disease. The primary triggers for the spread of the AWD are increased rainfall in selected areas, poor quality of drinking water, limited access to sanitation services and poor hygiene practices.
Health and nutrition partners are particularly concerned about cases of AWD in areas classified as hotspot areas on the basis of nutrition and food security situation. According to WHO, Amibara woreda in Afar Region, Goncha, Dejen, Takusa, Ebenat and Fogera woredas in Amhara Region, Ada'a, Gimbichu and Lome woredas in Oromiya Asegede Tsmbila, Tahtay Adiyabo and Tahtay Koraro woredas in Tigray Region, are currently reporting cases of AWD.
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)Date: 23 Sep 2008
tisdag 23 september 2008
SOMALIA: Mogadishu rocked by "worst shelling yet"
NAIROBI, 23 September 2008 (IRIN) - At least 100 people were killed and thousands fled their homes in the "worst fighting" to hit Mogadishu in recent months, locals told IRIN.
The fighting on 22 September pitted Ethiopian troops, African Union peacekeeping troops (AMISOM) and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces against insurgents. More than 200 people were reportedly wounded, hospital sources said.
"We are still today [23 September] collecting bodies and body parts from the market and the area around it," Ali Mohamed Siad, chairman of the Bakara market traders, told IRIN. "Blood and body parts are everywhere."
The fighting was concentrated around the large market - which has in the past been the scene of fierce fighting between Ethiopian-backed government forces and insurgents.
"The market and the surrounding neighbourhoods experienced the worst shelling yet," Siad added.
He said the shelling by Ethiopian, AMISOM and TFG forces began when the market was full of shoppers getting ready for the Eid festivities, to mark the end of Ramadan next week.
Up to 82 people have so far been confirmed dead and 157 injured in the market area alone, Siad added. The market was now closed.
Ali Sheikh Yassin, acting chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organisation, told IRIN the market had been shelled from three different directions. "It was obvious the market was deliberately targeted," he said.
The shelling began after Islamic insurgents launched simultaneous attacks on the two main AMISOM bases at K4 and the airport, said a local journalist.
But AMISOM spokesman Barigye Bahoko told IRIN the AU peacekeepers were not involved in the shelling. "We are absolutely not responsible for the shelling," he said. "Responsibility should be on those who attack our defensive positions."
Local sources said the fighting and shelling were mostly concentrated in the districts of Hodan and Hawl Wadag in south Mogadishu.
Many families are still trying to get out, while others have begun burying the dead and taking the injured to hospital.
A medical source told IRIN the two main hospitals, Madina in the south and Keysaney in the north, were seeing more injured than at any time in the recent past.
"As of last night 195 injured were brought to Madina and about 30 to Keysaney," the source said. Roughly 46 people died in the hospitals, "but that is only those who made it to hospitals".
Meanwhile, talks to end the conflict, which have going on in Djibouti between representatives of the government and a faction of an Eritrea-based opposition alliance, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, again failed to agree a ceasefire.
"The main stumbling block is the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces," said a civil society activist at the talks.
He said the TFG seemed to be trying to find a way for a less hurried withdrawal, while the Alliance was insisting on a 30-day withdrawal.
The parties agreed to resume talks in 15 days to hammer out a ceasefire agreement.
ah/mw[END]
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org
NAIROBI, 23 September 2008 (IRIN) - At least 100 people were killed and thousands fled their homes in the "worst fighting" to hit Mogadishu in recent months, locals told IRIN.
The fighting on 22 September pitted Ethiopian troops, African Union peacekeeping troops (AMISOM) and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces against insurgents. More than 200 people were reportedly wounded, hospital sources said.
"We are still today [23 September] collecting bodies and body parts from the market and the area around it," Ali Mohamed Siad, chairman of the Bakara market traders, told IRIN. "Blood and body parts are everywhere."
The fighting was concentrated around the large market - which has in the past been the scene of fierce fighting between Ethiopian-backed government forces and insurgents.
"The market and the surrounding neighbourhoods experienced the worst shelling yet," Siad added.
He said the shelling by Ethiopian, AMISOM and TFG forces began when the market was full of shoppers getting ready for the Eid festivities, to mark the end of Ramadan next week.
Up to 82 people have so far been confirmed dead and 157 injured in the market area alone, Siad added. The market was now closed.
Ali Sheikh Yassin, acting chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organisation, told IRIN the market had been shelled from three different directions. "It was obvious the market was deliberately targeted," he said.
The shelling began after Islamic insurgents launched simultaneous attacks on the two main AMISOM bases at K4 and the airport, said a local journalist.
But AMISOM spokesman Barigye Bahoko told IRIN the AU peacekeepers were not involved in the shelling. "We are absolutely not responsible for the shelling," he said. "Responsibility should be on those who attack our defensive positions."
Local sources said the fighting and shelling were mostly concentrated in the districts of Hodan and Hawl Wadag in south Mogadishu.
Many families are still trying to get out, while others have begun burying the dead and taking the injured to hospital.
A medical source told IRIN the two main hospitals, Madina in the south and Keysaney in the north, were seeing more injured than at any time in the recent past.
"As of last night 195 injured were brought to Madina and about 30 to Keysaney," the source said. Roughly 46 people died in the hospitals, "but that is only those who made it to hospitals".
Meanwhile, talks to end the conflict, which have going on in Djibouti between representatives of the government and a faction of an Eritrea-based opposition alliance, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, again failed to agree a ceasefire.
"The main stumbling block is the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces," said a civil society activist at the talks.
He said the TFG seemed to be trying to find a way for a less hurried withdrawal, while the Alliance was insisting on a 30-day withdrawal.
The parties agreed to resume talks in 15 days to hammer out a ceasefire agreement.
ah/mw[END]
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org
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