SRAEL-OPT: Israel tries to block Gaza health conference
RAMALLAH, 30 October 2008 (IRIN) - Some 100 academics and mental health workers were denied entry to the Gaza Strip to attend an international medical conference, but the conference took place anyway - by video link, with one group gathering in Gaza City and another in Ramallah.
The conference, organised by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) on 27-28 October, focused on the mental health impact of the Israeli blockade of the enclave (since June 2007 when Hamas took over).
However, for many this "virtual" method proved less productive, as the foreign experts and local health workers were generally unable to conduct sustained discussions and take advantage of each other's knowledge and proficiency.
"It made it harder to exchange experiences," said Samir Qouta, a psychologist at the Islamic University in Gaza, told IRIN.
"Denying the foreigners entry to Gaza made mutual interaction impossible, but still the conference took place - and that in itself is a big achievement," said the GCMHP's Husam el-Nounou.
Gaza's border crossings were closed, exports banned and imports restricted to humanitarian goods after the Islamist Hamas movement took over in the territory.
The denial of entry for many of the Gazan health workers and visiting experts served to highlight just how isolated the enclave is from the rest of the world.
Israeli security officials said the conference was political in nature and would have helped serve the interests of Hamas.
Conference goers denied they had any interest in partisan issues.
Few mental health experts
"According to my research, the siege is affecting social and economic life," said Qouta, adding "the impact is especially clear on the children."
"The quality of life has really deteriorated," he said.
Health experts say lack of medication and a shortage of specialised doctors in the enclave are having an adverse effect on people's well-being in general, but mental health is particularly affected as there are very few experts in the enclave, and patients cannot easily travel abroad.
"The siege is making it worse. The people are suffering more," Qouta said.
Even with the difficulties in running the conference, many participants felt they still learned and were able to share with each other, using technology like the video link and email.
"Also, our colleagues in Gaza now know they have support and solidarity from mental health experts abroad," said W.H.G. Wolters, a clinical psychotherapist from the Netherlands who attended the conference.
He noted the tough challenges mental health workers in Gaza face in carrying out their work.
"The workers face severe stress and traumatisation, in addition to having to face their own survival in the difficult situation," Wolters said.
In some cases, they had to treat their own family members, further complicating an already daunting job.
shg/at/cb[END]
IRIN
torsdag 30 oktober 2008
måndag 27 oktober 2008
Syria accuses US of deadly raid
Syria accuses US of deadly raid
Syria has accused the United States of killing at least eight people in a helicopter raid in the country's east, close to the border with Iraq.
The government condemned the act as "serious aggression" and summoned the senior US and Iraqi envoys to Damascus to protest against the raid, the Syrian Arab news agency (Sana) reported on Sunday.
A US military official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press in Washington that the raid by US special forces were targeting al-Qaeda-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq.
"We are taking matters into our own hands," AP quoted him as saying.
Syrian state television said American helicopters raided the village of Sukariya, which lies 550km northeast of Damascus, before flying back towards Iraqi territory.
"Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 4:45pm local time [13:45 GMT] on Sunday," state television and Sana news agency reported.
During the raids, two of the helicopters landed and dropped off eight US soldiers, who then entered a house, Syrian media reported.
"American soldiers ... attacked a civilian building under construction and fired at workmen inside, causing eight deaths," the reports said.
Children killed
The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children.
"Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions"
Syrian government statement"Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria," a government statement said.
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there have been some instances in which American troops crossed areas of the 600-km border in pursuit of fighters, or aircraft violating Syria's airspace.
But Sunday's raid, if confirmed, would be the first conducted by aircraft and on such a large scale.
Akram Hameed, one of the injured who said he was fishing in the Euphrates river, told Syrian television he saw four helicopters coming from the border area under a heavy blanket of fire.
"One of the helicopters landed in an agricultural area and eight members disembarked," the man in his 40s said. "The firing lasted about 15 minutes and when I tried to leave the area on my motorcycle, I was hit by a bullet in the right arm about 20 metres away," he said.
Syria TV showed what it said was the injured wife of the building's guard, in bed in hospital with a tube in her nose, saying that two helicopters landed and two remained in the air during the attack.
US reaction
The alleged attack came just days after the commander of US forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.
US Major-General John Kelly said on Thursday that Iraq's western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria was a "different story".
IN VIDEO
US raid on Syrian soil"The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side," Kelly said. "We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement."
However, Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes, a spokesman for US forces in western Iraq, said the US division that operates on the Iraqi side of the border was not involved in Sunday's incident.
A Pentagon spokesman in Washington said he had no immediate information on the reported strike but would check further while the White House and CIA declined to comment.
The US and the US-backed Iraqi government frequently say Damascus is not doing enough to stop anti-US fighters, including those from al-Qaeda, from crossing the border into Iraq.
The area targeted by Sunday's raid lies close to the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which in the past has been a crossing point for fighters, weapons and money used to fuel the armed Sunni opposition against Iraq's Shia-led government.
Thabet Salem, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the US had appeared to have taken the building workers for infiltrators.
"The Syrian government will be very worried because from the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003 until now, nothing has happened [in Syria]. There have maybe been a few cases, but nothing like eight people killed inside Syria," he said.
"It will raise questions as to why this is happening at this moment - towards the end of the current US administration.
"Syria has deployed large numbers [of security staff] and they have checkpoints every four kilometres along the border. The Syrians have, according to my information, stopped five or six thousand people trying to cross the Syria-Iraq border throughout the last few years."
Iraq security
The raid comes 10 days after Iraqi forces arrested seven Syrian "terrorist" suspects at a checkpoint near the city of Baquba, a base for al-Qaeda fighters, the Iraqi government said.
But last month, Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, told his US counterpart George Bush that Iran and Syria no longer pose a problem to Iraqi security.
Syria's first ambassador to Iraq in 26 years took up his post in Baghdad this month, bringing more than two decades of discord between the nations to an end.
In September, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said she had met Walid Muallem, Syria’s foreign minister, to discuss Middle East peace efforts.
Syrian and American diplomats said the talks touched on Iraq, Lebanon and Middle East peace negotiations.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Syria has accused the United States of killing at least eight people in a helicopter raid in the country's east, close to the border with Iraq.
The government condemned the act as "serious aggression" and summoned the senior US and Iraqi envoys to Damascus to protest against the raid, the Syrian Arab news agency (Sana) reported on Sunday.
A US military official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press in Washington that the raid by US special forces were targeting al-Qaeda-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq.
"We are taking matters into our own hands," AP quoted him as saying.
Syrian state television said American helicopters raided the village of Sukariya, which lies 550km northeast of Damascus, before flying back towards Iraqi territory.
"Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 4:45pm local time [13:45 GMT] on Sunday," state television and Sana news agency reported.
During the raids, two of the helicopters landed and dropped off eight US soldiers, who then entered a house, Syrian media reported.
"American soldiers ... attacked a civilian building under construction and fired at workmen inside, causing eight deaths," the reports said.
Children killed
The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children.
"Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions"
Syrian government statement"Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria," a government statement said.
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there have been some instances in which American troops crossed areas of the 600-km border in pursuit of fighters, or aircraft violating Syria's airspace.
But Sunday's raid, if confirmed, would be the first conducted by aircraft and on such a large scale.
Akram Hameed, one of the injured who said he was fishing in the Euphrates river, told Syrian television he saw four helicopters coming from the border area under a heavy blanket of fire.
"One of the helicopters landed in an agricultural area and eight members disembarked," the man in his 40s said. "The firing lasted about 15 minutes and when I tried to leave the area on my motorcycle, I was hit by a bullet in the right arm about 20 metres away," he said.
Syria TV showed what it said was the injured wife of the building's guard, in bed in hospital with a tube in her nose, saying that two helicopters landed and two remained in the air during the attack.
US reaction
The alleged attack came just days after the commander of US forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.
US Major-General John Kelly said on Thursday that Iraq's western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria was a "different story".
IN VIDEO
US raid on Syrian soil"The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side," Kelly said. "We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement."
However, Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes, a spokesman for US forces in western Iraq, said the US division that operates on the Iraqi side of the border was not involved in Sunday's incident.
A Pentagon spokesman in Washington said he had no immediate information on the reported strike but would check further while the White House and CIA declined to comment.
The US and the US-backed Iraqi government frequently say Damascus is not doing enough to stop anti-US fighters, including those from al-Qaeda, from crossing the border into Iraq.
The area targeted by Sunday's raid lies close to the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which in the past has been a crossing point for fighters, weapons and money used to fuel the armed Sunni opposition against Iraq's Shia-led government.
Thabet Salem, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the US had appeared to have taken the building workers for infiltrators.
"The Syrian government will be very worried because from the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003 until now, nothing has happened [in Syria]. There have maybe been a few cases, but nothing like eight people killed inside Syria," he said.
"It will raise questions as to why this is happening at this moment - towards the end of the current US administration.
"Syria has deployed large numbers [of security staff] and they have checkpoints every four kilometres along the border. The Syrians have, according to my information, stopped five or six thousand people trying to cross the Syria-Iraq border throughout the last few years."
Iraq security
The raid comes 10 days after Iraqi forces arrested seven Syrian "terrorist" suspects at a checkpoint near the city of Baquba, a base for al-Qaeda fighters, the Iraqi government said.
But last month, Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, told his US counterpart George Bush that Iran and Syria no longer pose a problem to Iraqi security.
Syria's first ambassador to Iraq in 26 years took up his post in Baghdad this month, bringing more than two decades of discord between the nations to an end.
In September, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said she had met Walid Muallem, Syria’s foreign minister, to discuss Middle East peace efforts.
Syrian and American diplomats said the talks touched on Iraq, Lebanon and Middle East peace negotiations.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
fredag 24 oktober 2008
China urged to join global bailout
China urged to join global bailout
European leaders are urging China to help efforts to tackle the financial crisis [AFP]
Leaders from Asia and Europe have opened a summit in Beijing with a call on China to do more to tackle the "unprecedented" challenges posed by the global financial crisis.
Representatives from the 43 countries attending the Asia Europe Meeting (Asem) on Friday were hoping that China can help shape reforms in the world's financial system and address economic imbalances at the core of the meltdown to stave off a possible global recession.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said China, India and Japan need "to be on board" as the world tries to avert a global recession.
"We swim together or we sink together," he said, calling for tighter Asia-Europe co-operation in order to survive the crisis.
"I very much hope that China can make an important contribution to the solution to the financial crisis. It's a great opportunity for China to show a sense of responsibility."
European governments have already committed more than $2 trillion to banks and money markets in efforts to shore up investor confidence.
But unlike Europe's co-ordinated effort, Asian governments have for the most part limited their intervention to cutting interest rates, guaranteeing bank deposits and injecting money into the credit markets.
Barroso said the two regions "face challenges which don't respect any borders".
'No one immune'
"No one in Europe or Asia can seriously pretend to be immune. We are living in unprecedented times, and we need unprecedented levels of global co-ordination."
On Thursday Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, said the world economy looked "grim and complicated".
"The emerging markets and developing countries are confronted with financial risks, weak foreign demand and mounting inflation," he was quoted as saying by China's Xinhua news agency.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has said he will seek Asian backing for his bid to radically restructure the Western-dominated global financial system.
Sarkozy, who currently holds the rotating European Union (EU) presidency, wants the emerging giant economies of China and India to have a bigger role in the world's economic decision-making.
Liu Jianchao, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, agreed that there was a need to "explore the possibilities for reform of the international financial structure" but gave no specifics on how to stabilise the markets.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic spat threatened to derail the summit's main agenda after the European Parliament on Thursday awarded its top human rights Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia, an activist imprisoned by the Chinese government on subversion charges.
In criticising the move, Liu raised China's "strong dissatisfaction at the decision by the European Parliament to give the award to a jailed criminal in China, in disregard of our repeated representations".
The spokesman, however, later tried to downplay any impact the move may have on the two-day biennial summit.
Source:
Agencies
European leaders are urging China to help efforts to tackle the financial crisis [AFP]
Leaders from Asia and Europe have opened a summit in Beijing with a call on China to do more to tackle the "unprecedented" challenges posed by the global financial crisis.
Representatives from the 43 countries attending the Asia Europe Meeting (Asem) on Friday were hoping that China can help shape reforms in the world's financial system and address economic imbalances at the core of the meltdown to stave off a possible global recession.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said China, India and Japan need "to be on board" as the world tries to avert a global recession.
"We swim together or we sink together," he said, calling for tighter Asia-Europe co-operation in order to survive the crisis.
"I very much hope that China can make an important contribution to the solution to the financial crisis. It's a great opportunity for China to show a sense of responsibility."
European governments have already committed more than $2 trillion to banks and money markets in efforts to shore up investor confidence.
But unlike Europe's co-ordinated effort, Asian governments have for the most part limited their intervention to cutting interest rates, guaranteeing bank deposits and injecting money into the credit markets.
Barroso said the two regions "face challenges which don't respect any borders".
'No one immune'
"No one in Europe or Asia can seriously pretend to be immune. We are living in unprecedented times, and we need unprecedented levels of global co-ordination."
On Thursday Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, said the world economy looked "grim and complicated".
"The emerging markets and developing countries are confronted with financial risks, weak foreign demand and mounting inflation," he was quoted as saying by China's Xinhua news agency.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has said he will seek Asian backing for his bid to radically restructure the Western-dominated global financial system.
Sarkozy, who currently holds the rotating European Union (EU) presidency, wants the emerging giant economies of China and India to have a bigger role in the world's economic decision-making.
Liu Jianchao, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, agreed that there was a need to "explore the possibilities for reform of the international financial structure" but gave no specifics on how to stabilise the markets.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic spat threatened to derail the summit's main agenda after the European Parliament on Thursday awarded its top human rights Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia, an activist imprisoned by the Chinese government on subversion charges.
In criticising the move, Liu raised China's "strong dissatisfaction at the decision by the European Parliament to give the award to a jailed criminal in China, in disregard of our repeated representations".
The spokesman, however, later tried to downplay any impact the move may have on the two-day biennial summit.
Source:
Agencies
onsdag 22 oktober 2008
Iraq Wants US Pact Changed
By: IOL
"The cabinet unanimously sought amendments to the text of the pact so it can be acceptable nationally," said Dabbagh. (Reuters)BAGHDAD — Dealing another blow to proposed security pact, the Iraqi government called on Tuesday, October 21, for more changes to the controversial agreement that would govern the stay of US troops beyond the end of thus year.
"The cabinet unanimously sought amendments to the text of the pact so it can be acceptable nationally," Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said in a statement.
The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki convened earlier today to discuss the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which lays the legal basis for US troops presence after the expiry of the UN mandate by the end of this year.
"The cabinet called on the ministers to submit their suggestions to be included in the negotiations with the US," Dabbagh said.
He added that ministers would meet over the coming days to "give their opinions and consult and provide the amendments suggested" before submitting the amended draft to the US negotiating team.
Maliki told the ministers that the deal was unacceptable in its current drafting.
"He made observations on the need for further changes, because he wants to market it," the participant told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity.
Iraqi and US negotiators recently finalized the text of the agreement, which was expected to have been sealed by the end of July.
The cabinet must approve the draft before it can be sent to the 275-member parliament.
The ruling United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), a powerhouse coalition of mostly Shiite groups including Maliki's Dawa party, is pressing for more changes to the text.
The 30 MPs loyal to influential Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr have already declared opposition to the agreement.
The majority of Sunni lawmakers have also spoken out against the pact, seen to be mainly endorsed by the two main Kurdish parties.
Reluctant
"The consequences of not having a SOFA and of not having a renewed UN authorization are pretty dramatic in terms of consequences for our actions," Gates said.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned Tuesday of dramatic consequences of not concluding the deal.
"The consequences of not having a SOFA and of not having a renewed UN authorization are pretty dramatic in terms of consequences for our actions," he told reporters.
A similar warning was made a day earlier by Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"We are clearly running out of time," he said, adding that the Iraqi military lacks the ability to bring about security when the UN mandate expires on December 31.
"And in that regard there is great potential for losses of significant consequence."
While the US State Department is publicly insisting the draft is a final version, senior officials are not ruling out the possibility of renegotiating parts of the deal.
A senior US official, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, cited Iraqi objections to the language on jurisdiction for US troops, the troop pullout dates and the conditions for troop pullout.
According to the draft deal, American troops should pull from Baghdad and other towns by 2009 and leave the country by 2011, unless asked to stay by the Iraqi government.
Baghdad is seeking the power to arrest and try Americans accused of crimes not related to official military operations, plus jurisdiction over troops and contractors who commit major crimes in the course of their duties.
Under the draft, US forces or contractors who commit "major and premeditated murders" while off duty and outside US facilities would fall under Iraqi jurisdiction.
All other crimes -- and murders committed inside US facilities or by on-duty forces -- would fall under American jurisdiction.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has ruled the possibility of pushing the deal through parliament before the White House elections.
"It is unlikely that the Iraqi parliament will approve the SOFA before the American presidential election on November 4," he said.
"Because of the differences among the political groups, we don't believe the deal will be approved now."
"The cabinet unanimously sought amendments to the text of the pact so it can be acceptable nationally," said Dabbagh. (Reuters)BAGHDAD — Dealing another blow to proposed security pact, the Iraqi government called on Tuesday, October 21, for more changes to the controversial agreement that would govern the stay of US troops beyond the end of thus year.
"The cabinet unanimously sought amendments to the text of the pact so it can be acceptable nationally," Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said in a statement.
The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki convened earlier today to discuss the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which lays the legal basis for US troops presence after the expiry of the UN mandate by the end of this year.
"The cabinet called on the ministers to submit their suggestions to be included in the negotiations with the US," Dabbagh said.
He added that ministers would meet over the coming days to "give their opinions and consult and provide the amendments suggested" before submitting the amended draft to the US negotiating team.
Maliki told the ministers that the deal was unacceptable in its current drafting.
"He made observations on the need for further changes, because he wants to market it," the participant told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity.
Iraqi and US negotiators recently finalized the text of the agreement, which was expected to have been sealed by the end of July.
The cabinet must approve the draft before it can be sent to the 275-member parliament.
The ruling United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), a powerhouse coalition of mostly Shiite groups including Maliki's Dawa party, is pressing for more changes to the text.
The 30 MPs loyal to influential Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr have already declared opposition to the agreement.
The majority of Sunni lawmakers have also spoken out against the pact, seen to be mainly endorsed by the two main Kurdish parties.
Reluctant
"The consequences of not having a SOFA and of not having a renewed UN authorization are pretty dramatic in terms of consequences for our actions," Gates said.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned Tuesday of dramatic consequences of not concluding the deal.
"The consequences of not having a SOFA and of not having a renewed UN authorization are pretty dramatic in terms of consequences for our actions," he told reporters.
A similar warning was made a day earlier by Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"We are clearly running out of time," he said, adding that the Iraqi military lacks the ability to bring about security when the UN mandate expires on December 31.
"And in that regard there is great potential for losses of significant consequence."
While the US State Department is publicly insisting the draft is a final version, senior officials are not ruling out the possibility of renegotiating parts of the deal.
A senior US official, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, cited Iraqi objections to the language on jurisdiction for US troops, the troop pullout dates and the conditions for troop pullout.
According to the draft deal, American troops should pull from Baghdad and other towns by 2009 and leave the country by 2011, unless asked to stay by the Iraqi government.
Baghdad is seeking the power to arrest and try Americans accused of crimes not related to official military operations, plus jurisdiction over troops and contractors who commit major crimes in the course of their duties.
Under the draft, US forces or contractors who commit "major and premeditated murders" while off duty and outside US facilities would fall under Iraqi jurisdiction.
All other crimes -- and murders committed inside US facilities or by on-duty forces -- would fall under American jurisdiction.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has ruled the possibility of pushing the deal through parliament before the White House elections.
"It is unlikely that the Iraqi parliament will approve the SOFA before the American presidential election on November 4," he said.
"Because of the differences among the political groups, we don't believe the deal will be approved now."
tisdag 21 oktober 2008
Preparing for massive demobilisation
SUDAN: Preparing for massive demobilisation
KHARTOUM, 21 October 2008 (IRIN) - Sudan is planning to disarm, demobilise and re-integrate over 180,000 soldiers into civilian life, but the ambitious scheme to rebuild war-shattered communities could raise false expectations, observers warn.
"We are looking in total at the demobilisation and reintegration of 182,900 adults across east, north and south Sudan, not including any possible operations in Darfur," said Adriaan Verheul, chief of the UN programme supporting the government-run scheme.
"This will make it the biggest DDR operation in the world."
The programme is a key part of a 2005 north-south peace deal that ended one of Africa's longest civil wars, in which over 1.5 million people are estimated to have been killed and another six million displaced.
Run jointly by northern and southern government commissions, the numbers will be split equally between the northern Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the southern ex-rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
"It will serve [the] stabilisation of peace in the country," said William Deng Deng, chairman of the southern DDR commission, in recent comments to Sudan's official news agency SUNA.
Initial lists run to 50,000 names, and planning maps mark out proposals for work to begin. Child soldiers are the first focus, with some 1,300 already demobilised.
In addition, 2,900 ex-rebels in eastern Sudan, who fought for a decade in separate battles before a 2006 peace deal, have taken the first tentative steps towards peace.
"The aim is to turn soldiers into civilians able to make enough money to take care of themselves and their families without their army salaries," Verheul told IRIN.
The head of the northern DDR commission, Sulaf al-Dein Salih, said progress was going well in the east, expressing "satisfaction" at the disarmament process "in both north and southern Sudan".
Staggered demobilisation scheme
Under a staggered demobilisation scheme, soldiers put forward by their commanders will be assessed, electronically registered and given medical checks at special centres.
They will also get a US$400 lump-sum payment, 10 weeks rations for a family of five, and a package to help start a new life as civilians, including basic tools, a mosquito net, plastic sheeting and a wind-up radio.
Later, each retiring fighter will receive reintergration support worth $1,750, including vocational training to learn a new career, or backing to establish a small business or farm.
"It's a political process with security objectives, but uses development methods and has a humanitarian impact," said Verheul.
Darfur poses threat
Building peace in Sudan is a slow and often shaky process. Many worry that continuing war in the western region of Darfur could destabilise peace efforts elsewhere, especially with potential genocide charges looming over President Omar al-Bashir.
National elections are due in 2009, followed by a 2011 referendum in the semi-autonomous south on whether it should become fully independent.
Tensions remain high, especially in flashpoint border zones, and former enemy armies are watching over their neighbour's capabilities with concern, nervous of reports that the other is rearming.
In the grossly underdeveloped south, an area about the size of Spain and Portugal combined but with virtually no tarred roads, militias and heavily armed civilians still dominate many regions.
Even apparently basic tasks, such as transporting fighters to demobilisation centres, will pose giant logistical challenges.
"You cannot demobilise a soldier and then put him out on the street without the means to survive and a minimum of dignity," said Verheul.
"Reintegrating former military personnel is often difficult; they may not find the new life appealing, or they don't have the right education for civilian jobs - or there might not be enough jobs for them on the market."
Guaranteed funding needed
Experts say it is vital core funding is guaranteed before the bulk of demobilisation begins, warning that ex-soldiers not provided with a new means of income could themselves pose considerable risks.
And the programme is far from cheap - costing US$385 million for the crucial three-year reintegration phase.
The cash is planned to come from the UN, international donors, and $45 million from Sudan.
Officials are upbeat about the prospects: "Policies are in place, planning is under way and the funding for some initial steps is available," the UN's top envoy to Sudan, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, said in a recent report.
A pilot project for adult fighters is due to start in November in Blue Nile State, with around 1,000 soldiers from both north and south expected to take part.
"If successful, this will be repeated in other areas," Verheul said.
Building confidence
However, around half of the first batch of 50,000 put forward are war-wounded or disabled, a point some critics say means that active military forces will not be reduced.
Verheul dismissed this, arguing there is a need to treat all ex-combatants with respect, to encourage those still able to fight to find a new income.
"No parties in a DDR programme come forward with their best soldiers first," said Verheul. "One must build confidence, to get a more serious reduction in military forces later."
Many Sudanese who were affected by the war are hoping for the best. Like many whose villages were destroyed in Sudan's 21-year civil war, tea seller Mary Jok knows the cost of conflict.
"There's been fighting most of my life," said the 40-year old widow, who ekes out a living from a tiny street stall in the Sudanese capital, [Khartoum] where she fled a decade ago. "My daughters died and my sons were taken to fight," she said.
On the scattered stools in the dust around Mary Jok's tea stall, customers say there is both hope and cynicism at the programme.
"We have heard grand plans before," said Ahmed Ali Mohammed, a teacher. "But we want peace to develop Sudan. We need it to work - there are too many people today who know only how to fight."
IRIN.
KHARTOUM, 21 October 2008 (IRIN) - Sudan is planning to disarm, demobilise and re-integrate over 180,000 soldiers into civilian life, but the ambitious scheme to rebuild war-shattered communities could raise false expectations, observers warn.
"We are looking in total at the demobilisation and reintegration of 182,900 adults across east, north and south Sudan, not including any possible operations in Darfur," said Adriaan Verheul, chief of the UN programme supporting the government-run scheme.
"This will make it the biggest DDR operation in the world."
The programme is a key part of a 2005 north-south peace deal that ended one of Africa's longest civil wars, in which over 1.5 million people are estimated to have been killed and another six million displaced.
Run jointly by northern and southern government commissions, the numbers will be split equally between the northern Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the southern ex-rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
"It will serve [the] stabilisation of peace in the country," said William Deng Deng, chairman of the southern DDR commission, in recent comments to Sudan's official news agency SUNA.
Initial lists run to 50,000 names, and planning maps mark out proposals for work to begin. Child soldiers are the first focus, with some 1,300 already demobilised.
In addition, 2,900 ex-rebels in eastern Sudan, who fought for a decade in separate battles before a 2006 peace deal, have taken the first tentative steps towards peace.
"The aim is to turn soldiers into civilians able to make enough money to take care of themselves and their families without their army salaries," Verheul told IRIN.
The head of the northern DDR commission, Sulaf al-Dein Salih, said progress was going well in the east, expressing "satisfaction" at the disarmament process "in both north and southern Sudan".
Staggered demobilisation scheme
Under a staggered demobilisation scheme, soldiers put forward by their commanders will be assessed, electronically registered and given medical checks at special centres.
They will also get a US$400 lump-sum payment, 10 weeks rations for a family of five, and a package to help start a new life as civilians, including basic tools, a mosquito net, plastic sheeting and a wind-up radio.
Later, each retiring fighter will receive reintergration support worth $1,750, including vocational training to learn a new career, or backing to establish a small business or farm.
"It's a political process with security objectives, but uses development methods and has a humanitarian impact," said Verheul.
Darfur poses threat
Building peace in Sudan is a slow and often shaky process. Many worry that continuing war in the western region of Darfur could destabilise peace efforts elsewhere, especially with potential genocide charges looming over President Omar al-Bashir.
National elections are due in 2009, followed by a 2011 referendum in the semi-autonomous south on whether it should become fully independent.
Tensions remain high, especially in flashpoint border zones, and former enemy armies are watching over their neighbour's capabilities with concern, nervous of reports that the other is rearming.
In the grossly underdeveloped south, an area about the size of Spain and Portugal combined but with virtually no tarred roads, militias and heavily armed civilians still dominate many regions.
Even apparently basic tasks, such as transporting fighters to demobilisation centres, will pose giant logistical challenges.
"You cannot demobilise a soldier and then put him out on the street without the means to survive and a minimum of dignity," said Verheul.
"Reintegrating former military personnel is often difficult; they may not find the new life appealing, or they don't have the right education for civilian jobs - or there might not be enough jobs for them on the market."
Guaranteed funding needed
Experts say it is vital core funding is guaranteed before the bulk of demobilisation begins, warning that ex-soldiers not provided with a new means of income could themselves pose considerable risks.
And the programme is far from cheap - costing US$385 million for the crucial three-year reintegration phase.
The cash is planned to come from the UN, international donors, and $45 million from Sudan.
Officials are upbeat about the prospects: "Policies are in place, planning is under way and the funding for some initial steps is available," the UN's top envoy to Sudan, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, said in a recent report.
A pilot project for adult fighters is due to start in November in Blue Nile State, with around 1,000 soldiers from both north and south expected to take part.
"If successful, this will be repeated in other areas," Verheul said.
Building confidence
However, around half of the first batch of 50,000 put forward are war-wounded or disabled, a point some critics say means that active military forces will not be reduced.
Verheul dismissed this, arguing there is a need to treat all ex-combatants with respect, to encourage those still able to fight to find a new income.
"No parties in a DDR programme come forward with their best soldiers first," said Verheul. "One must build confidence, to get a more serious reduction in military forces later."
Many Sudanese who were affected by the war are hoping for the best. Like many whose villages were destroyed in Sudan's 21-year civil war, tea seller Mary Jok knows the cost of conflict.
"There's been fighting most of my life," said the 40-year old widow, who ekes out a living from a tiny street stall in the Sudanese capital, [Khartoum] where she fled a decade ago. "My daughters died and my sons were taken to fight," she said.
On the scattered stools in the dust around Mary Jok's tea stall, customers say there is both hope and cynicism at the programme.
"We have heard grand plans before," said Ahmed Ali Mohammed, a teacher. "But we want peace to develop Sudan. We need it to work - there are too many people today who know only how to fight."
IRIN.
måndag 20 oktober 2008
Bernanke eyes new stimulus package
Bernanke eyes new stimulus package
An easing of credit markets has increased confidence among investors in US stocks [AFP]
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US federal reserve, has suggested a second "stimulus package" could be used to stave off an economic slowdown.
"The stabilisation of the financial system, though an essential first step, will not quickly eliminate the challenges still faced by the broader economy," he told the US House of Representatives budget committee on Monday.
"... with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the congress at this juncture seems appropriate," he said.
The central bank chairman's comments were his first official endorsement of a second package to follow about $100bn handed to taxpayers over the summer in a bid to boost the US economy through increased consumer spending.
Aljazeera's Cath Turner, reporting from Washington, said: "It's a significant shift in thinking by Bernanke - in July he said it was too early to consider another package.
"This time though, Bernanke suggested some of the stimulus should be directed at the credit markets - making credit more available to consumers, homeowners and businesses."
'Serious slowdown'
Asked by reporters whether the US was now in a recession, Bernanke said there was "a serious slowdown in the US ... whether it's called a recession or not is of no consequence".
IN DEPTH
How the financial bubble burstQ&A: The US financial meltdownReacting to the financial crisisWall Street gripped by uncertaintyTurner said Bernanke had been "very careful to avoid using the word "recession" as he would aware of the potential disastrous affects on markets if he was to further dent investors' confidence.
In a White House statement, George Bush, the US president, said he was "open" to the idea of a second economic stimulus plan.
Henry Paulson, the US treasury secretary, announced that nine major US banks had taken up a government offer to buy shares in their corporations.
"Our purpose is to increase confidence in our banks and increase the confidence of banks so that they will deploy - not hoard - their capital," he said.
"And we expect them to do so, as increased confidence will lead to increased lending." A total of $250bn has been set aside for the programme - part of the $700bn rescue package that was signed off by congress - and several other banks are also expected to apply.
'Increased confidence'
The Dow Jones index of leading US shares closed 4.7 percent, or 413 points, higher at 9,265 following what traders said was an increased confidence among investors who saw an easing of credit markets as a sign the government's attempts to aid the economy were working.
London's FTSE 100 earlier closed 5.41 per cent higher at 4,282.67 points. Shares on Paris' CAC index ended up by 3.56 per cent and Frankfurt's Dax closed 1.12 per cent higher.
The increases came after Sweden unveiled a plan to support banks with $200bn in credit guarantees in a move to improve liquidity and also said it would also create a $2bn "stability fund" to bail out any Swedish banks that run into solvency problems.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose by nearly 3.5 per cent in early trading on Tuesday to reach 9,319 points.
Al Jazeera and agencies
An easing of credit markets has increased confidence among investors in US stocks [AFP]
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US federal reserve, has suggested a second "stimulus package" could be used to stave off an economic slowdown.
"The stabilisation of the financial system, though an essential first step, will not quickly eliminate the challenges still faced by the broader economy," he told the US House of Representatives budget committee on Monday.
"... with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the congress at this juncture seems appropriate," he said.
The central bank chairman's comments were his first official endorsement of a second package to follow about $100bn handed to taxpayers over the summer in a bid to boost the US economy through increased consumer spending.
Aljazeera's Cath Turner, reporting from Washington, said: "It's a significant shift in thinking by Bernanke - in July he said it was too early to consider another package.
"This time though, Bernanke suggested some of the stimulus should be directed at the credit markets - making credit more available to consumers, homeowners and businesses."
'Serious slowdown'
Asked by reporters whether the US was now in a recession, Bernanke said there was "a serious slowdown in the US ... whether it's called a recession or not is of no consequence".
IN DEPTH
How the financial bubble burstQ&A: The US financial meltdownReacting to the financial crisisWall Street gripped by uncertaintyTurner said Bernanke had been "very careful to avoid using the word "recession" as he would aware of the potential disastrous affects on markets if he was to further dent investors' confidence.
In a White House statement, George Bush, the US president, said he was "open" to the idea of a second economic stimulus plan.
Henry Paulson, the US treasury secretary, announced that nine major US banks had taken up a government offer to buy shares in their corporations.
"Our purpose is to increase confidence in our banks and increase the confidence of banks so that they will deploy - not hoard - their capital," he said.
"And we expect them to do so, as increased confidence will lead to increased lending." A total of $250bn has been set aside for the programme - part of the $700bn rescue package that was signed off by congress - and several other banks are also expected to apply.
'Increased confidence'
The Dow Jones index of leading US shares closed 4.7 percent, or 413 points, higher at 9,265 following what traders said was an increased confidence among investors who saw an easing of credit markets as a sign the government's attempts to aid the economy were working.
London's FTSE 100 earlier closed 5.41 per cent higher at 4,282.67 points. Shares on Paris' CAC index ended up by 3.56 per cent and Frankfurt's Dax closed 1.12 per cent higher.
The increases came after Sweden unveiled a plan to support banks with $200bn in credit guarantees in a move to improve liquidity and also said it would also create a $2bn "stability fund" to bail out any Swedish banks that run into solvency problems.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose by nearly 3.5 per cent in early trading on Tuesday to reach 9,319 points.
Al Jazeera and agencies
UN joins government in anti-poverty drive
THAILAND: UN joins government in anti-poverty drive
BANGKOK, 17 October 2008 (IRIN) - The UN and Thai government went walking in support of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October, with the deputy interior minister, Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, and the representative of the UN Children's Fund Thailand country office, Tomoo Hozumi, joining more than 2,000 people in Ayutthaya Province to raise poverty awareness.
About 10,000 Ayutthaya citizens from every social sector joined the opening ceremony at the city hall after the walk. The two representatives made pledges to fight poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"We tried to adopt his Majesty the King's initiative on sustainable development and emphasised three main issues: encouraging people to save, providing jobs for them, and making them help one another in solving poverty," Touchrich Tanaluck, chief community development officer of Ayutthaya, told IRIN. "We believe this policy will help us achieve our goal in the '180 Day Roadmap for Poverty Reduction' campaign."
The campaign was launched on 15 August 2008 by former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government to raise the annual income of almost 180,000 Thais who live below the national poverty line through decentralisation. Each province has its own policy and campaign to achieve its goal.
Nampeung Tulayathit, the head of the women's association of Bangpra-in district in Ayutthaya, told IRIN she saw the event as a good start for the Thai government. "I believe they could reach their goal in the 180 Day Campaign because this is the one of the rare occasions when I saw many departments, ministries, and all other sections of our society come together and be serious about the issue."
The event also included exhibitions on how to solve poverty and poverty reduction "clinics" - information centres set up by the Ministry of Interior with many Thai ministries and departments to encourage domestic and individual savings, health promotion, and empowerment of the poor. Many follow-up events will take place between 17 and 19 October.
ns/mw
[END]
BANGKOK, 17 October 2008 (IRIN) - The UN and Thai government went walking in support of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October, with the deputy interior minister, Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, and the representative of the UN Children's Fund Thailand country office, Tomoo Hozumi, joining more than 2,000 people in Ayutthaya Province to raise poverty awareness.
About 10,000 Ayutthaya citizens from every social sector joined the opening ceremony at the city hall after the walk. The two representatives made pledges to fight poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"We tried to adopt his Majesty the King's initiative on sustainable development and emphasised three main issues: encouraging people to save, providing jobs for them, and making them help one another in solving poverty," Touchrich Tanaluck, chief community development officer of Ayutthaya, told IRIN. "We believe this policy will help us achieve our goal in the '180 Day Roadmap for Poverty Reduction' campaign."
The campaign was launched on 15 August 2008 by former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government to raise the annual income of almost 180,000 Thais who live below the national poverty line through decentralisation. Each province has its own policy and campaign to achieve its goal.
Nampeung Tulayathit, the head of the women's association of Bangpra-in district in Ayutthaya, told IRIN she saw the event as a good start for the Thai government. "I believe they could reach their goal in the 180 Day Campaign because this is the one of the rare occasions when I saw many departments, ministries, and all other sections of our society come together and be serious about the issue."
The event also included exhibitions on how to solve poverty and poverty reduction "clinics" - information centres set up by the Ministry of Interior with many Thai ministries and departments to encourage domestic and individual savings, health promotion, and empowerment of the poor. Many follow-up events will take place between 17 and 19 October.
ns/mw
[END]
fredag 17 oktober 2008
Donor response to food crisis inadequate, agencies say
Donor response to food crisis inadequate, agencies say
DAKAR, 16 October 2008 (IRIN) - Food security experts say international donors' response to the world's food crisis has been inadequate when compared to interventions to contain the global financial meltdown.
"Huge financial resources have been mobilised by the international community in a matter of days" in response to the global financial crisis, wrote Teresa Cavero in a report by the international NGO Oxfam released on 16 October - World Food Day.
While the US government put up US$700 billion to bail out financial institutions in one day, on 3 October, total global development aid for 2007 was $104 billion, according to Alexander Woollcombe, food security advocacy adviser at Oxfam in Dakar.
This year's food crisis threw an additional 75 million people into hunger and poverty in 2007 according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The World Bank estimates there are currently 967 million malnourished people in the world.
FAO says the financial crisis, following on the heels of the food price crisis, could deepen the plight of the poor in developing countries.
Remittances dropping
FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf stated in a 15 October news release: "Borrowing, bank lending, official development aid, foreign direct investment and workers' remittances - all may be compromised by a deepening financial crisis."
There are no precise numbers yet about the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries, said Josef Schmidhuber, senior economist at the FAO's Global Perspectives Unit, but he noted that when industrialised countries face a crisis, fewer people work and fewer remittances are sent to developing countries.
"We're already hearing noises from Mexico that fewer remittances are being sent back. These [remittances] are more important than credits and foreign direct investment," he stressed.
Mexico receives $22 billion in annual remittances, and Bangladesh $4 billion, according to Schmidhuber. In Haiti and Honduras remittances make up over 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Response 'a slow trickle'
The FAO's Schmidhuber said donors promised $20 billion in aid to agriculture at the Rome FAO conference in June 2008, but according to Oxfam, five months on just $1 billion of this has been dispersed. Oxfam's Woollcombe said this is partly because "it takes time to distribute cash for agricultural production. The problem is it is not clear when or where it is actually coming."
The UN has estimated that $25 billion to $40 billion is needed to lessen the impacts of high food prices on developing countries.
"With the new commitments of the financial crisis, I would not be surprised if we don't get much more than the trickle that has arrived so far," said Schmidhuber.
The UK government's commitment of US$ 1.4 billion pledged at the Rome meeting still stands, said Matt Wells, spokesperson for the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
"Yes, there are challenges we are all facing, but we are continuing to call on other donors not to let the economic crisis deflect the fact that we need to remain focused on supporting those most in need," Wells told IRIN.
Building up resilience
To boost vulnerable people's resilience to crises, Oxfam and the Washington DC-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) stress the need for donors and international finance institutions to support 'social protection' such as aiding access to health and education, which they say will have a knock-on boost on their food-purchasing power.
Such measures could include targeted cash transfers, nutritional interventions, and fee waivers on targeted services, according to an October World Bank report 'Rising food and fuel prices: addressing the risks to future generations.'
It is the erosion of the global food system's resilience that underlies the food price spikes, according to Steve Wiggins, research fellow at the UK-based Overseas Development Institute.
The world needs to replenish severely depleted global grain reserves, which have dropped from 30 percent to 19 percent of annual grain use, Wiggins said. "Rebuilding stocks would help to calm nerves and restore the resilience of the global food system."
See related story: Cereal banks in Niger
FAO's Schmidhuber said as an alternative to real grain reserves, which are expensive to build and keep up, 'virtual grain stocks' should be developed; developing countries would purchase the right to buy at subsidised prices.
He said such alternatives would lead to a more efficient market that could also protect poor communities, adding that export bans and subsidies in the developed world distort markets and discourage production.
Progress is being made on both sides, he said. "We are starting to see a convergence between the developing and developed world as they shift these opposing approaches."
As the FAO's World Food Security Committee discusses these and other challenges in Rome from 14 to 17 October, Schmidhuber said governments should start by taking a simple step. "They need to do what they've said they are already committed to doing, and deliver the money."
aj/np
IRIN.
DAKAR, 16 October 2008 (IRIN) - Food security experts say international donors' response to the world's food crisis has been inadequate when compared to interventions to contain the global financial meltdown.
"Huge financial resources have been mobilised by the international community in a matter of days" in response to the global financial crisis, wrote Teresa Cavero in a report by the international NGO Oxfam released on 16 October - World Food Day.
While the US government put up US$700 billion to bail out financial institutions in one day, on 3 October, total global development aid for 2007 was $104 billion, according to Alexander Woollcombe, food security advocacy adviser at Oxfam in Dakar.
This year's food crisis threw an additional 75 million people into hunger and poverty in 2007 according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The World Bank estimates there are currently 967 million malnourished people in the world.
FAO says the financial crisis, following on the heels of the food price crisis, could deepen the plight of the poor in developing countries.
Remittances dropping
FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf stated in a 15 October news release: "Borrowing, bank lending, official development aid, foreign direct investment and workers' remittances - all may be compromised by a deepening financial crisis."
There are no precise numbers yet about the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries, said Josef Schmidhuber, senior economist at the FAO's Global Perspectives Unit, but he noted that when industrialised countries face a crisis, fewer people work and fewer remittances are sent to developing countries.
"We're already hearing noises from Mexico that fewer remittances are being sent back. These [remittances] are more important than credits and foreign direct investment," he stressed.
Mexico receives $22 billion in annual remittances, and Bangladesh $4 billion, according to Schmidhuber. In Haiti and Honduras remittances make up over 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Response 'a slow trickle'
The FAO's Schmidhuber said donors promised $20 billion in aid to agriculture at the Rome FAO conference in June 2008, but according to Oxfam, five months on just $1 billion of this has been dispersed. Oxfam's Woollcombe said this is partly because "it takes time to distribute cash for agricultural production. The problem is it is not clear when or where it is actually coming."
The UN has estimated that $25 billion to $40 billion is needed to lessen the impacts of high food prices on developing countries.
"With the new commitments of the financial crisis, I would not be surprised if we don't get much more than the trickle that has arrived so far," said Schmidhuber.
The UK government's commitment of US$ 1.4 billion pledged at the Rome meeting still stands, said Matt Wells, spokesperson for the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
"Yes, there are challenges we are all facing, but we are continuing to call on other donors not to let the economic crisis deflect the fact that we need to remain focused on supporting those most in need," Wells told IRIN.
Building up resilience
To boost vulnerable people's resilience to crises, Oxfam and the Washington DC-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) stress the need for donors and international finance institutions to support 'social protection' such as aiding access to health and education, which they say will have a knock-on boost on their food-purchasing power.
Such measures could include targeted cash transfers, nutritional interventions, and fee waivers on targeted services, according to an October World Bank report 'Rising food and fuel prices: addressing the risks to future generations.'
It is the erosion of the global food system's resilience that underlies the food price spikes, according to Steve Wiggins, research fellow at the UK-based Overseas Development Institute.
The world needs to replenish severely depleted global grain reserves, which have dropped from 30 percent to 19 percent of annual grain use, Wiggins said. "Rebuilding stocks would help to calm nerves and restore the resilience of the global food system."
See related story: Cereal banks in Niger
FAO's Schmidhuber said as an alternative to real grain reserves, which are expensive to build and keep up, 'virtual grain stocks' should be developed; developing countries would purchase the right to buy at subsidised prices.
He said such alternatives would lead to a more efficient market that could also protect poor communities, adding that export bans and subsidies in the developed world distort markets and discourage production.
Progress is being made on both sides, he said. "We are starting to see a convergence between the developing and developed world as they shift these opposing approaches."
As the FAO's World Food Security Committee discusses these and other challenges in Rome from 14 to 17 October, Schmidhuber said governments should start by taking a simple step. "They need to do what they've said they are already committed to doing, and deliver the money."
aj/np
IRIN.
onsdag 15 oktober 2008
IRAQ: Cholera deaths rise to eight as disease spreads
IRAQ: Cholera deaths rise to eight as disease spreads
BAGHDAD, 15 October 2008 (IRIN) - About 500 confirmed cholera cases have been registered in Iraq since the latest outbreak of the disease on 20 August. Eight people have died, a government spokesman said on 14 October.
"So far there have been 479 cases in 12 provinces: Babil 230 cases, Baghdad 73, Diwaniyah 61, Basra 50, Karbala 39, Najaf nine, Anbar eight, Maysan three, Arbil two, Samawa two, Kut one and Diyala one," said Ihsan Jaafar, director-general of the public health directorate and a spokesman for the ministry's cholera control unit.
Jaafar told IRIN cholera-related deaths had reached eight, with two new death cases in Qadissiyah and Babil provinces south of Baghdad.
Those who have died of the disease are a 10-year-old girl, a 61-year-old man, a child over five in Babil Province, two children under five in Qadissiyah Province; a three-year-old boy in Maysan; and an adult and a child in Baghdad.
Spreading north?
There is evidence of the disease spreading north: two cases were confirmed in Arbil, a city some 350km north of Baghdad. The disease was previously confined to central and southern Iraq.
"We are continuing to intensify our measures in all fields such as raising awareness among residents, and monitoring restaurants and food and drinks-related factories and stores; we have already closed a number of them and destroyed tonnes of material," Jaafar said.
According to Richard Finkelstein, co-author of Medical Microbiology, cholera occurs primarily during the summer months, possibly reflecting the increased presence of the organism in rivers and lakes during these months, as well as the enhanced opportunity for it to multiply in unrefrigerated foods.
The Iraqi Health Ministry and the World Health Organization have blamed the country's rundown water and sanitation infrastructure for the outbreak.
Cholera is a gastro-intestinal disease typically spread by contaminated water. It can cause severe diarrhoea, which in extreme cases can lead to fatal dehydration. Treating drinking water with chlorine and improving hygiene conditions can prevent the disease.
sm/ar/cb[END]
IRIN.
BAGHDAD, 15 October 2008 (IRIN) - About 500 confirmed cholera cases have been registered in Iraq since the latest outbreak of the disease on 20 August. Eight people have died, a government spokesman said on 14 October.
"So far there have been 479 cases in 12 provinces: Babil 230 cases, Baghdad 73, Diwaniyah 61, Basra 50, Karbala 39, Najaf nine, Anbar eight, Maysan three, Arbil two, Samawa two, Kut one and Diyala one," said Ihsan Jaafar, director-general of the public health directorate and a spokesman for the ministry's cholera control unit.
Jaafar told IRIN cholera-related deaths had reached eight, with two new death cases in Qadissiyah and Babil provinces south of Baghdad.
Those who have died of the disease are a 10-year-old girl, a 61-year-old man, a child over five in Babil Province, two children under five in Qadissiyah Province; a three-year-old boy in Maysan; and an adult and a child in Baghdad.
Spreading north?
There is evidence of the disease spreading north: two cases were confirmed in Arbil, a city some 350km north of Baghdad. The disease was previously confined to central and southern Iraq.
"We are continuing to intensify our measures in all fields such as raising awareness among residents, and monitoring restaurants and food and drinks-related factories and stores; we have already closed a number of them and destroyed tonnes of material," Jaafar said.
According to Richard Finkelstein, co-author of Medical Microbiology, cholera occurs primarily during the summer months, possibly reflecting the increased presence of the organism in rivers and lakes during these months, as well as the enhanced opportunity for it to multiply in unrefrigerated foods.
The Iraqi Health Ministry and the World Health Organization have blamed the country's rundown water and sanitation infrastructure for the outbreak.
Cholera is a gastro-intestinal disease typically spread by contaminated water. It can cause severe diarrhoea, which in extreme cases can lead to fatal dehydration. Treating drinking water with chlorine and improving hygiene conditions can prevent the disease.
sm/ar/cb[END]
IRIN.
PHILIPPINES: "Humanitarian crisis" risk in Mindanao
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tisdag 14 oktober 2008
Israeli parties in 'coalition deal'
Israeli parties in 'coalition deal'
Labour leader Barak would become senior deputy prime minister if a new coalition assumes power [EPA]
Israel's Kadima and Labour parties have reached an agreement in principle for the formation of a new coalition government.
The deal, reported in Israeli newspapers on Monday, paves the way for Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, to become the next prime minister.
Ehud Barak, Labour's leader, will be named senior deputy prime minister, next only to the prime minister in rank.
Livni, 50, was asked by Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, on September 22 to form a new government after Ehud Olmert, the incumbent prime minister, announced he would resign over corruption allegations.
Reporting on the developments, David Chater, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said: "There has been marathon talks between the two sides - 18 hours so far.
"Israeli media say it has been signed, but our contacts with the Kadima party say that although agreement is close, it has not actually been signed.
"But we are very near to that giant step of Tzipi Livni becoming the next prime minister."
Concessions
Chater said that the Labour party did not get the increases in the government budget they were asking for as part of the deal.
However, it did get some of the concessions they wanted, for instance, an increase in student fees.
But the seats of Labour and Kadima do not add up to a majority needed to run parliament. The support of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party is necessary to gain a majority.
The Shas party has demanded increases to child subsidies and a promise not to negotiate with the Palestinians over Jerusalem, to join the coalition.
Livni has set a deadline of October 27 to form a coalition. Otherwise elections to choose a new prime minister will have to be held.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Labour leader Barak would become senior deputy prime minister if a new coalition assumes power [EPA]
Israel's Kadima and Labour parties have reached an agreement in principle for the formation of a new coalition government.
The deal, reported in Israeli newspapers on Monday, paves the way for Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, to become the next prime minister.
Ehud Barak, Labour's leader, will be named senior deputy prime minister, next only to the prime minister in rank.
Livni, 50, was asked by Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, on September 22 to form a new government after Ehud Olmert, the incumbent prime minister, announced he would resign over corruption allegations.
Reporting on the developments, David Chater, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said: "There has been marathon talks between the two sides - 18 hours so far.
"Israeli media say it has been signed, but our contacts with the Kadima party say that although agreement is close, it has not actually been signed.
"But we are very near to that giant step of Tzipi Livni becoming the next prime minister."
Concessions
Chater said that the Labour party did not get the increases in the government budget they were asking for as part of the deal.
However, it did get some of the concessions they wanted, for instance, an increase in student fees.
But the seats of Labour and Kadima do not add up to a majority needed to run parliament. The support of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party is necessary to gain a majority.
The Shas party has demanded increases to child subsidies and a promise not to negotiate with the Palestinians over Jerusalem, to join the coalition.
Livni has set a deadline of October 27 to form a coalition. Otherwise elections to choose a new prime minister will have to be held.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
måndag 13 oktober 2008
UK Intelligentsia Blast Terror Detention
UK Intelligentsia Blast Terror Detention
"In 42 days we will have made you different. You may be charged, you may be released. You will always be different," Kennedy writes.CAIRO — Forty-two of Britain's most renowned writers and intellectuals have picked up their pens in a rare protest against the government's plan to detain terror suspects without charge for up to 42 days, ahead of a crucial vote on the controversial legislation.
"We don’t know how lucky we are, to live in a nation where police officers have all of six weeks to discover why they’ve locked us up," award-winning author Phillip Pullman writes in a sarcastic essay as part of the 42 Writers for Liberty campaign.
"Ask them after 41 days why a prisoner is still behind bars, and they can honestly and innocently say 'No idea, mate,' But give them that extra day, and they’ll crack it."
In a protest not seen since leading figures in the arts world clashed with the Margaret Thatcher government in the 1980s, the top writers are speaking out against a bill extending pre-charge detention for terror suspects from 28 to 42 days.
The literary protest, coordinated by the human rights group Liberty, saw the writers publishing a collection of satire, essays, fiction and poetry to protest the proposal on the website www.42writers.com.
In her piece, novelist Stella Duffy lists things that can take 42 days to accomplish including writing the first six chapters of her first book; going through two rounds of chemotherapy; undergoing in-vitro fertilization and watching the garden change from summer to autumn.
AL Kennedy, winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award, warns that being held for 42 days without charge would leave a permanent scar on any individual.
"In 42 days we will have made you different. You may be charged, you may be released. You will always be different," she writes in her essay.
"We will always be in how you think. We do not need to hurt you. We will steal you from yourself."
Sleepwalking
"There's a real danger that people in Britain are sleepwalking into an assault on our human rights," said Allen.
The literary protest runs in parallel with a mass protest planed by Amnesty International against the detention limit as a gross attack on liberties.
"There's a real danger that people in Britain are sleepwalking into an assault on our human rights," Kate Allen, UK director of Amnesty, said on the organization's website.
"Plans to extend detention without charge should be abandoned once and for all. We don't want them returning under another guise - not next month, not next year."
The detention limit bill will face Monday a new vote at the House of Lords, where it is expected to meet fierce opposition.
This comes four months after the government survived a rebellion of 36 Labour MPs to pass the bill by just nine votes in the House of Commons.
Extending terror detention has been an ongoing subject of controversy in Britain since 2005, when the Tony Blair government failed to get parliamentary approval to increase the limit to 90 days.
Civil rights groups lament that most other countries have detention periods shorter than 28 days.
Amnesty's rally will see protesters marching through the streets of Leeds dressing gowns and slippers and clutching pillows and blankets.
The rally will see the first public screening of Amnesty's new film, "Sleepwalk", by Oscar-shortlisted directing duo DarkFibre.
"This film is Amnesty's wake up call - we have got to stand up for our basic freedoms," says Allen.
"Hard-won liberties are at stake."
By IOL
"In 42 days we will have made you different. You may be charged, you may be released. You will always be different," Kennedy writes.CAIRO — Forty-two of Britain's most renowned writers and intellectuals have picked up their pens in a rare protest against the government's plan to detain terror suspects without charge for up to 42 days, ahead of a crucial vote on the controversial legislation.
"We don’t know how lucky we are, to live in a nation where police officers have all of six weeks to discover why they’ve locked us up," award-winning author Phillip Pullman writes in a sarcastic essay as part of the 42 Writers for Liberty campaign.
"Ask them after 41 days why a prisoner is still behind bars, and they can honestly and innocently say 'No idea, mate,' But give them that extra day, and they’ll crack it."
In a protest not seen since leading figures in the arts world clashed with the Margaret Thatcher government in the 1980s, the top writers are speaking out against a bill extending pre-charge detention for terror suspects from 28 to 42 days.
The literary protest, coordinated by the human rights group Liberty, saw the writers publishing a collection of satire, essays, fiction and poetry to protest the proposal on the website www.42writers.com.
In her piece, novelist Stella Duffy lists things that can take 42 days to accomplish including writing the first six chapters of her first book; going through two rounds of chemotherapy; undergoing in-vitro fertilization and watching the garden change from summer to autumn.
AL Kennedy, winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award, warns that being held for 42 days without charge would leave a permanent scar on any individual.
"In 42 days we will have made you different. You may be charged, you may be released. You will always be different," she writes in her essay.
"We will always be in how you think. We do not need to hurt you. We will steal you from yourself."
Sleepwalking
"There's a real danger that people in Britain are sleepwalking into an assault on our human rights," said Allen.
The literary protest runs in parallel with a mass protest planed by Amnesty International against the detention limit as a gross attack on liberties.
"There's a real danger that people in Britain are sleepwalking into an assault on our human rights," Kate Allen, UK director of Amnesty, said on the organization's website.
"Plans to extend detention without charge should be abandoned once and for all. We don't want them returning under another guise - not next month, not next year."
The detention limit bill will face Monday a new vote at the House of Lords, where it is expected to meet fierce opposition.
This comes four months after the government survived a rebellion of 36 Labour MPs to pass the bill by just nine votes in the House of Commons.
Extending terror detention has been an ongoing subject of controversy in Britain since 2005, when the Tony Blair government failed to get parliamentary approval to increase the limit to 90 days.
Civil rights groups lament that most other countries have detention periods shorter than 28 days.
Amnesty's rally will see protesters marching through the streets of Leeds dressing gowns and slippers and clutching pillows and blankets.
The rally will see the first public screening of Amnesty's new film, "Sleepwalk", by Oscar-shortlisted directing duo DarkFibre.
"This film is Amnesty's wake up call - we have got to stand up for our basic freedoms," says Allen.
"Hard-won liberties are at stake."
By IOL
Stop Bush's War on Terror: Analysts
Stop Bush's War on Terror: Analysts
By; IOL
"The approach this administration took is breaking down," Lewis said. (Google)
WASHINGTON — With the Bush administration near the end of its term, demands are picking up steam to change Washington's anything-goes approach to the "war on terror".
"Things are starting to come a little unglued," James Lewis, a national security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, October 12.
"The approach this administration took is breaking down. Some of it is, as it loses its political steam and its credibility, people are willing to speak out."
Seizing on the public fear of terrorism following the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan and Iraq under its "war on terror" campaign.
Coercive interrogations, indefinite detentions, secret overseas prisons, and warrantless surveillance of phone calls and emails were among the tools used by the administration.
"If it proves to be true, I think you'll see further demand for oversight and further demand for control," said Lewis.
The Bush administration has long resisted calls for radical changes in its "war on terror" approach.
Last year, it amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to permit the government to monitor communications that begin or end overseas.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey this month signed new guidelines on FBI operations to give it broad new powers to conduct surveillance and use other intrusive investigative techniques on Americans.
The administration has blocked a court order to release 17 Chinese Muslim Uighurs from Guantanamo into the US, and has plodded on with trials by military trial of detainees at Guantanamo Bay despite repeated legal setbacks.
"The sense that what they are doing is right and necessary is very strong still in the Bush administration," said Lewis.
New Approach
Analysts say that the new administration should craft a new approach on fighting terror.
"Every democratic nation that has had to grapple with a terrorist threat has been obliged to alter some of the rules -- the rules of intelligence collection, police powers and so on," said Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert at the RAND Corporation.
"And that's okay so long as you modify the rules and work within the rules.
"Where things begin to go wrong is where people assert that the rules don't matter," he said.
The RAND Corporation said in a recent study that the US should stop using the "war on terror" label and shift its strategy against terror groups from the current heavy dependence on military might to greater use of policing and intelligence work.
Jenkins believes that the new administration should shore up international support against terrorism by acting in ways that reflect US values.
"I think as a first step we should close down Guantanamo. It is a symbol of things that are wrong," he said.
Calls for closing the notorious camp have gone nowhere despite a broad consensus that Guantanamo has been a costly mistake.
The US has been holding hundreds of detainees at its notorious Guantanamo detention center for years.
It declared them "enemy combatants" to deny them legal rights under the American legal system.
"We need to promptly identify and release those who are wrongly held, we need to develop a patently fair (legal) procedure," said Jenkins.
By; IOL
"The approach this administration took is breaking down," Lewis said. (Google)
WASHINGTON — With the Bush administration near the end of its term, demands are picking up steam to change Washington's anything-goes approach to the "war on terror".
"Things are starting to come a little unglued," James Lewis, a national security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, October 12.
"The approach this administration took is breaking down. Some of it is, as it loses its political steam and its credibility, people are willing to speak out."
Seizing on the public fear of terrorism following the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan and Iraq under its "war on terror" campaign.
Coercive interrogations, indefinite detentions, secret overseas prisons, and warrantless surveillance of phone calls and emails were among the tools used by the administration.
"If it proves to be true, I think you'll see further demand for oversight and further demand for control," said Lewis.
The Bush administration has long resisted calls for radical changes in its "war on terror" approach.
Last year, it amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to permit the government to monitor communications that begin or end overseas.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey this month signed new guidelines on FBI operations to give it broad new powers to conduct surveillance and use other intrusive investigative techniques on Americans.
The administration has blocked a court order to release 17 Chinese Muslim Uighurs from Guantanamo into the US, and has plodded on with trials by military trial of detainees at Guantanamo Bay despite repeated legal setbacks.
"The sense that what they are doing is right and necessary is very strong still in the Bush administration," said Lewis.
New Approach
Analysts say that the new administration should craft a new approach on fighting terror.
"Every democratic nation that has had to grapple with a terrorist threat has been obliged to alter some of the rules -- the rules of intelligence collection, police powers and so on," said Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert at the RAND Corporation.
"And that's okay so long as you modify the rules and work within the rules.
"Where things begin to go wrong is where people assert that the rules don't matter," he said.
The RAND Corporation said in a recent study that the US should stop using the "war on terror" label and shift its strategy against terror groups from the current heavy dependence on military might to greater use of policing and intelligence work.
Jenkins believes that the new administration should shore up international support against terrorism by acting in ways that reflect US values.
"I think as a first step we should close down Guantanamo. It is a symbol of things that are wrong," he said.
Calls for closing the notorious camp have gone nowhere despite a broad consensus that Guantanamo has been a costly mistake.
The US has been holding hundreds of detainees at its notorious Guantanamo detention center for years.
It declared them "enemy combatants" to deny them legal rights under the American legal system.
"We need to promptly identify and release those who are wrongly held, we need to develop a patently fair (legal) procedure," said Jenkins.
fredag 10 oktober 2008
Market crisis worsens
Market crisis worsens
Markets around the world are reeling [AFP]
Share markets in Asia have gone into free fall, indicating the global financial crisis was deepening despite increased efforts by governments and institutions to stem the bleeding.
Japan's Nikkei index plunged more than 11 per cent on Friday to fall below the 9,000 level for the first time since 2003 and hover close to the 8,000 mark, before recovering slightly in the afternoon session.
Yoshinori Nagano, the chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management, said no one was buying.
"Fundamentals don't matter any more and there's no explanation for such a plunge," he said.
Shares dived elsewhere in Asia. India's main stock index fell more than nine per cent on opening and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by more than eight per cent.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200, South Korea's Kospi and Singapore's Straits Times index also dived steeply, all losing around seven per cent following Wall Street's nearly 700-point drop on Thursday, before they reversed some losses.
Singapore in recession
Singapore's government announced on Friday that its economy was in recession, after releasing figures showing real Gross Domestic Product was down for a second quarter.
IN DEPTH
How the financial bubble burstQ&A: The US financial meltdownReacting to the financial crisis
The city-state heavily dependent on trade, making it very sensitive to hiccups in developed economies.
Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia's share market remained suspended on Friday after it plunged more than 20 per cent during the week.
There are fears that the country could slide into bankruptcy despite assurances by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president, that the situation is "fully under control".
The IMF and the World Bank are due to hold their annual meetings on Friday and over the weekend, while finance ministers from the G7 group of wealthy nations will converge on the meetings' sidelines in Washington DC this weekend for talks on the crisis.
Currency reserves loan
A Japanese newspaper said Japan was to propose an IMF loan scheme at the meeting to give countries facing financial crisis access to the trillions of dollars in currency reserves held by Asian and Middle Eastern governments.
Experts are calling for a concerted global effort to restore confidence [GALLO/GETTY]The IMF-led scheme would be available to smaller emerging countries, not G7 members or other large nations, according to the Nikkei newspaper.
Under the Japanese plan, the IMF would ask the country that is to receive the funds to draw up a plan for revitalising its financial sector including writing off its bad assets.
The new emergency loans would be funded by the approximately 200 billion yen ($2bn) contributed by IMF member countries plus loans from the foreign currency reserves of countries such as Japan, China and Middle Eastern oil exporters.
The massive declines in Asia and on Wall Street comes despite the IMF reactivating an emergency aid process for countries seeking help in the global financial crisis, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the institution's president, said on Thursday.
He warned that the global economy was "on the cusps" of a recession and added that the IMF was "ready to answer any demand by countries facing problems".
The declines also come after the US Federal Reserve and central banks across the world from Europe to Asia cut interest rates to contain the market meltdown.
Co-ordinated action urged
James Henry an economist and investigative journalist, told Al Jazeera that the crisis "is not contained, it's spreading to a global level".
IN VIDEO
Robert Zoellick on the financial crisis
More videos ... "This is something that policy-makers have to get under control in the next week or so, otherwise we're in for a very deep depression," he warned.
Henry said central bank rate cuts and the plan to buy bank's bad assets have not worked.
What is needed is a "global stabilisation fund" to recapitalise banks with equity – as opposed to just buying their bad debt - and a stimulus package with some debt relief for borrowers, he said.
"But it requires much more co-ordination across boundaries than we've had before," he added.
Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, also called for a concerted effort by the world's wealthiest nations to work together on the crisis, telling Al Jazeera on Thursday that "the scope of this problem is much larger than what we can deal with".
"In the short term what the G7 needs to do is to try to take the actions it's starting to take - co-ordinated central bank actions ... to try to clean up the assets, to try to make sure there is liquidity in terms of banks being willing to provide funds to corporations and others [and] recapitalise the institutions," he said.
Markets around the world are reeling [AFP]
Share markets in Asia have gone into free fall, indicating the global financial crisis was deepening despite increased efforts by governments and institutions to stem the bleeding.
Japan's Nikkei index plunged more than 11 per cent on Friday to fall below the 9,000 level for the first time since 2003 and hover close to the 8,000 mark, before recovering slightly in the afternoon session.
Yoshinori Nagano, the chief strategist at Daiwa Asset Management, said no one was buying.
"Fundamentals don't matter any more and there's no explanation for such a plunge," he said.
Shares dived elsewhere in Asia. India's main stock index fell more than nine per cent on opening and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by more than eight per cent.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200, South Korea's Kospi and Singapore's Straits Times index also dived steeply, all losing around seven per cent following Wall Street's nearly 700-point drop on Thursday, before they reversed some losses.
Singapore in recession
Singapore's government announced on Friday that its economy was in recession, after releasing figures showing real Gross Domestic Product was down for a second quarter.
IN DEPTH
How the financial bubble burstQ&A: The US financial meltdownReacting to the financial crisis
The city-state heavily dependent on trade, making it very sensitive to hiccups in developed economies.
Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia's share market remained suspended on Friday after it plunged more than 20 per cent during the week.
There are fears that the country could slide into bankruptcy despite assurances by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president, that the situation is "fully under control".
The IMF and the World Bank are due to hold their annual meetings on Friday and over the weekend, while finance ministers from the G7 group of wealthy nations will converge on the meetings' sidelines in Washington DC this weekend for talks on the crisis.
Currency reserves loan
A Japanese newspaper said Japan was to propose an IMF loan scheme at the meeting to give countries facing financial crisis access to the trillions of dollars in currency reserves held by Asian and Middle Eastern governments.
Experts are calling for a concerted global effort to restore confidence [GALLO/GETTY]The IMF-led scheme would be available to smaller emerging countries, not G7 members or other large nations, according to the Nikkei newspaper.
Under the Japanese plan, the IMF would ask the country that is to receive the funds to draw up a plan for revitalising its financial sector including writing off its bad assets.
The new emergency loans would be funded by the approximately 200 billion yen ($2bn) contributed by IMF member countries plus loans from the foreign currency reserves of countries such as Japan, China and Middle Eastern oil exporters.
The massive declines in Asia and on Wall Street comes despite the IMF reactivating an emergency aid process for countries seeking help in the global financial crisis, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the institution's president, said on Thursday.
He warned that the global economy was "on the cusps" of a recession and added that the IMF was "ready to answer any demand by countries facing problems".
The declines also come after the US Federal Reserve and central banks across the world from Europe to Asia cut interest rates to contain the market meltdown.
Co-ordinated action urged
James Henry an economist and investigative journalist, told Al Jazeera that the crisis "is not contained, it's spreading to a global level".
IN VIDEO
Robert Zoellick on the financial crisis
More videos ... "This is something that policy-makers have to get under control in the next week or so, otherwise we're in for a very deep depression," he warned.
Henry said central bank rate cuts and the plan to buy bank's bad assets have not worked.
What is needed is a "global stabilisation fund" to recapitalise banks with equity – as opposed to just buying their bad debt - and a stimulus package with some debt relief for borrowers, he said.
"But it requires much more co-ordination across boundaries than we've had before," he added.
Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, also called for a concerted effort by the world's wealthiest nations to work together on the crisis, telling Al Jazeera on Thursday that "the scope of this problem is much larger than what we can deal with".
"In the short term what the G7 needs to do is to try to take the actions it's starting to take - co-ordinated central bank actions ... to try to clean up the assets, to try to make sure there is liquidity in terms of banks being willing to provide funds to corporations and others [and] recapitalise the institutions," he said.
torsdag 9 oktober 2008
US mulls Taliban reconciliation
US mulls Taliban reconciliation
Gates, and other Nato leaders met to discuss the war in Afghanistan [Reuters]
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, has said his country would "ultimately" be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban group to end the conflict in Afghanistan.
Gates on Thursday, however, ruled out any possible talks between the US and al-Qaeda fighters in the country.
And, speaking after the first day of Nato meetings in Budapest about the war in Afghanistan, Gates said any settlement with the Taliban would be on the Afghan government's terms and would require the group to subject itself to Kabul's rule.
"There has to be ultimately, and I'll underscore ultimately, reconciliation as part of a political outcome to this," he said.
"That's ultimately the exit strategy for all of us."
Gates also said that reconciliation efforts could not include anyone belonging to al-Qaeda, the group blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks which killed almost 3,000 people in the US.
A US-led coalition invaded Afghanistan and deposed the Taliban in 2001 shortly after the attacks.
There are about 33,000 US troops in Afghanistan, while Nato has about 40,000 stationed in the country.
'Downward spiral'
Gates's comments come as a draft US intelligence report on Thursday said the situation in Afghanistan is now at its worst since the US-led invasion.
The almost completed National Intelligence Estimate said the country is in danger of a "downward spiral" into violence and chaos.
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the top British military commander in Afghanistan, said on Sunday that the war there cannot be won militarily and that talks with the Taliban are crucial.
Several Nato commanders and diplomats have argued that negotiations with the Taliban are necessary.
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, said last week that he had asked Saudi Arabia to mediate negotiations with the Taliban and called on Mullah Omar, the group's leader, to make peace.
Source:
Agencies and Al'J.
Gates, and other Nato leaders met to discuss the war in Afghanistan [Reuters]
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, has said his country would "ultimately" be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban group to end the conflict in Afghanistan.
Gates on Thursday, however, ruled out any possible talks between the US and al-Qaeda fighters in the country.
And, speaking after the first day of Nato meetings in Budapest about the war in Afghanistan, Gates said any settlement with the Taliban would be on the Afghan government's terms and would require the group to subject itself to Kabul's rule.
"There has to be ultimately, and I'll underscore ultimately, reconciliation as part of a political outcome to this," he said.
"That's ultimately the exit strategy for all of us."
Gates also said that reconciliation efforts could not include anyone belonging to al-Qaeda, the group blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks which killed almost 3,000 people in the US.
A US-led coalition invaded Afghanistan and deposed the Taliban in 2001 shortly after the attacks.
There are about 33,000 US troops in Afghanistan, while Nato has about 40,000 stationed in the country.
'Downward spiral'
Gates's comments come as a draft US intelligence report on Thursday said the situation in Afghanistan is now at its worst since the US-led invasion.
The almost completed National Intelligence Estimate said the country is in danger of a "downward spiral" into violence and chaos.
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the top British military commander in Afghanistan, said on Sunday that the war there cannot be won militarily and that talks with the Taliban are crucial.
Several Nato commanders and diplomats have argued that negotiations with the Taliban are necessary.
Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, said last week that he had asked Saudi Arabia to mediate negotiations with the Taliban and called on Mullah Omar, the group's leader, to make peace.
Source:
Agencies and Al'J.
US admits Afghan civilian deaths
US admits Afghan civilian deaths
The US military had claimed dozens of Taliban fighters were among those killed [AFP/AFGHAN POLICE]
Far more civilians and children were killed in several US air raids on a village in Afghanistan in August that was first acknowledged, a US military investigation has concluded.
US officials had maintained only about seven civilians had died in the attacks on Azizabad in western Afghanistan on August 22.
The Afghan government and UN officials said at the time about 90 had been killed.
"Our investigation determined approximately 55 persons were killed - 33 civilian and 22 anti-coalition militants" a summary of an investigation by US brigadier general Michael Callan, released on Wednesday, disclosed.
Videos showed the bodies of 12 children, three women and eight men were laid out for burial in the village mosque the day after the fighting, the report said.
The incident brought angry recriminations from Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, and added to fears that support for the US military in Afghanistan was being further undermined by repeated cases of civilian casualties at the hands of US-led forces.
'Self defence'
But the Callan report defended the actions of the US and Afghan forces involved in the incident as "necessary and proportional ... self-defence ... based on the information the on-scene commander had at the time" it said.
The commander had been informed dozens of fighters were holding a meeting in the village, which led to the attack.
"US and Afghan forces did not commit any violations of the law of war or rules of engagement," the report concluded.
Karzai told villagers that those responsible would be punished [EPA]
The lists of dead villagers obtained by Afghan and UN officials that showed that 90 civilians were killed "are unsubstantiated," the report said.
Three men were arrested days after the raids after allegedly providing "wrong information" to US and Afghan forces.
The arrests followed a police investigation into the incident after villagers said US-led forces in Afghanistan had been fed false information about the presence of Taliban members in Azizabad following a tribal dispute, according to interior ministry officials.
President Karzai sacked two senior Afghan army commanders over the incident and pledged to punish those responsible.
Tribal disputeLocals told Al Jazeera at the time that the air raid hit a memorial service at a compound belonging to Reza Khan, a tribal leader who had been in dispute with Nader Tawakal, another local leader.
"We were holding a prayer ceremony when the bombs started to fall ... it was heavy bombardment. The whole village was on fire and about 90 were killed," Abdul Rasheed, the brother of one of the dead, said.
Villagers denied that the gathering was a meeting of the Taliban, which has been fighting Afghan and international forces since being forced from power in 2001.
More than 500 civilians have been killed during military operations by foreign and Afghan forces so far this year, according to the Afghan government and some aid groups.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
The US military had claimed dozens of Taliban fighters were among those killed [AFP/AFGHAN POLICE]
Far more civilians and children were killed in several US air raids on a village in Afghanistan in August that was first acknowledged, a US military investigation has concluded.
US officials had maintained only about seven civilians had died in the attacks on Azizabad in western Afghanistan on August 22.
The Afghan government and UN officials said at the time about 90 had been killed.
"Our investigation determined approximately 55 persons were killed - 33 civilian and 22 anti-coalition militants" a summary of an investigation by US brigadier general Michael Callan, released on Wednesday, disclosed.
Videos showed the bodies of 12 children, three women and eight men were laid out for burial in the village mosque the day after the fighting, the report said.
The incident brought angry recriminations from Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, and added to fears that support for the US military in Afghanistan was being further undermined by repeated cases of civilian casualties at the hands of US-led forces.
'Self defence'
But the Callan report defended the actions of the US and Afghan forces involved in the incident as "necessary and proportional ... self-defence ... based on the information the on-scene commander had at the time" it said.
The commander had been informed dozens of fighters were holding a meeting in the village, which led to the attack.
"US and Afghan forces did not commit any violations of the law of war or rules of engagement," the report concluded.
Karzai told villagers that those responsible would be punished [EPA]
The lists of dead villagers obtained by Afghan and UN officials that showed that 90 civilians were killed "are unsubstantiated," the report said.
Three men were arrested days after the raids after allegedly providing "wrong information" to US and Afghan forces.
The arrests followed a police investigation into the incident after villagers said US-led forces in Afghanistan had been fed false information about the presence of Taliban members in Azizabad following a tribal dispute, according to interior ministry officials.
President Karzai sacked two senior Afghan army commanders over the incident and pledged to punish those responsible.
Tribal disputeLocals told Al Jazeera at the time that the air raid hit a memorial service at a compound belonging to Reza Khan, a tribal leader who had been in dispute with Nader Tawakal, another local leader.
"We were holding a prayer ceremony when the bombs started to fall ... it was heavy bombardment. The whole village was on fire and about 90 were killed," Abdul Rasheed, the brother of one of the dead, said.
Villagers denied that the gathering was a meeting of the Taliban, which has been fighting Afghan and international forces since being forced from power in 2001.
More than 500 civilians have been killed during military operations by foreign and Afghan forces so far this year, according to the Afghan government and some aid groups.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Global food and fuel crisis will increase malnourished by 44 million
Source: The World Bank Group
Date: 08 Oct 2008
Print E-mail Save
Global food and fuel crisis will increase malnourished by 44 million
Press Release No:2008/107/EXC
WASHINGTON, October 8, 2008 – High food and fuel prices will increase the number of malnourished people around the world in 2008 by 44 million to reach a total of 967 million, a report from the World Bank says.
While food and fuel price increases may have moderated in recent months, prices remain much higher than previous years and show few signs of declining significantly, according to the report entitled "Rising food and fuel prices: addressing the risks to future generations". Poor families around the world are being pushed to the brink of survival, causing irreparable damage to the health of millions of children. As families cut back on spending, there are also grave risks for the educational performance of poor children.
"While people in the developed world are focused on the financial crisis, many forget that a human crisis is rapidly unfolding in developing countries. It is pushing poor people to the brink of survival," said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. "The financial crisis will only make it more difficult for developing countries to protect their most vulnerable people from the impact of rising food and fuel costs."
The report, due to be presented on Sunday to the Development Committee at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, says the food and fuel crisis could have long term effects on poor people and countries. Malnourished children cannot develop into healthy adults and become productive members of society who can contribute to the growth needed to lift themselves and their country out of poverty.
The report says priority should be given to a series of targeted measures. These include:
- Making existing targeted cash (or near cash) transfer programs more generous;
- Getting nutrition to infants and pregnant women;
- expanding so-called "in-kind" food distribution programs including school feeding and the distribution of fortified calorically dense food;
- using fee waivers, lifeline-pricing and other forms of targeted subsidies for poor users/consumers; and
- introducing additional measures to prevent children from dropping out of school, such as fee waivers, subsidies for school inputs, or cash transfers.
The report also argues that allocating the necessary amount of budget to finance an expansion of safety net programs may require pruning less-priority spending in other areas. But it notes that well-designed safety net programs do not have to be prohibitively expensive to be effective. Some of the most successful programs in the world cost well under 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Moreover, investing in safety net programs now will give governments new tools to address not just the current crisis, but future ones as well.
In May, the World Bank launched a $1.2 billion rapid financing facility to help poor countries cope with the food crisis. Since then, around US$850 million has been committed to finance seeds, plantings, and feeding programs. In April, Zoellick called for a New Deal for Global Food Policy that included short, medium and long-term measures to provide immediate help to poor people and farmers while increasing food production.
For more information on the Bank's work in nutrition, please visit: www.worldbank.org/nutrition an
Date: 08 Oct 2008
Print E-mail Save
Global food and fuel crisis will increase malnourished by 44 million
Press Release No:2008/107/EXC
WASHINGTON, October 8, 2008 – High food and fuel prices will increase the number of malnourished people around the world in 2008 by 44 million to reach a total of 967 million, a report from the World Bank says.
While food and fuel price increases may have moderated in recent months, prices remain much higher than previous years and show few signs of declining significantly, according to the report entitled "Rising food and fuel prices: addressing the risks to future generations". Poor families around the world are being pushed to the brink of survival, causing irreparable damage to the health of millions of children. As families cut back on spending, there are also grave risks for the educational performance of poor children.
"While people in the developed world are focused on the financial crisis, many forget that a human crisis is rapidly unfolding in developing countries. It is pushing poor people to the brink of survival," said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. "The financial crisis will only make it more difficult for developing countries to protect their most vulnerable people from the impact of rising food and fuel costs."
The report, due to be presented on Sunday to the Development Committee at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, says the food and fuel crisis could have long term effects on poor people and countries. Malnourished children cannot develop into healthy adults and become productive members of society who can contribute to the growth needed to lift themselves and their country out of poverty.
The report says priority should be given to a series of targeted measures. These include:
- Making existing targeted cash (or near cash) transfer programs more generous;
- Getting nutrition to infants and pregnant women;
- expanding so-called "in-kind" food distribution programs including school feeding and the distribution of fortified calorically dense food;
- using fee waivers, lifeline-pricing and other forms of targeted subsidies for poor users/consumers; and
- introducing additional measures to prevent children from dropping out of school, such as fee waivers, subsidies for school inputs, or cash transfers.
The report also argues that allocating the necessary amount of budget to finance an expansion of safety net programs may require pruning less-priority spending in other areas. But it notes that well-designed safety net programs do not have to be prohibitively expensive to be effective. Some of the most successful programs in the world cost well under 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Moreover, investing in safety net programs now will give governments new tools to address not just the current crisis, but future ones as well.
In May, the World Bank launched a $1.2 billion rapid financing facility to help poor countries cope with the food crisis. Since then, around US$850 million has been committed to finance seeds, plantings, and feeding programs. In April, Zoellick called for a New Deal for Global Food Policy that included short, medium and long-term measures to provide immediate help to poor people and farmers while increasing food production.
For more information on the Bank's work in nutrition, please visit: www.worldbank.org/nutrition an
onsdag 8 oktober 2008
Guantanamo release angers Bush
Guantanamo release angers Bush
The men come from China's Xinjiang province [GALLO/GETTY]
A US judge has ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslim detainees from the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in what has been seen as a rebuke to the Bush administration.
US district judge Ricardo Urbina said there was no evidence the men were a security risk and that the US constitution prohibits indefinite detention without cause.
Local Uighur residents and human rights activists cheered as he told a Washington courtroom the men, who have been in custody for almost seven years, should be freed.
The ruling is the first court-ordered release of Guantanamo detainees since the facility opened in 2002.
The Bush administration reacted with anger to the ruling, with a spokesman for the department of justice saying it presented "serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues".
The department said it would file an emergency request on Tuesday evening for a stay with the US court of appeals in Washington to halt the ruling.
If it loses, it has the option of appealing to the US Supreme Court, the highest in the country.
Lawyers 'thrilled'
Lawyers representing the men said they were "thrilled" with the decision.
"Justice has too long been delayed but ... we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision"
Sabin Willett, lawyer for some of the Uighur detainees"Justice has too long been delayed but today we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision," Sabin Willett, a lawyer for some of the men, told Reuters news agency.
The Uighurs, from the Xinjiang province in western China, had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the US-led bombing campaign in the country that began in October 2001 after the September 11 attacks in the US.
They fled into the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed them over to the US.
The men have been cleared for release from Guantanamo since 2004 as they are no longer considered "enemy combatants", the official designation for those held in Guantanamo Bay, and would have been sent home.
However, the US has not been able to find a country willing to accept them.
Many Muslim Uighurs seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence, however China has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.
About 265 detainees are still held at Guantanamo, which was opened in 2002 to hold suspects captured during the US's so-called "war on terror" launched after the September 11 attacks.
Most have been held for years without being charged and some allege they have been abused or tortured.
Source:
Agencies
The men come from China's Xinjiang province [GALLO/GETTY]
A US judge has ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslim detainees from the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in what has been seen as a rebuke to the Bush administration.
US district judge Ricardo Urbina said there was no evidence the men were a security risk and that the US constitution prohibits indefinite detention without cause.
Local Uighur residents and human rights activists cheered as he told a Washington courtroom the men, who have been in custody for almost seven years, should be freed.
The ruling is the first court-ordered release of Guantanamo detainees since the facility opened in 2002.
The Bush administration reacted with anger to the ruling, with a spokesman for the department of justice saying it presented "serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues".
The department said it would file an emergency request on Tuesday evening for a stay with the US court of appeals in Washington to halt the ruling.
If it loses, it has the option of appealing to the US Supreme Court, the highest in the country.
Lawyers 'thrilled'
Lawyers representing the men said they were "thrilled" with the decision.
"Justice has too long been delayed but ... we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision"
Sabin Willett, lawyer for some of the Uighur detainees"Justice has too long been delayed but today we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision," Sabin Willett, a lawyer for some of the men, told Reuters news agency.
The Uighurs, from the Xinjiang province in western China, had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the US-led bombing campaign in the country that began in October 2001 after the September 11 attacks in the US.
They fled into the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed them over to the US.
The men have been cleared for release from Guantanamo since 2004 as they are no longer considered "enemy combatants", the official designation for those held in Guantanamo Bay, and would have been sent home.
However, the US has not been able to find a country willing to accept them.
Many Muslim Uighurs seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence, however China has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.
About 265 detainees are still held at Guantanamo, which was opened in 2002 to hold suspects captured during the US's so-called "war on terror" launched after the September 11 attacks.
Most have been held for years without being charged and some allege they have been abused or tortured.
Source:
Agencies
tisdag 7 oktober 2008
DRC: Magnet of violence
DRC: Magnet of violence
Wouter Cools
A month ago I wrote that the Goma agreement was as dead as the idea of a self-regulating free market. The events of the last weeks and a report of Amnesty International reaffirm my position. The peace agreement of 23 of January 2008 is inadequate to forestall a minimum degree of stability and peace in the Kivu and has even some perverse effects that not only stands in contrast with its own regulations but also undermines further the social texture of the region. These evolutions take place in a context of a looming national political crisis and a country that is not only terrorized by violence in the Kivu but also in Ituri and Orientale Province due to attacks of local militias and Kony's Lord Resistance Army (LRA).
Laurent Nkunda's latest offensive, started on the 28 of August, was directed towards Goma and an attempt to extend the fighting to South Kivu. This region was relative peaceful during the latest months, but now there is the danger that it will be drowned in the never ending spiral of violence of its northern neighbour, complicating only more any possible settlement of the conflict. The clashes between the CNDP rebels and the Congolese army (FARDC) demonstrated again the incompetence of the latter to defeat Nkunda's movement and to protect the civilian population. A new element in the latest episode of the conflict is the role of MONUC. After heavy criticism of the latest months, it seems to be that the UN peacekeeping force finally started to act.
This time MONUC troops held their positions (a month ago there were testimonies of withdrawing peace forces, leaving civilians to their fate), beat off in some occasions CNDP attacks (last week MONUC could stop Nkunda's advance to Masisi by intervening with combat helicopters) and send reinforcements to the various fronts. In a very optimistic mood one can say that by this new more active posture of the MONUC, Nkunda's CNDP will come to realize that they can't be victorious and that a negotiated settlement is the only rational option left. The problem with such a train of thought is that the CNDP doesn't want a stabilisation of the situation. Every offensive, every attack is motivated by the fact that it creates chaos and insecurity. Such a chaos and insecurity serve directly what is really on stake for the CNDP: the control over revenues from gold, tin, timber and cobalt. In peacetime the rebels would lose these revenues or at least will have to share them. This logic stands also for all the other armed movements (the Mai Mai militia, the FDLR), including the FARDC.
Moreover, apparently the incompetence of the FARDC inspired Nkunda to announce in a BBC interview to introduce a change in the CNDP's agenda. No longer is the defending of Tutsi-interests in the region, but the liberation of whole Congo now the new adagium. Anxious by these new fights, Alan Doss, UN Special Representative for Congo, asked for more troops and more means during a special session of the UN Security Council.
Given that incompetence, both wished as unintended, of the FARDC to defeat the CNDP, it becomes time that Kabila understands that the Congolese government can't resolve the conflict military. Hence, terms of "using all means" to institute peace like he did mid-September, should be replaced by phrases like: negotiations which deal the underlying causes of the conflict –the issues of land distribution, control over natural resources, political representation, development- instead of only fighting the symptoms, like the Amani program does. The problem is that the Congolese government, like the international community, still have faith in the Amani program. Kinshasa for example refused to comply with Nkunda's request to negotiate directly, saying that negotiations should occur via the Amani program, namely through the Commission of Peace and Security. It's bizarre to see how governments and international organizations keep on sticking to a signed text of conflict resolution; whereas reality demonstrates the inadequacy of the agreement (another example of such an attitude is the Darfur Peace Agreement of May 2006).
The most shocking news fact and one that clearly shows the dead-lock of the Goma agreement is a report of Amnesty International. Based on testimonies, the report states that half of the children that where set free in North Kivu, are again recruited later by one of the armed movements, particularly by the CNDP and Mai Mai militia. An aid worker says even that for every two children that are liberated, five others are recruited. UNICEF already sounded the alarm in April and seems to be that the problem became worse. Although the Goma agreement stipulated that the fighting parties had to set free all their child soldiers, the CNDP has more kadogo than before the agreement. The reason is that the agreement provided to give rebel leaders a rank in the Congolese army in correspondence with the amount of fighters they have under their command.
Another alarming message comes from Ituri and Dungu in Orientale Province. In Ituri a new armed movement called Front Populaire pour la Justice au Congo (FPJC) captured some villages around Bunia which were previously controlled by the FARDC. According to its self-declared colonel, Charif Manda, the FPJC is the first multi-ethnic movement in Ituri.
Although the agenda of this new armed group is unknown, its supporters would be ex members of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC, its former leader, Thomas Lubanga, is arrested by the Congolese authorities and transferred to the ICC against who it issued an arrest warrant for numerous human right violations), the Front Nationaliste et Intégrationniste (FNI) and the Front de Résistance Patriotique de l'Ituri (FPRI), all militias which are responsible for numerous war crimes, crimes against humanity and human right violations in Ituri's latest episode of violence. Ituri as region came for the first time under international attention in June 1999 when it was hit by the first eruption of a large scale conflict between Hema and Lendu elites. Likewise in Kivu, it is the struggle for control and access to land and other natural resources (gold) what was at stake. And just like in the Kivu this competition led to an alliance between rural armed actors, economic entrepreneurs and local authorities and a general environment of violence and despair, causing more than 50,000 deaths since 1999. Although the first European military intervention (Artemis) and later MONUC did improve the situation, leading to a considerable progress in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of militias, there are still hundreds dissident fighters of various armed movement. Another striking similarity with Kivu is the role of neighbouring countries in both conflicts. Where Kabila blames the regime of Kigali for the agitated situation in Kivu, the FARDC says that leaders of the FRPI have established links with rebels from neighbouring Uganda who are supplying them with guns and ammunition.
Attacks of the Lord Resistance Army in Dungu caused thousands displaced -Caritas speaks of 75,000- of which hundreds sought safety in South Sudan. Since a year Kony's rebels have found a hiding place in the Garamba national park, northeast Congo close to the border with Southern Sudan and Uganda. MONUC estimates the number of LRA fighters in Congo at 800 to 1,000. From its base the LRA attacked and looted several villages and health centres, killing dozens of citizens, abducting over a hundred others, amongst them 90 children. UNHCR is concerned that the humanitarian situation could get worse. The rain season just started and due to the looting of villages the stocks of food is diminished. Although Kinshasa send 2,000 troops to end the LRA's attacks, assisted logistically by 400 MONUC peacekeepers, my experience says that they will not succeed in eliminating the LRA. Meanwhile the peace process between the rebels and Kampala seems to be reached a dead-lock. Kony has made clear that he doesn't sign any agreement as long they have no guarantees that they will be not persecuted for committed atrocities. The ICC has issued arrest warrants against Kony and other commanders.
These events hit Kinshasa exactly on the moment that a governmental crisis is looming. Antoine Gizenga's resign as first minister opens great anxiety about his succession. Needless to say that all political parties have the perfect candidate (sometimes they have more than one) in their ranks. PALU, Gizenga's party and described as followers of Patrice Lumumba, claims that the prime ministers office belongs to them; but UDEMO (supporters of former president Mobutu) and Kabila's party (AMP) led already know that they are more than interested. The Congolese newspapers Le Potentiel fears the break up of the government coalition which would lead to a political crisis. Hence, the question is: in which way Ituri and Kivu are an issue in Kinshasa nowadays, knowing that MONUC fears starvation and lethal diseases (cholera) among the almost 900,000 displaced in North Kivu alone.
Wouter Cools
A month ago I wrote that the Goma agreement was as dead as the idea of a self-regulating free market. The events of the last weeks and a report of Amnesty International reaffirm my position. The peace agreement of 23 of January 2008 is inadequate to forestall a minimum degree of stability and peace in the Kivu and has even some perverse effects that not only stands in contrast with its own regulations but also undermines further the social texture of the region. These evolutions take place in a context of a looming national political crisis and a country that is not only terrorized by violence in the Kivu but also in Ituri and Orientale Province due to attacks of local militias and Kony's Lord Resistance Army (LRA).
Laurent Nkunda's latest offensive, started on the 28 of August, was directed towards Goma and an attempt to extend the fighting to South Kivu. This region was relative peaceful during the latest months, but now there is the danger that it will be drowned in the never ending spiral of violence of its northern neighbour, complicating only more any possible settlement of the conflict. The clashes between the CNDP rebels and the Congolese army (FARDC) demonstrated again the incompetence of the latter to defeat Nkunda's movement and to protect the civilian population. A new element in the latest episode of the conflict is the role of MONUC. After heavy criticism of the latest months, it seems to be that the UN peacekeeping force finally started to act.
This time MONUC troops held their positions (a month ago there were testimonies of withdrawing peace forces, leaving civilians to their fate), beat off in some occasions CNDP attacks (last week MONUC could stop Nkunda's advance to Masisi by intervening with combat helicopters) and send reinforcements to the various fronts. In a very optimistic mood one can say that by this new more active posture of the MONUC, Nkunda's CNDP will come to realize that they can't be victorious and that a negotiated settlement is the only rational option left. The problem with such a train of thought is that the CNDP doesn't want a stabilisation of the situation. Every offensive, every attack is motivated by the fact that it creates chaos and insecurity. Such a chaos and insecurity serve directly what is really on stake for the CNDP: the control over revenues from gold, tin, timber and cobalt. In peacetime the rebels would lose these revenues or at least will have to share them. This logic stands also for all the other armed movements (the Mai Mai militia, the FDLR), including the FARDC.
Moreover, apparently the incompetence of the FARDC inspired Nkunda to announce in a BBC interview to introduce a change in the CNDP's agenda. No longer is the defending of Tutsi-interests in the region, but the liberation of whole Congo now the new adagium. Anxious by these new fights, Alan Doss, UN Special Representative for Congo, asked for more troops and more means during a special session of the UN Security Council.
Given that incompetence, both wished as unintended, of the FARDC to defeat the CNDP, it becomes time that Kabila understands that the Congolese government can't resolve the conflict military. Hence, terms of "using all means" to institute peace like he did mid-September, should be replaced by phrases like: negotiations which deal the underlying causes of the conflict –the issues of land distribution, control over natural resources, political representation, development- instead of only fighting the symptoms, like the Amani program does. The problem is that the Congolese government, like the international community, still have faith in the Amani program. Kinshasa for example refused to comply with Nkunda's request to negotiate directly, saying that negotiations should occur via the Amani program, namely through the Commission of Peace and Security. It's bizarre to see how governments and international organizations keep on sticking to a signed text of conflict resolution; whereas reality demonstrates the inadequacy of the agreement (another example of such an attitude is the Darfur Peace Agreement of May 2006).
The most shocking news fact and one that clearly shows the dead-lock of the Goma agreement is a report of Amnesty International. Based on testimonies, the report states that half of the children that where set free in North Kivu, are again recruited later by one of the armed movements, particularly by the CNDP and Mai Mai militia. An aid worker says even that for every two children that are liberated, five others are recruited. UNICEF already sounded the alarm in April and seems to be that the problem became worse. Although the Goma agreement stipulated that the fighting parties had to set free all their child soldiers, the CNDP has more kadogo than before the agreement. The reason is that the agreement provided to give rebel leaders a rank in the Congolese army in correspondence with the amount of fighters they have under their command.
Another alarming message comes from Ituri and Dungu in Orientale Province. In Ituri a new armed movement called Front Populaire pour la Justice au Congo (FPJC) captured some villages around Bunia which were previously controlled by the FARDC. According to its self-declared colonel, Charif Manda, the FPJC is the first multi-ethnic movement in Ituri.
Although the agenda of this new armed group is unknown, its supporters would be ex members of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC, its former leader, Thomas Lubanga, is arrested by the Congolese authorities and transferred to the ICC against who it issued an arrest warrant for numerous human right violations), the Front Nationaliste et Intégrationniste (FNI) and the Front de Résistance Patriotique de l'Ituri (FPRI), all militias which are responsible for numerous war crimes, crimes against humanity and human right violations in Ituri's latest episode of violence. Ituri as region came for the first time under international attention in June 1999 when it was hit by the first eruption of a large scale conflict between Hema and Lendu elites. Likewise in Kivu, it is the struggle for control and access to land and other natural resources (gold) what was at stake. And just like in the Kivu this competition led to an alliance between rural armed actors, economic entrepreneurs and local authorities and a general environment of violence and despair, causing more than 50,000 deaths since 1999. Although the first European military intervention (Artemis) and later MONUC did improve the situation, leading to a considerable progress in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of militias, there are still hundreds dissident fighters of various armed movement. Another striking similarity with Kivu is the role of neighbouring countries in both conflicts. Where Kabila blames the regime of Kigali for the agitated situation in Kivu, the FARDC says that leaders of the FRPI have established links with rebels from neighbouring Uganda who are supplying them with guns and ammunition.
Attacks of the Lord Resistance Army in Dungu caused thousands displaced -Caritas speaks of 75,000- of which hundreds sought safety in South Sudan. Since a year Kony's rebels have found a hiding place in the Garamba national park, northeast Congo close to the border with Southern Sudan and Uganda. MONUC estimates the number of LRA fighters in Congo at 800 to 1,000. From its base the LRA attacked and looted several villages and health centres, killing dozens of citizens, abducting over a hundred others, amongst them 90 children. UNHCR is concerned that the humanitarian situation could get worse. The rain season just started and due to the looting of villages the stocks of food is diminished. Although Kinshasa send 2,000 troops to end the LRA's attacks, assisted logistically by 400 MONUC peacekeepers, my experience says that they will not succeed in eliminating the LRA. Meanwhile the peace process between the rebels and Kampala seems to be reached a dead-lock. Kony has made clear that he doesn't sign any agreement as long they have no guarantees that they will be not persecuted for committed atrocities. The ICC has issued arrest warrants against Kony and other commanders.
These events hit Kinshasa exactly on the moment that a governmental crisis is looming. Antoine Gizenga's resign as first minister opens great anxiety about his succession. Needless to say that all political parties have the perfect candidate (sometimes they have more than one) in their ranks. PALU, Gizenga's party and described as followers of Patrice Lumumba, claims that the prime ministers office belongs to them; but UDEMO (supporters of former president Mobutu) and Kabila's party (AMP) led already know that they are more than interested. The Congolese newspapers Le Potentiel fears the break up of the government coalition which would lead to a political crisis. Hence, the question is: in which way Ituri and Kivu are an issue in Kinshasa nowadays, knowing that MONUC fears starvation and lethal diseases (cholera) among the almost 900,000 displaced in North Kivu alone.
Hamas says Abbas must step aside
Hamas says Abbas must step aside
Hamas says Ahmed Bahar will succeed Abbas next year if the president fails to call fresh elections [AFP]
The Palestinian group Hamas that governs Gaza says it will stop recognising Mahmoud Abbas as the Palestinian president in three months.
Hamas, citing a Palestinian law, said one of its own leaders must fill the top post after Abbas's tenure officially expires on January 8.
The announcement came after Hamas legislators voted on a resolution in Gaza City on Monday, a move seen as at attempt to step up pressure on Abbas and his Fatah party ahead of talks brokered by Egypt over a power-sharing deal between the rival camps.
A Fatah member said the vote was simply "an attempt to sabotage the Egyptian effort to reconcile the Palestinian division".
The Basic Law, a forerunner to a Palestinian constitution, says that both president and parliament are elected to four-year terms.
Legal loophole
But a loophole in the law, which Fatah is relying on, suggests that Abbas's term could be extended another year if it were deemed to be in the "national interest".
Hamas says Abbas's tenure as Palestinian president ends on January 8 [EPA]Abbas was elected president in January 2006 but a year later Hamas defeated his movement by a landslide in parliamentary elections in Gaza.
Neither Hamas nor Fatah appear keen to share power in governing the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas control following a violent takeover in June last year, leaving Abbas with only nominal control of the occupied West Bank.
During Monday's vote, Hamas threatened to install Ahmed Bahar, the deputy parliamentary speaker, as Abbas's temporary successor if Abbas fails to announce a new presidential election by Wednesday.
Shalit talks
Meanwhile, Khaled Mashaal, the exiled Hamas political leader, said talks with Israel over the possible release of an Israeli soldier have stalled and blamed Israeli negotiators for continuing to rehash previously-agreed issues.
He was quoted in Le Figaro newspaper on Monday blaming "a lack of reliability of Israeli negotiators" in discussions pertaining to Sergeant Gilad Shalit who was captured two years ago.
Source:
Agencies /Aljazeera
Hamas says Ahmed Bahar will succeed Abbas next year if the president fails to call fresh elections [AFP]
The Palestinian group Hamas that governs Gaza says it will stop recognising Mahmoud Abbas as the Palestinian president in three months.
Hamas, citing a Palestinian law, said one of its own leaders must fill the top post after Abbas's tenure officially expires on January 8.
The announcement came after Hamas legislators voted on a resolution in Gaza City on Monday, a move seen as at attempt to step up pressure on Abbas and his Fatah party ahead of talks brokered by Egypt over a power-sharing deal between the rival camps.
A Fatah member said the vote was simply "an attempt to sabotage the Egyptian effort to reconcile the Palestinian division".
The Basic Law, a forerunner to a Palestinian constitution, says that both president and parliament are elected to four-year terms.
Legal loophole
But a loophole in the law, which Fatah is relying on, suggests that Abbas's term could be extended another year if it were deemed to be in the "national interest".
Hamas says Abbas's tenure as Palestinian president ends on January 8 [EPA]Abbas was elected president in January 2006 but a year later Hamas defeated his movement by a landslide in parliamentary elections in Gaza.
Neither Hamas nor Fatah appear keen to share power in governing the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas control following a violent takeover in June last year, leaving Abbas with only nominal control of the occupied West Bank.
During Monday's vote, Hamas threatened to install Ahmed Bahar, the deputy parliamentary speaker, as Abbas's temporary successor if Abbas fails to announce a new presidential election by Wednesday.
Shalit talks
Meanwhile, Khaled Mashaal, the exiled Hamas political leader, said talks with Israel over the possible release of an Israeli soldier have stalled and blamed Israeli negotiators for continuing to rehash previously-agreed issues.
He was quoted in Le Figaro newspaper on Monday blaming "a lack of reliability of Israeli negotiators" in discussions pertaining to Sergeant Gilad Shalit who was captured two years ago.
Source:
Agencies /Aljazeera
torsdag 2 oktober 2008
Taliban Pakistan in Hot Waters
Taliban Pakistan in Hot Waters
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent
"If his [Baitullah Mehsud] death is confirmed it will certainly effect the Taliban movement in the tribal areas initially," Yousafzai believes.ISLAMABAD — Security and defense analysts believe that the reported death of Baitullah Mehsud will affect the militancy in Pakistan's restive tribal areas on the short term and could cause a split within the local Taliban ranks.
"If his death is confirmed it will certainly effect the Taliban movement in the tribal areas initially," Rahimullah Yousafzai, a Peshawar based security analyst, told IslamOnline.net.
Baitullah Mehsud, the Amir of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), reportedly died on Tuesday of renal failure.
"Taliban will need sometime to find out such a high-profile commander like Baitullah Mehsud because he was the founder of TTP and definitely fighters have some kind of attachment to the founder."
A letter received Thursday by a Peshawar-based journalist claimed 34-year-old Mehsud was in good health.
Pakistan Taliban Leader Reportedly Dead
The letter did not carry a spokesman name and many observers here doubt its credibility and say Mehsud could have called journalists to tell them that he is alive.
Mehsud had previously met journalists at unidentified places in tribal areas.
Experts think Taliban will announce his death once they find his successor.
"When I say it will affect in the short term that means that Taliban had been used to his towering personality, which was actually exaggerated by intelligence agencies and the media," says Yousafzai.
"No doubt he was or he is an important and experienced commander but to declare him one of the most dangerous and influential persons in the world is nothing but exaggeration."
Baitullah Mehsud, a ghostly top militant, was virtually the uncrowned king of Pakistan's restive tribal belt.
Blamed by the US for the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto last year, he was the most wanted man by Pakistani and US intelligence agencies.
Baitullah Mehsud, who was once described by Newsweek as more dangerous than Osama Bin Laden himself, was recently named in Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.
Temporary
Ghosi believes the militancy problem in Pakistan's restive border area will remain "until and unless the root cause of the problem is addressed."
Some experts believe his death, if confirmed, could cause the break up of Taliban.
"His death may affect Taliban in a way whereby it may split on the issue of his successor," says Yousafzai.
"There are many Taliban groups under the umbrella of The TTP and each of these groups may won't its leader to be Baitullah Mehsud successor."
Wali-ur-Rehman is believed to stand a better chance of succeeding Baitullah Mehsud because he hails from the same powerful tribe.
Mehsud is the biggest tribe in South Waziristan with 60 percent of the 700,000 population while rival Wazir makes up 35 percent.
Maulvi Faqeer Mohammad, Baitullah Mehsud's deputy, would be a less favorite because he is not a Mehsud.
However, experts believe that whatever impact Baitullah Mehsud's death would have on Taliban, it would be short-lived.
"It will not be a long-lasting effect because the situation in the tribal areas has reached a point where personalities do not count much," says Yousafzai.
Sabihuddin Ghosi, a security and political analyst, agrees.
"His death could be a temporary shock for Taliban but not more than that.
"However I don't see this as a long-term problem for Taliban, especially regarding their operational capabilities. Once they regroup and fight his successor they will again appear as a threat."
The security expert insists that the militancy problem in Pakistan's restive border area will continue.
"The problem will remain until and unless the root cause of the problem is addressed.
"The two sides, specially the government, must understand that guns can't resolve the disputes. They have to come to the table whether before bloodshed or after that," says Ghosi.
"If the government wants to close the chapter of people like Baitullah Mehsud for ever then it has to respect the tribal tradition and give self governance to them otherwise the people will continue to be killed and people like Baitullah Mehsud will continue to emerge."
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent
"If his [Baitullah Mehsud] death is confirmed it will certainly effect the Taliban movement in the tribal areas initially," Yousafzai believes.ISLAMABAD — Security and defense analysts believe that the reported death of Baitullah Mehsud will affect the militancy in Pakistan's restive tribal areas on the short term and could cause a split within the local Taliban ranks.
"If his death is confirmed it will certainly effect the Taliban movement in the tribal areas initially," Rahimullah Yousafzai, a Peshawar based security analyst, told IslamOnline.net.
Baitullah Mehsud, the Amir of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), reportedly died on Tuesday of renal failure.
"Taliban will need sometime to find out such a high-profile commander like Baitullah Mehsud because he was the founder of TTP and definitely fighters have some kind of attachment to the founder."
A letter received Thursday by a Peshawar-based journalist claimed 34-year-old Mehsud was in good health.
Pakistan Taliban Leader Reportedly Dead
The letter did not carry a spokesman name and many observers here doubt its credibility and say Mehsud could have called journalists to tell them that he is alive.
Mehsud had previously met journalists at unidentified places in tribal areas.
Experts think Taliban will announce his death once they find his successor.
"When I say it will affect in the short term that means that Taliban had been used to his towering personality, which was actually exaggerated by intelligence agencies and the media," says Yousafzai.
"No doubt he was or he is an important and experienced commander but to declare him one of the most dangerous and influential persons in the world is nothing but exaggeration."
Baitullah Mehsud, a ghostly top militant, was virtually the uncrowned king of Pakistan's restive tribal belt.
Blamed by the US for the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto last year, he was the most wanted man by Pakistani and US intelligence agencies.
Baitullah Mehsud, who was once described by Newsweek as more dangerous than Osama Bin Laden himself, was recently named in Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.
Temporary
Ghosi believes the militancy problem in Pakistan's restive border area will remain "until and unless the root cause of the problem is addressed."
Some experts believe his death, if confirmed, could cause the break up of Taliban.
"His death may affect Taliban in a way whereby it may split on the issue of his successor," says Yousafzai.
"There are many Taliban groups under the umbrella of The TTP and each of these groups may won't its leader to be Baitullah Mehsud successor."
Wali-ur-Rehman is believed to stand a better chance of succeeding Baitullah Mehsud because he hails from the same powerful tribe.
Mehsud is the biggest tribe in South Waziristan with 60 percent of the 700,000 population while rival Wazir makes up 35 percent.
Maulvi Faqeer Mohammad, Baitullah Mehsud's deputy, would be a less favorite because he is not a Mehsud.
However, experts believe that whatever impact Baitullah Mehsud's death would have on Taliban, it would be short-lived.
"It will not be a long-lasting effect because the situation in the tribal areas has reached a point where personalities do not count much," says Yousafzai.
Sabihuddin Ghosi, a security and political analyst, agrees.
"His death could be a temporary shock for Taliban but not more than that.
"However I don't see this as a long-term problem for Taliban, especially regarding their operational capabilities. Once they regroup and fight his successor they will again appear as a threat."
The security expert insists that the militancy problem in Pakistan's restive border area will continue.
"The problem will remain until and unless the root cause of the problem is addressed.
"The two sides, specially the government, must understand that guns can't resolve the disputes. They have to come to the table whether before bloodshed or after that," says Ghosi.
"If the government wants to close the chapter of people like Baitullah Mehsud for ever then it has to respect the tribal tradition and give self governance to them otherwise the people will continue to be killed and people like Baitullah Mehsud will continue to emerge."
US passes India nuclear pact
US passes India nuclear pact
The agreement was signed by Bush, left, and Manmohan Singh in July 2005 [EPA]
The US senate has approved a landmark deal that re-establishes bilateral nuclear co-operation with India.
The vote on Wednesday night follows its passage through the House of Representatives last weekend, ending a 30-year ban on US nuclear trade with India.
The senate's 86-13 vote handed George Bush, the US president, a victory on one of his top foreign policy priorities, which he will later sign into law.
The pact, passed by the House of Representatives with a 298-117 vote, comes ahead of a planned trip to India by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, this weekend.
It contains several amendments related to "the subject of US responses in the event of a future Indian nuclear test".
India has argued that it has the sovereign right to conduct such a test, while Washington has said the deal would be off if tests were carried out.
Landmark deal
In a statement shortly after the bill was passed, Bush hailed the deal saying it will strengthen the US-India "strategic partnership" as well as efforts to halt the spread of atomic weapons.
"This legislation will strengthen our global nuclear non-proliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs, and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner."
Washington banned nuclear trade with India after it carried out its first nuclear test in 1974 and refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Signed by Bush and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, in July 2005, the deal offers India access to Western technology and cheap atomic energy.
In return New Delhi must allow UN inspections of some of its nuclear facilities.
Critics fear the deal weakens any position taken on nuclear programmes in other countries, such as Iran.
"President Bush and his aides were so eager for a foreign policy success that they didn't even try to get India to limit its weapons programme in return," the New York Times said in an editorial on Tuesday.
"They got no promise from India to stop producing bomb-making material, no promise to to expand its arsenal, and no promise not to resume nuclear testing."
Indians satisfied
The reaction in New Delhi has been marked by relief and satisfaction.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Thursday, Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam, an Indian defence analyst, said: "[The nuclear deal] will expedite India's economic growth because it will add to India's energy. "So far, India has been denied dual-use technology under the energy guidelines, so these are the benefits that India would receive under the new agreements."
He said India cannot give up its weapons because it is situated between two countries which are nuclear weapon powers, China and Pakistan.
"The non-proliferation community did not stop such proliferation in the past and therefore India is compelled to have its [own] nuclear arsenal," Subrahmanyam said. "While India's record on non-proliferation has been scrupulous, Pakistan cannot make the same claim. You have the whole story of Dr AQ Khan [a Pakistani nuclear scientist who sold nuclear secrets to other countries]. The major powers have decided that Pakistan has not earned the same treatment [as India]."
Al Jazeera and agencies
The agreement was signed by Bush, left, and Manmohan Singh in July 2005 [EPA]
The US senate has approved a landmark deal that re-establishes bilateral nuclear co-operation with India.
The vote on Wednesday night follows its passage through the House of Representatives last weekend, ending a 30-year ban on US nuclear trade with India.
The senate's 86-13 vote handed George Bush, the US president, a victory on one of his top foreign policy priorities, which he will later sign into law.
The pact, passed by the House of Representatives with a 298-117 vote, comes ahead of a planned trip to India by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, this weekend.
It contains several amendments related to "the subject of US responses in the event of a future Indian nuclear test".
India has argued that it has the sovereign right to conduct such a test, while Washington has said the deal would be off if tests were carried out.
Landmark deal
In a statement shortly after the bill was passed, Bush hailed the deal saying it will strengthen the US-India "strategic partnership" as well as efforts to halt the spread of atomic weapons.
"This legislation will strengthen our global nuclear non-proliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs, and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner."
Washington banned nuclear trade with India after it carried out its first nuclear test in 1974 and refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Signed by Bush and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, in July 2005, the deal offers India access to Western technology and cheap atomic energy.
In return New Delhi must allow UN inspections of some of its nuclear facilities.
Critics fear the deal weakens any position taken on nuclear programmes in other countries, such as Iran.
"President Bush and his aides were so eager for a foreign policy success that they didn't even try to get India to limit its weapons programme in return," the New York Times said in an editorial on Tuesday.
"They got no promise from India to stop producing bomb-making material, no promise to to expand its arsenal, and no promise not to resume nuclear testing."
Indians satisfied
The reaction in New Delhi has been marked by relief and satisfaction.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Thursday, Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam, an Indian defence analyst, said: "[The nuclear deal] will expedite India's economic growth because it will add to India's energy. "So far, India has been denied dual-use technology under the energy guidelines, so these are the benefits that India would receive under the new agreements."
He said India cannot give up its weapons because it is situated between two countries which are nuclear weapon powers, China and Pakistan.
"The non-proliferation community did not stop such proliferation in the past and therefore India is compelled to have its [own] nuclear arsenal," Subrahmanyam said. "While India's record on non-proliferation has been scrupulous, Pakistan cannot make the same claim. You have the whole story of Dr AQ Khan [a Pakistani nuclear scientist who sold nuclear secrets to other countries]. The major powers have decided that Pakistan has not earned the same treatment [as India]."
Al Jazeera and agencies
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