Tunisian Revolution and the Middle East--And Now, The Withdrawal From Afghanistan (M.E.T.)

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http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/68464.aspx

Gadhaf Al-Dam file destroyed in 'suspicious' court building blaze: Source

The Ahmed Gadhaf Al-Dam file was among the many documents destroyed by a fire that broke out in the South Cairo Criminal Court in the capital's Bab El-Khalq district on Thursday, a judicial source told Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website.

Al-Dam was a close aide and cousin of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

The criminal court's prosecution office was severely damaged by the fire, which broke out on Thursday morning. According to Al-Ahram, the blaze destroyed everything inside the building and caused the ceiling to collapse.

On Wednesday, Egypt's Administrative Court ruled against Al-Dam's extradition to Libya, where he is wanted by the country's post-revolution leadership for alleged crimes during Gaddafi's rule.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/world/asia/taliban-peace-envoys-in-qatar-with-nothing-to-do.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Peace Envoys From Taliban at Loose Ends in Qatar

When a handful of Taliban emissaries flew into Qatar on an American plane in 2010, the Obama administration hoped they would help negotiate a peace deal that could stabilize Afghanistan and allow the United States a graceful exit.

Three years after that secret arrival, the Taliban officials remain idle and their political office here remains unused.

“They are just living here enjoying the air-conditioning, driving luxury cars, eating and making babies,” one Afghan diplomat in Qatar said. “It’s all they can do; they have no work to do.”

They are unlikely to see a negotiating table anytime soon either, with the new fighting season in Afghanistan off to a particularly violent start and with the latest push to restart talks all but abandoned. Once again, the Taliban’s attention is on the battlefield, and on what may be gained or lost there as the American military begins its withdrawal from the war.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/world/middleeast/attackers-strike-across-iraq-as-elections-approach.html?hp

Attackers Strike Across Iraq as Elections Approach

Attackers struck targets across Iraq on Monday morning, setting a bloody backdrop to the last week of campaigning as Iraqis prepare to vote in local elections on Saturday.

As of midday on Monday, as security officials and medical workers continued to count the dead and wounded, at least 37 people had been killed and more than 140 wounded in nearly 20 separate attacks, mostly car bombings, in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Hilla, Falluja, Nasiriya and Tikrit, according to local officials.

The local elections, the first since the withdrawal of the American military at the end of 2011, are being anticipated warily by American diplomats and United Nations officials as a crucial test of Iraq’s shaky democracy.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/world/middleeast/killings-grow-as-iraqi-elections-near.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

Assassinations Grow as Iraqi Elections Near

In the first Iraqi elections since the American troop withdrawal, Sunni candidates are being attacked and killed in greater numbers than in recent campaigns, raising concerns in Washington over Iraq’s political stability and the viability of a democratic system the United States has heavily invested in over years of war and diplomacy.

At least 15 candidates, all members of the minority Sunni community, have been assassinated — some apparently by political opponents, others by radical Sunni militants. Many others have been wounded or kidnapped or have received menacing text messages or phone calls demanding that they withdraw.

By going after members of their own sect, radical Sunnis aligned with Al Qaeda are effectively seeking to destabilize the Shiite-led government, making an already angry and alienated community fearful to participate in national governance. At the same time, it appears intra-Sunni rivalries are inadvertently aiding the radical cause, as Sunnis kill political adversaries in their quest for power.

As candidates nervously continue meeting voters, promising jobs and handing out cellphone cards in exchange for assurances, sworn on the Koran, of their votes in local elections this weekend, there are worries that the violence is deterring good candidates — and that voters will be put off as well.

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http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/04/al-jazeera-america-hires-online-producers-162027.html#.UXAoEDbhcxs.twitter

Al Jazeera America hires online producers

Andrea Stone and Tony Karon are joining Al Jazeera America as senior online executive producers, the network announced on Thursday.

Stone and Karon will “determine the overall editorial direction for the site” and will be based in New York, where the new channel will be headquartered, according to a press release. They will be responsible for managing both domestic and international coverage for the channel’s website and its other digital platforms as the co-leaders of Al Jazeera America's digital news unit.

Stone was previously the senior national correspondent for The Huffington Post, and prior to that served as the Washington bureau chief for AOL News and a reporter for USA Today. Karon is coming to Al Jazeera America from Time Magazine, where he spent the last 12 years as the senior editor for its website.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/sport/football/2013/04/201341810333881674.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount

Libya invest $314 million ahead of 2017 AFCON

Libya plans to invest $314 million on building stadiums this year as it prepares to host the 2017 African Nations Cup, the deputy prime minister said, amid hopes that soccer can unify the country after its 2011 war.

"Just like Nelson Mandela unified South Africa, we hope to unify Libya under this cup," Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Awad Ibrahim Elbarasi said on Thursday.

"We will resume construction of these stadiums in June and have asked the government for a budget of 400 million dinars to build 11 stadiums this year."

Last month, Libya said it would use all its resources to ensure that it kept the right to host the 2017 finals.

The North African country had originally been scheduled to host the 2013 Nations Cup but precarious security saw it swap with South Africa, who had been down for the 2017 event.

Libya plans to build a new 60,000 seater stadium for the hosting of the 2017 African Nations Cup finals, Sports Minister Abdussalam Guaila told local media this month.

A second stadium for the tournament, seating 23,000 spectators, is planned for the coastal city of Misrata. Matches would also be held in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya's second biggest city, the Libya news agency reported.

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https://twitter.com/BreakingNews

Mortars target Iraqi Sunni mosque, seven killed

Seven worshippers were killed and a dozen more wounded when mortar rounds targeted a Sunni Muslim mosque during Friday prayers in Iraq's Diyala province, police said.

The attack was the latest in the build up to Saturday's provincial election that will be a key test of Iraq's political stability more than a year after the last U.S. troops withdrew.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/world/middleeast/Iraq-executions.html?ref=world

Top U.N. Rights Official Denounces Executions in Iraq as ‘Obscene’

With increasing regularity, Iraq’s condemned prisoners are rounded from their cells in groups. One by one, they are led down a hallway to an execution chamber where they are hanged, the sound of the trapdoor reverberating through the cells. There is no advance notice, no last meal, no goodbyes.

There were 21 people hanged on Wednesday, 8 earlier this month and 12 more in mid-March. Iraq’s justice minister said that at least 9 more had been executed this year.

There are reports that the Justice Ministry plans to execute about 150 in coming days — eclipsing the 129 prisoners executed last year, which was nearly double the 68 people hanged in 2011.

“Executing prisoners in batches like this is obscene,” Navi Pillay, the United Nations human rights chief, said in a statement released in Geneva on Friday that was the harshest yet toward an Iraqi government that has drastically increased the number of executions since the withdrawal of American forces at the end of 2011.

“It is like processing animals in a slaughterhouse,” added Ms. Pillay, who said she was “appalled” by recent reports that the Justice Ministry planned to execute a large group in the coming days.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/20/saudi-defence-reshuffle-idUSL5N0D70AL20130420

Saudi king removes deputy defence minister in royal reshuffle

Top royal job changes can point to Saudi succession plans

* Prince Khaled was Saudi military chief in 1991 Gulf War

* Replaced by Prince Fahd, former head of Saudi navy

By Angus McDowall

RIYADH, April 20 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has removed veteran deputy defence minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan from his post, state media reported on Saturday, the latest move in a reshuffle among princes holding government jobs in the U.S.-allied kingdom.

Switches of important posts between princes are closely watched because they indicate possible changes in the line of succession in the monarchy, the dominant power among Gulf Arab states and the world's biggest oil exporter.

Prince Khaled was head of the Saudi armed forces during the 1991 Gulf War but was passed over for the job of Defence Minister in 2011 after the death of his father, Crown Prince Sultan, who had held the position for five decades.

He has been replaced as deputy defence minister by Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing a royal decree. Prince Fahd is a former head of the Saudi navy.

http://www.shabablibya.org/news/oped-the-future-of-libyan-foreign-relations

Op/Ed: The Future of Libyan Foreign Relations

Libya must also change its perception of its partners – Egypt pressures Libya for a piece of the cake using the card of escaped regime figures, but that card would have no value were Libya to become stable and secure.

We need partners like Turkey, which has quickly understood Libyan reality, got its share of the cake and still has an appetite for more.

Most importantly or perhaps most urgently, Libya requires substantial facilities that only the US possesses, especially in armament. Military training must take place in Balkan states.

Libya’s vast size and contrastingly small population, its geographic location and natural wealth, combined with situations prevalent in neighbouring countries all impose the need for Libya to become a military state, to some extent. It will evidently remain a civil state, but military development is an inescapable matter for Libya today.

Our country needs partners such as Malaysia, in the construction field; the Emirates and Qatar for investment; and the European Union for development.

It will also help to have new partners, such as South Korea and Australia in unchartered fields of cooperation. All these countries can offer much to Libya.

Edited April 20, 2013 by visionary

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/201342016485641796.html

Egypt's Morsi announces cabinet reshuffle

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has announced that there will be a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle, but critics say the move is unlikely to meet opposition demands for a complete overhaul of the government.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Morsi announced the reshuffle, saying that it will involve a number of "key ministries".

"Government restructuring is not an end, it is a means to achieve public interest," Morsi told Al Jazeera.

"So, we will soon see a reshuffle that will include a number of key ministries, mainly to achieve public interest and to react to the changes we face and the problems that arise."

A senior presidential aide has said that the changes to the government will be "wide-ranging" and include provincial governors, according to the AFP news agency.

"The ministries that will be affected include some important ones," he added. "I can't mention which ones because, as you know, this is a sensitive matter."

Um...huh?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/20/us-bahrain-grandprix-idUSBRE93J07V20130420

Bahrain protesters battle police a day before F1 race

Bahraini protesters clashed with police on Saturday, a day ahead of a Formula One race that the island kingdom's opposition hopes will draw attention to its campaign for democracy.

Young men blocked roads, burned tires and threw rocks at security forces who fired teargas in several villages around the capital Manama on Saturday afternoon and evening after similar clashes on Friday, human rights activists and witnesses said.

Such skirmishes have occurred almost nightly in Bahrain for the last two years, and the opposition has called for more protests in the run-up to the Grand Prix, which many in the Shi'ite-majority country accuse the Sunni-led government of using to disguise political dysfunction and human rights abuses.

Edited April 20, 2013 by visionary

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http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/04/22/the_monks_who_hate_muslims

The Monks Who Hate Muslims

In a small wooden office in the Mahamyaing monastery, Kyaw Linn rifles through a carrier bag of stickers emblazoned with 969, the logo that has come to represent Burma's budding anti-Muslim movement. Six months ago the head monk, Oo Wi Ma La, ordered the first batch of stickers from a nearby printing company. Now they're hard to avoid. Taxis, buses, and shop fronts across Rangoon and other major towns now display what some observers consider a symbol of Buddhist extremism -- a symbol that sees Burma's Muslim community as a threat to the country and its dominant religion.

This sentiment has unleashed waves of violence over the past several months that have left more than 40 dead, and 13,000 displaced in 2013 alone. The monastery in Moulmein, southern Burma, is credited as the birthplace of the resurgent 969 movement. Production of the 969 stickers began following rioting in western Burma last year that pitted Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims. The number signifies the attributes of Buddha and his teachings, and is sacred to Buddhists.

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http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-36-dead-raid-sunni-protest-143346124.html

Iraq: 36 dead after raid on Sunni protest site

Iraqi security forces backed by helicopters raided a Sunni protest camp before dawn Tuesday, prompting clashes that killed at least 36 people in the area and significantly intensified Sunni anger against the Shiite-led government.

The fighting broke out in the former insurgent stronghold of Hawija, about 240 kilometers (160 miles) north of Baghdad. Like many predominantly Sunni communities, the town has seen months of rallies by protesters accusing the government of neglect and pursuing a sectarian agenda.

In an apparent response to the morning raid, militants tried to storm two army posts in the nearby town of Rashad, and six of them were killed, according to the Defense Ministry. Seven other militants were killed while trying to attack military positions in another town, Riyadh, according to police and hospital officials.

Outrage also spread through other Sunni parts of the country, including the restive western Anbar province, where demonstrators took to the streets and clashed with police.

As news of Tuesday's raid spread, calls went out through mosque loudspeakers in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, urging residents to protest in solidarity with fellow Sunnis in Hawija. About 1,000 protesters took to the streets in the western city, where anger at the government is particularly strong. Some chanted "War, war," as security forces fanned out in the streets.

In nearby Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, protesters threw stones at a military convoy. One army Humvee was overturned and set ablaze in the clashes, according to witnesses.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

It was a peaceful revolution for months...but several massacres have occurred...huge one today...so they're taking up arms.

7:23 AM

Iraqi soldiers in Ramadi Iraq turn their weapons in to the protesters and join them.

7:26 AM

Iraqis warning regime soldiers...defect now...or face our wrath.

8:04 AM

its not like they have much of a choice...its either keep it silmiyeh and get massacred...or take up arms...

8:07 AM

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/23/us-libya-attack-idUSBRE93M05320130423

Libya car bomb wounds French embassy guards

A car bomb in Tripoli wounded two French guards at France's embassy in Libya on Tuesday, bringing new violence to a capital that has not seen attacks on diplomats like that which killed the U.S. ambassador in Benghazi last year.

Since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled by Western-backed rebels in late 2011, Tripoli, like the rest of the sprawling desert state, has been awash with weapons and roving armed bands, but violence in the city has not targeted diplomats before in the way Western envoys have been shot at and bombed in the east of the country.

"This is an attack that targets not only France but all countries that fight against terrorist groups," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Paris before flying out to inspect the damage to the embassy.

One of the two wounded French guards required emergency surgery in Tripoli, he added.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zaidan joined him at the scene of the explosion and together they also visited the damaged homes of residents nearby.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/04/201342355231592873.html

France vows to punish Libya embassy attackers

France's foreign minister has condemned what he called a heinous attack on his country's embassy in the Libyan capital and said everything would be done to find the perpetrators.

"This was a terrorist act ... aimed at killing," Laurent Fabius said after he flew in to Tripoli to inspect the damage caused by a car bomb attack that left two French guards injured.

"The terrorists who wanted to attack France and Libya and undermine the friendship between them will pay" for the attack, he said.

President Francois Hollande called on Libya to bring the bombers to justice and Fabius said Paris was dispatching a counter-terrorism magistrate to help with an investigation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/23/us-iraq-violence-attack-idUSBRE93M16I20130423

Ten killed by mortar attack on Iraqi Sunni mosque: police

At least ten worshippers were killed when mortar rounds landed on an Iraqi Sunni mosque in Muqdadiya in Diyala province, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police and medical sources said.

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And now Iraq is in Civil War.

Maiki has really ****ed things up over there.

I can't help thinking we screwed up too by not pressuring him more to work with the others.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/24/us-iraq-violence-idUSBRE93N11M20130424

Iraq on edge after raid fuels deadly Sunni unrest

More than 30 people were killed in gun battles between Iraqi forces and militants on Wednesday, a day after a raid on a Sunni Muslim protest ignited the fiercest clashes since American troops left the country.

The second day of fighting threatens to deepen sectarian rifts in Iraq where relations between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims are still very tense just a few years after inter-communal slaughter pushed the country close to civil war.

The clashes between gunmen and troops were the bloodiest since thousands of Sunni Muslims started protests in December to demand an end to what they see as marginalization of their sect by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

On Tuesday, troops stormed one of the Sunni protest camps and more than 50 people were killed in the ensuing clashes which spread beyond the town of Hawija near Kirkuk, 170 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, to other areas.

Sporadic battles continued on Wednesday and hardline tribal leaders warned that protests could turn into open revolt against the Baghdad government even as Sunni moderates and foreign diplomats called for restraint.

Militants briefly took over a police station and an army base and burned a small Shi'ite mosque in Sulaiman Pek, 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, before army helicopters drove gunmen out of the town.

From what I've read on twitter a bunch of police stations and military bases were raided today and most of Mosul has been taken over by Sunni rebels.

It could be telling to see what happens with Sadr, since he's been very critical of Maliki, though not quite as much as the Kurds and Sunnis.

Edited April 25, 2013 by visionary

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https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister

JRTN-linked statements claim its fighters destroyed 2 tanks in Sulaiman Baik today and also fought heavily w Iraqi army in E Mosul - Iraq

11:26 AM

JRTN has also claimed seizing a police station along with tribal forces in Tikrit after clashes with Iraqi army this morning - Iraq

11:28 AM

JRTN has claimed seizing 13 armoured military vehicles during operations near Hawija, Kirkuk - Iraq

1:55 PM

Reports from last 24hrs: Alleged JRTN-led fighters have captured Jalula (Diyala), Al-Rashad (Kirkuk) & Suleiman al-Baik (Salah ad Din) Iraq

3:58 PM

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/world/africa/algerias-president-abdelaziz-bouteflika-has-mini-stroke.html?smid=tw-nytimesglobal&seid=auto

Algeria’s President Has Mini-Stroke

Algeria’s president was hospitalized on Saturday after having a mini-stroke without serious complications, the state news agency said.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had a brief blockage of a blood vessel, a transient ischemic attack, around noon, Rachid Bougherbal, the director of the national center of sports medicine, told the state news agency.

“His excellency the president of the republic must observe a period of rest for further examinations,” he said. “There was no reason for worry.”

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said the president had been hospitalized, “but the situation is not serious.”

Mr. Bouteflika, 76, has ruled Algeria since 1999, has long been believed to have been in poor health and rarely appears in public. The state news agency rarely carries any reports on the his health.

There has been speculation that he would run for a fourth term in the next presidential election, which is a year away, despite promises to step down. In Algeria, power is delicately shared between civilian politicians and the powerful military.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22331562#TWEET737392

Libya gunmen surround Tripoli foreign ministry

Dozens of armed men stopped workers entering the building and moved traffic away from the area, witnesses said.

Libyan officials have been unable to agree the terms of a law barring figures from the late Col Gaddafi's government from entering politics.

Armed groups have responded by storming the Congress on several occasions.

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says the image of an armed brigade blocking access to a public building has so far usually been reserved for Libya's legislature.

In March, protesters barricaded members of the General National Congress inside the building for hours, insisting they adopt the law.

On Sunday, roads leading to the foreign ministry building in the capital, Tripoli, were obstructed by at least 20 vehicles, as militiamen carrying AK-47 rifles moved into the area, although they did not enter the ministry itself

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/201342891442667780.html#.UX0Vo60RJsw.twitter

Iraq suspends Al Jazeera broadcast operations

Iraq has suspended the licences of 10 satellite television channels, including Al Jazeera, for promoting violence and sectarianism, a senior official at the country's media watchdog has said.

"We took a decision to suspend the licence of some satellite channels that adopted language encouraging violence and sectarianism," said Mujahid Abu al-Hail of the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) on Sunday.

"It means stopping their work in Iraq and their activities, so they cannot cover events in Iraq or move around," Hail said.

The CMC said it believes that "the rhetoric and substance coverage" by Baghdad, Al Sharqiyah, Al Sharqiyah News, Babylonian, Salah al-Din, Anwar 2, al Tagheer, Fallujah, Al Jazeera and Al Gharbiyah, all TV channels that operate in the region, were "provocative, misleading and exaggerated with the objective of disturbing the civil and democratic process".

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http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268777/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=1nCMaZLP

PORTRAITS: New numerology of hate grows in Myanmar

Wrapped in a saffron robe, Buddhist monk Wirathu insists he is a man of peace. Never mind his nine years in prison for inciting deadly violence against Muslims. Never mind the gruesome photos outside his office of Buddhists allegedly massacred by Muslims. Never mind that in the new Myanmar, the man dubbed the "Burmese bin Laden" has emerged as the spiritual leader of a pro-Buddhist fringe movement accused of fueling a bloody campaign of sectarian violence.

Wirathu insists the world has misunderstood him.

"If they knew my true ideas, they would call me savior," he says.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-deploys-small-number-of-troops-to-war-torn-mali/2013/04/30/2b02c928-b1a0-11e2-bc39-65b0a67147df_story.html

Pentagon deploys small number of troops to war-torn Mali

The Pentagon has deployed a small number of troops to Mali to support allied forces fighting there, despite repeated pledges by the Obama administration not to put “boots on the ground” in the war-torn African country.

About 10 U.S. military personnel are in Mali to provide “liaison support” to French and African troops but are not engaged in combat operations, said Lt. Col. Robert Firman, a Pentagon spokesman. Twelve others are assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Bamako, the capital, he added.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/04/2013430185845949250.html

Anti-Muslim violence hits central Myanmar

At least one person has died and 10 people have been injured in central Myanmar after Buddhist gangs set fire to hundreds of homes and overrun two mosques.

Tuesday's flare-up in Okkan, 110km north of Yangon, is the latest anti-Muslim violence to shake the Southeast Asian nation since late March.

In Chauk Tal, an outlying village, leaping flames still rose on Tuesday night from the remains of several fiercely burning structures, while distressed villagers cried and hurled buckets of water to try and douse the flames.

Residents said as many as 400 Buddhists armed with bricks and sticks rampaged throough the area.

The mobs targeted Muslim shops and ransacked two mosques; about 20 riot police were later deployed to guard one of them, a single-story structure, which had its doors broken and windows smashed.

In Okkan, two mosques were overrun and looted, while more than 100 Muslim homes in three nearby villages were torched in arson attacks.

"They came around 1pm and most of the people were from this town, not from outside. There were around 50 of them," said Khin Maung Than, a 60-year-old shopkeeper in Okkan.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/05/us-libya-politics-idUSBRE94405320130505?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637

Libyan parliament bans ex-Gaddafi officials from office

Libya's parliament voted on Sunday to ban anyone who held a senior position during Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule from government, a move which could unseat the prime minister and other top officials regardless of their part in toppling the dictator.

Politicians debated the draft law for months, but the issue came to a head this week when heavily armed groups took control of two ministries and stormed other institutions including the state broadcaster.

The decision to hold the vote under duress could embolden the armed groups to use force again to assert their will over parliament.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, a diplomat under Gaddafi who defected to the exiled opposition in 1980, could be among those barred from office, although this remained unclear and a parliament spokesman said it would be decided by a committee charged with implementing the law.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/libyanproud

Breaking : Minister of Defense has resigned and describes the armed siege of ministries as an "attack on democracy" via @SkyNewsArabia_B

6:41 AM

Residents of Tripoli have rallied and are demanding the armed men surrounding the foreign ministry leave.

2:03 PM

The Armed men surrounding have withdrawn the AA mounted trucks and replaced them with normal pickup trucks.

2:04 PM

Apparently they have agreed to hand over the ministry to a legal committee from the GNC and Gov for official handover.

2:05 PM

Edited May 7, 2013 by visionary

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/us-sudan-fighting-displaced-idUSBRE9490NL20130510?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637

Up to 40,000 flee rebel assault in central Sudan: U.N.

Up to 40,000 people have fled since rebels launched a major assault in central Sudan, the United Nations said on Friday, amid signs of a new insurgent campaign to push closer to the capital.

The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), an alliance of four rebel groups from the western Darfur region and zones in the south, attacked the central city of Um Rawaba, a usually placid commercial hub, and other areas two weeks ago.

Their brief occupation of the city in North Kordofan state was the closest insurgents bent on toppling President Omar Hassan al-Bashir have got to Khartoum since one rebel band launched an unprecedented raid on its suburb Omdurman in 2008.

Sudan has been plagued for decades by clashes between the government and rebels from its peripheries, fighting against what they say is exploitation by a Khartoum elite.

SPLM-N is made up of fighters who sided with south Sudan during decades of civil war that ended in a 2005 peace deal.

When South Sudan seceded in 2011 the SPLM-N fighters were left on the Sudanese side of the border, and continued of complain of discrimination from the Khartoum government.

Analysts say the rebels are unlikely to try and take Khartoum but might force the army into a war of attrition on several fronts, draining state resources at a time when Sudan is struggling with an economic crisis.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/71127.aspx

Egyptian man who stabbed Stone in Cairo: I hate America

The man who stabbed an American in Cairo on Thursday says he was motivated by a hatred of the United States.

Mahmoud Badr, 30, who holds a bachelor's degree in commerce, was arrested on Thursday after stabbing American academic Chris Stone in the neck outside the US embassy in Cairo.

Badr told interrogators that he took his mother's knife, travelled to Cairo by train from Kafr El-Sheikh, and went to the US embassy in search of an American citizen to kill, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported on Friday.

Badr attempted to enter the embassy by pretending to be seeking a visa.

Stone, an associate professor of Arabic and head of the Arabic Programme at City University in New York, was going to the embassy to finish some paperwork for his wife.

Badr told interrogators that he asked Stone his nationality then stabbed him in the neck when he said he was American.

Edited May 10, 2013 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/05/201351261230257352.html

Deal with former rebels ends Libya siege

Armed groups have ended a nearly two-week siege of Libya's foreign and justice ministries in the capital after reaching a deal with the government, the Libyan justice minister has said.

"Those who were at the two ministries have handed over the two ministries to a committee formed by the government and the General National Congress and have now departed," Salah al-Marghani, justice minister, said on Saturday.

The armed groups surrounded the ministries in Tripoli late last month to press parliament to pass a law banning anyone who held a senior position under the late leader Muammar Gaddafi from holding office in the new administration.

The move came after hundreds of people rallied on Friday to denounce the use of violence by militias. The activists accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of trying to seize power by force.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan had announced on Wednesday there would be a cabinet reshuffle "in the coming days," against the backdrop of the country's latest political crisis, sparked by the besieging of the two ministries.

"There will no doubt be a ministerial reshuffle in the coming days," he told reporters.