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

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/world/middleeast/egyptian-medical-examiners-spokesman-blames-shaimaa-el-sabbaghs-death-on-her-thinness.html?ref=middleeast&_r=0

Egyptian Official Says Protester, Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, Died in Shooting Because She Was Too Thin

 

A poet and activist hit with a blast of birdshot from a police shotgun during a march to lay flowers in Tahrir Square in Cairo died because she was too thin, a spokesman for Egypt’s medical examiner said late Saturday.

 

The poet and activist, Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, was killed on Jan. 24, a day before the anniversary of Egypt’s Arab Spring revolt in 2011. Before the marchers could reach Tahrir Square, riot police officers blasted them with tear gas and birdshot at close range as photographers and cameramen watched. Their haunting images of Ms. Sabbagh dying in the arms of another marcher have made her a symbol of the epidemic of police abuse.

 

On Saturday, though, the spokesman for the Medical Forensics Authority said in a television interview that Ms. Sabbagh, 31, would not have died had she not been so slender.

 

“Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, according to science, should not have died,” the spokesman, Hisham Abdel Hamid, said, calling it “a very rare case.”

 

“Her body was like skin over bone, as they say,” he said. “She was very thin. She did not have any percentage of fat. So the small pellets penetrated very easily, and four or five out of all the pellets that penetrated her body — these four or five pellets were able to penetrate her heart and lungs, and these are the ones that caused her death.”

 

A chubbier person would have survived with only minor injuries, Mr. Abdel Hamid argued, noting that a man standing next to her was hit in the neck but nonetheless lived.

 

“Under his skin, he had layers of fat and I don’t know what else that were a bit thick, so he wasn’t penetrated,” Mr. Abdel Hamid said. “Praise the Lord, it was her time.”

The images of Ms. Sabbagh’s killing resonated so widely that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for an investigation. Public prosecutors said recently that they had referred an unnamed police officer to trial on charges of battery leading to death — a form of manslaughter.

 

Prosecutors also said they were charging Ms. Sabbagh’s fellow marchers with participating in an unauthorized demonstration under strict restrictions on street protests passed after the military takeover here in 2013. Both crimes carry similar penalties of up to several years in prison.

Edited March 23, 2015 by visionary

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/27/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0MN27L20150327?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Libyan forces said to leave bases near oil ports; hopes they may reopen

 

Forces loyal to a rival Libyan government controlling the capital Tripoli have withdrawn from frontline bases near the country's biggest oil ports, a spokesman said on Friday, raising hopes the ports might soon be reopened.

 

A Tripoli official said the internationally recognized government and the rival administration, which have fought since December over the two biggest oil exports in eastern Libya, had reached an agreement to withdraw. He did not say whether troops had been moved yet.

 

The move, if confirmed, might pave the way to restart the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports which shut down in December due to fighting.

Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for an oil port protection force loyal to the official government, said the rival force had left their positions west of Es Sider.

"They moved to Misrata (a western city)," he said.

 

A Tripoli government official said both sides had agreed to move back forces and hand over the ports to state oil firm NOC.

 

Troops reporting to Tripoli would move west to Sirte where Islamic State militants have set up a presence. The rival side would move to Ajdabiya to the east, he said.

 

Hassi did not confirm such an agreement, saying only the rival force had already left, while his troops would stay put.

 

 

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/somalia-mogadishu-hotel-attack-150327142646865.html

Seven people killed in Somalia hotel siege

 

Seven people have been killed in an attack on a hotel popular with government officials in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

 

The African Union mission to Somalia, AMISOM, confirmed to Al Jazeera that there had been an explosion followed by gunfire at the Makka al-Mukarama hotel on Friday.

 

An AMISOM spokesman said al-Shabab fighters got out of a car that then exploded. The armed men then entered the hotel and gunfire was heard. The fighters took hostages, the spokesman added.

 

Mustaf Abdi Nor Shafana, taking photos for Al Jazeera at the scene, said he saw seven bodies, > including three dead government soldiers.
The same hotel was attacked by the al-Shabab group in November 2013.

 

Police told Reuters that government officials were trapped inside the hotel and that officers had surrounded the complex.

 

"The hotel is now fully under the control of the militants," Major Ismail Olow, a Mogadishu police officer at the scene, told Reuters. "Al-Shabab fighters are on the top of the building and inside the hotel. It is not easy for us to go in."

 

Think that's an earlier account as I've seen the death toll listed at 25 a few minutes ago.

Edited March 27, 2015 by visionary

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/world/middleeast/provisional-government-in-libyan-capital-forces-out-its-own-prime-minister.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

Provisional Government in Libyan Capital Forces Out Its Own Prime Minister

 

The provisional government set up by the militias controlling the Libyan capital fired its prime minister on Tuesday. His departure removed a potential obstacle to unity talks organized by the United Nations to try to end the fighting that has divided the country.

 

The prime minister, Omar al-Hassi, “is a failure,” a spokesman for his government, Jamal Naji Zubia, said Tuesday. A group of 14 of Mr. Hassi’s ministers had demanded his exit and threatened to quit if he remained in place, Mr. Zubia said, adding, “He is not a decision maker.”

 

Government officials accused Mr. Hassi of overstating the government’s revenue and failing to meet its payroll, according to news reports. His deputy, Khalifa Ghweil, will take over as interim prime minister.

 

Western diplomats working to help resolve the Libyan conflict had also singled out Mr. Hassi as a spoiler who was seeking to block compromise in the interest of peace. Diplomats involved in supporting the United Nations-brokered peace talks have said that Mr. Hassi’s name was on a list of potential targets for international sanctions intended to isolate such spoilers in an effort to bring the factions together.

 

His ouster also hinted at some of the divisions festering even within the two main coalitions now fighting each other. Mr. Hassi, a former professor, was named to lead one of two rival governments set up since last summer, when the regional or ideological militias that sprang up after the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011 broke into two warring factions.

 

The faction that had appointed Mr. Hassi includes some moderate and extremist Islamist groups, as well as interests from the powerful commercial center of Misurata, and it brought back legislators from a rump of a disbanded parliament to form a provisional government. The other faction, based in the eastern cities of Tobruk and Bayda, includes the internationally recognized Parliament. But the faction is also dominated by a former Qaddafi general, Khalifa Hifter, who announced last year that he was leading a military takeover to purge Libya of Islamists.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/03/us-kenya-security-college-idUSKBN0MT0CK20150403?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Al Shabaab kills at least 147 at Kenyan university; siege ends

 

Gunmen from the Islamist militant group al Shabaab stormed a university in Kenya and killed at least 147 people on Thursday, in the worst attack on Kenyan soil since the U.S. embassy was bombed in 1998.

 

The siege ended nearly 15 hours after the Somali group's gunmen shot their way into the Garissa University College campus in a pre-dawn attack, sparing Muslim students and taking many Christians hostage.

 

Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said four gunmen strapped with explosives were behind the attack, the same number that killed 67 people during the 2013 bloodbath at a shopping mall in Nairobi.

 

"The operation has ended successfully. Four terrorists have been killed," Nkaissery told Kenyan media.

 

Kenyan police chief Joseph Boinet said the attackers had "shot indiscriminately" when they entered the university compound.

 

Police and soldiers surrounded the campus and exchanged gunfire with the attackers throughout the day but were repeatedly repelled. At least 79 people were injured and many airlifted to Nairobi, Kenya's national disaster body said.

 

Al Shabaab, who carried out the deadly attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013, claimed responsibility for the raid on the campus in Garissa, a town 200 km (120 miles) from the Somali border.

 

The group has links to al Qaeda and a record of raids on Kenyan soil in retaliation for Nairobi sending troops to fight it in its home state of Somalia.

Edited April 3, 2015 by visionary

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https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/egypt-punish-tunnel-diggers-life-jail-185608335.html

Egypt to punish tunnel diggers with life in jail

 

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday issued a decree making the digging or use of illegal tunnels in border areas punishable by life in jail.

 

The army has intensified efforts to destroy such underground tunnels connecting the restive Sinai Peninsula to the Palestinian Gaza Strip, since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

 

It says hundreds have already been destroyed and a one-kilometre buffer zone built across the border with Gaza to prevent the infiltration of militants, and smuggling of goods and weapons.

 

"Anyone who digs or prepares or uses a road, a passage, or an underground tunnel in the country's border areas with the purpose of connecting with a foreign entity or state, its citizens or residents... will face life in prison," said the decree published in the official gazette.

 

The decree says people who are aware of such illegal routes and fail to inform the authorities about them will face the same punishment.
Life imprisonment in Egypt amounts to 25 years in jail.

Edited April 14, 2015 by visionary

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/libya-tobruk-based-government-attacks-tripoli-airport-150415130719497.html

Libya's Tobruk-based government attacks Tripoli airport

 

Forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognised government have carried out air strikes near the capital Tripoli, which is controlled by a rival administration, officials said, as UN-sponsored peace talks were due to start in Morocco.

 

Mohamed El Hejazi, spokesman for army forces loyal to the government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni based in Tobruk, said war planes had attacked Tripoli's Mitiga airport and other targets in western Libya.

 

"This is part of our campaign against terrorism," he said.

 

Abdulsalam Buamoud, a spokesman for Mitiga airport, said the planes had missed the airport, but a security source said a missile battery some 10km from the airport on the outskirts of Tripoli had been hit.

 

Wednesday's air strikes came after the military chief of Thinni's government expressed doubt about UN-backed talks in Morocco aimed at ending the country's political split and said that he was "betting on a military solution" if a deal remains elusive.

He would not agree to any ceasefire with armed groups, he said.

 

"Then the military solution is a must because it is decisive ... when we are forced to, when we see our homeland torn apart as it is happening now, between militias and terrorists, we resort to a military solution. We are betting on the military solution," Haftar said.

 

Haftar said he believes his forces could win such a battle even though they currently control only a small area of Libya and no major cities.

 

On Monday, Haftar met Jordan's King Abdullah and senior military officials, who gave Haftar their backing.

 

The international community is pushing for a deal, fearing Libya's chaos could destabilise its neighbours.

Edited April 15, 2015 by visionary

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http://news.yahoo.com/search-under-way-700-migrants-lost-sea-south-083235474.html

Survivor: Smugglers locked hundreds in hold of capsized boat

 

A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action.

 

Survivor accounts of the number aboard varied, with the Italian Coast Guard saying that the capsized boat had a capacity for "hundreds" of people. Italian prosecutors said a Bangladeshi survivor flown to Sicily for treatment told them 950 people were aboard, including hundreds who had been locked in the hold by smugglers. Earlier, authorities said a survivor told them 700 migrants were on board.

 

It was not immediately clear if they were referring to the same survivor, and Premier Matteo Renzi said Italian authorities were "not in a position to confirm or verify" how many were on board when the boat set out from Libya.

 

Eighteen ships joined the rescue effort, but only 28 survivors and 24 bodies had been pulled from the water by nightfall, Renzi said.

 

These small numbers make more sense if hundreds of people were locked in the hold, because with so much weight down below, "surely the boat would have sunk," said Gen. Antonino Iraso, of the Italian Border Police, which has deployed boats in the operation.

 

Prosecutor Giovanni Salvi told The Associated Press by phone from the city of Catania that a survivor from Bangladesh described the situation on the fishing boat to prosecutors who interviewed him in a hospital. The man said about 300 people were in the hold, locked in there by the smugglers, when the vessel set out. He said that of the 950 who set out aboard the doomed boat, some 200 were women and several dozen were children.

 

 

 

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Apr-20/295040-at-least-9-killed-in-bomb-attack-on-un-vehicle-in-northeastern-somalia-police.ashx?utm_content=buffer68d4e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

At least 9 killed in bomb attack on UN vehicle in northeastern Somalia: police 

Edited April 21, 2015 by visionary

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/egypt-morsi-sentenced-150421063227546.html

Egypt's Morsi sentenced to 20 years in jail

 

A Cairo court has sentenced former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to 20 years in prison.

 

Morsi was charged with inciting the killing of protesters, in connection to the deaths of 10 people outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

He also faces serious charges in three other cases.

 

Morsi was deposed by his then military chief and Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after mass protests against his rule in the summer of 2013.

 

Following the coup, the former president's supporters launched a series of protests and sit-ins across the country culminating in a crackdown by security forces that left hundreds dead.

 

In the deadliest incident, at least 817 protesters were killed in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square when security forces opened fire on a sit-in. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the killings likely amounted to "crimes against humanity".

 

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/belly-dancer-sentenced-insulting-egyptian-flag-624049141

Belly dancer sentenced for insulting Egyptian flag

 

An Egyptian court has sentenced a popular belly dancer to six months in prison on Monday for “insulting the Egyptian flag”.

 

Sofinar Gourian, better known as Safinaz, wore a dancing costume with the flag’s three colours during a performance last year in the Red Sea resort of Ain Sokhna.

 

The Armenian dancer was also fined $1,966 by the court in Agouza, west of Cairo. Safinaz avoided jail by paying $1,310 bail.

 

Police previously questioned Safinaz in March over the incident, and she was released on the same day after paying $2,620 bail.

 

The case was filed after a businesswoman and a hotel owner filed private complaints. The verdict can be appealed.

 

Speaking about the case in a news conference, Safinaz said that her costume was a “love letter” to the Egyptian people and that there was no intention to insult them.

 

Her defence lawyer argued in court that the dancer is a foreigner with no knowledge of the country’s laws and had no intention to insult the flag.

 

Under interim president Adly Mansour, who ruled for a year after former president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown in the summer of 2013, insulting the flag was made illegal by law.

Edited April 21, 2015 by visionary

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http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/177252

U.N. Awaits Response to Libya Power-Sharing Draft Deal

 

The U.N. envoy for Libya, Bernardino Leon, has given warring parties until Sunday to respond to his latest proposals for a power-sharing deal that could pull the country out of chaos.

 

Leon told a closed-door Security Council meeting on Wednesday that the responses would help lay the groundwork for another round of talks and played down prospects for a quick breakthrough.

 

"There is a sort of hope, but let me be very cautious about the possibilities for an agreement," said Leon.

 

Diplomats, however, sounded upbeat about the outcome, with one envoy saying: "We are planning for success."

 

The United Nations has been brokering negotiations since January on a deal on the formation of a national unity government.

 

Leon circulated a draft agreement to the parties two days ago -- the third such document under discussion since the beginning of negotiations -- and delegations were studying it with a view to providing comments by Sunday.

 

"The international community would like to see an agreement before Ramadan," which falls on June 17th, said Leon.

 

The envoy said all factions had accepted that there cannot be a military solution to the conflict in Libya, which is also facing a growing threat from the local wing of the Islamic State group.

 

U.N. diplomats said the Security Council is expected to move quickly once a deal is reached on providing security support and development aid to the new Libyan government.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/29/un-aid-worker-suspended-leaking-report-child-abuse-french-troops-car?CMP=share_btn_tw

UN aid worker suspended for leaking report on child abuse by French troops

Edited April 29, 2015 by visionary

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https://twitter.com/AP

BREAKING: Vatican officially recognizes `state of Palestine' in new treaty.
9:26 AM

Edited May 14, 2015 by visionary

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/02/us-myanmar-religion-idUSKBN0OI24720150602?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Activists outraged as Myanmar jails writer for Buddhist insults

 

A Myanmar court sentenced a writer to two years in jail and hard labor on Tuesday for insulting Buddhism, his lawyer said, a verdict derided by activists as a blow to free speech and religious tolerance.

 

Htin Lin Oo, a former official with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, was found guilty by the court in Myanmar's northern Sagaing region for comments made in a speech he said was intended to discourage Buddhist extremism.

 

"Htin Lin Oo criticized Buddhist monks who had given hate speeches," lawyer Thein Than Oo told Reuters.

 

The transition by Myanmar, once known as Burma, to democracy four years ago has seen the emergence of a kind of Buddhist nationalism rarely seen under the military's five decades of strict rule.

 

Long simmering tension between the Buddhist majority and its minority Muslims has surfaced with the lifting of bans on protests and easing of censorship and has at times spiraled into rioting and deadly religious violence. Muslims have been worst hit. The lawyer said he feared his client's previous involvement with the opposition party had raised the profile of the case, of which the decision would be appealed.

 

Thein Than Oo said a 10-minute video segment of his client's two-hour speech that circulated online in October last year was purposefully misinterpreted by extremists.

 

The verdict was condemned by rights groups for sending the wrong message.

 

Myanmar's government "should be encouraging writers like Htin Lin Oo to promote interfaith tolerance in the country, rather than sending him to jail," Wai Hnin of the Burma Campaign UK said in a statement.

Edited June 2, 2015 by visionary

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http://muftah.org/a-small-step-towards-peace-for-libya/#.VaVyTflVhBd

A Small Step Towards Peace for Libya

 

While the world waited in vain for the end of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue, a less publicized but no less important peace agreement gained major momentum in Morocco. The United Nations Special Representative on Libya announced late Sunday, July 12, that most—but not all—parties to the Skhirat peace talks had signed off on a power-sharing framework designed to end nearly three years of violence and instability in Libya.

 

Critically, one of the chief players in the peace process—the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC)—balked at signing onto the plan. Speaking at a ceremony celebrating the accord, UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon noted both the importance of its adoption and the need for the GNC to return to the table. In remarks reported by the UN, Leon said, “This agreement will bring a step, and important step in the road of peace in Libya,” he said, adding, “The doors will remain open for those who have chosen not to be here.”

 

While the GNC initially chose not to sign onto the framework, citing disagreements over General Khalifa Haftar proposed military role for , Al Jazeera noted optimism among UN mediators that GNC representatives would return to Skhirat for further consultation and negotiation after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which comes at the end of this week.

 

The framework agreement, drafted in early June, would create a one-year “government of national accord,” according to a report from Reuters and would include “a council of ministers headed by a prime minister and two deputies” with executive authority. The proposed governing structure is geared toward enabling all parties to have a seat at the bargaining table as they attempt to solve the main problems facing Libya today: a ravaged economy, the expansion of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, and the need to disarm and demobilize the country’s numerous unregulated militias.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/23/us-somalia-conflict-idUSKCN0PX22120150723?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Somalia says captures strategic city held by al Shabaab

 

Somalia troops have captured a southern town from al Shabaab insurgents, the president said on Thursday, the latest blow to the rebel group which has been forced out of swathes of territory over the past two years.

 

The militants described the withdrawal from Baardheere, which lies about 300 km (190 miles) east of Mogadishu, as a tactical retreat.

 

Because of its hills in the outskirts, Baardheere has been the main stronghold of al Shabaab in the region since 2009 and has been a target for drone strikes on al Shabaab leaders.

 

Somali troops and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers have been fighting al Shabaab to wrest control from areas it holds in central and southern Somalia over the past weeks.

 

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which wants to topple a Western-backed government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia, has been driven out of major strongholds by the African and Somali forces but continues to launch bomb and gun attacks against officials and politicians.

 

"Our Somali National Army, supported by our partners in arms, yesterday secured one of the few remaining hideouts of al Shabaab, the great city of Baardheere," President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in a statement.

 

"Let there be no doubt anymore, the fight to secure our country may be hard, but my commitment and those of our partners, and the resilience of this nation has never been stronger."

 

http://somalianewsroom.com/map-who-controls-southern-somalia/

MAP: Who controls southern Somalia?

 

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-us-airstrikes-somalia-20150723-story.html

U.S. airstrikes in Somalia signal a more direct role against Shabab

 

The U.S. is shifting to a more direct role in the near decade-old fight against Al Qaeda-affiliated Shabab militants, launching as many as six drone strikes in southern Somalia over the last week to support African forces battling the group, American officials said.

 

The strikes, which preceded President Obama’s arrival in neighboring Kenya on Friday, were near Baraawe, a port city where troops from Kenya and other African countries, along with the fledgling Somali army, have been battling Shabab militants for weeks.

 

The U.S. cast the initial airstrike a week ago as a defensive maneuver to stop Shabab fighters who were moving to attack a military base being used by pro-government soldiers. Kenyan forces followed up the U.S. attacks with an artillery barrage that killed more than 50 fighters.

 

But the drone attacks have continued, officials said, a rare instance in which American firepower has been used to directly support ground skirmishes against the militants responsible for a wave of bombings and suicide attacks in East Africa.

 

The U.S. has provided intelligence, training and other logistical support to the Somali army and to African Union troops based there for years. Until now, however, the U.S. confined its role to targeted drone strikes and special operations raids against Shabab leadership.

 

“It’s a change in how we’re providing support,” said a U.S. military official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “Up until now, we’ve focused strikes on high-value targets. These strikes were launched to defend forces on the ground.”

 

The decision to go on the offensive was a stroke of tactical luck, U.S. military officers said, after surveillance drones spotted fighters gathering in large numbers near Baraawe, which was once a Shabab stronghold.

 

“They’re massing,” said a senior U.S. official, referring to Shabab, “and massing provides targets, and targets get struck.” He spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations.

Edited July 24, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/27/critics-question-u-s-motives-for-upgrading-malaysias-human-trafficking-record/

Critics Question U.S. Motives for Upgrading Malaysia’s Human Trafficking Record

 

Human rights groups and Capitol Hill insiders blasted the Obama administration on Monday for taking Malaysia off its blacklist of countries with the worst human trafficking records — a decision that may help pave the way for a massive free trade deal with the Southeast Asian country and 10 other nations.

 

This year’s State Department annual report on “Trafficking in Persons,” or TIP, upgraded Malaysia to “Tier 2 Watch List” status, indicating that the country is “making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.”

 

Just last year it was ranked as a “Tier 3” country alongside noted human-rights abusers like Zimbabwe and North Korea. At the time, the State Department recommended that the country modify its anti-trafficking regulations, increase the number of prosecutions and convictions of violators, and ramp up efforts to identify and protect trafficking victims.

 

On Monday, anti-trafficking groups rejected the notion that Malaysia has demonstrated significant progress on any of those fronts.

 

“How can the State Department call this progress?” Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for Asia, told Foreign Policy. “Migrants are being trafficked and abused with impunity … and convictions are down year on year.”

 

Melysa Sperber, director of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, a coalition of 14 U.S.-based human rights organizations, also questioned the move. “Malaysia demonstrated virtually no progress in addressing major human rights violations,” she said. “In fact, more egregious incidents of forced labor, mass graves and slave camps have emerged in recent months.”

 

The Malaysian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Around the world, some 20 million people are thought to be impacted by human trafficking and modern day slavery in industries as diverse as construction, housecleaning, the sex trade, and mining. The annual TIP report routinely causes diplomatic headaches for the State Department because it ranks individual nations and is often highly critical of U.S. allies, especially in Southeast Asia.

 

When asked about Malaysia’s upgrade during a press conference on Monday, a top State Department official on human rights defended the decision.

“Malaysia’s Tier 2 Watch List ranking indicates that there is still much room for improvement in the government’s anti-trafficking efforts and we’re going to continue to encourage Malaysia … to make tangible progress,” said Sarah Sewall, secretary of state for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights.

 

The new report has a political dimension in the U.S. as well. This week, trade ministers representing 12 countries are meeting in Hawaii in an effort to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive 12 nation trade deal that is a key pillar of President Barack Obama’s Asia policy

 

During the press conference, Sewall dodged a question about whether trade considerations played a role in Malaysia’s upgrade given its membership in the club of TPP countries. Malaysia’s status as a hub of human trafficking has been of particular interest in recent months because of an amendment passed by the U.S. Congress that limits the White House’s ability to forge trade agreements with Tier 3 countries.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33671340

Obama praises Ethiopia over fight against al-Shabab

 

US President Barack Obama has praised Ethiopia as an "outstanding partner" in the fight against militant Islamists.

 

Its troops had played a key role in weakening the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in Somalia, Mr Obama said.

 

He was speaking after talks with Ethiopia's PM Hailemariam Desalegn, during the first ever visit by a US president to the East African state.
He also called on Mr Hailemariam to improve Ethiopia's record on human rights and good governance.

 

"I don't bite my tongue too much when it comes to these issues," he said at a joint press conference in the capital, Addis Ababa.

 

Some rights groups have criticised Mr Obama's visit, warning that it could lend credibility to a government accused of jailing journalists and critics.

 

A legal case currently being fought through the US courts alleges that agents of the Ethiopian government eavesdropped on the internet activities of a man in the US state of Maryland.

 

The man, born in Ethiopia and now a US citizen, works for a political opposition group outlawed in his home country.

 

Addressing the media, Mr Obama described the Ethiopian government, which won all parliamentary seats in May's election, as "democratically elected".
Opposition group have said the poll was rigged.

Edited July 27, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/78324d1dea3a42f1ac30d2a5fedbc320/libya-court-sentences-gadhafi-son-death-2011-killings

Libya court sentences Gadhafi son to death for 2011 killings

 

A court in Libya's capital convicted a son of Moammar Gadhafi of murder and inciting genocide during the country's 2011 uprising on Tuesday, sentencing him to death in absentia.

 

The Tripoli court that sentenced Seif al-Islam, who is being held by a militia that refuses to hand him over to the central government, also sentenced to death eight others, including former Libyan spy chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, who is in government custody.

 

It was unclear whether the sentences in the mass trial of 38 Gadhafi-era figures, only 29 of whom were present, would be carried out. Six others were sentenced to life in prison and four were cleared of charges.

 

Libya has slid into chaos since the overthrow and killing of Gadhafi. It is now bitterly divided between an elected parliament and government cornered in the country's east, with little power on the ground, and an Islamist militia-backed government in the west that has seized Tripoli.

 

Since the end of the civil war, Seif al-Islam has been held by a militia in Zintan, which is allied with the Tobruk-based internationally recognized government against the Tripoli one. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity.

 

During the trial, Seif al-Islam was accused of recruiting mercenaries who were given Libyan nationality, planning and carrying out attacks on civilian targets from the air, forming armed groups and shooting into crowds of demonstrators. Among the charges he was convicted of were incitement of murder and rape.

The U.N. envoy for Libya, meanwhile, has urged the Islamist-led government in Tripoli to sign a peace deal that would establish a unity government. Members of the Tobruk government and regional leaders signed the unity accord in Morocco on July 11.

 

Also sentenced to death were foreign intelligence chief Abu-Zeid Omar-Dawarda and Gadhafi's former Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi.

Edited July 28, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.france24.com/en/20150728-nigerian-army-frees-dozens-women-children-boko-haram?ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&ns_source=twitter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_linkname=editorial&aef_campaign_ref=partage_aef&aef_campaign_date=2015-07-28&dlvrit=66745

Nigerian army frees dozens of women, children from Boko Haram

 

Nigeria's army said Tuesday it had liberated 30 hostages held by Boko Haram, including 21 children and seven women, amid ongoing offensives against the extremists in the country's northeast.

 

Army officials said the operation to free the captives took place in the town of Dikwa in Borno State, which had fallen to Boko Haram twice since April, and was recaptured by Nigerian troops last week.

 

"As a result of ongoing operations under the aegis of Operation Lafiya Dole to clear Dikwa and its environs from Boko Haram... (the) Nigerian Army yesterday rescued 30 persons from the hands of the terrorists," army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement.

 

"They include 21 children and a six-day-old infant, seven women including three nursing mothers, and two elderly male adults," he said.

Dikwa is located around 90 kilometres (56 miles) east of Borno state capital Maiduguri.

 

Earlier Tuesday, 11 Boko Haram militants were killed in clashes with the military in a village in southern Borno state, a local resident and a member of the militia fighting alongside the army said.

 

Three militia fighters were also killed in the battle.

 

"On Monday afternoon around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT), Boko Haram gunmen on motorcycles attacked our village," said Markus Yohana, a local militia member fighting the Islamists in the village of Dille.

 

Yohana said that soldiers ambushed the raiders as they tried to flee, killing 11.

Edited July 28, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/world/asia/in-myanmar-Thura-Shwe-Mann-is-removed-as-chairman-of-ruling-party.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

Influential Leader in Myanmar Is Removed as Head of Governing Party

 

The head of Myanmar’s governing party has been removed from his post in what one aide described as a “coup,” the most visible sign yet of splintering within Myanmar’s military elite and the resurgence of conservative forces that dominated under decades of military rule.

 

The removal of Thura Shwe Mann as chairman of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party came as campaigning was underway for elections in November. The United States and other foreign governments have characterized the elections as a litmus test for whether Myanmar’s military elites, who still control the government and bureaucracy despite recent moves toward democracy, are genuinely willing to give up power.

 

Mr. Shwe Mann, who was seen as a leading candidate for president in the coming elections, was the third most powerful member of the junta that ruled Myanmar until 2011. But as speaker of the lower house of Parliament in the current civilian administration, he has formed an informal alliance with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate and opposition leader. Conservative forces in the military were uncomfortable with that.

As of midday Thursday, Mr. Shwe Mann was still speaker of the lower house.

 

The party reshuffle, which developed overnight Wednesday, was more in the style of a purge: Security forces were deployed outside party headquarters in Naypyidaw, the capital. Some local news outlets reported that party officials were not allowed to leave the building.

 

U Myint Htwe, a senior officer in the Ministry of Information, confirmed that Mr. Shwe Mann had been removed from his party post. The deputy head of the party, U Htay Oo, has taken over as chairman, he said.

 

Mr. Myint Htwe confirmed the presence of security forces at party headquarters, saying they were “necessary for the situation.”

 

Mr. Shwe Mann did not comment publicly on his removal, but one of his aides said he was not at party headquarters when the reshuffle took place.

“It had to be done by force because it could not be done by voting,” said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

Edited August 13, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/16/us-egypt-security-lawmaking-idUSKCN0QL0TU20150816?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Egypt's Sisi approves anti-terrorism law setting up special courts

 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday approved an anti-terrorism law that sets up special courts and provides protections to its enforcers in the face of a two-year-long insurgency that aims to topple his government.

 

The law also details sentences for various terrorism crimes ranging from five years to the death penalty.

 

It also shields those applying it, such as the military and police, from legal ramifications for the proportionate use of force "in performing their duties."

 

Sisi had promised a tougher legal system in July, after a car bomb attack that killed the top public prosecutor, the highest level state official to be killed in years.

Forming or leading a group deemed a "terrorist entity" by the government will be punishable by death or life in prison. Membership in such a group will carry up to 10 years in jail.

 

Financing "terrorist groups" will also carry a penalty of life in prison, which in Egypt is 25 years. Inciting violence, which includes "promoting ideas that call for violence" will lead to between five and seven years in jail, as will creating or using websites that spread such ideas.

 

Journalists will be fined for contradicting the authorities' version of any terrorist attack. The original draft of the law was amended following domestic and international outcry after it initially called for imprisonment for such an offence.

Edited August 16, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/23/beirut-protesters-call-for-fall-of-lebanese-government.html

Beirut's 'You Stink!' protesters call for fall of Lebanese government

 

Thousands of protesters gathered in the streets of Beirut on Sunday, a day after police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons at demonstrators who were protesting against what they call Lebanon's overall political dysfunction.

 

Protesters had camped overnight in the Lebanese capital's Riad al-Solh square to wait for Prime Minister Tammam Salam's response to Saturday's police violence.

 

In a televised address on Sunday morning, Salam said members of the security forces would be held accountable for the violence against protesters. Salam also called on an emergency parliament session on Thursday to deal with the country's ongoing political crisis.

 

"I have been, like many other fellow Lebanese, patient enough, but yesterday's outcry should not be ignored," he said. "I was never in this for a position in government, I am one of you. I am with the people. Do not pit this conflict [as] one camp against the other. Target all the politicians."

 

Angered by Salam's speech on Sunday, a number of the protesters chanted, "The people want the fall of the regime."

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/Raseef22

https://twitter.com/nmoawad

 

https://twitter.com/rConflictNews

Edited August 23, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/24/us-lebanon-crisis-politics-idUSKCN0QT1OR20150824?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Lebanese anti-government protesters call Saturday rally

 

Lebanese protest organizers called for a fresh demonstration against the government on Saturday after two days of rallies that turned violent in central Beirut and wounded scores of people.

 

The "You Stink" campaign has mobilized against the government's failure to solve a garbage disposal crisis, bringing thousands of people onto the streets in protests that have threatened the survival of the cabinet.

 

On Monday workers erected concrete blast walls around the government headquarters. Security forces deployed heavily in central Beirut where some streets remained littered with broken glass and charred debris from clashes the night before.

 

Organizers at a televised news conference on Monday did not say where the weekend protest would take place. They had initially planned to rally on Monday but postponed following the violence.

 

The "You Stink" campaign has mobilized independently of the big sectarian parties that dominate Lebanese politics. It is a sign of how long-simmering frustration at Lebanon's political deadlock has boiled over into anger.

 

The fractured cabinet and parliament are paralyzed, the political class has been unable to agree on a new president for over a year while the Syrian civil war next door has whipped up sectarian tension.

Edited August 24, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/blogs/565781-how-the-media-covered-the-youstink-protests

How the media covered the #YouStink protests

 

While the “You Stink” campaign and thousands of protesters were trying to maintain a non-politicized and secular movement, the majority of media outlets in Lebanon covering the protests were politically biased and reflected the political views of the people or parties they serve.

Protesters demonstrated peacefully Saturday in downtown Beirut, but security forces used excessive force against them — firing water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds. On Sunday the protesters were not as peaceful as the day before, and campaign organizers claimed infiltrators were trying to foil the protest. Yet for some reason, security forces didn’t use such excessive force until late Sunday night — after the infiltrators had damaged public property, smashed shop windows, and started a fire in the middle of downtown.

Moreover, reporters from various television stations were attacked. A report published on Skeyes Media detailed violations and violence against journalists who were covering the protests. Some journalists were even beaten up by security forces, had their cameras broken, and suffered injuries from the water cannons that were aimed directly at them. But the television stations covered the protests in their own unique way. Each TV station had to respect its political background and/or affiliations, which distorted the reality of events in some situations.

Edited August 24, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/188324

Minor Scuffles as Protesters Rally in Riad al-Solh for 4th Day

 

Large crowds rallied Tuesday at Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square for a fourth day to denounce the government's performance, in a protest that remained largely peaceful despite minor scuffles with security forces.

 

Two people were injured as security forces used batons to push away protesters after some participants described as “infiltrators” hurled rocks and “molotov ****tails” at police, the Internal Security Forces and state-run National News Agency said.

 

Organizers from the “We Want Accountability” movement immediately intervened to calm the situation, forming a human wall between security forces and protesters.

 

The movement ended its sit-in at 9:00 pm, announcing that it would not be responsible for any person who remains in the square after 9:00 pm. It also announced that it would return to the square on Wednesday.

 

Protesters had carried Lebanese flags and banners expressing their anger and frustration over the government's performance in several vital issues. Some of them chanted slogans demanding “the fall of the regime” and a “revolution against corruption.”

 

The protest came as Prime Minister Tammam Salam ordered the removal of a concrete blastwall at the site, which Lebanese had dubbed the "wall of shame."

The wall was erected after protests on Saturday and Sunday turned violent.

 

The crowds swelled on Tuesday, despite the "You Stink" campaign which was behind the street protests scheduling its next official demonstration for Saturday.

Protests also took place in Hasbaya, Baalbek and Nabatiyeh, calling for greater accountability.

 

At the weekend, Salam acknowledged protesters' frustrations and warned that his government risked becoming irrelevant if it could not address the public's concerns.

 

"We're heading towards collapse if things continue as they are," he cautioned.

 

But a cabinet meeting on Tuesday was unable to resolve the social issue that has united protesters for a rare display of non-sectarian anger.

It was intended to discuss companies qualified to bid for new waste removal contracts.

 

The list had drawn fire from activists who said the firms were linked to political figures and were seeking exorbitant fees.

 

Lebanon already pays some of the world's highest per-ton waste collection rates, and media said the companies sought to raise prices even further.

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rweb/world/lebanon-takes-down-anti-protest-wall-in-beirut-after-public-mockery/2015/08/25/9c119aa0aa1129114d4aae5306bc4f7b_story.html?tid=kindle-app

Lebanon takes down anti-protest wall in Beirut after public mockery

 

It wasn’t exactly a Berlin Wall finale. But several dozen protesters in Beirut cheered Tuesday as they watched authorities dismantle a blast wall that had been erected in the center of the Lebanese capital only 24 hours earlier.

 

On Monday, the military began installing 15-foot slabs of concrete at the site of large protests against the government. The demonstrations started last week in an attempt to pressure the government to resolve a garbage collection crisis that erupted last month after the sudden closure of a landfill. Since then, heaps of trash have accumulated on Beirut's streets.

Edited August 25, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2015/august/saudi-women-vote.htm#sthash.pYJ3jCK5.7vkpY8AK.dpbs

First female voters register in Saudi Arabia

 

With municipal elections scheduled for December, Saudi women have begun registering to vote for the first time in the kingdom's history.

 

Although the elections themselves are not particularly significant, the inclusion of women as both voters and candidates is an important step forward and builds on a royal decision in 2013 to appoint 30 women to the Shura Council – the unelected quasi-parliament.

 

However, the length of time it has taken to reach this point raises doubts about the kingdom's ability to implement reform on the scale that will be needed to avoid an eventual collapse of the system. And the price of granting electoral rights to women is a further entrenchment of gender apartheid.

 

Saudi Arabia held men-only municipal elections in the 1950s and early 1960s but there was then a long gap until 2005.

 

In the 2005 elections, women were not formally banned from taking part but in the face of opposition from conservative elements the authorities excluded them by citing "administrative difficulties". They claimed they had not had enough time to organise the gender-segregated voting facilities that Saudi custom required.

 

A Saudi official explained that there were not enough women to run women-only registration centres and polling stations, and that only a fraction of the country's women had the photo identity cards that would be needed to vote. ID cards for women – which had been introduced only three years earlier – were a controversial issue because they required women to show their faces unveiled in the photographs.

 

Meanwhile, to placate women's rights activists – several of whom had declared themselves as would-be candidates – the authorities hinted that the "administrative" problems should be resolved in time for the next elections, due in 2009.

Edited August 26, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/27/us-lebanon-crisis-idUSKCN0QW0KT20150827?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Lebanon's Hezbollah, Christian allies to boycott government meeting

 

The Lebanese group Hezbollah and allied Christian politicians will boycott a cabinet meeting on Thursday, deepening a political crisis that has paralyzed Prime Minister Tammam Salam's national unity government.

 

Media run by Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement of Christian politician Michel Aoun, the Shi'ite group's main Christian ally, reported that Salam had been informed of the decision, but did not immediately give a reason for it.

Edited August 27, 2015 by visionary