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Maliki Urged to
Work With Muqtada
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Iraqi Shiites march in support of cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr in BaghdadÕs Al-Shola neighborhood on Friday.
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The Iraqi people launched a tirade against Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki during Friday prayers in Baghdad’s Sadr City and urged him to end a stalemate with their leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, AFP reported.
“The government must remember that power is not eternal,“ said Sheikh Suheil Al-Ukabi, as he led worshippers at the Al-Hikma mosque in the Sadr City.
“My advice is to return to reason and come back to the people,“ he said, addressing the faithful. They responded by chanting “Oh Muqtada, you are our bridge to paradise!“ and “Long live Muqtada!“
Iraqi forces backed by US troops are currently involved in a bitter campaign against Sadr’s followers after Maliki launched a crackdown on Mahdi Army fighters in late March.
Tensions have escalated in a district where prayers and politics mingle after Maliki told reporters on Wednesday he would continue with his assault until he “liberated“ Sadr City from the militias’ grip.
He said his ultimate objective was to “disband the Mahdi Army“ and insurgent groups, apart from “eliminating Al-Qaeda“ in Iraq.
The Sadrists, however, accuse Maliki of trying to weaken their movement ahead of the October provincial elections.
“Al-Maliki has compounded misunderstandings and false accusations. He seeks to cover the failure of his domestic policy,“ Salman Al-Fraiji, head of the Sadr movement in Baghdad, said in an address to the crowd.
“You are trying to cover up the crimes of your protectors in Sadr City. Heinous crimes have been perpetrated by the occupiers in our area. Why are you hiding them?“
“You have failed to convince Arab countries to open embassies in Iraq,“ Al-Fraiji added.
Rift Over Crackdown
In related development, Iraqi clerics offered sharply different visions Friday in the showdown between government forces and Shiite fighters--one predicting that armed groups will be crushed in Baghdad and another calling for the prime minister to be prosecuted for crimes against his people, AP said.
But Al-Maliki shows no indication of easing the pressure on militia groups including the powerful Mahdi Army led by anti-American cleric Al-Sadr.
Saddam’s Path
A key aide to Al-Sadr told worshippers that Al-Maliki is following the same path as Saddam Hussein, who persecuted Shiites and others seen as threats.
Al-Maliki should be tried for the crimes he committed against his people, Shiite Sheik Asaad Al-Nassiri said in a sermon in the city of Kufa, near the holy city of Najaf.
Al-Nassiri accused the government of same trench the tyrant (Saddam) had slipped into by shedding innocent blood.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in the clashes in Sadr City, which picked up after Al-Sadr threatened last week to wage on US-led troops and refused to disband the estimated core of 60,000 Mahdi Army fighters.
8 Fighters Killed
US forces killed at least eight fighters in a series of firefights in Sadr City, the bastion of anti-American cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, the military said Saturday, AFP reported.
In one incident, an M1A1 Abrams tank engaged fighters with one round from its main gun after Iraqi army soldiers reported being attacked by small arms fire from a house, the military said.
Three were killed in the engagements.
Later Friday, a US warplane also dropped a bomb and killed two others.
Three other militants were killed in other exchanges.
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Backing for Turkey’s EU Membership
Presidents of East European countries extended support to Turkey’s European Union membership in their speeches at the 15th Summit of Presidents of Central European States in Macedonia, the Anatolian Agency reported.
The presidents of East European countries, who spoke after the summit’s opening speech delivered by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, declared on Friday their support to Turkey’s EU membership.
Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said Turkey was an exceptionally important country for the EU, while Slovenian President Danilo Turk pointed out that Turkey’s membership was key to EU’s becoming a global power.
Turk said pre-set perspectives for EU membership could not be changed after the beginning of negotiations.
President of Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, said Turkey was definitely part of Europe and Europe did not belong to anybody.
Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom said they supported Turkey’s EU membership and underlined that the aim of negotiations was full membership, while Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu said, as much as Turkey needed the EU, the EU needed Turkey.
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Gitmo Officials Insult Islamic Symbols
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A US Army guard opens the gate at Camp Delta at Guantanamo Naval Base in Guantanamo, Cuba.
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A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner has accused the United States of “many violations“ and insults to Islam.
Sami Al-Haj, a Sudanese cameraman with the Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera on Friday accused US authorities of insulting Islamic symbols.
He made the comments upon arriving home in Khartoum after six years of detention at Guantanamo Bay, AP reported.
Haj was arrested by the Pakistani army on the Afghan border in December 2001 while covering the US war in Afghanistan, and had been held without charge since June 2002 at the US naval base in Cuba.
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Sami Al-Haj
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There were “many violations -- (we were) deprived from praying and there were... deliberate insults to God’s holy book“ the Qur’an at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Sami Al-Haj said from his hospital bed in Khartoum, AFP reported.
Haj as transferred on a stretcher from the US military aircraft that flew him into the Sudanese capital with two other Sudanese former Guantanamo inmates to a hospital for medical checks.
His case was championed by many human rights and media watchdogs.
Persecution, Injustice at Guantanamo
“We are entitled to shed tears of joy after these difficult seven years of humiliation, persecution and injustice which we went through for no reason other than that we believe in the one almighty God,“ Haj said.
“We hope governments will speed up attempts to repatriate their nationals because they live in extremely bad conditions“ at Guantanamo, he said.
Haj, 39, said he believes one reason he was detained was an attempt by the United States “to abort free media reporting“ in the Middle East.
News of Haj’s release broke late on Thursday.
Pentagon’s Silence
There was no official comment from the Pentagon several hours later, but press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which has campaigned for Haj to be freed, expressed relief.
“Sami Al-Haj should never have been held so long,“ said secretary general Robert Menard in a statement released in Washington.
“US authorities never proved that he had been involved in any kind of criminal activity. This case is yet another example of the injustice reigning in Guantanamo. The base should be closed as quickly as possible.“
Reporters Without Borders said Haj had been tortured and subjected to some 200 interrogation sessions. In January, 2007 he launched a hunger strike and was force-fed on several occasions, the group said in a statement.
According to his lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, Haj has lost some 18 kilos and was suffering from intestinal problems and subject to bouts of paranoia, the organization added.
The controversial Guantanamo camp was established after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to house “war on terror“ suspects seized in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Around 800 detainees have passed through the camp since it opened, and some 275 terror suspects are still held there.
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Siniora Supports Special Syria Ties
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he supports “special relations with sister Syria“ based on mutual respect, “Future TV“ reported.
“We are determined to work for ending the crises, by electing a new president, removing sit-ins and reviving constitutional institutions in order to have a productive economy,“ Siniora said while addressing the Arab economic forum in Beirut Late Friday.
The prime minister blamed the deteriorating economic situation in the country due to the political and security tension which prevailed over past three years.
Despite Arab and international efforts, Lebanese political rivals have been unable to strike a deal that would ensure the election of a new president.
Lebanese presidential seat has been vacant since Nov. 24 when former President Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term.
The opposition is blamed by the majority of not insuring the quorum needed to elect the consensus candidate, army commander Michel Suleiman.
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Bush Seeks $70b for Iraq, Afghan Wars
US President George W. Bush on Friday formally asked lawmakers for $70 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into early next year, when his successor takes over.
The budgetary measure includes a request for $770 million in new aid to cope with food shortages and soaring prices that have left many hungry and fueled angry protests around the world, AFP reported.
The request came as Bush’s previous $108 billion request for the wars has languished in the US Congress, which is controlled by Democrats who oppose the US involvement in Iraq.
The monies include $45.1 billion for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, 3.7 billion to expand and train Afghan security forces, and two billion to bolster Iraq’s security forces.
The request also seeks three billion dollars for classified activities, 2.2 billion to cope with rising fuel costs, three billion dollars for technology to battle improvised explosive devices like roadside bombs, and 2.6 billion to transport and maintain armored vehicles resistant to such weapons.
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Mosque Blast
Eighteen people, mostly soldiers, were killed in Yemen on Friday when a blast blamed by authorities on insurgents exploded at the entrance to a mosque in the rebels’ stronghold.
Military Alertness
Missile salvos unleashed from northern Gaza roared in the direction of southern Israel on Saturday maintaining a de facto state of military alertness between the Israeli and Palestinian forces.
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Pak Progress
By Ehsan Bakhshandeh
The two major Pakistani parties, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), finally reached agreement over restoring sacked judges.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said in a televised news conference from Lahore Friday that all the judges dismissed by President Pervez Musharraf during the emergency rule of the last November will be reinstated on May 12.
Sharif’s optimism came after two days of marathon talks in Dubai.
This was good news for the coalition government and Pakistan’s political parties which were worried about the probable division between the PPP and the PLM-N over restoring the judges. However, reinstalling judges sacked by Musharraf might not be good news for the former army chief as Pak parties fear he would use his constitutional authority to oust the coalition government and dissolve the parliament. In this case, another state of emergency might be applied, leading Pakistan into chaos again.
Therefore, it was predictable that the PPP and PML-N would reach consensus in Dubai over restoring the judges.
Sharif had earlier threatened that PML-N ministers will quit the newly-formed coalition Cabinet if the judges are not reinstated.
He believes the eight senior judges and the former Chief Justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary should be reinstated as per a preliminary agreement in the coalition government.
Sharif, who was ousted from power in 1991 by Musharraf, is hoping the eight judges would be able to remove the former general from power by questioning the legitimacy of the previous presidential elections.
However, the PPP believes the eight judges should be reinstated but Chaudhary should not return to the judicial power because Musharraf will never tolerate him.
Such a formula, which excludes Chaudhary, seems to have been accepted by Sharif, who vowed the judges will be reinstated “with dignity, respect and honor“.
Political pundits say any tension between the PPP and the PML-N over the “crisis of judges“ will jeopardize the future of the coalition government.
The reality is that Benazir Bhutto’s widower Asif Ali Zardari and the co-chair of the PPP is preparing himself for the premiership post. And therefore he does not want to go at the loggerheads with Musharraf over Chaudhary.
Zardari recently said in an interview that Chaudhary has political stances which will pose a great risk on the political future of the coalition government.
Consensus between Zaradri and Sharif is promising. Leaders of the two major parties are expected to remove hurdles on the way of boosting democracy and strengthening the coalition government in view of close cooperation and mutual political understanding.
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More US Troops for Afghanistan
The United States is considering sending an extra 7,000 troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said if the plan was to be approved; the number of US troops in the country would rise to about 40,000 and entail at least a modest reduction in troops from Iraq.
Bush told allies at a NATO summit in Bucharest last month that the United States would significantly increase its force levels in Afghanistan next year. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates also has pushed other European allies to provide combat troops and equipment to fill shortfalls in the volatile south, but the response so far has been tepid. But The New York Times said the Pentagon now appears resigned to the fact that NATO is unable or unwilling to contribute more troops despite its public pledges.
Re-Americanization
The increasing proportion of US troops in Afghanistan, from about half to about two-thirds of all foreign troops in the country, will likely result in what one senior administration official described as “the re-Americanization“ of the war, the report said. “There are simply going to be more American forces than we ever had there,“ the paper quoted the official as saying. So far a dozen NATO countries have pledged a total of about 2,000 additional troops for Afghanistan, while alliance commanders have asked for 10,000, according to the paper.
The United States currently has about 34,000 troops in Afghanistan, 16,000 of them under the International Security Assistance Force in eastern Afghanistan. The other 18,000 are involved in counter-terrorism operations and training of Afghan security forces.
But a contingent of some 2,500 US Marines was deployed to Afghanistan last month to reinforce NATO forces in the south for seven months.
Arabs Urged to Help Palestinians
Key world powers called Friday on Arab states to fulfill their promises of aid for the Palestinians and voiced deep concern over the humanitarian impact of a nine-month-old Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
In a joint statement issued after the Middle East Quartet held talks in London, the powers also urged Israel to stop building or extending settlements in the West Bank, AFP said.
The Mideast Quartet--the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union--called on Arab donor states to follow through on commitments to the Palestinians made at a conference in Paris in December.
“The Quartet encouraged the Arab states to fulfill both their political and financial roles in support of the Annapolis process,“ UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, citing an agreed statement.
Food Supplies Halted
Meanwhile, rising prices and funding shortages have forced the United Nations to stop providing emergency food aid to more than 13 percent of the 750,000 Palestinian refugees it feeds in Gaza, a UN official said Friday.
The United Nations’ Relief Works Agency has over the last few weeks gradually reduced the number of Palestinian refugees to whom it distributes packages of basic foods to about 650,000 people, spokesman Matthias Burchard told The Associated Press.
“Soaring food prices, transport and fuel costs are forcing us to reduce what we can give,“ Burchard said.
He said he expected to see rates of malnutrition increase and more refugees to face food insecurity.
Last week, UNWRA stopped distributing food to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza for several days after its vehicles ran out of fuel because of the Israeli blockade.
Presidential Elections
In other news, a senior Palestinian official called on Saturday on President Mahmud Abbas to prepare for holding presidential elections in the Palestinian territories by January 2009.
Ahmed Bahar, acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) dominated by the Islamic resistance movement of Hamas told reporters that the speaker of the parliament becomes president for three months until a new election is held, Xinhua said.
Abbas was elected in January 2005 as the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). He succeeded late President Yasser Arafat, who died in November 2004.
Bahar also said that Hamas movement hasn’t decided yet whether it will run in the presidential elections “if it is decided to be held on time,“ adding “the issue is under discussion of the movement’s leaders“.
Bahar, meanwhile, refused any proposal to extend the rule of President Abbas until January 2010, the date scheduled for holding the legislative elections.
“This act will be totally illegal and contradicts with the law,“ said Bahar, adding that he rejects also the idea to hold early presidential and legislative elections to get out of the status of division among the Palestinians.
Abbas has conditioned the resumption of dialogue with Hamas to holding early presidential and legislative elections in the Palestinian territories.
Musharraf May Accept Judges Restoration
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf may accept the reinstatement of judges he sacked if the country’s new government amends the constitution instead of simply passing a parliamentary resolution, a spokesman for his political party said Saturday.
Musharraf purged the judiciary of some 60 judges--including supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry--when he imposed a state of emergency in November to avoid any legal challenges to his reelection as president, AP reported.
Although the presidency has avoided comment on the latest move, Tariq Azim, the spokesman for Musharraf’s Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, said the president will agree with the restoration of judges if the government amends the constitution.
However, Azim insisted that the judges could not be sent back to courts by the parliament’s simply approving a resolution. He provided no further details, and said the president was still consulting experts.
His comments came a day after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif-- whose party is a main partner in the coalition governmentÑtold reporters that the ruling party chief, Asif Ali Zardari, had agreed to restore the judges.
“I want to inform the entire nation that on Monday May 12 all the sacked judges will be restored,“ Nawaz Sharif said at a Friday news conference in Lahore.
Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party, the largest party in the coalition, confirmed the plan.
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