Terrorism Watch

Killings of US military advisers in Kabul 'unacceptable': Pentagon

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:43:00 +0000

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Saturday decried as "unacceptable" the killing of two US military advisers in Kabul and called on Afghan authorities to better protect coalition forces and curtail raging violence. "This act is unacceptable, and the United States condemns it in the strongest possible terms," said defence secretary Leon Panetta's spokesman George Little.

The two Americans, working as International Security Assistance Force officers in the Nato coalition, were in the interior ministry when "an individual" turned his weapon against the pair, Nato said, without giving further details.

Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it was in revenge for the burning of Qurans at a US-run military base -- an incident that forced US President Barrack Obama to apologize to the Afghan people.

Little said Afghanistan's Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak telephoned Panetta on Saturday and "apologized for today's incident" and offered condolences to family members of those killed.

The shooting prompted General John Allen, commander of Nato's International Security Assistance Force, to pull all Nato staff out of Afghan government ministries, a move Panetta supported.

"The secretary supports the decision General Allen made to protect our forces by immediately recalling ISAF personnel working in ministries around Kabul."

Panetta urged Wardak and "the Afghan government to take decisive action to protect coalition forces and curtail the violence in Afghanistan after a challenging week in the country," Little said.

Wardak also assured his American counterpart that Afghan President Hamid Karzai "was assembling the religious leaders, parliamentarians, justices of the Supreme Court, and other senior Afghan officials to take urgent steps to do so," the spokesman added.
Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Killings-of-US-military-advisers-in-Kabul-unacceptable-Pentagon/articleshow/12038071.cms

Two dead after blast destroys Brazil's Antarctic base

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:43:00 +0000

SAO PAULO: An explosion has destroyed a Brazilian research base in Antarctica, killing two navy personnel and injuring a third, authorities said.

Brazilian defence minister Celso Amorim confirmed the deaths of non-commissioned officer Carlos Alberto Vieira Figueiredo and sergeant Roberto Lopes dos Santos, who had earlier been reported missing.

"In an act of heroism, they were precisely in the area of major risk in a bid to extinguish a fire and they did not succeed," Amorim said.

Navy sergeant Luciano Gomes Medeiros was also lightly injured in the blast, which occurred late yesterday after a fire in a room housing energy generators of the Comandante Ferraz research base located in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

He was first treated at a nearby Arctowski Polish Antarctic station and later transferred to the Chilean Eduardo Frei military base.

The Chilean defence ministry meanwhile confirmed that a joint Chilean-Brazilian team found the bodies of the two Brazilian personnel who had been reported missing after the fire.

"The bodies were found near the stricken base" and will be transferred to the Eduardo Frei base, it added.

Chilean defence minister Andres Allamand told CNN television that the Brazilian base "was completely destroyed" by the explosion.
Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Two-dead-after-blast-destroys-Brazils-Antarctic-base/articleshow/12044525.cms

Chinese netizens 'occupy' Obama's google plus page

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:43:00 +0000

BEIJING: US President Barack Obama's Google+ page has been flooded with messages from Internet users in China after the social networking site suddenly became accessible in the country.

Every current topic on Obama's Google+ page attracted hundreds of messages in Chinese.

Some contributors made jokes, while others said they were 'occupying' the site in the style of western Occupy campaigns, The BBC reports.

Some users appealed for the liberty of civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who is under house arrest.

Others asked about a recent political intrigue in south-west China, in which one of the country's top policemen, Wang Lijun, spent a day in the US consulate in Chengdu for undisclosed reasons.

Google+ is normally blocked in China along with other social networking sites as the government authorities call them 'unacceptable'.

Since Google+ was launched in 2011, software known informally as the Great Firewall had appeared to block it within China.

But on February 20 internet-users in many parts of China found they could gain access to the site.

Meanwhile, the White House has not commented on the upsurge of Chinese interest in Obama's campaign site. (ANI)
Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Chinese-netizens-occupy-Obamas-Google-page/articleshow/12042352.cms

Killings of US military advisers in Kabul 'unacceptable': Pentagon

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:43:00 +0000

Explosions Rock Gombe

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:24:00 +0000

Explosions and gunfire have been heard in the northern Nigerian city of Gombe, witnesses say.
Reports said the blasts happened around the time of evening prayers, quickly followed by gunfire.
Witnesses said people were fleeing an area of the city near a prison and police station. It is not clear if there are casualties.
Earlier on Friday, gunmen killed five people at a mosque in Kano, the main city in northern Nigeria, police said.
A police spokesman said the attackers arrived on motorcycles and opened fire at worshippers.
Nigeria is experiencing a surge in ethnic and sectarian violence.
Gombe has previously been targeted by the Islamist sect Boko Haram. In January, an attack on a church in the city left six worshippers dead.
There were few details of the latest attack. Gombe state police commissioner Orubebe Ghandi Ebikeme described the situation as “very bad” but gave no further comment.
Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden” in the local Hausa language, is fighting to create an Islamic state and wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.
The group has been responsible of a series of deadly attacks and assassinations across northern Nigeria in the past 17 months.
Source http://www.informationnigeria.org/2012/02/breaking-news-explosions-rock-gombe.html

Suicide car bomb blast outside Nigeria church, 3 killed

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

LAGOS: A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives on Sunday morning outside of the major church in the heart of a restive central Nigerian city that has seen hundreds die in religious and ethnic violence, an official said, killing three people and injuring others.

The explosion struck the main headquarters of the Church of Christ in Nigeria during its early morning service, Plateau state spokesman Pam Ayuba said. The blast killed the bomber and a father and child near the explosion, while wounding others, Ayuba said.

Police officials in the city could not be immediately reached for comment. A military spokesman for the area also did not answer calls for comment.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has launched increasingly bloody attacks across Nigeria, including attacks on churches. A Christmas Day bombing of a Catholic church claimed by the sect in Madalla, a town just outside the country's capital Abuja, killed at least 44 people.

The group also claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on Christmas Eve that struck Jos, killing as many as 80 people.

Jos and surrounding Plateau state has found itself torn apart in recent years by violence pitting its different ethnic groups and major religions _ Christinity and Islam _ against each other. Human Rights Watch says at least 1,000 people were killed in communal clashes around Jos in 2010.

The violence, though fractured across religious lines, often has more to do with local politics, economics and rights to grazing lands. The government of Plateau state is controlled by Christian politicians who have blocked Muslims from being legally recognized as citizens. That has locked many out of prized government jobs in a region where the tourism industry and tin mining have collapsed in the last decades.
Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Suicide-car-bomb-blast-outside-Nigeria-church-3-killed/articleshow/12043028.cms

Enraged Church members kill suspected bomber in Jos

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Angry Worshippers on Sunday killed one of the two suspected carriers of the bombs that exploded at the Church of Christ Nations (COCIN) in Jos during an early morning Sunday service.
The suicide car bomb attack claimed 3 lives, leaving 38 others injured.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bomber and one other, who both wore army camouflage, drove into the Church and beat the security before hitting the building.
NAN correspondent, who was at the scene, reports that the suspect appeared to be in his early 30s.
The suspect, who wore a neatly carved moustache, looked well-fed.
But probably afraid of dying, the bomb carrier jumped out of the vehicle just before the blast went off and attempted to run but could not move as he was affected by the blast.
The angry worshipers, however, descended on him and clubbed him to death.
An eyewitness and a worshipper in the Church, Joyce Dalyop, told NAN that there were arguments among the worshipers over what to do with the bomber before he was finally killed.
“Immediately they (bombers) entered the Church, one of them jumped out of the black jeep but luck ran out of him as the explosion affected him and so he could not run very fast before he was caught.’’
“Some people even pleaded that he should not be killed; they suggested that he should be handed over to Police for further investigation, but others argued that the police could not be trusted and opined that the suspect may be released,” she said.
Another worshipper in the Church, Elder Bulus Haruna, said that the other bomber, who drove the vehicle, was blown into pieces together with the vehicle that was reduced to only the engine.
“His (bomber) body parts were scattered everywhere – the legs and hands were charred and had become roasted by the fire from the explosion,” he said.
Source http://www.informationnigeria.org/2012/02/enraged-church-members-kill-suspected-bomber-in-jos.html

Sudan rebel front claims first attack in South Kordofan

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

KHARTOUM: Rebels in a "revolutionary front" aimed at toppling the Khartoum regime on Sunday claimed their first joint attack against government forces, but the army blamed troops from breakaway South Sudan.

Rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), from the western region of Darfur, combined with insurgents from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which for several months has been fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states along the border with breakaway South Sudan, said JEM spokesman Gibril Adam Bilal.

Last November, the two rebel groups joined with factions of Darfur's Sudan Liberation Army to form the front dedicated to "popular uprising and armed rebellion" against the National Congress Party government in Khartoum.

"This attack is under the umbrella of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front," Adam said.

He said Sunday's offensive happened at Jau, a disputed area on the poorly defined north-south border.

Sudan Armed Forces spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad confirmed that the area had come under attack but he blamed the forces of South Sudan.

"This attack was completely planned and sponsored by the government of South Sudan," he said.

"The fighting is going on now."

Neither side could immediately give casualty figures.

South Sudan split from Sudan in July last year after an overwhelming vote for independence following more than two decades of war that killed two million people.

Border tensions have since flared, with each side accusing the other of supporting rebels within its territory, while a major dispute over oil transit fees remains unresolved.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the crisis between the neighbours has become a major threat to regional peace and security, and Britain this month expressed "grave concern at the recent build-up of forces and escalation of tensions in conflict-affected border areas."

The ethnic minority insurgents from the SPLM-N had previously fought alongside the former rebels now ruling in the South.
Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Sudan-rebel-front-claims-first-attack-in-South-Kordofan/articleshow/12043952.cms

Bloodshed as Syrians vote on constitution

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

BEIRUT: Syrian regime forces killed 16 civilians in clashes and shelling across the country today, while at least 10 soldiers loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad also died, a human rights watchdog said.

Nine civilians and four soldiers were killed in clashes between loyalist troops and rebels in the centre of the flashpoint central city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The deadly exchanges erupted in the Hamideyeh neighbourhood as Syrians were called on to vote on a new constitution, the Britain-based watchdog said.

Shelling of a number of rebel areas of Homs killed another three civilians, it added.

In the northern province of Aleppo, regime snipers killed a civilian in the town of Ezaz, the Observatory said.

Explosions were also reported in the northeastern oil city of Deir Ezzor, the central city of Hama and the northwestern province of Idlib, where a civilian was shot dead in the town of Maarat al-Numan.

In Daraa province, south of Damascus, the cradle of the protests that erupted against Assad's regime in March last year, regime forces killed a civilian in Alma and rebel troops clashed with soldiers in Hirak.

Three members of the security services were killed in the city of Daraa as their vehicle was targeted by rebel troops, while two soldiers were shot dead in the village of Dael as they mounted a minaret, the Observatory said.

One member of the security services was shot dead and four others wounded when their vehicle was attacked in the city of Nawa, triggering heavy gunfire from security forces that killed one civilian.

On Saturday, 98 people were killed, 72 of them civilians, the Observatory said.
Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Bloodshed-as-Syrians-vote-on-constitution/articleshow/12044619.cms

Four people killed in blast in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (FACT INDIA) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:12:00 +0000

BAGHDAD, Feb 26 (KUNA) -- Four people were killed in a bomb explosion in Diyala Province in eastern Iraq on Sunday, an Iraqi police source said.
The blast took place at a marketplace at Barhaz in south Baquba in Diyala, to the northeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, the source told KUNA.
The bombing left four people dead and six others wounded. The injured people were rushed to hospital for necessary medical treatment, the source added.
Source http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2223747&language=en

Peru: Captured Shining Path leader accepts responsibility for over 100 deaths

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Captured Shining Path leader Florindo Flores Hala aka Comrade Artemio (Photo:Andina)

On Thursday, captured Shining Path leader Florindo Flores Hala aka Comrade Artemio, accepted responsibility for the death of 56 soldiers, 43 policemen and 32 civilians.

According to El Comercio, Artemio acknowledged his responsibility after prosecutor Marco Guzman read him the 27 police reports against him. The reports date as far back as 1989, and as late as last year.

"I accept everything," Artemio said, according to El Comercio.

"I accept the facts as chief of the Huallaga Regional Committee. What you have read are facts of war."

When asked why he had ordered the killing of civilians, Artemio said they had been traitors.

"They weren’t ordinary civilians. They were informers, collaborators of the security forces, traitors to the [Shining Path] party, criminals who extorted others using the name of our organization, common criminals, and homosexuals," he said.

Artemio also admitted to being responsible for the death of two judicial authorities, who were killed in 2005 and 2007."It was a mistake. We did not know that these authorities were in official vehicles that were ambushed by the party [...] the goal was to attack the police, because they are a belligerent force," Artemio said.

Source: http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-1633-Peru-Captured-Shining-Path-leader-accepts-responsibility-for-over-100-deaths/

Kashmiri Pandits: A Forsaken Minority

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Another anniversary of the exodus that made the Kashmiri Pandits orphans of history stared at us on January 19. The Pandits, were uprooted from their home and hearth and cast about as refugees in their own homeland. The tragedy and tribulations that befell this unfortunate community for the last twenty two years include some of the most heart-rending stories. Theirs is a story of humanitarian disaster of unprecedented magnitude, but strangely, had gone unnoticed by the rest of the world and more importantly by their own countrymen here in India. As K.P.S. Gill, former police chief of Punjab who rid his state of separatist militancy put it, “[...] one of the reasons for the apathy [of the rest of the world] could be the non-violent nature of the community itself.” They have stoically suffered their fate without even a single retaliatory act of violence.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Our intellectuals and media crib and caw about the settlements in West Bank and Gaza and the injustices done to Palestinians but not a whisper from them about the fate of the exiled Kashmiri Pandits. No group of prominent public figures petitioned on their behalf; no celebrity authors cried in their defence. They were once the elite of Kashmiri society. The community produced artistes and artisans, poets and musicians, doctors and lawyers of amazing wisdom. At the turn of the century there were about a million Kashmiri Hindus in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. At the time of independence the proportion of Hindus in Kashmir Valley was 15% of the population. By 1991 it came down to less than 1%.

The word “genocide” has been worn out in popular usage during the last decade. It has been so freely bandied about in public discourse that it lost its original meaning. If ever there was a context for it to be justifiably applied it was in the case of Kashmiri Pandits. ‘Genocide’ means, ‘the systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group’. This is what happened to the ethnic identity called the Kashmiri Pandits.

Between 1989 and 1995 about 400,000 Pandits were forced to flee the Kashmir valley. Of these 300,000 have been living in refugee camps outside Jammu and another 100,000 in Delhi. According to the ‘Panun Kashmir Movement’ (PKM) an organisation of the exiled Pandits some 25,000 standalone houses belonging to the Pandits were burnt during the period. If the houses were situated in crowded localities where it was not possible to burn them they were simply occupied by others. PKM says the process of ethnic cleansing began in 1967 but gained momentum after 1989 when Pakistan sponsored militants arrived on the scene. Destruction of Hindu temples was also a part of the deracination process. Thus between 1986 and 1992 (prior to December) 79 Hindu temples were destroyed. In the immediate aftermath of the Rama Janmabhumi- Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, 81 more temples were destroyed.

The 1989 exodus followed the brutal killing of Tika Lal Taploo a noted lawyer and national executive member of the BJP and Justice N.K.Ganju of the J&K High Court. In another incident Pandit Sarwanand Premi an 80-year old poet and his son were kidnapped, tortured and killed. A Kashmiri Pandit nurse working in the Soura Medical College Hospital was gang-raped and beaten to death. In the days that followed warnings were sounded to the community over public address systems, either to flee or face death. The Farooq Abdullah government abdicated its responsibility and all but handed over the administration to the militants. Government offices ceased functioning, taxes were neither paid nor collected and the militants began running a parallel judicial system.

Life in the refugee camps has been physically and psychologically shattering for the unfortunate Pandits and may be described as sub-human. An entire family of 7-8 people had to share a small room. There are instances when three generations of a family were put up in one room, the room being partitioned by bed sheets. The combined effects of the undercurrent of terror, forced migration and sub-human living conditions made the community prone to a host of new diseases and syndromes. These include heat trauma, heart ailments, amoebic dysentery, tuberculosis, allergies, diabetes and sexual and reproductive disorders. Menopausal age in women dropped from 50-55 to 40-45 to 35-40. There was a steep drop in birth rate while mortality rates climbed. In one of the camps surveyed, which had 350 families, there were only 5 births between 1990 and 1995 as against 200 deaths. This is not all. The community became increasingly prone to a series of mental disorders ranging from depression, insomnia, anorexia, anxiety states, delusions, panic disorders, manias, phobias and schizophrenia. Women were the most affected.

Even more tragic than the suffering is the treatment meted out to the Pandits by the rest of the Indian polity and the central government. They became orphans of history, abandoned by their compatriots and condemned to live a life of deprivation and suffering. Governments have come gone, both at the state and the centre but nothing changed, not even during the six year BJP rule. K.P.S. Gill former police chief of Punjab who cleansed the state of separatist militancy, says one of the reasons for the apathy could be the non-violent nature of the community itself. The have stoically suffered their fate without even a single retaliatory act of violence. Writing in the ‘South Asia Terrorism Portal’ (SATP) he said, “[p]ogroms of a far lesser magnitude in other parts of the world have attracted international attention, censure and action in support of the victim communities, but this is an insidious campaign that has passed virtually unnoticed, and on which the world remains silent.” (2004. The Kashmiri Pandits: An Ethnic Cleansing the World Forgot.)

In 2004, Frank Pallone, a US Democratic Congressman expressed his surprise and shock that the new Indian administration did not mention the Pandits in its Kashmir policy. In his letter of August 23 to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pallone urged him to “include the Pandits in any negotiations with Kashmiri constituents and in developing the future course of action in Jammu and Kashmir.” Manmohan Singh’s government sent a team of interlocutors to Kashmir last year but the Pandits did not seem to be on the radar of either the team or the government.

The Jews have a custom of greeting each other with ‘Next year in Jerusalem!’ at the end of Yom Kippur and Passover feasts. They kept up the tradition for nearly two thousand years even though many of the exiled Jews never set their eyes on the city nor had a hope in the world of ever doing so. Will the Pandits of Kashmir have to wait for 2000 years for a semblance of justice to be meted out to them?
Source: http://www.indiacause.com/blog/2012/02/18/kashmiri-pandits-a-forsaken-minority/

FARC commander killed in military offensive

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:30:00 +0000

The Colombian army announced the death of a FARC front commander during military operations in the central Meta department Friday.

"Eduardo Robayo," whose real name was Wilson Correa Trujillo, was the commander of the FARC's 42nd front and accused of kidnapping former Meta Governor Alan Jara, who spent several years in captivity.

Robayo is also thought to have been behind hundreds of other kidnapping and extortions.

The guerrilla commander was killed in a rural area of the community Vista Hermosa. His girlfriend was arrested during the operation.

Robayo assumed commanding duties of the 42nd Front in May 2011 after the killing of Victor Rojas Suarez, alias "Mono Jojoy."

Source: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/22430-farc-commander-killed-in-military-offensive.html

Bahrain's 'underground medics' secretly treat injured protesters

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Fearful of arrest when seeking treatment in Bahrain's hospitals, injured protesters are turning for help to medics who have been forced underground, a Bahraini doctor has told the BBC.

Sixteen-year-old Mohammed al-Jaziri was seriously injured when he was struck in the face with a tear gas canister on February 18, in the Bahraini village of Sitra.

He was with a band of young Shia confronting riot police in a community that has been a hotspot of protest since an uprising against Bahrain's Sunni Muslim rulers began a year ago.

In a video seen by the BBC, Mohammed is shown, together with other youths, hurling stones toward a line of police.

At a distance of less than 50m, one of the officers appears to aim and fire a tear-gas launcher towards Mohammed, who collapses clutching his head.

John Timoney, Miami's ex-police chief, was hired by the Bahraini government to improve policing methods. When asked about the rules of engagement for tear gas, he told the BBC that police in America are trained not to fire head high and to either arc the canister into the air or roll it on the ground.

He said that the purpose for using tear gas in Bahrain is to keep the protesters at a distance and added "the police do not purposefully hit people with it".

Mr Timoney said that a tear gas canister could be a lethal weapon but it was not intended to be used that way.

Hospital interrogation

But what is said to have happened next to Mohammed illustrates why so many Bahraini Shia protesters are afraid to seek help in the country's hospitals.

John Yates (left) and John Timoney are overseeing reforms to the Bahraini police

His elder brother Hussein says Mohammed was taken to a local clinic by police. From there an ambulance took him to the Salmaniya Medical Complex, the main hospital in the capital Manama.

Hussein says that within ten minutes of arriving police attempted to interrogate his brother who had been hit in the eye and was bleeding heavily.

Throughout that night, Hussein says, the police repeatedly attempted to interrogate Mohammed, even though he was only semi-conscious.

"I told them: 'Please just leave us alone. Can't you see he is in no condition to answer your questions?'"

The next day, Hussein alleges, his brother was subjected to a three hour interrogation by a public prosecutor who refused to give the family his name.

"We need to get him out of Salmaniya. He urgently needs an operation on his eye but we don't trust them," Hussein said.

Bill Law reports for Newsnight on fresh clashes between police and protesters

Hussein is hoping his brother can get treatment in a private hospital but believes Mohammed will lose the sight in one eye.

John Yates, the former assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard in the UK, was also brought in by the government. When told of the alleged incident at Salmaniya, he said that in the UK interrogation of suspects in hospital was highly unlikely to happen. "The health (of the suspect) comes first."

Fearful protesters

The fear of being interrogated and arrested means that many injured protesters are not being taken to Salmaniya. And last month Bahrain's National Health Regulatory Authority issued a warning to all private hospitals and clinics.

“Start Quote

I had my fingers inside his skull. He was bleeding heavily. I didn't have enough equipment. I suture stitched the wound. I did what I could”

Anonymous Bahraini medic

It said: "Providers must report cases with injuries due to suspected criminal activities irrespective of their causes to concerned authorities." The letter added that failure to do so "constituted collaboration and is criminalised by law".

Reporting suspicious injuries is a practice in keeping with most western hospitals but veteran human rights campaigner Zainab al-Khawaja says that simply going out to protest peacefully can constitute a crime.

"Calling for freedom and democracy in the streets makes me a criminal in Bahrain," she says.

And if someone is injured by police action during protests, they are likely to face interrogation and the possibility of charges should they seek hospital treatment.

Fall in hospital numbers

Salmaniya has seen a dramatic fall in emergency room numbers. One source close to the hospital told the BBC that since the uprising began last February the numbers of those seeking treatment in accident and emergency has been halved.

Yet as protests continue violence between police and protesters is escalating. John Timoney said that police are being subjected to nightly Molotov cocktail attacks "that are off the chart".

For their part, activists claim that security forces continue to use teargas and rubber bullets with excessive force. And they say the police routinely beat protesters in their vehicles or in unofficial "torture centres" before dumping them injured back onto the streets. The police deny both claims.

Police are increasingly coming under attack from Molotov cocktails

But what no-one is denying is that many of those who are injured are not going to hospital.

A medic who asked to remain anonymous because he fears arrest said that he is secretly treating approximately 50 patients a week in Shia villages.

"Some of these people are very seriously hurt," he told the BBC. He said he treated one man who had been hit in the head with a teargas canister fired as police were entering his home

"I had my fingers inside his skull. He was bleeding heavily. I didn't have enough equipment. I suture stitched the wound. I did what I could."

The medic says that many of the injuries are in the upper torso and head. He claims that it is a deliberate tactic of the police now to go for head and upper body shots.

Asked to describe the kind of injuries he is treating he told the BBC: "You see a lot of bruising caused by beatings. Those are not so serious but I am also treating birdshot wounds to the abdomen and chest, teargas and rubber bullet hits to the head and neck and skull fractures with internal bleeding."

He says that where the injuries are life threatening he tells families to take the patient to Salmaniya.

"But people refuse so I try and arrange for a private hospital to take them. I say: 'Look, he may be arrested but at least he will be alive.'"

No-one from Salmaniya Medical Complex or the Ministry of Interior was available for comment.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17141305

ETA member arrested in France

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

MADRID, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- French police detained Oier Oa Puyol, a member of Basque separatist group ETA late on Friday evening in the town of Bayonne, local media reported Saturday.

French police confirmed that the 27-year-old ETA member was carrying a bag with false documents and cash between 1,300 euros (1742 U.S. dollars) to 1,800 euros (2412 dollars) when arrested.

He was considered one of the "most wanted" members of the group, whose armed struggle for Basque independence has so far cost 829 lives and the arrest came three days after two other suspected members of ETA, Inaki Igerategi Lizzarribar and Juan Ignacio Otano, were detained.

Oa Puyol had been on the run since October 2009 after failing to appear at court accused of membership of SEGI, an organization linked with ETA.

He had previously been arrested in 2002 and 2005 on both occasions accused of membership of SEGI.

Oa Puyol's arrest means that 13 ETA members have been arrested since the group confirmed its definitive end to its armed struggle before the Spanish general election last November.
Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.asp?id=53248

Religious Conversion: A form of violence.

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

To the Divine and Respected,

Disclaimer: This article does not blame any religion. It simply brings up the issue of Religious conversion and encourages one to look into the issue. Also, when I say conversion I am talking about forced and involuntary conversion as well as proselytizing. A humble request: the point of this article is not to argue or point fingers at any religion but act upon the issue peacefully through dialogue and similar means. Reminds us all why interfaith dialogue is extremely important in todays world. Thank you.

As I was en route to visit the Bhutanese refugees I tutor one Sunday morning, I received a phone call from one of my Bhutanese brothers telling me that two Bhutanese have committed suicide.

Unable to understand what he was saying, I told him we will discuss the incident upon my arrival at his apartment in West Park, Cleveland. I sat down with him and he told me the story.

Two Bhutanese refugees who have escaped religious persecution and ethnic cleansing in their own country and were finally granted asylum in the United States passed away a few days ago. I asked him what happened and he told me that they were unknowingly converted to Christianity. The Bhutanese refugees came to the United States hoping to find a land that will embrace them, protect them, and allow them to be pursue their dreams. However, trying really hard to "fit in" to the culture of the United States, the Bhutanese found themselves in a tough situation. They wanted to get married but did not know how.

They met a Pastor that guided them to a Church where they could get married, even though the Pastor knew they were Hindu. The Bhutanese thought it was part of the American culture to get married in the Church. The Pastor told the Bhutanese that they need to be Baptized in order to get married, to which again the Bhutanese thought it was part of the American culture. The Bhutanese just wanted to be accepted in the community and get married but did not know that they were being converted to Christianity. Upon realizing this after a conversation with their own Bhutanese community, the Bhutanese felt ashamed and betrayed. The result was suicide.

Unfortunately, their experience is not uncommon; other refugees have faced similar challenges and horrors. Similar cases have sprung up across the United States within the Bhutanese community where the newcomers have been targets of conversion. During my train ride back to the university campus that Sunday afternoon, I was very disappointed about what happened and felt the need to increase my efforts helping the Bhutanese community assimilate into the Western society. Particularly on the point of making them understand it is okay to be a Hindu and proudly represent themselves as Hindus, after all, the United States is a nation of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and non-believers right?

Having an opportunity to write in State of Formation, I had to write about Religious Conversion. As a Hindu, I have never been brought up with the idea of conversion or was made to think that my religious tradition was the most superior and the only path to salvation.

Hinduism does not see the point of conversion, if it did we would be trying to use the words of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita and try to convert the entire world but we do not, why don't we? A Christian missionary in Germany once asked, "Why did Hindus never set out of Indian soil to propagate their religion? It is just because they knew it was of no worth."

To this statement, Max Muller, a German Philologist and Orientalist, immediately replied saying, "For Hindus, Religion is like a mother. She is the most beautiful of all. Bhagavad Gita says, 'if you try to prove you are worthy by propagating the beauty of your mother, then the outside world will see her as a prostitute. Hence propagate the value of your mother by the deeds you do called Karma. The value of the mother is known by the deeds done by the child. If your Karma is good, then automatically your mother will be the most respected.'"

Hinduism is a form of Universalism, many of the concepts in Hinduism are universal and thus are very accepting. We see the Universe in ourselves and ourselves in the Universe , such is the cosmic manifestation of the Divine. When there is Divinity within everyone then what is the point of trying to convince someone that their spiritual path is wrong? "Ekam Sat Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti,": Truth is one and the Sages speak of it in many ways, says the Rig Veda.

In my effort to explain this concept to the world, I came across the below excerpt from an interview of a very Revered Spiritual teacher of the Advaita Vedanta-Shankara tradition who speaks the voice of Hinduism on Religious Conversion. Below Swamiji puts very simply why Religious Conversion is a form of violence. He also talks about the US view of India's Religious Freedom. He advises us Americans and future ethical leaders of tomorrow to really consider if we ourselves are abusing 'religious freedom' to advance our own tradition by forcing others to convert. The question I have for this State of Formation is that as a community that truly believes in freedom of religion, should we push Congress to consider legislation that focuses on restricting religious conversion? Perhaps, these might be the first steps for a nation like America to truly represent the importance that lies behind freedom of religion and interfaith dialogue. In this effort, we can too do our part to live and let live.

The following is an edited excerpt from an interview of Swami Dayananda Saraswati by T. R. Jawahar of Newstoday, Chennai, June 30, 2003 available at http://www.newstodaynet.com/swami.htm.

Why do you say conversion is a form of violence?

When you physically hurt me, it is violence. If you hurt me emotionally, it is violence. And if you hurt me spiritually, that is the worst violence, rank violence. When you convert somebody, you have to criticize the person's religion, his worship, his culture. All these hurt. When he converts, there is more hurt. He has to disown his parents, their wisdom and their culture, his ancestors and entire community. You isolate, uproot and emotionally unsettle him.

How can we deal with this problem?

The theologians have to change, but they will not, because of their indoctrination. But we should keep talking about it with them. They are waiting for a time when there is more freedom for them to do their conversion work. So let that conducive time for them to seek converts be kept away. Our people have to be made aware and proud of our religion. They should be able to say to the missionaries, "Enough is enough."

Any protest against religious conversion is always branded as persecution, because it is maintained that people are not allowed to practice their religion, that their religious freedom is curbed. The truth is entirely different. The other person also has the freedom to practice his or her religion without interference. That is his/her birthright. Religious freedom does not extend to having a planned program of conversion. Such a program is to be construed as aggression against the religious freedom of others.

But the naive fall for the lure of money and incentives.

It is not really the money that buys the conversion. The missionaries give small things, and tempt with larger. That makes a thumb space, a small opening, to enter the heart. Then the missionary says the fellow's daily puja is wrong, his altar of prayer is not right, and he has to change it. That is the unkindest cut you can get. It is a stab in the heart, his religious core, where this fellow has innocently allowed the missionary to enter. Missionaries do seemingly good things in order to commit this violence. After the conversion, he is told that his brethren and forefathers are devil worshipers!

Will the Hindu clergy allow them to reconvert?

Here in India all are Hindus until they call themselves something different. When I allow every form of worship, then where is the problem? We deem you another Hindu, only you are saying, "I am this or that." There is no reconversion. There is a prodigality and they come back like a prodigal son. We do not even need to baptize. We have to ask him to give up beef, that is all.

What is the US view of India's religious freedom?

The US government had appointed a Commission on International Religious Freedom. This Commission is an authentic body and funded by the government. The Commission gets information from all countries and then submits a periodical report to the government. Based on its report, the government of US may apply pressure on those countries where, according to the Commission, there is lack of religious freedom. You'll be surprised the Commission recommended India to be designated a Country of Particular Concern [a designation given to Iran, North Korea, Burma and several other totalitarian states the US State Department rejected their recommendation to so designate India].

They cited the anti-conversion bills of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat and some Gujarat incidents as the basis of their action. They say there is no religious freedom in India. This is according to their own matrix of norms on the basis of which they decide "religious freedom." I question this matrix.

The Commission's criterion appears to be that if evangelization for conversions is allowed, then there is religious freedom. That means if missionaries are free enough to aggressively destroy my indigenous religious tradition, and if I don't question it, then there is religious freedom. If I stand up to that aggression, then it is considered an infringement upon human rights and religious freedom. Therefore, I am appealing to the government of India to appoint our own Commission on Religious Freedom, and let them report on where there is religious freedom and where there is not.

But what about the good charity work of the missionaries?

Missionaries are using charity with the aim of conversion. They should do humanitarian work the same way Hindus do. We have charities all over the world. Look at Salem or Coimbatore. How many hospitals are there? Almost all of them are run by Hindu charities. And what do they do? They don't convert, they just run the charities. There is no priest or nun there because there is no conversion program. The charities remain charities.

But to run charities for another purpose is the most uncharitable thing to do. Let me make a comparison. Have you seen how those who supply cows to slaughterhouses treat those cows a week before the slaughter? They feed the cows a lot and don't allow them to move around in a bid to increase their weight. It is called "pounding." You could say, "Ah, love and feeding! How humanitarian these people are, so human, etc." But those fellows have an eye on another goal. This is how I see all the missionaries' work it is like the love of the slaughterhouse people. Missionaries slaughter religions, slaughter traditions, slaughter cultures. Yes, they do humanitarian work, but slaughterhouse love it is.

If you really love people, just give charitably and forget about it. Don't talk about your religion. Keep your sacred religion in your heart. I find it is not a happy thing to talk about, the vulgarity of it. Even to talk about it is rather staining my tongue and leaves a distaste.

Swami Dayananda, a sannyasi of the Adi Shankara and Veda Vyasa tradition, founder of Arsha Vidya centers in India, USA, Canada and Australia, has taught worldwide for over 45 years.

Featured image, TIbet: Pure Devotion, is courtesy of fotopedia by Sylvain Labeste.
Source: http://www.stateofformation.org/2012/02/religious-conversion-a-form-of-violence/

US Military in Asia: ‘Places not Bases’

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

As part of its much touted ‘pivot to Asia’, the United States is beefing up its forward military presence in Asia after nearly two decades of preoccupation with the Middle East.

Despite the recently announced defence cuts, the Obama Administration has declared that it will raise its military profile in East Asia amidst the rapid rise of China and its assertive posture in the Western Pacific.

Last week, the United States and the Philippines announced a political decision to expand bilateral security cooperation. The United States will do more joint military exercises with the Philippines, rotate more troops through the country and increase the maritime surveillance of the South China Sea from the island nation.

The Philippines, a former colony of the United States had compelled Washington in the early 1990s to vacate its large naval base in the Subic Bay and the Clark’s air force base.

Now locked in a deepening territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, Manila is inviting the US military back in.

The move comes two months after the US President Barack Obama announced during a visit to Australia that the United States would deploy up to 2,500 Marines in the northern city of Darwin by 2016-17.

The United States also plans to position on a regular basis its newest warships in Singapore that sits astride the Malacca Straits that connect the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Washington, however, insists that it has no intention of establishing new military bases in Asia, beyond those it already has in Japan and South Korea.

“There is no desire nor view right now that the US is seeking basing options anywhere in the Asia-Pacific theater,” Admiral Robert Willard, who heads the US Pacific Command, told a news conference in Washington last week.

“Initiatives such as Australia offered or such as Singapore offered to allow us to rotate forces from locations that are closer and more adjacent to Southeast Asia afford Pacific Command the opportunity to more conveniently have its presence there and felt,” he said.

Washington is fully aware that full fledged military bases of the traditional kind generate intense political opposition in host countries and is not worth the unending political headache.

The strategy, instead, is to seek ‘places’ through which the US could move its forces on a regular basis, preposition some equipment, and have pre-negotiated arrangements for relief and resupply.

The US is not the only one looking for such ‘places’ to sustain its forward military presence around the world. China, whose economic and political interests in the Indian Ocean are growing, is said to be considering similar arrangements.

Other major powers like Russia, France and Japan have established such facilities in the Indian Ocean littoral.

If the Indian Navy is to establish itself as a true blue water force, Delhi too will need to work out special political arrangements to facilitate military operations far from the home territory.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-military-in-asia-places-not-bases/906553/0

Gogoi points to Maoists, ISI, anti-talk ULFA links

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Guwahati, February 24 2012: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi recently revealed that Maoists and Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) were trying to make the northeast their base.

Gogoi further said they are also trying to join hands with different insurgent outfits in the region.
"Maoist activities are increasing in Assam.

We are not denying it.

They are increasing their activities in some districts.

There is no doubt that they have established relations with the ULFA and other insurgency groups," said Gogoi.

"The ISI is also trying to get involved in this.

We also discussed about the strategy that needs to be developed for it," he added.

Gogoi, who met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, discussed security related issues of the state with him.

One of the highlights of their discussion was the strategy to tackle groups operating from Myanmar.

"Myanmar is the largest base for the militants.

Not just of Assam, but also for the whole of northeast.

We discussed their relationship with the local militant groups like the KIA (Kachin Independence Army) and also talked about what we can do as counter-insurgency steps," said Gogoi.

Though India has signed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty to root out terrorism from Indo-Myanmar border, the presence of such groups still continues to pose a threat to the northeastern region.

Gogoi also said the state and the central government are taking all necessary measures to prevent any attempts at creating disturbances by the Anti talk ULFA group led by their commander Paresh Barua.

"Paresh Baruah is trying to grow as much as he can.

Naturally everybody would like to increase their activities.

He is also trying his level best to increase his strength also.

To prevent him from doing so we have take up measures.

We have kept our doors open for all sometimes settlement may take some time.

But our doors are not closed for anyone," said Gogoi.

They want insurgents to lay down arms, Gogoi said.
Source: http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=11..250212.feb12

Burmese Rohingya refugees rescued in India's Andamans

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +0000

More than 90 Rohingya refugees have been found by police in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands.

All of them were starving and seriously dehydrated, police said; 25 have been admitted to hospital.

The refugees told police they had been set adrift with little food and water in a boat without an engine by the Thai navy. Thailand has denied the charge.

Thousands of Rohingyas - a Muslim minority group in Burma - have fled to the country to escape persecution.

An estimated 200,000 Rohingyas live in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Many of them - especially those living in unofficial camps - attempt to escape poor conditions by attempting to get to south-east Asia by sea.

"We found them in villages in the Car Nicobar islands, where they were desperately searching for food and water," police officer George Lalu told the BBC in a telephone interview from the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

The Rohingyas said they were trying to enter Malaysia illegally through Thailand with the help of "agents" before they were caught by the Thai navy, he said.

Doctors at the hospital told the BBC they had been at sea without food and water for more than a week.

In a statement recorded by the police in Car Nicobar, one of the refugees said they were kept in a dark room with minimum food for about a week.

After that, they said, they were set adrift in open sea in an engine-less boat with minimal rations and water.

"They say more of their people may be on the high seas, drifting around in boats without engines and with no food or water," said Mr Lalu.

Thai authorities have denied that they have forced any of the Rohingyas onto the high sea in engine-less boats.

They said they had "intercepted" a group of 91 Rohingyas in Songkhla province in early January.

"But we deported them after proper formalities," said a Thai official in Songkhla.

In December 2008, nearly 300 Rohingyas were rescued from the Andaman Sea after their boats were towed to the high seas by the Thai navy and their engines removed.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12413528

Al-Qaeda in Syria Threatens Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Hoping to take advantage of the past year's unrest, al-Qaeda is looking to become more active in Syria, prompting fears the terrorist organisation could provoke sectarian violence and destabilise the region, including Turkey.

The terrorist organisation's leadership broke its silence early this month, urging Syrians "not to rely on the West or Arab governments, and Turkey". In an eight-minute video clip titled "Onward, Lions of Syria" disseminated on the internet February 11th, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's successor, called on militants "to rise up and support their brothers in Syria".

Zawahiri's call has raised concern al-Qaeda and its affiliates are shifting operations from Iraq, where they have been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks.

According to Hikmet Cetin, a former Turkish foreign minister, al-Qaeda seeks to exploit sectarian tensions by using Syrian Sunnis against the Iranian-backed Shia-offshoot Alawite regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"This is totally against the Western policy, as well as Turkey's role in Syria," he said. Turkey, the Arab League and the West have taken a strong stand behind the demands of Syrian protestors and a peaceful transition to democracy.

"Al-Qaeda has always targeted Turkey," Cetin added, reminding that the organisation was behind several high-profile attacks in Turkey, including the bombing of the HSBC building, two synagogues, and an attack on the British Consulate in Istanbul in 2003, killing 57 people and wounding hundreds.

"Turkey should always keep its eyes open against new possible terror attacks," he said.

Last month, Turkish anti-terror police arrested eight suspected members of al-Qaeda in separate raids carried out in Adana and Izmir.

Sedat Laciner, a terrorism expert and rector of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, said that Turkey's Western aligned "Arab Spring policy" could be one reason why al-Qaeda might want to target it again.

"Turkey has become an ideological enemy of terrorists," he said. "Without the support of Turkey, the West and the Arab League can't be successful in Syria," he told SES Türkiye.

Turkey wants to ensure al-Qaeda doesn't hijack the democratic nature of the Syrian uprising, he said, but points out Ankara has few tools to control jihadists entering Syria from Iraq.

Noting that Assad hasn't shied away from supporting terrorist groups in the past -- including the PKK -- he said Assad could use al-Qaeda against Turkey, "even if it might threaten his own regime". Assad is widely believed to have allowed militants into Iraq in the past.

"They did the same with the PKK. Many of the Syrian Kurds, mainly close to the al-Assad regime and its intellegence, have recently joined PKK to fight against Turkey," he said.

With the situation in Syria becoming more violent each day, Yusuf Cinar, founder of Strategic Outlook, a Konya-based think-tank, said that Syria could enter into a prolonged civil war, creating a power vacuum that al-Qaeda could exploit.

"In this context, Turkey's biggest worry is a second Afghanistan right next door," he said, echoing similar warnings made by Assad in October. This could increase the risk of radical Islamic groups like al-Qaeda becoming more active in Syria and Turkey. "If this happens, Turkey could face the risk of becoming a second Pakistan."

However, despite the chaotic situation across the border, the government is confident it can counter any threat from terrorism. Calling al-Qaeda a "black stain on Islam", ruling AKP MP Metin Metiner said Turkish security forces have worked hard to prevent attacks by al-Qaeda.

"We are helping our neighbours on security issues and democratisation without interfering in their domestic issues," he said, underlining that al-Qaeda doesn't represent any community or political movement in Syria.
Source: http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/131699/al-qaeda-in-syria-threatens-turkey-.html

Chile-Peru border reopens after landmine incident

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Chile has reopened its main border crossing with Peru after closing it on Monday when heavy rain washed landmines onto the road.

Army bomb disposal experts gave the all-clear after detonating a number of devices in controlled explosions, officials said.

The closure had left hundreds of travellers stranded.

Chile planted thousands of mines along its northern border in the 1970s during a period of tension with Peru.

More than 100 landmines were displaced by torrential rain and washed down a ravine into the vicinity of the road linking Arica in Chile and Tacna in Peru, the Chilean army said.

As well as clearing the mines, military engineers dug drainage channels to prevent a repeat of the incident.

A special convoy of buses was sent to bring home hundreds of Chileans who had been stranded in Tacna, Chile's foreign ministry said.

Periodic border tensions are a legacy of the 19th Century War of the Pacific, which ended with Chile annexing part of southern Peru as well as Bolivia's coastline.

Chile is a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, and has been working to clear the area of mines.

It aims to be mine-free by 2020.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17135359

A Burmese refugee camp in Thailand is ravaged by fire

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:30:00 +0000

A fire has broken out at a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of homes.

Up to half of the Umpiem Mai camp, located in the western Tak province, has been destroyed by the blaze.

The fire also destroyed three mosques and two nursery schools, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.

BBC News understands that while no deaths occurred, arrangements were being made for victims to stay at local schools and temples.

The Thailand Burma Border Consortium said some people had suffered burns in the incident.

It is estimated between 800 and 1000 homes were on fire, and five zones of the camp were hit.

The camp houses 17,000 refuges from neighbouring Burma.

It is estimated about 130,000 Burmese refugees are currently living in similar camps close to the border between the two countries.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17142763

Feeding the bomb, starving the nation

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Pakistanis are fast becoming a wasted nation. The alarmingly high level of malnutrition observed in Pakistan in the past few years is far worse than what has been observed in the sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of Pakistani children have been identified as stunted, under-weight, and wasting because of hunger, disease, and poverty.

While the future of millions of children is threatened by hunger, the civil and military elites in Pakistan continue to pour undisclosed billions into conventional and nuclear weapons. The oft morbidly obese leaders of the right-wing religious and political parties are also in step with the military establishment as they continue to mobilise the starving masses to support developing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

In 2006, the United Nations estimated that no fewer than 35 million Pakistanis were malnourished. However, those who put the nation on the path to pursue nuclear weapons never suffered poverty, disease or hunger. For instance, Dr. Qadeer Khan’s daughters did not have to starve even when their father was pursuing prohibitively expensive Uranium enrichment for the weapons program. And whereas Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto promised to eat grass if he had to for pursuing nuclear weapons, he or his kin never did. Between their villas in Europe and hotels in Mali, those who pushed Pakistan into pursuing nuclear weapons did quite well for their personal fortunes.

The same could not be said for millions of starving Pakistanis whose welfare, experts believe, is worse than those in the war-torn Africa. Last week, Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, a consortium of 41 large international NGOs, revealed that 2.5 million people in the flood-stricken areas were still without food, water, shelter, sanitation, and healthcare. David Wright, country director of the NGO Save the Children, was explicit in his warnings about the dire conditions threatening the very survival of the flood-affected families in Sindh. “The floods have exposed and deepened a food crisis in Sindh that has resulted in malnutrition rates far worse than those in sub-Saharan Africa,” he warned.

Masroor Gilani of AFP reported last week on the plight of Najma Warag, a mother of three children rendered homeless by the floods in southern Badin. ”If you want to see what a miserable life is, come and visit us. Our children are sick, we have no home, no clothes, no money, and eat only one meal a day,” Ms. Warag told AFP of her daily struggle with life. Unlike Aafia Saddiqui, whose detention in the United States is a cause celebre for the urban Pakistanis, Najma Warag and her children are no one’s top priority on the political left or right of Pakistan.

The hardliners amongst the religious political parties and their proxies in the outlawed militant groups neither help the starving in Pakistan nor let others come to their rescue. Pakistan has become one of the most dangerous places for expatriate workers. In fact, no other single country has recorded as many expat workers kidnapped as in Pakistan.

While the right-wing religious parties, militants and their handlers have been reluctant to help the starving flood victims, the federal government has not fared any better. In a recently released report, international aid agencies revealed that as they rushed in to help in August 2011, Pakistani government preempted them for assisting the flood victims. The aid agencies wanted to disburse cash directly to the flood victims. The government instead wanted to be in the middle, adding extra layers of bureaucracy and increasing the odds of graft in relief aid distribution. By end of August 2011, 2 million Pakistanis were already hit by the floods. The government reluctantly permitted international aid agencies to operate in Pakistan weeks later on September 07, 2011.

It is hard to comprehend why Pakistani government initially prevented relief efforts by international donors, especially when the government itself had fallen short of providing relief to the flood victims in 2011 and earlier in 2010 when the UN declared that floods in Pakistan were the greatest humanitarian crisis in its 65 year history. The Associated Press (AP) reported in January 2011 that the UN had declared that flood-hit areas in Pakistan were experiencing famine-like malnutrition. A survey jointly conducted by UNICEF and the government of Sindh revealed that one in every four children in Sindh was suffering from acute malnutrition. Karen Allen, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Pakistan, was alarmed by the “shockingly bad” conditions of the victims of flood. She told AP in January 2011 that she had not seen “levels of malnutrition this bad since the worst famine in Ethiopia, Darfur, and Chad.”

With such dire warnings from the international relief organisations issued as early as in January 2011, the Pakistani government failed to heed when the floods hit yet again in August 2011.

Food Price Inflation

While the floods played havoc with Pakistan’s food supply chains, the very poor in Pakistan were already finding it hard to feed their families, owing to the grain price inflation in 2007. As the prices of staple food items increased globally, the poor in Pakistan had to cut their food intake because their food budgets could not afford enough. Whereas the grain prices stabilised in 2008 and 2009, the same did not happen in Pakistan where wheat prices continued to soar, owing to the ill-planning and lack of foresight on the part of the government.

Wolfgang Herbinger, director of the World Food Program (WFP) in Pakistan told AFP in March 2011 that the reason behind sustained food price inflation in Pakistan is the fact that the government of Pakistan, being the largest wheat buyer, sets the farm-gate prices. And even when grain production normalised globally, as well as in Pakistan, the prices did not adjust in Pakistan because the government continued to buy wheat at higher than the market price in Pakistan, thus raising the price for all wheat buyers. If the prices are not adjusted, warned Herbinger, the country can be full of food, however, the majority may still not be able to afford it.

Asma Razzaq, writing in the Business Reorder, reported in October 2011 that Pakistan produces 36 million tons of grains and consumes 28 million tons. Even with a surplus of 8 million tons, 60 per cent Pakistanis reported experiencing food insecurity because of inflated prices of food staples.

Food price inflation continues to threaten the welfare of the very poor across the globe. According to Save the Children, 250 million parents globally fed their children less in 2011. The food price inflation has contributed to malnutrition that has caused stunted growth in 170 million children globally. Justin Forsyth, who heads Save the Children, told the Independent earlier in February that if no concentrated action was taken, “half a billion children will be physically and mentally stunted over the next 15 years.”

Pakistan, like other developing countries facing malnutrition, runs the risk of a 2 to 3 per cent decline in GDP resulting from stunted growth. At the individual level, a 15 point decline in IQ has been observed for those experiencing stunted growth.

Global Indifference To Pakistan’s Misery

By early 2011 it was obvious that one in four children in Sindh were malnourished. While malnutrition reached alarmingly high levels in Sindh, much above the WHO’s 15 per cent threshold, which triggers the alarms for an humanitarian crisis, the global response to Pakistan’s misery was inadequate. The UN and its sister organisations appealed for hundred of millions of dollars. Only a fraction of the needed funds were raised. Many believe that the poor image of Pakistan after the 9/11 tragedy has contributed to apathy towards Pakistan.

Not all malnourished are ignored like the ones in Pakistan. Singer Bono and his friends have run campaigns and held concerts to raise funds for the starving in Africa. The millions of starving Pakistanis did not attract Bono’s attention. In fact, if it were not for Angelina Jolie, the plight of starving Pakistanis would not have made to the six o’ clock news in most of the western world.

While Bono and the rest failed to notice the plight of starving victims of flood, Shahzad Roy, Abrar-ul-Haq, and others have lent their voices and songs to raise the plight of the unfortunate Pakistanis. They are no less sincere and dedicated than Bono and Company. The question is if anybody’s listening.

Musharraf’s Regime Did No Better

Many in Pakistan and abroad naively believe that the false economy General Musharraf had constructed on a house of cards was better than the civilian rule that followed. Nothing is farther from the truth. While the current civilian government had to cope with two devastating floods and deal with the civil war that has spilled from Pakistan’s frontiers into its urban heartland, the Musharraf regime had to cope mostly with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, which despite the horrendous death toll of approximately 80,000 did not disrupt food production. One would have hoped to see less hunger in Pakistan in 2007 after the Musharraf regime had a freehand to rule since 1999.

According to an international survey by Gallup International, which interviewed 58,000 people in 56 countries between June and September 2008, 53 per cent Pakistanis reported often or sometimes lacking food in the past 12 months. Notice the same survey revealed that 48 per cent of Nigerians, 42 per cent of Peruvians, and 40 per cent in Philippines also reported lack of adequate access to food. A disproportionately large number of Pakistanis, even when compared with other countries of similar socio-economics, suffered from hunger when General Musharraf was in control either in civvies or in fatigues.

A Bad Neighbourhood

Malnutrition among children is indeed a global problem. Each year, five to seven million children die of malnutrition. South Asia, however, is one of the worst affected areas which is home to half of the world’s malnourished children. The 2008 UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report revealed that 48 per cent of children in India, 43 per cent in Bangladesh, and 37 per cent in Pakistan had stunted growth. While India’s economic miracle is praised all over, it does not change the fact that child malnourishment is more prevalent in India than in Pakistan.

According to a report jointly commissioned by UNICEF, the World Bank, and USAID, 50 per cent of children born in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan in 1999 weighed less than 2.5 kg. Research has revealed that underweight children at birth rarely catch-up in weight and height later. In Afghanistan, 40 to 50 per cent children are estimated to have stunted growth.

Pervez Shaukat, a Pakistan journalist and a friend, visited India after she tested a nuclear weapon in Pokhran. While in New Delhi, Pervez’s cab stopped at an intersection. A malnourished older woman clutching two weak children in her arms begged for money. Pervez gave her some money and asked her where she was from. Pokhran, she replied. “You must be very proud of your hometown that became the symbol of India’s nuclear prowess,” Pervez inquired. The woman’s response stunned Pervez. “Why don’t they drop a bomb on us as well to deliver us from the misery that we are in.”

For those millions whose children are starving today in Pakistan, the choice between the bomb or bread is not a difficult one. They need bread for their starving children. However, their misery and hunger is not a priority for the civil and military rulers. In the guise of feeding the bomb, elites in Pakistan have fed themselves and their children.

The nuclear scientists, armed forces personnel, members of the civil establishment, politicians, and others (including mullahs) associated with Pakistan’s conventional and nuclear weapons have all grown fatter over the past four decades. Their children either live abroad or hold dual nationalities. They never had to eat grass.

As for millions of other partially-fed Pakistanis, whose future is supposedly guaranteed by nuclear and other bombs, there is an urgent need to secure their present. Thousands of nuclear weapons did not prevent the Soviet Union from disintegrating after it failed to feed and clothe its citizens. Pakistan must avoid the same fate by putting bread before bombs.

Murtaza Haider, Ph.D. is the Associate Dean of research and graduate programs at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto. He can be reached by email at murtaza.haider@ryerson.ca

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/22/feeding-the-bomb-starving-the-nation.html

European Court censures Italy over African migrants

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italy violated the rights of Eritrean and Somali migrants by sending them back to Libya.

The 13 Eritreans and 11 Somalis were among a group of about 200 people who left Libya on three boats in 2009. Two of the 24 have since died.

The court ordered Italy to pay each migrant in the case 15,000 euros (£13,000; $20,000) in damages.

Last year Italy suspended a 2008 deal with Libya on sending migrants back.

The Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Hirsi Jamaa and Others v Italy found that the applicants had been exposed to the risk of ill-treatment in Libya and of repatriation to Somalia or Eritrea.

That was a violation of Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights - prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment.

There was also a violation of Article Four of Protocol Four - prohibition of collective expulsions, according to the judges' unanimous ruling.

The Grand Chamber judgment is final, meaning it is legally binding on Italy.

The judgment was welcomed by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which called it "a turning point regarding state responsibilities and the management of mixed migration flows".

The UNHCR had presented its position to the Strasbourg court, saying states had an obligation not to forcibly return people to countries where they faced persecution or serious harm.

The court said that in 2009 Italy conducted nine operations at sea to intercept migrant boats, in line with the bilateral deal signed by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the late Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi.

On 26 February 2011 Italy announced that it was suspending the agreement because of the unrest in Libya.

In their plea to the court the migrants said the Italian authorities who shipped them back to Libya did not tell them where they were going or check their identities.

Once in Tripoli they were handed over to the Libyan authorities.

Effort to trace migrants

Thursday's ruling came after the Italian Council for Refugees had argued that the migrants' rights had been seriously breached, as they had been denied any chance to claim sanctuary in Italy.

According to the court, 14 of the migrants had been granted refugee status in 2009 by the UNHCR in Tripoli.

But the anti-Gaddafi uprising in 2011 disrupted contact between the applicants and their legal representatives.

The lawyers are currently in contact with six of the applicants, four of whom live in Benin, Malta or Switzerland and some of whom are awaiting a response to their request for international protection.

One applicant is in a refugee camp in Tunisia and is planning to return to Italy.

In June 2011 refugee status was granted to one of the applicants in Italy after he had clandestinely returned there.

The 2008 Italy-Libya deal amounted to an official apology from Italy to its former North African colony.

Italy agreed to pay $5bn in reparations in return for greater Libyan co-operation on stopping illegal migration.

Fewer migrants risked the perilous voyage as the interceptions at sea led to boatloads being sent back.

However, during the Arab uprisings in the first half of last year there was a sharp increase in the number of African migrants arriving in Italy in overcrowded boats.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17138606

Mali clashes displace nearly 130,000, UN warns

noreply@blogger.com (terrorismwatch ...) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Nearly 130,000 people have been displaced by fighting between Tuareg rebels and government forces since mid-January in Mali, the UN has warned.

The clashes had displaced an estimated 60,000 people inside Mali, and a further 69,000 had fled to neighbouring countries, a spokesman told the BBC.

Adrian Edwards warned that basic supplies were urgently needed, as those displaced "don't have anything".

Dozens are feared to have died, but independent information is scarce.

The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA), which wants independence for the northern region of Mali, took up arms last month and has launched attacks on northern towns and army bases.

It came after many Tuareg fighters returned from Libya, where they had fought alongside Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Rights groups have urged the government, meanwhile, not to bomb civilians.

The resurgence in fighting follows two years of relative peace between the government and the Tuareg.

'Critical' needs

"Over a space of a few weeks we have seen literally tens of thousands of people being displaced to at least four countries surrounding Mali, plus smaller numbers in Togo, Guinea as well," Mr Edwards said.

“Start Quote

We had nothing. So we came here”

Zaharatha AhmedMalian refugee in Niger

He said there were an estimated 60,000 inside Mali, as well as some 29,000 in Niger, 22,000 in Mauritania and 18,000 in Burkina Faso.

The estimated 130,000 people displaced by the fighting is about 0.8% of the entire Malian population, which was estimated at 15.8m in 2011 - and a far greater proportion of the harsh, arid north part of the country.

Mr Edwards warned that there were "quite critical" needs for basic supplies - including shelter, food, water and medicines.

As well as that, many displaced were in a region chronically affected by food insecurity already, he said.

Zaharatha Ahmed, who has fled to Niger from Sanka village in Mali, told the BBC she had run away with her children as they were afraid the rebels would kill them.

"Everyone was running away," she said.

"People told us that there was fighting and that it wasn't safe. The owner of the animals we were looking after came and took the animals back. So we had nothing. So we came here."

Moussa Jibou said he had fled Menaka in the north-east of Mali.

"It's the first time I saw anything like this in Menaka," he said.

"It's very sad to leave everything there. We left our clothes, our animals, even our beds. We have nothing here. It was a question of saving our lives so we had to come."

On Wednesday, a small girl was killed and several others - all women and children - were injured when Mali's air force bombed a refugee camp in the north of the country, aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Thursday.

That prompted statements from both MSF and Amnesty International urging the Malian government not to attack civilian populations.

The government denies targeting civilians, and instead accuses the rebels of collaborating with al-Qaeda and killing captured soldiers.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17152685