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Showing posts from April 19, 2009

Genocide Monument in Yerevan

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  Source: Armenian genocide   & Genocide 1915 The Genocide Monument in Yerevan is a memorial complex dedicated to the memory of the one and one-half million Armenians who perished in the first genocide of the twentieth century, at the hands of the Turkish government as victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Remembering Armenian Gencide

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Remembering Armenian Gencide Arguments have raged for decades about the Armenian deaths The march ended in the centre of the city at a monument to the victims Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were deported en masse from eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert and elsewhere. They were killed by Ottoman troops or died from starvation or disease. Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised internationally as genocide - and some countries have done so. Turkey admits that many Armenians were killed but it denies any genocide, saying the deaths were part of the widespread fighting that took place in World War I. The total number of Armenian dead is disputed. Armenians say 1.5 million died. The Republic of Turkey estimates the total to be 300,000. According to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the death toll was "more than a million". Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay are among more

Q+A: Plight of civilians at end of Sri Lanka's war

By C. Bryson Hull Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:51am EDT (Reuters) - Diplomatic pressure is building for a humanitarian truce in Sri Lanka as the military and the Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebels fight to the finish in a 25-year war, with tens of thousands of people still trapped in the combat zone. Here are some questions and answers about their plight: HOW MANY ARE TRAPPED? That is the subject of great debate and confusion, but the International Committee of the Red Cross has said it is less than 50,000. The United Nations puts the number publicly at 50,000 and higher in private assessments. Sri Lanka's government estimates the number between 10,000 and 20,000. Diplomats say the number is immaterial with so many in harm's way. They are in a tiny strip of northern coast with the ocean to the east and a lagoon to the west, measuring no more than 13 square km (5 sq miles), according to the military. HOW MANY HAVE BEEN KILLED AND WOUNDED? A U.N. working do

SRI LANKA: LTTE shooting fleeing civilians

Source: dailynews.lk/ By Walter JAYAWARDHANA, The Daily News UN Under Secretary General Sir John Holmes said that although the LTTE leadership says that the Tamil civilians accompanied them into the war zone voluntarily and they do not want to leave, there are continuing reports of shooting at fleeing civilians, destroying boats to prevent them leaving and forcing them to fight against their will by the LTTE. He said it is clear that the LTTE is refusing to let people flee, though many are managing to escape somehow. He added: ?I fear the combatants may be gearing up for a final confrontation. This is a very grave situation.? Sir John Holmes writing in the London?s Guardian newspaper of April 8 said they have told the terrorist group that civilians trapped by the fighting in the North must be allowed a free choice of whether to leave or stay. The Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations said, the LTTE?s leadership claims the civilians in the conflict

Pakistan Taliban in Buner pull out

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Source: Aljazeera Residents were warned not to engage in "un-Islamic" activity and barred women from public places [AFP] Up to 500 Taliban fighters have been ordered to pull back from Buner, just 100km away from the Pakistan capital of Islamabad, less than 24 hours after they entered the strategic district. "Our leader has ordered that Taliban should immediately be called back from Buner," Muslim Khan, a Pakistan Taliban spokesman, said on Friday. The pull out came a d

Sri lankan LTTE Victims: Video

Peace ?

How a diaspora is killing its own

12 Apr 2009, 0048 hrs IST, David Blacker As the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) grinds inexorably towards certain defeat for the self-proclaimed representatives of the Tamil nation, there seems to be no great fanfare, no glorious last stands. This revolution dies not with a bang, but with whimpers and cowardice. And lies. For a year the Tamil diaspora, spread from Tamil Nadu to Toronto, watched with disbelief as the the Sri Lankan infantry divisions cut the Tiger formations to pieces, hammering them back into a tiny pocket close to Mullaitivu on the island's north-eastern coast. Now, as the world watches, a mortally wounded Tiger cowers behind the very people it claims to defend, mauling them as it dies. As the pace of the offensive slows down in the heavily populated Mullaitivu district, the Tamil diaspora has finally found its voice, and a cause worthy of its outrage - the Tamil population of the Wanni, trapped in the fighting and suffering horribly

Sri Lanka government to pay compensation to the victims of suspected LTTE attack

* Monday, April 13, 2009, 14:55 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka. Apr 13, Colombo: Sri Lanka government has taken measures to pay compensation to all the families of the victims in yesterday's suspected LTTE attack on Mahagodayaya in Buttala. Ministry for Disaster Relief Services and Resettlement will grant Rs. 100,000 to the family members of the victims killed in this attack and Rs. 50,000 for the injured under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's directive. The Ministry has also decided to pay Rs. 15,000 each, for funeral arrangements, Minister Rishad Bathiyudeen said. A total of 9 people including three children were killed and another woman was injured when a gang of suspected LTTE Tigers attacked the villagers of the Mahagodayaya hamlet along the Buttala-Monaragala road last night.

Exhibition In Geneva: "Victims of War"

Mon, 2009-04-20 10:11 Geneva, 20 April, (Asiantribune.com): A photographic exhibition, "Victims of War," will open tomorrow in Geneva, to bring about worldwide awareness of the brutalities, ruthless political assassinations, cruelties imposed on civilians and disregard for human rights by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through the past three decades, as well as the successes so far of the humanitarian operations to free the country from terrorism. Photographs from a large number of Sri Lankan and foreign journalists, from international news agencies and publications, will be on display at this exposition which will be held at the Centre International de Conference Geneva (CICG), Rue de Varemba 17, 1202 Geneva from April 21 to 23, 2009. The exhibition has been organized by the President’s Media Division in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the assistance of the Office of Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Geneva.

Saving civilians from Tigers and Crocodile Tears

The last week has seen what amount to pleas to save the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam reach hysterical levels. Whilst much of this was couched initially in language suggesting concern not for the Tigers, but for the civilians trapped by the Tigers, gradually the mask slipped, and the true colours of the interventionists showed themselves. The picture became clear when the Sri Lankan Government granted a humanitarian pause which had been argued for on the grounds that this was essential for the captive civilians to escape. There was no actual argument for this, since a pause is needed when something has to be stopped, and there was no need to stop the Sri Lankan forces from firing on civilians fleeing to refuge amongst them. They had never even started this, and in the entire history previously of 65,000 finding their way to safety with the government, there was not a single allegation even of harm coming to them from our forces, even by acciden

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200904222281.htm

Emotional scenes at Anuradhapura hospital Colombo (PTI): Wailing women, injured children crying for medical attention and desperate victims seeking solace from visiting preachers -- the Anuradhapura hospital in Sri Lanka on Wednesday witnessed some heart-rendering scenes. At least 240 injured Tamil civilians, who were airlifted on Wednesday from the No Fire Zone, are undergoing treatment in the hospital. Buddhist monks, who visited the hospital in the city located 212 kms from Colombo, were seen trying to reassure the victims who fled the conflict zone in the north. Video grab showed a woman in her early 30s with a swollen face with bandages clasping the hands of a monk. The preachers blessed the affected people and prayed silently. The injured, among whom were civilians wounded in the LTTE suicide bombing in the No Fire Zone, have been brought to the Anuradhapura hospital by Air Force planes. Another victim was seen tending to his infant child who suffered injuries while they

Spy in sky to aid India’s terror war

M R Venkatesh and Rahul Singh, Hindustan Times Sriharikota/New Delhi, April 21, 2009 Security forces can now look to the heavens for help in the war against terror. India on Monday acquired Cold War-style sneak-peek capabilities with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launching a spy satellite from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The all-weather, 24-hour Israeli surveillance satellite will help security agencies monitor the country’s international borders and give early warning about any kind of troop build-up, infiltration attempts and even ballistic missile attacks. Shortly after the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) put the spy satellite in space, ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair said snooping on the enemy “was not on the agenda”. That came as no surprise as spying from space has always been kept secret. A defence ministry official, who did not want to be named, said, “It is one of the most advanced spy satellites that India has ever put into orbit. It wil

US targets Uighur independence movement head

Abdul Haq is overall leader and commander of the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party (ETIP). Tuesday, 21 April 2009 16:11   US Treasury said on Monday it had frozen the assets of Abdul Haq, the leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party, which advocates establishing an independent state in East Turkistan and banned Americans from doing business with him.\ Haq is overall leader and commander of the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party (ETIP). Earlier this month, China executed two minority Uighurs in East Turkistan after a court convicted them over the disputed August attack, according to state media. Chinese officials linked the attackers to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement,which struggled against Chinese occupation in Muslim majority region. Critics accuse Beijing of using claims of terrorism as an excuse to crack down on peaceful pro-independence sentiment and expressions of Uighur identity. Bush administration put the independence group in the list of "terrorist organizati

Two key Tamil Tigers 'surrender'

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Daya Master gave himself up at Puthumathalan, the army says Two senior Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have surrendered to the military, the army says. It says that the rebels' media co-ordinator, Daya Master, gave himself up along with a top interpreter, named George, who worked for senior rebels. Correspondents say that if the reports are true it will be a major setback for the rebel leadership. It has insisted that rebels should commit suicide by swallowing cyanide capsules rather than be captured. The army says that the pair were taken at Puthumathalan on Wednesday "in the company of fleeing civilians". See map of the region Sri Lankan military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said Daya Master was the most senior rebel official to surrender so far. The head of the Tigers Peace Secretariat, Seevaratnam Puleethevan,

Maoist rebels threaten to derail Indian elections

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A growing insurgency by Maoist rebels in India is threatening to derail the country's parliamentary elections with a series of co-ordinated attacks.   by Dean Nelson in New Delhi Last Updated: 3:22PM BST 22 Apr 2009 A passenger train that was hijacked arrives at the Daltangunj railway station. Photo: REUTERS They have unleashed a campaign of terror in four states in the south and east of the country where they have threatened election officials, security personnel and voters who defy their call for a poll boycott. The campaign intensified yesterday when 250 rebels, known locally as 'Naxalites' hijacked a train and held 500 passengers hostage for four hours before releasing them unharmed.   Related Articles Maoists rebels hijack Indian train taking 500 hostages Maoist rebels free hostages on Indian train Bloodshed in India as millions begin voting US congressman comes under mortar fire as he leaves Somalia I

Four naxal attacks in Bihar, Jharkhand ahead of polling

NDTV Correspondent Wednesday, April 22, 2009, (Patna) A day before the country goes to poll in the second phase, four naxal attacks took place in Bihar and Jharkhand late on Tuesday night. Three of the attacks were in Bihar, Gaya, Aurangabad and Motihari. Naxals set on fire three oil tankers and five trucks on main GT road in Gaya district in Bihar. One truck driver was shot at who is critical and hospitalised. Police are raiding several places in Gaya. The attack took place at around 2 o'clock on Tuesday morning. Polling however, took place in Gaya on April 16. Meanwhile, naxals have taken over a polling station in the Aadapur block of Motihari district. They wired it wit

Maoist mastermind behind Saraswati's killing arrested By: Rahul Benjamin Wednesday, 22 April 2009, 14:49 (IST)

In a major breakthrough in the sensational murder case of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, the Orissa police claimed to have arrested the Maoist leader who planned the assassination last year. According to sources, Udaya, alias P. Rama Rao, the commander of the Maoists in Kandhamal, Rayagada and Gajapati districts, was arrested during a raid on their Gudari forest hideout on Tuesday. Three of Udaya's associates also have been arrested, district police chief Ashish Kumar Singh said. The police have identified Udaya as the chief behind the murder of 84-year-old VHP leader that sparked large scale violence on the Christian community. “Udaya is the third in the rank in the Vansadhra division and a link between (the Maoists’) Andhra committee and the Orissa unit,” Singh said. Udaya was involved in over 20 cases of murder, rioting and looting of government armouries. He has been with the rebels for 18 years. After the murder of Saraswati on August 23, 2008, police arrested four peop

Western Hypocrisy and LTTE Terrorism

Tue, 2009-04-21 14:29 Professor Laksiri Fernando - University of Colombo It is difficult to generalize, but at least in the case of Sri Lanka it is clear that Western hypocrisy has strengthened terrorism. The most recent example is the way that they have behaved on the issue of rescuing Tamil civilians from the ‘no fire zone.’ It has in fact been an arduous task for the Sri Lankan government to circumvent the Western pressure and finally act decisively without allowing the LTTE to regroup and restart their acts of terror under the proposed ‘ceasefire’ by some of the Western governments. The 20th of April will go into the history of at least this country as the Government of Sri Lanka could ‘say no’ to the Western ‘advice’ and decided to rescue the Tamil civilians on its own against the LTTE terror. The operations on the first day itself have shown amazing results disproving Western misconceptions. In early hours of the day, the 58th Battalion entered the ‘no fire zon

'Film piracy and terrorism are interlinked'

Nivedita Mookerji Wednesday, April 22, 2009 3:12 IST 'Film piracy and terrorism are interlinked' New Delhi: An international study, conducted by a division of the US-based RAND Corporation and backed by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), has established strong links between film/music piracy and terrorism. The trail of film piracy leads to terrorism, the report says, citing three case studies. Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company is one of the examples in the study. Since the 1980s, Ibrahim and his gang have been able to vertically integrate D-Company throughout the Indian film and pirate industry, "forging a clear pirate monopoly over competitors and launching a racket to control the master copies of pirated Bollywood and Hollywood films." The report adds that D-Company was transformed into a terrorist organisation when it carried out the 'Black Friday' Mumbai bombings in 1993. The case shows how a crime group that turned in

Maoists blow up railway station, school in Jharkhand

Wed, Apr 22 08:34 AM Ranchi, April 22 (IANS) Maoist guerrillas blew up a railway station and a school in two separate incidents in Jharkhand, police said Wednesday. Over 50 rebels of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) bombed Utari Road railway station and also destroyed a nearby track in Palamau district, about 190 km from here, late Tuesday. Police said the militants had planned to target the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express, which was to pass through the station 30 minutes after the blast. The route of the train was diverted after the incident. Railway services were disrupted on the Dehri Onson and Barkakana route. Maoist rebels also blew up a school and health centre in Narayanpur village in Chatra district Tuesday night. Eighteen government buildings, including nine schools, have been bombed in the last two weeks in the state. Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state. Nearly 1,500 people have been killed in the last eight years in Maois

Sri Lankan troops move in on Tigers, 62,000 flee

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Wed, Apr 22 05:20 AM Enlarge Photo A young Tamil boy sits on a bed as a nurse attends his bandaged head-wound... Slideshow: World in pictures: April 21 Sri Lankan soldiers battled into the last redoubt of the rebel Tamil Tigers on Tuesday as the exodus of people fleeing the war zone surpassed 62,000 and the United States said the conflict was at a "decisive point". The International Committee of the Red Cross warned the situation was "nothing short of catastrophic" and urged both sides to prevent further mass casualties among civilians, saying hundreds had been killed in the past 48 hours. The neutral agency did not assign blame to either side. Senior U.S. diplomat Michael Owen, speaking in Washington, urged Sri Lanka to allow the international community to monitor what was happening and assure help for trapped civilians. "The 26-year-old conflict is at a decisive point and we see the potential for major developments within the next 48 hours,&

Bomber Hits Checkpoint in Pakistan, Killing 20

Published: April 18, 2009 PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Eighteen members of the security forces and two civilians were killed in a suicide bombing on Saturday at a joint military and police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, security officials said. The police in Doaba, in the Hangu district of North-West Frontier Province, said that three of their men had been wounded in the attack, which hit around the time when the guard was changing at the checkpoint. Eight soldiers were also wounded and were later shifted to a military hospital for treatment. The police blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the bombing, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility by the militants. The military had carried out a major cleanup operation in Doaba in August to flush out Taliban militants who wereinfiltrating from the nearby Kurram and Orakzai tribal regions. Army helicopter gunships have been attacking suspected militant hide-outs in Orakzai in the last couple of weeks. That region is under the sway o

Officials: Violence kills 12 in northwest Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani security forces shelled and launched airstrikes against Taliban in the country's northwest, killing four civilians and eight suspected militants, officials said Monday. Scores of families fled the latest fighting, adding to an exodus of hundreds of thousands of residents from the volatile tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan over the past year. Shelling occurred overnight in the vicinity of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal region. A Taliban compound in the same area was targeted by a deadly suspected U.S. missile strike on Sunday. South Waziristan is a key stronghold for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. It is a frequent target of American missile strikes, which have continued despite militants' threats of more suicide attacks unless they stop. Militants attacked at least four military camps and checkpoints. "In the exchange of fire, three civilians were

Somalia Adopts Islamic Law to Deter Insurgency

By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM Published: April 18, 2009 MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s Parliament voted unanimously on Saturday to institute Islamic law, a measure lawmakers say they hope will strengthen popular support for the government and siphon it away from the Islamist militias fighting an insurgency here. The vote ratified a decision by the cabinet last month to adopt the legal code of Islam based on the Koran, known as Shariah. “God is great, God is great, the Parliament voted for the implementation of the Shariah law,” the deputy speaker of Parliament, Osman Elmi Boqore, said after the vote. “We are grateful that we implemented it today.” The minister of justice, Sheik Abdirahman Mohamoud Farah, speaking to the lawmakers, said that the opposition hard-liners would no longer be able to use Islam as a justification for attacking the government. Most Somalis generally welcome the introduction of Shariah, suggesting that it was the only solution that Somalis could agree on. “I am h

Q+A - Last days of Sri Lanka's war? Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:47pm BST

By C. Bryson Hull (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Monday gave the Tamil Tiger separatists a 24-hour deadline to surrender or face annihilation inside a tiny coastal strip, signalling the final fight in Asia's longest-running war. Here are questions and answers about what happens next on the Indian Ocean island: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE DEADLINE ENDS ON TUESDAY? The military isn't saying, but it is all but certain this will be the final conventional battle of the 25-year-old war. It is a safe bet that the military will replicate the tactics they have used around the edges of a 17 square km (6.5 sq mile) no-fire zone. They will use snipers to pick off Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels trying to block people from fleeing. In any case, the military has vowed no more truces. So a conventional defeat is on the cards very soon for what has long been regarded by many as one of the most resilient and ruthless guerrilla groups. AND WHEN THAT FIGHT IS OVER? The government's

Officials: Violence kills 12 in northwest Pakistan

By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD – 48 minutes ago DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani security forces shelled and launched airstrikes against Taliban in the country's northwest, killing four civilians and eight suspected militants, officials said Monday. Scores of families fled the latest fighting, adding to an exodus of hundreds of thousands of residents from the volatile tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan over the past year. Shelling occurred overnight in the vicinity of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal region. A Taliban compound in the same area was targeted by a deadly suspected U.S. missile strike on Sunday. South Waziristan is a key stronghold for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. It is a frequent target of American missile strikes, which have continued despite militants' threats of more suicide attacks unless they stop. Militants attacked at least four military camps and checkpoints between 1

Why are so many on the Left enamored with Islamism? Romancing the Jihad

Source: NRO By Clifford D. May Ask those on the Left what values they champion, and they will say equality, tolerance, women’s rights, gay rights, workers’ rights, and human rights. Militant Islamists oppose all that, not infrequently through the application of lethal force. So how does one explain the burgeoning Left-Islamist alliance? I know: There are principled individuals on the Left who do not condone terrorism or minimize the Islamist threat. The author Paul Berman, unambiguously and unashamedly a man of the Left, has been more incisive on these issues than just about anyone else. Left-of-center publications such as The New Republic have not been apologists for radical jihadists. But The Nation has been soft on Islamism for decades. Back in 1979, editorial-board member Richard Falk welcomed the Iranian revolution, saying it “may yet provide us with a desperately-needed model of humane governance for a third-world country.” Immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, longtime Na