David Coleman Headley initially refused to entertain questions on Rana

Source: DNAINDIA
In the first few days of his arrest, Mumbai terror attack accused David Headley refused to entertain any question on his childhood friend Tahawwur Husain Rana, as he wanted to save him.

It was only after he was informed by the FBI agents that Rana has been arrested on a terror-related charge that Headley agreed to respond to questions about Pakistani Canadian Rana, Headley informed a Chicago court during a recently concluded Rana trial.

"I did not want them to be affected by my case," the 50-year-old Pakistani American told the court when asked by the government attorney when he testified before the jury during the Rana trial.

"Why not?" the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative was asked.

"I'm close to them. I didn't want to," Headley said.

"Besides your wife, who's the closest friend that you have in the world?" he was asked.

"Dr Rana," Headley said.

Headley said "Yes, I did" when the government attorney asked if he came to learn that Rana had been arrested.

And after Rana was arrested by the FBI on terror related charges, Headley said, he had conversation with the government about it.

After the conversation, the US attorney told Headley that if he was to cooperate it "would have to be complete," and he could not refuse to talk about any individual.

"So I decided to comply with that," he said.

The Mumbai terror accused also told the court that he initially lied about Rana to the FBI investigators, but later on provided information about him.

The defence prosecutors however alleged that this was a ploy by the FBI to extract information from Headley about Rana.

The government, however, denied this allegation.

Besides Rana, Headley also declined to answer questions about his wife.

"On the first few days, when you were asked questions about Mr Rana, what did you do?" Headley was asked.

"I declined," he said.

"Besides declining, did you lie about Mr Rana when you were first interviewed?" he was asked.

"Yes" Headley responded.

"Did agents continue to ask you questions about Mr Rana?" he was asked.

"For a few days," Headley said.

"And at some point did you decline?" the US attorney asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Did you decline to answer any questions about any other individuals?" he was asked.

"Yes, my wife as well," Headley said.

While Headley was arrested on October 3, 2009, Rana was nabbed on October 18.

Amarnath Yatra, Huge turnout a surprise?

Thousands of Amarnath devotees were joined by hundreds of Muslims labourers and pony owners on Wednesday to kick start annual pilgrimage from two base camps in south and north-east of Kashmir. The Vedic mantras recited by the priests and J-K governor NN Vohra, who heads the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, at the sanctum sanctorum declared yatra open in the morning for devotees across the country.
This year it is not security that is worrying the authorities but incredible number of devotees trickling into Kashmir. On day when only 2,096 registered devotees were expected from south Kashmir, the authorities were taken aback by the phenomenal number of devotees standing up in queues at the two base camps of Baltal in north-east of Srinagar and Chandanwari in the south.

“Against 2,000 plus registered devotees, out estimates say there were 10,000 plus devotees on the day one aspiring to reach the shrine through the Pahalgam route,” south Kashmir deputy inspector general (DIG) of police Shafkat Watali told the Hindustan Times.

The government’s decision of on-the-spot registration had many people driving in in their private cars into Kashmir valley. “It’s difficult to differentiate between registered and unregistered pilgrims. There is also heavy tourist rush in the area. Two, on-the spot registration facility is there. It’s putting extra pressure on us but we are managing it,” said Watali.

There are two mountain routes to the shrine --- 42 km trek from Pahalgam base camp in south Kashmir and 12 km trek from Baltal base camp in north-east of Kashmir.

Against 5,000 registered pilgrims, around 13,900 pilgrims left the Baltal base camp towards the cave on Wednesday, according to state officials. Over 12,000 pilgrims left for the cave shrine from the Nunwan base camp in south.

The 13,500-foot high Himalayan cave houses a stalagmite of Lord Shiva. The police have deployed more than 1500 personnel to man the route to the shrine in south Kashmir. “Security arrangements are foolproof. Under multi-tier security arrangement, we have deployments in upper reaches of the mountain, personnel are manning camps and road opening parties are active to keep miscreants at bay,” said Watali.

The army and the paramilitary, around 7,000 personnel, are also providing cover to the devotees. This year the government has procured more equipment and additional accommodation to cater to devotees in case of any natural calamity. Both the routes are prone to sudden showers and landslides, with temperature dipping very fast in the area.

At least 20,000 Muslim labourers and 7,000 Muslim pony owners will ensure safe and secure pilgrimage of the devotees. The pilgrimage will culminate on August 13 with Hindus celebrating Raksha Bandhan.

Freedom Collapses in Europe – So We’re Taking It to the Seas

by Pamela Geller

By Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer

In a capitulation to Islamic supremacists and violent radical Leftists, French and European Union authorities have canceled a free speech rally that we had planned with a coalition of American and European human rights organizations in Strasbourg, the seat of the European Parliament.

Our human rights organizations Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) and its sister group, Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) were planning to hold their first-ever transatlantic summit in Strasbourg, France, on July 2.

The SIOA/SIOE summit was dedicated to the defense of the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law – all principles denied by Islamic law.

But the Strasbourg police could not guarantee our safety. When the thugs of the Antifa group and Islamic supremacist organizations announced plans to hold a violent counter-demonstration and to do everything they could to disrupt our activities, the authorities canceled permission for our demonstration and conference, instead of standing up to these violent neo-fascists and their Islamic supremacist allies.

Strasbourg authorities told us that they could not guarantee our safety at the conference and demonstration location, the Place de la Republique. Efforts were made to hold the demonstration nearby, but the authorities still considered security to be too much of an issue.

Muslims and Leftist fascists previously burned down a hotel in Strasbourg during a NATO summit, and burned a large number of cars in a car park during riots in the same city.

We are not intimidated, and will demonstrate in the future, just as we did in Harrow, Copenhagen and Aalborg. This planned Strasbourg demonstration and conference will be rescheduled.

This incident shows yet again that freedom and democracy are being denied in Europe. But we are not giving in. On the contrary: when our governing authorities are refusing to protect freedom, we have to do it ourselves. That’s the impetus for our Freedom From Jihad Flotilla.

The SIOA/SIOE Freedom From Jihad aid flotilla is intended to be a direct response to the capitulation of French, European, and American authorities to Leftist and Islamic supremacist forces of oppression and injustice. It is set to launch after our national Rally for Freedom at Ground Zero on the tenth anniversary of the Islamic jihad attacks that murdered three thousand Americans.

The Audacity of the Infidel will launch on September 11 from the New York harbor closest to the World Trade Center site. On board will be freedom fighters from all over the world, united in defense of human rights and human dignity against Islamic supremacist oppression.

The mission is the first attempt by free citizens anywhere in the world to come to the aid of non-Muslims persecuted for their faith in Muslim countries. It is a direct response to the heavily-armed Leftist/jihadist flotilla that attempted to violate Israel’s legal maritime blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza on May 31, 2010. In that incident, Turkish jihadists onboard one ship attacked Israeli soldiers without provocation; nine jihadists were killed in the battle. The Freedom From Jihad Flotilla is also a response to the Audacity of Hope flotilla that is soon to set sail to continue the jihad against Israel, with plans to use chemical weapons against Israeli forces.

The Freedom From Jihad Flotilla will offer aid to persecuted Christians, Hindus, and other non-Muslims, and call upon the international community to recognize Muslim persecution of non-Muslims as a violation of international law, to be punished with strict economic sanctions and other appropriate action.

The first stop will be Greece, in recognition of the Greek victims of jihad in Anatolia for well over a thousand years. The Freedom From Jihad Flotilla will then sail along the Turkish coast, where speakers will pay homage to the millions of victims of the Armenian and Greek genocides in Turkey.

The next stop will be Egypt. All Coptic Christians seeking to escape Islamic oppression will be saved. Subsequent stops will include Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, and other areas where Christians are facing persecution from Muslims. The freedom flotilla will also include stops in Bangladesh, for Hindus facing Muslim persecution, and Thailand, for Buddhists facing the same persecution.

The SIOA Freedom From Jihad Flotilla will call upon the international community to act in defense of these basic human rights:

• The freedom of speech – as opposed to Islamic prohibitions of “blasphemy” and “slander,” which are used effectively to quash honest discussion of jihad and Islamic supremacism;
• The freedom of conscience – as opposed to the Islamic death penalty for apostasy;
• The equality of rights of all people before the law – as opposed to Sharia’s institutionalized discrimination against women and non-Muslims.

The Flotilla will call upon all free people of all races and creeds to stand with us to defend our freedoms against the radically intolerant ideology codified in Islamic law.

We are determined to defend human rights, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech against Islamic supremacist intimidation and attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the West – even if our governing authorities are too afraid to do the job themselves.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad (both Regnery).

A Chronicle of China's Communist Party: From Maoism to Capitalism

Source: spiegel

AFP

Chinese students wave Communist flags and a portrait of late leader Mao Zedong to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of China's Communist Party.

The Chinese Communist Party has ruled the country for most of last century. Here are the key dates in the party's rule, a history which encompasses power, bloodshed and recent economic prowess.

1893 -- Mao Zedong is born.

1912 -- China becomes a republic. The six-year old Emperor Puyi abdicates, ending the Qing Dynasty.

1916-1928 -- The republic disintegrates. Warlords with private armies rule the provinces.

1921 -- Mao takes part in the founding congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai.

1927-1928 -- General Chiang Kai-shek forms a national government and rises to become China's ruling statesman. He smashes the power of the warlords and persecutes the communists.

1934-1935 -- Four communist armies save themselves from Chiang Kai-shek's troops with the Long March, a massive military retreat into the north of the country.

1943 -- Mao becomes Chairman of the Communist Party of China. It is the onset of a personality cult.

1945-1949 -- Following the victory over Japan, Mao and Chiang unsuccessfully try to negotiate a division of power. A civil war ensues and the communists win. Chiang flees to Taiwan with his troops.

1946-1952 -- The communist party embarks on a radical land reform. Up to five million people are estimated to have been killed in the process.

1958-1961-- Between 30 and 45 million people die during the Great Leap Forward campaign. Mao loses some of his influence.

1966 -- The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution starts and millions of people are persecuted in the process. Mao is once again the country's undisputed ruler.

1969 -- Serious clashes between Soviet and Chinese troops on the Ussuri River during a seven month military conflict.

1975 -- Mao dies.

1978 -- The communist party, lead by Deng Xiaoping, kicks off far-reaching reforms. China opens itself up the world.

1984 -- The disintegration of the people's communes.

1989 -- Student protests on Tiananmen Square are brutally quashed.

Since 1993 -- Under President Jiang Zemin, the communist party finally opens up to private enterprise and the middle class. Political power remains in the hands of the communists.

2002 -- The communist party accepts private entrepreneurs as members.

2010 -- Approximately one in every three people belonging to China's super rich is a member of the communist party.

Police nabbed three KYKL militants in Manipur

Three activists of proscribed KYKL, including one who was involved in the extortion of a huge amount of money from various fertilizer dealers in Manipur, have been nabbed by Imphal West police in the last two days, police said on Friday.
The arrested cadres of the outfit are identified as Soram Ibohal(46) of Yairipok, Thoubal district, Ningombam Suranjoy Singh(44), a resident of Thangmeiband in Imphal West and Khuraijam Devenkishor(42) of Thangmeiband, Imphal West.
Police said one 9mm pistol along with five live rounds were seized from Suranjoy.

3 NDFB cadres arrested in Guwahati

Source: Assam times

Despite heavy presence of security forces Guwahati still remains a deep den of NDFB rebels who might foment trouble at any time to make its presence felt. Police arrested three hardcore NDFB rebels in the city on Saturday. The trio were arrested during an operation launched at Gandhibasti area in the city in the wee hours. One of them is learnt to be Baikunth Narzary. Police interrogation is on. The arrest comes two days after NDFB chairman threatened to pull out of the peace process citing government lack of good will and sincerity. 

Ethiopia arrests 9 on terrorism charges

Source: AP
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – An Ethiopian official says nine people were arrested last week on suspicions of organizing a terrorist network and planning attacks.
Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said Wednesday that two journalists were among those arrested. He says they were involved in planning attacks on infrastructure, telecommunications and power lines. Shimeles says two other suspects are members of an opposition party.
Shimeles says the suspects were supported by Ethiopia's archenemy Eritrea and by an international terrorist group, which he did not name.
International media rights groups have been calling for the release of Reeyot Alemu, a columnist for the independent weekly Feteh, and Woubshet Taye, deputy editor-in-chief of the weekly Awramba Times newspaper.

How will the Kabul raid affect a peace deal?

Source: CSM

By Ben Arnoldy – Wed Jun 29, 11:25 am ET

New Delhi – For all the talk about peace negotiations with the Taliban, one word rarely comes up: cease-fire. Instead, the US and the Taliban talk while shooting, a fact brought home again with the major terrorist attack overnight on a landmark hotel in Kabul.
The siege left seven civilians dead, including one Spaniard. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says one reason his group struck the InterContinental Hotel was the presence of foreigners.
Such provocative targeting of civilians by the insurgents, as well as the civilian deaths that result from US-led operations, erode trust around the negotiating table. However, since both sides clearly intend to try to show a stronger hand on the battlefield, neither Afghan nor American observers expect the attack to shut down the peace process.
“When you see this kind of incident, especially in Kabul, it brings mistrust among the people over the peace process, but it does not means we will sit quiet and stop the peace efforts,” says Attaullah Lodin, a member of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council.
RELATED Kabul raid shows Taliban's strength, tests Afghan security coordination
He says at this point the peace talks have to involve those who deepen insecurity, including “foreign forces killing innocent and weak Afghans in the villages in their raids and bombings, or those [insurgents] who carry out attacks on the mosques and crowded areas.â€
For many Westerners there is not the same equivalency between so-called collateral damage from military missions that target insurgents and a group that goes door-to-door in a hotel to hunt guests.
'Diplomacy would be easy if we only had to talk to friends'But in a speech earlier this year making the case for peace talks, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued against letting the Taliban’s brutality derail efforts to end the war.
"Now, I know that reconciling with an adversary that can be as brutal as the Taliban sounds distasteful, even unimaginable. And diplomacy would be easy if we only had to talk to our friends," said Secretary Clinton. "But that is not how one makes peace.”
Still, the attack could have minor impacts on the calculations surrounding the talks.
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It has not been clear whether the Taliban are using talks as a tactic to encourage international withdrawal, or if they are genuinely interested in finding a negotiated settlement. The continuation of major terrorist assaults only deepen this uncertainty. On the other hand, the attack is a reminder that despite 130,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, the Taliban remain capable of striking inside the capital.
“I hope politicians are not too influenced by this [attack] and [do not] drop the political approach,” says Thomas Ruttig with the Afghanistan Analysts Network in Kabul. “The attack yesterday showed that the Taliban cannot be gotten rid of through a military-only approach.”
What about a cease-fire?In order to avoid the danger of each side outraging the other with stepped-up attacks, one solution is to seek some form of cease-fire to give space for talks.
A cease-fire would also help stop further fragmentation of the insurgency, which adds uncertainty to whether a peace deal could be enforced by Taliban leaders. As the US steps up attacks on mid-level commanders, fresh leaders are elevated who are not as bonded to the top-level leaders.
“When you continue to hammer the organization, that means you have more factionalization,” says Christine Fair, a regional expert at Georgetown University in Washington. “It does mean you are increasing your odds of having significant spoilers [to any settlement].”
Western analysts who follow the region, including Dr. Fair, Mr. Ruttig, and Seth Jones at the RAND Corporation, say they have never heard serious discussion about pursuing a cease-fire deal.
Mr. Lodin says everyone on the High Peace Council is suggesting a cease-fire, but he does not expect it to happen soon. The Taliban, meanwhile, have demanded that foreign soldiers depart Afghanistan – which is a lopsided form of cease-fire – but the US has made it clear that withdrawal would be an outcome not a precondition or intermediate step.
The Taliban spokesman Mr. Mujahid declined to say much about the attack’s impact on peace talks.
“I do not want to comment on this since I did not get the official statement from the leadership, but I would say that the fight is going on on a daily basis, the enemy attacks us everywhere and the goal of freedom that we have, we can not forget that goal,” says Mujahid by phone.
Fair argues that the InterContinental was not really meant as a Western target since mostly Afghans these days actually stay overnight in the past-its-prime hotel. She sees this as a message to Afghans that while the internationals are starting to leave, the Afghan conflict remains.

AP IMPACT: Teaching jihad in Indonesian prisons

 

By NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press – Thu Jun 30, 7:29 am ET

PORONG PRISON, Indonesia – A sweeping crackdown on terrorism in the past decade has spawned a new problem in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation: Militants in jail are recruiting new followers to their cause.
Prisons threaten to undermine the progress made against terrorism here since 2002, when nightclub bombings killed 202 people on the tourist island of Bali, many of them Australians and Americans.
The campaign has assumed global importance because of feared links between Southeast Asian terrorist groups and al-Qaida. That possibility was underlined by the January arrest of Bali bombing suspect Umar Patek in Abbottabad, the same Pakistani town where Osama bin Laden was killed in May.
The Associated Press was granted two days of unfettered access to Porong prison in early June by the chief warden, who wanted to show that changes were being made to limit the influence of jihadist inmates. While there were improvements, interviews with terrorists and other convicts show how openly the former still court some of the latter.
Porong is a huddle of low concrete buildings set on 40 acres (15 hectares) near Surabaya, the country's second-biggest city. It is home to 27 terrorists — some of the 150 currently held in prisons across the sprawling Indonesian archipelago.
Block F is technically reserved for terrorists but also accommodates about 50 others because of overcrowding. The prison, designed to hold 1,000 inmates, has 1,327.
An elaborate green garden flourishes in the thick heat. Bearded terrorists tend ducks, and fish splash in small ponds. Some militants play sports with other inmates, while others read the Quran or teach Islam to ordinary prisoners.
"We only explain what they should know about jihad," said Syamsuddin, who is serving a life sentence for his role in a gun attack on a karaoke club in Ambon that killed two Christians in 2005. "It's up to them whether to accept it or not."
Syamsuddin was trained in bomb-making by alleged al-Qaida terrorist Omar al-Farouq during Muslim-Christian conflict in Ambon between 1999 and 2002.
Muhammad Syarif Tarabubun, a former police officer, was sentenced to 15 years for his role in the same attack. He laughed easily and smiled broadly as he explained his extremist views. He said he plans to join a jihad in Afghanistan, Iraq or Lebanon after his likely early release in 2013 for good behavior.
"The death of Osama bin Laden will not ruin our spirit for jihad," he said. "We do it not for a figure. We do it for God's blessing."
Radicalization is common in Pakistan's and Afghanistan's overcrowded prisons, where thousands of terrorists and insurgents mix freely with others, according to a 15-country study by the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence.
In the U.S., Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheik behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, managed to send inflammatory messages from his prison cell to followers in Egypt. There is debate over whether and how far Islamic radicals are infiltrating U.S. prisons.
One exception may be Saudi Arabia, which is fending off radicalization in prisons through an unusually well-funded and comprehensive program. Its "golden handcuffs" approach of finding wives for captured terrorists and enmeshing them in a web of personal, financial, religious and professional obligations once released is regarded as pioneering.
In Indonesia, experts say, some radicals finish their sentences with an even greater commitment to deadly jihad. Of 120 arrested and 25 killed in raids since February 2010, some 26 had previously been in prison for terrorist acts, according to the International Crisis Group, which researches deadly conflict.
Sidney Jones, one of the group's Southeast Asia terrorism experts, calls Indonesia's prisons the weakest link in the counterterrorism effort. "It's going to undermine everything that the police are doing to break up these networks," she said.
Porong prison, though immaculately clean and far from grim, has ceilings that leak copiously during the rainy season and swarms of mosquitoes at night. Inmates are allowed out of their gray windowless cells from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Within Block F, a small shop is a favorite gathering place.
Nearby, nine men wearing traditional Muslim shirts sit on a floor listening intently to a religious lesson by Maulana Yusuf Wibisono, who stockpiled explosives for a 2004 suicide bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta that killed 10 people.
These men, part of the ordinary prison population, diligently copy what Wibisono writes on a small white board.
"It's still too early to invite them for jihad," said the 42-year-old terrorist. He is the former leader of the East Java military wing of Jemaah Islamiyah, the group behind the 2002 Bali bombing. "To change their way of life is more important."
Many are in awe of the terrorists' piety and dangerous reputations. Militants also get extra food and other goods, both from supporters and through police attempts at rehabilitation, adding to their sway in prison. Often bearded and clad in robes, sarongs or ankle pants, they stand out from the other inmates.
"Don't judge them as bad guys," said Frans Sandi, who is serving 13 years for murdering his wife. He is a regular at Wisibono's religious instruction. "They are even able to turn bad guys into good."
He is now well versed in the Quran, fasts and never misses the call to pray five times day — things he had never done in the past.
His budding faith is seen by terrorists as a necessary step toward accepting their extremist version of Islam. While his good behavior and piety may earn him an early release, his debt to the radicals could one day see him used as a terrorist enabler.
"These men understand that wider support for their activities is crucial to the longevity of their movement," says "Jihadists in Jail," a report released in May by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "That's why they continue their dakwah (religious outreach) in prison to ensure they can recruit new members and that their own zeal for militant jihad isn't diminished."
Radical preachers, too, have played a role in recruiting behind bars.
In Sukamiskin prison, cleric Aman Abdurrahman won over three students arrested for a hazing death. They were re-arrested last year during a raid on a terror training camp in Aceh province.
Another firebrand cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, was sentenced recently to 15 years for supporting the Aceh camp. Experts say the imprisonment of Bashir, who co-founded Jemaah Islamiyah, is unlikely to stop him from providing crucial spiritual sanction for terrorism.
Though there have been several more attacks since the Bali bombings, none has been anywhere near as deadly. Analysts credit a crackdown that has netted nearly 700 militants since 2000, including police killings of several key leaders.
But Indonesia, where more than 100 million still live in poverty, lacks the resources to mount a comprehensive program to persuade convicted terrorists to renounce violence. And dozens of Jemaah Islamiyah members are due for release in the coming three years.
"In the absence of a really concerted program, ... you are going to see most of them going back to their networks for the simple reason that those networks are based on family ties," said Carl Ungerer, author of the Jihadists in Jail report.
Nur Achmad, the chief warden at Porong, said he was shocked when he took over late last year to see regular inmates moving freely in and out of Block F. Some had changed their appearance, lengthening their hair and beards in imitation of the militants.
"I have to stop this," Achmad said. "I don't want them spreading radicalism to other inmates."
Prisoners from other blocks are now restricted from entering Block F. Those in the block are allowed to study Islam with the militants but under tighter supervision, including what kind of instruction can be given. Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed.
The extremists have protested Achmad's changes in letters to the police and the justice and human rights ministries. He also received threatening text messages, warning him that his daily routine and family's whereabouts were known, and that a network outside the prison could harm him.
Government officials acknowledge that reforming radicals isn't easy. "This program has so far not yielded optimum results," said Ansyaad Mbai, the head of Indonesia's anti-terrorism agency.
Sometimes the best that can be achieved is a shaky commitment not to wage jihad at home — potentially exporting the problem abroad.
For Slamet Widodo, sentenced to five years for his role in a 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12, violent jihad remains an obligation as long as Muslims suffer injustice.
"But now we know Indonesia is not a proper place for the field of jihad," said Widodo, a veteran of al-Qaida military training in the early 1990s in Afghanistan.
He is looking further afield while occasionally attending government-run deradicalization sessions.
"If there is a chance to jihad abroad, I would go," he said. "Why not?"
___

Suspects on trial over Morocco cafe bombing

Source: AP
RABAT, Morocco – Seven people went on trial in Morocco Thursday for the bombing of a Marrakech tourist cafe that killed 17, one of the worst terrorist acts to hit the North African kingdom.
The proceedings were postponed until Aug. 18 to allow lawyers for both the victims and the defense more time to prepare. Both sides pleaded their cases on Thursday's opening day.
The April 28 explosion tore through the Argana cafe in Marrakech's old town, a popular tourist destination. Several of those killed were foreigners.
Defense lawyers asked that the suspects be released pending the next court session, but the court refused.
The defense lawyers also complained about the conditions of detention, comparing them to the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo. The prosecutor responded angrily that the claim was exaggerated.
The chief suspect, Adel Othmani, appeared relaxed in the courtroom, and turned several times to wave and smile at family members. He was arrested three days after the explosion, and Moroccan police say he has loyalties to al-Qaida and tried to travel to Iraq and Chechnya.
Families of the suspects staged a protests in front of the court, complaining that they had not been able to visit their loved ones behind bars.
Among the charges facing the suspects are premeditated murder, explosives possession, and membership in a banned religious group, according to the state news agency MAP.
The dead included Moroccan, French, British, Swiss and Portuguese victims.
The attack shook relatively peaceful Morocco, a staunch U.S. ally that drew nearly 10 million tourists last year to its sandy beaches, desert and mountain landscapes, and historic sites.
The blast came several weeks after King Mohamed VI promised constitutional reforms to shepherd in more democracy amid a push across the Arab world. Moroccans vote in a referendum on the reforms Friday.

ISI Chief won't appear before US Court: Pak PM

Source: Newstrackindia
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday clearly declared that none could pressurise the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt. Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha to appear before a US court without his consent.

"The ISI is an extremely important and sensitive institution of this country. If they do not agree to go to the American court, then no one can send them," Gilani said it before the national assembly on December 23 while addressing to the lower house of Parliament.
Gilani was responding to a fiery speech by opposition leader Nisar Ali Khan, who criticised the government for it?s failed foreign policy.


"The ISI is a sensitive agency of the Pakistani military and it is unimaginable that we will force their officers to appear in the US court on foreign dictation".


As it is known that a family of Mumbai terror victim has filled a lawsuit against ISI before a Brooklyn court in US.


The Court has issued the summon asking ISI?s powerful chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha and other officials along with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi and Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed to appear before the court in their alleged involvement of November 26-28, 2008, Mumbai terror attack.


Earlier, the Pakistani foreign office Wednesday said in a statement that they are yet to receive the summons and before going through the contents they can say nothing.

Sri Lanka: Humanitarian disaster in making

Source: NEWSTRACKINDIA
Bobby Ramakant
Activists expressed their deep anguish and concern on unabated mass killings in Sri Lanka which is, as they underlined, "no short of a humanitarian disaster in northern Sri Lanka".

"We also protest the covert provision of economic and military aid to Sri Lanka by Indian government which has, certainly, deeply aggravated the situation in Sri Lanka" said Dr Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) and Convener of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM).
The Sri Lankan government’s indiscriminate military actions have exacted an appalling toll on the civilian Tamil population. Unless India does its part to negotiate an immediate ceasefire, civilian casualties will continue to escalate, tarnishing India’s claim to be a morally responsible regional ‘spiritual’ power.

"Indeed, we have watched with growing dismay the Indian government’s effective complicity with the Sri Lankan government’s ongoing efforts to brutalize the Tamil minority. There is considerable evidence that, while publicly calling for a "political solution", the Indian government has covertly supplied military equipment and training to Sri Lanka through the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and other Indian intelligence outfits. Decades ago, sending in the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka had exacerbated the situation and questions India’s claim of being a harbinger of ‘peace’ in the region" said Gurudayal Singh Sheetal, Leader of Prakritik Manav Kendrit Andolan, Punjab.

In July 2007, Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, had told journalists that India was training 800 officers annually, free of charge, describing India’s support as “huge”. "Furthermore, there are credible reports indicating that India’s support for the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha government is based on base economic calculations: that Tamil areas destroyed by Sri Lanka’s ferocious military offensive will offer lucrative investment opportunities for Indian companies under the guise of helping Tamils living there" said the press statement issued today by People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Uttar Pradesh state chapter.

If these reports are true, India’s economic and political gain will have been purchased in blood and lives. The humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka is now catastrophic. According to Human Rights Watch and Sri Lankan rights groups, since January 2009 alone, at least 1,000, and perhaps as many as 2,000, Tamil civilians have been killed as a result of the Sri Lankan military's continuing artillery attacks and aerial bombing offensive. The military has openly targeted urban areas, including schools, hospitals, and buildings that house civilians.

The Sri Lankan government, believing it is on the verge of final victory over the LTTE, has resisted all calls for a ceasefire. President Rajapaksha has made it clear during the recent visit of UN Special Envoy Vijay Nambiar (on 17 April 2009) that he is not ready to abandon his line of "war to the finish".

The government is keeping those who have managed to flee the onslaught in detention camps that it has cynically and misleadingly termed “welfare villages”. Arguing that the population of internally displaced people includes “terrorists” in its ranks, the Sri Lankan government has announced plans to hold up to some 250,000 civilians – even very young children – in the camps for a period of three years. It has requested funds from the UN and other aid agencies to build schools, banks and hospitals inside these camps. There is credible fear that, while detaining this population, the Sri Lankan government will settle majority Sinhalese in northern Sri Lanka.

The recent appeal issued by the Indian External Affairs Ministry “to the Sri Lankan Government and to all concerned to work out appropriate and credible procedures for the evacuation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to safety, which would include the international agencies being able to oversee the movement of the IDPs” is a step in the right direction. But it is not enough.

"We demand an immediate durable and unconditional ceasefire to enable peace negotiations" said SR Darapuri, Vice President of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Uttar Pradesh state chapter. "We demand formation of credible teams of international human rights activists, medical personnel and social workers to be present in the process of helping the civil population in the ‘Vanni’ to get access to food, water and medical supplies and to safeguard their human rights, sanity and dignity in the transition. Special care needs to be taken to protect, women, children and youth" added Darapuri.

"We demand de-mining and restoration of villages so that peoples right to return to their homes can be safeguarded and implemented. We demand a political process in which all communities will be able to participate with confidence and equal rights, irrespective of ethnicity, language, caste, creed and gender" further added SR Darapuri.

"The Tamil people's right to self-determination must be respected and implemented. Disappearances and other violence must end and freedom of the press must be guaranteed. The working classes must be able to form organisations and struggle for people's rights to Life and Livelihood. We demand that India should challenge the Sri Lankan government’s proposal for compulsory confinement of these refugees in detention camps for as long as three years" said Darapuri, while reading the charter of demands activists are making on the governments of India and Sri Lanka.

There is no evidence in history where violence has been a solution to the problems of community, said Dr Ramesh Dixit, Professor of Political Science, Lucknow University. "Dialogue, not war, can lead to solutions" said Dr Dixit.

Three Naxal camps destroyed in West Singhbhum

Source: NEWSTRACKINDIA
West Singhbhum, June 30 (ANI): In a joint operation, police and security forces destroyed three naxal camps and recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives at the Saranda forest in West Singhbhum.
 Seventeen suspected Naxalites were also detained in an anti-Maoist operation that ended yesterday.
 The three camps were being run led by senior leaders of Eastern Regional Bureau (ERB) of the CPI (Maoist) deep in the forest located around 25km off Chota Nagra police station of West Singhbhum.
Large bags containing Naxalite literature that included jungle warfare training booklets were also found in the camps.
 The three-day exercise was launched in Saranda on June 26 midnight.
 The operation team comprised personnel from CoBRA battalions, district police and Jharkhand Armed Police. (ANI)

Rise in number of freed terrorists raises security fears

Source: Guardian
Home Office review of counter-terror strategy concerned at how to deal with convicted terrorists after release

A prison dog handler patrols the grounds of Belmarsh, one of Britain’s eight high-security jails which between them hold 123 terrorism-related prisoners. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Thirty-six recently released terrorists are being "managed in the community" with a further 34 expected to leave prison over the next four years, according to Home Office figures.
A record 123 prisoners are now serving sentences for terrorism-related offences in jails in Britain. But nearly 10 years after 9/11 the number being freed is starting to rise and Whitehall security chiefs are increasingly concerned about the lack of preparations to deal with them.
The official review of the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy found that slow progress has been made turning prisoners away from terrorism.
The review says there is "no proven methodology" and the bespoke programmes developed so far have "only reached a small proportion of the target prison population and have not kept pace" with the number of releases.
The 36 convicted terrorists who have been released and are living in the community are managed under the multi-agency public protection arrangements used for convicted sex offenders.
"We note that existing programmes and other tactical measures have also been used with those terrorist offenders who have already been released. But there remains a significant risk that prison fails to enable terrorist prisoners to re-evaluate their views," the review concludes.
The figures show 123 terrorism-related prisoners were being held on 30 December 2010 in the UK's eight high-security prisons. They included 96 convicted under terrorism legislation including those linked to al-Qaida or groups influenced by them. A further 22 are classified as domestic extremists or separatists and five are "historic cases" whose convictions date from the 1970s to the 1990s.
They include some with a track record of radicalisation and recruitment who may have targeted other prisoners. Counter-terrorism officials believe further research is needed on radicalising influences in jail and how they endure after release.
Harry Fletcher of Napo, the probation union, echoed official concerns. "By 2014 virtually all convicted terrorists given determinate sentences will have been released onto parole. All are deemed to be high risk and require intensive supervision and liaison with the police," he said.
"The 27 convicted terrorists who were given life or indeterminate public protection sentences will remain in jail. Many of those released will be housed in probation hostels. Cutting probation and hostel budgets will be counterproductive."
The annual Home Office bulletin on the operation of police counter-terrorism powers shows the number of terrorism arrests is down 40%, from 209 in 2009 to 125 in 2010. There have been 1,945 terrorism arrests in Britain since 9/11.
Use of section 44 stop and search powers has been abandoned after the European court of human rights ruled them illegal. There were 23,882 searches under these powers in 2010. Only one led to a terror-related arrest. This compares with 160,000 searches the year before.
The justice ministry said extremist offenders could be recalled to custody if they breached their licence conditions.
"It is crucial that we prevent those who have been involved in terrorism returning to these activities — that's why we work closely with specialist organisations in both custody and the community to prepare offenders for their release."
The figures were published as the interception of communications commissioner, Sir Paul Kennedy, revealed that the police, security services and other public bodies submitted a total 552,550 requests for access to the communication data of members of the public last year.
He said
Such requests have risen steadily at the rate of 5% a year for the past three years, partly reflecting the growth in communications technology but also the increasing awareness of the usefulness of such personal data to intelligence officers and detectives.
Kennedy also reports 27 cases last year of officers from the security services and the Serious Organised Crime Agency tapping the wrong phones because they had written down the wrong numbers or wrong dates.

Shiite militias step up Iraq attacks on US troops

Source: boston
FILE - In this Wednesday, June 8, 2011 file photo, the transfer cases containing the remains, from left, of Army Pfc. Michael C. Olivieri of Chicago, Ill., Pfc. Christopher B. Fishbeck of Victorville, Calif., Pfc. Michael B. Cook of Middletown, Ohio, and Emilio J. Campo Jr. of Madelia, Minn., sit inside a U.S. Air Force C-5 cargo plane upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. The Department of Defense announced the deaths of Olivieri, Fishbeck, Cook and Campo Jr., who were supporting Operation New Dawn in Iraq. Shiite militias backed by Iran have ramped up attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, making June the deadliest month in two years for American forces after a rocket strike on Thursday. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) 

BAGHDAD—Shiite militias backed by Iran have ramped up attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, making June the deadliest month in two years for American forces. The militiamen's goal is to prevent the U.S. military from extending its presence in the country past the end of this year.

Three separate militias have been involved in the attacks, particularly a small but deadly group known as the Hezbollah Brigades, believed to be funded and trained by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard and its special operations wing, the Quds Force.

The militia attacks -- mainly in the Shiite heartland in southern Iraq -- raise the prospect of increased violence against Americans if a residual U.S. force remains in the country past 2011, a possibility being considered by the Baghdad government to help maintain a still fragile security.

They also point to the persistent efforts by Shiite-majority Iran, the United States' top regional rival, to influence Iraq after the Americans' exit.

In a statement targeted at the militias, Iraqi parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi called Thursday on all groups to support the government in Baghdad if it ultimately decides to ask U.S. troops to stay.

In the latest American deaths, a senior U.S. official in Baghdad said Thursday that three U.S. troops were killed a day earlier when a huge rocket known as an IRAM struck a remote desert base just a few miles (kilometers) from the Iranian border in Iraq's southern Wasit province.

The deaths brought the monthly U.S. military toll to 15, nearly all of them of them from attacks suspected to have been planned by planned by Shiite militias. That's the highest number of military deaths in Iraq since June 2009, and the most combat-related deaths since June 2008. Since March 2003, 4,469 American troops have died in Iraq.

The IRAMs are a hallmark of Hezbollah Brigades, or Kataib Hezbollah, a militia that U.S. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, the military's top spokesman in Iraq, said is almost exclusively reliant on Iran.

The Hezbollah Brigades, which has links to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, is solely focused on attacking U.S. troops and other American personnel and claimed responsibility for a June 6 rocket attack that killed five soldiers in Baghdad.

The force, estimated at about 1,000 fighters, receives unlimited funding from Iran, an Iraqi lawmaker familiar with militia operations said. Its militants are paid between $300 to $500 each month, said a senior Iraqi intelligence official. He described the militia as the most difficult for counterterror forces to penetrate because, like al-Qaida, operatives are segregated into cells that strictly kept apart.

The lawmaker and Iraqi official, along with several U.S. officials, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.

The new spate of attacks on U.S. troops began in mid-March, after the Obama administration started hinting it would prefer to see some American troops remain in Iraq into 2012 to help preserve the nation's shaky security and stave off Iranian influence. About 46,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, and those are supposed to leave by Dec. 31 under the terms of a 2008 security agreement between Washington and Baghdad.

Also involved in anti-U.S. attacks is the Promised Day Brigade, linked to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army.

Al-Sadr holds considerable sway in Iraq's government, and U.S. officials believe the Promised Day Brigade -- which is five times the size of the Hezbollah Brigades -- poses more of a threat to Iraq's long-term stability than the other militias. Al-Sadr's political party holds 39 seats in parliament, and it was with his support that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was able to keep his job for a second term after 2010 elections.

Al-Sadr disarmed his Mahdi Army after it was roundly defeated by U.S. and Iraqi forces in fierce 2008 battles in the southern port city of Basra. But he created the Promised Day Brigade to keep a militia on hand to "resist the occupier," a U.S. military intelligence official said.

The force gets hundreds of millions of dollars in financial assistance, including from Iran, a large number of sympathizers in Turkey and donations from around the Muslim world, a senior Mahdi Army commander said. It is also funded by the Sadrist political organization, to which every party lawmaker and minister donates about $5,000 a month.

Iran contributes far less to the Promised Day Brigade than it does to other militias, in part because al-Sadr has avoided allowing Tehran to wield as much control over the force, said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the force's inner workings.

Though he lived in Iran for the last several years, officials and analysts say al-Sadr wants to keep Tehran at arm's length for political reasons amid the Iraqi public's strong nationalist feeling. Still, Iranian money and weapons continue to flow to al-Sadr because of their shared animosity against the U.S.

The third Shiite militia targeting Americans in Iraq is Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or Band of the People of Righteousness, a splinter Sadrist group that now competes with the Promised Day Brigade for support.

It does not have al-Sadr's backing, and an Iraqi close to the extremist group said it relies on Iran for support, including around $5 million in cash and weapons each month. Officials believe there are fewer than 1,000 Asaib Ahl al-Haq militiamen, and their leaders live in Iran.

The Iraqi intelligence official estimated about 3,000 Shiite militiamen -- two-thirds of them Mahdi Army -- were jailed by U.S. forces during the height of the war but later released by Iraq's government because of a lack of evidence to hold them. Most of them have made their way back to the front lines, the official said, more fueled by anger at American troops than ever.

Former Marine Ashwin Madia, who served in Iraq in 2005-06 and is interim chairman of VoteVets.org, a veterans advocacy group that has been critical of the Iraq war, said the deadly month should convince President Barack Obama to pull U.S. troops out by the end of the year as promised.

"If we stay in Iraq past our deadline, there is no reason to believe that violent attacks won't further increase, leading to more American deaths," Madia said Thursday.

Buchanan, the U.S. military spokesman, said the attacks are "not going to have an impact on us leaving or staying" because that decision will mostly be up to Iraq's government.

But he raised the specter of Iran using the militias to keep Iraq unstable so it can extert more influence once U.S. troops leave.

"Their overall preference is a weak Iraq," he said.

Life goes on in Sidon and Tripoli

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Jul-01/Life-goes-on-in-Sidon-and-Tripoli.ashx#ixzz1QotMKPLy
SIDON/TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Despite spending the morning watching TV to follow up on the release of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment, residents of the hometown of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri went about their day as usual.
The STL, established by the U.N. to try those who assassinated Hariri in 2005, handed over Thursday the Lebanon portion of the indictment, State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza said.
A judicial source told The Daily Star the indictment identified the suspects as Mustafa Badreddine, Salim al-Ayyash, Hasan Oneissy and Asad Sabra. The four suspects are Hezbollah members.
While examining his collection of more than 120 pins bearing slogans which call for unveiling the truth behind Hariri’s assassination, Khodr Habli told The Daily Star that the slogan had finally become a reality.
“I saved them because they are so precious for me and I memorized all these slogans because I believed a day would come when they will become true, and this day has come,” he said.
“God bless the soul of the martyred prime minister,” “The truth for Lebanon,” read some of the slogans.
The Future Movement in Sidon did not comment on the matter, while the movement’s offices in the city operated normally. Nasser Hammoud, the movement’s general coordinator, headed to Beirut, where he joined the meeting of the movement’s general secretariat.
For her part, Sidon MP Bahia Hariri, the slain prime minister’s sister, followed the news from her house in the village of Majdalyoun, keeping her schedule of meetings unchanged.
In the northern city of Tripoli, residents’ reactions ranged from indifference to joy.
Mohammad Ahmad voiced his hope that justice would be served. “We believe in justice and the indictment was released today … we seek justice and not punishment or revenge,” he said.
Ahmad questioned how some parties did not want anyone to speak about assassinations at a time “because [they say] this leads to sectarian strife while they committed the crime and seek civil strife.”

Center for Syrian refugees opens in Akkar

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AKKAR, Lebanon: A center to aid Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon was opened Thursday in Akkar, as local residents questioned why it took two months to act since the refugees began streaming across the border.
A school in the village of Mashta Hammoud in Wadi Khaled was chosen to host the center, which was inaugurated during a ceremony attended by local residents and civil society representatives, who issued a statement afterward asking the government’s Higher Relief Committee and the United Nations to meet the needs of refugees.
“We also call on them to clarify the reasons why these centers have been prevented from being opened, despite the passing of more than two months since our Syrian brethren began streaming across the border into Lebanon,” the statement said.
The center was established by local NGOs and a Kuwait counterpart, the Rahma Association.
Separately, the U.N. refugee agency released an update on the refugee situation, noting that more than a quarter of Syrians who recently crossed into Lebanon for security reasons are living in difficult conditions.
The UNHCR said it was looking for “more appropriate shelter solutions” to host those willing to stay in Lebanon for the time being.
The report said that around two-thirds of the displaced population was living with relatives or friends, while others were being hosted by previously unknown individuals.
“UNHCR stands ready to provide assistance to host families to alleviate the burden on them,” the report said.
The report was released after the UNHCR, in partnership with the Social Affairs Ministry and humanitarian groups, visited some 590 displaced Syrian families in the Akkar region.
UNHCR and its partners conducted interviews with local leaders, community members and some of those who had recently entered the country.
According to the U.N. agency, most of the several hundred who crossed the border last Friday and Saturday were women and children, most of whom had since returned to Syria.
“UNHCR is following the situation closely and is continuing its outreach to visit those who remain in Lebanon from last weekend’s new arrivals,” the report said, adding that those represented some 100 individuals.
The government recently announced it would issue three-month circulation permits to displaced Syrians, and that it wouldn’t arrest and detain Syrians for illegal entry or stay in the country.
The report said that over half of the displaced families arrived in Lebanon during the first two weeks of May and were residing in Wali Khaled. It added that most of the refugees were under the age of 20.
UNHCR said it had been working with its partners on identifying most at-risk groups and their most pressing needs. “The most pressing needs expressed by the displaced population relate to food, health care and protection,” it added.
The report said a third round of distribution of food and other basic items would begin next week.
The UNHCR, with the help of the Higher Relief Committee and Unicef, have already distributed thousands of mattresses and blankets, as well as food and hygiene kits.

Syrian crackdown comes under fire at U.N. session on Golan observers

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UNITED NATIONS/BEIRUT: Europe and the United States heaped criticism on Syria at the United Nations Thursday during a renewal of the mandate for a U.N. observer force in Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as Syria continued military operations in northern cities close to the Turkish border.
Israel accuses the Syrian government of orchestrating deadly confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops on May 15 and June 5.
A resolution renewing the mandate for another six months until the end of this year received unanimous support from all 15 council members.
Normally the mandate renewal for the four-decade old force, known as UNDOF, is a routine event without fanfare or controversy. This year the U.S. and European Union diplomats tried to include language condemning Syrian “human rights abuses” in the initial U.S.-drafted text.
Russia, backed by China, threatened to veto UNDOF’s mandate renewal if such language was included. In the end, the resolution expressed “grave concern at the serious events that occurred in UNDOF’s area of operations on 15 May and 5 June that put the long held cease-fire in jeopardy.”
Although it referred to the Golan Heights incidents, in which Israeli soldiers fired on and killed Palestinian protesters, it made no mention of the Syrian crackdown against demonstrators, which human rights activists say resulted in over 1,300 civilian deaths since the uprisings began in March.
Western delegates used Thursday’s council meeting to rail against Syria for killing demonstrators.
Several countries indirectly chided Israel for firing on Palestinian demonstrators in the Golan.TURN TO PAGE 10FROM PAGE 1Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Rosemary DiCarlo said that Syria had engineered the Golan Heights protests, which the Syrian government said resulted in the deaths of 23 people, as a “transparent ploy” to divert attention from its crackdown on demonstrators.
Deputy British Ambassador Philip Parham said Damascus has ignored calls for it to heed calls for change and reform.
“Instead, they have met legitimate demands for reform with brute force in which an estimated 1,400 people have died in the last three months,” he said. “This is completely unacceptable.”
Syrian army forces spread through the restive mountainous area near the Turkish border Thursday as the death toll from a two-day military siege rose to 19, according to activists.
The action by Syrian troops in the northwestern area of Jabal al-Zawiya appeared to be aimed at preventing residents from fleeing to Turkey, where more than 10,000 Syrians have already taken shelter in refugee camps, activists said.
Only five Syrians made it across the border Thursday, the lowest number in days, said Turkish officials.
With relations between the two countries strained by the refugee crisis and with Syrian military operations increasingly encroaching the Turkish border, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday he plans to visit Syria during a tour of the region.
He did not give precise dates for each stage of his tour but stressed the need for Syrian President Bashar Assad to announce “without further delay a calendar of reforms” which would bring an end to the violence in Syria.
“What is important is that the Syrian people prepare for a future based on a vision of reforms which his [Assad’s] administration would offer them,” he said.
Around 60 tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled into two villages in the countryside of Idlib, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Abdel Rahman said the troops were exiting from the village of Al-Bara when they split into two units, one heading toward the village of Kafr Nabl and the other to the village of Kansafra.
Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters also joined a call for a mass protest in Syria’s second largest city Aleppo.
Aleppo – Syria’s business heart and home to most of the country’s small middle class – has so far remained immune to the protest movement.
“Hundreds of people took part in several neighborhoods of Aleppo,” said Abdel Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for Human Rights.
“Security forces dispersed the protesters who were chanting slogans calling for freedom, using batons.” Rihawi said two people were reportedly wounded.

All eyes on Lebanese response to accusations in Hariri case

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BEIRUT: The implementation of arrest warrants issued by a U.N.-backed court against those suspected of involvement in the assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik Hariri will be a difficult enterprise likely to be coupled with increased international pressure on Hezbollah and the new Cabinet it dominates, analysts said Thursday.
The indictment and accompanying arrest warrants that a team from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon transmitted to State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, in addition to media leaks about the names and affiliations of suspects, did not surprise anyone in Lebanon or the rest of the world, according to professor Mohamad Bazzi, adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.
“Nonetheless,” Bazzi told The Daily Star, “there are serious implications that will be put on the table very soon.”
A judicial source told The Daily Star that the indictment identified the suspects as Mustafa Badreddine, Salim al-Ayyash, Hasan Oneissy and Assad Sabra, all members of Hezbollah presumably.
The source said that in normal circumstances, and according to the Memorandum of Understanding inked between the STL and the Lebanese government, Mirza would refer warrants to the concerned security authorities to arrest and detain suspects.
“Afterward the state prosecutor will hand them over to the STL bureau in Beirut,” the source said. “However,” the source added, “in light of Lebanon’s peculiar political situation, following the standard procedure might have dangerous repercussions.”
Mirza will now have to take the matter to Mikati and Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi because he cannot possibly operate without political cover, said the source, adding that political consensus was imperative to start the search for the suspects and arrest them.
Johnny Mounayar, a political analyst and head of the news department at OTV, argued that the biggest challenge currently awaits the new government headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati rather than Hezbollah.
“The Mikati government will endeavor to find the right balance,” he said. “It doesn’t want to start a confrontation, not with the international community nor with Hezbollah.”
According to Bazzi, Mikati has no political cover to act on the arrest warrants, saying the prime minister’s hands are tied.
“The indictment is clearly a public challenge to the Lebanese government,” said the CFR expert. “Mikati might try to find creative ways to carry out the arrests but Hezbollah and its allies can bring down the Cabinet.”
Mounayar, however, said the new Cabinet will most likely ask the concerned security and judicial authorities to look for and arrest suspects. “Now they might be nowhere to be found, but that’s another issue,” he added.
Tribunal officials said the Netherlands-based STL might have to carry out trials in absentia.
Under the STL’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Lebanese authorities should report back to the court about efforts to track down suspects within 30 days of receiving the indictment. In case the Lebanese authorities fail to arrest the suspects and the court deems their efforts insufficient, the STL will issue a public advertisement divulging the names of those involved.
If the accused have not been arrested within 30 calendar days of the public advertisements made by the court, the Pre-Trial Judge can ask the Trial Chamber to initiate in-absentia proceedings.
“STL officials are prepared to carry out trials in absentia,” said Bazzi. “But it will be difficult to hand in the next round of indictments with no suspects.”
The analyst added that it would be nearly impossible for the government to avoid a confrontation with the international community.
“The court was created under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, so the U.N. Security Council might decide to take action against the Lebanese government if it fails to carry out arrests,” said Bazzi, who added that this was an unlikely scenario in light of the situation in the region as well as internal debate at the UNSC over military intervention in countries.
“It would also be difficult for Russia and China to approve a resolution forcing Lebanon to carry out those arrests,” he said, adding that such an option was also problematic for the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, which is seeking some level of stability in the region.
But analysts confirmed that there are serious challenges looming on the horizon. “There is already a move in the Congress to cut all aid to the Lebanese Army,” said Bazzi.
Mounayar said the international community, and particularly the United States and France, will seek to use economic, rather than political pressure on Hezbollah.
They might blacklist rich Shiite financiers or banks for allegedly funding Hezbollah activities in order to stir up resentment against Hezbollah within the Shiite community, he added.
“The international community will certainly exert tremendous pressure on Hezbollah to weaken it, but I expect that some sort of dialogue will take place in the end,” Mounayar added. “Not before at least one year though.”
About Hezbollah’s intriguingly serene reaction to the STL’s release of a classified indictment, Bazzi maintains that the armed group is purposefully putting on this “cool and detached front” because it has been preparing the groundwork all along.
“Hezbollah’s campaign to delegitimize the court was a long and careful process,” he said. “They have been laying the ground to [eliminate] the tribunal and raise questions about its legitimacy for over a year now.”
As for the dynamics of Lebanon’s political scene following the announcement of the STL indictment, Bazzi predicted that political rhetoric might get heated and more problematic into the next few days and weeks.
Mounayar said the March 14 alliance is expected to launch a campaign to score points against their rivals in the March 8 alliance and make up for the series of political losses endured in the past months.
“March 14 might take advantage by lining up international pressure and getting the United States and Europe more involved, so as to gain leverage but the situation in the region has the largest impact on developments in Lebanon,” said Bazzi.
He added that Lebanese politics is so polarized that all campaigning will move public opinion in either direction.
Both Mounayar and Bazzi played down the likelihood of seeing major security incidents taking place in the aftermath of the release of the indictment, but did not rule them out entirely.
“The danger in Lebanon is that a small incident can run out of hand especially if the rhetoric gets even more heated and especially with enough domestic and regional instigators,” said Bazzi.

Wanted: 4 Hezbollah members

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BEIRUT: Four members of Hezbollah, including a senior military commander, were accused Thursday of the 2005 assassination of former statesman Rafik Hariri, as the U.N.-backed court probing the crime issued its first indictment to authorities in Beirut.
State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza confirmed that he had received a sealed indictment from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. A judicial source told The Daily Star that the indictment identified four suspects as Mustafa Badreddine, Salim al-Ayyash, Hasan Oneissy and Asad Sabra.
Badreddine, Hezbollah’s military commander, was accused of masterminding the plot to kill Hariri. Ayyash, another senior party official, was accused of carrying out the attack, the source added.
“I will now examine the indictment and the warrants to take the appropriate measures,” Mirza said after meeting with three STL officials in Beirut.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged “all states” to cooperate with the international tribunal.
Washington welcomed the indictment and urged the government in Beirut to act on it.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who entered politics following his father’s assassination, called the release of the indictment an “historic moment.”
“This progress in the course of justice and the Special Tribunal is for all the Lebanese without any exception, and it should be a turning point in the history of fighting organized political crime in Lebanon and the Arab world,” he said in a statement.
Hariri also appealed to political parties to continue Lebanon’s commitment to the tribunal.
“Responsibility requires that everyone … refrain from disturbing the course of justice, and to find in the announcement of the indictment an opportunity for the Lebanese state to assume its responsibilities, as well as the Lebanese government’s commitment to cooperate fully with the international tribunal and not to evade pursuing the accused and handing them over to justice, which is a guarantee of democracy and stability,” Hariri said.
“The Lebanese government is invited politically, nationally, legally and morally, to implement Lebanon’s obligations toward the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and nobody has an excuse to escape from this responsibility.”
The international court said it would not comment on the contents of the indictment and stressed that names appearing in it should be considered innocent until proven otherwise.
“The confirmation of the indictment means that [STL Pre-Trial] Judge Daniel Fransen is satisfied that there is prima facie evidence for this case to proceed to trial,” an STL statement said. “This is not a verdict of guilt and any accused person is presumed innocent unless his or her guilt is established at trial.
“At this time, the STL has no comment on the identity or identities of the person or persons named in the indictment,” the court added.
“Indeed, Judge Fransen has ruled that the indictment shall remain confidential in order to assist the Lebanese authorities in fulfilling their obligations to arrest the accused.”
Hezbollah declined to comment on the indictment, although its television channel Al-Manar reported that the indictment’s content proved the court “is politicized.”
There have been increased fears in Beirut of sectarian conflict over the court in recent weeks, with several of those opposed to the STL warning that civil strife could follow the indictment.
Cabinet, which finally completed its policy statement following the indictment’s release, stopped short of reiterating the country’s commitment to the STL, which Lebanon signed with the U.N. in 2007.
The statement, the text of which was not officially released before being submitted to Parliament, stressed Lebanon’s respect of U.N. resolutions TURN TO PAGE 10FROM PAGE 1and pledged to follow the tribunal’s path in order to reach the truth about Hariri’s assassination, according to Mikati.
While Lebanon is obligated under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757 to uphold cooperation with the court, the reported intent of the STL to arrest senior Hezbollah members has raised questions over the March 8 government’s willingness to continue supporting the tribunal.
The court said that Lebanon was legally obliged to see through its commitment. “U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757 and the provisions of its annexes are clear on the steps that must be taken by the Lebanese authorities,” its statement said. “These include the service of the indictment on the accused person or persons, their arrest and detention, as well as their transfer to the STL.
“Under the STL’s Rules of Procedures and Evidence, the Lebanese authorities have to report to the STL on the measures that they have taken to arrest the accused, at least within 30 days of the transmission of the indictment,” the court added.
Five-time Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed when a massive car bomb struck his motorcade as it sped through Downtown Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. Twenty-two others were killed in the attack, which prompted mass demonstrations leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after three decades of military tutelage.
The immediate aftermath of the attack saw a slew of accusations leveled against Damascus, which has consistently denied involvement. The STL issues indictments to all states in which it is believed suspects are living.
A source told The Daily Star that the STL delegation would soon head to Damascus “on a similar mission” to that which saw Mirza in possession of arrest warrants Thursday.
In a media advisory following the indictment release, the Special Tribunal said that arrest warrants “may also be sent to relevant international authorities including INTERPOL.”