Day: December 31, 2011
Egypt raids foreign organizations’ offices in crackdown
Three U.S. groups are among those raided. Activists say the army is using the ruse of foreign intervention to stoke nationalism and deflect criticism of abuses.
Egyptian security forces raid a nongovernmental organization in Cairo on Dec. 29, 2011. Troops and police officers swept into offices, interrogated workers and seized computers in what was seen as a bid to intimidate international organizations. (Mohammed Asad, Associated Press / December 29, 2011)
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times December 29, 2011 2:56 p.m.
Reporting from Cairo and Washington—Egyptian security forces on Thursday raided the offices of 17 nongovernmental organizations, including three U.S.-based agencies, as part of a crackdown on foreign assistance that has drawn criticism from the West and threatened human rights groups and pro-democracy movements.
The move appeared to be part of a strategy to intimidate international organizations. The ruling military council has repeatedly blamed “foreign hands” for exploiting Egypt’s political and economic turmoil. But activists said the army was using the ruse of foreign intervention to stoke nationalism and deflect criticism of abuses.
The military’s actions angered Washington at a time the White House is pressuring Egypt to respect civil liberties. But the Egyptian military has been increasingly agitated by democracy advocates and protests that have gripped the nation. Clashes last week between demonstrators and soldiers ended in the deaths of at least 15 people. Read the rest of this entry »
EGYPT The Copts fear the “protection” of the army, which turns on NGOs
Fears of new attacks against churches in the celebrations at the end of the year and Orthodox Christmas. Muslim Brotherhood announced their commitment to protect Christians. Military raid against 17 foreign NGOs engaged in human rights. Blocked all funds and transactions. Caritas among the associations. Spokesman for the Catholic Church “The soldiers think only of themselves and protect their power.”
Cairo (AsiaNews) – The Arab Spring is increasingly being betrayed by the authorities. About 10 months after the fall of the Mubarak regime, sources tell AsiaNews that there is an atmosphere of instability and fear in the country. In view of the end of year festivities and the Orthodox Christmas (January 6), the Coptic community fears new attacks against the churches, similar to those that occurred after the New Year of 2011 in Alexandria and in 2010 at Nag Hammadi (Luxor). Tensions have been increased by continuous military statements about the presence of unspecified external forces interested in wreaking havoc in the country before January 25, the anniversary of the Jasmine revolution.
In recent days, Kiryllos, Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Nag Hammadi appealed to General Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), asking that safety be guaranteed during the celebrations. “I have received several bomb threats against my diocese – he says – and I asked the police to protect the community.” Yesterday, the SCAF assured maximum protection for Copts. Even the Muslim Brotherhood, winners of the first two rounds of parliamentary elections, have responded to the bishop’s call. In a statement posted yesterday on their site, they announced they will collaborate with the military in maintaining security around Coptic churches during the holiday.
On New Year’s Eve 2011 in Alexandria, a car bomb exploded during a Mass of the Coptic community, killing 21 people. Because of the attack clashes erupted between Christians and Muslims, but it turned out that the attack was orchestrated by the secret services of Habib el-Adly, the interior minister of the Mubarak government. On January 6, 2010, an armed commando opened fire on a group of faithful of the church of Saint John in Nag Hammadi, killing seven people. At the time the police had ignored repeated requests for protection of the Coptic communities. No policeman was on guard at the time of the attack. Read the rest of this entry »
Website Of Iran’s Former President Filtered For Several Hours
December 29, 2011
The website of Iran’s former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was filtered on December 29 for several hours, according to Iranian news websites, including “Tabnak.”No explanation has been provided by officials or the managers of Rafsanjani’s website about the reason for the temporary blocking of the site.The website is now reportedly accessible in Iran without the usual antifiltering tools that many use to access banned websites. Read the rest of this entry »
Factbox: Syria’s city of Hama, site of new assault
Fri, 30 Dec, 2011
(Reuters) – Arab League monitors head to more cities in Syria on Thursday, including Hama which has a particular resonance to Syrians opposed to President Bashar al Assad‘s rule.
Here are some details about the city, the site of a bloody massacre in 1982:
* 1982:
— In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood sought to destabilize and unseat President Hafez al-Assad and his government through political assassinations and urban guerilla warfare. In February 1982, the Muslim Brotherhood ambushed government forces searching for dissidents in Hama.
— Syrian government forces attacked the city, razing the old quarters of Hama to crush the armed uprising by Brotherhood fighters who had taken refuge there.
— Estimates of the death toll in the three weeks of operations in Hama vary from 10,000 to more than 30,000 out of a population of 350,000. Syria then imprisoned much of the membership of the local Islamist group.
— Syrian human rights groups said women, children and the elderly were among those killed in the crackdown and thousands were forced to flee the city.
* 2011:
— Nearly 30 years on Hama demonstrators demanding Assad’s overthrow still revile the memory of his father, who died in 2000 after ruling Syria for three decades.
— In June, activists said Syrian forces killed at least 60 protesters in the city. Residents said security forces and snipers had fired on crowds of demonstrators. Read the rest of this entry »
Azerbaijani Independent Forum’s Meeting Thwarted
Eldar Namazov, one of the members of the Forum of Intelligentsia of Azerbaijan
December 29, 2011
BAKU — A Forum of Intelligentsia of Azerbaijan meeting in Baku has been canceled when the hotel used as the venue said it could not host the meeting due to “technical problems,” RFE/RL‘s Azerbaijani Service reports.
Leyla Ramazanova, sales coordinator at the Hyatt Regency‘s sales and marketing department, told RFE/RL that “the electricity, heating, and security systems have been damaged. Therefore we have cancelled events in this part of the hotel. We are working to resolve the problem.”
Chinese Plan Reveals Space Ambitions
A modified model of the Long March CZ-2F rocket carrying the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 8 blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northwest Gansu Province in November.
December 30, 2011China is shooting for the moon in an effort to become a major player in the long-dormant space race.
A newly released five-year plan outlines Beijing’s goals of developing new rockets, satellites, and embarking on deep-space navigation. Longer-term, the aim is to have a global satellite-positioning system in place, construct a space station, and eventually to put a man on the moon.
Clean-burning fuels will power its next-generation rockets, which will launch heavy cargos into space, according to details of the program released by the government this week.
China’s space program has already made major breakthroughs in a relatively short time. In 2003, it became the third country to launch its own astronaut — known as a “Taikonaut” — into space, and five years later, completed a spacewalk. Read the rest of this entry »
The World’s Worst Human Rights Observer
As Arab League monitors work to expose President Bashar al-Assad‘s crackdown, the head of the mission is a Sudanese general accused of creating the fearsome “janjaweed,” which was responsible for the worst atrocities during the Darfur genocide.
BY DAVID KENNER DECEMBER 27, 2011
For the first time in Syria’s nine-month-old uprising, there are witnesses to President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown, which according to the United Nations has claimed more than 5,000 lives. Arab League observers arrived in the country on Dec. 26, and traveled to the city of Homs — the epicenter of the revolt, where the daily death toll regularly runs into the dozens, according to activist groups — on Dec. 27. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest against Assad upon the observers’ arrival, while activists said Syrian tanks withdrew from the streets only hours before the Arab League team entered the city.
“I am going to Homs,” insisted Sudanese Gen. Mohammad Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, the head of the Arab League observer mission, telling reporters that so far the Assad regime had been “very cooperative.”
But Dabi may be the unlikeliest leader of a humanitarian mission the world has ever seen. He is a staunch loyalist of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity for his government’s policies in Darfur. And Dabi’s own record in the restive Sudanese region, where he stands accused of presiding over the creation of the feared Arab militias known as the “janjaweed,” is enough to make any human rights activist blanch.
Dabi’s involvement in Darfur began in 1999, four years before the region would explode in the violence that Secretary of State Colin Powell labeled as “genocide.” Darfur was descending into war between the Arab and Masalit communities — the same fault line that would widen into a bloodier interethnic war in a few years’ time. As the situation escalated out of control, Bashir sent Dabi to Darfur to restore order.
According to Julie Flint and Alex De Waal’s Darfur: A New History of a Long War, Dabi arrived in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, on Feb. 9, 1999, with two helicopter gunships and 120 soldiers. He would stay until the end of June. During this time, he would make an enemy of the Masalit governor of West Sudan. Flint and De Waal write:
Governor Ibrahim Yahya describes the period as ‘the beginning of the organization of the Janjawiid‘, with [Arab] militia leaders like Hamid Dawai and Shineibat receiving money from the government for the first time. ‘The army would search and disarm villages, and two days later the Janjawiid would go in.They would attack and loot from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., only ten minutes away from the army. By this process all of Dar Masalit was burned.’ Read the rest of this entry »
Year In Review: Highlights In Science And Technology
A graphic shows a collision at full power at the Compact Muon Solenoid experience control room of the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin.
By Richard Solash
The most intriguing breakthrough in the world of science this past year may have taken place in a 27-kilometer-long tunnel deep below the border of Switzerland and France.
That’s where researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) say they moved one possible step closer to solving one of the universe’s greatest mysteries.
Their groundbreaking experiments in particle physics were the highlight of 2011’s notable scientific and technological advances.
The group’s director-general, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, revealed on December 13 that he and his team had found “intriguing hints” that an elusive subatomic particle, theorized to be a basic building block of the universe, actually exists. Read the rest of this entry »
The Roman Gate 
Next Year’s Wars – By Louise Arbour
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This entry was posted in Commentary, Islam, Military, Nuclear, Politics, Reports, Technology, Terrorism, War & Conflicts, World News and tagged Afghanistan, Bashar al-Assad, International Crisis Group, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, United States.