Syria: cousin of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad given travel ban

A cousin of the Syrian president has been banned from traveling abroad as the government says it is investigated the violence gripping the country.

Bashar al-Assad, Syrian President 

 

  

The move appears to be an attempt by Bashar al-Assad to show that he is serious about investigating the bloodshed.

State-run SANA news agency said the ban was imposed on Brig. Gen. Atef Najib, who ran the security department in the southern province of Daraa.

The uprising erupted there in mid-March after the arrest of 15 teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti.

Judge Mohammed Deeb al-Muqatran of the Special Judicial Committee says the travel ban is precautionary in order for Najib to be available for questioning. 

Al-Muqatran was quoted as saying on Monday that "no one has immunity, whoever he is."

On Sunday a mass grave containing the bodies of at least 10 soldiers was discovered by Syrian troops in a town stormed by government forces in the north of the country. 


At least four of the corpses in the grave, found outside the military police headquarters in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, near the Turkish border, had been decapitated or struck on the head by an axe, according to those present.
The government claimed the bodies, all still in uniform, were evidence of an attack by "armed gangs" on security forces it said claimed 120 lives last week.
But residents and some defecting soldiers who have fled over the border claimed that the dead were local recruits shot by their officers for refusing to open fire on peaceful protesters. 

They also claimed that the army, which moved in under cover from helicopters and tank fire, had used brutal tactics to recapture the town at the weekend.
"The soldiers told us that they would kick us into the sea," Mohammed Migdem, 60, told The Daily Telegraph, waving his arms angrily.


"They killed my uncle's son and I helped lift several dead bodies into cars with my own hands. There is a war going on in Syria against the people."
Witnesses also described how they had seen two boys trying to escape who were killed by fire from government tanks.
The unrest in Syria has claimed 1,500 lives since March, according to human rights groups, with no sign that the regime is managing to deter opposition.
There were even demonstrations at the weekend in the capital, Damascus.
Britain, France and America have led international criticism of the violence, but lack of support from the Arab League has made outside intervention likely.
China and Russia have also so far opposed a motion of condemnation at the United Nations.
"There is no prospect of getting through the UN a resolution such as the UN resolution 1973 on Libya," William Hague, the foreign secretary, said on Sky News. That resolution authorised the no-fly zone currently in place against Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
"In the case of Libya there was a clear call from the Arab League for action, and that was a transformative intervention. There is no such call in the case of Syria."
Mr Hague added that Syria was "undoubtedly being assisted by the Iranian government" through supplying "equipment" and advising how to crush protests.

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China to boost coastal forces amid tensions

  China will boost offshore surveillance by adding ships and 6,000 personnel by 2020, state media said on Friday, another move likely to raise tensions with neighbours staking rival claims to waters thought to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.



The expansion of the China Maritime Surveillance Forces, a paramilitary law enforcement agency that patrols China's territorial waters, was unveiled two days after the country sent its largest civilian maritime patrol ship to the South China Sea.

The moves show Beijing's resolve to protect its "maritime rights and sovereignty" which it says have been increasingly violated amid a rising frequency of disputes.

The maritime surveillance forces, under the State Oceanic Administration, will have 16 aircraft and 350 vessels by the end of the country's five-year plan ending in 2015, and more than 15,000 personnel by 2020, the official China Daily said citing an unnamed senior official.

"There have been an increasing number of intrusions by foreign vessels and planes into Chinese waters and airspace in recent years,"

It said that the maritime surveillance forces had logged 1,303 foreign ships and 214 planes intruding in 2010, compared to a total of 110 cases in 2007.

Tensions in the South China Sea have risen in the past month on concerns China is becoming more assertive in the waters, parts of which are also claimed by the Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

China's claim is by far the largest, forming a large U-shape over most of the sea's 648,000 square miles (1.7 million square km), including the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.

This week, Beijing warned outside countries not to step into the dispute, after Vietnam said other countries, including the United States, could help defuse the tension.

China has accused Vietnam of violating its claim to the Spratlys and nearby seas, which Vietnam also deems its own. China calls the islands the Nansha group.

Beijing said last week it would hold naval drills in June in the western Pacific Ocean and the navy has done little to disguise plans to launch its first aircraft carrier.

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US in talks with Taliban: Afghan president

 The United States is holding talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said, in the first official confirmation of such contacts after nearly 10 years of war.

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Although diplomats and officials say talks are at a very early stage, Karzai's remarks highlight the increasing focus on finding a political solution in Afghanistan as foreign combat troops prepare to pull out by 2014.

"Talks with the Taliban have started... the talks are going on well," Karzai said, addressing a conference in Kabul.

"Also foreign forces, especially the United States, are carrying out the talks themselves."

But the problems surrounding any reconciliation bid were thrown into sharp focus shortly afterwards when nine people died as three Taliban attackers armed with suicide vests and machine guns stormed a Kabul police station.

A British soldier was shot dead in an insurgent attack, the defence ministry said, while France confirmed one of its troops was also fatally wounded by militant gunfire.

The militants have consistently rejected any efforts to talk peace in public statements.

"We have already said this and have repeated it many times. We have no negotiation with the United States and we deny any report as such," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

A US State Department spokeswoman in Washington had "no comment" on Karzai's statement.

"However, we have consistently supported an Afghan-led process of reconciliation," spokeswoman Megan Mattson told AFP.

"Currently, we have a broad range of contacts across Afghanistan and the region, and at many levels, to support that effort."

The US embassy in Kabul did not respond to a request for comment on the latest remarks from Karzai, who is known for dropping unscripted, headline-grabbing remarks into speeches.

Western officials acknowledge on condition of anonymity that attempts to set up contacts with the Taliban are at a very early stage, while efforts to open up a communication channel with Taliban leaders are still being made.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this year called on Taliban members to split from Al-Qaeda, renounce violence and accept the constitution so they can be re-integrated into society.

Drone strikes and covert operations have weakened Afghanistan's Al-Qaeda network and could justify a White House decision to withdraw troops quicker than planned.

20 of Al-Qaeda's 30 prominent leaders in the region had been killed in the past year.

And US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on a visit to Kabul this month that there could be talks with the Taliban by the end of the year if foreign troops make sufficient gains.

A report last month in Der Spiegel magazine claimed Germany was helping to mediate secret, direct talks between the US and the Taliban on German soil while the New Yorker magazine reported in February that the US had begun direct discussions with senior Taliban figures.

Karzai's comments came the day after the United Nations Security Council agreed to split the international sanctions regime for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

The move sends "a clear message to the Taliban that there is a future for those who separate from Al-Qaeda, renounce violence and abide by the Afghan constitution," said Susan Rice, UN envoy for the United States, which led the campaign for the division.

Afghan attempts to pursue talks with the Taliban have been public for months -- Karzai last year set up a High Council for Peace to look at the issue.

But efforts to negotiate hit an embarrassing set-back when reports in November said a Pakistani shopkeeper posing as a senior Taliban leader had been brought to Kabul for talks with the president before being exposed as a fake.

US President Barack Obama is expected to announce soon how many troops from his country will pull out from July as the process of handing control from foreign to Afghan forces starts.

It is due to conclude in 2014, when all foreign forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan.

Obama is facing mounting pressure to announce a significant drawdown after last month's killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and amid domestic economic woes and a mounting US death toll.

The Taliban's harbouring of bin Laden was the reason for the US-led invasion in 2001 following the September 11 attacks.

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Zawahri will be hunted: US

  Al Qaeda's new chief Ayman al-Zawahri lacks Osama bin Laden's stature among Islamists worldwide but the United States is just as determined to hunt him down and kill him as it did his predecessor.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Zawahri, al Qaeda's longtime second-in-command and now its top leader, does not have the "peculiar charisma" and operational experience of bin Laden, who was killed by US forces last month.

But Gates and other US officials said al Qaeda remains a threat despite its loss of bin Laden, who was considered the driving force behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"We should be mindful that ... al Qaeda seeks to perpetuate itself, seeks to find replacements to those that have been killed and remains committed to the agenda that bin Laden put before them," Gates told .


"So I think he's (Zawahri's) got some challenges but I think it's a reminder that they are still out there and we still need to keep after them," he said.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made clear that Zawahri -- an Egyptian-born ideologue -- remained high on the US list of hunted militants even after commandos killed bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan hide-out 45 days ago.

"He and his organisation still threaten us. And as we did seek to capture and kill -- and succeed in killing -- bin Laden, we certainly will do the same thing with Zawahri," Mullen told.


Zawahri has taken over the leadership after the killing of bin Laden,

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Pakistan arrests CIA's bin Laden informants: report

 

 

 

 Pakistan's top military spy agency has arrested five CIA informants who fed information to the US spy agency before the raid last month which killed Osama bin Laden.

One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani Army major whom officials said copied license plates of cars visiting the al Qaeda leader's compound 30 miles northwest of Islamabad. 

The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear.

Outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants' detention during a trip to Islamabad last week where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers.

Some in Washington see the arrest as another sign of the deep disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists.

The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the May 2 raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan's armed forces and putting US military and intelligence ties under serious strain.

Last week, at a closed Senate Intelligence Committee briefing, Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell rated Pakistan's cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism operations a "three" on a scale of 1 to 10, the Times reported, citing officials familiar with the exchange.

Other officials cautioned that his comments did not represent the administration's overall assessment, the newspaper said. "We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise," CIA spokesman Marie Harf told the newspaper.

"Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It's a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs."

Asked about the Times report, a CIA spokeswoman neither confirmed nor denied it and said she had no further comment.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, was quoted as saying that the CIA. and the Pakistani spy agency "are working out mutually agreeable terms for their cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism. It is not appropriate for us to get into the details at this stage." 

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NATO strikes Tripoli, Libyan rebels make gains

 
 NATO warplanes attacked Tripoli on Tuesday night after Libyan rebels pushed back forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi on three fronts, bringing them closer to the capital. 


The strikes followed a lull in NATO bombing of Tripoli on Tuesday, but in the evening loud blasts rocked the city with plumes of smoke filling the sky to the east and aircraft flying overhead.




Libyan state TV said the bombs had struck military and civilian targets in Firnag, one of the most populated areas in the capital, and Ain Zara. It said there were casualties.



Earlier in the day rebels tried to advance in the east, setting their sights on the oil town of Brega to extend their control over the region, epicenter of the four-month rebellion against Gaddafi's four-decade rule. 




NATO defense chiefs met in Belgrade to discuss the mission, after Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused some European allies of failing to pull their weight. 




A senior NATO commander appeared to raise questions about the alliance's ability to handle a long-term intervention in Libya. 


"We are conducting this operation with all the means we have, and the best we can. If the operation were to last long, of course, the resource issue will become critical," General Stephane Abrial said. 


In a sign that Gaddafi forces may be getting stretched, the rebels seized the town of Kikla, 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Tripoli. They also pushed several kilometers west of their Misrata stronghold to the outskirts of government-held Zlitan.

NATO LEAFLET WARNING



A NATO leaflet drop warning of helicopter strikes prompted some rebels to retreat from their newly captured positions outside Zlitan.





A NATO official said the alliance did drop leaflets warning of the possibility of attack by helicopters, but said this was west of Misrata, and closer to Zlitan. 




Even without the threat of NATO attack, the rebels said they would not attack Zlitan, citing tribal sensitivities. Instead they would wait for the local inhabitants to rise up.



A NATO official said warplanes had hit an ammunition store at Waddan, not far from Al Jufrah, after Libyan television said Al Jufrah, in central Libya, had been bombed for a second day. 



Tunisia flew an F-5 warplane and a helicopter along its border with Libya after Libyan troops fired several rockets into Tunisia. 


The explosions, close to rebel territory in Libya's Western Mountains southwest of Tripoli, caused no damage or injuries. 





The rebels, who had been trying to seize Ryayna for several weeks, said two of their fighters had been killed, but they had taken prisoners, including foreign fighters. 

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Britain, Bill Gates boost child vaccine funding

 

 

 

Britain and Bill Gates joined forces yesterday to pledge more than half of the $3.7 billion sought to vaccinate nearly 250 million children against preventable diseases.


Prime Minister David Cameron told a donors' conference in London that Britain would contribute a further £814 million ($1.3 billion, 920 million euros) to GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation), an aid group backed by the Microsoft tycoon.


Cameron said the extra funds would help treat 80 million children against pneumonia and diarrhoea, and save 1.4 million lives.


Gates followed Cameron's pledge by saying his charitable foundation would commit an additional one billion dollars over five years.


It is expected that by the end of the one-day summit donations should exceed the $3.7 billion target.
Cameron said: "Today we come together because we have the chance to save another four million lives in four years.


"Frankly, the idea of children dying from pneumonia and diarrhoea should be absolutely unthinkable in 2011.
"But for many parents in the developing world it is a devastating reality."


The pledges have gone a long way towards making up the $3.7-billion funding shortfall as GAVI aims to immunise 243 million more children and avert four million deaths by 2015.

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Former Tunisian president to face June 20 trial

 Former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia in January, will be tried in absentia on June 20, Tunisia's interim prime minister said Monday. 

"Ben Ali's trial will start on June 20," Beji Caid Sebsi said in an interview on Al Jazeera television. "He will be tried in a military and in a civilian court." 



Ben Ali fled to Jeddah after he was toppled by mass protests on January 14 after 23 years in power. Several members of his family and security and some of his closest allies were detained shortly after he was forced out. 


Tunisian authorities have been preparing several legal cases against Ben Ali, including conspiring against the state, voluntary manslaughter and drug trafficking. 


The caretaker authorities, trying to assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters who forced the transition, are attacking the vestiges of his long rule. 


Saudi authorities have not responded to a request by Tunis to extradite Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi. 


Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted shortly after Ben Ali, is also due to stand trial for the killing of protesters and could face the death penalty.

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Battle for Libya oil town, fighting near Tripoli

Rebels fighting against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi say they were repulsed by his forces in a battle to retake the eastern oil town of Brega, suffering at least four dead.

In the west, rebels said they were fighting Gaddafi's forces for a second day in the town of Zawiyah Sunday, bringing the revolt against his rule closer to the capital.

The rebels said they had lost at least four killed in fighting between Brega and Ajdabiyah. At least 65 fighters were wounded, doctors at the hospital in the rebel stronghold city of Benghazi said.

"We attacked them first but they attacked us back. We tried to get to Brega but that was difficult," Haithan Elgwei, a rebel fighter, said after returning from the front with the wounded.

"NATO (aircraft) were covering us from above but Gaddafi troops fired rockets and mortars outside Brega," Akram, 24, a wounded fighter, said.

"We will not retreat. We look forward to taking Tripoli," he added.

The fresh outbreak of fighting in Zawiyah, west of Tripoli and home to a big oil refinery, marks the closest the armed rebellion has come to Gaddafi's stronghold in the capital for months.

Reporters taken by the government to see Zawiyah, which saw intense fighting at the start of the anti-Gaddafi uprising in February and has changed hands several times, found it eerily quiet Sunday, with almost no one in sight.

Saturday, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said there was "no serious fighting" there.

Sunday, he told reporters that no more than 100 rebel fighters who had attacked to the west of the city were holed up after suffering losses and the government was trying to negotiate their surrender.

"They were defeated after a few hours of scattered skirmishes with the army," he added.

Not long after the reporters left Zawiyah, rebel spokesman M'hamed Ezzawi said by phone there was heavy fighting 400 m (yards) from the main square.

"The brigades are using heavy weapons. They are better equipped than the revolutionaries," he said. "We have no statistics so far as to the number of martyrs but there are at least seven wounded among the revolutionaries."

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Tsonga shocks Nadal

World number one Rafael Nadal crashed out of Queen's on Friday when French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled off a shock 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-1 win in the quarterfinals.

Nadal arrived at the Wimbledon warm-up event admitting he felt exhausted in the aftermath of his record-equalling sixth triumph at the French Open.

Despite his tiredness this was still a major blow for the Spaniard, who had reached seven successive finals before this defeat, and it leaves him short of game time on grass ahead of the defence of his Wimbledon title later this month.

"After losing the second set, mentally I lost my concentration. It has been a lot of matches in a row and after that break in the third set it was a mountain for me to come back," said Nadal.

"I am a little tired. I wasn't there like usual and certainly I think I need a little bit of break."

Tsonga added: "The first time I reached the world top 100 was here at Queen's and today I have beaten the world number one. It was close to my best tennis -- it has to be to beat Rafa."

The match wasn't even two games old when a light shower forced the players off court, but they returned within half an hour to slug it out in a setgruelling first set.
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Nadal had been below his best in a three-set win against Radek Stepanek in the previous round and Tsonga provided an even greater threat than the Czech veteran.

He refused to give an inch to Nadal as the first set went without a break of serve.
The tie-break was equally close, but Nadal raised his game at the key moment and, aided by a Tsonga double-fault that gave him set-point, the Spaniard buried a volley to take the set.

Tsonga came at Nadal just as strongly in the second set however and the Wimbledon champion found it harder to keep him at bay this time.

The Frenchman's brilliant diving winner put Nadal under pressure at 4-4 and he broke when Nadal dragged a forehand well wide before producing a strong service game to send the match to a final set.

Nadal looked a spent force now and Tsonga went for the kill. He broke twice in quick succession to establish a 3-0 lead and was never in danger of relinquishing his advantage.

Tsonga was a picture of joy as he danced on the court in celebration of only his second career win over Nadal, a triumph that sets up a semifinal against British wildcard James Ward.

Andy Roddick kept his bid for a record fifth Queen's title on course as the American set up a semifinal clash with Andy Murray after beating Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2.

World number four Murray reached the semifinals after his last-eight opponent Marin Cilic was forced to pull out before the match due to an ankle injury.

Murray was joined in the semifinals by his compatriot Ward as the British number two enjoyed a superb double success.

Ward, ranked 216th, started the day by ending Sam Querrey's reign as Queen's champion as he won the final set of their rain-delayed third-round match to clinch a shock 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The 24-year-old son of a London taxi driver had to return just hours later for his quarterfinal clash against France's Adrian Mannarino.
But Ward showed no signs of tiredness as he recovered from wasting seven match points in the second set to win 6-2, 6-7 (14/16), 6-4.
Ward, who was watched by British Prime Minister David Cameron, said: "This is a brilliant feeling. I played a poor game at the beginning of the third but I knew I'd get my chances.

"It's a shame I'm not playing Rafael Nadal, but it's not exactly a bonus draw playing Tsonga."

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Alonso quickest in Canada ahead of Vettel

 Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel smashed into the 'Wall of Champions' while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso set the practice pace on a crash-filled Canadian Grand Prix Friday.
Double world champion Alonso roared around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in a best time of one minute 15.107 seconds offering hope that Ferrari, without a pole since Singapore last September, might be able to take the fight to Red Bull.
The sunny afternoon session was interrupted by several crashes with Sauber's Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio for Virgin and Force India's Adrian Sutil all causing delays when they skidded off the track into the wall.
World champion Vettel, winner of five of the season's first six races and sure to be the man to reckon with again on Sunday, did his damage in the morning.
With 34 minutes remaining in the opening session, Vettel drifted wide coming out of the chicane into the home straight and joined a list of illustrious names to have hit the notorious wall over the years.
While the 23-year-old German was unhurt, the right side of his Red Bull suffered heavy damage.
Vettel was one of the first on track in the afternoon and set a time that immediately sent him to the top of the timing screens, remaining there until finally being nudged into second by Alonso.
The champion ended up with the day's second best time of 1:15.476.
Brazilian Filipe Massa was third quickest in the afternoon followed by the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton, a double winner in Canada, and fellow Briton Jenson Button.

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M.F. Husain dies exiled from his homeland

aqbool Fida Husain, who was hailed as the Picasso of India but was forced to live in self-imposed exile from his homeland due to death threats from Hindu radicals, died in London Thursday. He was 95.
Husain was ailing from age-related problems for some time and breathed his last in a London hospital after suffering a heart attack, family sources in New Delhi said. His family members were with him when he died.
His last rites would be conducted in London and not in India, the sources said.
Husain, who once painted cinema hoardings and rose to become one of the world's most celebrated artists, was forced to leave India in 2006 after his paintings of Hindu gods in the nude triggered attacks on his works and police complaints against him by rightwing Hindu organisations.
While the Indian government failed to bring him back when he was alive, his death was widely mourned in the country.
"A man of multi-dimensional talent, his death would create a deep void in the world of art and creativity," said President Pratibha Patil.
"It is a national loss," said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Husain had accepted Qatari citizenship last year.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told that "It is true that he was upset with the government on some issues and efforts were made by the government and NGOs to address those issues.
"It's unfortunate that some narrow-minded people tried to judge his creativity and artistic works," she said.
Husain was born in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, Sep 17, 1915 to Zunaib and father Fida. His tryst with painting began when he learnt the art of calligraphy.
He moved to Mumbai, India's entertainment capital, at a young age to become an artist and painted cinema billboards to make a living. He went on to be part of the progressive school of artists in he late 1940s.
Controversy and fame went hand in hand for the lanky and silver-maned Husain. He was known to move around barefoot, even in elite circles. He made a name for himself with his paintings on horses and figurative drawings. His untitled work in Christie's fetched $2 million in 2006.
Husain had a keen interest in films and was fascinated by actress Madhuri Dixit. He made movies with her and Tabu and he was keen to make a film with Vidya Balan.
But Husain, who was a Muslim, could never come back to India due to repeated threats from the Hindu rightwing.
The artist fraternity in India said it was shameful that he couldn't live in his own country.
Actor Rahul Bose tweeted, "Husain passes away. We hang our heads partly in grief and partly in shame for not being able to let him spend his last days in this country."

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Syria — Protests (2011)

Syria's harsh and stagnant dictatorship at first seemed immune to the wave of unrest that swept through most of the Arab world after the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011. But in mid-March, demonstrations broke out in several cities, and grew rapidly after security forces fired on protesters.

The country's president is Bashar al-Assad, the son of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled with an iron hand for three decades before his death in 2000. The Assads belonged to the Allawite sect, a minority that came to hold most of the top positions in the government and military. Under Hafez al-Assad, Syria was reviled in the West for its support of terrorist groups and generally isolated even from more moderate Arab countries. Bashar al-Assad from time to time made gestures toward greater openness. But it remained one of the region's most repressive regimes.

In February 2011, after the fall of Egypt's strongman, Hosni Mubarak, a handful of demonstrations were called in Syria. But the demonstrators were always outnumbered by the police, and were quickly arrested or dispersed. Large protests began in March in the southern town of Dara’a, where citizens were outraged by the arrest of more than a dozen schoolchildren for writing graffiti. More protests followed, in Dara'a and other parts of the country, although they never emerged at any size in the country's two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

In Syria, Mr. Assad at first seemed to veer between offers of concessions and force. On April 16, he pledged to meet one of the demonstrators’ main demands by lifting the emergency law. But just days later, he launched what became a withering crackdown: security forces fired on demonstrators across the country, killing dozens, the army sent tanks into Dara'a and hundreds of government opponents were arrested or were reported to have disappeared. By May 31, human rights groups said that more than 1,000 had been killed and as many as 10,000 people were reported to be in custody or missing.

By early May, government officials spoke of gaining the upper hand, but demonstrations continued, if on a smaller scale, as the unrest settled into a bloody standoff of protest and reprisal. The protests seemed reinvigorated in early June by a video that showed the body of a 13-year-old boy from Dara'a who had been tortured and killed.

Even if it fails, the uprising has demonstrated the weakness of a dictatorial government that once sought to draw legitimacy from a notion of Arab nationalism, a sprawling public sector that created the semblance of a middle class and services that delivered electricity to the smallest towns. The government of Mr. Assad, though, is far different than that of his father, who seized power in 1970. A beleaguered state, shorn of ideology, can no longer deliver essential services or basic livelihood. Mr. Makhlouf’s warnings of instability and sectarian strife like Iraq’s have emerged as the government’s rallying cry, as it deals with a degree of dissent that its officials admit caught them by surprise.

Protest Timeline

June 6 Syria’s state news agency reported that “armed gangs” had killed 120 police and security personnel in multiple attacks on security forces in a northwestern town. The state broadcaster showed no images from the town, despite scrolling text on Syrian television that spoke of a “massacre” of security forces. Protesters could not be immediately reached in the area, but opposition activists repudiated any suggestion that antigovernment protesters had mounted such an attack.

June 5 Syrian military forces were reported to have killed 38 people in the northern province of Idlib over the weekend, demonstrators and rights activists said, as security forces appeared to redeploy from other towns to join the latest front in the harsh crackdown on a three-month-old popular uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

June 3 Syrians poured into the streets in some of the largest antigovernment protests yet despite the shutdown of much of the country’s Internet network. At least 40 protesters were killed in Hama, according to local activists. That report could not be immediately confirmed. The demonstrations were fueled in part by escalating anger over the torture and killing of a 13-year-old boy from the southern region of Dara’a.

June 1 Syrian military forces killed 42 people, including a 10-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl, in raids on a string of towns around the central city of Homs.

May 31 President Bashar al-Assad issued a general amnesty. Syrian state media reported that the amnesty would be broad and would include members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, but details issued late in the day by the government indicated that it amounted to little more than sentence reductions for certain crimes.

May 30 A video of the mutilated body of a 13-year-old boy seized, tortured and killed by government forces has injected new life into the uprising.

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Healing the Wounds: Libya

s: Libya

Latest news:  Libya
Field Blog: CIVIC From the Field: Libya

The Conflict

In February 2011, following a spate of protests in countries around the region, protests broke out in several areas of Libya challenging Col. Muammar Qaddafi's 42-year rule. In late February, as the government's response to these protests turned increasingly violent, the UN Security Council responded by passing Resolution 1970 to impose sanctions on Qaddafi and refer the situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In early March, the UN General Assembly suspended Libya's membership to the Human Rights Council.
On March 17th, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone to deter the bombardment of civilian targets by government forces. Resolution 1973 marks the first time the Security Council passed a resolution to authorize the use of force with an explicit reference to the responsibility to protect.
An ad hoc coalition composed of the US, France, and the UK began implementing the no-fly zone immediately after the adoption of Resolution 1973. On March 27th, NATO assumed command of the military operation in Libya. NATO follows Resolution 1973 in banning all flights in Libyan airspace, except those for humanitarian and aid purposes, to make sure that civilians and civilian populated areas cannot be subjected to air attack by Qaddafi forces.
The Libyan rebels and pro-Qaddafi forces have both gained and lost territory as NATO's airstrike campaign continues. While pro-Qaddafi forces, armed with better weapons, were initially able to force the Libyan rebels back, increased coordination between the rebels and NATO have led to more effective NATO airstrikes and territorial gains. Britain, France, and Italy have sent military liaison officers to help the rebels organize their nascent forces. The fighting continues, often intensely, in several parts of the country.
Qaddafi's forces have reportedly used cluster munitions and landmines, and have targeted civilian areas and medical facilities. These allegations are documented by both the UN High Commissioner for ,civis,public,Human Rights as well as independent human rights organizations.

CIVIC's Work

CIVIC consistently calls on all parties to the conflict to avoid civilians, including pro-Qaddafi forces, the rebels, militias and NATO.
In the absence of any means by which to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken in accordance with either Resolution 1973 or 1970, CIVIC calls for the immediate and comprehensive recording of all civilian casualties, followed-up by full investigations as soon as feasible. NATO should develop a civilian casualty tracking, analysis and response mechanism with personnel in both Naples and in Benghazi. In addition to cataloguing all available known data, the cell would also recognize and investigate all allegations of civilian casualties, in anticipation of future development of an amends system. The mechanisms employed should be transparent and open to public scrutiny.
CIVIC traveled to Eastern Libya in April 2011 to work on practical ways the Libyan opposition and NATO can track and investigate civilian harm, and make amends when appropriate. Access to many parts of the country, including Tripoli, is not possible at this time. This work is ongoing.

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