Showing posts with label political. Show all posts
Showing posts with label political. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Yemen opposition shrugs off Gulf mediation offer

01:09  rabiul islam  No comments


Members of Yemen's political opposition dismissed an offer from Gulf Arab neighbors on Wednesday to resume mediation in the political crisis, which has brought the country to the brink of civil war.

Gulf states, fearful of a war on their doorstep, have tried repeatedly to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office after six months of protests against him and a bout of open war in the capital Sanaa.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc of neighboring monarchies, did not say how their new offer was different to several previous efforts to end the Yemen crisis.

Sultan al-Atwani, a member of a group of opposition parties which had accepted a previous deal only to see Saleh reject it, called any new bid doomed from the start.

"It would have been better for the GCC to be braver, and specify who has rejected this initiative and brought Yemen to where it is now," he told .

Saleh, undergoing treatment in Saudi Arabia for wounds suffered in an attack on his compound last month, has backed out of several previous deals to step down.

In May, fighting erupted between his forces and those of tribal leaders and army units which had turned on him, reducing parts of Sanaa to ruin. A shaky ceasefire has held since Saleh left for treatment.

Youth groups over which the opposition parties have little influence have rejected main elements of past GCC deals, including the prospect Saleh could be immune from prosecution.

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Sunday, 12 June 2011

Thousands rally for reform in Bahrain

00:50  rabiul islam  No comments





















Thousands of Bahrainis shouting "we are victorious" gathered for a rally for political reform on Saturday, in the first large demonstration since the Gulf Arab state crushed a democracy protest movement in March.

Bahrain brought in troops from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in March and introduced martial law, which ended last week, to stop the protests against the Sunni Al-Khalifa family that rules over a Shia majority population.

The government said the protests had a sectarian agenda and help from Shi'ite power Iran, just across the Gulf waters. The opposition denies this.

"Some try to manipulate our demands, to make them Shi'ite demands. This is not true. We are not calling for an Iran, but to build up our political reforms together, Shi'ite and Sunni, which will benefit all Bahrainis," said Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Wefaq opposition group which organized the event.

"We will continue peacefully and we will continue our peaceful demonstrations," he said, as the crowd roared back: "Peaceful, peaceful!"

The rally will likely be seen as a show of strength by Wefaq, Bahrain's leading Shi'ite opposition group, as it heads to a national dialogue called by the king for next month.

"Wefaq wants to encourage people to get back out after months of fear. It's a good sign ," said protester Fatima.

The government said it granted permission for the rally, held in a large square in the Shi'ite district of Saar, west of the capital and away from central Pearl Roundabout, epicenter of the earlier protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Protesters waving Bahraini flags spilled out into the streets and dozens watched from nearby rooftops.

People drove in from around the city, causing traffic jams of more than 2 km long. State helicopters buzzed over crowds raising signs that read "The nation is for everyone."

Opposition figures more than 10,000 people attended the rally. The Interior Ministry said 4,000 people were gathered.

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Wednesday, 8 June 2011

US presses Saleh to hand over power in Yemen as British military assets deployed

02:08  rabiul islam  No comments

 Anti-government protestors celebrate President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure to Saudi Arabia, in Sana'a. (File photo)
Anti-government protestors celebrate President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure to Saudi Arabia, in Sana'a. (File photo)
The White House called late Monday for an “immediate transition” of power in Yemen, where the United States fears Al Qaeda could exploit political turmoil and strengthen its presence, as Britain confirmed the deployment of military assets near the embattled nation.

After four months of deadly unrest, Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year-old regime was teetering even before the president was wounded in an attack on his palace and flown late Saturday to neighboring Saudi Arabia for treatment.

“We believe that an immediate transition is in the best interests of the people and the best interest of maintaining stability in obviously a very unstable situation,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of the United States, speaking alongside French counterpart Alain Juppe at a Washington press conference, made it clear President Saleh should leave power but stopped short of expressly ordering him to do so, according to Agence-France Presse.

“The civilian government remains in power in Yemen. The vice president is currently serving as the acting president,” said Mrs. Clinton, adding that US embassy staff were meeting with “a broad cross-section of Yemeni officials as well as civil society to try to better assess what this means to the country.”

“Obviously, I can’t speculate on what President Saleh is going to do or say, but we do want to emphasize we're calling for a peaceful and orderly transition, a non-violent transition that is consistent with Yemen’s own constitution,” she said.

“We think an immediate transition is in the best interest of the Yemeni people, because the instability and lack of security currently afflicting Yemen cannot be addressed until there is some process that everyone knows is going to lead to the sort of economic and political reforms that they are seeking,” she said.

Washington supports a deal, brokered by the regional Gulf Cooperation Council bloc that would see Mr. Saleh cede power to an interim administration within 30 days, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Mr. Saleh, a wily operator who since 1978 has bought off tribal loyalties and stitched them together into a governable framework, has refused to sign the accord and warned that his ouster would only serve to boost Al Qaeda.

“Our position is that we support the agreement that President Saleh had talked about signing several times and didn't,” Mr. Carney said.

“We want a peaceful and orderly transition that’s consistent with the Yemeni constitutional process. Our position hasn’t changed.”

A top aide said Monday that 65-year-old Saleh, who was recuperating in a Riyadh military hospital, planned to return within days, a move likely to set off another round of unrest in the violence-plagued nation of 24 million people.
Saudi officials insist they will not interfere with Mr. Saleh’s decision to return to Yemen or stay in the kingdom, but behind the scenes the United States and Europe are likely to be pressing the Saudis to ensure President Saleh’s stay becomes permanent, according to Reuters.

“The Saudis will seize the opportunity ... to extend his medical recovery into a political rest,” said Yemen expert Khaled Fattah. The risk of Yemen descending into Somalia-style anarchy was “a nightmare for Saudi national security.”

In Sana’a, a fragile truce held despite a deadly sniper attack on loyalists of a powerful tribal chief blamed for Friday’s bomb attack which wounded Mr. Saleh as he prayed inside a mosque in his compound, according to AFP.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Yemen’s capital on Sunday to cheer what they said was the end of Saleh’s regime.

There was fresh fighting in the southern city of Taez, and also in the southern province of Abyan, where armed men killed seven soldiers and wounded 12 others in clashes in Zinjibar on Monday, a local official and witnesses said, according to Reuters.

An army force had tried to storm the town of 20,000. Last month, dozens of armed men believed to be from Al Qaeda stormed into Zinjibar, chasing out security forces.

The situation presents US partner Saudi Arabia and Washington with a conundrum as President Saleh has been a key ally in the fight against Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based franchise, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

AQAP has claimed several attacks against the United States and other Western interests.

The group was linked to the “underwear bomber”—a young Nigerian who allegedly tried to blow up a packed transatlantic airliner as it landed in Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

It was also blamed for the more recent parcel bomb plot, involving sophisticated explosive devices hidden in printer inkjet cartridges and sent via air freight to Jewish addresses in the United States.
Britain on Monday confirmed the deployment of military assets near Yemen but did not verify reports that ships were on standby in the Gulf to evacuate its nationals.

“As part of routine deployment UK military assets are in the region, although we are not prepared to comment further on their exact operational tasking,” a Ministry of Defense (MoD) spokesman said.

Around 80 marines were on board naval support ship RFA Fort Victoria, according to the BBC, while Sky News reported that the RFA Argus was also in the area.

The MoD would not confirm whether an evacuation was planned and repeated Foreign Secretary William Hague’s plea for all British nationals to leave Yemen immediately by commercial means.

In a statement delivered on Friday, Mr. Hague said it was “extremely unlikely” the British government would be able to evacuate its nationals given the volatile situation, AFP reported.

Britain first advised nationals to leave on March 12, and a dramatic escalation of hostilities led Mr. Hague to issue Friday’s strongly-worded warning.

In a joint statement on Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, and the Prime Ministers of Britain, Spain and Italy, thanked Saudi Arabia for receiving Mr. Saleh for treatment, and called on all parties in Yemen to “find a means of reconciliation on the basis of the GCC initiative,” according to Reuters.

Yemen, which relies on oil for 60 percent of its economy, has been dealt a heavy blow by the closure of an oil pipeline that trade sources said has caused a fuel shortages.

But the future of Yemen, dominated by rivalries among tribal leaders, generals and politicians, remains uncertain.

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Monday, 30 May 2011

Dalai Lama formally devolves political powers

22:31  rabiul islam  No comments


Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has devolved his “formal authority” to the elected leadership of the Tibetan exiles, an official said here Monday.
But he clarified that the Dalai Lama would stay committed to the cause of Tibet and will continue to be the spiritual head of the Tibetans.
“Whatever amendments we (Tibetan parliament) have made in the charter, have been approved by His Holiness. He gave his approval yesterday (Sunday). Now, Dalai Lama’s administrative and political powers are vested with the democratically elected leaders,” Tenzin Norbu, a spokesperson for the parliamentary secretariat, told.
The parliament-in-exile Sunday presented the amendments to the Dalai Lama for his ratification. After giving his approval, the Dalai Lama vested the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and its elected leadership with the powers and responsibilities formerly held jointly by him and the CTA.
During the additional three-day session of parliament that ended May 28 (Saturday), it approved a new preamble and inherent rights and responsibilities to be assigned to the Dalai Lama under Article 1 of the charter.
As per the amended charter, the powers earlier vested with the Nobel laureate as head of the executive under Article 19 have been delegated to the Kalon Tripa or the prime minister.
Accordingly, the Kalon Tripa is empowered to approve and promulgate bills and regulations passed by parliament.
Other responsibilities have been devolved to parliament and the judiciary.
Another landmark amendment made to the charter is the annulment of Council of Regency enshrined in Articles 31 to 35, whose provisions earlier empowered the council to assume the Dalai Lama’s role in circumstances when the latter is not acting as head of the state.
Parliament has also approved that the title of “Tibetan government-in-exile” be changed to “Tibetan administration”.
Under the new charter, the Dalai Lama’s duties will include providing advice and encouragement with respect to the protection and promotion of the physical, spiritual, ethical and cultural wellbeing of the Tibetan people and remaining engaged in the efforts to reach a satisfactory solution to the Tibetan issue.
He will provide suggestions to the assembly of Tibetan people’s deputies and Kashag (cabinet), including the community and its institutions in exile, at his own initiative or at the request of those bodies.
The spiritual leader will continue to meet world leaders and other important individuals and organisations to speak on behalf of the Tibetan people as well as designate representatives and special envoys appointed by the cabinet to serve the interests of the Tibetan people in any part of the world.
“The new duties are not binding on the Dalai Lama,” says an official statement of the CTA.
“The parliament successfully carried out the democratic reforms… On the one hand we feel sad with the change, but our sadness is far outweighed by the happy feeling that the Dalai Lama’s visions to fully democratise the Tibetan polity have been realised,” Speaker Penpa Tsering said in his closing remarks at the additional session of the parliament-in-exile.
The 75-year-old Dalai Lama, the global face of the Tibetan exile movement, shocked many Tibetans March 10 by announcing that he would hand over power to the elected leadership.
It was half a century ago that the Dalai Lama, whom China brands a separatist, fled Tibet after an anti-Communist revolt in 1959. He has since headed the Tibetan administration here, which is not recognised by any country.
Around 100,000 Tibetans live in exile in India.
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