UNESCO gives Palestinians full membership

UNESCO building

 

 

PARIS —  The United Nations’ cultural agency decided Monday to give the Palestinians full membership of the body, a vote that will boost their bid for recognition as a state at the United Nations.

UNESCO is the first U.N. agency the Palestinians have joined as a full member since President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership of the United Nations on September 23.

The United States, Canada, Germany and Holland voted against Palestinian membership. Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France voted in favor. Britain and Italy abstained.

Washington is likely to cut funding to UNESCO over the vote.

“The action today will complicate our ability to support UNESCO,”David T. Killion, U.S. ambassador to UNESCO, told journalists after the vote.

 

UNESCO

 

“The U.S. has been clear for the need of a two-state resolution, but the only path is through direct negotiations and there are no shortcuts, and initiatives like today are counterproductive.”

The vote highlighted divisions over foreign policy within the European Union, some of whose 27 members voted for and some against Palestinian membership.

Austrian UNESCO ambassador Ursula Plassnik, whose country voted in favor, said she regretted the European Union could not arrive at a common position on the Palestinian issue.

The Palestinians obtained backing from two thirds of UNESCO’s members to become the 195th member of UNESCO, with status as “an observer entity.” Of 173 countries that voted from a possible 185, 107 voted in favor, 14 voted against, 52 abstained and 12 were absent.

Forty representatives of the 58-member board has voted in favor of putting the matter to a vote earlier this month, with four — the United States, Germany, Romania and Latvia — voting against and 14 abstaining.

Admission will be seen by the Palestinians as a moral victory in their bid for full U.N. membership but could be costly for UNESCO.

U.S. legislation stipulates that it can cut off funding to any U.N. agency that grants full membership to Palestinians.

 

 

SOURCE : REUTERS

Posted Monday, October 31, 2011

Palestine joins UNESCO as full member

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki (C) stands between Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (L) and Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO Elias Sanbar (R) during the 36th session of UNESCO's General Conference in Paris on Oct. 31, 2011. (REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)

 

BETHLEHEM  —  The UN’s cultural agency voted to admit Palestine as a full member on Monday, weeks before the Security Council is due to report on Palestine’s bid for full membership of the United Nations.

Palestine overcame US and Israeli opposition to join the cultural body, with UNESCO saying that 107 member states voted in favor, 14 states voted against, with 52 abstentions.

The resolution needed 81 votes to pass, as abstentions are not counted, UNESCO said.

The United States, Canada and Germany voted against Palestinian membership. Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France voted in favor. Britain abstained.

The Israeli representative called the vote a “tragedy” for UNESCO.

Palestinian officials hope success at UNESCO will boost their bid for admission as a member state at the United Nations, a proposal the Security Council is due to decide on Nov. 11.

“This success, if it is realized, and with this large number of votes, will give a great boost to the efforts that we are making to get the required vote in the United Nations,” al-Malki told Voice of Palestine radio on Sunday.

Before Monday’s vote, US Undersecretary for Education Martha Kanter told UNESCO’s general assembly that the vote was “counterproductive” and “premature.”

Israel and the US both opposed the bid, and also oppose the admission of Palestine to the United Nations, which the US has vowed to veto at the Security Council.

While US lack veto power at the cultural agency under US law, the admission of Palestine as a full UNESCO member would trigger a cutoff in US funding which accounts for 22 percent of the agency’s funding.

Washington says diplomatic moves at the UN undermine prospects for a return to negotiations with Israel, but Palestinian leaders insist they do not rule out a return to talks, noting though that they have little to show for over 20 years of discussions.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : MA’AN NEWS AGENCY,  REUTERS, AFP

Posted Monday, October 31, 2011

Photostream : Chinese President Hu Jintao meets Austrian President Heinz Fischer

China's President Hu Jintao leaves his car upon his arrival in the inner yard of Hofburg Palace in Vienna October 31, 2011. Hu arrived for an official three day visit to Austria. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Austrian President Heinz Fischer, left, and his counterpart of China Hu Jintao review the honor guard during a welcome ceremony in front of the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria, on Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Hu is in Austria for a four day state visit. (AP Photo/Hans Punz)

Austrian President Heinz Fischer, right, and his wife Margit Fischer, left, welcome the President of China Hu Jintao, second right, and his wife Liu Yongqing, second left, in front of the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria, on Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Hu is in Austria for a four day state visit. (AP Photo/Hans Punz)

Austrian President Heinz Fischer (3rd R) and members of his delegation meet with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao (4th L) and his delegation on October 31, 2011 in Vienna. Hu is at the start of an official, two-day visit to Austria ahead of a crucial G20 meeting in France. AFP PHOTO / SAMUEL KUBANI

Austrian President Heinz Fischer (R) and China's President Hu Jintao make a press statement in front of a painting of former Austrian empress Maria Theresia in the historic Hofburg palace in Vienna October 31, 2011. Hu arrived for an official three day visit to Austria. REUTERS/Herwig Prammer

Sources: Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal to visit Jordan before Eid

Khaled Meshaal

 

Amman —  The political bureau chairman of Hamas Khaled Meshaal is to visit Amman soon for a series of meetings with Jordanian officials topped by King Abdullah II, a well-informed Jordanian source told the PIC on Sunday.

He said that the visit would signal the return of political relations between Hamas and Jordan, adding that Mishaal would also meet with newly appointed Jordanian premier Awn Al-Khasawne along with a number of ministers.

The source pointed out that political bureau member of Hamas Mohammed Nazzal had called on the official spokesman of the Jordanian government a couple of days ago to congratulate him on the formation of the new government. Nazzal had visited the spokesman twice before his appointment.

Media reports speculated that the visit would take place before Eidul Adha.

The sources said that Jordan was seriously planning to restore relations with Hamas after its clear stand regarding the Palestine cause especially the right of return and its refusal of Jordan as an alternative homeland for the Palestinians in addition to a Qatari mediation and finally due to the Zionist intransigence regarding the Middle East settlement process.

Sources earlier told the PIC that Meshaal had visited Jordan for the second time within a month to call on his sick mother while on his way to the Saudi capital Riyadh to attend the funeral of late Saudi crown prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : AL QASSAM WEBSITE

Posted Monday, October 31, 2011

Russia thanks Switzerland for WTO mediation

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (R) shakes hands with his Swiss counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey during their meeting at the Gorki presidential residence outside Moscow October 30, 2011. REUTERS/Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

 

MOSCOW  — Russia said Sunday it’s close to a deal in talks with Georgia that would open the way for Moscow to be approved as a member of the World Trade Organization by the end of the year.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev thanked visiting Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey for Swiss mediation of the talks. Calmy-Rey voiced hope that her nation’s efforts will help Russia join the global trade body this year, and Medvedev responded that “we very much would like to see that.”

Russia needs to reach individual agreements with all 153 members of the WTO, and the lack of progress in talks with Georgia has been the last significant stumbling block. Switzerland has sponsored the negotiations between the two nations, which fought a brief war in 2008 leading to a breakdown in diplomatic ties.

Georgia said Thursday it has accepted a Swiss proposal providing guarantees of international supervision of all trade and cargo between Russia and the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia andSouth Ossetia. Russian officials said they need several days to analyze the offer.

Medvedev didn’t say in public remarks at the start of his talks with Calmy-Rey if Russia is ready to accept the Swiss offer, but the Kremlin economic advisor, Arkady Dvorkovich, said after the meeting that a deal is close and could be reached within hours.

“There are no major problems, but some issues need to be clarified,” Dvorkovich said, according to Russian news reports. He added that if the deal with Georgia is finalized, Russia can be acceped as a member of the WTO at its ministerial meeting in mid-December.

Russia is by far the largest economy still outside the international trade body despite 18 years of talks. Both the European Union and the United States have voiced hope that Moscow could join the WTO by the year’s end.

Georgia previously demanded that Moscow allow Georgian customs officials to operate in two breakaway provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia, which has recognized the two regions as independent states and strengthened its military presence there, flatly rejected the Georgian push.

The Swiss compromise proposal tried to solve the deadlock by offering to deploy international monitors at border checkpoints in the two separatist provinces.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : The Associates Press

Posted Sunday, October 30, 2011

Pope prays for flood victims

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the pilgrims gathered in San Peter's Square at the Vatican during his Sunday Angelus prayer on October 30, 2011. AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

 

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI says he is praying for the victims of recent flooding in Thailand and Italy.

Benedict began his greetings to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday by recalling the devastation caused by heavy rains in the two countries. Thailand’s worst flooding in half a century has claimed 381 lives over the last three months. In Italy, floods and mudslides last week devastated coastal areas of Liguria and Tuscany and killed nine people.

The pope says he wants to express his closeness to those suffering because of the flooding and assure them of his prayers.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : The Associated Press

Posted Sunday, October 30, 2011

Photostream : Emir of Qatar meets Palestinian President

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with the Qatari Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (R) on October 30, 2011 in Doha, Qatar. The leaders met to look over the schedule for the forthcoming Arab Follow up Committee. (Photo by Thaer Ganaim/PPO via Getty Images)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with the Qatari Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (R) on October 30, 2011 in Doha, Qatar. The leaders met to look over the schedule for the forthcoming Arab Follow up Committee. (Photo by Thaer Ganaim/PPO via Getty Images)

 

Photostream : Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa meets Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Indonesia Foreign Minister R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa,right, talks to media after meeting with Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, at her home Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

Myanmar pro-Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi (L) talks to reporters after she met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa (R) at her residence in Yangon October 29, 2011. Suu Kyi might stand for parliament in an upcoming by-election after her party re-registers itself to enter politics, a party spokesman said. Suu Kyi has been blocked from politics and detained for long stretches of time since returning to her homeland from abroad in 1988. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Chinese President Hu Jintao leaves for Austria, to attend G20 summit

China's President Hu Jintao gives a speech at the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution at the Great Hall of the People on October 9, 2011 in Beijing, China. The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 toppled the Qing Dynasty, which was the last of the 2000 years of imperial rule in China. Speaking at the commemoration Chinese President Hu Jintao made mention of the importance of uniting China's ethnic groups. (Photo by Minoru Iwasaki-Pool/Getty Images)

 

BEIJING  —  Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing Sunday afternoon to pay a state visit to Austria and attend the sixth Group of Twenty (G20) summit, which is scheduled to be held in the southern French city of Cannes from Nov. 3 to 4.

Hu was invited by both Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which is taking the G20 rotating presidency, according to a written statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Austria diplomatic relations.

During his stay in Austria, Hu will hold talks with his Austrian counterpart Fischer, and meet with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and the Speaker of the Parliament Barbara Prammer, respectively, said Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying on Friday.

He will also attend a trade forum jointly held by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Fu said.

The two sides will sign seven intergovernmental framework agreements, covering economics and trade, environmental protection, water conservancy, education and culture during President Hu’s visit, Fu said.

Regarding the Cannes summit, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai suggested on Friday that the summit should focus on critical economic and financial issues to appropriately address problems such as the sovereign debt crisis in some developed countries and the growing pressure of inflation across the world.

The G20 summit, which groups the world’s major economies, becomes a multilateral platform for advancing global economic cooperation.

China hopes that G20 members will get more united, make joint efforts in a democratic and coordinated way, and pursue macro-economic policies that support each other in stabilizing the financial market and restoring market confidence, said the Chinese official.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE :  XINHUA

Posted Sunday, October 30, 2011

Photostream : Rare early snow storm pounds U.S. Northeast

People walk in a heavy snow on a street in Queens Borough, New York, the United States, on Oct. 29, 2011, while New York City usually gets its first flakes in mid-December. A rare October snowstorm bore down on the heavily populated U.S. Northeast on Saturday, with some areas bracing for up to a foot (30 cm) of snow and major power outages. As reported by XINHUA, a rare October snow storm on Saturday pelted the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states with heavy and wet snow, causing power outages and troubles for travelers. The U.S. National Weather Service warned that heavy wet snow, falling on trees with remaining foliage, could lead to many downed tree branches and power outages. The weather service issued a winter storm warning for large parts of the east coast from West Virginia and western Virginia to eastern Maine, in effect until early Sunday. Up to a foot of snow, along with strong winds, could be expected in some areas, it said. Nearly 580,000 customers were knocked out of power in the east coast, mostly in Pennsylvania, local media reported. The storm also caused major delays for air travelers. For instance, arriving flights into New York's John F Kennedy International Airport were delayed an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes, the Federal Aviation Administration reported. (Xinhua/Wang Chengyun)

People walk in a heavy snow on a street in Queens Borough, New York, the United States, on Oct. 29, 2011, while New York City usually gets its first flakes in mid-December. A rare October snowstorm bore down on the heavily populated U.S. Northeast on Saturday, with some areas bracing for up to a foot (30 cm) of snow and major power outages. (Xinhua/Wang Chengyun)

A man sweeps snow from the car's side window in a heavy snow on a street in Queens Borough, New York, the United States, on Oct. 29, 2011, while New York City usually gets its first flakes in mid-December. A rare October snowstorm bore down on the heavily populated U.S. Northeast on Saturday, with some areas bracing for up to a foot (30 cm) of snow and major power outages. (Xinhua/Wang Chengyun)

A postwoman walks in a heavy snow on a street in Queens Borough, New York, the United States, on Oct. 29, 2011, while New York City usually gets its first flakes in mid-December. A rare October snowstorm bore down on the heavily populated U.S. Northeast on Saturday, with some areas bracing for up to a foot (30 cm) of snow and major power outages. (Xinhua/Wang Chengyun)

Fukushima pollution much larger says French report

In this photo taken on Sept. 29, 2011 and released on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Unit 3 reactor building damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, is shown. Officials said the plant is now relatively stable, but tens of thousands of people still cannot, or choose not to, return to their homes because of the radioactive contamination. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

 

French researchers say the amount of radioactive cesium that has leaked from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean is 20 times larger than the plant operator estimated.

The French government’s nuclear research institute, IRSN, released its contamination report on Saturday.

It calculates that 27.1 thousand terabecquerels of radioactive cesium 137 had leaked into the ocean as of the middle of July. The largest amount was released by early April from a pit at the Number 2 reactor and other plant facilities.

The French institute says the amount is about 20 times the estimate made by Tokyo Electric Power Company.

The report says the nuclear accident caused significant water contamination, but radioactive substances will be dispersed by ocean currents.

Nevertheless, the institute is calling for ongoing testing of marine products as leakage from the nuclear facility continues to pollute the nearby ocean.  (*)

 

 

 

SOURCE : NHK

Posted Sunday, October 30, 2011

Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia : Global community accepts Palestine as a state

Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud is a member of the Saudi royal family. He is one of the founders of the King Faisal Foundation and serves as Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.

 

WASHINGTON — Prince Turki Al-Faisal extolled Americans to follow the legacy of their US constitution and stand up for the rights of Palestinians.

He was given a standing ovation from the US audience when he made this statement at the 20th annual National Council on US-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) on Friday.

He also said America must uphold the “territorial integrity of Iraq,” saying that the US invasion of Iraq meant US should “push forward” a UN Security Council resolution to maintain Iraq’s territory and “to see that the rest of the world abides by it.”

Prince Turki was also blunt in his assessment of Israel’s treatment of the current US administration, which he called “an incredible and phantasmagoric situation.”

He said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “lecture” in the Oval Office to President Barack Obama during a recent visit “on what Israel will and will not do” left him “flabbergasted by the audacity of (Netanyahu) the man.”

Viewed by many analysts here as a skilled diplomat, Prince Turki urged the US to support the upcoming UN vote on Palestine.

Praising America’s democratic history and quoting Thomas Jefferson to underline his point, Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom asked how the US could stand before Palestinians “when they want to declare their state with the most reasonable and most legitimate and unalienable right that they have, like any other state, and the US says it will veto that.”

He called such a move “unacceptable.” Such a veto, he added, would affect America’s relations with its global partners.

“You as Americans cannot accept that. And we, as Arabs, will not accept that,” said Prince Turki. “And this is where my contention that America’s vetoing of statehood for Palestine, not only will affect the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US, but also with the rest of the world, and not just the Muslim world, but the whole global community that accepts Palestine as a state, and it is only the US that objects to that.”

He added: “This is something that only Americans can fix. But what I can say is that all of us in the Arab world, including me, truly want the Americans to fix this because of our friendship with you.”

Making a veiled reference to Iran when Prince Turki discussed Iraq’s need for a UN Security Council resolution on its country’s integrity, he said: “This will not only quell any internal centrifugal ambitions within Iraqi society and politics, but also will hopefully challenge any outside ambitions that many develop on the territorial integrity of Iraq.”

Currently chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Prince Turki, known as an outspoken figure on international affairs, said the situation in Iraq is “still unresolved and still work in progress….with a government that is still unrepresentative of all of its people; and with clear and apparent interference from Iran.”

“It is the world’s responsibility to protect the territorial integrity of Iraq,” he said, and it is America’s duty to “push that Security Council resolution through and to see that the rest of the world abides by it.”

Addressing what he called “the perennial and lamentable open wound of Palestine,” he said the world is watching “a people who are still occupied, who are still colonized, whose territory is still being stolen day by day by an occupying force that defies all of the UN resolutions and international law … and without accountability to anyone.”

And, when the US administration took “a stand on settlement building in Israel, the result,” said Prince Turki, “was that Israel defied the US and not only continued to increase the settlements, but also challenged the leadership of the US in trying to achieve peace between the Israelis and their neighbors.”

The prince said NCUSAR “is one of the instruments and one of the institutions that works to overturn what is definitely an unjust position by your country. And I see faces of others (here) who are equally committed to that principle of overturning the injustice of your political position on Palestine. I wish you success.”  (*)

 

 

SOURCE  : ARAB NEWS
Posted Sunday, October 30, 2011

Crown Prince Naif : Most successful fighter against terror

Nayef, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

 

JEDDAH — With Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and interior minister, next to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, residents and expatriates of Saudi Arabia can be rest assured that terrorist forces will never dare to roil the security in the Kingdom.

It is because Naif is arguably the most successful leader in the world in rooting out terror.

Under Naif, the Saudi security forces have been waging a relentless war against terror and radicalism since May 2003. The Interior Ministry has been following a strategy of prevention, caution and cure in dealing with terror.

The prince had, hitherto, to deal with countries such as Yemen, Iraq and Iran within the limitations of the Ministry of Interior, but his elevation to the rank of the Kingdom’s crown prince gives him more elbow room to deal with any issue from both the security and political angles.

Terror acts in the Kingdom date back to 1979 when a group of militants driven by deviant ideology under Juhaiman bin Saif Al-Otaibi attacked the Grand Mosque. Their attempts were foiled and the perpetrators were tracked down to their hide-outs.

As part of the ministry’s initial strategy of direct confrontation, thousands of security men were deployed at checkpoints in various parts of the country to look for militants. Many were arrested at their hide-outs or while fleeing.

A number of deviants including some of their top figures, such as Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, who carried the title of the commander of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, were eliminated in various confrontations. However, the authorities changed their strategy following a drop in terrorist operations.

The fresh strategy adopted by Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Naif, under the aegis of Prince Naif, stressed preemptive strikes against the members and supporters of terror and deviant ideologies.

The strategy, which received wide support from the public, resulted in foiling 200 terror plots over the past 10 years. In such plots, militants targeted government and oil installations on one hand and state and military officials on the other. All the arrested men were put on trial.

In a simultaneous move, the Interior Ministry set up a specialized department to track down terror financing apart from tasking the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to rein in money laundering. Banking operations and activities of charity organizations are also monitored. Security authorities apprehended many wanted militants and seized caches of weapons and money and deactivated many cells in 38 preemptive operations between 2003 and 2009. Those who sheltered them or incited them with deviant ideologies were also arrested. The operations resulted in the death of 32 terrorists and wounding of four while four security men were killed and 29 injured.

In an apparent bid to wean away militants from deviant ideology and bring them to the social mainstream, the Ministry of Interior established the Prince Muhammad bin Naif Center for Counseling and Care.

Photo shows a housing complex destroyed by a terrorist strike. Under Naif, now the crown prince, security forces have been waging a relentless war against radicalism since May 2003. (AN photo)

Naif also realized the role of imams and preachers in fighting terror. “Imams and preachers in mosques have a significant role in creating awareness among citizens and expatriates against ideological and religious extremism,” Naif said in a function in Madinah last year.

Unfortunately, Saudi Arabia has been one of the countries that suffered the most from the menace of terror.

In a recent study, Col. Naif Al-Marwani listed the terror attacks that took place in the Kingdom. After terror reared its ugly head in 1979, three Saudi airplanes were hijacked in 1984 and 1985, Al-Marwani pointed out.

Arguably the deadliest of the attacks occurred during the Haj of 1987 in which 400 people were killed. Investigations established the involvement of foreign hands in the attack.

In 1989, three explosions were reported in Makkah, in which at least one expatriate died. However, the rate of terror activities fell considerably in 1994 and 1995 with only two incidents in which seven people were killed. No tragic incidents were reported in the period between 1990 and 1993. In 1996 a blast killed 19 and injured 206 in Alkhobar. Five attacks with two deaths were recorded in 2000. In the period between 2001 and 2006 there were 80 terror explosions, attacks and plane hijacking in various parts of the Kingdom, which resulted in 247 deaths and 518 injuries apart from 39 deaths of security officials and material loss estimated at more than SR1 billion.

However, in the period between 2007 and 2009 there were only three terror attacks in which three wanted militants and three security personnel were killed.

A total of 939 people were killed and 1,317 injured in 101 terror incidents during the entire period. The last of the major terror acts was a foiled suicide bombing to blow up Prince Muhammad bin Naif last year. No terror attacks against foreigners occurred in 1997, 1998 and 1999. But there were four incidents in 2000, two each in 2001 and 2002 and four in 2003. The recorded attacks in 2004 jumped to 12 with a total of 87 deaths and 524 injuries.

In an effort to encourage the Saudi public to cooperate in the terror combat, the authorities offer SR1 million to anyone who supplies information that leads to the arrest of a terrorist while the reward is SR5 million if anyone supplies information about a terror cell. On the other hand, reward for anyone supplying information to foil a terror attack is SR7 million.

It is also noteworthy that King Abdullah called for the establishment of an international center for the combat of terrorism while opening an international conference on terrorism in Riyadh in 2005.

The government in 2004 announced pardon for any militant who turned himself in a specified period. The government also honors security men who participate in anti-terrorism operations in addition to adopting the families of those killed in action.

Security personnel fighting terror have been specially trained for the operations and supplied with the most advanced technology to track them down. The Kingdom has also set up a special court in Riyadh to prosecute militants. The Kingdom’s fight against terror under the leadership of Prince Naif has been commended by personalities as high as US President Barack Obama.

A White House statement commended the role of Saudi Arabia in stopping terror attacks in the United States by supplying vital information about the parcel bombs last year.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : ARABNEWS

Posted Sunday, October 30, 2011

New Saudi crown prince says Kingdom to remain stable

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayaf Bin Abdul Aziz, brother of Saudi King Abdulah, speaks to Saudi reporters after his meeting with members of the Saudi advisory Shura Council to discuss the security situation in the kingdom, in Jeddah July 1, 2007. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji

 

DUBAI  —-  Prince Nayef, the new heir to Saudi Arabia’sKing Abdullah, said on Saturday the oil-rich kingdom would remain stable despite the turbulence afflicting the Middle East.

“Let’s take the reality, we are living in such conditions in the region where there is turbulence from all sides,” he said in his first remarks to Saudi state television since he became crown prince.

“With (King Abdullah’s) leadership and his people’s trust he can keep the kingdom stable and secure in all its affairs.”

Saudi Arabia has largely escaped the unrest of the “Arab Spring” that has forced three heads of state out of office and is threatening at least two others, thanks to a generous spending package for Saudis.

Crown Prince Nayef has already run Saudi Arabia on a daily basis for extended periods in recent years when both King Abdullah and the late crown prince Sultan were out of the country at the same time.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : REUTERS

Posted Sunday, October 30th, 2011

Pakistan rejects US claims on border fire

Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas

 

PAKISTAN  —  Pakistan on Friday rejected US accusations that Pakistani armed forces allow insurgents to fire on American troops across the border in Afghanistan.

“I completely reject this, this is wrong and baseless,” military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.

US officials have reported a sharp rise in cross-border attacks against its forces in eastern Afghanistan as relations deteriorated after US forces raided Pakistan to kill the world’s most wanted man,Osama bin Laden, in May.

Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, the deputy US commander in Afghanistan, said that rocket and mortar fire against his forces appears to come from within sight of Pakistani military posts.

“In some locations from time to time you will see what just appears to us to be a collaboration… or at a minimum a looking the other way,” he said.

He said that the border forces come from Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps, who are locally recruited and not as highly trained as army units.

Asked about Scaparrotti’s comments, Abbas told AFP: “I told you, it is not true, all this is wrong.”  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : AFP

Posted Friday, October 28th, 2011

Hillary Clinton defends US policy on Pakistan

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

 

WASHINGTON  —  US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has defended the government’s policy of maintaining cooperative ties with Pakistan in the war on terrorism.

Clinton testified about the war in Afghanistan at the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

She admitted that the US is increasingly concerned about militants being given safe haven in Pakistan.

But she urged lawmakers to understand the government’s policy of increasing pressure on Pakistan while at the same time seeking its cooperation.

She noted that maintaining close ties with the Pakistani government is vital in winning the war on terrorism.

US lawmakers have been voicing concerns that Pakistan may be harboring members of the Haqqani Network, a militant group affiliated with the Taliban. Some are urging the US to review whether to continue using taxpayers’ money to aid Pakistan.

Officially, the Pakistani government has not allowed US troops to conduct military operations inside its borders.

Pakistan has denied involvement with militant groups, and US-Pakistani relations have reached a low point.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE : NHK

Posted Friday, October 28th, 2011

Saudi King Names Interior Minister Crown Prince

Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz attended the 33rd King Faisal International Prize ceremony in Riyadh on March 13. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

RIYADH  —  Saudi King Abdullah late Thursday named his conservative half brother and interior minister, Prince Nayef, as the crown prince following the recent death of the heir-apparent to the kingdom’s throne.

Prince Nayef is one of the most powerful princes in the world’s top oil-producing nation. He became the crown prince after a special committee, set up by the royal family five years ago to regulate the kingdom’s opaque process of succession, reached an agreement on his elevation.

The so-called Allegiance Council, representing every branch of the dynasty founded by King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud last century, has never been tested before.

The move comes after crown prince and defense minister Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who was believed to be 86 years old, died in New York while undergoing treatment for an illness that analysts believed was cancer. His death raised questions over succession in the oil-rich kingdom as unrest continues to sweep the region and challenge nations’ rulers.

Prince Nayef, believed to be 77, had been appointed as second deputy prime minister in 2009, an informal indication that he was next in line to the throne after the king and the crown prince.

Prince Nayef’s appointment, which was expected, worries the more liberal Saudis who say his record as interior minister since 1975 involved blocking some reforms and overseeing crackdowns on political dissidents.

Other analysts, however, say the nature of his job as interior minister demanded an authoritarian approach. They believe he might show a different face if he ever becomes king.

Unlike most kingdoms’ rules of succession, the Saudi monarchy doesn’t pass from father to son but rather along a line of brothers born to Ibn Saud, who founded Saudi Arabia in 1934. Only 19 of the Saudi patriarch’s 45 sons are still alive, and Prince Nayef is the most senior of these who is active in politics.

Although Sultan, who was the half brother of the ailing Saudi King Abdullah, was long seen as a likely future monarch, his health had deteriorated sharply in recent years, leading to long periods of absence from Saudi Arabia.

His death has raised the question of how the Al Saud family will handle the move to a new generation of kings after the present crop of candidates die out.

The present king, Abdullah, is the fifth of Ibn Saud’s sons to become monarch of the kingdom.

Following the line of succession, of King Abdullah’s 18 surviving brothers born to Ibn Saud, at least Prince Nayef would have to become king before any of Ibn Saud’s grandsons would be considered.

King Abdullah, who also has health issues, underwent a back operation last week, the third in less than a year, to retighten the binding connector around the third vertebra. He left the hospital in Riyadh to continue medical treatment at a private clinic in his palace but it is still unclear how long the king will take to recover.

Limited information about the king’s ailment has previously fanned speculation of a more serious problem with the health of the ruler of the Arab world’s largest economy. During his previous absence, mass unrest unseated the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, while protests have rattled regimes in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria and Iran.

In November, the king appointed his son Miteb to head the kingdom’s National Guard after the elderly monarch fell ill with a herniated disc. The move sparked speculation once again about succession in the world’s top oil-exporting nation.

Leadership of the National Guard, a Bedouin army responsible for domestic security, had been a treasured role of Abdullah bin Abdelaziz Al Saud since 1963—long before he became a candidate for king.

His decision to pass it on to his second son was part of a broader effort to give more responsibility to the next generation of princes who will have to rule in the future, analysts say.  (*)

 

 

 

SOURCE  :  WSJ

Posted Friday, October 28th, 2011

 

Chinese President Hu Jintao to visit Austria, attend G20 summit

China's President Hu Jintao (Photo by Minoru Iwasaki-Pool/Getty Images)

 

BEIJING  —   Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to Austria and attend the G20 summit, which is scheduled to be held in Cannes, France, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4.

President Hu was invited by both Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which is taking the G20 rotating presidency, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu announced here Friday.

The G20 summit, which groups the world’s major economies, becomes a multilateral platform for advancing global economic cooperation.

The Cannes summit is expected to help restore market confidence amid the critical time for world economic recovery and the European debt crisis.

The G20 now comprises major developed economies including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, and others such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, and plus the European Union.  (*)

 

 

 

SOURCE : XINHUA

Posted Friday, October 28, 2011

Rainbow of religious leaders join Pope for peace

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges cheers upon his arrival in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican to hold a pre-trip prayer service for the Catholic faithful, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. The pontiff has invited Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims to a pilgrimage to the Umbrian hilltop town of Assisi, central Italy, where 25 years ago Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama and others spent the day praying for peace amid the Cold War. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

 

ASSISI, Italy— Buddhist monks, Muslim imams, Yoruba leaders and a handful of agnostics traveled with Pope Benedict XVIto the Umbrian hilltown of Assisi on Thursday to make a communal call for peace and insist that religion must not be used as a pretext for war.

The event was designed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a daylong prayer for peace called by Pope John Paul II in 1986 amid Cold War conflicts in dozens of countries. Some 300 delegates representing a rainbow of faiths answered Benedict’s invitation, though the event lacked the star power of 1986 when the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Native American chiefs and others came together to pray.

Traditional Catholics condemned the meeting as they did in 1986, saying it was blasphemy for the pope to invite leaders of “false” religions to pray to their Gods for peace. The Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group which Benedict has been working to bring back into Rome’s fold, said it would be celebrating 1,000 Masses to atone for the damage done by the event and urged the pope to use the occasion to urge others to convert to Catholicism.

The pope did no such thing. But Benedict too objected to the 1986 event and didn’t go, disapproving of members of different faiths praying in the presence of one another. His 25th anniversary edition stripped away all communal public prayer in an attempt to remove any whiff of syncretism, or the combining of different beliefs and practices.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, one of the first speakers in the opening session of the peace meeting, said the delegates weren’t gathered there to come to a “minimum common ground of belief.”

Rather, he said, the meeting would show the world that through their distinctiveness, different faiths provide the wisdom to draw upon “in the struggle against the foolishness of a world still obsessed with fear and suspicion, still in love with the idea of a security based on active hostility, and still capable of tolerating or ignoring massive loss of life among the poorest through war and disease.”

And there was a lot of distinctiveness on hand: Standing on the altar of St. Mary of the Angels basilica, Wande Abimbola of Nigeria, representing Africa’s traditional Yoruba religion, sang and shook a percussion instrument as he told the delegates that peace can only come with greater respect for indigenous religions.

“We must always remember that our own religion, along with the religions practiced by other people, are valid and precious in the eyes of the Almighty, who created all of us with such plural and different ways of life and belief systems,” he said.

A group of four Buddhists from mainland China took their places in the basilica, significant given the recent Sino-Vatican tensions over the appointments of Catholic bishops in the country. They came from Henan’s Shaolin temple, famous for its kung fu-fighting monks. And in another novelty, Benedict invited four people who profess no faith whatsoever — part of his outreach to the world of agnostics and atheists who nevertheless are searching for truth.

Other invitees included Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and representatives from Greek, Russian, Serbian and Belarusian Orthodox churches as well as Lutheran, Methodist and Baptist leaders. Several rabbis were joined by some 60 Muslims, a half-dozen Hindus and Shinto believers, three Taoists, three Jains and a Zoroastrian.

They all traveled together on a special papal train that left early Thursday from the Vatican’s train station. The delegates are to eat a spare lunch together, have time for silent, private prayer before coming together in the afternoon to make a joint call for peace. They’ll return together via train Thursday night and have a special audience with Benedict Friday.  (*)

 

 

SOURCE :   The Associated Press

Posted Thursday, October 27, 2011

Leon Panetta says U.S. won’t cut troops in S. Korea

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (L) welcomes visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Oct. 27, 2011. Panetta arrived in South Korea a day earlier for a three-day visit to attend the 43rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), an annual defense meeting between South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs. (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL  —  U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that Washington will not cut its troops in South Korea, reassuring the ally against the threat of provocations by North Korea despite intense budget woes at home.

Panetta, on his first trip to South Korea as Pentagon chief, made the remark to a Yonhap News Agency reporter when asked about a possibility that U.S. troops in the South might face cuts from Washington’s sweeping belt-tightening measures.   (*)

 

 

SOURCE : YONHAP

Posted Thursday, October 27, 2011