Rebels battle Gadhafi forces in Libyan mountains

Over the past two days, Moammar Gadhafi's forces have unleashed their biggest attack yet against one of the mountainous rebel strongholds in western Libya, according to one of his former generals. Haji Usama, as he is known to the rebels, was once a top commander in Gadhafi's forces. He spent decades in the Libyan army including a tour of duty in neighboring Chad, and now commands in Zintan, population 40,000.
Today, he hates that his former commander in chief regards him as a terrorist.
Haji Usama says that early Thursday morning about 150 of Gadhafi's infantry troops -- supported by about 40 vehicles, including long range "Grad" rocket launchers and heavy, long-range machine guns -- began an attack on three fronts near Zintan.
Zintan sits about 90 miles southwest from the capital of Tripoli, and is at the eastern tip of a 170-mile long ribbon of rebel held mountains stretching westwards from the Tunisian border.

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The trim, gray-bearded rebel commander says he's never seen such an attack here before. Gadhafi "has never used infantry like this" -- normally he shells from a distance, he says.
He says he took immediate action, dispatching what he called a brigade of men to cut off Gadhafi's advance. A brigade he said consisted of "hundreds of fighters," but he declined to give exact numbers.
So far, the fighting has cost him dearly: one rebel killed and three injured, including one in critical condition.
Deep, fresh trenches in the stark red sand here are testimony to the battle rebels say they are ready to fight should Gadhafi's forces manage to break through. So far they have not and confidence among the rebels, if not high, is certainly up.
Some of the fighters seen returning from the front lines crammed in the back of open top pickup trucks late Friday appeared remarkably young -- a few appeared to be school age. Among them, only a handful of weapons, a few hunting rifles and old bolt-action shot guns.
Haji Usama admits many of his fighters are young, but he says "they are keen and determined to fight for their freedom."
He believe that Thursday's attack was to regain control of the nearby town Rayayan.
He says the east of Rayayan "declared their support for the rebels a month ago." The rest of the town is loyal to Gadhafi and his former head of internal security, Nasar al Mabout, whom Haji Usama claims lives there.
Gadhafi's forces simultaneously attacked on three fronts, to the north of Zintan firing Grad rockets at the east of Rayayna, and attacking to the southeast and to the east of Zintan, Haji Usama.
In previous battles, Haji Usama says, Gadhafi's artillery forces have taken over homes in Zuwail al Bagul and simply shelled from a distance. The latest attack is different.
Since the raids began at dawn on Thursday, Haji Usama says he has lost contact with rebels in Rayayan with the exception of one commander who managed to make the dangerous journey to Zintan after his house was destroyed in the shelling.
As dusk fell Friday the shelling that could be clearly heard and seen from the roof tops of Zintan earlier abated before picking up with sporadic barrages of fire shortly before 10 p.m.

The rebels say the night-time shelling is simply to terrorize Zintan's residents into fleeing. "Some have," he says, but most are staying to brave out the battle they fear is far from over.

Zoning splits Igbo

A pre-election disagreement between two groups of Igbo leadership on whether or not to back President Goodluck Jonathan’s aspiration to return to office has been re-opened even before the incoming Jonathan’s presidency is consummated.
And the leaders seem to be on a cliff-hanger over how to respond to the refusal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hierarchy to meet any of their demands as regards zoning of top positions to the South-East after the zone’s massive votes for the president at the polls.
In ‘we have been vindicated’ manner, those who kicked against Jonathan picking the PDP ticket because it would hurt the party’s zoning arrangement as well as the South-East’s goal of producing the president in 2015 are challenging Ohanaeze leaders and other groups that backed Jonathan to disclose the ‘political package’ the president promised the zone.
Given her massive votes for the PDP at the polls and returning  most PDP National Assembly members from the area, leaders of the zone had clamoured for the post of Senate president or speaker of the House of Representatives in the new dispensation.
It had earlier lost the post of PDP national chairman following the ‘forced’ resignation of Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo. It also lost a ministerial slot recently when Interior Minister, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho, was shown the exit door.
However, after  intense horse-trading, lobby and intrigues, national leaders of the PDP said on May 11 that they were sustaining the current zoning arrangement irrespective of how the PDP performed in each zone and allotted the prime offices thus: South-South (president), North-West (vice president), North-Central (Senate president), South-West (House speaker), South-East (Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF and deputy Senate president) and North-East (national chairman and deputy speaker).

File Photo: South East Group meeting with the President at the State House, Abuja, July 2010.

Indications have, in the meantime, emerged that the House of Representatives members-elect from the South-East are poised for a showdown with the PDP over the zoning of the speakership out of their area.
They threatened to team up with their colleagues from the North to elect House leaders of their choice. The senators and senators-elect from the zone, also at the weekend, endorsed Senators David Mark (North-Central) and Ike Ekweremadu (South-East) for the Senate president and deputy senate president respectively in the unfolding dispensation but insisted that the South-East should produce the national chairman of the PDP.
Speaking on the zoning arrangement, Nze Chidi Duru, a former member of the House of Representatives, who rooted for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar during the PDP presidential primaries, said: “Ohanaeze said they had reached an agreement with Jonathan before supporting him. Is the agreement for the deputy Senate president and SGF? There is no sector or arm of government that the South-East is heading in Nigeria now. The South-South has the presidency; North-Central leads the legislature and judiciary. Is that the bargain Ohanaeze said they reached with Jonathan? Ohanaeze should tell Ndigbo what they have bargained.”
No Comment
Contacted on phone many times, Ohanaeze president-general, Ambassador Ralph Uwechue, was not available for comments, according to Abraham, his personal assistant.
However, Mr. Kalu Onuma, secretary of Ndigbo Lagos, which joined forces with Ohanaeze in the push to get Jonathan elected, said Igbo had not lost out in the arrangement as 2015 was on course and the posts being clamoured for were not of strategic importance to the 2015 project.
His words: “There is no mess for Ndigbo in that sharing. I disagree that we are losing out without the speakership. And it is still morning in the political lifespan of this administration and what you term as relevance is but patronage. 2015 is alive for Ndigbo and we are moving towards it. Don’t confuse setbacks with defeat. Ndigbo are learning from the Jews and other result-oriented groups, that when they appear most weak and vulnerable, as we are now, is when they are most dangerous and productive. Those positions are good but of what strategic importance to our goals are they?”
National chairman of the Citizens Popular Party, CPP, Chief Maxi Okwu, re-echoed his prediction that Ndigbo would be worse off under the Jonathan presidency because of the PDP zoning formula.

However, he said that Jonathan could make amends via massive infrastructure development in the South-East.
“I am on record as having predicted that Ndigbo would be worse off in a Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (GEAJ) presidency going by the PDP zoning arrangement. As it is, the South-South, through GEAJ, has vastly improved its position and now jettisoned the SGF position for the South-East. It is likely that all other zones will keep what they currently hold except the South-East again that may lose the party national chair to the North-East. But there is a way out and it lies on GEAJ.
He owes his South-East cousins big time the way they massively voted for him. I think he can pay back by massive infrastructure development in the area. He could, by this, assuage years of neglect of the South-East by ensuring effective federal presence in the area. This, in my view, is even more tangible than a key position for one or two political fat cats,” he opined.
On his part, secretary of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and Enugu State governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Mr Osita Okechukwu, asked Ohanaeze Ndigbo, South-East governors and PDP leaders in the zone to apologise to Ndigbo, “for their failure to return home with a trophy in a game, in this instance the April 2011 presidential election, where they participated fully and contributed immensely -  25 per cent of votes – to the election of President Goodluck Jonathan. By the result, five million Ndigbo voted for Mr. President out of the 22 million votes he got.”
Apology call
Okechukwu anchored the apology call on the grounds that “wittingly or unwittingly, they put all the vote-eggs of Ndigbo in one basket without due diligence of negotiating our interest or firm commitment from President Goodluck Jonathan and consequently had enthroned and enriched the return of third term. We regard the failure of the leadership of the PDP and indeed President Goodluck Jonathan to reward five million votes from the South-East fairly as not only unjust but outright contemptuous.”
He continued: “We had warned earlier in 2010 before even the PDP primaries, when Ohanaeze Ndigbo, South-East governors and PDP leadership, with all manner of advertorials, cajoled Ndigbo into putting all their eggs into one basket – the Jonathan quest for presidency.
We hinted then at the old proverb that a wise man does not put all his eggs in one basket; especially when President Jonathan’s record depicts more of use and dump like that of his mentor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The South-East governors, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo and indeed the South-East leadership of PDP must apologise publicly to Ndigbo for their failure to return home with the trophy of either the Senate president or speaker of the House of Representatives as irreducible minimum, when the president, vice president, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and president of Court of Appeal are not vacant.
“To our chagrin, we were appalled about the cacophony of voices; while Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his band are drumming for the retention of his deputy Senate president seat, some are canvassing for speakership, few are musing for Senate president and the food is ready group are okay with Secretary to Government of the Federation. The report emanating from the national caucus of the PDP zoned the South-East out of the Order of National Protocol – 1-6; that even the national chairman of the party eluded them.
“It is our considered view that the SGF zoned to the South-East is irrelevant when there sits on the throne of  the president an imperial Chief of Staff. More so the office is not listed in the order of protocol and can be fired at the whims and caprices of Mr President. To add salt to injury, they may not be allowed to nominate the SGF; as speculation is rife that an Obasanjo crony has been tipped.”
Okechukwu picked holes in the explanation that the speakership eluded the South-East because “in the expanded meeting of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, the chairman, ex-president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, said that it is better to retain Senator David Mark as Senate president and it is not fair not to accommodate Muslims in the line-up. In this, they argue that the South-West, unlike the South-East, has Muslims who will be made speaker.”
“When asked why not give Ndigbo the Senate president which we had while Chief Obasanjo was president?  Their answer sounds incoherent as they will add that President Jonathan made this commitment to Senator Mark, before the election and one is constrained to quip, what commitment was made to the over forty million Ndigbo who gave an unalloyed support that translated to 5million votes?
They will, in turn, refer you to President Jonathan’s letter of congratulation to Senator Mark, where Mr President said inter-alia, ‘I am confident we can successfully drive our nation’s transformation over the next four years, as we jointly work to reposition Nigeria for her God-ordained greatness,’” he added.
Members-elect threaten
Meanwhile, House of Representatives members-elect from the South-East have reportedly rejected the zoning formula as announced by the PDP leadership, insisting that they would team up with the North to elect leaders of their choice.
They said it was unfair to “award the South-West which voted for the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, (the speakership) instead of encouraging the South-East which voted massively for the party”.
Sources close to the Representatives-elect told Sunday Vanguard that although the South-East zone may not get the position of speaker because the zone cannot match the North in terms of the numerical strength, they have resolved to work with them (North) in electing a candidate from the area, expecting to get the position of deputy speaker.
The South-West zone has endorsed a two-time member of the House, Hon. Ajibola Saubuna Muraina, for the speakership position in line with the party’s arrangement that the zone should produce the occupant of the nation’s number four office but their counterparts from the South-East and the North said that the zoning arrangement was unacceptable to them.
According to the sources, those who have so far indicated interest in running for the position of deputy speaker from the South-East are Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwanyi, chairman, House Committee on Marine Transport and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the majority chief whip in the House.
Ugwanyi, a three-time member, represents Igboeze North/Udenu, Federal Constituency, Enugu State, while Ihedioha, also a ranking member, represents Ngor Okpalla/Aboh Mbaise Federal Constituency, Imo State.
Legislators from the North are also campaigning for the emergence of Hon. Aminu Tambuwwal for the speakership. Tambuwwal, currently the deputy chief whip of the House, represents Kebbe/ Tambuwwal Federal Constituency, Sokoto State and has just been elected for a fourth term in office.
A member of the House, who spoke on the issue on condition of anonymity, said that most members of the National Assembly rejected the zoning arrangement by the PDP leadership which, they said ,was meant to please the selfish interest of a former president, adding that the most important thing was to ensure that the process of electing the House leadership was transparent. 
‘Give S/East PDP chairman’
A meeting of senators and senators-elect from the South-East, yesterday, endorsed Mark and Ekweremadu for Senate president and deputy Senate president respectively, saying they have discharged their responsibilities creditably.
The leader of the South-East Caucus in the Senate, Senator Uche Chukwumerije,  also insisted that in the spirit of zoning, the South-East should also produce the chairman of the PDP.
According to Chukwumerije, the decision of the caucus to endorse Ekweremadu was informed by the fact that, in the last four years, ‘his outstanding performance’ made him fit to continue as the deputy Senate president.
The terse three paragraph statement issued by Chukwumerije reads:
“The South-East Caucus of the Senate (comprising senators and senators elect) met this day (May 14, 2011) and resolved as follows
“That we endorse Senator Ike Ekweremadu to continue in his capacity as the deputy Senate president in the 7th Senate for his outstanding performance in that office in the last four years.
“We equally endorse Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark to continue as the president of the Senate in the 7th Senate in appreciation of his excellent leadership qualities and his historic contribution to the stability of the National Assembly and the nation.
“That in keeping with the party’s decision to maintain the status quo on zoning, we insist that the post of  the national chairman of the PDP originally zoned to the South-East should be restored to the South-East zone till 2012 or when it expires”.
The leader of the South-East Caucus in the Senate was flanked during the briefing by Senators Ayogu Eze (Enugu), Nkechi Nwogwu (Abia) and senators elect, Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Igwe Nwakwu (Ebonyi) and Matthew Nwagwu (Ebonyi).

US envoy Mitchell resigns

US president Barack Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell resigned today, after nearly two and a half years on a difficult quest for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mr Obama described Mr Mitchell as "one of the finest public servants that our nation has ever had". Mr Mitchell was a Democratic Senator from Maine from 1980 until 1995, serving as Senate majority leader from 1989.

He was the first US special envoy for Northern Ireland, under President Bill Clinton, from 1995 until 2000. He played an important rule in the conclusion of the Good Friday peace accord in 1998.

Mr Mitchell saw fostering peace in Northern Ireland as a precedent for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “We had 700 days of failure and one day of success,” he said when Mr Obama appointed him, the day after he took office in January 2009. “For most of the time, progress was nonexistent or very slow.”

Mitchell's deputy, David Hale, will serve as the acting envoy, Mr Obama said.

Regarding the conflict in Northern Ireland, Mr Mitchell said he “formed the conviction that there is no such thing as a conflict that can’t be ended. Conflicts are created, conducted and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings.”

Both President Obama and Mr Mitchell, in his resignation letter, noted that when he assumed the role of special envoy, Mr Mitchell, now age 77, intended to serve only two years.

Mr Mitchell’s resignation occurs at a time of apparent stalemate in Middle East Peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government has continued to seize Palestinian land.

A recent accord between the ruling Palestinian faction Fatah and the Islamist Hamas further complicates matters, because Israel refuses to negotiate with Hamas. Palestinian moves to seek a UN resolution recognising an independent Palestinian state in September have enraged Mr Netanyahu’s government.

Mr Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney said; “The President’s commitment remains as firm as when he took office. This is an extraordinarily hard issue.”

In a statement, Mr Obama called Mr Mitchell “a tireless advocate for peace” .

He said Mr Mitchell “took on the toughest job imaginable and worked gruelling hours to advance... the cause of peace.”ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov. 28 - Zinni Calls For Peace.(US envoy Anthony Zinni)(Brief Article): An article from: APS Diplomat RecorderPALESTINE - April 18 - Palestinians Ask US Envoy To Press Israel On 'Two-State Solution'.: An article from: APS Diplomat RecorderPALESTINE - April 18 - Palestinians Ask US Envoy To Press Israel On 'Two-State Solution'.: An article from: APS Diplomat Recorder

British woman beheaded in Spain

A British woman was decapitated in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife today by a man who then fled into the street grasping her head, the local emergency services said.
The mayor of the town of Arona said the man, who was arrested as he tried to escape, was a 28-year-old Bulgarian with a history of mental illness.
The victim was described as a British woman in her 60s who had no known relationship with her attacker. The British foreign office confirmed her nationality.
Witnesses said the man walked up to his victim in a Chinese store in the Los Cristianos district this morning, pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the neck.
"I heard screaming and looked behind and saw a scruffy, unkempt man of about mid-twenties holding a head by the hair," said Colin Kirby of Tenerife Magazine.
"I thought at first it was a sick joke stunt, the man was muttering and shouting and more people started screaming."
The attacker was eventually tackled by security guards and passers-by.
A witness told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser he had just parked his car when he saw a man running down the street holding a woman's head in his hand, covered in blood.

Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands off the north west coast of Africa, is a popular destination for British holidaymakers and retirees.

EGYPT: unrest in Arab World

Authorities order the detention of Suzanne Mubarak, wife of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, and a doctor says she passed out on hearing the news. The state-owned MENA news agency says the detention order was issued a day after the government said Hosni Mubarak and his wife were questioned over suspicions they illegally amassed vast wealth. MENA says prosecutors ordered Mrs. Mubarak, who is 70, detained for 15 days pending further investigation. She was interrogated at the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh where her 83-year old husband has been held, and a security official said she will remain in the hospital for the time being.

Arab unrest: Yemen

Security troops open fire at a protest march in the southern town of Ibb, killing three people and wounding scores, according to field doctor Mortada Seif. He says 10 of the wounded are in critical condition. Friday's shooting came as thousands marched in a funeral procession for a man who died in the town the previous day, when troops cracked down on an anti-government rally. Anti-government demonstrations are also held in several other cities and towns across Yemen, leading to dozens of injuries. Seven Yemeni soldiers were reported killed in two ambushes.

Arab unrest:LIBYA

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim says 11 Muslim clerics were killed in their sleep by a NATO airstrike on the eastern oil town of Brega, describing them as part of a large group of imams who had gathered to pray for peace in conflict-ridden Libya. He says 50 people were wounded, five critically. In response, NATO says it had attacked a command-and-control center used by Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Brega. NATO has been intensifying airstrikes against Gadhafi's installations, including one recent strike that hit his main compound in Tripoli.

Arab unrest: 19 dead in latest Syria shelling

Syrian tanks shelled residential areas in two towns and at least 19 people were killed across the country yesterday, according to reports.
Syrian tanks were yesterday said to be shelling three districts of the central industrial city of Homs. Bedouin villages in the vicinity were also targeted, confirming information from a Homsi source that impoverished tribal communities have been involved in unrest in the area.
An unidentified source, quoted on the Syria Comment website, said, “The vast majority of Homs is against ‘the revolution’” which, he stated, is being staged by people “from two or three tribes”.
Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria, said 13 people were killed in the town of Harra, about 60km northwest of Deraa city.

Most were killed when tanks shelled four houses. Two people - a child and a nurse - died in gunfire, he said.

Tanks also shelled a residential district in Syria's third largest city Homs and at least five people were killed, a rights campaigner in the city said. A sixth person was killed by a sniper shot to the head as he stood in front of his house.
The military crackdown continued in the region of Deraa, the epicentre of the protests, where three people were reportedly killed in the village of Jassem.
Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security sweeps were being carried out in the coastal city of Baniyas, encircled by troops. He said 270 people were released from detention and had signed an undertaking to stop protesting.
Al-Jazeera reported that black market arms dealers in neighbouring Lebanon were doing a brisk trade in automatic weapons which are being smuggled across the long, porous border into Syria, where gun ownership has been strictly controlled.
Some of the weapons could be destined to fight the regime, and some for self-defence in case the government falls. Amin Hoteit, a retired Lebanese army brigadier general, said most of the hot spots of the revolt are located near Syria’s borders with Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, where arms are available.
President Bashar al-Assad was quoted by Syria’s independent al-Watan  daily urging Syrians to co-operate with the government in order to ensure the reform process advances, and pledging that detainees would soon be freed. He made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation from the restive suburbs of Damascus, including Maadamiyeh which has been sealed off by the army while officers say troops are pursuing “armed gangs”.
Dr Assad’s cousin, businessman Rami Makhlouf, told the New York Times  that the regime would not surrender. “We will sit here. We call it fight to the end... [Opponents] should know when we suffer, we will not suffer alone.”
He is one of 13 people on whom sanctions have been imposed by the EU. Brussels is considering adding Dr Assad to the list. Between 620-880 people have been killed and 8,000-10,000 detained during eight weeks of unrest in the country.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon urged Dr Assad “to heed calls for reform and freedom and to desist from excessive force and mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators”. He expressed disappointment that UN teams had not yet visited Deraa and nearby Palestinian refugee camps although Dr Assad had said access would be granted.
The UN Relief and Works Agency that looks after Palestinian refugees has suspended operations for 50,000 registered refugees in camps in the Homs and Deraa areas due to unrest. Agency spokesman Chris Gunness said “getting supplies from Damascus to these areas” is difficult and “many people are not able to access these services because of the [precarious] security situation.”

SYRIA :Latest developments in Arab world's unrest

Security forces open fire on thousands of protesters, killing at least six people as soldiers try to head off demonstrations, according to human rights activists. A leading activist says three people were killed in Homs, two in Damascus, and one in a village outside Daraa. Three rallies were held in Damascus — the largest number of protests staged at once in the Syrian capital during the two-month revolt against President Bashar Assad. An activist in Homs says security forces dressed in black and shadowy pro-regime gunmen known as "shabiha" did the shooting. He says the regime forces first fired in the air, then shot directly into the crowd.


Methane Digesters and Biogas Recovery

Japan's Prime Minister to give up salary

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday that he will give up his salary until the nuclear crisis in the country is over.
He also said he would review the country's energy policy and consider other energy sources like wind and solar power.
Kan said he would give up his prime minister salary which is 1,636,000 yen a month ($20,200 a month), but he would still receive his lawmaker's salary.

The prime minister's announcement comes the same day that about 100 residents, who had been evacuated from an area close to Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, were allowed to return home Tuesday for a short visit to gather belongings. After donning protective suits to guard against radiation,the residents where allowed to go to their homes in the village of Kawauchi, officials said.

They were only allowed one small bag and could stay in their homes for two hours. For some, this was the first time they had been home since April 22 when the Japanese government issued the mandatory evacuation from a 20-kilometer area around the nuclear plant.
"I left my medicine even though I have a chronic illness. I need to get it," a man told Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Also left behind were pets.
Residents may be able to go back and get their pets in the near future, officials said. After two hours at their homes, residents were taken to a base to undergo examinations for radioactive substances. Cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo, were knocked out by the devastating tsunami that struck Japan's Pacific coast after a massive earthquake March 11.
The disaster triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl as the cores of reactors 1-3 overheated and spewed huge amounts of radioactive contamination across the surrounding area.

The disaster has led to mandatory evacuations of about 78,000 people living within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the plant. People living another 10 kilometers away -- or at least another 60,000 people -- have been ordered to remain sheltered.

Tunisia unveils new interim government free of Ben Ali allies

Tunisia's interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi announced Monday a new government free of any members of the regime of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, toppled in January in an uprising. The new 22-member interim government, called the "public authority", includes five new ministers and two women.
The removal from government of figures from the Ben Ali regime was a key demand of protests that continued after the fall of the authoritarian leader on January 14.
Following the protests, the previous interim prime minister, Mohammed Ghannouchi, and two other ministers who had also served in Ben Ali's government resigned last week.

Two ministers from the opposition quit days later.

Tunisian PM: ‘We are prepared for democracy’

Tunisia's new prime minister, 84-year-old Beji Caid Sebsi, has a history of pro-democracy advocacy in Tunisia, and has held several ministerial posts in the past -- most notably under President Habib Bourguiba, who led Tunisia to independence from France in 1956.
His appointment on February 27 followed the resignation of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who was forced out of office amid calls for a purge of ministers linked with ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
Here are some highlights from FRANCE 24’s exclusive interview.
On Tunisia’s security challenges
“Tunisia is going through an exceptional period after this revolution. The situation is better, but that does not mean we’ve reached our goals. The problem is security. It was our priority to re-establish order in the country, and now things are going well. There are still residual situations from the start of the revolution, but all that is subsiding. I think that since my arrival, trust is starting to come back. Trust is fragile and needs to be maintained.
Currently, order is in large part restored. The tourism problem is psychological. People think that it’s not good to go to a country after a revolution. I think they are mistaken, because the current situation creates no risk and no danger for tourists.”
On democracy
“The biggest expectation for a country emerging from a revolution is to initiate a democratic process. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible. If there’s a chance for democracy to be established in a 'third world' country, it’s indeed in Tunisia. We have all the ingredients in place. We are an informed people, we have worked hard to combat ignorance and illiteracy. It’s true that there are a lot of Tunisians with university degrees who are currently unemployed. But we also have a middle class and freedom for women; we’re better prepared for democracy than others.”
On foreign aid
“It’s not help we are asking for. We have already begun to make efforts ourselves. We will present a strong plan to help reduce unemployment in the region where there were the incidents that set off the revolution. But for the development of Tunisia, we need [foreign] investments.”
On relations with France
[Relations between Tunisia and France, closely linked by history trade, hit a rough patch in January when then-Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie suggested that French police forces could help their Tunisian counterparts control protesters. France was criticised for appearing to side with a repressive government against a mass movement calling for regime change.]
“You cannot govern with emotion. There are always more moments in relationships between countries that are more difficult than others. I’m looking at the future. What happened before I arrived in my position does not concern me.”

The Renaissance Party in Tunisia: The Quest for Freedom and Democracy

Police fire teargas at anti-government protest in Tunis

Tunisian police used teargas to disperse anti-government protesters in the capital Tunis on Sunday, one day after authorities imposed an overnight curfew amid growing unrest in the country. 

 

The North African country has struggled to restore stability since leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted earlier this year in a revolution which inspired uprisings across the Arab world.

 

Chanting protesters called for the departure of the government and Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi, whistling at black-clad riot police in central Tunis and throwing stones.

 

Police fired teargas to push the protesters into streets off the central Avenue Bourguiba.

 

“We only intervene when they throw stones, not when they insult us,” said one plain clothes officer, holding out a broken padlock he said the protesters had thrown.

 

“The police have to adapt to the new environment as well.  Four months is not long enough to change everyone’s mentality,” he said.

 

Tension is growing in Tunisia in the countdown to a July election for an assembly that will draw up a new constitution.

 

A moderate Islamist group banned under Ben Ali is expected to do well, unsettling many in the country’s secular establishment.

 

The spark for the violent protests over the past few days was a warning from a former interior minister that there would be a coup d’etat if the Islamist group, Ennahda, won the vote.

 

“The police reaction is too extreme against the people,” said Chaqib, a civil servant who did not want to give his family name. “It’s true there are criminals among the protesters, but the reaction is still too cruel. It is a return to the days of Ben Ali.”

 

Sunday’s protest was smaller than those on the previous three days.

 

Protesters fear the interim administration will renege on its commitment to guide Tunisia towards democracy after decades of autocratic rule under Ben Ali.

 

The authorities—who reject any suggestion there will be a coup—responded to the protests by imposing an overnight curfew starting on Saturday. They said it was to ensure the safety of citizens.

 

Some Tunisians condemn the renewed demonstrations and want to see a return to normality in the country of 10 million, where the turmoil and war in neighbouring Libya are expected to cut economic growth to little over one percent this year.

 

“Those who are demonstrating are those from the lowest level who have nothing to lose,” complained businessman Moez Hlcheri.  “You can’t have everything immediately. You have to work for it.”

Osama unarmed when shot dead – US

 Pakistan blamed worldwide intelligence lapses for a failure to detect Osama bin Laden living near its capital, while Washington worked to establish whether its ally had sheltered the al Qaeda leader.

A US acknowledgement bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead in Monday’s raid in Abbottabad raised accusations Washington had violated international law. Exact circumstances of his death remained unclear and could yet fuel controversy, especially in the Muslim world.

Pakistan faced national embarrassment, a leading Islamabad newspaper said, in explaining how the world’s most-wanted man was able to live for years in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, just north of the capital.

Islamabad vehemently denies it sheltered bin Laden.

“There is an intelligence failure of the whole world, not just Pakistan alone,” Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told reporters in Paris. “(If there are) ... lapses from the Pakistan side, that means there are lapses from the whole world.”

The revelation that bin Laden was unarmed contradicted an earlier US account that he had participated in a firefight with the helicopter-borne American commandos.

Al Arabiya television went further, suggesting the architect of the 9/11 attacks was first taken prisoner and then shot.

“A security source in the Pakistani security quoted the daughter of Osama bin Laden that the leader of al Qaeda was not killed inside his house, but had been arrested and was killed later,” the Arabic television station said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday cited the “fog of war” -- a phrase suggested by a reporter -- as a reason for the initial misinformation.

Bin Laden’s killing and the swift burial of his body at sea have produced some criticism in the Muslim world and accusations Washington acted outside international law.

“The Americans behaved in the same way as bin Laden: with treachery and baseness,” Husayn al-Sawaf, 25, a playwright, said in Cairo. “They should’ve tried him in a court. As for his burial, that’s not Islamic. He should’ve been buried in soil.”

But there has been no sign of mass protests or violent reaction on the streets in south Asia or the Middle East, where Islamist militancy appears to have been eclipsed by pro-democracy movements sweeping the region.

Washington will weigh sensitivities in the Muslim world when it decides whether to release photographs of bin Laden’s body which could provide proof for sceptics of his death.

Bin Laden was shot in the head.

“It’s fair to say that it’s a gruesome photograph,” Carney said. “I’ll be candid. There are sensitivities here in terms of the appropriateness of releasing photographs.”

There has been little questioning of the operation in the United States, where bin Laden’s killing was greeted with street celebrations. was there the possibility of catching osama alive that intelligent avoided

Meet al-Qaeda's No. 2: Ayman al-Zawahri

With Osama bin Laden dead, al-Qaeda "Chief Operations Officer" Ayman al-Zawahri will most likely take over the terrorist organization. But with al-Qaeda so decentralized and loosely linked, bin Laden's death is not likely to have many immediate effects. Bin Laden's killing might have mattered more in 2002 or 2003 but since then "popular opinion has moved more against him, and you no longer see Osama T-shirts for sale in the markets."Al-Qaeda is already going through a difficult time because it has been sidelined by the Arab Spring protests."

Zawahri has long been a major figure in al-Qaeda. He has been friends with bin Laden since fighting alongside him in the 1980s in Afghanistan, reports Reuters. Born to a rich Egyptian family in 1951, Zawahri has been a militant since 1973, when he was still a medical student. He was among the 301 people arrested for the assassination of Egyptian president President Anwar Sadat in 1981, but was cleared of involvement.

Bin Laden's sea burial sparks controversy

White House officials decided before Sunday's raid that if U.S. troops killed Osama bin Laden, they would bury him at sea in order to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine for his followers, a White House official said Monday.
"The burial of bin Laden's remains was done in strict conformance with Islamic precepts and practices," said John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser.
But some Islamic scholars and clerics were divided Monday over whether the sea burial was appropriate or an insult to Muslims. Several said bin Laden should have been buried on land with his head pointed toward Mecca. Sea burials are allowed, they said, only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.
The burial at sea "runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs," said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.
But Akbar Ahmed, Islamic studies chairman at American University, said the sea burial prevented bin Laden's resting place from becoming a focus for discontent. "Shrines are very powerful," he said. "Shrines of controversial figures in Muslim history become centers to attract the angry."
After the raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, military forces flew his body to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, in the North Arabian Sea, first making an unspecified stop en route.
The body was washed in accordance with Islamic custom, placed in a white sheet, then put inside a weighted bag, placed on a board, tipped up and then "eased into the sea," a senior defense official said. Is he really dead?

Record 312 Tornadoes Struck US in 24 Hours Last Week

Government experts say last week's tornado outbreak in the United States was a record breaker.
Officials say 312 twisters struck in a 24-hour period last Wednesday and Thursday — the largest number ever to hit the United States in one day.
The number far exceeds the old record of 148 tornadoes in April 1974.
Tornadoes were spotted last week from Missouri as far north as New York state. The storms killed at least 342 people, blowing entire towns off the map. Thousands are homelesss and damage estimates are likely to soar into the billions of dollars,
Scientists blame the unusually brutal outbreak on a strong jet stream that kept warm moist air firmly in place, clashing with cold air from the north. how can this natural eruptions be curtailed?

Al-Qaida Expected to Try to Avenge bin Laden’s Death

U.S. officials and security analysts are warning that the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden will likely lead the terrorist organization to try to retaliate with violence against American and other targets.

The killing of bin Laden comes nearly a decade after the catastrophic attacks by al-Qaida terrorists on the United States September 11, 2001.

A team of U.S. commandos carried out the operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, an affluent area not far from the capital, Islamabad.

The U.S. State Department quickly issued a worldwide travel alert, saying the killing could trigger anti-American violence.

U.S. officials stressed bin Laden’s death will not end the fight against terror. what is the best solution to these terrorist mayhem?

Pope John Paul II's beatification moves him closer to sainthood

Reporting from Vatican City —

Before hundreds of thousands of the Roman Catholic faithful, the late Pope John Paul II was beatified Sunday in a ceremony that declared him "blessed" and put the Polish pontiff one step closer to sainthood.

A packed St. Peter's Square erupted in applause when the current pope, Benedict XVI, recited the words that elevated his predecessor, whose massive portrait was then unveiled over the doorway of the basilica.

A choir broke into a chorus of "Amens" as some in the crowd wept. The French nun whose healing from Parkinson's disease was deemed a miracle performed by John Paul presented Benedict with a reliquary containing a vial of the late pope's blood, which will become an object of veneration.

Photos: Beatification of Pope John Paul II

The beatification, just six years after John Paul's death on April 2, 2005, was the fastest to happen after someone's death in modern times. The present pope waived the usual five-year waiting period before the lengthy canonization process is supposed to begin, a decision that some have criticized as hasty and political.

But the devotees who thronged the square and the streets leading into it dismissed such criticism, focusing instead on the positive legacy of a man who stood up to communism, traveled the world to renew the faith and survived a 1981 assassination attempt.

"He was admired as a saint when he was alive," said Beata Klepacka, 31, a doctor who came to Rome from London with her family to attend the beatification ceremony.

Rain and gray skies from the previous day gave way to sunshine Sunday morning as pilgrims from across the globe streamed into St. Peter's Square. Flags and banners marked out groups from as far away as South Africa and Brazil, the world's most populous Roman Catholic country.

Huge crowds built up in the streets around Vatican City as police closed off the square, which was already fully packed hours before the ceremonial Mass began at 10 a.m. Ambulances and rescue officials carried away those overcome by the heat or by the crush of people.

The large number of pilgrims was reminiscent of the big crowds that congregated in the square during John Paul's last days and for his funeral.

U.S. allies offer congratulations on death of Osama bin Laden

News that Osama bin Laden has been killed brought messages of congratulations from some of the United States' closest allies.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Bin Laden's death would "bring great relief to people across the world."

Photo gallery: Reactions to Osama bin Laden death

"Osama bin Laden was responsible for the worst terrorist atrocities the world has seen -- for 9/11 and for so many attacks, which have cost thousands of lives, many of them British," Cameron said in a statement. "It is a great success that he has been found and will no longer be able to pursue his campaign of global terror."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Bin Laden's death a "victory for justice, freedom and the common values of every democratic nation that fights shoulder to shoulder in the struggle against terrorism," Bloomberg News reported.

In India, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the killing of Bin Laden "deep inside Pakistan" underscored concern that terrorists "belonging to different organizations find sanctuary in Pakistan." Chidambaram urged Pakistan to arrest those involved in carrying out the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, according to Bloomberg News. How will the terrorist network react to this death?

Royal wedding: Couple opt for delayed honeymoon

The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have decided not to go on honeymoon immediately and will spend the weekend in the UK before the duke returns to work next week.

William and Catherine left Buckingham Palace by helicopter on Saturday, following their wedding parties.
They celebrated at the palace with 300 friends and family on Friday evening, after a larger lunchtime reception.
Meanwhile, Clarence House has released three official wedding photographs.
Privacy plea The locations of the couple's UK weekend and their honeymoon - which will be overseas - will not be disclosed in advance.
The couple have asked that their privacy be respected during the coming days, and while on their honeymoon.

Continue reading the main story

Peter Hunt, Royal correspondent

For a prince who's desperate to lead a near "normal" life, the discussion about the decision to delay the honeymoon is another reminder of just how much scrutiny he and his wife will be subjected to.
Within moments of the announcement of their delayed honeymoon, theories were being advanced as to the reason. These included not wanting to be seen sunning themselves at a time of austerity; William's commitment to his job; and a desire to play cat-and-mouse with the media.
And the truth? Well, William and Catherine aren't yet at the stage of tweeting their thoughts. Those close to them say there isn't one overriding reason. It was something they decided on months ago.
When he does pack his shorts and suntan oil, Prince William will be hoping they can slip away unobserved. His challenge is that there'll be photographers who'll want to capture him in those shorts.

On Saturday morning, the couple emerged hand-in-hand from Buckingham Palace's garden entrance.

The pair, who had spent the night at the Queen's official London home, stopped briefly to chat to two Royal Household footmen before boarding the helicopter.
Prince William will go back to his job as an RAF search and rescue pilot next week. They live on Anglesey, but St James's Palace said they would not be spending the long weekend there.
'A little jaded' The reception at the palace on Friday night, hosted by the Prince of Wales, is believed to have featured Prince Harry's best man speech and Michael Middleton's father-of-the-bride address.
The bride wore a white evening gown by Sarah Burton, who had also created her wedding dress, to the event.
Her sister Pippa changed for the party into a long emerald green sleeveless dress with a jewelled embellishment on the front and a plunging neckline.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

They had their own buzz - everyone had their own buzz. ”

Hugo Burnand Royal photographer

• In pictures: The official photographs

Middleton family friend Tony Ainsworth said: "I hear everyone's talking about Pippa. She looked stunning. She's the most eligible girl in the country right now."

The duchess's family, along with some of their guests, stayed at the exclusive Goring hotel near the palace.
Mr Ainsworth, from Dorset, said outside the hotel that the wedding had been "an historic occasion".
"After the concerns of getting to the church on time, it all went smoothly.
"We had a party at the hotel last night that went on well into the evening, so we're feeling a little jaded this morning."
He said the bride's parents had made an appearance after attending the reception at Buckingham Palace.
'Wonderful time' The official photographs of the wedding were released on Saturday, as the couple departed.
The pictures were taken in Buckingham Palace's throne room immediately after the bride and groom arrived from their marriage service at Westminster Abbey on Friday.
Three photos have been released, with one showing the couple alone, and a second that includes their bridesmaids and pageboys.

Click to play

The couple walked in the grounds of Buckingham Palace before flying to an undisclosed location

The final image adds the bride and groom's parents - the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Michael and Carole Middleton - along with the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Harry, maid of honour Pippa, and the bride's brother James.
Society photographer Hugo Burnand, who took the official wedding photographs, said there was a "buzz" in the room when he took the images.
"Amazingly it was a family wedding. From where I was and from their point of view it was two families coming together and that was the feeling, the sense of family and love going between everyone."
"They had their own buzz. Everyone had their own buzz. It was that excitement that I hope you feel at most weddings."
The Middleton family left the Goring, which they had booked out entirely for the wedding preparations, on Saturday.

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The Middleton family have left the Goring hotel in central London

Mr Middleton told the gathered crowd: "We had a wonderful time."
An estimated one million well-wishers gathered in London for the wedding while more than 24m viewers in the UK watched the event on television according to industry body Barb. The BBC said at its peak some 20m had tuned into its coverage of the wedding.
The service at the abbey was attended by 1,900 guests and ran smoothly, aside from a brief struggle to place the wedding ring on the bride's finger.
Later on Saturday, in keeping with a royal tradition begun by the Queen Mother, the bridal bouquet was left on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.

In smoggy Los Angeles, one neighborhood pushes back

News about Boyle Heights in Los Angeles tends to be about crime or gentrification. There’s little coverage of air pollution, lack of safe and green spaces, lack of access to affordable and healthy food options — or the residents and organizations that are determined to change this.
On April 5, the East LA Community Corporation gathered community members to discuss the Boyle Heights Clean Air pilot project in which residents will collect data on local pollution and health risks.
“People really want to engage with us. They want to mobilize, act, and learn more,” said Lina Stepick, community organizing fellow at ELACC.
In January, the Clean Up Green Up campaign was launched and proposed to bring greener industries and jobs to “toxic hot spot” communities where concentrations of environmental hazards have resulted in high levels of health risks, including cancer and asthma. Clean Up Green Up is led by Communities for a Better Environment, Coalition for a Safe Environment, Pacoima Beautiful and Union de Vecinos.
“We know that Boyle Heights is very polluted and it’s a concern in our community. The children have asthma and there are more and more illnesses. We don’t know if it has to do with the pollution, the freeways, and the cars and trucks in our community,” said Angela Gutierrez, a volunteer at Union de Vecinos and White Memorial Hospital.
A mostly working class Latino neighborhood east of the Los Angeles River and north of the industrial city of Vernon, Boyle Heights has long been home to immigrant families, rich social capital and strong civic engagement.
It also has experienced generations of environmental inequality.
In the summer of 2006, The Southeast Regional Energy Center proposed building a 943-megawatt fossil fuel power plant that would emit approximately 1.7 million pounds of toxic pollution per year as well as 2.8 million tons of green house gases. The plant would have affected the communities living in the six-mile radius around the proposed 27-acre site on the southeast corner of Boyle and Fruitland Avenues in Vernon.
Residents and organizations from surrounding communities, including Boyle Heights, formed an alliance and fought against the proposed project for three years. In 2009, Vernon abandoned its plan.
The alliance led mostly by immigrant Latinas, youth, and supported by several organizations including Mother’s of East Los Angeles, Resurrection Church and Communities for a Better Environment was a victory for low-income communities across the country that are suffering from political, economic and social inequities.
“Environmental issues are just one of many issues of structural inequality faced by poor people of color. You can’t understand this issue as separate from the attacks on undocumented immigrants, inequality in schools, housing, and employment, police brutality, cultural language repression, all of the facets of people’s repression,” said Bill Gallegos, executive director of Communities for a Better Environment.

Gaddafi survives air strikes, son killed-govt

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi survived a NATO air strike on a Tripoli house that killed his youngest son and three grandchildren, a government spokesman said on Sunday. Libyan officials took journalists to the house, which had been hit by at least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in in places, leaving mangled rods of reinforcing steel hanging down among splintered chunks of concrete.
"What we have now is the law of the jungle," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told a news conference. "We think now it is clear to everyone that what is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians."
NATO denied targeting Gaddafi, or his family, but said it had launched air strikes on military targets in the same area of Tripoli as the bombed site seen by reporters.
"NATO continued its precision strikes against regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Aziziyah neighbourhood shortly after 1800 GMT Saturday evening," the alliance said in a statement.
NATO's commander of Libya operations, Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, said the target was part of a strategy to hit command centres that threaten civilians.
"All NATO's targets are military in nature ... We do not target individuals," he said in a statement.
Ibrahim said Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif Al-Arab, had been killed in the attack. Saif al-Arab, 29, is one of Gaddafi's less prominent sons, with a limited role in the power structure. Ibrahim described him as a student who had studied in Germany.
The grandchildren killed were pre-teens, Ibrahim said.
The appearance of an assassination attempt against Gaddafi is likely to lead to accusations that the British- and French-led strikes are overstepping the U.N. mandate to protect civilians.
"I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Gaddafi's family members may have been killed," said Bouchard. "We regret all loss of life."

SECOND CLOSE CALL IN 24 HOURS
Gaddafi, who seized power in a 1969 coup, is fighting an uprising by rebels who have seized much of eastern Libya. He describes the rebels as religious extremists and Western agents who seek to control Libya's oil.
Inside one part of the villa hit late on Saturday, a beige corner sofa was virtually untouched, but debris had caved in on other striped upholstered chairs. The blasts were heard across the city.
A table football machine stood outside in the garden in a wealthy residential area. Glass and debris covered the lawns and what appeared to be an unexploded missile lay in one corner.
It appeared to be the second NATO strike near to Gaddafi in 24 hours. A missile struck near a television station early on Saturday when the Libyan leader was making an address in which he said he would never step down and offered talks to rebels.
The rebels insist they cannot trust Gaddafi. The last few days have seen fierce shelling of rebel outposts in the west. A rebel spokesman in the mountain town of Zintan said government forces has showered the city with up to 30 powerful Grad missiles late in the evening.
Tripoli has also declared a sea blockade on the western outpost of Misrata, potentially robbing the rebels of a vital aid link to their eastern heartland.

"FIGHT AND FIGHT"
Celebratory rifle fire and car horns rang out in the rebels' eastern capital of Benghazi as news of the attack spread.
"The leader himself is in good health. He wasn't harmed," Ibrahim said. "His wife is also in good health.
"This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country. This is not permitted by international law. It is not permitted by any moral code or principle."
The announcement of the attack was made live on state television which later showed Tripoli residents marching on the streets, chanting "the martyr is the beloved of God". Some fired guns into the air.
U.S. White House press secretary Jay Carney said the White House was aware of Libyan media reports Gaddafi's son had been killed and was monitoring the situation.
Gaddafi's daughter was killed in a U.S. air strike in 1986, ordered after a bomb attack on a West Berlin discotheque killed two U.S. servicemen. Washington linked Tripoli to the attack.
"We will fight and fight if we have to," Ibrahim said. "The leader offered peace to NATO yesterday and NATO rejected it."
Fighting in Libya's civil war, which grew from protests for greater political freedom that have spread across the Arab world, has reached stalemate in recent weeks with neither side capable of achieving a decisive blow.
Libyan forces had reached the gates of Benghazi last month when Gaddafi appeared on television declaring he would crush the rebellion, showing "no pity, no mercy". Days later the United Nations passed its resolution allowing the air strikes and saving the rebels from defeat. (Additional reporting by Tarek Amara and Abdelaziz Boumzar in Dehiba, Deepa Babington and Michael Georgy in Benghazi, Matthew Tostevin in Tunis, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Writing by Ralph Boulton; Editing by Jon Hemming and Robert Birsel)