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Tuesday, July 5, 2011 02 www.qatar-tribune.com QT SPOTLIGHT ON DEMOCRACY IN ARAB WORLD Qadhafi can stay in Libya if he quits: rebel chief REUTERS BENGHAZI Moamer Qadhafi is welcome to live out his retirement inside Libya as long as he gives up all power, Libya’s rebel chief said in the clearest concession the rebels have so far offered. Qadhafi has resisted all international calls for him to go and said he will fight to the end, but members of his inner circle have given indications they are ready to negotiate with the rebels, including on the Libyan leader’s future. Qadhafi is still holding on to power, five months into a rebellion against his 41- year rule and despite a NATO bombing campaign and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity. “As a peaceful solution, we offered that he can resign and order his soldiers to withdraw from their barracks and positions, and then he can decide either to stay in Libya or abroad,” rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told Reuters in an interview. “If he desires to stay in Libya, we will determine the place and it will be under international supervision. And there will be international supervision of all his movements,” said Jalil, who heads the rebels’ National Transitional Council. Speaking in his eastern Libyan stronghold of Benghazi, Abdel Jalil, Qadhafi’s former justice minister, said he made the proposal about a month ago through the United Nations but had yet to receive any response from Tripoli. He said one suggestion was that Qadhafi could spend his retirement under guard in a military barracks. Abdel Jalil’s remarks stirred an emotional reaction in Benghazi, with a small protest against any talks with Qadhafi breaking out outside a hotel, and the rebel council playing down any speculation about a widening rift among its leaders. Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, a council vice chairman, told reporters an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Qadhafi had now made any such proposal null and Meanwhile Turkey, which had close economic ties to Qadhafi before the uprising, pledged $200 million in aid for the rebels on Sunday. That was in addition to a $100 million fund announced in June. The rebels say they need more than $3 billion to cover salaries and other needs over the next six months. “Public demand for reforms should be answered, Qadhafi should go and Libya shouldn’t be divided,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Benghazi. 20 hurt by Syrian troops in sweeping raids on Hama city AP BEIRUT SYRIAN troops raided homes and made sweeping arrests in Hama on Monday, wounding at least 20 people before sealing off the city just days after about 300,000 protesters there held the largest demonstration since the uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in mid-March, activists said. Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said he was told by Hama hospital officials that most of the wounded suffered shots from pump action rifles used by security forces. A major operation in Hama, a city with a history of militancy against the Assad regime, could lead to an outcry. In 1982, Assad’s late father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, ordered his troops to crush a rebellion by Sunni fundamentalists, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say. “There is some kind of a siege on the city. They are closing all roads leading to Hama,” said Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso. Osso said the move came amid a reshuffle of security officials in Hama. On Pro-democracy activists, in Damascus, on Monday. (AP) Saturday, Assad fired Hama’s governor, Ahmed Abdul-Aziz. Syria’s state-run news agency hasn’t said why the governor was dismissed. But some activists said they feared Abdul-Aziz, viewed as sympathetic to the demonstrators, was dismissed to give freer rein to the security forces in the city. The troops moved out of Hama after a June 3 shootings there that killed 65 people. Since then, the streets had been fully under the sway of the opposition until Monday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said armed and security forces detained more than 20 people in some Hama neighbourhoods on Monday. Turkey recognises Libya rebels, promises more aid AP BENGHAZI TURKEY’S foreign minister recognised Libya’s rebel leaders as the country’s legitimate representatives and promised them an additional $200 million in aid during a visit on Sunday. The visit by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu marked Turkey’s strongest show of support yet for the opposition forces trying to out Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi. Turkey, a regional power, initially balked at the idea of military action in Libya and Turkish companies were involved in Libyan construction projects worth billions of dollars before the outbreak of an anti-Qadhafi uprising in February. The revolt has turned into a protracted, largely deadlocked armed conflict, in which the rebels control Libya’s eastern third, while Qadhafi clings to power in the west, but has been unable to crush pockets of resistance there. As a NATO member, Turkey is now supporting the alliance’s airstrikes against targets linked to the Qadhafi regime. The visit by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu marked Turkey’s strongest show of support yet for the opposition forces trying to out Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi. Davutoglu met with Mustafa Abdul- Jalil, chairman of the rebels’ National Transitional Council, in a heavily guarded government building in the city of Benghazi, the rebel’s main stronghold in eastern Libya. A rebel spokesman played down media reports quoting Abdul-Jalil as saying Qadhafi has the option to remain in Libya. Jordan treads warily in turmoil of Arab Spring AP AMMAN AT the traffic circle in front of the prime minister’s office, demonstrators still crowd the streets every week after Friday prayers. Six months since the protests in this desert kingdom started, hundreds of people still join in weekly chants calling for political reform. They still hold up signs demanding an end to government corruption. But after about an hour of angry speeches, with 100 or so unarmed policemen watching from a polite distance, the protesters shake hands and head home. Friday is the weekend in Jordan, and even demonstrators want to get home to their families. The protests of the Arab Spring have shaken much of the Middle East, but a handful of countries have found ways to prevent or calm the anger of the streets. Most prominent is Saudi Arabia, the oil behemoth that has headed off potential opposition by spreading the wealth, spending tens of millions of dollars to boost salaries. Then there is resourcestarved Jordan, with its ragged deserts and sputtering economy, where the massive and sometimes-violent protests of early 2011 have quieted to the weekly demonstrations. At the heart of the political standoff is a half-British king trying to avoid the tumult. A darling of Western governments who celebrate him and his beautiful Palestinian queen as modern celebritymonarchs, King Abdullah II has ushered in little democratic reform despite years of promises. The king sits at the helm of a sprawling intelligence service, a carefully lubricated patronage system and a UStrained military. The economy is largely dependent on aid from Washington and Saudi Arabia. Government opponents say their phones are bugged and houses watched. At times, such as during national and municipal voting in 2007, his regime has blatantly rigged elections, critics say. In Jordan, the king does face increasing criticism, but even the angriest political protesters seldom hold him responsible for their country’s troubles. His family dynasty, the Hashemites, rose to power centuries ago as the protectors of the Muslim holy city of Mecca. That, combined with the elaborate system of patronage aimed at powerful local leaders, has earned them immense loyalty among the Bedouin tribes. Protesters demand more reforms in Morocco AP RABAT Anti- government protesters shout slogans during a rally, in Casablanca, on Sunday. (AP) THOUSANDS of pro-democracy activists in Morocco protested across the country on Sunday to demand more reforms two days after voters overwhelmingly approved a new constitution the king said will expand freedoms. The demonstrations were a show of strength for the February 20 movement, whose rallies over the past few months prompted King Mohammed VI to amend the constitution as part of his own democratic reform. “We are here to say no to the referendum and the constitution,” said Oussama Khlifi, one of the founders of the movement, which brings together young, Facebook-using activists and members of Morocco’s Islamist movement. “We want a parliamentary monarchy with a king that reigns, but does not rule and we want a real fight against corruption.” The North African country of 32 million has been swept by pro-democracy protests, like in other countries across the Arab world, denouncing low wages, poor education and perceptions of widespread government corruption. But protesters have not called for the ouster of the 47-year-old king, who remains popular. Instead, they have called for the curtailing of his absolute powers and more official accountability.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 GULF / MIDDLE EAST www.qatar-tribune.com 03 3 policemen among 10 killed, 28 injured in Iraq attacks AFP BAGHDAD BOMB and gun attacks across Iraq on Monday killed at least 10 people and wounded 28, many of them policemen and soldiers, security officials said. In Baghdad’s Mansur neighbourhood, three policeman were killed and one wounded by an improvised bomb that also hurt three civilians, an interior ministry official said. Another suicide bomber in the Baab al Muadham neighbourhood of central Baghdad wounded five security personnel guarding a bus station, the official said. In south Baghdad an improvised bomb killed one person and wounded three others. Meanwhile, in the city of Fallujah, 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded outside a hospital killing a policeman and a civilian, said police official Major Nuri al Jumaili. Eight other people were wounded, five of them policemen. In Haditha, also in western Iraq, a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-packed belt near the city council building, wounding two policemen, he said. In southern Babil AFP TEHRAN IRAN is ready if threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to ships linking the Gulf to international markets, Revolutionary Guards commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari told Mehr news agency on Monday. “In light of the strategic position of the Strait of Hormuz, this issue has never been taken off the agenda,” Jafari said, commenting on whether Tehran was still prepared to close down the shipping lane if threatened. “We have not stopped there... we are seeking to use our defence capabilities Coffins bearing the remains of 32 Iraqi soldiers who were killed during the 1991 Gulf war, in Basra, on Monday. Iraq on Monday held an official ceremony after receiving the remains of the soldiers from Kuwait, an Iraqi army source said. (AP) province, a roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded two civilians, and a gunman assassinated a policeman from the anti-crimes unit. Three children foraging Iranian Guards ready to close Strait of Hormuz in open waters,” Jafari added as forces under his command prepared to launch the naval phase of the 10-day Great Prophet-6 exercise, which lasts until Friday. Media reported the Guards will launch surfaceto-sea missiles on Tuesday. So far, during the drills, the Guards have launched a range of ballistic missiles that Iran says are able to hit Israel and US bases in the region. “This means that should the enemy try to pose a threat against the Islamic republic from outside the Strait of Hormuz, we will have the power to retaliate in kind. This strategy is now on our agenda,” said Jafari. through a rubbish heap also were wounded by a bomb. Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, gunmen with silencers killed a member of President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic AP TUNIS THE second trial of Tunisia’s former president opened dramatically on Monday when the court-appointed defence lawyers walked out after their request for a postponement was denied. After a short recess, prosecutors called for the most severe penalites possible for Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who faces charges of drug and weapons trafficking and the illicit possession of archeological artifacts. The former leader and his family fled to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14 after a monthlong popular uprising against his rule. He is now being tried in absentia by the new government for a range of crimes, Union of Kurdistan in Diyala, and a soldier was killed and one wounded by an improvised bomb outside the city of Mosul, security officials said. June was the deadliest including corruption, embezzlement and ordering the death of protesters. Ben Ali has foreign attorneys, but Tunisian law says lawyers from other countries cannot represent clients being tried in absentia. As a result, the former president is being represented by courtappointed defenders, Hosni Beji and Bechir Mahfoudhi. Beji asked the judge for sufficient time to contact his month this year for the number of Iraqis killed in attacks, according to government figures. It was the bloodiest since June 2008 for US troops, who are due to withdraw from Iraq by the end of this year. A total of 271 Iraqis and 14 US soldiers lost their lives in June. Iraq has blamed Al Qaeda for the increased death toll in June. Lawyers walk out of Tunisian ex-president’s trial Court President Louhami Hafi gestures as the second trial of Tunisia’s former president opened dramatically, in Tunis, on Monday. (AP) client and convince him to attend the trial, while his colleague asked for more a delay so that they could better prepare the defence. Their requests were denied. “We would have like a fair trial,” said Beji, before leaving with his colleague. As they left the court, the lawyers were booed by onlookers, who shouted they should resign. “Good riddance, you would have done better defending the victims of Ben Ali rather than be the lawyers for a torturer,” said Ali Laayouni, a young unemployed graduate from the center of the country where the rebellion first broke out. Ben Ali’s fall inspired similar pro-democracy uprisings against the region’s autocratic rulers that is now being called the “Arab Spring.” Uneasy calm in Bahrain REUTERS MANAMA AN uneasy calm presides in the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain after the government cracked down on mass protests led mostly by its majority Shiite population which threatened the stability of the country. In March, Bahrain’s Sunni rulers crushed mass protests demanding greater political liberties, a greater say in government and an end to what they said was systematic discrimination against Shiites in jobs and services. After crushing protests with a rolling crackdown in which hundreds of people were arrested and up to 2,000 sacked from their jobs, the government lifted emergency law last month and in early July, Bahrain kicked off a national dialogue which the king said would be open to all kinds of reforms. But since emergency law was lifted, small protests in Shiite villages ringing Manama have erupted daily, held in check only by heavy police deployment. Those protests are starting to gain some steam as many have begun to voice their rejection of a dialogue they argue is weighted against them, a sentiment that could further stoke simmering tensions. Sectarian divisions have long festered in Bahrain even before tens of thousands took to the streets in February and March. Shiites complain of unequal access to state jobs, housing and health care — accusations the government denies. The Sunni al Khalifa family rules over 1.2 million people, about half of them foreigners. Shiites say Bahrain is trying to change the demographic balance by granting citizenship and jobs in the security apparatus to Sunnis from elsewhere. The Shiite population says hundreds have been arrested during the crackdown and stateowned companies have fired thousands of Shiite workers, a trend that could deepen economic inequalities. Saboteurs bomb Egypt gas pipeline to Israel, Jordan AFP CAIRO SABOTEURS bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula on Monday for the third time since February, cutting supplies to Israel and Jordan. Officials said a car had parked near the pipeline in the Bir al Abd area, 80 kilometres (about 50 miles) from the northern Sinai town of El Arish, shortly before the explosion. They said the bomb was activated remotely, without reports of casualties. North Sinai governor Abdel Wahab Mabrouk condemned the bombing as a “terrorist act meant to jeopardise the stability and security of Sinai,” the official MENA news agency quoted him as saying. A second device was found near the bomb blast “but the army has dealt with it before it exploded”, said Magdi Tawfiq, head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Company (GASCO). He told MENA that emergency services brought the fire under control and a committee was formed to investigate. “The company will work to fix the pipeline in Sinai as soon as the fire is completely out,” he said. Witnesses said the flames at their peak reached as high as 10 metres (32 feet). It was the third attack on the gas pipeline since February, a time of political upheaval when an uprising toppled former president Hosni Mubarak and saw power handed over to a military council. An April 27 attack on the pipeline in Al Sabil area of north Sinai cut off international gas supplies. In February, attackers blew up a Flames erupting from a blast at Egyptian gas pipeline supplying gas to Israel and Jordan in Al Arish, Egypt, on Monday. (EPA) sector of the pipeline in the town of Lihfren, also in north Sinai, near the Gaza Strip. Another attempt to attack the pipeline in March failed. An Israeli official dismissed fears of domestic power cuts following the latest blast. “At the moment there is no supply of gas from Egypt,” national infrastructures ministry spokeswoman Maya Etzioni told AFP. But “we are prepared, as always, with alternative solutions, with alternative supplies. There’s gas from Yam Thetis,” she said in reference to an Israeli offshore gas field. Egypt supplies about 40 percent of Israel’s natural gas which is used to produce electricity. Israeli security sources said they received intelligence about 10 days ago that a global Jihadist group was planning to hit the Sinai pipeline, but added it was too early to say if the unnamed organisation was behind Monday’s attack. Jordanian officials have also been in talks with their Egyptian counterparts “to determine the damage and discuss solutions,” Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said. “Jordan will face unusual problems this summer if this issue continues,” Abdul Fattah Nsur, director of Jordan Central Electricity Generation Co, told Petra. Jordan, which buys 95 percent of its energy needs, imports about 240 million cubic feet (6.8 million cubic metres) of Egyptian gas a day, or 80 percent of its electricity requirements. In April, Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf asked for the revision of all contracts to supply gas abroad, including to Israel. Sharaf said the contracts would be revisited so the gas “would be sold with deserved prices that achieve the highest returns for Egypt.” The controversial gas deal with Israel has been repeatedly challenged in Egyptian courts due to its secretive clauses and over prices, and because it was sealed without parliamentary consultation. In May, Jordan said Egypt was withholding its contracted gas supply to energy-poor Jordan unless a new deal was signed at a higher price. Under a 14-year deal signed in 2002, Egypt used to sell gas to Jordan at a discounted price — half of the market price, or $3 (2.16 euros) per million British Thermal Units (1,000 cubic feet of gas equals 1.027 million BTU).
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4 HMC employees killed, 10 injured in accident - Qatar Tribune

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