Syrians Flee Northern Town, Fearing Military Assault

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 7:50 pm (UTC-5)
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Hundreds of Syrians fled the northern city of Maarat al-Numan Wednesday ahead of a feared military assault, as Turkey's prime minister pushed President Bashar al-Assad to end a crackdown against a widening anti-government uprising.

Witnesses and activists in Maarat al-Numan say Syrian troops intermittently shelled areas near the city and raided nearby villages, making arrests.

Major General Riad Haddad, head of the Syrian military's political department, said Wednesday that tanks surrounding the city had not “yet” entered – suggesting they were readying an operation. Syrian forces remain in control of the nearby flashpoint town of Jisr al-Shughour after pushing into it on Sunday.

General Haddad confirmed witness accounts that army units have also surrounded the eastern town of al-Boukamal near the Iraqi border, where clashes have broken out between protesters and pro-Assad loyalists.

The area borders Iraq's Sunni heartland and the two sides are linked by numerous family ties and trade routes. Forces also entered nearby Deir al-Zour, one of Syria's largest cities, where protests continued.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held crisis talks Wednesday with an envoy of Syria's president in Ankara. Hassan Turkmani met for almost three hours with Mr. Erdogan, who has expressed impatience over Syria's repressive tactics and slowness to reform, as well as anger over a growing humanitarian crisis.

No statements came out of the meeting.

The number of Syrians who have fled the violence and crossed the Turkish border in the past week has swelled to 8,500.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu toured an area near the frontier Wednesday, stopping at the border fence to greet displaced people on the Syrian side. Davutoglu also spoke with wounded refugees lying on beds in Turkish camps.

Syria is urging people who fled to Turkey to escape the crackdown in Jisr al-Shughour to return home. Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said electricity, water and communications had been restored to the city and that the area was safe.

An Associated Press reporter on a government-organized trip to Jisr al-Shughour was shown a mass grave there Wednesday, an attempt to bolster official claims that “armed gunmen” last week killed 120 security personnel.

But residents and soldiers who have deserted said those killed were civilians and security forces who had mutinied, refusing to shoot protesters and joining anti-government demonstrators.

In Geneva, the United Nations' top human rights official called for a thorough investigation into allegations of widespread abuses in Syria during the government's crackdown on dissent.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also renewed her call Wednesday for Syria to grant access for a U.N. fact-finding mission. Her office has released a report citing allegations against Syrian forces that include an excessive use of force against civilians, arbitrary detentions and torture.

It says the most “egregious” allegations concern the use of live ammunition against civilians.

Rights activists say 1,300 civilians and 340 security force members have been killed since the protests against Mr. Assad's government began in mid-March.

About 10,000 people have been detained.

Obama Administration Defends Legality of Libya Conflict

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 7:40 pm (UTC-5)
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The Obama administration is defending the legality of its involvement in the Libya conflict, saying President Barack Obama did not exceed his powers in ordering the action.

In a report to Congress Wednesday, the White House said U.S. military action in Libya does not require congressional authorization because American forces are playing a “limited, supporting” role.

A senior administration official said Mr. Obama is operating consistently with the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires U.S. forces to withdraw from military operations by the 90-day mark, absent congressional authorization.

The speaker in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican John Boehner , warned Mr. Obama this week he will violate the War Powers Act unless U.S. operations in Libya end by this Sunday — the 90-day mark — or he asks for and receives congressional approval to continue the mission.

In response to Wednesday's report, a Boehner spokesman said President Obama has “fallen short” of his obligation to properly explain U.S. involvement in Libya to the American people.

Mr. Obama told Congress in March of his decision to take military action in Libya, but did not seek congressional approval.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 10 House lawmakers filed a legal challenge to Mr. Obama's decision to take military action in Libya without seeking authorization from Congress.

Obama administration officials originally described the U.S. military commitment in Libya as an emergency move to protect Libyan civilians from their government's violent suppression of opposition to leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The U.S. has had a key support role in the operation, including aerial refueling of warplanes and providing intelligence and surveillance.

The War Powers Act calls for the president to notify congressional leaders within 48 hours of a U.S. military action. It also prohibits U.S. forces from being involved in military efforts for more than 60 days without congressional authorization, and includes an additional 30-day withdrawal period.

The House passed a resolution this month demanding a report from Congress on the Libya military operation.

Gates: Karzai Planning to Step Down in 2014

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 7:40 pm (UTC-5)
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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told him he plans to step down when his current term ends in 2014.

Gates, who testified before a Senate panel Wednesday, praised Mr. Karzai for pursuing a long-term relationship with the United States even though Washington has “often not done a very good job of listening” to his concerns. Gates also said the Afghan leader understands the U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan and the importance of the U.S. role in rebuilding the war-torn country.

The testimony came after U.S. President Barack Obama held another in a series of regular meetings with his national security team about the size and scope of a U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, scheduled to begin in July.

Secretary Gates has said he believes the beginning of a U.S. troop drawdown should be modest in terms of numbers. He said Afghanistan is “not a war without end,” and underscored the danger of allowing failure of the mission.

White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to say whether the withdrawal was on the agenda for Wednesday's meeting. He said the U.S. has made significant progress in Afghanistan but that Mr. Obama has yet to make a decision on how quickly to remove U.S. forces.

U.S. and NATO forces are scheduled to transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

Also Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 27 U.S. senators sent President Obama a letter urging him to accelerate the troop pullout. The letter said the U.S. has “largely met” its goals of destroying al-Qaida's haven, removing the Taliban government and chasing down those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S.

Meanwhile, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, is in Washington preparing for the U.S. Senate hearing next week to confirm his nomination as the new CIA director.

The White House spokesman was evasive on the question of meetings between the general and the president.

Congressional Committee Studies ‘Muslim Radicalization’ in US

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 7:20 pm (UTC-5)
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A U.S. congressional committee has met once again to investigate what one lawmaker calls Islamic radicalization in the United States – a topic that has drawn criticism from Muslims and other groups.

The congressman who heads the panel, New York Republican Peter King, says he called the hearings because al-Qaida is actively trying to radicalize young Muslims in the United States. He says the danger is “real and present.”

Wednesday's session, the second meeting on the topic, focused on Muslims in U.S. prisons, with testimony from law enforcement officials and others.

Several state and local law enforcement officials told the panel that radical Islamic groups abroad are targeting the U.S. prison population for recruits to carry out terrorist attacks against Americans.

Some Democrats on the committee, however, protested the narrow focus of the hearing on one religious group. They say Congress should investigate a broad spectrum of domestic terrorist threats, including anti-government hate groups and white supremacists.

The committee's top Democrat, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said it appears that instances of Islamic radicalization in prison are few, and that threats such as those posed by gangs, lone individuals, and right wing radicals should be pursued.

Michael Downing, a top official in the Los Angeles Police Department, described the prison conversions to radical Islam as a low-volume occurrence, but said it is of consequence considering the size of the U.S. prison population, the largest in the world.

He said prisoners are susceptible to recruitment by extremist groups because of their isolation, their violent tendencies and their cultural discontent.

When King's committee met three months ago for its first hearing on Muslim radicalization, emotions ran high on Capitol Hill. Testifying before a large crowd of reporters, activists and spectators, the first Muslim American elected to Congress, Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, broke down in tears as he spoke.

King on Wednesday dismissed the protests and criticism in March over the first hearing as “mindless hysteria.”

Protesters Defy Lukashenko, March in Belarus

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 7:00 pm (UTC-5)
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About 1,000 Belarusian opposition supporters defied President Alexander Lukashenko and held a peaceful protest march in central Minsk Wednesday.

Mr. Lukashenko warned he would strike hard at any demonstration against his policies.

Organizers used social media and the internet to spread the word about Wednesday's march. Police stood by before peacefully dispersing the protesters.

Many Belarusians are angry over the country's deteriorating economy, the plummeting value of the ruble, and a sharp rise in the price of gasoline.

The United States has called Mr. Lukashenko Europe's last dictator because of his suppression of human rights and free speech and allegedly rigging elections.

Belarusian police used violence to break up opposition protests against last December's presidential election, which Mr. Lukashenko won by a landslide. A number of opposition candidates were beaten and jailed.

Heavy Rain Kills More People in China, Forces Evacuations

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 6:55 pm (UTC-5)
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A new round of rainstorms pounded central and southern China Wednesday, causing more deaths and massive evacuations.

The government has ordered some 88,000 people in six provinces to evacuate. The Xinhua news agency reported that 72,000 people were evacuated in southern Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces Wednesday. It said the rain also toppled more than 1,300 houses in Jiangxi.

Heavy downpours in the past week have triggered floods and landslides across central and southern China, killing more than 110 people so far. Many others are missing.

More than 55,000 people were evacuated Tuesday from flooded areas of Hubei province, most of them from the city of Xianning.

The government Wednesday allocated about $20 million to help recovery efforts in Hubei and Hunan provinces, which have been the hardest hit by storms.

Some of the southern provinces that have been pounded with rain since early June were previously parched by drought.

Weather officials have said that in some regions, the heavy rains will continue until Friday.

Philippines Says it Removed “Foreign” Markers From South China Sea

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 6:46 pm (UTC-5)
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The Philippine navy has removed foreign marker posts installed on three reefs and banks in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, which Manila now calls the West Philippine Sea.

Officials said Wednesday the unidentified posts were removed in May from Reed bank, Boxall Reef and Amy Douglas Bank, shortly before the government protested China's alleged incursions in Philippine territorial waters.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Yang Yi reiterated Beijing's position Wednesday, saying that China has indisputable sovereignty in the area. The disputed region comprises the uninhabited Spratly and Paracel islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

Beijing has also been involved in a maritime dispute with Vietnam after Chinese vessels twice interfered with oil survey ships operating off Vietnam's coast.

Vietnam and the Philippines have both sought U.S. backing in the disputes, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Chinese government.

The United States has expressed support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and for freedom of movement in the disputed waterway.

Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also have overlapping territorial claims in the region, which is believed to contain vast oil and gas reserves.

China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia claim all or part of the Spratly Islands. China, Vietnam and Taiwan also claim the Paracel.

Philippine presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda Wednesday welcomed assurances by China's Foreign Ministry that China will not resort to the use of force. He said Manila has always maintained that there should be a peaceful resolution to the maritime dispute.

U.S. Senator Jim Webb, , Monday urged Congress to condemn China's actions in the disputed waters.

China has said it is “firmly opposed” to foreign involvement in the regional disputes, but said it wants to resolve the conflict peacefully.

Ban: “Deeply Concerned” Over Escalating Sudan Violence

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 6:40 pm (UTC-5)
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is “deeply concerned” about the escalating violence between troops from northern and southern Sudan as the south prepares to declare independence next month.

In a statement by his spokesman Wednesday, Mr. Ban called for an end to hostilities in Southern Kordofan state where fighting in the last ten days has displaced 60,000 people. He urged both sides to allow the U.N. unfettered access to ensure the safety of its staff and bring assistance to the local population.

In a separate statement, a top U.N. humanitarian official said aid agencies were being severely hampered in their efforts to bring help to those in need. She also called on both sides to refrain from targeting civilians.

Officials say a joint U.N.-African Union mission will head to Sudan's Southern Kordofan state Thursday in an effort to bring a halt to the heavy fighting there.

Meanwhile, a southern army spokesman, Philip Aguer, says northern and southern troops exchanged fire Wednesday on the Bahr al-Arab River, also known as the Kiir River, when northern troops tried to cross a bridge.

Aguer said there were casualties but did not say whether anyone was killed.

There was no immediate comment from north Sudan officials. The AP newswire quotes a U.N. spokeswoman saying there are conflicting reports over which side was trying to cross the bridge.

The renewed violence comes as the AU is hosting talks in Addis Ababa to try mediate between the north and south.

The AU said Monday the sides had agreed in principle to demilitarize Abyei, which the north occupied last month. But VOA's Peter Heinlein, who is present at the talks, reports that deal appears to be unraveling.

Heinlein reports the mission to Southern Kordofan will be led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who heads a high-level AU panel on Sudan, and the U.N. secretary-general's special representative to Sudan, Haile Menkerios.

U.S. President Barack Obama has called on the north Sudanese government to stop what he called its “campaign of intimidation” along the north-south border.

In an audio message aired by VOA late Tuesday, Mr. Obama said the leaders of both north and south Sudan must live up to their responsibilities and agree to end the violence.

If they flout their obligations, Mr. Obama said they will face international pressure and isolation and will be held accountable for their actions.

Both north and south Sudan claim ownership of Abyei. The dispute there and in Southern Kordofan has raised fears of a renewed war in Sudan as the south prepares to declare independence July 9.

North and south Sudan fought a 21-year that ended with a 2005 peace deal. The south voted overwhelmingly to split from the north in a referendum in January.

Wounded US Congresswoman Released from Hospital

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 6:15 pm (UTC-5)
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A U.S. congresswoman has been released from the hospital, five months after she was shot in the head during a political event in the state of Arizona.

A statement from the Texas hospital where Gabrielle Giffords has been undergoing rehabilitation says the congresswoman is moving to her husband's home south of Houston, Texas.

She will continue outpatient therapy at the hospital.

Giffords was one of 19 people who was shot on January 8 during an outdoor political meeting in Tucson, Arizona. Six people died in the shooting.

Giffords was well enough to be present in Florida to witness the April launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, under the command of her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly.

Although the congresswoman has made remarkable strides in her recovery, her spokeswoman says Giffords will continue her rehabilitation efforts.

There is no word about the next steps in her recovery program and whether she will ever be able to return to her duties in the U.S. Congress.

The 22-year-old man accused in the shooting has pleaded not guilty and is being held at a prison in Missouri. A judge declared him incompetent to stand trial.

SCO Summit Slams US, NATO Missile Defense Plans

Posted June 15th, 2011 at 6:10 pm (UTC-5)
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The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Wednesday ended their regional summit in the Kazakh capital, Astana, by criticizing U.S. plans for a missile shield, saying it could damage strategic stability and global security.

The regional security and economic bloc, grouping Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, adopted a declaration condemning any unilateral build-up of missiles defense.

The declaration did not mention any nation specifically. The United States has said its proposed European missile defense shield is meant to protect the region from potential attack by Iranian missiles. But Russia fears the system will weaken its nuclear deterrent.

Earlier in the day, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Central Asian nations to create a new world order that ends the domination of what he called the “enslavers and colonizers of the past” — a reference to Western powers.

Addressing the summit as an observer, he said all of the participating nations have a history of avoiding conflicts and together can bring peace to the world. He blamed unnamed Western countries for global instability.

After the summit, the leaders of China and Russia, Hu Jintao and Dmitry Medvedev, urged Mr. Ahmadinejad to take a “more constructive approach” in resolving a dispute with six world powers about Tehran's nuclear program.

Six major powers, Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany, have been trying to persuade Iran to stop sensitive nuclear work in return for diplomatic incentives, but the talks have been stalled for months.

In private talks ahead of the summit Tuesday, Chinese President Hu Jintao also urged Mr. Ahmadinejad to resume the six-nation talks, saying Iranian steps to establish trust and promote dialogue would be in the interest not only of Iran but of the Middle East as a whole.

Western powers accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian energy program. Lavrov said Mr. Ahmadinejad told his Russian counterpart that Iran has no intention of becoming nuclear-armed.

The leaders were also expected to discuss expanding the six-member group for the first time since it was founded 10 years ago. India, Pakistan and Iran who have an observer status are seeking full membership in the group, while Mongolia said it is not seeking to change its observer status.

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