Clashes outside Egypt's presidential palace

Anti-Morsi demonstrators tear gassed in Cairo, as thousands gather to protest proposed constitution.

Last Modified: 04 Dec 2012 23:37 GMT

Middle East

Troops lay siege to Somali rebel bastion

Kenyan troops backed by AU forces surround port city of Kismayo, last stronghold of Somali rebel group al-Shabab. Last Modified: 28 Sep 2012 20:56

Kenyan and Somali troops have invaded Somalia's southern port city of Kismayo, the last bastion of al-Shabab fighters, the Kenyan military has confirmed. Cyrus Oguna, Kenya's military spokesman, said that troops had advanced on Kismayo, seen as a decisive battle in the struggle for Somalia. "For now, we're not everywhere. We've taken a large part of it without resistance," he said. Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, confirmed Kenyan forces faced "minimum resistance [but] have not yet taken the whole of Kismayo". Al Jazeera speaks to Somali PM on the fall of al-Shabab There have not yet been any reports of casualties in the operation which has seen the group surrounded from three sides. Residents said they could hear fighting near the beach, 4km outside the city. "Now we hear shelling from the ships and the [rebels] are responding with anti-aircraft guns," Ismail Suglow told the Reuters news agency. "We saw seven ships early in the morning and now their firing looks like lightening and thunder. Al-Shabab have gone towards the beach. Many residents have taken their guns. The ships poured many [African Union] troops on the beach." Al-Shabab, which was driven out of the capital Mogadishu last August and is fighting African Union forces in other parts of the country, said there was heavy fighting going on between the two sides, but denied that soldiers had entered the city. "They invaded the town from the seaside ... This morning, we sent our fighters to push them back and they are still at that position. Kismayo is under the full control of al-Shabab", Abdulaziz Abu Musab, al-Shabab military spokesperson, told Al Jazeera by phone. Residents of the Jubbada Hoose province city, speaking to Al Jazeera, also denied that Kenyan and Somali troops had captured the town. Strategic location Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow described Kismayo as a very important and strategic town for the group. Kismayo, "is the backbone of the funding of al-Shabab"; it is also the location from which the group bring in their arms and supplies, he said. Losing Kismayo, said Adow, would be "a huge setback for" the group and would leave them with the Somali capital as the only place that can provide al-Shabab with a hideout where they will also have access to "soft targets". Al-Shabab has called on residents of the southern city to take up arms against the Kenyan and Somali troops. For their part, the group has downplayed the importance of the city, Musab told Al Jazeera:"losing Kismayo won't be any worse than some of the other towns we have lost where Kenyan flags are now flying". Along with forces from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti, Kenyan troops have been battling the group, which is said to have links to al-Qaeda, as part of an African Union peacekeeping force mandated with wiping out the figthers from their strongholds. Kenya sent its troops into Somalia last October after the fighters were blamed for a series of raids on Kenyan soil targeting its security forces as well as Western tourists. Somalia has made progress in the past year in battling the group, who have wanted to impose their interpretation of Sharia law across the country since taking control of large swathes of south-central Somalia from 2007. Elsewhere in Somalia, a journalist was killed in Mogadishu on Thursday night. The death of Ahmed Abdulahi Fanah, of the Somali SAPA news agency, is the fifth such instance this week. So far in 2012, 15 journalists have been killed in the Horn of Africa nation.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

US plan for Egypt aid hits roadblock

The chairwoman of the US House committee blocks US government's move to transfer $450m in assistance to Egypt. Last Modified: 29 Sep 2012 00:47

Recently, demonstrators breached the US embassy in Cairo to protest an anti-Islam video [AFP]

The chairwoman of the US House committee that oversees foreign aid is blocking $450m in assistance to Egypt. Representative Kay Granger, a Republican, said on Friday that the State Department had notified Congress of plans to transfer the money to the new government of President Mohamed Morsi, a move that Granger said she would stop. "This proposal comes to Congress at a point when the US-Egypt relationship has never been under more scrutiny, and rightly so," the chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations said in a statement. "I am not convinced of the urgent need for this assistance and I cannot support it at this time ... I have placed a hold on these funds." Granger's action reflects unease among some US politicians over the new government that has taken the reins in Egypt after a pro-democracy uprising overthrew longtime US ally Hosni Mubarak last year. The relationship between the US and Egypt has been rocky since the revolution. Egypt's government also angered Washington when it cracked down on numerous democracy advocates and groups, including three US-funded non-governmental organisations, earlier this year. More recently, demonstrators breached the US embassy in Cairo to protest an anti-Islam video, and some in Congress have called for cutting off aid. US support The Obama administration has nevertheless vowed to push forward with its aid package for Cairo, a point reinforced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week when she met Morsi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. The US provides Egypt with $1.55bn annually - $250m in economic aid and $1.3bn in military aid. The cash transfer came from money that had already been appropriated. The Obama administration has argued that it is essential to buttress Egypt, the most populous Arab country and the first to sign a peace agreement with US ally Israel. Egypt has requested a $4.8bn loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a move the US supports. Other countries are slowly making good on promises of assistance. Saudi Arabia in June transferred $1.5bn as direct budget support, approved $430m in project aid and pledged a $750m credit line to import oil products. Qatar has also promised $2bn in support. A senior State Department official said the US remains committed to a democratic transition in Egypt and still sees support for economic growth as a vital way to protect peace and security. The official, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, said the administration would work with Congress in the next days and weeks to make the case that the budget is in US interests. Last December, Congress made foreign assistance to Egypt, including the military financing, contingent on a determination that the government "is supporting the transition to civilian government including holding free and fair elections; implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion and due process of law".

Source: Agencies

UN deadlocked over Syria despite aid pledges

US and France unveil new aid for civilians as UN remains uncapable of working for long-term prospects of the Syrians. Last Modified: 28 Sep 2012 23:49

Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from New York on this week's speeches at the UN, and the lack of action on Syria.

The United States and France have announced increased support for opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as the world leaders remain divided on how to end the 18 months of violence in Syria. World leaders meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week have expressed condemnation and frustration about the ongoing crisis in Syria, but there has been little progress in cementing a proposal to put a stop to the violence there. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, on Friday told a meeting of the Friends of Syria group that the US would provide an additional $45m in non-lethal and humanitarian aid to the Syrian opposition. Of this, $30m would be for humanitarian assistance and $15m for non-lethal help, such as radios and training. The new pledges pushed total US humanitarian aid for Syria to more than $130m, and non-lethal aid to opposition groups to almost $45m. Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, told the same meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria - an informal group of countries supporting Assad's ouster - that Paris was increasing its contacts with Syria's armed rebels. "The process is complex but the Syrian people have been waiting for 18 months for the opposition to succeed to move forward," Fabius said. "It is within this perspective that France has increased its contacts with representatives of the armed opposition." Deadlock Despite Friday's announcements, foreign assistance to the Syrian rebels has fallen well short of the foreign-protected safe havens the opposition wants and offers little hope of relief to the worsening plight of civilians. France started channeling aid to rebel-held parts of Syria in August so that these safe havens could administer themselves and help stanch a flow of refugees trying to escape deadly air strikes by Assad's forces. However, credible protection for "liberated" areas would require no-fly zones patrolled by foreign aircraft. But this would require a mandate from the UN Security Council - something resolutely opposed by veto-wielding members Russia and China. The council's deadlock appears unbreakable at the moment, Western diplomats say. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby told the Friends of Syria group the situation in Syria was becoming "more explosive". "We need to start a transitional period," he said. "A transitional period means a change to another regime." Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who attended the meeting, later told the General Assembly it was "the inability of the Security Council to act that still encourages the Syrian regime to kill ever more people." "The situation in Syria has evolved into a real threat to regional peace and security," he said. "The Syrian regime deploys every instrument to turn the legitimate struggle of the Syrian people into a sectarian war, which will engulf the entire region into flames." 'Geneva accord' Russia meanwhile attempted to turn the tables on critics of its stance on Syria, insisting that it is the West which stands in the way of concerted international action. "We have consistently called for concerted efforts by the international community to compel the governments and its opponents to immediately cease violence and come to the negotiating table," Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said on Friday. He insisted before the assembly that the logjam was the fault of the powers that have failed to implement an earlier agreement on the conflict dubbed the "Geneva accord". "This is the quickest way to stop the loss of life in Syria," he said, recalling that Moscow had proposed a resolution confirming that Syria was to see a transition of power under the terms of the Geneva accord. "But this proposal has been blocked," he complained, warning: "Those who oppose the implementation of the Geneva communique take upon themselves an enormous responsibility. "They insist on a ceasefire only by the government and encourage the opposition to intensify hostilities. But in doing so, they essentially push Syria even deeper into the abyss of bloody internecine strife."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Fierce fighting reported in Syria's Aleppo

Battle for country's largest city intensifies after rebels declare major offensive against Assad government's forces. Last Modified: 28 Sep 2012 21:02

Syrian rebels have unleashed an unprecedented barrage of mortar fire against government troops in Aleppo after announcing a "decisive" battle for Syria's second city, residents and activists say. Shells crashed down at a steady rate and clashes were widespread on Friday, leaving layers of dust and smoke over Aleppo, according to the residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the UK-based opposition watchdog. "The fighting is unprecedented and has not stopped since Thursday. The clashes used to be limited to one or two blocks of a district, but now the fighting is on several fronts," the SOHR's Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency. Residents of Aleppo neighbourhoods previously spared the worst of the two-month-old battle for the city told AFP the violence was "unprecedented". "The sound from the fighting ... has been non-stop," said a resident of the central district of Sulimaniyeh, who identified himself only as Ziad. "Everyone is terrified. I have never heard anything like this before." Rebels claimed they had advanced on several fronts, particularly in the southwest, but admitted they had failed to make any significant breakthrough. "On the Salaheddin front, we took one of the regular army bases," said Abu Furat, one of the leaders of the Al-Tawhid Brigade, the most important in the city. But he admitted that the fighters had to retreat from Salaheddin because they were outgunned. "To win a guerrilla street war, you have to have bombs and we don't," he said. Abu Furat said that 25 soldiers were killed in the assault, while another rebel fighter said 20 of his comrades died on the battlefield and 60 were wounded. The accounts of violence could not be independently verified by Al Jazeera as Syria restricts access for journalists. Civilian deaths claimed The SOHR which gave initial estimates of 60 people killed across the country on Friday - half of them civilians - said at least five civilians and five rebels died in Aleppo. "We heard soldiers on their radio calling their chiefs to ask for reinforcements. They were crying and saying 'we are all going to die,'" a rebel said. By Friday afternoon the intensity of the fighting abated, as rebels appeared to focus their attention on other objectives, such as Omayyad Mosque in the centre of the Old City, an AFP correspondent said. The SOHR's Abdel Rahman said the fighting was not yielding major gains for either side. "Neither the regime nor the rebels are able to gain a decisive advantage," he said. The outgunned rebels, a force made up of mutinous soldiers and civilians who have taken up arms to oust President Bashar al-Assad's regime, declared an all-out assault for Aleppo on Thursday. In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria Afterwards, mortars were fired about every 15 minutes into army-held areas, including Sulimaniyeh and Sayyid Ali. "One mortar round hit a residential building and killed four people from the same family, including an old man and a young child. We tried to carry them away to bring them to the hospital but they were already dead," one resident said. Just north of Aleppo, a Syrian shell crashed into a town on the Turkish side of the border, wounding a Turkish national, as fighting raged in a nearby Syrian town, a local official said. The shell fired from the border town of Tall al-Abyad landed in Akcakale in the province of Sanliurfa, smashing into the walls of two buildings and slightly wounding one person. Violence also raged in Damascus where troops attacked several rebel areas in both the north and the south of the capital, leaving three civilians dead, the SOHR said. Despite the violence, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Aleppo and other cities in support of the unification of the Free Syrian Army as factionalisation appears to undermine the anti-regime revolt. The SOHR said demonstrations were held after the main weekly Muslim prayers in the Fardus and Sukari neighbourhoods of Aleppo, as well as in the central province of Homs, Hama further north and Idlib in the northwest. US announcements The developments came as Leon Panetta, US defence secretary, said that the Syrian regime had moved some of its chemical weapons to safeguard the material. Panetta, citing US intelligence, said in Washington DC on Friday that he believed that the main storage sites for Syria’s arsenal remained secure. It was not clear when the movement took place, or even if it was recent, but Panetta said it had occurred in more than one case. US officials believe Syria potentially has dozens of chemical and biological weapons sites scattered across the country. Its stockpiles are thought to include nerve agents such as VX, sarin and tabun. Separately, the US administration made pledges on Friday of $45m in new non-lethal and humanitarian assistance to the Syrian opposition. Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, said the US would contribute an additional $15m in non-lethal gear - mostly communications equipment - to the civilian opposition as well as $30m in new humanitarian assistance to help those affected by the continuing violence. She also delivered a new warning to Iran that it must stop arming and supporting the Syrian regime. Also on Friday, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, blasted the United Nations Security Council for its stalemate over Syria, saying the UN body's inability to take action "becomes a tool in the hands of despots". Turkey has become home to thousands of refugees who have fled Syrian in the 18 months of chaos that has raged since opposition groups rose up against Assad. "If not now, then when are we to act in unity," Davutoglu said in an address to the UN General Assembly.   A member of the Free Syrian Army prays next to his comrade during clashes with the Syrian Army forces in Aleppo. Caption View All Full Page

Israel PM in 'full agreement' with US on Iran

Binyamin Netanyahu eases tensions with White House in phone call with American leader following notable speech at UN. Last Modified: 28 Sep 2012 23:08

Obama and Netanyahu smoothe relations after Israeli leader used prop during speech at General Assembly [Getty]

The US president and the Israeli prime minister have expressed agreement on the goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, the White House said. Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu sought on Friday to ease tensions over how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme, presenting a show of solidarity over how to confront Tehran. Obama, widely seen as having snubbed Netanyahu by not meeting face-to-face during the annual UN gathering, spoke instead by phone to the Israeli leader amid signs of movement toward a truce in their war of words. Netanyahu used his UN speech a day earlier to keep pressure on Washington to set a "clear red line" for Tehran. But in a softening of his approach, he signaled that no Israeli attack on Iran was imminent before the November 6 US presidential election. With an eye to the close US presidential race, Netanyahu also fielded a call during his New York visit from Obama's Republican rival, Mitt Romney, who has accused the president of being too hard on a close US ally and not tough enough on Iran. 'Shared goal' Obama's aides believe he has played his cards right with Netanyahu, with whom the president has had a notoriously testy relationship. In-depth coverage of a growing regional debate  Netanyahu's strident complaints about US policy on Iran spurred a backlash at home and in the US media for seeming to meddle in American politics. In recent days, the Israelis have sought to dial down the rhetoric, signalling that they would not blindside Washington with a unilateral attack on Iran any time soon. "The two leaders underscored that they are in full agreement on the shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," the White House said in a summary of their 20-minute phone conversation. The White House stopped short of saying Obama had given any ground on his resistance to issuing an ultimatum to Tehran, as Netanyahu has repeatedly demanded. "It was a good conversation. They discussed all the issues," said a senior Israeli official. An Obama aide went further, saying, "The temperature is lower than it had been." 'Military action' Netanyahu dramatically ramped up pressure on Obama earlier this month when he insisted that the United States did not have a "moral right" to hold Israel back from taking action against Iran because Washington had not set its own limits on Tehran's nuclear developments. Obama's aides were furious that Netanyahu was trying to put pressure on the president in the midst of the election campaign and refused to budge on the red line issue despite the risk of alienating pro-Israel voters in election battleground states like Florida and Ohio. In-depth coverage of the US presidential election At the same time, Israeli officials - mindful of the danger of antagonising the Jewish state's main ally and military aid provider - moved into damage-control mode. Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, flew back for a short visit to Jerusalem last weekend, during which he urged Netanyahu to tone down public statements that could be construed as interfering in the US election or supporting Romney, according to sources in the Jewish community in Washington. The Israeli desire to defuse the crisis may also have reflected an interpretation of recent US opinion polls showing a widening of Obama's lead over Romney, who has suffered a series of campaign stumbles. Romney, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane, said he and Netanyahu agreed that Iran must be denied nuclear capabilities but did not agree on specific "red lines" to confront Tehran. "I do not believe in the final analysis we will have to use military action," Romney said. "I certainly hope we don't have to. I can't take that action off the table." 'Final stage' In his UN speech, Netanyahu held up a cartoon-like drawing of a bomb with a fuse and literally drew a red line just below a label reading "final stage", in which Iran would supposedly be 90 per cent along the path to having weapons-grade material. Nevertheless, his warning that Iran would be on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon in less than a year was widely interpreted as some giving breathing space to Obama, who has urged more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work. Speaking ahead of a meeting with his Canadian counterpart on Friday, Netanyahu said Iran's uranium enrichment was the "only discernible and vulnerable part of their nuclear programme". "I tried to say something yesterday that I think reverberates now around the world," he said Netanyahu referred on Thursday to a spring or summer 2013 time frame for Iran to complete the next stage of uranium enrichment. Iran denies it is seeking to build nuclear weaponry. Netanyahu's praise for Obama's stern words for Iran in the US president's own UN speech on Tuesday - although it lacked any specific ultimatum - was also seen as a sign that the Israeli leader wanted a ceasefire in the unusually public dispute with Washington. "I think we are moving in a direction where the differences that were there, which were always tactical and not strategic, are in fact being managed at this point," Dennis Ross, Obama's former Middle East adviser, told MSNBC.

Source: Agencies

Spain's banks 'need $76.3 billion'

According to an independent audit, Spain's troubled banks need an extra €59.3bn to survive a serious economic downturn. Last Modified: 29 Sep 2012 01:07

Mariano Rajoy announced austerity cuts in a strict 2013 budget on Thursday [GALLO/GETTY]

Spanish banks will need a total of 59.3 billion euros ($76.3bn) in extra capital to ride out a serious economic downturn, an independent report has said, removing a major obstacle in the way of an international bailout for Madrid. The stress tests' findings, which were released by the Bank of Spain on Friday, will help Spain decide how much it will use of the €100 billion loan facility offered by the 16 euro countries. Spain said around 40 billion euros of the total will come as European aid while the rest could be raised by the banks themselves. The audit, carried out by consultant Oliver Wyman, is a condition of getting European funds to patch up Spanish banks damaged by a prolonged real estate crash, and identifies which banks need more capital and precisely how much each requires. Spain has agreed a credit line that could provide up to 100 billion euros in European Union rescue funds for its banks. "The preliminary estimate of the final amount we would need to tap from the 100 billion euro lifeline would be one third less than the capital shortfall identified by Oliver Wyman," Bank of Spain Deputy Governor Fernando Restoy said at a press conference. Both the strict 2013 budget presented by the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Thursday and the audit of 90 per cent of Spain's banking system are necessary steps for Madrid to request sovereign aid and trigger a European Central Bank bond-buying programme. Spain has replaced Greece, Ireland and Portugal as the main threat to the survival of the euro currency project. The audit results were in line with market expectations and were applauded by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "That's another layer of uncertainty that's off the table," said David Schnautz, rate strategist at Commerzbank. "We got the budget yesterday and today the stress tests and now we're all keen to hear what the ratings agencies' view will be." Credit rating agency Moody's is due to review Spain's debt grade before Monday. It currently has Spain on one notch above junk with a negative outlook. Shaky banking sector The audit identified the bulk of capital needs at the four banks which have already been rescued by the Spanish government. The worst case is Bankia, the result of an ill-fated, seven-way merger between unlisted savings banks which was taken over by the government earlier this year. The capital shortfall for these banks is 49 billion euros, with Bankia accounting for half of that. The European Commission said the exact aid needed for each bank would be determined in the coming months. More than 60 per cent of the system, including heavyweights Santander, BBVA and Caixabank, did not need extra capital under the terms of the audit. Other banks that will need extra capital under the stressed scenario are Banco Popular, Banco Mare Nostrum and a new entity due to be formed by a merger between former savings banks Ibercaja, Liberbank and Caja 3. These banks will next month present plans to the Bank of Spain outlining how they intend to raise capital by their own means including share placements, asset sales and forced losses on subordinated bondholders. Spain is suffering its worst credit crunch in 50 years and designers of the bank bailout hope these steps will lead to a resurgence of lending to families and businesses.

Source: Agencies

South Africa's Marikana miners defy deadline

Thousands of striking workers have refused to return to work, despite threats that some 40,000 jobs are at risk. Last Modified: 11 Sep 2012 23:45

Thousands of workers on strike at the Marikana mine in South Africa's North West province are poised to defy an extended deadline to return to work. The workers have been joined by wives, girfriends and supporters in a display of solidarity, after a government-backed effort to broker a deal between management, unions and miners failed. Another deadline has passed in the past few hours, but there is no sign of the strike breaking. Instead, the industrial action in Marikana, 100km north of Johannesburg, appears to be spreading to other mines. And what began as an industrial dispute over pay, with workers demanding monthly wages of about $1,500 - twice what they currently earn at the platinum mine - has turned into a political crisis for South African President Jacob Zuma. Cheering crowds Julius Malema, expelled leader of the ruling ANC party's youth wing, has addressed a rally at the KDC Gold Fields mine, east of Johannesburg, where most of the gold mine's 15,000 workers are also on strike. "The strike at Marikana must go into all the mines," he told cheering crowds blowing vuvuzelas and whistles. In Depth In pictures: Marikana miners Can Zuma survive? Mine Shooting: Who is to blame? Unrest spreads Will Marikana resurrect Julius Malema? Has the post-Apartheid bubble burst? South Africans react to mining 'massacre S Africa miners complain of 'living hell' "R12,500 ($1,500) is a reality. They must know, the mine bosses, that if they don't meet your demand, we're going to strike every month for five days, demanding R12,500." Al Jazeera's Tania Page, reporting from Marikana, said Malema is playing "a rather dangerous game". "He's already been charged with inciting violence by one of the mining unions, Solidarity," she said. "But it's also a very clever game, because there is a mass of people in this country who really do feel as if they have left behind, that the ANC has not delivered on promises to improve people's lives." South Africa's labour mediation committee had extended the deadline to Tuesday for workers at the world's third-largest platinum mine to return to work in order for salary negotiations to start. The committee says its "facilitation is dependent on a return to work by all workers" and threatened to leave the miners to deal with Lonmin managers. While the country's leaders have come under fire, Zuma has been hitting back at his critics, launching a judicial commission of inquiry. "This will be really, really broad," our correspondent said. "It's going to look at the police actions, how the police behaved on the day [of the killings], allegations against the police, of brutality against some of the Lonmin workers who were arrested and in custody for several weeks. "It's also going to look at Lonmin, was there anything Lonmin could have done to avoid a standoff. Also it will look at the unions' behaviour - and was there anything that the government could have done to predict events that we still see unfolding here." National strike call Tensions have been high at the mine since 34 of the protesting workers were shot and killed by police last month, some of whom may have been shot while trying to surrender. Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna reports from Marikana Malema has called for a national strike across all South African mines to demand the removal of the leadership of the National Union of Mines. "There must be a national strike. They have been stealing this gold from you. Now it is your turn. You want your piece of gold. These people are making billions from these mines," Malema said. "What you must do, you just put down the tools and stop production." Frans Baleni, NUM general secretary, told Al Jazeera that a high level of intimidation has stopped many miners from returning to work. "The workers are still scared. There have been threats that those who have reported for duty would have their homes torched," he said. "Some of the workers also feel threatened by their managers. Peace has not really prevailed at this stage, which is the main reason why workers would stay away." The ongoing industrial action has pushed down Lonmin's shares, raised world platinum prices and fuelled fears of labour unrest spreading through the mining sector of Africa's largest economy.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

US consulate employee killed in Libya attack

Angry demonstrations take place in Benghazi and Egypt's capital over amateur film deemed offensive to Prophet Muhammad. Last Modified: 12 Sep 2012 00:47

An American staff member of the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi has died following fierce clashes at the compound, Libyan security sources said. An armed mob attacked and set fire to the building in what they say was a protest against an amateur film deemed offensive to Islam's Prophet Muhammad, after similar protests in Egypt's capital. "One American staff member has died and a number have been injured in the clashes," Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya's Supreme Security Committee, said on Wednesday, adding that rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the building from a nearby farm. "There are fierce clashes between the Libyan army and an armed militia outside the US consulate," he said. He also said roads had been closed off and security forces were surrounding the building. Just hours earlier on Tuesday, thousands of Egyptian demonstrators apparently angry over the same film - a video produced by expatriate members of Egypt's Coptic community resident in the US - tore down the Stars and Stripes at the US embassy in Cairo and replaced it with a black Islamic flag. The two incidents came on the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, in a statement, condemned the attack in Benghazi. "We can confirm that our office in Benghazi, Libya, has been attacked by a group of militants ... We condemn in strongest terms this attack on our diplomatic mission." Al Jazeera's John Terrett, reporting from Washington, said the State Department had not yet confirmed the death of the consulate employee in Benghazi, but the State Department said it was still securing the consulate area with the help of Libyan security forces. Suleiman El-Dressi, Al Jazeera's producer in Benghazi, said, "A group of people calling themselves the 'Islamic law supporters' heard the news that there will be an American movie insulting the Prophet." "One they heard this, they came out of their military garrison and went into the streets calling upon people to gather and go ahead to attack the American consulate in Benghazi. Cairo incident In the day's first such incident, nearly 3,000 demonstrators, most of them Islamist supporters of the Salafist movement or football fans, gathered at the US embassy in Cairo in protest against the amateur film. A dozen men scaled the embassy walls and one of them tore down the US flag, replacing it with a black one inscribed with the Muslim profession of faith: "There is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God." Demonstrators also scrawled the first part of the statement - "There is no God but God" - on the walls of the embassy compound. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from outside the US embassy in Cairo, said that the protesters want the film – portions of which can be found online - "out of circulation". "Most of the people I've spoken to here, a lot of them from the ultra-conservative Salafi movement, say that they've seen the trailer to this film and that they're here outside the American embassy to stay until the film is pulled," she said. "There's also a situation with the police, where there are thousands of riot police guarding the American embassy because there of the breach earlier on, when a lot of people stormed into the inner wall of the embassy and put a black flag up." Egyptian police intervened without resorting to force and persuaded the trespassers to come down. The crowd then largely dispersed, leaving just a few hundred protesters outside the US mission. Embassy reaction When asked whether the flag the protesters hoisted an al-Qaeda flag - on the anniversary of the killing of nearly 3,000 people in Washington, New York and Pennsylvania - a US state department official said she thought not. "We had some people breach the wall, take the flag down and replace it. What I heard was that it was replaced with a plain black flag. But I may be not be correct in that," she said. "In Cairo, we can confirm that Egyptian police have now removed the demonstrators who had entered our embassy grounds earlier today," said a senior State Department official, who added that he could not confirm any connection with the incident in Libya. Egyptian activist Wael Ghoneim wrote on his Facebook page that "attacking the US embassy on September 11 and raising flags linked to al-Qaeda will not be understood by the American public as a protest over the film about the prophet. "Instead, it will be received as a celebration of the crime that took place on September 11," he said. Americans on Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of the September 11, attacks in which nearly thousands were killed when hijacked airliners crashed into the Pentagon and New York's World Trade Center, and another was brought down in Pennsylvania. 'Sorry for the embassy' Sam Bacile, an American citizen who said he produced, directed and wrote the two-hour film, said he had not anticipated such a furious reaction. "I feel sorry for the embassy. I am mad," Bacile said. Speaking from a telephone with a California number, he said the film was produced in English and he doesn't know who dubbed it in Arabic. The full film has not been shown yet, he said, and he said he has declined distribution offers for now. "My plan is to make a series of 200 hours" about the same subject, he said. Morris Sadek, an Egyptian-born Christian in the US known for his anti-Islam views, told the AP news agency from Washington that he was promoting the video on his website and on certain TV stations, which he did not identify.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Sex, lies and Wikileaks

As once friendly news outlets report the Julian Assange story more critically, we ask if the media has lost the plot. Listening Post Last Modified: 25 Aug 2012 11:21
Sex, lies and Wikileaks: Has the media lost the plot? Plus, an interview with one of Egypt's most influential voices, Yosri Fouda. This July marked two years since the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks released the Afghan War Logs. Since then, the path for its founder Julian Assange has not been a smooth one, and it has led to an extradition battle between the UK and Ecuador. When the war logs first came out, major newspapers like the New York Times, Der Spiegel and The Guardian collaborated with Wikileaks, but two years on those relationships have changed. Once friendly media outlets are now reporting Assange's story - the allegations of sex crimes, his extradition and now his asylum - far more critically. But is this all fair comment or is Assange part of a media witchhunt? In this week's News Divide we ask if the media have lost the plot on the Wikileaks story. Quick hits from News Bytes: The press in Myanmar are handed a small victory in their battle against censorship; in Syria, a Japanese journalist is killed whilst covering the ongoing conflict there; and the Indian government clamps down on social networking sites after a campaign of misinformation forces thousands of people to flee the cities. Ever since the arrival of the Arab Spring in Egypt last February, we have been tracking the work of journalists revolutionising the Egyptian media. One man at the forefront of those changes has been Yosri Fouda. Fouda is a former reporter at Al Jazeera's Arabic news channel and now hosts an influential, late night political talk show in Cairo. We sat down with the host during his recent trip to London. As London bid farewell to the London 2012 Olympics, the city also welcomed the second part of the Games, the Paralympics. Beginning on August 29, this multi-sport event will feature competitors with disabilities. Britain's official broadcaster for the event is Channel 4 and to mark their involvement, they have produced a series of adverts featuring the athletes. The TV channel says it wants to show a different side to the Paralympian and judging by the response online, it has achieved what it set out to do. We have made it our Video of the Week ... enjoy! Listening Post can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Saturday: 0830, 1930; Sunday: 1430; Monday: 0430. Click here for more Listening Post.
Source: Al Jazeera

Syrian forces launch ground assault in Aleppo

Fierce clashes in city's rebel district of Salaheddine as army uses Russian-made tanks to advance on commercial capital. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 16:20

The Syrian army has launched a ground assault on the northern city of Aleppo, sparking fierce clashes with opposition fighters in the frontline district of Salaheddine. "The army is advancing from west to east to cut Salaheddine in half horizontally," an official said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity, referring to the key rebel stronghold in the city. Wassel Ayub, a commander in the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), said: "The regime forces advanced into Al-Malaab Street with tanks and armoured vehicles and fierce fighting is now taking place in the area." Al Jazeera's correspondent Ahmed Zaidan, reporting from Aleppo, said "a large number of people have been killed or injured in a fierce battle near Salaheddine in which advanced Russian tanks have been used by the government forces". Zaidan says control of Salaheddine, and Aleppo, is "very important for both sides". "Aleppo is the second largest city and financial hub of Syria. We shouldn't forget that almost 60 or 70 per cent of the Syrian economy now is on a standstill because there is no life in Aleppo," he added. "Aleppo battle might decide the future of Syria and the future of the position of the regime." Fierce clashes Clashes have also been reported in Hanano, Tareeq Al Bab and Sha'ar in the besieged city, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. The observatory said that the clashes taking place in the streets of Salaheddine and in surrounding areas were the most fierce that the northern city has seen in the nearly 17-month uprising. SOHR said neighbourhoods of Maysaloun, Sakhour and Tal Rifaat were under shelling by government forces. The Syrian army has made progress but rebels have not abandoned Salaheddine, our correspondent said, adding that the FSA has shot down a plane and destroyed five tanks in Aleppo. The army, which has been massing its troops and armour in and around Aleppo since late last month, was moving from west to east, coming from Hamdaniyeh, a district adjacent to Salaheddine, the FSA's Ayub said. In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria Al Jazeera’s Rula Amin, reporting from neighbouring Beirut, said: "It’s not just symbolic but also where most of Free Syrian Army is concentrated, and for the world it also became symbol of FSA’s major success in getting their hold on this city." "FSA has been bringing in its own rebels from outside Aleppo from country side e.g. Idlib, Homs because for them it’s a major battle. Salaheddine is also crucial for government, as it has been a pillar of support for the [Syrian] President [Bashar al-] Assad in the last 16 months," she said. Al Jazeera's correspondent Andrew Simmons, reporting from Antakya, on the Syrian-Turkish border, said people in Al Dana, near Aleppo, "are fully aware that only minutes away is the potential for massive shellfire raining down on their city." "They are within range of the long-distance artillery; they know that the situation could change - so that atmosphere permeates throughout the town. You you talk to people and they have the same symptoms, the same fear etched on their faces, because they are also concerned of retribution should the Syrian government forces return to where they live," he said. "They are trying to get by, it is extremely difficult, and they look to the  Free Syrian Army for everything really. But security is not heavy on the ground, because so many of the young men have gone from the area to go to the battle for Aleppo city. "That is the primary objective, they are aware of that, but many feel that Aleppo is the final battle but there is a long distance to go. There is a solemn feeling there really, a feeling that liberation is a long way away." Retired guards among Iran hostages In other developments, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday that "retired" members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and army were among 48 Iranians taken hostage in Syria by rebels," the ISNA news agency reported. Salehi said the former military personnel were exclusively on a religious pilgrimage to Damascus when they were seized on Saturday. - Anita McNaught reports from outside Aleppo "A number of the [hostages] are retired members of the Guards and the army. Some others were from other ministries," Salehi was quoted as telling reporters as he flew back from Turkey, which he asked for help in freeing the Iranians. Another senior Iranian official visited Damascus on Tuesday where he met Assad. Saeed Jalili, a senior aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Assad that Iran will continue to back the Syrian government. During talks with Assad, Jalili said that what was happening in Syria was "not an internal issue". It is "a conflict between the axis of resistance on one hand, and the regional and global enemies of this axis on the other," Jalili said. On Monday, while on a visit to Beirut, the Lebanese capital, Jalili issued a veiled warning to countries backing the rebels. "Those who believe that, by developing insecurity in the countries of the region by sending arms and exporting terrorism, they are buying security for themselves are wrong," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted him as telling Adnan Mansour, Lebanon's foreign minister.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Number of Afghan civilian casualties drops

For the first time in at least five years, civilian deaths in Afghanistan fall by 15 per cent compared to previous year. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 16:37

The reduction for the first half of 2012 comes after a record number of civilian deaths in 2011 [AP]

The number of Afghan civilian casualties has fallen for the first time in at least five years, dropping by 15 per cent during the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, the United Nations has said. A total of 1,145 Afghan non-combatants lost their lives in violence, mostly Taliban attacks, between January 1 and June 30 this year, compared to 1,510 in 2011, the UN said on Wednesday. Afghan civilian deaths have been one of the biggest irritants in relations between President Hamid Karzai's government and its Western backers. The UN said that marked a 15 per cent decline on the 3,654 casualties documented during the same period in 2011, which saw a record number of civilian deaths in the decade-long war. "This reduction of civilian casualties reverses the trend in which civilian casualties had increased steadily over the previous five years," the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report. 'Devastating toll' The findings come as a US-led NATO mission prepares to withdraw the bulk of its 130,000 foreign combat troops from Afghanistan in the next 18 months. Despite the decline in casualties, the UN warned that the war "continued to take a devastating toll on civilians". The UN report said the Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 80 per cent of the casualties while pro-government forces, which include the NATO force, were blamed for 10 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent was attributed to unknown groups. Civilian casualties resulting from targeted killings by the Taliban and other anti-government forces increased by 53 per cent in 2012 with UN documenting the death of 255 civilians in 237 separate incidents. From the perspective of one neighbourhood in Herat Aerial operations by NATO forces have continued to cause more civilian deaths and injuries than any other tactic used by pro-government forces since the UN began documenting civilian casualties. However, the UN report said civilian casualties from air strikes were down 23 per cent compared to the same period in 2011. Women and children accounted for about 30 per cent of this year's casualties - up one per cent from the same period in 2011 - killed or wounded mostly in Taliban roadside bombings with IEDs, the insurgents' weapon of choice. "Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) remained the leading cause of conflict-related deaths of women and children followed by ground engagements," the UN said. Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, says the report also indicates that attacks on educational institutions in the country have increased 200 per cent over the last year. Citing the report, our correspondent said UNAMA stressed that the figures were signs of possible "worse things to come" and that the Central Asian nation "remains a difficult and dangerous place for civilians to live". More displaced It also said the number of Afghans forced to abandon their homes by the conflict was up 14 per cent on the same period last year, bringing to 114,900 the number of internally displaced people. The war has forced tens of thousands of Afghans to leave their homes for safer places, often under extreme financial hardship. The UN also highlighted concern about human rights abuses, mostly in the form of "parallel judicial structures" led by the Taliban and other anti-government fighters that meted out punishments that include executions, amputations and lashings. It said in areas of limited government authority, "anti-government elements" were able to "carry out serious human rights abuses with impunity". For example, in February a Taliban court convicted a teenager on charges of spying for Afghan security forces and cut his ear off in punishment in the northwestern province of Badghis province.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Floods submerge most of Philippine capital

Emergency workers and troops rush food, water and clothes to nearly 800,000 people displaced and marooned in Manila. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 14:54

Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated from the capital of the Philippines as floods devastate the city. About 80 per cent of Manila, a sprawling metropolis of about 12 million people, remained inundated on Wednesday, Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster agency, told Reuters news agency. "The roads in some areas are like rivers. People have to use boats to move around. All the roads and alleys are flooded," Ramos told AFP news agency. Emergency workers and troops have rushed food, water and clothes to nearly 800,000 people displaced and marooned from deadly floods spawned by more than a week of southwest monsoon rains that soaked the Philippine capital and nearby provinces. "We're still on a rescue mode. Floods are receding in many areas but people are still trapped on their roofs," Ramos said. Financial markets reopened after being shut on Tuesday, but schools and many businesses remained shut for a second straight day with the military, police and civic officials struggling to deliver aid. Still, many people were reluctant to leave flooded homes, fearing a loss of valuables, officials said. "We're also asking people living along swollen riverbanks to evacuate," Ramos said. "If there is a need for us to force them to leave their homes, we will do that for their own safety." The death toll in Manila and nearby provinces stood at 15, including nine members of one family who died in a landslide. Al Jazeera’s Marga Ortigas in Manila said that while the government is working around the clock in its rescue efforts, many are still left stranded. "There are people who are actually tweeting from the rooftop of their homes to say that no help has yet reached them," Ortigas said. "There are others who are calling into radio stations and putting their plea out to national rescuers." Ortigas added that a volunteer "Twitter brigade" is using the social medium platform to try to organise relief and get medical attention to where it’s needed. Slums hardest hit The worst hit parts of Manila were mostly the poorest districts, where millions of slum dwellers have built homes along riverbanks and other areas susceptible to flooding. In Santo Domingo, a creekside shantytown, mother-of-three Anita Alterano recounted how her family escaped the floods that had submerged their one-storey home by walking over the roofs of houses until they reached high ground. "We initially just decided to climb up on the roof where we were safe but wet. We waited for rescuers but it took so long for anyone to notice us," Alterano told AFP. "So we got a rope, I tied myself to my husband and my children, we clambered from roof-to-roof ... until we reached a school. But the problem is we have no water and food." Even some of Manila's richest districts were affected, including the riverside community of Provident where water had completely inundated the ground floors of three-storey mansions. Inside the gated village of about 2,000 homes, rescue workers on a motorised rubber boat drove past submerged luxury cars to retrieve children and the elderly from rooftops. Back to work On Wednesday, the weather bureau lifted the rainfall alert level even as the volume of rainfall in the last 24 hours rose to 390 mm from 323 mm in the previous day. The highest recorded 24-hour rainfall was 454 mm in September 2009, inundating 80 per cent of the capital and resulted in the death of more than 700 people and destruction of $1 billion worth of private and public property. Across Manila and surrounding areas, more than 800,000 people had sought help from rescue workers, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Nearly 86,000 of them were sheltering in schools, gymnasiums and other buildings that have been turned into evacuation centres, while others were staying with relatives and friends, the council said. But after much of the city was paralysed on Tuesday, the government ordered government and private sector employees back to work, while the stock market resumed trading. The death toll has gone up to 69 since steady rains started when Typhoon Saola hit northern portions of the main Luzon island in late July. The Philippines endures about 20 major storms or typhoons each rainy season, many of which are deadly.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Pakistan court summons PM over contempt

New prime minister summoned to face possible contempt charges, after he failed to open graft probe against president. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 08:58

Raja Pervez Ashraf became prime minister in June this year after the court forced Yousuf Raza Gilani to resign [Reuters]

Pakistan's top court has summoned the new prime minister to appear later this month to face possible contempt charges, escalating a wrangle over corruption cases against the country's president. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court - which has already dismissed the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, over the issue - summoned his successor Raja Pervez Ashraf on August 27 for ignoring a request to ask Swiss authorities to reopen cases against the head of state, Asif Ali Zardari. It is the latest episode in a two-and-a-half-year saga in which the government has resisted demands to have Zardari investigated, arguing that as president he enjoys immunity. The government is due to become the first in Pakistan's history to complete an elected, full five-year mandate in February 2013, but the showdown could force polls before then. The court had previously given Ashraf until August 8 to write to Switzerland asking it to reopen the multimillion-dollar graft probes. "We issue notice to Raja Pervez Ashraf under [the] contempt of court act 2003, read with article 204 of the constitution to show cause as to why he may not be proceeded (against) in contempt of court and [is] not complying [with the] relevant direction of the court," said Judge Asif Saeed Khosa. "He shall appear in person at the next date of hearing. Hearing adjourned until August 27," the judge added. 'Personal vendetta' Critics of the judiciary and members of Zardari's main ruling Pakistan People's Party accuse the court of over stepping its reach and waging a personal vendetta against the president. The government had wanted the case adjourned until September. Irfan Qadir, the attorney general, said he needed time "to bridge the gap" between the two sides, and "find an amicable solution". Experts say Ashraf will be asked to explain his position on August 27. If the court is not satisfied, he risks being summoned to be indicted for contempt, precipitating the second contempt trial against a sitting prime minister in just months. The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his wife, late premier Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts. The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president and the government insists the president has full immunity as head of state. But in 2009 the Supreme Court overturned a political amnesty that had frozen investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that the cases be reopened. Zardari had already signed the contempt law, which sought to exempt government figures, including the president, prime minister and cabinet ministers from contempt for acts performed as part of their job. Imtiaz Gul, an analyst, told AFP that Wednesday's decision showed the court was refusing to back down. "The logical consequence of the court's position is the disqualification of any prime minister who refuses to write the letter," he said.

Source: Agencies