Haiti leader urges Duvalier trial

Rene Preval, the Haitian president,says the ex-dictator has the right to return to Haiti but he should face justice. Last Modified: 23 Jan 2011 01:15 GMT

Duvalier said he was prepared to face "persecution." [AFP] Rene Preval, the Haitian president, has said that ex-dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier had every right to return home from exile, but must now face an investigation of alleged abuses during his reign. Preval's first public comment on Duvalier since the former strongman's astonishing arrival in Haiti a week ago came at a news conference on Saturday during a surprise trip of his own to the neighbouring Dominican Republic. "Duvalier had the right to return to the country, but under the constitution, he also must face justice," Preval told reporters. "If Duvalier is not in prison now, it is because he has not yet been tried." Accompanied by prime minister Jean-Max Bellerive, Preval said they met with Leonel Fernandez, the Dominican president to discuss Haiti's political crisis and a cholera epidemic. Preval added that by law, Haitians cannot be barred from their homeland, and that applies to both Duvalier and former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who has been in exile in South Africa since his ouster in 2004 but recently spoke of wanting to come back. "They do not depend on my decision," Preval said. "It is the nation's constitution that prohibits (forced) exile." Preval declined to say whether he knew ahead of time about Duvalier's sudden appearance in the country on January 16, after 25 years in exile. Duvalier says he came to help his shattered nation rebuild from last year's massive earthquake, which killed an estimated 316,000 people. Duvalier said he was prepared to face "persecution." However the former leader, who ruled Haiti from 1971 to 1986 through terror and the regime he inherited from his father, has found himself under investigation for corruption, embezzlement, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, crimes against humanity and other alleged abuses during his reign.

Source: Agencies

Yemen protests urge leader's exit

Thousands of students, activists and opposition groups stage anti-president protest at Sanaa University. Last Modified: 23 Jan 2011 02:54 GMT

Thousands of Yemeni students, activists and opposition groups have held protests at Sanaa University, demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster in what appeared to be the first large-scale challenge to the strongman. Around 2,500 students, activists and opposition groups chanted slogans against the president, comparing him to Tunisia's ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose people were similarly enraged by economic woes and government corruption. "Oh, Ali, join your friend Ben Ali," protesters chanted. Police fired tear gas at the demonstrators, whose grievances include proposed constitutional changes that would allow the president to rule for a lifetime. Around 30 protesters were detained, a security official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press. Since the Tunisian turmoil, Saleh has ordered income taxes slashed in half and has instructed his government to control prices. He also ordered a heavy deployment of anti-riot police and soldiers to several key areas in the capital and its surroundings to prevent any riots. Peoples' grievances Nearly half of Yemen's population lives below the poverty line of $2 a day and doesn't have access to proper sanitation. Less than a tenth of the roads are paved. Tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes by conflict, flooding the cities. The government is riddled with corruption, has little control outside the capital, and its main source of income - oil - could run dry in a decade. Protests were also held in the southern port city of Aden, where calls for Saleh to step down were heard along with the more familiar slogans for southern secession. Police fired on demonstrators, injuring four, and detained 22 others in heavy clashes. Musid Ali, executive director of the Yemeni-American anti-terrorism center, told Al Jazeera that protests in Yemen were natural given long years of suffering from dictatorship. "It is natural for an uprising to come. This has come after 30 years of rule, people are hungry; there is no development for the people, people are fed up, people are saying Ali Saleh enough is enough. "The Yemeni regime is the terror in Yemen, they are using al Qaeda to get more money from the west," he said. While some students protested against Saleh, others affiliated with his General People's Congress demonstrated in his support, with banners calling for him to remain in office, and for parliamentary elections to be held in April. Saleh said in December that parliamentary polls would take place in April with or without opposition parties, some of which have said they are considering boycotting the election.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

'US drone strikes' claim lives

The attacks are the first since Friday's protest rally in Pakistan condemning civilian deaths in US drone strikes. Last Modified: 23 Jan 2011 04:40 GMT

The Pakistani public sees the drone attacks as a breach of national sovereignty [AFP] Pakistani intelligence officials say that a possible second US drone strike has killed two more suspected foreign fighters in northwestern Pakistan. Sunday's attack came several hours after a drone fired two missiles at a vehicle and a house in Doga Mada Khel village, located near North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah, killing at least five armed fighters. The town is a frequent target of the strikes, and the country's tribal region bordering Afghanistan, is increasingly seen as battleground in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. "The US drone hit a car immediately after it parked outside a house," an intelligence official in Miranshah said of the first strike. According to officials, the second drone fired two missiles at the suspected fighters as they were riding on a motorcycle in the same village in the North Waziristan tribal area. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. As a policy, the United States does not confirm drone attacks, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy them in the region. A similar strike killed at least three people in North Waziristan on January 12. On January 1, a string of attacks killed at least 15 people and destroyed a Taliban compound, according to Pakistani officials. Fresh protests In the town on Mir Ali town, also in North Waziristan, some 1,800 tribesmen staged a demonstration on Sunday against the continuous drone strikes, witnesses said. All the markets remained closed with traffic suspended on the busy Bannu-Miranshah road, which runs through Mir Ali. "The government should take immediate steps to stop drone attacks otherwise we will launch a protest movement and will march towards Islamabad," Sherzali Khan, a local tribal elder, told the protesting tribesmen, who were shouting slogans against the US and CIA. They demanded an end to the operations, which they said were killing civilians including women and children in the tribal areas. A similar rally was held on Friday in Miranshah against the drone strikes. The strikes are deeply unpopular among the public, who also see military action on Pakistani soil as a breach of their sovereignty. According to a tally conducted by the AFP news agency, the covert campaign doubled missile attacks in the tribal area last year, where more than 100 drone strikes killed over 670 people in 2010 compared with 45 strikes that killed 420 in 2009. Pakistan tacitly co-operates with the bombing campaign, which US officials say has badly damaged al-Qaeda's leadership. But it has stalled launching a ground offensive in North Waziristan, saying its troops are overstretched. Washington says the strikes have killed a number of high-value targets, including Baitullah Mehsud, the former head of the Pakistani Taliban.

Source: Agencies

Blame traded over Albania casualty

Government and opposition hold each other responsible for deaths of protesters during anti-government demonstration. Last Modified: 23 Jan 2011 08:33 GMT

As political crisis deepens in Albania, the government and opposition have traded blame over who is responsible for the deaths of three protesters during an earlier anti-government demonstration. The prosecutor general's office said on Saturday that arrest warrants have been issued for six officers of the National Guard, a force of army troops under the command of the interior ministry tasked with guarding government institutions and senior officials. Tensions have been mounting for months between the government and the opposition, led by the Socialist Party. The opposition vowed to hold further protests after the three people were killed in Friday's violent demonstration against Sali Berisha, the country's prime minister. Berisha has called demonstrations of his own against what he terms as "the violence of the opposition." Two of the men were shot in the chest, while one died of a head wound in the demonstrations on Friday, where protesters threw sticks and stones at Berisha's office building, prompting police to retaliate with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. Berisha said the men had been killed by "bandits" within the ranks of the protesters themselves, and he accused Edi Rama, the leader of the Socialist Party, of attempting a coup. He warned that those who organised the "anti-constitutional putsch ... will have to face the consequences of law". He said that the demonstrators included "gangs of criminals, bandits, traffickers and terrorists". Rama accused Berisha of being the "political orchestrator" of the deaths, and called for the arrest of Lulzim Basha, the interior minister. "We will continue our protests and demonstrations, without violence, peacefully, wisely, with the unstoppable power of the people's resistance," he said after the first funeral for a protester on Saturday. In addition to fuelling outrage over corruption allegations, the opposition has also alleged that Berisha's Democratic Party rigged Albania's 2009 elections. Calls for calm Alexander Arvizu, the US ambassador to Albania, called for calm, saying that violence was neither necessary nor "inevitable". "What Albania desperately needs at this moment is political leadership. We have repeatedly urged Albania's political leaders to search for compromise," he said. Arvizu, together with Ettore Sequi, the EU ambassador, and Fiona McIlwham, the British ambassador, met with Bamir Topi, the Albanian president, to stress that the "return of dialogue, respect of institutions, maturity and equilibrium is of a vital importance". Eugen Wollfarth, ambassador for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), called "all national leaders, both in government and in opposition" to act "constructively and show leadership in restoring public and political confidence so that the country again can focus on its national strategic goals". Friday's protest, which attracted more than 20,000 people, was prompted by the resignation of Ilir Meta, the country's deputy prime minister, after a video surfaced allegedly showing him asking a colleague to influence the awarding of a contract for building a power station. 'Very tense' situation Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tirana, Besar Likmeta, editor of the website BalkanInsight.com, said: "The political situation continues to be very tense here and the opposition and the government are accusing each other of murder. "The general prosecutor's office has initiated an investigation into the deaths and issued warrants for six high-ranking officers of the National Guard. But unfortunately the police aren't enforcing these warrants." Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI), the UK-based human-rights group, has urged Albanian authorities to investigate the deaths that resulted from the Tirana protests. Andrea Huber, AI's deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, said: "The police have a right to maintain order and protect the public, but they must not use excessive force against those carrying out their legitimate right to protest." Friday's demonstrations marked the first time opposition protests had ended in violence since a political crisis erupted in Tirana after the disputed 2009 general elections. Elections in the country have often been marred by violence and allegations of fraud since the collapse of Albania's communist government in 1991. The current impasse is the longest political crisis the country has faced.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Algeria democracy rally broken up

Several injured as police disperse 300 people who defied a ban and attempted to demonstrate in the capital, Algiers. Last Modified: 22 Jan 2011 16:53 GMT

Riots first erupted in Algeria in early January over rising food costs and unemployment [AFP] At least 19 people have been injured after Algerian police broke up a banned pro-democracy demonstration in Algiers aimed at pressing the government to overturn a law banning public gatherings, government officials said. Hundreds of Algerians defied the ban in an attempt to hold the demonstration on Saturday but were confronted by dozens of police armed with batons, tear gas and plexiglas shields. Said Sadi, the head of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), said at least 40 people were injured and dozens more were arested in the demonstration. Among those arrested was the head of the party's parliamentary group, Othmane Amazouz, Sadi said. Sadi said his party's headquarters in the Algerian capital's main avenue had been put under siege by police, describing himself as "a prisoner". "We cannot wage a peaceful campaign when we are under siege," he said, using a megaphone to address the crowd from a first-floor window. 'Violent regime' Ait Hamouda Nordine, an RCD member of parliament, told Al Jazeera: "[Algeria] is a violent regime, it's an anti-democratic regime and it is time for Algeria to attain credible and democratic systems and parties." The government had warned people not to show support for the demonstration in Algiers in a statement issued on the eve of the march, amid fears of popular unrest spreading from neighbouring Tunisia. The government warning, carried by official news agency APS, stated "marches are not allowed in Algiers" and that "all assemblies on public roads are considered a breach of public order". The march was planned "without authorisation", it said. Demonstrations are banned in Algeria because of a state of emergency in place since 1992. Tunisia effect The demonstration in Algiers came as protesters in Tunisia continued to demand the dissolution of the interim government that took charge after the country's authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was forced to flee on January 14 in the face of a popular uprising. Riots erupted in Algeria in early January over rising food costs and unemployment. Five days of clashes between demonstrators and security forces left five people dead and more than 800 wounded. The government responded swiftly by reducing the prices of oil, sugar and other basic necessities which had risen sharply, while buying up a million tonnes of wheat amid assurances that subsidies on essential goods like flour would continue. However, unrest still simmers and within the past two weeks eight people set themselves on fire in Algeria, although some cases were deemed to be linked to mental-health issues. Unemployment, specifically of the young, is a crucial issue in Algeria, a country where according to the authorities 15 million of the 36 million population is under the age of 30. Nabila Ramdani, an Algerian journalist told Al Jazeera that the situation could deteriorate in Algeria as the people there share the same problems as the Tunisians. "The protesters are saying we are sharing the same problems as the Tunisians, we have poverty in both countries, high unemployment and soaring inflation, and a corrupt government. "Just like the Tunisians, they want radical reforms, more democracy in Algeria; this is why people were shouting 'free Algeria'.”

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Karzai agrees to open parliament

Afghan president to open parliament if members of parliament agree to respect rulings of special tribunal. Last Modified: 23 Jan 2011 07:14 GMT

Wednesday's inauguration is still not confirmed as negotiations continue between Karzai and lawmakers [AFP] Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has agreed to inaugurate the country's parliament, despite saying earlier in the week that he would put the move on hold for a month over disputes regarding elections last year. On Saturday, Karzai reached a deal with politicians who threatened to start work without him, averting a possible constitutional crisis over the planned delay in opening the new parliament, its members. In return, MPs are expected to agree to sign a letter promising to respect the rulings of the supreme court on any review of fraud cases in the September elections. Sue Turton, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, has warned, however, that negotiations are ongoing and that Wednesday's inauguration is far from confirmed. "It's a bit of a stalemate here and I'm hearing today [from diplomatic sources] that these negotiations are still very much ongoing and there is no decision yet as to whether this inauguration will go ahead on Wednesday," she reported. The deal came a day after the United States and United Nations criticised Karzai's plan to delay the opening of the 249-seat parliament. They called for it to be opened as soon as possible. Gul Pacha Majid, an Afghan politician, told the AFP news agency that a committee of 35 MPs had reached an outline agreement with Karzai after hours of talks in Kabul. "The agreement is that the president will inaugurate parliament on Wednesday and, in return, the winning candidates will respect and accept the decisions taken by the special tribunal," he said. While all of the winning candidates have not yet formally agreed to back the deal, Majid said that a large number had agreed to it and he thought that an official resolution would likely be made public on Sunday. Shukoria Barekzai, another politician, said a deal was "confirmed", and that the "supreme court will engage with us to solve the crisis". Crisis over election The deal, if confirmed, will have averted a crisis, as angry parliamentarians were threatening to inaugurate the parliament without Karzai, in an open defiance of his authority as president. The disagreement centres on the results of the fraud-hit parliamentary elections, where Pashtuns, Karzai's traditional political power base, were under-represented. While Pashtuns constitute 42 per cent of all Afghans, it is thought that only 32 per cent of the new parliamentary intake is ethnically Pashtun. Karzai's office had announced on Wednesday that it was delaying the inauguration of the parliament for a month from the original date of Sunday, January 23. That announcement followed a statement from the head of the special tribunal, who called for a delay of at least four weeks while the review of results continued. However, many winning candidates have questioned the authority of the special tribunal, saying it is unconstitutional. In a statement on Friday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan expressed "deep concern and surprise" at the call for the delay from Karzai. But while the US, UN, European Union and other international players had called for Karzai to back down, not everyone is happy with his decision to do so. Daoud Sultanzoy, a former parliamentarian who lost his seat in a chaotic election in Ghazni province, said Karzai bowed to pressure from the international community to support the appearance of a fair vote rather than waiting for the courts to make a decision. 'Tragic situation' "The United States and the European Union and everyone are ganging up on the people of Afghanistan," Sultanzoy said. "It's a very tragic situation that the president is deciding to do this under international pressure." Sultanzoy and other losing parliamentarians are planning to stage a demonstration in Kabul on Sunday. He said that he expects similar demonstrations to be held nationwide, and that Afghans will be unable to trust the government after this decision. "Karzai is hitting the last nails in the coffin of this government," Sultanzoy said. Losing candidates such as Sultanzoy have been holding almost weekly demonstrations, Al Jazeera's Turton reported. After the original parliamentary poll in September, electoral authorities disqualified 24 early winners, including allies of the president, and threw out around a quarter of the five million votes cast. The attorney general's office later called for the results to be annulled, saying the vote was marred by massive fraud. Karzai has yet to endorse the outcome. 'Afghans indifferent' Haroun Mir, the deputy director of the Afghanistan Centre for Policy Studies in Kabul, told Al Jazeera that the president was in a difficult situation, because "he does not know how to satisfy the international community, the winners and the losers". "We are in a very difficult country, at any time we could have another crisis, which could lead to violence in Afghanistan, so everybody is very careful," he said. He warned, however, that the parliament had already lost the confidence of the people, before even having convened. "Unfortunately, this parliament has already lost credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of Afghans. The Afghan people in general are totally indifferent to what's going on in the ... parliament. It would be very difficult for them to regain the trust of Afghan people.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Israel to issue 'flotilla report'

Contrary to UN report, Israeli-appointed commission is widely expected to exonerate military of wrongdoing in the raid. Last Modified: 23 Jan 2011 09:15 GMT

The commission questioned several high-ranking Israeli officials, but was not given access to individual soldiers [EPA] An Israeli-appointed commission said to be probing Israel's deadly raid on a flotilla of ships carrying aid to the besieged Gaza strip in May last year is expected to submit its findings on Sunday. The report, addressed to the Israeli prime minister and representing the findings of the Israeli-government commissioned panel, is widely expected to exonerate the country's military of any wrongdoing, and will be simultaneously submitted to a UN panel investigating the incident. However, such findings would contradict a UN-backed report issued last year. In September, a UN-appointed panel concluded that Israeli forces showed "incredible violence" during and after the raid on the flotilla that left eight Turkish activists and one Turkish-American killed. The UN probe added that there was "clear evidence to support prosecutions" against Israel for "wilful killing" and torture committed when its troops stormed the aid flotilla last May. Israel's military response to the flotilla "betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality" and violated international law "including international humanitarian and human rights law," the three-member panel said. "The conduct of the Israeli military and other personnel towards the flotilla passengers was not only disproportionate to the occasion but demonstrated levels of totally unnecessary and incredible violence." The commando raid on the group of aid ships prompting international criticism of Israel's actions and soured relations with several countries, particularly Turkey. Pro-Israel commission Israel established its own commission of inquiry after rejecting criticism that its troops had acted with excessive force in the raid. On Sunday, media reports indicated that the commission's first report was expected to clear the military of any wrongdoing, finding that Israeli commandos had shot in self-defence after being attacked by aid activists upon boarding their ships. The commission is also expected to uphold the legality of Israel's blockade of Gaza, which it imposed in June 2006 after Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, was captured by Hamas fighters. IN DEPTH At least two of the commission's members openly defended Israel's actions during the raid while questioning some witnesses, particularly Israeli Arabs and human rights group representatives, according to the Jerusalem Post. According to a commission spokesman, in addition to examining the legality of the blockade, the first report also provides an assessment "of the actions taken by the [Israeli army] to enforce the naval blockade" and "an examination of the actions taken by the organisers of the flotilla and its participants and their identity". The inquiry commission, headed by Yaakov Turkel, a former supreme court judge, is also reportedly examining several other aspects of the raid, and is expected to release a second report at an as yet unspecified date. That report is expected to look at the mechanisms available for complaints about the raid. High-ranking officials The commission has heard testimony from high-ranking Israeli officials, including Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, the defence minister, and General Gabi Ashkenazi, the army chief. Giving testimony last year, Barak termed the flotilla a "planned provocation". He said that top officials had suspected that the aid convoy's organisers were "preparing for an armed conflict to embarrass Israel". "We regret any loss of life," he said, "but we would have lost more lives if we had behaved differently." The commission also heard the testimony of several people who were on board the aid ships. None of the soldiers who carried out the raid were authorised to provide their testimony. The commission was only authorised to speak to the army chief or Major-General Giora Eiland, who carried out the military's own investigation into the incident, on matters relating to the military's response. Commission members were authorised to submit questions to individual soldiers who participated in the raid only through a military committee. Other members of the commission include Shbati Rosenne, an international legal expert, retired Major-General Amos Horev, Miguel Deutch, a law professor at Tel Aviv University, Reuven Merhav, a former director-general of the foreign ministry. Rosenne, who was 93-years-old, died on September 21 last year, while hearings were ongoing, and was not replaced. The panel also had two foreign observers, Brigadier General Ken Watkin of Canada and Lord David Trimble of Northern Ireland, who were allowed to participate fully in the commission's activities, but were not allowed to vote on decisions.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies