Report Ex-US Secretary of State urges CIA, Pentagon to explain how he was given unreliable information which proved key to US case for invading Iraq. | |||||
| Middle East Online | |||||
LONDON - Ex-secretary of state Colin Powell called on the CIA and Pentagon to explain how he was given unreliable information which proved key to the US case for invading Iraq, the Guardian reported Wednesday. Powell's landmark speech to the United Nations on February 5, 2003, cited intelligence about Iraq leader Saddam Hussein's bioweapons programme gained from a defector, codenamed Curveball. But he has now admitted that he lied to topple Saddam in an interview with the Guardian. "It has been known for several years that the source called Curveball was totally unreliable," Powell told the British newspaper. "The question should be put to the CIA and the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) as to why this wasn't known before the false information was put into the (report) sent to Congress, the president's state of the union address and my 5 February presentation to the UN." The defector, real name Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, told the Guardian that he lied to the BND, Germany's secret service, by claiming in 2000 that Iraq had mobile bioweapons trucks and had built clandestine factories. During Powell's speech, Janabi was described as "an Iraqi chemical engineer" who "supervised one of these facilities." "He actually was present during biological agent production runs and was also at the site when an accident occurred in 1998," Powell told the UN. Janabi was exposed as an unreliable source when the BND visited Bassil Latif, his former boss at the Military Industries Commission in Iraq, who said there were no trucks or factories. However, the BND continued to cooperate with the trained chemical engineer, and the false statements were eventually passed on to senior US policymakers by the intelligence services. The resulting conflict claimed more than 100,000 civilian lives and ruined the political standing of the then US president George W. Bush and his defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Hans-Christian Stroebele, a Green deputy in Germany's federal parliament, told the Guardian Janabi had arguably broken the German law which forbids warmongering. |
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Powell demands answers over false Iraq intel
Four killed in violent Bahrain crackdown
Riot police attack protesters with rubber bullets, tear gas in Pearl Square without warning. | |||||
| Middle East Online | |||||
By Taieb Mahjoub - MANAMA | |||||
Riot police stormed through a Manama square early Thursday firing rubber bullets and tear gas in a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters that left four dead, witnesses and opposition said. Up to 95 protesters were wounded when police launched the operation in the iconic Pearl Square without warning at around 3.00 am (midnight GMT), sending protesters fleeing in panic, they said. "They attacked the square, where hundreds of people were spending the night in tents," said one witness, 37-year-old Fadel Ahmad. At the city's main Salmaniya hospital, medical staff were overwhelmed as ambulances and private cars were still ferrying in the injured more than three hours after the assault began. Relatives of the victims gathered outside the hospital, angry and weeping. During the operation, explosions and ambulance sirens could be heard a few hundred metres (yards) from the central square, which had been sealed off. Demonstrators fled pursued by security forces, as a helicopter flew overhead. By dawn Thursday, police officers were clearing away the tents as acrid clouds of tear gas hung over the square. Security forces were by mid-morning deployed across Manama, with armed police blocking roads leading to the square and setting up checkpoints in other streets, causing heavy traffic congestion. Bahrain's authorities, defying US-led appeals for restraint, said they had no choice. "The security forces evacuated Pearl Square ... after having exhausted all chance of dialogue," interior ministry spokesman General Tarek al-Hassan said, in a statement from the official news agency BNA. "Some left the place of their own accord, while others refused to submit to the law, which required an intervention to disperse them," he said. Thousands of demonstrators inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, had been occupying the square since Tuesday, after police killed two young Shiite demonstrators during anti-government protests. The leader of the main Shiite opposition condemned it as a "savage and unjustified attack against a peaceful assembly." Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Islamic National Accord Association (INAA), said: "This attack was a mistaken decision which will have catastrophic repercussions on the stability of Bahrain." The INAA said riot police had opened fire without warning using rubber bullets. Relatives named two of the dead as Mahmoud Makki Ali, 22, and Ali Mansour Ahmad Khoder, 52, though they did not indicate the circumstances of their deaths. One of Khoder's relatives said: "We refuse to receive the body until we get a written report on the main reasons behind his death." An MP from INAA, Ali al-Aswad told AFP that a third protester shot in his chest with a hollow-point bullet died of his wounds, naming him as Hussein Zaid. He said another protester died after being shot in the head by police, adding that at least 95 people were injured, some seriously. The latest deaths bring to six the number of demonstrators killed since the protests began on Monday in response to messages posted on Facebook. Protesters had renamed Pearl Square as Tahrir (Liberation) Square, after the area in Cairo that became the focal point of an uprising that finally toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak last Friday after 18 days of nationwide protests. On Wednesday, thousands of Bahrainis chanted for a "real constitutional monarchy" after the burial of the second protester. But the atmosphere had been relaxed as thousands poured into Pearl Square after the funeral. The interior ministry had said it would allow demonstrators to stay in the square, "taking in consideration the feelings" of the people. The INAA, the largest Shiite opposition bloc, said its 18 MPs would continue a boycott of the 40-member parliament launched Tuesday until steps were taken to establish a real constitutional monarchy. They called for a prime minister elected by the people, not appointed by the king. Before the latest clashes, the White House said Wednesday it was watching the developments "very closely" and called on Bahrain's rulers to allow peaceful anti-government protests. Bahrain serves as headquarters for a pillar of American military power, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which commands a rotating flotilla of vessels charged with safeguarding oil shipping lanes in the Gulf and countering Iran. Former colonial power Britain had also called for restraint. |
Libya’s Al-Baida anti-regime protest turns bloody
Opponents of Libyan regime say four killed in protesters’ clashes with security forces in Al-Baida ahead of 'Day of Anger.' | |||||
| Middle East Online | |||||
TRIPOLI - At least four people were killed in clashes with Libyan security forces, opposition websites and NGOs said on Thursday, as the country faced a nationwide "Day of Anger" called by cyber-activists. The websites and a Libyan rights group based in London said the clashes with demonstrators opposed to the regime of Libya's leader Moamer Gathafi took place on Wednesday in the eastern town of Al-Baida. "Internal security forces and militias of the Revolutionary Committees used live ammunition to disperse a peaceful demonstration by the youth of Al-Baida," leaving "at least four dead and several injured," according to Libya Watch. The scale of Thursday's protests will be a test for Gathafi, 68, who has been in power since 1969, but whose counterparts in neighouring Egypt and Tunisia have been toppled in uprisings over the past month. One Facebook group urging a "Day of Anger" in Libya, which had 4,400 members on Monday, had seen that number more than double to 9,600 by Wednesday following the Benghazi unrest. Quryna newspaper said security forces and demonstrators already clashed late on Tuesday in Benghazi, also eastern Libya, in what it branded the work of "saboteurs" among a small group of protesters. The director of the city's Al-Jala hospital, Abdelkarim Gubeaili, said that 38 people were treated for light injuries. Security forces intervened to halt a confrontation between Gathafi supporters and the demonstrators, said the paper which is close to Gathafi's son, Seif al-Islam. Both Britain and the European Union called for restraint by the authorities in Libya, whose relations with the West have improved sharply over the past decade after years of virtual pariah status. The European Union urged Libya to allow "free expression". "We also call for calm and for all violence to be avoided," said a spokeswoman for the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. British Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said: "I call on the Libyan government to respect the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, and on all sides to exercise restraint and refrain from violence. "We are concerned by reports of the arrest of Libyans who have called for demonstrations or spoken to the media and of violent incidents during demonstrations in Benghazi," he added. In the aftermath of the Benghazi protests, activists were rounded up in the opposition stronghold on Wednesday, an informed source said. Amid rivalry on the streets, pro-Gathafi demonstrations were held in the capital late on Wednesday, on the eve of Thursday's protests to mark the deaths of 14 protesters in an Islamist rally in Benghazi in 2006. |
Yemen clerics urge unity government
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| Influential group demands transitional government with opposition representation in order to save country from chaos. Last Modified: 17 Feb 2011 09:44 GMT | ||
A group of clerics in Yemen have called for the formation of a national unity government in order to save the country from chaos, Al Jazeera has learnt. The influential figures are demanding a transitional unity government that would see the opposition represented in key ministries, followed by elections in six months. They say the move would place Yemen in the same situation as Egypt and Tunisia, without suffering bloodshed. Loyalists of the government wielding batons and daggers chased a group of protesters meeting at the city's university, witnesses said. At least five people were injured in the violence. Unrest has swept the streets of Yemen for the past one week, with anti-government protesters clashing with government supporters and security forces. In the face of the unrest, Saleh has postponed a visit to the United States that had been planned for later this month, after the opposition agreed on Sunday to resume talks suspended since October. Eyeing protests that brought down the presidents of Tunisiaand Egypt, Saleh, in power since 1978, pledged earlier this month not to stand in the next presidential elections. He also vowed not to pass on the reins of power to his son. But his pledges apparently have done little end the protests. Of the 23 million people in Yemen, 40 per cent live on less than $2 a day and a third suffer chronic hunger. | ||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies |
Israeli troops kill Gaza fishermen
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| Three killed as they worked on the shore, but Israeli army says they were trying to plant bomb near security fence. Last Modified: 17 Feb 2011 09:14 GMT | ||
Israeli soldiers have killed three Palestinian fishermen along the Gaza-Israeli border, Palestinian medics have said. Gaza's ministry of health said on Thursday that the men were killed overnight in the north of Gaza, near Beit Lahiya, while they were working with their nets on the shore. The medics said that the victims were shot by Israeli forces before dawn. But the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in a statement said the men were "militants". "Overnight, an IDF force identified a number of Palestinian militants approaching the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip, in an attempt to plant explosive devices. "Thwarting the attempt, the force fired at the militants, hitting three of them," the statement said. Residents said they had heard gunfire in the area. Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for the Hamas-run emergency services, told AFP news agency that the men died after being hit by a tank shell and machine gun fire in an area called Al-Waha which lies close to both the shore and the northern border with Israel. Abu Selmiya identified the men as Jihad Khalaf, 20, Talaat al-Awagh, 25 and Ashraf al-Kteifan, 29. Increased tensions Israel often carries out strikes against Hamas-ruled Gaza. Increased tensions over the Gaza border have raised concerns about a new Israeli invasion of the coastal enclave like the devastating 22-day offensive which began at the end of December 2008. Fourteen hundred Palestinians were killed in the operation, more than half of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, also died. | ||
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| Source: Agencies |
Libya leader regrets Ben Ali's fall
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| Muammar Gaddafi laments ousted president's departure saying it has left Tunisia in "chaos with no end in sight". Last Modified: 17 Jan 2011 02:47 GMT | ||
Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, has said he regrets the fall of Tunisia's president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which has left the country in "chaos with no end in sight." "You have suffered a great loss ... There is none better than Zine [El Abidine Ben Ali] to govern Tunisia," he said in a speech broadcast on state radio and television on Saturday. "I do not only hope that he stays until 2014, but for life," he said, stressing that he considered Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday, still to be the "legal president of Tunisia under the constitution." He said Ben Ali did good things for Tunisia, hailing his handling of the country's economy. "Tunisia, a developed country that is a tourist destination, is becoming prey to hooded gangs, to thefts and fire," he said. 'Victims of lies' Gaddafi said the Tunisian people were the "victims of lies" broadcast on the internet which had played a large part in Ben Ali's ouster, adding that Tunisia was suffering bloodshed and lawlessness because its people were in too much of a rush to get rid of their president. "Tunisia now lives in fear ... families could be raided and slaughtered in their bedrooms and the citizens in the street killed as if it was the Bolshevik or the American revolution," Gaddafi said. "And for what? In order for someone to become president instead of Ben Ali?" he added. "I do not know these new people, but we all knew Ben Ali and the transformation that was achieved in Tunisia. Why are you destroying all of that?" he asked. | ||
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| Source: Agencies |
'Day of rage' planned in Libya
| Online activists have called for countrywide protests on Thursday, seeking an end to Muammar Gaddafi's long rule. Last Modified: 17 Feb 2011 07:55 GMT | ||||
Protesters in Libya are set to take to the streets for a "day of rage," inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Libya has been tightly controlled for over 40 years by Muammar Gaddafi, who is now Africa's longest-serving leader. And rights groups warned of a possible crackdown by security forces on Thursday's planned protests. Thursday is the anniversary of clashes that took place on February 17, 2006, in the country's second largest city of Benghazi when security forces killed several protesters who were attacking the city's Italian consulate. At least two people were killed in clashes between Libyan security forces and demonstrators on Wednesday, in the town of al-Baida, east of Benghazi. The victims' names were: Khaled ElNaji Khanfar and Ahmad Shoushaniya. Angry chants Wednesday's deaths come as hundreds of protesters reportedly torched police outposts while chanting: "People want the end of the regime." At least 38 people were also injured in the clashes, including 10 security officials. "All the people of Baida are out on the streets," a 25-year-old Rabie al-Messrati, who said he had been arrested after spreading a call for protests on Facebook, said. Violent protests were also reported earlier in the day in Benghazi. In a telephone interview with Al Jazeera, Idris Al-Mesmari, a Libyan novelist and writer, said that security officials in civilian clothes came and dispersed protesters in Benghazi using tear gas, batons and hot water. Al-Mesmari was arrested hours after the interview.
Late on Wednesday evening, it was impossible to contact witnesses in Benghazi because telephone connections to the city appeared to be out of order. State media reported there were pro-Gaddafi protests too across the country, with people chanting "We sacrifice our blood and souls for you, our leader!" and "We are a generation built by Muammar and anyone who opposes it will be destroyed!" As the wave of unrest spread south and westwards across the country, hundreds of people marched through the streets in the southern city of Zentan, 120km south of the capital Tripoli. They set fire to security headquarters and a police station, then set up tents in the heart of the town. Chants including "No God but Allah, Muammar is the enemy of Allah," can be heard on videos of demonstrations uploaded to YouTube. Independent confirmation was not possible as Gaddafi's government keeps tight control over the movements of media personnel. Online activism In a country where public dissent is rare, plans for Thursday's protests were being circulated by anonymous activists on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. One Facebook group urging a "Day of Anger" in Libya, which had 4,400 members on Monday, saw that number more than double to 9,600 by Wednesday. Social media sites were reportedly blocked for several hours through the afternoon, but access was restored in the evening. Al Jazeera is understood to have been taken off the state-owned cable TV network, but is still reportedly available on satellite networks. People posting messages on opposition site www.libya-watanona.com, which is based outside Libya, urged Libyans to protest. "From every square in our beloved country, people should all come together in one city and one square to make this regime and its supporters afraid, and force them to run away because they are cowards," said a post on the website. Also calling for reforms are some of Libya's eminent individuals. A group of prominent figures and members of human rights organisations have demanded the resignation of Gaddafi. They said that the Libyans have the right to express themselves through peaceful demonstrations without any threat of harassment from the regime. Oil factor Gaddafi says Libya does not need to import Western concepts of democracy because it is run on his system, known as the Third Universal Theory, under which citizens govern themselves through grassroots institutions called popular committees. Rights group Amnesty International voiced concern about a new crackdown. "The Libyan authorities must allow peaceful protests, not try to stifle them with heavy-handed repression," it said in a statement. Though some Libyans complain about unemployment, inequality and limits on political freedoms, analysts say that an Egypt-style revolt is unlikely because the government can use oil revenues to smooth over most social problems. Libya accounts for about 2 per cent of the world's crude oil exports. Companies including Shell, BP and Eni have invested billions of dollars in tapping its oil fields, home to the largest proven reserves in Africa. | ||||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies |
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