Mubarak and sons detained for 15 days pending investigation

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Wed, 13/04/2011 - 11:15

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Egypt's attorney general has ordered former President Hosni Mubarak and his sons to 15 days of detention pending investigation into murder and corruption allegations.

While Mubarak remains in the hospital after experiencing a heart attack on Tuesday, doctors have confirmed it is safe to resume questioning. His sons on Wednesday morning were transferred by military aircraft to Tora Prison, where other figures from the former regime are also being detained.

The ousted president is accused of involvement in approving the murder of protesters, manipulating public funds, abusing power and profiteering. His sons face allegations related to corruption.

Several media outlets including the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and the state-run Nile News confirmed Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud's orders.

The decision marks the first time a former Egyptian president has been detained for investigation, and it comes several days after the protests that toppled Mubarak regained momentum with calls for Mubarak and his sons to be arrested.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak arrived at Tora Prison at 6 am Wednesday after being questioned at an investigations office in South Sinai. Sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm they were dressed in white prison uniforms and handcuffed after their arrival.

The location of Mubarak's detention has not been confirmed.

On Sunday, Mahmoud summoned Mubarak for questioning shortly after a pre-recorded audio statement by the former president aired on the Saudi satellite channel Al-Arabiya. In the statement, Mubarak defended himself against accusations that he has illegitimate assets abroad.

Egypt's public prosecution explained on its Facebook page that according to the Interior Ministry, transferring the Mubaraks to Cairo for questioning would be insecure, so they will intead be questioned outside the city.

UN names Cote d'Ivoire rights probe team

Investigation to cover the violence that erupted after the disputed November 28 election. Last Modified: 12 Apr 2011 19:09

Alain Toussaint, left, a spokesman for Gbagbo, accused France of staging a 'coup' against his leader [Reuters] The United Nations has named a team of human rights experts who are to investigate alleged rights abuses in Cote d'Ivoire. The UN Human Rights Council said on Tuesday that the team would be led by Vitit Muntabhorn, a Thai law professor who previously served as the special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea. The move follows the capture of Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to quit the presidency after losing it led to conflict in the west African country. The UN has reportedly uncovered 536 bodies in the west of Cote d'Ivoire since the end of March and it is believed that a further 400 people died as a result of fighting in Abidjan, the commercial capital, even before the most recent fighting there. Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said last week that the shelling of a marketplace in Abidjan's Abobo district and the murder of women peacefully protesting, as well as numerous other killings and abductions, may amount to crimes against humanity. The investigation is to cover the period since the November 28, 2010 election which Gbagbo lost, according to UN-certified results. The disputed election erupted into violence with Gbagbo and his supporters facing off against Alassane Ouattara, who has international backing as the poll winner and Cote d'Ivoire's president-elect. Both sides have been accused of human rights abuses in the conflict. But Issiaka Konate, a spokesman for Ouattara in London, has insisted that of the violence that occured in the aftermath of the election "there's only one person responsible ... and the whole world knows that it's Mr Gbagbo". "Had Mr Gbagbo stepped down peacefully, so many things that happened after the election wouldn't have happened," he told Al Jazeera. Calls for calm Gbagbo was captured by Ouattara's forces on Monday, but sporadic clashes involving heavy weapons continue to rock Abidjan. The fighting was heard in areas largely loyal to Gbagbo, the central Plateau district and Cocody in the north, as pro-Ouattara forces tried to return the city to normalcy after 10 days of bitter street battles. Following Gbago's capture, Ouattara called for calm and promised a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission. Click here for more special coverage "I call on my fellow countrymen to abstain from all forms of reprisal and violence," he said in a speech on his TCI television, calling for "a new era of hope". But the Associated Press reported a spate of reprisal killings on Tuesday, and quoted a catholic priest in the port of San Pedro as saying parishioners had reported the kidnappings of dozens of young men. Gbagbo, who is being held in Abidjan's Golf Hotel, where Ouattara has been living since the disputed election, also spoke briefly on Ouattara's TCI television, calling for an end to the fighting. Jendayi Frazer, a former US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told Al Jazeera that Ouattara's key goal should now be to ensure Gbagbo's supporters could be brought on side. "He has to restore the economy quickly, and most importantly he has to reach out to Gbagbo's supporters and try to forge the kind of political agreement that will allow the security environment to return to some sense of normalcy," she said. "It's going to be hard, and that is where the role of the United Nations is going to be so important." In a potential boost to Ouattara's legitimacy, army chiefs who fought for Gbagbo pledged their loyalty to him, according to TCI television. The channel said that Philippe Mangou, Gbagbo's former army chief of staff, as well as "all the generals of the ground, air and navy forces" had sworn their loyalty to Ouattara. Frazer said that with Gbagbo removed from power, Cote d'Ivoire had strong economic prospects. "The international community is moving rapidly to remove the sanctions [against Cote d'Ivoire] to restart economic activity there ... there's tremendous opportunity and there will be a lot of good will politically," she told Al Jazeera. French 'coup' claimed French troops are said to have led Gbagbo's capture and in Paris on Tuesday a spokesman for Gbagbo accused French special forces of carrying out a coup in its former colony on behalf of Ouattara. "It was a coup d'etat which had no other aim but to gain control of the resources of Ivory Coast," Alain Toussaint told reporters. The battle for Abidjan This browser does not support the iframe element. Click on the map to navigate "Gbagbo was captured by French special forces, who took him to the Golf Hotel." France has repeatedly denied claims that French troops had arrested Gbagbo, insisting that they never set foot in his compound despite having bombarded it from the air. "Not a single French soldier set foot in his residence," Francois Fillion, the French prime minister, told parliament. "The priority is now reconciliation and reconstruction, it's a victory for the rule of law, for democracy and for the United Nations mission in Ivory Coast," he said, brushing off critics of France's role in the conflict. He also said that there was no reason for French forces to remain in Cote d'Ivoire over the long term. "Licorne has no call to remain in Ivory Coast," he said, referring to the French force in the country. France has 1,700 troops in Cote d'Ivoire and there is a large French community in major Ivorian cities. The French defence minister, Gerard Longuet, said his ministry would scale back its forces after the capture of Gbagbo to a "few hundred men" but gave no timetable. ?

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

More bodies found in Mexico mass graves

Hand of Zetas gang suspected as toll rises in gruesome find in San Fernando in Tamaulipas state, near the Texas border. Last Modified: 13 Apr 2011 01:40

The interior secretary has promised to step up troop and police presence in the area where the latest killings occurred The toll of murder victims buried in a series of mass graves in northern Mexico has risen to 116, according to Mexico's attorney general who blames the atrocity on the Zetas drug cartel. Soldiers found the corpses last week in San Fernando in Tamaulipas state near Texas and initially unearthed 59 bodies, but the toll has since risen steadily in one of the most gruesome finds so far in Mexico's escalating drug war. "Today we can confirm the discovery of a total of 116 people killed in this criminal act ... by the Zetas," Marisela Morales, the attorney general, announced on Tuesday in Mexico City. The body count could still rise and Mexican media said 128 corpses had now been recovered in San Fernando. Authorities in Tamaulipas declined to comment on the figure. San Fernando is a town about 145km south of Brownsville, Texas, on a well-travelled stretch of highway that runs near the Gulf Coast. It is an area regularly patrolled by the Mexican military. Francisco Blake Mora, the Mexican interior secretary, pledged to step up the presence of troops and federal police in the area where the killings occurred and not leave the area until the killers and drug gang members there have been caught. "Organised crime, in its desperation, resorts to committing atrocities that we can't and shouldn't tolerate as a government and as a society," Blake said. Tarnished image More than 37,000 people have been killed since Felipe Calderon, the president, sent in the army to fight the drug gangs in 2006, worrying the US and some investors and tarnishing Mexico's international image as a favoured tourist destination. The victims in Tamaulipas, one of the drug war's worst flash-points, may have been killed after refusing to work for the Zetas, according to media reports. The gang is increasingly making a name for itself as the most violent of Mexico's powerful cartels. Morales said 17 suspects had been arrested in the government's investigation, but she declined to give more details about any possible motives for the massacre or the identities of the victims. The graves were near a ranch where 72 Central and South American migrants were killed last year by the Zetas preying on undocumented migrants heading north in search of work in the US. Guatemala's foreign ministry said this week one of its citizens was among the dead in Tamaulipas. It is unclear how many were illegal immigrants, who are being targeted for kidnap by drug gangs seeking to hold them to ransom. The Zetas and rival Gulf Cartel are fighting in Tamaulipas over lucrative drug transit routes to the US. Authorities are working to identify the bodies, one of which may belong to a US citizen, through DNA samples and other techniques. Mexico and the US have accused each other of hindering progress, straining diplomatic relations to the point where the US ambassador to Mexico resigned last month.

Source: Agencies

Syrian security forces attack village

Witnesses say security forces opened fire in Baida while an opposition delegation has met the vice-president. Last Modified: 13 Apr 2011 03:05

Tens of thousands of protesters are demanding reforms to Syria''s political system [AFP] Syrian security forces have fired upon people in the village of Baida, near the coastal town of Baniyas in the country's northeast, injuring at least one person, witnesses tell Al Jazeera. Security forces have so far arrested 200 residents in Baniyas as challenges to the rule of Bashar al-Assad continued to spread, according to a human-rights lawyer. "They brought in a television crew and forced the men they arrested to shout 'We sacrifice our blood and our soul for you, Bashar' while filming them," the lawyer, who was in contact with residents in Baida, said. The lawyer, who did not want to be further identified, said the events occurred on Tuesday. Syrian secret police and soldiers surrounded Baida and went into houses, arresting men up to 60 years old, activists said. Gunfire was heard earlier in the day and one man was killed, they said. They said Baida was targeted because its residents participated in a demonstration in Banias last week in which protesters shouted "The people want the overthrow of the regime" - the rallying cry of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolts. One activist said some residents of Baida had weapons and it appeared that an armed confrontation had erupted. But Sheikh Anas Airout, an imam in nearby Banias, said Baida residents were largely unarmed and that they were paying the price for their non-violent quest for freedom. "Security forces and armed men are firing machine guns indiscriminately at [Baida]," a witness said on Tuesday. "The gunfire against Baida is intense like the rain. At least one person was injured," another witness said, describing the violence in the village, which is 10km south of Baniyas. "What we are hearing from residents [in Baida] is that there has been a campaign of arrests, those who have been detained are taken to the main square ... and eyewitnesses say they are being brutally beaten," reported Al Jazeera's Rula Amin from Damascus. "The goal of the attack is probably the arrest of Anas al-Shukri [one of the leaders of the opposition movement]," a human rights activist, who wished to remain anonymous, said. Al-Shukri told the AFP news agency that security forces and the army were "continu[ing] to assault Baniyas". The AP news agency reported that pro-government armed men were also attacking the village of Beit Jnad, near Baida, on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Ghiyath Oyun al-Sood, secretary-general of the Democratic People's Party (a banned communist party), was arrested while shopping near his home in southern Damascus, the AFP news agency reported quoting Khalil Matouk, a human-rights lawyer. In another development, about 600 Kurds held a one-hour long peaceful protest demonstration in the village of Ain Arab in the northern part of Syria, Radif Mustapha, head of the Rased Kurdish human rights group, told AFP. The protesters were calling for reforms and the release of political prisoners. Meeting with opposition Against this backdrop of political tensions, Al Jazeera's Amin reported that an opposition delegation from the city of Daraa - where protests against the government first began several weeks ago - met a high-level government official on Tuesday. "The people of Daraa had a delegation led by the imam of the Omari mosque [where protests started] ... met Syria''s vice-president Farouk al-Shara. This is a very significant step," she said. "The people we spoke to, including this imam, told us that they met the vice-president, they gave him their list of demands, some have to do with Daraa - like pulling out the heavy security that's stationed there, releasing all prisoners - and some demands have to do with all of Syria, like lifting the state of emergency law, giving them more political freedoms and to stop the heavyhandedness of security forces in their daily lives." Click here for more of Al Jazeera''s special coverage The opposition also demanded that the status of those who are still missing after the protests were broken up by security forces be revealed, and that the families of those who were killed during protests in Daraa be provided a monthly salary. "What the government wants of course is for the protests to stop, and so far, of course, there is no conclusion. But according to the delegation ... preparations are underway to arrange a meeting between a delegation from Daraa and the president himself. Maybe as soon as tomorrow," our correspondent said. The official Sana news agency said nine soldiers, including two officers, were killed on Sunday when their patrol was ambushed outside Baniyas, 280km northwest of Damascus. Residents of Baniyas say there is a shortage of bread in the city, and that electricity and communications services are intermittent, if not cut entirely. Abdelbasset, an electrician, told AFP that the situation was "extremely bad". "The army was redeployed outside the city and the security forces and shabbiha [government agents] conducted a number of arrests. The town is dead, shops are closed," he said. "Baniyas is surrounded by tanks, no one can get in or out. It is like a prison," said Yasser, a shopkeeper. Sheikh Mohammed, a preacher, said: "Several families evacuated women and children [to the outskirts of the town], because we are in the Ras Al-Nabee neighbourhood which was targetted by gunfire from Al-Quz neighbourhood." The interior ministry on April 9 warned that the government would deal harshly with "armed groups" who "shoot indiscriminately" on "both demonstrators and security forces". The state media criticised on Tuesday "those sowing trouble, disorder and discord when Syria has already begun to address the problems and pave the road for change and reform". US condemnation The White House on Tuesday condemned what it called Syria's repression of protests, terming it "outrageous" in a statement where it expressed concern about the reports of wounded people being denied medical care. The British government, meanwhile, has urged Syrians to remain "cautious" when in public places. "We recommend those in Syria exercise caution and maintain a high level of security awareness, particularly in public places and on the roads, and avoid large crowds and demonstrations," Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, said in a statement on Tuesday. The UN has called for a halt to the "use of force against peaceful protesters" in the country. "The [UN High Commissioner for Human Rights] has emphasised to the Syrian authorities that the use of force against peaceful protestors has not quelled discontent anywhere in the region and to take immediate action to stop the excessive use of force, particularly the use of live ammunition against peaceful protestors," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner. Iran's foreign ministry, on the other hand, termed anti-government protests in Syria a Western plot to undermine a government that supports "resistance" in the Middle East. "What is happening in Syria is a mischievous act of Westerners, particularly Americans and Zionists," Ramin Mehmanparast, a spokesman, said on Tuesday. Protests that erupted in Syria more than three weeks ago have steadily grown, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms to the country's political system. The Associated Press news agency said the Damascus Declaration, Syria's leading pro-democracy group, had urged leaders of the Arab League to impose sanctions on al-Assad's government, and put the death toll from the unrest at more than 200.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Suicide attack kills Afghan tribal elder

At least 10 dead as bomber blew himself up after approaching Malik Zarin, an influential tribal elder, to greet him. Last Modified: 13 Apr 2011 09:30

Kunar is among Afghanistan's most restive provinces and it borders Pakistan A suicide attack has hit a gathering of tribal elders in the Asmar district of eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, killing 10 people, including a top tribal leader, the country's interior ministry has said. "A suicide attacker targeted a gathering of tribal elders in the Asmar district of Kunar today," Zemarai Bashary, interior ministry spokesman, told the AFP news agency. "Ten people have been martyred and seven others have been injured." The spokesman said the slain tribal leader was a key local pro-government elder. Mohammad Shoaib, the district police chief, said the bomber blew himself up after approaching Malik Zarin, an influential tribal elder and a former military commander, to hug him in greeting. "The suicide attacker approached them (elders), hugged Malik Zarin and then detonated the explosives strapped to his body," Shoaib said. The Taliban has denied that it was behind the attack. But its fighters frequently target pro-government figures as part of their near 10-year campaign against government forces and the roughly 130,000 international troops in Afghanistan. Kunar is among Afghanistan's most restive provinces and is on the border with Pakistan, where insurgents are thought to have rear bases. The mountainous province of Kunar is one of the main strongholds of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda-linked allies in their battle against the government in Kabul and its international NATO allies. Suicide attacks and roadside bombings are the main weapons of choice for the insurgents. The accidental deaths of civilians in international military operations in Kunar in recent months have triggered a wave of protests in Afghanistan.

Source: Agencies

Clinton urges Arab states to embrace reform

US secretary of state tells US-Islamic World Forum in Washington that Arab youths will not "accept the status quo". Last Modified: 13 Apr 2011 09:08

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton praised Arab youth for rising up against 'false narratives' [AFP] Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, has urged Arab leaders to embrace the "spirit of reform" that has swept the region and move swiftly to respond to the growing demands of their citizens. "The long Arab winter has begun to thaw," said Clinton on Tuesday, at the opening day of the US-Islamic World Forum being held in Washington. She praised Arab youth for rising up against "false narratives" that she said had choked political and economic reform for generations. "All the signs of progress we have seen in recent months will only be meaningful if more leaders in more places move faster and further to embrace this spirit of reform," she said. Before an audience that included representatives of more than 30 Muslim nations, the top US diplomat said that "for the first time in decades there is a real opportunity for change" following the historic unrest in the region. Arab youth, she added, will no longer "accept the status quo" and "know a better life is within reach - and they are willing to reach for it". Officials from Muslim majority nations including Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan are attending the annual meeting, which aims to build greater understanding between the United States and Muslim countries. Earlier on Tuesday, while opening the forum, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), called for the United States to be more active in solving conflicts in the Muslim world. Ihsanoglu called for a resumption of the Middle East peace process so that it can be the cornerstone of US-Muslim world relations. He said that it was "high time" for talks to resume to find a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Middle East conflict dominates Meanwhile, US senator John Kerry, called at the three-day forum for "anyone here who can intervene and play a role to do so" in reviving the peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. Muslim officials insisted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains at the heart of relations between the United States and the Islamic world. Even as the meeting opened in Washington, diplomats at the United Nations said the United States had blocked a bid to break the deadlock in the Middle East peace process by not agreeing to a meeting in Berlin on Friday. In that meeting, Britain, France and Germany wanted to outline a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We all know that if one wants to advance peace in the Middle East you don't put the Palestinian question on the back burner, you put it on the front burner, " the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, told the AFP news agency. "There has to be a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians." Direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed last year. In its eighth year, the forum is being held at a time of unprecedented change in the Arab world, with uprisings against autocratic leaders across the Middle East and North Africa.

Source: Agencies

Libya contact group meets in Qatar

Rebels tell world leaders that Gaddafi's exit is the only way out of crisis as arming them becomes a contentious point. Last Modified: 13 Apr 2011 10:04 Video

Libyan rebels seeking international recognition told world powers at a meeting in the Qatari capital Doha that Muammar Gaddafi's removal from power is the only way out of their country's deepening crisis as allies disagreed on whether to arm the rebels. Wednesday's conference of the "International Contact Group on Libya" is expected to focus on the future of Libya after an African Union attempt to broker a peace deal between rebel groups and Gaddafi collapsed. On the eve of the meeting, a spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) said it will accept nothing short of the removal of Gaddafi and his sons from the country. Mahmud Shammam, whose group seeks international recognition as the legitimate government of Libya, also stressed: "We want to move from the de facto recognition of the council to an internationally-recognised legitimacy." Opposition officials also hope to convince the international community to lift sanctions on eastern Libya. This would free up money in Libyan bank accounts abroad and allow banks in eastern Libya to obtain foreign currency and transfer payments to banks overseas, in order to import basic commodities and other goods. Shammam said the contact group is comprised of high-level international diplomats, and was set up at a conference in London last month. Arming the rebels As allies scramble to finalise a strategy to deal with the crisis, arming the rebels became a flashpoint. Italy wants the international community to consider arming Libyan rebels under the UN resolution authorising the use of all means to defend civilians, the Italian foreign ministry spokesman said. "The discussion about arming the rebels is definitely on the table ... to defend themselves," Italy's Maurizio Massari said on the sidelines of the meeting in Doha. Click here to follow our Libya live blog "The UN resolution ... does not forbid arming" the rebels fighting Gaddafi's forces, he told reporters, while adding that a decision was unlikely to be taken at the meeting in the Qatari capital. "We need to provide the rebels all possible defensive means," he said, singling out communication and intelligence equipment. However, in an apparent rift between EU partners on Libya, Steven Vanackere, the Belgian Foreign Minister said his country was opposed to the idea. "The UN resolution speaks about protecting civilians, not arming them," he said. The Libyan government has dismissed the talks and Qatar's role in the ongoing conflict. "We are very hopeful that the American people and the American government will not buy into the Qatari lies and Qatari schemes," a spokesman of the Libyan regime told reporters in Tripoli on Tuesday. "Qatar is hardly a partner of any kind. It's more of an oil corporation than a true nation," the spokesman said. Among those expected to come to the Doha talks is Moussa Koussa, Libya's former foreign minister, who fled to Britain last month after he defected. He has reportedly arrived in Qatar to meet Libyan rebels. Koussa, a long-time top aide to Gaddafi, will not formally participate in the meeting but is expected to hold talks on the sidelines, British sources said. "He's not connected to (the rebel) Transitional National Council in any way or shape," Mustafa Gheriani, a media liaison official of the rebels, said. Gheriani added that he was personally surprised to learn that Koussa was leaving Britain to attend the Qatar talks, and suggested that British officials should explain why he was going and in what capacity. 'Free individual' Koussa, the most prominent Libyan government defector, sought refuge in Britain on March 30. A friend said he quit in protest at attacks on civilians by Gaddafi''s forces. The former spy chief was questioned by Scottish police over the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing, which killed 270 people, but the British government said he was now free to travel. Click here for more on our special coverage "We understand he is travelling today to Doha to meet with the Qatar government and a range of Libyan representatives to offer insight in advance of the contact group meeting," a Foreign Office spokesman said. No Gaddafi representatives are expected to attend. "Moussa Koussa is a free individual who can travel to and from the United Kingdom as he wishes," the spokesman said. British government sources said they expected Koussa to return to Britain after his talks, although others questioned the wisdom of letting him leave. "It is very important that our country doesn't become a transit lounge for alleged war criminals," Robert Halfon, a Conservative member of parliament, told BBC radio. "We have to give a signal to the rest of the world that we cannot tolerate this." Koussa may be looking to see if he can play a role in the rebel movement fighting Gaddafi, according to some reports. Koussa is believed to be no longer under the supervision of British security agencies who had questioned him at a secret location after his defection to Britain. In his first public statement since arriving in Britain, Koussa told the BBC on Monday his country could become "a new Somalia" unless all sides involved in the conflict stopped it from descending into civil war.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies