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| Rescue workers claw through mud and dirt in search of 21 people still missing after villagers buried alive by landslide. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 08:51 | ||
Philippine rescuers have continued the frantic search for more survivors a day after a landslide buried workers in mining tunnels in a gold-rich area in the south. But officials are losing hope of finding survivors among the 21 still missing, believed to be buried in a landslide that killed at least three people on Friday, including a 16-year-old miner. The disaster hit Kingking village near Pantukan town in Compostela valley province on the island of Mindanao just before dawn on Friday, burying people under mud, rocks and rubble. The number of people found alive rose to 15 on Saturday as some miners were recovered from a tunnel by diggers clawing through mud and dirt overnight. Arturo Uy, the Compostela Valley governor, said the shanties and tents where miners and their family members were sleeping have been buried under about 25-30 metres of mud, soil, rocks and other debris from Friday's pre-dawn landslide. Uy said on Saturday he will recommend a 30-day suspension of small-scale mining in Kingking while geologists determine whether it is still safe for miners. Liza Mazo, the regional civil defence chief, on Saturday said that the depth of collapsed earth has lowered the prospect of finding more survivors. "We are pessimistic. It is difficult [to dig] because the landslide is 15 to 20 metres deep," she told AFP. On Friday, Lieutenant-Colonel Camilo Ligayo, a spokesman for a military unit aiding the site, said residents had told him at least 40 people were missing and feared buried in the tunnels and their homes. "There are 40 still missing and that is a conservative estimate. The one who gave the estimate was one of the survivors from the tunnels. They know each other there," he told the AFP news agency. "The landslide is massive and these people, the small scale miners, they work and live on the slopes. They have bunkers, houses, stores." Safety concerns It is difficult to pinpoint exact numbers for the missing because of the transient nature of mining work that draws people into the area. The landslide covered numerous illegal, small-scale gold mines on the mountainside in Kingking, including mining tunnels, houses, stores and gold processing mills. At the Pantukan town hall, which serves as a makeshift command centre for the disaster, more civil defence workers and soldiers departed on Saturday, carrying shovels for the hour-long ride to the landslide site. "Time is of the essence but we are doing our best to recover the missing," Major Jake Obligado, a commander of a battalion engaged in the rescue effort, said. Shanty towns have grown around Kingking following a gold rush in the area around two decades ago. Many of the mining operations are illegal and unregulated. Two years ago, a similar landslide in another part of the village killed more than 20 people, including some children. Residents had been ordered to relocate due to the instability of the land and higher risks of landslides. The Philippines is said to sit on an estimated $1 trillion untapped mineral deposits, but has only targeted to attract $1bn in mining investment this year. | ||
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| Source: Agencies |
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Hopes fade for Philippines landslide victims
Deadly drone raid sparks Pakistan protest
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| Hundreds gather in Peshawar to stage sit-in after unmanned drone killed at least 25 people in Hasan Khel. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 12:15 | ||
Protesters angry over a US drone attack that left at least 25 people dead in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan have begun a two-day sit-in near the city of Peshawar. Friday's attack by the unmanned fighter jet hit a compound in Hasan Khel and was the latest in a series of drone attacks to have targeted the region. The sit-in is being organised by opposition politician Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, said Al Jazeera's correspondent in Peshawar, Kamal Hyder. According to the Pakistani media, the border region has been targeted by at least 20 US drone attacks this year. And since August 2008, there have been over 250 drone attacks that have reportedly killed more than 1,500 people in north and south Waziristan. Our correspondent said "hundreds of suppporters have already turned up early" for the protest. "Most of them are using the shade of any tree they can find, sitting there, waiting for Imran Khan who is said to be travelling in a convoy of several hundred vehicles ...," Hyder said. "Imran has invited all the opposition parties but not invited the ruling coalition - the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Muttahia Quami Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP). "It is expected that thousands of supporters will gather here in Peshawar [and] by the time the sun goes down there will be a much larger crowd." The opposition, said our correspondent, have started a new strategy. "They're going to start blocking these roads to make sure that no NATO supplies get through - until the Americans categorically state that they will not violate Pakistan's sovereignty. That, of course, is the demand from the opposition and a large number of people in Pakistan." Meanwhile, Pakistan said on Saturday it had broken the back of anti-government fighters linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, according to the head of the military. In a speech on Saturday, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said the army had attained major gains in its campaign against the fighters. "In the war against terrorism, our officers and soldiers have made great sacrifices and have achieved tremendous success," he said in a speech to army cadets at Kakul military academy, north of Islamabad, broadcast by state television. "The terrorists' backbone has been broken and Inshallah [God willing] we will soon prevail." The Associated Press said it was unclear on what basis Kayani made his comments as Pakistan is routinely rocked by attacks by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, who hold sway in many tribal regions. Parvez's comments followed criticism from the United States that Pakistan was not doing enough to fight militancy. But in his speech Parvez did not allude to Washington, which said Islamabad lacked a robust plan to defeat the fighters. The US, struggling to put down a 10-year insurgency in Afghanistan, also said Pakistani intelligence agents were maintaining links with Afghan Taliban fighters. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US military's joint chiefs of staff, told Pakistani media during a visit this week that continuing ties between agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and the Haqqani faction, one of the most brutal Afghan Taliban groups, was "at the core" of problems between the two countries. Despite the rising level of rhetoric, both sides have sought to mend their ties as both need each other for their own reasons. Relations between the two countries have been recently strained following the fatal shooting of two Pakistanis by Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor, in the city of Lahore in January. | ||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies |
Rivals kick off Turkish election campaign
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| Turkish prime minister Erdogan launches campaign to win a third term while opposition leader pledges new constitution. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 09:47 | ||
Turkey's main parties have kicked off their electoral campaigns ahead of parliamentary elections in June which could hand prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a third term in office, local media reported. Erdogan launched his re-election campaign on Friday in the northern province of Bayburt by explaining the government's economic vision and slamming the opposition, according to the English-language Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review. Erdogan's Islamist-influenced Justice and Development Party, or AKP, won landslide victories in 2002 and 2007 despite opposition from Turkey's secularist establishment. Last year, Erdogan won public support to implement a raft of sweeping constitutional reforms, including reshaping the judiciary and curbs on the powers of the military, in a referendum seen as litmus test of his enduring popularity. Launching his party's manifesto, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the traditionally secular Republic People's Party, or CHP, promised a new constitution accompanied by social and political reforms to establish greater freedoms for all citizens, including Turkey's Kurdish and Alevi minorities. Erdogan's stewardship of Turkey's successful economy is seen as crucial to his party's chances and on Friday he said his ambition was to make Turkey one of the world's top economies by 2023 and push gross domestic product to $2tn and per capita income to $25,000. "Now some will ask whether you have $25,000 in your pocket or not. Look, we are talking about expanding the economy. No one puts such money into anybody's pocket in any part of the world," said Erdogan, whose party came to power in 2002. The prime minister took a swipe at the opposition saying when it was in power Turks waited in queues for cooking oil and gas. "They [CHP] used to meet in the cabinet with overcoats on their backs because the heaters were out of use," said Erdogan. The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, also came in for criticism from the prime minister who alluded to the riots in the streets of eastern and southeastern Turkey in previous days and claimed the BDP and other parties were "rubbing their hands together [malevolently]" when the youth stoned the police. "The CHP is a party that realized significant transformations. We will now bring democracy and freedom to the country," Kilicdaroglu told supporters. "We will touch every field of life; we have projects related to every sphere of life ... Politics exists for the human being." If elected, the party will make a new constitution its priority, which will be prepared with contribution from all segments of society, the CHP chief said. The new charter would anticipate control over the military by civilian authority, a strengthened parliamentary system and separation of powers, while seeking equality. | ||
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| Source: Al Jazeera |
Rights groups slam Bahraini crackdown
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| International NGOs say government has been targeting medical facilities, while also torturing pro-democracy activists. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 08:28 | ||||
Rights organisations are calling on the Bahraini government to halt what they term human rights violations and to stop a crackdown on hospitals where doctors and patients suspected of being sympathetic to pro-democracy protests have been arrested. In separate statements on Friday, Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights slammed the government's attacks on medical staff. London-based Amnesty urged the international community to step in to stop the crackdown, or risk being accused of having "double standards". "North American and European governments, so vocal recently in espousing the cause of human rights in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, need also to speak out loudly about what is going on in Bahrain," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa. "To avoid the charge of double standards, they must be much more robust in pressing the Bahraini authorities to uphold their international human rights obligations." In a new report, the group accuses the Bahraini government of launching "a cleverly planned and orchestrated crackdown using excessive force to suppress protests calling for political change and reform".
Amnesty says that security forces' use of shotguns, rubber bullets and tear gas, as well as live ammunition in some cases, was unjustified. It said that more than 500 people have been arrested in the last month in the tiny Gulf island country, which has seen a series of protests against the current monarchy-led government since February 14. At least four detainees have died while in custody under "suspicious circumstances", Amnesty says. The group points out that many of those arrested are doctors and nurses at the capital Manama's main Salmaniya Medical Complex. 'Places to be feared' Meanwhile, Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday that the Bahraini government had turned hospitals into "places to be feared". "Wounds are used to identify demonstrators, restricted access to health care is being used to deter people from protesting, and those who dare to seek treatment in health facilities are being arrested," Latifa Ayada, an MSF medical coordinator, said. "Health facilities are used as bait to identify and arrest those who dare seek treatment." The group said in a statement said during a visit to the Salmaniya hospital it appeared "virtually empty". It said that injured people had told MSF staff that the military had beaten them, "including on their wounds", while others said patients were being arrested inside health facilities if it became apparent that they were injured during the pro-democracy protests. 'Medical neutrality' violated It said that the use of the hospital as a site for demonstrations against the government, which had prompted an occupation by the Bahraini military to clear them out, had "undermined the ability of health facilities to provide impartial medical care". Amnesty also accused both sides of violating the hospital's "medical neutrality" during the protests. "The police, military and intelligence services must stop using the health system as a way to crack down on the protesters," MSF said in a statement. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a US-based rights group, meanwhile, said the government was carrying out "systematic attacks" on medical staff. "The excessive use of force against unarmed civilians, patients in hospitals and medical personnel that PHR's | ||||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies |
Fresh clashes on Thailand-Cambodia border
| Thousands evacuate from villages in disputed border region and several troops killed in artillery and gunfire exchanges. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 03:17 | ||||
Clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops have resumed for a second day on their disputed border, shattering a two-month lull in long-standing tensions over their disputed border. Cambodian officials said that the latest fighting began before dawn on Saturday and had not stopped. Three Cambodian troops and one Thai soldier were killed on Saturday, local officials said, taking the death toll to 10. Both sides have evacuated thousands of villagers and accused each other of firing first in the thick, disputed jungle around Ta Moan and Ta Krabei temples in the northeastern Thai province of Surin, about 150 km southwest of the 900-year-old Hindu Preah Vihear temple, which saw a deadly stand-off in February. On Friday, troops from the two countries clashed with gunfire and artillery shells when fighting broke out near Ta Muean Tom temple. Three Thai soldiers were killed, and 13 wounded, in the clash, Lieutenant-Colonel Siriya Khuangsirikul, a Thai military spokeswoman, said. Lieutenant-General Chhum Socheat, a Cambodian defence ministry spokesman, said that three of his country's soldiers had been killed in the clash, and several others were wounded. Both sides accused each other of firing first in clashes about 100km southwest of Preah Vihear temple, which is claimed by both Southeast Asian nations and saw an armed stand-off in February. Longstanding dispute Thailand and Cambodia regularly accuse each other of starting border fighting. The Thai-Cambodia border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.
A festering dispute between the two countries over land near a different temple erupted into four days of fighting in February, leaving at least 10 people dead and prompting a UN appeal for a lasting ceasefire. "It is a very similar situation to other times we've seen such skirmishes. It's very difficult to tell who fired first on these occasions," Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay reported from Bangkok. "The Thais say that the Cambodians came too close to the disputed border ... in Surin, the Cambodians say that Thai soldiers actually crept across that disputed border into Cambodian territory." Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6sq km surrounding area. Observers say the temple dispute has been used as a rallying point to stir nationalist sentiment in Thailand and Cambodia. "There are many parts of this border ... that are disputed between the two countries," our correspondent said. "They have fought over [the ancient Preah Vihear Temple] so many times, or at least the land surrounding that temple. "What we saw in February, when many people were also forced to flee their homes, they went to temporary evacuation centres inside schools, inside community buildings, and they stayed there for many days - weeks in some cases. "Certainly it'll be the same case on the Cambodian side as well," he said. | ||||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies | ||||
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Libya rebels claim 'Misurata is free'
| At least 10 dead and dozens hurt in street battles as government troops reported to be withdrawing from besieged city. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 12:55 | ||||
Rebels have declared Misurata "free" amid reports that government troops have been ordered to withdraw from Libya's besieged western port city. "Misurata is free, the rebels have won. Of Gaddafi's forces, some are killed and others are running away," rebel spokesman Gemal Salem told Reuters news agency by telephone from the city. Soldiers captured by rebel fighters on Saturday said the army had been ordered to retreat from the western port city. At least 10 people were killed in street battles in the city on Saturday, a doctor told AFP at a hospital overwhelmed by an influx of casualties including government soldiers. "Since eight o'clock this morning, we have received 10 dead and 50 wounded, which is usually the number for a full day," Khalid Abu Salra said at the main Hikma hospital in Libya's third-largest city. "We're overwhelmed, overwhelmed. We lack everything: personnel, equipment and medicines." Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the fighting in Libya's third-largest city. Tactical change Saturday's upsurge in the battle for Misurata comes after the Gaddafi government said its soldier had been issued an "ultimatum" by local tribes to stop the rebellion in the city, 200 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli. Libyan officials late on Friday acknowledged that the siege had been broken when rebels seized the port and NATO air strikes had taken their toll. "The tactic of the Libyan army is to have a surgical solution, but it doesn't work, with the air strikes it "The situation in Misurata will be eased, will be dealt with by the tribes around Misrata and the rest of Misurata's people and not by the Libyan army."
Abdelsalam, a rebel spokesman in Misurata, said pro-Gaddafi tribes were in a minority in the area. "There are two small pro-Gaddafi settlements outside Misurata. They make less than one per cent of the population of Misurata and the surrounding area. "Those people know that when Gaddafi's regime falls, they will fall with it," Abdelsalam added, predicting the government would boost their strength by paying mercenaries to pose as tribesmen. Hours after the government's announcement of a shift in tactics in Misurata, NATO bombs struck what appeared to be a bunker near Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in central Tripoli. Reuters reporters who were part of a guided government tour for foreign reporters said the area was surrounded by a wall and guarded by watchtowers and soldiers. They saw two large holes in the ground where the bombs had torn through soil and reinforced concrete, to pierce what appeared to be an underground bunker. There was mixed reaction to the government's announcement about changing tactics. Mustafa bin Sweid, a doctor at Misurata hospital, was sceptical about the government's withdrawal announcement, saying: "We don't believe anything that Gaddafi's people say. Just listen to the sounds of the mortars … they're lying." Another doctor told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Gaddafi's forces were on the defensive, adding: "I don't think they would do this for tactical reasons. They're humiliated." On Friday, rebels in Misurata seized control of a downtown office building that had been a base for Gaddafi's snipers and other troops after a furious two-week battle. An aid ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration delivered 160 tonnes of food and medicine to Misurata on Saturday before evacuating around 1,000 stranded refugees, mostly Nigerians. | ||||
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| Source: Agencies |
'Nine killed' at Syria funeral processions
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| Two MPs quit parliament after security forces reportedly open fire on processions for pro-democracy activists. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 12:27 | |||||||
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Four people have been killed in the Syrian town of Douma, a witness told Al Jazeera, after security forces on the ground and snipers on rooftops opened fire on a crowd of thousands of mourners gathered to bury protesters killed on Friday. Army and security personnel also shot at mourners at a funeral procession in the southern town of Izraa. Eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera that five people had been killed there, four of them after having been shot in the chest. Several others were wounded. The eyewitness in Douma said that the gunfire erupted during the processions on Saturday, in the largest of the towns that surround Damascus to the northeast. Eight people were killed and at least 25 injured in Douma when security forces fired upon pro-democracy protesters on Friday.
Snipers on Saturday had taken up positions on the top of a Baath Party building in the vicinity of the privately-run Hamdan Hospital, where residents had overnight formed a human shield around the main gate, in order to prevent security forces from arresting those who were injured and being treated inside. Tens of thousands of mourners gathered across the country on Saturday to attend funeral processions for the more than 75 people who were killed during the deadliest day of protests in the country since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad first began five weeks ago. "Being an MP I feel the need to step down as I am not able to protect the voters killed by live ammunitions and now I feel better to resign so I'm resigning from the Syrian People's Assembly." The Syrian government on Saturday rejected Obama's condemnation as not being "objective", state television reported. Funerals turn into protests Thousands of people gathered near the Osman Ibin Afan mosque in Izraa, a southern village that was the scene of some of the worst violence on Friday. At least 15 people were killed there. During Saturday's funerals, army and security personnel shot at the mourners, killing five people and wounding several others, said an eyewitness present at the funerals. "I saw four of the dead myself. They had been shot in the chest," he said. Al Jazeera's correspondent, who we cannot name for security reasons, was just outside Izraa, and confirmed that he had witnessed a funeral procession being fired upon. "[People marching on an overpass] were met with a hail of gunfire, many people certainly wounded directly in front of us, cars turned around, and I can tell you it was an incredibly chaotic scene, and it seems as though pretty much everyone down here in the southern part of the country is now carrying weapons. It is unclear who was firing at whom, that's part of the confusion ... but clearly a very violent incident now being carried out here in the south of the country," he reported. "I think it's pretty clear now that the government feels that the eyes of the world are elsewhere, and that this is the best way to deal with what they are calling an armed insurrection ... we saw this yesterday, and clearly we're seeing this again today. The government was clearly anticipating funerals like this, and clearly was anticipating that violence could break out at these funerals, people are obviously very angry because they've had family members who have been killed, and I think the government was anticipating violence, but what I witnessed was a clear, brutal use of force on behalf of the security forces." On Saturday, Abu Abdullah, an opposition activist, told Al Jazeera that security forces were firing "live bullets" at mourners who were trying to join the funeral processions. A rights activist told the AFP news agency that more than 150 buses left the town of Deraa, which has from the beginning of the uprising been a focal point for pro-democracy protests, bound for the funeral procession in Izraa. The activist said that the funerals in Izraa were expected "to become a huge rally against the regime". Prayers were also held in the Damascus neighbourhood of Barzah for three of those killed during Friday's protests, activists said. A funeral was also due to be held on Saturday in the Damascus neighbourhood of Midan for a person killed there during the protests. Members of that procession chanted "the people demand the overthrow of the regime", a slogan that has been a common thread in popular protests against authoritarian governments in the region. Protesters also chanted: "Bashar al-Assad, you traitor. Long live Syria, down with Bashar." Deadliest day At least 75 people are reported to have been killed on Friday, as security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to quell anti-government protests across the country, according to Amnesty International, the London-based rights group.
Syrian activists sent Al Jazeera a list naming 103 people from across the country who they said had been killed by security forces during the "Great Friday" protests. SANA, the official news agency, said that 10 people had died in clashes between protesters and passers-by, and that security forces had only used tear gas and water cannons. It reported that several police and firefighting personnel were injured during the clashes. Rights groups and pro-democracy activists dispute the claim that security forces did not intervene with live rounds and rubber bullets against pro-democracy activists. Fifteen of the protester's deaths took place in Izraa, near the flashpoint southern town of Daraa, according to the list released by activists, while another 21 were reported to have occured in Homs. Deaths were also reported in Douma and Zamalka, near Damascus (see this video posted from an unknown source from Zamalka). Other places where protesters were killed include Homs, Syria's third largest city, Moadamia and Daraa. Demonstrators marching in peace were surprised by security forces' live ammunition, according to Hazem, a protester who spoke to Al Jazeera via phone from a Damascus suburb. The protesters took to the streets to mark what activists dubbed "Great Friday" - the biggest demonstrations against Assad's government to date. Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reported from Damascus, which until now had been relatively calm, that the level of tension in the city on Friday marked a new point in the uprising. "This day is turning into a very bloody day, probably the bloodiest since the protests started," she said.
A heavy security presence prevented protests from taking off in Damascus. Several witnesses, including medical professionals, told Al Jazeera that many of the injured were either being refused access to hospitals or were too scared to seek treatment. A spokesperson for the ministry of information told Al Jazeera on Friday that security forces would fire on protesters only if they were fired upon first. Violence in Homs Speaking under condition of anonymity, a witness in Homs described how about 200 protesters, moving ahead of a 3,000-strong group, came under fire as they marched down Cairo Street, close to the Clock Square that has been the city's focus for protests. "Suddenly the security opened fire on us randomly," the activist told Al Jazeera by phone. One of those killed in the city by government officers was a 25-year-old protester named Mohammed Bassam al-Kahil, he said. Meanwhile, another witness in Hasakah, in Syria's mainly Kurdish northeast, told Al Jazeera that demonstrators gathering at a mosque after prayers were attacked by pro-government protesters. Syrian activists co-ordinating the protests against al-Assad's rule have demanded the abolition of his Baath Party's monopoly on power and the establishment of a democratic political system. More than 220 protesters have been killed since pro-democracy protests erupted on March 18 in Daraa, rights campaigners say. | |||||||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies |
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