US group says Sudan army committed war crimes

New satellite images cited as proof that one-third of all civilian buildings in Abyei were burned out during takeover. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 02:27

Humanitarian groups are worried about civilians caught in the renewed north-south Sudanese conflict [AFP] New satellite images provide evidence that northern Sudanese troops have committed war crimes, including ethnic cleansing, in the contested border town of Abyei where the forces took over more than a week ago, according to an advocacy group. The Satellite Sentinel Project said in a statement on Sunday that satellite images by DigitalGlobe show that the Sudanese army burned about one-third of all civilian buildings in the north-south border town, used disproportionate force and indiscriminately targeted civilians. "The totality of evidence from satellites and ground sources points to state-sponsored ethnic cleansing of much of the contested Abyei region,'' the group said. The Satellite Sentinel Project said the evidence is being sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Security Council for assessment. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, is already wanted by the ICC for war crimes in the Darfur region. Northern Sudanese tanks rolled into the town of Abyei on May 21, scattering southern troops that were there as part of a joint security unit. Thousands displaced The seizure of Abyei followed an attack on a convoy of northern soldiers by southern forces on May 19 and two days of aerial bombardment of the area by the north. The northern takeover has displaced tens of thousands of civilians who now live in squalid conditions in southern villages. On Sunday, Save The Children's UK office warned that a new wave of violent conflict has displaced up to 35,000 children. The group said in a statement on Sunday that children who have been separated from their families since fighting broke out are at "grave risk'' of being targeted for sexual and physical abuse or recruited into the armed conflict. Save the Children said it is "desperately worried about those children currently beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance". George Clooney, the Hollywood actor, urged the UN to protect civilians in Abyei, saying the north's takeover was meant to disrupt the south's upcoming independence in July. "We now have undeniable proof of the Khartoum regime's war crimes in Abyei. We've captured visual evidence of the Sudan Armed Forces ransacking and razing Abyei town," Clooney said. Clooney initiated the Satellite Sentinel Project along with John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, after they travelled to Southern Sudan in October 2010. Visual evidence The Satellite Sentinel Project was established to use satellite images and on-the-ground reports to help deter the resumption of full-scale civil war between Sudan's north and south. In its statement, the group said the new visual evidence shows that the government of Sudan has committed grave violations of the Geneva Conventions and other war crimes, some of which may also constitute crimes against humanity. North and south Sudan ended more than two decades of civil war in 2005 with a peace deal that promised both Abyei and the south a self-determination vote. The south voted overwhelmingly in January to secede and will become an independent nation July 9. Abyei's vote never happened, so its future is being negotiated by the north and south. Prendergast on Sunday urged Obama administration to punish Sudan by isolating it diplomatically and denying it debt relief. He also asked the Abyei matter to be referred to the ICC. "What is happening in Abyei is what the international community feared would happen in Benghazi, Libya," he said. "We're not advocating military intervention, but we do think the Responsibility to Protect doctrine requires more assertive action in support of ongoing emergency diplomacy."

Source: AP

Peru presidential run-off remains tight

Surveys show rightist Keiko Fujimori has narrow lead, a week before presidential election. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 04:48

Right-leaning Keiko Fujimori is backed by the business community and poor women [Reuters] Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori, has a thin edge over rival Ollanta Humala a week before Peru's June 5 presidential run-off election, three polls have shown. Right-leaning Fujimori had 50.5 per cent of the vote on Sunday while left-leaning Humala, a former army officer, had 49.5 per cent in a mock nationwide vote organised by Ipsos. The survey of 1990 people was conducted on May 21-27 and has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points. In another mock vote, by CPI, Fujimori had 51.8 per cent and Humala had 48.2 per cent. CPI surveyed 2,800 people on May 25-28 and its margin of error was 1.85 percentage points. Fujimori had a larger lead in another poll by Datum, getting 52.3 per cent of the vote to Humala's 47.7 per cent. The survey of 5,019 people from May 23-25 has a margin of error of 1.4 percentage points. Market worries Fujimori, 36, is backed by the business community and poor women. Her father was credited with opening the economy to trade and taming hyperinflation in the 1990s, but his government fell amid allegations of corruption and human rights scandals in 2000 following a tough crackdown on guerrillas. Humala, 48, has tried with limited success to distance himself from his former political mentor, Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez, and present himself as a moderate like Brazil's popular former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Humala, who once led a bloodless insurrection to demand the elder Fujimori step down, has promised to prudently manage the surging economy, though critics fear he would roll back years of free-market reforms. Peru's currency, the sol, and stocks plunged after Humala won the first-round vote on April 10 as investors worried he would intervene in the economy and hurt private investment. Financial asset prices later recovered as Fujimori rose in polls. Humala has revised his government plan to make it more attractive to investors, dropping a controversial tax increase and a proposal to take over private pension funds.

Source: Agencies

S Africa's Zuma in Libya for peace talks

South African president to negotiate immediate ceasefire as calls mount for Gaddafi to step down. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 09:41

Libyan community and tribal leaders on Sunday called for an end to violence and the departure of Gaddafi and his sons Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, has travelled to Tripoli for talks to end Libya's conflict, as calls mount from the international community for Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, to stand down. Zuma's office said the main objectives of his visit on Monday include negotiating an immediate ceasefire, enabling the delivery of humanitarian aid and adopting and implementing reforms to eliminate the causes of the conflict. It rejected as "misleading" reports the talks would focus on an exit strategy for Gaddafi, saying the visit is part of African Union efforts to end the conflict between his forces and rebels fighting to oust him. Libyan state television said that Zuma was going to discuss the implementation of the AU "roadmap" for peace, as it reported fresh NATO raids on the Nafusa mountains in the far west and the town of Bani Walid, near Misurata. In a statement on the eve of Zuma's visit, his ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa condemned the NATO bombing of Libya. "We also join the continent and all peace loving people of the world in condemning the continuing aerial bombardments of Libya by Western forces," it said after a two-day meeting of its executive council. On Friday, G8 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States called for Gaddafi to step down after more than 40 years in power. The Libyan government responded by saying any initiative to resolve the crisis would have to go through the African Union. "The G8 is an economic summit. We are not concerned by its decisions," said Tripoli's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaaim. "We are an African country. Any initiative outside the AU framework will be rejected." Tribal leaders call for united front Over the weekend, more than 100 Libyan community and tribal leaders met with members of the opposition National Transitional Council at a conference in Turkey in a bid to show a united front against Gaddafi. The delegates, mostly from the powerful Warfalla clan based in the western city of Baniwalid, were calling for an end to the violence and the departure of Gaddafi and his sons. Baniwalid is said to hold a position of vital strategic importance, and was thus being aggressively targeted by Gaddafi. The meeting was billed as a possible game-changer for the Gaddafi government as the Warfalla are said to have been supporting Gaddafi militarily, especially around the western city of Misurata. In the final statement of the conference, the delegates called on their "brothers in Zletin, Tarhuna, Khums, Msellata and Sirte to join the revolution and to put a swift end to this tyranny". On Monday, Navi Pillay, the UN rights chief, condemned the brutality of the government's crackdown on protesters in Libya and Syria, saying the actions were shocking in their disregard for human rights. "The brutality and magnitude of measures taken by the governments in Libya and now Syria have been particularly shocking in their outright disregard for basic human rights," he said. Meanwhile, also on Monday, two French lawyers said they planned to bring legal proceedings against Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, for crimes against humanity over the NATO-led military campaign in Libya. Ibrahim Boukhzam, a Libyan justice ministry official in Tripoli, said Jacques Verges and Roland Dumas had offered to represent families he said were victims of the NATO bombing campaign. Dumas said the NATO mission, which was meant to protect civilians, was killing them. He denounced what he described as "a brutal assault against a sovereign country" and said he was ready to defend Gaddafi should he ever be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.

Deadly Taliban attack in western Afghanistan

At least four killed and 33 wounded as armed men attack ISAF building in western city of Herat. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 08:23

Attacks have taken place in cities across Afghanistan in recent weeks [AFP] At least four people have been killed after armed men launched multiple attacks in the western Afghanistan city of Herat, officials said. Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said that in one of the attacks "four men attacked the provincial reconstruction team of the ISAF building" in Herat on Monday. A second explosion targeted an area packed with people and traffic about two kilometres from the base. He said hospital sources confirmed that at least four were killed and 33 others wounded in the attacks. Gunfire followed the attacks and the fighting is continuing, sources said. Taliban claim "Among the wounded we have four children and a woman. The rest are men. Three of the injured are in critical condition,"said Ghulam Sayed Rashid, the Herat provincial health director. The blasts came just weeks before the usually peaceful historic city is to become one of the first places in the war-torn country to transition from NATO to Afghan security control nearly 10 years after the 2001 US-led invasion. Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with its spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, telling AFP:"Our mujahideen are working on the operation in Herat". Reuters news agency quoted a witness as saying that he saw the bodies of several troops wearing foreign uniforms and saw smoke rising near the Italian-run joint civilian and military provincial reconstruction team (PRT) base. A second Reuters witness said it appeared an unknown number of fighters had entered a seven-storey building near the PRT and began opening fire on the base from there. Majority Italians Italian troops form the bulk of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the area but there was no immediate confirmation of casualties from ISAF. Italy has about 3,880 troops serving in Afghanistan, the majority of them in the west. A spokesman for ISAF in Kabul said the force was aware of reports of the attack and was looking into them. Television pictures from Herat showed at least two vehicles destroyed by explosions and troops scurrying for cover. Violence has spiked across Afghanistan since the Taliban announced at the beginning of May the start of a spring offensive. Attacks have taken place in cities across Afghanistan in recent weeks, with the Afghan government and security forces and foreign military targets singled out in increasingly bold assaults.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Pakistan 'plans' North Waziristan offensive

Reports suggest that Pakistan has given in to US pressure to crack down on the Haqqani network in the region. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 07:48

North Waziristan has long been a haven for the Haqqani group which is fighting US troops in Afghanistan Pakistan will soon launch an air and ground military offensive in the tribal region of North Waziristan, the main sanctuary for armed groups on the border with Afghanistan, media reports say. The United States has long demanded that Pakistan launch an offensive in the region to hunt down the Haqqani network, one of the deadliest Afghan armed factions fighting American troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been reluctant, but has come under intense US pressure to act after it was discovered that Osama bin Laden had been living in the country. The News, a leading Pakistani daily, quoted unnamed "highly placed sources" as saying Pakistani airforce planes would soften up targets under the "targeted military offensive" before ground operations were launched. The newspaper said an understanding had been reached over the offensive during last week's visit by Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state. But a Pakistani military spokesman denied the reports as based on "rumours". 'Significant move' However, reporting from Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab described the planned operation as very significant. "North Waziristan has long been a haven for a group called the Haqqani network, of course a very powerful group in Afghanistan which has long fought against US and NATO forces. " We are hearing that it is going to be a targeted military offensive in North Waziristan and what we are also hearing is that the Pakistani military would start with what they described as 'surgical air offensive' followed by ground troops. "Now we don't know when exactly this would happen but really what this is is Pakistan meeting a very key demand from the United States. A US embassy official said he was checking into the report. Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment. Pakistan has maintained that its troops were already too stretched fighting Pakistani Taliban fighters in other parts of the northwest to tackle North Waziristan. But analysts say Pakistan sees the Haqqani network as an asset to counter the growing influence of rival India in Afghanistan. "What's also interesting about this North Waziristan operation is obviously the geography, North Waziristan, of course has been the subject of perhaps some of the most consistent drone strikes here in Pakistan," added our correspondent. Drone strikes are hugely unpopular in Pakistan, and some think that with Pakistan agreeing to carry out this operation, the United States may decide to stop the drone attacks or at least reduce the number of such attacks. Restaurant blast "Pakistani military is looking at a way to defuse the kind of tension in the country since the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden here in Pakistan," Tyab said. "The Pakistani military, the Pakistani government, and the intelligence agencies, have rececived an incredible amount of criticism....that they have never really seen in their time of existence. "So really what they are trying to do is trying to meet public mood, (by) trying to stop these US drone attacks within their borders." Meanwhile, a blast hit a restaurant in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, wounding 12 people, according to Reuters news agency. "We are checking the cause of blast....," a government official in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan where the blast took place on Monday, told Reuters.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Mladic to challenge Hague extradition

Lawyers for ex-Bosnian Serb general says he is too ill as nationalists rally in Belgrade against his arrest. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 11:06

An estimated 10,000 Serbian nationalists gathered in central Belgrade to protests against Mladic's arrest [AFP] Ratko Mladic is set to appeal against his extradition to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague on the grounds that he is too ill to face charges. Lawyers for the former Bosnian Serb general - arrested last week for alleged atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war after being on the run for 16 years - will formally challenge his extradition on Monday. His family is also planning to demand an independent medical check-up. Mladic, being held in a Serbian jail, could be extradited early this week, if a judge rejects his appeal. However his lawyer has said he would post the appeal from a post office in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, meaning the court cannot deal with the document until it has arrived. Slobodan Homen, a justice ministry official said, extradition could take between two and four days to complete. "Sending the appeal by mail is an attempt to delay the extradition process," he said. Ill health "He's a man who has not taken care of his health for a while, but not to the point that he cannot stand trial," Bruno Vekaric, Serbia's deputy war crimes prosecutor. told The Associated Press. "According to doctors, he doesn't need hospitalisation." Mladic has suffered at least two, and possibly three, strokes, the latest in 2008, his son said. The suspect's right arm is only semi-functional, and his family says he is not lucid, but Vekaric said that the assessment was not true. Lawyer Milos Saljic says that Mladic is demanding he be allowed to visit the grave of his daughter, who committed suicide in 1994. "He says if he can't go there, he wants his daughter's coffin brought in here," Saljic said. "His condition is alarming." Saljic added that the family does not believe that Mladic would receive proper medical attention in The Hague. He noted that several high-profile Serbs had died there, including former president Slobodan Milosevic, who suffered a heart attack. Meanwhile, Mladic's son, Darko Mladic, said on Sunday that despite the indictment, his father insists he was not responsible for the mass executions committed by his troops in the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995. "Whatever was done behind his back, he has nothing to do with that," Darko said. The massacre in Srebrenica, which saw around 8,000 Muslim men and boys rounded up and killed, is considered to be Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. Nationalists protest At least 10,000 Serbian nationalists gathered in central Belgrade to protest against Mladic's arrest on Sunday. Sporadic clashes erupted at the rally, with several dozen protesters throwing stones at riot police wielding batons. Authorities said they had detained 180 people on Monday who had attacked police during the protest. Al Jazeera asks if the capture of Mladic will improve Serbia's chances of joining the European Union Supporters of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party and other similar organisations had been brought by bus from across the country for the evening rally in the Serbian capital. Authorities stepped up security ahead of the rally, which raised fears of violence, with hundreds of police and anti-riot units assembled in the streets around parliament where the demonstration was held. Protesters carried flags of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), and posters, banners and t-shirts declaring, "Mladic is a Serbian hero!" Reporting on the protest, Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull, said the "ultra-nationalists groups are showing open support to a man they consider to be a national hero". However, some in the crowd expressed disappointment at the turnout. "I really regret there are not more people," said one protester, Zivorad Radovanovic. "When Croatian generals were sentenced in The Hague, the whole of Croatia was on their feet," he said, referring to protests last month when 30,000 gathered in Zagreb to rally against heavy war crimes sentences for two former generals. After the July 2008 arrest of Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb wartime political leader, thousands of ultra-nationalists staged a violent protest in Belgrade, leaving one dead. "The concern is of a repeat of ultra-nationalists street violence that followed the arrest three years ago of his political master Radovan Karadzic," our correspondent said. "But up to now the reaction to Mladic's arrest has been rather more muted, rather more low key." "Since Karadzic's arrest, a lot has changed in Serb society. "A lot of people have come round to the view that the way forward for this country is not to follow the ideals of the past but rather to point more towards Europe - to the prosperity that it offers to a country in deep economic crisis," Hull said. Mladic is accused of several atrocities during the Bosnian war, including the Srebrenica massacre and the 44-month siege of the city of Sarajevo, during which around 10,000 people were killed.

Source: Al Jazeera and english

Germany pledges nuclear shutdown by 2022

Angela Merkel's government agrees to shut down all nuclear reactors and seek alternative energy source. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 10:19 video

Germany has decided to shut all its nuclear reactors by 2022 in a drastic policy reversal in the wake of the nuclear disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant. The move announced on Monday will make Germany the first major industralised power to shut down all its nuclear plants. However, the decision also means the country will have to find the 22 per cent of its electricity needs covered by nuclear reactors from another source. Coalition partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government want to keep the eight oldest of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors permanently shut. Seven were closed temporarily in March, just after the earthquake and tsunami hit Fukushima. The eighth, the Kruemmel plant in northern Germany, has been mothballed for years because of technical problems. A further six will be taken offline by 2021, Norbert Roettgen, the environment minister, said early on Monday after late-night talks in the chancellor's office between leaders of the centre-right coalition. The remaining three reactors, Germany's newest, will stay open for another year until 2022 as a safety buffer to ensure no disruption to power supply, he said. Paul Brennan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Berlin, the German capital, said to get rid of the reactors within that "short space of time really is a tall order indeed". "It is hugely ambitious because it's not just the closure of the nuclear power stations that we're talking about here. "The other targets that the German government is aimng for are what really make it tough. For example they're insisitng that they will reduce electricity consumption by 10 per cent by 2020. "They're also insisting that they want to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40 per cent in the same time period, and they want to double the amount of renewable energy by 35 per cent." Merkel U-turn Merkel backtracked in March on an unpopular decision just months earlier to extend the life of ageing nuclear stations in Germany, where the majority of voters oppose atomic energy. Thermal imagery shows the shut down nuclear power plant in Biblis, Germany [Reuters] Her Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and junior coalition partner the Free Democrats (FDP) met on Sunday after an ethics commission ended its deliberations this weekend. "It's definite: the latest end for the last three nuclear power plants is 2022," Roettgen said after the meeting. "There will be no clause for revision." Some politicians had wanted a clause allowing for the agreement to be revised in future. The FDP had wanted no firm date but rather a flexible window for the exit, plus the option of bringing back at least one of the seven oldest nuclear reactors in case of emergency. The coalition agreed to keep one of the older reactors as a "cold reserve" for 2013, if the transition to renewable energies cannot meet winter demand and if fossil fuels do not suffice to make up for a potential shortfall. Japan disaster A massive earthquake and tsunami in March crippled Japan's Fukushima plant, causing releases of radioactivity, sparking calls for tougher global safety measures and prompting some governments to reconsider their nuclear energy strategy. The German decision still needs to go through parliament and leaders of the opposition Social Democrats and the Greens were present at parts of the meeting to enable a broad consensus. The decision could still face opposition from RWE, E.ON, Vattenfall and EnBW, the utility companies that run the 17 plants, mostly because of plans to keep a disputed nuclear fuel rod tax. The coalition wants to retain the tax, which was expected to raise $3.29bn a year from this year, but so far has not been levied. With the immediate exit of eight plants, however, it will raise less than envisaged. Sources had said the government was mulling scrapping the tax in return for the four big power providers supporting an earlier exit from nuclear energy and not suing the government for its policy U-turn. Juergen Grossmann, chief executive of the biggest power provider, RWE, has lobbied for nuclear plants to stay open longer, arguing a quick exit would cost energy-intensive industry dearly and could threaten Germany's industrial base. Before Merkel shut down the oldest plants for three months, nearly a quarter of the country's power was atomic. Her about-turn has done little to regain her support, but has drawn scorn from the opposition and from within her own party ranks. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against nuclear energy at the weekend all across Germany. Nuclear policy is heavily disputed in Germany and the issue has helped boost the Greens, which captured control of one of the CDU's stronghold states, Baden-Wuerttemberg, in a March election. Merkel's majority in the Bundesrat upper house vanished last year after the CDU failed to hold onto North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state. Losing Baden-Wuerttemberg, a vote held after Fukushima and fought in part over energy issues, dealt another blow to Merkel's authority.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies