Author Archives: Gunjan Priya

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Yemen unrest forces global diplomates to flee

The situation in Yemen is gradually tilting towards civil war. There was a fierce battle between soldiers and tribesmen as they fight for the control of key positions in the capital. These have caused many diplomats to board plane and flee out of the country.

The concentration of the fighting is now in the capital Sanaa and several other cities and there are worries that the battle could engulf the whole country.

Yemen soldiers moved in to fight the opposition groups which comprise of tribesmen, Islamic militants and militias. These groups are fighting the government in addition to the popular uprising in the country which is demanding for regime change in the country.

There was heavy fighting around the state owned television which was strongly fortified by security forces. The security forces opened fire against the tribesmen who are supporting Hamid al-Ahmac who is the strongest opponent of President Ali Saleh.

Heavy fighting between the tribesmen and Yemen security forces busted last week because of the refusal of president Saleh to sign a peace deal. That was the third time the president is refusing to sign that deal. With the movement of tanks and armored vehicles into the capital it appears that Saleh wanted to use maximum force to crush the tribesmen. Such a move could be counter productive.

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Afghan president urges NATO to avoid interruption

Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has addressed a press conference where he admonished NATO forces in his country not to allow it to be seen as an occupying force by the people they wanted to protect.

He said on Tuesday that if the rate of civilian casualties in NATO attack continues the people of Afghanistan will no longer see the force as an ally but as an occupying force even as he warned that he would take an unspecified action if the civilian casualties are to continue.

He said that they would no longer allow NATO to raid homes in pursuant of insurgents adding that the patients of the people on such tactics had expired. He said that if that happen they will see NATO no longer as an ally but as an occupying force.

The outburst of Mr. Karzai is to distance himself from the western troops who had been in the country for almost a decade fighting Taliban. He wanted to be seen in new light in the country as the champion of the people of Afghanistan. There is widening resentment of the continued stay of NATO in the country and the repeated civilian casualties in the campaigns are not helping things either.

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Football Association Calls for Delay in FIFA Elections

Football associations have called on FIFA to shift its election which was scheduled to hold on June 1. With the suspension of the other contenders in the office of the FIFA president as a result of corruption charge; the current president of the association Mr. Sepp Blatter is the sole contender for the post of the president. The other candidate for the election Mohammed Bin Hammam withdrew from the race. The FA had decided to abstain from voting as a result of the corruptions charges that was leveled against FIFA.

The FA has now called on FIFA to postpone the election and wanted an outside body to improve on the governance system of FIFA. The chairman of FA David Bernstein said that the association is basing its decisions on two grounds: the allegation of corruption that is leveled against FIFA EXCO members makes it difficult to support any of the members for the election. The second reason according to him is that the lack of accountability and transparency make governance in the body unsatisfactory.

He therefore called on the postponement of the election to give time for reform minded candidates to emerge for elections. He also called for the appointment of an independent body to recommend on best way to bring about improved governance. He called on the national associations to support the stand of the FA on this issue.

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War criminal Mladic appeals against extradition

Post Second World War most wanted war criminal in Europe Ratko Mladic has appealed against the judgment by court in the country that he could be extradited to the court in Hague to answer questions about crimes against humanity that was leveled against him. The notice of appeal was received in the appeal court in Belgrade, Serbia.

It was expected that the extradition could commence as early as Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. With the appeal by Mladic it is doubtful whether the extradition could be carried out as planned. It appears everything would now depend on the time the court finished hearing the appeal. It is expected that the appellate court in Belgrade would speed up the process. The lawyers standing for the former fugitive had written to the authorities explaining that the former army general is not mentally fit to stand trial in The Hague.

He has been in the wanted list for sixteen years. For the first time the former army general was allowed by the authorities to visit the grave of his daughter who killed herself during the war in Bosnia. He visited the grave side amidst tight security. The visit was not announced because the authorities saw it as a private affair.

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Germany agitates with Iran over Delay in Merkel’s plane

Diplomatic row broke out between Germany and Iran over the later closure of its airspace to hinder the passage of Chancellor Angela Merkel who was on her way to New Delhi India on a state visit. The temporal closure of air space delayed the arrival of the chancellor. German diplomats described the action of Iran as a show of disrespect for Germany. They descried that action as unacceptable. The German position was made known by the foreign minister Guido Westerwelle.

The foreign minister summoned the Iranian ambassador to Germany to express the position of the government to Iran. The foreign minister made it clear to the ambassador that such blatant breach of international convention by Iran would no longer to be tolerated by Germany.

Meanwhile the chancellor has arrived to India where she had discussions with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. She however did not comment on the inconvenience that was caused to her by the Iranian action saying that she is concerned with her visit to India.

The chancellor also had a discussion with Indian President. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there is the need to combat terrorism in the region. The talk between the two countries centered on how to improve on the Indio-German relationship. The Indian side of the talk was led by Prime Minister Singh while Chancellor Merkel led the German side.



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NATO Intensifies Campaign as Gaddafi Opts for Peace

Libyan government spokesperson said that NATO planes had carried out night attacks in the capital Tripoli and suburbs. It said that the targets of the attack were military and civilian targets. It said that the attack had resulted to the deaths of many people including civilians adding that many people were wounded as a result of the attack.

Meanwhile the South African president Mr. Jacob Zuma who came to Libya as a delegation of African Union has said that he had a meaningful deliberation with the Libyan leader. He said that Col Gadhafi is ready to implement a peace plan in the country.

President Zuma told the press in Tripoli at the end of the visit that Gadhafi has promised to abide by the AU roadmap for peace. He said that the starting point of the peace plan is the immediate ceasefire on hostilities by all sides involved in the conflict including the ending of NATO bombings.

Reacting to the AU mission to Libya the rebels in Benghazi said that they would not accept the AU roadmap for peace because it is silent on Gadhafi stepping down from power which is the core issue in the crises that are ravaging the country. A similar peace plan by AU was ignored by Gadhafi in April. It is doubtful whether the peace plan by AU would yield positive result and it appears that it is the only option that is left for Gadhafi who is steadily losing steam in the country.

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Karzai wants to limit NATO air attacks

Following the heavy civilian casualties that followed the last air strike by the coalition forces in Afghanistan, president Hamid Karzai wanted to limit the NATO air strikes. The president who was visibly angered by the NATO strike that led to the death of children and women said that future NATO attacks should no longer be on houses. He said that this would be the last time the coalition attack will lead to the death of defenseless children and women of Afghanistan.

NATO had regretted the attack that led to the death of women and children and said that it had never embarked on such an attack without the approval of relevant authorities in Afghanistan and said that they would review the procedures of future attacks following the statement that was credited to the president. The statement said that in the coming weeks the coalition will confer with the president to ensure that his orders are not violated.

The present stance of the president could spark off conflict between the Afghan government and the international communities under whose mandate the NATO were deployed to Afghanistan. However what is unclear is whether the UN troops that are deployed to Afghanistan can take orders from the Afghan president.

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Iran part of the crackdown in Syria- US

United States officials have revealed that the crackdown of the pro democracy movement that is going on Syria is abetted by Iran.

The report said the Iranian authorities are dispatching advisers and trainers including the Quds force to help the Syrian government to crackdown on the pro democracy groups in the country.

The report said that the intervention of Iran in the affairs of the country is preventing the pro democracy forces from forcing changes into the government of Syria. It said that the Iranians are backing the Syrians with manpower as well as riot gear and surveillance equipment which help the Syrian government to track down their opponents through Facebook and twitter accounts. It is believed that it is through the Iranian assisted surveillance computer that the Syrian intelligent was able to arrest the hundreds of oppositions whom they arrested last week.
It has always being the assumption of the US that the Iranian authorities are always behind the activities of the repressive governments that have been oppressing its own people in the Middle East. They cited such instances as the repressive government in Syria and the Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as the extreme jihads group the Hamas in the Gaza strip.

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Karzai Condemns police commander’s murder

The president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai has condemned the suicide bomb attack which led to the death of a prominent police officer and two German soldiers and some other people on Sunday. Mr. Karzai expressed his anger over the incidence and prayed that such should not happen again.

The notable casualty of the suicide bomb attack was the respected police officer Mohammed Daud Daud who was also former deputy minister of interior. The Taliban was accused of being behind the attack. He described the casualties of the attack as those who are working hard for the restoration of peace in the country including the dead foreign soldiers.

The attack was roundly condemned by the international community. The international security assistance force described the attack by the Taliban as the senseless murder. The death of the police chief is seen by many as a big blow to the force which is strategizing to take over the security of the country as the foreign forces are about to handover the country internal security to them.

The late police officer was known as a big opponent to the insurgents’ attack which has started to become rampart in the northern part of the country.

Before the day he was killed he called a press conference where he announced the commencement of operation hope which was aimed at flushing out the insurgent attack in some parts of the country.

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Serbia Plans to Break with Ugly Past

Serbia is completely coming out from its ugly past with the arrest of one of the Europe’s most wanted war criminal Ratko Mladic. Meanwhile the tall building which once served as the headquarters of Slobodan Milosevic which was damaged by a cruise bomb by America during the Kosovo war of 1999 has been privatized and refurbished. It was of the signs that Serbia is planning to break from its past and join the European Union.

The major achievement of the democratic president of the country Boris Tadic is the arrest of Mladic last week. The expected extradition to Hague after more than 15 years of search is a moral boost to the government of Tadic. It is expected that it will open the way for integration of the country into the European Union. It is further healing the old wounds of the bloody past.

However not many people in the country believe that the arrest of the war time criminal will change things in the country. The poor rating of the arrest is as a result of the poor showing of the economy which has made many of the citizens to live in abject poverty. It was the non arrest of Mladic that prevented the membership of Serbia to the European Union.