[Al Ahram] Elections in Algeria might well preserve a president who has been in power for 15 years. But his string of victories will likely be challenged by a fraught political environment and a rising opposition movement.
Polls in the North African country are set to open on 17 April with a diverse mix of candidates to choose from, ranging from a Trotskyist to a human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... -based party leader, and other newcomers.
Yet these candidates have little chance of winning the national vote. Not even the current president's former prime minister between 2000 and 2003, Ali Benflis, who is considered his greatest challenger in the presidential race.
Dissenting voices deem this election one of the most contentious in the country's history.
Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term, who will probably die in office of old age... 's bid to stand for a fourth term comes despite promises to step down.
In May 2012, Bouteflika announced: "My generation has reached its end. We did things for the country. Henceforward, the country is in your hands, you the young. Take care of it."
His words were interpreted as a de facto handover of power from the generation that was born after Algeria's independence from La Belle France in 1962 and has ruled it ever since.
"This theme has been a recurring issue in the discourse of numerous political, media and civil society personalities," Imad Mesdoua, a political analyst with the Mintz Group investigative services firm, told Ahram Online.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Even if the man dies, his comb-over will finish his term
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04/15/2014 18:32 Comments ||
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[Al Ahram] Germany's second-biggest airline, Air Berlin, on Monday said it has cancelled flights this month to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort on the Red Sea because of deteriorating security for foreign tourists on the Sinai Peninsula.
The suspension will last until April 30 inclusive -- a peak period for Europeans seeking a sunny destination during their Easter vacations.
People who have already bought tickets will be reimbursed or offered places on flights to another Egyptian Red Sea resort, Hurghada -- located not on the Sinai Peninsula but across the Gulf of Suez.
The airline's announcement follows warnings by Belgium, Germany and Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... for their nationals to avoid all the Sinai following stepped up unrest and violence there. In February, three South Korean tourists were killed in a kaboom on a bus claimed by an Al-Qaeda-inspired group.
Scores of Egyptian coppers and soldiers have been killed in attacks claimed by Sinai-based bad boys.
The skittishness of European companies and tourist carriers could be costly for Egypt, which depends on tourism for more than 11 percent of GDP.
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04/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Egypt's former defense minister, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has officially submitted his bid to run for president, with his lawyer handing over the required documents to the authorities.
"Lawyer Abu Shoqa submitted the required documents on behalf of Sisi that include endorsements by citizens, medical reports, and an application for his candidacy," media outlets quoted Ahmed Kamel, a Sisi's front man, as saying.
Sisi, the ex-army chief had declared his intention to run for president in late March.
The Egypt's electoral commission is set to announce the final field of candidates on May 2.
Egypt's political parties and figures have repeatedly called on the country's army to stay out of politics.
State institutions and media are all geared toward Sisi's candidacy, a situation which undermines the chances of a fair competition for any other candidate.
Sisi's victory would place Egypt's presidency back in the hands of a top military official just three years after Egyptians rose up against former dictator, Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , an air force officer who ruled Egypt for nearly three decades.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Jury selection began on Monday in the trial of radical Islamic holy man Abu Hamza al-Masri, accused of conspiring in a 1998 kidnapping in Yemen that resulted in the deaths of four tourists.
Abu Hamza also is accused of trying to set up a jihadist training camp in Bly, Oregon, and of raising money to send bully boyz to train in Afghanistan.
The 55-year-old imam, who is using his birth name, Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, during the trial, faces life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges against him.
Prior to Monday, more than 200 prospective jurors filled out questionnaires that asked, among other things, whether they felt they could be impartial in a case involving terrorism-related charges.
On Friday, US District Judge Katherine Forrest struck 45 potential jurors whom both prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed should be dismissed based on their answers, as well as an additional 41 jurors she decided should be excused.
US prosecutors are trying to secure their second high-profile terrorism conviction in a matter of weeks, after a jury found the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now beyond all cares and woe... 's son-in-law Suleiman Abu Ghaith guilty last month.
Unlike in several other terrorism-related trials, including that of Abu Ghaith, the jury will not be anonymous.
Abu Hamza, who has said he is innocent, has indicated he plans to testify in his own defense.
A fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... orator, Abu Hamza was extradited from Britannia in 2012 after spending several years in jail on charges of inciting his followers to kill non-believers.
The Egyptian-born preacher delivered speeches and led prayers at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London. While there, according to British officials, he had contacts with several high-profile myrmidons, including Briton Richard Reid, who unsuccessfully tried to blow up a Miami-bound airplane with a bomb hidden in his shoe in 2001, and Zacarias Moussaoui, who helped plan the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Abu Hamza is missing one eye and both hands and is known for using a prosthetic metal hook. He has said he suffered the injuries while doing humanitarian work in Afghanistan in the 1980s, though authorities say they occurred while he fought with the mujahideen against the Soviet Union.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Senior Minister and Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... PML-N chief Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri has alleged that India has been financing a separatist movement in the province and expressed fear that a 'superpower' and some other neighbouring countries may also extend financial support to it if the Gwadar port is made operational.
Talking to news hounds at his official residence here, he said the Gwadar port had great geo-political importance and making it operational might affect the business of some other ports in the region.
"India is involved in financing separatists' movement in Balochistan and a superpower and some neighbouring countries may contribute in efforts to destabilise Pakistain by creating more unrest in the province if the deep-sea port of Gwadar is made operational," he said.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... the new port would greatly boost the economy of the region by increasing trade activities through an economic corridor for China, Central Asian states, Afghanistan and Pakistain, he said.
"Gwadar port will boost our national economy and create job opportunities for thousands of youths in Balochistan."
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04/15/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"Gwadar port will boost our national economy and create job opportunities for thousands of youths in Balochistan."
[DAWN] A pamphlet attributed to the Afghan Taliban and distributed in parts of North Wazoo Agency has confirmed serious differences among the Mehsud Taliban and the infighting which has left a number of turbans killed on both sides.
The Pashto language Pamphlet, with letter head of Afghan Taliban's chief Mullah Umar, has not only mentioned the conflict among the Mehsud Taliban groups which forms major part of TTP but also appealed to the local rustics to pray and resolve the conflict.
The pamphlet has also appealed to the Taliban groups to play their role in defusing the tension and stopping the infighting between Hakimullah Mehsud group led by Sheryar Mehsud and Khan Said Sajna group, affiliated earlier to Waliur Rehman Mehsud group.
The authenticity of the letter, however, could not be verified from the Afghan Taliban but a copy of the letter is available with Dawn.com.
On the other hand a member of the Hakimullah Mehsud group, Haji Daud who claimed to be its front man has also confirmed to the media that their group is in conflict with Khan Said Sajna group.
He said that the Sajna group wanted to take over the Meshsud Taliban's command and establish its authority in South Waziristan's Mehsud belt which was not acceptable to them.
Daud added that the group would accept the authority of any group only if endorsed by TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... .
The umbrella TTP group on the other hand has termed the internal rift a petty issue and had blamed the media for creating hype.
A key member of the TTP shura, Azam Tariq told Dawn.com that the Mehsud Taliban's dispute has been resolved and it was not a "big problem" any more.
About the extension in ceasefire with the government and other issues, he said that reports about it were premature and the matter would be decided by the Shura soon.
He said that a ceasefire has been established between the two Taliban groups and there would be no more fighting between them.
The armed festivities between the Death Eater groups over a period of a week have left over 40 turbans dead on both sides.
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04/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Israel is holding secret talks with some Arab states that do not recognise it, looking to establish diplomatic ties based on a common fear of Iran, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday. I hope he's not really counting on that.
Amongst the countries he was in contact with were Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and Kuwait, Lieberman told newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth - the first such disclosure by a senior Israeli official.
The two nations swiftly denied the existence of any talks with Israel.
Both these states, along with most other Arab nations, have traditionally been highly hostile towards Israel, which has only signed peace deals with two neighbours - Egypt and Jordan.
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... anti-Israeli sentiment was being superseded by a growing concern over Iran's nuclear programme, Tehran's regional allies, and the menace of Islamist militancy, Lieberman said.
"For the first time there is an understanding there that the real threat is not Israel, the Jews or Zionism. It is Iran, global jihad, (Lebanese Shi'ite guerrilla group) Hezbollah and al Qaeda," the foreign minister said.
"There are contacts, there are talks, but we are very close to the stage in which within a year or 18 months it will no longer be secret, it will be conducted openly," added Lieberman, who is a far rightist in the coalition government.
Lieberman said he was in touch with "moderate" Arabs - a term Israelis often use for Sunni states in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East that align with US interests. He also said he would have no problem visiting Saudi Arabia or Kuwait.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Probably comes down to air transit, landing, and fueling rights for trips to and from Iran across those countries of interest.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/15/2014 0:58 Comments ||
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#3
No surprise here, as Israel is anticipated to be a key member in proposed future OWG Middle East Union, Mediterranean Union(s), + possible Observer or Associate of proposed Islamic-Muslim Union.
FYI even NATO ally TURKEY is repor calling for closer ties wid Putinist Russia + possible Oberver or Regular Membership in Putin's proposed Eurasian Customs Union, + TO DO IRREGRADLESS OF NATO-EU FORMAL MEMBERSHIP OR OPINION.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Bouteflika
[Al Ahram] Germany's second-biggest airline, Air Berlin, on Monday said it has cancelled flights this month to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort on the Red Sea because of deteriorating security for foreign tourists on the Sinai Peninsula. 
