Through the desert to a country with no name
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
(WMR) – WMR’s Middle East sources are pointing to a looming battle that will be waged for control of the life-sustaining waters of the Nile River when southern Sudan, or whatever it’s name will be, achieves independence from Sudan following the ongoing independence referendum.
Independence for southern Sudan has long been a goal of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her god-daughter, current U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice. The splitting of Sudan has long been in the interests of Israel, which has yearned for a client state in southern Sudan that could put the squeeze on the supply of the Nile’s headwaters to Egypt and northern Sudan. For Rice, a vitriolic hatred for Khartoum and its majority Arab population, has helped the cause of the southern Sudanese. Rice’s views on southern Sudan and Khartoum were partly influenced by two members of the Israeli Lobby who had direct control over U.S. policy toward Sudan as counter-terrorism officials in the Bill Clinton National Security Council: Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamin.
The late southern Sudanese leader, John Garang, was one of Albright’s celebrated ex-Marxist “beacons of hope” for Africa, along with other U.S. client dictators in the region as Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. Congo’s Laurent-Desire Kabila and Garang were among Washington’s “red princes” until they got cross-wise with the CIA and U.S. corporate plans for their respective nations and were removed in assassinations plotted by Langley.
Southern Sudan has not even settled on a name for the new nation. However, any of the proposed names raises the specter of ambitions by the Israelis and other external actors vying for influence in central Africa. One name proposed is the Nile Republic but that would immediately send an alarm to Cairo and Khartoum concerning the long-term control of the Nile’s waters by the new pro-U.S. and pro-Israeli government with its capital in Juba in southern Sudan. Another proposal would call the country “Nilotia,” again, problematic, because of the reference to the Nile River.
Another proposed name, Cush, is taken from the Jewish Bible and refers to an ancient kingdom extending from the Horn of Africa to southern Egypt. There is some informed speculation in the region that the Mossad was behind the recent Christmas car bombing outside an Egyptian Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt in order to stir up tensions between Egypt’s ten percent Coptic minority and its majority Muslim population. Some Middle East commentators pointed out that remotely-controlled car bombs are virtually unknown in Egypt but have been carried out by Mossad in Lebanon, where they are then blamed on Hezbollah.
Mossad is reportedly recruiting agents from the hundreds of southern Sudanese in Israel who have migrated to Israel for employment opportunities. Many of these southern Sudanese refugees, mostly found in Tel Aviv, are expected to return to their new nation.
Southern Egypt, the land that supposedly once included Cush [Cush was the mythical grandson of Noah], is a center for Egypt’s Copts and wider irredentist claims in the region by an independent Cush [or “Kush”] in southern Sudan could further inflame tensions along the entire stretch of the Nile River.
Another proposed names for the new nation in southern Sudan, New Sudan, may stir up tensions on the disputed oil-rich territory on the border of old Sudan and “New Sudan,” the Abyei region. Continued use of “South Sudan” or “Southern Sudan” would give the impression of a divided country like South and North Korea or South and North Yemen. Continued use of Sudan in the name may also create friction as seen in the Balkans between Greece and Macedonia. Greece has insisted that Macedonia be referred to by the United Nations as “FYROM: former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” because of what it believes are irredentist claims by Macedonia on northern Greece.
However, it is the ambitions of Israel that may pose the greater problem for the land of the Nile headwaters. Israel’ expansionist government is fond of using the collection of ancient folk lore and myths known as the “Old Testament” to drive claims to land in the West Bank [which are referred to by the arcane biblical names of Judea and Samaria] but also, increasingly to lands in northern Iraq. On January 28, 2008, WMR reported: “Israeli expansionists, their intentions to take full control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and permanently keep the Golan Heights of Syria and expand into southern Lebanon already well known, also have their eyes on parts of Iraq considered part of a biblical ‘Greater Israel.’ Israel reportedly has plans to re-locate thousands of Kurdish Jews from Israel, including expatriates from Kurdish Iran, to the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Nineveh under the guise of religious pilgrimages to ancient Jewish religious shrines. According to Kurdish sources, the Israelis are secretly working with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to carry out the integration of Kurdish and other Jews into areas of Iraq under control of the KRG.
Kurdish, Iraqi Sunni Muslim, and Turkmen have noted that Kurdish Israelis began to buy land in Iraqi Kurdistan after the U.S. invasion in 2003 that is considered historical Jewish ‘property.’ The Israelis are particularly interested in the shrine of the Jewish prophet Nahum in al Qush, the prophet Jonah in Mosul, and the tomb of the prophet Daniel in Kirkuk. Israelis are also trying to claim Jewish ‘properties’ outside of the Kurdish region, including the shrine of Ezekiel in the village of al-Kifl in Babel Province near Najaf and the tomb of Ezra in al-Uzayr in Misan Province, near Basra, both in southern Iraq’s Shi’a-dominated territory. Israeli expansionists consider these shrines and tombs as much a part of “Greater Israel” as Jerusalem and the West Bank, which they call ‘Judea and Samaria.’”
Oil is also a major factor in the independence of southern Sudan. The new country is rich in oil and with Africa’s oil and other resources now highly sought after by competing nations like the United States, China, and Japan, the traditional strictures issued by the Organization of African Unity upon its founding in 1963 against changing Africa’s colonial borders through secession have been overtaken by new realities and a new organization, the African Union, which has now permitted two nations to secede from established nations: Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 and now southern Sudan or whatever it will call itself, from Sudan in 2011.
Several nations point to Somaliland, the former British Somaliland that declared itself independent from Somalia in 1991, as the next state in line to achieve recognition. Israeli diplomats have reportedly been in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital, to talk about Israeli recognition of the state. However, it will be the United States and Britain, both of which favor recognition, that will spur Somaliland’s quest for international recognition and UN membership.
After Somaliland, two other parts of Somalia, Puntland and Jubaland, will likely follow suit.
Some Africa policy habitués of the Council on Foreign Relations and other fronts for the global banking elites are already floating the idea that the Sudan solution may be applied to Africa’s other north-south and Islamic-Christian flash points like Nigeria and Ivory Coast. They reason that if majority Christian south Sudan can separate from largely Muslim north Sudan, why not majority Muslim north Ivory Coast from largely Christian south Ivory Coast and Muslim north Nigeria from Christian south Nigeria? And the Democratic Republic of the Congo has long been seen as a prime candidate for “Balkanization” by the Corporate Council on Africa and its affiliates at the Kissingerian Center for Strategic and International Studies.
As for southern Sudan or whatever it will be, after the likes of John Kerry and George Clooney depart from the photo ops in Juba, they will be replaced by non-governmental organization and international aid agency faceless international bureaucrats, the foot soldiers of the global “misery industry” who migrate from killing fields to war zones in search of new tax-free income, walled compounds with servants and Land Rovers, and duty free shopping gigs. Southern Sudan’s “independence” will be in name only, with the aid agencies and NGOs calling the shots as they do in Haiti today.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
Copyright © 2011 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_6813.shtml, Jan 18, 2011
samedi 29 janvier 2011
jeudi 27 janvier 2011
Hasan Turan, a Turkmen councillor calls for semi-autonomy in Kerkuk
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20110126090738
By Ammar Ali
Kirkuk - A Turkmen Councillor in Kirkuk said on Tuesday that the Turkmen project to apply for semi-autonomy in the oil-rich, multi-ethnic region under Article 119 of the Iraqi Constitution would resolve the territorial debate being waged between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region.
Hasan Turan told AKnews that he believes the project will win the support of all ethnic components and political blocs on both regional and national levels."This province can become a region...and be a model of economic well-being in Iraq and of peaceful coexistence between the ethnic components found within it," he said.
Kirkuk has long been the subject of a territorial debate between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The region is believed to be sitting atop four percent of global oil reserves and is attractive to foreign investors, but exploration has been blocked by security concerns.
By Ammar Ali
Kirkuk - A Turkmen Councillor in Kirkuk said on Tuesday that the Turkmen project to apply for semi-autonomy in the oil-rich, multi-ethnic region under Article 119 of the Iraqi Constitution would resolve the territorial debate being waged between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region.
Hasan Turan told AKnews that he believes the project will win the support of all ethnic components and political blocs on both regional and national levels."This province can become a region...and be a model of economic well-being in Iraq and of peaceful coexistence between the ethnic components found within it," he said.
Kirkuk has long been the subject of a territorial debate between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The region is believed to be sitting atop four percent of global oil reserves and is attractive to foreign investors, but exploration has been blocked by security concerns.
mercredi 26 janvier 2011
Human Rights Watch World Report 2011
World Report:
http://www.hrw.org/en/world-report-2011?tr=y&auid=7674654
Download Full Report > [PDF, 4 MB] Introduction
This 21st annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. It reflects extensive investigative work undertaken in 2010 by Human Rights Watch staff, usually in close partnership with domestic human rights activists.
With increasing frequency, governments that might exert pressure for human rights improvement are accepting the rationalizations and subterfuges of repressive governments, favoring private “dialogue” and “cooperation” over more hard-nosed approaches. In principle there is nothing wrong with dialogue, but it should not be a substitute for public pressure when the government in question lacks the political will to respect rights. Human Rights Watch calls on governmental supporters of human rights to ensure that the quest for cooperation does not become an excuse for inaction.
Browse chapters by country:
http://www.hrw.org/en/world-report-2011?tr=y&auid=7674654#countries
http://www.hrw.org/en/world-report-2011?tr=y&auid=7674654
Download Full Report > [PDF, 4 MB] Introduction
This 21st annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. It reflects extensive investigative work undertaken in 2010 by Human Rights Watch staff, usually in close partnership with domestic human rights activists.
With increasing frequency, governments that might exert pressure for human rights improvement are accepting the rationalizations and subterfuges of repressive governments, favoring private “dialogue” and “cooperation” over more hard-nosed approaches. In principle there is nothing wrong with dialogue, but it should not be a substitute for public pressure when the government in question lacks the political will to respect rights. Human Rights Watch calls on governmental supporters of human rights to ensure that the quest for cooperation does not become an excuse for inaction.
Browse chapters by country:
http://www.hrw.org/en/world-report-2011?tr=y&auid=7674654#countries
Turkey’s National Library included in EU digital project
Turkey’s National Library included in EU digital project
ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency Tuesday, January 25, 2011The National Library has become the first Turkish institute to be included in Europe’s digital library project, Europeana. Thanks to the project, Europeans can see many priceless manuscripts and other objects online. ’Inclusion in Europeana is also significant for Turkey’s promotion abroad,’ says the National Library General Director Tuncel Acar
Turkey’s National Library has become be the first Turkish institution included in the European Union’s digital library project, Europeana, the director of the National Library has announced. Nearly 27,050 manuscripts and 10,000 magazines from the National Library’s digital collection will now be available through the database.
The Europeana project aims to integrate the databases of cultural institutes and libraries from around Europe. The project, which began in 2008, is based in the National Library of the Netherlands and receives funding from the European Commission.
National Library General Director Tuncel Acar said Europeana officials contacted with Hacettepe University and asked to include Turkey in the project. The university then held a meeting with the National Library to initiate work on the project, Acar said.
Europeana largely focuses on historic artworks that were digitized in libraries, museums, and research and development centers, according to Acar. “Some 27,000 manuscripts were in the digital platform, but we were not included in Europeana’s website,” he said. “This was a deficiency.” The National Library signed a protocol with Europeana a few days ago and its works are now included in the system, the library director said.
The Turkish artworks and documents included in the database are unique and could prove very important to researchers, Acar said. “These objects do not have copyrights. We have digitized them and shouldn’t other people in the world see Turkey’s priceless manuscripts?”
Acar added that inclusion in the project is prestigious for the National Library. “But the fact that we are the first Turkish institute in the system, this is more prestigious for us. I am sure that other institutes will be included in it following us,” he said.
Acar added that inclusion in the project is prestigious for the National Library. “But the fact that we are the first Turkish institute in the system, this is more prestigious for us. I am sure that other institutes will be included in it following us,” he said.
In addition to manuscripts, printed works will also be digitized for Europeana, said Acar, who pointed to the example of a book of letters from Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror to the Vatican in 1475. “This book is as valuable as a manuscript because it was printed 600 years ago,” he said.
While European researchers may not be familiar with the Turkish National Library’s website, they know Europeana, according to Acar. “When people enter this website, they will also see our manuscripts. This is a big advantage for us,” he said. “Turkish language will also be included in the website. This is why we give importance to Europeana.”
While European researchers may not be familiar with the Turkish National Library’s website, they know Europeana, according to Acar. “When people enter this website, they will also see our manuscripts. This is a big advantage for us,” he said. “Turkish language will also be included in the website. This is why we give importance to Europeana.”
Significant for Turkey’s promotion
Acar emphasized that the National Library’s inclusion in Europeana is significant for Turkey’s promotion abroad. “Imagine that the works at the Topkapı Palace are included in Europeana,” he said. “It would be great.”
Acar emphasized that the National Library’s inclusion in Europeana is significant for Turkey’s promotion abroad. “Imagine that the works at the Topkapı Palace are included in Europeana,” he said. “It would be great.”
He suggested that access to information about Turkey would encourage people to visit the country. “Because what you see on the Internet is just a small object, regardless of its magnificence.”
The only problem with digitization is copyrights, Acar said, adding that publishers oppose digitization because it hurts their profits.
“As soon as you put a best-selling object on the Internet, the sales of this object stop. This is why publishers want copyrights, but this system is not well established in Turkey yet,” he said, unlike in Scandinavian countries where the state pays copyright fees for researchers. “In this way, the right of the writer is protected by the state.”
“As soon as you put a best-selling object on the Internet, the sales of this object stop. This is why publishers want copyrights, but this system is not well established in Turkey yet,” he said, unlike in Scandinavian countries where the state pays copyright fees for researchers. “In this way, the right of the writer is protected by the state.”
Acar added that publishers also make contracts for digital copies when they publish books. “Such e-book companies only began appearing in Turkey recently.”
What is Europeana?
Europeana was launched in 2008 with the goal of making Europe's cultural and scientific heritage accessible to the public. The project is funded by the European Commission. The website, with some 2 million works, enables users to benefit from Europe’s cultural and scientific heritage. It offers content including images, paintings, maps, voice records and newspapers.
The National Library gives visitors a password to access the digital archives. In accordance with protocol, visitors pay for printing to contribute to the library’s funding.
Europeana was launched in 2008 with the goal of making Europe's cultural and scientific heritage accessible to the public. The project is funded by the European Commission. The website, with some 2 million works, enables users to benefit from Europe’s cultural and scientific heritage. It offers content including images, paintings, maps, voice records and newspapers.
The National Library gives visitors a password to access the digital archives. In accordance with protocol, visitors pay for printing to contribute to the library’s funding.
Europeana can be accessed at http://www.europeana.eu/.
© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=0124102043618-2011-01-24
© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=0124102043618-2011-01-24
lundi 24 janvier 2011
Critics alarmed as Iraq’s Maliki centralises power
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has won a court ruling placing independent bodies like the central bank and the electoral agency under the Cabinet, a centralisation of power that critics are calling a "coup".
Maliki's government made the request to the supreme court in December before he was reappointed later that month to a second term, and the court ruling in his favour came through last Tuesday, generating little controversy at first.
The independent agencies affected are supposed to be monitored by parliament according to the constitution, hastily drawn up in the chaotic aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion.
Maliki argued that where the language describing parliament's monitoring powers over the agencies was ambiguous, the bodies should be attached to the Cabinet. The court agreed.
The main agencies affected are the Central Bank of Iraq, the Independent Higher Electoral Commission, anti-corruption watchdog the Integrity Commission and the High Commission for Human Rights.
"The court views that the term 'monitoring by' is not clear enough to place these under parliament's authority, therefore they should be attached to the Cabinet," the ruling said.
The decision alarmed critics who view with suspicion glimpses of authoritarian leanings in some of Maliki's actions.
The democracy bestowed on Iraq by US administrators after Sunni leader Saddam Hussein was ousted is fragile and unique in a region accustomed to strongmen and presidents for life. Its future is murky as US forces prepare to withdraw this year.
"We consider the request of Nouri Maliki to the court to be a coup against the constitution that puts Iraq's democracy on the line," said Haider Al Mulla, a member of parliament and spokesman for the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc.
Criticism of move
Iraqiya, led by ex-premier Iyad Allawi, won the most seats in an election last March but was unable to muster the majority needed to form a government. It ended up a junior partner in the new government formed by Maliki, a Shiite.
Legal experts and analysts decried the supreme court decision, which a judicial spokesman said could not be appealed.
"Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki is seeking more powers to control his government. He wants to have a strong government," said a prominent lawyer, Tariq Harb.
Amman-based researcher Yahya Al Kubaisy of the Iraqi Centre For Strategic Studies called it an "unforgiveable mistake".
"It's a clear bid by Maliki to monopolise powers," he said.
The Cabinet groups more than 40 ministerial positions from various political parties, not all allied to Maliki, following torturous horsetrading over nine months to form the government.
Some officials supported the court ruling, saying ambiguity over parliament's powers of supervision had allowed some of the independent agencies to be hijacked by political interests.
Deputy Central Bank Governor Ahmed Al Buraihi said the decision should have been made a long time back and would not affect the bank's daily operations.
"Aren't central bank decisions of importance to the Cabinet? Shouldn't the Cabinet care about an institution that manages $60 billion and which manages its overseas funds?" he said.
Maliki’s media adviser Ali Al Moussawi said the criticism was an attempt to cast the government in a bad light and undermine its efforts to be strong. Maliki has said a strong government is needed to fight a weakened but still deadly insurgency.
"There was a flaw and conflict between the work of these independent commissions and the work of the executive authority ... the government sought to solve this issue through legal
channels," Moussawi said.
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=33771
24 January 2011
Maliki's government made the request to the supreme court in December before he was reappointed later that month to a second term, and the court ruling in his favour came through last Tuesday, generating little controversy at first.
The independent agencies affected are supposed to be monitored by parliament according to the constitution, hastily drawn up in the chaotic aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion.
Maliki argued that where the language describing parliament's monitoring powers over the agencies was ambiguous, the bodies should be attached to the Cabinet. The court agreed.
The main agencies affected are the Central Bank of Iraq, the Independent Higher Electoral Commission, anti-corruption watchdog the Integrity Commission and the High Commission for Human Rights.
"The court views that the term 'monitoring by' is not clear enough to place these under parliament's authority, therefore they should be attached to the Cabinet," the ruling said.
The decision alarmed critics who view with suspicion glimpses of authoritarian leanings in some of Maliki's actions.
The democracy bestowed on Iraq by US administrators after Sunni leader Saddam Hussein was ousted is fragile and unique in a region accustomed to strongmen and presidents for life. Its future is murky as US forces prepare to withdraw this year.
"We consider the request of Nouri Maliki to the court to be a coup against the constitution that puts Iraq's democracy on the line," said Haider Al Mulla, a member of parliament and spokesman for the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc.
Criticism of move
Iraqiya, led by ex-premier Iyad Allawi, won the most seats in an election last March but was unable to muster the majority needed to form a government. It ended up a junior partner in the new government formed by Maliki, a Shiite.
Legal experts and analysts decried the supreme court decision, which a judicial spokesman said could not be appealed.
"Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki is seeking more powers to control his government. He wants to have a strong government," said a prominent lawyer, Tariq Harb.
Amman-based researcher Yahya Al Kubaisy of the Iraqi Centre For Strategic Studies called it an "unforgiveable mistake".
"It's a clear bid by Maliki to monopolise powers," he said.
The Cabinet groups more than 40 ministerial positions from various political parties, not all allied to Maliki, following torturous horsetrading over nine months to form the government.
Some officials supported the court ruling, saying ambiguity over parliament's powers of supervision had allowed some of the independent agencies to be hijacked by political interests.
Deputy Central Bank Governor Ahmed Al Buraihi said the decision should have been made a long time back and would not affect the bank's daily operations.
"Aren't central bank decisions of importance to the Cabinet? Shouldn't the Cabinet care about an institution that manages $60 billion and which manages its overseas funds?" he said.
Maliki’s media adviser Ali Al Moussawi said the criticism was an attempt to cast the government in a bad light and undermine its efforts to be strong. Maliki has said a strong government is needed to fight a weakened but still deadly insurgency.
"There was a flaw and conflict between the work of these independent commissions and the work of the executive authority ... the government sought to solve this issue through legal
channels," Moussawi said.
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=33771
24 January 2011
dimanche 23 janvier 2011
Tony Blair and the death of David Kelly: The Chilcot Inquiry equals "don't mention Dr David Kelly"
Shameful episode in British history
by Stephen Frost
Global Research, January 23, 2011
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22921
Chilcot Inquiry equals "don't mention Dr David Kelly" ... an inquest into Dr Kelly's death is required by the laws of this land, and indeed those of Europe ... the evidence would have to be heard under oath at an inquest ... so far, there have been no fewer than five inquiries into the Iraq War (Foreign Affairs Committee, Intelligence and Security Committee, Hutton Inquiry, Butler inquiry, Chilcot Inquiry) but not a single word of evidence at any of these inquiries has been heard under oath ... if evidence were heard under oath there WOULD be a breaking of ranks (perjury is a very serious crime) ... the only chance of hearing evidence under oath would be at an inquest into Dr David Kelly's death ... that is why the call for that inquest is so important ... please read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/07_01_11davidkelly1.pdf
and, for background, please read this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12085257
Everyone who cares about this shameful episode in British history, and who wants to arrive at the truth of the matter, should support the increasingly loud calls for this required (in law) inquest into a death which was inextricably linked to the United Kingdom's waging of illegal (according to both the Geneva Conventions ... "the supreme international war crime" ... and the United Nations Charter) aggressive war on the sovereign state of Iraq.
Stephen Frost is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Stephen Frost
by Stephen Frost
Global Research, January 23, 2011
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22921
Chilcot Inquiry equals "don't mention Dr David Kelly" ... an inquest into Dr Kelly's death is required by the laws of this land, and indeed those of Europe ... the evidence would have to be heard under oath at an inquest ... so far, there have been no fewer than five inquiries into the Iraq War (Foreign Affairs Committee, Intelligence and Security Committee, Hutton Inquiry, Butler inquiry, Chilcot Inquiry) but not a single word of evidence at any of these inquiries has been heard under oath ... if evidence were heard under oath there WOULD be a breaking of ranks (perjury is a very serious crime) ... the only chance of hearing evidence under oath would be at an inquest into Dr David Kelly's death ... that is why the call for that inquest is so important ... please read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/07_01_11davidkelly1.pdf
and, for background, please read this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12085257
Everyone who cares about this shameful episode in British history, and who wants to arrive at the truth of the matter, should support the increasingly loud calls for this required (in law) inquest into a death which was inextricably linked to the United Kingdom's waging of illegal (according to both the Geneva Conventions ... "the supreme international war crime" ... and the United Nations Charter) aggressive war on the sovereign state of Iraq.
Stephen Frost is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Stephen Frost
samedi 22 janvier 2011
Iraqi government to purchase armored limousines worth $75 million for members of parliament
By Shaymaa Adel
Azzaman,
January 21, 2011
The Iraqi government has decided to spend nearly $75 million from the country's oil revenues to purchase armored limousines, one for each of the 325 members of parliament.
The government says the vehicles are needed because the parliamentarians are targets of attack by insurgents and 'terrorists.
The high salaries and perks senior Iraqi officials get are fueling anger in Iraq and there has been a storm of protest from local media.The benefits have turned them into a special class with body guards, armored vehicles and specially imported power generators to light, heat and cool their homes.
The roads leading to their houses are normally blocked and when driving in Baghdad their armored vehicles are part of a large convoy of cars carrying their contingents of bodyguards.
Lack of transparency is leading to wild guesses about the monthly salaries and other benefits senior officials get in the country.
The government which claims to be democratically elected has no transparency system in place where ordinary Iraqis can have access to the perks, salaries and benefits of senior officials.
Azzaman,
January 21, 2011
The Iraqi government has decided to spend nearly $75 million from the country's oil revenues to purchase armored limousines, one for each of the 325 members of parliament.
The government says the vehicles are needed because the parliamentarians are targets of attack by insurgents and 'terrorists.
The high salaries and perks senior Iraqi officials get are fueling anger in Iraq and there has been a storm of protest from local media.The benefits have turned them into a special class with body guards, armored vehicles and specially imported power generators to light, heat and cool their homes.
The roads leading to their houses are normally blocked and when driving in Baghdad their armored vehicles are part of a large convoy of cars carrying their contingents of bodyguards.
Lack of transparency is leading to wild guesses about the monthly salaries and other benefits senior officials get in the country.
The government which claims to be democratically elected has no transparency system in place where ordinary Iraqis can have access to the perks, salaries and benefits of senior officials.
mardi 18 janvier 2011
IRAK: Bras de fer et révoltes pour de l'électricité
France-Irak Actualité
http://www.france-irak-actualite.com/article-bras-de-fer-et-revoltes-pour-de-l-electricite-65241933.html
Le Kurde Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, gouverneur de Kirkouk et un des artisans du nettoyage ethnique de la ville, s’est engagé dans un bras de fer avec le pouvoir central en décidant, le 17 janvier 2011, de couper l’approvisionnement de Bagdad en électricité*. Il estime que les mégawatts de la centrale de Taza (25 km au sud de Kirkouk) doivent d’abord profiter aux habitants de la cité pétrolière revendiquée par le Gouvernement Régional Kurde (GRK), ou tout du moins faire l’objet d’un partage équitable entre sa région et la capitale.
Il faut dire qu’à Kirkouk, la population menace de se révolter contre le pouvoir central qui ne lui alloue que trois heures d’électricité par jour. Pire, pour Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, des Kurdes nouvellement installés retourneraient au Kurdistan en raison des mauvaises conditions de vie… Et, il se souvient des violentes manifestations contre le manque d’électricité qui ont secoué l’Irak en juin 2010. A Bassora, où la température est étouffante l’été, des milliers de manifestants réclamaient le départ du gouverneur de la province. Ils scandaient : « Aujourd'hui c'est une manifestation pacifique, mais demain ce sera la guerre ». La police avait tiré, faisant au moins deux morts.
Effrayé, Nouri al-Maliki avait dû destituer Karim Wahib, son ministre de l’Electricité, et promettre que le problème serait réglé dans deux ans grâce à l’entrée en service de nouvelles centrales. A Bassora, des contrats ont été signés dans l’urgence. Alstom construira une centrale électrique au fuel, et Schneider huit sous-stations électriques.
Pour ce qui concerne Kirkouk, Nouri al-Maliki pourrait prendre un malin plaisir à laisser le gouverneur se débattre avec ses concitoyens, sachant que dans ce domaine le GRK ne peut pas lui venir en aide. Les effets de la coupure du courant provenant de la centrale de Taza ne se feront sentir que progressivement sur la capitale irakienne qui possède d’autres sources d’approvisionnement.
Source :Northern Iraqi governor cuts Baghdad power (Associated Press – 17/1/11)
http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=73995&s2=18
http://www.france-irak-actualite.com/article-bras-de-fer-et-revoltes-pour-de-l-electricite-65241933.html
Le Kurde Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, gouverneur de Kirkouk et un des artisans du nettoyage ethnique de la ville, s’est engagé dans un bras de fer avec le pouvoir central en décidant, le 17 janvier 2011, de couper l’approvisionnement de Bagdad en électricité*. Il estime que les mégawatts de la centrale de Taza (25 km au sud de Kirkouk) doivent d’abord profiter aux habitants de la cité pétrolière revendiquée par le Gouvernement Régional Kurde (GRK), ou tout du moins faire l’objet d’un partage équitable entre sa région et la capitale.
Il faut dire qu’à Kirkouk, la population menace de se révolter contre le pouvoir central qui ne lui alloue que trois heures d’électricité par jour. Pire, pour Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, des Kurdes nouvellement installés retourneraient au Kurdistan en raison des mauvaises conditions de vie… Et, il se souvient des violentes manifestations contre le manque d’électricité qui ont secoué l’Irak en juin 2010. A Bassora, où la température est étouffante l’été, des milliers de manifestants réclamaient le départ du gouverneur de la province. Ils scandaient : « Aujourd'hui c'est une manifestation pacifique, mais demain ce sera la guerre ». La police avait tiré, faisant au moins deux morts.
Effrayé, Nouri al-Maliki avait dû destituer Karim Wahib, son ministre de l’Electricité, et promettre que le problème serait réglé dans deux ans grâce à l’entrée en service de nouvelles centrales. A Bassora, des contrats ont été signés dans l’urgence. Alstom construira une centrale électrique au fuel, et Schneider huit sous-stations électriques.
Pour ce qui concerne Kirkouk, Nouri al-Maliki pourrait prendre un malin plaisir à laisser le gouverneur se débattre avec ses concitoyens, sachant que dans ce domaine le GRK ne peut pas lui venir en aide. Les effets de la coupure du courant provenant de la centrale de Taza ne se feront sentir que progressivement sur la capitale irakienne qui possède d’autres sources d’approvisionnement.
Source :Northern Iraqi governor cuts Baghdad power (Associated Press – 17/1/11)
http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=73995&s2=18
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)
