the torture in egypt

Police officer prevent the detainee from going to the bathroom and says to him.... urinate on yourself??

Can you believe that? The Government of Egyptian described as one of the most active countries that innovate methods of torture!!

Welcome to a very civilized Egypt

Negotiating peace

Dr. James J Zogby

This month the US Institute for Peace released Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East, the report of a study group which examined US peacemaking efforts over the past four decades.

Headed by Daniel Kurtzer (former US Ambassador to Egypt and Israel), the group met during 2006-2007 and interviewed over 100 officials and experts from seven countries and three international organisations.

The main body of the report is a look at successes and failures, and strengths and weaknesses of the past three administrations' efforts at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

It concludes by detailing 10 lessons learned, and then outlining recommendations based on those lessons to guide the next administration.

The examination of Washington's peace making efforts during the past three administrations begins with a largely positive assessment of "Bush 41", crediting President George H.W. Bush for "having the clearest sense of strategy", which he pursued "in a highly disciplined, effective and committed manner.

" On the other hand, the major weakness of "Bush 41," pointed to in the report, was his "failure to build a strong coalition at home to support [his] strategy.

" It was the combination of this failure, and the distraction of his reelection effort in 1992, that caused the Bush Administration to lose focus in its peacemaking efforts.In spite of this, the report notes that the Clinton administration "inherited an ideal strategic environment for peacemaking.

" Noting that Clinton more effectively built a domestic support base for his peacemaking efforts, he was, however, "less disciplined and less strategic than his predecessor".

Specifically, the report noted that the Clinton team "failed to understand and deal with key asymmetries in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

While the US paid attention to Israeli security requirements, less attention was devoted to Palestinian political requirements. The US did not find a way to compensate for Palestinian political weakness.

This was the first time in history a people under occupation was expected to negotiate its own way out of occupation while at the same time creating a viable, democratic and independent state".

The report notes that Clinton did not personally become directly involved in negotiations until late in his second term, and did not put forward his own peace plan until his last month in office. This was, of course, too late to make a difference.

It is George W. Bush's approach that receives the greatest criticism, the authors noting that "his approach to the conflict lacked both commitment and a sense of strategic purpose".

This, they suggest, was due to the fact that too many of the president's advisers dismissed the importance of Middle East peace, placing greater emphasis on their "regime change" and democratisation agendas.

No follow through
When Bush did become involved, however, it was mostly on the rhetorical level, with little or no follow through.

Plans were announced, and mediators were dispatched in succession, ignored and undercut, and then dropped.

To some degree, this contributed to a widespread belief that the Administration's efforts lacked seriousness.

The result of this mismanagement and/or neglect has negatively affected not only Israelis and Palestinians, but US diplomacy in the broader region, and public attitudes towards the US itself. The report goes on to list a number of important lessons that must be heeded by any future administration.

Here are three:"Arab-Israeli peacemaking is in our national interest: September 11, Iraq and increasing instability in the Middle East have made US leadership in the peace process more, not less, important.

The president needs to indicate that the peace process is a priority and ensure that the administration acts accordingly.

"US policy must never be defined anywhere but in Washington. Consultations with the parties must take place and policy revisions based on these consultations are inevitable, but our policy must be seen as our own.""The peace process has moved beyond incrementalism and must aim for endgame solutions. This not only requires US leadership to help the parties make the necessary trade-offs on core issues, but also a commitment to an expanded diplomatic approach that involves key international and regional actors."The report provides both a useful history and thoughtful analysis, with which one can find little disagreement.

My concern, however, is that it comes too late.

If Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East is to be followed, it must be followed by a very determined president willing to use pressure and politics not only to bring Israelis and Palestinians together, but also to work to transform US, Israeli and Palestinian attitudes.

Can the Mideast avoid war?

The assassination of Hezbollah's top commander Emad Mughnieh in a car bombing in Damascus on February 12, and its substantial repercussions, raise a big question: Are we on the verge of a new war?
With Mughnieh's murder, its timing, location and method, as well as with the subsequent threats by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah against Israel, it seems that our region is on the threshold of a possible war.

Nasrallah threatened Israel with an "open war" and vowed to avenge the death of Mughnieh, which he believes will bring about major changes in the Middle East and "mark the beginning of demise" of the Israeli state.
Addressing his supporters, Nasrallah said: "I swear to God that Mughnieh's blood will not go in vain," and predicted the disappearance of Israel. This is a clear sign that a war will break out in the region. The rising tensions and security concerns in the region will probably lead to more divisions between Arab countries.
Mughnieh's assassination drew different reactions from Arab governments, which are deeply divided between two camps - the American camp and the Iranian camp. Meanwhile, the Arab street appears to be even more deeply entrenched in its divisions.
For instance, Kuwait saw a sectarian divide over the assassination of Mughnieh after two Shiite parliament members held a ceremony to eulogise Hezbollah's slain commander.

Two dead
The ceremony drew condemnations from Kuwaiti's majority Sunnis, who accused Mughnieh of the 1988 hijacking of a Kuwait Airways flight that left two Kuwaiti passengers dead, and the assassination attempt on the Kuwaiti Emir in 1985.The Kuwaiti government criticised those who took part in the rally amid popular calls for stripping the membership - even citizenship - of the two Shiite MPs, especially given that the government had earlier stripped Sulaiman Bu Gaith, a top Al Qaida leader, of his citizenship.
The repercussions of Mughnieh's killing spread across Kuwait, Lebanon, Tel Aviv, Baghdad, Damascus, Washington and Tehran, which reacted differently to the fiery statements of Nasrallah who declared open war against Israel under new game rules.
Nasrallah made it clear when he spoke about a borderless war after Israel crossed the borders and killed Mughnieh in the Syrian capital, outside the natural battlefield.Speaking of a war that goes beyond geographic borders brings us closer to a war scenario being drawn up in the region.
In Lebanon, the political rift is deepening between the pro-government group and the Hezbollah-led opposition.
This is reflected by the exchange of accusations between the leaders of both sides.The pro-government group refers to the opposition as evil gangs and dark forces affiliated to the Syrian regime, while the opposition in turn brands their rivals as Washington's allies.
The conflict between the two sides was manifested clearly on February 14 when the Lebanese were divided into two rallies, one gathered in the Martyrs Square to commemorate the third anniversary of the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, while the Hezbollah supporters took part in Mughnieh's funeral.Even more, the failure of the Arab plan to resolve the presidential crisis is another source of concern.
Also, the calls by the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments on their citizens not to travel to Lebanon, as well as the threat to bomb the Kuwaiti embassy in Beirut and the closure of two French cultural centres, will contribute to the deteriorating situation in the already paralysed country.

Change in rules
Mughnieh's assassination would only accelerate the confrontation with Israel and the US, which changed the rules of the game. Backed by General Michael Aoun, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Hezbollah believes that victims of aggression have the right to defend themselves, while Nasrallah insists that Mughnieh's assassination will mark the beginning of Israel's elimination.
This was reiterated by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mohammad Ali Jafari, Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards, who sent to Nasrallah a cable of condolences describing Israel as a cancerous cell that will be removed by Hezbollah.
Moreover, US President George W. Bush has fanned the confrontation by imposing new punishments on Syrian officials, including Rami Makhlouf, cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
Bush also doubled the US financial support to $14 million for the international tribunal into the Hariri killing, while Syria said it had many options to retaliate against the US penalties. Iran expressed its anger at Mughnieh's assassination by sending an official delegation, led by Iranian Foreign Minister Manocher Mottaki, to attend the funeral, and by sending cables of condolences to Nasrallah.
Meanwhile, Tehran announced that the Iranian president would visit Baghdad, which is under "the US protection", and cancelled a meeting of Iranian experts with their American counterparts.The situation escalated between the two countries after the US accused Iran of supporting armed groups in Iraq, which may lead to increasing violence that coincides with the withdrawal of some US troops from Iraq in the summer.

If the cycle of violence in Iraq captures the headlines in the US media again, the chances of Republican candidate John McCain winning the presidential race will weaken. So, the question arises: Will Mughnieh's assassination be a ticking time bomb that threatens the region with a devastating war to determine the results of the struggle between the US and Iranian projects?No matter what the outcome of this struggle will be, Arab territory will be the battlefield and the Arabs will be the victims.

* Published in the UAE's GULF NEWS on February 25, 2008. Dr Abdullah Al Shayji is a Professor of International Relations and Head of the American Studies Unit

Five years on, Darfur battles the way of the gun

An elderly Darfuri woman stood in front of the charred remains of her house.

She tapped me on my shoulder and held out a wizened hand full of seeds. "How am I supposed to eat this?" she pleaded.

Totally humbled, I was speechless, unsure how to help. Now her face haunts my nightmares.

It will be five years on Tuesday since war broke out in Darfur, since rebels seized a town and prompted a Sudanese counter-insurgency reckoned by foreign experts to have killed 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes. I have been writing on Darfur for 4 1/2 years. More than ever, I am wondering how much difference my reporting can make.

Despite the world's largest aid operation and global media attention, people are still dying, foreign peacekeepers have not been fully deployed and the woman in my nightmares cannot eat. Camps housing villagers driven from their homes have become semi-permanent -- massive, chaotic suburbs of major towns where tensions can explode at any moment.

Darfuris seek to return to their farms, but fear the militiamen riding in on horses or camels.

Far from getting nearer to a solution as time goes on, the Darfur conflict seems to get ever more complicated.

The war is entwined with another in neighboring Chad.

Rebel factions have fragmented beyond recognition and Arab tribes have turned on the government that mobilized them.

Armed groups tear through towns in unmarked camouflaged vehicles carrying heavy weapons. Ragged fighters hang off the sides. No one knows who is who anymore.

The only law comes from the gun.

Hollywood
It is not that the outside world is not interested. Envoy after envoy comes to visit and so do the Hollywood stars.

It can seem almost comical when I try to explain to fighters or displaced villagers who was the latest superstar to put in a brief appearance.

Although the fighting is not as heavy as before, the conflict has destroyed a way of life. Everyone has a story of crime and lawlessness in a land where visitors could once feel secure despite the poverty.

A taxi driver broke down in tears as he lifted his cap to show me the scars of an attack.

One of my government contacts was shot dead by a car thief inside the ministry compound of el-Fasher, Darfur's main town.

I came face to face with militias known as Janjaweed -- a name now synonymous with "bogeyman" -- when filming the destruction after a government bombing raid.

As a horseman pulled out his rifle, I followed the lead of the Darfuris, zigzagging terrified to an abandoned hut.

We could hear shooting as we crouched petrified inside. Frantically, I whispered down the satellite telephone line to call for help from peacekeepers from a United Nations-African Union force.

Luckily for me they came, and I suffered only half an hour of the terror that the people of Darfur endure daily.

Darfuris hope the biggest U.N.-funded peacekeeping force will soon be able to deploy across their region, to bring a measure of peace they have dreamed of for years.

The force's African commanders say they are ready to start moving out if only the international community can send the equipment and reinforcements they need. But the signs are not all promising and deployment has also been delayed by wrangling over the force's composition. Meanwhile, fighting has intensified in West Darfur as the government tries to drive rebels from their strongholds.

And the hopes for the force are starting to give way again to doubts over whether the nightmares will ever end

Sudan bans Danish goods over Prophet cartoon

Sudan has banned the import of Danish goods, blaming Denmark's government for allowing papers to reprint a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad that caused outrage in Islamic countries two years ago, state media said. The newspapers reprinted one of the drawings this month, in solidarity with the paper that first printed the cartoons, after police arrested three men on suspicion of plotting to kill a cartoonist who drew one of the images.

Sudan's State news agency SUNA quoted the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the customs police authority as saying they had implemented a presidential decree banning imports of Danish goods. The presidency declined to give detail on the decree, saying the matter was with the ministry.

"(State Minister of Foreign Trade) Al-Simeh Al-Sidig said ... that the presidential decree came after Danish authorities allowed the Danish press to reprint drawings insulting to the Prophet Mohammad," SUNA said late on Monday. Publication of the cartoons two years ago led to protests and rioting in Muslim countries around the world.At least 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies were attacked.

There were boycotts of Danish products, notably dairy produce. This time there have again been street protests in many Muslim countries, albeit much smaller. Egypt has called in Denmark's ambassador to protest. Pro-government media in Sudan say a demonstration against the cartoons is planned there for Wednesday.It was not immediately clear what volume of trade could be affected by the import ban.

Egypt appoints first female marriage officer !! is that true ?

An Egyptian court on Monday appointed a woman to perform and register marriages, the first such appointment in Egypt's history, state news agency MENA said. The court in the Nile Delta town of Zagazig granted Amal Selim, 32, the right to perform the duties of a ma'dhun in a town in Sharkia province, according to MENA.It said Selim had applied to the position four months ago, the only woman out of 11 applicants for the job.

According to MENA, Selim said she was sure she would get the job because of her faith in the Egyptian judiciary and because she was the only candidate with a master's degree.In April, Egypt appointed 30 women as judges, the largest such group to be appointed since 2003 when President Hosni Mubarak first named a woman judge.Several Arab countries already have women sitting as judges

[Facts] Who are the Kurds?

-- The Kurds are a non-Arab, mainly Sunni Muslim people, speaking a language related to Persian and living in a mountainous area straddling the borders of Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.
-- For most of their history they have been subjugated. In modern times Iran, Iraq and Turkey have resisted an independent Kurdish state and the Western powers have seen no reason to help establish one. -- Perhaps the most famous of all Kurds is Saladin (1138–1193), who gained fame during the Crusades as one of the greatest rulers in Islamic history.
-- Contemporary Kurdish nationalism stirred in the 1890s when the Ottoman Empire was on its last legs. The 1920 Treaty of Sevres, which imposed a settlement and colonial carve-up of Turkey after World War One, promised them independence.

-- Three years after the 1920 Treaty of Sevres promised independence to Turkey's Kurds, Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk tore up the document. Kurdish revolts in the 1920s and 1930s were put down by Turkish forces. The Kurds were not recognized as a separate people or allowed to speak their language in public until 1991.
-- The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), named in 1978, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. Since then more than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
-- PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured in 1999, tried and sentenced to death. That was reduced to life imprisonment in October 2002 after Turkey abolished the death penalty. -- Fighting eased after Ocalan's capture, leading to a ceasefire and the withdrawal of rebel fighters from Turkey. Ocalan put new emphasis on seeking Kurdish rights through political, rather than armed struggle.
-- Today, some 3,000 Turkish PKK fighters are based in northern Iraq and launch attacks on security and civilian targets in Turkish territory. A few thousand PKK rebels are also believed to be inside Turkey
-- Around 40 Turkish soldiers have been killed in fighting in the past month alone. Erdogan's government is under heavy domestic pressure to pursue the PKK into northern Iraq.
-- Turkey has mobilized some 200,000 soldiers to the southeast, half of them along Turkey's border with Iraq, to stop PKK fighters crossing into Turkey from mountain bases in northern Iraq.
-- The Kurds fared little better in northern Iraq where, under a British mandate, revolts were quashed in 1919, 1923 and 1932.
-- Under leader Mustafa Barzani, the Iraqi Kurds waged an intermittent struggle against Baghdad after World War Two.
-- Kurdish northern Iraq won autonomy from Saddam Hussein with U.S. help in 1991, and has benefited from more than a decade of economic development. There has been some violence but it has not approached the levels seen in Baghdad.
-- Saddam's fall deepened the desire for autonomy and in September 2006 the president of Iraq's Kurdistan ordered the Kurdish flag to be flown on government buildings instead of the Iraqi national flag.
*Twice as many Kurds live in Iran as Iraq, but the national movement has had much less success, with a series of Kurdish leaders put to death by the Iranian government.
*Ismail Agha Simko led a major revolt in the 1920s but was killed by the Iranian government in 1930.
*In 1946, the Iranian Kurds established a short-lived Kurdish Republic, the only one in the 20th century. After destroying the state, Iran hanged its president, Qasi Muhammad, in March 1947.
*In 1981, Ayatollah Khomeini’s forces quashed an attempted revolt by the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI). In 1989, Iranian agents assassinated KDPI leader Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou in Austria. His successor,Sadegh Sharafkiandi was assassinated at a restaurant in Germany in 1992.
*There are around one million Kurds in Syria who live in separate parts of the country and are poorly organized.
*Syria's Baathist regime has denied citizenship to many Kurds and bans Kurdish cultural centers, bookshops and similar activities. A 1992 decree prohibits the registration of children with Kurdish first names.
*It has been suspected that in return for giving Turkish rebels sanctuary in Syria for many years, the PKK has kept a lid on any Kurdish unrest in the country

57 Saudi youths arrested for flirting

Saudi Arabia's religious police ordered the arrest of 57 youths this week for flirting with girls in malls in the holy city of Mecca, daily news paper, the Saudi Gazette, reported on Saturday.
The young men were detained on Thursday evening by regular police officers following a request from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the English-language daily reported.
According to the paper, the Commission had received reports of the young men’s "bad" behavior at different malls in Mecca.
They were accused of wearing "indecent clothing and playing loud music and dancing" to attract the attention of the opposite sex, it added.
A source at the Commission told the paper that 20 of its staffers and policemen were dispatched to the troubled areas and police arrested the young men and transferred them to the Al-Mansour Police Station.
None of them resisted arrest, the source said. The source added that those found innocent upon investigation would be released while the others would be referred to a court of law.
Guardians of some of the young men came to their defense, saying that the youths would usually get together on the weekend to have fun without violating the social code of conduct by imposing themselves on the girls at the malls

Hating Islam Is the Same Thing as Hating Muslims

“I don’t hate Muslims. I hate Islam.” Of course, these are not my words and certainly not my sentiments. They are the words of a Dutch politician.
I will not reveal his name, nor talk about the film he is allegedly making, because I do not wish to pander to his need for media attention, and I certainly do not wish to give his film free publicity.
Besides, how can I have a meaningful view about a film that no one has seen? But his words exist; they are in the public sphere. In a newspaper interview this week, he calls Islam “the ideology of a retarded culture” and goes on to say that “Islam is something we can’t afford any more in the Netherlands.
That means no more mosques, no more Islamic schools, no more imams...Not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists are Muslims

I suspect this is hitting many readers like a red rag to a bull, but I am keeping my calm for the moment, aware that the man’s intention is to provoke me. Are his words offensive?
Yes. Are they insulting? Yes. Are they lies? Yes. His words anger me, but what strikes me most about them is how familiar they seem. They are words we don’t normally hear from politicians or people in the public sphere, but they are words you hear if you listen carefully on European streets, and elsewhere too, I imagine.
So the first question I ask myself is this: If these views — as offensive as they are — exist, should they be aired in public so that Muslims can at least have a chance to counter them, or should they be outlawed? A second question is could a politician have uttered the same words about another religion, say Christianity or Judaism? And finally, could anyone seriously make a distinction between hating a religion and hating the people who profess its faith? There is a fine line between expressing a view in order to open up a debate, and giving credibility to a view by making it part of public discourse.
The sentence “I hate Islam” is one that will shock regardless of whether or not you are a Muslim. I suspect most Dutch people, even those who feel threatened by immigration or who hold negative views about Islam, will respond negatively to the strong emotive nature of the words used.
it is not acceptable to hate a religion. If anything, the politician has scored something of an own goal by using these words. Far more worrying in terms of impact is the rest of his discourse, in particular the sentence: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists are Muslims”.
it is of concern because it is fast becoming a mainstream view.
So is it true? I say no without hesitating because in my mind those who commit murder in the name of Islam are not Muslims, but I concede that this is a facile argument

The academic answer I am assured is also no
If you do a head count of terrorists on the planet past and present, you will find that Muslims do not make up the majority

I have not done a head count and nor do I wish to. It is sadly a reality that we regularly see terrorist acts committed by people born Muslims and it is also sadly a reality that in the eyes of many, violence is becoming a significant part of what defines Islam
I may see Islam as a religion of peace but that is no longer a majority view in the West. So, to return to the question in hand, I prefer to see a sentence like this one out in the public domain, as it refers to an issue that needs to be debated and refuted. Do I think an intelligent debate is forthcoming? Possibly not, certainly not if we focus on being offended instead of focusing on explaining why such comments are offensive.
Could a European politician have made these comments about another religion? As a rule of thumb, laws are tough against racism and relatively more lenient toward attacking religious beliefs.
Hence the politician would not only have committed political suicide if he had said he hated Jews, but would also have opened himself up to being prosecuted
Since Islam, and Christianity too for that matter, are religions but not races, offending Muslims or Christians does not carry the same weight as offending Sikhs or Jews. Add the current political equation to the mix and it seems evident that it would be unthinkable to see this kind of language used about any religion other than Islam in today’s political climate. Criticizing Islam is not the same as attacking Muslims
The first may be offensive to most Muslims but is acceptable to most Westerners.
It may be unacceptable to many Muslims reading this piece but in countries where freedom of speech is a fundamental value, criticizing a religion is considered healthy. Frankly, I sometimes find it hard to understand the knee-jerk reaction I often see at any hint of disagreement.
Islam is far too great a religion to be damaged by a little debate. Reading points of view I disagree with does not cause even a hairline fracture in my religious beliefs. Quite the contrary
The more I challenge my beliefs, the more convincing they become and surely that is how faith should be
But the Dutch politician was careful with his words.
He did not say he hated Muslims, he said he hated Islam. In his view, he is merely criticizing an ideology, not attacking a people
But when I read his words I felt personally attacked.
He is not criticizing my religion; he is expressing hate in the set of beliefs that makes me a Muslim.
He is very clearly expressing hatred for Muslims and his affirming the contrary only makes it all the more offensive to Muslims. His words not only offend me but more importantly threaten me. I accept being offended. I do not accept being hated for what I believe in.

* Published in Saudi Arabia's ARAB TIMES on Feb. 18. 2008.
Iman Kurdi

NEWS : some are good, and the most are bad news and there is what make you laught and repulsively....This is the Middle East

Gaza women hide drugs in 'private parts': source

A Palestinian drug enforcement official said drugs are often hidden in women's bodies – including their private parts – to smuggle illicit substances from Egypt to Gaza.
The latest of such cases was a Palestinian woman who stuffed her bra with large amounts of heroin after her breasts were removed due to cancer, Colonel Abdul-Halim al-Aloul, Head of the Palestinian Drug Combating Department.
women hide drugs in their hair or armpits, he said, and some even resort to more private areas such as their vaginas, considered a relatively easy way to smuggle the illegal substances.

Aloul said pills – usually ecstasy or LSD – are simply wrapped in small plastic bags and inserted in women's vaginas.
said there is little chance of being discovered as women's bodies are rarely searched in the conservative society.
"Only X-rays or well-trained dogs can detect the drugs, and we have neither
Aloul accused Israel of laxity in combating drug trafficking into Palestinian areas, both from Egypt and Israel itself, especially Occupied Jerusalem.
"We do not control the crossings, and Israel doesn't care if these drugs are all over Palestine," he said, adding that drugs constitute a real danger to Palestinians.
Aloul said Israeli settlers in Occupied Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem often cultivate drugs on Palestinian land.
security forces enjoy little -- if any -- authority over these areas, which are controlled by the Israeli army, he added. Afaf Rabei of the Jerusalem-based al-Sadiq al-Taieb (Good Friend) rehabilitation center told that she treats many cases of drug overdoses and substance abuse, especially LSD cases among children as young as 12 years old.
most common drugs, Rabei added, are morphine, opium, heroin and marijuana.
But the most dangerous is hash, which sometimes comes mixed with toxic substances, she warned
This makes the addict totally lose contact with reality and become extremely aggressive. In many cases, it leads to death," Rabei said.


Lebanon sectarian riots leave 14 wounded

Lebanese soldiers deployed in several mixed Sunni-Shiite streets of Beirut and ended sectarian riots that left at least 14 people injured and several cars and shops smashed.


A new bout of street clashes erupted between armed supporters of rival political factions in the Lebanese capital late on Saturday, a security official said.


"They are armed and throwing stones at each other and the army and security forces have been deployed in force to contain the violence," the official told AFP.


"The army intervened and fired into the air to separate the two sides," he said, adding that the injured were taken to hospital.
Lebanese television reported that several shops were set ablaze, while the security official said one house was burned down and a car was set on fire by Molotov cocktails thrown by the militants.


Security sources said followers of Sunni Muslim Saad al-Hariri's Future Trend movement battled supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah and Amal groups with sticks, knives and stones in Ras al-Nabei, Mazraa and Barboor areas of Beirut.


It was not clear what sparked the night-time clashes but tension has been simmering for weeks.


Smaller incidents have been reported almost on daily basis.


Hariri's anti-Syrian ruling coalition is locked in a 15-month-old power struggle against an opposition led by Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran.


The political crisis has left Lebanon without a president since November.


It has spilled into deadly street clashes on several occasions over the past year.


Last month seven Shiite protesters were shot dead, mainly by Lebanese troops.


On Saturday, scores of Lebanese soldiers fired into the air to disperse rioters from both sides. At least 14 people, many with broken bones or cuts, were injured in the fights.


Some media reported both sides exchanged fire in some places but security sources said most of the shooting was by troops and into the air.






Jordan still struggles with "honor" killings


Strangled by her brother, the 17-year-old girl died in a squalid Palestinian refugee camp that clings to a hillside near the Jordanian town of Jerash. The woman, who had been married for eight months, was the second killed in Jordan this month in a so-called "honor" crime -- the murder of a woman accused of shaming her family

Every year thousands of women are killed for notions of family honor worldwide, mainly in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, but also in Muslim communities in the West. Jordan's penal code still offers leniency to a man who commits such a crime in a "fit of rage"

High-profile campaigns to change the law, which have sometimes had royal family support, have failed to sway tribal-dominated parliaments.
But the debate has dragged the issue into the open and, unusually in the Arab world, Jordan has begun tackling other once-taboo areas such as domestic violence and child abuse.

"Talking about it is a first step to finding a solution," said Eva Abu Halaweh, a 34-year-old human rights lawyer and director of Mizan, a private group working with women at risk.
But in the impoverished backstreets of the Jerash refugee camp, relatives of the murdered girl -- no names in the case have been made public -- greet strangers with a wall of silence."What's already happened is enough," a woman snapped before shooing children inside and closing the door of the family's cinderblock home in an alley with an open drain running down it.

The victim's husband, a young man in a baseball cap, stood chatting with friends on a corner, but bolted into his house rather than talk about his wife's death.



A Jordanian prosecutor has charged a 20-year-old man with premeditated murder. Local newspapers said he had stuffed a scarf in his sister's mouth, choked her with an electric cable and smoked a pack of cigarettes before turning himself in.

Some versions of events say he had been angered by his sister's absences from home. "If she was guilty, then she deserved it," said a college student in the refugee camp, who gave his name as Mohammed.


Women can easily fall under male suspicion in Jordan's conservative society, where tribal and Islamic traditions coexist uneasily with the inroads of modernity and consumerism

Honor" crimes are nothing new -- authorities in Jordan prosecuted 18 cases in 2006 and a similar number in 2007, although some rights activists say the real figures are higher.


The practice is most common in tribal Muslim societies, even though many Islamic scholars say the Quran does not sanction it and warn Muslims against taking the law into their own hands.

"There are very few real honor killings," Abu Halaweh said at Mizan's bustling Amman office. "Many murders are for other reasons like disputes over inheritance.

Of course the killers and their lawyers will always look for ways to avoid penalties.

"Perpetrators of "honor" crimes may escape with six months to two years in jail.

Few suffer social stigma. Attitudes are slowly changing, rights campaigners say. Judges are less ready to accept the "fit of fury" defence, and efforts to deal with broader domestic violence are under way.A year ago, the Ministry of Social Development set up Dar al-Wifaq (house of reconciliation), which has helped 290 women and girls referred by police because they had run away from home or had been battered, sexually abused or neglected.


Halaweh's group helps run shelters for vulnerable women who would otherwise be put in police protective custody -- some have spent years in enforced refuge from their families. "They need protection, then reintegration," Abu Halaweh said, stressing the need to work with the families of victims.
cited two women, who both survived after being shot by relatives, who had returned home after mediation and psychological support for both parties. "One was pregnant after being raped, but now the family has accepted her," she said.
Jordan has recognized that children as well as women can suffer physical, sexual or emotional abuse within the family."We were the first Arab country to admit there is abuse and to say we should deal with it," said Nancy Naghour, manager of Dar al-Aman, a government-funded center that has provided temporary shelter and therapy for abused children since 2000.

Dar al-Aman (House of Safety) also counsels the families, aiming to ensure the children can eventually return home safely.In one room at the center, a comfortable apartment block on the edge of Amman that can house 32 children, youngsters drawing at a table respond cheerily when greeted.


another, a newly arrived boy of 11 with tormented eyes still seems ill at ease.A bill to protect children and women from violence at home has passed parliament's lower house and awaits senate approval.


sets up conciliation committees to give women a chance to halt abuse without pressing charges or seeking a divorce."Women hesitate to complain about their husbands, fathers or brothers. They don't want them to be sent to prison or fined," Abu Halaweh said.
"At the same time, there is a new generation of women and many say they won't accept violence.
" Jordan has made a start on tackling issues that many Arab countries barely acknowledge, but women's rights advocates say the persistence of "honour" crimes shows it still has far to go.


We've had it in the public domain quite some time, but there are no changes," said Amal Sabbagh, a lecturer at Jordan University's Center for Women's Studies.
"People are happy with the status quo.


go through the motions of change."





Vanity plate '1' sells for $14 million in UAE


batting an eyelid, a UAE businessman dished out a record 14 million dollars for a car license plate at a charity auction in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.



"It is not huge compared to my family's fortune," Saeed Abdel Ghaffar Khouri said after bidding 52.2 million dirhams (14.2 million dollars) for an Abu Dhabi license plate bearing the single number "1".



"The price is fair. After all, who among us does not want to be number one," Khouri told AFP.
Emirates Auction, which organized the sale, said on its website that it had been expected to set a new world record for the most expensive car license plate in the world.In May, another citizen of the oil-rich UAE spent 6.8 million dollars to buy a licence plate bearing the number "5".Funds from the auction will go to charities, including one to build a hospital for casualties from road accidents.

According to official figures 312 people died in traffic accidents in 2006 in Dubai alone, up 32 percent on the previous year and giving the emirate one of the world's highest road mortality rates of 21.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.



Buyers battled it out on Saturday for 90 low digit licence plates, spending a total of 89 million dirhams (about 24 million dollars), said Abdullah al-Mannaei of Emirates Auction."Emiratis love cars and everything related to cars. They also love giving to charity," he said, adding that Abu Dhabi now had the seven most expensive licence plates in the world.



The auction was held in the plush surroundings of the Emirates Palace Hotel on the Abu Dhabi waterfront.

The licence plates were displayed to eager bidders on a line of gleaming luxury cars. A Mercedes carried the number "1111" while a Ferrari sported "100"



The plates fetched 632,000 and 768,000 dollars respectively.But the number "1" plate that made the record price was unveiled to prospective buyers attached to a Pagani Zonda -- one of the world's fastest and most expensive cars.Khouri conceded to AFP that he would have been willing to pay up to 100 million dirhams (27.4 million dollars) to get his hands on the number "1".




Book on Prophet's sex life draws anger, threats

Muslim leaders have issued fatwas calling for the death of the female author of a controversial new book, Love and Sex in the Prophet's Life, which was circulated at the Cairo International Book Fair last month

I wanted to explain sex from the real Islamic perspective and to make it the reference for having a healthy sexual life," Egyptian writer Passant Rashad said

"When I mentioned the prophet I meant to demonstrate how his relationship with his wives was the perfect example of a healthy sexual life that is devoid of the complications Arabs try to impose on it these days."

But the book has drawn sharp criticism. Independent Egyptian MP Mustafa al-Gindi complained to the Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny, earlier this month saying the book insults the Prophet and his wives, especially his third wife Aisha. "The book contains parts about positions and orgasms, which is totally inappropriate for a book that had the prophet's name in its title," said Gindi.A religious TV channel in Egypt denounced the publication and hosted a series of sheikhs – Islamic leaders – who accused her of apostasy and called for her killing, even if she were to repent."I kept silent, hoping this campaign will end or those sheiks will contact me to discuss the book, but none of that happened.

Now I fear for my life," Rashad told us.In the aftermath of the fatwa, Rashad said that a bearded man came to her house on Thursday and threatened her.

"He banged on the door at two in the morning and asked my husband if I was the author whose bloodshed is sanctioned

He told him that many problems are coming my way, then left

Rashad said she is not an apostate and would never insult the prophet.

On the contrary, she said she aimed to refute the myths propagated by the enemies of Islam, who portray the prophet as obsessed with women.

Meanwhile, Islamic thinker Gamal al-Banna called for an end to the fatwas on writers.

"This is a backward way to understand Islam. We have to eliminate this torrent of fatwas through reasoning and refutation of these lies. It is only then that those bloodshed Sheiks will find no audience.

"He called upon Arab information ministers to ban televised fatwas that wreak havoc in society and make intellectuals live in constant fear

Jordan churches warn against missionary sects

The Council of Churches in Jordan, representing the country's Christian community, on Saturday warned against what it called 40 "sects" carrying out troublesome missionary work in the Kingdom under the guise of doing charity work.

"The presence of sects in Jordan is multiplying and today there are 40 sects who have groups of Christian preachers who operate under the cover of performing social and cultural charitable activities," a spokesman for the council claimed in a statement.

The statement further accused the sects, which it did not identify, of misusing the great facilities presented by the Jordanian government to them as charity and human organizations to instead carry out missionary works.
“These sects are now seeking the status of churches, overstepping their social or educational roles.

”It said the actions of the sects "threaten the security of the country" and "create religious discord at the heart of the Christian community and between Muslims and Christians."Jordan's Christian community is estimated at around four percent of the 5.8 million-strong population and comprises Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Armenian Catholics and Latins

UAE court upholds 15-yr sentences in rape case

An appeals court in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday upheld 15-year jail terms handed down against two Emiratis convicted of raping a French-Swiss teenager, an AFP journalist said.

The judge in Dubai took just a few seconds to announce his ruling after proceedings opened.

The defense wanted the sentences pronounced on December 12 to be quashed, and a lawyer for the two men told AFP after Sunday's ruling that a further appeal would be lodged with the Supreme Court.

Prosecutors had demanded the maximum punishment, which could have meant the death penalty.

A third defendant is being tried in a juvenile court. One of the men who raped the European teenager was HIV-positive, but he has since been found to be clear of the sexually transmittable disease.

The boy's mother, Veronique Robert, launched a media campaign to publicize the case and gather support for her demand that the UAE recognize homosexual rape in its legal system and set up institutions to treat people with AIDS.She protested against the original verdict, saying that "15 years is nothing for someone who knew he had AIDS.

"Three men offered the victim a lift from a Dubai mall last July 14 but then drove into the desert where the teenager was raped while being threatened with a knife and a billiard cue, according to the charges.Defense lawyers claimed the victim had consented to sex and had lied to the Emirati authorities

Arabs slam 'crimes against humanity' in Gaza

The Arab League on Sunday accused Israel of carrying out "crimes against humanity" in the Gaza Strip after eight Palestinians were killed in a blast blamed on the Jewish state."The latest carnage is a yet another sign of Israel's immorality in the occupied Palestinian territories," League Secretary General Amr Moussa's spokesman said in a statement.

Israel "is committing crimes against humanity in Gaza," the 22-member pan-Arab body said.
Eight people, including senior Palestinian militant Ayman al-Fayed, his 37-year-old wife and three of their children aged 21, 19 and six, were killed in an explosion in Gaza on Friday for which Israel denied responsibility.

Three other people were also killed while 42 others, including 17 children, were wounded.

Palestinian groups have rejected Israel's denial of involvement in the blast, saying it was caused by an air strike.

troops on Sunday killed four Palestinians, including a civilian, in its latest assault on the Gaza Strip aimed at stopping rockets being launched at Israel.More than184 people have been killed since peace talks were formally relaunched at a U.S. conference in November, the vast majority of them Gaza militants, according to an AFP tally

UAE reshuffles cabinet, doubles women to 4

The United Arab Emirates reshuffled the cabinet on Sunday, naming new economy and labor ministers and doubling to four the number of women ministers.Sheikha Lubna al-Qassimi, the former economy minister, was named to head the new foreign trade ministry, while Sheikh Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri became economy minister, the official WAM news agency reported.Social Affairs Minister Mariam al-Rumi retained her post while Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, brought in two more women as ministers of state, the official WAM news agency reported.

They are Maitha al-Shamsi, assistant to the deputy head of UAE University for scientific research, and Reem al-Hashemi, who served as deputy ambassador to Washington and assistant to the foreign minister for economic affairs.The UAE ambassador to Washington, Saqr Ghubash, was named minister of labor, succeeding Ali al-Kaabi, who was dropped from government.Labor is a key portfolio in a country where expatriate workers and their dependents make up nearly 80 percent of the population of more than four million.The board chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Obaid al-Tayer, entered the cabinet as minister of state for financial affairs.

Theywas no change in the key ministries of energy, foreign affairs and interior.

The defense portfolio has long been held by Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed, who also serves as vice president of the seven-member Gulf federation. The changes come amid high levels of inflation and spiraling cost of living, with inflation officially put at 9.3 percent in 2006.

SEE...SHARE and UPLOAD human rights movies by ghrorg channel

Now you can watch .. share..upload your Favorite Movies from our channel on YouTube

visit us

Help us to build the first human rights library on the internet specializes in Arabic human rights
by participating with us



More than 350 film
More than 35 playlist
Thousands of related films by subcribe with other channels

the life in iraq .. where no safety

The video shows the difficult daily life of Mosul residents in Zohour District due to continuous clashes between Iraqi police and resistance fighters

Egypt allows re-conversion to Christianity on ID

In a landmark ruling, an Egyptian court on Saturday authorized 12 converts to Islam who then reverted to Christianity to have their original faith marked on their ID cards, judicial sources said.

They said the court allowed the Coptic plaintiffs to mark "Christian" on their compulsory identity cards, in place of the "Muslim" mention which was used after their conversion.But their IDs will have to specify that they had "adopted Islam for a brief period", the sources said.

The court of administrative justice ruled that the mention would "prevent any manipulation or concealment with judicial or social consequences" following the conversion to Islam.

"This is an historic decision, a victory for freedom of religion in Egypt and in keeping with Article 46 of the constitution which calls for freedom of religion," the plaintiff's lawyer Ramses al-Naggar told AFP.

The verdict was greeted with applause among the plaintiffs and their lawyers and other Coptic onlookers in the courtroom, many of whom cried out, "Long live justice.""This opens the door of hope to hundreds of Copts who converted ... and were then unable to return," said Mamdouh Nakhla, a human rights lawyer.

Nakhla said there were around 450 similar cases currently in litigation, and that estimates of the number of people who wished to revert to Christianity from Islam ranged to up to several thousand.

The court ruling, which cannot be appealed, overturned a lower court decision in April which said the state had no obligation to recognize a convert to Islam's decision to revert back to his original faith because it violated Islam's ban on apostasy.

The higher court's decision now obliges Egypt's ministry of interior to issue the plaintiffs with birth certificates and identity papers identifying them as Christians."I have won my identity back.

I am alive again," said Yasser Helmi, a 27-year-old man among the plaintiffs."I couldn't get an identity card and my life had ground to a halt."Helmi said his father had converted to Islam, without the knowledge of his wife and son who was a child at the time.

In Egypt, Copts who represent six to 10 percent of the 76-million population are known to convert to escape the strict rules of their church which bans divorce or marriage to a Muslim woman.

A lower court had previously refused to take up the case, which was opposed by the Egyptian government.

Saturday's ruling comes less than two weeks after a court for the first time granted members of Egypt's tiny Baha'i community the right to obtain government identity papers -- largely denied them for several years -- as long as they omit their faith, since it is not officially recognized in Egypt.

Without the official ID cards, Egyptians can not apply for jobs, buy property, open bank accounts or register their children in schools.

They are also subject to arrest for not carrying valid identity papers

Egypt charges policemen over balcony murder

Egyptian prosecutors on Saturday charged two policemen with murdering a man by throwing him off a balcony in Cairo, security sources said.A security source gave the policemen's names as Maher Hassan and Hassan Sobhi, and said prosecutors had accused them of killing Nasr Gadallah, 37 in August last year.Forensic examination of Gadallah confirmed he had died of the impact, but offered no opinion as to whether he was pushed or jumped, as the two policemen say.

Gadallah's case is one of a number of high profile cases of suspected police abuse that gained wide-spread attention after a video circulated on the Internet last year showing a man being sodomized with a stick in a Cairo police station.

Two policemen were later sentenced to three years in prison for torture in that case.

International and local rights groups say torture is systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations.

Past victims have reported receiving electric shocks and beatings.

The government says it opposes torture and prosecutes policemen when there is evidence.

When we will say no to war ? QANA 2006

Some people use these photos to be evidence of the brutality of war

Some used these images so as not to forget

Some used these images proof against Israel

We use these images to tell the world that the victims of war are always children and women

The Yemeni president says: we will produce the electrical energy from nuclear power !!!!!

Poverty rate: 45%

Illiteracy rate: 60%

Did you know??

Yemeni people possess the most number of individual weapons in the world (32) million

Video Advocacy Institute Call for Applications

Dear Friends

WITNESS is pleased to announce a call for applications to participate in the 2008 Video Advocacy Institute (VAI).

The Video Advocacy Institute, the first of its kind, is an innovative program that trains human rights defenders to successfully integrate video advocacy into their social change campaigns.

The VAI will be held in association with Concordia University’s Communication Studies Program and Documentary Centre.

When: July 19 – August 2, 2008Where: Concordia University - Montreal, CanadaApplication Deadline: March 2, 2008

“The training was/is proving to be immensely useful… bringing these skills to grassroots organizations on the ground and in such an effective way.”- VAI 2007 Participant
If you or others that you know would be interested in participating in this training program please visit: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WITNESS/e5984e5c8c/cf27cbdeb2/3715271fbb for detailed information and the application form.

This VAI will be held in English. Future VAI's may be held in different languages. Previous production skills not required.

Should you have further questions about the VAI not answered in these materials, please write to us at: vai@witness.org.

Sincerely,
Sam GregoryProgram Directorand

Tina L. SingletonVAI Coordinator

WITNESS uses video and online technologies to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations. We empower people to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice, promoting public engagement and policy change.

For more information please visit http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WITNESS/e5984e5c8c/cf27cbdeb2/a5440b7130

Child labor rampant in Lebanon

It is early morning and eight-year-old Ibrahim Khodar Arja is already hard at work, his face and hands covered with dirt as he repairs a car at the mechanics shop where he works six days a week, 10 hours a day.Ibrahim should be at primary school but his job leaves him no time for that.Like thousands of children across Lebanon he has joined a growing force of child laborers whose fate is as much dictated by their family's dire economic situation as by the country's turbulent politics.

Officials estimate that at least 100,000 children -- one in 10 -- up to 18 years of age work in Lebanon, mainly in the agriculture sector or as mechanics as well as in jewelry workshops and sweatshops.

"The 10 to 15 age group is the most affected," Nabil Watfa of the International Labor Organization office in Beirut told AFP.

"But children as young as eight have also been noted to work."These kids, the majority of them boys, work handling chemicals, in garages, in metal-welding shops, carpentry, marble cutting and in farms where they are exposed to pesticides."Most of the child laborers hail from the northern regions of Akkar and Tripoli, where many families live below the poverty line.

Others work in the eastern Bekaa Valley and in the south of the country, where poverty is also endemic and the main industry is agriculture, including tobacco plantations.In Bab al-Tebbene, a rough neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli, a majority of the mechanics or scrap metal shops that line the streets employ children, including Ibrahim.

The kids can be seen welding, using dangerous machinery, or handling toxic chemicals, all with no protective gear.

More than a dozen children interviewed between the ages of eight and 16 seem resigned to the fact that theirs is a future of hard work rather than play.

Their tough gaze betrays a lost childhood.Mustafa Yassin, 13, entered the work force last year as an apprentice mechanic. He earns 10 dollars a week, working 10 hours a day, six days a week.

"School was not for me and I prefer to learn a trade so that I can help my family and maybe one day open my own garage," he said shyly.

Social workers say many of the children drop out of school and seek work as they come from needy families, often of 10 children or more.They also point to appalling conditions in state schools where standards are poor and where children are often left to fend for themselves.

"We are placed in these schools which are like prisons and many of the kids are dismissed or drop out because no one looks at them," said Rabih Saifeddin Danash, 25, who began working at age 15 at his father's garage.Watfa said that although Lebanon in 2001 signed on to the ILO convention on child labor, it has been unable to efficiently implement it for lack of resources.

Nationwide there are a mere 91 inspectors tasked with enforcing labor laws in general, said Naha Shallita, head of the child labor unit at the labor ministry.

She added that no money has been allocated in the state budget to specifically combat child labor.Social workers warn that if the state fails to seriously take on the issue, many children could fall prey to extremist groups known to recruit in poor areas of Lebanon.

They also cautioned that prostitution and drug use was prevalent among working children.

"These kids are being denied their most basic rights," said Fatma Odaymat, of the Rene Moawad Foundation, a non-governmental organization.

"We are finding that sexual and physical abuse have become a major issue.

"She said although there are success stories and efforts to provide children with vocational training, the country was far off from overcoming the scourge of child labor.

"The success stories are a drop in the bucket," Odaymat said.

"When you go down to these communities and see the situation, you realize we have a long way to go

Moroccan Berber-Jewish alliance sparks alarm

Preparations are underway in Morocco for the declaration of the Jewish-Berber Friendship Association on Valentine's Day, fueling speculation about the ulterior motives behind the unusual step in an Arab country.Secretary General of the Moroccan Berber Democratic Party (Parti Démocratique Amazigh Marocain) Ahmed Adgherni defended the move by the Rural Berber Friendship Association in the Mediterranean port city of al-Hasima, saying it gives Berbers the chance to play a role in the Arab-Israeli conflict.Adgherni denied that the step aims at retaliating against the government for refusing to recognize the Berber party.

Despite being legally registered in court, Moroccan security forces banned the party's first congress, and the Ministry of Interior filed a lawsuit to ban the party altogether.

"Our problem is with the Minister of Interior who belongs to a mafia lobby that governs politics in Morocco. They were the reason behind canceling two speeches by King Mohamed VI in which he was supposed to tackle the Berber issue.

We are awaiting the court's decision."Adgherni dismissed the fact that any relations with Israel will provoke the Moroccan government and stated that Moroccan-Israeli relations are no secret."

The Israeli president was at the funeral of King Hassan II here in Rabat. It's just that some people think they can monopolize relations with Israel, and we proved them wrong."

Berber activist Mounir Kejji also denied accusations that his people are bracing themselves for a confrontation with the government by seeking the support of Israel.

"We must separate our support for the Palestinians from our relations with the Jews. We refuse to make the Palestinian problem overshadow our national cause.

The Palestinian cause has been given so much attention all over the Arab world, but no one supported us in our struggle for Ceuta and Melilla or the Western Sahara.

"On the other hand, Secretary General of the Democratic Way (La Voie Démocratique) Marxist party Abdellah el-Harif said the move provokes Arabs and Berbers alike and comes an extremist minority within the Berber community."

These are people who want to prove that Berber identity is not Arab, and this is not true. Morocco is both Arab and Berber, and we call for the rights of Berbers under the banner of one unified Morocco.

Plus, almost all Berbers reject normalization with Israel.

"Kejji stressed that his party issued a statement renouncing the association and everyone linked to it. This led party member at al-Hasima Mohamed Mohei to submit his resignation since he is one of the founders of the association.Moroccan writer and journalist Ali Anouzla sees the establishment of this association as part of a series of actions aimed at provoking the government and which started with Adgherni's visit to Israel.

Anouzla agreed that this is an individual step that does not represent the Berber community: "This initiative has no popular support, be it Arab or Berber."

the bedoon in the arabic gulf ... people living without thier rights ..and who care?