Iraq parliament to meet Tuesday but impasse lingers

July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Iraq’s new parliament will meet on Tuesday for just the second time since a March 7 parliamentary election that produced no clear winner, a representative of a political bloc said on Sunday.

But the decision to schedule a new session, made at a meeting of the political factions, did not signal a deal between squabbling coalitions on the formation of a new government, said Salim al-Jubouri, an official with the Tawafuq bloc.

The new session was intended to pick a new parliamentary speaker and two deputies, a necessary step in the process of forming a new government.

“In the absence of a political accord between the blocs in parliament … the solution is to vote (for a new speaker and deputies),” Jubouri said.

“The representatives of the blocs agreed to hold the session on Tuesday at 10 o’clock,” he said.

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION

Iraq’s Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions have been jockeying for position in the new government since an inconclusive parliamentary election four months ago that Iraqis had hoped would bring stable government after years of war.

U.S. troops are due to pull out by the end of next year.

The negotiations have snagged on the issue of who would hold the prime minister’s office. Shi’ite incumbent Nuri al-Maliki, whose State of Law bloc placed second in the election, wants another term.

Former prime minister Iyad Allawi, whose cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition won two seats more than Maliki’s on March 7, also wants the premiership.

State of Law and Iraqiya objected to calling a new session of parliament for Tuesday and were likely to be absent, meaning there would not be enough members present for a quorum, several lawmakers said.

Together the two blocs hold 180 of parliament’s 325 seats.

The new parliament met for the first time on June 14 in a session that lasted barely 20 minutes. The session was left open and lawmakers have not reconvened since.

(Writing by Jim Loney)

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China plans to launch credit default swaps market

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 22 (Reuters) – China is planning a market in credit default swaps (CDS), a senior financial industry executive said on Tuesday.

“I can assure you that the Chinese version of CDS will be launched, and it will not take too long,” said Shi Wenchao, secretary general of the National Association of Financial Markets Institutional Investors.

Shi was speaking at a ceremony to mark the signing of a memorandum of understanding on technical co-operation and training with the International Capital Markets Association. (Reporting by Zhou Xin and Alan Wheatley; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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Factbox: Jundollah, Iran’s Sunni Muslim rebels

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Iran said Sunday it had executed Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of a Sunni Muslim rebel group which the Shi’ite-dominated country says was behind Iran’s deadliest bomb attack.

World

Rigi, arrested in February, was convicted by a Revolutionary court of various charges, including armed robbery, kidnapping, drug smuggling, assassination attempts and murder.

Here are some key details about Jundollah:

LINKS:

* Iran, which is predominantly Shi’ite, has linked Jundollah (God’s Soldiers) to the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network. It also accuses the United States, Britain and Pakistan of backing Jundollah in order to create instability in the country. The three countries deny the charge.

* Jundollah says it is fighting for the rights of Iran’s minority Sunnis. Iran reject allegations by rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities.

ALLIANCES:

* Rigi said in a 2007 interview that his group was fighting for the rights of the Baluch people facing what he called “genocide” in Iran, but denied it promoted any separatist or radical sectarian agenda.

* Jundollah has evolved through shifting alliances with various parties, including the Taliban and Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, who saw the group as a tool against Iran, according to Lahore-based Pakistani analyst Ahmed Rashid.

ORIGINS:

* Jundollah, which also calls itself the Iranian People’s Resistance Movement, was founded in 2002 and launched its armed campaign in 2005.

* Since early 2005 the group has sought to expand operations in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. It has carried out kidnappings and, more recently, suicide attacks.

* The group probably numbers fewer than 100 militants armed with explosives and small arms in Sistan-Baluchestan which borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

* Leader Rigi had vowed to fight the Shi’ite government in Iran unless economic conditions improve in the province.

* Rigi was arrested in February 2010. Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said Rigi had been in a U.S. military base 24 hours before his arrest, state-run Press TV reported.

* ATTACKS:

* In June 2005, Jundollah kidnapped Revolutionary Guard officer Shahab Mansuri and sent a video of him to al-Arabiya. He was killed on July 13 and Iran blamed Jundollah.

* On December 14, 2005, an assassination attempt was carried out against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while on a visit to Sistan- Baluchestan. This attack also was blamed on Jundollah.

* In 2007, Jundollah claimed responsibility for several attacks. On February 14, 11 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards were killed in an attack on a bus in the city of Zahedan.

* In December 2008 there was a suicide attack in Saravan on a security forces headquarters. This was the first such suicide attack in Iran and was carried out by Abdul-Ghafoor Rigi, a brother of the group’s leader.

* On May 28, 2009, a suicide bomber killed 25 people and wounded more than 120 in an attack on a mosque in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan. Jundollah claimed responsibility for the attack.

* An October 18, 2009 bombing by the group killed 40 people. Fifteen Revolutionary Guards members were among those killed, including the deputy head of ground forces. Jundollah said it was behind the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1980s.

EXECUTIONS:

* On May 30 three men were hanged in public for involvement in the Zahedan bombing. Two more were hanged on June 2. Iran executed 15 more men accused of membership of Jundollah in July.

* On November 3, Iran executed Jundollah member Abdolhamid Rigi.

* The leader’s brother, also called Abdolhamid, was hanged in May.

Sources: Reuters/Janes World Insurgency and Terrorism

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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FACTBOX-Jundollah, Iran’s Sunni Muslim rebels

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Iran said on Sunday it had executed Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of a Sunni Muslim rebel group which the Shi’ite-dominated country says was behind Iran’s deadliest bomb attack.

Rigi, arrested in February, was convicted by a Revolutionary court of various charges, including armed robbery, kidnapping, drug smuggling, assassination attempts and murder.

Here are some key details about Jundollah:

LINKS:

* Iran, which is predominantly Shi’ite, has linked Jundollah (God’s Soldiers) to the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network. It also accuses the United States, Britain and Pakistan of backing Jundollah in order to create instability in the country. The three countries deny the charge.

* Jundollah says it is fighting for the rights of Iran’s minority Sunnis. Iran reject allegations by rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities.

ALLIANCES:

* Rigi said in a 2007 interview that his group was fighting for the rights of the Baluch people facing what he called “genocide” in Iran, but denied it promoted any separatist or radical sectarian agenda.

* Jundollah has evolved through shifting alliances with various parties, including the Taliban and Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, who saw the group as a tool against Iran, according to Lahore-based Pakistani analyst Ahmed Rashid.

ORIGINS:

* Jundollah, which also calls itself the Iranian People’s Resistance Movement, was founded in 2002 and launched its armed campaign in 2005.

* Since early 2005 the group has sought to expand operations in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. It has carried out kidnappings and, more recently, suicide attacks.

* The group probably numbers fewer than 100 militants armed with explosives and small arms in Sistan-Baluchestan which borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

* Leader Rigi had vowed to fight the Shi’ite government in Iran unless economic conditions improve in the province.

* Rigi was arrested in February 2010. Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said Rigi had been in a U.S. military base 24 hours before his arrest, state-run Press TV reported.

* ATTACKS:

* In June 2005, Jundollah kidnapped Revolutionary Guard officer Shahab Mansuri and sent a video of him to al-Arabiya. He was killed on July 13 and Iran blamed Jundollah.

* On Dec. 14, 2005, an assassination attempt was carried out against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while on a visit to Sistan- Baluchestan. This attack also was blamed on Jundollah.

* In 2007, Jundollah claimed responsibility for several attacks. On Feb. 14, 11 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards were killed in an attack on a bus in the city of Zahedan.

* In Dec. 2008 there was a suicide attack in Saravan on a security forces headquarters. This was the first such suicide attack in Iran and was carried out by Abdul-Ghafoor Rigi, a brother of the group’s leader.

* On May 28, 2009, a suicide bomber killed 25 people and wounded more than 120 in an attack on a mosque in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan. Jundollah claimed responsibility for the attack.

* An Oct. 18, 2009 bombing by the group killed 40 people. Fifteen Revolutionary Guards members were among those killed, including the deputy head of ground forces. Jundollah said it was behind the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1980s.

EXECUTIONS:

* On May 30 three men were hanged in public for involvement in the Zahedan bombing. Two more were hanged on June 2. Iran executed 15 more men accused of membership of Jundollah in July.

* On Nov. 3, Iran executed Jundollah member Abdolhamid Rigi.

* The leader’s brother, also called Abdolhamid, was hanged in May.

(For a main story on Rigi’s execution click on [ID:nHAF017863])

Sources: Reuters/Janes World Insurgency and Terrorism

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Yemen politician says next leader should be southerner

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Rising Yemeni opposition politician Sheikh Hamid al-Ahmar, seen as a potential presidential successor, says he is not aiming for the top job and thinks the country’s next leader should come from the south.

World

Electing a southerner to succeed President Ali Abdullah Saleh when his term ends in 2013 could go a long way toward calming rising secessionist sentiment there, said Ahmar who like the president hails from the north.

“Us Yemenis in the north have to show those in the south that we are in favor of unity. We need to leave them (southerners) the opportunity to lead Yemen,” he told Reuters in an interview.

President Saleh, in over three decades at Yemen’s helm, oversaw the unification of north and south Yemen in 1990 and survived a civil war four years later that was sparked by an attempt from southern leaders to break away.

His current term ends in 2013 and Ahmar, a business tycoon whose criticism of the government over the past year has made him increasingly popular in Yemen, is seen as a leading contender to succeed him.

But Ahmar cited his tribal ties to the country’s ruler as a reason not to pursue the presidency, saying those links could dent people’s faith in him.

“Suppose Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar has gone and Hamid Abdallah al-Ahmar comes. … People won’t believe there will be change unless someone else comes,” Ahmar said.

Ahmar belongs to the same powerful tribal federation as Saleh and the two share the al-Ahmar name, although they are not directly related.

He did not definitively rule out serving in Yemen’s top post, but said it was not his aim.

MANY CHALLENGES

Secessionist sentiment in the south still simmers, with violence on the rise in recent months. But it is only one of many challenges in Yemen, which is also trying to cement a truce with northern Shi’ite rebels and quash a resurgent Yemen-based al Qaeda arm.

Yemen has been a Western security concern since a Yemen-based al Qaeda arm claimed responsibility for a failed December attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane.

Yemen’s Western allies and Saudi Arabia fear a resurgent al Qaeda wing could exploit unrest to use Yemen as a base for destabilizing attacks in the region and beyond. They want the government to resolve internal conflict and consolidate power.

Ahmar dismissed warnings that Yemen, next to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, could descend into chaos like nearby Somalia if its political situation remained unresolved.

Like many in Yemen’s opposition movement, he said he was skeptical an unprecedented charm offensive launched by Saleh to woo opponents would yield concrete concessions on political and social reforms. But he said dialogue should be given a chance.

Facing spiraling violence and a deepening recession, Saleh said in May that a new national dialogue could lead to a unity government, and agreed to include northern rebels and southern separatists in talks, a key opposition demand.

Ahmar, who belongs to his father’s al-Islah party that leads an alliance of six opposition groups, said he would launch a peaceful movement against any attempt by Saleh to prolong his rule after his term ends.

“The president has failed to run Yemen. In my opinion he doesn’t deserve to have his term extended,” Ahmar said.

(Editing by Noah Barkin)

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Four bombs target Iraq central bank, two killed

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BAGHDAD, June 13 (Reuters) – Four bombs exploded on Sunday at an entrance of the Iraqi central bank, killing at least two people and wounding six, a day before Iraq’s new parliament was due to hold its first session, police said.

Police said it was not clear yet if the attacks involved suicide bombers or car bombs. The blasts were timed to occur as employees of the Central Bank of Iraq were leaving work.

While violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the height of bloodshed in 2006/07, tensions have simmered since an inconclusive March 7 election that produced no outright winner.

A cross-sectarian alliance heavily backed by the once dominant Sunni minority won the most seats, but the country’s main Shi’ite factions have agreed to form the largest unified bloc in parliament, potentially giving them the muscle to claim the right to form a government.

Parliament meets on Monday, more than three months after the election, for its first session, but it is likely to still take weeks if not months for a deal on a government and a choice of prime minister.

The political vacuum coincides with a U.S. plan to end combat operations in August ahead of a full U.S. troop withdrawal by the end of 2011.

Suspected Sunni Islamist insurgents have sought to exploit the political uncertainty and to try to reignite broad sectarian warfare through bomb attacks and assassinations. The number of civilians killed in violence each month has climbed slowly but steadily since the March vote. (Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Diana Abdallah)

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Celeb endorsements play almost no role in fuelling internet banking trend

April 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, April 27 (ANI): People use internet banking either because of its benefits or peer pressure but very rarely due to perceived prestige or celebrity endorsement, a new study has found.

Understanding what makes people adopt a particular technology could be crucial to the future success of internet banking, according to Weihua Shi and Kenneth Zantow of the College of Business, at the University of Southern Mississippi, Long Beach.

They point out that while there are various research models that have attempted to explain the adoption of new technologies, the majority of these assume that people make a rational choice based on a systematic decision process.

In many cases this may be entirely contrary to how people behave and they suggest that it is more likely that people simply follow the herd.

If large numbers of people are already using a particular technology, then once a tipping point is passed, peer pressure causes other people to adopt the innovation too.

Imitation, they say, is the best form of flattery, and yet there are very few published research studies that discuss how irrational imitation can influence technology adoption.

Shi and Zantow hope to remedy this situation and have looked at three types of imitation: frequency-based, trait-based, and outcome-based that influence adoption.

Frequency-based imitation simply implies that people will follow the herd, individuals are more likely to imitate an action if that action has been taken by a large number of other individuals.

Trait-based imitation is usually associated with individuals taking a particular action because other specific people whom they hold in high regard have previously taken that action.

Outcome-based imitation is a more sophisticated approach to decision-making in which individuals assess the impact adoption of the technology has on other people.

The team quizzed individuals on their attitudes and their adoption of internet banking and adjust their results to control for gender, age, and income.

Specifically, for frequency-based imitations, respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which they agree that using internet banking was popular, particularly in their peer group.

For trait-based imitations, respondents were asked about whether people of high status use internet banking and whether that in itself is a status symbol.

For outcome-based imitation, the team asked whether people using internet banking were more efficient and profitable in their banking.

A sliding scale of agree-to-disagree was used and the team could then analyze the data statistically.

The results showed that frequency-based and outcome-based decisions were the strongest predictors of whether someone would adopt internet banking.

“The results indicate that awareness of the positive outcomes associated with internet banking, or that a large number of customers had made the decision to use internet banking, would influence potential customers to jump on to the bandwagon,” the team notes.

Moreover, banks could boost adoption if they improve the online banking service as outcome-based decisions were predominant rather than people simply following the herd.

Trait-based imitation was not a significant factor.

While other products are often associated with celebrities or other successful people through their advertising efforts, the participants in our study indicate this may not be helpful for promoting internet banking, the researchers add.

The study has appeared in the International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance. (ANI)

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Iraqi PM says next government has to include Sunnis

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Iraq’s incumbent Shi’ite Muslim prime minister said the next government to be formed after an inconclusive election in March had to include the Sunni-backed coalition that won the most seats.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is seeking a second term, said in an interview aired on Friday it was too early for Iraq to be run by a majority government and a “national partnership government” was needed to ensure stability after years of war.

That meant the next government would be weak due to its subservience to conflicting interests, he said.

“I had wished that the (next) government would be formed on the basis of a political majority, leaving behind the quota-based system, but it seems that idea is still premature,” Maliki told the U.S.-funded al-Hurra television network.

“The thing we have to accept is that there must be a national partnership government. A national partnership government means all main factions making up the Iraqi community are represented in it.”

Maliki’s Shi’ite-led State of Law alliance came second in the March 7 vote with 89 seats in the 325-seat parliament.

The cross-sectarian Iraqiya bloc led by former prime minister Iyad Allawi won the most seats at 91 after gaining broad backing from minority Sunnis who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein and who are hungry to regain influence after seven years of Shi’ite political supremacy.

The results still need to be certified, a process that could yet take weeks. In the meantime, Maliki’s bloc and Iraq’s other main Shi’ite-dominated coalition, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), have been inching toward a tie-up that could sideline Allawi, a secular Shi’ite.

That could increase sectarian tensions if Sunnis feel aggrieved, at a time when the all-out sectarian conflict that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has faded and U.S. troops are preparing to end combat operations and withdraw.

‘SUNNIS MUST BE INCLUDED’

Sunni resentment at their loss of power after Saddam’s fall helped fuel a fierce insurgency and fighting in which tens of thousands died. Negotiations over forming the next government are taking place against a backdrop of threats by Sunni Islamist insurgents seeking to reignite wholesale sectarian slaughter.

“The Iraqiya bloc represents most Sunni Arabs, therefore they must be partners in forming the government because this element must be represented,” Maliki said.

“I fear that the next government will be weaker than the current government because all the partners in the political process are claiming ministerial positions in advance. It is an unfortunate thing,” he added.

Asked about Allawi specifically, the prime minister said he had nothing against him personally. But he criticised those he believed yearned for a return to Saddam’s Baath Party-led past and who put partisan interests over national interests.

Maliki’s comments came amid growing speculation that his chances of being reappointed prime minister are dimming.

One of the INA’s most powerful factions, anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s movement, has opposed his nomination and merger talks between the INA and Maliki’s State of Law have included discussions on an internal election to pick a prime minister, a vote that Maliki may not necessarily win.

“An alliance to form the government that only consists of two blocs and which excludes other blocs will destroy the political process and national unity,” Maliki said.

(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Muhanad Mohammed; Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Yemeni rebels kill school guard, straining truce

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SANAA, April 14 (Reuters) – Yemeni Shi’ite rebels shot dead a school guard and lost one of their own men in a gunfight that will strain a truce to end a conflict in the north of the country, a security official said on Wednesday.

Yemen, under international pressure from the West and neighbouring Saudi Arabia to focus on fighting al Qaeda elsewhere in the country, agreed a truce in February to halt fighting in the north that has raged on and off since 2004.

Around 250,000 people have been displaced by the violence.

As part of their campaign, Shi’ite militants, led by members of the Houthi clan, have seized control of schools.

On Tuesday, a gunfight broke out when a guard confronted a handful of rebels at a school in Saada province, an insurgency hotspot. No students were in the school at the time.

“Houthi elements were putting slogans of “death to America” and Israel on the walls of the school,” the security official said. “An exchange of fire led to the death of the school guard and one of the attackers.”

Elsewhere in Saada, rebels shot and wounded a soldier. A rebel official said he had no information on that incident.

Yemen jumped to the forefront of Western security concerns after al Qaeda’s Yemen-based regional arm claimed responsibility for an attempted attack on a U.S.-bound plane in December.

Western governments and Saudi Arabia fear that al Qaeda is using Yemen as a base for attacks in the region and beyond.

Last month, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose government is also trying to quell southern secessionists, declared the war in the north was over.

While the ceasefire has mostly held, previous truces have not lasted and analysts are sceptical whether this one will either, so long as Shi’ite complaints of discrimination by the state remain unaddressed.

HOSTAGE TAKER JAILED

In Sanaa, a court sentenced a Yemeni man to 12 years in prison for briefly kidnapping four German tourists in 2009.

The Germans, two men and two women on an archaeological trip, were abducted while being driven through Maarib province with a police escort, officials said. They were freed within hours, after police reinforcements arrived in the area.

Court officials said the kidnappers had sought the return of a plot of land in Sanaa that had been confiscated by the state. Grievances with the government or police is a common motive for kidnapping of foreigners by Yemeni tribes. Most victims are released unharmed.

But a German family of five and a Briton, kidnapped in June 2009 in the northern Saada region, remain missing, held by kidnappers who the government believes have links to al Qaeda.

Three women — two Germans and a South Korean — kidnapped alongside them were later found dead. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction. The northern rebels have denied involvement. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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UPDATE 1-ZTE sees more China growth despite 3G slowdown

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

* Analysts see 2010 revenue up 24 pct, vs 36 pct in 2009

Media | Technology

* Company sees China revenue continuing to grow (Adds details, quotes)

HONG KONG, April 9 (Reuters) – ZTE (0763.HK), China’s No.2 telecoms equipment maker, said on Friday it expected to keep growing in its home market this year, even as many see spending slowing there after a 3G investment spree in 2009.

Last December, China’s telecoms regulator said domestic investment in 3G systems reached $21 billion in 2009.

Strong 3G spending is expected to continue into this year, but recent plans from China’s three major telephone operators have been lower than expected, prompting observers to lower their outlook for ZTE (000063.SZ) this year.

“This year, domestically and internationally we will achieve this goal of rapid growth,” ZTE President Shi Lirong told a media briefing on Friday. “We are very positive about our development.”

China accounted for about half of ZTE’s total revenue last year, generating more than 30 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in 2009.

Analysts expect ZTE’s revenue to grow 24 percent this year to about 75 billion yuan ($11 billion), slowing from 2009′s 36 percent growth, due in large part to a sharp slowdown in 3G spending in China.

“I’m confident the company can maintain a fast growth rate,” Shi said of ZTE’s broader prospects this year.

ZTE shares were up 2.67 percent at HK$48.15 midway through the trading day in Hong Kong, outpacing the broader market’s .HSI 1.34 percent gain.

Late on Thursday, the company reported its fourth quarter profit rose 50 percent on strong sales from 3G spending at home and booming exports. [ID:nTOE63606S]

The company and crosstown rival Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] have been two of China’s biggest success stories, banking on demand from a strong home market and growing success in interntional markets, where they compete with the likes of Ericsson (ERICb.ST) and Nokia Siemens Networks [NOKI.UL]

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ANALYSIS – Leaders turn frequent flyers as weak Iraq forms gov’t

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Iraqi leaders, struggling to form a government after an inconclusive March poll, are travelling around the region to set out their political stalls, forge alliances and to enhance their reputations at home.

Despite having almost 100,000 troops in Iraq, Washington has so far been absent from politicians’ travel itineraries.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria and the United States have their own favourite to become Iraq’s prime minister, Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi’ite Muslim with a cross-sectarian coalition, as they try to limit the influence of neighbouring mainly Shi’ite Iran.

That could mean an Iraq more able to resist Iran, the world’s fifth-biggest oil exporter and locked in a stand-off with the West over its nuclear programme.

Tehran has been a big influence since the 2003 invasion and Shi’ites outnumber Sunnis in Iraq, giving Iran an advantage.

But the ancient rivalry between Iranians and Arabs and Iraqis’ strong nationalism is going to limit how far Tehran can go in shaping a government, at least openly, analysts said.

“I don’t think there is a foreign kingmaker in Iraqi politics,” said David Mack, vice president of the Middle East Institute in Washington.

The Iranians “have their influence, they potentially want a government that will not be threatening to them. But there’s a limit. I don’t think that they are in any sense able to control matters,” Mack told Reuters.

The narrowness of the election as Iraq emerges from years of sectarian fighting, has given foreign players a role in Iraq’s efforts to assemble a government, with some analysts saying this makes politicians vulnerable to pressure from abroad.

“What we’re seeing is symptomatic of the weakness of the Iraqi state,” said Joost Hiltermann, an analyst with the International Crisis Group in Washington.

“The neighbouring states prey on the divisions in Iraqi politics. The situation is very fluid and chaotic because there is no (single) strong player, on either side.”

The fragility of the post-election security situation in Iraq has been emphasised by an upsurge of violence in Baghdad province this month that has killed more than 100 people. Security forces blame the violence on al Qaeda militants.

FREQUENT FLYERS

Complex political talks at home have been supplemented with a whirlwind of foreign visits by political leaders since final election results were announced on March 26.

Allawi’s cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition finished first with 91 seats in the 325-seat parliament. Iraqiya, which drew substantial support from Sunni Muslims, was two seats ahead of the State of Law coalition of Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Forming a government demands 163 seats.

Since the election, Iraqi politicians including Maliki and President Jalal Talabani have visited senior officials in Iran, a bulwark for Shi’ite Muslims.

Leaders have also met there with powerful anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, head of a leading faction in the Shi’ite Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which has close links to Iran.

Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at the University of London, said Iran had first tried to boost Shi’ite voters’ participation in the elections. Now Tehran is trying to oversee a merger between Sadrists and State of Law as the core of a new government.

“Clearly it has the most influence of any country in Iraq, much more than the U.S. or Saudi Arabia. Iran has invested a great deal of money and a great deal of time in cultivating their allies in Baghdad,” he said.

In turn, Qusai abd al-Wahab, a Sadrist leader and head of the INA political negotiations committee, said the Sadrists had visited Iran, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia. They also have been invited to Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

“All the neighbouring countries have the same weight for us. We wanted to send a message that we respect them as much as we respect Iran,” he told Reuters.

Allawi, a former prime minister, has visited Turkey and Lebanon. Other stops on politicians’ regional circuit include Syria and the Gulf states.

In one high-level visit, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, an Iraqiya leader, went to Qatar on Monday to discuss efforts to form a government, the presidential website said.

Mack, of the Middle East Institute, said politicians were garnering support from foreign capitals as well as boosting their profiles at home as talks to form a government went on.

“We’re at the stage now where the audience is the other political factions, not simply whether a given political leader had popular support … but whether a given political leader can govern the country,” he said.

Although no Iraqi politician has made a flight to Washington, U.S. officials say they are in touch with all the main parties. “We’re prepared to work with whoever emerges,” Ambassador Christopher Hill told reporters last week.

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20 injured at Yemen funeral after separatist protest

March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Yemeni security forces fired tear gas and live bullets on Saturday into a funeral procession for people killed in separatist demonstrations earlier this month, injuring 20 people, witnesses said.

The clashes happened in the southern province of Dalea, where two protestors were shot dead on March 11 as security forces broke up a demonstration.

North and South Yemen united in 1990 but many people in the south, home to most Yemeni oil facilities, complain that northerners have used unification to grab resources and discriminate against them.

Last week Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared an end to a long-running war with northern Shi’ite rebels that drew in Saudi forces last year.

The country is also cracking down on al Qaeda and Saleh was quoted on Saturday as saying Yemen had made progress with the help of regional and Western powers.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Jason Benham; Editing by David Stamp)

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Iraq’s Maliki risks Sunni ire if he shuns Allawi

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Iraq’s Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may get first go at forming a government, early election results show, but Sunnis will fume if he cuts out his secular rival Iyad Allawi, the man most of them voted for.

World

The March 7 vote for a 325-seat parliament has reshaped a fractured Iraqi political landscape which is likely to undergo further shifts in tough coalition bargaining that lies ahead.

Maliki’s State of Law coalition leads in seven of Iraq’s 18 provinces, with Allawi’s Iraqiya list ahead in five. The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), dominated by Shi’ite Islamist factions, and a Kurdish alliance are each in front in three provinces.

The Kurdish alliance was slightly behind Iraqiya in the disputed city of Kirkuk, while Goran, a Kurdish reform movement, eroded its hegemony in the autonomous northern Kurdistan region.

The overall picture is incomplete, with results released so far representing just over a quarter of 12 million votes cast, and may change, particularly in Baghdad and Kirkuk.

But politicians hoping to govern Iraq as U.S. troops prepare to leave are already jostling for possible coalition partners.

Maliki’s potential allies include INA, led by the Shi’ite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), and the Kurdish parties, as well as Iraqiya. But these groups might join forces to thwart his return to power. Rival blocs may dissolve and re-form.

“It’s going to be another wild ride to see which way it goes,” said David Newton, a former U.S. envoy to Iraq. “Iraqis seem to be able to solve things at 10 minutes after midnight.”

He said Sunnis would take it very badly if Maliki moved toward ISCI — viewed by many of them as a proxy of Iran. They favor Allawi, a secular Shi’ite who led a transitional 2004-05 government and who looks poised to be a major player again.

Yahya al-Kubaisy, a researcher at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies, said a government excluding Iraqiya risked fuelling resentment felt by the Sunni minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion ended its entrenched grip on power.

“If this happens, we must expect a return of violence to Iraq,” he said.

A bloody Sunni insurgency against U.S. and Iraqi troops only calmed after local tribes turned against al Qaeda Islamists, joining forces with a ramped-up U.S. military presence.

Maliki based his re-election campaign partly on improved security after the sectarian carnage of 2006-07, and on plans for reconstruction to be funded from oil deals his government signed with foreign firms to unlock Iraq’s vast energy wealth.

RESONANT MESSAGE

His message struck a chord with many voters in Baghdad despite a series of deadly bombings by al Qaeda-linked militants that has hit government targets in the capital since August.

“Maliki is doing fantastically well in Baghdad and most places south of it, but dismally in (Sunni-dominated areas) to the north of the Iraqi capital,” said Iraq expert Reidar Visser.

Iraq could wind up with a prime minister whose party had won only one or two percent of the vote in the Sunni heartland of Anbar and the volatile northern province of Mosul, he said.

“Allawi is doing better in Shi’ite areas than Maliki is doing in Sunni areas, but he may get a smaller total number of deputies and will therefore need more coalition partners to form a government,” Visser argued.

He said Maliki’s support for a pre-election move to bar hundreds of candidates for alleged links to Saddam Hussein’s now outlawed Baath party had alienated many Sunnis. “The de-Baathification campaign has clearly reduced his ability to rise above sectarianism and act as a national leader.”

Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at Queen Mary, University of London, predicted that Maliki would rely on Shi’ite support in his quest for a coalition that could keep him in power, rather than on some form of cross-sectarian nationalism.

“Given his behavior during the campaign, I would bet on sectarianism and some form of alliance with all or elements of INA,” Dodge said, referring to Maliki’s Shi’ite former allies.

Maliki far outpolled INA in the southern oil city of Basra, where he sent troops to combat Shi’ite militia in 2008.

Aqil Abdul Hussein, a Basra University professor, said the results so far were predictable. “They reflect the feelings of Basra residents, who have taken note of progress and security improvements over the past two years.”

The vote in Kirkuk, where Allawi’s list edged ahead, could damage the longstanding Kurdish claim that the oil city belongs to Kurdistan — although the Kurds are sure to try to use coalition bargaining to wrest concessions on the issue.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdish President Masoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) faced an unprecedented challenge to their hold on the Kurdish vote from the reform-minded Goran group.

Khaled Suleiman, an analyst in northern Iraq, said the Kurds would speak with one voice in Baghdad, despite the rise of Goran, “especially on issues related to Kurdish destiny such as recovering Kirkuk and the issue of Peshmerga (Kurdish forces).”

He said the Kurds would again play kingmakers in Iraqi national politics. “No government can be formed without Kurds.”

(Additional reporting by the Baghdad bureau; editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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Chinese couple married for 3 months sign 6-month trial separation agreement!

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 11 (ANI): A Chinese couple, who has been married for less than three months, has signed an agreement for a six-month trial separation to figure out what they wanted from their lives.

The woman, surnamed Zhang, 26, a resident of Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, said that she met Shi online last November and they got married in April this year, reports the China Daily.

Just a month after marriage, however, the couple started quarrelling frequently over trivial things and decided on a trial separation.

But it has barely been two weeks since Zhang moved out of her husband’s house, and she misses him already.

Her husband Shi, too, said once the trial separation period is over he’d like to start afresh with his wife. (ANI)

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Israel says it is clueless about US deadline on settlement freeze

July 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, July 12 (ANI): Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has said the Benjamin Netanyahu government has no knowledge of any six-month deadline given by the US for freezing settlement construction in the West Bank.

“We have no knowledge of this whatsoever,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Ayalon, as saying.

Earlier a Lebanon daily had quoted French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, as saying that if Israel failed to stop all Jewish construction in the West Bank within six-months, the US would end support for peace talks.

Kouchner reportedly expressed his fear that Israel’s “stubbornness, intentional foot-dragging and acquiescence to the Israel lobby” would convince the Americans to pull out of peace discussions altogether.

The French foreign minister was in Beirut on Friday for talks with senior Lebanese officials, including Hizbullah legislator Nawaf Musawi.

The meeting with Musawi was aimed at facilitating a new coalition government led by Prime Minister-designate Sa’ad Hariri. Hariri’s government is likely to include Hizbullah representation, though the Shi’ite group was defeated in national parliamentary elections.

Israel is opposed to Hizbullah joining the government.

Netanyahu’s advisor Mark Regev responded to the Kouchner-Musawi meeting by warning that “if Hizbullah joins the Lebanese government, then Lebanon as a country will be responsible for any Hizbullah aggression against Israel. That has to be clear.”

Kouchner’s meeting with a Hizbullah lawmaker is the latest in a string of European meetings with the group, which the US and the European parliament have recognized as a terrorist organization.

“Hizbullah is part of the parties that participated in the recent parliamentary elections. It is natural to meet with its representatives,” Kouchner told reporters.

“Lebanon is a democratic country; democracy implies we meet with opposition figures as well.” (ANI)

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Controversial abbot is new Shaolin kungfu chief

June 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Beijing, June 27(ANI): Shi Yongxin, China’s most controversial monk, has been named the principle inheritor of the Shaolin kungfu.

“The decision has been approved by China’s State Council. With the honor, Yongxin is expected to shoulder greater responsibilities and take more initiatives to better preserve Shaolin martial arts,” Xinhua quoted Chen Gaofeng, an official of the Shaolin Temple, as saying.

Earlier, Yongxin had caused a stir by accepting the gift of a luxury cassock on June 8. A private brocade company gave the cassock to Yongxin, which had traditional Buddhist patterns such as the lotus and sacred vases woven in gold thread.

Yongxin, however, maintained that the cassock was only a gift and he had never asked for it.

The Shaolin Temple has been criticized for recently installing lavish restrooms worth 430,000 dollars and the reception of an extravagant four-wheel-drive vehicle from the local government.

Yongxin expressed his delight at the title being given to a Shaolin monk rather than to someone from outside the temple. (ANI)

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Ming Dynasty Great Wall in China more than 2,551.8 kms longer than earlier thought

April 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, April 20 (ANI): A two-year investigation has revealed that the length of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty era in China, is estimated to be more than 2,551.8 kilometers longer than earlier thought.

According to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM), the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall is 8851.8 kilometers long.

Their joint investigation has increased the length of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall by 2551.8 km.

The Ming portion of the Great Wall is the most visually striking and well-preserved portion of the world famous monument.

The Great Wall was originally built by China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC) in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). It was listed as a United Nations World Heritage Site in 1987.

The newest survey result shows that the Ming Dynasty Great Wall starts from the Hushan section of the Great Wall in northeastern Liaoning Province, and ends at Jiayu Pass in northwestern Gansu Province.

It passes through 10 provinces, cities and autonomous regions in north China, including Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai.

It has an artificial wall of 6259.6 kilometers, 359.7 kilometers of trench cutting part, and 2232.5 kilometers of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

GPS positioning system, infrared range finder and other mapping technologies have been used during the survey.

The survey will now go on to research the Qin and Han Dynasty Great Wall and other portions of the Great Wall, lasting until late 2010. (ANI)

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China issues Thailand travel warning

April 14, 2009 By 1 Comment

Print this article email this article Comment on this article Follow me on Twitter Beijing – China has issued a travel warning for Thailand, advising Chinese travelers to avoid riot zones in the country, state media reported Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry and National Tourism Administration have urged Chinese travelers to postpone trips to Thailand, two days after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and five surrounding provinces, the state-run China Daily reported Tuesday.

Chinese citizens already in Thailand are being cautioned to stay away from the rioting.

While officials say no Chinese tourists have been injured in the violence, a spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Bangkok said they will be prepared if the situation worsens.

“Thailand has had an unstable political situation in the past few years, so we already have a protocol in place for Chinese citizens if the riots escalate,” an embassy official surnamed Shi told the China Daily. (dpa)

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Bahrain pardons opposition leaders after protests

April 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Pardon follows increased international attention

* Move eases political tensions to focus on economy

* Shi’ite scholars negotiated release

(Adds reaction from Al-Wefaq opposition, background)

By Frederik Richter

MANAMA, April 12 (Reuters) – Bahrain’s king has pardoned 178 people charged with breaching state security, including two Shi’ite opposition leaders whose arrest sparked violent protests and whose trial has drawn international scrutiny.

A government source, who declined to be named, said on Sunday those pardoned included Hassan Mushaima, leader of the mainly Shi’ite opposition movement Haq, Shi’ite cleric Mohammed Maqdad and 33 other defendants on trial with them.

“You are now obliged to cooperate for the security of this country,” Bahrain’s news agency quoted Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa as telling the prisoners.

Regular night time battles between police with teargas and youths with bottles and burning barricades have contrasted sharply with efforts by the Gulf Arab kingdom to present itself as a stable place for international investors.

Jalila Sayed, a lawyer for the defendants, said this was not the first time Bahrain had pardoned opposition figures.

“We have this kind of play from time to time, except this time the magnitude is bigger, there are more people involved and the accusations are more serious,” Sayed said.

Mushaima had been in custody for a few hours in 2007, but was pardoned before his trial started, she said.

Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Human Rights Center, said the pardon followed unprecedented international pressure on Bahrain, whose government had underestimated the degree of popular opposition to Mushaima’s arrest.

“This will help ease the tension for the coming weeks,” Rajab said. “But if this is not followed by measures to end the … political and human rights crisis, which is the discrimination against the Shia, (this kind of) situation will come back.”

The Shi’ite opposition has attributed the unrest to grievances such as their marginalisation in jobs and services, a charge government officials deny.

INVESTOR SIGNAL

Jasim Husain, member of parliament for the Shi’ite opposition party Al-Wefaq, said the pardon would send a much needed signal to investors that Bahrain is able to solve its problems during the ongoing financial crisis.

Bahrain, a regional banking centre and small oil producer, is competing with other Gulf Arab states, particularly regional commercial hub Dubai, over investments in banking, infrastructure and logistics to diversify its economy.

“Bahrain cannot afford social and political problems at this moment,” Husain said.

Bahrain’s parliament, in which Al-Wefaq has 17 out of 40 seats, only approved the government’s 2009-2010 budget in March after tussling for months over government social spending.

The delay threatened to slow outlays and delayed the issuance of government bonds to finance the country’s fiscal deficit and spending on housing projects.

In 1995, Shi’ites led a series of violent protests to demand reforms. The disturbances abated in 1998 after King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa launched landmark political and economic reforms, including pardoning political prisoners and activists in exile.

Unlike most other Gulf Arab states, Bahrain has a lively parliament, consisting of an elected lower house and an upper house whose members are appointed by the king. (Reporting by Frederik Richter and writing by Inal Ersan; Editing by Thomas Atkins and Sophie Hares)

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INTERVIEW-Iraq Sunni anti-Qaeda leader eyes Shi’ite alliance

April 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

* Welcomes steps by Iraqi prime minister

* Says Sunnis and Shi’ites must work together

By Mohammed Abbas

RAMADI, Iraq, April 12 (Reuters) – A senior leader in a Sunni Arab movement founded to combat al Qaeda in Iraq is edging away from the military activity of the past, towards a once unthinkable alliance with the country’s Shi’ite prime minister.

Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha is head of the Awakening Conference, a political party born out of an armed movement that uprooted al Qaeda and other militants from Anbar province in western Iraq, once the deadliest place for U.S. forces in Iraq.

Abu Risha’s renunciation of armed struggle and steps toward working with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki could be a landmark in new political cooperation between Iraq’s majority Shi’ites and minority Sunnis after years of bloodshed.

“The prime minister’s initiatives have been positive,” said Abu Risha, who is considering an alliance with Maliki’s State of Law coalition, which like the Awakening Conference made major gains in provincial elections in January.

Such an alliance before parliamentary polls in December could add momentum to nationalist political sentiment in Iraq, which helped propel Maliki to victory over religious groups.

“If we want a unified Iraq, we must work in that direction, on unifying Sunnis and Shi’ites to build one country,” he said.

The sheikh, dressed in Arab head dress, robe and aviator sunglasses, fired a rifle into the air with one hand to herald his party’s confirmation as head of a new coalition dominating Anbar’s provincial council.

Abu Risha inherited the movement from his late brother, Sheikh Abdul Sattar, who from 2006 onwards rallied thousands of Sunni Arab supporters to take up arms against al Qaeda in Anbar.

The Sunni Arab militias, dubbed Awakening Councils or Majalis al Sahwa in Arabic, quickly found U.S. backing and spread across Iraq. The militiamen, who numbered up to 100,000, are credited with helping curb violence across Iraq. [See also IRAQ/AWAKENING (FACTBOX) ID:nL8203902]

Abu Risha says the time for militias has ended. “We are a political, not an armed, group,” he said, even as his supporters’ celebratory gunfire echoed across the countryside.

SAHWA TENSIONS

The Shi’ite-led government, keen to end the years of bloodshed which followed the U.S.-led invasion, wants to disarm militias, and has pledged to absorb a fifth of the Sahwa into its security forces and give others civilian jobs and training.

But the presence of many former Sunni insurgents among the Sahwa has led to tensions that recently erupted into violence after Iraqi forces arrested senior Sahwa members in Baghdad.

Abu Risha stressed that his party had nothing to do with the Sahwa militias that clashed with government forces in Baghdad.

“We are keen to ensure our name is not sullied,” he said.

Abu Risha also warned that al Qaeda may be trying to foment strife between the government and Sahwa militias and prevent other possible alliances with militia members.

“Al Qaeda sometimes pushes people to report on the Sahwa because they carried out operations against them,” he said.

“Al Qaeda’s aim is for no one to stand with the government in future.”

Despite its Shi’ite Islamist roots, Maliki’s nationalist, non-sectarian message played well in January’s polls, and Abu Risha now appears keen to embrace the same platform.

The Islamic Party, Iraq’s biggest Sunni Arab party, has dominated Anbar’s council for four years, but came in third in January’s polls. Abu Risha dismissed the party.

“It is a party of religion and dogma. We are about politics and economics,” he said. (Editing by Jonathan Wright)

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