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Iraqis Sign Reconciliation Pact
Key members of Iraq’s majority Shiite and minority Sunni parties have signed an agreement to promote national reconciliation.
The Helsinki agreement, signed in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, on Saturday, includes commitments to outlaw armed groups and respect the judiciary’s independence, “Al-Jazeera“ reported.
Akram Al-Hakim, Iraq’s minister of reconciliation and a signatory to the deal, said “Helsinki Agreement has the potential to bring the Iraqi political parties together in common cause in a way that no endeavor has ... succeeded in doing.“
The agreement brings together a number of general agreements “in principle“, so analysts warn it is unlikely to have any immediate effect on the ground.
But the public support given to it by political leaders is seen as an indicator of an improvement in Iraq’s internal political relations.
Alongside Hakim, signatories to the deal include Haider Alabadi, a close aide to Nuri Al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and Ayad Samurai, a main leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni party in the parliament.
Qusay Al-Suhail and Hassan Al-Rubaie, two parliamentarians loyal to Muqtada Al-Sadr, the influential leader, also signed the agreement.
New Institutions
As well as outlawing armed groups and calling for the independence of the judiciary to be respected, the pact calls for member of the dissolved army--from the time of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader ousted in the US invasion in 2003--to be integrated into Iraq’s new institutions.
Under the agreement all factions agree to combat corruption and are to abide by the idea of a united Iraq and the country’s constitution.
It also said that factions should resolve discord by peaceful and democratic means and uphold equality for all citizens.
Uranium Removal
Meanwhile, the last major remnant of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program--a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium--reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret US operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
The removal of 550 metric tons of “yellowcake“--the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment--was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam’s nuclear legacy, AP reported.
What’s now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex--about 12 miles south of Baghdad--using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.
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Plot to Topple Turkey Gov’t Fails
7 in Custody
A Turkish court on Saturday remanded seven people, including a retired army officer and a top businessman, in custody in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the government, the Anatolia news agency reported.
In an extraordinary raid which led to the arrests of 21 people allegedly tied to Ergenekon, a shadowy nationalist grouping, police uncovered documents that revealed plans for a sustained campaign of terror and intimidation against the government due to begin this week.
According to the Guardian, a perfect storm of disruption was to be whipped up, beginning with a groundswell of popular protest, followed by a wave of assassinations and bombings, culminating in an economic crisis and army coup. Turkey’s moderate government would be ousted in favor of a right-wing secular dictatorship. The documents appeared to identify a 30-member assassination squad targeting judges and other prominent figures.
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In an extraordinary raid which led to the arrests of 21 people allegedly tied to Ergenekon, police uncovered documents that revealed plans for a sustained campaign of terror against the government.
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It was not immediately clear what charges had been brought against the suspects, who included Sinan Aygun, the head of the Ankara Chamber of Trade who is a known critic of the government, and Atilla Ugur, a retired colonel, according to AFP.
They were among 21 suspects rounded up earlier this week in dawn raids in five cities as part of a controversial probe into a shadowy network called Ergenekon, that allegedly aimed to discredit and oust the Islamist-rooted government.
The detentions came at a time when the ruling Justice and Development Party was defending itself in court against charges that it is seeking to undermine the country’s secular order and should be banned.
Eleven detainees have so far been released, but at least nine of them--including Mustafa Balbay, the Ankara representative of the secular, anti-government daily Cumhuriyet, and Ilker Guven, a retired vice admiral-- have been barred from leaving the country while the case continues, the agency said.
Two other detainees, retired four-star generals Hursit Tolon and Sener Eruygur, have yet to be formally charged or released by a court.
The Ergenekon investigation was launched in June last year after the discovery of explosives in an Istanbul house, and courts have so far remanded more than 50 suspects in custody.
But the investigation has come under strong criticism because prosecutors are yet to issue an indictment and detail the charges against the suspects.
Critics say the ruling party is deliberately expanding and prolonging the affair to intimidate and silence opponents.
New Party
Meanwhile, Abdullatif Sener, former Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy, told a Turkish TV channel on Saturday he would establish a new political party.
Sener who earlier said Turkey needed a new political formation said he would establish a new political party.
“We think of establishing a center party. It will include people having different political stances,“ he told Turkey’s Star TV channel, according to “Hurriyet“.
Sener did not give information on the name and the emblem of the party that he planned to establish.
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Afghans to Investigate Civilian Deaths
Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered authorities on Saturday to investigate the alleged killing of 16 civilians in an air raid by US-led forces battling insurgents in northeast Afghanistan.
Karzai was “deeply saddened“ by Friday’s incident in the mountainous province of Nuristan and told the defense and interior ministries and local authorities to investigate, his office said in a statement, according to AFP.
Provincial governor, Tamim Nuristani said 16 civilians were killed as they were traveling out of the area after being warned by security forces to leave ahead of an operation against Islamist insurgents.
But the US-led coalition has insisted the dead were all militants who had been targeted after they had attacked a base of the separate NATO-led military force helping the government to defeat a Taliban-led insurgency.
Karzai’s statement reiterated his call on international troops operating in Afghanistan to coordinate their operations with Afghan security forces to avoid civilian deaths.
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Yemen Blast
At least five people were killed on Saturday in an
explosion in central Saada, a town in northwest Yemen at the focus of a Shiite revolt, a witness said.
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Israel Burying Nuclear Waste in Golan
Syria has complained to the United Nations about a series of alleged Israeli wrongdoings in the Golan Heights, including burying nuclear waste and discriminating against the region’s Druze residents.
The complaint was made in a report Syria handed to a UN fact-finding committee comprised of Senegal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia’s ambassadors, “Haaretz“ reported.
The report came after Syria held a third round of indirect negotiations with Israel in Turkey this week. A Turkish government source said Thursday that both sides had agreed to hold a fourth round of indirect negotiations in Turkey in late July.
Syria listed in the report a number of alleged Israeli violations of the Golan’s Druze inhabitants’ human rights.
In addition the nuclear claim, Damascus charged that Israel confiscates the Israeli ID cards of Druze students who return from studies in Syria, and that residents of the Golan continue to serve prison terms in Israeli jails, some of whom for dozens of years.
Syria also protested the expansion in the strategic plateau of Israeli communities, which it termed settlements, as well as lamenting the fact that Golan residents continue to be injured by mines which have been planted in the region.
Gaza Crossings Reopen
Meanwhile, Israel reopened border crossings to the Gaza Strip on Sunday after closing them last week.
“The Sufa, Nahal Oz, and Erez crossings are open for the passage of goods, including cement and fuel, as well as basic goods,“ Israeli military Spokesman Peter Lerner told AFP.
He added that the Erez pedestrian crossing would also be open for urgent medical cases requiring treatment in Israel.
The ceasefire was supposed to lead to the easing of a crippling blockade Israel imposed more than a year ago when the Islamist movement seized power in Gaza, but the crossings have since been closed on several occasions.
Meeting Denied
Amid this, Israel has denied a report that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators would meet in Washington in 10 days along with US representatives.
The report had quoted Nabil Abu Rdineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas, as saying the meeting was intended to give a stronger push to the peace talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel.
However, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Arye Mekel later denied the report. “This is not true,“ he told DPA in Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
Abu Rdineh blamed Israeli procrastination, saying more than six months have passed since the peace negotiations were launched at a US-hosted conference.
Missile Interceptor
In other news, Israel has successfully tested a new defense system designed to intercept rockets fired from southern Lebanon and Gaza Strip, public radio reported on Sunday.
Citing Israeli security officials, public radio said the system would also be effective against mortar fire which has a much smaller window of warning, AFP reported.
In January, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert viewed a prototype of the 200-million-dollar system, which is being developed under contract by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer.
Pakistanis Converge for Red Mosque Demo
Thousands of Islamists converged amid tight security in the Pakistani capital on Sunday to commemorate the first anniversary of the deadly siege and storming of the Red Mosque, officials said.
Religious leaders were set to address a crowd in front of the building, where they would call for the release of the mosque’s jailed leader and for the government to hand back control of the complex to its former administration, AFP reported.
Pakistani troops surrounded the mosque on July 3, 2007 after clashes with Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants holed up inside, and stormed it one week later. More than 100 people were killed during the operation.
Organizers said that thousands of students from around the country had arrived in Islamabad overnight, with some of them camping out near the mosque.
Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces have halted an operation against militants in the country’s volatile northwest to try negotiating peace through tribal elders, officials said Saturday.
Tariq Hayat, chief administrator for the Khyber tribal area, said local tribal leaders have agreed in principle to conditions including handing over 16 wanted men and respecting government authority in the region.
A tribal council also is mediating between authorities and militant leader Mangal Bagh, AP reported.
Elders have historically wielded significant influence in the tribal areas, which are considered safe havens for pro-Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.
Pakistan launched the paramilitary offensive on June 28 after militants began threatening Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, as well as a key road used to send supplies to US-led forces in Afghanistan.
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