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Gaddafi locked in power struggle
Special to
The Tribune |
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Thousands march to Bahrain’s
Pak has a poor proliferation record: Russia
China tightens media controls amid online protest calls
India, China our competitors, says Obama
Indian-origin doc jailed for life in US
Earth observation satellite to
be launched on March 4
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Gaddafi locked in power struggle
Cairo/Washington, March 1 As US warships and fighters massed off the Libyan coastline and the threat of a ‘no-fly zone’ appeared imminent, Gaddafi threw in his ultra loyal elite Khamis brigade and mercenary militiamen, to retake the towns closest to the capital. Apparently wary of threats held out by western nations, including British Prime Minister David Cameron who warned him of military action, Gaddafi launched a six-pronged attack to break encirclement of his capital, but the rebels bolstered by defections from the army repelled his attacks. The rebels used newly acquired tanks, mortars and machine guns to push back the attack on al-Zawiya town, 50 km west of Tripoli and six other outlying cities, giving a new dimension to the rebellion, in which at least 1,000 persons have been killed, al Jazeera reported. Tens of thousands of defections from the ranks of the military and militiamen were reported by the channel which said that reports of US and NATO warships and fighters massing in the Mediterranean Sea could trigger a further switchover from the army. The battle for al-Zawiya town was intense and went on for six hours, but there was no word on casualties, the Arab channel reported. Reports also said that Gaddafi’s air force jets bombed ammunition depots in the eastern part of the country which has totally switched sides to his opposition. “We repulsed the attack. We damaged tanks and the mercenaries and the army troops fled after that,” al Jazeera quoted local fighters as saying. The opposition forces, now labelling themselves as the ‘New Libyan Army’, are growing by hours due to defections. But opposition commanders said it was impossible to say how many of Libya’s 76,000 strong army has defected. They said they have now access to large stores of weapons from looted military stockpiles or smuggled across the border. The channel said rebel soldiers had become much more organised and had set up a unified military council in the East. “Small groups of rebel soldiers have volunteered to infiltrate into Tripoli to cause havoc and bolster pro-democracy groups,” the channel said. While his 41-year-old regime appeared to be crumbling on all sides, the Libyan ruler was still steadfast in denial. Speaking to three western media groups, including BBC and ABC, Gaddafi laughed off suggestions that he would leave strife-torn Libya, insisting that “all my people love me”. But the stiffening of attitude by the US and NATO became clear as Cameron, speaking in the House of Commons, said “a no-fly zone” can be imposed anytime and his troops could be involved in peacekeeping in the country. — PTI
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Mysterious pills drove Arab youth to revolt! Dictators blame unrest in region on drugs Shyam Bhatia in London Historians monitoring events in the Arab world will one day be required to solve the puzzle of what exactly drove Arab youths to revolt against their tyrannical rulers. Some of the Arab dictators facing the wrath of their people believe that they have found the answer - young Arabs demanding reforms and democracy have been given various types of drugs that make them hyperactive and send them to the streets to chant anti-government slogans. “They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their milk and Nescafe,” embattled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi declared last week. Gaddafi thinks he even knows who is responsible for supplying the young men and women with the drugs: Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. “Bin Laden…this is the enemy who is manipulating people,” the Libyan leader said. “Do not be swayed by Bin Laden.” The Egyptian authorities likewise used the same charges against pro-democracy demonstrators who managed to force President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 32 years in power. As hundreds of thousands of young Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo, government officials and media outlets sought to discredit the protesters by hurling various allegations against them. The demonstrators were accused of being influenced by drugs that prompt them to resort to violence and utter nonsense. Egyptian authorities claim that activist Khaled Said, a 28-year-old man from Alexandria who was beaten to death by policemen, died of asphyxiation of swallowing a plastic roll full of drugs. But according to Said’s friends, he was killed “after he posted a video on the Internet of police officers sharing the spoils from a drug bust among themselves.” Prior to Mubarak’s resignation, some of his loyalists in the Egyptian media claimed that “foreign elements” had been supplying the protesters with various types of drugs to give them additional energy to pursue their struggle. Although the culprits were never identified, the belief is that the “foreign elements” behind the drugs are Israel, the US and other Western powers. In the past, Egyptians have accused Israel’s legendary and much-feared Mossad secret service of flooding the country with chewing gum that arouses females sexually. The goal is to spread “moral corruption” in the largest Arab country and “weaken the spirit of youth.” Other Arab leaders facing popular uprisings are also beginning to talk about “mysterious pills” that their enemies are distributing to young men and women with the hope of sending them out to the streets to demand regime change. Earlier this week, the rumours about the mysterious pills gained momentum when the Egyptian army announced that it had seized drugs in Tahrir Square and arrested a number of suspects. But these allegations have been received with ridicule and contempt throughout the Arab world. Arab leaders are accusing their people of being drug addicts,” noted Hafez Barghouti, a respected Palestinian newspaper editor. “Gaddafi has accused his opponents of using hallucinatory pills and heroin,” he said. “In Qatar there are reports about a possible coup and I’m sure those responsible would be accused of using a special energising Caviar. In Morocco, no doubt, the poor people may be accused of abusing bread that sends them out to the streets.”
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Thousands march to Bahrain’s
Manama, March 1 Protesters were segregated, with men on one side and women clad in black abaya cloaks marching alongside them, an AFP reporter said. Handicapped protesters on wheelchairs led the procession which passed through a street where police killed two anti-government demonstrators two weeks ago.
— AFP
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Pak has a poor proliferation record: Russia
Geneva, March 1 Suggesting that Islamabad must implement proper nuclear non-proliferation policies, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there is no "discrimination" against Pakistan in the nuclear suppliers group or in the supply of nuclear material export control regimes. Pakistan blocked launching of negotiations on the fissile material cutoff treat at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on the ground that it is being "discriminated" by the US and other major nuclear powers. Islamabad's core complaint is that while India is going to be accorded full membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Australian Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement, it is being denied favourable treatment to build its civilian nuclear capabilities. Asked whether Pakistan is being discriminated while India is allegedly offered special treatment in the global nuclear sphere, Lavrov said "it is obviously clear that if they [Pakistan] pursue strong non-proliferation policies there would not be any discrimination." However, "if the is proliferation is maintained, there will be difficulty," he said, emphasising that there is no discrimination against Islamabad. Without mentioning the infamous AQ Khan episode in which nuclear materials and technology was clandestinely sold to Iran and Libya, the Russian minister drew attention to Islamabad's proliferation record. Pakistan must "respond" to calls from the international community to join the negotiations on FMCT, Lavrov said. "Pakistan's reluctance to join the FMCT negotiations is their business but they will have to respond to international calls," he argued. The Russian minister, who addressed the Conference on Disarmament, called for "launching talks on a universal, equitable and verifiable Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty" and emphasised that it is "Russia's key priority for the Conference on Disarmament is the prevention of an arms race in outer space
(PAROS)." — PTI
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China tightens media controls amid online protest calls
Beijing, March 1 The new restrictions put the popular leisure spots on a par with Tibet as out-of-bounds areas where foreign reporters need special permission to work and come after journalists were attacked and harassed while working in the same areas over the weekend. Bob Dietz, the Asia coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the treatment of journalists in Beijing on Sunday was "the worst aggression against the foreign press we've seen since the Olympics in 2008." "Such a heavy-handed response discredits the ruling Chinese Communist Party and highlights their fear of popular opposition," Dietz said in a statement. The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said journalists from 15 news organisations trying to report near the shopping street "experienced serious interference." Journalists from five news organisations reported having their equipment confiscated or reporting material destroyed, the FCCC said in a statement yesterday. Bloomberg News said one of its journalists was assaulted by five men who appeared to be plainclothes security officers and had a video camera confiscated. A BBC journalist wrote that he and a colleague were roughed up while being thrown into a van by men in plain clothes. US and European diplomats have criticised Chinese authorities for the harassment. The violence and tighter restrictions follow anonymous online calls for peaceful protests every Sunday in dozens of Chinese cities, inspired by the demonstrations that have swept the Middle East. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu today urged foreign journalists to report assaults to the police and to observe China's rules and regulations while doing their jobs. Foreign journalists have traditionally been afforded greater freedom to report in China than local reporters, who face strong censorship and can be fired for reports considered overly critical of officials or government policies. But foreign reporters who tried to take photos or shoot video on Beijing's Wangfujing shopping street on Sunday were told they needed special permission to work there. An Associated Press photographer was told today that the area near People's Square in Shanghai was also off limits. Security in the capital is always very tight in early March, when the country holds its annual two-week legislative session, and dissidents are routinely put under house arrest or taken in for questioning around this time. The session begins Saturday.
— AP
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India, China our competitors, says Obama Washington, March 1 "We now live in a world that's more connected and more competitive than ever before. When each of you tries to bring new jobs and industries to your state, you're not just competing with each other but you're competing with China, you're competing with India, you're competing with Brazil, you're competing with countries all around the world," Obama said in his address to the National Governors' Association. The US needs to make sure that it is the best place on earth to do business, he said. "We need a skilled and educated workforce, a commitment to cutting-edge research and technology, and a fast and reliable transportation and communications network. That's how we're going to bring new jobs to America, and that's how we're going to win the future." "Making these necessary investments would be hard at any time. But it's that much harder at a time when resources are scarce. After living through a decade of deficits and a historic recession that made them worse, we can't afford to kick the can down the road any longer," Obama said. Vice-President Joe Biden also had the same views. He said that while US is still ahead of these countries, many Americans believe that they have already lost the race to India, China and Brazil. "I know you all know, but sometimes our constituents, you look at some of the polling, they think we've already lost the future to China. They think we've already lost the future to India. They already think we are behind the eight ball," Biden said. "We are still better positioned than any country in the world-any country in the world-to own the 21st century economically. Our GDP is bigger than that of China, Japan and Germany combined," he asserted. "We're in a situation where, here in the United States of America, the median income is close to $50,000. In China, it's $ 4,500. We wish them better," he said.
— PTI
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Indian-origin doc jailed for life in US
Houston, March 1 Randeep Mann, former physician at Russellville in Arkansas state, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the bombing that critically injured Trent Pierce and left him with one eye and one ear, the Arkansas News reported. Pierce, according to prosecutors, had revoked Mann's licence to prescribe medication over concerns of overdosing on some patients. Mann, prosecutors argued, plotted the bombing in retaliation for the board not reinstating his permit to prescribe medication. Pierce lost an eye and suffered other serious injuries in the attack but has recovered since and resumed his duties as the head of the Arkansas Medical Board. US District Judge Brian Miller also imposed $100,000 fine on Mann, who was convicted of conspiracy and weapons charges last summer in the February 4, 2009, bombing at Trent Pierce's West Memphis home. Mann's wife, Sangeeta, was also convicted on an obstruction charge and was sentenced yesterday to a year in prison and $ 50,000 fine. Assistant US Attorney Michael Gordon argued for the maximum penalty
during Mann's sentencing hearing today. “The fact that Dr Pierce survived does not change the intent to kill in his case,” Gordon said.
— PTI
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Earth observation satellite to
be launched on Washington, March 1 "Those issues have been resolved," NASA said in a statement, announcing the new launch time of 2:09 am (1009 GMT) on Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Data from the Glory mission will allow scientists to better understand how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called "aerosols" affect Earth's climate and how they may impact human life. — AFP
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