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Obama defends Libyan intervention
Gaddafi’s forces strike at rebels
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Japan on ‘maximum’ N-alert
58 dead, 97 hurt in Tikrit attack
Hostage siege kills 21 at Iraq govt building
Myanmar regime set to
transfer power
Govt loses control over 6 provinces in Yemen
Syrian premier resigns, re-appointed caretaker
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Obama defends Libyan intervention
US President Barack Obama on Monday vigorously defended his decision to intervene in Libya saying to brush aside America’s responsibilities “to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are.”
In an address to the nation delivered from the National Defence University in Washington, Obama said as President he “refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.”
Muammar Gaddafi’s’s regime has responded with deadly force against poorly armed pro-democracy protesters seeking his ouster. Obama said he was forced to act when Gaddafi declared he would show no mercy to his people, compared them to rats and threatened to go door to door to inflict punishment. “We knew that if we... waited one more day, Benghazi... could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world,” he said. The eastern city of Benghazi, Libya’s second largest, is controlled by the rebels. Obama said a massacre by Gaddafi’s troops would have created a refugee crisis that would have threatened democratic transitions in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, both of which have recently witnessed political upheavals. Obama has been criticised by those who accuse him of getting involved in a war the US can ill afford and others who say the US needs to broaden its intervention. He addressed both criticisms. Speaking to the first point, he said the US must measure its interests against the need for action. But that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what’s right, he added. To the second, he said he had no doubt that the world would be better off with Gaddafi out of power and he and the international coalition would actively pursue that goal through non-military means. But, he warned, broadening the coalition’s military mission to include regime change would be a mistake. “If we tried to overthrow Gaddafi by force, our coalition would splinter,” he said adding that the US would likely be forced to put its troops on the ground or risk killing many civilians from the air. The President made a pointed reference to his predecessor George W. Bush’s mission of regime change in Iraq that led to a war that lasted eight years, cost thousands of American and Iraqi lives and nearly a trillion dollars. “That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya,” he said. Calling Gaddafi a tyrant, Obama said the Libyan leader had for more than four decades denied freedom to his people, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorised innocent people around the world. The US has frozen more then $32 billion of the Gaddafi regime’s assets, broadened sanctions through a United Nations Security Council resolution and imposed an arms embargo. Obama reiterated his demand that Gaddafi step down from power since he has lost the confidence of his people and his rule lacks legitimacy. He defended the speed of his administration’s response to the crisis pointing out that it took the international community more than a year to act when a genocide was being waged in Bosnia in the 1990s. “It took us 31 days,” he added. “In just one month, the United States has worked with our international partners to mobilise a broad coalition, secure an international mandate to protect civilians, stop an advancing army, prevent a massacre, and establish a no-fly zone with our allies and partners,” Obama said. NATO agreed on Sunday to take over command of all operations in Libya. In addition to maintaining the no-fly zone approved by a United Nations Security Council resolution earlier this month, the alliance will also be in charge of air-strikes to protect civilians on the ground. Until now, these air-strikes were being carried out by the US, British and French forces. Obama said the transfer from the US to NATO would take place on Wednesday. The US will play a supporting role providing intelligence, logistical support, search and rescue assistance, and capabilities to jam regime communications. “So for those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear: The United States of America has done what we said we would do,” Obama said.
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Gaddafi’s forces strike at rebels
Tripoli/London, March 29 Using rockets and tanks, Gaddafi’s forces pushed back the rebels closing in on Sirte even as coalition forces pounded his arsenal. Al Jazeera said Gaddafi’s forces shelled the pro-democracy forces heading west on the main coastal highway. The rebels were pushed out of Bin Jawad, about 150 km east of Sirte, the Arab channel said but there was no independent corroboration. Reports reaching here also said that Gaddafi’s troops attacked the rebel-held Misurata, 214 east of Tripoli, forcing the outgunned rebels to fall back. Libyan army officials claimed that their forces had recaptured and liberated Misurata and declared a ceasefire on the western front. However, rebel sources said street fighting was on in the centre of the town. Helped by heavy strikes by coalition forces, the rebels were reported to have regrouped in Harawa, 60 km from Sirte to capture the town of Nawfaliyah.
— PTI
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Japan on ‘maximum’ N-alert
Radiations reach
UK London: Faint traces of radiation from Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant have been traced to the Scottish city of Glasgow, officials said. The radiation was, however, "extremely low" and the Scottish government said there was no threat to public health, Sky News reported.
— IANS
Tokyo/Fukushima, March 29 “This quake, tsunami and the nuclear accident are the biggest crises for Japan” in decades, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told Parliament, more than two weeks after the natural calamity struck the country’s northeast leaving over 28,000 people dead or unaccounted for. The situation at the troubled nuclear plant “continues to be unpredictable,” he said, adding the government “will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert.” The PM said he was seeking advice on whether to extend the 20-km evacuation zone around the plant. He also said it was “highly likely” that the six-reactor Fukushima plant will eventually be decommissioned. In Paris, France’s Industry and Energy Minister Eric Besson said a French nuclear fuel company would send two experts to Japan to help tackle the crisis at the crippled nuclear plant. At the request of the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), France’s Areva SA will send experts on removal of radioactive materials contained in water, he said. France stands ready to send more experts in other fields and provide necessary support if requested by Japan, the minister said. In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference that the situation at the plant is “very serious” and suggests “a certain degree of melting of fuel rods”, as he expressed deep concern over detection of plutonium in the soil of the crippled facility. TEPCO, which yesterday announced detection of plutonium, said the confirmed amount of the radioactive material in the soil does not pose a major risk to human health. It said the plutonium is believed to have been discharged from nuclear fuel at the plant and pledged that it would strengthen monitoring of the environment in and around the nuclear plant.
— PTI
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58 dead, 97 hurt in Tikrit attack Tikrit, March 29 "Fifty-eight persons were killed and 97 wounded. Six of the dead were the attackers," said the official, stationed at Tikrit's main hospital." "The security forces have now taken over the provincial council building," a police official said, adding that three council members were among the dead. The gunmen, wearing military uniforms and suicide vests, had swarmed into the provincial council building in the city of Tikrit, about 160 km north of Baghdad, immediately after a suicide bomber detonated his payload and cleared the way, according to security officials. A car bomb exploded shortly afterwards as police reinforcements were arriving, they said. "A police colonel, Imad Nofan, and his deputy were killed in the car bombing," the police official said. The same explosion also killed journalist Sabah al-Bazi, who had reported for several local and international news organisations. — AFP
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Hostage siege kills 21 at Iraq govt building
Baghdad, March 29 Three lawmakers who were inside the Salahuddin provincial council building in Tikrit when the gunmen overran the compound are missing, said provincial governor Ahmed Abdullah. He said the lawmakers were not answering their mobile phones and could not immediately be located indicating they may be held hostage. "We've lost contact with three provincial council members who were inside the building when the attack took place," Abdullah said in a telephone interview from Amman, Jordan, where he was receiving updates on the assault via mobile phone. He described a fierce shootout between at least eight gunmen, who have overtaken the council headquarters' second floor, and Iraqi security forces who surrounded the building. He said the attackers were hurling grenades at Iraqi forces. Salahuddin province media adviser Mohammed al-Asi said 21 have been killed in the siege, which was still ongoing more than three hours after it began. Sixty-five people have been wounded, he said. Among the dead was journalist Sabah al-Bazi, a correspondent for Al-Arabiya satellite TV channel and a freelancer for CNN, according to the two news outlets. A senior intelligence official in Baghdad the gunmen were holding some hostages inside the building but did not know how many. "The goal of the attackers was apparently to take hostages," Salahuddin government spokesman Ali al-Saleh said. At least some officials and government employees escaped before they the gunmen could capture them, he said. Authorities said the attackers blew up a car outside the council headquarters to create a diversion before launching their raid. Wearing military uniforms including one with a high rank the gunmen identified themselves as Iraqi soldiers at a security checkpoint outside the government compound but opened fire on guards when they were told they needed to be searched. The provincial council meets at the headquarters every Tuesday, but a spokesman for the governor, Ali Abdul Rihman, said local lawmakers called off their discussion early because there was little on their agenda. As a result, he said, most of the lawmakers had already left the headquarters when the assault began. "The gunmen were armed with grenades, and began their raid by firing at random at a reception room," Rihman said. "Then they opened fire inside."
— AP
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Myanmar regime set to
transfer power
Yangon, March 29 Prime Minister Thein Sein, who shed his army uniform to contest controversial elections last year, was named in February for the top job in the new parliament, where the military retains a stranglehold on power. "The president will be sworn in tomorrow. If they cannot hold it tomorrow, it will be the day after tomorrow," an official in Myanmar told AFP, on condition of anonymity. "After he is sworn in, the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) will hand over power to the new government." The SPDC, previously known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), seized power in 1988, but the country has been under military rule since 1962. "The SPDC will be automatically dissolved after they hand over power to the new government," added another official, saying this transfer was likely to be on Friday. Senior General Than Shwe, who has ruled with an iron fist since 1992, remains commander-in-chief of the army. Although he has not taken the top political role, many analysts believe he will attempt to retain some sort of control behind the scenes. His key ally Thein Sein had been tipped for the presidential post even before the vote, supporting fears that the regime has engineered the political process to hide military power behind a civilian facade. The 65-year-old became a civilian last year to contest the November election as head of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which claimed an overwhelming majority in the poll. Sources inside Myanmar say Than Shwe "summoned both outgoing and incoming ministers on Saturday, telling them to obey the leadership of the party which is going to take the main leading role", said US-based analyst Win Min. "He also urged them to try their best not to split the party. It's interesting that he was worried about such split," added Win Min, also a pro-democracy activist. The formation of a national assembly in Naypyidaw, convened for the first time at the end of January, takes the country towards the final stage of the junta's so-called "roadmap" to a "disciplined democracy".
— AFP
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Govt loses control over 6 provinces in Yemen
Dubai, March 29 Saleh told a meeting today that he would not step down as 95 per cent of the Yemenis backed his call for a unified Yemen and instead it should be his opponents, who should leave the country, Al Arabia channel reported. The President’s refusal comes as the death toll in the massive blast and fire at an ammunition plant in south Yemen shot up to 150 and transition of power talks remained stalled. “As many as 95 bodies have been identified and many others were burnt beyond recognition,” Mohsin Salem, a local government official in the Abyan province said, adding that the province where the incident had happened has been seized by the Al-Qaida cadres. Yemeni official said in recent days government forces has abandoned their force across the country, including areas where northern rebels have challenged the military and southern provinces where Al-Qaida’s Arabian branch has maintained sanctuaries. The collapse of the authority was acknowledged by the President himself, who told a committee from his political party that “six of the Yemen’s 18 provinces had fallen”. Saleh said the country was being ripped apart as he hardened his public stance declaring he would make no more concessions.
— PTI
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Syrian premier resigns, re-appointed caretaker
Damascus, March 29 “President Bashar al-Assad today accepted the resignation of the government of Mohammed Naji Otri and designated it to act in a caretaker capacity pending the formation of a new cabinet,” state-run news agency SANA said. The next government, expected to be formed in the coming days, will face the task of implementing a string of reforms promised by the state after protests demanding more freedoms erupted in the Baath-ruled country mid-March. The reforms are expected to include the end of emergency rule, in place since the Baath party came to power in 1963, and the liberalisation of laws on media and political parties. Otri formed his government in 2003. The President, who rose to power after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000, will address his people in the coming days and is expected to announce the end of emergency rule.
— AFP
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