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Islamists rejoice as Morsy is Egypt Prez
Yemen oil route reopens after military pullout
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2 killed, 100 hurt as quake jolts SW China
Violence in Syria kills 63
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad addresses the Parliament. — AFP
Nepal Oppn wants Bhattarai to quit
China manned docking a key step for space station
The giant screen at Jiuquan Space Centre shows the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft preparing to link with the Tiangong-1 module just over a week into a manned space mission — AFP
Ashraf retains almost entire Gilani cabinet
Ashraf moves to PM House, Gilani to ‘Presidency’
Pak’s gun-slinging chief justice faces backlash
Fair elections not possible under Zardari: Imran Khan
Turkey to consult NATO allies over downed jet
No US plan of extraditing Assange: Australia
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Islamists rejoice as Morsy is Egypt Prez Cairo, June 24 Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsy will not enjoy the extent of modern, pharaonic powers exercised by Mubarak: those have been curtailed by a military establishment which will decide just how much he will be able to do in government. Still, the US-trained engineer's victory in the country's first free presidential election breaks a tradition of domination by men from the armed forces, which have provided every Egyptian leader since overthrow of the monarchy 60 years ago, and installs in office a group that drew on 84 years of grassroots activism to catapult Morsy into presidency. He has promised a moderate, modern Islamist agenda to steer Egypt into a new democratic era where autocracy will be replaced by transparent government that respects human rights and
revives the fortunes of a powerful Arab state long in decline. Morsy is promising an "Egyptian renaissance with an Islamic foundation". Yet the stocky, bespectacled 60-year old, appears something of an accidental president: he was only flung into the race at the last moment by the disqualification on a technicality of Khairat al-Shater, by far the group's preferred choice. With a stiff and formal style, Morsy, who has a doctorate from the University of Southern California, cast himself as a reluctant late comer to the race, who cited religious fear of judgement day as one of his reasons for running. He struggled to shake off his label as the Brotherhood's "spare tyre". Questions remain over the extent to which Morsy will operate independently of other Brotherhood leaders once in office:
his manifesto was drawn up by the group's policymakers. The role Shater might play has been
one focus of debate in Egypt. — Reuters
From engineering to presidency
An engineer turned politician, Mohammed Mursi has come a long way to become the first freely elected President of Egypt that saw its strongman Hosni Mubarak being ousted in what is now famously called Arab Spring. Although, not their first choice as a presidential candidate, the powerful Muslim Brotherhood threw its weight behind Mursi, 60, the chairman of its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). A champion of Brotherhood's famous slogan - "Islam is the solution" - Mursi describes its policies as having "a moderate Islamic reference". A more quietly-spoken man, Mursi got the support of Brotherhood's grassroots network and what is often referred to as an highly organised campaign team. — PTI
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Yemen oil route reopens after military pullout
Sanaa, June 24 Yemen's Republican Guard had skirmished
with tribal groups in the area, blocking deliveries of gas and other products from Maarib to the capital. Both sides agreed to
pull out after negotiations, said an official from Yemen's military committee — a body set up
to separate belligerent factions of Yemen's army and tribal fighters following months of
unrest in the impoverished country. The tribal groups backed an uprising which started last year and eventually ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Republican Guard is led by Saleh's son. Their clashes have added to the insecurity in a country which has also
seen repeated bombings of the Maarib oil pipeline, which feeds Yemen's main oil refinery and remains inoperative. Saleh gave way to
his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, in February under the terms of a power transfer deal brokered by Saudi Arabia and endorsed by Washington, both alarmed by the rise of Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists in Yemen amid the political upheaval. Washington, which wants Hadi to unify the military and turn it against
Al-Qaeda, backed a military offensive against Islamist strongholds in southern Yemen that began last month. The military says it
has driven Islamist fighters from towns the militants seized in early 2011. Yemen's
Al-Qaeda branch claimed responsibility for the killing of the top military commander in the region last week.
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2 killed, 100 hurt as quake jolts SW China
Beijing, June 24 The casualties were reported in the county of Ninglang in Yunnan province, a spokesman with the Yunnan Provincial Seismological Bureau said. The quake was strongly felt in the county, and the bureau has dispatched a team to the area to investigate losses, he said. Local authorities have sent 300 tents, 500 quilts and 500 cotton-padded clothes to the county, said Bai Yong, director of the Disaster Relief Section of the Yunnan Provincial Civil Affairs Department. The quake struck the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces at 3:59 pm (local time) today, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre. Telecommunication networks in the county's Yongning township were cut by the quake. — PTI
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Beirut, June 24 At least 16 soldiers were killed in the northern Aleppo province, while one died in an attack on his vehicle in neighbouring Idlib province and the rest died in fighting elsewhere in Idlib and in the provinces of Damascus and Deir Ezzor in the east. The Britain-based watchdog added that a number of soldiers defected after an attack on an artillery battalion in Aleppo province, taking with them a large amount of weapons. Five civilians were killed elsewhere in the province, including a man and his wife killed in regime shelling in the town of Andan, while there were reports of casualties following the storming of the Neirab refugee camp. In the city of Homs, three rebels were killed during pre-dawn clashes, as troops bombarded several rebel-held districts in the central city, leaving one civilian dead. And in the northwestern Latakia province, a rebel died in clashes in the Kurdish Mountain region, the watchdog said. Thirteen people were killed in Deir Ezzor city, including three rebels shot by sniper fire, and a girl was killed by shelling elsewhere in the province. Another civilian was killed by regime forces in the southern province of Daraa, the Observatory reported. In Idlib province, 10 civilians died, including seven members of the same family killed in shelling in the town of Jericho, where clashes took place earlier. "This is one of the bloodiest weeks in the conflict," the Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman said. — AFP
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Beirut, June 24 The move comes as fears mounted that the conflict was aggravating regional tensions. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Saturday his country would take "necessary" action against Syria after Syrian forces shot down a Turkish military plane. Syria's new government is headed by Riad Farid Hijab, a former agriculture minister and a loyalist member of the ruling Baath Party. A deadly uprising has convulsed Syria for more than a year, and Assad has promised to enact political reforms. He vowed after the May 7 parliamentary elections to
make the government more inclusive to politicians from other parties. But the appointment of Hijab and the decision to keep the key posts unchanged raised questions about the commitment to that pledge. The opposition boycotted the parliamentary elections, saying they were designed to strengthen Assad's grip on power. Parliament is considered little more than a rubber stamp in Syria, where the president and a tight coterie of advisers hold the real power. Activists estimate that more than 14,000 people have been killed since the start of the uprising against Assad's regime in March 2011. — AP
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Nepal Oppn wants Bhattarai to quit Kathmandu, June 24 Former Prime Minister and senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal has said "political consensus was not possible until Caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai stepped down." "A way out is not possible without political consensus and resignation of Bhattarai is a precondition for consensus," he said. He asked Premier Bhattarai to step down immediately to pave the way for consensus. Nepal also termed the announcement of the November 22 elections of the Constituent Assembly (CA) as irrelevant. "The CA election was announced unilaterally which displays the Maoists' greed for power," he accused. In a separate context, he stated that formation of the federal states based on ethnicity was not acceptable to the CPN-UML. Nepali Congress General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula also blamed UCPN (Maoist) responsible for the chaotic situation in the country. On the other hand, Prime Minister's political advisor Devendra Poudel said PM Bhattarai would not step down just because some parties demanded for it. Addressing a press conference in western Nepal, Poudel said the demand to change the government does not hold any significance in the present context as the present government is a constitutional one which is capable of accomplishing the set targets. — PTI
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China manned docking a key step for space station Shanghai, June 24 "Mastery of rendezvous and docking technology is a decisive step towards realizing the goals of the second stage in the development of China's manned space flight program. It also lays a firm foundation for the further construction of a space station," said Wu Ping, the spokesman for China's manned space program at a press conference following the docking exercise. The Shenzhou 9 and its three-person crew, including the country's first woman in space, Liu Yang, separated about 400 metres from the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module for about two minutes before re-connecting under the manual control of the astronauts, with state television covering the event live. "It means China has completely grasped space rendezvous and docking technologies and the country is fully capable of transporting humans and cargo to an orbiter in space, which is essential for building a space station in 2020," the official Xinhua news agency said on its website. Wu said the next step for the program would be further manned docking exercises using the Shenzhou 10, but she said the programme had not yet settled on a timeline for the next launch. The Shenzhou 9 had already conducted an automated docking with Tiangong 1, on June 18, a day after it blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. "The automated docking and manual docking are both essential and they serve as a backup for each other," Xinhua reported Zhou Jianping, designer-in-chief of China's manned space programme, as saying. Compared with an automated docking, manual docking is more challenging in terms of orbit control, Xie Jianfeng, a space scientist with the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, told Xinhua on Saturday. — Reuters
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Ashraf retains almost entire Gilani cabinet
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has kept intact almost entire cabinet of his predecessor Gilani installing 38 ministers and junior ministers, but is yet engaged in hard bargaining with the main coalition partner, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
The PML-Q, which had 17 ministers in the outgoing cabinet, has so far allowed Chaudhry Pervez Elahi to take oath as senior minister while some hard talk is continuing before it lets other PML-Q ministers take oath. The PML-Q played a key role in the selection of Raja Ashraf by blocking his two rival contenders Ahmed Mukhtar and Qamar Zaman Kaira who belong to the constituency of PML-Q’s Chaudhrys of Gujarat. With nearly 45 MPs, the PML-Q is the second biggest party in the coalition, providing crucial prop to its stability. Raja Ashraf met Shujaat on Saturday evening and left for Sindh on Sunday, where in he visited graves of Bhuttos in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. Sources said the PML-Q is currently negotiating three major demands— elevation of Pervez Elahi as the Deputy Prime Minister, improvement in portfolios of its remaining 16 ex-ministers and lastly, provision of billions in development funds at the disposal of its MPs. Elahin has again been designated as senior minister with defence production and industries as his portfolio. President Asif Zardari, who is calling all the shots for Raja Ashraf, is reportedly contemplating the requisite legal or administrative step to create the new post of Deputy Prime Minister. All the 38 ministers have retained their previous portfolios. Rehman Malik has been named senior adviser for interior. But Dr Asma Hussain, who was holding the lucrative Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, has not yet been sworn in, nor has his cabinet post been allotted to somebody else. The PML-Q is pitching for this Ministry.
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Ashraf moves to PM House, Gilani to ‘Presidency’
Former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has moved out of the Prime Minister House on to the Presidency.
Gilani, who had earlier shifted to the Islamabad Club after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court, is now lodged on the sixth floor of the Presidency where he was given three rooms for the family.
Officials said security reasons were behind this decision as other places are not secure enough for Gilani to reside in. His successor Raja Pervez Ashraf immediately shifted to the Prime Minister House, which opened its doors to party workers on Saturday when hundreds swarmed the place to
greet him. All security protocol provided to Gilani, including his security staff, has also been transferred to the newly-elected Prime Minister. Security measures taken at the Prime Minister House in Multan have also
been recalled and a lone police mobile van is stationed there. Gilani had purchased one house in Lahore and the ancestral house in Multan which had been declared premier’s houses and renovated at government expense. He used to spend weekends in either of
these houses. Some media reports said except Gilani, his entirely family had left for London one day after he was sacked by the Supreme Court. The media gave lurid details of how his Lahore and Multan houses were extensively staffed by hundreds of employees and
securitymen. His three sons, their wives and brother who also now own their houses in Lahore’s upscale Defence locality, were separately provided security and vehicles.
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Pak’s gun-slinging chief justice faces backlash Islamabad, June 24 To his critics, he is a runaway judge in the grip of a messiah complex whose turbo-charged brand of activism threatens to upend the power balance underpinning Pakistan's precarious embrace of democracy. Last week, Chaudhry made his boldest move yet by disqualifying prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani as punishment for his repeated refusal to obey court orders to re-activate a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani's downfall marked a watershed in a long-running showdown between the judiciary and the government that has laid bare the institutional tensions plaguing a country that has test fired ballistic nuclear missiles, but has yet to agree on how it should be run. "In practical terms, democracy is finished because the balance of power between the parliament, the executive and the judiciary has been ruined," said a senior member of Zardari's ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its 65 years as an independent nation, has also not hidden its disdain of Zardari's government, but has made it clear it
does not wish to seize power. And it has its own problems with Chaudhry's activism. The drama has been spiced by allegations of bribe-taking brought against Chaudhry's son by a billionaire property developer, who has himself been accused of land-grabbing and fraud. The controversy briefly put the stern-faced judge on the defensive before he regained the initiative by disqualifying Gilani. The next chapter in the saga could start as early as Wednesday, when the Supreme Court holds its latest hearing in more than two years of legal wrangling aimed at forcing the government to re-open proceedings against Zardari. Pakistan's political class is now transfixed by the question of whether Chaudhry will opt to pause in the wake of his victory over Gilani, or press home his advantage by demanding that Raja Pervez Ashraf, the new prime minister, re-activate the case. Zardari, a consummate political survivor, has already sacrificed Gilani in his determination to ensure the money-laundering case, which falls under Swiss jurisdiction and dates back the 1990s, remains closed. While many Pakistanis are happy to see his unpopular government on the ropes, the pugnacious chief justice is facing a growing backlash from those who fear his court-room victories are being bought at the price of Pakistan's stability. "We all have a problem with corruption, we all want these guys taken to task," said Mehreen Zahra-Malik, a columnist with The News. "But I don't think it should be at the expense of the entire house falling apart." — Reuters
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Fair elections not possible under Zardari: Imran Khan
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has said the next general elections would be held in winter, claiming his party will sweep the polls.
“I can’t give a date though, but the winter is going to be the time for elections,” he asserted while talking to the media.
The incumbent government’s term in office will end in March 2013. But an interim neutral government will take over two months earlier to oversee the elections. Imran ruled out an election alliance with PML-Nawaz but said an understanding with Jamaat Islami may be possible. On the elevation of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as the new Prime Minister, he said President Asif Zardari wanted a “servant” for himself and not a PM for the people. He alleged that President Zardari and the allied political parties are amassing wealth from corruption to “buy” the elections. “Free and fair elections are not possible under
Zardari,” Khan said.
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Turkey to consult NATO allies over downed jet Ankara, June 24 Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking some 48 hours after the jet was shot down near both countries' sea borders, told state broadcaster TRT the plane had been clearly marked as Turkish and dismissed Syria's earlier statement it had not known the plane belonged to Turkey. He said the downed jet was unarmed and had been on a solo mission to test domestic radar systems and that the flight had no connection to the crisis in neighbouring Syria. "Our plane was shot at a distance of 13 sea miles from Syria's border in international airspace," Davutoglu said. "According to the radar images, our plane lost contact with headquarters after it was hit and because the pilot lost control, it crashed into Syrian waters after making abnormal movements," he said. "Throughout this entire period no warning was made to our plane." The shooting down of the aircraft has added a further serious international dimension to the 16-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, that Turkey, along with other Western and Arab countries, has supported on the world diplomatic stage. — Reuters
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No US plan of extraditing Assange: Australia "There is not the remotest evidence that is the case," he was quoted as saying by the Australian news agency AAP. Carr said he has received no hint from two discussions with American officials that they have a plan to extradite Assange to the US. Australian-born 40-year-old Assange has sought political asylum at Ecuador's embassy in London, fearing he could face the death penalty in the US over the WikiLeaks' release of secret diplomatic cables. Carr said Assange's argument was with one government — the Swedish government — who want to question him about sexual assault allegations. "It's not about WikiLeaks, it's not about secrets, it's not about political persecution," Carr said. He further said that Australia had made representations to the Swedish government on behalf of Assange. "There is a view that it would be easier for the US to extradite him from the UK rather than from Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about (matters) wholly unrelated to anything to do with WikiLeaks or state secrets," he said. Carr said some US authorities had yet to state that they were not interested in extraditing the Australian. "They haven't been able to rule out that one corner of the American administration is considering it, but I would expect the US wouldn't want to touch this," he said, adding the US government knew Australia's "well worn" position of not wanting Assange extradited from anywhere. — PTI
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Violence in Syria killed at least 63 people today, nearly half of them troops who died in clashes with rebels, as the bloodshed reached new heights, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At least 16 soldiers were killed in the northern Aleppo province, while one died in an attack on his vehicle in neighbouring Idlib province and the rest died in fighting elsewhere in Idlib and in the provinces of Damascus and Deir Ezzor in the east.
China re-affirmed its goal of building a full-fledged space station by 2020 on Sunday, following a successful manual docking between a manned spacecraft and an experimental orbiting lab module.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has kept intact almost entire cabinet of his predecessor Gilani installing 38 ministers and junior ministers, but is yet engaged in hard bargaining with the main coalition partner, the Pakistan Muslim
League-Quaid (PML-Q).
Melbourne, June 24