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Saudi Arabia turns down UN Security Council seat
Uncertainty in Maldives on Prez re-election eve
Kenya mall attack: Norwegian named suspect
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Bilawal likely to contest from hometown Larkana
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Saudi Arabia turns down UN Security Council seat
Riyadh, October 18 The kingdom condemned what it called international double standards on the Middle East and demanded reforms in the Security Council, which has been at odds on ways to end the fighting in Syria. Unlike in the past, when Riyadh's frustration was mostly directed at Russia and China, it is now also aimed at Washington, its oldest international ally, which has pursued policies since the Arab Spring that Saudi rulers have bitterly opposed. Citing the Security Council's failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, take steps to end Syria's civil war and stop nuclear proliferation in the region, Riyadh said the body had instead perpetuated conflicts and grievances. “Saudi Arabia ... is refraining from taking membership of the UN Security Council until it has reformed so it can effectively and practically perform its duties and discharge its responsibilities in maintaining international security and peace,” said a Foreign Ministry statement. France, a Security Council permanent member, said it understood Saudi concerns. “We share their frustration after the paralysis of the Security Council,” a foreign ministry spokesman said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was surprised at Saudi Arabia’s move and puzzled by its accusations against the Security Council. “With its decision, Saudi Arabia has removed itself from the collective work of the UN Security Council to support international peace and security,” the ministry said. A decision of such magnitude would have to have been taken by King Abdullah or Crown Prince Salman, said a Saudi analyst who asked not to be named. “Saudi Arabia has been working on it for the last three years. They trained diplomats, male and female, the cream of the Foreign Ministry, our best talented youths. Then somebody made the decision suddenly to pull out,” he said. — Reuters Debut chance
Withdrawal stuns United Nations
United Nations: Saudi Arabia's angry rejection of a Security Council seat one day after winning it is a United Nations first that stunned members of the body on Friday. "This is totally unexpected. We all had to look into the council history for a precedent and there is not one," said a Security Council diplomat. “Campaigning and securing a seat normally takes years of preparation which makes the announcement even more surprising.”
— AFP |
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Uncertainty in Maldives on Prez re-election eve Male, October 18 The reelection, which should happen on Saturday, has been bogged down on technical details and legal bottlenecks with the Elections Commission only given 12 days to prepare. Former president Mohammad Nasheed on Friday called upon incumbent President Mohamed Waheed to become "engaged" in the election process after meeting with the Election Commissioner to discuss how to proceed with polling after two presidential candidates refused to sign all-important electoral lists, Xinhua reported. The fresh first round of Presidential elections was ordered by the Supreme Court earlier this month after the results of the previous polling September 7 were annulled over allegations of mass vote rigging. Abdulla Yamin of Jumhoori Party, who came second after the September 7 polling, and Gasim Ibrahim of the Progressive Party of the Maldives, who was third, have refused to sign the electoral lists saying these needed to be validated first. However, former President Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party has signed the voters’ lists. — IANS India favours smooth poll
New DElhi: Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, who had flown down to Male on Wednesday to speak with political leaders there, said here that India is keen to see a stable, peaceful and prosperous Maldives.
— IANS |
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Kenya mall attack: Norwegian named suspect
Nairobi, October 18 The 23-year-old was named as Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, who the BBC said is suspected of helping to plan and carry out the attack on the upmarket Westgate mall. Dhuhulow was born in Somalia, but he and his family moved to Norway as refugees in 1999, according to relatives who spoke to the BBC from the Norwegian town of Larvik, 120 km south of the capital Oslo. The BBC quoted one of Dhuhulow’s former neighbours Morten Henriksen, who described the young man. “He was pretty extreme, didn't like life in Norway... got into trouble, fights, his father was worried,” Henriksen told the BBC, speaking of Dhuhulow as a teenager. Last week Norway’s PST intelligence agency said it had launched a probe after it obtained information about the possible involvement of a Norwegian of Somali origin in both planning and carrying out the attack. Norwegian investigators have been sent to Nairobi to work with their Kenyan counterparts, it said. Witnesses in the mall described how the fighters stormed the complex around midday on September 21 when it was crowded with shoppers, firing from the hip and hurling grenades at shoppers and staff. — AFP
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Bilawal likely to contest from hometown Larkana
Karachi, October 18 Bilawal is likely to be fielded by the PPP from the National Assembly seat in Larkana, the Bhutto family’s hometown. “Discussions have been held on letting Bilawal contest the by-elections from (Larkana) to get him elected as a member of the National Assembly and allow him to make his first entry into politics,” a senior PPP leader said. He said said a formal announcement would be made after the PPP’s executive committee approved the move. — PTI War of words
Karachi: Bilawal
on Friday criticised Imran Khan, describing him as a "coward" who makes excuses for terrorists. "In the 2018 elections, Asif Ali Zardari will be the jiyalas' bow and I will be the arrow," he said. — PTI |
Pak provincial Cabinet okays anti-terror task force No papers taken to Russia: Snowden Top French court backs gay marriages Taiwan to get US copters in November Jobless couple ‘sells’ daughter for iPhone When Nixon ‘branded’ his envoy as traitor
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Male, October 18
Nairobi, October 18
