WAR ON ISIS - Egyptian President's Comments

"Egypt’s president on fighting Islamic State, U.S. relations" PBS NewsHour 9/28/2015

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SUMMARY:  Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi sits down with chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner to discuss the pardoning of Al Jazeera journalists, whether Egypt will step up military action against the Islamic State, President Bashar al-Assad’s future in Syria, the government crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and the strength of the relationship between his nation and the U.S.

MARGARET WARNER (NewsHour):  Mr. President, thank you for joining us.

This past week, the big news was that you released 100 political prisoners, including two prominent Al Jazeera journalists.  Was the timing of that dictated by the fact you were coming here to the U.N. General Assembly, to quiet all the international criticism there has been of that?

PRESIDENT ABDEL-FATTAH EL-SISSI, Egypt (through interpreter):  The idea is very simple.  Once the legal procedures are over and there is a possibility for me to intervene and to issue a pardon, I didn’t hesitate.

MARGARET WARNER:  In your system, does a legal pardon mean that you have concluded that the charges — that they were innocent of the charges?

PRESIDENT ABDEL-FATTAH EL-SISSI (through interpreter):  Once those are over, the legal party allows the president to intervene to bring an end to this issue and to this legal issue.

MARGARET WARNER:  Well, now there are still 18 journalists being held, and, by conservative estimates, 20,000 or more political prisoners, many of whom had been brought in on what are said to be trumped-up terrorism charges.

Could you act and will you act as swiftly once the legal process is over?

PRESIDENT ABDEL-FATTAH EL-SISSI (through interpreter):  It is very important to stop at the word of under detention.

There is no legal formality that allows me to do so, but there are court procedures force that we can deal with these cases.

MARGARET WARNER:  So, the big issue here at the U.N. General Assembly is going to be the fight against Islamic State, and, in particular, focused on Syria right now.

Now, the anti-ISIL coalition, of which Egypt is a member, you have been at it for a full year, and yet ISIS has grown, if anything, more powerful.  Something like 30,000 new fighters, foreign fighters, have entered Syria.  Why is that?

PRESIDENT ABDEL-FATTAH EL-SISSI (through interpreter):  It’s the idea that we can fight ISIS only militarily.  This means the strategy is incomplete.  We need a holistic approach that would include security dimensions, an economic dimension, social and cultural dimensions as well.

EGYPT - Non-Justice of a Dictatorship

"Egypt’s conviction of Al Jazeera journalists sparks international outcry" (Part-1) PBS NewsHour 6/23/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Elsewhere in the Middle East, three Al-Jazeera journalists learned their fate in a Cairo courtroom today, sparking an international outcry.

Jeffrey Brown has the story.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  Tanks were deployed and tight security in place for the readings of the verdicts, after a five-month trial that was widely denounced outside Egypt as a sham.

JUDGE MOHAMED NAGY SHEHATA (through interpreter):  Seven years of maximum jail time.

JEFFREY BROWN:  The sentences for Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, a Canadian- Egyptian, Australian correspondent Peter Greste, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, who received 10 years, led to pandemonium at the court; 17 co-defendants were also sentenced.  Fahmy is a former CNN producer who once helped the NewsHour’s Margaret Warner and crew escape an attack by a mob in Cairo

Today, he was yelling, “They will pay for this,” as he and the others were taken away.

His brother, Adel Fadel Fahmy:

ADEL FADEL FAHMY, Brother of Defendant (through interpreter):  This is clear-cut corruption; it is a corrupt and politicized case and everything is wrong in this case.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Fahmy’s family vowed to appeal, as did Peter Greste’s brother, Mike.

MIKE GRESTE, Brother of Defendant:  Wrong verdict.  I don’t — I don’t know how the judge came to that decision.  I would be very interested to hear his reasons for giving that verdict.  But it doesn’t make any sense.

JEFFREY BROWN:  The three journalists were arrested last December and accused of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood by reporting on civil strife in Egypt.  The Brotherhood had been banned as a terrorist group.

At the time, the journalists were working undercover because the government had accused Al-Jazeera of pro-Brotherhood bias.  Last week, the company terminated its operations in Egypt.  Al-Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar; the Gulf emirate is a political supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, but the network denies any charges of bias.

AL ANSTEY, Managing Director, Al-Jazeera English:  Today was a really grim day for journalists and for journalism.

JEFFREY BROWN:  It’s managing director spoke in Doha.

AL ANSTEY:  People who respect freedom of expression, people who respect basic freedoms should say, no, enough is enough.  Governments who deal with Egypt should recognize the injustice of what took place in Cairo today.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Official denunciations also poured in from around the world.  This was Secretary of State Kerry from Baghdad.

JOHN KERRY, Secretary of State:  Today’s conviction is obviously — it’s a chilling and draconian sentence.  And, you know, it’s deeply disturbing to see in the midst of Egypt’s transition.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Just a day earlier, Secretary Kerry visited Egypt, with word the U.S. is releasing $575 million in assistance that had been on hold, and that Egypt will be getting Apache helicopter gunships to fight insurgents in the Sinai region.

The secretary met with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, among others.  Last year, the former army leader ousted Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, and last month, he was elected president himself.  All the while, a crackdown on political opponents has intensified.  Alaa Abdel Fattah, a leader of the January 2011 revolution, was sentenced last week to 15 years for violating a ban on protests.

And, on Saturday, Mohamed Badie, the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, had his death sentence upheld, along with nearly 200 supporters.

"Crackdown on Al Jazeera journalists helps government control Egypt’s narrative" (Part-2) PBS NewsHour 6/23/2014

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SUMMARY:  The controversial convictions of three Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt are among the most high-profile cases in a general crackdown on dissent.  Jeffrey Brown talks to Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Michael Hanna of the The Century Foundation about the geopolitics behind the convictions and shifting U.S. policy toward Egypt.

JOURNALISTS - The Danger They Face in the Middle East

This is more evidence that the present Egyptian government is a dictatorship fearing the truth.

"Protesters, human rights groups demand release of Al-Jazeera journalists on trial in Egypt" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 3/5/2014

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  In Egypt, the trial of three Al-Jazeera journalists, which has sparked a global outcry by press freedom advocates, resumed today.

Jeffrey Brown reports.

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour):  Tanks guarded the fortified entrances of Cairo’s Tora prison today.

Inside, Al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed, and Peter Greste, wearing white prison uniforms, stood in the courtroom’s defendant cage.  They and other Al-Jazeera journalists are accused of endangering Egyptian national security by assisting a — quote — “terrorist organization,” namely, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The military-backed government banned the group after ousting President Mohammed Morsi in July.  Al-Jazeera maintains the charges are — quote — “absurd, baseless and false,” as do the journalists’ relatives who spoke after the hearing.

ASSEM MOHAMED, Brother of Defendant (through interpreter):  The accusations directed towards them are far from the truth.  None of them are affiliated to any political party, movement, or the Muslim Brotherhood.  They use the same equipment used by all other channels.  If they have a problem with Al-Jazeera, the journalists have nothing to do with it.

JEFFREY BROWN:  The defendants’ lawyer claimed progress based on the way the hearing went.

FARAG FATHY, Defense Lawyer (through interpreter):  Today, the session was to hear witness testimonies.  The most important of these was the national security officer who is in charge of investigating the journalists.  From the questions, it can be said that the accusations directed towards these three defendants have completely collapsed.

JEFFREY BROWN:  The trial has sparked outrage among human rights groups, journalistic organizations and others.  Protesters have demonstrated at Egyptian consulates in Mexico City, Istanbul, and elsewhere, demanding the journalists’ release.

And, in February, the Obama administration urged Egypt to drop the charges.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney:

JAY CARNEY, White House Press Secretary:  The government’s targeting of journalists and others on questionable claims is wrong, and it demonstrates an egregious disregard for the protection — protection of basic rights and freedoms.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Al-Jazeera has also spearheaded an online campaign with Twitter photos of hundreds of people with their mouths taped shut and the hashtag #freeajstaff.

The International Press Institute says the case highlights growing dangers to journalists worldwide.  In all, 119 members of the press died while on assignment in 2013.  No place was more deadly than Syria, where the ongoing civil war claimed the lives of 16 journalists last year.

"Covering conflict and corruption, journalists face rising threat of violence and imprisonment" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 3/5/2014

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SUMMARY:  Egypt’s arrest and trial of three Al-Jazeera journalists, charged with assisting the Muslim Brotherhood, has prompted outcry around the world.  The case helps highlight growing dangers to journalists worldwide, especially in countries caught in war or turmoil.  In 2013, 119 members of the press died while on assignment.  Alison Bethel McKenzie of the International Press Institute and David Rohde of Reuters join Jeffrey Brown to discuss the hazards.

EGYPT - More From the Military Dictatorship, Journalists Trail

"Trial begins for Al-Jazeera journalists in Egypt" PBS Newshour 2/20/2014

GWEN IFILL:  Three Al-Jazeera television journalists arrested in Egypt last December went on trial today accused of terrorism.  Proceedings at Cairo’s Tora prison came amid a continued crackdown by Egypt’s military government that has ensnared reporters, as well as the political opposition.

Paul Mason of Independent Television News has our story.

PAUL MASON:  Inside, three journalists from the Al-Jazeera network faced terrorism charges. Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohammed and Australian Peter Greste have been held since the 29th of December.

FARAG FATHY, Lawyer for the Defense (through interpreter):  We asked that they be released pending investigations, and we also asked to question all witnesses and demanded to question the technical committee that had examined the equipment which was seized.

PAUL MASON:  Outside, their supporters waited anxiously for news.

HEATHER ALLAN, Head of News Gathering, Al-Jazeera English:  We believe we will be acquitted.  The lawyers are fully on board with us.  They fully believe in our case.  They fully believe that we were just operating as journalists.  We don’t have an agenda.  We have got nothing against Egypt.  We certainly don’t lie or do biased reporting.

PAUL MASON:  What they’re accused of is more than that.  This police footage complete with doomy soundtrack was played on a pro-government TV channel which labeled them a terrorist cell.

The charges they face today include manipulating footage to give a false image that Egypt is in the middle of a civil war and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated a terrorist group.

NICHOLAS PIACHAUD, Amnesty International:  Today’s trial sends a very clear message, I think: Egypt doesn’t tolerate dissent.  That is a message at international media, but also national media in Egypt.  These men face very serious criminal charges.  But I think the real reason they are in jail right now is because they dared to question the narrative of the authorities.  And that is really what this trial is about.

PAUL MASON:  In December, these three secular youth leaders, instrumental in the original revolution of 2011, were given three years hard labor.  The crackdown on the Brotherhood has come alongside repression of bloggers, secularists and democratic opposition parties.

NICHOLAS PIACHAUD:  What we have right now is a widening circle of oppression, one that doesn’t just target supporters of Mohammed Morsi and news outlets like Al-Jazeera, but also bloggers like Alaa Abdul Fattah, people who were very opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood when they were in power.

PAUL MASON:  The hearing was postponed until the 5th of March.  The men remain behind these notorious walls.

UKRAINE - Diplomatic Efforts in Three Parts

"European diplomats work behind the scenes to halt Ukraine violence" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 2/20/2014

GWEN IFILL (Newshour):  In Ukraine, as the battle between government forces and protesters, as we saw, became bloodier and deadlier, diplomats labored behind the scenes to find a way to end the violence.

Lindsey Hilsum of Independent Television News reports.

LINDSEY HILSUM:  They couldn’t even get through the streets.  Fighting prevented European Union foreign ministers from reaching the presidential palace in Kiev this morning.

They made it by the afternoon and are reported to be preparing for more talks overnight.  President Yanukovych reportedly left the meeting at one point to call President Putin, but there was no deal.  The ministers from France, Germany and Poland left and diplomacy moved to Brussels.

E.U. foreign ministers decided to sanction key members of the Ukrainian government, whom they regard as responsible for the violence.

CATHERINE ASHTON, Foreign Policy Chief, European Union:  We decided as a matter of urgency we need to look at targeted sanctions.  We have agreed to suspend export licenses for equipment for internal repression.  And we have asked the relevant working bodies of the council to make the necessary preparations immediately.

LINDSEY HILSUM:  The Russian foreign minister, visiting Baghdad, wasn’t impressed.

SERGEI LAVROV, Foreign Minister, Russia (through interpreter):  The opposition cannot or doesn’t want to distance itself from extremist groups.  Our Western partners and everyone in Europe and the U.S. have thrown the blame on the government of Ukraine, and they do not condemn, as they should, the actions of the extremists.  We are very troubled by all that, because the double standards are obvious here.

LINDSEY HILSUM:  Ukraine is pulled between Europe to the west and Russia to the east.  It became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  A quarter of its 45 million population are Russian speakers, living mainly in the south and east.

The majority, who speak Ukrainian as a first language, dominate the West.  Pro-Europe activists in Ternopil, Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk have seized control of regional councils, and Lviv has declared independence.  Western Ukrainians tend to be Catholic, while easterners are mainly orthodox.

But so far, this is a fight between the state and protesters, not between divided Ukrainians.  Outside intervention, though, may fan the flames, as Ukraine becomes the victim of renewed hostility between Russia and the West.

Notice that Yanukovych had to check-in with his puppet-master?


"Has the moment passed for the West to sway Ukraine with sanctions?" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 2/20/2014

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SUMMARY:  World powers have watched as the Ukrainian conflict has escalated to unrestrained battle.  How can they help ensure stability for this country that’s in the heart of Europe while tightly connected to Russia?  Gwen Ifill talks to William Taylor, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, and Matthew Rojansky of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"Ukraine president, opposition agree to early elections, new government" (Part-3) Al-Jazeera 2/21/2014

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has signed a deal with the country’s opposition to hold presidential elections early, form a national unity government and make constitutional changes reducing his powers, diplomatic representatives of both sides said Friday.

Yanukovich announced the proposal earlier on Friday after all-night talks with the opposition and three European Union ministers, aimed at resolving a crisis in which at least 77 people have been killed in gun battles between protesters and police that began Tuesday.

"As the president of Ukraine and the guarantor of the constitution, today I am fulfilling my duty before the people, before Ukraine and before God in the name of saving the nation, in the name of preserving people's lives, in the name of peace and calm of our land," the president said in a statement on his website.

After several hours of silence from the opposition, leader Vitali Klitschko confirmed to the German newspaper Bild that his side would sign the deal but said further talks would be needed to quell protests.

Earlier on Friday, fighting broke out among deputies in parliament when the speaker declared a pause, delaying a debate on a possible resolution calling for Yanukovich's powers to be reduced.

Several deputies exchanged blows as the chamber descended into chaos for several minutes.  The speaker, Yanukovich ally Volodymyr Rybak, then left the chamber, but some of the deputies continued the debate.

On the streets, a shaky peace reigned in the protest camps in downtown Kiev after the days of fighting, which left at least 577 injured in addition to those killed.  On Friday morning several thousand protesters milled around Independence Square, known as the Maidan, with no visible police forces remaining on the square.  Volunteers walked freely to the protest camps to donate food and other aid.

Support for the president appeared to be weakening, as reports said the army's deputy chief of staff, Yury Dumansky, was resigning in "disagreement with the politics of pulling the armed forces into an internal civil conflict."

Yanukovich was expected to "make concessions in order to restore peace," Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted his spokeswoman Anna German as saying.

SYRIA - Al Jazeera America Reports

"Obama ponders 'shot across the bow' for Syria" Al Jazeera America 8/28/2013

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President Barack Obama is certain that a chemical-weapons attack by the regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians on the outskirts of Damascus last week, and warned that "international consequences" were required for such an act.  But he also gave strong signals that any military action he might take as a result would be limited in scope, its purpose being to warn the Syrian regime "that it better not do it again."

In an interview with "PBS NewsHour" that aired Wednesday evening, Obama emphasized that he has not yet made a decision on military action in Syria, but made it absolutely clear who he believes is responsible.

"We have looked at all the evidence and we do not believe the opposition possessed nuclear weapons on – or chemical weapons of that sort," Obama said.  "We do not believe, given the delivery systems using rockets, that the opposition could have carried out these attacks.  We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out, and if so, then there need to be international consequences."

Obama's interview coincided with efforts by Britain to win U.N. Security Council authorization for military intervention to protect Syrian civilians -- an effort that appeared unlikely to avoid the Russian and Chinese vetoes that stopped three previous, less muscular resolutions.

Even as it grapples with how to respond forcefully but not too forcefully to last week's events in Syria, the Administration remains unsure of whether a chemical-weapons attack was ordered from the top of the Assad regime, Foreign Policy magazine has reported.  Still, it is holding President Assad responsible for what it believes are the actions of his armed forces.  U.N. inspectors continue to probe the incident, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday they'd need at least another four days to finish gathering evidence, and more time to analyze it.

Even if the administration has no doubt that Assad's forces launched a chemical-weapons attack against civilians last week, it remains leery of being drawn into action to shape the outcome of Syria's civil war, but added that when "countries break international norms on weapons, like chemical weapons, that can threaten us, that they are held accountable."

Obama, at the same time, appears inclined to limit the impact of any military action, as suggested by his description of it as a "shot across the bow" -- an 18th century nautical term for a warning shot that does no harm but underscores a demand for compliance.

"Former UN weapons inspector: West has 'no authority' in Syria" Al Jazeera America 8/28/2013

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Amb. Richard Butler, an Australian national and expert in nuclear disarmament, was the chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq during the 1990s.  He also served as deputy representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), chairman of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, and executive chairman of the U.N. Special Commission to Disarm Iraq (UNSCOM).

Butler spoke with Al Jazeera about the suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus last week that left hundreds dead.  Both the Syrian opposition and President Bashar al-Assad have denied responsibility for the attack, which crossed what President Barack Obama has called a "red line" that would necessitate a direct response from the U.S.  The U.N. on Monday sent its weapons inspectors to examine the site of the alleged attack in Damascus, about which Butler is uniquely qualified to comment.

These interview highlights were edited for length.

Butler on whether U.N. weapons inspectors will be able to produce a comprehensive report on the suspected chemical weapons attack in Damascus:

"It will be difficult, because they were kept away from the site for five days. … And the chemicals involved degrade fairly rapidly … although they leave traces of having been there … but those five days make it difficult.

"Secondly, they would best have tissue samples … and the reports are Syrian authorities would not let them exhume bodies. …  They were only allowed to take away limited quantities of blood and urine, so I’m a little bit pessimistic about the possibility the U.N. team will be able to bring back as detailed and as exclusive a report as we would have hoped.

"I know the leader of the team very well, and we worked together in the past.  The inspectors who were there in Iraq with me were men and women of extraordinary ability and integrity … but no matter how good they are, they need proper access in a timely fashion, and I think they have been denied of that, so I am not terribly optimistic that the report will be as comprehensive as we would like it to be."

MEDIA - Al Jazeera America Cable Debuts

COMMENT:  Since a small segment of Arab world and fanatic Islamists consider the U.S. (and the West in general) enemies, it behooves us to pay attention to Arab media.  Also note that Al Jazeera America (was Current TV) has been online for years, as Al Jazerra English.

"Al Jazeera America Debuts on Cable Amid Availability Concerns in Crowded Market" PBS Newshour 8/20/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  A new contender is launching in the competitive cable news market.  Al Jazeera America promises more in-depth domestic news and fewer commercials.  Judy Woodruff talks with Deborah Potter of NewsLab and Philip Seib of the University of Southern California for more on what to expect from the new network.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Due to online video rights, parts of this story broadcast on PBS NewsHour could not be published on the website.  Please see below for a full transcript of the segment.

MIDDLE EAST VIEW - Egypt, Morsi Supporters

"Clashes erupt as Morsi supporters march" Al Jazerra 8/13/2013

Clashes have broken out in central Cairo when supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi came under attack as they marched to the interior ministry.

Supporters of the new military-installed government hurled stones at the marchers and threw bottles at them from balconies on Tuesday, witnesses said.  Police then fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said Morsi supporters had taken their protests to key government buildings in the center of the capital.

"There were scuffles at least at three different points between protester groups after Morsi supporters surrounded some of the government buildings.  They have been throwing bottles and rocks to each other," our correspondent said.

A few thousand pro-Morsi protesters were taking part in the march when the scuffles began.

Local residents taunted them, calling them terrorists and saying they were not welcome before throwing stones at them, the Reuters news agency reported.  Morsi's supporters also responded by hurling rocks.

Women and children fled the scene in panic, and two men wielding machetes were seen chasing marchers, Reuters said.

Ten people were injured in fighting in front of the ministry of endowment between local residents and pro-Morsi Muslim scholars working in the ministry, according to the field hospital at Rabaa al-Adaweya, where Morsi supporters are camped out.

"The pro-Morsi march that was heading to the Presidential Palace is now back in the Rabaa al-Adaweya sit-in after protesting there for around 40 minutes," Al Jazeera's Heba Fahmy reported from Cairo.  "No incidents took place, according to the Anti-Coup Alliance media center."

Also 12 Morsi supporters were arrested during the fighting at the Ministry of Endowments.  They were accused of trying to break into the ministry and attacking the ministry's security and government employees.

Morsi supporters also protested in front of several ministries including the ministries of labor and electricity.

Meanwhile, 25 new governors appointed by the interim government were sworn in.

Interim President Adly Mansour held a meeting with the governors and called on them to find "creative solutions" to facilitate the people's lives and grant a bigger role to civil society.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh said the swearing-in of governors was a message by the interim government that it is not backing down from pursuing its road map.

Protest call

Supporters of the deposed president called for more mass demonstrations on Tuesday.

The so-called "Anti-Coup Alliance," which supports Morsi, called for a "million-man demonstration" after the judiciary said on Monday that it was extending his detention for a further 15 days, pending an investigation into his alleged collaboration with the Palestinian group Hamas.

The ongoing standoff with the army-backed interim government, which has threatened to disperse the two Cairo sit-ins where thousands of pro-Morsi protesters have been camped out for over a month, has caused worry among the international community.

Egyptian authorities postponed a move to disperse two Cairo sit-ins on Monday to "avoid bloodshed,'' security sources said.

The protesters are calling for the reinstatement of Morsi, who was overthrown by the military on July 3 and is now being held at an undisclosed location.

MIDDLE EAST VIEW - Conflict Over Kashmir

"India and Pakistan trade blame over Kashmir" Al Jazerra 8/13/2013

India and Pakistan have again accused each other of firing across their disputed Kashmir border, the latest in a series of allegations of cross-border attacks made by both over the past week.

A Pakistan military source told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Indian troops violated the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries, for the third time since last week.

He said that on Monday evening in the Nikial sector of Pakistan-Administered Kashmir, Indian troops started unprovoked firing at Pakistani posts across the border.

The source added that Pakistani forces "responded effectively".

An Indian army commander, meanwhile, blamed Pakistani troops for firing intermittently through the night at two posts in the Mendhar sector on the defacto border, 180km southwest of Srinagar, the main city in India's portion of Kashmir.

He said Indian soldiers responded as Pakistani troops used small arms, machine guns and mortars. No casualties were reported.

Both officials spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

New beginning needed

The accusations come as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for a "new beginning" in relations with India.

Sharif said it was vital that the two South Asian neighbors became "good friends", in remarks published Tuesday by the Associated Press of Pakistan.

"Let us make a new beginning.  Let us sit together to resolve all outstanding issues in a friendly manner and in a peaceful atmosphere," he said.

Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan but divided between them.

Pakistan and India have long been enemies and have fought three wars - two over Kashmir - since both gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Pakistan had earlier accused Indian troops of shelling its territory along the border on Monday and killing a civilian.

India denied the charge, saying Pakistani troops initiated the firing.

Peace talks threatened

A 2003 cease-fire agreement has largely calmed the military line between the countries, although each side occasionally accuses the other of violating it by firing mortars or gunshots across the line of control.

The resumption of violence threatens to sabotage recent overtures by the two aimed at resuming peace talks and increasing cross-border trade.

India accused Pakistani soldiers and fighters of crossing into its portion of Kashmir a week ago and killing five Indian soldiers.  Officials say the incident was the deadliest along the line of control since 1999 when the two armies fought pitched battles in the Himalayan region of Kargil.

Pakistan denied its soldiers killed any Indian troops, and accused Indian soldiers of severely wounding a Pakistani citizen along the border last Thursday.  India denied the allegation.

ASIA - French Hostage Murdered

"French hostage 'executed' in Mali" Al Jazerra 3/20/2013

A French hostage has been executed in Mali, a man claiming to be a spokesman for al-Qaeda in North Africa has told Mauritania's ANI news agency.

A French foreign office spokesman said on Tuesday that Paris was trying to verify the report of the killing of Philippe Verdon, who was kidnapped in November 2011, adding that "we don't know at the moment" whether it was reliable.

The private Mauritanian news agency reported that someone calling himself Al-Qairawani and claiming to be a spokesman for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group told them that the "spy" Verdon had been executed "on March 10 in response to France's intervention in Northern Mali".

"The French President (Francois) Hollande is responsible for the lives of the other French hostages," he warned.

In all 15 French nationals, including Verdon, are being held captive in Africa, with AQIM claiming responsibility for six of the kidnappings.

Refusal to pay ransom

Verdon was seized on the night of November 24, 2011 along with Serge Lazarevic.  According to their families the two men had been on a business trip and were kidnapped from their hotel in Hombori, northeast Mali.

The families denied that the two men were mercenaries or secret service agents.

AQIM swiftly claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and in August last year a video showing Verdon describing the "difficult living conditions" was released on a Mauritanian website.

The hostages' families have in recent weeks expressed growing fears for their loved ones in the light of France's military actions in Mali.

Earlier Tuesday, Verdon's father Jean-Pierre Verdon complained that the families were hearing nothing from the French authorities.

"We are in a total fog and it is impossible to live this way," he told RTL radio.  "We have no information."

Asked about France's refusal to pay ransoms to kidnappers, Verdon senior replied that the families had no say in such "decisions of state".

Paris deployed forces in Mali on January 11 to help stop al-Qaeda linked fighters who had controlled the north of the country since April 2012 from moving southward and threatening the capital Bamako.

Pockets of resistance

France now has more than 4,000 troops on the ground in Mali, of whom about 1,200 are currently deployed in the northeast, carrying out operations after driving out most of the rebels from the area.

There are still pockets of resistance in areas such as Gao, which have witnessed stray attacks and suicide bombings since the rebels fled.

The French troops in the region are backed up by African forces.  Soldiers from Chad, whose experience and training has made them key in the French-led offensive, have also suffered casualties with at least 26 deaths.

On Tuesday the French army announced that 15 rebel fighters had been killed in recent days in the northern Mali region of Gao, with the seizure of a large cache of arms and ammunition.

The AQIM source cited by the Mauritanian news agency refused to confirm reports that top rebels, Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Abdelhamid Abou Zeid had been killed in Mali earlier this month.

France has been carrying out DNA tests to determine whether the rebel leaders are among those killed in recent fighting in Mali.

ASIA - Bangladesh President Dies

"Bangladesh president dies in Singapore" Al Jazerra 3/20/2013

Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman has died in a Singapore hospital at the age of 84 after a long illness.

Rahman had been flown to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital on March 10 for treatment of respiratory problems.

The veteran ruling party politician's death does not affect the government because Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy, with the prime minister holding the executive powers.

The president's office said parliamentary speaker Abdul Hamid would act as the head of state until the legislature elected a new one.

"The acting president announced the three-day state mourning for the death of President Zillur Rahman," a presidential spokesman was quoted by Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the state news agency, as saying.

Rahman was a former deputy chief of Bangladesh's ruling Awami League party before parliament elected him president in 2009.

In offering her condolences, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described Rahman as a patriotic leader.

Rahman leaves a son who is a politician and two daughters.

Ivy, Rahman's politician wife, died in August 2004 after she was critically injured in a grenade attack on an Awami League party rally that killed 20 other people.

DIPLOMACY - Obama in Israel

"Obama in Israel on first official visit" Al Jazerra 3/20/2013

US President Barack Obama said at the start of his visit to Israel that the US' commitment to Israel's security was rock solid and that peace must come to the Holy Land.

Making his first official visit to Israel as president on Wednesday, Obama hopes to reset his often fraught relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians in a carefully choreographed three-day stay that is high on symbolism but low on expectations.

"I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between our nations, to restate America's unwavering commitment to Israel's security and to speak directly to the people of Israel and to your neighbors,"  Obama said at a welcoming ceremony at Tel Aviv airport.

"I am confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal, is forever," he added.

Obama faces strong doubts among Israelis over his pledge to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, something Tehran is saying it is not pursuing.

'Right to self-defense'

In his welcoming remarks to the US president, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cited an Israeli right to self-defense, which he said Obama supported.

"Thank you for standing by Israel at this time of historic change in the Middle East," said Netanyahu, whose relationship with Obama has often been testy.

"Thank you for unequivocally affirming Israel's sovereign right to defend itself by itself against any threat," the right-wing Israeli leader said before viewing with Obama the partially US-funded Iron Dome.

At the ceremony, Obama spoke of his hopes for peace - without directly mentioning Palestinians.  US officials said he was not bringing any peace initiative with him.

"We stand together because peace must come to the Holy Land," Obama said.  "Even as we are clear eyed about the difficulties, we will never lose sight of the vision of an Israel at peace with its neighbors."

Low expectations

Hopes for a new policy are low, with the White House having deliberately minimized expectations of any major breakthroughs, a reversal from Obama's first four years in office when aides said he would only visit Israel if he had something concrete to accomplish.

"If you talk to the administration people behind the scenes, they expect and they are hoping that in this trip, the president doesn't make any news," said Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from Jerusalem.

Workers have hung hundreds of US and Israel flags on lampposts across Jerusalem, as well as banners that boast of "an unbreakable alliance," but the apparent lack of any substantial policy push has bemused many diplomats and analysts.

However with both Netanyahu and Obama starting new terms, the visit could be seen as the American leader's endorsement of Israel's government, said Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian journalist and founder of Electronic Intifada.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Chicago, he said:  "This visit coming just days after Israel swore in perhaps its most openly extreme government in its history...must be seen as the strongest staunchest endorsement of this extremist Israeli government's policies.  That's the only message Palestinians and the broader world can take away from this visit."

Obama travels to the West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and will fly on to Jordan on Friday.

MEDIA - U.S. Current TV Purchase By Al-Jazeera

AJE - Al Jazeera English

"What Al Jazeera's Current TV Acquisition Means for American Media" PBS Newshour 1/3/2013

Excerpt

RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): The Pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera has long wanted to boost its reach in the U.S. beyond a few large metropolitan areas.

With its purchase of Current, Al-Jazeera has expanded its potential audience nearly nine-fold to about 40 million homes.

Current was co-founded in 2005 by former Vice President Al Gore. The channel confirmed the sale in a statement yesterday, saying:

"Al-Jazeera shares Current TV's mission to give voice to those who are not typically heard, to speak truth to power, to provide independent and diverse points of view."

Al-Jazeera plans to transform Current into a new network called Al-JazeeraAmerica. It will add between five and 10 new bureaus in the U.S. beyond the five it currently operates.

Al-Jazeera has struggled to increased U.S. viewership from its earliest days. Cable and satellite companies have been reluctant to carry Al-Jazeera.

The English and Arabic-language networks are owned by the government of the small Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar. It signed on from the capital, Doha, in 1996.

Al-Jazeera's Arabic network gained worldwide attention after American and allied troops invaded Afghanistan, when it was the only channel to cover the war live. Al-Jazeera English launched in 2006. It has a different staff and budget from the Arabic network.

But both are overseen by a member of Qatar's royal family. And both actively covered the Arab spring, which helped the English-language channel win a prestigious Peabody Award to add to a number of other high-profile journalistic laurels it was awarded last year. There are already signs of trouble for the new American channel.

Yesterday, the nation's second largest cable TV operator, Time Warner, dropped Current as soon as the Current-Al-Jazeera deal was confirmed.

For its part, Current TV tried to make its mark promoting user-generated content from the public. But it's recently evolved into a more conventional talk format with a liberal leaning. Its ratings have been very small.

According to the Nielsen ratings company, 42,000 people watched Current programming on a typical night in 2012. The network is expected to post $114 million in revenue this year.

COMMENT: While Al Jazeera is owned by a friendly Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar I wonder IF they are really fair in their news presentations. I have watched (online) some Al Jazeera news, and CNN and other U.S. networks present pieces from Al Jazeera, I have not viewed enough to make a judgement at to their fairness.