vendredi 30 novembre 2012

Graphic: The state of Palestine




Richard Johnson | Nov 29, 2012 4:00 PM ET  

Becoming a non-member observer state at the United Nations may do nothing to change conditions in the West Bank and Gaza. The areas rely heavily on aid, poverty is rife, unemployment is high and living standards are low.

mercredi 28 novembre 2012

KERKUK PROPERTY DEEDS - KERKÜK'ün TAPUSU..! Abdurrahman Kızılay'ı bir kez daha rahmet ve özlemle anıyoruz.




 
KERKÜK'ün TAPUSU..!
Abdurrahman Kızılay'ı bir kez daha rahmet ve özlemle anıyoruz.
 
Kursalar her yerde binlerce pusu..
Bana dokunan yanar, yaşı ve kurusu..
Elbet bir gün şahlanacak Türk ulusu..
Yine akacak Hasa'da gürül gürül su..
Damlarda yine ötecek Bibisu..Bibisu..
Bizimdir ve bizim kalacakcak,
 KERKÜK'ün Tapusu..
 
Ferid Müftü  /  2012
Saygı ve sevgilerimle..
 
Linki tıklayın lütfen :

mardi 27 novembre 2012

Irak Türkmen Cephesi Diyala şubesi'nden önemli bir başarı: Türkçe dili, Diyala bağımsız Seçim Komisyonu reklamlarına dahil edildi





İl Meclis Seçimleri hazır yaklaşmışken, ve Irak Türkmen Cephesi'nin bu seçime katılımı çerçevesinde, Diyala ilindeki Bağımsız Seçim Komisyonu genel müdürü Amır Latif Al –Yahya ile bir kaç görüşme yapıp, söz konusu Komisyondan, Türkçe dilinin, Bağımsız Seçim Komisyonu'nun reklamlarına ve tüm yayınlarına eklenmesi istendi.

Ve bu iş fiili olarak, Irak Türkmen Cephesi Diyala sorumlusu sayın Nihat Bayatlı'nın sayesinde gerçekleşmişti.. ki onun sıkı ve büyük çabaları ve Komisyona yaptığı devamlı ziyaretler ve Komisyon şube ve bölüm sorumluları ile gerçekleştirdiği yoğun görüşmeler.. ki o görüşmeleri yapan sayın Nihad el-Bayati ve sayın Necdet Salihi'nin çabaları verimli olup, Diyala Seçim Komisyonunu, modern Türkçe dilinin, Nisan 2013 yılında yapılması öngörülen il meclis seçimleri ile ilgili, Komisyonun tüm reklam ve yayınlarına eklenmesi konusunda ikna etmişti.

bu ihlaslı çabaları kutlarken, Irak Türkmen Cephesi Diyala şubesi, milli davalarına bağlı mensuplarının, ileriye doğru bir adım atmaları ve Türkmen davasına zarar veren tüm yanlışları düzeltmelerini kutlayarak, Yüce Allah'tan, Türkmen milleti sadık evlatlarına doğru yolu göstersin. İnşallah o çabalar verimli olup, Diyala'da Türkmenler için tüm işler rayına oturtacaktır.





Iraqi forces agree with Kurds to defuse tension

27 November 2012 / MINHAC ÇELIK, ZAMAN -

Iraqi military leaders agreed on Monday with commanders from the Kurdistan region to defuse tension and discuss pulling their troops back from an area over which they both claim jurisdiction. Military leaders from both sides met at the Ministry of Defence in Baghdad in the presence of a senior military officer from the United States on Monday.



A statement from the commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces said the two sides had agreed to “start pacifying the situation and discuss a mechanism to return the forces which were deployed after the crisis to their previous positions”.

A spokesman for the Kurdistan regional government said the Kurdish delegation would report back to the political leadership, which would decide what steps to take next.

Turkmens, Kurds on tenterhooks over Iraqi-Kurdish prospect of war

Iraq’s Kurdish and Turkmen minorities are unnerved that a recent standoff between the Kurdish peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army could turn into clashes, undermining stability in the country’s Kurdish-run north and leaving the Turkmens in the middle of a debilitating conflict. Tension has been mounting in Iraq as the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region began sending troops last week to an area over which they both claim jurisdiction. On Saturday, a Kurdish military official said peshmerga troops and tanks had been sent to the Kirkuk area to block the road to the disputed city to the Iraqi troops.

Although the confrontation seemed to be easing on Monday, Kurds and Turkmens of northern Iraq are on tenterhooks. The Kurds are worried that the prospect of a war between the Iraqi army and the Kurdish forces is already taking its toll on the Kurdish region’s economic stability, while the Turkmens fear they will suffer as a result of collateral damage from a Kurdish-Arab war.

A delegation from the Kurdish Ministry for Peshmerga Affairs had talks with Iraqi military officials in Baghdad on Monday to resolve the tension following mediation by Iraqi Parliament Speaker Usama al-Nujayfi. The two sides discussed ways to ease the tension and set guidelines for the withdrawal of Kurdish and Iraqi forces from areas where they are currently in a standoff, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs Jabbar Yawar told the Anatolia news agency.

The Iraqi government and the Kurdish administration have been at loggerheads over the formation of a new command center for Iraqi forces to operate in the disputed areas, called the Dijla Operations Command. Kurds consider the Dijla Operations Command as a threat and an attempt by Prime Minister Maliki to seize control over the oil rich territories along the internal border that demarcates the Kurdish region from the rest of Iraq. Maliki, on the other hand, says the Dijla Operations Command is necessary to keep order in one of the most volatile parts of the country.

The tension took a new turn about a week ago when Iraqi troops went after a fuel smuggler who had taken refuge in the office of a Kurdish political party in Tuz Khurmato, 170 kilometers north of Baghdad, sparking a clash with Kurdish peshmerga fighters in which one passerby was killed.

The Turkmens, the third biggest ethnic group in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds, are concerned that they will end up paying the price for a Kurdish-Baghdad conflict, given their status as a community with no military force for self-defense. “The Turkmens will pay the biggest price because, unlike all other Iraqi groups, we have no militia force,” Hasan Turan, an executive board member of the umbrella group, the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC). “We have no armed forces yet we are in the middle of the conflict zone,” he told Today’s Zaman, urging Turkey “not to remain a bystander” as long-running tension risks turning into clashes.Most of Iraq’s Turkmen population lives in northern Iraq and the areas whose control is a matter of dispute between Arbil and Baghdad. In fact, the site of the recent flare-up, Tuz Khurmato, is a predominantly Turkmen town. 

Turkmens share close ethnic and linguistic links with Turkey, which threatened in the past to declare war on the Kurds if they violated Turkmen rights. But the relations between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds have improved drastically over recent years, replacing the talk of war on Kurds with impressive economic cooperation. The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which has been at loggerheads with Maliki, has blamed the Shiite prime minister for the recent tension with the Kurds and Erdoğan himself warned that Maliki’s policies could lead to a sectarian conflict in Iraq. According to Hicran Kazancı, the Turkey representative of the ITC there are signs that the tension is subsiding but Turkey should keep channels of communication with all sides open so as to establish lasting peace. “Because we do not know what tomorrow will bring in the region where balances are very delicate,” Kazancı said.

Iraqi Kurds are Sunni while Turkmens are not monolithic in terms of sectarian identity. Turan said the fact that there are both Shiite and Sunni Turkmens does not mean they are divided along sectarian lines. “We know how to act united when it comes to issues of strategic importance,” he said.

Kazancı said Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmato will be affected most seriously in the event of clashes between the peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army and called for the formation of armed forces that will include Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs in Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmato for the protection of these areas.

Stability at risk in northern Iraq

In the Kurdish-run northern provinces of Arbil and Dohuk, residents are worried that their hard-won stability and economic prosperity will disappear as the prospect of an armed conflict with the Baghdad government loom. “Stability is our priority. Possibilities of a military confrontation harm the stable atmosphere,” said a source close to the Kurdish administration, complaining that it is getting increasingly difficult to convince investors to keep their investments in northern Iraq. Northern Iraq has been the most stable region of Iraq since the US-led war in 2003. Stability has gradually brought prosperity and economic development, as well as foreign investors from a number of countries, including Turkey. According to Mohsin Hassan, who sells sports equipment, the recent tension has brought back the fears of the past. “Every time we hear the noise of a plane, we look up to the sky with fear to see if warplanes are flying above us,” he told Today’s Zaman in Arbil. “There were similar disputes in the past years but this time it is different. We have never been that close to an armed conflict before,” he said.


In Dohuk, tension is less visible and business seems brisk. Residents complain about Maliki’s policies but say war as a means to resolve the disagreements should be avoided. “There could be war if it is necessary but we want a political solution,” Bawer Ibrahim, a member of the peshmerga, said, adding, “It does not mean we are afraid of war.”

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-299384-.html

lundi 26 novembre 2012

International conference for higher education to be held next Tuesday in Iraq


 November 26, 2012.


A statement by the Ministry quoted the Director General of the Research & Development Office also head of the preparatory commission for the conference, Mohamed Atiya al-Saraj, as saying “The meeting will be held under slogan (Development towards Society of knowledge) where it will be participated by experts from UK, US, Holland, Australia, and Ireland.”
“The activities of the conference, which is organized in collaboration with Iraqi Scientists Network (Nisa), will be held at Universities of Baghdad, Mustansiriya, Nahrein, and Technology for three days respectively,” the statement concluded.


Read more: http://www.iraqinews.com/features/international-conference-for-higher-education-to-be-held-on-next-tuesday-in-iraq/#ixzz2DLPnHkuK

UNAMI newsletter OCTOBER 2012


http://unami.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspx?link=Documents%2FNewsletter%2FNewsletter_October2012_en.pdf&tabid=2790&mid=5913&language=en-US

dimanche 25 novembre 2012

أربيل ترسل تعزيزات جديدة إلى كركوك


  كركوك ,   كردستان ,   مسعود البارزاني ,   إقليم كردستان ,   إقليم كردستان العراق

القوات الكردية وقد انتشرت في كركوك


أربيل ترسل تعزيزات جديدة إلى كركوك

الأحد  25 نوفمبر, 2012
أبوظبي - سكاي نيوز عربية

قال مسؤول عسكري كردي كبير إن أربيل أرسلت تعزيزات إلى منطقتي كركوك وخانقين المتنازع عليهما بين إقليم كردستان العراق والحكومة المركزية في بغداد.

وبدأ أحدث تصعيد قبل أسبوع عندما طاردت القوات العراقية مهرب وقود لجأ إلى مكتب حزب سياسي كردي في طوز خورماتو الواقعة على بعد 170 كيلومترا شمالي العاصمة، ما أثار اشتباكا مع مقاتلي البشمركة الكردية، قتل فيه أحد المارة.
ويقول الأكراد إن "قيادة عمليات دجلة" -التي تشكلت مؤخرا وانتشرت في كركوك- تعتبر تهديدا لهم، ومحاولة من جانب رئيس الوزراء العراقي نوري المالكي للسيطرة على الأراضي الغنية بالنفط على الحدود الداخلية التي تحدد المنطقة الكردية عن بقية العراق. في حين يقول المالكي إن قيادة عمليات دجلة ضرورية للحفاظ على النظام في واحدة من أكثر المناطق اضطرابا في البلاد.
ويشكل هذا التحرك الثاني من نوعه للقوات الكردية هذا العام، ويشير إلى مدى تدهور العلاقات بين الحكومة المركزية في بغداد، والمواطنين المنحدرين من أصل كردي، بعد عام تقريبا من رحيل القوات الأميركية.
وبدأت بغداد ومنطقة كردستان التي تتمتع بحكم ذاتي في العراق في إرسال قوات الأسبوع الماضي إلى منطقة يطالب كل طرف بالسيادة عليها، ما زاد من التوترات في نزاع دائر منذ فترة طويلة بشأن الأراضي وحقوق النفط.
وقال أنور حاج عثمان، نائب وزير الشؤون العسكرية الكردي، في ساعة متأخرة من الليلة الماضية، إنه تم تعبئة مزيد من القوات والدبابات الكردية، واتجهت صوب المناطق المتنازع عليها.
وأضاف أن هذه القوات ستقف في مواقعها ما لم تقم القوات العراقية بتحرك. وقال عثمان إنه إذا تجاوزا الخط ستتم مهاجمتهم.
وكاد قتال ينشب بين الجيش العراقي والقوات الكردية سابقا، إلا أنهما كانا يتراجعان في آخر لحظة.
وقال رئيس البرلمان العراقي الذي زار الرئيس الكردي مسعود البرزاني يوم الجمعة، إنه تم إحراز تقدم ملموس نحو نزع فتيل المواجهة، وإن اجتماعا بين القادة العسكريين من الجانبين سيعقد يوم الاثنين في وزارة الدفاع في بغداد.
وتدخلت واشنطن لإنهاء مواجهة مماثلة في أغسطس، لتخفيف التوترات الناجمة عن إنشاء مركز قيادة جديد للقوات العراقية للعمل في المناطق المتنازع عليها.
ورفض البارزاني السبت دعوة من رجل الدين والنائب الشيعي مقتدى الصدر للقاء المالكي لبحث الوضع.
وفي بيان نشر على موقع الحكومة الكردية على الإنترنت قال متحدث باسم البارزاني إنه رفض لأن القضية ليست شخصية، لكن إلى حد ما نتيجة ما وصفه البيان بعدم التزام المالكي المستمر بالدستور.
وزادت مشاحنات المالكي مع البرزاني منذ أن انسحبت العام الماضي القوات الأميركية التي كانت تعمل عازلا بين حكومة بغداد الاتحادية وكردستان.

Irak merkez hükümeti ile bölgesel Kürt yönetimi arasındaki gerginlik artarak devam ediyor.

25 Kasım 2012 Pazar 01:53

http://www.yazete.com/dunya/pesmergelerden-tehlikeli-adim-515316.html 

Kuzey Irak'ta akşam saatlerinde Peşmerge güçlerince 125 tank Kerkük'e sevk edildi. Yapılan sevkiyatla Kerkük'ün Arafa semti ayrıca Erbil ve Süleymaniye girişlerine peşmerge güçleri gönderildi.

Irak Başbakanı Nuri El Maliki'nin Dicle Operasyonlar Komutanlığını kurmasıyla patlak veren Irak merkez hükümeti ile bölgesel Kürt yönetimi arasındaki gerginlik artarak devam ediyor. Tuzhurmatu, Kerkük ve Diyale gibi kentlerde, Dicle güçleri güvenlik sorumluluğunu üstleneceği belirtilmiş, ancak bu karara bölgesel Kürt yönetimi bu bölgelerin anlaşmazlık bölgesi olduğunu ve buralarda askeri güç bulunmasının Kürdistan bölgesel yönetimi için bir tehdit oluşturacağını savunarak karşı çıkmıştı.

Son günlerde her iki taraftan da belirtilen bölgelere askeri sevkiyat yapmaya devam etti. Yapılan karşılıklı açıklamalarda, her iki taraf da tetikte beklediklerini ve herhangi bir çatışmaya hazır olduklarını belirtti. Son sevkiyat Kerkük'e, Peşmerge güçlerine bağlı çevik kuvvet tarafından 125 tank ve zırhlı araç sevkiyatı yapıldı. Kerkük'ün Arafa semti, Erbil ve Süleymaniye girişlerine peşmerge güçleri gönderildi. Askeri birliklerin başına Bölgesel Kürt Yönetimi Başkanı Mesut Barzani'nin kardeşi Seyhat Barzani'nin olması dikkat çekti. Askeri sevkiyatla ilgili Irak merkezi hükümeti tarafından açıklama yapılmadı.

jeudi 22 novembre 2012

Nujaifi proposes initiative on Baghdad-Arbil dispute



22 NOVEMBER  2012


BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Parliament Speaker Usama Nujaifi proposed an initiative to minimize the gap between Baghdad and Arbil.
In a statement by the Parliament Presidency, copy received by Aswat al-Iraq, Nujaifi made “an initiative to solve the crisis to prevent the agonies of a civil war”.
Nujaifi will start today a number of meetings with Baghdad and Arbil political leaders to “reach drastic solutions and to save the country from an internal strife that may lead to grave consequences”.

IRAQ: Heavy Iraqi armored vehicles head to Hamrin Mountains


KIRKUK,  aswataliraq.info – Kurdistan region, 22.11.2102 –  Iraqi heavy armored vehicles left Baghdad heading to Tuz district and arrived in Hamrin Mountains, a source from the 16th brigade of the Iraqi army said on Wednesday.

“A motorcade consists of 11 tanks, 12 hammers arrived in Hamrin Mountains,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Tensions have been steadily building this week over the formation of a new command centre for Iraqi forces to operate in an area over which both Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) claim jurisdiction.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi army rushed thousands of troops and reinforcements to the area after the Kurdish regional government placed its Peshmerga militia forces on high alert along the arc of disputed territory that spans the borders of the semiautonomous Kurdish enclave. Colonel Dhia al-Wakil, a spokesman for the Iraqi army, said the additional troops were dispatched “only as a precautionary measure, to face any possible attack from the Peshmerga.” But Kurds said they suspect that the reinforcements, which include tanks and heavy artillery, signal an intent to attack their forces.
“If the central government keeps sending these extra troops, we fear there may be clashes,” said Jabar Yawar, the Peshmerga’s secretary general. “If one bullet is fired, the whole of the disputed areas will erupt in flames.”
American officials have stepped in to mediate amid concerns that a crisis that is rapidly becoming the country’s worst since US troops left almost a year ago could erupt into a full-blown war.

mercredi 21 novembre 2012

AHMET DENIZ (PKK) : WE ARE READY TO FIGHT TOGETHER WITH PESHMERGA

PKK and Peshmerga, are one and the same

LE PKK et les Peshmergas: bonnet blanc blanc bonnet

What they call Iraq's 'Kurdistan region' includes Turkmen cities and villages (Turkmeneli region). 
Once again the unarmed Turkmens are caught between hammer and anvil.


According to Shaffaaq.com: 

QANDIL/ERBIL, shafaaq.com / AFP – REUTERS - 21.11.2012 –


PKK declared its willingness to fight with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on the event of any attack or military incursion by Iraq, calling for the Iraqi Army to reconsider its decisions away from violence.

lundi 19 novembre 2012

Iraqi PM Rejects Biden's Offer for Deployment of US Troops in Kirkuk


TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
rejected a proposal by US Vice-President Joe
Biden for the deployment of the US forces in Iraq's
Northern province of Kirkuk.






Biden in a telephone conversation with Iraqi prime
minister Saturday night asked for Maliki's consent
to the deployment of the US troops in Kirkuk, but
the premier rejected the US vice-president's offer,
an informed source told FNA in Baghdad on Sunday.

The source, who asked to remain unnamed due to
the sensitivity of his information, said during the
phone talk, Biden voiced concern about a recent
clash between the Pishmerga forces of the Iraqi
Kurdistan region - who are the local law
enforcement troops of the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) - and Iraq's Federal Police
troops, and said the US troops should be
deployed in the oil rich Kirkuk province in a bid
to prevent the outbreak of a civil war.

"But the Iraqi Prime Minister strongly rejected
Biden's proposal," the source added.

Earlier this year in June, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki cancelled a pending visit by the US
vice-president to Baghdad, which was aimed
at meetings with high-ranking Iraqi officials.

"Nuri al-Maliki did not allow US Vice-President
Joe Biden to visit Iraq," an informed source in
the Iraqi prime minister's information bureau
told FNA in Baghdad in June.

Earlier reports by a website affiliated to the
Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq said that the
cancellation of Biden's visit by Maliki was ordered
after it had been revealed that the US
vice-president was due to visit the Kurdish
city of Erbil.

samedi 17 novembre 2012

Tony Blair and the protesters who keep trying to arrest him for war crimes


From book signings and lectures to the Leveson inquiry, Tony Blair is pursued by protesters everywhere – some have even tried to arrest him. Who are these people, and what drives them?

Protesters calling for Tony Blair’s arrest for war crimes march outside Senate House in London
Out for justice … Protesters calling for Tony Blair’s arrest for war crimes march outside Senate House in London, where Blair was thought to be delivering a lecture this week. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian


"Is that him in the tie? I'll go and applaud him," says a woman sitting yesterday in the waiting area of Haringey magistrates court in north London. People clap as David Lawley-Wakelin, dressed in a black corduroy jacket, appears. Days earlier, at a demonstration, he had been described as "a hero of the anti-war movement". His supporters – around 30 of them – who turned up at 9am on Friday seem to agree. Many repeatedly thank him for what he did on 28 May this year, when he burst into court 73 of the Royal Courts of Justice, where Tony Blair was giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry, and accused the former prime minister of being a war criminal.




We file in, filling all 27 seats in the public gallery; a further group outside have erected an anti-war banner and hold placards. Since Lawley-Wakelin is accused of being guilty of an offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, of causing harassment, alarm or distress, James Mason, his barrister, makes much of how his client is cordial and charming – the "excuse me" he uttered as he started his protest, the co-operation with the police afterwards – and that this case is like "a sledgehammer to crack a very polite and modest nut".

A television news report featuring CCTV footage of the incident is played several times. Lawley-Wakelin gives the slightest hint of a smile when it gets to the part where he is bundled back out of the door behind Lord Leveson's desk, shouting "that man [Blair] is a war criminal". The district judge goes off to consider his decision; Lawley-Wakelin and his supporters go off for a pub lunch.


We first meet days before his court appearance at a hotel near King's Cross. Later, we'll go on to join a protest led by the Stop the War campaign group outside University College London, where Blair is thought to be speaking at a conference at the Institute of Security and Resilience Studies, which is affiliated to UCL (he isn't here, it soon turns out; he is at another building in London Bridge). He said he wasn't nervous about appearing before a magistrate. "When you go to court, usually you're being taken to court for something where there's a good chance you're guilty, and you're going along and grovelling. I'm going along knowing I'm in the right."

On that day in May, Lawley-Wakelin thought he would try to get into the room where the Leveson inquiry was taking place. He went in round the back and managed to walk unhindered through a series of corridors and unlocked doors. He turned back, he says, before he got to the courtroom's door – the one used by Lord Leveson – went to the loo and called his mother. "I asked if I should do it and she said, 'You won't get another chance, so go ahead.' So I went for it." He says he had previously tried to get into the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, "but the security was much tighter. I was close."

Lawley-Wakelin, a film-maker and father of two, says he wasn't particularly political before going on the march against the Iraq war in 2003, but now feels protesting against the war is a duty. "My generation has got away scot-free – we're far too interested in the latest car or phone, we don't have any understanding of what real hardship due to war is like. We're not concerned about the future of the planet enough for our children. It's time our generation stood up and did something for our kids."

We leave the hotel and walk in the crisp November sunshine to UCL, where between 100 and 150 people of all ages have gathered, with banners and drums and "Bliar" placards. "You do see the same faces on these things," says Lawley-Wakelin. What keeps them doing it? Chris Holden, a retired paintings conservator who now brings his own artwork to most anti-war demos, says he is passionately committed to the cause, but adds, "you build up relationships with the people you are working with".

Nicholas Wood, an architect and secretary of the Blair War Crimes Foundation campaign group, who attends both the protest outside UCL and shows up in support of Lawley-Wakelin outside the magistrates court, admits "it has taken up a lot of my energy". Why does he still do it, year after year? "I have terrible images in my head of things that have happened in Falluja." Doesn't it get disheartening when the number of people attending protests dwindles? "Yes, it does, really," he says. "But then something happens, like Desmond Tutu saying what he did." He is referring to the archbishop's decision, at the end of August, to pull out of a summit he was due to appear at with Blair, later writing in the Observer: "The immorality of the United States and Great Britain's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, premised on the lie that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, has destabilised and polarised the world to a greater extent than any other conflict in history." It had lent the campaign – led by a small but dedicated number – new weight that many activists are describing as a turning point.


David Lawley-Wakelin interrupting Tony Blair's appearance at the Leveson inquiry in May this year Link to this vidLess than a week after Lawley-Wakelin made his appearance from behind the curtain at the Leveson inquiry, another man approached Blair – this time as he delivered a lecture on faith and globalisation at Hong Kong University. Tom Grundy, 29, a Briton who lives in Hong Kong, spent the previous weekend deciding whether or not to go through with his plan to attempt a citizen's arrest on Blair. After an email exchange with George Monbiot, the Guardian columnist and founder of the Arrest Blair website, which encourages people to stage a citizen's arrest on the former prime minister, he decided to do it. The location was an intimate lecture theatre, and as Blair began to speak, Grundy stood up, handed a business card to a local journalist sitting next to him and moved calmly towards the lectern."I didn't know until the last minute whether I'd pull it off," he says, speaking from Hong Kong, where he has lived for the past seven years. "I'd gone over it enough in my head, [but] it was still nerve-racking." He clutched the speech he had prepared and began reading: "You misled the British people, you caused the deaths of a 100,000 people … you can't talk about faith when you've set back religious tolerance decades."

People started to applaud before Grundy was ushered away by security staff. A smiling Blair, standing on the stage, said, "You've made your point," then to the crowd: "And that's democracy for you."

"It's that dusting it off which is typical of how Blair and Bush dealt with any dissent during the Bush-Blair era," says Grundy. One of the organisers can be heard remarking to Blair that he must be used to this kind of confrontation. "Actually, I am used to it," came the reply.

Grundy's was the fourth attempt to be recognised and rewarded by Monbiot's campaign, which was launched in January 2010. It wants to arrest the former prime minister – or rather to get arrest attempts publicised – for what Monbiot and others describe as Blair's crime of aggression, which is responsible, so it is argued, for the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis following an illegal invasion in 2003. "The true purpose is to ensure that this issue does not lie," says Monbiot. "I set this up with the overwhelming sense that there was one rule for the powerful and one rule for the weak."

The campaign offers a cash reward for arrest attempts – it has to be peaceful, and must be reported by the mainstream media to qualify – and has so far paid out around £10,000 to the four claimants from a pot of more than £18,000 (legitimate attempts are awarded a quarter of whatever is in the account at the time; all four have given their rewards to charity). The site is driven by well-wishers donating small amounts, but within days of launching, PayPal, the online payment system, withdrew its services, and now the campaign is, rather quaintly, forced to take money through cheques in the post.

On 29 January 2010, just a few days after the website was launched, Grace McCann, a 35-year-old charity worker, impulsively slipped into the Queen Elizabeth conference hall in Westminster before Blair was due to give evidence at the Chilcot inquiry. Striding confidently past the heavy police presence, she burst through the double doors into the foyer and called for Blair's arrest. He wasn't even in the room, but McCann was bundled out by the police all the same.

Two months later, David Cronin, a journalist, got much closer. He placed his hand on Blair's shoulder and attempted an arrest as his entourage streamed past on a visit to the European parliament. They exchanged a split-second glance before Cronin, too, was bundled away. "It almost felt like I was floating – a bit of a natural high, I suppose." Later that year, Kate O'Sullivan, now a 26-year-old international law graduate, approached Blair at a signing of his autobiography in a bookshop in Dublin. There had been talk of an arrest attempt among local activists, she says, but she kept her intentions to herself. The evening before Blair was due to arrive, she watched footage of the first night of Baghdad's bombardment, when "shock and awe" lit the night sky, and her heart was set.

The next day, O'Sullivan queued up and underwent a series of security checks – she passed through a metal detector, was frisked a number of times, purchased a copy of A Journey, Blair's book, climbed the stairs to the third floor, passed a horde of security personnel, and was eventually ushered in front of him, alone.

"Tony Blair," she said, "I am making a citizen's arrest for your war crimes." Blair, she says, simply smiled and continued signing her book. "They [the security staff] immediately grabbed me, pulling me away, restraining my arms, telling me to shut up as I shouted breaches of the Geneva Convention I believed he had committed." She was held for about half an hour, and was released without charge.

It's fair to say that none of those attempting an arrest have any realistic expectations of single-handedly bringing Blair to the Hague. The hope is that the individual actions create a sense of fear and keep the media interested at the same time: "He [Blair] needs to feel that wherever he goes it'll happen," says Grundy, "The tide is already turning, and the point becomes irresistible if it's kept in the media. We're constantly starting debate about the issue, and eventually it will have to be addressed."

The campaign group Stop the War is also involved in the cat-and-mouse game with Blair, following his movements and staging protests wherever he is due to appear. The pressure appears to work. In September 2010, both his book signing at Waterstone's in central London, and launch party at the Tate Modern, were cancelled after protests were planned. Keeping tabs on Blair's public appearances are tricky, say campaigners. His diary is closely guarded, and despite their relatively large network, many of his appearances escape unnoticed – nobody turned up to arrest him at a Chinese restaurant in Hull last week, where Blair was supporting John Prescott's bid to become Humberside's police and crime commissioner.

John Rentoul, Blair biographer and longtime supporter of the ex-PM, concedes the tactics are taking their toll: "I know he hates it. It's wounding for someone who was so popular and successful at persuading people to vote for him to find that he's so disliked by such a large minority of people. It must be extremely frustrating for him to be unable to move around his own country freely, given that, on a fair and balanced reading of his record, he was quite a successful prime minister."

But, so Rentoul argues, the roots of this popular dissent grew from Blair's own media tactics: "He has always shown an unusual degree of self-control and has had to deal with this kind of hostility for a long time now. As prime minister, in the run-up to the Iraq war, he went on those TV programmes, as part of what Alastair Campbell called the masochism strategy. You could see the start of it then – the studio audiences treated him with a sort of disrespect that you hadn't seen for a long time."

Back in the court, after a long wait, the district judge finds Lawley-Wakelin guilty, fines him £100 and orders him to pay £250 court costs. Lawley-Wakelin, standing straight-backed, reddens slightly. Outside he stands on the steps, the lights of a television camera on his face. "I'd like to thank each individual for turning up and waiting all day for the deliberation," he says. "For me to have been found guilty of causing Tony Blair harassment, alarm or distress, for calling him a war criminal while he is giving evidence in an inquiry that is looking into the lies and deceits of others is the greatest hypocrisy I've heard in a very long time." He goes on for another minute, his supporters nodding as he speaks, before they start to walk off into the darkening afternoon.


Note: 
One comment underneath the article says:

This article is inaccurate in a number of important respects.

Tony Blair is already a CONVICTED war criminal. He was convicted by an international court in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year. GW Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales were convicted alongside Tony Blair.
As a result of this conviction these people can no longer visit Canada. The Canadian authorities have a statutory duty to arrest anyone convicted of war crimes.
Which other former British Prime Minister could not visit Canada?
Invite Tony Blair to Canada and see what he says.
Without a shadow of doubt Tony Blair is responsible for the deaths of all those who died on 7/7. 
If he hadn't single handedly pushed to support the US of invasion of Iraq, based on total lies and distortions of the intel reports, 7/7 would never have happened.
But I think that this is even worse.
Tony Blair condoned and supported a government that did this. 
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/italian-supreme-court-head-calls-for.html 
Tony Blair is a war criminal and he was convicted by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal indeed.
We can't stress enough the importance of the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise war and the verdicts of the 2 trials: Blair & Bush were found guilty of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Read the verdict here: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/KLWarCrimes2011.htm 

The Turkmen And Arab Groups in Kirkuk Reach An Agreement Regarding Some Election Conditions.


15 November  2012




The Turkmen and Arab groups in Kirkuk Province assembly reach an
agreement regarding some conditions and principles which must be
realized during the local elections in Kirkuk.
The groups convened yesterday to discuss the local elections in Kirkuk
and the election mechanism and reached an agreement regarding some
basic issues. Among these issues is the review and revision of the
electoral roll in accordance with article 23 of the Local Election Law
as well as carrying out the post election local administration
distribution according to the same article.
A joint statement was issued at a press conference arranged after the
meeting. According to the statement the Turkmen and Arab groups had
reached a consensus on holding the elections in Kirkuk after the
special election law for Kirkuk was enacted, to hold the elections
under the supervision of the Kirkuk Division of the  Independent
Supreme Election Commission and under the control of  Federal law
enforcement forces and that Kirkuk was a single election region.
Member of Kirkuk Province  Assembly Ali Mehdi forwarded the proposal
of the Turkmen group to the United Nations Special Envoy Martin Kobler
for Kirkuk to be made into a federal entity.
Kirkuk Province Assembly Head of the Arab Group Abdullah Sami El Asi
explained that the reason for the alliance made with the Turkmen group
was to ensure justice in the city.

vendredi 16 novembre 2012

Kazancı attended the anniversary reception held to celebrate the establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)




Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) Turkey Representative Dr. Hicran Kazancı attended the reception held to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The reception hosted by TRNC Ambassador his Excellency Mustafa Lakadamyalı and his wife at the Swissotel was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Sadık Yakut, Commander of Air Forces Full General Mehmet Erten, Commander of the Navy Full Admiral Murat Bilgel, Commander of Training and Doctrine Full General Servet Yörük, Head of Felicity Party Mustafa Kamalak, Deputy Head of JD Party Salih Kapusuz, Deputy Head of NMP Tuğrul Türkeş, members of parliament as well as Rahşan Ecevit, the wife of the deceased Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. A group of folkdancers performed at the reception and Arınç and Lakadamyalı cut the celebratory cake together.



mercredi 14 novembre 2012

Car bomb blasts kill at least 14 across Iraq




The holy month of Muharram is of special significance to Shi'ite Muslims, who are a prime target of al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate and other Sunni Islamist insurgents seeking to re-ignite the kind of sectarian violence that gripped the country in 2006-2007.

The deadliest explosion took place in the disputed and ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, where four bombs planted in parked cars went off simultaneously, killing nine people and wounding 30, police said.
 See: 

mardi 13 novembre 2012

Why it is Tony Blair and not me who should be in the dock on 16 November



25 October 2012
David Lawley-Wakelin


David Lawley-Wakelin has been charged under the public order act 1986 for using threatening abusive or insulting words or behavior that may have caused someone harassment, alarm or distress.


By David Lawley-Wakelin
Stop the War Coalition
25 October 2012



David Lawley-Wakelin bursts into Leveson Inquiry as Tony Blair is giving evidence: "Excuse me, this man should be arrested for war crimes."



David Lawley-Wakelin is led by police from the Leveson Inquiry after his attempt to arrest Tony Blair.
Wrong Man in the Dock protest
Friday 16 November 9am
Highgate Court House, Bishops Road
London N6 4HS
Map...

On 27 May 2012, anti-war protester David Lawley-Wakelin interrupted Tony Blair, as he was giving evidence at Leveson Inquiry into the British press and the phone-hacking scandal, shouting, "Excuse me, this man should be arrested for war crimes." Lord Leveson duly apologised to the war criminal and truth-teller Lawley-Wakelin was taken away by the police.
He has now been charged under the Public Order Act 1986 for using threatening abusive or insulting words or behavior that may have caused someone harassment alarm or distress.

Unlike Tony Blair, who has not been charged with anything, despite conspiring with George W Bush in waging an illegal war against Iraq, which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, drove four million from their homes, and devastated the country.
Instead of being held to account for his lies to parliament and the British public, Blair has been free to accumulate huge wealth -- estimated at over £60 million -- often by exploiting the contacts he made in the war on Iraq.

David Lawley-Wakelin will appear in court on 16 November.

Why it is Tony Blair and not me who should be in the dock
By David Lawley-Wakelin

My Mother and Father fought for this country in the 2nd world war seeing off the imperialist evil that was Hitler and the Nazis. My father was in the Normandy landings whilst my mother witnessed the blitz finding herself evacuated from her home.

When I was just three months old they adopted me bringing me up in a very stable loving home. After all they did for me and being a British citizen of this country my conscience will not just allow me to stand by whilst our nation's good name has been criminally disgraced.
As a nation we are being asked to turn a blind eye to what millions of us believe: that former prime minister Tony Blair, in a conspiracy with George W Bush, deceived us into a corrupt and illegal Iraq war that took the lives of over half a million people. Since he left office he has has accumulated tune over £60 million on the back of his lies.

Ministers may well be dishonest about their expense claims, they may well be dishonest about their dealings with the press, but if there is one thing a Prime minister must be absolutely honest about then surely its his country's decision to go to war, as that is obviously the one decision that might just involve the loss of somebody else's life.

The lies that Blair told have been highlighted time an time again. In his dodgy dossier, Blair said it was beyond doubt that Saddam Hussein had WMD which could be ready within 45 minutes. There was no evidence for this claim.
Alistair Campbell persistently denied that the dodgy dossier was 'sexed up', when he had in fact demanded fifteen changes to one draft,
The intelligence services were telling Blair that the intelligence on Saddam's weapons was ' limited', yet two weeks later he was telling the House of Commons that it was 'extensive detailed and authoritative'.

Why did Blair not accept the original advice of the then Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, that the war was illegal? Major Tim Cross and Claire Short had told Blair that the plans for post war Iraq were inadequate and that the war should be delayed. Blair ignored them.
Knowing that Iraq was crippled from 10 years of sanctions, George W Bush and Tony Blair believed the war would be over in months. No one would then care or notice, five years later, the business deals that were to follow. Blair predicted that after he left office it would all be old news, swept under the carpet. However just six months after he left office, and while the war was still raging with hundreds of lives being lost every week, he was already starting to sign deals.

The world is now perilously close to another war in the Middle East. I believe if we could bring Bush and Blair to trial for their war crimes, there will be an enormous shake up in the world which could prevent future imperialist wars.

The Public Order Act 1986 -- under which I have been charged with causing "distress" to the war criminal Blair -- states that in my defense I need to demonstrate that my conduct was reasonable. I will of course be pleading not guilty, which will enable me to make a statement and call witnesses. I am asking anyone who attended the Levison Inquiry when I made my protest, and is prepared to be called as a witness in my defence, to call me on 07976 281 311 or email davidlawleyw@gmail.com
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
When I appear in court on Friday 16 November, please come and support me, if you can -- from the public gallery or outside as part of the Wrong man in the Dock protest, 9am, Highgate Court House, Bishops Road, London N6 4HS.


dimanche 11 novembre 2012

Iraq’s Christians Key to Iraq’s Past, Future




Iraqi Christians attend an Easter Mass at Chaldean Catholic church in Amman, 
April 15, 2012. Thousands of Iraqi Christians fled to neighboring Jordan 
following a spate of bombings that targeted churches in Iraqi cities in the
past few years. (photo by REUTERS/Ali Jarekji)

By: Nassif al-Jabouri. Translated from Azzaman (Iraq).

Everyone knows that Iraqi Christians, along with other groups, make up the essence and roots of Iraq that extend deep into history. They established this country, lived in it and enjoyed its wealth. They witnessed both good times and hardships since the devastating eras until the United States occupation in 2003.

On another note, the former regime, which lasted from 1979 to 2003, enjoyed wars and taking risks. Saddam Hussein’s regime dragged the country into a dark tunnel since 1980, a year that witnessed the start of the eight-year war with Iran and was followed by the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The war on Kuwait led to the international coalition war against Iraq in 1991, and as a result both the United States and the former regime decided to impose an unjust siege on the country.

The Iraqi people, including the Christians, were forced to pay the high price of hunger, disease and death while the world’s conscience took a vacation.
The greatest catastrophe befell the Iraqi people in 2003 when the US and Britain invaded Mesopotamia. The barbaric US invasion of Iraq in 2003 had violated all sanctity by destroying the nation and killing its people. US bombs, which are banned under international law, targeted all Iraqis and did not discriminate between Muslims and Christians. Furthermore, the sectarian war that rose after the occupation of Iraq targeted everyone, including Christians mainly in Baghdad and Mosul. 

According to 2005 statistics, Christians comprise about 2% of the total population of Iraq, which amounts to 33 million. For a long time, they have been residing in major cities, such as Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk, Irbil, Al-Halla, and others.

The tragedies of Iraqi Muslims and Christians started to further unfold in 2003 with the arrival of the US invasion army that destroyed the structural system of the nation. It created a new regime that it would never desire for itself, characterized by political, economic and military systems from the Middle Ages, present amid a system of rule dominated by the influence of sects and ethnicities.

This regime — or, rather, the absence of a regime — has created massive security vacuum that paved the way for the outbreak of chaos in the country. This was followed by the drafting of a distorted constitution that led to dividing the Iraqi people into three groups based on ethnic and sectarian affiliations, while leaving the fate of other key social components —  namely Christians, Turkmens, the Sabeans and others — up in the air.

The devastation of the Iraqi economy by the US war machine resulted in failed industrial and agricultural sectors, which were looted by gangs supported by the invading forces. What added insult to injury was the decision made by the US ruler in Baghdad, Paul Bremer, to dissolve the Iraqi army. 

His decision was supported by Iraqi politicians who supported the US occupation. The dissolution of the army created so much chaos and allowed the emergence and revival of militias, extremists and organized criminal gangs. It also led to the formation of incompetent police services and army.
The aforementioned catastrophic transformations turned the situation into total chaos. National laws were completely abandoned by the occupation. The love for the nation had been devastated by the former regime while the occupation army pounded the last nail in its coffin. The law of the jungle was governing Iraq, in which those who supported America, and the parties and militias that were working for its troops, were freely wreaking havoc in Iraq.

Back then, the absence of laws paved the way for a civil war. Following this heinous war that took place between 2006 and 2008, Iraqi society was torn into pieces as many innocent civilians were killed. The aftermath of this war allowed the spread of organized crime and kidnap operations targeting Shiites and Sunnis. Those kidnap operations also targeted weak minorities, such as the Christians, Turkmens, Sabeans, Yezidis and others, who lacked power to defend themselves.
Obviously, churches, as well as mosques and Hussainiyat [Shiite funeral homes] were targeted by the arbitrary terrorist operations that did not discriminate between religions, or between innocent and guilty individuals. The Christian community could not exercise their religious rituals that are accepted in principle by the Holy Quran and the followers of Prophet Mohammad, peace and prayers be upon him.

As a result, many churches closed their doors to the public and only a few remained; those that did resembled military bases due to the tight security amid threats of acts of terrorism.

Fear became the dominant force in society, which united Christians and their Muslim brothers. Unfortunately, local media outlets along with the politicians increased tensions in society.

On the other hand, the militias, some parties and the organized criminal gangs were concerned with collecting illegal money. They were kidnapping, killing or imprisoning individuals and then blackmailing the families of victims to pay thousands of dollars in return — regardless of the identity of the persons. Christians paid the price dearly due to this dirty business.

Gangs and those affiliated with them were widely targeting the Christian community, for it did not have a militia or an army defending it and solely relied on the government to protect it, at a time when the government was incapable of even protecting itself.

For example, the gangs and militias used political intimidation and terrorism against the Christians residing in Al-Dawrah city, one of the suburbs of Baghdad, by threatening to blow up their houses if they do not promptly abandon them. These families were forced to sell their houses at the cheapest prices to the gangs and militias that had threatened them. Then, these criminals sold the same houses for ridiculously high prices allowing them to gain illegal money after usurping the property of others.
This disgusting business was widely practiced in Al-Karradah, Karadat Mariam and other Iraqi cities.

Attempts aimed at ridding Iraq of its original Christian population by local forces and some European countries would never solve the problem, on the contrary, it will aggravate it. They will also deepen sectarianism and intolerance, allowing racists, militias, criminal gangs and the corrupt to sabotage the country and impose the law of force, instead of enforcing the rule of law.

According to Louis Sako, the Archbishop of Kirkuk, foreign countries, including neighboring ones, should leave Iraq alone without interfering in its internal affairs. He adds if they want to help Iraq they should help all Iraqis without discrimination between sects and religions. He says further it is necessary that we isolate religions from the political polarization and protect them from being used by the politicians to achieve their selfish goals. 

We will be capable of succeeding if Christians and Muslims join ranks. 

Archbishop Sako discussed the struggle over power, money and government positions between the Sunnis and Shiites and between the Arabs and Kurds that led to booby-trapped cars, suicide attacks and blind terrorist operations. He then wondered why forces entrenched the Christian community in their struggle especially since they were not competing with anyone over power and did not have militias carrying out kidnap operations and looting money. Sako went on to say the Christian community is not threatening anyone and seeks to live in peace and harmony.

From a political point of view, it is important for those who have a vision for Iraq to realize that Christians cannot be considered minorities, especially since these are people who love this country and would do anything to defend it. Political majority and minority have nothing to do with religion, sect, ethnicity or gender

This is because politics is established and led by civil parties united or divided due to a certain political, economic and social programs, and then are chosen by the people to be in the majority or the minority with disregard to gender or sect — namely Shiite, Sunni, Christian, Sabean — or ethnicity — namely Arab, Kurd and Turkmen.
In conclusion, history showed that a group of Iraqi Muslim leaders heading secular and Islamist parties have been paving the way for the US occupiers since the 1990s to invade their country and then stood behind their tanks. Also, history showed us that there is not a single Christian leader who collaborated with the US occupiers or aided them in their criminal mission to tear down the country.

About this Article

Summary:
The author describes the role of Iraqi Christians in Iraq’s history, the persecution of the community under Saddam Hussein and by Islamist gangs, and the need for Christians to play a role in Iraq’s future.
Publisher: Azzaman (Iraq) 
Original Title:
Iraq’s Christians
Author: Nassif al-Jabouri 
Published on: Tue, Nov 6, 2012
Translated on: Sat, Nov 10, 2012
Translated by: Nola Abboud