U.N. leader praises Libya ‘transparent’ vote amid calls for grand coalition

Monday, 09 July 2012

Crowds of joyful Libyans, some with tears in their eyes, parted with the legacy of Muammar Qaddafi as they voted in the first free national election in 60 years. (Reuters)

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

 Libyans expect the election results on Monday as U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon called for Libya’s new leaders to govern in a spirit of “justice and reconciliation” as he hailed the country’s first polls since the downfall of Muammar Qaddafi, amid calls for coalition government.

Ban said in a statement released by his spokesman’s office early Monday that Saturday’s voting had been “well-conducted and transparent” even though some Libyans had “faced threats to their security.”

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: U.N. leader praises Libya ‘transparent’ vote amid calls for grand coalition

Benjamin Netanyahu backs controversial army service plan - Telegraph

Benjamin Netanyahu backs controversial army service plan - Telegraph

Massive election turnout in Tripoli | Libya Herald

Massive election turnout in Tripoli | Libya Herald

EXCLUSIVE: Jibril’s National Forces Alliance looks set for victory | Libya Herald

EXCLUSIVE: Jibril’s National Forces Alliance looks set for victory | Libya Herald

Libyans celebrate first free vote, West hails election as democratic milestone

 Sunday, 08 July 2012

Turnout in Libya’s first free elections in decades was put at 60 percent by the country’s Electoral Commission. (Reuters)

By Al Arabiya with Agencies
 

Libya’s first free elections in decades, following the ouster of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, were hailed as a democratic milestone in the West, despite protests disrupting some polling in the restive east.

Turnout was put at 60 percent by the country’s Electoral Commission, according to preliminary figures.  

 In the capital, long queues formed of people keen to elect the General National Congress, which will steer Libya through a transition period.  

 “Words cannot capture my joy, this is a historic day,” said Fawziya Omran, 40, voting in a school in the heart of Tripoli.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: Libyans celebrate first free vote, West hails election as democratic milestone

GO, LIBYA, GO! BBC News - Libya election: High turnout in historic vote

BBC News - Libya election: High turnout in historic vote

msnbc video: Inside Syria, opposition forces gain strength

msnbc video: Inside Syria, opposition forces gain strength

Oakland Occupiers Burn American Flags, Write ‘Kill Cops’ During ‘Fuck the Fourth’ March | Video | TheBlaze.com

Occupiers Burn American Flags, Write ‘Kill Cops’ During ‘Fuck the Fourth’ March | Video | TheBlaze.com

The International Criminal Court’s new chief prosecutor « Invisible Children Blog

Meet Fatou Bensouda. On June 15, 2012 she replaced Luis Moreno-Ocampo as the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The new prosecutor is a native of the African nation of Gambia and studied law in Nigeria. She has previous experience as an attorney and legal adviser during the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was brought together to bring justice to those responsible for the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. For the last eight years she has been working for the ICC as the Deputy Prosecutor. In December of 2011, the participating state parties of the ICC unanimously voted for Bensouda to be Ocampo’s successor.

In 2005 Ocampo made Joseph Kony the first person to be indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity. Ocampo was a great friend to Invisible Children and a consistent advocate for youth involvement in international justice and Kony’s arrest. Ocampo took the court through its first nine years.

While we appreciate Ocampo’s contributions, we are looking forward to this new era of the court. International justice is seeing an uptick in trials and media attention, as exemplified by the trials and convictions of Charles Taylor and Thomas Lubanga this year.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: The International Criminal Court’s new chief prosecutor « Invisible Children Blog

‫اهداف المنتخب الليبي أمام الكاميرون 2-1‬‎ - YouTube LIBYA HOT ON THE SOCCER FIELD

‫اهداف المنتخب الليبي أمام الكاميرون 2-1‬‎ - YouTube THE NEW LIBYA KICKS ASS IN SOCCER

UN’s Ban Ki-Moon sends message to Libya | Libya Herald

UN’s Ban Ki-Moon sends message to Libya | Libya Herald

Will Syria be Kofi Annan’s tragedy redux? - The Washington Post

Will Syria be Kofi Annan’s tragedy redux? - The Washington Post

Iran: We can destroy US bases 'minutes after an attack' - World News

Arash Khamoushi / ISNA via AFP - Getty Images:  In this photo obtained from Iran's state-run ISNA news agency, a short-range Fateh missile is launched during the second day of military exercises in the Kavir Desert on Tuesday.

By msnbc.com news services

 

DUBAI -- Iran has threatened to destroy U.S. military bases across the Middle East and target Israel within minutes of being attacked, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, as Revolutionary Guards extended test-firing of ballistic missiles into a third day.

 

Israel has hinted it may attack Iran if diplomacy fails to secure a halt to its disputed nuclear energy program. The United States also has mooted military action as a last-resort option but has frequently nudged the Israelis to give time for intensified economic sanctions to work against Iran.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: Iran: We can destroy US bases 'minutes after an attack' - World News

Elections to mark new start for Libya economy | Reuters

Elections to mark new start for Libya economy | Reuters

Mahmoudi seen standing unaided in second refutation of torture claims | Libya Herald

Mahmoudi seen standing unaided in second refutation of torture claims | Libya Herald

JFK reading the Declaration of Independence - YouTube

JFK reading the Declaration of Independence - YouTube

Syria's Torture Centers Revealed - YouTube

Syria's Torture Centers Revealed - YouTube

LUNATIC MISOGYNISTS AT IT AGAIN: Herat: Gunmen Set Fire to Girls' School

Herat: Gunmen Set Fire to Girls' School

Mass demonstrations in Benghazi against federalists’ attack on election offices | Libya Herald

Mass demonstrations in Benghazi against federalists’ attack on election offices | Libya Herald

POWERFUL GESTURE: Zawiya offers National Conference seats to Benghazi in extraordinary bid to diffuse federalism row | Libya Herald

Zawiya offers National Conference seats to Benghazi in extraordinary bid to diffuse federalism row | Libya Herald

Syrian opposition agrees to Assad overthrow, backs Free Syrian Army

Syrian opposition agrees to Assad overthrow, backs Free Syrian Army

Expelled Italian priest urges Syrian unity against Assad’s regime

Tuesday, 03 July 2012

After he was expelled from Syria last month, Father Paolo became an unofficial diplomat for the people of Syria and their uprising. (Al Arabiya) 

 

An Italian priest may seem an unlikely champion of Syrian national unity, yet Paolo Dall’Oglio’s is investing immense efforts to bridge deep divisions among Syrians.

Bashar al-Assad’s government expelled Dall’Oglio last month, three decades after he revived a monastery on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Syrian desert that became a center for dialogue between the country’s myriad ethnic and religious communities.  

A big man with a loud voice and a calm manner, Dall’Oglio, 57, has reinvented himself as an unofficial diplomat on behalf of Assad’s opponents abroad. 

As a deeply-divided opposition movement tried to narrow their differences at a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday, the bearded Dall’Oglio was a key fixture, hurrying among the delegates and relaying messages from embattled activists back home.

 

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: Expelled Italian priest urges Syrian unity against Assad’s regime

Syrian army general, dozens of soldiers defect and flee to Turkey

Tuesday, 03 July 2012

Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber said on its website that 85 Syrian soldiers, including the general had defected. (AP file photo)

inShare2

By AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES

A Syrian general from an artillery division and seven officers were among 85 soldiers, mostly serving in Homs province, who defected and fled to Turkey on Monday afternoon, a Syrian activist and Free Syrian Army sources told Reuters.

Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber said on its website that 85 Syrian soldiers, including the general, were among those who were sent to the Apaydin camp in Turkey’s Hatay province.

Last month, another Syrian general, two colonels, two majors, one lieutenant and 33 soldiers had also defected from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and arrived in Turkey.

The private news channel CNN Turk also reported the defections of the soldiers, but said they had arrived with members of their families, making a total of 224 individuals.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE: Syrian army general, dozens of soldiers defect and flee to Turkey

Kosovo to gain full sovereignty - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Kosovo to gain full sovereignty - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Congo Siasa: Fact-checking the M23 rebellion

Congo Siasa: Fact-checking the M23 rebellion

Melinda Taylor and ICC team freed in Zintan | Libya Herald

By George Grant

Zintan, 2 July:

Investigations into the actions of Melinda Taylor (R) and Helene Assaf (L) are now being undertaken by the government and the ICC. Photograph: George Grant

 

The detained Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor was released from captivity in Zintan today, along with three other International Criminal Court representatives held in the town for the past three weeks.

ICC President Sang-Hyun Song, who was only informed of the decision yesterday, flew into Tripoli this morning to be present in Zintan for the announcement.

“I wish to apologise for the difficulties resulting from this train of events”, Sang said. “The information reported by the Libyan authorities will be fully investigated in accordance with ICC procedures following the return of the four staff members to The Hague”.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: Melinda Taylor and ICC team freed in Zintan | Libya Herald

NATO Secretary General Monthly Press Conference - 02 July 2012 - YouTube

NATO Secretary General Monthly Press Conference - 02 July 2012 - YouTube

Memorial Birthday Tribute, July 2: Thoughts by Hermann Hesse - YouTube

Happy birthday, Hermann Hesse, this July 2nd!





Thoughts by Hermann Hesse - YouTube

WATCH: Syrian troops fire on Damascus funeral, killing 30 - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

Footage shows the bodies of those activists said had been killed in the explosion, some barely recognizable and others with limbs missing.

By Reuters | Jul.01, 2012 | 2:19 PM

Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Sermeen, near Idlib, June 29, 2012. Photo by Reuters

Opposition activists said Syrian forces killed more than 30 people on Saturday when they fired a mortar bomb into a funeral procession for a man who died in shelling a day before.

They said amateur video footage, posted on a website, showed the moment the bomb hit the crowd. Another video showed the aftermath - grey smoke filling the air before clearing to show bodies.

The body of the man who activists said was killed a day before lay wrapped in a white shroud on the ground. Moments earlier it was being held above the head of mourners as they marched down the street. 

 

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK HERE: WATCH: Syrian troops fire on Damascus funeral, killing 30 - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

Syrian opposition says ‘vague’ transition deal has ‘some positive elements’

Syrian opposition says ‘vague’ transition deal has ‘some positive elements’

Great Syrian Freedom Songs in English أغاني بالانكليزية للثورة السورية - YouTube

Great Syrian songs in English أغاني بالانكليزية للثورة السورية - YouTube

Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi refutes allegations of Libyan torture in TV interview | Libya Herald

By George Grant and Ashraf Abdul Wahab.

Tripoli, 1 July:

Mahmoudi refuted allegations that he has been mistreated since being returned to Libyan custody

Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi has claimed he is “in good health” and said that reports he has been mistreated in custody since his return to Libya last Sunday are “a lie”.

Qaddafi’s last prime minister made the remarks during a television interview with the Tunisian television station Al-Zitouna on Friday evening. The interview itself has been published on the station’s official Facebook page and can be viewed here.

Last Wednesday, allegations were made by Mahmoudi’s French lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, in the Guardian newspaper that his client had been badly beaten upon his return to Tripoli from Tunisia, where he had been held since September having fled there the previous month.

“People said to me he has broken ribs, he has perforated lung, and he fell into a coma,” Ceccaldi said. The lawyer, who was in Paris when he made the allegations, said he had been informed of Mahmoudi’s condition by hospital workers in Tripoli.

Three days earlier, Mahmoudi’s lawyer in Tunisia, Bashir Al-Said, had gone further still, claiming he may be dead. Al-Said also alleged Mahmoudi had been beaten on the back of the head and that he had been taken into intensive care.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE: Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi refutes allegations of torture in TV interview | Libya Herald

Russian specialists involved in Syria intercepting Turkish jet, sources say - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

Russian specialists involved in Syria intercepting Turkish jet, sources say - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper