KEADILAN INTERNATIONAL

Dakwaan Biden Flotila Bawa Senjata Karut..

2010-06-05T21:41:00.004+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR 5 Jun - Dakwaan Naib Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Joe Biden yang mengatakan konvoi enam kapal bantuan kemanusiaan (Freedom Flotilla) kepada penduduk Palestin di Semenanjung Gaza membawa bekalan senjata tidak berasas sama sekali.

Pengerusi Biro Antarabangsa KEADILAN, Mustaffa Kamil Ayub berkata kapal Mavi Marmara yang dulu diserang komando rejim Zionis-Israel yang menyebabkan sembilan sukarelawan dan berpuluh lagi cedera dalam serangan itu.

"Misi bantuan kemanusiaan itu adalah gabungan warga 40 buah negara dunia dan konvoi tersebut juga membawa ahli parlimen United Kingdom serta pemenang Nobel.

"Serangan itu menunjukkan rejim Zionis itu mengisytiharkan perang kepada seluruh warga dunia.

"Sehingga ke hari ini, rejim Zionis itu telah melanggar lebih 80 resolusi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu, maksudnya ia langsung tidak menghormati undang-undang dunia, " tegas beliau.

Biden, ketika ditemubual dalam rancangan "Charlie Rose" oleh stesen penyiaran American Public Broadcasting Service Rabu lalu mempertahankan tindakan Israel yang menahan kapal menuju ke Gaza bagi mencegah penyeludupan senjata.

Beliau berpandangan tidak ada keperluan untuk berkeras supaya bekalan itu disampaikan terus kepada penduduk Semenanjung Gaza.

Biden kemudiannya memberi alasan kononnya Israel bimbang dengan isi kandungan yang dibawa kapal tesebut.

Ditanya mengenai pendirian KEADILAN, Mustaffa berkata Pakatan Rakyat melalui Ketua Pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim telah menghantar surat kepada pegawai Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat di sini untuk diserahkan kepada Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barrack Obama.

"Pegawai tersebut berjanji akan menyerahkan surat tersebut minggu depan kepada Obama.

"Dalam surat itu, Pakatan Rakyat meminta agar beliau mengambil kesempatan untuk memperbetulkan keadaan itu," ujar Mustaffa lagi.

Umno-BN Perlekeh Pergorbanan Sukarelawan Malaysia, Turki Anggap Wira

2010-06-05T19:00:00.005+08:00

June 5, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR 5 Jun - Pengerusi Biro Antarabangsa KEADILAN , Mustaffa Kamil Ayub kesal dengan tindakan kerajaan Umno-Barisan Nasional yang tidak mengiktiraf pengorbanan sukarelawan yang terselamat dalam misi bantuan kemanusiaan ke Semenanjung Gaza Isnin lepas.

"Faktor alasan kewangan tidak dapat diterima sama sekali sedangkan komitmen kerajaan Turki lebih tinggi berbanding negara-negara Islam yang lain termasuk Malaysia.

"Saya berasakan ini berkemungkinan mempunyai hubungkait dengan kontrak yang dimeterai antara kerajaan Umno-BN dan Apco.

"Kerajaan di bawah pimpinan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak nampaknya seperti terikat dan mengikut telunjuk untuk mendapat perhatian Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barrack Obama.

Menurut Mustaffa lagi, ini mungkin mempunyai kaitan dengan kezaliman terhadap Ketua Pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dan kes pembunuhan Altantunya.

"Kita juga sangsi dengan respon Najib yang begitu lambat bertindak berhubung serangan komando rejim zionis Israel terhadap kapal Mavi Marmarra yang menyebabkan 9 aktivis dan berpuluh lagi cedera.

"Kontrak yang dimeterai Najib dengan syarikat Apco Worldwide menjadi satu sebab kerajaan Umno-BNl bersikap sederhana terhadap sukarelawan Malaysia yang terselamat," ujarnya ketika dihubungi Suara Keadilan.

Sebelum itu, media melaporkan Menteri Pertahanan, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dipetik berkata Angkatan Tentera Malaysia tidak akan mengadakan penerbangan khas untuk membawa pulang 12 sukarelawan dan media Malaysia yang dibebaskan dari tahanan tentera Israel.

Ahmad Zahid memberi alasan penerbangan itu akan membabitkan kos yang tinggi dan setakat ini tiada permintaan daripada kerajaan Umno-BN untuk membawa mereka pulang menggunakan pesawat tentera.

http://kerabubersuara.blogspot.com

KEADILAN Seru Masyarakat Antarabangsa Kutuk Kekejaman Rejim Zionis Israel

2010-06-01T20:27:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA 1 Jun - KEADILAN mengutuk sekeras-kerasnya tindakan komando rejim zionis Israel yang menyerang sebuah daripada enam buah kapal yang dalam perjalanan menghantar bantuan kemanusiaan di Gaza.

Pengerusi Biro Antarabangsa Mustaffa Kamil Ayub berkata tindakan kejam komando rejim zionis itu telah menyebabkan ramai aktivis yang tidak bersalah terbunuh.

"Kapal tersebut tidak melakukan apa-apa kesalahan dan masih berada di dalam perairan antarabangsa dan pihak berkuasa Israel tidak mempunyai hak untuk menaiki kapal tersebut.

"Alasan bahawa aktivis di dalam kapal tersebut telah menyerang komando Israel itu dahulu boleh dianggap menghina kerana mereka yang sebenarnya yang telah merempuh naik kapal itu.

Tambah Mustaffa, insiden ini merupakan satu lagi contoh bahawa Israel melakukan jenayah kejam ini di mana tindakan pihak berkuasa Israel itu sendiri yang sebenarnya mengancam kedaulatan mereka sendiri.

"Kita kesal dengan kegagalan beberapa negara mengutuk tindakan jahat rejim zionis Israel ini, termasuk Amerika Syarikat yang hanya meluahkan "kekesalan yang amat sangat" sementara United Kingdom, Kanada dan Australia pula membisu.

"Kerajaan negara-negara tersebut gagal menyampaikan isyarat perasaan majoriti rakyat mereka," ujar beliau.

Justeru itu, Mustaffa juga menyeru supaya komuniti antarabangsa mendesak Israel menghormati hak asasi manusia seperti yang terkandung dalam resolusi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu berkaitan dengan Palestin.

http://suarakeadilan.com

The Policies of Pakatan Rakyat ..

2010-03-13T12:24:00.001+08:00

1. Transparent and Genuine Democracy

Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
Separation of Powers
A Clean, Free and Fair Electoral System

2. Driving a High Performance, Sustainable and Equitable Economy

High-Performance Economy
Democratic and Transparent Economy
Decentralisation and the Empowerment of the State Economic Management
Affirmative Action Policies based on Need
Labour
Social Safety Net
Housing
Infrastructure and Public Facilities
Environment
Sustainable Growth and Green Development

3. Social Justice and Human Development

Unity and Social Justice
Religion
Education
Women and the Family
Youth
Security
Healthcare
Culture

4. Federal-State Relationship and Foreign Policy

The Federal System
Sabah and Sarawak
Foreign Policy

PEOPLE’S CONSENSUS ...

2010-03-13T12:13:00.003+08:00

Pakatan Rakyat hereby put forward a policy agenda to lead the people and this nation out of the current worsening crisis.

The people’s development agenda has been derailed due to a narrow understanding of race, divisive hate politics and authoritarianism. The recessive economy caused by the loss of moral conscience, the greed of corruption and archaic policies are causing Malaysia to be left behind compared to other vibrant economies in the region.

The unjust economy is all the more apparent in the widening gap between the rich and the poor, between the urban and the rural population, and between the Peninsular and Sabah and Sarawak.

The rising crime rate threatens lives and property because the police force has been used for narrow political ends. The integrity and independence of the judiciary continues to be damaged by political interference and business interests.

After half a century of sovereign independence, Malaysia should have matured. This should have been realised when the people from various races, breaking down narrow and obsolete mindset, and manifest a new spirit to reject the perversion of power, the spread of corruption, the plunder of the nation’s wealth and the repression of the people’s rights.

In appreciating the people’s aspirations, Pakatan Rakyat therefore declares our commitment to fully internalise and carry out an agenda of new politics by mobilizing the people’s power from the various races, religions and cultures as one force.

Further, we have confidence; we can change our policy framework from narrow racial approach to principles based on religious faiths, humanism, ethical and human rights, and equality before the law regardless of status, race or group. The policies that are derived from adherence to the Constitution and universal principles of justice will safeguard the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, which in turn will guarantee that the human rights and dignity of the people will continuously be defended and upheld.

Pakatan Rakyat is confident that the Malaysian economy can be driven at a faster pace through a market based economy that is humane, leading towards a more holistic human development. Economic policies should make Malaysia competitive, maintain a healthy investment climate, implement progressive taxation, but firm in its desire to realise justice through the equitable economic distribution especially for the poor and marginalised.

Pakatan Rakyat rejects policies that allow for corruption and other financial crimes and abuse of power. In order to ensure sustainable growth, oppressive policies that had only enriched the few should be replaced with a policy that ensures that the poor are assisted regardless of race.

As such, we invite the Malaysian people to create a new consensus that is founded on principles of justice for all and Constitutionalism. This is the agenda that must be done if we are to regain the nation’s respect, freedom and dignity. Only by providing justice for all can the people live prosperously and in unity.

WISHING YOU....

2010-02-13T12:26:00.002+08:00

Anwar's Trial: Speech By Michael Danby

2010-02-08T12:20:00.001+08:00

Michael Danby, Federal Member for Melbourne Ports and Chair of the Australian Parliamentary sub-committee on Foreign Affairs

Tonight, I want to speak out on behalf of fellow democrats around Asia, who are flabbergasted at events unfolding in Kuala Lumpur. I refer to the trial which began today of the Malaysian Opposition Leader, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. For the second time, the Malaysian leader of the Opposition, Anwar Ibrahim is on trial for what they call in ancient grating English, ‘Sodomy’. For the second time, the Malaysian legal system is being manipulated by supporters of the incumbent government to drive Malaysia’s best known leader Anwar Ibrahim out of national politics. For the second time, documents are being forged, witnesses are being coerced, evidence is being fabricated.

This trial, like the first trial of Anwar Ibrahim, is a disgrace to Malaysia, a country that aspires to democratic norms, where parties change power peacefully and political opponents are not persecuted by organs of the state. Perverting the legal system for political ends by charging Anwar with sexual offences is an affront to human rights. In the first place, the offences with which Anwar has been charged that should not be on the statute book. Australia abolished its laws punishing consenting adult homosexual acts decades ago, as did most advanced countries. It’s long past time that Malaysia also repealed these laws, which it inherited from British colonial times. If these laws did not exist, they could not be used for political purposes as we are currently seeing.

In the second place, everyone in Malaysia, and everyone in the international legal community, knows that Anwar is innocent of these charges. This week the Wall Street Journal published a first-hand account of how the Malaysian Special Branch police fabricated the charges that led to Anwar’s first trial in 1998. Munawar Anees recalled how he had been starved and beaten into signing a false confession which implicated Anwar. Now it’s happening again. These are the lengths to which the corrupt elements within the Malaysian ruling party are willing to go to frame Anwar and remove his threat to their power.

Malaysia is a long-time friend and ally of Australia. Over the past 40 years Malaysia has become an increasingly prosperous and successful multi-cultural society. We continue our friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with Malaysia, which is a deep economic, strategic and cultural relationship.

But Malaysia is also a country of 28 million people who have lived ever since independence more than 50 years ago under the rule of the same party, the United Malay National Organisation or UMNO. UMNO has stayed in power by playing on the Malay fears of the Chinese and Indian minorities. So long as Malaysian politics were polarised even subtlety along racial lines, so long as the Malays voted loyally for UMNO, then the self-perpetuating UMNO oligarchy, who have grown rich through long years of power and through their cozy links to business, would be safe.

That’s why Anwar Ibrahim is such a threat. For the first time Malaysia has a charismatic Malay opposition politician able to appeal to Malay voters and pose a real threat to UMNO’s hold on power. At the 2008 elections Anwar’s People’s Justice Party and its allies won 60 seats away from UMNO and its allies, creating a viable two-party system for the first time. As a result, Abdullah Badawi was deposed as Prime Minister and replaced by Najib Razak, but the threat from Anwar’s coalition continues to grow. So even though the first attempt to frame Anwar on these spurious charged had failed, the corrupt forces within UMNO have decided to try again.

I recently had the privilege of meeting Anwar Ibrahim when he was in Melbourne for the Parliament of the World’s Religions in December. He is an intelligent and articulate and passionate democrat. He is committed to a thorough reform of Malaysian government, to rid it of the cronyism, corruption and authoritarian tendencies that have gained ground since Mahathir Mohammed became Prime Minister in 1981. He is a great, although not uncritical, friend and admirer of Australia. If he were to become Malaysia’s Prime Minister our relationship with Malaysia would become even stronger.

I am pleased that in the last few hours the judge has suspended the case against Anwar for a day. I hope Prime Minister Najib and his ministers are not involved. The best way for them to prove that they are not is to intervene and have these charges withdrawn, and those responsible for fabricating them punished. Malaysia is a great country, and an emerging power in our region. It can do without the embarrassment that these disgraceful proceedings are undermining its newly won democratic credibility.

Michael Danby

Malaysian Hindus celebrate festival amid tensions

2010-01-30T17:37:00.002+08:00

Hundreds of thousands of people _ many with hooks pierced through the skin of their backs _ thronged temples Saturday to celebrate a Hindu festival amid tensions surrounding attacks on houses of worship in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Eleven churches, three mosques, two Muslim prayer rooms and a Sikh temple have been attacked since early this month following a court ruling that allowed non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" to refer to God.

The verdict upset some Muslims and the government, which argues "Allah" is exclusive to Islam and its use by others could confuse Muslims into converting. Though damage in most of the attacks was minor, the incidents raised fears of religious tensions in this multiethnic nation, where about a third of its 28 million people are Buddhist, Hindu or Christian. Ethnic Indians account for 8 percent. Addressing Hindu devotees at a temple complex outside Kuala Lumpur late Friday, Prime Minister Najib Razak called for mutual respect between all religions. Muslim Najib is only the second prime minister to visit the Batu Caves temple complex during the Thaipusam festival _ following his father some 30 years ago.

"I want to stress here that respecting each other's religion is not only a key virtue that we must defend in this country, it is also one of the principles in Islam," he was quoted by the national news agency Bernama as saying.

Some 60 percent of Malaysians are ethnic Malay Muslims. Religious minority groups have frequently complained of institutionalized discrimination. But the government dismisses claims it favors Malay Muslims. Police deployed more than 1,000 officers to ensure the celebrations at Batu Caves go smoothly and devotees and tourists are safe, said district police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah.Every year, Hindu devotees across the country march to temples in colorful processions for the Thaipusam festival to give thanks for vows fulfilled and show penance.

At Batu Caves, men _ with lemons fastened to their backs with metal hooks _ carry heavy kalvadis: frames decorated with feathers and beads. Many dance in a trancelike state to drum beats before ascending the steep staircase to the main temple entrance. Women and children _ their faces smeared with white paste _ balance brass pots with milk up the stairs. Tourists are drawn to the festival to watch.

By JULIA ZAPPEI
Associated Press

Amnesty urges Malaysia to drop sex charge against Anwar

2010-01-30T17:33:00.001+08:00

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 16:52:00 01/30/2010

KUALA LUMPUR—Human rights group Amnesty International has urged Malaysia to drop a "politically motivated" sodomy charge against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, ahead of the trial due to start next week.

Anwar lost his final appeal on Friday for access to the government's evidence in a case which could see him jailed for up to 20 years if convicted of sodomising a male former aide. Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister and jailed a decade ago on separate sodomy and corruption charges.

"The Malaysian authorities have resorted to the same old dirty tricks in an attempt to remove the opposition leader from politics," Sam Zarifi, Amnesty Asia-Pacific director said in a statement issued late Friday.

"Malaysia's judiciary should throw out these charges."

Amnesty said it is "seriously concerned" over a fair trial for Anwar, especially after Friday's ruling which the watchdog described as an infringement of international fair trial standards.

"Anwar's case has rightly raised doubts among the international community and investors about Malaysia's commitment to justice and the rule of law," Zarifi added.

Anwar spent six years in prison after he was convicted in 1998 but the sex charge was eventually overturned. Amnesty had considered him a prisoner of conscience before his release. After being freed Anwar reinvigorated the opposition and rallied it in 2008 to achieve its best ever results in national elections, when it won a third of parliamentary seats.

Anwar has accused the Malaysian government of seeking to convict him quickly as part of efforts to deflect attention against its own woes.

2010-01-30T17:30:00.000+08:00

Malaysia's Anwar defends innocence before sodomy trial

MANILA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on Saturday defended his innocence in a brief visit to the Philippines, three days before being tried for sodomy in a Malaysian court, the second such accusation against him in less than a decade.

"I don't think the defense is difficult at all. If they go by the facts of the law, there can not be a conviction," said Anwar, adding that state prosecutors won't be able present a witness when the trial opens on Tuesday and by now medical evidence is "conclusively" in his favor.

The 63-year-old politician is being accused by his young male aide of sodomy, a crime that can lead to 20 years in prison in Malaysia. It is the second time this de-facto Malaysian opposition leader faces sodomy charges. He was convicted once in 1999 but was released from prison four years later after the Federal Court overturned the conviction upon hearing his appeal.

At a meeting with his "old friend"-- deposed former Philippine president Joseph Estrada, Anwar told reporters that he felt he had not given fair treatment as a sexual assault case defendant and authorities seem to want to rush the case.

"This is probably my last overseas trip and maybe the last meeting with any foreign friend in a foreign country," Anwar said. "There is no basis but they just want to proceed. Yesterday the Federal Court rejected our application for documents, a right of the defendant required by the law. So how would you deal with it?"

Anwar was in town for a lecture at the University of the Philippines College of Law. He is scheduled to return to Kuala Lumpur Saturday afternoon. Anwar said he is also a family friend of late former Philippine president Corazon Aquino and this time was able to meet her son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino. Both Estrada and Aquino are running for presidency in this May's general elections.

http://news.xinhuanet.com

Editor: Lin Liyu

ANWAR IBRAHIM – SODOMY: THE SEQUEL

2010-01-28T12:03:00.003+08:00

It is almost 11 years since Anwar Ibrahim, newly sacked as deputy prime minister, was first slapped with trumped-up charges of sodomy and corruption (abuse of power), and subsequently put through two trials which were condemned around the world as manifestly flawed and politically motivated. He spent six years in detention, in solitary confinement throughout, after his conviction on the first (corruption) charge, but at the final level of appeal against conviction on the charge of committing sodomy, he was acquitted and released on 2 September 2004. The two cases were interrelated, although tried separately: the corruption charge was that he had abused his position to direct the police to halt investigations into his alleged sexual misconduct.

Now the nightmare is starting all over again. On 16 July 2008, Anwar was arrested on a new charge of sodomy, after a report was lodged by a junior aide in his office. Anwar claims that the charge is, again, politically motivated, a renewed attempt to scuttle his political career which has revived dramatically, against all the odds, since his release. Most people both inside and outside the country agree with this assessment.

The new case – its facts and the way it is being conducted by the authorities – looks alarmingly like the earlier ones. These were marked by: political interference; falsification of evidence; blackmailing of prosecution witnesses as well as several of Anwar’s close friends and associates; harassment of defence lawyers and also several civil servants who did not speak, report or act according to “instructions”; the court’s or judge’s rejection of documents, and refusal to allow witness testimony, which was favourable to the accused; and a string of unfair or questionable rulings and decisions by the judges both during the course of the trial and in the ultimate judgment of the cases, which often put a premature end to the defence counsel’s line of questioning.

SOME WORRYING FACTORS IN THE NEW CASE

In both cases, the charges came at a time when Anwar was a serious contender to take over the premiership.

Just like the 1998 cases, the present case is being pursued despite the glaring absence of solid evidence.

The present case, like the earlier one, alleges commission of sodomy, a clear attempt to destroy his reputation as a good Muslim. Even the corruption charge in 1998 was related to sodomy, since it alleged that Anwar abused his position to halt investigations into alleged sexual misconduct. Although he was later acquitted of the charge of committing sodomy, his political enemies, notably ex-PM Dr Mahathir, have kept it alive in the intervening years via insinuating public statements, and Anwar has steadfastly insisted that the charges are fabricated. Very few Malaysians believe the allegations.

As a result of the police report against him, Anwar was asked to present himself at the police station for his statement to be recorded, and, through his lawyers, had promised to give full cooperation. Despite being given until 2 pm on the day in question to go himself to the police station, he was arrested at about 1 pm in dramatic style by balaclava-clad members of a special police unit near his house, and then had to spend the night in the police lock-up. Trying to sleep on the bare concrete floor with just a thin blanket to cushion him, Anwar suffered renewed intense pain in his back – his spine was damaged in an assault by the chief of police hours after his arrest in 1998. The overly dramatic style of arrest exactly mirrors the way he was arrested in 1998.

The present case arose out of a police report made by a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan (Saiful). Defence lawyers were for some time denied a copy of the police report despite its central importance to their mounting an effective defence. The unwillingness of the prosecution to supply that police report inevitably invites speculation that its details were still being adjusted (to avoid having to make changes during the trial, as in the earlier case – this would be much more embarrassing as it would be in an open court).

This suspicion is supported by the fact that, besides filing the police report, Saiful has also sworn an oath at a mosque and made several press statements. The details of his story have been adapted from one public statement to another. Saiful’s story to date (before the trial even starts) has been marred by inconsistencies and less-than-credible claims, not to mention twists and turns (whom he met, when, whether the alleged act was consensual or he was “raped”).

Just one day after he met a senior police officer and reported he had been “raped”, Saiful attended an Anwar Ibrahim Club event at Anwar’s house, at which Anwar was also present, yet he showed no signs of fear or anxiety, neither did he appear to be experiencing any pain in his rectum, as claimed. The subsequent medical examination showed he is not a habitual homosexual, and in any case, if the alleged act was consensual, why was Saiful not charged along with Anwar?

The following day, Saiful was examined by a total of four specialist doctors at two different hospitals, after complaining of pain in his rectum. At the first hospital he did not say he had been sodomised until after the examination had been completed, and the doctor then advised him to go for an examination at a government hospital, since that was the required procedure in what would be a criminal case. Despite the second hospital being in close proximity to the first, it took Saiful two and a half hours to get there. At the second hospital, where he reported that he had been sodomised, he was examined by no less than three specialist doctors (who all happened to be instantly available). All four doctors from the two hospitals, in their official reports, stated that there was no sign or mark of any kind that indicated penetration (essential in proving commission of sodomy).

It should be noted that, in the 1998 case, the doctor who examined Sukma (one of the alleged victims), also reported no signs of penetration. This report was, however, suppressed. Similarly, the reports by doctors who examined Anwar after the “black eye” assault, were replaced with one signed by a doctor who never examined Anwar.

Puzzlingly, the doctor at the first hospital found no presence of any alien fluid in Saiful’s rectum, but the examination at the second hospital found fluid both inside and outside his rectum. This was on the Saturday, whereas the alleged incident had reportedly taken place two days earlier, on Thursday. Taken together with the long gap between the two examinations, the discovery of fluid only on the second examination looks highly suspicious.

The defence team expects the prosecution to place major emphasis on purported DNA evidence. This was also attempted in the first case, but was bungled and had to be jettisoned. The defence lawyers expect them to be better prepared this time, and, significantly, a new DNA Law was rushed through Parliament recently.

Anwar’s DNA was obtained (illegally) by the prosecution for the first case, and since DNA patent does not alter or deteriorate, there is no need to obtain new samples from a person who faces new charges at a later date. However, the obtaining of fresh samples was indeed ordered by former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, before the former left office. This invites speculation that it could be used to plant evidence.

Anwar’s overnight detention in the lock-up on his arrest last year may have been used to discreetly gather new DNA material – a person trying to sleep on a bare concrete floor will toss and turn and in the process shed some hairs from his head. There didn’t seem to be any other compelling reason to detain him overnight.

In the earlier case, the prosecution was forced to change the details of the charge when Anwar was able to provide unassailable proof of alibi for the original date of the alleged offence. (It had to be changed yet again when it was found that the building where it had allegedly taken place was under major renovation at the time in question...)

The new case shows signs of following the same pattern. Anwar has proof of alibi for the original date of the alleged one-off incident (as in the police report), and it is suspected that Saiful’s police statement, made after he filed the report, may have mentioned a whole series of incidents.

Anwar’s proof of alibi should have been enough for the case to be abandoned by the prosecutors, but they have perversely ignored it and gone ahead with the prosecution. Anwar’s recent application to have his case dismissed, on this ground, among others, was rejected by the judge, who, in his judgment, hinted that the prosecution would be able to show compelling proof through DNA. The appeal against this decision is still pending.

With the trial about to begin (25 January 2010), the defence team is still trying to get the prosecution team to provide them with a whole list of documents, including the list of prosecution witnesses, Saiful’s police statement (made after the police report), and the case notes for the two hospital medical reports on Saiful – all of these will contain vital details which will show the basis on which the charges have been built. The persistent denial of such key documents is obviously a serious hindrance to the defence team’s preparations.

The defence’s appeal against the dismissal of their earlier application to obtain these documents will only be heard on 20 January. Even supposing that the judge orders the documents to be supplied to the defence, and that they are supplied immediately, the defence will only have four days to go through them.

An affidavit filed by one of the present prosecution team (30 June 2009) claims that there was “no evidence favourable to the accused”.

The earlier case was also marked by many instances of the defence being denied important documents. The judge in that case also refused to hear testimony from several important defence witnesses.

Ominously, some of the same officials who masterminded the prosecution strategy in the 1998-99 cases are set to reprise their roles in the new case. This also perhaps goes some way towards explaining the similarities in strategy for the two cases. The two main players are Gani Patail and Musa Hassan, but in fact all members of the prosecution team were involved in some way in the earlier case. Some of them played only a supporting role, but they knew of, and kept silent about, the illegitimate acts perpetrated by the others. Anwar applied to have the entire prosecution team disqualified from hearing his case, but in a decision passed down on 1 December 2009, this application was dismissed.

Gani Patail, formerly the senior prosecutor, has now been elevated to the post of Attorney General. He was involved (it was alleged in an affidavit filed by Anwar on 1 July 2007, which has never been challenged) in falsifying evidence and using blackmail to obtain “confessions” to implicate Anwar for the 1998 case.

In February last year Anwar made a police report against Gani Patail and two senior police officers, including Musa Hassan, alleging the above offence. When Anwar was formally charged later the same year, he demanded that Gani be barred from having any role in this new case, due to his questionable role in the last one, as well as the fact that the police report would prejudice him against Anwar. The Prime Minister at that time, Abdullah Badawi, gave an undertaking, clearly reported in the press, that Gani would not be involved. No action has apparently been taken by the police on Anwar’s report; he has not been called to have his statement recorded.

When the new case first began to be heard in the Sessions Court, and the judge almost immediately proved to be too independent, the prosecution applied to have the case transferred to the High Court. The defence argued strenuously against this, and the prosecution resorted to producing a transfer certificate (a directive which could not be argued against in court) which had been signed by the Attorney General, Gani Patail. The judge concurred with the defence objection to his involvement, but she was quickly replaced by another judge, who ruled that a Prime Minister’s promise has no standing in a court of law, being purely “political”. However, while rejecting the application, the judge observed that, “Based on the past record and event, the accused and the PP have had a bad relation[ship] and unresolved matters which require further investigation. There exists a reasonable perception that the PP has ‘an axe to grind’ against the accused”.

After Anwar filed the police report about Gani Patail and Musa Hassan’s roles in falsifying a police report concerning his (Anwar’s) arrest on 20 September 1998, Anwar was not called to have his statement recorded, neither was any feedback given by the police regarding the progress of investigations, even after a reminder was sent by Anwar’s lawyers in April. However, a reply was eventually given to a question in Parliament, stating that a day after the report was lodged, the police had forwarded it to the Anti Corruption Agency (SPRM) for investigation, implying that the ball had been in their court all this while. However, the response to a letter subsequently sent to SPRM revealed that the latter had quickly decided the matter was outside their jurisdiction and had referred it back to the police immediately. Anwar made a fresh police report on 21 July about the duplicity of the police in this matter, even to the point of getting the Minister of Home Affairs to make a misleading statement in Parliament.

Anwar made a second police report on the same day, also in connection with Gani Patail’s involvement in the new case: last 30 June, two senior officials of the AG’s Chambers filed an affidavit in which it was stated that the three High Court judges who recently heard the case alleging Gani’s wrongdoing in 1998 unanimously ruled that he had not committed any offence, whereas at least one of them dissented. This affidavit was used in court to support the argument that there was no reason to bar Gani from playing a role, with one of the officials giving evidence based on it during the hearing, under oath. Anwar’s report claims that it is impossible that the two officials who prepared the affidavit were not aware that the ruling was not unanimous, making their sworn testimony a lie: a serious misdemeanour.

As AG, Gani is still playing a crucial role as the one who makes the decision whether or not to proceed with a case – and no exception is being made in Anwar’s new case.

Musa Hassan was, at the time of the first trial, a senior detective, but has now risen to the top post of Inspector General of Police. The affidavit and police report mentioned above also detailed his role in the falsification of evidence.

According to sworn testimony by lawyer Manjeet Singh, Musa was also the one who approached him to offer a deal to Dato’ Nallakaruppan, whom he was representing. Nalla, Anwar’s tennis partner, had been arrested for a minor firearms case – he had a firearms licence but had forgotten to renew it and had a small number of bullets in his possession. Shockingly he was detained under the ISA (detention without trial), and was, through his lawyer, threatened with the death penalty. The deal was, you will be let off the hook if you agree to make a statement incriminating Anwar in sexual misconduct.

Musa is also believed to have been involved in coaching and intimidating some of the key prosecution witnesses. Azizan Abu Bakar, the complainant on whose police report the 1999 case was based, was not blessed with great intelligence, and he stumbled through cross-examination, actually admitting at one point that he had not been sodomised, and had to have words deftly put in his mouth by the chief prosecutor to save the prosecution’s case. This was allowed by the judge, despite vigorous objections by the defence.

Saiful (of the new case) is a more intelligent young man, albeit a college dropout. Yet already, he has had meetings with Musa Hassan as well as another senior police senior who has worked closely with Musa in both cases (and again, has been promoted since the first one, to Director of the CID), Rodwan Mohd Yusof. Why would such high-level meetings be necessary if the case is a straightforward allegation of sodomy?

It is worth noting that both Gani Patail and Musa Hassan were present at the police headquarters at the time when Anwar was viciously assaulted by the chief of police. They knew about the assault, who did it, and that Anwar was grievously injured as a result. They connived in the cover-up of this event.

For the 1998 cases, elaborate preparations were made well ahead of Anwar’s arrest. More than a year before, rumblings and rumours alleging sexual misconduct had begun making the rounds, and a sleazy book entitled “50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Become Prime Minister” was circulated at the 1997 UMNO General Assembly. A number of senior UMNO politicians were later identified as masterminds of this concerted effort to get rid of Anwar.

Disgruntled and/or greedy individuals were found to play various roles in the fabricated story which would be used in court. Soon after this, senior police officers who had all along had a good working relationship with Anwar, suddenly, and without reason, became hostile. Arrests of Anwar’s close associates took place just before and after his own arrest, indicating that they had all been identified beforehand. The mainstream media also played an important role in supporting The Story, with Dr Mahathir, who had earlier claimed the allegations were just slander, stating publicly that he was convinced Anwar was guilty and had incontrovertible proof of it. When the trial got under way, however, he declined to share it in court.

There have already been signs of political interference in the case, adding fuel to the high-level political conspiracy theory.

It has transpired that Saiful had been in contact with the prime minister, the chief of police and another senior police officer before he made the police report (and some of them even before the date of the alleged offence). The excuses he gave for these meetings are hardly credible: he said he met the PM to ask about getting a scholarship (the college drop-out..; other aspiring students simply apply through the relevant government agencies), and met the police officers to seek protection against Anwar’s advances (other people would make a police report at the nearest police station, but Saiful only did that a day after he met the senior police officers). Coordination between the main players has not been perfect: Najib at first denied ever having met Saiful, but was then forced to admit that he had.
The chronology: Monday, Saiful meets Najib; Wednesday, he meets CID chief Rodwan; Thursday, the alleged offence takes place; Friday, Saiful, apparently in good spirits and health, attends the AIC event at Anwar’s house; Saturday, he is examined at two hospitals, with more than two hours’ gap between, and subsequently lodges a police report against Anwar.
It has been ascertained that, well before he joined Anwar’s staff, Saiful had had frequent contact with Najib’s private secretary. He only joined Anwar’s office about three months before he made the report against Anwar, when, following the General Election in March 2008, Anwar was short of staff since several of his aides had won seats in the election. This suggests that Saiful was deliberately planted in Anwar’s office.
Since Saiful made the police report against Anwar, he has been running a blogsite which regularly makes what can best be described as political attacks on Anwar.
Although senior lawyers in the AG’s Office had advised that there was no ahead with the prosecution. It is as if evidence is just a secondary concern.
An assistant imam of the mosque where Saiful swore his oath subsequently held a press conference stating that he had been forced against his will to represent the mosque management at this controversial event. He was sacked almost immediately.
As mentioned above, the judge who was originally assigned to hear Anwar’s case in the Sessions Court was quickly replaced when she began to make decisions which were inconvenient.
A DNA Bill has recently been rushed through Parliament. It seems likely that the hearing of the case was held back to enable the Bill to be passed, so that it could be used for this case.
Anwar filed a complaint of Qazaf (giving false evidence related to a sexual offence) in the Federal Territory Shari’ah Court, against Saiful. It is understood that the FT Religious Authority, under whose jurisdiction the Shari’ah Court comes, did indeed make investigations and were ready to charge Saiful. However, at this point they were apparently instructed not to proceed with the case. A new application to proceed with the case has been made by Anwar early this year, and the hearing is set for 13 January.

Although the Shari’ah courts in Malaysia deal mostly with family-related cases, Anwar’s filing of a complaint against Saiful is entirely within the jurisdiction of the Shariah Court, since Qazaf is a misdemeanour mentioned specifically in Islamic jurisprudence. It is also fitting because it is Anwar’s worldwide reputation as a Muslim leader which his enemies have targeted, both in the current case and in 1998.

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that senior officials in the police, the Attorney General’s Chambers and the judiciary are working in cooperation with top political leaders to ensure that a conviction will be obtained.

The hearing of the main case is now set to commence on 25 January 2010. It remains to be seen whether the judge of this new case will follow in the footsteps of Justice Augustine Paul who presided at the first trial in 1998 – he repeatedly cut off defence attempts to argue along the lines of political conspiracy, exclaiming “Not relevant!” – a phrase which became an iconic if profoundly sad joke.

What is evident is that the chosen judge will face immense pressure to manage the case according to the script.

International Bureau

People’s Justice Party

13 January 2010

ANWAR IBRAHIM: POLITICAL BACKGROUND ...

2010-01-28T11:46:00.005+08:00

Formerly known as Malaya, a federation of Malay States in the Malayan Peninsula, it was later joined by the Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia (1963). The population consists of almost 60% Malays and other indigenous people, about 30% of Chinese descent, and about 7% of Indian descent.

Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957, and the Alliance, later to become to National Front (Barisan Nasional, or BN) has been in power almost continuously ever since. The BN, like the Alliance before it, is a coalition whose main component parties are each mono-ethnic, and from the beginning the Malay Party, UMNO, has always been the anchor or dominant partner of the coalition.

During the sixties, Malaysia was establishing the foundations of a new nation, and had the added burden of fighting a long-running communist guerrilla problem. The seventies saw solid achievements in important sectors such as agriculture, education and public health services. From there the eighties and nineties were able to work on building a more sophisticated and modern economy based on manufacturing, until Malaysia became one of the “Asian Tigers”. Dr Mahathir was largely responsible for this dramatic development, due to both his vision and his drive. But his leadership also had a darker side, because he also initiated and masterminded a systematic erosion of the principle of separation of powers, of democratic processes and of citizens’ fundamental rights, resulting in increasingly overt and widespread abuse of power by the government. A defining moment was reached when Mahathir sacked the Chief Justice in 1988 for clearly untenable reasons, and under his watch the state agencies – judiciary, police, elections commission, anti-corruption agency and others – all lost their independence; in addition, curbs, both overt and subtle were imposed on the media. Neither of the prime ministers since has seriously moved to change any of this.

Under Mahathir’s watch, corruption also became increasingly rampant, and failure to control it has resulted in the earlier economic gains being largely cancelled out, with Malaysia now overtaken by many of its former peers and even inferiors.

There have always been opposition parties in Malaysia, but apart from managing to take control of one or two states for certain periods, they had not generally been much of a force to be reckoned with until a few years ago. The long-standing opposition parties include the Islamic party, PAS, whose traditional support base has been certain parts of the rural Malay heartland, and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which has long drawn support from middle and lower class urban Chinese. The BN has enjoyed, almost uninterrupted since independence, a two-thirds majority in Parliament, giving them unbridled power, and this they have largely abused.

By the mid-nineties Malaysians were growing increasingly unhappy with Mahathir’s autocratic style, and the continuing support for UMNO/BN was due to people’s expectation that his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, would be allowed to take over soon. However, those who thrived on the traditional patronage system, with its massive earnings from corruption, were determined that this should not happen, since Anwar was determined to change to a system which was both more modern and progressive, and also based on ethics. 1997 brought the severe economic downturn felt especially harshly in Asia and fighting over the diminished pie intensified; moves to destroy Anwar’s political career were already under way. The ringleaders worked on Mahathir and finally succeeded in getting his cooperation.

Mahathir made a serious miscalculation (unusual for him) and overstepped the limits when he sacked his popular deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, in September 1998, and had him prosecuted and imprisoned on trumped-up charges. This shocking development brought thousands of angry Malaysians out onto the streets to protest, and these scenes were beamed around the world by foreign journalists. People’s outrage was further fuelled by a vicious assault on Anwar on his first night in police custody, leaving him badly injured – this was only known 9 days later when they were obliged to produce him in court. The subsequent trials, which were manifestly unfair, only hardened public opinion. Reformasi (Malaysia) had been born.

As a direct result of people’s reaction to this event, a few months after Anwar’s arrest a new political party was set up, called the National Justice Party, and was headed by Anwar’s wife, Dr Wan Azizah, formerly an eye specialist at a government hospital, but now propelled by events to enter the world of active politics. Her dignity and quiet determination in the face of gross injustice had quickly made her an icon of the Reformasi movement, and her leadership of the party, her serving for more than two terms as an MP and for a while as Leader of the Opposition, earned her admiration and support from Malaysians of all ethnic groups and walks of life, as well as from all over the world.

During the 1999 election, a hastily-formed grouping of opposition parties, including the Justice Party, campaigned as a loose coalition. Although impressive gains were made, it was not enough to break the ruling coalition’s two-thirds majority let alone take over power. With this disappointment, and with Anwar set to be in prison for many years to come (his original total sentence for two charges was 15 years), there was nothing much to sustain its momentum and keep it in tact.

The shocking episode of Anwar’s arrest had another important effect: it sparked the coming of age of a strong and broad-based civil society movement, which has grown exponentially ever since. Not only were new groups and movements formed, but all of them began cooperating on major issues as never before.

Another vital development was the emergence of Internet media – ending the frustrations of all the people who could not stomach the BN propaganda which filled the mainstream media day after day. These Internet media have also provided urgently needed space for frank and thorough discussion and analysis, open to all views.

March 2004 saw another election, and the opposition, still weak, suffered further losses – the Justice Party, in particular, which had been the main focus of BN’s attacks, was almost wiped out, with only Wan Azizah retaining her seat.

Later the same year, Anwar’s long struggle for justice finally bore fruit when he was released on 2 September – exactly 6 years since he had been sacked from his post as Deputy Prime Minister. Soon after this he returned to active politics, playing a leading role in both the Justice Party (now the People’s Justice Party, after a merger with the long-standing People’s Party of Malaysia). He also worked intensively to pull together and strengthen the opposition coalition, now known as the People’s Pact (Pakatan Rakyat, or PR).

In a development well received by a large number of Malaysians, the Justice Party in particular, and the opposition in general, had started a process of radical change, moving from mono-ethnic and often fractious politics to a truly multi-ethnic system. This meant that rather than simply bargaining between the mono-ethnic parties, everyone discussed the issues directly together. The BN was aghast – they had always thrived on divide-and-rule politics.

The other issue which had increasingly angered Malaysians was the burgeoning growth of corruption. It was increasingly realised that most government initiatives were aimed not at benefitting Malaysians or stimulating the national economy but rather at enriching the leaders and their family members and cronies. Literally billions of the people’s hard-earned money , and also the national resources, were ending up in the pockets of the already-rich.

The Malaysian government claims that this country is democratic, citing the standard proof of holding free elections at regular intervals. Free they may be, and almost entirely free of violence, too. However, the electoral process leaves a great deal to be desired in terms of fairness. The electoral roll is badly flawed, there is quite a lot of multiple voting, and postal votes have been widely abused by BN to ensure victory in key constituencies. The BN parties make rampant use of government machinery during campaigns, and monopolise all the mainstream newspapers, TV and radio.

Opposition parties have few rights and are systematically pictured as anti-government, meaning, more or less, traitors to the country. As the opposition has become stronger, the government has stepped up its efforts to obstruct their progress, especially by abusing legal process – finding any excuse to charge top political and civil society leaders in court, if possible putting them out of the way in prison and ensuring that they will be disqualified from contesting in elections for some time to come.

They have employed many other methods of persecution, intimidation and obstruction, including keeping draconian emergency laws on the books (especially for this purpose). These, even if not actually applied, serve as a powerful weapon to instil fear. But at times when their power is threatened they use them freely.

Despite these daunting odds, the opposition PR managed to make a very impressive showing in the 2008 election, finally breaking BN’s precious two-thirds majority in Parliament, and taking control of five (out of thirteen) state legislative assemblies. The people had spoken.

Parliament, which before was devoid of serious debate, is now much more lively, although the Speaker tries to keep it to a minimum, especially on “sensitive” issues. However, the system long put in place gives few rights or privileges to opposition MPs, whether in the House or in their constituencies. The government openly channels most development and other funding to areas where it enjoys support, leaving the opposition-controlled areas to find their own sources of income.

The figure of Anwar Ibrahim looms large in the Malaysian political scene. Although he is now in the opposition, a large number of Malaysians are eagerly anticipating the day when he takes over the premiership. The deal comes with an approach and policies much more in keeping with contemporary universal standards of governance, with strong ethical roots. And of course, it will also be genuinely inclusive and multi-ethnic.

In a last-ditch and increasingly desperate effort to stop this trend in its tracks, the BN has decided on a sequel to the disgraceful affair of 1998: Anwar has once more been charged with committing sodomy. The aim: get him off the streets, into prison for a long, long time.

Haïti Earthquake Flash Appeal 2010..

2010-01-24T23:24:00.008+08:00

The Government has declared the search and rescue phase over. There were 132 live rescues by international search and rescue teams.
Humanitarian relief efforts continue to scale up in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Leogane and other affected areas.
The number of people leaving Port-au-Prince is increasing daily. More than 130,000 people have taken advantage of the Government’s offer of free transportation to cities in the north and south west.

CILCK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Guide to Humanitarian Giving for the Haiti Earthquake

CLICK HERE.

GIF III: Zaid Ibrahim Corruption and Lawlessness..

2010-01-24T19:31:00.005+08:00

Panellist Global Issues Forum:
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, PJ Civic Centre Auditorium, 9 Jan. 2010.
Click the video below.

GIF III: Ugly side of Malaysians and why corruption thrives..

2010-01-24T19:02:00.003+08:00

Panellist Gobal Issues Forum: Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas,

at PJ Civic Centre Auditorium, 9 Jan 2010.

GIF III: WE HAVE TO SAVE MALAYSIA FROM CORUPPTION..!

2010-01-24T17:27:00.002+08:00

Keynote:
Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim at PJ Civic Centre, 9 Jan 2010

GIF III: Use of the word Allah..!!

2010-01-24T16:56:00.006+08:00

Keynote: Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim at PJ Civic Centre, 9 Jan 2010

Special briefing..

2010-01-22T01:20:00.002+08:00

Special briefing on latest development on Anwar Ibrahim case and Malaysian current political scenario at De Palma Hotel, Ampang, 19 Jan 2010

Opening Speech by Chairman International Bureau, Mr Mustaffa Kamil Ayub

Panels: Mr Sivarasa Rasiah, Dr Muhammad Nur Manuty, Dr Syed Husin Ali

LATEST DEVELOPMENT...

2010-01-20T01:49:00.005+08:00

Special briefing on latest development on Anwar Ibrahim case and Malaysian current political scenario.

Date: 19 Jan 2010, De Palma Hotel, Ampang, 10-12am.

Opening Speech by Chairman International Bureau, Mr Mustaffa Kamil Ayub

Panels: Mr Sivarasa Rasiah, Dr Muhammad Nur Manuty, Dr Syed Husin Ali

Haiti earthquake survivors blockade roads with piles of corpses in protest at lack of aid..

2010-01-16T01:30:00.001+08:00

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

By Liz Hazelton
Last updated at 3:37 PM on 15th January 2010

* Machete-wielding gangs roam streets fighting for food
* Reports of widespread looting across Port-au-Prince
* Military tell aid agencies they need guards to deal with volatile situation
* 7,000 corpses are dumped in Haiti's first mass grave
* Aid workers pour on to island as emergency fund launched
* Fears for British woman Ann Barnes who worked in collapsed UN building
* Hundreds of criminals on the streets after prison collapses

Desperate Haitians have set up roadblocks of corpses in Port-au-Prince to protest at the lack of emergency aid reaching them after the catastrophic earthquake.

Although billions of pounds has already been pledged to the devastated country, help is only just beginning to trickle through to survivors. Rescue efforts have been blighted by poor infrastructure and lack of heavy lifting equipment - as well as the damage wrought by the disaster. As the situation grows increasingly tense, aid workers were forced to consider security protection just to move round the island.

Bodies fill the front yard of the morgue in Port-au-Prince. Survivors have started using corpses as road blocks

An aerial view shows a ruined cathedral after Tuesday's earthquake. Troops and planeloads of food and medicine streamed into Haiti to aid a traumatised nation

'People who have not been eating or drinking for almost 50 hours and are already in a very poor situation,' UN humanitarian spokesman Elisabeth Byrs said.

'If they see a truck with something, or if they see a supermarket which has collapsed, they just rush to get something to eat.'

The Brazilian military, which commands the UN peacekeeping mission on the island, warned aid convoys to add security to guard against looting.

'Unfortunately, they're slowly getting more angry and impatient' said spokesman David Wimhurst,

'I fear, we're all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries. I think tempers might be frayed.'

Shaul Schwarz, a photographer for TIME magazine, said he saw at least two roadblocks formed with bodies of earthquake victims and rocks. 'They are starting to block the roads with bodies. It's getting ugly out there. People are fed up with getting no help,' he said.

There were reports of machete-wielding gangs roaming the debris-strewn streets looking for food. At times fighting broke out as they struggled for scant supplies. The humanitarian crisis in the capital is the worst many aid workers have ever seen.

With streets and buildings littered with rotting corpses and filled with the sounds of screams, some have compared it to a scene from hell.
Ann Barnes

Rezene Tesfamariam, Haiti director of Plan International, described people using bare hands, shovels and pick axes to reach people still trapped beneath collapsed buildings. He said: "There are people still alive underneath, you can hear them crying for help, but time is running out. It is beyond the means of individuals to reach them. 'They are trying move concrete with their hands. What is desperately needed is proper machinery and equipment to lift the rubble.

Mr Tesfamariam, who lost his own home in the quake, described the disaster was the worst he had witnessed in his many years as an aid worker. 'I have seen refugees fleeing war and cyclones hitting villages, but in those cases at least you have time to run away,' he said.

'In just a few seconds so many lives were wiped out. Port-au-Prince looks like it has been bombed. 'My house has been destroyed. I went back there (in the aftermath) and a neighbour called my name. She said there were children under the rubble. I shouted to them and they called back.

'I reported it to the UN so they would know where to come and get them out but there are people everywhere crying out for help. It is one thing I will never be able forget.' Thousands of injured people spent a third night twisted in pain, lying on pavements waiting for help as their despair turned to anger.

'We've been out here waiting for three days and three nights but nothing has been done for us, not even a word of encouragement from the president,' said Pierre Jackson, nursing his mother and sister who lay whimpering with crushed legs.

'What should we do?

Miracle: Rescuers carry a three-month-old baby found alive after being buried under rubble for two days

Despairing: Amid a scene of total devastation, one resident sits on a chair, his head in his hand

Survivors gathered around bodies in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince photographed during a joint Red Cross Red Crescent/ECHO (European Community Humanitarian Organization) aerial assessment mission

The Haitian Red Cross said it believed 45,000 to 50,000 people had died and 3 million more - one third of Haiti's population - were injured or left homeless by the 7.0 quake that hit on Tuesday.

Fears were growing today for British woman Ann Barnes, a PA to the United Nations police commissioner in Haiti.

The UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince has completely collapsed, killing many who were inside.

Miss Barnes has been missing since the earthquake though the UN have not confirmed that she is among the dead.

Officials from the Foreign Office said that 30 other British nationals living in Port-au-Prince had been in touch and were safe and well.

The Haitian government - weak even before the disaster - has all but disintegrated leaving the island teetering on the brink of anarchy.

Hundreds of criminals escaped when the island's main prison collapsed. Looters swarmed unchallenged into collapsed supermarkets and warehouses, snatching electronics and bags of rice. Officials are making increasingly desperate efforts to deal with the tens of thousands of dead. Presidents Rene Preval said that 7,000 people were yesterday buried in a mass grave. The Haitian Red Cross has run out of body bags.

Corpses were piled on pickup trucks and delivered to the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, where hospital director Guy LaRoche estimated the bodies piled outside the morgue numbered 1,500. Aid workers reported seeing children sleeping among the dead.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, presents unique logistical challenges for aid workers.

Thousands of homeless people have set up tent cities as they wait for aid to arrive

People gather around a petrol pump seeking fuel. Petrol shortage is causing long queues and angry customers

HOW BID TO SAVE TRAPPED GIRL ENDED IN TRAGEDY

Trapped beneath the crumbled remains of her home, the 9-year-old girl could be heard begging for rescue as neighbours clawed at sand and debris with their bare hands. It had been two days since the earthquake collapsed the house, trapping Haryssa Keem Clerge inside the basement. Friends and neighbours braved aftershocks to climb over the rubble, one of hundreds of toppled structures teetering on the side of a ravine. In a city full of people desperately waiting for more help than neighbors can muster, it never came for Haryssa. Just hours after her screams renewed rescuers' hopes, the child's lifeless body was finally pulled from the mass of concrete and twisted metal. Wrapped in a green bath towel, it was placed inside a loose desk drawer. With nowhere to take it, the body was then left on the hood of a battered Isuzu Trooper. 'There are no police, no anybody,' said the child's despairing godmother, Kettely Clerge. Neighbours had to hold her back as she walked toward the building's winding, partially collapsed stairway, wailing: 'I want to see her!' A day earlier, the little girl's mother, Lauranie Jean, was pulled from the rubble of the same house. She lay moaning inside a tent as volunteers rubbed ointment into open wounds on her sides. The family has now taken refuge in a dirt playground - one of hundreds of open spaces across Port-au-Prince that people are filling each night to try to avoid the risk of aftershocks.

Ships are struggling to use the ruined port, while aid organisations said there appeared to be little coordination of supplies arriving at the reopened airport. At one point planes were arriving faster than ground crews could handle them and US authorities had to restrict flights to Haiti for fear they would run out of fuel before they could land.

The Haitian government said that there was no room on ramps for planes to unload their cargo and that some planes on the ground didn't have enough fuel to leave. Overhead, two dozen planes circled for more than two hours, and many of them were diverted to Santo Domingo or Florida.

Planes were parked with their wing tips overlapping. Haiti has little or no heavy equipment to move rubble and attempts were being made to bring some from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, along a narrow and easily-clogged road.

Aid has been delivered or promised from 30 countries. China sent a plane carrying ten tons of tents, food and medical equipment, as well as an earthquake rescue team. The British government donated £6million to an appeal up by the Disasters Emergency Committee for what Gordon Brown called a 'tragedy beyond imagination'.

The first British search and rescue workers to reach Haiti were today scouring the rubble for survivors. U.S. President Barack Obama pledged an initial $100million (£61.4million) for Haiti quake relief on Thursday and enlisted former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to help raise more, vowing to the Haitian people: 'You will not be forsaken.'

The United States was sending 3,500 soldiers, 300 medical personnel, several ships and 2,200 Marines to Haiti.

Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson will arrive today to serve as a 'floating airport' for relief operations by its 19 helicopters. Doctors in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, were ill-equipped to treat the injured.

Many hospitals are too badly damaged to use, and medics struggled to treat crushed limbs and head wounds at makeshift clinics.

Shanty towns on the outskirts of the Haitian capital were flattened by the earthquake - the worst to strike the island nation in 200 years

James Girly, 64, of the US is brought out of a destroyed building of the Montana Hotel where he was trapped for 50 hours in Port-au-Prince

In the car park of the capital's L'Hopital de la Paix, those awaiting treatment lay among the dead and dying in 90f heat.

A tearful man pointed to his young daughter, her legs broken and face gashed. Her sister had died.

A little boy sobbed among the bodies while two injured women, their legs crushed, propped each other up.

In a makeshift hospital at the Hotel Villa Creole Margaret Germaine-Doillard, a French teacher in her 40s, lay on the ground drifting in and out of consciousness.

She was on a second-floor balcony of her school when the earthquake struck, celebrating a belated Christmas party with more than 300 students and teachers.

Survivors: Redjeson Hausteen, two, is carried from his collapsed home by a rescue worker while Gladys Loiuis Jeune is pulled alive from the rubble nearly 43 hours after Tuesday's earthquake

An injured man in a wheelchair looks at the collapsed Haitian Governmental taxation building

There is no way to know how many died at St-Louis de Gonzague, a prestigious Roman Catholic school where some of Haiti's leaders have studied, including former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Germaine-Doillard said she knew of only about 10 students, several teachers and the school's principal who survived.

As she lay in the 80-degree heat, her thoughts remained with her pupils. 'We couldn't save the students,' she murmured. 'We couldn't save the students.'

BRITS DONATE £2m IN JUST 36 HOURS

Britons have donated more than £2 million to help earthquake-stricken Haiti in the space of just 36 hours.

The money was given even before an appeal on TV and radio for The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which is co-ordinating the Haiti Earthquake Appeal on behalf of 13 UK aid agencies, by journalist Mariella Frostrup was broadcast today. Donations can be made through a special telephone line, 0370 60 60 900, and through its website www.dec.org.uk.

It was the through the DEC that the £16 million - a world record for a newspaper appeal - donated by Daily Mail readers following the 2004 tsunami, was channelled. Aid to Haiti will be distributed through the 13 UK member agencies - Action Aid, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision.

DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley said: 'We are delighted at the generosity of the British people even before our major television and radio appeals hit the airwaves. 'Efforts on the ground have been hampered by a lack of power and communications problems after the devastating quake but aid is starting to get through and DEC members are working hard in the field.

'Our message to the public is: thank you for your efforts so far but it is vitally important that people continue to donate to increase the amount of aid that can be delivered to help the millions of people affected by this terrible earthquake.' The £2 million figure for online giving was hit at around 8am yesterday. Donations by other means are not included.

Among the donations was a private gift from the Queen, said a DEC spokesman. The appeal was publicised initially by a Twitter message spread virally through internet social networks. It was helped by high-profile endorsements, including from Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

A DEC spokesman said giving money was the best way to help so supplies could be purchased as close as possible to the disaster area and sent straight to those in need. He said, where possible, emergency supplies would be bought in areas of Haiti which are not affected by the disaster.

THE GOOGLE IMAGES THAT SHOW SCALE OF DISASTER

Google have also released satellite images of the devastation caused in Haiti, after being asked by relief organisations and users to provide up to date images of the country.

The pictures show the amount of damage caused to building in the Port-au-Prince, as well as thedestruction caused to the national palace.

Before (left) and after satellite images released by Google Maps and GeoEye after the earthquake

Satellite images show the damage caused to a large section of the National Palace in the 7.0 quake

These before and after pictures of the Sylvio Cator Stadium in Haiti show the earthquake has destroyed part of the building and left the ground strewn with debris

NEW PERSPECTIVE AND AGENDA OF GLOBAL AND REGIONAL PEACE: CHALLENGES AND FUTURE...!!

2010-01-09T18:33:00.001+08:00

GIF III - CORRUPTION: COST TO THE NATION

2010-01-03T13:22:00.004+08:00

The International Bureau of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (the People’s Justice Party) has great pleasure in inviting you to its third forum in the Global Issues Forum series – this time about corruption.

Details of the forum, which we are organising in conjunction with International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December), are as follows:

Location : PJ Civic Centre Auditorium

Date : Saturday 9 January 2010

Time : 9.00 am - 1.00 pm

Keynote: Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Panellists:

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam,

Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan,

Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas,

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim,

Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, and

Samsul Iskandar Mohd Akin.

Please kindly forward this invitation to any of your friends or colleagues who may be interested. Thank you for your kind support.

May I take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year.

Yours sincerely,

MUSTAFFA KAMIL AYUB

Chairman of the International Bureau

Sri Lanka's Tamil minority...

2009-12-04T08:40:00.004+08:00

The power of the ballot

Nov 26th 2009 | COLOMBO
From The Economist print edition

Suddenly, it matters what Tamils think

SHAKING the rain out of his hair, Ravi Chandran boarded a state-run bus for Jaffna in the north and looked around. It would leave Colombo soon, at 11.30pm, and he wanted to grab a good seat for what could be a 16-hour journey. Mr Chandran, a 27-year-old businessman in a rugby jersey and jeans, is among an estimated 3,500 commuters from Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority to have used the new bus service since the government eased travel restrictions earlier this month. Civilians taking public transport to Jaffna no longer need defence-ministry authorisation; just three copies of their national identity card will do.

Since the government’s victory in the long war with Tamil Tiger rebels in May, Tamils have chafed under travel and other restrictions. But an election looms, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa is lifting at least some of these. This week, he signed a proclamation authorising a presidential election in January. His main challenger is expected to be his former army commander, General Sarath Fonseka. So the loyalties of the Sinhalese majority will be split, and Tamil votes decisive.

The government has already started courting them. On November 21st, after months of intense international pressure, the government announced that those displaced by the war will be free to move from December 1st, and that all of them will be resettled by the end of January. Of nearly 300,000 people interned in camps, almost half have already been ferried back to their war-shattered villages.

Like others clambering on the Jaffna bus this week, Mr Chandran was happy that mobility between the mainly Sinhalese south and the mostly Tamil north is increasing. But what should be a simple ten-hour trip home remains dogged by delays, checkpoints and intense security.

During a meeting with newspaper editors this week, Mr Rajapaksa presented his decision to go to the polls early as a sacrifice of two years of his term rather than as a shrewd move to capitalise on victory in the war. He said he wanted to allow voters in the north and east the chance to select a president. At the latest election in 2005, in which Mr Rajapaksa squeaked home by fewer than 200,000 votes, the Tigers ordered a boycott of the poll in Tamil areas.

Still, Tamils are not likely to fall for Mr Rajapaksa’s claim, or for the small, calculated steps the government is taking to win their votes. Niranjan Ganeshathasan, a law student, agrees that Tamils will swing the vote in January but he would much rather see the repeal of draconian anti-terrorism legislation, an acceptable power-sharing arrangement, and a truth-and-reconciliation commission to investigate what happened in the last weeks of the war. Mr Rajapaksa, he insists, will have to try harder, merely to entice apathetic Tamils to vote at all.

Suffragette city...

2009-12-04T08:31:00.002+08:00

Little watched, Hong Kong's democratic fever is reaching its crisis...
Illustration by M. Morgenstern

THE struggle for democracy in Hong Kong is not like the struggle elsewhere. One venerable warrior takes holy communion alongside the territory’s chief executive before spending the rest of the day lambasting him. Another, a bluestocking barrister, struggles to pump her fist in time to the campaign music, after listening to Mozart at home. A former high official turned freedom fighter, dubbed “Hong Kong’s conscience”, famously peeled off from a march to pop into the hairdressers. Democrats and their “pro-Beijing” adversaries alike send their sons to Ampleforth, Winchester or other snooty British schools.

Part of the flavour of Hong Kong’s democracy struggle comes from the close intertwining of the elite in a small territory of 7m. And, as a columnist, Michael Chugani, puts it, the democratic fight is waged with democracy-style freedoms. People take to the streets, mock their rulers in the press, or take them to court. When Britain handed Hong Kong to China in 1997, these freedoms were not certain to endure. Yet the Communists in Beijing have endured too. Their opposition to radical change has given politics the air of a theatrical set-piece. Everybody knows his part.

That impression was reinforced on November 19th, when the chief executive, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, proposed reforms aimed at widening democracy in 2012, the year of elections for his successor and for a new Legislative Council (“Legco”). The democracy camp, with 23 out of 60 seats in a Legco that is still rigged against it, condemned them as little different from earlier proposals, which Legco voted down in 2005. In the chamber, the official explaining the plan waited for the inevitable missile hurled by “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, one of Hong Kong’s very few anarcho-Trotskyites. It proved to be a cardboard microwave oven, symbolising warmed-up fare. All good fun.

Though democrats rarely admit it, political theatre, within bounds, has brought incremental improvements. In 2003 protests led the government “temporarily” to suspend a deeply unpopular anti-sedition law imposed at China’s behest. In the 2005 debate about political reform, democrats’ main beef was the absence of a timetable for universal suffrage, promised in Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law. But in 2007, aware of growing local anger, China ruled that it would apply starting in 2017 for electing the chief executive, and from 2020 for Legco.

Five years seems neither here nor there. So why make a fuss about 2012? One reason is that it is still far from clear what China means by “universal suffrage”. Take the “functional constituencies”, a British legacy. These are made up of companies, professional bodies and trade unions, in which 16,000 organisations and just 211,000 individuals “elect” half of Legco’s members. The latest proposals leave the functional constituencies intact. Stephen Lam Sui-lung, secretary for constitutional affairs, argues that the chief executive in 2017, elected through universal suffrage, will have the mandate to reform them. Democrats naturally want these rotten boroughs abolished in favour of purely geographical seats, but Mr Lam says that “the government has not reached such a strong conclusion.” A bastard system may prevail. As for the chief executive’s post, high barriers to nomination might yet debar candidates with a democratic bent.

Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, head of the Civic Party, says Hong Kong needs a “road map” for getting to the final democratic arrangements. Now frustration is driving some to bolder theatre. Long Hair Leung’s League of Social Democrats and the Civic Party, made up mainly of barristers, propose that a legislative councillor in each of Hong Kong’s five geographical districts now resign, sparking by-elections in which each will campaign on the single issue of universal suffrage. They intend the by-elections to send a resounding popular message to Beijing. If that fails, some want democratic legislators to resign en masse.

The plan is a huge gamble for the pan-democratic camp, putting at risk the 20 seats democrats need to wield a veto, without which any old political package might pass. Worse, says Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a founder of the Civic Party, the proposal is splitting political parties, the pan-democratic camp, and Hong Kong at large. In particular, the Democratic Party, veterans of the democracy movement but against the by-election plan, are lambasted by younger radicals as traitors. Rather than hastening political reform, all this may encourage China to resist it. “For 20 years Beijing has wanted to divide us,” says Mr Tong. “Now we’re destroying the democratic movement without Beijing lifting a finger.”

Rotten boroughs, rotten fruits

Since legal freedoms have survived, some question whether democracy really matters at all. The answer is certainly yes, it does. As it is, Mr Tsang and his unelected team struggle with declining popularity and problems of governance. A point never acknowledged by China (unsurprisingly) is that democratic legitimacy would help the executive branch. Nor is it true, as China has argued, that Hong Kong is an “economic city” whose go-getting residents care not a fig for politics. That ignores Hong Kong’s under-represented poor. A highly skewed distribution of political rights is mirrored by equally skewed wealth. The average living space per person in public housing is 12.5 square metres (135 square feet), half that in China, which is eight times poorer. Thousands of men live in “cage homes” like livestock coops.

The pearl-wearing freedom fighters understand this. So do their conservative opponents. In the early 1970s industrialists insisted that an end to the seven-day week would spell doom for Hong Kong. Their sons today argue against a minimum wage, a social-safety net and an end to the functional constituencies. The difference is that their fathers would never have expected the Chinese Communist Party to be their staunchest ally.

Economist.com/blogs/banyan

What is happening in Switzerland....?

2009-12-01T22:47:00.007+08:00

My compatrriots' vote to ban minarets is fuelled by fear...

It wasn’t meant to go this way. For months we had been told that the efforts to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland were doomed. The last surveys suggested around 34% of the Swiss population would vote for this shocking initiative. Last Friday, in a meeting organised in Lausanne, more than 800 students, professors and citizens were in no doubt that the referendum would see the motion rejected, and instead were focused on how to turn this silly initiative into a more positive future.

Today that confidence was shattered, as 57 % of the Swiss population did as the Union Démocratique du Centre (UDC) had urged them to – a worrying sign that this populist party may be closest to the people’s fears and expectations. For the first time since 1893 an initiative that singles out one community, with a clear discriminatory essence, has been approved in Switzerland. One can hope that the ban will be rejected at the European level, but that makes the result no less alarming. What is happening in Switzerland, the land of my birth?

There are only four minarets in Switzerland, so why is it that it is there that this initiative has been launched? My country, like many in Europe, is facing a national reaction to the new visibility of European Muslims. The minarets are but a pretext – the UDC wanted first to launch a campaign against the traditional Islamic methods of slaughtering animals but were afraid of testing the sensitivity of Swiss Jews, and instead turned their sights on the minaret as a suitable symbol.

Every European country has its specific symbols or topics through which European Muslims are targeted. In France it is the headscarf or burka; in Germany, mosques; in Britain, violence; cartoons in Denmark; homosexuality in the Netherlands – and so on. It is important to look beyond these symbols and understand what is really happening in Europe in general and in Switzerland in particular: while European countries and citizens are going through a real and deep identity crisis, the new visibility of Muslims is problematic – and it is scary.

At the very moment Europeans find themselves asking, in a globalising, migratory world, "What are our roots?", "Who are we?", "What will our future look like?", they see around them new citizens, new skin colours, new symbols to which they are unaccustomed.

Over the last two decades Islam has become connected to so many controversial debates – violence, extremism, freedom of speech, gender discrimination, forced marriage, to name a few – it is difficult for ordinary citizens to embrace this new Muslim presence as a positive factor. There is a great deal of fear and a palpable mistrust. Who are they? What do they want? And the questions are charged with further suspicion as the idea of Islam being an expansionist religion is intoned. Do these people want to Islamise our country?

The campaign against the minarets was fuelled by just these anxieties and allegations. Voters were drawn to the cause by a manipulative appeal to popular fears and emotions. Posters featured a woman wearing a burka with the minarets drawn as weapons on a colonised Swiss flag. The claim was made that Islam is fundamentally incompatible with Swiss values. (The UDC has in the past demanded my citizenship be revoked because I was defending Islamic values too openly.) Its media strategy was simple but effective. Provoke controversy wherever it can be inflamed. Spread a sense of victimhood among the Swiss people: we are under siege, the Muslims are silently colonising us and we are losing our very roots and culture. This strategy worked. The Swiss majority are sending a clear message to their Muslim fellow citizens: we do not trust you and the best Muslim for us is the Muslim we cannot see.

Who is to be blamed? I have been repeating for years to Muslim people that they have to be positively visible, active and proactive within their respective western societies. In Switzerland, over the past few months, Muslims have striven to remain hidden in order to avoid a clash. It would have been more useful to create new alliances with all these Swiss organisations and political parties that were clearly against the initiative. Swiss Muslims have their share of responsibility but one must add that the political parties, in Europe as in Switzerland have become cowed, and shy from any courageous policies towards religious and cultural pluralism. It is as if the populists set the tone and the rest follow. They fail to assert that Islam is by now a Swiss and a European religion and that Muslim citizens are largely "integrated". That we face common challenges, such as unemployment, poverty and violence – challenges we must face together. We cannot blame the populists alone – it is a wider failure, a lack of courage, a terrible and narrow-minded lack of trust in their new Muslim citizens.

Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss citizen, is professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University. His most recent book is What I Believe

Religions for Peace Global Youth Campaign for Shared Security..

2009-11-13T15:58:00.004+08:00

Disarmament Can Provide Means for Peace, Development, Secretary-General Tells

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s message to the Religions for Peace Global Youth Campaign on Disarmament for Shared Security in San Jose, Costa Rica, on 7 November:
It is a pleasure to send greetings to the World Conference of Religions for Peace and the Arias Foundation and all the participants in this Global Youth Campaign on Disarmament for Shared Security. I thank the Government of Costa Rica for hosting this event and for its staunch support, expressed at the September Summit of the United Nations Security Council, for the disarmament agenda and for my own five-point action plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded. We are now a generation beyond the end of the cold war, but military spending is rising and is now well above $1 trillion. More weapons are being produced, flooding markets, destabilizing societies and feeding the flames of civil war and terror.

Yet the world is also witnessing a new wave of interest in advancing disarmament goals ‑‑ an interest shared by Governments and civil society alike. People everywhere are recognizing as never before the tremendous burdens and risks of continuing to invest vast sums and energies in nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction, small arms, landmines, cluster munitions and other deadly weapons. Disarmament is back on the global agenda, and we must make the most of this new moment of opportunity.

The United Nations has always recognized the critical role religious communities play in building peace. Religious leaders and people of faith around the world, including Religions for Peace, have long been active in advocating for a number of disarmament measures, including the recent adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This year’s global, multi-religious youth campaign is another welcome effort. I urge you to use this event to build and strengthen the networks of mutual support that are so essential for the success of disarmament initiatives. I hope young people will also support the UN’s “We Must Disarm!” campaign by joining us on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and elsewhere to tell the world why these weapons should have no place in the twenty-first century.

There can be no development without peace and no peace without development. Disarmament can provide the means for both. With your voice and strong support, we can get this message across and advance the international disarmament agenda. Please accept my best wishes for a successful conference.

Singapore terrorist linked to Abu Sayyaf..

2009-11-13T15:43:00.001+08:00

SINGAPORE, Nov 8 — Muaiya. Manobo. Muawiyah.
Real or aliases, they are the names used by a Singaporean terrorist.
He is an Indian Muslim linked to regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI), with skills in logistics and financial planning. He is now working as a ‘consultant’ to Filipino bandit group Abu Sayyaf.

This is what security expert Rommel Banlaoi told The Sunday Times.
The academic was in Singapore last week to release his book, Philippine Security In The Age Of Terror.

Some reports had suggested that Muaiya could have been killed in a Philippine counter-terror operation earlier this year, but Professor Banlaoi said his information suggests that the terrorist is still alive.
Muaiya is, in fact, helping senior Abu Sayyaf leaders prepare their terror operations, the head of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research said.
A Singapore Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said officials in Singapore have been in touch with the Philippine authorities on this issue but added that they are unable to disclose any other details.

Muaiya’s skills are said to be so good that slain JI leader Noordin Top once sought his help to secure M-16 rifles and rocket grenades.
Noordin, the hardline JI leader behind most of the major bombings in Indonesia, was killed in a security operation a few months ago.
Banlaoi, who has taught at the Philippine National Defence College, still works with the government on strategic issues.

He said Muaiya, who is in touch with senior JI leaders in the Philippines like Umar Patek and Dulmatin, works with a faction of the Abu Sayyaf that has ‘ground control’ over operations.
Muaiya reportedly left Singapore some years before the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and the subsequent uncovering of JI cells in Singapore and elsewhere in the region.
According to Jakarta-based think-tank International Crisis Group, he was not a member of the JI cell broken up by the Singapore authorities in 2001.

Security experts became aware of Muaiya’s presence in the Philippines earlier this year when the Abu Sayyaf took as hostage three Red Cross workers in Mindanao.
The Indian Muslim was reportedly seen moving hostages about in Mindanao, while acting as a media spokesman.

Banlaoi said from his information, Muaiya is part of a group of between 25 and 40 JI members and a few foreign jihadists who are training the Abu Sayyaf.
He reports to at least one senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon.
An upsurge in kidnappings suggests that the bandit group is financially stronger than it was before and continues to mobilise resources.

Banlaoi said the security situation in Mindanao is worrying, with newer bandit groups emerging even as older ones maintain links with one another.
In the most recent incident, the newly identified Bangsamoro National Liberation Army was involved in the killing of two American soldiers this month, he said.
Besides the Abu Sayyaf, Mindanao is also home to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, among other militant groups.

“They are getting financial resources, but the government’s efforts to counter them are hampered,” Prof Banlaoi said, adding that Filipino militant groups may seek to extend their tentacles by getting involved in regional operations as well. — Straits Times

KEADILAN TO EXTEND HELP TO EARTHQUAKE-HIT PADANG...

2009-11-13T15:23:00.004+08:00

Seeing the pictures and video clips of the devastation wrought by the two earthquakes in Padang and surrounding areas, surely no-one could fail to be moved. The disaster caused destruction of not just homes and public amenities, but also of the lives of thousands of individuals.

There is now an urgent need to rebuild physical structures, and also to help the people to rebuild their lives and communities.

KEADILAN’s International Bureau will spearhead the Party’s initiative to offer assistance in whatever forms we are able, according to the needs on the ground. We will work through the Party’s Yayasan Aman (Peace Foundation), and will also cooperate with a number of NGOs which already have a presence there.
We will be sending a small team on a fact-finding mission and in the meantime we are launching an appeal for donations and volunteers.

We hope that caring Malaysians will be generous in offering whatever help they can. The task is huge, and it is our shared responsibility, especially as close neighbours, to reach out and assist our suffering brothers and sisters in Padang.

MUSTAFFA KAMIL AYUB
Chairman,

International Bureau

What happened to global warming?

2009-11-11T09:43:00.008+08:00

By Paul Hudson Climate correspondent, BBC News

This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.

Average temperatures have not increased for over a decade

But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.
And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.

So what on Earth is going on?

Climate change sceptics, who passionately and consistently argue that man's influence on our climate is overstated, say they saw it coming.

They argue that there are natural cycles, over which we have no control, that dictate how warm the planet is. But what is the evidence for this?
During the last few decades of the 20th Century, our planet did warm quickly.

Recent research has ruled out solar influences on temperature increases

Sceptics argue that the warming we observed was down to the energy from the Sun increasing. After all 98% of the Earth's warmth comes from the Sun.

But research conducted two years ago, and published by the Royal Society, seemed to rule out solar influences.

The scientists' main approach was simple: to look at solar output and cosmic ray intensity over the last 30-40 years, and compare those trends with the graph for global average surface temperature.

And the results were clear. "Warming in the last 20 to 40 years can't have been caused by solar activity," said Dr Piers Forster from Leeds University, a leading contributor to this year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

But one solar scientist Piers Corbyn from Weatheraction, a company specialising in long range weather forecasting, disagrees.

He claims that solar charged particles impact us far more than is currently accepted, so much so he says that they are almost entirely responsible for what happens to global temperatures.
He is so excited by what he has discovered that he plans to tell the international scientific community at a conference in London at the end of the month.

If proved correct, this could revolutionise the whole subject.

Ocean cycles

What is really interesting at the moment is what is happening to our oceans. They are the Earth's great heat stores.

In the last few years [the Pacific Ocean] has been losing its warmth and has recently started to cool down. According to research conducted by Professor Don Easterbrook from Western Washington University last November, the oceans and global temperatures are correlated.
The oceans, he says, have a cycle in which they warm and cool cyclically. The most important one is the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO).

For much of the 1980s and 1990s, it was in a positive cycle, that means warmer than average. And observations have revealed that global temperatures were warm too.

But in the last few years it has been losing its warmth and has recently started to cool down.
These cycles in the past have lasted for nearly 30 years.
So could global temperatures follow? The global cooling from 1945 to 1977 coincided with one of these cold Pacific cycles.

Professor Easterbrook says: "The PDO cool mode has replaced the warm mode in the Pacific Ocean, virtually assuring us of about 30 years of global cooling."
So what does it all mean? Climate change sceptics argue that this is evidence that they have been right all along.

They say there are so many other natural causes for warming and cooling, that even if man is warming the planet, it is a small part compared with nature.
But those scientists who are equally passionate about man's influence on global warming argue that their science is solid.

The UK Met Office's Hadley Centre, responsible for future climate predictions, says it incorporates solar variation and ocean cycles into its climate models, and that they are nothing new.

In fact, the centre says they are just two of the whole host of known factors that influence global temperatures - all of which are accounted for by its models.
In addition, say Met Office scientists, temperatures have never increased in a straight line, and there will always be periods of slower warming, or even temporary cooling.
What is crucial, they say, is the long-term trend in global temperatures. And that, according to the Met office data, is clearly up.

The UK Met Office says that warming is set to resume

To confuse the issue even further, last month Mojib Latif, a member of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says that we may indeed be in a period of cooling worldwide temperatures that could last another 10-20 years.

Professor Latif is based at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at Kiel University in Germany and is one of the world's top climate modellers.
But he makes it clear that he has not become a sceptic; he believes that this cooling will be temporary, before the overwhelming force of man-made global warming reasserts itself.

So what can we expect in the next few years?

Both sides have very different forecasts. The Met Office says that warming is set to resume quickly and strongly.

It predicts that from 2010 to 2015 at least half the years will be hotter than the current hottest year on record (1998).

Sceptics disagree. They insist it is unlikely that temperatures will reach the dizzy heights of 1998 until 2030 at the earliest. It is possible, they say, that because of ocean and solar cycles a period of global cooling is more likely.

One thing is for sure. It seems the debate about what is causing global warming is far from over. Indeed some would say it is hotting up.

Global Humanitarian Contributions in 2009:

2009-11-08T19:50:00.000+08:00

Totals by Donor as of 08-Nov. 2009

click here to know committed and uncomiitted donors...!!

http://ocha.unog.ch/fts/reports/daily/ocha_R18_Y2009___0911080205.pdf

GLOBAL ISSUES FORUM..

2009-11-08T18:02:00.008+08:00

AFTA - ARE WE READY?

Saturday 5 Sept. 2009

Seminar Hall, PJ Civic Centre,

9.00am - 1.00pm

Programme:

9.30- Welcoming address and introduction to the GIF by

Mustaffa Kamil Ayub - Head of International Bureau

9.50- Keynote address by YB Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

10.30- Panel presentations and Q and A

Moderator: Datin Paduka Dr Tan Yee Kew

Panelists:

1. Dr. Mary Cardoza, (Pres. Elect MMA)

2. Prof Dr Ananthan Krishnan (AMRI-ASIA)

3. Dato' Rameli Musa (Ingress)

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE.. 29 SEPT

2009-11-08T17:56:00.000+08:00

Disarmament and non-proliferation

The International Day of Peace, observed each year on 21 September, is a global call for ceasefire and non-violence. This year the Secretary-General is calling on governments and citizens to focus on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

On 13 June 2009, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a multiplatform campaign under the slogan WMD – We Must Disarm to mark the 100-day countdown which lead to the International Day of Peace on 21 September.

The United Nations will continue to raise awareness of the dangers and costs of nuclear weapons, and on why nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are so crucial. The Secretary-General was joined in the campaign by United Nations Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas, who has championed the cause of disarmament for the United Nations since 1998, and American actor Rainn Wilson, featured in the TV series The Office.

The International Day of Peace was established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 for “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace within and among all nations and people.” Twenty years later, the General Assembly decided that 21 September would be observed annually as a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence" and invited all Member States, organizations and individuals to commemorate the day, including through education and public awareness, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the establishment of a global ceasefire.