NATO force hit by fatal Afghanistan crash

At least five troops dead after helicopter goes down during heavy rainstorm in southern province of Kandahar. Last Modified: 12 Mar 2013 08:55 Tweet inShare1 Email Print Share Feedback

Two US soldiers were killed in an insider attack as Chuck Hagel ended his first official visit to country [Reuters]

Five members of the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan have been killed in a helicopter crash in bad weather in the country's south, according to coalition and provincial authorities. Police in the southern province of Kandahar said the accident occurred on Monday evening during a heavy rainstorm in Daman district. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) does not release the nationality of casualties, but US, British and Australian soldiers operate in the country's south. "The cause of the crash is under investigation. However, initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time," ISAF said following the incident. Helicopter crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the 100,000-strong international mission relies heavily on air transport. From the perspective of one neighbourhood in Herat "There was bad weather in the area and the helicopter crashed at about 10pm," General Abdul Razeq, the Kandahar provincial police chief, told AFP. "No insurgents were there at the time." Separately on Monday, US troops shot and killed two Afghan civilians as their truck was approaching an American convoy on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghan officials said. Mohammad Alim, a commander for Kabul highways, said "a coalition convoy fired on a truck which was driving beside the convoy, which martyred two people and wounded another one". Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said the dead were employees of a company that repairs police vehicles. Earlier on Monday, two US soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in a suspected insider attack in the eastern province of Wardak by a man in an Afghan army uniform who also killed several Afghan soldiers. The NATO mission in Afghanistan has been unsettled this week by comments from Afghan President Hamid Karzai accusing the US of colluding with the Taliban to justify the presence of foreign troops in the country. Washington abruptly rejected the allegations, saying the US has "spent enormous blood and treasure" in supporting the Afghan people and did not support any kind of violence involving civilians. Karzai's comments came during the first visit to Kabul by Chuck Hagel, the new US defence secretary who pledged that the US was working to ensure a successful handover as Afghan security forces take on the battle against the Taliban. Combat troops from the NATO mission will leave Afghanistan by the end of next year, and many fear that Afghan soldiers will struggle to contain fighters opposed to Karzai's government.

NATO force hit by fatal Afghanistan crash

At least five troops dead after helicopter goes down during heavy rainstorm in southern province of Kandahar. Last Modified: 12 Mar 2013 08:55 Tweet inShare1 Email Print Share Feedback

Two US soldiers were killed in an insider attack as Chuck Hagel ended his first official visit to country [Reuters]

NATO force hit by fatal Afghanistan crash
Five members of the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan have been killed in a helicopter crash in bad weather
in the country's south, according to coalition and provincial authorities.
Police in the southern province of Kandahar said the accident occurred on Monday evening during a heavy rainstorm in Daman district.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) does not release the nationality of casualties, but US, British and Australian soldiers operate in the country's south.
"The cause of the crash is under investigation. However, initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time," ISAF said following the incident.
Helicopter crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the 100,000-strong international mission relies heavily on air transport.

From the perspective of one neighbourhood in Herat

"There was bad weather in the area and the helicopter crashed at about 10pm," General Abdul Razeq, the Kandahar provincial police chief, told AFP.
"No insurgents were there at the time."
Separately on Monday, US troops shot and killed two Afghan civilians as their truck was approaching an American convoy on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghan officials said.
Mohammad Alim, a commander for Kabul highways, said "a coalition convoy fired on a truck which was driving beside the convoy, which martyred two people and wounded another one".
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said the dead were employees of a company that repairs police vehicles.
Earlier on Monday, two US soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in a suspected insider attack in the eastern province of Wardak by a man in an Afghan army uniform who also killed several Afghan soldiers.
The NATO mission in Afghanistan has been unsettled this week by comments from Afghan President Hamid Karzai accusing the US of colluding with the Taliban to justify the presence of foreign troops in the country.
Washington abruptly rejected the allegations, saying the US has "spent enormous blood and treasure" in supporting the Afghan people and did not support any kind of violence involving civilians.
Karzai's comments came during the first visit to Kabul by Chuck Hagel, the new US defence secretary who pledged that the US was working to ensure a successful handover as Afghan security forces take on the battle against the Taliban.
Combat troops from the NATO mission will leave Afghanistan by the end of next year, and many fear that Afghan soldiers will struggle to contain fighters opposed to Karzai's government.

Iraqi official: 48 Syrians killed in attack in western Iraq

 

Syria violence spills into Iraq

 

Baghdad (CNN) -- Some 48 Syrians, most of them soldiers, and nine Iraqi soldiers were killed Monday in an attack near the western Iraqi town of Ar Rutbah, an official said, raising concerns that Syria's civil war could spill over into Iraq.

The Syrian soldiers' convoy was ambushed by gunmen using roadside bombs and machine guns.

"From the beginning, we have warned that some militant groups want to move the conflict in Syria to Iraq," said Ali al-Mussawi, adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"Militant groups are very active on the border areas between Iraq and Syria. Some of these groups affiliate with al Qaeda in Iraq," he added.

 

Al-Mussawi said that many of the Syrians killed in the ambush had earlier received medical treatment in Iraq. They were wounded during a battle at the Yaarabiya-Rabia border crossing a few days ago. The point is called Rabia in Iraq; Yaarabiya in Syria.

According to security officials in Ramadi, Iraq, several Syrians were wounded in that battle between the Free Syrian Army and Syrian soldiers.

Dozens of Syrian soldiers and officials took refuge in Iraq by surrendering to that country's army on Friday after rebels took over the Yaarabiya post, the officials said.

They added that the convoy had been headed from Rabia to the al-Waleed border crossing in Iraq's Anbar province when it was attacked.

The United Nations has estimated that about 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war, which began roughly two years ago.

Just on Monday, at least 149 people were killed, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition group. The deaths include 40 in and around Damascus, 35 in Raqqa province and 25 in Aleppo.

Death sentences over Egypt football riot spark new protests

New clashes after new Port Said verdicts 

 

Cairo (CNN) -- Two people were killed and at least 15 injured Saturday in Cairo, officials said, as Egyptians in two rival cities took to the streets to vent their anger over court verdicts in a controversial case involving deadly riots at a soccer game.

Health Ministry spokesman Ahmed Osman said two protesters had been killed in violence outside the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel in downtown Cairo.

Five others have been injured in the clashes by the hotel, he said.

Another 10 are suffering smoke inhalation after a fire gutted the three-story building housing the Egyptian Football Association in a wealthy Cairo neighborhood, as soccer fans looked on. Next door, an exclusive club for policemen was also ablaze.

Demonstrations, fires in Cairo

In Port Said, the other city with a stake in the court case, small fires burned in the harbor. The military has been deployed in the volatile northeastern city to try to avoid a repeat of past violent protests.

Saturday's disorder erupted after a Cairo court confirmed death sentences previously handed down to 21 defendants in the Port Said soccer riot case and sentenced more than 20 others to prison terms, state media said.

The rampage in February 2012 left 74 people dead and 1,000 injured, after the Port Said home team, al-Masry soccer club, defeated visiting Cairo team al-Ahly.

A majority of the victims in the stadium rampage -- where fans went at each other with rocks, chairs, knives and swords -- were Cairo fans.

Of those sentenced to prison, five people received life sentences and 10 others were given 15 years in prison, the state-run EgyNews agency reported.

Among those given a 15-year term were the leading policeman on trial, General Essam Samak, former chief of security in Port Said, and a second police official, Mohamed Saad, state media said. Seven other policemen were acquitted.

Other prison sentences were lesser, and the court cleared 28 people in total in the case, EgyNews said.

Lawyers for the 73 defendants, who also included al-Masry club staff, can file an appeal.

There was some initial confusion in Egyptian media over the final verdicts.

The sentences have prompted anger in both cities, with some protesters in Port Said believing they are too harsh and others in Cairo convinced they do not go far enough.

Hardcore fans

A statement on the Ahly club's official website backed the Cairo court but said the fight for justice wasn't over.

"The court's verdict was fair for fans of the Ahly team. We support the prosecutor general's decision to appeal the 28 acquittals and we'll continue supporting the families of the Port Said football victims," it said.

"We will not give up until justice is served to all their sons."

But the lighter punishment for policemen accused of standing by amid the stadium violence angered some.

Eyewitnesses at the Egyptian Football Association headquarters told CNN that Ultra Ahly fans outraged by the verdicts set the building ablaze as they marched towards Tahrir Square, the usual focal point for demonstrations in the capital.

The Ultras are hardcore soccer fans who have also become involved in political protests.

Earlier, around 1,000 Ahly supporters who were at the Cairo soccer club erupted in cheers and set off fireworks to celebrate, as the judges, sitting in the police academy in New Cairo, a suburb of the capital, gave their ruling.

Old resentments

In Port Said, near the Sinai Peninsula, black smoke rose into the sky as tires fixed to docks went up in flames. The tires serve as rubber bumpers to prevent damage to ships knocking against the piers. Without them, anchoring in port is more difficult.

Port Said demonstrators also protested against the nation's government and President Mohamed Morsy. Some complained that justice for Port Said was sacrificed to placate Cairo.

Their anger reflects a deeper resentment of the capital common in the port city. Many Port Said residents believe that too much of the tax money collected from ships passing through the port lands in Cairo, which does not return enough of the funds to their municipal coffers.

Port Said has been shaken by violent protests in recent days as the date for the verdict neared.

Deadly clashes erupted after the 21 death sentences were first handed down in January.

Port Said's tense relationship with Cairo dates back about 60 years.

Many residents of Port Said felt Egyptian security forces didn't adequately defend the city during the series of wars with Israel that began with the Jewish state's creation in 1948 and ended after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Saudi Health Ministry under fire in case of girl and alleged HIV-tainted blood

By Schams Elwazer, Mohammed Jamjoom and Samya Ayish, CNN

updated 8:52 AM EST, Wed February 20, 2013

(File photo) Red ribbons, the universal symbol of awareness and support for those living with HIV.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- The case of a 12-year-old girl who reportedly received a transfusion of HIV-positive blood has sparked outrage across Saudi Arabian society, with angry calls for the health minister to resign.

In this ultraconservative Islamic kingdom, where HIV and AIDS remain taboo subjects and open criticism of government officials is relatively rare, the case of Reham al-Hakami has prompted unprecedented widespread discussion of both issues.

Mohammed Almadi, of the government-backed Human Rights Commission that is investigating the case, said Reham, who has sickle cell anemia, received a blood transfusion on February 12 at the main hospital in Jazan, her village. A few hours later, a team from the hospital came to her house to tell the family that the blood was HIV-positive.

She was then airlifted to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. It remains unclear whether Reham has tested positive for HIV.

"This was a case of negligence," Almadi said.

Widespread online chatter and subsequent discussions in the Saudi media prompted the Health Ministry to issue a statement Monday calling the incident a "critical error" and apologizing to the girl, her family and Saudi society.

The ministry says it is investigating the matter. On Twitter, it said it was "acting on behalf of the family as the legal guardian in seeking compensation and to ensure that the legal procedures and the decisions made by the legal health councils will be carried out in her case."

In a widely circulated six-second online video, Reham, wearing a bright pink T-shirt, says, "I need you to stand by me and pray for me."

Seven ministry officials were sacked and some were fined, including the coordinator of the region's AIDS program, said the statement, which does not mention HIV. It is an unusual move in the heavily bureaucratic kingdom where government institutions usually remain silent in the face of criticism.

Daoud al-Sharian, a well-known television presenter on the Saudi-owned MBC channel, called on Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabiah to resign.

"I wish, just once, that a minister would resign over (his ministry's) mistakes" al-Sharian said Sunday on his talk show, which hosted the girl's father and uncle as well as a Health Ministry official. "If a case like this happened in other countries, not just one minister but several ministers would resign."

A local Saudi paper reported that the minister visited the girl in a hospital Saturday and gave her an iPad, a gesture that sparked mocking comments on social media.

The line "hey sorry about what happened so take this ipad and download some apps while you're waiting to die" was posted multiple times by various Twitter users.

An Arabic tweet by Saudi preacher Adel Al-Kalabani said, "this should go into the Guinness Book (of world records) as the cheapest compensation ever." It has been retweeted almost 4,000 times.

Al-Rabiah defended himself on a television program Tuesday, saying the gift was not compensation.

"I couldn't go empty-handed to the hospital to visit her for the first time," he told Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbariya. He said he asked ministry officials who visited Reham every day at the hospital what she wanted, and they told him she wanted an iPad so she could listen to the Quran, Islam's holy book.

"So I asked my colleagues to prepare an iPad and put some games on it as well as the Quran. As a father, if I visited her without bringing anything with me, I would have blamed myself," al-Rabiah continued.

Ibrahim al-Hakimi, the family's lawyer, said the family plans to sue the Health Ministry "starting from the most senior official and including all employees involved in this medical mistake." He said the family was still in shock over what happened.

Saudi Health Ministry under fire in case of girl and alleged HIV-tainted blood

By Schams Elwazer, Mohammed Jamjoom and Samya Ayish, CNN

updated 8:52 AM EST, Wed February 20, 2013

(CNN) -- The case of a 12-year-old girl who reportedly received a transfusion of HIV-positive blood has sparked outrage across Saudi Arabian society, with angry calls for the health minister to resign.

In this ultraconservative Islamic kingdom, where HIV and AIDS remain taboo subjects and open criticism of government officials is relatively rare, the case of Reham al-Hakami has prompted unprecedented widespread discussion of both issues.

Mohammed Almadi, of the government-backed Human Rights Commission that is investigating the case, said Reham, who has sickle cell anemia, received a blood transfusion on February 12 at the main hospital in Jazan, her village. A few hours later, a team from the hospital came to her house to tell the family that the blood was HIV-positive.

She was then airlifted to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. It remains unclear whether Reham has tested positive for HIV.

"This was a case of negligence," Almadi said.

Widespread online chatter and subsequent discussions in the Saudi media prompted the Health Ministry to issue a statement Monday calling the incident a "critical error" and apologizing to the girl, her family and Saudi society.

The ministry says it is investigating the matter. On Twitter, it said it was "acting on behalf of the family as the legal guardian in seeking compensation and to ensure that the legal procedures and the decisions made by the legal health councils will be carried out in her case."

In a widely circulated six-second online video, Reham, wearing a bright pink T-shirt, says, "I need you to stand by me and pray for me."

Seven ministry officials were sacked and some were fined, including the coordinator of the region's AIDS program, said the statement, which does not mention HIV. It is an unusual move in the heavily bureaucratic kingdom where government institutions usually remain silent in the face of criticism.

Daoud al-Sharian, a well-known television presenter on the Saudi-owned MBC channel, called on Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabiah to resign.

"I wish, just once, that a minister would resign over (his ministry's) mistakes" al-Sharian said Sunday on his talk show, which hosted the girl's father and uncle as well as a Health Ministry official. "If a case like this happened in other countries, not just one minister but several ministers would resign."

A local Saudi paper reported that the minister visited the girl in a hospital Saturday and gave her an iPad, a gesture that sparked mocking comments on social media.

The line "hey sorry about what happened so take this ipad and download some apps while you're waiting to die" was posted multiple times by various Twitter users.

An Arabic tweet by Saudi preacher Adel Al-Kalabani said, "this should go into the Guinness Book (of world records) as the cheapest compensation ever." It has been retweeted almost 4,000 times.

Al-Rabiah defended himself on a television program Tuesday, saying the gift was not compensation.

"I couldn't go empty-handed to the hospital to visit her for the first time," he told Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbariya. He said he asked ministry officials who visited Reham every day at the hospital what she wanted, and they told him she wanted an iPad so she could listen to the Quran, Islam's holy book.

"So I asked my colleagues to prepare an iPad and put some games on it as well as the Quran. As a father, if I visited her without bringing anything with me, I would have blamed myself," al-Rabiah continued.

Ibrahim al-Hakimi, the family's lawyer, said the family plans to sue the Health Ministry "starting from the most senior official and including all employees involved in this medical mistake." He said the family was still in shock over what happened.

Iraq intelligence academy chief Ali Aouni killed

Continue reading the main story

Struggle for Iraq

• Balancing act
• Exploiting fragility
• Iraq's dilemma
• Message of hope

The head of Iraq's intelligence academy and two bodyguards have been killed in a suicide blast in the northern town of Tal Afar, police say.

Gen Ali Aouni is believed to be the most senior Iraqi military officer to be killed this year.

Official sources told the BBC that the intelligence chief was not the intended target of the attackers.

Gen Aouni lived next door to another military figure in the town, who was unhurt in the explosion.

Two suicide bombers launched the attack on Saturday but one was shot dead by his neighbour's bodyguards, the BBC's Nahed Abuzeid reports.

As Gen Aouni emerged from his home, the second bomber, who had been wounded by the guards, detonated an explosives belt.

General Ali Aouni was head of the central college of military staff officers.

His neighbour Lt Habib Amin Ilias, who was described as a rapid response force commander, had been targeted before, our correspondent says.
Fallujah attack
No group has yet admitted carrying out the attack. But Tal Afar was a major battleground between US forces and Iraqi insurgents in 2005 and has since seen infrequent but bloody militant attacks.

The intelligence chief is the second prominent Iraq figure to be murdered so far this year, after an opposition member of parliament was killed in the city of Falluja in the western province of Anbar.

A bomber approached 37-year-old Sunni MP Eifan Saadoun al-Issawi last month and blew himself up, also killing two bodyguards.

Scores of people have been killed in a series of deadly attacks across Iraq since the start of the year.

Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda have been blamed for much of the recent violence.

Tal Afar is located about 150km (90 miles) east of the Syrian border and 420km north-west of Baghdad.

Observers say the town, which has a mixed population of Sunni Arabs and Turkmen, is an area used by insurgents crossing the Syrian border in both directions.

Although sectarian violence has decreased in Iraq since the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, attacks are still common.

Tensions have also been building up in the lead-up to parliamentary elections, due to be held in March.

Earlier this month, at least 33 people were killed and about 100 injured in a spate of car bombings in mainly Shia areas of Iraq, local officials said.

The attacks took place as thousands of Sunnis held protest rallies in several cities against the Shia-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, accusing him of monopolising power.

Syria death toll probably at 70,000, U.N. human rights official says

 

(CNN) -- The death toll in Syria is probably now approaching 70,000, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Tuesday.

In early January, Pillay said that 60,000 people in Syria had died, a figure that she called "truly shocking." She blamed the international community for failing to act.

At that time, CNN tried to put the number in perspective. Sixty thousand people is roughly the population of Terre Haute, Indiana; or Cheyenne, Wyoming. It's how many people would fit in Dodger Stadium, and it's more than the 50,000-plus U.S. combat deaths in Vietnam.

The war in Syria has been raging since March 2011 when protesters, partly inspired by Arab Spring uprisings in the region, began demonstrating for more freedom. That movement quickly morphed into a movement against President Bashar al-Assad, who was appointed president by Syria's rubber-stamp parliament in 2000 after his father died.

 

The largely amorphous group of anti-al-Assad rebels who have been trying to oust al-Assad, the Free Syrian Army, has had many casualties, but many innocent civilians have died.

No area of the country seems safe. The opposition activist organization Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCCS) said 136 people were killed in war-related violence across Syria on Tuesday, including 47 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 32 in Aleppo. CNN cannot independently verify those figures.

In mid-January, Aleppo University was the scene of horrific violence. One student described to CNN his dizzying attempt to help another after bombs exploded at the school, saying that he reached out his hand to help only to wind up grasping a fellow student's severed hand.

Every day looks the same in Syria. Al-Assad's forces bombard neighborhoods. Body counts are recorded by anti-government rebels and activists.

United Nations envoys -- two of them so far -- have tried to negotiate to end to the fighting.

In late January, envoy Lakhdar Brahimi tried to persuade the U.N. Security Council to do something.

"Syria is being destroyed bit by bit and, in destroying Syria, the region is being pushed into a situation that is extremely bad and extremely important for the entire world," he said after meeting with the body in private.

Throughout the war, there have been several instances in which observers have surmised that the bloodshed might be near an end.

They've been wrong every time. Al-Assad has made those predictions seem even more foolish when he's given speeches in which he says all his government is doing is fighting back "terrorists."

There are Syrians who still very much support al-Assad, too.

For example, in a recent CNN exclusive, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reported from Saidnaya, a predominantly Christian town outside Damascus that is standing firmly behind al-Assad.

"I don't know why, but we love the president very much," said Housam Azar, a Saidnaya resident and organizer of the town's militia. "Sure, there have been mistakes, but we love the president a lot."

Syria rebels claim northern airbase takeover

UN says the number of Syrians who have fled the conflict in Syria could hit 1.1 million by June [YouTube]

Syrian rebels have captured a military airbase in the north and geared up for a major battle against regime forces as the opposition says it refuses to accept President Bashar al-Assad in talks on the 23-month conflict. The rebels on Friday said they overran the base in the town of Sfeira, east of Aleppo international airport, and captured a large stockpile of ammunition. Activists reported intermittent clashes around the Aleppo airport itself as well as around Nayrab airbase and another military complex, as the two sides squared up for a major fight. "The army shelled the area around Aleppo international airport and Nayrab air base on Friday morning, while rebels used home-made rockets to shell Nayrab," Rami Abdel Rahman, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. The Syrian army "is preparing a large-scale operation to take back control of Base 80", he said, referring to a military complex tasked with the security of both Nayrab and Aleppo airports. Rebels seized the base on Wednesday after a battle that left at least 150 dead from both sides, among them senior army officers, according to the Observatory. Assad role rejected On the political front, the opposition Syrian National Coalition said it refused to accept Assad in any talks, as part of an eight-point "framework" it has drawn up for solutions to the conflict. The group issued the framework after a meeting in Cairo to discuss a proposal by its chief, Mouaz al-Khatib, for peace talks with regime representatives, a move that ruffled feathers in the umbrella opposition group. "Bashar Assad and security leadership who are responsible for the current destruction of the country are outside the political process and must be held accountable for their crimes," it said in a statement issued in English. Meanwhile, Syrian government has written to the UN attacking Turkey's "destructive" role in the conflict, state media reported. "Turkey supports and publicly justifies terrorist, destructive acts" against Syria, the foreign ministry wrote in letters addressed to both the UN Security Council and Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general. "Turkey has turned its territory into camps used to house, train, finance and infiltrate armed terrorist groups, chief among them the al-Qaeda network and the al-Nusra Front." Also on Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had stepped up aid operations across the shifting front lines in Syria to bring food and medical assistance to civilians in rebel-held areas. ICRC aid workers reached opposition-held Houla in Homs province for the second time in two weeks on Thursday, delivering medical supplies with government consent after being shut out for three months. "I've come back from Syria convinced that we must expand operations in coming weeks and months and that we can and must build on our increasing presence in the most delicate regions including those under opposition control," Pierre Kraehenbuehl, ICRC director of operations, announced in Geneva, Switzerland. He later told Reuters news agency: "Our priority areas are Idlib and Aleppo in the north, where it is very unstable and fluid. Also the circle around Homs and Hama." The ICRC has been aiding some 1.5 million Syrians, via the Syrian Arab Crescent, in a conflict that the UN says has left some 70,000 people dead. The UN has also said the number of Syrians who have fled the country could hit 1.1 million by June. Customs officers in Finland, meanwhile, said they had seized spare parts for tanks in a container en route from Russia to Syria on board a Finnish ship docked at Helsinki's Vuosaari port in January. The European Union has banned all sales, delivery, transfers and exports of weapons to Syria.

Israel detains women over prayer shawls

Ten women arrested at Jerusalem's Western Wall over religious garb that Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men. Last Modified: 11 Feb 2013 12:56 Tweet inShare0 Email Print Share Feedback

Silverman said the tradition barring women from wearing the shawls amounted to 'spitting on Sinai' [GALLO/GETTY]

Israeli police have detained 10 women at one of Judaism's holiest sites for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, authorities confirm. Among those detained on Monday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City was Susan Silverman, a reform rabbi who is a sister of the famous US comedian Sarah Silverman, and her teenage daughter, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld has said. Two other US citizens and Israeli members of "Women of the Wall", a group that campaigns for gender equality in religious practice, were also detained. The group routinely convenes for monthly prayer sessions at the Western Wall, revered by Jews as a perimeter wall of the Biblical Temple in Jerusalem. Some of its members have been detained by police in the past for wearing prayer shawls at the site and released without charge. The Western Wall is administered under strict Orthodox ritual law, which bars women from wearing the religious garb or publicly reading from the holy scriptures. 'High Court' ruling Rosenfeld said the women had acted "against regulations set by the High Court", citing a decision of a decade ago upholding Orthodox rules at the site to avoid tension between worshippers. The incident highlighted the divisions between the more liberal branches of Judaism and politically powerful Orthodox groups that traditionally limit the role of women in prayer. Susan Silverman, who immigrated to Israel from Boston, said police escorted the group to a station after they refused to remove prayer shawls. She said in a telephone interview from the police station where the group was held that they had been among more than 100 women attending the hour-long prayer session. "They [police] said 'take off your prayer shawls', and we said 'no'," Silverman said. Once the prayers were over they were escorted away, Silverman said. Silverman also said the Orthodox tradition barring women from wearing prayer shawls amounted to "spitting on Sinai", naming the site where the Bible says God handed the ancient Israelite leader Moses the 10 Commandments. "All Jews are in a covenant with God," regardless of their gender, she said.

Israel detains women over prayer shawls

The Western Wall is administered under strict Orthodox ritual law, which bars women from wearing the religious garb or publicly reading from the holy scriptures.  

'High Court' ruling

Rosenfeld said the women had acted "against regulations set by the High Court", citing a decision of a decade ago upholding Orthodox rules at the site to avoid tension between worshippers.

The incident highlighted the divisions between the more liberal branches of Judaism and politically powerful Orthodox groups that traditionally limit the role of women in prayer.

Susan Silverman, who immigrated to Israel from Boston, said police escorted the group to a station after they refused to remove prayer shawls.

She said in a telephone interview from the police station where the group was held that they had been among more
than 100 women attending the hour-long prayer session.

"They [police] said 'take off your prayer shawls', and we said 'no'," Silverman said. Once the prayers were over they were escorted away, Silverman said. 

Silverman also said the Orthodox tradition barring women from wearing prayer shawls amounted to "spitting on Sinai", naming the site where the Bible says God handed the ancient Israelite leader Moses the 10 Commandments.

"All Jews are in a covenant with God," regardless of their gender, she said.

Sperm smuggling alleged at terror prison

Nablus, West Bank (CNN) -- Dalal al-Ziben holds her son and kisses his head. Al-Ziben never thought she would have another baby considering her husband has been inside an Israeli prison for 16 years and will likely never get out.

"When they arrested my husband I was 18 years old," she says.

As is expected from her in conservative Palestinian society she says she has been faithful to her husband. She has simply been waiting, hoping her husband may one day be released from incarceration.

It hasn't happened and likely never will because he is serving 27 life sentences and an additional 25 years for helping plan a deadly bombing in a Jerusalem market. An act of violence she says he has admitted to.

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are not allowed conjugal visits, but some Israeli prisoners are. The man convicted of assassinating Israel's Prime Minister Yitzah Rabin was allowed conjugal visits.

Al-Ziben says she got pregnant by her husband because he managed to have his sperm smuggled out of a high security prison.

"Why does the wife of a prisoner have to suffer and stay like this without children and a family? It is our right to meet our husbands and our right to have children," Al-Ziben says.

If I can do anything to help these women I will do it
Dr. Abu Khaizaran

The mother-of-two is one of five Palestinian women making the same claim. In an examination room Rimah Silawi, 32, stares at the tiny black dot on the baby monitor as the technician tells her she is one month pregnant.

Her husband is also serving multiple life sentences and she too says she received In Vitro fertilization using sperm smuggled from inside an Israeli prison.

She and the other women will tell you all about their babies, but not a word about how exactly their husband's semen was smuggled out of a high security Israeli prison leaving enough time for the semen to still be considered viable.

"I'm not going to tell so I won't ruin it for other people," Rimah Silawi whispers in response to our question.

The Razan Medical Center for Fertility and IVF in the West Bank town of Nablus is performing the artificial inseminations. Doctors say they have dozens of samples they are told are from prisoners.

The samples come in at all hours of the day and night and are handed over in all sorts of containers according to the doctors who tell us some samples are viable while others have to be thrown away.

"A lot of things, many things maybe in cups, in ointment containers," Dr. Salim Abu Khaizaran, the head of the fertility center, says while describing the methods used by the prisoners.

While doctors at the center say they can't verify the sperm is actually from their husbands in prison, they require close relatives from both the wife and husband's side of the family to sign papers saying the sperm belongs to the husband in prison.

Dr. Abu Khaizaran also encourages the women to spread word of their plans to use artificial insemination in their community so they do not face ridicule or more sinister repercussions if they are suspected of cheating on their imprisoned husbands.

"We are a male dominated society, we are an eastern society. Our women, whose husbands have been given long sentences, they have no choice but to wait for their husbands to get freed and as you know the female productive life is really limited," Dr. Abu Khaizaran says.

The doctor claims prisoner's wives face this dilemma because they will never have children or more children if their husbands are imprisoned for life, and if they do get out it may be too late to conceive and the husbands may even leave them for another woman who can.

He says he has seen the latter happen.

"Really the one who pays the price the heavy price is the woman. If I can do anything to help these women I will do it," the doctor says.

He and his staff are giving prisoners wives the fertility treatment for free, calling it an act of humanity.

Israeli prison officials say they doubt the validity of the women's story. A spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Authority told us officials very much doubt the technical ability for sperm donation because of the strict controls and security inside the prisons. They said it was hard to fathom, but "who knows?"

Fertility specialists in the U.S. told us it is actually possible for sperm to survive anywhere from a few hours to up to 48 hours in clean unconventional containers if kept at room temperature.

The women say what is most important to them is that they and their families and communities know the truth.

They still hope, one day, sperm smuggling from prison won't be necessary either because their husbands will be allowed to come home or the prison system will allow conjugal visits.

Egypt's Morsi declares 'state of emergency'

In Port Said on Sunday, thousands attended the funeral for more than 30 people killed one day earlier [Reuters]

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has declared a 30-day state of emergency and a night-time curfew in three cities along the Suez Canal that have seen deadly clashes in recent days. In a televised address late on Sunday, Morsi said the emergency measures in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez would take effect on Monday from 9:00pm local time (19:00 GMT) to 6:00am (04:00 GMT), warning that more action would be taken to stem the latest eruption of violence across much of the country. "I have said I am against any emergency measures but I have said that if I must stop bloodshed and protect the people then I will act," Morsi said. He also called for dialogue with top politicians starting on Monday to resolve the situation. Deadly clashes across the country between protesters and police have killed at least 48 people since Friday, when Egyptians commemorated the two-year anniversary of the revolution that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. Seven people were shot dead and hundreds were injured in Port Said on Sunday during the funerals of at least 30 people killed during clashes in the city on the previous day. "Down, down Morsi, down down the regime that killed and tortured us!" people in Port Said chanted as the coffins of those killed on Saturday were carried through the streets. In Port Said, Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh said military helicopters that had been overhead during the funeral could also be heard during Morsi's speech. "I dont see how these decisions will instil any confidence in the people," Rageh said, referring to the president's decision to impose a state of emergency. She said that immediate reaction in Port Said was one of mockery and scepticism with many asking why the three canal cities had been singled out. "The people [in Port Said] feel that there was a complete state of collapse especially after riots today, particularly with tear gas being fired into the funerals," she said. Several hundred people protested in Ismailia, Suez and Port Said after the announcement. Activists in the three cities vowed to defy the curfew in protest at the decision. 'An expected move' On Sunday night, Morsi’s office issued a statement inviting political supporters and opponents for a national dialogue on Monday at 6:00pm (16:00 GMT) at the presidential palace in Cairo. The spokesman for Egypt's main opposition coalition said after Morsi's speech that the move was "expected" and said he wanted more details about an invitation for dialogue with top politicians. "Of course we feel the president is missing the real problem on the ground which is his own policies," Dawoud told the Reuters news agency. But he added: "His call to implement emergency law was an expected move given what is going on, namely thuggery and criminal actions." Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch in Cairo said a state of emergency reintroduced laws that gave police sweeping powers of arrest "purely because [people] look suspicious". "It is a classic knee-jerk reaction to think the emergency law will help bring security," she said. "It gives so much discretion to the Ministry of Interior that it ends up causing more abuse which in turn causes more anger."

Report: Top al Qaeda leader killed

 

 

 

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- The deputy leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and one of the most wanted men in Saudi Arabia has been killed, a prominent jihadist announced Tuesday, though officials in the group's home base of Yemen said they had no evidence of his death.

Abu Sufyan al-Azdi, also known as Saeed al-Shahri, died "after a long journey in fighting the Zio-Crusader campaign," jihadist Abdulla bin Muhammad said on his Twitter account. The tweet was reported by SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors global terrorism.

It was not clear how al-Azdi died. SITE said media reports indicated he died of injuries incurred in a December drone strike.

The Arabic news network Al-Arabiya reported al-Azdi's death, citing his relatives.

 

Three senior Yemeni Defense Ministry officials told CNN the country has no evidence proving his death.

"We have no evidence to prove his death and our government continues to hunt down the leaderships of the terror network," one of the officials told CNN on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to media.

Read more: Amnesty details 'horrific abuses' in southern Yemen

He said more than 80 suspected al Qaeda militants have been killed since early December but that al-Azdi is still out there.

Al-Azdi has been reported dead in the past, the latest incident being in September when Yemen claimed he was killed in an air raid. An audio message released the next month supposedly featured al-Azdi saying he was still alive.

Al-Azdi spent six years in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay before being released in 2007. A Saudi national, he escaped Saudi Arabia to Yemen in 2008.

U.S. drone activity increased in 2012 targeting senior leaders of AQAP. Monday, a U.S.-led drone strike in Marib, an oil-rich province of Yemen east of the capital, targeted a vehicle carrying alleged al Qaeda operatives. The strike killed two militants, identified by the defense ministry as Ali Saleh Toaiman and Qassim Nasser Toaiman, and wounded five others.

Saturday, two U.S drone strikes killed eight people in Marib and another province, al-Baitha.

Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi announced in October that Yemen would step up its military operations with the United States against al Qaeda operatives. In response, al Qaeda carried out a number of attacks on military and security commanders, personnel, patrols and installations, killing more than 60 people, according to Yemen's Interior Ministry.

Hillary Clinton to testify on Benghazi embassy attack

Mrs Clinton will be standing down in two weeks

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to testify to Congress over the deadly attack on a US mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year.

Mrs Clinton will face questions about security failures that led to the attack before the foreign relations committees of the Senate and the House.
She had been due to testify late last year but fell ill.
The US envoy to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other officials were killed in the attack on 11 September.
The ambassador died of smoke inhalation when he was trapped in the burning consulate building, after armed men had stormed the compound.
The assault triggered a major political row over who knew what and when. As a result, an independent panel - the Accountability Review Board - was charged with investigating the incident.
Democrats hold the majority in the Senate, where Mrs Clinton will be surrounded by former colleagues and the tone will likely be respectful, says the BBC's Washington correspondent, Kim Ghattas.
In the House, however, Mrs Clinton is expected to face much more heat.
The panel review did not blame her directly for any of the failures, but members of Congress will still want to know why she was not personally aware of requests for more security in a high-risk posting like Libya, our correspondent adds.
'Cover up'
On Tuesday, Republican Senator John McCain said he wanted to press Mrs Clinton on where she was on the night of the attack, and what warnings there had been about deteriorating security.
"It's been a cover up from the beginning," he told reporters.

 A scathing US inquiry blamed "grossly inadequate" security at the Benghazi mission

She will also face questions about how the administration of President Barack Obama handled the fallout.
Three State Department employees have been fired over the Benghazi attack, and recommendations the panel made in December are already being implemented.
Mrs Clinton, who is stepping down from her post in two weeks, has spent a month recuperating from a series of ailments in December.
She was treated in hospital for a blood clot near her brain, weeks after fainting and suffering a concussion in the subsequent fall.
Mr Obama appointed Mrs Clinton at the start of his first term in 2009. She is considered a strong candidate for the Democratic nomination for president should she run in 2016.
Outrage in Congress over the Benghazi incident and its aftermath has already led US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, to withdraw from the race to succeed Mrs Clinton.
Last November, Mrs Rice admitted releasing incorrect information after the Benghazi attack. She said there had been no attempt to mislead the public, but Republicans were unconvinced.
Mr Obama has since nominated Democratic Senator John Kerry - who is expected to be swiftly confirmed - as Mrs Clinton's replacement.
Mrs Clinton is due to testify for 90 minutes before the committees

Saudi activists say kingdom trying to silence them

By Ashley Fantz and Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN

updated 8:32 PM EST, Tue January 15, 2013

Saudi activist pushing limits for reform

(CNN) -- As he was falling asleep, the father of five turned to his wife and said he hopes it will all be worth it someday.

Maybe someday, Mohammed Al-Qahtani said, his daughter be able to walk somewhere without a male guardian. Maybe someday, she'll be able to drive a car without fear of arrest.

"Maybe I'm dreaming," Al-Qahtani said. "My newborn daughter, maybe one day she will vote for the prime minister in Saudi Arabia.

"Of course, there will be a price to be paid, and we are more than willing to pay that price."

The 46-year-old economics professor, who is also one of Saudi Arabia's most prominent human rights activists, has been on trial for several months in Riyadh. He faces nine charges, including breaking allegiance to the Saudi king, describing Saudi Arabia as a police state and turning people and international bodies against the kingdom.

His co-defendant, Abdullah Al-Hamid, faces similar charges, including spreading chaos, questioning the authority of official clerics and undermining public order. If convicted, both could go to prison for several years.

Al-Qahtani calls the accusations against them nonsense and says he knows why he and Al-Hamid were really put on trial. He said he and Al-Hamid have stoked the ire of the kingdom for running an activist group that is trying to expose human rights violations in the country.

Mohammed Al-Qahtani said he's on trial because his group is trying to expose human rights violations in Saudi Arabia.

"We have a number of cases where people are thrown in prison arbitrarily, torture, forced disappearances. ... Whatever rights abuses (you could think of), you could find in Saudi Arabia," Al-Qahtani said.

According to rights groups, Saudi authorities have been increasingly targeting activists through the courts and other arbitrary means such as travel bans.

"This has been a systematic approach by the authorities in Saudi Arabia -- namely, the targeting and harassing of activists across the country," said Tamara Al-Rifai, spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division.

Al-Rifai told CNN that accusations against activists generally include "instigating chaos, gathering illegally, harming the reputation, talking to foreigners, talking to the media, etc."

She said there is no clear criminal law in Saudi Arabia and that people "are being arbitrarily arrested and detained for exercising rights that are stipulated by all international human rights laws, but also the Arab Charter of Human Rights to which Saudi Arabia has adhered."

In June, Amnesty International issued a statement calling Al-Qahtani's trial "just one of a troubling string of court cases aimed at silencing the kingdom's human rights activists."

"The case against him should be thrown out of court as it appears to be based solely on his legitimate work to defend human rights in Saudi Arabia and his sharp criticism of the authorities," said Philip Luther, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program.

When asked about the case and about accusations that Saudi Arabia is cracking down on dissent, Saudi officials have been reluctant to comment.

"At the Interior Ministry, our area of responsibility is security," said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. "My understanding is that these cases are being looked at by the courts now. Nobody will comment on cases being looked at by the courts."

In Saudi Arabia, a deeply conservative kingdom and an absolute monarchy, protests are prohibited. Still, activists say, small gatherings are becoming more frequent -- demonstrations by both men and women demanding the release of jailed relatives.

The latest high-profile incident happened early this month. According to rights groups, Saudi security forces arrested a group of women in the town of Buraida who were protesting over family members allegedly held for years as political prisoners. The women said the relatives had been detained without charges on suspicion of terrorism.