http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/12/20121222235450446212.html
Muslim Brotherhood claims charter 'approved' | |||
Group says Egypt's voters have approved contentious draft constitution, even as opposition levels fraud charges.
Last Modified: 23 Dec 2012 12:02
| |||
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that the country's new draft constitution has been passed after the final round of voting in a referendum, even as the opposition has claimed the group engaged in voting fraud.
The Muslim Brotherhood, from which President Mohamed Morsi hails, and the official al-Ahram newspaper reported that about 64 percent of voters supported the constitution, after preliminary results were tallied from the second round on Saturday.
The early results are based on reports from returning officials from the vast majority of stations over the two rounds, which were held a week apart. Official results will be announced by the country's election committee on Monday, pending appeals.
The National Salvation Front (NSF), Egypt's main opposition coalition, has, however alleged that there had been incidents of fraud during the vote.
"We're going to challenge this in the courts, we're going to challenge this in the streets, we're going to challenge this until we die, because we cannot recognise this wide attempt to steal the people's future," Ahmed Hawary, a spokesperson for the NSF, told Al Jazeera.
In a statement, the NSF said that it would be file documentation related to the fraud allegations with the country's electoral commission before the announcement of final results.
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said that while the results were so far unofficial, the Muslim Brotherhood's figures on elections have usually been close to accurate. She said that the low turnout figures, however, were of concern to both camps.
"Some 30 percent only of eligible voters turned out to vote in both rounds. once again raising questions of how the leadership of both the opposition and the Islamic camp have failed to appeal to the public and get them to vote in the first place," she said.
The December 15 first round returned 57 percent in favour of the constitution, according to unofficial data. The vote was split over two days as many judges refused to supervise the ballot.
Backers of Morsi say the constitution is vital to move to democracy, nearly two years after a revolution that overthrew authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak. It will provide stability for a weak economy, they say.
But the opposition accuses Morsi of pushing through a text that they claim favours Islamists and ignores the rights of Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population, as well as women.
and Taliban seeks new islamic Constitution.....
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/taliban-seek-new-afghanistan-constitution/story-e6frfkui-1226542483413
Afghanistan Taliban pair pledge tolerance
Taliban have held talks with Afghan government officials at a landmark meeting in France.
TWO senior Taliban representatives have pledged to accept a multiparty political system and respect women's rights in future post-war governments.
The officials last week attended a two-day conference in Paris with Afghan parliamentarians, opposition leaders and government officials organised by a research institute.
In a declaration made public after the conference, they promised political tolerance, but criticised Kabul and the United States government for not being serious about their peace efforts.
They also called for a new constitution based on "the Islamic principles, national interests, social justice, and historical gains".
Such a charter would "guarantee, without prejudice, equal rights for all ethnic groups".
The rebels said they did not accept the current constitution because it was "written under the pressure of B-52 war planes" in 2004.
In a conciliatory note, the movement said it was not "seeking an exclusive right to power".
"We want an all-Afghan, inclusive government," the statement said, adding that Taliban leader Mullah Omar "respects his opponents and insists on mutual understanding and asks them to join him in defending the country."
The Taliban also claimed they would respect "women's rights" and the role that "Islam has given them."
"A woman in Islam has the right to get married, inherit, own (possessions), education, and work."
The former Taliban regime, which was ousted by the US-led military invasion in 2001, called the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Its leaders say they continue to be "a legitimate force."
"It has a political representation in the world and our invitation to this conference is a good example of our political existence," the group said.
The Taliban want direct talks with the US, and have refused to talk with the Afghan government, which it regards as a "puppet administration."
"Foreigners and the Kabul administration are not interested in peace," it said. "Nor are they committed to the goals and principles of peace.
"Indeed, under the pretext of peace they want the mujahideen (militants) to surrender, lay down their weapons, accept the constitution, and obey their orders. Is that what you call a peace process?"
The Taliban insist that an end to all foreign military occupation remains a prerequisite for peace.
The officials praised France for taking steps to withdraw its troops, and called on the US and other allies to "withdraw" immediately.
An Iraq boils on ......
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2012/12/22/iraqiya-party-threatens-walkout-7-killed-in-attacks/
Iraqiya Party Threatens Walkout, 7 Killed in Attacks
Saturday: 7 Killed, 15 Wounded
by Margaret Griffis, December 22, 2012
At least seven Iraqis were killed and 15 more were wounded in today’s attacks. The Iraqiya party threatened a walkout if the government bans ndependent observers during the interrogations of the finance minister’s bodyguards.
Haidar al-Mulla, spokesman for the Iraqiya bloc, warned that Iraqiya lawmakers will withdraw from the government if Baghdad does not allow independent monitors to observe the interrogations of Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi’s bodyguards. Ten of them, including their chief, were arrested two days ago on terrorism-related charges.
Four people were killed and 11 more were wounded when a bomb exploded outside a CD shop in Qazaniya. The shop was completely destroyed.
In Mosul, a former army officer was shot dead. A civilian and a policeman were wounded during shelling.
A civilian was killed in a bombing at his home in Muqdadiya.
A young man was bludgeoned to death in Mussayab.
A blast wounded two people at a Shomali restaurant.
and.....
Iraq's Parliamentary Speaker and Kurdish President Seek A Solution For Baghdad-Erbil Conflict
Font size:
   Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani meets with Iraq's Parliamentary speaker Osama Nujeifi. Photo: krp.org
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Iraq’s parliamentary speaker Osama Nujeifi arrived in Erbil on Saturday and met with Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani to discuss a possible solution for the current tensions between Baghdad and Erbil.
“Nujeifi told President Barzani that the members and ministers of the Iraqiyah have authorized the leaders of the bloc to seek a solution for the current crisis,” read a statement from Barzani’s office.
Nujeifi is a member of Iraq’s Sunni-majority Iraqiyah bloc led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
“In their meeting, both Barzani and head of the delegation said that the country cannot stand another crisis,” said the statement, referring to an incident this week when Iraqi security forces raided the house of Iraq’s Finance Minister Rafei al-Essawi in Baghdad and detained nine of his bodyguards.
The same day, the finance minister, a Sunni, told Sharqiyah TV that close to 150 members of his staff had been abducted.
Al-Essawi held the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki responsible for the safety of his staff and bodyguards who were arrested in his ministry and his house.
"My message to the prime minister: You are a man who does not respect partnership at all, a man who does not respect the law and the constitution, and I personally hold you fully responsible for the safety of the kidnapped people," al-Essawi told the media on Thursday.
Meanwhile in their meeting, read the statement from Barzani’s office, the Kurdish president and Nujeifi said, “The federal government should have taken into account the sensitive time the country is going through due to President Talabani’s illness,”
The president’s office said that Barzani and Nujeifi discussed a range of issues behind closed doors and that “President Barzani will share details of the meeting with Kurdistan’s political parties.”
This is Nujeifi’s third visit to Erbil in the past few months. In an interview last month, Fuad Hussein, Kurdistan’s presidential chief of staff, told Rudaw that Iraq’s parliamentary speaker had “Visited Kurdistan twice for the same purpose. In both of his visits Osama Nujeifi said Maliki wants a return to an earlier agreement about the armed forces in the disputed areas, and to have the police run the security of the cities.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/5565.html
Kurdish Leaders Warn Baghdad Against Use of Surveillance Aircraft
Font size:
 Yawar maintained that his ministry has asked the Iraqi government that such incidents shouldn’t occur again.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Kurdish and Iraqi troops came close to confrontation south of Kirkuk on Tuesday when Peshmerga forces fired at two unmanned Iraqi aircrafts.
A Peshmerga commander who wished to remain anonymous told Rudaw “Our Peshmerga forces shot down an manned Iraqi surveillance aircraft,”
The commander said that the aircraft had been sent by the Iraqi army to collect information on Peshmerga troops deployed in the disputed territories.
Deputy Minister of Peshmerga Anwar Haji Osman said that Kurdish anti-aircraft guns fired at the plane but that they weren’t “sure if the plane was down.”
“However, information we have gained from the Iraqi army confirms that the plane had been shot down,” Osman added.
Erbil and Baghdad have been locked in a serious dispute for weeks, since Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki dispatched his newly-formed and controversial Dijla forces to take over security in disputed northern territories which are also claimed by the Kurds, who sent in thousands of their own Peshmarga troops.
On Wednesday, the chief of staff of the ministry of Peshmerga Jabar Yawar released a statement, saying, “The Kurdish forces only fired warning shots at two Iraqi aircrafts to make them leave the Peshmerga units.”
Yawar maintained that his ministry has warned the Iraqi government that such incidents shouldn’t occur again.
“Tuesday’s incident was not premeditated and it wasn’t conducted upon orders of the Kurdistan leadership,” Yawar said. “What triggered it was the aircrafts that came too close to the Peshmerga units.”
According to Yawar, a high level team from the Peshmerga Ministry visited the area on Wednesday and advised the Kurdish units against repeating such acts in the future.
The president of the autonomous Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani told Kurdish troops on the frontlines of a standoff with Iraqi forces last week that he hoped for a peaceful resolution of a row with Baghdad over disputed territories, but that if there was war the Kurdish cause was just.
“War is not a nice thing. Throughout history the Kurdish nation has never liked war, but they were always ready to protect their land and dignity. They would rather die than live under oppression,” Barzani said, accompanied by the Peshmarga minister.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment