Saleh hands over power to Yemen's new president

Author: Nehal El-Sherif

   Sana'a (dpa) - Yemen inaugurated Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi as president on Monday, officially ending Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year reign.

   "I now hand over the flag of the revolution, the republic, freedom, security to safe hands," said Saleh as he handed the Yemeni flag to Hadi in a symbolic gesture during the ceremony.
  
   Hadi was sworn into office on Saturday, after he received 99.8 per cent of the vote in last week's presidential election, in which he was the sole candidate.

   "We are laying a new base for a peaceful transfer of power in Yemen," said Hadi during the ceremony in the presidential complex in the capital Sana'a.

    The biggest challenge facing Hadi will be to re-establish security.

   Militant groups with possible links to al-Qaeda are believed to have extended control of areas in southern Yemen, taking advantage of a weak central government and a year of protests against Saleh.

   Violence has gripped Yemen since January 2011, when thousands of people, inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, took to the streets to demand Saleh's ouster.

   Hadi, who served as Saleh’s deputy for some 17 years, said that Yemen now faced a complicated and difficult path, and called on all parties to cooperate with the new leadership.

   According to the Gulf-brokered power transfer deal, which Saleh signed in November, Hadi and a national unity government will lead the country for two years.

   "I hope we will gather again in this hall to say farewell to an old leadership and welcome a new one," Hadi said, standing next to Saleh.

   Around 30,000 people took to the streets in Sana'a and the southwestern city of Ibb to protest against Saleh's presence at the ceremony.

   Saleh on Friday returned from the United States where he received medical treatment.

   "We will continue to support the president to rebuild what the crisis has destroyed," said Saleh, who retains his post as the head of his General People's Congress party. "We call on all fellow countrymen to stand beside the political leadership."

   The opposition Joint Meeting Parties coalition boycotted the ceremony because of Saleh's presence.

   Saleh had agreed to relinquish power to Hadi in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Syria pursues military crackdown, holds referendum

Authors: Nehal El-Sherif, Ramadan Al-Fatash
26.02.2012

   Damascus/Cairo (dpa) - Syria held a referendum on a new constitution on Sunday as government forces shelled restive areas and clashed with rebel fighters seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

   The opposition boycotted the vote, saying it was "stained with blood" and dismissed as a sham claims that the new constitution opens the door for political pluralism.

   Al-Assad and his wife Asma cast their votes in a polling station inside the heavily secured Syrian state television building in Damascus, near the presidential palace.

   People went to polling stations in central Damascus, though turnout was remarkably low in suburban districts of the capital like Barzeh, where anti-government sentiment runs high.

   "I came and voted in favour of the new constitution, as this vote will contribute to a better future for Syria, and bring back security and stability to my family," said Huda Abu-Saleh, a school teacher in Damascus.

   A voter in the Qudssaya district north-west of Damascus who identified himself as Mohammed said: "It does not represent me, and I think it does not represent millions of Syrians who want to move toward a brighter and democratic future."

   The vote was held as the Syrian army pressed on with a military offensive in restive areas, killing at least 34 people, activists said.

   The opposition Local Coordination Committees said most of the deaths occurred in the central city of Homs, which has been besieged and shelled by government forces since February 3.

   Activists also reported clashes between rebel fighters and government troops in Homs and in the southern city of Daraa, near the border with Jordan.

   The Syrian crisis is approaching one year with no end in sight.

   Videos posted online showed Syrians in Homs and the rebel stronghold northern city of Idlib mocking the vote by setting up their own polling stations.

   People were also seen throwing mock ballot papers in rubbish bins.

   "On this day, we enter a new democratic phase, and Syria becomes much stronger than before," Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told reporters after he cast his vote at the ministry's headquarters in Damascus.

   The government on Sunday sent text messages to mobile phones urging Syrians to take part in "Marches of loyalty" to al-Assad's regime.

   More than 14,000 polling stations opened nationwide for about 15 million eligible voters, the Interior Ministry said.

   The new constitution allows the establishment of political parties other than the governing Baath, which has been ruling Syria since 1963.

   The opposition has said it would accept nothing less than al-Assad's resignation.

Violence mars Yemen's one-candidate presidential election

By Adnan Al-Bureihy and Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Sana'a (dpa) - At least four people were killed in clashes in southern Yemen on Tuesday as voters flocked to polling stations in a presidential election aimed at ending the 33-year rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh.

   Security forces clashed with tribesmen who were trying to prevent people from voting and were attacking polling stations.

   Saleh's deputy, Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, 67, is the sole candidate.

   The early election is the result of a deal, for the peaceful transfer of power, signed in November by Saleh, 69, and the opposition.

   After casting his ballot, Hadi told reporters that the election reflected the wisdom of Yemenis emerging from the year-long unrest, the state-run SABA news agency reported.

   The United Nations special envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar all concerned parties in the country to abide by the Gulf-brokered power transfer deal.

   “The international community and the United Nations Security Council would closely monitor this process,” he told a press conference in the capital Sana'a.

   In the southern port city of Aden, voters in al-Mansoura district could not reach a polling station as supporters of the separatist Southern Movement shuttered it and exchanged fire with security forces, a security source in Aden told dpa.

   Videos posted online by pro-democracy activists showed members of the separatist movement storming a polling station and setting ballot boxes on fire.

   Along with Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, in the north, the Southern Movement has for months called for the election to be boycotted.

   In the southern city of al-Makala, at least 16 people were injured in clashes between security forces and people opposed to the election.

   Hadi, who is from the south, has promised to hold a national dialogue with the separatists.

   Political analyst Ahmed al-Zarqa described the elections as a “play set up to satisfy Saleh's ego.”

   He added: “This scenario, which is neither an election nor a referendum, was made because Saleh wanted to leave power through the so-called constitutional legitimacy. The deal has turned the revolution into a mere political crisis.”

   The Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum said Tuesday that polling was halted in nine constituencies in several cities controlled by al-Qaeda-linked militants in the provinces of Dali, Lahj and Abyan.

   Information Minister Ali al-Amrani said the election was the start of a new path for Yemen and that the turnout was high, the state-run SABA news agency reported.

   Tawakkul Karman, the women's rights and democracy activist who was co-laureate of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, posted a picture of herself online after casting her ballot, showing her inked thumb.

   "Congratulations to Yemen, congratulations on the first stage of victory for the revolution. We will continue to win and achieve all our goals," Karman posted on Twitter.

   Voting was peaceful in the capital Sana'a, as voters queued in front of polling stations. Several groups that were active in the uprising against Saleh had called on people to vote in the election.

   Many were posing for photographs outside the booths, their fingers coloured with deep blue ink once their ballots were cast.

   "I am extremely happy to participate in this historic day in which I will free myself from the rule of Saleh for the first time in my life," said Abdullah al-Hammadi, 27, from Sana'a.

   "Now is the time for us to make trustworthy men responsible for the state affairs," he added.

   According to the deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saleh agreed to relinquish power to Hadi in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The agreement followed months of violence as Saleh's regime cracked down on demonstrators calling for his ouster.

   Yemen has more than 10 million registered voters, in a population of 24.7 million, according to the latest census.

   Polling stations in 301 constituencies were scheduled to be closed at 6 pm (1500 GMT). However, the vote was extended for two hours in some stations that witnessed high turnout, the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum said.

PROFILE: Yemeni general set to become transitional president

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Abd Rabu Mansur Hadi acted as Yemen's vice president for more than 17 years but rarely appeared in public or spoke to the media.

   Hadi was not even seen as a major player in the Yemeni political scene.

   That changed when outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh was injured in a bombing on his presidential complex in June as part of the massive civil unrest in the impoverished country on the Arabian Peninsula.

   Saleh left for Saudi Arabia in June for medical treatment, and Hadi was designated acting president.

   After Saleh signed a UN-sponsored deal aimed at ending the unrest, Hadi was chosen unanimously in January by parliament to be the sole contender for the early presidential election.

   Violence has gripped Yemen since January 2011 when thousands took to the streets, inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, demanding the ouster of Saleh after 33 years in power.

   Under the Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered deal, Hadi would serve a two-year term as president if elected. Saleh only signed the deal in November after months of international pressure in return for immunity against prosecution.

   Hadi himself was born in the southern province of Abyan on May 1, 1945. He joined the army of South Yemen in 1970 and became a major general in the early 1990s. During his career, he travelled to Britain, Russia and Egypt to study military tactics.

   He held many senior posts within the southern army before the country's unification in May 1990. He later served as a defence minister before Saleh appointed him as his deputy in 1994 - a move that was seen as an attempt by Saleh to show Yemenis that there is a balance in power with a deputy from the southern part of the country.

   "By running for office, ... I hold out my hand to anyone who wants to remove the obstacles facing the country and to all Yemenis no matter what their belief, tribe or party," Hadi said in a recent televised speech.

   The biggest challenge facing Hadi would be to restore security in the country, especially as militants believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda have expanded their influence in the country over the past 12 months. He also faces demands from protesters and opposition to purge the country's security and military institutions of Saleh's relatives.

   In addition to those formidable challenges, Hadi also faces opposition from Shiite rebels known as the Houthis in northern Yemen as well as the Southern Movement, which calls for the separation of southern provinces from the republic.     He must deal with economic challenges as the United Nations said last year that the country is heading towards a "humanitarian disaster" amid increasing food insecurity.

   In his speech, Hadi asked for urgent foreign aid to help revive the country's shattered economy and called on the Group of 20 countries to hold a conference to help the country overcome its current economic crisis.

   Nobel laureate and prominent activist Tawakkol Karman called on the country's protesters to "accept Hadi as the transitional president and [Prime Minister Mohamed Salem] Basindwa as a transitional prime minister."

   "Most of what he said is promising and goes with the demands of the revolution, but we learned from the revolution not to judge leaders by what they say, but by what they do," she said.

   Hadi promised to launch a national dialogue once he takes office.

   The transitional period was expected to culminate in legislative and presidential elections within two years.

Graffiti in Egypt

Some photos of Graffiti near Tahrir taken by نـــون on Flickr.

Cairo's street children are unlikely victims of protests

Authors: Nehal El-Sherif and Laura Schmid

   Cairo (dpa) – Fourteen-year-old Mohamed fled his abusive family in the southern Egyptian city of Minya and moved to Cairo's Tahrir Square after last year's political revolution, hoping to find safety and work.

   “My father and brothers used to beat me so I left them and came to Tahrir," said Mohamed, whose head is bandaged after he sustained a stone wound during clashes last month between police and protesters.

   "I felt safe with the protesters and people were talking to me,” said Mohamed. He is one of thousands of homeless children, who beg and sell matches and chewing gums on the streets of Cairo. “When I was hit, somebody took me to the field hospital, and I got stitches.”

   Egyptian children's rights groups say Cairo's street children are being manipulated by thugs, who incite them to take part in, at times deadly, political protests, and are criminalized by government institutions, which fail to protect them and get them off the streets.

   At least two children were killed, 10 were wounded and 73 were detained in clashes in Cairo over one week alone in December, they say.

   “Instead of being treated as victims, who were sometimes recklessly manipulated by thugs to get involved in clashes, the kids are stigmatized as criminals," said Samah Hussein, who runs a shelter for street children in Cairo.

   "With neither parents nor a strong lobby to protect them, street children are exploited by society and governmental institutions,” she added.

   Hussein had hoped that the revolution that ousted President Hosny Mubarak in January would raise more awareness about the plight of street children in the capital, whose number the state-run National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) puts at 5,000.

   This figure has been challenged by local and international groups, who say the real number is in the tens of thousands.

   Egypt has been ruled by a military council since February 2011. The council has resisted calls by protesters that it hand over power to a civilian government, a position which three months ago sparked deadly clashes between police and activists.

   "Street kids are the weakest in society," said Somaya al-Alfy of the NCCM. "They are defenceless and that makes them an easy scapegoat for all sides: the military council, protesters and the media,” she added.

   The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says street children have been at the frontline of the protests since last year's uprising, when several minors were killed in clashes.

   Philippe Duamelle, a UNICEF representative, called on the government in a statement last month "to fully respect the rights of children,” adding that the number of children killed, injured and detained had reached "alarming levels.

   UNICEF child protection specialist Nadra Zaki said children detained during clashes were sent to adult prisons, which lack the resources to rehabilitate them.

   Zaki said: "These kids come from broken homes where they are deprived of love. When they go to Tahrir Square they feel important, - maybe for the first time in their lives."

Syrian opposition: 260 people killed in Homs massacre

Authors: Nehal El-Sherif and Weedah Hamzah

   Beirut (dpa) - Syrian opposition activists said Saturday a massacre by government troops in the city of Homs, which has been at the centre of the unrest in the country for nearly a year, has killed 260 people.

   "The Syrian army is storming the city from various axes and the shelling that started overnight is still continuing," activist Ayman Idlibi, told dpa.

   "Houses are being targeted in the Khalidiyeh neighbourhood targeted by the shelling now and people are dying under the rubble of their homes," he said.

   The Khalidiyeh area has seen the heaviest of the shelling, which began on Friday afternoon.

   The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a group of local activists who document protests, said that security forces and pro-government thugs had also stormed Khalidiyeh's al-Amal Hospital.

   More than 50 bodies and 100 wounded civilians were in the hospital and there were fears that those left inside would be killed or kidnapped, the LCC added.

   The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been overnight shelling, including the use of mortar shells and heavy machine guns, on several areas of the restive city. The London-based group said that blood supplies were short and donations were urgently needed.

   Reports inside Syria cannot be confirmed independently, as the Syrian government has banned most international media and rights groups from entering the country. Those allowed are mostly restricted to the capital Damascus.

   "This is a new massacre committed by the regime," activist Idlibi said, adding that the opposition was calling on its supporters to protest in front os Syrian embassies across the world.

   A crowd of Syrians attacked the Syrian embassy in Cairo in protest to the government's shelling of Homs. The observatory said they set fire to parts of the building.

   Around 30 protesters also forced their way into the Syrian embassy in Berlin on Friday. They destroyed pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and hung the flag of the opposition out of one of the windows.

   The Syrian National Council called on the international community to "speak up and do something to stop the bloodshed of innocent Syrians."

   The council, which is a group of opposition figures in exile, demanded that Russia change its position regarding a UN Security Council resolution on Syria. The council is expected to vote on a revised draft resolution on Saturday.

   Russia said Friday it would not agree to the draft, supported by European and Arab countries as well as the United States. The text had been watered-down due to Russian demands, and no longer includes several major points, including a call on al-Assad to step down.

   Russia is a major arms supplier to Syria and its main ally. It has a permanent seat on the council and can veto any resolution.

   According to UN estimates, over 5,400 people have been killed since the crackdown on protesters, who demand the ouster of al-Assad, began.