Al-Maliki blames "politicians" as Iraq attacks kill 71

Authors: Nehal El-Sherif and Pol O Gradaigh
May 20, 2013
 
   Baghdad (dpa) – A series of attacks that included nine car bombings killed 71 people Monday in Iraq, mostly in Shiite areas, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed politicians' "calls for violence."

   The bloody day started with two car bombs that killed 14 people and wounded 40 in the mainly Shiite southern port city of Basra, according to a final toll given by health officials.

   Six further car bombings took place in mainly Shiite areas of the capital, Baghdad, killing 29 people and injuring about 100, police said.

   Attacks on checkpoints of the pro-government Sunni Sahwa militia in Baghdad, Balad and Samarra north of Baghdad killed six members of the force and wounded 12.

   In Hilla, a mainly Shiite city on the Euphrates River, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb went off, followed by a suicide bomber attack on two mosques, killed six people and injured 70.

   Eight pilgrims, six of them Iranian, according to the independent al-Sumaria television, were killed when a car bomb blew up as their coach was passing near Balad. Eighteen were injured.

   In Sunni-dominated Anbar province, 120 kilometres west of Baghdad, eight policemen were killed when gunmen opened fire on two patrols.

   The bodies of 14 people kidnapped in Anbar were also found.

   Iraq has witnessed a rise in Sunni-Shiite retaliatory attacks in recent weeks, raising fears of a return to the sectarian tensions that drove the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

   The rising violence came as protests have been taking place in Sunni areas since December.

   The Sunni demonstrators have been calling for the release of security detainees and the repeal of laws that they claim al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government uses to discriminate against them.

   “The politicians bear the responsibility for the sectarian escalation because of their statements, calls for violence and sectarian positions,” al-Maliki said.

   “Ignorant people pick up on that and go out bearing weapons and calling for fighting,” the Shiite prime minister said.

   The Iraqi leader called on lawmakers to stay away from a Tuesday emergency session called by one of his political rivals, Sunni parliamentary speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, to discuss the country's worsening security situation.

   “The Chamber of Deputies is one of the main players in the current disturbances in the country,” al-Maliki said, accusing some lawmakers of having set up armed groups.

   But al-Maliki said he would be willing to contemplate the establishment of an autonomous region in the Sunni-dominated western provinces, al-Sumaria reported, provided it came about through the correct legal procedures.

    The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat reported that Sunni protest leaders had called for "armed confrontation or the declaration of an [autonomous] region" after clashes in recent days with security forces.

   Al-Nujaifi, who on Saturday called on security chiefs to attend the emergency parliamentary session, in turn demanded “a clear position from the international community on what is taking place in Iraq.”

   The United Nations said April was the deadliest month in Iraq since June 2008 with more than 700 people killed and 1,600 wounded.

   On Friday, bombings killed at least 90 people and wounded more than 180.

New "rebellion" seeks to oust Egypt's Morsi

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
15.05.2013

Business Recorder - IOL news

   Cairo (dpa) – Activists in Egypt have launched a new "rebellion" - this time against President Mohammed Morsi - and they are collecting signatures demanding his ouster rather than taking to the streets.

   The campaign, called Tamarod (rebellion in Arabic), has received massive support and is the biggest non-violent protest action against Morsi's rule.

   Launched about two weeks back, the petition campaign calls for early presidential elections. By Sunday, it had gathered more than 2 million signatures across the country.

   "The campaign is part of the popular movements on the streets, and a reflection that the youth revolution did not end," independent analyst Kamal Zakher said.

   Before the end of June, the organizers of Tamarod aim to collect 15 million signatures - that number will be higher than the votes Morsi got in last year's election.

   With 13.2 million votes, Morsi won by 51.7 per cent against Ahmed Shafiq, who was the last premier to serve under ousted president Hosny Mubarak.

   On June 30, when Morsi marks one year in power, the activists plan to take their petition and protest in front of the Ittihadiya presidential palace in north-eastern Cairo.

   "Since he arrived in power, ordinary citizens feel that no revolution goal was achieved ... he achieved neither security nor social justice and proved that he is a total failure and is not capable of ruling a country like Egypt," read the text on the petition.

   Zakher believes the campaign is important as a message to pressure the government to change its "ruling tools, instead of recreating [that of] the old regime."

   He said: "Legally and constitutionally speaking, the signatures will not lead to anything, but they remain a strong means of change."

   Ahmed Rami, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, described the campaign as "an attack on the ballot boxes."

   He said it disrespects the people's choice, which was reflected in the elections and the constitution passed in a national referendum in December.

   Rami told MBC Masr satellite channel this week that those behind the campaign "do not represent the revolution," while the current government is working on achieving the revolution's goals.

   A spokesman for Tamarod, Mahmoud Badr, told reporters: "We are working in the streets, we are working with the people, we will not fail."

   Badr added: "We will have the people by our side and the street will always be the solution and the alternative."

   Morsi's challenges have only grown along with the increasing security and economic problems in the country. Crime rates have soared in the past two years.

   The country's fiscal health looks increasingly dire and in April an International Monetary Fund delegation was in Cairo to discuss a potential 4.8-billion-dollar loan.

   A poll conducted by the private Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research (Baseera) think tank shows that only 30 per cent of Egyptians would re-elect Morsi if elections are held soon.

   Morsi's approval ratings were 78 per cent at the end of his first 100 days in power.

   While few Egyptians had expected Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood to produce quick fixes to Egypt's longstanding problems, the prolonged crisis is starting to erode what remains of their image as a credible alternative to Mubarak.   

   Since the campaign is self-funded, activists have been photocopying the petitions and taking them to cafes, traffic lights and street gatherings to encourage more people to sign. They have more than 5,000 volunteers.

   Expatriate Egyptians have also been sending their signed petitions to the organizers.

   The campaign has received support from the opposition National Salvation Front as well as prominent opposition figures.

   On Monday, prominent activist Ahmed Douma signed the petition while behind bars during a court hearing. Douma is held in a cell during his court appearances and is facing trial for insulting Morsi.

   Douma is the first activist to be tried on this charge, after he called Morsi a criminal. Other activists and media professionals, including famous satirist Bassem Youssef, have been questioned for the same accusation.

   One of Douma's lawyers, Sayed Fathi, said that he signed the campaign to highlight the "bad state" Egypt has reached under Morsi's rule.

   "Every thing is connected. Arrests have increased, the economy deteriorated and political freedoms are declining."

   Fathi added: "None of the revolution's goals have been achieved, things are getting worse than the Mubarak era."