EU puts sanctions on Iranian human rights violators

LUXEMBOURG: European Union governments imposed punitive measures on Tuesday on more than 30 Iranian officials blamed for human rights abuses in Iran, broadening the sanctions programme against Tehran.

The new steps include travel restrictions and asset freezes — limits the EU has already imposed on people closely involved in Tehran’s nuclear programme.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, said Iran’s human rights record was “appalling”.

“Iran seems to believe that with all the change happening in the Middle East they can get away with an even worse human rights situation in their country,” he told reporters.

“They have imprisoned opposition leaders, there is detention of more journalists than in any other country in the world, and excessive use of the death penalty.”

In its annual report on global human rights last week, the U.S. State Department said Iran had executed about 312 people in 2010, many after trials conducted in secret.

In many cases people who were executed for supposedly criminal offences such as drug trafficking were actually political dissidents, the report said.

Authorities held political prisoners and continued to crack down on women’s rights reformers, campaigners for ethnic minority rights, student activists and religious minorities.

EU sanctions focus mostly on economic and trade measures aiming to force Iran to slow its nuclear programme, which Tehran says serves peaceful purposes but Western powers worry aims to produce weapons.

The United States already targets human rights violators in Iran, through a sanctions list that also includes economic and other measures targeting nuclear work. AGENCIES

Somali gunmen kidnap two aid workers

MOGADISHU: Somali gunmen kidnapped two people working for Save The Children in the Horn of Africa country late on Thursday, the British charity said.

Local residents said the abductors had taken the hostages to an area controlled by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels.

“We can confirm that two of our members of staff were taken by armed gunmen in a Somali town near the Ethiopian border yesterday,” Save the Children said in a statement.

“At this point, we don’t know any more about their whereabouts or wellbeing,” it said.

Initial reports said one of two was from Zimbabwe, although others said he was British. The British Foreign Office said it was aware of the reports and was urgently investigating.

It was not immediately clear whether al Shabaab was behind the kidnapping.

“We still don’t know who attacked the two. Some people say they

Afghan conference eyes 2014 security handover: report

LONDON: International powers fighting in Afghanistan will agree next week to hand over control of security in the country to Afghan forces by 2014, a British newspaper reported Sunday.

A leaked communique circulated ahead of Tuesday”s meeting of donor nations in Kabul will set out a phased transition beginning this year, according to the Independent on Sunday.

“The international community expressed its support for the president of Afghanistan”s objective that the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) should lead and conduct military operations in all provinces by the end of 2014,” the agreed statement says, according to the paper.

It also pledges that foreign powers will continue to “provide the support necessary to increase security during this time, and the continued support in training, equipping and providing interim financing to the ANSF”.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior officials from over 60 countries and international organisations are scheduled to attend the Kabul conference to discuss the rebuilding of the troubled nation.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said this month he would be “very surprised” if Afghan forces had not taken over security by 2014, and Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants Britain”s troops home by 2015.

US President Barack Obama has also said he wants to begin withdrawing some of his country”s troops next July.

According to the newspaper, the communique — sent to senior diplomats on Saturday by UN special representative for Afghanistan Staffan de Mistura — also outlines an aim to begin announcing the transition this year.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman refused to comment on the leak but said: “The UK and Afghan governments” shared goal remains a stable and secure Afghanistan which is able to maintain its own security and prevent al-Qaeda from returning.

“The Kabul conference is a further important step in a process, building on the London conference (in January), for the international community to support the Afghan government in taking the lead in its own affairs.”

Butt wants ICC event for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt is keen that Pakistan should be given at least one ICC event after 2012 but the International Cricket Council (ICC) members have not responded certainly.

Original post: 
Butt wants ICC event for Pakistan

EU, UK condemns Lahore attack

LONDON: British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Friday condemned the suicide attack in Lahore as a vicious and inhuman act, and offered his resolute support for Pakistan’s efforts to battle extremism.

Original post:
EU, UK condemns Lahore attack

Forex reserves rise to $15.78bn

KARACHI: Pakistan”s foreign exchange reserves rose slightly to $15.78 billion in the week ending June 18, up from $15.71 billion the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) edged up to $12.01 billion from $11.97 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $3.77 billion from $3.74 billion, the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement.

Last month, Pakistan received $1.13 billion, the fifth tranche of a $10.66 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

Hague sees Pakistan better destination for investment

KARACHI: British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that he hope to see stronger relations between Pakistan and UK in trade and investment.

He was responding to media questions during his visit to Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) where he also rang the “bell” at a simple ceremony in the trading hall.

He agreed to the questioner that Pakistan was still a better destination for investment.

Responding to a question about his meeting with KSE board, Hague said that he and his colleagues were impressed by the positive developments in Pakistani stock market.

Earlier, he rang the bell in the trading hall alongwith his delegation members. Acting Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Yaseen Anwar, former SBP Governor Dr Ishrat Hussain, KSE chairman Zubyr Soomro, managing director KSE Adnan Afridi and KSE directors were also present on the occasion.

Later, talking to media, MD KSE said that British Foreign Secretary was given a comprehensive presentation on KSE working, the trend in capital market and demutualization of stock exchanges in Pakistan.

He said that William Hague appreciated the significant development of capital market in Pakistan, particularly good rate of return and automation of trading, clearance and settlement.

Afridi said that he took keen interest in the demutualization process of Pakistani capital market.

He said that British delegation discussed general issues of bilateral interest relating to financial services sector, employment, education, health, investment and energy shortages.

Afridi said that British Foreign Secretary also referred to the inflow of a British investment of 650 million pounds in Pakistan in various fields.

He told a questioner that British delegation did not discuss anything relating to risk management measures taken by Karachi Stock Exchange.

Israel to conduct own probe of Gaza ship raid

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Monday it would investigate a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla on its own, after rejecting a UN proposal for an international probe.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israel”s Parliament in response to a no-confidence motion over the May 31 raid which lawmakers later rejected, that “we intend to carry out an investigation of the events.”

Barak gave no details of the format of such a probe, which Israeli media reports said was still being worked out, partly in coordination with Washington to ensure it would satisfy Western demands for a look at how nine were killed in the raid.

State-owned Channel One television said members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”s senior cabinet forum wished to avoid naming a full-fledged inquiry commission as Israel has done after past crises.

Barak suggested Israel was also looking at ways to amend its four-year blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, though it was intent to maintain restrictions it sees as essential to preventing Iranian missiles from reaching the Palestinian territory.

He said the probe Israel was planning would be in addition to a separate military investigation, and would seek to establish whether Israel”s blockade of Gaza and its raid “met with the standards of international law”.

“We will draw lessons at the political level, (and) in the security establishment,” Barak said.

”MOUNTAINS OF QUESTIONS”

“Since the event, we have heard and read mountains of talk and questions and without a doubt in the coming months we shall discuss lessons … perhaps additional ways to achieve the same goals of the blockade, by reducing as far as possible the potential for friction,” he added.

Barak rejected Western criticism that the Gaza blockade was creating any hardship in the coastal zone packed with 1.5 million people. “There is no humanitarian crisis or hunger in Gaza,” he said.

In moving no confidence, former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Kadima party, said Netanyahu”s government wasn”t acting swiftly enough to probe the raid, and was following a “dangerous course” that increasingly isolated Israel diplomatically.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague suggested the quartet of Middle East peace negotiators could play a role in any inquiry and that the UN was not the only option.

“It”s very important that an inquiry is established with an international presence,” Hague told a news conference in Rome.

Hague”s Italian counterpart, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, said Italy had proposed having observers appointed by the quartet — which comprises the United States, the European Union, United Nations and Russia — involved in the probe.

In further Israeli fallout over the flotilla, a parliamentary panel voted to remove diplomatic privileges from an Israeli Arab lawmaker who rode one of the ships, a motion that still requires a full plenum vote before taking effect.

Holbrooke says, reformed Taliban acceptable

MADRID: Washington accepts that the final political solution in Afghanistan can involve reformed Taliban in the government if certain “red lines” are respected, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said on Sunday.

Holbrooke said the peace jirga in Kabul, in which the Afghan president was given a mandate to negotiate with the insurgents, was an important step in efforts to “reach out” to the Taliban and the US supported that effort.

End: Asked whether that support extended to even top leaders, such as supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, he said, “Let me be clear on one thing, everybody understands that this war will not end in a clear-cut military victory. It’s not going to end on the deck of a battleship like World War II, or Dayton, Ohio, like the Bosnian war,” Holbrooke said.

“It’s going to have some different ending from that, some form of political settlements are necessary … you can’t have a settlement with al Qaeda, you can’t talk to them, you can’t negotiate with them, it’s out of the question. But it is possible to talk to the Taliban leaders.”

In Madrid for an international conference to discuss non-military ways to help end the Afghan conflict, Holbrooke said if a member of the Taliban repudiated al Qaeda, laid down his arms and worked within the political system to join the government, “there’s nothing wrong with that”.

“The door is open and this jirga was a benchmark event on the road to the effort toward reconciliation,” he said, but did not specifically mention the leadership. Washington has been wary of overtures to senior Taliban leaders who sheltered al Qaeda before the September 11 attacks, as opposed to the “reintegration” of the insurgency’s foot soldiers.

Holbrooke said the meeting on Monday of special representatives for Afghanistan and Pakistan, which would continue the discussion started in the jirga, was the biggest such gathering involving officials from more than 30 countries and organisations.

Involvement: He said the growing level of participation, particularly from the Islamic world, in the group’s regular meetings was a stark contrast to the “pretty messy situation” inherited by the administration of President Barack Obama.

OIC calls for global action against Israel

JEDDAH: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on Sunday called for the setting up of a group of legal experts to bring to justice Israeli officials who were responsible for the attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla last Monday in which nine peace activists were killed and several others wounded.

Following an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee, the organization”s Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said Israel was given a stern warning that its attack on the Freedom Flotilla was going to have far-reaching consequences. The incident has isolated the Zionist state from the international community, which has united in condemning Israeli aggression, he said.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah on Sunday, the OIC chief described Israel’s action as “a form of state terrorism and piracy,” which warrants the prosecution of those who planned and executed it.

Flanked by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki at the press conference, he invited OIC Ambassadorial Groups in New York and Geneva to work for the adoption of an international stand condemning “this odious crime” and the lifting of the “lawless blockade on the Gaza Strip.”

He paid special tributes to Turkey for its sacrifices and extended condolences to the families of those killed on the aid ship.

The meeting agreed that it was no longer a conflict between Israel and Palestine, rather it was Israel versus 32 countries whose citizens were on board the aid flotilla and who were of all faiths and backgrounds. “Therefore, it should be interpreted as an attack on the United Nations and its values,” Ihsanoglu said, calling for the convening of a UN General Assembly session on the issue.

Davutoglu said the OIC meeting was a clear message to Israel that it cannot continue like this anymore. It will have to end the blockade of Gaza.

Demanding an Israeli apology and an international investigation into the incident, Davutoglu said it was the first time in the history of Turkey that its citizens had been murdered by soldiers of another country. “It is Turkey’s own 9/11,” he said.

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nizar Madani, Iran’s Manouchehr Mottaki and Indonesia’s Marty M. Natalegawa also attended the extraordinary session. Other countries were represented by their ambassadors and consuls general.

Natalegawa of Indonesia told Arab News that the OIC should proceed beyond condemnation. “We should build bridges to countries, and indeed to civil societies the world over, beyond our organization, those who have equally been outraged by this latest Israeli illegal act.”

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