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April 24, 2011

BEIRUT — An international human rights group is calling on the United Nations to set up an inquiry into the Syrian security forces’ crackdown on protesters that has left at least 120 dead people in the past two days. The New York-based Human Rights Watch also says the U.S. and EU should impose sanctions against Syrian officials who are responsible for the use of force. More than 300 people have been killed, including more than 120 on Friday and Saturday, since the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began five weeks ago, according to rights groups. Also Sunday, 10 Syrian human rights groups said authorities have detained leading activist Daniel Saoud, who heads the Committees for the Defense of Democracy, Freedoms and Human Rights. Saoud lives in the coastal city of Banias.

>>> Continued on Syria Page <<<

Libyan bombing ‘unconstitutional’, Republicans warn Obama

March 22, 2011

Republican members of Congress are claiming the conflict in Libya is unconstitutional because Barack Obama failed to seek Congressional approval. President Obama sent a letter defending the Libya intervention to members of Congress on Monday in an effort to quell a growing rebellion over his failure to consult the Senate and the House of Representatives before embarking on the third major military action of his presidency. In the letter, Obama attempted to address criticism that he had failed to either brief or discuss his decision in detail with both Democrats and Republicans. Under the US constitution, Congressional approval is required for declarations of war.

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Ian Tomlinson’s last words revealed at G20 inquest

April 7, 2011

Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller knocked down by a police officer at the G20 protests, muttered “the fuckers got me” moments before he died. The inquest into his death has already heard how Tomlinson, a father of nine, was struck with a baton and pushed to the ground by police officer Simon Harwood minutes before he died in the City of London. Describing what may have been Tomlinson’s last words, a bystander told the jury in the case that he watched Tomlinson colllapse about 100 metres from where he had been pushed.

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Laurent Gbagbo detained by Ivory Coast opposition forces

April 11, 2011

Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to step down as president of Ivory Coast plunged the country into violence, has been captured in Abidjan and is in the custody of opposition forces. News of his detention came after a column of more than 30 French armoured vehicles closed in on his residence in the city and amid initial reports that he had been seized by French special forces. But both the French government and military insist that Gbagbo was taken by troops loyal to Alasanne Ouattara, who won last year’s presidential election.

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“We are all looking at the video – everybody in the room is looking at the video. And I’m asking you a very simple question. When you pushed him, did he have his back to you, yes or no?” – Ryder QC

“No” – PC Simon Harwood

“You’re lying, PC Harwood, I suggest. And you know it.” – Ryder QC

G20 PC accused of ‘absurd’ reply at Ian Tomlinson inquest

April 6, 2011

The officer who pushed and struck Ian Tomlinson shortly before his death has been branded “absurd” after telling an inquest that the newspaper vendor was “almost inviting physical confrontation” during the G20 protests in London in April 2009. Giving evidence for a third day, PC Simon Harwood was adamant that he had not pushed Tomlinson from behind – despite video footage that appeared to contradict his claims. When the officer repeated his claim that Tomlinson had been walking into a police line before the encounter, the family’s lawyer, Matthew Ryder QC, replied: “I suggest to you the answer you are trying to give is absurd.”

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PC Simon Harwood

G20 inquest: Pc pushed Ian Tomlinson ‘to move him away’

April 5, 2011

The Pc who pushed Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests in London did so after a strike on the thigh had failed to move the newspaper seller away from the police line, an inquest has heard. Pc Simon Harwood told the hearing he had been “amazed” Mr Tomlinson fell forward after the “poor push”. The 47-year-old collapsed and died moments later, on 1 April 2009. Earlier, Pc Harwood said he had palmed off protesters and pushed a cameraman as confrontations “got out of hand”. Pc Harwood, part of the Metropolitan Police’s specialist Territorial Support Group (TSG), was caught on film pushing Mr Tomlinson to the ground in Cornhill, central London.

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April 5, 2011

The first export of oil from rebel-held areas of eastern Libya for almost three weeks is due to begin later. Libya’s opposition groups are making plans to load a tanker believed to have now docked at a terminal near Tobruk. It comes as Nato air strikes were reported against pro-Gaddafi forces and rebels gathered near the town of Brega. Libya’s government has remained defiant, with an envoy who is visiting Europe insisting that Col Muammar Gaddafi will not step down.

>>> continued on libya page <<<

April 5, 2011

The UN says three generals loyal to Ivory Coast’s besieged President Laurent Gbagbo are negotiating terms for surrender in return for guarantees of safety for him and themselves. France says negotiators are on the brink of agreeing his departure. Mr Gbagbo is sheltering with his family in the basement bunker of his residence in the main city, Abidjan. Troops loyal to Mr Gbagbo’s rival, UN-recognised President Alassane Ouattara, say they have surrounded the compound. The UN says Mr Gbagbo’s military and civilian advisers are leaving him.

Three of his generals – the head of the armed forces, the head of the police and the head of the republican guard – have opened negotiations, the UN told the BBC’s Andrew Harding, who is on the outskirts of Abidjan. “We are very close to convincing him to leave power,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told the National Assembly in Paris. Mr Gbagbo’s spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, told the Reuters news agency there were “direct negotiations based on African Union recommendations which said Alassane Ouattara is president”. “They are also negotiating judicial and security conditions for Gbagbo’s camp and his relatives,” Mr Don Mello said.

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April 3, 2011

Israel has called on the UN to cancel a report that said it possibly committed war crimes during its 2008-2009 military offensive in Gaza. The report’s author, South African judge Richard Goldstone, said on Friday that new accounts indicated Israel had not deliberately targeted civilians. He said that if he had known what he knew now, “the Goldstone Report would have been a different document”. Israel’s prime minister said the remark meant the report “should be buried”. Operation Cast Lead was launched in response to repeated rocket attacks on Israeli territory by militants in Gaza. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, as well as 13 Israelis. The Goldstone Report, published in September 2009, concluded that both the Israeli military and militants from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, had committed potential war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the offensive.

>>> continue on israel page <<<