Thursday, July 19, 2007 9:11:21 AM
I find it interesting how often problems in other parts of the world are often so similar to those here in the US. I suspect it is just people being people and being of diverse thinking and education. (SharonB
Moroccan journalists detained for leaking classified documents
18/07/2007
[Mawassi Lahcen] The newspaper's offices were searched
Al-Watan Al-Aan Editor-in-Chief Abdul Rehim Ariri and Editor Mustafa Hormatallah were detained Tuesday morning (July 17th) in Casablanca for publishing classified intelligence memos on recent terror threats. The King's Court representative Abdullah Al-Elwi Al-Belghiti said in a press statement that an investigation was underway to identify all those involved in what he described as the "seizure and leaking" of those documents.
One of the documents discussed a group called the "Jerusalem Cell" which consists of 16 suicide bombers, including 12 Arab nationals and 4 Pakistani nationals, who are believed to have entered into Morocco. The document mentions that the group may have smuggled explosives into Morocco by hiding them in children's toys. The second document described a video of members of terrorist organisation "Ansar al-Islam in the Muslim Desert" threatening Morocco because of its alliance with the United States.
The newspaper's offices were searched, and Ariri's archives and personal computer were seized.
Libya commutes Benghazi Six death sentences
18/07/2007
Libya's High Judicial Council decided Tuesday (July 17th) to commute the death sentences of the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor sentenced for allegedly infecting more than 400 children with HIV, the Libyan News Agency reported. The Council ruled to reduce the sentences to life imprisonment, reportedly after a compensation deal was concluded between several EU countries and the families of the infected children. The agreement stipulates that the families receive $1m per child infected, the children be guaranteed lifetime medical treatment both at home and abroad and that they be sent to Europe for their secondary school education.
Libya's Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam implied Tripoli was willing to consider the medics' deportation to Bulgaria but declined to speculate when. Bulgaria's chief prosecutor Boris Velchev said the deportation request would be sent to the Libyan authorities Wednesday. He referred to a prisoner extradition agreement signed between the two countries in 1984, which could be applied in this case. In the event the nurses and Palestinian doctor, who recently acquired Bulgarian citizenship, are sent to Sofia, they could be pardoned by the Bulgarian president, but so far all sides decline to comment on the possibility.
The EU and US hailed the news. "The US is encouraged by the decision and urges the Libyan government to now find a way to allow the medics to return home," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called the commuted sentence "a first relief", stressing they would immediately start working for the medic's return home.
Mauritania, Morocco stop groups of clandestine immigrants
18/07/2007
Mauritanian police announced Tuesday (July 17th) that a security operation off the coast of Nouadhibou, Mauritania's second largest city, stopped some 59 clandestine immigrants headed for Europe. The group was intercepted by a joint Mauritanian-Spanish security patrol and will now be deported to their countries of origin.
In a related story, MAP reported Tuesday (July 17th) that Moroccan police detained 31 sub-Saharan illegal immigrants as part of police operation on Monday to combat illegal migration in Laayoune province. Security forces arrested another 37 sub-Saharan would-be immigrants in the same province in late June. With Morocco's tighter control over its northern shores, clandestine migrants have shifted to southern Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal in their attempt to reach the Spanish Canary Islands.
Algerian senate ratifies electoral changes
18/07/2007
Algeria's National Council approved on Tuesday (July 17th) the lower National Popular Assembly's amendments to the electoral law. The changes impose more difficult conditions for small and new parties to field candidates for election. The senators also approved the postponement of local elections from September until November. Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said the two bills "will contribute to greater clarity and integrity in the political process and make for easier choices for the electorate".
The amendments continue to cause anger among certain parties including the National Republican Alliance (ANR), which described the new electoral law as "anti-democratic". Chairman of the Ahd 54 party, Fawzi Rebaine, said at a press conference that the new law was an infringement upon political freedom and that the Ennahda movement objected to the new restrictive measures affecting small parties.
Tunisia hosts training course on human rights
18/07/2007
The Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR) will hold its 17th annual training course on human rights on Saturday (July 21st) in the coastal town of Hammamet. Lawyers and Academics from across the Arab world are expected to attend the nine-day training, said AIHR Information Officer, Roudha Malaoui.
This year's course will focus on the difficulties of "applying International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law in regions of armed conflict", using Darfur as an example.
The AIHR is an independent Arab NGO founded in 1989. The Institute was awarded the UNESCO Human Rights Education Prize in 1992.
National Democratic Institute examines objective elections coverage
18/07/2007
The US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs organized a seminar Monday (July 16th) in Rabat on "Media Coverage of the Election Campaign". Moroccan and Canadian media experts participated in the seminar's examination of ways to guarantee objective media coverage of the campaign leading up to September's elections.
The seminar focused on media coverage as a link between parties and citizens. Speaking on the role the media played in the most recent Canadian elections, Canadian press expert Martin Peron said that the press helped shape a clear vision for Canadian citizens to choose their candidates based upon responsible and independent reporting of the various political parties' platforms.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/section/news
Map of the Mahgreb Region.
Moroccan journalists detained for leaking classified documents
18/07/2007
[Mawassi Lahcen] The newspaper's offices were searched
Al-Watan Al-Aan Editor-in-Chief Abdul Rehim Ariri and Editor Mustafa Hormatallah were detained Tuesday morning (July 17th) in Casablanca for publishing classified intelligence memos on recent terror threats. The King's Court representative Abdullah Al-Elwi Al-Belghiti said in a press statement that an investigation was underway to identify all those involved in what he described as the "seizure and leaking" of those documents.
One of the documents discussed a group called the "Jerusalem Cell" which consists of 16 suicide bombers, including 12 Arab nationals and 4 Pakistani nationals, who are believed to have entered into Morocco. The document mentions that the group may have smuggled explosives into Morocco by hiding them in children's toys. The second document described a video of members of terrorist organisation "Ansar al-Islam in the Muslim Desert" threatening Morocco because of its alliance with the United States.
The newspaper's offices were searched, and Ariri's archives and personal computer were seized.
Libya commutes Benghazi Six death sentences
18/07/2007
Libya's High Judicial Council decided Tuesday (July 17th) to commute the death sentences of the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor sentenced for allegedly infecting more than 400 children with HIV, the Libyan News Agency reported. The Council ruled to reduce the sentences to life imprisonment, reportedly after a compensation deal was concluded between several EU countries and the families of the infected children. The agreement stipulates that the families receive $1m per child infected, the children be guaranteed lifetime medical treatment both at home and abroad and that they be sent to Europe for their secondary school education.
Libya's Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam implied Tripoli was willing to consider the medics' deportation to Bulgaria but declined to speculate when. Bulgaria's chief prosecutor Boris Velchev said the deportation request would be sent to the Libyan authorities Wednesday. He referred to a prisoner extradition agreement signed between the two countries in 1984, which could be applied in this case. In the event the nurses and Palestinian doctor, who recently acquired Bulgarian citizenship, are sent to Sofia, they could be pardoned by the Bulgarian president, but so far all sides decline to comment on the possibility.
The EU and US hailed the news. "The US is encouraged by the decision and urges the Libyan government to now find a way to allow the medics to return home," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called the commuted sentence "a first relief", stressing they would immediately start working for the medic's return home.
Mauritania, Morocco stop groups of clandestine immigrants
18/07/2007
Mauritanian police announced Tuesday (July 17th) that a security operation off the coast of Nouadhibou, Mauritania's second largest city, stopped some 59 clandestine immigrants headed for Europe. The group was intercepted by a joint Mauritanian-Spanish security patrol and will now be deported to their countries of origin.
In a related story, MAP reported Tuesday (July 17th) that Moroccan police detained 31 sub-Saharan illegal immigrants as part of police operation on Monday to combat illegal migration in Laayoune province. Security forces arrested another 37 sub-Saharan would-be immigrants in the same province in late June. With Morocco's tighter control over its northern shores, clandestine migrants have shifted to southern Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal in their attempt to reach the Spanish Canary Islands.
Algerian senate ratifies electoral changes
18/07/2007
Algeria's National Council approved on Tuesday (July 17th) the lower National Popular Assembly's amendments to the electoral law. The changes impose more difficult conditions for small and new parties to field candidates for election. The senators also approved the postponement of local elections from September until November. Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said the two bills "will contribute to greater clarity and integrity in the political process and make for easier choices for the electorate".
The amendments continue to cause anger among certain parties including the National Republican Alliance (ANR), which described the new electoral law as "anti-democratic". Chairman of the Ahd 54 party, Fawzi Rebaine, said at a press conference that the new law was an infringement upon political freedom and that the Ennahda movement objected to the new restrictive measures affecting small parties.
Tunisia hosts training course on human rights
18/07/2007
The Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR) will hold its 17th annual training course on human rights on Saturday (July 21st) in the coastal town of Hammamet. Lawyers and Academics from across the Arab world are expected to attend the nine-day training, said AIHR Information Officer, Roudha Malaoui.
This year's course will focus on the difficulties of "applying International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law in regions of armed conflict", using Darfur as an example.
The AIHR is an independent Arab NGO founded in 1989. The Institute was awarded the UNESCO Human Rights Education Prize in 1992.
National Democratic Institute examines objective elections coverage
18/07/2007
The US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs organized a seminar Monday (July 16th) in Rabat on "Media Coverage of the Election Campaign". Moroccan and Canadian media experts participated in the seminar's examination of ways to guarantee objective media coverage of the campaign leading up to September's elections.
The seminar focused on media coverage as a link between parties and citizens. Speaking on the role the media played in the most recent Canadian elections, Canadian press expert Martin Peron said that the press helped shape a clear vision for Canadian citizens to choose their candidates based upon responsible and independent reporting of the various political parties' platforms.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/section/news
Map of the Mahgreb Region.
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