Violence kills 29 as Iraqi forces hit militants

Violence kills 29 as Iraqi forces hit militants
Egypt Brotherhood leader jailed for prosecutor insult
Iran says settlement on New York skyscraper ‘illegal’
Ten more bodies recovered from sunken Korean ferry: coastguard
Appeal for more rural funding
Najib conveys message of hope, reconciliation

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 06:35 PM PDT

IRAQ: Violence in Iraq killed 29 people Saturday, most of them militants who died in a security forces assault that pushed them out of an area west of Baghdad, officials said.

Anti-government fighters have held shifting parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi and all of the city of Fallujah, both west of Baghdad, for more than three months, with security forces still struggling to bring parts of the province back under government control.

Early on Saturday, security forces assaulted the Al-Hamira area south of Ramadi, retaking it from militants, an army colonel and a police lieutenant colonel said.

The fighting killed 21 militants and two soldiers, the officers said.

The crisis in the desert province of Anbar erupted in late December when security forces dismantled Iraq's main Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp just outside Ramadi.

Militants subsequently seized parts of Ramadi and all of Fallujah, the first time anti-government forces have exercised such open control in major cities since the peak of the deadly violence that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.

In Mishahada, north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber targeted an army base on Saturday, killing at least four soldiers and wounding six, and bombings in the capital itself killed at least two people.

Militants frequently target members of Iraq's security forces, some of whom lack adequate training and discipline.

Security forces face a major test on April 30 in Iraq's first parliamentary election since American forces left at the end of 2011.

While they were able to keep violence to a minimum during provincial polls last year, the security forces have failed to halt a subsequent year-long surge in unrest.

The heightened unrest has been driven principally by widespread anger among the Sunni Arab minority, who say they are mistreated by the Shiite-led government and security forces.

It has also been fuelled by the bloody civil war in neighbouring Syria, which has bolstered militant groups.

Violence has killed more than 450 people in Iraq this month and upwards of 2,700 this year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources. – AFP

Egypt Brotherhood leader jailed for prosecutor insult

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 06:10 PM PDT

EGYPT: An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced an Islamist leader on trial for murder alongside deposed president Mohamed Morsi to a year in jail for insulting a prosecutor, judicial sources said.

Top Muslim Brotherhood member Mohammed al-Beltagui and Morsi were both in court Saturday accused of inciting the killing of opposition protesters outside the presidential palace in Cairo in December 2012.

Their trial is part of a relentless crackdown targeting Morsi and the Brotherhood since the military ousted him on July 3, ending a turbulent single year in office.

The sources said Beltagui, who is currently in custody along with scores of other Brotherhood leaders, was condemned for "insulting" a prosecutor during Saturday's hearing, but without elaborating.

It is the first time a senior member of the Brotherhood has been given a jail sentence since Morsi's ouster.

Beltagui's lawyer Mohammed Abu Leila told AFP that such sentences cannot be appealed.

Both Morsi and Beltagui are also on trial in two other cases on jailbreak and espionage charges.

If found guilty, the defendants could face the death penalty.

They are accused of organising jailbreaks and attacking police stations during the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

Prosecutors allege the attacks on police stations and the jailbreaks, in which Morsi and other political prisoners escaped, were a Brotherhood-led conspiracy to sow chaos.

In the espionage trial, Morsi and 35 others are accused of conspiring with foreign powers, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Shiite Iran to destabilise Egypt.

A police crackdown on Morsi supporters has killed more than 1,400 people, according to rights group Amnesty International.

More than 15,000 Islamists, mostly from the Brotherhood, have also been jailed, and hundreds have been sentenced to death after often speedy trials. -AFP

Iran says settlement on New York skyscraper ‘illegal’

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 05:50 PM PDT

IRAN: Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed as "illegal" plans by US prosecutors to sell an Iran-linked Manhattan skyscraper in the largest terror-related seizure to date, media reports said Saturday.

Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said in a statement late Friday the settlement lacked "legal credibility" and was influenced by "anti-Iran political propaganda," according to the reports in Iranian media.

The settlement was unveiled on Thursday and has been approved by a federal judge.

Its main target is a 36-storey building in the heart of New York City that is majority owned by the Alavi Foundation, a non-profit corporation promoting Islamic culture and the Persian language.

US prosecutors allege the foundation has transferred rental income and other funds to Iran's state-owned Bank Melli.

Iran denies links to the foundation.

"In spite of baseless claims by the prosecutor and the completely political and propaganda decision of the court, the Alavi Foundation is an independent charitable organisation in the United States. It has no links to Iran," Afkham said.

"Even though such judicial-cum-political rulings are not new… (with this case) the credibility of American courts is at stake," she added.

The statement did not say whether Iran was planning legal action against the settlement, but Afkham mentioned that Iranian citizens were allowed to file legal suits in the country against the US government.

The US government intends to distribute proceeds from the sale of the skyscraper to families affected by terror attacks it says are linked to Tehran, despite Iran's repeated denial of accountability.

Among the creditors are the families and estates of victims of the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 military personnel and the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US service members.

A date has yet to be set for the sale of the properties, and one private plaintiff has not joined the settlement. – AFP

Ten more bodies recovered from sunken Korean ferry: coastguard

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 05:40 PM PDT

SEOUL: Divers on Sunday recovered 10 more bodies from the submerged South Korean ferry that capsized four days ago with hundreds of children on board, the coastguard said.

"Another 10 bodies have just been retrieved. Now the death toll stands at 46," a coastguard spokesman told AFP.

The spokesman gave no further details, but Yonhap news agency said eight of the bodies were male and two female.

Three other bodies had been brought out shortly before midnight, marking the start of the grim process of retrieving the remains of the hundreds believed trapped when the 6,825-tonne Sewol capsized and sank on Wednesday morning.

Of the 476 people on board, more than 350 were students from the same high school in Ansan city just south of Seoul.

Only 174 people were rescued. – AFP

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Appeal for more rural funding

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 12:46 PM PDT

by Edwin Raoh, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on April 20, 2014, Sunday

Chief Minister wants 11th Malaysia Plan to focus more on improving basic amenities in rural Sarawak

SRI AMAN: Sarawak hopes the federal government will give more focus to rural development in the state under the 11th Malaysian Plan.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem said this was necessary to close the economic gap between people in the urban and rural areas.

"Sarawakians living in the rural areas still lack basic amenities such as roads, electricity and clean water supply.

"Therefore, we need to request for more allocations from the federal government so that we can help improve the lives of those in the rural areas," he said at a leaders-meet-the-people session at the Sri Aman Civic Centre yesterday.

Adenan said another approach that could close the economic gap was to improve the skills of the rural work force.

"That approach is also in line with the development of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE). I will ensure that all development policies that have been undertaken by our previous Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud will be continued as they have proven to be effective and do not need to be changed in any way."

Among the more than 1,000 people present were Adenan's wife Puan Sri Dato Jamilah Anu, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang, Assistant Minister of Rural Development Datuk Francis Harden Hollis and Assistant Minister of Agriculture Datuk Mong Dagang.

Najib conveys message of hope, reconciliation

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 12:44 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has conveyed a note of hope and reconciliation in his Good Friday and Easter 2014 message.

He noted that the journey of Malaysian Christians and the Catholic community together with the government had brought about many positive changes in the country.

In the message posted on his Facebook account, Najib also acknowledged the Christian and Catholic community's contribution to the Malaysian society.

"As Malaysian Christians and the Catholic community observe this holy time in the Roman calendar, let us remember that Easter for our Christian and Catholic brothers and sisters brings about a message of hope and reconciliation.

"In this respect, let us take a moment to send our thoughts and prayers to all those on aboard Flight MH370 and their families," he said.

The prime minister noted that even as the country was going through trying times, he strongly believed that unity in diversity, coupled with perseverance was Malaysia's source of strength in times of need.

The Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard vanished from radar screens about an hour into its Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing flight on March 8.

The search for the missing plane is currently underway in the southern Indian Ocean, in waters off Perth, Australia.

Najib also mentioned that in the spirit of 1Malaysia, the government had last Christmas announced that it would ensure any Malaysian Christian or Catholic wishing to travel to Jerusalem for a pilgrimage would be able to do so.

"In continuing this message of hope and reconciliation, I sincerely call upon all Malaysians to join me as we strive to make Malaysia a better nation for all," he said.

He concluded the message by wishing all Malaysian Christians and Catholics a wonderful Easter. — Bernama