unfreemedia.org - Middle East & N Africa

Foolish email offer to spy for Israel brings a death sentence in Yemen

2010-05-13T19:46:58Z

By Kawkab al-Thaibani in Sanaa
Basam al-Haidari is 26-years-old,. He has little education but dreamed of supporting his big extended family - ten siblings, five of whom are deaf.

Photo: Kawkab Althaibani

Instead of leading his family to security al-Haidari has walked himself into a death sentence.

Last April, al-Haidari was behind the bars of the Specialized Criminal Court of Appeals when he heard the Judge confirm the death sentence, for a crime committed while messing around on the internet.

He was sentenced to death for offering to spy for Israel.

]]> His wife was taken to the hospital right after she heard the news, his mother - who has already had a stroke after his conviction has seen her health decline.

Many local and international human rights organizations and activists were appaled by the sentence and condemned it as harsh, an politically inspired.

Abdul-Rahman Barman and Ahmed Arman, lawyers and senior members in HOOD Human Rights organization, called the verdict unjust. They will appeal the sentence before the Supreme Court within the next few months.

They refused to represent al-Haidari in the Specialized Criminal Court because- arguing along with many lawyers - that the court is designed to protect the state's interests and does not meet the standards of fair trail.

Human Rights Watch expressed deep concerns of the sentence for plenty of reasons. "We are deeply concerned that the court proceedings against Basam al-Haidari fell short of international fair-trial standards," said Letta Tayler, a terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch.

An Email equals death penalty

Al-Haidari started a company with other friends sponsoring the concerts of Arab celebrities in Yemen. The first project in August 2008 was to host the well-known Arab artist Ehab Tawfiq but sthreats by alleged Qaeda members caused them to cancel the concert. This led to debts and financial troubles for al-Haidari and his partners.

In the investigation reports al-Haidari mentioned that he made up a delusional organization called "the Islamic Jihad Organization," and sent threats to embassies and threatened that he was planning to perform terrorist acts.

The purpose of doing this, he said, was to learn about al-Qaeda and gain access to President Saleh and get help with their financial woes..

Essam Dwaid, 35, told unfreemedia.org that he did not partner with Basam and therefore did not set him up with the authorities as various news accounts claim.

Also al-Haidari was not a friend, he said. Kahtan al-Zabeedi, a now deceased friend, asked him to support his business with al-Haidari. He promised to help them to speed up permits from the government in case they found difficulty wit the bureaucracy. "I am a supportive person by nature and I helped them with money. Kahtan was one of the dearest people to my heart."

Dwaid received threats from al-Qaeda "for other matters that concerned the country" as he put it and al-Haidari told him that he also received threats from al-Qaeda, said Dwaid. "But I then realized that he was faking it."

In 2008, during Ramadan, Basam was so desperate he went to an internet café and sent an email to the official website of the Israeli government, his wife Ishraq al-Bokhaiti, 23, told unfreemedia.org.

The authorities discovered the incriminating email, when the letters he sent claiming to be part of the Jihad Organization were discovered on the hard drive of the computer he used in another internet café.

The single email message is at the heart of the evidence in his spying case.
"We are The Jihad Organization. You Jewish, if you promise you fulfill your promises despite the fact that you are Allah's enemies and Islam's as well. You are not like our lying Arab rulers. If you want we will be a hard stone in the Middle East for your interest. We are ready to help you and your answer is up to you," says the e-mail alleged to be sent by al-Haidari.

The defendant lawyers were refused a copy of the Israeli government's response in Hebrew. The translation was reported to be inconsistent with the actual message.

In the Primary Court it is translated as that the Israeli government welcomed his offer and accepted him as "a hard stone in the middle east."

Yet, a second translation, requested by the defendant lawyer, makes no sense. "I really doubt that they translated by some professionals and it seems like they Google translated it or something," said Barman, who was an observer of the court proceedings.

According to the Yemeni law, espionage and seeking for espionage is sentenced to death penalty. Yet, lawyers with some human rights activists said that the email cannot be an evidence of espionage or even attempted espionage.

Espionage can happen in terms of law when the alleged spy has crucial national information that could jeopardize the country, said Arman. Al-Haidari has no information, in addition, the delusional company that he made it up and the kind of statements that he always sent, it shows clearly that he cannot make a serious spy.

"Attempting espionage should include serious acts that show the serious longing to involve in espionage. This was just an email, he could've been sentenced to a slight sentence death sentence is really harsh," he added.

Human Rights Watch is against death penalty in all fronts but it concurs that the sentence was not just. "While we oppose the death penalty in all cases, someone to his or her death on the basis of proceedings that may not have been conducted fairly is a heinous miscarriage of justice," added Taylor.

Al-Haidari alleged that he was tortured during the preliminary investigation in the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Arman said that torture claims should be proven to be considered. However, CIB has been reported of torturing many cases and for illegal arrest, according to many local and international human rights reports. "Which makes al-Haidari's allegation possible," said Arman.

Local Human Rights activists and analysts believe that the statement of the Yemeni President Ali Abudllah Saleh made last October 2008 in the national TV wrote the verdict in advance and it was just a way to play up the potentials of the Yemeni security agencies. "Our judiciary system is weak, so they cannot show that President Saleh is wrong," said Barman.

Abdulelah Shai, a terrorism expert, said that Yemen is becoming known of using terrorism as a business, and al-Haidari is the very example to represent that. Al-Haidari was told that terrorism is making a lot of money these days. "He is just a victim."

The Israeli government has denied the claims of the Yemeni government of any attempt had been carried out to recruit a spy from Yemen.

Al-Bokhaiti said the email is just the evidence. "This is a death sentence for Intention."
Family facing poverty, social denial:

Eshraq al-Bokhaiti, 23-year-old petite wife, was married 7 years ago to al-Haidari having Arghad, 6, and Lama 1. But it has never come to her mind that she could be a widow at any moment. "I don't want Basam to die. I can tolerate anything and I will support his children if he is even sentenced to life-time period."

Despite that Yemen is a male-oriented country but according to human rights activists in many of the major human rights violations like Guantanmou, women are the ones who dedicated themselves to claim their male relatives, throwing themselves to the danger by the society or the government in some cases. Al-Bokhait is the only one who is claiming her husband's release, following his cases, seeking financial support for the family by doing few tutoring classes for the children in the neighborhood and contacting charitable organization to help the family.

Ahmed al-Qurashi, the head of SEYAJ for Childhood Protection said that he is upset from all charitable organizations that refused to help al-Haidari's children. "They told me we cannot give donations to the children of someone accused of espionage for Israel. It is not fair to punish children."

SEYAJ has sent this week a letter to the President seeking an amnesty for the father under his children's name.

Al-Bokhaiti said that she received many threats by some security agencies to stop her efforts and cut communication with the media and the lawyers for the sake of releasing her husband. In many cases, she was obliged to say that she is from a powerful tribe so they wouldn't perceive her as weak.

In Arab country due to the Arab-Isreal conflict, such a charge of being an Isreali spy could ruin any one's normal life. Al-Haidari's family is verbally abused by the community. "We are dubbed as 'the Israeli Embassy' and people threw words when they saw us buying even a bag of tomato," said Raja Nassir, around 45, al-Haidari's mother.

Al-Bokhaiti said that she did not care about the hints and the harassments said by the neighbors. "But it really hurts me when they harass my son telling him that his father is a spy and he will be killed," she said. The mother and the grandmother said that Arghad looks much older than he is. "He said things that I don't know," the grandmother said. Al-Bokhaiti said that Arghad knows things more above his age like the names of the Israeli' president. Many times he came to ask her "Who is better President Obama or Saleh?"

If it happened that he saw President Saleh in T.V, he shouted "Get Baba Basam out." Despite his affection to his father, he always refused to visit him in jail," said al-Bokhaiti. Her son shouted at night, and she could not have yet put him in school because she is afraid that he would be more traumatized.

Al-Bokhaiti said that even her husband has his own share. "He has now liver problems out of fear," she said

The other convicts got light sentence for other minor charges of publishing false statement under the name of the delusional Jihad Organization. Along with being convicted of being a spy, al-Haidari was also accused of doing fraud works but he was guilty for the espionage charge only.

As the Officer said to the Poet: "We Lebanese are good at two things. Fighting. And shopping"

2010-05-12T04:01:56Z

: The mass burial site for the victims of an Israeli air strike on Qana on July 30, 2006.(FEYROUZ / CC); By Tom Sleigh; When we drove into Qana last year," Joseph told me, scanning the gray concrete houses on either side of the road, "we heard flames roaring, the sound of the jets, people screaming, and the ringing of cell phones." He looked at me and shrugged. "The relatives of people were calling to see if they were okay." Joseph worked for the Red Cross during the 2006 war with Israel and was one of the first to enter the village after an Israeli bombardment massacred twenty-eight Lebanese civilians. Soft-spoken, slight, he was solicitous on the surface but, like many Lebanese, reserved, even wary. When I hired him as my driver and interpreter to take me south from Beirut, I knew only that he drove a taxi with his father and worked as a draftsman in an engineering firm to pay his way at Lebanese University. But then he offered to take me to Qana. He could show it to me, he said; he could tell me what he'd seen.; Tom Sleigh most recent volume of poetry is Space Walk. He teaches in the MFA Program at Hunter College. His essay "The Deeds," from the Summer 2008 issue of VQR, was selected forBest American Travel Writing 2009.

]]> To get to Qana, we needed military clearance, and so we'd stopped at the central army compound in Sidon, one of the major cities in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese intelligence officer who handled foreign press was dressed in blue jeans and a checked oxford, his shirttail hanging out. His wire-rimmed glasses gave him a bemused air, and his thoroughly unmilitary bearing unsettled me. I knew that he knew that I knew he had all the power, and while he seemed to enjoy this, he also seemed to appreciate the absurdity of his own position. Why should he be the one to control who went to the south of Lebanon?

Now read on at VQRonline.com

Kurdish writer tortured and shot in the head for mocking leaders

2010-05-07T02:13:20Z

A Kurdish journalist kidnapped in Erbil, the capital of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, was tortured and then dumped on a main road with two bullets in his head.

Zardasht Osman, 23, was killed because he had lacerated region's two Kurdish parties, including the powerful Barzani clan. A university student, Osman was a freelance journalist who used a pseudonym online

"I am in love with Barzani's daughter," read one of his scathing posts which violated the taboo of even referring to a female family member of the region's president, Massoud Barzani. Osman wondered aloud how he might marry one of Mr. Barzani's daughters.

]]> Osman who was majoring in English language and literature was kidnapped in front of the college by unidentified gunmen in a white Hyundai van with a concealed number plate before being physically assaulted, according to eye witnesses.

The Peshmerga or security forces, which are controlled by the Kurdish parties have been blamed for the crime by Osman's friends and family.

Abdul Hamid of the Pesgmerga said the police in Mosul said "a body had been found with a college badge in his pocket"

"The body, with hands and legs tied up, had been brutally tortured before being shot in the mouth" he said.

The killing of a journalist is a rare event in the Kurdish region, where the authorities have sought to encourage business and oil and gas investments and where thousands of foreigners, including American citizens live.

One of them, Peter Galbraith, who was sacked from his job as the number two US official in Afganistan, has extensive oil interests in the area

Security forces have a reputation for assaulting journalists who criticize the corrupt patronage system encouraged by the two governing parties.

"This work is beyond the capability of one person or one small group," read a statement issued on Thursday and signed by 75 Kurdish journalists, editors and intellectuals.

"We believe the Kurdistan regional government and its security forces are responsible first and foremost and they are supposed to do everything in order to find this evil hand."

According to a New York Times report from Erbil, Osman was abducted by men in a white minibus immediately after he was dropped off Tuesday morning by his brother Sardar opposite the main entrance of the liberal arts college of the University of Salahaddin. He was to have graduated from the university in June with a degree in English.

Sardar Osman said his brother got out in front of the Fine Arts Institute, where at least half a dozen well-trained soldiers from the Zerevani unit of the Kurdish peshmerga guard the gate at all times.
Students reported that Osman had been kidnapped and the the institute's dean, who came out and picked up his books and notebooks from the street.

The family received a call on Wednesday informing them that Osman's body had been dumped outside the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan offices in Mosul, about 50 miles west of Erbil.
Osman received a threat in April from a caller saying that he had "one week to leave Erbil or he would be killed."

He had been writing for almost two years under the pseudonym Saro Zardasht for the Sweden-based Kurdistanpost, known for its satirical articles critical of the two governing parties and its leaders.
Osman also started working five months ago for an Erbil-based magazine called Samal Post and contributed several articles to Hawlati, an independent newspaper based in the region's other main city, Sulaimaniya.

Kurdish journalists have been harassed, threatened and physically assaulted by security forces. There were 357 such violations last year, according to the Kurdistan Syndicate of Journalists.

Women Without Men - a moving Iranian picture

2010-05-02T01:38:28Z

By Leonard Doyle
Shirin Neshat's movie "Women Without Men," reveals a chapter in Iranian -US relations that most Americans have forgotten, (if they ever knew about it).
Iranians are still living with the consequences of the American led, British backed coup d'état that brought down the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, and reinstalled the Shah to power.

Women Without Men - Trailer from IndiePix on Vimeo.

Drawing on magical realism she chronicles the intertwining lives of four Iranian women during the summer of 1953; a cataclysmic moment in Iranian history. Unfortunately the Washington Post seems to have sent a work experience intern to review this important film.

]]> Her snippy review begins: "Iranian filmmaker Shirin Neshat's first feature-length film, "Women Without Men," starts with the main character jumping off the roof of a building. It doesn't get any cheerier."
"The material is so relentlessly dark" opines Rachel Saslow, " -- suicide, rape, eating disorders and repression all have a home here -- that the film will satisfy only Iranian history buffs and devoted Neshat fans."
This is hardly the case, and the film's recognition by the Venice Film festival, Sundance and others tells its own story.
But as the US contemplates bombing Iran's regime of Mullah's to destroy the country's nascent nuclear arms industry, viewing this movie should be a requirement for those who favor 'a little light bombing' as a way of conducting foreign policy.
It was, after all, America and Britain's undemocratic interference in Iran's nationalization of its oil industry that ultimately brought the Shah to power and sent Iran's cultured elite into exile.
This is a movie that everyone interested in foreign policy should see, uncomfortable as it may make them.

Here's part of the New Yorker's Lauren Collins more grown up review of the film.
"Shirin Neshat, I wrote in 2007, was making a full-length feature film. Neshat, who was born in Qazvin, Iran, had told me that she hoped her film would première at Cannes in the spring of 2008, which is what I told you. It took a little longer. But Neshat's movie, her first, is made. It is called "Women Without Men," after the book, by Shahrnush Parsipour, on which it is based. I think the film is fantastic. So do a lot of other people: at the Venice Film Festival, in September, Neshat won for best director. Next month, Rizzoli publishes a monograph by the art critic Arthur Danto celebrating Neshat's work. (Marina Abramović wrote the introduction.) The film, for me, evoked the sense of melancholy and wonder, of immediate nostalgia, that I feel, each year, watching the cherry buds explode into another spring."

Read the full glowing New Yorker review here

The Sahara's new cargo: drugs and radicalism

2010-04-16T01:26:30Z

Stephen Ellis,

A fusion of illicit money-making and radical politics is turning the big empty spaces of the western half of the Sahara into a profound security challenge, says Stephen Ellis.

About the author

Stephen Ellis is Desmond Tutu professor in the social sciences at the Free University Amsterdam, and a senior researcher at the African Studies Centre, University of Leiden

It is not often that the words "cocaine" and "al-Qaida" are plausibly linked. But these two forces are turning the western half of the Sahara - approximately from southern Libya to the Atlantic coast - into a locus of illicit money-making and radical politics. The development, quite a feat for a sparsely populatedregion, presents a challenge that the rich states to the north cannot afford to ignore.

A number of incidents in recent months suggest that this new reality has begun to take root. In December 2009, three alleged al-Qaida operatives of Malian origin were arrested in Ghana on "narco-terrorism" charges and sent to the United States under the auspices of the Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA), following a four-month tracking operation (see James M Dorsey, "Drugs Money Fills al Qaeda Coffers in West Africa", Deutsche Welle, 22 January 2010). In March 2010, a number of al-Qaida affiliates were charged in Mauritania with drug-trafficking offences involving the transportation of cocaine and marijuana.

]]>

ehind these immediate events lies a spreading implantation of the drugs trade in parts of the continent. By the mid-2000s at latest, leading cocaine-smugglers in Latin America had begun systematically using west Africa as a staging-post for the European market. This is estimated to consume about 300 tonnes of the white powder per year at present, but it has huge potential to increase further (see Emmanuelle Bernard, "Guinea-Bissau: drug boom, lost hope", 23 October 2008).

At first, the traffickers' strategy was to take wholesale cargoes to coastal states in west Africa and stockpile it in places where policing is inadequate and politicians can be bought cheaply. From there, cocaine could be repackaged and re-exported to Europe. There were already well-established west African cocaine-smugglers (with Nigerians and Ghanaians in the forefront), whose speciality had always been to access the European market by sending large numbers of couriers by air, each carrying a kilo or less - the notorious "swallowers and stuffers". The major west African traders provided local services to the Latin Americans; some individual local traders were taking small quantities overland through the Sahara to north Africa, but there was no real evidence of a wholesale trade through the desert.

The new cargo

The signs of a shift in the trade's character were evident by January 2008, when the Malian army fought a battle in the north of the country with a convoy of vehicles manned by smugglers carrying no less than three-quarters of a tonne of cocaine eastward. The Malian authorities confiscated the cocaine...which promptly disappeared. Since then there have been in terceptions of other convoys carrying cocaine in four-wheel-drive vehicles from the Atlantic coast of Africa towards the heart of the Sahara. The smugglers are well-armed and equipped with satellite-phones and global-positioning systems (GPS). They have the confidence to match their sophisticated technology: they have even placed landmines at strategic locations to discourage interception. No one on the right side of the law knows where their cargoes end up, but most probably they go to Libya or Egypt for onward transport to Europe, perhaps in cargo-containers.

An investigative breakthrough came in November 2009, when the Malians found in a remote region the wreck of a Boeing cargo-aircraft that had brought in a huge quantity of cocaine from Venezuela. Law-enforcement officers were shocked: here was evidence of a huge cocaine trade that by-passed the coast completely and went straight to desert smuggling-networks (see Jamie Doward, "Drug seizures in west Africa prompt fears of terrorist links", Observer, 29 November 2009).

Indeed, the Sahara has always been prime territory for traffickers. There aren't too many other ways of earning a living there. Until recently the main high-value commodity was cigarettes, hauled overland from the Atlantic coast to north Africa. But once a gang acquires the necessary transport and logistics, it can switch to any cargo; and the rising risks of smuggling cocaine by air and by sea to Europe make it more tempting to transport cargo overland to north Africa and then smuggle it over the Mediterranean (using the traditional hashish-smugglers' routes or developing new ones). Who makes the really big profits on the desert-run is a closely guarded secret; but even if the Saharan drivers only get a minor cut, the result is a lot of money in a region that has always been desperately poor.

The Sahara ocean

The Sahara is home to more than smugglers. Today it has also become a focus for the group known as "Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM). This is the new brand-name (adopted in 2006) for the old Algerian Islamist movement, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), one of the toughest of the factionsfighting against the Algerian government in an atrocious civil war that lasted through the 1990s and beyond.

The GSPC seemed at one point to have been more or less defeated; but after the 9/11 attacks and the United States invasion of Afghanistan, US generals insisted that the Sahara represented a possible new location for Islamist radicals relocating after being flushed out of their Afghan camps. The generals were later to say that some suicide-bombers operating in Iraq had trained in the same camps.

Most observers were rather sceptical; but there was no doubt that Algerian Islamists had trained at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and that Algerians were present at the founding of al-Qaida. There were also plenty of radical Islamist preachers wandering through the countries just south of the Sahara, usually with funding from the Gulf states or Pakistan, but there is not much new about this. The conventional wisdom has always been that west African Muslims are dominated by brotherhoodsdevoted to Sufi mysticism and have little truck with Saudi or south Asian ideas of doctrinal purity (see Sean Hanretta, Islam and Social Change in French West Africa: History of an Emancipatory Community [Cambridge University Press, 2009]).

The idea of the Sahara as a new centre of Islamist radicalism seemed to many people to be a case of American strategists finding terrorists under every sand-dune at a time when the "global war on terror" made this a good way of advancing a military career. The US military set up a series of schemes to train the security forces in countries bordering the Sahara and launched joint military exercises calledOperation Flintlock. In 2004, I witnessed US marines teaching Nigérien troops how to clear a house of enemies and practicing with them on the rifle-range.

Yet the big empty spaces of the Sahara have a curious effect of linking places as far away as Darfur and the Atlantic coast. And there's no doubt that there has been a distinct revival of Islamist activism in the Sahara of which the rebranding of the Algerian radicals as AQIM is just one part. AQIM is more radical and ideological than traditional Saharan bandits. In December 2007, AQIM blew up the United Nations building in Algiers and attacked a law court, killing forty-one people. In the sixteen months since there has been a spate of kidnappings, the beheading of a British tourist, the murder of a top Malian intelligence officer, and more violence besides.

It is unclear what AQIM actually consists of or how it relates to the Tuareg population of the Sahara, which traditionally has had little truck with Islamism. AQIM is said to contain at least three rather disparate elements; these include the Mauritanian Islamists who attacked the Israeli embassy in Nouakchott in February 2008 as well as killing some French tourists, and the remnants of the old Algerian movement (which are operationally rather separate). In between are various more traditional bandits who use the AQIM brand-name but have little ideological fervour.

Some radical groups fight each other for turf, but whether they are AQIM or freelancers is unclear. Some recent reports from northern Niger suggest that AQIM regularly recruits west African migrants who get lost in the desert heading for north Africa. AQIM also encourages others to take western hostages and hand them over. By all reliable accounts, the current situation is a rather mixed picture where politics and commerce are fused (see Philip Sherwell, "Cocaine, kidnapping and the Al-Qaeda cash squeeze", Telegraph, 6 March 2010).

Beyond the fortress

An additional element is the radicalisation of mosques and universities in Niger and Mali by radical Islamists, some of them influenced by Sudan. The major purveyors of influence in the Sahara, including Algeria's formidable military intelligence service and Colonel Gadaffi's Libya, have never attempted to police borders in the way that the US strives for, but tend to prefer more indirect methods of sponsorship and cooptation. The fact that some of the cocaine-carrying jeeps intercepted by Malian and Nigérien soldiers in the desert have been imported brand-new through Algiers suggests that north African governments may be playing a more complex game than appears. There is a lot of money at stake.

All of this cannot leave Europeans indifferent. The Sahara's status as a transit-route for cocaine coming into Europe makes the region a major security issue for European Union countries. And it was groups with roots in north Africa that carried out the metro-bombings in Paris and the train-bombings in Madrid. Until now, Europe's main effort in the region has been to stop African boat-people from entering the EU, making the Sahara into the first line of defence of "fortress Europe". But technical means are not enough. The Europeans need to focus much more attention on what really happens in the Sahara.

'Hafez knew he would be forced to lie face down on the ground inside the prison, and then guards would shoot him through the heart.'

2010-04-11T22:59:25Z

Hafez Ibrahim was sentenced to death in Yemen in 2005 at the age of 17. He was pardoned two years later but only after a nailbiting campaign by Amnesty International to save him.

Hafez Ibrahim was 16 when he attended a wedding in his home town of Ta'izz. Everyone was in high spirits and most of the men were armed. At some point, the celebrations boiled over, a struggle broke out, a gun went off and someone was killed.

]]> "The first judge sentenced me to death in 2005," he told Amnesty International. "Then the case was referred to another judge, who confirmed the death sentence." He was not allowed to appeal.

Two years later and half way across the world in Amnesty International's headquarters in London, researcher Lamri Chirouf received a text on his mobile phone. It read: "They are about to execute us. Hafez". Remarkably, Hafez had managed to get hold of a phone in Ta'izz Central Prison to send his desperate message.

Hafez knew what awaited him. He would be forced to lie face down on the ground inside the prison, and then guards would shoot him through the heart with an automatic rifle. The young man began the cruel countdown to death.

"We were devastated by this news and immediately sent appeals to the Yemeni President and authorities," said Lamri. "We also mobilized our membership by issuing an Urgent Action on behalf of Hafez."

The President responded by ordering a stay of execution to allow time to obtain a pardon from the family of the victim. When no pardon emerged, the execution was rescheduled for 8 August 2007.

Amnesty International again sent out appeals to the President, who ordered a further three-day stay of execution. The family of the victim then agreed to postpone the execution until after the holy month of Ramadan.

On 30 October 2007, after the victim's family agreed to pardon him in exchange for diya (compensation) of 25 million Yemeni riyals (approximately US$126,000), Hafez was released.

"I was so happy," he told Lamri in Sana'a earlier this month. "I cannot describe my feelings. Until now I feel like I am dreaming. I feel that it is impossible that I am still walking."

How Hafez Ibrahim came to be spared from execution

Hafez Ibrahim holds a newspaper covering his release and pardon

Lamri Chirouf (left) received a text saying 'They are about to execute us. Hafez'

Citizen bloggers 'white-anting' the Mubarak regime

2010-04-06T12:12:03Z

Update: Egyptian police beat protesters demanding constitutional reforms
Police confiscate media cameras
Ayman Noor calls it "an insulting image" that soldiers deny freedom of expression

In Cairo yesterday armed police cracked down on a few dozen protesters demanding reforms to Egypt's arcane constitution. In Washington meanwhile, well-heeled Egyptian diplomats turn up with worrying regularity at events to discuss internet censorship and citizen journalists.

The land of the Pharoh's is a chaotic shambles, tens of millions live in squalor and civil society kept firmly in check. But whether in downtown Cairo or more than 3,000 miles away in Washington, the representatives of Mubarak's police state are hard at work.

At a forum on Internet freedom, a speaker described how Egyptian bloggers routinely get arrested and tortured. A few minutes later an Egyptian diplomat piped up with a question.

He had to be asked to identify himself and didn't bother to deny that bloggers are tortured and thrown in the cells with common criminals. He just asked about plans to defend Google and others in repressive regimes.

As brazen as they are smooth, Egyptian officials know that because their country is an official "friend of the US", Cairo's undemocratic behavior always gets a pass in Washington. Contrast this with the sharp focus on Iran in the US media for its blatant abuse of the democratic movement. Why is whats wrong in Iran somehow OK in Egypt?

On Monday this week, the same Egyptian diplomat lurked at the back of yet another panel discussion about citizen blogging across the Middle East. This time it was at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

The diplomat wasn't there to lend a supportive word to the great heave for pluralism in Mubarak's sham democracy, but rather to take notes on the event to be sent back to Cairo overnight in a diplomatic cable.

]]> It does appear that those around Mubarak have grown suddenly fearful of a band of enthusiastic bloggers who are busy white-anting his regime.

That was the message that Mona Eltahawy brought to the lively discussion at the SAIS session. The talk ranged from the grim fate of Iranian reporters, under the mullah's crackdown - with the acclaimed cartoonist/reporter Nik Kowsar describing how he interviewed Iranian protesters last year - by calling the mobile of friend in the country who then handed it to people in the metro system. His friend was subsequently arrested, although the authorities did not realize quite what he had been doing.

The writer Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran) described how the hard won freedoms snatched away from Iranians are not only at risk in Iran, but in the US as well, where she fears an erosion of rights in an increasingly militarized culture.
But it was Mona Eltahawy's vivid account of the bravery and energy of Egypt's citizen bloggers that stayed in the mind as I wandered back towards Dupont Circle. The idea that individual Egyptians, with no overt political agenda, but to ask for accountability and freedom of expression, should be making the regime quake at the knees speaks volumes about the sham representative government which the US props up with over $3 bn a year in subsidies.
She described how a brave band of bloggers traveled five hours by train to stand witness at the church where Christian copts were gunned down over Christmas only to be arrested. Numerous bloggers have been jailed and suffered abuse for expressing the mildest criticism of the regime. She described the launch of a new weekly magazine Wasla, which is deriving over 90 per cent of its content from blogs. Indeed the launch of Wasla was met with a barrage of headlines claiming that it was being funded "by the billionaire George Soros." Its all about code in Egypt and nobody will have mistaken the message that Wasla is somehow part of an anti-Arab conspiracy.
The magazine (16 pages (14 in Arabic and 2 in English) includes articles written by Arab bloggers. A thousand copies are being distributed free in Egypt in the political, academic, media or literary figures. An electronic version is also available for the rest of the Arab world.
Wasla aims to link Arab bloggers with politicians and it was in fact launched at the initiative of a women's group backed by Soros. Wasla -- or "The Link" -- is being touted as a first for the Arab world, with plans for articles by bloggers as a way of giving them a wider readership. It is published by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and financially supported by the Open Society Institute created by Soros, said ANHRI director Gamal Eid. "We want to challenge our audience, and open its eyes to the changes society is experiencing, particularly through youths and blogs in which they appear," he said. "The goal is to show the older generation that certain things exist," he said, adding as an example: "Whether we agree or not, gay communities are a reality in Egyptian and Arab societies." The 16-page weekly will include two pages in English and will have an initial print run of 1,000 copies for distribution to political, academic, and literary circles. An electronic version will also be available. What really worries the regime is that the bloggers are rallying around Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the IAEA who is seeking to run for the presidency, although the Egyptian constitution prevents an independent candidate from doing so. Not surprisingly Wasla's first edition is devoted to the Baradei campaign and the enthusiasm of his blogging netizen supporters.

For background this is an account of the launch of WASLA
CAIRO: Recognizing the importance of citizen journalism, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) launched its first issue of its monthly Wasla Thursday, Egypt's first newspaper with 90 percent content derived from blog entries. The newspaper "mirrors what happens on the blogs ... We want to transfer what is discussed online to an audience that does not read blogs," said head of ANHRI Gamal Eid at a press conference at the organization's headquarters downtown. The newspaper will include entries by Egyptian bloggers alongside Arab-related entries by online activists from around the world. In addition to transferring blogs from digital to print format, the newspaper hopes to bridge two generations of journalists: the old school, professional journalists and citizen journalists. The word "wasla" in Arabic means "connection". In printing the content of blogospheres, ANHRI is bringing the opinions of the active, younger generation to the professional journalists and old school political thinkers in a package that is familiar to them. "There's a general interest in what's happening online," said Mohamed Gaber, prominent blogger and artistic director of Wasla. Gaber added that the world's older generations are developing an interest in bloggers and online activists because they view them as a group of individuals genuinely interested in world affairs without seeking money or fame. "It's not a commercial paper," added Eid. Journalists and bloggers gathered Thursday around the founders of Wasla, an idea Eid says was spurred sometime in 2008 after the outbreak of the Mahallah riots on April 6, which drew attention to social networking website Facebook and the pivotal online youth movements. The editorial team, comprised of Ahmed Nagui, Ibtisam Taalab, Salma El-Wardany and Mohamed Gaber, emphasized that the blog entries chosen for print will not be censored prior to printing. "We speak the language of the street," said Gaber. "Some of the language used on blogs is more acceptable than that used in Al-Dostour and Rosa Al-Youssef," added Nagui, quelling concerns from attendees that the content may include foul language which is characteristic of some blogs. Breaking the straitjacketed approach of traditional newspapers, Gaber used an image by digital artist Moufa of Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and current reform activist, for the front page of Wasla's pilot issue. "All front pages [of traditional newspapers] have a lead story with one big picture and a few other stories with smaller pictures," said Gaber, adding that he feels that by resizing the images he is being "unfair" to the art work. The last page of the 16-page tabloid-size publication will be dedicated to digital art work. Meanwhile, two pages will include blog entries about Egypt or the Arab world written in English. Comments on the chosen blogs will be published according to the value they add to the original entry, explained Nagui. The first issue of Wasla includes entries published on tahyyes.blogspot.com, and demaghmak.blogspot.com on the "ElBaradei fever". While an entry by kashfun.blogspot.com chronicles the story of the journalist herself who was fired for publishing an article about the Chinese-made artificial hymens that hit the Egyptian market last year, editor El-Taalab writes about bloggers who are arrested for publishing their views on blogs. The English section includes entries by arablit.wordpress.com and Inanities (allthegoodnameshadgone.blogspot.com). Wasla is kicking off as a monthly publication, but will soon be printed bi-monthly until it becomes a weekly issue. Content is also available online in PDF format at http://wasla.anhri.net/.

At Unfreemedia.org we wish Wasla lots of luck. Judging by yesterday's heavyhanded events in Cairo it has a tough road ahead: The following is flavour of the Associated Press report of the police crackdown on a few dissidents.

Egyptian police on Tuesday beat and dragged off protesters to disperse a gathering of a few dozen in downtown Cairo calling for constitutional reforms and fairer presidential elections.

Protesters managed to briefly assemble in front of the upper house of parliament chanting "freedom" and calling for changes in the constitution before plainclothes police and anti-riot squads attacked them.

Plainclothes officers dragged demonstrators out of the crowd and threw them into waiting trucks. Young women among the protesters collapsed on the ground, weeping after their friends were taken away.

Police later pursued smaller groups of protesters through Cairo streets, knocking them down and arresting them if they attempted to chant. Demonstrations are illegal under Egypt's three-decade old emergency law. Media crews were also attacked and photographers' cameras were confiscated.

"It is an insulting image for Egypt," opposition politician Ayman Nour said about the heavy security presence ahead of the rally. "Hundreds of soldiers are denying the right of a few dozen citizens trying to express their desire to amend the constitution."

The protest was organized by the April 6 youth movement that calls for political reforms and backs the unofficial candidacy of former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed ElBaradei. He did not attend Tuesday's protest.
Protesters managed to briefly assemble in front of the upper house of parliament chanting "freedom" and calling for changes in the constitution before plainclothes police and anti-riot squads attacked them.

Egypt is to hold parliamentary elections this year and presidential elections in 2011. Amendments to the constitution passed in 2007 restricting presidential candidacy to only a few members of approved political parties.
.

How German sniper scopes secretly sold to Iran, were given to the Taliban and brought down a major Italian arms smuggling ring

2010-04-05T22:04:04Z

by Sebastian Rotella, from ProPublica: Articles and Investigations

MILAN - The Italian businessman sounded worried on the wiretap.

Alessandro Bon was a politically connected entrepreneur and former sales representative for Beretta, the Italian gun manufacturer. But behind that facade, he was leading a ring of Italian arms dealers and Iranian spies who were illegally selling ammunition, helicopters and other military hardware to Iran, according to Italian court documents obtained by ProPublica.

As investigators listened in October, Bon gave one of his associates bad news: Some German sniper scopes they had sold to Iran had surfaced among Taliban militants fighting NATO troops in Afghanistan.

"You want to know where they found two of the sniper scopes, between you and me?" Bon said, according to a transcript of the call. "In Afghanistan ... They fired on German soldiers with two of the sniper scopes and the serial numbers were traced ... and the [German] police are investigating because they were in the hands of the Taliban ... I wonder what the hell they were doing in Afghanistan."

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Bon didn't know it, but he had problems closer to home. His alleged clandestine business had already caught the eye of Italian authorities, who in March arrested him, four other Italians and two alleged Iranian intelligence officials. Two more Iranians remain fugitives. All nine are charged with violating international embargoes barring sales of arms and military technology to Iran. All have denied wrongdoing.

The case has been reported in Italy, but transcripts of wiretaps, in court documents obtained by ProPublica, offer a rare inside look at Iran's aggressive global campaign to buy prohibited deadly goods. Using layers of front companies and smuggling pipelines run by Iran's increasingly powerful security forces, Iranian buyers prowl black markets in search of suppliers ready to take a risk for a profit, according to investigators and Western intelligence officials interviewed for this article.

U.S.-led international sanctions haven't stopped the illicit sales, experts say, because European countries have longtime commercial ties to Iran and aren't inclined to crack down, particularly in the current economic slump. Italy alone did more than $9 billion worth of legitimate trade with Iran in 2008.

Most countries "do not devote significant resources to investigating or prosecuting export control violations," wrote Michael Jacobson, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in an article published by the think tank last year. A "public prosecutor has stated that his country has only uncovered 'the tip of the iceberg' of the black market activity involving Iran's nuclear program." Jacobson continued, " the European Union is not in a position to oversee the shortcomings of its member states in this area."

The Milan arms ring operated undetected for at least three years, authorities say, allegedly moving - or trying to move - sniper scopes, various types of munitions, explosive chemicals, helicopters, parachutes, helmets and scuba gear worth millions of dollars. The cast of characters includes a political boss known as a "bulwark of Christ," an Iranian journalist turned accused spy and a fast-talking lawyer with an alleged audacious plan to set up a covert Iranian base in Italy.

Emanuele Ottolenghi, a Brussels-based senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Milan prosecution stands out because it is unusual for European authorities to dismantle an Iranian arms procurement network.

"It is infinitely easier for Iran to break the rules than it is for law enforcement and the judiciary to put together a case," said Ottolenghi, author of "Under a Mushroom Cloud: Europe, Iran and The Bomb. "

The Italian suspects had experience in the Middle East arms market and links to Italy's political and corporate elite. They saw no reason to stop doing business despite a European Union ban on military trade with Iran in 2006 and a United Nations ban in 2007, investigators say.

The Hunt Begins

The network's troubles started in June when the suspects strayed into the sights of two top law enforcement agencies: a Milan unit of the Financial Guard, the Italian police force that investigates customs and tax-related crimes, and a prosecutors' office with a tradition of pursuing corruption and terrorism cases.

The prosecutor in the case, Armando Spataro, led a historic investigation that ended in November with the conviction of two dozen CIA officials, in absentia, for the abduction of an Egyptian cleric here in 2003. Spataro's prosecution also helped topple high-ranking officials of Italy's foreign spy agency, worsening tensions with the administration of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a frequent critic of Italy's independent-minded prosecutors.

The lead about the arms trafficking scheme came from Romanian customs officials, who were embroiled in a court fight with Bon, the Italian entrepreneur, over a shipment of 200 German sniper scopes. The merchandise had been confiscated in 2008 at the Bucharest airport en route to Iran.

Bon, 43, went into business on his own about five years ago after working in exports for Beretta, the firearms giant. He lives in Monza, a prosperous, politically conservative town near Milan.

According to an investigative report in an arrest warrant, Bon and an associate had sent the sniper scopes to a Romanian front company to mask the final destination: Iran. Investigators found an e-mail from Bon with instructions to the Romanian shipping agent: "You will find attached the bill for the Consignee in Teheran. THE BILL MUST NOT ACCOMPANY THE MERCHANDISE!!!"

The Financial Guard began wiretapping Bon and his associates, enlisting the help of Italy's domestic intelligence agency and police in other countries to trace the web of smuggling routes.

Within weeks, investigators had reason to believe that the Italian arms dealers were hatching brazen multimillion-dollar deals with Iranian spies.

The Iranian Connection

The Financial Guard identified the main arms buyer as Bakhtiyari Homayoun, a suspected Iranian intelligence official who shuttled between Europe and Tehran.

Homayoun, 46, ran a front company in Tehran that was one of several Iranian firms operating as a government procurement network, according to the investigative report. A hard-nosed negotiator, he chewed out his Italian partners when they pestered him about debts or failed to deliver the goods.

In early August, Homayoun pressured Bon to free the blocked sniper scope shipment in Bucharest and get it to Iran. The Iranian complained that he was feeling heat from higher-ups to close the deal, according to a wiretap transcript.

"This is coming from the minister's office, I can't do anything," Homayoun told Bon in English. "You know that the minister changes next week. Everything will be different next week, so they want to finish everything before leaving their posts."

Homayoun's shopping list offers insight into the goals of Iran's procurement networks and its ties to Islamic militants. Western intelligence officials say many of the munitions, explosives and other arms he ordered were probably intended not for the conventional military, but rather for proxy forces that are believed to be supported by Iran: the Iraqi insurgency, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. U.S. military chiefs also have accused Iran of providing military assistance to the Taliban.

Financial Guard officers are investigating the clues about how sniper scopes ended up in the Taliban's arsenal. They are also pursuing leads that some of the 1,000 sniper scopes Homayoun bought, paying up to $2,600 each, may have reached insurgents in Iraq. According to the investigative report and Italian officials, British troops discovered the same kind of scopes in Iraqi militant hideouts in Basra in 2006 and 2007.

The Investigation Widens

The wiretaps of the calls between Homayoun and Bon soon opened an unexpected door into a dark side of Italian politics.

On Aug. 22, Bon complained that an Italian associate had jeopardized the group's relationship with a mysterious political protector by failing to cough up a kickback.

"Every six months he has to pay a politician in Italy and he has not paid him yet," Bon explained, according to the investigative report. "And I need the support of this politician, so send me the money and I will put aside the money for the politician."

The politician is identified in a prosecutor's report and by investigators as Pier Gianni Prosperini, 64, a powerful boss in the Lombardy region. Prosperini is also suspected of brokering arms deals with Eritrea, which like Iran has been accused of supporting Islamic extremist groups, according to the prosecutor's report.

The burly Prosperini leads a far-right, anti-immigrant party. Campaign posters depict him in medieval warrior's attire defending a castle, sword in hand and crucifix on chest. They describe him as a "bulwark of Christ" and "scourge of Islamic terrorism and criminality."

Prosperini denies being involved in arms trafficking, according to his lawyer, Ettore Traini.

"We have heard that a politician is mentioned in the investigative documents related to Iran, but we do not know that it is him," Traini said in an interview. "We have not been formally notified of those allegations because the investigation remains secret."

A few weeks after the political lead emerged, the investigation changed directions again. Investigators listened in disbelief as their wiretaps detected another apparent Iranian spy - this one a veteran television correspondent based in Rome.

Acquaintances describe the correspondent, Hamid Masoumi, as a quiet, polite 50-year-old. He has lived in Italy since 1993, speaks fluent Italian and moved in influential Roman circles.

The wiretaps exposed Masoumi as a "high-ranking operative of the Iranian secret intelligence services," according to the investigative report. As part of his covert activities, he sometimes presented himself as an employee of Iran's national airline and often operated out of the Iranian embassy, according to the report. He also denied the accusations,

The senior investigator in the case told ProPublica that Masoumi co-founded the front company in Romania with one of Bon's associates. The company officially dealt in telecommunications equipment, but it completed only one transaction, the investigator said: the export of the 200 Schmidt & Bender sniper scopes that were blocked at the Bucharest airport.

"Why is Masoumi, a TV journalist, involved in a Romanian front company?" the senior investigator said. "How does the Iranian government explain that?"

Following instructions from an Iranian embassy official in Rome recorded during wiretapped calls, Masoumi also spied on critics of Iran, prosecutors allege. He grilled an Italian journalist who had contributed to a book about Iran's opposition movement, asking if any Iranian exiles were among the authors, according to the investigative report.

"Are there any Iranians involved?" Masoumi demanded during a phone conversation in September. "Are there any Iranian names?"

Masoumi's intrigues enabled him to "soften" Italian news coverage of the Iranian regime's violent repression of the opposition, according to the prosecutor's report. Intercepted communications with Italian journalists show that Masoumi promised them visas to Iran and access to officials if they would tone down negative reports about Iran, the prosecutor's report says.

The Talkative Son

As investigators pored over hours of phone calls and e-mails, a picture emerged of a group that was simultaneously sophisticated and undisciplined.

The suspects bickered over money and muscled each other out of deals. The Italians called the Iranians "penguins" behind their backs, apparently referring to their taste for black and white outfits. The Italians discussed apparent criminal activity at length with friends, wives and mothers.

In Monza, Bon kept his mother well informed, though she has not been charged. He spilled the beans about the intercepted shipment in Bucharest during a wiretapped call in October: "Mamma, the merchandise was going directly to Iran."

Bon seemed well aware of laws against military sales to Iran, according to the investigative report. On Oct. 8, he e-mailed a company in Taiwan inquiring about micro-cameras, miniature recording devices and other spy-gear. He claimed his client was an "Italian anti-terrorist intelligence unit," according to an intercept transcript

A representative of the company wrote back asking if the spy-gear was really for the Italian police. She explained that she had just received an identical request from a broker for the Iranian government.

The transcript says Bon responded indignantly: "I really don't know what Iran is doing since this nation is under embargo by our nation and most Western nations. Our company works only with the Italian police and armed forces."

Bon promptly contacted a second Taiwanese company about the same products and forwarded the data to Homayoun in Tehran, according to the investigative report.

Bon's lawyer, Nadia Germana, disputes the charges.

"His version differs greatly from the allegations by the prosecution," Germana told ProPublica. "He looks forward to explaining his point of view. There is a question of interpretation about what constitutes military arms."

Bon's 39-year-old girlfriend, Danila Maffei, allegedly helped send four shipments of sniper scopes to Iran through Switzerland, according to the investigative report. Swiss authorities didn't notice anything amiss until the Iranians tried to return some of the merchandise via Switzerland in August 2007, saying it was defective. Swiss officials confiscated the shipment.

The Big Lawyer

The case gathered momentum in December when Masoumi, the Iranian journalist in Rome, organized an Italian suspect's trip to Tehran for a sit-down about lucrative deals.

Masoumi described Raffaele Rossi Patriarca as a "big lawyer from Italy" with "big clients" during calls to a Tehran associate, who worked with the Iranian foreign ministry and secret services to prepare the visit, according to the investigative report.

Patriarca, a prominent 45-year-old lawyer based in Turin, comes off as brash in the recorded conversations. During a call home from Tehran on Dec. 8, the lawyer bragged that he had just met with a "highly decorated Iranian general" about a $20 million sale of nine helicopters, according to a wiretap transcript.

The wiretaps show he also discussed offering the Iranian brass a 747 cargo jet, fuses for munitions and explosive chemicals - and that he outlined a startling proposal to create a secret Iranian operations base on Italian soil.

"I will present them with what I think will make it easier to manage all their requirements," he said. "The acquisition of a company in Italy ... with a certificate of incorporation and bank account ... with a building in an airport ... with two hangers that have direct access to the roadside ... .the possibility of converting conference rooms and creating sleeping quarters ... If they have a minimum of entrepreneurial vision ... they'll hit the jackpot, a total bingo."

Patriarca denies wrongdoing. His lawyer says the trip to Iran didn't involve banned military equipment.

Patriarca's aggressiveness aggravated Iranians and Italians alike, but he made things happen, according to the investigative report. At one point he took two Iranian suspects to Norway in a determined hunt to rent them a helicopter, reminding them to conceal the fact that the Iranian government was the true client, according to the investigative report.

In a more vulnerable moment, though, the lawyer checked to make sure his ventures had the blessing of apparently influential figures in the Italian capital, according to a wiretap transcript.

"Listen, is everything set with Rome?" he asked another suspect as he prepared to leave for Tehran. "It's not that I want to disrespect anyone ... it's just for my peace of mind and the peace of mind of those I leave at home ... I'm leaving a wife and two kids at home."

The vaguely mentioned power players in Rome have not yet been identified, investigators say.

The Downfall

A week after the lawyer's trip to Tehran, the ring suffered a major blow.

Prosperini, the political boss whom the Italians allegedly paid for protection, was arrested in a separate corruption scandal involving government contracts. Prosperini has agreed to a plea bargain in that case. He has not been charged with arms trafficking, but is still under investigation for suspected links to the Milan ring.

The politician's downfall stunned the accused Italian traffickers, who prosecutors suspect are involved in Prosperini's alleged arms deals with Eritrea. Bon, his mother and others expressed "very grave concern" about the arrests during phone calls, according to the prosecutor's report.

"I don't know what the hell to do," Bon said on Jan. 13, according to a wiretap transcript. "I'm also anxious."

Over the next few weeks, the phone conversations grew tense. The quarrels with the Iranians got worse. Patriarca's relentless deal-making alarmed the others, according to the investigative report.

"Raffaele called me yesterday, he told me he's coming up to see you with a squad of penguins," or Iranians, an agitated Bon told an Italian suspect in a wiretapped call. "I told him if you want to go to jail that's your damn problem ... I'm terrified around him, I swear."

The suspect told Bon: "What worries me is the day ... that they fit him with new bracelets," meaning handcuffs.

Less than two months later, seven of the nine suspects were in handcuffs.

The Italians have all denied any wrongdoing, and Iran's foreign minister, Manoucher Mottaki, has rejected the charges against the four Iranians. He denounced the arrests as an "immature and politically motivated" attack by the Italian government.

Leaked video shows cold-blooded killing of Reuters staff by Apache gunship

2010-04-05T15:38:50Z

By Leonard Doyle

With dramatic gunsight video footage, the WikiLeaks investigative journalism organization today directly challenged the US version of a deadly tragedy that took the lives of two Reuters staffers in Baghdad in 2007.

The classified video footage shows a US Apache air crew lying about encountering insurgents in central Baghdad. They joke about their victims as they release fusillades of deadly cannon fire: "sweet" "look at that bitch go" "nice missile."
The attack killed Namir Noor-Eldeen, an acclaimed 22-year-old war photographer and his driver Saeed Chmagh, 40.

One of the Apache crew says he sees six people carrying AK-47s and another with a rocket propelled grenade. The photographer Noor-Eldeen is clearly visible with a camera over his shoulder. His colleague Chmagh is speaking on his mobile phone. It later emerged that he was speaking with a colleague from AFP news agency.

One of the aircrew is heard to say that a member of the group is firing, although the video shows no such activity. In fact the men are wandering nonchalantly around the street.

After one of the two helicopters, nicknamed Crazyhorse, opens fire a crew member exclaims: "Ha ha ha. I hit 'em." A short while another says: "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards."

The video depicts prolonged aerial surveillance followed by two deadly bursts of 30mm cannon fire. There is a disturbing callousness to the banter as the gunner, pilot and distant commander urge each other on claiming that they are attacking insurgents.

The disturbing footage shows the two Reuters staffers walking around, knowing that the helicopters are overhead. Moments later all hell is unleashed upon them.

Having shot up a group of men, including Noor-Eldeen, the Apache camera returns to show a man, believed to be Chmagh struggle to his feet as a passing van stops to deliver aid.

]]> The Apache crew needs a pretext to open fire and a crew member wishes aloud for Chmagh to reach for a gun so that he can fire: "All you gotta do is pick up a weapon."

When a van pulls up and two men emerge and start to carry the wounded man away an order is given to open fire on the van. The results are tragic for a father of four and two of his children he was bringing to a tutor. A helicopter fires 30mm shells at the van: "Look at that. Right through the windshield," says one as another guffaws.

(The two children were badly wounded and when Wikileaks reporters visited them last week they discovered that their widowed mother is living in poverty having never been paid compensation by the US military for the wrongful death of their father.)

Once ground forces arrive - and drive over Noor-Eldeen's body - provoking more laughs - the wounded children are discovered. The air crew blames the Iraqis. "Well it's their fault for bringing kids in to a battle," says one. "That's right," responds another.

Wikileaks' Assange said yesterday that the video revealed that the military claims that all the dead were insurgents were soon proved false, as was the claim that the helicopters were responding to a firefight.

"Why would anyone be so relaxed with two Apaches (flying overhead) if someone was carrying an RPG and that person was an enemy of the United States?" he said. "The behaviour of the pilots is like a computer game. When Saeed is crawling, clearly unable to do anything, their response is: come on buddy, we want to kill you, just pick up a weapon ... It appears to be a desire to get a higher score, or a higher number of kills.

In a second video clip, shot some 20 minutes later the same helicopter is seen shooting hellfire missiles into a building because the crew believed an insurgent with a weapon had entered it. In the deadly onslaught at least two families are killed.

Reuters editors were shown exerpts from the video in an off the record briefing shortly after the killings on 12 July 2007. The news agency is reported to have filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the video, which has been rebuffed.
Assange claimed yesterday that his organization has come under "an aggressive US and Icelandic surveillance operation" prior to today's release. The organization has a record for revealing damaging secrets of US military operations and documents show that the Pentagon planned to attack it with a hacking operation.
Wikileaks is a non-profit supported entity that offers those with
undisclosed documents and records a safe space for their anonymous
dissemination. The organization spent over $30,000 verifying the video and editing the footage. The full unedited video was also released.

Wikileaks also partnered with the Icelandic State broadcaster to send two journalists to Baghdad to interview survivors including two young children who still bear scars from the attack. In the dramatic video footage, the Apache crew see a group of men strolling around casually. They seem aware that there are helicopters above them.
Wikileaks has also obtained video of a 2009 air strike in Afghanistan that killed as many as 1000 civilians which is being prepared for release.

The video is available on YouTube, in short and long versions.

Hat tip CJR which was first out of the traps with a constantly updated report

- Video and resources now viewable at http://collateralmurder.com/
- Download, various formats: http://collateralmurder.com/en/download.html
- English transcript: http://collateralmurder.com/en/transcript.html
- Rules of Engagement and other resources etc.
http://collateralmurder.com/en/resources.html

- Wikileaks short description: "The video, shot from an Apache
helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded
Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the
rescue were also seriously wounded."

- NYTimes article on original Baghdad attack in July 12, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html

- Reuters articles on the request for investigation
From 2007: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL0539996520080711
From 2008: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL05399965

- Wikileaks description:

The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and
stated that they did not know how the children were injured.

After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S.
military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance
with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".

Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of
Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before,
during, and after the killings.

WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a
shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to
both versions from the radio transmissions.

WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a
number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to
verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have
analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source
material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly
involved in the incident.

WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives
gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the
people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs:
putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very
dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were
killed while doing their work.

The Lies of the Pentagon

With the Understanding of Gandhi, Aminatou Put Her Life on the Line

2010-03-29T04:42:12Z

by Barbara Becker

When I was in college, I had a small book of questions meant to serve as conversation starters for social gatherings. There was one question in particular that I had no idea how to answer, and not having a response seemed to indicate some form of personal shortcoming in my young and idealistic mind: "Is there a cause for which you'd be willing to sacrifice your life?"

It wasn't until years later when I began working in international human rights that I encountered others who could answer that question affirmatively. This past year, I had the privilege of getting to know such a person when I spent time with Aminatou Haidar, the Western Saharan human rights defender who was in the U.S. last fall to accept the 2009 Civil Courage Prize for her peaceful advocacy on behalf of the Sahrawi people.

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For over 20 years, Aminatou has led the nonviolent struggle to free the people of Western Sahara from Morocco's 34-year occupation. During this time, Aminatou -- regularly referred to as the "Sahrawian Gandhi" -- has spent nearly five years in prison for her peaceful activism, much of it in solitary confinement undergoing repeated torture.

After a week of meetings on Capitol Hill and with members of the media, Aminatou and I had a teary farewell as she boarded a plane for Laayoune, the main city in the Moroccan-occupied zone of Western Sahara, via the Spanish Canary Islands. It was then that things began to heat up for Aminatou.

As she had many times before, she declared Western Sahara as her country of origin on the immigration entry form for her homeland. This time, though, Moroccan authorities seized her Moroccan passport (Morocco administers all travel documents for Western Saharans), held her for interrogation, and -- claiming she had renounced her Moroccan citizenship -- summarily deported her back to the Canary Islands. Spain allowed her entry against her will and without travel documents, but insisted she could not travel back to Laayoune because she had no passport.

Making a Fateful Decision

Aminatou, feeling she had no viable recourse, then proceeded to demonstrate that there are, indeed, people who will give their very lives for the cause for which they're dedicated. As reported in November in a story about Aminatou in On The Issues Magazine, she initiated a hunger strike. This was not an easy decision for her, especially as the mother of two young children, but, as she later explained, "It is my very love of life that pushed me to go for the path of dignity and firmness in my decision."

Worldwide media attention grew, especially in Europe and Africa, as the standoff between Aminatou and Moroccan authorities continued for over a month, and her plight became a leading campaign for Spanish celebrities and Nobel Prize laureates alike.

But on December 17, the 32nd day of the hunger strike, she was rushed to the intensive care unit of the area hospital, vomiting blood and suffering from severe nausea and stomach pains. Since the start of her fast she had lost nearly 10 percent of her body weight. Her condition was aggravated by a gastric ulcer and other lingering health problems resulting from her time in Moroccan prisons.

By the late evening, after urgent requests by Spain, France, the U.S., the UN and others to find a humanitarian solution, a victorious Aminatou was flown on a small medical transport to Laayoune. She declared the turnaround a "triumph of justice, international law, human rights and the Sahrawi cause."

She reflected further in a holiday letter: "No boundaries can stop the flood of noble and beautiful human feelings coming from all countries, crossing continents. Oh how powerful were those moments with all their strong symbolism, how warm they were, like the warmth of the affection of motherhood and fondness of the homeland, moments that express the most beautiful meanings life can have."

On the surface, it would seem that this is a case of "all's well that ends well." But what is the current status of the situation with Aminatou Haidar and the Western Saharan cause since her return?

Living Under Constant Surveillance

Since her arrival in Laayoune, Aminatou Haidar's home has been surrounded by Moroccan police, who are monitoring and questioning visitors. According to the Sahrawi Association of Human Rights Victims,Moroccan authorities detained Cherif El-Garhi, a friend of Haidar's -- also a former Sahrawi political prisoner - in front of Aminatou's home on January 6. Witnesses report that the police used excessive force in handing El-Garhi, who is blind and in poor physical condition.

Aminatou -- who has been unable to eat solid foods since the hunger strike ended -- reports that she has been followed by police while leaving her home to shop at a local pharmacy. The heightened police presence has meant diminished business for store owners in her area.

In a December interview with the Union of Sahrawian Writers and Journalists, Aminatou noted that journalists are not able to talk to her except via telephone. According to the Committee to Protect Journalistsand a number of watchdog groups, Morocco's record on press freedom generally has deteriorated in recent years.

On the surface, a case of "all's well"

Western Sahara, often called "Africa's last colony," was annexed by Morocco after Spain, the former colonial power, pulled out in 1975. Since that time, the Sahrawi people have striven for the right to vote on self-determination, which was first promised by Spain in 1974; reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice in 1975; and laid out by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara or MINURSO in 1991. The referendum on the territory's final status has been postponed repeatedly.

The Sahrawian Polisario Front calls for an independent state and has established a self-proclaimed government-in-exile in refugee camps in south-western Algeria. Morocco, on the other hand, advocates for an autonomy plan with Moroccan sovereignty of the territory.

Foreign policy analysts have called the U.S. position on the dispute ambiguous and even contradictory. Commenting on the December release of Aminatou, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "I join United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in calling for a fifth round of formal UN-sponsored talks at the earliest possible date. I also want to express our strong support for [UN] personal envoy Christopher Ross and his efforts to find a solution."

At the same time, however, Washington seems to demonstrate a preference for Morocco's initiative to grant autonomy to Western Sahara by characterizing it as "serious and credible." A clearer stance would be for the U.S. to state unequivocally and consistently that there should be no preconditions or preferences as to how UN mediation might best resolve the issue.

Ending abuses of human rights and natural resources

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have issued several reports about human rights abuses in the region. Of particular concern are the torture and harassment of Sahrawian human rights defenders.

On October 8, 2009 seven prominent human rights activists were arrested after visiting refugee camps outside Tindouf in south-western Algeria, where thousands of Sahrawi fled upon the Moroccan invasion. Algeria and Morocco have a longstanding history of political conflict, including on the issue of Western Sahara. The seven are accused of threatening national security and of making public statements against the Moroccan authorities.

Front Line, a Dublin-based non-governmental organization working on behalf of human rights activists worldwide, fears that the seven defenders, who faced a military court in early January, could be subjected to harsh sentences -- including the death penalty.

Boi-Tia Stevens, a senior advocacy officer at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights who traveled to Lanzarote Airport to be with Haidar during her hunger strike, said, "The recent situation with Aminatou Haidar is a strong indication as to why there should be a human rights monitoring mechanism in the region." Incorporating a human rights component in the mandate of the UN Mission, which is up for renewal in April 2010, would be a critical step forward in addressing human rights violations in Western Sahara.

Western Sahara watchers also note that there are underlying issues involving natural resources that undermine UN peace efforts in Western Sahara. The desert land contains rich phosphate deposits, which are of interest to international fertilizer producers.

A particularly contentious subject is the commercial fishing in the territory's abundant coastal waters. Fish Elsewhere!, a coalition of NGOs and politicians from 22 European Union countries, asserts that the EU pays Morocco to fish in Western Saharan waters under its occupation, in violation of international law, and calls for an immediate halt. At issue is the controversial EU-Moroccan Fisheries Partnership Agreement, which lets Morocco interpret where the European vessels can fish. According to the EU-Moroccan agreement, fishing can take place in "the waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Morocco."

Aminatou Haidar has criticized the agreement in a YouTube video as a plundering of her homeland's riches without the consent of indigenous inhabitants which "condemns our young people to lead a life in poverty."

Keeping Eyes on a Critical Year

According to the US-Western Sahara Foundation, the Sahrawi have adopted a constitution guaranteeing the right to vote for all citizens 18 years of age, equal rights for women and a free market economy. Despite the harsh conditions in the Tindouf refugee camps, the Sahrawi there have achieved a literacy rate of more than 90 percent.

At a time when civil liberties organizations are nervous about harsh stereotypes of Muslim populations, Sahrawi activists seem to present an alternative perception. Suzanne Scholte, president of the Defense Forum Foundation, said, "Especially at this time in world history, the efforts of Aminatou Haidar send a wonderful and powerful message of hope to all Muslims and to all women who strive for the right to vote, for equality and for justice through peaceful means."

Aminatou Haidar (center), holding a photo of her children, meets with representatives of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights in December, 2009.

Perhaps it is Aminatou herself who says this most poignantly: "Cultures and religions, with all their diversity, can be used to serve tolerance, friendliness and coexistence between peoples."

The year 2010 will be a critical time for the future of Western Sahara and its people. The recent situation involving Aminatou Haidar only serves to highlight the need for urgent negotiations leading to a referendum on the status of the territory -- unequivocally and unconditionally supported by the international community, including the United States, the incorporation of ongoing and credible human rights monitoring in the region and a reexamination of the use of the area's natural resources.

It is also imperative that Aminatou and the residents of Laayoune enjoy freedom of expression, assembly and association without fear of retribution. Morocco's standing in the international community can only be bolstered by allowing peaceful advocacy and supporting genuine debate on the question of an independent Western Sahara.

While I've come to understand that the majority of people in the world may never have a ready answer to the question about the cause for which they'd be willing to sacrifice their lives, I do believe that humanity is better off because of peaceful activists like Aminatou who unwaveringly do.

This article first appeared in On The Issues magazine.

Barbara Becker is principal and founder of EqualShot, where she develops campaigns on behalf of social justice institutions worldwide. She is also a part-time faculty member at Columbia University's masters program in strategic communications and is currently teaching "Communications for Social Change." The views expressed here are her own and are, in no way, meant to reflect those of her clients.

Between the hammer and the anvil in Yemen

2010-03-26T13:55:00Z

Mazrak refugee camp in the tough mountainous scrublands of Yemen's north-west border with Saudi Arabia is now home to more than 10,000 people displaced by the escalating war between the government and rebels from the Huthi clan.
A man displaced by the war between Huthi rebels and government forces walks with his camel through a refugee camp at Mazrak, north-west Yemen.

Photo: Hugh Macleod / IRIN

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Thanks for the $3bn Obama, here's what we really think of you

2010-03-24T07:10:00Z

Wry photo on P1 of the New York Times: "During Mideast Talks, Another View"

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Blind poet, 'Lioness Of Iran,' blocked from flight to Paris

2010-03-19T13:36:51Z

Simin Behbahani, Iran's most prominent poet, was about to board a flight to Paris when police seized her passport. Behbahani, 82 and nearly blind, has not been charged with any crime. Many fear her treatment may signal a rise in repressive tactics by Iran's government.

National Public Radio's Davar Ardalan interviewed her from Tehran. One of the most respected figures in modern Iran. She recites two poems inspired by recent events -- one dedicated to the people of Iran and another to Neda, the woman whose death during the protests was viewed by millions on the Internet.

Execution beckons for TV presenter 'guilty of sorcery'

2010-03-18T19:23:26Z

1000 lashes for YouTube video
State Department's 2009 human rights report silent on barbaric Saudi sentence

ONLY the mercy of King of Saudi Arabia can now save the life of a former television presenter for a Lebanese satellite TV station, who gave advice and predictions about the future and whose death sentence for "sorcery" was upheld by a court last week.

Its a heartbreaking tale, awful to relate and when the sword falls on the neck of Ali Hussain Sibat, as the court has ordered, it will add to the kingdom's reputation for capricious justice.

A journalist was at Sibat's home when his small daughter Jamal returned from from school and climbed onto the sofa beside him in her plaited hair and said - unprompted by any of her family - "Are you going to bring my Daddy home?"

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Flashback: Scene from 1975 documentary Death of a Princess

But the words of journalists are powerless in Saudi Arabia,an it seems very likely that Jamal's father, a pious and poor Shia Muslim, will be executed - for witchcraft."

Amnesty International appealed to the King of Saudi Arabia yesterday to halt the execution , but warned that Sbatt could be executed at any time.

Ali Sibat set off with members of his family two years ago to join the haj in Mecca. After 15 days, the morality police broke into his hotel room and charged him with sorcery.

The reason, it turns out is Ali's show on a now-defunct Lebanese television channel called Sheherezade in which he predicted happy news and gave encouragement and advice to callers.

The Saudi morality policy seem to have been avid views of his show and recognised him in Mecca.

Sbatt was making the haj with his eldest son Hussein - both dressed in white pilgrimage robes. Shias in largely Sunni Saudi Arabia are often treated with suspicion and Sbatt's passport had an Iranian visa. Millions upon millions of Iranians make the pilgrimage to Mecca every year without interference.

The man's lawyer, May Khansa could not persuade Lebanese politicians to intervene to save Mr Sinat's life. But the Sunni Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan did say that what all Sbatt did on television was offer psychological help for lost souls and that it did not involve black magic.

There are justifiable fear that Sbatt was tortured after his arrest - there were no lawyers present when he was sentenced - and Saudi courts do not come close to meeting international standards of fairness according to Amnesty International

Sibat's son said Saudi lawyers demanded $1m to make a legal appeal, an amount of money that was never going to be available in his tiny, poor village, where some houses have mud walls.

Another unidentified man sentenced to death for "apostasy" in July 2009 by a court in Hail on grounds relating to "sorcery" may also still be at risk of execution.

Ali Sibat lawyer in Lebanon believes that he was arrested because members of the Mutawa'een had recognized him from the show, which was broadcast on the Sheherazade TV station.

After he was arrested, 'Ali Hussain Sibat's interrogators told him to write down what he did for a living, reassuring him that, if he did so, he would be allowed to go home after a few weeks.

This document was presented in court as a "confession" and used to convict him.
He was sentenced to death by a court in Madina on 9 November 2009 after secret court hearings where he had no legal representation or assistance.

In January 2010, the Court of Appeal in Makkah accepted an appeal against 'Ali Hussain Sibat's death sentence, on grounds that it was a premature verdict.
The Court of Appeal said that all allegations made against 'Ali Hussain Sibat had to be verified, and that if he had really committed the crime he should be asked to repent.
But on March 10, a court in Madina upheld the death sentence. The judges said that he deserved to be sentenced to death because he had practised "sorcery" publicly for several years before millions of viewers and that his actions "made him an infidel".

The court said also that there would be no way to verify that his repentance, if he should repent, would be sincere and that imposing the death sentence would deter other people from engaging in "sorcery" at a time when, the court said, there is an increase in the number of "foreign magicians" entering Saudi Arabia.

The case has been sent back to the Court of Appeal in Makkah for approval of the death sentence.
The crime of "sorcery" is not defined in Saudi Arabian law but is used to punish people for the legitimate exercise of their human rights, including the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, belief and expression.
The criminalization of apostasy is incompatible with the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion as set out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Saudi Arabian authorities arrested scores of people for "sorcery" in 2009, and have continued to arrest people on the same charges this year.
The last known execution for "sorcery" was that of Egyptian national Mustafa Ibrahim, on 2 November 2007. He had been arrested in May 2007 in the town of Arar, where he worked as a pharmacist, and accused of "apostasy" for having degraded a copy of the Qur'an.

At least 158 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2007 and at least 102 in 2008. In 2009, 69 people are known to have been executed, including almost 20 foreign nationals. Since the beginning of 2010, at least eight people have been executed.
Amnesty International called on the authorities to release 'Ali Hussain Sibat and the other unidentified man immediately and unconditionally if they have been convicted solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression.
The organization urged the authorities to desist from charging and convicting people for "apostasy" as it violates the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

A return to Gaza and not much to smile about

2010-03-17T01:20:00Z

NIGEL ROBERTS runs the World Banks WDR 2011 is one of relatively few independent witnesses allowed by the Israelis to visit Gaza since 'Operation Cast Lead' took place over a year ago.

The forthcoming WDR 2011 will look at how peoples' expectations can affect the course of a conflict, and the extent to which actions by governments and the international community can change those expectations. Absent a political settlement, there is not much to hope for he suggests.

Return to Gaza from WDR Video on Vimeo.

unfreemedia.org - Middle East & N Africa

Foolish email offer to spy for Israel brings a death sentence in Yemen

As the Officer said to the Poet: "We Lebanese are good at two things. Fighting. And shopping"

Tom Sleigh most recent volume of poetry is Space Walk. He teaches in the MFA Program at Hunter College. His essay "The Deeds," from the Summer 2008 issue of VQR, was selected forBest American Travel Writing 2009.

Kurdish writer tortured and shot in the head for mocking leaders

Women Without Men - a moving Iranian picture

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With the Understanding of Gandhi, Aminatou Put Her Life on the Line

by Barbara Becker

Making a Fateful Decision

Living Under Constant Surveillance

Ending abuses of human rights and natural resources

Keeping Eyes on a Critical Year

Between the hammer and the anvil in Yemen

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Thanks for the $3bn Obama, here's what we really think of you

Blind poet, 'Lioness Of Iran,' blocked from flight to Paris

Execution beckons for TV presenter 'guilty of sorcery'

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A return to Gaza and not much to smile about

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