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UAE nationals closer to visa-free EU travel
UAE nationals closer to visa-free EU travel (Wam) / 6 September 2013 The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on Thursday adopted a report recommending that visa requirements for UAE nationals to enter the EU be lifted. Mariya Gabriel, the rapporteur of the report, told a meeting of the committee on Thursday that the UAE is interested in strengthening ties with Europe. “There is no risk of illegal immigration. Trips made by the UAE nationals to Europe are mainly for business, tourism, studies or health care,” Gabriel said emphasising that the UAE will comply with total reciprocity regarding the visa waiving. This would make the UAE the first Arab country whose nationals will enjoy visa-free travel to the EU. An official from the EU Commission told the meeting that the EU’s executive body is in favour of lifting the visa for UAE citizens. Continue reading
Egypt to dissolve Brotherhood NGO
Egypt to dissolve Brotherhood NGO (Reuters) / 6 September 2013 Egypt’s army-backed government has dissolved the Brotherhood as a registered non-governmental organisation, the state-run Al Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday, pressing a crackdown on deposed President Mohammed Mursi’s movement. The move applies to the non-governmental organisation registered by the Brotherhood in March, and stems from accusations that it used its premises to store weapons and explosives. The decision has yet to be formally announced, the official said. The army-backed government is waging the toughest crackdown in decades on the Islamist group, which says it has a million members. Security forces have killed hundreds of its supporters and rounded up thousands more since Mursi was deposed by the army on July 3 after mass protests against him. Although short of a ban, dissolving the NGO will strip the Brotherhood of a defence against challenges to its legality. Egypt’s then army rulers formally dissolved the Brotherhood in 1954. Social Solidarity Minister Ahmed El Boraie has now decided to dissolve the Brotherhood’s NGO, ministry spokesman Hany Mahana said. The move will be announced once the minister returned from an overseas trip. “Dr El Boraie has decided to dissolve the organisation. The decree has not been issued yet,” he said. The General Federation of NGOs wrote to the ministry on Thursday consenting to the dissolution of the Brotherhood NGO after its leaders missed a deadline to answer the accusations. These relate to violence that erupted after Mursi was deposed, when armed men were seen firing on protesters outside the Brotherhood’s headquarters in Cairo. The government has accused the Brotherhood of mounting a campaign of violence – a charge the group decries as an excuse for the crackdown. “They were notified three consecutive times and none of them attended and so, according to the law, the minister of social solidarity can dissolve the NGO,” Mahana said. “The decision is effective with the end of the legal time frame, so the decision is taken and what remains is writing the legal memorandum.” The Brotherhood won parliamentary and presidential elections after veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011. There has so far been no attempt to ban its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party. Though formally outlawed under Mubarak, the Brotherhood was grudgingly tolerated for much of his presidency, taking part in parliamentary elections and operating a charity network that helped to it to become Egypt’s biggest political party. Continue reading
G20 fails to heal rift on Syria at Russia talks
G20 fails to heal rift on Syria at Russia talks (AFP) / 6 September 2013 World leaders at the G20 summit on Friday failed to bridge their bitter divisions over US plans for military action against the Syrian regime, as Washington slammed Moscow for holding the UN Security Council ‘hostage’ over the crisis. Despite not being on the original agenda of the summit hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin outside Saint Petersburg, the leaders discussed the Syria crisis into the early hours of the morning over dinner amid the splendour of a former imperial palace. US President Barack Obama (L) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg on September 5, 2013.- Reuters Putin has emerged as one of the most implacable critics of military intervention against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad over an alleged chemical weapons attack on August 21, saying any such move without UN blessing would be an aggression. There was no breakthrough at the dinner as leaders, including US President Barack Obama , presented their positions on the Syria crisis which only confirmed the extent of global divisions on the issue, participants said. “The differences of opinions of the leaders were confirmed during the dinner,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. British Prime Minister David Cameron (C) chairs a meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria at the G20 summit in St Petersburg on September 6, 2013. – Reuters “Some states were defending the view that rushed measures should be taken, overlooking legitimate international institutions. Other states appealed not to devalue international law and not to forget that only the UN Security Council has the right to decide on using force,” he added. A high-ranking source close to the talks said there was a disappointing lack of ambition at the dinner on the Syria issue, noting that Putin as host was keen not to aggravate tensions further. But a French diplomatic source said the objective of the dinner “was an exchange between the top world leaders and not to come to an agreement”. The dinner went on into the small hours of the morning and even after a late-night opera show, Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron had a meeting to discuss the Syria situation, the Kremlin said. UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday also warned that military strikes could spark further sectarian violence in the country which he said is suffering from a humanitarian crisis “unprecedented” in recent history. “I must warn that ill-considered military action could cause serious and tragic consequences, and with an increased threat of further sectarian violence,” Ban said. The Syria crisis and prospect of military intervention has overshadowed the official agenda of the summit of leaders of the world’s top economies and emerging markets to stimulate growth and battle tax avoidance. It was not immediately clear if the leaders would have another chance to discuss Syria on the summit’s second day or if the main session would focus on purely economic issues. Several Western states share Putin’s opposition to military action and after the British parliament voted against strikes, France is the only power to have vowed it will join American intervention. Obama is seeking backing from Congress for military action, putting back the timetable for strikes which had been anticipated even before the two day-summit got underway on Thursday. The US president held a bilateral meeting on Friday morning with President Xi Jinping of China, who like Russia vehemently opposes military action against Syria. Even as the leaders were setting out their arguments at the dinner, the US ambassador to the United Nations in New York launched a lacerating attack on Russia for holding the Security Council “hostage” over its backing of Assad. “Even in the wake of the flagrant shattering of the international norm against chemical weapons use, Russia continues to hold the council hostage and shirk its international responsibilities,” Samantha Power told reporters. Amid a new low in US-Russia tensions, no bilateral meeting as been scheduled between Putin and Obama although officials have left the door open for some informal contact. According to US intelligence, more than 1,400 people living in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus were killed in the August 21 chemical weapons attack, which involved the use of sarin nerve gas. The US says the Assad regime was responsible, a claim not accepted by Russia. Cameron told BBC TV from the G20 summit that Britain had further evidence of the use of chemical weapons in the attack in samples its experts had tested. With the clock ticking down to strikes, Russia said Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem would travel to Moscow for talks on Monday. The two-and-a-half year conflict between Assad and rebels, which began as a popular uprising, has left more than 100,000 people dead. About a third of Syria’s pre-war 20.8 million population has fled abroad or have been forced from their homes, according to the UN refugee agency. Continue reading
