Tag Archives: facebook
Kuwait votes amid boycott calls
Kuwait votes amid boycott calls (AFP) / 27 July 2013 Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in the country’s second parliamentary election in eight months with a less than moderate turnout after the opposition urged a boycott. Polling began slowly in the morning but increased slightly later to drop again at around noon. Turnout in some districts was under 20 per cent by 2pm, according to state-run Kuwait Television. Turnout was higher in some constituencies, especially in tribal areas, but no official figures were provided. The first results are not expected until after midnight (2100 GMT) as ballot papers are still counted manually. Information Minister Shaikh Salman Humoud Al Sabah said after visiting a polling station in Jahra west of Kuwait City that turnout was high. Besides opposition calls for a boycott, the sweltering heat of around 45 degrees Celsius combined with Ramadan fasting, also apparently contributed to a low turnout. It was the second time the opposition had called for a boycott in protest at an electoral law that it says enables the ruling Al Sabah family-controlled government to manipulate the outcome. The law was ruled legal in June by the constitutional court, even though it dissolved parliament on procedural flaws and ordered Saturday’s election. “I just hope this parliament completes its (four-year) term,” said civil aviation employee Bassam Eid, after voting in Al Qasia. “We are frustrated at the repeated dissolution of the house,” Eid told AFP. The last two parliaments were dissolved by the constitutional court on procedural grounds, while previous parliaments were dissolved by the Emir. “I am really concerned at the turn of events in the country as there will be no development without political stability which we hope will be achieved after this election,” Dr Jawad Abulhassan told AFP. Pensioner Umm Mohammad said she hoped for an end to the disputes plaguing the country, but was not optimistic. “We earnestly hope to see political stability in the country after this poll… We are still afraid that this might not happen,” she said at a polling station reserved for women in Jabriya, south of Kuwait City. Some groups that boycotted the last election — notably the liberal National Democratic Alliance and some of the emirate’s powerful tribes — did take part on Saturday. But only a few opposition members were among the 300 hopeful candidates. They include eight women, the lowest number since women won political rights in 2005. Around 30 Arab election observers visited polling stations and were assisted by monitors from the Kuwait Transparency Society. The opposition failed to mirror the support it mobilised ahead of the last election, but has remained adamant that it will not take part in a “corrupted” political system. Just days before polling day, the authorities arrested at least four candidates and dozens of their campaign staff on suspicion of attempted vote-buying. Of Kuwait’s population of 3.9 million, just 31 per cent are citizens and of that 1.23 million only 440,000 are eligible to vote. The voting age is 21 and Kuwaitis in the police or army are barred from taking part. Continue reading
Dozens of Mursi supporters shot dead
Dozens of Mursi supporters shot dead (Reuters) / 27 July 2013 Egyptian security forces shot dead at least 70 supporters of ousted President Mohammed Mursi early on Saturday, his Muslim Brotherhood said, deepening the turmoil which has convulsed Egypt for weeks. Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said the shooting started shortly before pre-dawn morning prayers on the fringes of a round-the-clock vigil being staged by backers of Mursi, who was toppled by the army more than three weeks ago. “They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill,” Haddad said, adding that the death toll might be much higher. Al Jazeera’s Egypt television station reported that 120 had been killed and some 4,500 injured in the early morning violence on the fringes of a round-the-clock vigil being staged by backers of Mursi near Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawia mosque. Reporters at the scene said firing could still be heard hours after the troubles started. “I have been trying to make the youth withdraw for five hours. I can’t. They are saying have paid with their blood and they do not want to retreat,” said Saad el-Hosseini, a senior Brotherhood politician. “It is a first attempt to clear Rabaa al-Adawia,” he added. There was no immediate comment from state authorities on what had happened. Supporters and opponents of Mursi staged mass rival rallies across the country on Friday, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets and laying bare deep divisions within the Arab world’s most populous country. Well over 200 people have died in violence since the overthrow of Mursi, including at least nine on Friday, most of them Brotherhood supporters. Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who played a central role in the overthrow of Mursi following huge demonstrations against his year-long rule, called for Egyptians to rally on Friday to give him a mandate to tackle “violence and terrorism”. Hundreds of thousands heeded his call, but Muslim Brotherhood supporters also staged mass, counter-rallies, demanding the reinstatement of Mursi, who was placed under investigation on Friday for a raft of crimes, including murder. “LIVE ROUNDS” Asked what the strategy of the Brotherhood would be after the second mass killing of its supporters this month by security forces, Haddad said: “When there are divisions, we go to the ballot box.” Haddad said police started firing repeated rounds of teargas sometime after 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) at protesters who had spilled out of the main area of the Rabaa sit-in and were on a main thoroughfare close to 6th October Bridge. “Through the smog of the gas, the bullets started flying,” he said. In addition to “special police forces in black uniforms” firing live rounds, he said that snipers shot from the roofs of a university, buildings in the area, and a bridge. State news agency MENA quoted an unnamed security source as saying that only teargas was used to disperse protesters. He said no firearms were used. Haddad said the pro-Mursi supporters had used rocks to try to defend themselves. On the podium outside the Rabaa mosque, a speaker urged people to retreat from the gunfire, but “men stayed to defend themselves because women and children are inside the sit-in”, he said. It was the second time this month there had been a mass killing near Rabaa. On July 8, 53 people died when armed men shot into a crowd after morning prayers close to a Republican Guard compound in the area. “This is much more brutal because the Republican Guard looked like a tactical military operation. This one looks like a much more brutal aggression,” Haddad said. Egypt’s army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said on Friday that the month-old Cairo vigils by Mursi supporters would be “brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner”, state-run al Ahram news website reported. There is deepening alarm in the West over the army’s move against Mursi. The country of 84 million people forms a bridge between the Middle East and North Africa and receives $1.5 billion a year in mainly military aid from Washington. The investigation into Mursi centres on accusations that he conspired with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to escape from jail during the 2011 uprising against veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak, killing some prisoners and officers, kidnapping soldiers and torching buildings. Continue reading
Pakistan suicide attacks death toll rises to 57
Pakistan suicide attacks death toll rises to 57 (AFP) / 27 July 2013 Twin suicide attacks rocked a busy marketplace in northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 57 people and injuring more than 160 others, officials said, in the deadliest attack to hit the country during the holy month of Ramadan. The explosions at the bazaar in Parachinar, the main town of Kurram tribal district on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, sent handcarts flying as shoppers bought food to open their fasts at sunset. Officials said the death toll has risen to 57 people in the twin blasts. More than 160 others have been injured in the attack. “We have sent 20 critically wounded people to major hospitals in Peshawar and Kohat to save their lives,” he added. Parachinar administration officials said both blasts were carried out by suicide bombers. “There were two blasts in the main bazaar of Parachinar. These were carried out by two suicide bombers who walked into the crowded market,” Riaz Mehsud, a senior administration official, told AFP. Mehsud said the market was packed with people and that handcarts were sent flying after the blasts, which also damaged up to 15 shops and two cars. “We found many body parts, including parts of the suicide bombers. There was blood and human flesh at the blasts site,” he said. The bombers struck in a largely Shia area but officials said they could not immediately identify the victims. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. “Many bodies can’t be identified because they have been mutilated very badly,” Salahuddin, a health technician at the hospital, told AFP. He said lists of the dead and injured were still being drafted, adding “I fear that the number of the dead and wounded people from this attack may rise.” Kurram is frequently the scene of sectarian violence between Pakistan’s Sunni Muslim majority and Shiite minority. Friday’s attacks come two days after suicide gunmen and car bombers attacked a government complex housing offices of Pakistan’s top intelligence agency in the southern town of Sukkur. Continue reading
