Tag Archives: opinion
Manning says ‘he is a woman’
Manning says ‘he is a woman’ (Reuters) / 22 August 2013 Bradley Manning, sentenced to 35 years in military prison for the biggest breach of classified US documents in US history, said in a statement on Thursday he is female and wants to live as a woman named Chelsea. ‘As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female,’ Manning, 25, said in the statement read on NBC News’ ‘Today’ show. ‘Given the way that I feel and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible,’ Manning said. ‘I also request that starting today you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun.’ Manning’s lawyer David Coombs said on the programme that he expected Manning to get a pardon from President Barack Obama. Manning, a former junior intelligence analyst, was sentenced on Wednesday for turning over more than 700,000 classified files, battlefield videos and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks in the biggest breach of secret data in the nation’s history. Manning is expected to serve the sentence at the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Coombs has said the soldier could be pardoned in seven years. Continue reading
Egypt’s Mubarak back in court, lawyer to seek his release
Egypt’s Mubarak back in court, lawyer to seek his release (AFP) / 21 August 2013 Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak will face a new court hearing on Wednesday during which his lawyer will seek his release from prison, judicial sources said. The hearing is the fourth and final case against the long-time president, who was toppled in a popular uprising in February 2011. Since April, courts have ordered Mubarak’s conditional release in the three other cases against him — two involving corruption, and one for allegedly killing protesters. The latest came on Monday when a court ordered his conditional release in the third case, which involved charges of corruption. His lawyer plans to appeal against the fourth and final case, which is also related to corruption, in a bid to secure the former president’s release, according to a judicial source. Farid al-Dib, Mubarak’s lawyer, is expected to argue that his client paid back $600,120 (449,570 euros) for gifts he received from his minister of information — the issue at the heart of the fourth case. The former president, 85, is on trial with his former interior minister Habib Adly and six police commanders on charges related to their rule before the 2011 uprising that toppled his regime. On Saturday, a court adjourned his trial on charges of killing protesters until August 25 in a brief session that Mubarak did not attend. He is facing the charges for a second time after a first trial that ended in him being sentenced to life was overturned by an appeals court on the basis of procedural errors. Continue reading
Cash reward for catching top leaders of Brotherhood
Cash reward for catching top leaders of Brotherhood Mustafa Al Zarooni / 21 August 2013 Emirati journalist Hamad Al Mazroui has announced a reward of one million Egyptian pounds — equal to approximately $143,000 — to whoever helps arrest any of the three most important leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Al Mazroui posted the announcement on his Twitter account that he would hand over the amount to anyone who helps locate any of the three top Brotherhood leaders — Essam el-Eryan, Mohamed Al Beltagi and Safwat Hijazi — whose arrests have been ordered by the South Cairo Public Prosecution. The bounty will be presented in coordination with the Egyptian Interior Ministry, no matter what the informant’s nationality or religion is, or even if he/she is one of the Egyptian Interior Ministry’s officers or from the Muslim Brotherhood itself. Speaking to Khaleej Times, Al Mazroui said: “I have allocated the cash reward to cease the bloodshed in Egypt as those three men are the leaders of militants and they are no less dangerous than the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Al Mazroui had earlier donated Dh1 million to Egypt during a public donation campaign to save Egypt from the current economic crisis. malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
