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Syria to allow women, children to leave besieged parts
Syria to allow women, children to leave besieged parts (AFP) / 27 January 2014 UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says other civilians are also welcome to leave, but the government needs a list of their names first. The Syrian regime has agreed to allow women and children to leave besieged rebel-held areas of the central city of Homs, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Sunday at peace talks in Geneva. “What we have been told by the government side is that women and children in this besieged area of the city are welcome to leave immediately,” Brahimi told reporters. “Hopefully starting tomorrow, women and children will be able to leave the Old City in Homs.” He said that as well as women and children, “other civilians are also welcome to leave, but the government needs a list of their names first”. The subject of Homs — where hundreds of families in the Old City are living under siege with near-daily shelling and the barest of supplies — has been discussed at length since the two parties started face-to-face talks on Saturday. Brahimi said talks also touched on continued efforts to have convoys of humanitarian aid brought into Homs, with rebel fighters pledging not to attack them. Speaking separately, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad confirmed that women and children would be allowed to leave but blamed rebel forces for preventing that. “I have been personally involved over the past two years to get these women and children out of the Old City of Homs. But we could not. In all these attempts we have been prevented by the armed groups, who did not allow a single person out,” Muqdad told reporters. Brahimi admitted the talks were progressing slowly but said he was pleased with the atmosphere. “I am happy, because in general there is mutual respect and they are aware of the fact that this attempt is important and we must continue. I hope that this mood will continue,” he said. Sunday’s talks also touched on the thousands of people jailed, kidnapped or missing in Syria. Brahimi said the opposition agreed to try to draw up a list of people held by rebel forces they control or have contact with, to hand over to the regime and move the process of prisoner exchanges forward. Muqdad brushed off questions about a list of 47,000 people, including 2,300 women and children, allegedly held by the regime. “It is not as big as you described. More than 60 or 70 per cent of the people have never entered any prison, 20 percent were released, and the rest haven’t been in a prison,” he said. “I deny categorically that there are any children being detained,” Muqdad said. He accused the rebels of press-ganging children and said any youngsters captured by government forces were cared for, not jailed. The opposition has called for the talks on Monday to move to the core issue of political transition. “This is a political negotiation, everything we discuss is political,” Brahimi said. “I think tomorrow I expect the two parties to make some general statement about the way forward.” Muqdad said the government had come to Geneva “very seriously and in all sincerity”, but struck a note of caution. “When we say we are ready to discuss everything, this does not mean that the opposition will have our full approval of what they want, or that we shall have their full approval of what we want,” he said. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
DHA breaks existing record in ‘medical marathon’
DHA breaks record in ‘medical marathon’ Staff Reporter / 27 January 2014 More than 690 medical professionals took part in the Dubai Marathon 2014 breaking the earlier Guinness World Record of 2012 when 619 medical professionals took part in a marathon in Singapore. The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) broke the existing Guinness World Record for the largest number of medical professionals to take part in a marathon on Friday. More than 690 medical professionals took part in the Dubai Marathon 2014 breaking the earlier Guinness World Record of 2012 when 619 medical professionals took part in a marathon in Singapore. A representative from the Guiness World Record was present during the marathon. Essa Al Maidoor, Director-General of the DHA, who led his team in the marathon record bid said: “Leading an active life is essential to protect oneself from the onset of several chronic diseases, most of which are triggered by unhealthy and inactive lifestyles. Healthcare professionals often have hectic routines and therefore we wanted to use this opportunity to remind them to take time out for themselves and participate in the marathon. We are hopeful that they will continue exercising regularly, even after the marathon is over.” Al Maidoor who is an avid sports enthusiast said it is unfortunate that people do not find 30 minutes in a day for themselves so that they can take part in any sport or exercise. More than 1,255 employees from the DHA ran on Friday for the Dubai Marathon 2014, this includes administrative staff from the authority as well. “This is the largest participation from a government organisation in a sporting event in the Middle East and North Africa region,” said Dr Moin Fikree, medical director of the Trauma Centre, Rashid Hospital. Fikree said that there are several parks, jogging tracks and beaches in Dubai where people can take part in outdoor activities during the winter months. “As healthcare professionals, it is upsetting to see young people being brought into the hospital for heart attacks and other chronic diseases often caused by obesity, lack of exercise and tobacco consumption.” Dr G Y Naroo, specialist in emergency medicine at Rashid Hospital’s Trauma Centre, who took part in the 42km run along with his eight colleagues said: “Heart attacks take place 10 years earlier in this region compared to many western countries, strokes take place at least 20 years earlier in the UAE as compared to many other countries. These statistics are alarming. There is a direct link between expanding waist lines and these illnesses, therefore, it is time to educate our youth to lead active lifestyles and as the health authority for the emirate of Dubai, we felt, it was important for us to spread this message through our participation in such an important sporting event.” asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Egypt announces early election a day after carnage
Egypt announces early election a day after carnage (AFP) / 27 January 2014 Sisi was expected to declare his candidacy for the election, scheduled before mid-April, after a show of support including Saturday’s large rally in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Egypt on Sunday announced early presidential elections likely to anoint the general who overthrew president Mohammed Mursi, as the country reeled from a weekend of violence that killed dozens of people. Interim president Adly Mansour announced the poll in a televised address, a day after 49 people died in clashes between Islamist protesters and police and thousands rallied in Cairo in support of military chief General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Sisi was expected to declare his candidacy for the election, scheduled before mid-April, after a show of support including Saturday’s large rally in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. But the weekend clashes and bombings also highlighted the interim government’s precarious grip seven months after Mursi’s overthrow. The violence came as Egypt commemorated the 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak, leading to three years of tumult that many hope Sisi’s election will end. Over Friday and Saturday, six bombs exploded in Cairo and the canal city of Suez, killing six people and wounding dozens in an escalation of a militant campaign Mansour has pledged to eradicate. Separately, 49 people were killed in clashes when police clamped down on protests by Mursi’s supporters and anti-military activists, the health ministry said. As Mansour addressed the nation to announce the early presidential election, relatives of those killed on Saturday assembled outside a Cairo morgue, chanting anti-military slogans. “Down with the military! The people want to topple the regime!” they chanted outside the Zeinhom morgue as they collected the corpses of loved ones. A statement signed by nine Egyptian human rights groups accused the police of using “live ammunition” against demonstrators. Police said the protesters themselves had used weapons. Police in the capital bolstered defences outside their buildings and closed access roads after the weekend bombings that all targeted police facilities. In his address, Mansour, a judge the military appointed as interim president to replace Mursi, pledged to “uproot (terrorists) and show them no mercy”. The government says a series of polls that started with a constitutional referendum in January and will end in parliamentary elections will restore an elected government by 2015. A parliamentary election had been scheduled ahead of the presidential poll, but Mansour said on Sunday he had revised the timetable following many demands. A presidential election first may allow Sisi, if he stands, to influence the outcome of parliamentary elections by forming a party that would attract leading candidates. But Sisi, accused by Mursi supporters of carrying out a coup ending the Islamist’s single year in power, still faces a determined opposition and a semi-insurgency. Hours before Mansour spoke, militants ambushed a bus carrying soldiers in the restive Sinai Peninsula, killing four troops. And an Al Qaeda-inspired group in the peninsula claimed it had shot down a military helicopter on Saturday, in what the army said was an “accident” that killed five soldiers. The group, Ansar Beit Al Maqdis, had earlier claimed responsibility for the bombings in the capital. The attacks, starting with a car bomb that killed four people outside Cairo police headquarters on Friday morning, underscored the resilience of the Sinai-based militants who had tried to assassinate the police chief in September. Police sealed off several main squares in Cairo on Sunday and used metal barriers to block roads leading to police stations. In December, a car bombing outside a police building north of Cairo killed 15 people, prompting the interim government to blacklist Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement as a terrorist group. That bombing was also claimed by Ansar Beit Al Maqdis. The Brotherhood’s blacklisting, despite its condemnation of the attack, was seen as an extension of a crackdown on Mursi supporters that has killed more than a thousand people and jailed thousands more. Police said they arrested at least 1,000 protesters on Saturday alone. The government and the military now rule out dealing with the Brotherhood, which had won every election following Mubarak’s overthrow in the 2011 popular uprising. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
