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Envoys seek Syria UN resolution as France, Russia squabble
Envoys seek Syria UN resolution as France, Russia squabble (Reuters) / 18 September 2013 Diplomats from five key nations kicked off talks on a Western-drafted UN Security Council resolution to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons even as France and Russia clashed over Moscow’s insistence that Syrian President Bashar Al Assad is innocent in an August 21 poison gas attack on civilians. The negotiations in New York among the American, British, French, Russian and Chinese diplomats focused on a draft resolution on Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal to be put before the 15-nation UN Security Council. The US-British-French draft is intended to support an American-Russian deal reached in Geneva last Saturday calling for Syria to account for its chemical weapons within a week and for the removal and destruction of the arsenal by mid-2014. UN diplomats said it remained unclear when a vote on the resolution could take place. The current draft leaves the door open to the use of force in the event of non-compliance by Syria, though diplomats said Russia would almost certainly demand such provisions be deleted. President Barack Obama, who had threatened US military strikes in response to the August attack, said even with the deal to get rid of Syria’s chemical weapons, ultimately there must be a political transition in Syria in which Assad gives up power. “Keep in mind that it’s very hard to imagine that civil war dying down if, in fact, Assad is still in power,” Obama told the US Spanish-language network Telemundo. Obama said it remains his goal to “transition” Assad out of power in a way that protects religious minorities and ensures Islamist extremists are not gaining ground in Syria. “But you know, we’re going to take this one step at a time. The first step right now is to make sure we can deal with the chemical weapons issue,” Obama said. The meeting of diplomats from the five permanent, veto-wielding powers of the Security Council came a day after UN investigators confirmed the use of sarin nerve agent in the August 21 attack. The United States, Britain and France said the report proved beyond any doubt that Assad’s forces were responsible. The UN report’s findings triggered sharp disagreement at a meeting in Moscow of the top diplomats from Russia and France. Russia has been Assad’s most powerful backer during the civil war, delivering arms and – with China – blocking three UN resolutions meant to pressure Assad. Sitting beside French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at a news conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the report produced no proof that Assad’s troops carried out the attack and that Russia still suspected rebel forces did it. Fabius took the opposite view, saying the report left no doubt that Assad’s forces were to blame for the attack that the United States says killed more than 1,400 people. Washington has blamed Syrian government forces. Assad’s government blames the rebels. ‘No doubt’ “When you look at the amount of sarin gas used, the vectors, the techniques behind such an attack, as well as other aspects, it seems to leave no doubt that the regime is behind it,” Fabius said. Lavrov acknowledged that the investigators’ report proved that chemical weapons had been used but that “there is no answer to a number of questions we have asked,” including whether the weapons were produced in a factory or home-made. “We have very serious grounds to believe that this was a provocation,” Lavrov said. Lavrov said the UN report should be examined not in isolation but along with evidence from sources such as the Internet and other media, including accounts from “nuns at a nearby convent” and a journalist who had spoken to rebels. “We want the events of August 21 to be investigated dispassionately, objectively and professionally,” he said. Diplomats in New York said Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin questioned some of the findings in chief UN chemical investigator Ake Sellstrom’s report at a closed Security Council meeting on Monday. Churkin, they said, asked Sellstrom to describe the quality of the weapons that dispersed sarin. “The rockets found on the site were professionally made and, according to Dr. Sellstrom, they bore none of the characteristics of jerry-rigged, improvised weapons,” US Ambassador Samantha Power told the UN General Assembly. “They had sophisticated barometric fuses to disperse the nerve agent in the air and not on impact,” she said on Tuesday. “This was a professionally executed massacre by the regime, which is known to possess one of the world’s largest undeclared stockpiles of sarin.” Britain’s UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the diplomats from United States, Russia, Britain, France and China – known as the “P5” – would report back to their capitals and reconvene on Wednesday. ‘Russia standing by US’ In Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry called for a UN resolution with the strength to force compliance from Assad on chemical weapons. “That will happen only with the United Nations passing a strong resolution. It will happen with the enforcement of the world, with Russia standing by us in this effort, and it will happen, finally, because Assad lives up to what he has agreed to do,” Kerry told reporters. The current US-British-French draft, diplomats said, would condemn and blame Assad for the use of chemical weapons and refer the Syrian civil war to the International Criminal Court for possible war crimes indictments. The draft is also written so that its provisions are under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which covers the Security Council’s authority to enforce its decisions with measures such as sanctions or the use of force. Diplomats said Russia would likely demand most Chapter 7 references be deleted, meaning any attempt to punish Syria for non-compliance would require a second resolution authorising punitive measures. Violence flared anew along Syria’s tense border with Turkey as a car bomb exploded on the Syrian side of the main Bab al-Hawa border crossing, killing at least seven people and wounding 20, the Turkish news agency Dogan said. The car bomb exploded a day after Turkish forces shot down a Syrian helicopter that had entered Turkey’s airspace. The Syrian army accused the Turkish government, which backs the uprising against Assad, of trying to escalate tensions along the border. Continue reading
Falling victim to bogus marriage deals
Falling victim to bogus marriage deals Mustafa Al Zarooni / 18 September 2013 Today, Khaleej Times explores two separate issues facing Emirati society and the modern family nucleus in the UAE. In one article, we explore the issue of high numbers of Emirati men being lured — through money or trickery — into marrying foreign woman, who then use the marriages as a gravy train. In a separate story, a son who was taken away from his mother at a young age and neglected by his father is fighting to stop the courts from imposing mandatory monthly payments he must pay his reluctant parent. The man argues his father did not raise him properly, leaving him to seek out his mother — only to discover they did not speak the same language. Emirati youth being lured into contract marriages by foreign women who only seek UAE residence visa initially but entwine them in financial commitments after bearing babies Emirati youths are increasingly falling victim to bogus marriage deals proposed by smart expatriate women to obtain a permanent residence visa or UAE passport in exchange for money — or even through a fake love story. In these instances, matters are complicated even further when the women have a child. Several lawyers who spoke to Khaleej Times have recounted the phenomenon, most of which follow similar lines. One such story involves a young Emirati man who travelled abroad, where he met a young woman working as a waitress in a restaurant. Upon discovering he was a UAE national, she proposed marriage for three annual installments of Dh20,000 so that she could obtain a residence visa. Initially, the naive young man agreed to the idea. He first consulted some friends if this marriage is legal under UAE laws or not and he was advised that the UAE authorities are keeping a watch on this kind of fictitious marriage, and he might risk two months’ jail term and his “wife’s” deportation. When the Emirati man heard that, he rejected the woman’s proposal. Not giving up as the dream to come to work in the UAE had obsessed her mind, the woman contacted the man again and asked him what would be the problem if the marriage would be real and it would not cost him a penny. She told him he would be, instead, paid Dh60,000 plus a friend he could sleep with without the compunction of committing a sin since she would be his legal wife under the Islamic laws too. She assured him that she would bear even the rent of where they would be living, and affirmed that after the deal expired, he could divorce her whenever he wanted after she could get a job to shift the residence visa on it. This was a deal he thought he could benefit from as he would get a friend to have unpaid sex with, as she would be his wife legally, although it would be a secret from his family. Adding to that, he would receive Dh20,000 every year. So how could one refuse such an attractive deal like that? They made the deal and the girl accompanied her husband after she paid him the first installment (Dh20,000) agreed upon. She lived with him for over a year and a half and did not ask him for any money. At the end of the first year of marriage, she paid him the second payment (Dh20,000). She tried all the time to conceive a baby from him which happened after that period of marriage. She kept this matter secret and did not inform him that she got pregnant. Then she told him that she did not love him anymore and sought divorce. Once she gave birth to the baby, the man divorced her, which is when the troubles began. In the beginning of the third year, the woman broke her words and did not pay him the last payment (Dh20,000). Moreover, she sued him for being the father of her child and she won a court ruling which ordered the man to pay his ex-wife the rent for a good house for her and her son. The court also ordered him to provide his ex-wife with a car, a chauffeur and a housemaid as well as monthly child support and alimony, plus a permanent residence visa to take care of her Emirati son. The Dh40,000 the Emirati man collected is much less than what he had been ordered to pay the woman. Indeed, he was easily cheated. Emirati lawyer Ali Al Abadi clarified that he has handled tens of such cases across the country. Such cases usually end with a woman receiving a deferred dowry, while some others collect Muta’ah alimony along with a monthly alimony plus a house, a housemaid, and a chauffeur and a car. Al Abadi called upon Emirati youth to know their rights and not to go according to their feelings and desires as there are a lot of women who yearn for an easy catch which guarantees them a decent life in a country like the UAE. – malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com Lawyers call for stricter rules Lawyer Jasim Al Naqbi pointed out that there are two ways of fraud in such a case, first of which is that the marriage could be false. False marriage means the marriage is only on contracts not factual. Based on the marriage contract, the papers are submitted to the Naturalisation and Residency Department in order to issue a residence visa or even a passport for the foreign wife. “In such circumstances, if proven, the Naturalisation and Residency Department files a lawsuit against the Emirati husband,” Al Naqbi added. The second fraudulent way is an official marriage and giving birth to babies which help a non-Emirati woman to be eligible to alimony and child support over more than 20 years in addition to a residence visa and other benefits if a foreign wife bears a child from the Emirati husband. Al Naqbi said that the general Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs has placed stricter measures regarding issuing a UAE passport to foreign wives married to Emirati men. Earlier, a non-Emirati wife married to an Emirati man and wants to get a UAE passport should spend three years after marriage in the country till she could apply for a UAE passport and citizenship. “Now, the measures have been changed. The time period has been extended to five years, with another stipulation that she should have kids from her husband, along with other procedural measures.” Al Naqbi said he was for not allowing Emirati men to marry foreign women as, some countries have banned their national men from marrying foreign women except under some exceptional and reasonable circumstances. He said that some local institutions stipulate that their local employees should obtain an approval before planning to marry a foreign woman. That measure has also been taken in some neighboring countries as any citizen there willing to tie the knot with a non-citizen woman must arrange for an approval from the Ministry of Interior in these countries. Meanwhile, lawyer Adnan Obaid Al Sha’ali clarified that these malpractices result from a weak legal culture and religious restraint on some youths who are lured into the financial attractions and do not know the problems they would be facing in the future for such practices which contradict Islam, and the customs and traditions. They may also hurt the homeland. Al Sha’ali called for inculcating the legal and religious culture, which could curb such malpractices, in the next generation through the educational curricula and launching awareness campaigns. malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com Man tries to force support from neglected son Staff Reporter An Abu Dhabi father has asked the courts to compel his son to financially support him, while the son has refused citing a bad upbringing. While one of the greatest transgressions in Islam is to disobey one’s parents, it is a different situation where the father has exhibited cruel, aggressive or negligent behaviour. Such a case happened here, resulting in a tug-of-war between a father and son over financial support and parental negligence. The father, through legal channels, wants his son to financially support him, but the latter has refused claiming that his father had abandoned and neglected him and deprived him of his mother since he was a baby. The father, who is insolvent with multiple wives, recently stood next to his son in front of the counsellor at the Family Guidance Division of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, shouted, cursed and accusing his son of being disobedient for refusing to support him. In his appeal, the man said his son was wealthy and holding a post with a high salary. According to court documents, the young man told the court: “This man doesn’t deserve the Dh300 you deduct from my salary to give to him. So, how come he is asking for more?” He said he was not a disobedient son, but his father had been cruel to him since he was six-month-old, when he took him from his mother and sent her back to her homeland. The father took the boy to another country where he put him under the custody of his second wife. The second wife raised him along with his half brothers and sisters despite being poor. The boy remained in his stepmother’s homeland until she decided to join her husband — his father — in the UAE. He was seven at the time, and able to understand what was going on. The son said after the move, his life became harder, as his father not only denied him admission to school and his right to education, but he used to beat him up after consuming alcohol. He said his father also used to talk about the mother he did not know in abusive terms, and while he searched to find his mother, his father obstructed that search. The son testified that he left no stone unturned in looking for his mother, and asked whoever he knew to help find her. Eventually, he managed to get her address and details from some relatives. He bought an airline ticket and travelled to his mother’s country of origin, to meet the woman who gave birth to him. Once he reached the country, the meeting was warmhearted, but as the woman spoke only her mother tongue, he was not able to understand her or the half-brothers his mother had had after returning to her country and re-marrying. He found himself a stranger and returned to the woman who had raised him and treated him like her own child. The man said when he returned to the UAE, he decided to start a new life. He secured a job, joined a literacy school and later adult education school. After gaining academic qualifications, he was promoted but did not forget his stepmother, looking after both her and his half-siblings, pledging not to let them be deprived of an education as was his case. After he settled down, he got married, and promised himself not to let his small family suffer like him. When the father learned his son had become well off ,he asked him to help him financially. The son said he refused fearing that his father might spend the money on alcohol or get married to another woman who might give birth to more children he would neglect. The father complained to the court, demanding his son support him. The court then ordered the son to pay his father Dh300 every month. However, the father was not content and requested the amount be increased due to his debt and insolvency. The son was in the belief that his stepmother and his half brothers and sisters were the ones who deserve the money and assistance, and not his alcoholic and polygamous father. The dispute is still in court with no final decision taken yet. – news@khaleejtimes.com (This story is published in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department) Continue reading
Malayalees celebrate Thiruvonam today
Malayalees celebrate Thiruvonam today Staff Reporter / 16 September 2013 Expatriates from Kerala, who form the largest group of Indians in the UAE, are celebrating their most important festival, Thiruvonam, today. Thiruvonam is the main day of the 10-day harvest festival of Onam that is celebrated by people of all religions in the south Indian state known as ‘God’s Own Country’. Onam marks the mythological homecoming of King Mahabali, during whose reign Kerala was believed to have witnessed its golden era. People of Kerala welcome the king in a symbolic way by arranging flower carpets and with traditional dances and games so as to show they are as content as people in his time. The expatriate Malayalee community’s Onam celebrations also include floral decorations done on the ground called pookkalam as well as life-sized statues of elephants, traditional drum beats, dances and games and more importantly, mass vegetarian feasts called Onasadya . Though it is custom to make the traditional vegetarian feast at home, thousands are having their Onasadya from restaurants since Thiruvonam falls on a working day here this year. Several Malayalees are also taking a day off from work to celebrate the day with family and friends. For those who could not do so, it is going to be an evening of celebrations. Malayalees in the UAE, irrespective of their religions, will continue to celebrate Thiruvonam during the weekends over the coming months, often clubbing their Eid get-together with it. Cultural processions with traditional art forms and dances, pookkalam competitions and mass vegetarian feasts where thousands sit together to have Onasadya served on banana leaves are part of their celebrations. The Onasadya usually features more than a dozen dishes and traditional sweets. Malayalees are particular about buying fresh vegetables that come from India for this meal. Hence, thousands of tonnes of vegetables and fruits are imported from Kerala to the Gulf countries for Onam celebrations. Like in the past, the last-minute purchase of fresh items used for the sadya saw huge demand for these items in the Fruit and Vegetable Market at Al Aweer and several supermarkets and hypermarkets in Dubai this weekend. While families and groups of bachelors prepare the feast at homes, thousands of Malayalees depend on hotels and restaurants for their Onam meals. Several office-goers have geared up to order Onasadya from their favourite outlets today. According to the Dubai Municipality, about 40 per cent of the food establishments in Dubai are run by Malayalees. Most of these eateries are offering special Onasadya with up to 25 dishes. Some of them even fly in veteran cooks from Kerala to prepare their Onasadya which gets sold like hot cakes. One outlet has partnered with a popular radio station to host Onasadya aboard a dhow in Dubai Creek while another one is hosting a cooking contest in traditional Onam recipes. Santhosh Menon, general secretary of Akgma, a residential association of Malayalees in Al Khail, said they distributed Onam kits comprising some essential items to about 500 families during the weekend. Arabian Center in partnership with LuLu Hypermarket celebrated Onam in the cultural way by organising various activities like Kathakali, Shinkkarimelam, Puli Kali, Theyyam, Pookkalam Contest, Mohiniyattam, etc on Saturday. Many other shopping centres have Onam-themed counters and special discounts for the occasion. Readymade textile shops are also cashing in on the festival with some of them making special door delivery of Onam dresses to expatriates’ relatives back home. sajila@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
