Peace and Justice Post

The Times, UK, December 29, 2007

Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor

King Gyanendra of Nepal was stripped of his powers last night after the country’s provisional parliament voted to abolish the 239-year-old monarchy

He will remain in his palace until early next year, when the decision will be rubber-stamped by a newly elected assembly that will establish Nepal as a democratic federal republic.

After that the King will be forced to move to his private residence to live as a private citizen — the culmination of six years of self-destruction by the Nepalese monarchy.

“If the King creates serious hurdles in the elections he can be removed by a two-third majority of the interim parliament before the polls,” the parliamentary resolution states.

Keep reading . . .

By Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet. Posted December 27, 2007.

No amount of intelligence is likely to get Bush to back off.

The unanimous conclusion of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran ceased pursuing a program of nuclear weapons in 2003, has dealt a severe blow to the Bush-Cheney agenda of forcible regime change in Iran. For several months, the rhetoric emerging from the White House escalated to the point that many observers predicted Bush would attack Iran before he leaves office.

But although the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) makes it more difficult to carry out his agenda in Iran, Bush is trying to publicly undermine its conclusions. “I have said Iran is dangerous,” he declared, “and the NIE estimate doesn’t do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world — quite the contrary.” Will Bush provoke an incident with Iran and then respond in “self-defense”?

Keep reading . . .

BBC News, December 28, 2007

Gyanendra has only months left as king

Parliament in Nepal has voted to abolish the monarchy, as part of a peace deal with former Maoist rebels. The Maoists left the government in September, vowing not to return unless the monarchy was scrapped. They ended a decade-long insurgency last year.

Nepal will be declared a republic after elections in April next year.

King Gyanendra, whose dynasty dates back to 1769, lost popular support when he sacked the government in 2005 and assumed absolute power.

Today’s vote has made sure the king will be removed immediately after elections Krishna Prasad Situala Nepal home minister

The decision to make Nepal a “federal democratic republican state” was taken by an overwhelming majority – 270 MPs out of 371 voted to abolish the monarchy, with only three against.

The main political parties had originally agreed to leave the question of whether Nepal should become a republic to the constituent assembly being elected in April.

But the Maoists wanted the decision taken at once – hence the agreement reached by the main political parties earlier this week. It will allow the Maoists to re-join the administration.

Continued . . .

White House Would Back Her as Prime Minister While Musharraf Held Presidency

By Robin Wright and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 28, 2007

For Benazir Bhutto, the decision to return to Pakistan was sealed during a telephone call from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just a week before Bhutto flew home in October. The call culminated more than a year of secret diplomacy — and came only when it became clear that the heir to Pakistan’s most powerful political dynasty was the only one who could bail out Washington’s key ally in the battle against terrorism.

It was a stunning turnaround for Bhutto, a former prime minister who was forced from power in 1996 amid corruption charges. She was suddenly visiting with top State Department officials, dining with U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and conferring with members of the National Security Council. As President Pervez Musharraf’s political future began to unravel this year, Bhutto became the only politician who might help keep him in power.

“The U.S. came to understand that Bhutto was not a threat to stability, but was instead the only possible way that we could guarantee stability and keep the presidency of Musharraf intact,” said Mark Siegel, who lobbied for Bhutto in Washington and witnessed much of the behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

Keep reading . . .

 Press TV
December 25, 2007

Maverick Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul says the leaders of Israel are impelling the White House to wage war on Iran.

“The government of Israel encourages Americans to go into Iran,” Paul said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.

The 10-term Texas lawmaker added that neoconservatives have also been pushing the administration into ‘bombing Iran’.

When asked what he would do as the US president ‘if Iran invaded Israel’, Paul said the illusion of the Islamic Republic’s attack on Israel is like saying, “Iran is about to invade Mars.”

The 72-year-old politician made the remarks as Israeli officials are stepping up their war rhetoric against Tehran, over its nuclear program despite the recent reports confirming the peaceful nature of the country’s activities.

Ron Paul also made it clear that he would cut the ‘billions of dollars’ in annual aid Washington provides for Israel if elected President.

The Guardian | Friday December 28, 2007

Tariq Ali

Even those of us sharply critical of Benazir Bhutto’s behaviour and policies – both while she was in office and more recently – are stunned and angered by her death. Indignation and fear stalk the country once again.

An odd coexistence of military despotism and anarchy created the conditions leading to her assassination in Rawalpindi yesterday. In the past, military rule was designed to preserve order – and did so for a few years. No longer. Today it creates disorder and promotes lawlessness. How else can one explain the sacking of the chief justice and eight other judges of the country’s supreme court for attempting to hold the government’s intelligence agencies and the police accountable to courts of law? Their replacements lack the backbone to do anything, let alone conduct a proper inquest into the misdeeds of the agencies to uncover the truth behind the carefully organised killing of a major political leader.

How can Pakistan today be anything but a conflagration of despair? It is assumed that the killers were jihadi fanatics. This may well be true, but were they acting on their own?

Keep reading . . .

Reuters, December 27, 2007

By Augustine Anthony

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a suicide bomber on Thursday, plunging the nuclear-armed country into one of the worst crises in its 60-year history.

Her death after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi triggered a wave of violence, especially in her native Sindh province, and was likely to lead to the postponement of January 8 polls meant to return Pakistan to a civilian-led democracy.

Bhutto, 54, had hoped the huge popular following she enjoyed among the Pakistani poor would propel her to power for the third time as prime minister in an election meant to stabilize a country wracked by Islamist violence.

She died in hospital in Rawalpindi, the home of the Pakistan army and the same city where her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in 1979 after being deposed by a military coup.

Continued . . . 

WSWS

By Jean Shaoul | 24 December 2007

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Israeli military incursions into Gaza and targeted assassinations of militants have become an almost daily occurrence since last month’s Annapolis summit. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in such attacks.

Attended by representatives of 40 nations, including 16 Arab states, Annapolis was billed as a restart to negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians that would resolve all the core issues involved in the long-running conflict by the end of 2008. But it was little more than a crude attempt by President Bush to provide a cover for the Arab regimes’ support for Washington’s preparations for an assault on Iran.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah president of the Palestinian Authority, was told in no uncertain terms that his task was to ensure the “security of Israel” by crushing all resistance to the occupation and regaining control of Gaza from Hamas. Any future Palestinian state was dependent on whether the United States determined that he had carried out this assignment. Implicit in this ultimatum was the threat that if he was not up to the job, Israel would intervene against Hamas.

Keep reading . . .

AFP – Thursday, December 27, 2007

ANKARA (AFP) – – Turkey praised the United States on Wednesday for providing intelligence in support of attacks against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, as it confirmed its third such air strike in 10 days.

“Things are going on well at the moment. Intelligence is being shared” between the two NATO allies, Anatolia news agency quoted President Abdullah Gul as saying.

US support “befits our alliance,” Gul said, adding: “Both of us are satisfied. This is how it should be. We could have come to this point earlier.”

But the White House expressed concern to Ankara over the possible escalation of Turkey’s attacks inside Iraq, especially “anything that could lead to … civilian casualties,” spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

Wednesday’s air strike was the third against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq that the military has confirmed since December 16, in addition to a cross-border ground operation.

Continued . . .

Source: Information Clearing House

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