| Will Egypt Hang Hosni Mubarak? Posted: 15 May 2011 01:24 AM PDT 
Hosni Mubarak got a bitter birthday present when Egypt' s justice minister said the former president could face the death penalty for the brutal crackdown on protests that ultimately pushed him from power. Mubarak, who turned 83 in failing health, is in detention at a military hospital while prosecutors investigate charges of corruption, abuse of state funds and the killing of roughly 800 protesters. Since the fall of Mubarak' s regime, the swing of revolutionary justice has scooped up former officials, bitten billionaire businessmen, and confined Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, once the golden princes of Egypt, to the bare walls of Tora prison. With Suzanne Mubarak' s detention and subsequent heart attack on Friday, the whole former first family has been taken down by the new order. But could justice go too far, at too high a price to Egypt? The first and easiest case of courtroom payback was the case of Habib Al Adly, former Interior Minister and one of the most despised men in the country. On May 5 he was sentenced to 12 years in prison on the first of several charges against him. It was an unprecedented slap at all that al Adly represents – the feared system of secret prisons, torture chambers, and brutal intolerance of dissent. Swiftly, the court took down an attack dog of the old regime, but to the crowds that still gather in Tahrir Square it was just the start. Ahmed Neguib, a student organizer during the revolution, told me he sees al Adly and his henchmen as Egypt' s equivalent of Nazis, which would make this, loosely, the age of the Arab Nuremberg. It' s an imperfect analogy, but for Arabs it' s a similar catharsis. "Yes we want Habib al Adly in court, but we want the bigger guys. We want Mubarak," he said. "Until that happens, people are going to keep getting angry." As Egypt grapples with transitional justice – the judicial cleansing of society after a regime turnaround – there are hard questions with no clear answers. Who bears the guilt of a rotten system that left blood on so many hands? Should blame sit at the top with men like Habib al Adly and Hosni Mubarak? Should mid-level executioners be caught in the net? What about the baltagiya, the henchmen in the lower ranks, or the part- time mercenaries who' d take 50 Egyptian pounds to pound down protesters? In a political culture where some would rat out their neighbors for little more than sneezing at the regime, the guilt of association paints a wide outer circle. "What's happening in Egypt is happening without rhyme or reason," said Marina Ottaway of the Carnegie Endowment. "If Egypt goes ahead trying people without an overall plan – how degrees of responsibility are going to be handled and how far the purges are going to go – it risks becoming a downward spiral." For now, the directions are dictated by the street. Military leaders, who are doing as much as they need to keep the crowds quiet, respond to raw emotions and manage the mob by twitching to its calls for action. "They need to demonstrate a significant amount of daylight between themselves and the Mubarak era," said Steven Cook, an expert on Egypt with the Council on Foreign Relations. "They' ll have to take these steps in which they at least seem to place Hosni Mubarak in the docks. Their hope is that he' s so sick that he will pass away before they ever have to take that dramatic step." Would-be democrats like Amr Moussa and Mohamed El Baradei are also playing to the crowds, calling for Mubarak' s head as a talking point on the presidential campaign. On a regional level, what changes the game and chills the neighbors is the precedent set in the Cairo courts: leaders once so powerful that they had no open critics, now at the mercy of a judge and jury. For the first time an Arab regime is on trial, criminalizing what had been considered textbook tactics for state security – brutal repression as standard procedure. Hosni Mubarak, functionally the dean of longtime Arab leaders, set the model for the Middle East. His regime had its foot soldiers, an estimated 400,000 security agents at the Interior Ministry alone. That' s where analyst Marina Ottaway sees a problem: too much justice, moving too fast, too close to Mubarak, will kick up the hornets. "There are supporters of Mubarak," she said. "Who knows what these people would do if he were tried and sentenced?" Ottaway points to the cautionary case of Iraq: the hanging of Saddam Hussein, the politicized witch hunt of de- Baathification, and the opening of so many intelligence files propelling more violence. Serving justice to the old regime "has the potential to tear at countries that are trying to pull themselves together and build more decent political systems." The emerging revolutionary justice, Arabian style, has troubling trends and steep consequences. Emotion may override reason. Old grievances, sectarian vendettas, and tribal loyalties will be a factor. And the whole exercise, fueled by anger, pulls energy and attention away from building a new state. "Every system has its own mechanism for this kind of thing, Arabs are now developing their own system for the first time in modern history," said columnist Rami Khouri at the Issam Fares Institute. He added with a sigh and slight optimism, "There' s no perfect justice." |
| Sony Play Station Network back up after hack Posted: 15 May 2011 12:36 AM PDT 
SONY'S PlayStation Network is finally back up and running after hackers brought it down in what is thought to have been the largest cyber crime attack in history. The online gaming system, along with an array of other Sony internet systems such as recently launched Qriocity powered Music Unlimited, are said to be slowly rolling out around the world. However, the more security- sensitive purchasing functions - such as PlayStation Store - will go live in the "coming days" according to Sony Group CEO Kazuo Hirai on Sunday morning. In Australia, PlayStation owners were reporting that a software update (3.61) was available but the actual network was not accessible by 11.30am. Mr Hirai said that all PlayStation Network customers will have to change passwords and other details after logging into the upgraded network. Users can only do this using either the PlayStation console they opened their network account with or using a verified email address. Mr Hirai said Sony had "greatly upgraded" its network security after the PlayStation network was hacked on April 17, potentially revealing more than 100 million PlayStation users worldwide. Since then Sony has struggled to meet deadlines to get its popular gaming network back online, has faced criticism from the US Senate after it was revealed that the PlayStation maker delayed in revealing the true extent of the cyber attack and faces law suits over its handling of the security breach. Mr Hirai said: "I wish I could tell you that technology is available to completely protect any company against cyber attack. "But unfortunately the threat of cyber crime and data theft will continue to plague networks, companies, government agencies and consumers around the world for some time to come." Frustrated PlayStation customers - many who have threatened to switch to rival Microsoft Xbox because of the outage - will be offered a "welcome back" package of software and content. The bill from long outage, massive security rebuild and consumer damage control is yet to totalled but is expected to have cost the technology company hundreds of millions of dollars. And still, the hacker or hackers have not been found. Sony has accused "hackivist" group Anonymous for the attack after Sony claimed it had found an Anonymous tag line "We are legion" left as a calling card in the attack. Anonymous members, in an unprecedented move, flatly denied the charge. |
| Israel alert for Nakba Day unrest Posted: 15 May 2011 12:22 AM PDT 
Thousands of police were deployed in Jerusalem as well as in Arab areas in the north ahead of events to mark the anniversary of Israel's founding in 1948, commonly referred to in Arabic as the "Nakba" or "catastrophe". "We have mobilised thousands of police officers who are deployed in sensitive areas, particularly in Jerusalem and in the Wadi Ara area," spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to a northern area near Haifa where a large percentage of the population are Arab Israeli. "Our forces have been placed on high alert in order to allow the planned events to go ahead, but we will not tolerate any violation of public order," he said. Overnight, police had arrested another 13 Palestinians following demonstrations in annexed east Jerusalem, raising to 63 the total number arrested since Friday, he said, adding that eight police had been injured. Since Friday, stone-throwing youths and police have been locked in clashes across east Jerusalem, which turned deadly on Friday, leaving a 16-year-old Palestinian youth dead. Milad Said Ayyash was critically wounded on Friday as Palestinians across annexed east Jerusalem staged protests in the run-up to Sunday's anniversary. He died on Saturday morning. Police spoke of a youngster being "lightly" wounded from "unknown" causes but insisted no live ammunition had been used. One of the teen's relatives said he had been shot in the stomach by a settler during clashes in Silwan. Ayyash was buried on Saturday in a graveyard outside the Old City walls by some 2000 angry mourners as police kept a discreet watch but did not intervene, fearing more unrest. Israel celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its creation on Tuesday, in accordance with the Hebrew calendar. More than 760,000 Palestinians - estimated today to number 4.7 million with their descendants - were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes in the conflict that followed Israel's creation. |
| Libya: Nato 'must widen' targets, says UK military head Posted: 15 May 2011 12:02 AM PDT 
The head of the British armed forces has said Nato must intensify its military campaign in Libya by easing the restrictions on bombing targets. |
| India can play constructive role in Afghanistan: US Posted: 14 May 2011 11:55 PM PDT 
Washington—The US has said India can play a constructive role Afghanistan and it will welcome New Delhi' s involvement in the war-torn nation."India can play a constructive role in Afghanistan and in the region, and we would certainly welcome their involvement," state department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference."Of course we talk about Afghanistan with India and - as well as other regional issues. Our bilateral relationship with India is quite close and robust. We recognise India' s role in the region and are frankly encouraged by it playing a more active and constructive role," Toner said in response to a question.The US also welcomed the latest Indian initiative in Afghanistan and the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Kabul that concluded on Friday. Assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said: "Prime Minister Singh' s visit to Kabul, which he concluded today, underscored India' s strong efforts to support international efforts to rebuild a secure,stable Afghanistan." "The Prime Minister raised India' s assistance pledge to a total of USD 2 billion, and India has assisted with critical infrastructure, like power stations and the Parliament building, and small development projects like health care facilities and wells. "Blake, speaking on India-US relations at a Washington-based think tank, noted Singh has spearheaded initiative to normalise relations with Pakistan."Building on the cricket diplomacy launched by Prime Ministers Singh and (Yousuf Raza) Gilani in Mohali, the commerce secretaries of the two countries met last month in Islamabad and jointly announced ambitious commitments to enhance trade and commercial ties," he said.India' s economic rise presents an "enormous opportunity" to Pakistan, and the normalisation of economic ties could provide immense benefits to millions of entrepreneurs, farmers and businessmen in both countries, the official said. "More critically, a bilateral breakthrough could provide a catalyst for wider regional economic integration, a transformative goal we all wish realised," he added.—Newswire |
| Parliament’ s resolution to be sent to UN, US Posted: 14 May 2011 11:53 PM PDT 
Islamabad—Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called on President Asif Ali Zardari at the presidency on Saturday, and the two leaders agreed to send a copy of the parliament' s joint resolution on the Abbottabad operation to the United States and the United Nation. The heads of the country held a meeting following the president' s return from Russia and topping the agenda was Friday' s in-camera briefing of the parliament, said Prime Minister Gilani and President Zardari also discussed the security developments in the country in the wake of the operation carried out by US forces in Abbottabad on May 2. Friday' s session, which was held to take the members of the parliament into confidence regarding national security, was termed successful by the PM as he briefed Zardari on its proceedings. It was the first time that the high command of the military and its spy agency, the ISI, were answering questions from the members of the parliament. ISI chief, Lt. General Ahmad Shuja Pasha briefed lawmakers on the bin Laden issue and also reportedly offered to tender his resignation. The session was closed to the media but sources said that Pasha had offered to resign and had said that he was ready to appear before any commission set up by parliament. A second source confirmed that the general had said he would resign if the parliament asked and present himself before any commission the lawmakers set up. The lawmakers called on the government "to appoint an independent commission on the Abbottabad operation, fix responsibility and recommend necessary measures to ensure that such an incident does not recur". Zardari and Gilani reportedly discussed the details of setting up an independent commission to probe the operation. Meanwhile, the parliament also threatened to withdraw logistical cooperation for US troops based in Afghanistan and hit out at the drone strikes. "Such drone attacks must be stopped forthwith, failing which the government will be constrained to consider taking necessary steps including withdrawal of (the) transit facility allowed to NATO," the resolution said. |
| Burton slept with 3 women a week for 30 yrs Posted: 14 May 2011 11:48 PM PDT 
LONDON: A new book has revealed that Richard Burton slept with three women a week for thirty years, qualifying him to be Hollywood' s first sex addict. According to the book, the actor who is better remembered for his marital association with Elizabeth Taylor, slept with almost 2,500 women during his lifetime of 58 years, reports the Daily Mail. In Burton' s heydays between 1947 and 1975, he is known to have made love to at least one new woman every other day, apart from being married four times. The writer, Ruth Waterbury who witnessed Burton' s dalliances with the women of Los Angeles in the mid-Fifties , was struck by the fact that he never seemed to make obvious passes. "He has a kind of availability about him, and the girls come running. He does not implore . He just quietly demands full surrender ," she said. Burton started his sexual adventures in 1944, while at Oxford University , when he lost his virginity to a mature student at the age of 18. Throughout his endless affairs, flings and marriages, Burton continued sleeping with Mary Ure, Susan Claire and Bloom Strasberg. He also maintained a long sexual relationship with a friend' s wife, Jean Simmons on the sly. Known as the most notable seducer of those times, Burton fell in love with 17-year old actress, Claire Bloom just a day after his marriage with Sybil Williams. |
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