Russian forces 'gradually withdrawing' from Ukraine border

Russian forces 'gradually withdrawing' from Ukraine border

 

Ukraine defense ministry: Russian troops move away from border; coincidence or result of Kerry-Lavrov meeting?

Russian President Vladimir Putin informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday about the partial withdrawal of troops he ordered from a region on the border with Ukraine, her office said.

"Moreover the two discussed further possible steps to stabilise the situation in Ukraine and Transdniestr," Moldova's largely Russian-speaking breakaway region, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

"They agreed to stay in close contact," he added

"Discussing various aspects of the situation in Ukraine... Putin stressed the importance of holding constitutional reforms" in Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.

It added they also discussed Moldova's largely Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transdniestr bordering Ukraine and Putin raised "the need to take effective measures aimed at lifting an effective blockade from the outside of this region."

Ukraine on Monday reported a gradual withdrawal of Russian troops from its border that may be linked to Washington's latest push for a diplomatic solution to the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War.

The announcement came in the wake of a four-hour meeting in Paris on Sunday between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that ended with an agreement to resolve the Ukrainian crisis through talks.

Both Western powers and the new pro-European interim leaders in Kiev have been increasingly worried that the Kremlin intended to seize heavily Russified southeastern parts of Ukraine after annexing its Crimea peninsula in response to the fall in February of the ex-Soviet state's Moscow-backed president.

But any sign of an easing in Russia's position was countered by an unannounced visit to Crimea by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev - the most senior Moscow official to visit the Black Sea peninsula since its March 16 vote to join Kremlin.

The Ukrainian defense ministry said the start of the troop drawdown appeared to coincide in timing to a phone call that Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly placed to US President Barack Obama about the crisis on Friday evening.

"In recent days, the Russian forces have been gradually withdrawing from the border," the Ukrainian defense ministry's general staff spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy told AFP in a telephone interview.

Dmytrashkivskiy said he could not confirm how many soldiers were involved or the number of troops still stationed in the border region. US and EU officials had earlier estimated that Russia's sudden military buildup had reached 30,000 to 40,000 troops.

Kiev's Center for Military and Political Studies analyst Dmytro Tymchuk said on Monday that his sources had told him that Russia had only 10,000 soldiers stationed near Ukraine by Monday morning.

"If earlier, we estimated the chances of a Russian invasion at 80 percent, then now we put it at 50 percent," Tymchuk said in comments posted on his Facebook account.

A Ukrainian defence ministry official said that Kiev had not been formally notified of the drawdown by Moscow and therefore could not tell why the soldiers were being moved.

"This could be linked to a regular rotation of soldiers," said Dmytrashkivskiy.

"Or it may be linked to the Russian-US negotiations."

Paris talks

Kerry's hastily arranged meeting with Lavrov concluded without any evident shift in either sides' stance.

Lavrov reiterated Moscow's demand that Ukraine be turned into a federation in which the regions enjoyed broader autonomy from Kiev and had the right to declare Russian as a second official language.

Washington is not against the idea of constitutional changes but remains wary that the Kremlin wants to use decentralization as a tool for vetoing Kiev decisions in southeastern regions whose Russian speakers Putin has vowed to "protect".

Kerry insisted after the talks that he did not discuss the federation idea with Lavrov in detail because Ukrainian officials had not been invited to Paris.

"We will not accept a path forward where the legitimate government of Ukraine is not at the table. This principle is clear. No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine," Kerry told reporters.

Ukraine's new leaders have been willing to give more authority to local legislatures and allow the regions to elect their own governors -- administrators who are appointed by Kiev today.

But they also refuse to give regions the power to set up their own economic and social policies that could theoretically boost their reliance on Russia.

"Lavrov, Putin and Medvedev can suggest as many ideas as they want for resolving Russia's problems - but not for resolving our problems," Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told reporters on Monday.

"There are no grounds for Ukraine's federalization," the acting president said

Saudi Boy Save Dogs From Death

Opinion: Ehud Olmert - A missed opportunity

                         Opinion: Ehud Olmert - A missed opportunity

 

Israel's former prime minister was a daring leader in war and peace but corruption was his downfall

What a pity. One of Israel's best prime ministers ever was convicted of accepting a bribe. Ehud Olmert might be the first Israeli prime minister to be sent to jail following one of the biggest and most severe fraud scandals ever exposed in Israel.

There's no doubt. Olmert, who served as prime minister for three and a-half years, until July 2009, deserves to be punished, and punished severely. Israel, which already has a former President (Moshe Katsav) serving time for sex crimes, a former finance minister (Avraham Hershson) who did time for fraud, and dozens of Knesset members and public officials who have been suspected and/or convicted of corruption, needs to send a clear and strong message that corruption is intolerable.

Olmert, never a popular figure in his Likud party, was nonetheless recognized as an ambitious and sly politician. After serving for a decade as mayor of Jerusalem, he was re-elected to the Knesset and was named Deputy Prime Minister.

When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fell into a coma in January 2006, from which he never recovered, Olmert took over for a short interim period, after which he was elected prime minister.

He proved himself to be a competent leader, ready to take tough and sometimes risky decision for Israel's national interests. It was Olmert who in 2007 had the guts, despite the uncertainties and fears of a major escalation, to order the Israel Air Force to bomb a nuclear reactor being built in Syria, before it became radioactive and operational. And it was Olmert who cleverly formulated the decision to keep silent about the operation, neither confirming nor denying responsibility, thus helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad swallow his pride and not retaliate.

In his memoirs, "Decision Points," President George W. Bush wrote that Olmert had first asked him for the US to bomb the facility. Olmert ordered the attack only after Bush refused and said he would prefer diplomatic action and sanctions.

The decision to destroy the Syrian reactor was taken despite the unforgiveable opposition of Olmert's Defense Minister, Ehud Barak. In retrospect it was one of the most important strategic decisions in Israel's history, along with the similar daring decision taken in 1981 by Prime Minister Menachem Begin to bomb and destroy Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor near Baghdad.

Four months after the destruction of the Syrian reactor, Olmert approved another daring operation – instructing the Mossad to kill Imad Mughniyhe, Hezbollah's "defense minister" and one of the most wanted terrorist in the world. Mughniyeh was gunned down in Damascus. The gunmen left no traces.

Even the two controversial wars launched during Olmert's premiership – one in the summer of 2006 against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the second in December 2008 against Hamas in Gaza, proved in retrospect very effective and helped Israel maintain its deterrence vis-à-vis the two terror groups.

As a member of Sharon's government, and subsequently as Prime Minister, Olmert's world view and ideology underwent a dramatic change. He realized that his right-wing, sometimes extreme right-wing opinions, with which he grew up (his father was a right-wing Knesset member), in support of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and rejection of a Palestinian state, were not compatible with reality.

Olmert became deeply involved in negotiations with the Palestinians, forming a personal and professional friendship with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

With the concessions he was willing to make, his ambition and drive, and above all his pragmatic flexibility, if Olmert had remained in power Israel would have achieved an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Now, following his conviction, his political career is over. There is no chance, not even the slimmest one, that he can stage a comeback. Many Israelis, who are disappointed with Prime Minister's Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu's rigid and uncompromising policies, were hoping to see Olmert return.

With Olmert possibly on his way to a prison cell, and no other candidate in sight, the peace camp is left with no serious candidate and no match for Netanyahu.

Israel is left with the notion that there is only one game in town – Bibi's.

Yossi Melman is an Israeli intelligence and security commentator and co-author of “Spies Against Armageddon, inside Israel’s secret wars

Sources: Pollard might be freed in mid-April

 

            

Sources claim Kerry and Obama are willing to free Israeli spy in exchange for Palestinian prisoners' release

An Israeli spy serving a life sentence in the United States and groups of Palestinian prisoners could be freed under an emerging deal to salvage Middle East peace talks, sources close to the negotiations said on Monday to Reuters.

The sources said under the proposed arrangement that Jonathan Pollard could be released by mid-April.

In addition, Israel would go ahead with a promised release of a fourth group of Palestinians. Another group of jailed Palestinians would also go free - and the peace talks would be extended beyond an April 29 deadline, the sources said.

Pollard was sentenced to life in prison for spying on the US on behalf of Israel during his time as a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy. He was arrested in 1985 and given his life sentence in 1987. He is up for parole in less than two years.

But when asked whether US might release Pollard as part of Middle East peace push, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said convicted spy "is serving his sentence." Israel denied the report.

Emergency meeting

Secretary of State John Kerry was holding late-night talks with the leadership in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday on his latest mission to salvage the crisis-hit peace process.

He flew in from Paris for what was expected to be little more than a 15-hour visit to push both sides to resolve a lingering dispute over Palestinian prisoners which is threatening to derail the negotiations ahead of an April 29 deadline.

US peace efforts are teetering on the brink of collapse after Israel refused to free a group of 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners under an agreement which brought the sides back to the negotiating table in July 2013.

Furious Palestinian officials have warned that unless Israel changes its stance on the prisoner releases, it could signal the end of the talks.

Kerry, who landed in Tel Aviv shortly after 1600 GMT, went straight to Jerusalem and began talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accompanied by his envoy Martin Indyk and US ambassador Dan Shapiro, an AFP correspondent said.

Israel's chief negotiator Tzipi Livni was also present.

Kerry was later expected in Ramallah for talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas who has spent the evening locked in a key leadership meeting in Ramallah to discuss the standoff.

"Our negotiating team has been working with both parties on the ground to help them agree on a path forward, and Secretary Kerry has kept in close touch with his counterparts by phone," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

"After consulting with his team, Secretary Kerry decided it would be productive to return to the region," Psaki said.

"Over the course of the last eight months, the Israelis and Palestinians have both made tough choices, and as we work with them to determine the next steps, it is important they remember that only peace will bring the Israeli and Palestinian people both the security and economic prosperity they all deserve," she said.

Meanwhile, Abbas is convening his top leadership on Monday to discuss his next move. At issue is whether to agree to extend negotiations with Israel and what to do if Israel fails to release a fourth group of Palestinian prisoners that it was schooled to free on Saturday. Palestinian sources quoted by the newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat denied reports that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would appeal to the UN for recognition as a state if Israel fails to free the inmates, all of whom have served 20 years or more for terror-related offenses.

The sources said the PA prefers to wait for the results of Kerry's efforts, so as not to appear responsible for scuttling the talks.

Israeli media reported Saturday and Sunday that in return for a Palestinian agreement to extend the talks, Israel had offered to release even more prisoners – several hundred – as long as it gets to pick their names. Abbas has reportedly asked Israel to free 1,200 inmates in return for Palestinian agreement to extend talks.

Will Livni leave government?

Meanwhile, domestic political pressure is growing on Netanyahu from all directions.

The left wing says Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Hatnu'a party and Israel's chief negotiator to the talks with the Palestinians, will face a massive campaign pressuring her to leave Netanyahu’s coalition government if negotiations fail.

“If there is no fourth round of prisoner releases and the talks break down, the purpose of her remaining in the government is gone,” Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer told the Ynet news site. "If the peace process will collapse and she doesn’t use her political power to leave the coalition, there will be a public campaign against her with demonstrations, ads."

Right wing coalition members were also exterting strong pressure on Netanyahu, but stopped short of commiting to leave the government should he go ahead with steps they oppose. Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel said he would recommend that his Jewish Home party leave the coalition if Israel agreed to release 400 additional prisoners just to keep the Palestinians at the negotiating table.

Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett said such a concession to the Palestinians “will not happen.”

Communications Minister Gilad Erdan of the Likud warned that the “negotiations monster” would keep asking for more prisoners and concessions if Israel did not set red lines.

EU's Catherine Ashton criticised for meeting Iranian women activists

Catherine Ashton at a press conference at the Iranian foreign ministry during her trip to Tehran. Photograph: Xinhua /Landov /Barcroft Media

Catherine Ashton has infuriated hardliners in Tehran by meeting a group of leading women's rights activists during her first visit to Iran as EU foreign policy chief.

Ashton, who brokered a historic interim nuclear agreement with Iran last year, met six female activists at the Austrian embassy in Tehran on Saturday, marking International Women's Day just hours after arriving in the Iranian capital. Ashton took the helm as the EU high representative for foreign affairs in 2009.

"The main purpose of the visit was to, as EU high representative, have a chance to talk to Iran about the potential for the relationship that we can have in the future," Ashton said on Sunday.

"Not surprisingly, there was a big focus on human rights: I met with women activists on International Women's Day and talked to them about the situation that women find themselves in and some of the work that these women are engaged in, from journalists to those involved with Afghan refugees, people working across the spectrum of civil society and the importance of civil society."

Iran's foreign ministry protested to the Austrian embassy on Monday, saying Ashton's meeting was unsanctioned. The spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, also accused the EU of double standards on human rights, local media reported. "Such actions will increase the suspicion of our citizens towards the west," the spokeswoman said. "This will not help our relations with Europe."

At least two Iranian MPs said Ashton was interfering in Iran's internal affairs.

Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann, brushed off criticism, telling the Guardian human rights remains "a key and crucial part" of EU's foreign policy with Iran.

Narges Mohammadi, who has been sentenced to six years in jail for acting as the deputy head of Iran's Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), was one of the six Iranians who received an invitation from Ashton for the meeting, she told the Guardian on the phone from Tehran.

Ashton also met Gohar Eshghi, the mother of an Iranian blogger who died in custody while having no access to his family or lawyer. Eshghi has since become active pursuing what she calls a "just" trial of the people involved in the death of her son, Sattar Beheshti.

"Ashton wept as she embraced Eshghi, I was absolutely touched," said Mohammadi. "Ashton told Eshghi that as a mother herself she can completely understand how it feels to lose a child like that."

Ashton's visit to Iran came a few weeks after Tehran and six world powers including Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the US – the group known as P5+1 – started negotiations in Vienna aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement that could potentially settle the decades-long dispute over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.

Ashton also met Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, and foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"The interim agreement is really important but not as important as a comprehensive nuclear agreement … which is difficult and challenging," Ashton said in a joint press conference with Zarif on Sunday. "There is no guarantee [negotiations] will succeed."

Zarif, on the other hand, said Iran was determined to reach an agreement, which he said could happen within four to five months.

Rouhani's election last year has increased hope for an improvement in women's rights in Iran but Mohammadi said it was too early to say if he will succeed in delivering his promises.

"People are certainly more hopeful but many of the restrictions are still in place," Mohammadi said. "There's a security atmosphere and women's activists are still being sentenced to jail."

Last week, a Tehran court sentenced the student activist Maryam Shafipour to seven years in prison for peaceful activism.

According to Mohammadi, at least 14 women's rights campaigners are locked up in Tehran's Evin prison, including Bahareh Hedayat, a student activist sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison.

"At almost 32, Bahareh has already spent over four-and-a-half years in prison," said Sussan Tahmasebi, an Iranian women's rights campaigner. "Bahareh's charges are in relation to her activities as a student rights defender, and as a women's rights defender. She has worked tirelessly to advocate for the right of students to organise in universities, to select their own university dean, to ensure that good educators are not dismissed."

The circumstances surrounding Beheshti's death are still unclear. He was 35 and from a lower-class family and dabbled in blogging and spoke out about human rights violations in his country. Unable to silence him online, Iran's cyber-police, known as Fata, picked him up from his home in 2012 and a week later his family received a phone call to collect his dead body.

In December, a Tehran court closed the case investigating his death, saying he had died of a "quasi-murder" but not charging any of his interrogators, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

"In a medical report that is part of the case, it is written that Sattar suffered from haemorrhaging in his liver, lungs and cerebellum, keeping oxygen from reaching the different parts of his body, and has slowly died," Beheshti's mother has told the campaign.

"Some hard days went by for us. They didn't let me see my son's face before his burial. I only saw that they put him in the grave wrapped in a bloody shroud. We were repeatedly threatened and verbally abused. I passed all those days because I was hopeful my son's murderer would be prosecuted. But now I see that the murder charge has been lifted."

Ashton's visit to Iran has provoked criticism in Israel. "I'd like to ask her if she asked her Iranian hosts about the delivery of weapons to the terror groups, and if she didn't, why not?" asked Israel's prime minister, Binjamin Netanyahu, invoking the recent seizure of an allegedly Iranian missile shipment "destined for Gaza

Russian Prime Minister Medvedev visits Crimea

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (L) chairs a meeting with his deputies. (File photo: Reuters)

  

   

By Reuters | Simferopol, Crimea
Monday, 31 March 2014

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Crimea on Monday with several members of his government on the highest level visit to the Black Sea peninsula since its annexation by Moscow earlier this month.
“[I'm] in Simferopol,” Medvedev said on Twitter after his plane landed in the main city in the region, which Western governments say Russia has illegally seized from Ukraine. “Today the government will discuss the development of Crimea here.”
During the visit, Medvedev announced that Russia will make Crimea a special economic zone offering tax breaks and reduced bureaucracy to attract investors.

“Our aim is to make the peninsula as attractive as possible to investors, so that it can generate sufficient income for its own development,” Medvedev said.

The visit comes after President Barack Obama in an interview aired Friday said Russia must “move back” its troops back from the Ukraine border and start negotiating with the international community, Agence France-Presse reported.
Obama told CBS News that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to assemble forces on the border may “simply be an effort to intimidate Ukraine, or it may be that they’ve got additional plans.”
Although estimates of troop numbers vary vastly, Obama said that “to de-escalate the situation” Russia should “move back those troops and begin negotiations directly with the Ukrainian government as well as the international community.”

Ban Ki-moon rebukes Iranian president for human rights failings

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, with the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, in Switzerland this January. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/EPA

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has sharply rebuked the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, for failing to improve human rights since taking office in August.

Despite "commendable steps" under Rouhani, including the release of a limited number of high-profile political prisoners, violations had continued, Ban reports in a new report to the UN human rights council issued on Tuesday.

Execution, arbitrary detention and unfair trials, descrimination against minorities, mistreatment of political prisoners, and restrictions on freedom of expression, are among subjects that remain concerns, according to Ban.

The secretary general said he was particularly concerned about the increased use of capital punishment in Iran.

"At least 500 persons are known to have been executed in 2013, including 57 in public. According to some sources, the figure may be as high as 625. Those executed reportedly included 27 women and two children," Ban said.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, said on Wednesday that, in Iran, at least 176 people so far had been put to death this year alone.

Ban complained that Iran had not allowed Shaheed to visit and investigate the abuse claims on the ground.

Ban said: "The new government has not changed its approach regarding the application of the death penalty and seems to have followed the practice of previous administrations, which relied heavily on the death penalty to combat crime."

His report also urged Rouhani to consider the immediate release of the two opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest without trial since the aftermath of the 2009 presidential election, won by the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ban said that at least 80 political prisoners had been released since mid-September, including the prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, but that many remained in jail.

"Despite these welcome developments a large number of political prisoners, including high-profile lawyers, human rights activists, women rights activists and journalists, continue to serve sentences for charges that are believed to be linked to the exercise of their freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly."

Lawyers including Abdol Fattah Soltani, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, and Mohammad Seifzadeh, were "detained solely for exercising their rights to freedoms of expression, association and assembly", according to the report.

Ban said that Rouhani's administration had not made "any significant improvement in the promotion and protection of freedom of expression and opinion" despite pledges made by the president during his campaign and after his swearing-in.

At least 35 journalists were also held behind bars, and two newspapers had been shut down recently.

"Both offline and online outlets continue to face restrictions including closure," the secretary general said.

On freedom of belief, he warned: "Religious minorities such as Baha'ís and Christians face violations entrenched in law and in practice. Harassment, home raids and incitement to hatred, are reportedly commonly applied by the authorities to suppress the Baha'i community."

Apart from Ban, the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has also raised concerns about the situation of human rights in Iran. Ashton infuriated Iranian hardliners when she met a number of women's rights activists during a recent visit to Tehran.

On Wednesday Ashton's meeting was still creating ripples in Iran, with the head of the judiciary and parliament condemning it.

Yemen’s president accuses Iran of meddling

President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi accused Iran of supporting separatists in the south and religious groups in the north of the country. (File photo: Reuters)

 

 

Al Arabiya News
Monday, 31 March 2014

Yemen’s president called on Iran to stop meddling in the country’s internal politics, according to comments published in the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper on Monday.

President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi accused Iran of supporting separatists in the south and religious groups in the north of the country, which is trying to stabilize after more than two years of political upheaval.

“Unfortunately, Iranian interference still exists, whether through its support for the Hirak separatists or some religious groups in northern Yemen,” Hadi told al-Hayat, apparently referring to the Shiite Muslim Houthi rebels who are trying to capture more territory in the northern part of the country.

“We asked our Iranian brothers to revise their wrong policies towards Yemen, but our demands have not borne fruit. We have no desire to escalate [the situation] with Tehran but at the same time we hope it will lift its hand off Yemen,” he added.

Iran has repeatedly denied interfering in the country, Reuters reported.

Last year, Yemen said that a ship intercepted off its coast was an Iranian vessel trying to smuggle explosives and surface-to-air missiles into the country. Iran, however, denied any connection to the weapons aboard the ship.

Iran has come under attack in Yemen with an Iranian official being kidnapped in Sanaa earlier this year. Previously, an Iranian diplomat was fatally wounded when he resisted gunmen who tried to kidnap him.

Yemen’s government is grappling with a separatist movement in the south and an Islamist insurgency, as it tries to restore authority lost during mass protests in 2011 that overthrew the veteran president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In February, the government announced Yemen will be transformed into a six-region federation as part of its political transition. The six designated regions include four in the north, comprising Azal, Saba, Janad and Tahama, and two in the south, Aden and Hadramawt

Palestinians: Israel talks proposal is ‘blackmail’

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L), meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at the Palestinian Ambassador’s Residence in Amman, Jordan March 26, 2014. (Reuters)

 

 

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Monday, 31 March 2014

The Palestinians described an Israeli proposal to extend the faltering peace talks as “blackmail,” an official in Ramallah told AFP on Monday.

The Palestinian authority said it would not extend the talks beyond April 29 as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry returned to the Middle East on Monday to discuss the issue.

“Israel is practicing a policy of blackmail and linking its agreement to releasing the fourth batch of prisoners with the Palestinians accepting to extend the negotiations,” the Palestinian official said following a late-night meeting at which the proposal was laid out to chief negotiator Saeb Erakat.

Breaking from his travel schedule for the second time in a week , Kerry returned to the Middle East for the second time in a week.

“After consulting with his team, Secretary Kerry decided it would be productive to return to the region,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said, according to Reuters.

Last week, Kerry had interrupted a visit to Rome to go to Amman for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to try to convince him to prolong the talks beyond an end-April deadline and to press Israel to release the prisoners.

Officials said he was expected to travel to both Israel and the Palestinian Territories in the coming hours.

Kerry made no statement on his arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport. He was due to hold separate meetings later in the day with Netanyahu and Abbas.

Sources close to the negotiations said that an Israeli spy serving a life sentence in the United States and groups of Palestinian prisoners could be freed under an emerging deal to salvage the talks.

By returning to the region, Kerry is indicating either that he believes there is room to save the talks, possibly through a commitment from both sides to extend the negotiations, or to send a message that U.S. patience is not endless.

Kerry was scheduled to attend a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it was not immediately clear whether he would still be able to make the first day.

Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed last July after a three-year break. In the absence of any obvious breakthroughs, Kerry said he wanted a clear framework to enable discussions to continue in the coming months.

Officials have said the two sides remain far apart even on the draft framework. However, the State Department’s Psaki said on Monday the Israelis and Palestinians “have both made tough choices” over the past eight months.

“As we work with them to determine the next steps, it is important they remember that only peace will bring the Israeli and Palestinian people both the security and economic prosperity they all deserve,” she said.

Hidalgo's likely triumph was a rare moment for celebration in what was a dismal evening for Hollande. Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images Paris looked set to elect its first female mayor on Sunday night, but the victory for socialist Anne Hidalgo was an isolated piece of good news for President François Hollande's embattled party. The exit polls showed that Spanish-born Hidalgo, 54, was estimated to have won, with 55% of the vote, well ahead of her centre-right rival Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet. If her victory is confirmed in a final count Hidalgo will succeed the popular Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoë, who has run the city since 2001. Last year she told the Guardian that running Paris was "the best elected job that exists". But her probable triumph was a rare moment for celebration in what was a dismal evening for Hollande, whose popularity was already at rock bottom even before Sunday's vote, and his Socialist (PS) government. Elsewhere, the Front National appeared to have once again punched above its real electoral weight in what may well turn out to have been a protest vote. The party's charismatic president, Marine Le Pen, said the results marked a "new step for the FN" and said she hoped to translate its success into seats in the European elections in May. "The Front National has upset the traditional UMP-PS duo. From now on they will have to count on a third great political force in our country," Le Pen said. The revival of the FN as the Socialists struggle takes the far-right party back to levels last seen in 2002 when far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen knocked out the Socialist candidate in the first round of the presidential elections. The FN took the towns of Béziers, where FN candidate Robert Ménard, former head of Reporters Sans Frontiers, obtained more than 47% of the vote, and Fréjus, but lost the symbolic city of Avignon, where the FN candidate had led the first-round vote. Most of the FN's successes were in the east and west of the country in areas with high unemployment and immigration. If there was any small consolation for the president and his administration, it was that while the centre-right UMP emerged overall winners, it was that the FN had not done as well as results of first-round voting last Sunday had suggested. In the rest of the country, French voters stayed away from polling stations in record numbers for the second round of local elections. The 38% rate of abstention in the second round of the election was seen as a direct message of disillusion with the country's ruling class, particularly the struggling Socialist government headed by Hollande. Among the most symbolic losses for the governing Socialists were those of the town of Limoges, which the left had held since 1912, Saint Etienne, which fell to a UMP candidate, Belfort, which went to the right, and Quimper in Brittany, which elected an UMP mayor. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, spokesperson for the government, was the first to admit: "The results are bad. We hear the message that has been sent." Jean-Francois Copé of the centre-right UMP said the local elections were an overwhelming success for his opposition party. "It's a blue wave … the first major victory for the UP in a local election,' he said. There were fears that the high level of abstentions among voters would play in favour of the FN. However, the first estimates showed an increase in support for the mainstream right opposition UMP party, while support for the far-right, which has undoubtedly increased, was not as great as had been suggested by the first-round vote. Local elections are traditionally seen as a way for the electorate to express their dissatisfaction with the government of the day. Around 30,000 of the 36,000 municipalities in France had already elected their mayors in the first round. This included one FN mayor elected outright. Only in areas where no party obtained more than 50% of the vote did the election go to a second round. However, in those 6,000 areas, the FN has a strong showing, particularly in the south of France. In Avignon, one of the towns in which the FN led after the first round, the Socialist party candidate won the seat. The abstention level in the first round last Sunday was 36.45%, already high and an indication of voter disaffection with the mainstream political parties ahead of this weekend's poll. Nonna Mayer, research director at the Centre of European Studies at Sciences Po, said: "They can't be stopped. It's the first time the Front National has organised such an electoral dynamic in local elections. Mayer said the FN was benefiting from a "give them a go" attitude in France. She added: "Voters are so tired of the economic situation and they have the feeling that the left and the right have been unable to find a solution … they say we have tried everything, why not try the Front National." First estimates suggested 49% of voters had supported centre right UMP candidates, 42% Socialist party candidates, and 9% the Front National, a substantial increase in support for the far-right. Ségolène Royal, a former presidential candidate, said the results were a "severe warning" for the government. "It's the party system that has been punished," she said. "There are a number of French people who have had enough of the system. They want democracy. "The French have not seen the results of the efforts we have demanded of them." She added: "I hope this defeat will awaken the team in power." French finance minister Pierre Moscovici admitted: "It's difficult to reform a country like France. This is undoubtedly a defeat for us."

Errol Damelin is said to have grown weary of having to constantly defend Wonga from political attacks and public outcry. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

The multi-millionaire figurehead of the controversial payday lending industry is to stand down from his job as chairman of Wonga as a new City regulator prepares to impose tougher rules.

Errol Damelin will stand down in the next couple of months, according to sources close to the company, but the South African retains a valuable 5% share in the company he founded, with an estimated value of £50m.

The 44-year-old has grown weary of having to constantly defend the company from political attacks and public outcry. Criticised by the Labour MP Stella Creasy for "legal loan-sharking", Wonga charges interest at 5,853% APR.

That equates to a customer who borrows £400 having to repay £551.48 after 36 days.

His exit comes as the new City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority prepares to impose tough rules to try to prevent payday lenders preying on struggling families, when it takes control of the industry on Tuesday.

The FCA has promised take a "hands on" approach to regulating Wonga and other payday lenders, including unannounced visits to companies' offices to inspect how they handle defaults and examine adverts and promotions.

Damelin is particularly frustrated about the company being referred to as a legal loan shark. He believes Wonga should be regarded as a technological innovation, rather than a money lender and refers to it as Britain's version of Facebook, Amazon and Apple.

A fitness freak who has competed in the Antarctic Ice Marathon on a glacier near the South Pole in temperatures of -30C, Damelin regularly runs to Wonga's stucco-fronted offices near Regent's Park from his six-bedroom Hampstead home. He founded Wonga in 2007 with the engineer-turned-artist Jonty Hurwitz.

A source close to Wonga said the company's board had decided that Damelin was no longer the right person to lead the company. "We will become FCA regulated from Tuesday, the business will be regulated like a mainstream financial services business. With additional investigations, the role of chairman has changed," the source told the Guardian . "We are looking for a financial services heavyweight."

Martin Wheatley, the FCA chief executive, said: "There will be no place in an FCA-regulated consumer credit market for payday lenders that only care about making a fast buck. Our new rules will help us to protect consumers and give us strong new powers to tackle any firm found to be overstepping the line."

The chancellor has also instructed the FCA to introduce a cap on the amount of interest Wonga and other payday lenders are able to charge. George Osborne said the cap would "make sure that hardworking people get a fair deal from the financial system, whether it's the banks or the payday lenders or the internet lenders". The cap, which had previously been blocked by Tory MPs, is expected to be introduced on 2 January 2015.

Damelin's privately held stake in Wonga could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds if the company is sold or floats on the stock market. He owns 9.8m Wonga shares, according to the firm's latest filing with Companies House. Wonga made pre-tax profits of £84.5m in 2012, a 35% increase on 2011.

The Tory party donor and venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft also stands to benefit if the company succeeds in its plans to float on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York with a £1bn valuation.

Beecroft, who has donated £537,076 to the Tories, is chairman of the private equity firm Dawn Capital, one of the biggest holders of Wonga's stock.

Damelin has also attracted the ire of the Church of England. Last year, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby met Damelin and personally promised to "compete you out of existence" by expanding credit unions.

Welby, however, was later embarrassed by the revelation that the church's pension fund held a stake in Wonga. It admitted this month that it still holds the £80,000 investment, despite Welby's promise to sell it.

Wonga, which sponsors Newcastle United, Blackpool and Heart of Midlothian, issues loans online within 15 minutes. It says its secret algorithm analysis 8,000 pieces of information to determine the applicant's credit risk, including their Facebook profile.

Ten dead as Chadian troops open fire on Bangui civilians

Chad has evacuated several thousand of its citizens through airlifts and road convoys. Its government was not immediately available to comment on Saturday's shooting.

World Bulletin/News Desk

At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded when Chadian troops opened fire on civilians in Central African Republic's capital Bangui, officials said on Sunday.

The troops were driving into the city, scarred by religious conflict over the past year, to escort a convoy of Muslims back to Chad, having earlier crossed the countries' border some 500 km (300 miles) to the north in about 15 army vehicles.

"When they got to the PK12 neighbourhood, they suddenly started shooting. People panicked and started running and ducking for cover," said Sebastien Wenezoui, a spokesman for the country's Christian militia, the anti-balaka.

Chad has evacuated several thousand of its citizens through airlifts and road convoys. Its government was not immediately available to comment on Saturday's shooting.

The president of the local Red Cross, Pastor Antoine Mbao Bogo, said Chadian troops had fired at civilians.

"I was told over 10 people were killed and about 30 others were wounded, but I have not been able to verify the figures." he said.

Antoinette Montaigne, communications minister for Central African Republic's interim government, said the administration was still waiting for a report about the incident, adding that the government condemned the violence.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Central Africa Republic, Human Rights Watch says.

The United Nations estimates about 15,000 Muslims are still trapped in Bangui and other areas in the north, northwest and south of the country, protected by international forces.

United Nations with respect to the residents of Liberty

Message Vice-President of the European Parliament to the President of the UN Security Council and Secretary-General of the United Nations with regard to the residents of Liberty

Message Vice-President of the European Parliament and the President of the International Committee of the search for justice, Dr. Akhawvidal Quadras to the President of the UN Security Council and Secretary-General of the United Nations concerning the Mujahideen Alocharfian and their rights and protect them in the Liberty Below Abstract: Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ambassador Sylvie Lucas, President of the UN Security Council, on the eve of the meeting of the UN Security Council on Iraq to be held on 27 March / March 2014 I, as Vice-President of the European Parliament and the President of the International Committee of the search for justice, backed by 4000 parliamentary in Europe and America to Browse some vital points on the population of Liberty in Iraq, and I ask to take mandatory actions by the UN Security Council in this regard. mass executions and hostage-taking in oversaw the need to follow-up and investigation by the UN Security Council mass executions and hostage-taking in Ashraf on the first of September / September 2013 still is the most important file where the associated safety and security Alocharfian in Liberty. Any attempt Mottagsdh disheartening Owaltsahl in the follow-up file is nothing but an attempt to open the way for other crimes. There is no doubt that the Iraqi government bears full responsibility for the crime in the first of September / September While Ashraf was protected Pmalaigl about 1,200 armed under the orders of al-Maliki, the launch hypothesis reckless that the group that is responsible has launched this attack without the knowledge and approval by the Iraqi government is irreverence to feel human. the United Nations and the United States to break their silence and them accountable Iraqi government to issue orders on this massacre . 's no doubt that inaction and lack of an investigation by the United Nations on past crimes that targeted the residents of Ashraf, including the massacres of July 2009 and April / April 2011 and the bombing of Liberty in February and June 2013 has encouraged the Iraqi government and its masters in Tehran to commit Crime in the first of September / September While many of the international references, including Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights had emphasized the need for an independent investigation on these crimes. burial secret for the bodies of the martyrs of Ashraf in order to remove the parameters of the crime while Alocharfion had surrendered on September 2 at the request of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General United Nations bodies of the martyrs to the official human rights in UNAMI autopsy under international supervision, the burial secret without the knowledge of families, lawyers and even UNAMI and without determine the date of burial and burial site, an act not humanly in stark contrast with all the rules of religions, including Islam. It is clear that the Iraqi government until this criminal act was the removal of the murder and impunity of those responsible. And Mazlk the United Nations been silent with regret about this matter. transfer process insidious and forced to Liberty rocket attacks and the security crisis, the need to provide a minimum of protection for Liberty has been moved Ashraf residents threats and misinformation and pressure from oversaw their house in which they lived 26 years to camp Liberty, which is a prison confirm explicit theories of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations in 2012. minimum elements of security that his people many times and their representatives to the United Nations and the U.S. government is simple materials and legitimate and logical addition to that expenditure rests with the people themselves. Van prevent application that reveals the evil intentions that startes the Iraqi government to inflict more losses the ranks of the population Below these requests:  - re-17500 concrete wall was to protect in the era of Americans Carvanat Camp Liberty. - the transfer of helmets and flak jackets and medical devices for the residents of Ashraf to Liberty - enter shelters small dimensions of 2 × 2 meters and in sufficient numbers to people who bought on expenses. - allow building in Liberty, especially for the wounded and disabled - to allow the construction of roofs secondary Carvanat - expand the area of Camp Liberty in order to minimize the potential losses that we call upon the UN Security Council obliging government ethnic lifting any restrictions and limited to provide the elements of security in Liberty and to provide the necessary arrangements for the protection of the population in a while to leave Iraq by Akhrchks them. theme of funds Alocharfian and plot the Iraqi government and pledges to the United Nations and the Iraqi government by the Iraqi government at the behest of the Iranian regime is trying to rob the right of the residents of Ashraf in the ownership of their money. Throughout the past two years prevented the Iraqi government and purposefully structured sale funds overseen amounting to 600 million dollars. did not allow the Iraqi government practically sell even one dollar of this money and did not allow the entry of even the merchants who attended Liberty to conclude deals to buy funds residents in Ashraf after the media and Iraqi forces UNAMI to do so. According to a statement issued by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, on 4 December / December 2013, the 46 merchant who had reviewed the Liberty for this purpose have been sent back. At that prevents the sale of funds Ashraf residents, there are numerous reports confirming the occurrence of thefts from the funds of the population in Ashraf by Iraqi forces . conditions of the region and the crises of the Iranian regime and the need to step up to protect the Liberty is what makes the protection of residents of Liberty and fundamental rights is essential multiplier is a fragile situation and lean experienced by the Iranian regime, which made ​​the elimination of opposition organization in priority absolute. Due to the above, we call on the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Council Security Council to take their into consideration at a meeting of the UN Security Council on March 27 / March as part of their duties specified which prevent the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity and the crime of Alginoseid (genocide), as well as in the framework of the international responsibility to protect (Artopa) the following actions: - refer Crime against humanity that were committed in the first of September in Ashraf to the International Criminal Court and immediate action for the release of hostages abducted from Ashraf. - population transfer immediately to the United States and the European Union at least temporarily, and to ensure the protection of all residents, while the transfer of the last person to whom outside Iraq. - forcing the Iraqi government to provide a minimum of ingredients Security in Liberty and lift any restrictions and limitations before the entry of food and free access to medical services and other humanitarian needs urgent. - sale of movable and immovable property of the residents in Ashraf under the supervision of the legal representative of them, Senator Robert Torricelli.

المصدر: http://www.sqqr.info/2014/03/blog-post_2326.html#ixzz2xUbKTP00

WASHINGTON: Israeli radio said a little while ago that the Israeli Prime Minister is most worried about the results of the municipal elections held today in Turkey, where the polls closed shortly before waiting for the announcement of the results this evening.

The Hebrew radio said that "Netanyahu is a more worried about the results of the municipal elections in Turkey; looking forward to it for the failure of Erdogan and the end Hakpth."

In a related context, it was considered Boaz Basmot - commentator in the newspaper "Hume Yisrael" - Turkish municipal elections "a referendum on the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, noting that Erdogan's party did not lose any election since 2002.

 The writer said in an article published by the newspaper on Sunday morning: The results of the elections will reveal - that was able to compete Erdogan - deservedly in the presidential elections to be held in August / August next.

He warned Basmot "Israel" from betting on the fall of Erdogan in the elections, saying: "Although the results of the conflict between him and the group Gulen, the Turks recall Erdogan fact that it is responsible for significant economic growth achieved by Turkey between 2002 and 2012, which exceeded the growth rates of the Turkish growth rates of any country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development " OECD".

The Basmot that Erdogan has the support of a large segment of the Turkish population, particularly among the weaker sectors, which refuses to separate religion from politics, saying that the most important sources of strength Erdogan lies in the fact that the secular opposition is weak and does not have a program comparable to the program posed by the Justice and Development Party.

المصدر: http://www.sqqr.info/2014/03/blog-post_7965.html#ixzz2xUaygJqQ

Iran continues interference in Iraq: Allawi

Iraq’s current political trend is ill and based on political sectarianism and eliminating others, Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi said in an interview with al-Tagheer TV. He warned if this policy doesn’t change Iraq will never see stability.
“This system is heading towards a dictatorial rule and Maliki has acted against all agreements. Today, he runs everything; he is the Minister of Defense, Interior, and Intelligence. This is dictatorship and a monopoly of power,” he added.
“Considering the actions taken by Maliki’s government and the military operations it is carrying out in many provinces, I don’t have a positive perspective about the future…Maliki’s government has failed in the security dossier,” he added.
“Each month over a thousand people are killed in Iraq and it is enough with all this shame,” Allawi emphasized.
Referring to Iran’s meddling the former Iraqi premier said, “The Iranian regime’s overt interference in the 2010 elections reach a climax and continues to this day. Right now this regime is trying to further meddle in Iraq’s affairs.”

Italy seeks US help for marines held in India

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has asked for US help in resolving a long-delayed court case in India against two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen.

"I thanked the US and the US government for the support that they have given us in this phase of the international discussion," Renzi said on Thursday during a joint press conference after talks with President Barack Obama.

The new Italian premier said he had also asked to be able to count on Obama for "further support" in the case, which dates back to 2012 and has been hit by a series of legal delays.

"We want the issue to be dealt with at an ever more international level," Renzi added.

As tensions have boiled, Italy last month recalled its ambassador to India and summoned the Indian ambassador to express concern at the delays in the court proceedings.

Marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused of shooting the fishermen off the coast of Kerala while they were serving as security guards on an Italian-flagged cargo ship. The pair, who have been given bail and are staying at the Italian embassy in New Delhi, say they mistook the fishing boat for a pirate vessel and only fired warning shots. In late February, India dropped plans to prosecute them under tough anti-piracy laws, but prosecutors are now re-examining what charges to bring, which could include murder. Italy insists the pair should be tried on home soil since the shootings involved an Italian-flagged vessel in what Rome insists were international waters. India asserts the killings took place in waters under its jurisdiction. The United States for its part has had strained relations with India in recent months over the US justice department's visa fraud case against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade over her employment of a domestic servant.

Source: AFP

Deaths in attack on Iraq police patrol

Eight people, including a mother and three of her children, were killed in a bomb attack in northern Baghdad. The attack on Sunday targeted a police patrol in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah in the Iraqi capital, a police source told Al Jazeera. Four policemen were also among the dead, after a sticky bomb placed under their vehicle exploded. The bloodshed began earlier on Sunday, when at least 13 people died in a suicide bombing in the city of Ramadi. The explosives were set off at a checkpoint staffed by the army and local police. According to news agency AFP, the suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives on Hauz bridge, which connects north and south Ramadi. The city originally had five bridges across the Euphrates River, but two are for the exclusive use of security forces and two are damaged beyond repair.  In the northern city of Mosul, seven soldiers were killed by gunmen who attacked an army base. The violence occurred a month before parliamentary elections, which are due to take place on April 30 and would be the first national vote since 2010.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Afghans register for polls despite attacks

Crowds queued up outside voter registration centres in Afghanistan and presidential candidates held large campaign rallies, six days ahead of elections that have been shaken by Taliban attacks. The vote, which will choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, comes as US-led foreign troops withdraw after 13 years of fighting the Taliban mainly across the south and east of the country. One Romanian soldier was killed on Sunday by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the southern province of Zabul, taking the US-led coalition death toll to 3,429 since operations began in 2001. On Saturday, the Kabul headquarters of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was attacked when five Taliban fighters occupied a nearby building and unleashed rockets and gunfire towards the fortified compound. All five attackers were killed by Afghan security forces six hours after the attack began. There were no other casualties. 'Our responsibility' "Our vote is our responsibility, people want change and we will bring that change through voting," said Abdul Waris Sadat, a 21-year-old student waiting with several hundred people for hours outside a voter registration centre in Kabul. "The attacks by the Taliban have motivated people to come to this centre, register and vote," he said, according to the AFP news agency. "This is only answer that they give to the Taliban." Rassoul Khurami, a 60 year-old shopkeeper, added: "I know my vote counts, and this time even if I get killed I will go and vote, I'm not scared of Taliban threats." According to the latest IEC figures, nearly 3.7 million new voters have registered for Saturday's presidential and provincial council elections. Afghan officials, the United Nations and foreign donor nations have struck a defiant note ahead of the vote after recent attacks on IEC centres, Kabul's most prestigious hotel and a guesthouse run by a US-based anti-landmine charity. "Thousands of people are queuing every day behind IEC offices to get voter cards, showing strength and determination that nothing will stop us," said interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi. Campaign trail Former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani and Karzai loyalist Zalmai Rassoul held rallies in the northwestern province of Herat on Sunday, while Abdullah Abdullah, who came second in the 2009 vote, campaigned in the southern province of Kandahar. "We will be victorious in this election - not through fraud, but based on the votes of the people," Abdullah told thousands of flag-waving supporters. "These attacks cannot stop the people of Afghanistan, who want to have the election." Rassoul is widely seen as Karzai's favoured candidate, and Ghani has drawn big crowds to his rallies, but the two could split the Pashtun ethnic vote while Abdullah retains strong support from non-Pashtun communities.

Source: AFP

Japan frees longest-held death row inmate

Court orders retrial of Iwao Hakamada, convicted in 1966 for multiple murders, after DNA analysis of evidence.

Hideko, Hakamada's sister, along with his supporters have long contested court evidence [Reuters]

 

 

A man believed to be the world's longest-serving death row inmate walked free from jail after decades in solitary confinement, in a rare about-face for Japan's rigid justice system.  A slightly unsteady-looking Iwao Hakamada, 78, emerged from the Tokyo prison with his campaigning sister after Shizuoka District Court in central Japan ordered a fresh trial over the 1966 murder of his boss and the man's family.  Delivering his ruling, presiding judge Hiroaki Murayama cited possible planting of evidence by investigators to win a conviction as they sought to bring closure to a crime that shocked the country. "There is possibility that [key pieces of] evidence have been fabricated by investigative bodies," Murayama said in his decision, according to Jiji Press. The judge also ordered Hakamada's release, saying continued confinement "goes against justice". Hakamada initially denied accusations that he robbed and killed his boss, the man's wife and two children before setting their house ablaze. But the former boxer, who worked for a bean paste maker, later confessed following what he subsequently claimed was a brutal police interrogation that included beatings. He retracted his confession, but to no avail, and the Supreme Court confirmed his death sentence in 1980. Doubts over evidence Prosecutors and courts had used blood-stained clothes, which emerged a year after the crime and Hakamada's arrest, as key evidence to convict him. The clothes did not fit him, his supporters said. Later DNA tests found no link between Hakamada, the clothes and the blood stains, lawyers argued. Apart from the United States, Japan is the only major industrialised democracy to carry out capital punishment, a practice that has led to repeated protests from European governments and human rights groups. The decision to retry Hakamada came as Amnesty International issued its annual review of reported executions worldwide, which showed Japan killed eight inmates in 2013, the ninth-largest national tally in the world. Nearly 130 others are also believed to be on death row. Amnesty, which has championed Hakamada's cause and says he is the world's longest-serving death row detainee, called on prosecutors to respect the court's decision. "It would be most callous and unfair of prosecutors to appeal the court's decision," said Roseann Rife, the organisation's East Asia research director. Japan has a conviction rate of around 99 percent and claims of heavy-handed police interrogations persist under a long-held belief that a confession is a standard of guilt.

Source: Agencies

Spanish journalists home after Syria ordeal

Two Spanish journalists freed after being held hostage for more than six months in Syria by a rogue al-Qaeda group have returned home to an emotional welcome from friends and colleagues.

Veteran reporter Javier Espinosa, Middle East bureau chief of El Mundo newspaper, and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, a freelance photographer, arrived in Madrid aboard a Spanish government executive jet, less than 24 hours after calling from Turkey to say they were out of captivity and safe.

"Pure happiness," wrote Espinosa's girlfriend, the journalist Monica Garcia Prieto, on Twitter early on Sunday, without giving further details.

"Their relatives are feeling excitement and joy because this puts an end to a nightmare that has lasted six months," a spokesman for their families, Gervasio Sanchez, told AFP news agency.

Espinosa and Vilanova were seized on September 16 as they tried to cross the Syrian border to Turkey and were the latest of scores of journalists captured while covering Syria's civil war.

There was no immediate word on Sunday on whether any demands were made by their kidnappers or any ransom paid.

The Spanish Defence Ministry told AFP a military aeroplane bringing the two journalists back from Turkey was scheduled to land in Madrid about 4:00 pm (14:00 GMT).

El Mundo identified the captors as members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL] a faction in Syria with roots in al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate.

The group has fought against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, but has also been battling other rebel groups.

The newspaper had kept the kidnapping quiet until December while it contacted the captors via intermediaries. It said at that time the kidnappers had made no demands.

"It has been a hard few months. We knew the wait would be long but you never get used to it," said the director of El Mundo's international pages, Ana Alonso Montes, on Sunday.

"You never know when the moment of liberation will come, although we never doubted it would," she told national radio.

Reporting Syrian bloodshed

Award-winning reporter Espinosa has been a Middle East correspondent for El Mundo since 2002 and is based in Beirut.

Like Vilanova, he has covered some of the most dangerous points in the Syrian conflict, including the siege of Homs in February 2012.

On February 22 he escaped that bloodbath in which human rights groups said 700 people were killed and thousands injured, and made it back to Lebanon a week later.

Among those killed in Homs were two other Western journalists: US reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.

Espinosa wrote of his escape from the city, under fire among a crowd of wounded refugees, in compelling reportage published in March 2013.

"We believe the Syrian people need our work, and that we must live up to our responsibility," said Prieto, who is also a prize-winning journalist, in December. An online forum that frequently features statements from jihadists had also called on the fighters to free the two. The Honein jihadist forum said the two journalists were a "good hand for advocating our issues in Iraq and Syria, and carrying the silenced truth". Garcia Vilanova has contributed to AFP and other world media such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. Media rights group Reporters Without Borders ranks Syria as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. A third Spanish journalist seized separately in Syria in September, Marc Marginedas, a correspondent for the Catalan daily El Periodico, was freed early this month. French, US and Syrian journalists are among the others still missing in Syria.

Source: AFP