By Jim Lobe

The Syrian independence flag flies over a large gathering of protesters in Idlib. Credit: Freedom House/cc by 2.0

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 2013 (IPS) – Despite U.S. and Western pressure on the opposition to take part in U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the two-and-a-half-year-old Syrian civil war, most experts here believe the rebels are unlikely to show up any time soon. And even if they do, the results will be unlikely to change much of anything on the ground.

The so-called “Geneva 2” negotiations, which are aimed at reaching an agreement on a political transition to eventually replace President Bashar Al-Assad, are supposed to take place toward the end of next month.

“Today, Geneva 2 is a figleaf designed to conceal the fact that most Western countries are coming to the conclusion that they don’t want to see any side win.” — Joshua Landis

But analysts here believe the disarray within the opposition and its increasingly apparent inability to represent rebel factions — particularly radical Islamist factions, two of the most prominent of which are linked to Al-Qaeda and have always rejected international negotiations designed to end the conflict — that are leading the actual fighting on the ground could make the conference irrelevant, if it indeed takes place.

“More and more, the armed groups on the ground are renouncing ties to the political opposition and are explicitly opposed to a Geneva conference,” Mona Yacoubian, a Middle East specialist at the Stimson Centre, told IPS here.

“It’s very difficult to assert that holding it within the next six weeks is a realistic alternative, but it’s also a very important goal to work toward understanding that there really are no appealing alternatives in the face of a situation on the ground that continues to get worse,” she said.

Indeed, with well over 100,000 people estimated to have been killed and another two million who have sought refuge in neighboring countries, the increasingly sectarian conflict in Syria appears more and more intractable, even as the Assad government appears to be cooperating with U.N. efforts that got underway last month to destroy its formidable chemical arsenal.

“We are at a stalemate, and anybody who looks at this objectively today sees that Syria is being effectively partitioned,” according to Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma and publisher of the widely read Syria Comment blog.

While Assad continues to rule over the western and southern half of the country, the north and east are being run by various rebel militias – some of which find themselves increasingly in conflict with each other.

Kurdish militias have gained control of the country’s northeastern corner, although recent clashes between them and radical Islamist factions – many of them dominated by foreign fighters – have sent thousands of refugees over the border to Iraqi Kurdistan.

“Today, Geneva 2 is a figleaf designed to conceal the fact that most Western countries are coming to the conclusion that they don’t want to see any side win,” Landis told IPS. “And, rather than say we don’t want to see a winner, they’re looking for a political solution, but that will be extremely difficult to broker.”

Syria’s deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, said Thursday during a visit to Moscow that the talks should take place Nov. 23-24, but his Russian hosts, who, along with Washington, have been pushing hard for the conference to take place, declined to endorse those dates.

Echoing Landis, Jamil, who, despite his government post, has insisted he will take part in negotiations as part of the opposition, stressed that the conflict has reached a “military and political dead end.” The negotiations, he said, offered a “way out for everyone: the Americans, Russia, the Syrian regime and the opposition.”

Opposition backers in the region – most importantly, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar — had hoped that a chemical attack against rebel positions in suburban Damascus that Washington claimed killed more than 1,400 people would trigger a U.S. and Western military intervention that would shift the balance of power on the battlefield decisively in the rebels’ favour.

But when that failed to materialise – due both to the clear reluctance of President Barack Obama to involve the U.S. in yet another Middle Eastern civil war and unexpectedly strong public opposition, as well as the 11th-hour agreement between the U.S. and Russia, Assad’s most important external backer, on a U.N. plan to dismantle Damascus’ chemical arsenal – those hopes evaporated.

Indeed, by recognising and even praising Assad’s cooperation in dismantling his weapons, the U.S. appears to have boosted the Syrian president’s diplomatic position even as it continues to insist publicly that his replacement by a transitional government with full executive powers remains the goal of the Geneva negotiations.

But, according to a new report released Thursday by the International Crisis Group (ICG), the most credible political opposition that could take part in the talks, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, lacks sufficient influence inside Syria to truly represent the various rebel factions, including even those who are not tied to Al-Qaeda.

Described by the ICG as a “hodgepodge of exiles, intellectuals and secular dissidents bereft of a genuine political constituency, as well as Muslim Brothers geographically detached from their natural base,” the Coalition, like its regional backers, had relied heavily on Western military intervention similar to that which eventually overthrew the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

But “(f)or the Obama administration, such direct military intervention never appears truly to have been in the cards,” according to the report. “Instead it saw the priority as getting the opposition to unite and present a more broadly appealing vision of the post-Assad future.”

“In contrast, the opposition saw value in those tasks … only insofar as they were accompanied by substantially more Western support. Washington waited for the opposition to improve itself; the opposition waited for Washington to empower it. Both shared the goal of a Syria without Assad, but neither developed a strategy to achieve the goal that took account of the other’s constraints, triggering a cycle of frustration and mistrust that discredited the political opposition and Western governments alike in the eyes of the uprising’s rank and file.”

Even more damaging, according to the report, has been the lack of coordination among its regional supporters which in turn helped spur the rise of extremist groups – most of them financed by private funding from the Gulf states — within the rebel ranks. The Supreme Military Council (SMC), which is represented in the Coalition and has become the recipient of most humanitarian and military aid and training provided by Western countries, including the U.S., “enjoys scant leverage on the ground,” according to the report.

Instead of creating a new group, however, the Coalition’s foreign backers should urgently improve their coordination, especially on the military front; press Gulf states and Turkey to curb private support for radical groups; and urge the Coalition to focus more on providing basic services and strengthening activist networks in rebel-held areas — in part to better challenge and confront jihadi groups – and on “reaching internal consensus on workable negotiation parameters” for the Geneva track which “remains the best hope for ending the war.”

“I assume Assad will send someone to Geneva, and the Coalition will, too, because no one wants America to blame them for boycotting,” Landis said. “But it will all be a fig leaf for what is becoming the de facto partition of Syria, because that’s what’s happening on the ground.”

Jim Lobe’s blog on U.S. foreign policy can be read at Lobelog.com.

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By Yasmine Saleh

Posters of Army Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are seen as supporters of the army protest against ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood at the tomb of late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, during the 40th anniversary of Egypt’s attack on Israeli forces in the 1973 war, at Cairo’s Nasr City district, October 6, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

CAIRO (Reuters) – Anxious over months of turmoil in Egypt, military officers are pushing popular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to run for president, after a 2011 popular uprising had inspired hopes for democratic change in a country long dominated by generals.

Sisi ousted Egypt’s first freely-elected president, Mohamed Mursi, the man who appointed him, in July after mass protests against the Islamist leader’s rule.

Since then Egypt, whose political transition has repeatedly stumbled, has been rocked by near-daily protests, bombings and clashes in which hundreds have died in the worst civil violence in the nation’s modern history.

A military man back in power would alarm international human rights groups and Western allies such as the United States, and raise the prospect of more violence by Sisi’s foes.

“In accordance with international law, we view any process undertaken after the coup as illegitimate and unrepresentative of the Egyptian people,” said Salma Ali, a media relations officer in London for Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Senior military officers have over the past three months told Sisi of their fears about the political upheaval in a series of meetings, army sources said.

“We told him that we need to maintain stability. He is needed for Egypt and the people love him and want him. Besides, who else can run but him? There is no one else as popular as him,” said one army officer, who asked not to be named.

President Hosni Mubarak, a former air force commander, often cited “stability” as a concern as he crushed dissent for 30 years until his fall. He threw opponents in jail, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists.

The anti-Mubarak revolt, led by liberal activists joined by Islamists, had raised hopes of civilian democracy after six decades of rule by military men. But the army, which installed a government after Mursi’s fall, is running the show again.

Since the military takeover, human rights groups have accused security forces of widespread abuses. Hundreds of Islamists have been killed in protests and clashes and thousands jailed, including Mursi and other Brotherhood leaders.

But the measures have failed to end unrest, and attacks by Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula near Israel have risen sharply since Mursi’s downfall. The turmoil has hammered tourism and investment in the most populous Arab state.

SISI MANIA

Yet Sisi has emerged as a popular figure. Posters of him with past Egyptian military heroes who became presidents are ubiquitous. Chocolate bars molded to his likeness and jewelry carrying his image are sold on the streets.

Many Egyptians believe Sisi would win if he ran for the presidency.

An army major said he and many of his colleagues back Sisi.

“We disagree in politics all the time. We had different views under Mubarak and under Mursi but now we are unified on Sisi,” he said.

In media interviews, Sisi has sent mixed signals on whether he would run, first saying he does not seek power, and more recently keeping the possibility open.

Several military officers interviewed by Reuters noted that Sisi has become more receptive to the idea over the past month.

“Before he used to say ‘No way’. Now he says ‘Let’s wait and see… If that’s what the country needs and the people want, we can’t let them down’,” another senior officer said.

“Until now he has not given a direct answer about whether he would run but we can tell he is listening to us and not dismissing the idea.”

PROMISES OF DEMOCRACY

Sisi appeared on national television the night he toppled Mursi on July 3 and announced a political roadmap designed to bring elections by early next year.

The interim government chose a 50-member committee to re-write a constitution that was passed by a referendum last year.

The army, which has a representative on the committee, has pressed for special privileges for the armed forces, such as the power to choose the defense minister, committee members say.

Sisi, the former head of Mubarak’s military intelligence, has said he would stay out of the state’s affairs. But he regularly meets with leading Egyptian and Arab officials.

“I’m worried about a possible army return to power given the signs I’m seeing on the streets. The army will either run (a candidate) directly or back a candidate,” said human rights activist Gamal Eid, describing Sisi as a “real politician”.

When Egypt celebrated the October 6 war anniversary, it was Sisi, not the interim president, who addressed Egyptians. In an impassioned speech he promised to make Egypt a world leader, during a ceremony reminiscent of those held in the Mubarak era.

“Don’t you think that will happen? It will. But that needs patience and loyal work,” said Sisi, seen weeping as he listened to patriotic songs.

Although Egyptians elected Mursi, many became disillusioned with the Muslim Brotherhood during his one-year rule. Mursi was accused of seeking sweeping powers, sidelining opponents and mismanaging the economy, allegations his Brotherhood denies.

Many people see the military as the only option. Liberals and leftists are deeply divided and weak and have failed to establish an effective grassroots presence. Some have even said they would endorse Sisi as president.

A youth and liberal activists campaign said it had collected 15 million signatures for petitions urging Sisi to run for president.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a prominent activist who spent several years in jail under Mubarak, endorsed the campaign and described Sisi as Egypt’s “savior from darkness”.

Although the number of signatures could not be verified, Sisi’s popularity is palpable on the streets.

“I love Sisi. He is my president whether he runs or not. He is young, tough and also religious. He is like all Egyptians in one,” said Mona Ahmed, a 63-year-old housewife.

Sisi, 58, is often compared to army officer-turned- president Gamal Abdel Nasser, a popular nationalist who toppled the British-backed monarchy in 1952.

“The army does not want power and neither does General Sisi, but for the sake of Egypt, its national security and stability at this critical stage, compromises need to be taken and tough decisions need to be made,” another army officer said.

“If the people want that and there is no other option but for General Sisi to run, then he should do it.”

(Writing by Michael Georgy; editing by Alistair Lyon and Tom Pfeiffer)

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By Staff reporter

L to R, Hassan Muhammad, senior at Plymouth Canton High school, Ahmed Abbas, a WSU student, Faisal Chaudhry, a senior from Rochester Hills, in serious discussion with Cong. Keith Ellison. In the back is Dawood Zwink talking to another student, Atif Aslam.

Dr. Muzammil Ahmed, secretary of the Michigan Muslim Democratic Caucus and his wife Asra Ahmed held a fundraising event on October 18 for Congressman Keith Ellison, the US representative for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. The event took place at their spacious and beautiful home in Canton-MI.

About 55 people, mainly community activists and organizational leaders attended the event, but the notable feature was the presence of a good number of youths.

Following a short introduction and description of the purpose of the meeting, Dr. Muzammil Ahmed asked people to introduce themselves.

Some of the prominent people in attendance were: Dr. Basha, Victor Begg, Dawood Zwink, Dr. Mahmood Hai, Dr. Iltefat Hamzavi, Farhan Lateef, Muqtedar Khan, Amina Iqbal, and others.

Addressing the gathering, especially the youths, Congressman Ellison spoke on youth empowerment. He said, “For the community’s effective representation, participation of our youths is paramount.”

And that political participation begins at the local level. We can make a difference by being involved in local school boards and other zoning boards.

One of the effective ways of conveying our concerns on any issue is by calling lawmakers’ offices or the White House. Most of the lawmakers go through their daily call log by 4:00 PM. According to the congressman, the least effective method of influencing congress was by sending email, especially forwarding mass emails.

We also need to organize ourselves to be effective. Giving the example of AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) he said they have a representative in every one of 435 Congressional Districts. They are well organized and hence they are powerful.

Ellison emphasized the importance of community research work as carried out by ISPU.

Addressing other issues he said, “Faith is not a club” and he talked about our belief in one true God.

On foreign policies, he expressed his disappointment for the current administration’s ineffectiveness and lack of clear policies on Syria. He chided the UN on being so ineffective, and gave the example of Rwanda where 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were killed, many hacked to death by machetes, without intervention. This genocide occurred with impunity over time and the UN and US did nothing to stop it.

Discussing Pakistan, he said that the greatest thing that has happened to Pakistan is its democratic process. There might be flaws but this is a good step forward. And if the Pakistani Americans want to contribute to Pakistan, they should direct their efforts in increasing the literacy in Pakistan. The congressman showed his concerns about the high level of illiteracy in Pakistan.

On Detroit’s bankruptcy, his view was that it is not a failure of either Republicans or Democrats.  There are other social and especially economic factors at work. Everyone living in Detroit has to pool their strength and resources to pull Detroit out of this quagmire. Other cities have done it and he said he saw no reason why Detroit wouldn’t be able do it.

Following the lively question and answer session and the meeting adjournment, Ellison spent time meeting and discussing individual concerns on issues, continuing to work with those present until 11PM despite his busy calendar of obligations.

Mrs. Amina Iqbal contributed to this report.

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Arnoud van Doorn, right, poses before the Kaaba in Mecca Mukarramah.

Arnoud van Doorn, a former member of the Dutch right-wing Freedom Party and producer of anti-Islam and blasphemous movie ‘Fitna’, has performed Haj this year after converting to Islam.
He also plans to produce a pro-Islam film on the teachings of holy Prophet Muhammad (s), the Saudi Arabia daily Okaz reported.

After arriving in the holy city of Makkah, he said now he was living as one of the most pleasant persons, and he will produce another film about the morals of the Holy Prophet (s).
Van Doorn said he found in Islam what he was yearning for and what he had missed in his former life (before converting to Islam).

He said he came to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, and to seek forgiveness of the Almighty Allah for his previous sins.

“It was not the first time I had visited the holy land, as I had been here in February this year to perform Umrah”, he said, adding that, he had found the comfort and peace of mind near the tomb of the Holy Prophet (s) in holy city of Madinah.

File:  Arnoud, left, helps to prepare the Qiswa which drapes the Holy Kaaba.

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Larouchepac

In the clearest voice ever beyond the country’s own borders, Pakistan has demanded immediate stopping of drone attacks inside its borders. Although the Obama Administration refuses to admit it, hundreds of innocent Pakistanis have been killed by U.S. drones. As Pakistan bears the brunt of targeted killings through foreign powers’ drone strikes, even as it publicly denounces the drone campaign upon its sovereign territory and integrity, there are public rumors of tacit understandings, and the U.S. government interprets the Pakistani lack of response to the planned drone strikes as tacit consent for the program. It seems that has now come to an end.

On Sept. 19, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Masood Khan raised the issue of American drone strikes in its tribal regions at the UN Security Council, calling for the strikes’ cessation and seeking “urgent” talks to resolve the problem. “Drone strikes infringe [on] our sovereignty, violate international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law, cause civilian casualties, and are detrimental to the combined efforts to fight terrorism.”

Will it go further?

On July 14, Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, wrote an op-ed in the national news daily, the Express Tribune, laying out the steps that Pakistan must take: “As a member of the Security Council, Pakistan can move the Council to deliberate in open session and debate the question of legitimacy of drones being used in areas not in armed conflict in locations situated in third countries without sovereign sanction and if the perpetrators cite that the above-stated criteria are in compliance, force the lack of compliance upon accountability and the lack of aftermath reportage by the said states using drones, thereby initiating a process of accountability to be submitted for clearance before the Security Council on a regular basis.

“More substantially, it can move for strictures on violation of Article 51 of the UN Charter to consolidate interest in the above points and use it to obtain a detailed acceptable international settlement upon these outstanding issues. Even if any Permanent member of the UN vetoes any resolution, a fair evaluation shall emerge for the record and the resultant debate content may be used substantially as cause and grounds before the [International Court of Justice] ICJ,” Ambassador Haroon wrote.

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By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

The Sacramento Kings have named Shareef Abdur-Rahim general manager of their NBA Developmental League (D-League) affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, the team announced in a press release. Abdur-Rahim played 12 seasons in the NBA, including three with the Kings from 2005 to 2008. Abdur-Rahim is entering his fourth season in the Kings front office, where he served the previous three as Assistant General Manager after spending the 2009-10 season on the Kings bench as an assistant coach specializing in player development.

Abdur-Rahim will keep his title as Director of Player Personnel with the Kings while also running the D-League team. This past July, the Kings were announced as the exclusive affiliate of the Bighorns. The Kings will be in charge of basketball operations, while local ownership in Reno will handle community and business operations.

Abdur-Rahim was a standout player in Atlanta, Georgia during his high school days. He left the deep south to go to University of California, Berkeley where he played for one year before entering the 1996 NBA Draft. He was the third overall selection in the 1996 draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies.

In 2001 he was traded by the Grizzlies in a draft-day deal to the Atlanta Hawks for the draft rights to Spanish forward Pau Gasol. Abdur-Rahim put up some good numbers for some bad Atlanta teams before joining the Portland Trail Blazers. He then went on to join his last team, the Sacramento Kings. Abdur-Rahim was named an NBA All-Star in the 2001–02 season. He also played on the United States men’s national basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Prior to joining the Kings, Abdur-Rahim had the dubious distinction of holding the NBA record for most number of games played without making a playoff appearance. Following an accumulation injuries, Abdur-Rahim retired from his playing career on September 22, 2008.

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[Mary Scott Nabers]: Water is quickly becoming a precious resource. Many regions of the country have been asked to predict how long they can continue to provide drinking water to residents if the current drought situation continues. At the same time, public officials are struggling with immediate needs to repair and/or replace water infrastructure systems. America’s water resource problems, and the costs associated with them, are alarming to say the least.

A recent report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the current state of America’s wastewater and drinking water systems a grade of D based on long-neglected infrastructure needs. The nation’s drinking-water and wastewater systems are nearing the end of their useful lives.

Estimates for costs related to renewal vary, but the projections are extremely high. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates the most minimum repair cost is $335 billion for fresh water and $298 billion for wastewater. The American Water Worker’s Association says that the cost will be closer to $1 trillion for each over the next 25 years.

The staggering scope of the repair is not just the result of aging; it is increased because of new regulations, population shifts to areas of the nation where water is a more costly commodity and population growth throughout the country.

As cities and municipalities wrestle with issues related to water, Congress may provide some financial assistance. One bill offering funding relief, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2013, is currently stalled in Congress, but most believe the bill will pass. If so, it will provide funding for critical water initiatives in the form of loans and grants.

Another bill, Senate bill 601: Water Resources Development Act of 2013, creates a pilot program whereby public officials can get assistance in assessing various financing tools for infrastructure repairs and upgrades. This bill has made it through the Senate, and the House is currently drafting components to be combined with the original legislation.

Other funding options include the EB5 Programs, Social Impact Bonds and tax-free bonds. There is also an abundance of funding available from private-sector partners and both government and union pension programs if elected officials decide to engage in public-private partnerships.

The City of Chula Vista, California, will take part in the San Diego County Water Authority’s pipeline relining program. This program has existed since the early 1990s and is designed to rehabilitate and extend the life of about 82 miles of aging water delivery pipelines. About 34 miles of pipe have been relined to date. The relining of aging pipes is said to have very little environmental impact and it protects water delivery systems while extending the life span of the pipes.

Miami-Dade County, Florida, issued a consent decree calling for the repair and rehabilitation of sewer facilities county-wide. The projected cost is approximately $1.6 billion and that total will include capital improvements for project management, design, permitting, procurement and construction. This decree was made after a number of aging pipelines failed and the county had to deal with sewer overflows.

The nation’s water issues will create thousands of contracting opportunities for private-sector firms and the timeline will be short. Public officials will move quickly to launch large water projects once they see a clear path to funding. Kicking this problem down the road is no longer an option.

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By Noor H. Salem

The media seemed to wind down on the bizarre events of Egypt, but Wayne State University Students are not giving up on the right to democracy. The WSU MSA students and the Egyptian Students Association at WSU are putting together a three day event to protest for peace in Egypt in Rabaa.

Day 1 is a Rally for Rabaa around the Wayne State University campus on Monday October 21st from 11:30AM until 1:00PM. Students from all over Michigan are coming down to WSU to join the rally. That includes students from University of Michigan-Dearborn, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Michigan State University, Henry Ford Community College and Oakland University. This rally is expected to be a big event but it’s only the beginning.

Day 2 is a seminar and panel focusing on the theme: What is Rabaa Square?/Are You Ready to Make History?. It will be held on Tuesday October 22nd from 3:00PM until 6:00PM in the Kresge Auditorium at WSU.  This panel is for all students on campus that are not aware of the current situation in Egypt or even for those who are aware but are seeking more information with a truth seal. Speakers will begin by explaining what Rabaa is and how it started. They will also inform the students how the events in Egypt are affecting us as American citizens today. 

Day 3 will be on Saturday October 26th from 11:00AM until 4:00PM in the Keast Commons at WSU. The third day event will run longer than the first two and is aiming to let the knowledge put to action. Now that students heard enough about #Rabaa square of Egypt, where military’s armed forces killed thousands of peaceful protesters, it’s the time to experience Rabaa in Detroit. Demonstrations, marches, sit-ins, exhibits, Rabaa music and poetry, speeches, games, and much more are on the agenda for this day, considering it the ultimate Rabaa Experience!

Check out the flyer for more information regarding the dates and times.

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