Pak will pay for Jammu attack: Sitharaman

Pak will pay for Jammu attack: DM
Sitharaman said that Ministry of Defence is likely to move Supreme Court over FIR against army major in connection with Shopian killings.

IANS/ YOGESH SAGOTRA
Jammu, Publish Date: Feb 13 2018

Pak will pay for Jammu attack: DM GK Photo

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said militants who killed five soldiers and a civilian at Sunjwan Military Station in Jammu were Pakistanis and warned that Pakistan will have to pay for the attack. "Pakistan will have to pay for this misadventure," Sitharaman told reporters here. The deaths of "our soldiers won't go in vain".

The minister was in Jammu to take stock of the situation at the Sunjuwan Army camp which was stormed by three heavily armed militants on Saturday morning.

The operation was called off on Monday morning after the three attackers were killed. A fourth one, she said, may have been a guide and didn't enter the military base.

Sitharaman said the three slain militants were all Pakistanis and were handled by their Jaish-e-Muhammad leaders across the border. "The demography of the cantonment and the adjoining area indicates the possibility of local support to the militants."

The Minister asserted that evidences related to Jaish's involvement in the attack would be shared with Pakistan. "Giving evidence to Pakistan is a continuous process. It will have to be proved over and over again that they are responsible."

She said giving evidence to Pakistan would not prevent the Indian Army from responding "appropriately and at a time we deem fit".

She said, “JeM module which conducted the attack may have infiltrated sometime back and there is a possibility of them having enjoyed local support before the final operation.”

“Militants had chosen to attack a military station, which houses both troops and families of the Indian Army,” she said.

“An alert had been sounded on the likelihood of militant attack around this period. Accordingly, Quick Reaction Teams (QRT) were positioned in vulnerable areas. It was assessed that militants may target softer elements, hence a QRT was also positioned at the Sunjwan family accommodation,” she added.

The Defence Minister said the intrusion of the militants inside the Cantonment was promptly detected by the sentry and challenged by the nearest available QRT, leading to a brief exchange of fire. This immediate action compelled the militants to split into single individuals thereby preventing a coordinated strike. “The scattered militants then rushed towards their pre-designated target of the family quarters and occupied some of the accommodation blocks. They were then isolated. Since the militants were dressed in battle fatigues and had similar appearance to their possible target victims, the operation had to be done deliberately to eliminate the possibility of any mistaken identity or collateral damage,” she added.

Earlier, the Minister undertook an aerial survey of the Army station and visited the Army Hospital in Jammu city where those injured in the attack are being treated.

ASSURES SUPPORT TO ARMY MAJOR: 

Meanwhile, Sitharaman said that Ministry of Defence is likely to move Supreme Court over FIR against army major in connection with Shopian killings.

“Father of the Major got stay for 15 days against FIR from the Supreme Court. We have to see how it goes," she said. “We stand by with our soliders and army,” she said, adding, “If they have performed something in line of duty it has to be contextualized.”

“Responding in the Supreme Court against FIR is subject to verification but MoD will possibly have to respond,” she added.

Election Losses Test Sri Lanka’s Leader, and the Country’s Direction

ASIA PACIFIC
Election Losses Test Sri Lanka’s Leader, and the Country’s Direction
By MUJIB MASHAL and DHARISHA BASTIANSFEB. 11, 2018

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Local elections across Sri Lanka on Saturday were supposed to be about small issues, like installing street lighting for some neighborhoods and improving garbage sweeping in others.

But the country’s first postwar national government has stagnated, with the governing coalition partners at each other’s throats. Suddenly, the local vote has become a referendum on the national government’s performance.

And, to an extent, the results of the elections may signal what direction the island nation takes in its still-fragile transition from decades of a civil war that killed as many as 100,000 people before it ended in 2009.

The results trickling in on Sunday made it clear that opposition party candidates, led by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, were close to sweeping the local councils. They put Mr. Rajapaksa — a former strongman accused of human rights abuses and corruption who brutally crushed the Tamil insurgency before the war ended — once again at the center of the country’s political future.

Mr. Rajapaksa, speaking from his hometown, Tangalle, congratulated his supporters and asked them to celebrate their victory peacefully. Some members of his party went so far as to say that the “people have abolished the mandate” of the governing coalition and called on the government to resign.

“The victory is a clear indication that Sri Lankans are fed up of inaction and want to rebuild Sri Lanka,” Mr. Rajapaksa said on his Facebook page.

Analysts warned that a resounding victory by Mr. Rajapaksa’s party — the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (the Sri Lanka People’s Front, or S.L.P.P.) — would have broader consequences than simply weakening the government of President Maithripala Sirisena, which has two years left.

Mr. Sirisena came to power in 2015 with the help of an unlikely coalition of minority groups and as the face of Sri Lankans’ hope that power would be decentralized, the military and corruption would be reined in, and some of the country’s wounds from the long war would be healed.

But he has not delivered on his promises. And now, critics say, his party’s apparently miserable performance in the local elections — against opponents accused of corruption and abuse — means that the president has missed his chance to carry out his reform agenda.

“This election has made it clear that that window has been closed,” said Jayadeva Uyangoda, former head of the political science department of the University of Colombo. “It’s very difficult to open that window again.”

Mr. Sirisena has led an uneasy coalition government, which he established with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe’s United National Party in 2015. As the local elections neared, the differences between the two leaders spilled out into the open, with the president frequently attacking United and accusing it of holding back his agenda.

That bickering ended up helping Mr. Rajapaksa, who had never stopped mobilizing in the wings.

“Over the past two years, the coalition government did not do anything significantly new,” Mr. Uyangoda said.

“They had very open disunity, and particularly during the last month of the election campaign, the signal they sent was that this is a government of chaos,” he said. “Obviously, the people then want a strong government. And Rajapaksa is the candidate for a strong ruler, for the stability of governance.”

While the voting on Saturday went smoothly in a country that has experienced violent elections, the Election Commission was slow to release results, as parties demanded recounts in many localities.

The results released so far, and information broadcast by the local news media, suggested that out of 341 local councils total, Mr. Rajapaksa’s S.L.P.P. won 225, the United National Party won 41, and Mr. Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party, or S.L.F.P., along with smaller allies, got 14.

For the first time in the country’s history, Sri Lanka required parties to field at least 25 percent female candidates in the elections, hoping the quota would increase the number of women on local councils, where they hold just 2 percent of seats.

Although the impact of the quota was not immediately clear, some neighborhoods reported increased victories by women. Colombo, the capital city, was expected to get its first female mayor after electing Rosy Senanayake, the current deputy head of the prime minister’s office and a former winner of the Mrs. World Pageant.

“It should be 50 percent women, really,” said Dulani Paranawithana, 20, a first-time voter. “But that is difficult to imagine.”

Both governing parties were in soul-searching mode, struggling to figure out their next moves and make changes in time to make sure Mr. Rajapaksa’s party does not ride discontent with the government to victory in the presidential election in 2019. Coalition members were clear that both ruling parties were facing a wave that would be difficult to reverse.

Members of Mr. Sirisena’s team said the president would shake up his cabinet in the coming days.

“This election is a setback, but the majority of Sri Lanka is still anti-Rajapaksa,” said Rajitha Senaratne, Mr. Sirisena’s health minister. “This election has shown that despite everything, the January 8, 2015, coalition, which changed the political culture in this country and ousted the Rajapaksa regime, has remained intact.”

Mr. Seanartne said the election results showed that the combined votes of all other parties, which essentially joined hands in 2015 to defeat Mr. Rajapaksa, were still more than Mr. Rajapaksa’s party’s.

But it was not clear how Mr. Sirisena, long seen a political survivor, could emerge from this political bind.

For decades, he and Mr. Rajapaksa were both S.L.F.P. loyalists, and Mr. Sirisena served as the party’s general secretary for 13 years. In 2015, Mr. Sirisena left the party to run against his own incumbent leader, projecting himself as a unifier above party politics, but soon after becoming president, he took over the party leadership, as well.

Mr. Rajapaska’s wing of the party then formed a new party, the S.L.P.P. In hopes of peeling away some of Mr. Rajapaksa’s support, Mr. Sirisena has backtracked on his own promises of fighting corruption and reining in the military.

To many observers, Saturday’s elections showed that not only had Mr. Sirisena failed to make a dent in Mr. Rajapaksa’s support base, but his confused signals had cost him much of his own.

A version of this article appears in print on February 12, 2018, on Page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: Local Election Losses Send A Warning in Sri Lanka. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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ஈழம் சிறிதாகிவிட்டது- மஹிந்த

வடக்கு- கிழக்கில் ஆதிக்கம் செலுத்திவந்த தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பிற்கு இம்முறை பாரிய வீழ்ச்சி ஏற்பட்டுள்ளதை சுட்டிக்காட்டும் வகையில் ஈழம் சிறியதாகிவிட்டது என முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதி மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

மஹிந்த தலைமையிலான ஸ்ரீலங்கா பொதுஜன பெரமுனவின் வெற்றியை தொடர்ந்து கொழும்பில் இன்று (திங்கட்கிழமை) நடைபெற்ற ஊடகவியலாளர் சந்திப்பின்போதே அவர் இவ்வாறு குறிப்பிட்டார்.

மேலும், இத்தேர்தலின் மூலம் வடக்கு கிழக்கில் தமிழ் மக்கள் மத்தியிலும் தனக்கு ஆதரவு கிட்டியுள்ளமை மகிழ்ச்சியளிப்பதாகவும் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

Inside Oxfam's 'Caligula orgy villa

Inside Oxfam's 'Caligula orgy villa': Luxury £1,200-a-month Mediterranean mansion where aid workers cavorted with half-naked prostitutes wearing the charity's T-shirts after devastating earthquake

Aid workers cavorted with prostitutes at a sex party likened to 'Caligula orgy' The luxury apartment block in Haiti boasts 25ft swimming pool and sun terraceIt was rented out to Oxfam for around £1,200, a huge sum by Haitian standards 

ENB Poster

By Daniel Bates In Haiti and Arthur Martin In London For The Daily Mail

PUBLISHED: 22:22, 12 February 2018

Boasting a 25ft swimming pool and a charming sun terrace, this is the luxury apartment block in Haiti where Oxfam aid workers cavorted with young prostitutes at a sex party likened to a 'Caligula orgy'.

Terracotta walls, palm trees and floral arrangements give the gated complex the feel of a Mediterranean holiday villa.

The six-bedroom serviced complex, which can sleep 12, was rented to Oxfam for around £1,200 a month – an astronomical sum by Haitian standards.

The Daily Mail found it in a rundown part of Haitian capital Port au Prince after three sources confirmed it was used for the alleged sex parties.

Each of the rooms comes fully furnished so that aid workers do not need to buy their own furniture.

Oxfam workers cavorted with prostitutes at a sex party likened to 'Caligula orgy' at a luxury apartment block in Haiti

 The complex – known locally as 'the whorehouse' – has a living room with a flat screen TV and three comfy seats with plenty of space for entertaining.

It was here that video footage was said to have been filmed showing aid workers partying with prostitutes who wore Oxfam T-shirts.

One source said at least five half-naked girls were running around at a 'full-on Caligula orgy'. Such gatherings were referred to as 'young meat barbecues'.

The villa comes with an armed guard as well a 12ft security gate with barbed wire on the top.

By contrast, some of the other houses in the area still bear the scars from the 2010 earthquake, which killed 220,000 and left 1.5million people homeless.

The hilly and chaotic streets are choked with pedestrians, traders and traffic. There are potholes everywhere and cars bounce around on the uneven surfaces.

The apartment block was rented out to Oxfam for around £1,200 - a huge sum by Haitian standards

The Daily Mail found the block in a rundown par of Haitian capital Port au Prince after three sources confirmed it was used for the alleged sex parties 

On the street, the traders try to scratch out a living selling rice, eggs and beans from sacks supplied by aid agencies.

A Haitian woman wearing dirty jeans who was cooking meat on a grill in the street said: 'I don't think they should be doing that here. Oxfam were supposed to help people, not do this'.

Another local man added: 'This shouldn't have happened. This neighbourhood was really struggling after the earthquake.'

The villa sits in a densely populated neighbourhood called Delmas, which is home to 600,000. Locals said it was one of the worst affected places after the earthquake in 2010.

There was no electricity and the poor quality housing meant that more buildings collapsed than in other areas, causing more deaths.

Workers at the property confirmed that Oxfam staff used to stay there, as did a neighbour.

A former driver who used to work for Oxfam said: 'I left before all this came out, but I heard there were lots of girls at these parties. They used to have girls up there all the time'.

Last night another source told the Mail: 'This is where those Oxfam sex parties took place. They happened on more than one occasion and they weren't very subtle about it.

'I think they thought they could get away with anything. They nearly did.'

The complex – known locally as 'the whorehouse' – has a living room with a flat screen TV and three comfy seats with plenty of space for entertaining

Another source added: 'The aid workers lived in a guesthouse rented by Oxfam that they called the 'pink apartments' – they called it 'the whorehouse'. They were throwing big parties with prostitutes.

'These girls were wearing Oxfam T-shirts, running around half-naked, it was a like a full-on Caligula orgy. It was unbelievable. It was crazy. At one party there were at least five girls and two of them had Oxfam white t-shirts on.'

The group of aid workers was said to have control over the team of drivers hired by the charity to move staff.

A source said: 'They said, 'Listen, if you want your contract to be extended we need girls and you need to pick them up'.' Oxfam's country director there was Roland van Hauwermeiren, 68, a Belgium national who has worked for the charity for many years.

He admitted using prostitutes at a different villa – known as the Eagle's Nest rented for him by Oxfam with charitable funds, according to a report.

After the allegations surfaced, investigators flew into Haiti and carried out covert surveillance on some suspects.

The villa comes with an armed guard as well a 12ft security gate with barbed wire on the top.

Contact was made with Oxfam-employed drivers used by the group to bring women to their house, and the prostitutes themselves.

Separately, three sources said they had concerns that some of the prostitutes were girls aged 14 to 16, below the age of consent in Haiti, which is 18.

Meanwhile, it emerged that senior Oxfam workers were using prostitutes in Haiti as far back as 2004 as part of a deep-seated 'culture of entitlement'. A former employee at the charity said she once nearly walked in on two senior male staff arguing with prostitutes about the price for their services.

The incident happened at an Oxfam apartment in the Petionville area of the capital. One of them men was said to be an Oxfam finance director and the other worked as programme officer. One was said to be French.

The former employee said: 'I went to knock on their door one morning and I heard voices coming from inside so I asked the security guard.

'He said that the men had come back drunk and bought some prostitutes. They apparently did not agree a price and the women were arguing about it with them now.

'I went back to my car and called and texted them to say I was there because I did not want to go in and see that. I felt very uncomfortable.

'They came out a little while later and seemed very relaxed as if nothing happened'.

Oxfam's country director there was Roland van Hauwermeiren (pictured), a Belgium national who has worked for the charity for many years. He admitted using prostitutes at a different villa but denied involvement in the 'Caligula orgy'

The former employee did not speak up at the time because she felt intimidated because the men were senior to her.

She said: 'Oxfam staff used to go to clubs that were really heavy, you could get drugs there and there were lots of women. One of them was called Jet Set.

'They used to park outside with their vehicles which had Oxfam logos on them. They did not seem to care.

'They had a culture of entitlement and there were many instances when they behaved inappropriately with Haitian females who worked alongside them.'

She said that she had spoken to others who worked at Oxfam in 2010 around the time of the allegations about the orgy with prostitutes and they confirmed that it did take place. Asked about Roland van Hauwermeiren, she added: 'He was supposed to represent everything good about the charity but instead he did this.

'When you have this kind of behaviour going on for so long it just becomes part of the culture and people think they are entitled to it.

'It's never going to change unless people speak out.'

Widza Bryant, who worked in human resources for Oxfam in Haiti from 2009 for three years, said she raised concerns and was ignored.

'There was a lot of rumours on the ground about management and leaders exploiting the locals, sexually and in other ways, to get jobs and to have good standing,' she told the BBC.

'So these were ongoing rumours that would come to me through the drivers and other employees. So in many occasions I would share those rumours with my boss,' Miss Bryant added.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5383251/Inside-Oxfams-Caligula-orgy-villa.html

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