Madiba Has Died At The Age Of 95

 Madiba 1918 - 2019

OBAMA: NELSON MANDELA 'BELONGS TO THE AGES'

 Here is Obama's full statement on Mandela's death:

"At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela closed his statement from the dock saying, “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.  I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.  It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.  But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

And Nelson Mandela lived for that ideal, and he made it real.  He achieved more than could be expected of any man.  Today, he has gone home.  And we have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth.  He no longer
belongs to us -- he belongs to the ages.

Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa -- and moved all of us.  His journey from a prisoner to a President embodied the promise that human beings -- and countries -- can change for the better.  His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives.  And the fact that he did it all with grace and good humor, and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections, only makes the man that much more remarkable.  As he once said, “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela's life.  My very first political action, the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics, was a protest against apartheid.  I studied his words and his writings.  The day that he was released from prison gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they’re guided by their hopes and not by their fears.  And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him.

To Graça Machel and his family, Michelle and I extend our deepest sympathy and gratitude for sharing this extraordinary man with us.  His life’s work meant long days away from those who loved him the most.  And I only hope that the time spent with him these last few weeks brought peace and comfort to his family.

To the people of South Africa, we draw strength from the example of renewal, and reconciliation, and resilience that you made real.  A free South Africa at peace with itself -- that’s an example to the world, and that’s Madiba’s legacy to the nation he loved.

We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again.  So it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set:  to make decisions guided not by hate, but by love; to never discount the difference that one person can make; to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice.

For now, let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela lived -- a man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.  May God Bless his memory and keep him in peace."

Syrian rebels consider joining forces with Asad regime troops to fight al-Qa’ida

Alliances are shifting after West warns 
wartorn country poses greatest terror threat.

The spectre is looming of a second Syrian civil war with the head of the opposition’s official forces declaring that he is prepared to join regime troops in the future to drive out al-Qa’ida-linked extremists who have taken over swathes of rebel-held territories.

General Salim Idris, the commander of the Free Syrian Army warned that in particular Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham), with thousands of foreign fighters in its ranks, was “very dangerous for the future of Syria” and needs to be confronted before it becomes even more powerful.

Western security agencies now believe that Syria poses the most potent threat of terrorism in Europe and the US from where hundreds of Muslims have gone to join the jihad. MI5 and Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist branch recently tackled the first case of men sent from there specifically to carry out attacks in London.

One senior Western intelligence official stressed that the Syrian regime’s forces must be preserved for the battles ahead against the Islamists and the need to avoid the mistakes made in Iraq and Libya, where the army and police were disbanded with the fall of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, allowing terrorist groups to rise in a security vacuum.

The official held that talks between the regime and rebels set to take place in Geneva in January could be the beginning of the formation of an anti-al-Qa’ida front in Syria, along with a negotiated settlement to end the conflict which has claimed more than 117,000 lives so far and made millions refugees inside and outside the country.

Speaking in Istanbul, General Idris, a former officer in the regime’s army, said he and his associates were dropping the precondition that Bashar al-Assad must leave power before the Geneva meeting takes place. Instead they would be satisfied if his departure were to take place “at the end of the negotiation process” 

when General Idris will join forces with the remainder of the regime to mount an offensive against the Islamists.

However, the opposition would like to see evidence of good faith from the regime, which would include allowing supplies to get through to communities trapped by the fighting.

General Idris complained his men were having to fight a war on two fronts: they have, he claimed, fought al-Qa’ida at 24 different locations in the last six months while at the same time facing poundings from President Assad’s warplanes and artillery.

What is left of the moderate opposition forces are bitterly critical of Western powers, including Britain, for encouraging people to rise up against the regime, but then doing little to help. Meanwhile, Isis and another Islamist group, Jabhat al-Nusra, have grown in numbers and influence due to money and arms from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

There was particular disillusionment when no military action was taken by the West despite the crossing of Barack Obama’s “red line” with use of chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta by the regime in August. Moderate groups complained this was followed by some of their younger members defecting to the jihadists.

The jihadists have been occupying areas in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib with moderate fighters being killed or forced to flee. Senior officers in the FSA have been among the casualties, one of the most high profile Kamal Hamami, a commander who was shot dead when he travelled to Latakia, an enclave of the Alawite community from which President Assad is drawn, to try and avert a sectarian massacre by the besieging Sunni Islamists.

The FSA has now produced an intelligence dossier charting the rise of the jihadists with Isis “seeking complete domination in liberated areas”. The document estimates that Isis alone now has 5,500 foreign fighters, who “form its main backbone in sensitive operations” as well as 2,000 indoctrinated Syrians from the  northern part of the country. In addition there are 15,000 others who provide support to the group.

The foreign fighters are recruited by a network headed by Abu Ahmad al-Iraqi who, as the name suggests, had served in Iraq. The “most dangerous and barbaric” of these are 250 Chechens based in Aleppo under Abu Omar al-Chechen. Once they reach Syria the foreign volunteers are “fitted with explosive vests and threaten all who dare to confront them”, says the report.


“Isis employs the policy of kidnapping in the areas in which it is deployed,” the dossier continues, pointing out its prisons now hold more than 35 foreign journalists as well as 60 political activists, and more than 100 FSA members. It has set up ambush points in the routes from the Turkish border for abductions.

PFLP condemns occupation murder of Palestinians in Yatta

PFLP condemns occupation murder of Palestinians in Yatta
Dec 01 2013

Palestinians-mourners-funeral

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned the occupation army’s cold-blooded murder of three Palestinians in Yatta, al-Khalil under a flimsy pretext and demanded that Palestinian Authority officials stop their concessions and continuation of the so-called negotiations that serve to cover up this crime.

Moussa Mohammad Moussa Makhamra, Mahmoud Khalid al-Najjar, and Mohammad Fouad Jamil Nairoukh were killed by occupation forces on November 26. The ongoing crimes of the occupation continue, paid for in Palestinian blood, while the Authority attempts to silence the voices and infringe the rights of freedom of expression of the Palestinian people, said the Front. This war crime is an escalation in the ongoing war crimes against the land, rights, and people of Palestine that are taking place without restraint. The Front demanded that the United Nations and international bodies hold the occupation accountable for their crimes.

The Front said that the path forward is that of unity and resistance to the occupation.

பாதுகாப்புப் படையினர் எனச் சந்தேகிக்கும் குழுவினர்!

பாதுகாப்புப் படையினர் எனச் சந்தேகிக்கும் குழுவினர்!

இனப்படுகொலையை மூடிமறைக்கும் கணக்கெடுப்பை நிராகரிப்போம்!

கணக்கெடுப்பு என்ற போர்வையில் சிங்களம் நடத்தும் இனப்படுகொலை இருட்டடிப்பை நிராகரிப்போம்!

விமானக் குண்டு வீச்சு 

கொலைகளுக்கும், சிங்கள அரச 

படையின் படுகொலைகளுக்கும் 

பதிவிடம் இல்லாத சிங்களத்தின் 

 `யுத்த இழப்பு 

கணக்கெடுப்புப் படிவம்`!


================


உண்மை அறிவதற்கு தகுதி


உடையதல்ல!!

கணக்கெடுப்பு என்ற போர்வையில் சிங்களம் நடத்தும் 

இனப்படுகொலை இருட்டடிப்பை

நிராகரிப்போம்!

புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்கள்

யுத்த இழப்புக் கணக்கீட்டால் சொத்திழக்கும் தமிழர்!

தற்போது ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் குடிசன மதிப்பீட்டில் வெளிநாட்டில் உள்ளவர்களின் வீடுகள் பற்றிய விபரங்கள் தெரியவரும்,

வெளிநாடுகளில் உள்ள வடக்கு மக்களின் அனைத்து சொத்துக்களும் அரசுடமையாக்கப்படும்! 

அரசாங்கம் அதிரடி அறிவிப்பு
December 02, 20131:37 pm

வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு சென்று அங்கு வசித்து வரும் வடமாகாணத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்களின் சொத்துக்கள் காணிகள் மற்றும் வீடுகள் அரசுடமையாக்கப்பட உள்ளதாக சிறிலங்கா அரசாங்கம் அறிவித்துள்ளது.

தற்போது ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் குடிசன மதிப்பீட்டில் வெளிநாட்டில் உள்ளவர்களின் வீடுகள் பற்றிய விபரங்கள் தெரியவரும் என்றும் அரசாங்கம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.1982ம் ஆண்டின் பின்னர் போர் காரணமாக ஏற்பட்ட சொத்து மற்றும் உயிர்ச் சேதங்கள் தொடர்பிலான கணக்கெடுப்பு ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.

போர் காரணமாக முழுமையாக நாட்டை விட்டு வெளியேறி வாழ்ந்து வரும் வடக்கு மக்களின் சொத்துக்களும் இவ்வாறு அரசுடமையாக்கப்பட உள்ளது. முக்கியமாக விடுதலைப்புலிகளின் ஆதரவாளர்களின் வீடுகள் என இனங்காணப்படும் வீடுகளை உடனடியாக அரசுடமையாக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக சிறிலங்கா பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சு அறிவித்துள்ளது.

போர் காரணமாக வடக்கில் இருந்து சுமார் 10 லட்சம் பேர் இலங்கையில் இருந்து வெளியேறி வெளிநாடுகளில் புலம்பெயர்ந்து வாழ்ந்து வருகின்றனர். இவர்களின் வீடுகளை விடுதலைப் புலிகள் பயன்படுத்தி வந்ததுடன் பின்னர் இராணுவத்தினர் அவற்றை கைப்பற்றி பயன்படுத்தி வருகின்றனர்.

US: Patience With Sri Lanka Could 'Wear Thin'

Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswa

US: Patience With Sri Lanka Could 'Wear Thin'
WASHINGTON December 3, 2013 (AP)
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON Associated Press

International patience could wear thin with Sri Lanka unless it takes action to address allegations of atrocities during the island nation's civil war, the top U.S. diplomat for South Asia said Tuesday.

Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal stopped short of endorsing a deadline set last month by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he would call for a U.N.-backed inquiry into allegations of war crimes unless there was progress on postwar reconciliation by March.

A U.N. report has suggested Sri Lanka's military may have killed up to 40,000 civilians in the final months of the war in 2009 as it crushed ethnic Tamil rebels, who are also accused of atrocities.

Biswal urged Sri Lanka to take concrete steps on its own, particularly on issues of accountability.

"We would like to see Sri Lanka address these issues through its own processes, and we hope that can in fact be the case," Biswal told reporters, adding that recommendations of a Sri Lankan-government appointed reconciliation commission pointed the way forward.

She said without real progress the patience of the international community "will start to wear thin."

The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has so far ignored calls for a thorough local inquiry into war abuses and says it will not allow any international probe. He denies allegations of abuses by the army.

Since the Tamil Tigers' 27-year battle for an ethnic homeland ended, Rajapaksa's grip on power has tightened. Recent reports of media harassment and rights abuses have also raised alarms, although a convincing victory for the main ethnic Tamil party in provincial elections in northern Sri Lanka in September were seen as a small step toward devolution of power.

Biswal, portfolio covers South and Central Asia, also voiced concern Friday about political violence in Bangladesh, where street clashes between rival factions have killed about 40 people and wounded hundreds in the past month.

The opposition is resisting government plans to hold a general election on Jan. 5 unless Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina allows a neutral caretaker administration to oversee the polls.

Biswal, who recently visited Bangladesh, called for the major political parties to come together and work out a compromise "that will allow for elections to take place that the people of Bangladesh have confidence in and feel are credible."

She said failure to achieve a peaceful political transition poses the greatest obstacle to Bangladesh continuing its progress of the past decade in areas such as reducing child and maternal mortality and improving food security.

Analysts fear the political chaos could exacerbate the economic woes of the country of 160 million people and lead to radicalization in a strategic pocket of South Asia.

David Cameron calls for China investment in UK’s HS2

December 2, 2013 9:49 am
David Cameron calls for China investment in UK’s HS2
By Kiran Stacey in Beijing FT UK

David Cameron has opened the door to Chinese investment in the High Speed 2 rail line from London to the north.

Premier Li said: “The two sides have agreed to push for a breakthrough and progress in co-operation in the areas of nuclear power and high speed railway.” He added that Mr Cameron’s trade trip, the largest business delegation the UK has led to the country, would “push the UK-China relationship into a new stage”.
“Just like the high-speed trains,” he said, “we need to grow this relationship at a higher speed.”
It builds on the message from the prime minister, who last week told an audience at the V&A Museum: “I’m very interested in what’s happening in terms of high-speed rail in China . . . In terms of HS2, I very much welcome Chinese investment into British infrastructure.”

Mr Cameron will spend his first day of a three-day trip to China in meetings with the three most senior members of the Chinese government: Mr Li, Zhang Dejiang, the chairman of the standing committee of China’s National People Congress, the largely ceremonial parliament, and Xi Jinping, the president.
The visit is his first to China since November 2010, and the first since the current regime took over in November 2012. British ministers had until recently been refused meetings with their Chinese counterparts after the prime minister met the Dalai Lama in London in May 2012.

Mr Cameron has made trade the focus of his trip, despite concerns over human rights violations in China. He said the British government wanted to support “the judicial protection of human rights”, but made it clear that discussions between the two countries over the issue would be held separately next year.

The form of any Chinese investment in HS2 is as yet unclear, but British officials stressed there would be no direct investment in the construction phase of the line, which is due to be funded by the taxpayer. This leaves open the possibility of the Chinese bidding for the concession to run HS2 or investing in peripheral schemes around the route such as developments around stations when the route opens in the 2030s.
The move could prove controversial, deepening Chinese ownership of British infrastructure projects. The UK’s first nuclear power station to be built in a generation was agreed to last month, with the backing of EDF, the French energy company, and various Chinese investors.

Mr Cameron insisted that his government should not be embarrassed about its increasing reliance on Chinese capital. Speaking to journalists, the prime minister said: “I’m not embarrassed that China is investing in British nuclear power, or has shares in Heathrow airport, or Thames Water, or Manchester airport. I think it’s a positive sign of economic strength that we are open and welcome to Chinese investment. That gives, if you like, the British government more firepower to use the capital investment we have for more roads and railways and other things.”

The prime minister also repeated his call for an EU-China trade deal, which he said would boost European businesses and encourage China to liberalise its economy. Mr Cameron has positioned Britain as the greatest champion of such a deal, to the delight of his Chinese hosts, despite European concern that it could lead to domestic manufacturers being undermined by cheap Chinese imports.

போர்க்குற்றவாளிகளின் `யுத்த இழப்பு கணக்கெடுப்பு`! இனப்படுகொலையை மூடிமறைக்கும் மோசடி இருட்டடிப்பு!

http://senthanal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/blog-post.html