qurbejoog
Assad ready to quit power ?
On July 20, 2012 · In News
1:27 pm
..
0
Paris- Russia’s ambassador to France Alexandre Orlov, said on Friday he believed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had accepted he would have to leave power although only in an orderly fashion.
But the Syrian government swiftly denied this.
Orlov said that Assad, facing a surging uprising against his rule, signalled readiness to step down when he accepted a recent international declaration which foresaw a transition towards a more democratic Syria.
“At the Geneva conference, there was a final communique that foresees a transition towards a more democratic system,’’ Orlov said.
“This final communique was accepted by Assad. Assad nominated his representative to lead the negotiations with the opposition for this transition. That means he accepted to leave, but in an orderly way.’’
Syria’s Information Ministry quickly denied this, saying Orlov’s remarks were “completely devoid of truth’’.
Orlov further said his personal opinion Assad would not be able to remain in power.
“I think it will be difficult for him to stay after everything that has happened. But essentially, he has accepted that he will have to leave.’’
Russia on Thursday blocked a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution that would have contained a threat to impose sanctions if Syria did not comply with UN-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
Moscow has repeatedly said any deal must follow the principles outlined at talks in Geneva on June 30 between Annan and veto-holding members of the Security Council, which Russia until now had said did not specifically require Assad’s exit.
“What Russia is defending is not Bashar al-Assad’s regime, but international order that was created in 1945 around the UN,’’ Orlov said.
“For us it is a matter of principle that goes beyond what is happening in Syria.’’
A senior Western diplomat recommended caution with respect to Orlov’s comments. “We have not heard Assad say he is willing to step down before,’’ the diplomat said.
“But what does he mean? Does he mean now or in two years time. We have to be cautious.’’ (Reuters/NAN)
Authorities in Somaliland must re-open the offices of an independent newspaper in Hargeisa, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said today. According to IFJ affiliate, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), the Hubaal newspaper in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has been closed since 13 December, 2013, following a raid by the police rapid reinforcement unit (RRU)….
KUWAIT CITY, March 6: Two laborers — one Pakistani and the other Somali, were arrested for stealing pipes from a construction site in Subbiya area. According to security sources, when the project manager informed securitymen that two company laborers were caught stealing pipes from the project site in Subbiya area, they rushed to the location…
Bad boys are very hard to resist… And if the reports are true, it looks like Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o has fallen hard for a rough around the edges rapper, K’Naan! He was apparently seen by the 12 Years A Slave actress’ side after her big win on Sunday, and was spotted on her Instagram…
In the West, people tend not to call their friends and colleagues nicknames that pick on negative physical traits. But in Somalia, people have a love of such nicknames. When I got my ID badge for the president’s office in Mogadishu the other day, I knew I had finally been accepted. It had taken a…
HARGEISA, Somalia, Jumada I 5, 1435, Mar 6, 2014, SPA — An American volunteer gently brushes away dirt to reveal the bones of a Somali victim buried in a mass grave some 30 years ago. Tens of thousands of skeletons may lie in mass graves here, on the northern edge of Somalia, where many want…
The Czech-produced Pirating Pirates, which premieres on Friday at Prague’s One World festival of human rights documentaries, looks at why some Somalis began raiding foreign vessels in the mid-1990s. But the film also has a fresh twist, as its makers find themselves struggling to establish the bona fides of locals claiming to be pirates and…
The Minister of Information of the Somali government, visited Shabelle Media Network yesterday afternoon and announced that his Ministry is welcoming all journalists from private networks and the Somali government. Mr Mustaf Sheikh Ali Dhuxulow, the Information Minister said that the he is close friends with the journalists working in Banaadir and added that his…
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota bank is the latest financial institution in the United States and elsewhere that has decided to close the accounts of companies that transfer or convert money, a trend that has upset Somalis who want to send money home. Officials with Fargo-based Bell State Bank say the federal government…
Trustees at Canada’s largest school board held one their most unusual meetings Wednesday with two police officers stationed outside the boardroom to keep trustees from threatening staff and each other. Toronto District School Board chair Chris Bolton made the unusual request for police at the meeting after revelations in recent days of a culture of…
New York, March, 5 2014 (SDN) – The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday extended a partial suspension of the decades-old arms embargo on Somalia for eight months while highlighting concerns about the possible diversion of weapons to al Qaeda-linked militants. A resolution unanimously adopted by the council has its members “condemning flows of weapons and…
UW alumna Sorayya Aminian was on campus on Monday afternoon for the screening of her documentary, “In Search of Nabad,” in the Allen Auditorium. “My whole city is broken and everything is different. Have you ever seen a nuclear bomb on YouTube? That’s what it looks like. It’s absolute poverty,” said a Somali woman in…
Police in Lieksa, eastern Finland, are investigating the illegal online disclosure of the private banking information of a Somali man. The documents were published on a blog site last year and allegedly belong to an immigrant man. The documents illegally published online include details of personal bank transfers. Detective Chief Inspector Antti Arponen said that…
Television has profound impact on our society. It has changed the life styles of the people and has become a major influence in our culture. Unlike printing, this took hundreds of years Television has contributed a massive direct advantages to the society, which some of these advantages listed below Television has occupied an important…
Minister of Land & Air Transport of the Somali government, Mr Saciid Qorsheel, vowed that the government will discuss and deal with the recent mass deportations of Somali nationals from foreign countries. Qorsheel added that he witnessed Somali nationals being returned from Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia and urged the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs to…
SAPIC, UNSOM LAUNCH FIRST SOMALI DOCUMENTARY FILM 4th March 2014, Mogadishu, Somalia Somali Anti Piracy Information Centre in association with The Ministry of Information convened the 6th SAPIC town hall meeting to discuss the effects of piracy on the Somali society and launch the first Somali TV documentary at the Jazeera Hotel,in Mogadishu. Among key…
His Excellency Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed who is in Abu Dhabi on an official three day visit to the United Arab Emirates today met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential affairs, H.E Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to discuss strengthening bilateral co-operation between the two countries. During the talks,…
Police found six Somali migrants who were abandoned in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas by the people traffickers they hired to smuggle them into the United States, officials said. The men had been lost for eight days, the Chiapas Attorney General’s Office said in a statement. The Africans were found near the border with…
The United Nations could slap a full arms embargo on Somalia following revelations that the Mogadishu government allowed the sale and diversion of weapons to foreign arms traffickers, criminals and terrorists. While illegal acquisition of weapons is common in countries in the region, information in a UN report that Somalia’s army is the “greatest” supplier…
Ibrahim Hassan Abdi (Ibrahim Baajun) the Minister of Information of the Jubba Interim Administration spoke to the BBC Somali Service and announced that the time period for when the JIA hands over control of the Seaport and Airport of Kismaayo to the Federal government has ended. Ibrahim Baajuun said that this is not possible, which…
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Fewer than one in a hundred Somali refugees living in the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab in northern Kenya, are interested in returning home, despite a push for them to do so, the United Nations said. Half a million Somali refugees living in Kenya are due to return home over…