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)
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Isaq Ahmed lifted his head from his hands, his eyes clouded with tears, as he looked at the crowd gathered near the twisted wreckage from a car bomb blast that ripped open buildings and killed at least seven people in Somalia’s capital this week. As smoke filled the air, the 30-year-old car…
Edmonton Police are looking for support from Edmonton’s Somali community to find a man wanted for a November, 2012 murder. Canada-wide Warrants have been issued for Hassan Isse Ismail, 30 for second degree murder in the death of Aden Ahmed, 24, on November 19, 2012 at a downtown home near 113 Avenue and 94 Street….
The State Department has put a multimillion-dollar bounty on the heads of two Americans who the United States claims belong to an al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, CNN has learned. Posters and matchbooks in Somali and English emblazoned with the names and pictures of Omar Shafik Hammami and Jehad Serwan Mostafa tout rewards up to…
At first glance, Banadir Somali Restaurantlooks more like Somalian community center than a restaurant. White bars cover the shaded and tinted windows. The main entrance leads to a long hallway with a kitchen off to the left. You have to look around a bit before noticing a door that leads to the dining room. The…
A few weeks ago, I did a story about the U.S. resuming deportations to Somalia. Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement wouldn’t release the number of people with deportation orders pending, I directed my query to the Executive Office for Immigration Review at Department of Justice, to see how many Somalis have been ordered deported by…
Nairobi March 19 2013 (SDN)— The United States condemns today’s terrorist attack that has reportedly killed at least ten innocent Somali civilians in downtown Mogadishu. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, survivors and their families. There can be no excuse for murder. We stand firmly with the citizens and Government of Somalia who have…
19 March 2013 – The United Nations envoy in Somalia voiced shock and sadness at today’s car bombing in the capital, Mogadishu, which reportedly killed several people and wounded many more. The bombing occurred near Villa Somalia in the vicinity of the National Theatre in Mogadishu, according to a news release issued by the UN Political Office…
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A suicide bomber who set out to assassinate a senior Somali security official blew up his car in central Mogadishu on Monday, missing his target but killing at least 10 people in the city’s deadliest attack this year, police and rebels said. Witnesses said the car bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying…
MOGADISHU — At least ten people were killed Monday by a car bomb in central Mogadishu in one of the bloodiest attacks in the war-ravaged capital in recent months, Somali officials said. Security sources added that a top intelligence official was the target of the attack, and that he was wounded in the blast. “The…
Somalia’s Islamist fighters retook the key southern town of Hudur on Sunday, residents said, in the first territorial fight-back by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab for several months. Heavily armed Shebab fighters swept into the regional capital of the Bakool region early on Sunday, taking the town peacefully just hours after Ethiopian troops who had held it…
A Somali journalist jailed for interviewing an alleged gang-rape victim spoke of his relief on Sunday after a judge ordered his release. Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim had been sentenced to a year in prison, later reduced to six months, for talking to Lul Ali Osman Barake about her claim that she was raped by five men…
The discussion about bargain hunting and shopping responsibly was going rather smoothly, even after one student admitted to simply tossing out sale flyers that would appear in her mailbox. But then the students — a group of Somali women learning more about American culture — responded with blank stares when Carolyn Treadway pointed out a…
MEDINA — A Somali immigrant was sentenced to 90 days in jail Thursday for possessing an illegal stimulant contained in a plant native to his home country. Hassan Warsame, 36, of Portland, Maine, originally was charged with a first-degree felony for possessing more than four pounds of the plant. After a three-day trial, a common…
NAIROBI, Kenya — Global warming may have contributed to low rain levels in Somalia in 2011 where tens of thousands died in a famine, research by British climate scientists suggests. Scientists with Britain’s weather service studied weather patterns in East Africa in 2010 and 2011 and found that yearly precipitation known as the short rains…
As we mark World Water Day (WWD) today (22 March 2013), shocking figures show that a child dies every 20 seconds from a water and sanitation-related disease, a Red Cross report published today says. According to the charity’s ‘Getting the balance right’ report, a further 2.5 billion people around the world do not have…
Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo, president of Somalia’s autonomous Somaliland region, paid a visit to Ankara on Tuesday for talks with Turkish officials. Silanyo had talks with Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ and officials from the Ministry of Energy. He was also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday; however, the meeting had…
The Minneapolis restaurant owner recently gave me a crash course on Somali history and culture, leading me down some creaky steps to a basement decorated with hand-carved wooden bowls and spoons, woven prayer mats and paintings of nomadic goat herders. It’s here in the basement of the Bright Moon Cafe on Cedar Avenue S. and…
Mogadishu — Somali army chief, General Abdulkadir Shiek Ali dini, has told that Somali forces are ready to fight with any elements who pose threat to the security of the nation. Speaking to journalists at a cermony where more than a hundred soldiers have concluded training in the capital, the general said that the army…
Doha March, 10 2013 (SDN)- A visiting member of Somaliland’s parliament has sought Qatar’s diplomatic support for his “country’s” efforts to gain international recognition as an independent state. Nasir Hagi, MP of the Republic of Somaliland, who was on a personal visit to Doha, wanted to muster support for his homeland’s independence from Somalia but…
Zahra Ugaas Farah says her mission in life is to champion women’s rights in Somalia to promote peace. When war broke out in the early 1990s, Zahra says she could not watch the unfolding chaos and bloodshed without taking action. In 1992, she established an NGO in Mogadishu called the Family Empowerment and Relief Organisation…