Blasts in city south-east of Baghdad wound at least 60 people Two explosions have hit a crowded market in a city south-east of Baghdad, killing 34 people. The blasts in Kut, 100 miles from Baghdad, went off as construction workers were gathered in a market selling generators and other appliances. A police spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Dhurgam Muhammad Hassan, said the first bomb went off in a freezer. Then, as rescuers and onlookers gathered round, a car bomb exploded. According to the region’s top medical official, Diaa al-Aboudi, 34 people died in the explosion. Hassan put the number of the wounded from the blasts at 60. The Kut explosions were the first major act of violence since Iraq’s political leaders earlier this month announced that they would begin negotiations with the US over whether to keep a small number of American forces in the country past 31 December. All US forces are to leave the country by the end of this year but both Iraqi and US officials have expressed concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect the country. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Kut attack. In July, 37 people were killed during an explosion in Taji, north of Baghdad. Iraq Middle East guardian.co.uk
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Rolling coverage as the PM and Labour leader make speeches setting out their competing analyses of the riots and looting 9.41am: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s former chief of staff, famously said (as you can watch for yourself on YouTube ). And today David Cameron and Ed Miliband are going to embrace the Emanuel spirit by delivering big speeches on the riots designed to reap some political capital from last week’s mayhem on the streets. As an opposition leader Cameron argued that parts of society were “broken” and that Britain needed some big society-led moral renewal. Today he’s going to revive that campaign, arguing that the riots were a “wake-up call”. Miliband has also been calling some kind of ethical renaissance, centred around the theme of responsibility. He has accused bankers, MPs and journalists of all failing to act responsibly (see, for example, the speech he gave during the phone-hacking crisis ) and today he will link this kind of professional immorality with the behaviour the rioters. For both leaders, these are arguments that go to the core of why they’re in politics. Matthew D’Ancona interviewed Cameron in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday and D’Ancona said he had never seen Cameron “so animated, so consumed by a sense of urgency”. Toby Helm accompanied Miliband on a trip to Tottenham for the Observer and he said that Miliband could not walk more than a few paces without residents “grabbing his arm and pouring out their hearts”. Last week Cameron and Miliband largely avoided partisan comments on the riots, instead focusing on condemnation and on the importance of order being restored. But now ideology and party politics are back in business. Cameron is due to speak at 10am and Miliband at 10.30am. We’ve already got a story up containing extracts from their speeches , but I’ll be covering both of them live and providing a full analysis afterwards. Last week Nick Robinson (and others) predicted that that the riots were going to dominate the leaders’ speeches at the party conferences. Those speeches are often the most important in the political calendar. Today it will be as if we’re getting a preview. UK riots Ed Miliband David Cameron Crime Police Metropolitan police Andrew Sparrow guardian.co.uk
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The former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, is back in court today to face charges of corruption and unlawful killing of protesters. Plus updates from the rest of the Middle East, including Syria and Libya اقرا باللغة العربية 9.42am: Judge Ahmed Refaat has entered the courtroom in Cairo. He began by asking the defendants to confirm their presence, including the Mubaraks, all three of whom answered: “I am present.” 9.36am: A quick update from Syria , while we wait for proceedings to begin at at the Mubarak trial in Egypt. Activists and residents are reporting a fresh outbreak of heavy gunfire in parts of the Syrian port city of Latakia where military operations are now in their third day, the Associated Press reports: The activists say loud explosions and gunfire have been heard throughout the night and early Monday in Latakia’s al-Ramel district and nearby areas as residents continue to flee. Activist groups said that at least 25 people died in operations in the Mediterranean city on Sunday when gunboats joined ground troops to crush the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime. Activists on Monday also say troops backed by tanks entered the town of Houla, near flashpoint central city of Homs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the military is carrying out raids and arrests there. Al Jazeera’s Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from Ramtha on the Syria-Jordan border, also has details of the assault on Latakia : We understand from the local coordinating committee that around 6am local time [4am BST] some women and children in the al-Ramel neighborhood were trying to flee to the nearby neighborhood of al Tamra. Syrian forces verbally allowed them to pass through, but then opened fire on the families. One man was killed and several women and children were injured. We also understand additional military reinforcement has been deployed around al-Ramel neighborhood, which is forcing many residents to try to free. 9.23am: The court is now in session. Mubarak has been wheeled into the cage which serves as the dock in Egyptian courts. His sons Gamal and Alaa are also in the dock. _ 9.13am: The former Egyptian dictator, Hosni Mubarak, has just been wheeled into court on a hospital trolley. Al-Jazeera’s Evan Hill just tweeted this, suggesting the arrival of the former Egyptian president is imminent: Mubarak’s heavily guarded ambulance appears to be approaching the court house for day two of #mubaraktrial. 9.00am: Mohamed El Dahshan, reporting from Cairo for the Guardian, says the main questions being asked in relation to the trial of the former Egyptian president are: Will Mubarak attend? His chief lawyer, Fareed El Deeb, declared yesterday morning that he would, but that there was no guarantee a last minute “medical emergency” wouldn’t prevent him. Will he be on a stretcher as he was on 3 August? Will he be speaking or answering any potential questions from the judge? A section of the courtroom (itself a university lecture hall) has been partitioned off for Mubarak’s family. Right now there are policemen in plain clothes sitting there, but we’re waiting to see whether former first lady Suzanne Mubarak will attend. 8.46am: There are reports of clashes between supporters and opponents of Mubarak outside the courtroom with people throwing stones at each other, as they did when the former Egyptian dictator made his first appearance in court. This picture shows people standing beside a pile of rocks. And al-Jazeera Arabic’s crew have reportedly been attacked by pro-Mubarak protesters . 8.38am: If Muhammad Tantawi, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian forces and de facto acting head of state, is called as witness in the Mubarak trial, his testimony could be key to either incriminating or exonerating the former Egyptian president, lawyers believe. Tantawi was Mubarak’s defence minister. One member of the defence team, who asked not to be named, told Reuters: Tantawi’s testimony would help the court determine whether Mubarak gave orders to interior minister Habib al-Adli to fire at protesters or whether Adli was acting independently …It is important for the court to meet the requests of the defence team, especially the request to hear the accounts of Field Marshal Tantawi in court to determine whether Mubarak asked him to confront and fire at protesters or not. Another lawyer handling the case said: The defence team sees Tantawi as a compurgator, or a witness whose testimony would exonerate Mubarak. The plaintiffs’ lawyers, however, expect him to testify that he received orders to fire, which is necessary to convict Mubarak. Judge Ahmed Refaat is expected to rule today on whether Tantawi should be called as a witness. 8.05am: People outside the courthouse in the Egyptian capital where Mubarak will appear are chanting, pressing for a quick trial – the former dictator’s lawyers seems to be trying to stretch out the legal process by asking for some 1,600 witnesses to be called – and waving shoes in the air, says al-Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh . But she says there are also pro-Mubarak supporters with t-shirts, reading: I’m Egyptian, I refuse the humiliation of the nation’s leader. The first time Mubarak appeared in court there were running battles between people supporting the former president and anti-Mubarak factions but this time it seems that security has been beefed up. A picture appears to show that extra efforts have been made to separate them . 7.55am: While Mubarak’s trial has been a positive development for Egyptians who fear that too little has changed since the country’s revolution there was worrying news on Sunday when a prominent activist was arrested and charged with slandering and inciting violence against the country’s ruling generals through social networking sites, according to lawyers. Lawyer Ali Atef said the case of Asmaa Mahfouz, one of the faces of Egypt’s revolution , was “a warning” to other activists against criticizing the military. He said: It was a terrifying (interrogation) session. When people are slapped with these charges because they expressed their opinion, this is grave. It is a warning aimed at all activists, bloggers and ordinary people. Mahfouz was released Sunday on bail after more than four hours of interrogation. Atef said activists collected money to pay the bail and ensure her release pending trial. The incitement charges could carry a sentence of more than 10 years. A trial date is up to the discretion of the military prosecutor. Atef said the prosecutor cited as evidence Mahfouz’s writing on Facebook and Twitter and a call to a private TV station in which she accused the country’s rulers of planning an attack on protesters. The lawyer said she was quoted as calling the military council as the “council of dogs.” She is accused of inciting violence by criticizing on Twitter the slow procedure of trials, and warning that people may take justice into their own hands. Mahfouz tweeted on 10 August. Bottom line, if the judiciary doesn’t get us our rights, no one should be crossed if there are armed groups, who carry out assassinations, since there is no law and no judiciary. No one should be crossed. Late on Sunday, Mahfouz appeared on a private TV station, saying the interrogation didn’t scare her, but reminded her of old regime ways. She said: The only thing I regret after this (interrogation) is that we didn’t work hard enough in the streets and with the people to explain why we need to continue this revolution … until this country gets what it deserves. Mahfouz is a founding member of the April 6 activist group. 7.40am: Welcome to Middle East live. The toppled Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, is due back in court in Cairo. We’ll be providing live updates from the trial as well as covering news elsewhere in the Middle East. Egypt • Mubarak will be back in the dock to answer charges of corruption and the unlawful killing of protesters . The Cairo criminal court will decide whether Muhammad Tantawi, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian forces and de facto head of state, will be called to testify in Mubarak’s trial, judicial sources have told al-Masry al-Youm . Mubarak’s first appearance in court was memorable for the extraordinary images of the toppled dictator, who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years, being wheeled into court on a hospital trolley. You can read Jack Shenker’s riveting account of the first day of the trial here . This is a link to the live blog of Mubarak’s first court appearance on 3 August . Here is a full list of defendants and the charges they face . Syria • Syria has used gunboats for the first time to crush the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime . At least 19 people were shot dead in the Syrian port city of Latakia on Sunday morning as the Assad regime’s aggressive military campaign to quell protests during the holy month of Ramadan continued. Machine guns were fired from at least one ship and several armoured vehicles at the neighbourhood of Ramel, according to local residents and activists. Libya • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has urged his people to “liberate Libya” from Nato, a day after rebels captured the key town of Zawiya on the road west to Tunisia, severing Tripoli’s main supply route . Gaddafi’s speech on Monday, delivered over a poor quality telephone line and broadcast by state television in audio only, was his first public address since rebel fighters launched their latest offensive, the biggest in months. In what state television said was a live speech, he said: Get ready for the fight … The blood of martyrs is fuel for the battlefield. The capture of Zawiya enables rebels to halt food and fuel supplies from Tunisia to Gaddafi’s stronghold in the capital. • Representatives of Gaddafi’s government were holding talks with rebels at a hotel on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba late on Sunday , a source with direct knowledge of the talks said – though the government spokesman denied it. Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Egypt Hosni Mubarak Syria Bashar Al-Assad Libya Muammar Gaddafi Yemen Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk
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Ahead of speeches by PM and Labour leader, Iain Duncan Smith says MPs from all parties must share responsibility for growth of selfish ‘life is what you take out of it’ culture Politicians are partly to blame for the collapse in moral values that contributed to the riots, Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, has said. In an interview broadcast ahead of major speeches on the causes of the riots from David Cameron and Ed Miliband, Duncan Smith said that politicians from all parties needed to share responsibility for the development of a selfish “life is what you take out of it” culture. According to extracts released in advance, Cameron will say that Britain has undergone a “slow-motion moral collapse” in the speech he is giving on Monday morning. But Cameron has so far generally avoided making a link between the behaviour of the rioters and the behaviour of people at the top of society, such as MPs. However, in an interview on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, Duncan Smith conceded that the behaviour of MPs involved in the expenses scandal may have contributed to a wider decline in moral standards. “We all have to put our hands in the air, those of us in leadership positions, and recognise in the last 15 or 20 years what has happened to us is that many of us have just decided that life is about what you take out of it, not what you put in,” he said. “You know, stiffing somebody on a debt in the City, or raiding someone’s telephone for messages, claiming expenses that you should not have claimed – these are issues that all of us have to recognise we have to put our own house in order at the same time, and try and change that.” Duncan Smith said that for too long those at the top of society had been willing to believe that different moral standards applied to them. That had to stop. “This process of right and wrong runs for all of us,” he said. According to extracts released in advance, the Labour leader is going to make a similar point in his speech, which he is delivering at the comprehensive in north London where he was educated, Haverstock School. “It’s not the first time we’ve seen this kind of me-first, take-what-you-can attitude,” Milband will say. “The bankers who took millions while destroying people’s savings: greedy, selfish, immoral. The MPs who fiddled their expenses: greedy, selfish, immoral. The people who hacked phones to get stories and make money for themselves: greedy, selfish and immoral. Let’s talk about what this does to our culture.” Cameron will push his long-held opinion that parts of Britain are broken, despite opinion polls that show the public believes he has not handled events well. He will say that government ministers from both parties will audit their portfolios for policies aimed at mending the “broken society”. In the speech, to be delivered outside London, Cameron will say: “Over the next few weeks, I and ministers from across the coalition government will review every aspect of our work to mend our broken society, on schools, welfare, families, parenting, addiction, communities; on the cultural, legal, bureaucratic problems in our society too; from the twisting and misrepresenting of human rights that has undermined personal responsibility, to the obsession with health and safety that has eroded people’s willingness to act according to common sense – and consider whether our plans and programmes are big enough and bold enough to deliver the change that I feel this country now wants to see.” His words suggest again that the government is angling to renegotiate European law, which can overrule domestic legislation, and which they believe has prevented them from devising policies as they would like. “Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort. Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged — sometimes even incentivised — by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally de-moralised.” He will say he believes that the public are “crying out” for the government to act in this way, and that “I will not be found wanting”. His passion to mend broken society is, he will say, “stronger today than ever”. Miliband is due to speak half an hour later at Haverstock comprehensive, in Chalk Farm, north London. The route Miliband would walk to school was hit by rioters last week. Miliband will reflect on ideas floated over the weekend by Duncan Smith, who has been appointed to lead a gangs task force. Duncan Smith said the government would begin “harassing” gang leaders, suggesting dusk-till-dawn curfews, daily visits and a trawl of their lives and finances to pick up minor infringements. Gang members possibly should, Duncan Smith suggested, receive a knock on the door once a day from the police and arms of government such as the TV licensing offices, tax authorities and DVLA. Children out late at night would be offered places at newly created young offenders’ academies to “take the anger out of their lives”. Miliband is pushing for a national inquiry. He will say: “A new policy a day, knee-jerk gimmicks unveiled without being properly thought through, are unlikely to solve the problem.” The Labour leader will also taunt the prime minister, saying that when Cameron was developing his analysis of “broken Britain” in opposition he acknowledged that deprivation mattered as much as culture in explaining antisocial behaviour. Miliband will say: “I don’t understand why he has changed his mind. The world hasn’t changed. Maybe it isn’t his view of the world that has changed, but his view of what would make him popular that has changed. I am clear: both culture and deprivation matter. To explain is not to excuse. But to refuse to explain is to condemn to repeat.” UK riots David Cameron Ed Miliband Police Metropolitan police London Iain Duncan Smith Allegra Stratton Andrew Sparrow guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Cameron and Miliband to face off over riots as cross-party unity crumbles
August 15, 2011 No Comment
Cameron to attack ‘slow-motion collapse’ of British morals while Miliband will denounce PM’s post-riot proposals as ‘gimmicks’ Britain has undergone a “slow-motion moral collapse”, David Cameron will say today, as the cross-party unity that had marked politicians’ responses to the riots begins to crumble. The prime minister will go head to head with the leader of the opposition as the two make speeches setting out their competing analyses of the riots and looting. The pair make similarly emphatic condemnations of the rioters, but in a speech at his old school in Camden, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, will denounce Cameron’s ideas to deal with rioters, put forward over the weekend, as “gimmicks”. Miliband will also link the behaviour of the looters and bankers, phone hacking and MPs’ expenses scandals, saying: “It’s not the first time we’ve seen this kind of me-first, take-what-you-can attitude. The bankers who took millions while destroying people’s savings: greedy, selfish, immoral. The MPs who fiddled their expenses: greedy, selfish, immoral. The people who hacked phones to get stories and make money for themselves: greedy, selfish and immoral. Let’s talk about what this does to our culture.” Today, Cameron will push his long-held opinion that parts of Britain are broken, despite opinion polls that show the public believes he has not handled events well. He will say today that government ministers from both parties will audit their portfolios for policies aimed at mending the “broken society”. In the speech, to be delivered outside London, Cameron will say: “Over the next few weeks, I and ministers from across the coalition government will review every aspect of our work to mend our broken society, on schools, welfare, families, parenting, addiction, communities; on the cultural, legal, bureaucratic problems in our society too; from the twisting and misrepresenting of human rights that has undermined personal responsibility, to the obsession with health and safety that has eroded people’s willingness to act according to common sense – and consider whether our plans and programmes are big enough and bold enough to deliver the change that I feel this country now wants to see.” His words suggest again that the government is angling to renegotiate European law, which can overrule domestic legislation, and which they believe has prevented them from devising policies as they would like. “Irresponsibility. Selfishness. Behaving as if your choices have no consequences. Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort. Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged – sometimes even incentivised – by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally de-moralised.” He will say he believes that the public are “crying out” for the government to act in this way, and that “I will not be found wanting”. His passion to mend broken society is, he will say, “stronger today than ever”. Miliband, thought to be speaking at the same time, will be at Haverstock comprehensive, in Chalk Farm, north London. The route Miliband would walk to school was hit by rioters last week. Miliband will reflect on ideas floated over the weekend by Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for work and pensions, who has been appointed to lead a gangs task force. Duncan Smith said the government would begin “harassing” gang leaders, suggesting dusk-till-dawn curfews, daily visits and a trawl of their lives and finances to pick up minor infringements. Gang members possibly should, Duncan Smith suggested, receive a knock on the door once a day from the police and arms of government such as the TV licensing offices, tax authorities and DVLA. Children out late at night would be offered places at newly created young offenders’ academies to “take the anger out of their lives”. Miliband is pushing for a national inquiry. He will say: “A new policy a day, knee-jerk gimmicks unveiled without being properly thought through, are unlikely to solve the problem.” The Labour leader will also taunt the prime minister, saying that when Cameron was developing his analysis of “broken Britain” in opposition he acknowledged that deprivation mattered as much as culture in explaining antisocial behaviour. Miliband will say: “I don’t understand why he has changed his mind. The world hasn’t changed. Maybe it isn’t his view of the world that has changed, but his view of what would make him popular that has changed. I am clear: both culture and deprivation matter. To explain is not to excuse. But to refuse to explain is to condemn to repeat.” Duncan Smith, meanwhile, publicly criticised Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, for failing to grasp that London’s main crime problem is gang culture, not knife crime. Johnson, however, told Sky News yesterday that he wanted an increase in police numbers, saying he was “obsessed” with his cause. He told Sky: “The case I make to the Government, and I’m going to continue to make, is that numbers matter, and I think that the numbers we have got on the streets in London now they’re up on when I came in [as mayor].” Though official line of the Lib Dems was steadfast in support of the new agenda, with a spokesman saying Lib Dem justice minister Lord McNally was likely to be appointed to work on Iain Duncan Smith’s gangs taskforce, and saying they did not rule out some of Duncan Smith’s proposals floated over the weekend. UK riots David Cameron Ed Miliband Labour Conservatives Liberal-Conservative coalition Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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