OSAC EARLY BIRD
09 SEPTEMBER 2011
Use of these articles does not reflect official endorsement.
Reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions.
(CTRL + Click on Title to Go To Story)
From Arab News
Kingdom Making ‘Steady Progress’ In Space Science
Divorces Spike During Summer Break, Eid Holiday
From CNN
Former Egyptian Interior Minister Accused In Mubarak Trial
Criminal Court Seeks Interpol Red Notice For Gadhafi
The Washington Post
Former Saudi Spy Chief: U.S. Should Have Declared End To Afghan War After Killing Of Bin Laden
From Yahoo! News Maktoob
Obama Urged To Wield U.N. Veto Against Palestinians
Syria Forces Storm Village, Kill Three Defectors: Activist
From Arabian Business
Arab Spring Has Cost Gulf Arab States $150bn
Dubai Among World’s Worst Performing Property Markets
Photo Provided By Bruce Kendall
Kingdom Making ‘Steady Progress’ In Space Science
Saudi Arabia is making steady progress in space science and technology, said Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) and a member of the Association of Space Explorers.
"The Saudi government is keen on developing science and technology...and it understands the role of space science in boosting the Kingdom's development," he said in a statement after attending the association's 24th annual conference in Moscow.
He said the Kingdom has left no stone unturned in promoting scientific research and encouraging scientists. "We were the main founders of the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat)," the prince said.
Saudi Arabia is the largest information technology market in the region.
The Association of Space Explorers, a nonprofit organization, was established in 1985, the year when Prince Sultan conducted his historic space journey on NASA’s space shuttle Discovery.
He was the first Arab, Muslim and member of royalty to travel into space. The mission was also unique because its crew came from three different countries on three continents.
Russia was selected for this year’s congress to mark the 50th anniversary of the world's first space flight by Yuri Gagarin, a Russian.
Space exploration is making rapid progress and the number of people who have seen our planet from spacecraft has already exceeded 500.
These people represent dozens of countries, said Alexei Leonov, pilot-cosmonaut of the former Soviet Union, who made the world's first space walk.
“Any person who has made at least one orbit around the earth and any man or woman from any country regardless of faith or membership of a political party can become a member of the association,” Leonov said.
The association is aimed at coordinating the efforts of cosmonauts and astronauts, using resources for solving complicated global problems and establishing relations between countries.
The conference discussed ways to promote space exploration and boost international cooperation in the field.
Divorces Spike During Summer Break, Eid Holiday
Family consultants claim divorce rates tend to spike during the Eid and holiday break but ruled out the possibility that arguments over Eid expenses were solely to blame.
Marriage consultant Muhammad Al-Ahmadi told Arab News there were various other reasons for divorce, the most important of which of course was the financial circumstances of the couple.
"Differences leading to divorce can easily happen over petty things, such as visits to relatives, travel during the Eid holidays, the type of food served on the occasion and whether to let children to go out to play," he said.
There have been some comical stories about Eid divorces. A local newspaper reported that a man divorced his two wives because they insisted that he buy them new clothes for the occasion.
It reported another man divorced his wife because she refused to go with him to visit his sister and insisted on going to her mother instead.
However, a survey of couples conducted by Al-Mawadah Center for Family Consultancy did not entirely blame Eid expenses for family breakdowns.
According to the survey, half of respondents did not believe that differences over Eid expenses were the main cause for divorce.
About 63 percent did not believe that Eid was an occasion to further strengthen family ties while 37 percent did.
A third approved of marriages during Eid, while 27 percent did not.A recent report released by the Ministry of Justice said there were 9,233 divorces in Saudi Arabia in 2010.
It revealed Makkah region topped all other regions with 2,518 divorce cases (27 percent of total divorces).
The Eastern Province was second with 1,970 divorces and Madinah province occupied third place with 1,198 divorces.
Former Egyptian Interior Minister Accused In Mubarak Trial
A former Egyptian interior minister and his aides ordered the killings of anti-government protesters in the days before Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, according to testimony from an Egyptian security official, an attorney told CNN on Thursday.
The allegation comes during the trial of Mubarak, now adjourned till Sunday. The former Egyptian leader is charged with ordering the killing of protesters to quash the uprising in February that ultimately ended his 30-year rule.
In addition to accusations of ordering the killing of protesters, Mubarak faces corruption charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Maj. Esam Shawky, who works in the administrative department in charge of anti-riot security forces, testified Thursday that Habib el-Adly and his aides ordered the killings and gave the order to cut Internet services on January 28 amid the unrest, lawyer Khaled Abou Bakr said.
Bakr, who is attending the trial, is suing Mubarak on behalf of a victim who was shot and injured during protests.
He said Shawky also told the court that he instructed the country's general prosecutor to save voice recordings between el-Adly and his assistants before they were destroyed.
The assertions were based on a January 27 meeting between el-Adly and his aides. Mubarak, asked by the judge if he had any reaction, had no comment.
El-Adly disputed the testimony and said minutes of the meeting show discussions revolved around containing the protests, not dispersing them.
Another witness, Gen. Hussein Abdel Hamid, attended the meeting and testified that he objected to el-Adly's orders of arming the security forces and implementing a plan to "handle the protesters at any cost."
Hamid said he was transferred to the Cairo security headquarters to take a course on "the art of dispersing protesters."
Earlier this week, clashes erupted outside the courtroom between security forces and families of those killed in this year's uprisings. But Thursday, there were only a handful of victims' families and no sign of Mubarak supporters.
Top Egyptian figures will be testifying next week behind closed doors in the trial. The prosecutor general banned media from reporting testimony that may emerge from those sessions because of "national security matters."
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, is set to appear Sunday, and Gen. Sami Anan, Armed Forces chief of staff, will go before the court Monday.
The former vice president and head of Egyptian intelligence, Omar Suleiman, is scheduled to testify Tuesday.
Interior Minister Mansour Essawy will appear Wednesday, and his predecessor, Mahmoud Wagdy, is set to testify the following day.
About 840 people died and more than 6,000 were wounded in the 18 days of uprising that toppled Mubarak, according to Amnesty International.
Mubarak is the first leader toppled in this year's Arab Spring revolts to face a judge. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was tried in absentia after he was deposed in January and fled to Saudi Arabia.
The trial is expected to last at least six months to a year, according to Adel Saeed, a spokesman for the general prosecutor.
Criminal Court Seeks Interpol Red Notice For Gadhafi
With no definite word as to Moammar Gadhafi's whereabouts, the International Criminal Court asked Interpol Thursday to issue Red Notice arrest warrants for the fallen Libyan leader, wanted for alleged crimes against humanity.
"Arresting Gadhafi is matter of time," said Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
The court also asked for Red Notices on Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, and his brother-in-law, Abdullah Al-Senussi, who served as the regime's intelligence chief.
They are also wanted for alleged killings and persecution in the Libyan uprising that erupted in February. The Red Notice allows Interpol, the international police agency, to widely circulate arrest warrants with an intention to extradite suspects to the criminal court.
The court's actions came amid another round of claims made by Libya's new leadership about the fugitive leader and his family.
A spokesman for the new Tripoli Military Council said anti-Gadhafi fighters had cornered the fallen Libyan leader and that he had no means of escape. But Anees Al-Sharif did not divulge a location.
Abdallah Kenshil, a National Transitional Council member who is negotiating with tribal leaders for a loyalist surrender, said two of Gadhafi's sons had been spotted in Bani Walid, one of the last loyalist strongholds about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Tripoli.
"We know that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and Mutassim Gadhafi are inside Bani Walid," Kenshil said. "Eyewitnesses we know by name inside Bani Walid told us they saw them."
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was considered the most influential of Gadhafi's sons. Mutassim Gadhafi served as his father's national security adviser.
"Moammar Ghadafi himself incited violence against our peaceful message in a message broadcast on Al-Rai-TV," Kenshil said, referring to an audio message purportedly from Gadhafi Wednesday.
In recent days, the Syrian television station has aired several messages allegedly from Gadhafi.
"He asked his supporters to destroy the mosque where the negotiations with Bani Walid elders took place," Kenshil said.
The man claiming to be Gadhafi also refuted speculation that he had fled to Niger, saying he was still in Libya and would not leave.
"They claimed I left to Niger so they can weaken you and destroy your morale," he said, adding such reports were "lies."
CNN could not independently confirm any of the interim council's statements. Anti-Gadhafi fighters have made claims before about the arrests or killings of Gadhafi's sons which later were proved false.
Gadhafi has not been seen in public in months.
Questions about Gadhafi's whereabouts intensified after the fall of Tripoli and reports that his wife, daughter, two sons and other family members fled to neighboring Algeria, which described its acceptance of the family as a humanitarian gesture.
Libya's new leaders, meanwhile, have imposed a Saturday deadline on Gadhafi loyalists to lay down their arms or face military force.
The calm that prevailed during negotiations for surrender shattered in Bani Walid Thursday as loyalists fired on advancing opposition fighters.
The anti-Gadhafi fighters were on a reconnaissance mission when they came under fire in Wadi Dinar, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) outside Bani Walid, Kenshil said.
One opposition fighter was injured in the abdomen, he said. The opposition returned fire and killed a pro-Gadhafi fighter.
Two Libyan convoys passed through Niger this week, officials in that country said. The U.S. State Department said Gadhafi was not believed to be in the convoy.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said earlier this week that officials believe Gadhafi is on the run. "I don't have any information as to exactly where he's located," he said.
Meanwhile, trucks armed with anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers pulled into a base 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) southwest of the coastal city of Misrata Wednesday.
The fighting force known as the Victory Unit was back from its patrol of the desert landscape separating Bani Walid and Misrata, loyal to National Transitional Council fighters.
The 70-kilometer (44-mile) buffer zone had been quiet for the past two weeks as negotiations between tribal leaders from Bani Walid and representatives from the National Transitional Council have continued.
"We don't want more bloodshed," said Antar Al Birra, the commander of the Victory Unit. "Too many people have died, so we hope the negotiations will be successful."
Al Birra's forces are battle-hardened from months of heavy fighting, and with Gadhafi's forces against the ropes, he says the battle to take the city will be short.
"If we are ordered to take the city, it won't take us long, maybe two or three hours," Al Birra said.
Many soldiers on the front hope for a peaceful solution. But as Saturday's deadline loomed, many were anxious as hope of success began to fade.
"Negotiations have completely failed," said Shamsaddin Ben Ali, a transitional council spokesman. "We won't agree to their demands."
These demands include transitional council forces entering the city unarmed, refraining from searching houses and -- the most contentious -- a full pardon for the people of Bani Walid.
"We won't grant amnesty because there are people with blood on their hands, and we want them to face a trial," Ben Ali said. "I predict fighting to resume on Saturday."
Former Saudi Spy Chief: U.S. Should Have Declared End To Afghan War After Killing Of Bin Laden
Prince Turki al-Faisal, the longtime head of Saudi Arabia’s foreign intelligence service until he resigned shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings, lent his regal presence to a panel discussion jointly sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.
In an auditorium at the Ronald Reagan Building, Turki lit up the stage in his dapper tan suit and red pocket handkerchief even before he served up a particularly frank assessment of the state of al-Qaeda.
Contrary to those who have argued that bin Laden was primarily a figurehead or a symbolic figure, Turki said the al-Qaeda leader’s death marked a watershed moment — so important that its significance has actually gone underappreciated in the United States.
“The killing of bin Laden has not gotten the accolades that it deserves, not just throughout the world but even in this country,” said Turki, who has also served as the Saudi ambassador to the United States and is a Georgetown alumnus.
He recalled how former President George W. Bush had vowed to capture bin Laden, “dead or alive,” and praised President Obama for persisting in that mission. “I think he should have been given more credit for it by the American people and the rest of us.”