Saturday, November 2, 2013

[batavia-news] 150 Pelajar Wisata Sejarah ke Museum

 

 
 

150 Pelajar Wisata Sejarah ke Museum

Artikel dimuat pada: Hari ini, 03 Nov 2013, 01:33:00 WIB
 
gambar_berita

(Antara/ Ujang Zaelani) KUNJUNGI MUSEUM: Pemandu wisata Maruri Kotu (kanan) menjelaskan kepada anak-anak peserta wisata sejarah di Museum Bahari, Jakarta, Sabtu (2/11). Wisata sejarah dalam rangka Hari Pahlawan yang diikuti pelajar SD, SMP dan SMU itu mengunjungi Museum Bahari, Museum Sejarah dan Museum Wayang.

 

Jakarta, (Analisa). Sebanyak 150 pelajar jenjang pendidikan SMP dan SMA di Jakarta, berwisata sejarah ke museum dalam rangka peringatan Hari Pahlawan.

 "Kita ingin agar generasi muda bisa mendalami, menghayati, dan melihat siapa saja para pejuang dan diharapkan bisa mewarisi semangat para pahlawan," kata Ketua Umum Panitia Pusat Hari Pahlawan Bambang Sulistomo di Jakarta, Sabtu.

 Para pelajar tersebut akan berwisata ke Museum Bahari, Museum Wayang, dan Museum Seni Rupa.

 Selain pelajar, wisata sejarah juga diikuti perwakilan dari Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Satgas Kesetiakawanan Sosial, panti asuhan, serta Tenaga Kesejahteraan Sosial Kecamatan (TKSK).

 Menurut Bambang, wisata sejarah penting diikuti para pelajar karena kondisi generasi muda saat ini mengalami degradasi nilai dan perilaku.

 Kerap kali, katanya, terjadi kasus pelecehan terhadap siswa, tawuran yang menjurus pada tindak kriminal, dan berbagai masalah lainnya antara lain karena kurang paham mereka terhadap sejarah.

 "Itu semua harus dicegah melalui pendidikan karakter, jika ada pendidikan karakter yang bisa dicontoh dari perjuangan para pahlawan," katanya.

 Ia mengemukakan bahwa pahlawan mempunyai sifat berani dan tanpa pamrih sehingga pada masa mendatang generasi muda bisa bersatu padu menyelesaikan masalah bangsa, bukan malah menjadi beban bangsa.

 Hari Pahlawan diperingati setiap 10 November. Peringatan tersebut pada 2013 mengambil tema "Pahlawanku Idolaku" menjadi momentum untuk meneladani jiwa dan nilai-nilai kepahlawanan.

 Tema yang diangkat itu meskipun singkat, katanya, mengandung makna besar dengan harapan generasi muda betul-betul mengenal dan meneladani para pahlawan.

 Ia mengatakan peringatan itu bukan hanya bersifat seremonial melalui upacara Hari Pahlawan.

 Akan tetapi, katanya, pengenalan para pahlawan dilakukan melalui berbagai kegiatan dalam forum publikasi, sosialisasi untuk mengenalkan para pahlawan kepada mahasiswa dan siswa. (Ant)

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[batavia-news] Chinese police find slaughterhouse selling cat meat

 

 
 

Chinese police find slaughterhouse selling cat meat

Police claim owners of underground abattoir in a village in eastern China were selling cat meat to butchers who then repackaged it and sold it as rabbit

A blue eyed cat lying on a red blanket
Inside one anonymous residential building, they found freezers packed with the brittle carcasses of dozens of domestic cats Photo: ALAMY

Chinese police have unearthed the country's latest horrifying food scandal during a pre-dawn raid on an illegal slaughterhouse that was contaminating the food chain with thousands of domestic cats.

The discovery was made at around 4.30am on Wednesday morning when a tip-off led police and food safety officers to a clandestine abattoir in Chang'an village in the city of Huaian, around 260 miles northwest of Shanghai.

Inside one anonymous residential building, they found freezers packed with the brittle carcasses of dozens of domestic cats.

"The floor was spattered with blood and there was bad smell," the local Modern Express newspaper reported in a grisly dispatch from inside the slaughterhouse.

The Modern Express claimed the abattoir's specialty had been transforming the corpses of thousands of "homeless and domesticated" felines into a lucrative and illegal trade.

Some of the cats were kept alive and shipped to the southern provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi where they were sold for around 10 yuan (£1) per animal. Others were slaughtered in situ or died in their cages before being sold to butchers or at local markets under the guise of "rabbit".

The "rabbit" was then served in local restaurants, state media claimed.

A set of police photographs was released to domestic media on Thursday, painting a shocking image of conditions inside the secret slaughterhouse.

In one photograph the furry corpses of domestic cats can be seen lying on top of an open freezer while another shows stacks of skinned animals separated into transparent plastic bags.

Another picture shows a group of live cats crammed into rusty metal cages while a final image shows cat skins that have been discarded on a filthy concrete floor.

The Modern Express said 60 live cats had been rescued from the slaughterhouse while 100 pieces of cat skin and 66lb of cat meat were recovered.

But the newspaper suggested the true scale of the business was far greater.

"The slaughterhouse has existed for over one year and cat shrieks were often heard," it reported. "Every two or three days, a bus came to take away around one hundred cages of cats."

Scarcely a week goes by without a new food scandal appearing in the pages of Chinese newspapers.

In May, Shanghai dinners were shocked to learn that the lamb they had been consuming could in fact have been rat, mink or fox. The following month police in Guangxi province claimed to have seized 20 tonnes of out-of-date chickens feet dating back to 1967.

Some of the most notorious scandals include glow-in-the-dark pork, exploding watermelons and yoghurt forged from the rubber soles of thrown-away shoes.

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[batavia-news] Buruh Karawang Tolak Mogok Nasional

 

 
 
Buruh Karawang Tolak Mogok Nasional
Widjil Purnomo | Selasa, 29 Oktober 2013 - 16:48 WIB
: 10566


(SH/Don Peter)
Aksi buruh perempuan di bundaran Hotel Indonesia, Jakarta, beberapa waktu lalu.
Sebanyak 10 federasi buruh Karawang yang tergabung dalam ABK menandatangani deklarasi damai.

KARAWANG- Para federasi buruh yang tergabung dalam Aliansi Besar Karawang (ABK) sepakat tidak akan melakukan unjuk rasa nasional, serta kegiatan lain yang mengganggu aktivitas perusahaan, serta kepentingan umum terkait pembahasan kenaikan UMK. Mereka merasa, persoalan kenaikan Upah Minimum Kabupaten bisa diselesaikan sesuai mekanisme dan peraturan yang berlaku.

Sikap para buruh Kabupatan Karawang itu tertuang dalam deklarasi damai yang mereka lakukan di halaman Kantor Bupati Karawang, Senin (28/19). Sebanyak 10 federasi buruh Karawang yang tergabung dalam ABK menandatangani deklarasi yang juga ditandatangani oleh Bupati Karawang, Ketua Apindo Karawang dan disaksikan oleh Ketua DPRD, Kapolres, Dandim, serta tokoh masyarakat Karawang.

"Kami mengapresiasi dan sangat menghargai deklarasi damai para buruh yang tergabung dalam Aliansi Besar Karawang maupun dunia usaha yang diwakili Apindo. Ini merupakan langkah yang positif dalam menciptakan Kabupaten Karawang yang kondusif untuk dunia usaha," kata Bupati Karawang,H. Ade Swara kepada SH, usai deklarasi tersebut, di Karawang.

Dikatakan bupati, pihak pemerintah daerah senantiasi menjembatani secara baik kepentingan buruh dan dunia usaha terkait dengan pembahasan UMK di Karawang.Pasalnya, Karawang merupakan salah satu daerah yang merupakan basis produksi industri manufaktur nasional.

"Kesepakatan UMK di Kabupaten Karawangsangat strategis untuk menopang stabilitas dunia usaha. Dan yang paling penting, semua pihak sama-sama berharap ada perbaikan dalam upah minimum dengan tetap mempertahankan iklim yang kondusif bagi dunia usaha. Kami berharap deklarasi damai di Karawang ini bisa diikuti oleh daerah-daerah lain," tutur Ade Swara.

Dalam deklarasi damai tersebut, Apindo Karawang sepakat akan menaikkan upah para buruh pada 2014 mendatang.Para buruh menerima kenaikan tersebut dan mekanismenya diserahkan kepada Dewan Pengupahan Kabupaten Karawang yang mengacu kepada ketentuan perundangan yang berlaku.

Juru Bicara ABK, Abda Khair Mufti menegaskan, melalui deklarasi ini, para buruh sepakat untuk menciptakan hubungan kerjasama yang baik, saling menghormati dan menghargai, serta siap bersinergi dengan pemangku kepentingan dunia usaha, baik dari kalangan pengusaha, pemerintah daerah, parlemen, serta elemen masyarakat industri Karawang.

"Ajakan mogok nasional yang disuarakan oleh para elit buruh di Jakarta sangat tidak relevan dengan kondisi riil yang ada di lapangan, khususnya di Karawang. Tidak ada alasan bagi kami di Karawang mengikuti jejak mereka untuk mogok nasional karena mekanisme penyelesaian perbedaan maupun perselisihan ketenagakerjaan sudah berjalan sesuai dengan kesepakatan bersama,"ucap Abda.

Disebutkan, federasi butuh yang yang tergabung dalam ABK juga ingin menunjukkan bawah buruh bisa berpartisipasi dalam menciptakan keamanan, ketentraman dan kenyamanan bagi pelaku usaha, pekerja, maupun lingkungan masyarakat.

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[batavia-news] Minggu Depan, Buruh Kembali Kepung Balai kota

 

 
 
Minggu Depan, Buruh Kembali Kepung Balai kota
CR-36/CR-41 | Sabtu, 02 November 2013 - 11:05 WIB
: 67


(SH/Daniel Pietersz)
Ribuan buruh dari gabungan berbagai Serikat Pekerja dan organisasi buruh menggelar aksi unjuk rasa di depan Balai Kota, Jakarta, Jumat (1/11).
 
Keputusan Jokowi Rp 2.441.301 ini dinilai sangat menyengsarakan buruh.
 

JAKARTA - Aksi ratusan buruh yang berencana menginap di kantor Balikota, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Jakarta Pusat menuntut kenaikkan UMP sebesar Rp 3,7 juta, tidak terwujud.

Gertakan yang dilakukan oleh kaum buruh itu sampai Jumat (1/11) pukul 19.00 WIB tidak terbukti.

Meski demikian, buruh sempat bersitegang dengan petugas Brigadir Mobil (Brimob) lantaran bersikeras untuk tetap bertahan di kantor Gubernur DKI Jakarta Joko Widodo atau dikenal dengan sapaan Jokowi.

Pada pukul 18.00 WIB, parah buruh mulai dipukul mundur oleh jajaran kepolisian dari Jakarta Pusat, Polda Metro Jaya yang menurunkan 2 mobil water canon dan 1 mobil barak kuda.

Pada pukul 18.00 WIB, anggota brimob pun mulai perlahan-lahan maju guna mendesak para buruh membubarkan diri. Peringatan demi peringatan kepada buruh agar membubarkan diri terus dilontarkan dari pengeras suara mobil polisi

Namun, para buruh tetap bertahan. Mereka membentuk barisan dan saling berhadapan dengan anggota brimob dan mobil water canon dan barakuda. Anggota Brimob pun perlahan-lahan maju memukul mundur buruh. Pada 19.00 WIB, buruh pun membubarkan diri setelah Koordinator Lapangan Forum Buruh DKI Jakarta, Mubarok mengatakan akan melakukan aksi demo Senin (4/11) mendatang.

"Kami akan kembali lagi. Senin atau Selasa kami akan turun ke jalan lagi," ucap Mubarok saat tengah bernegoisasi dengan Kapolres Jakarta Pusat, Komisaris Polisi (Kombes) Angesta Ramano Yoyo pada Jumat lalu.

"Kami akan beri waktu dalam waktu sampai minggu depan, Jokowi harus bisa berkonsultasi dengan Dewan Pengubahan. Jika itu tidak bisa dipenuhi, buruh akan kembali turun kejalan," cetus Mubarok.

Kapolres Jakarta Pusat Angesta Ramano Yoyol kepada SH mengatakan, upaya pembubaran buruh dilakukan persuasif tanpa adanya gesekan atara petugas dan buruh.

"Batas waktu demo itu sampai pukul 18.00 WIB. Ini Jakarta, banyak masyarakat yang terganggu akibat demo buruh. Kalau mengenai demo, kita tidak pernah melarang asalkan tidak melanggar waktu.

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[batavia-news] TNI Tak Puas dengan Demokrasi?

 

 
 
TNI Tak Puas dengan Demokrasi?
 
Sigit Wibowo | Sabtu, 02 November 2013 - 15:05 WIB
: 249


(dok/antara)
Sejumlah prajurit TNI AD mempersiapkan perlengkapan pameran di Silang Monas, Jakarta, Selasa (1/10).
 
Mengembalikan ke masa Orde Baru membahayakan keutuhan bangsa dan negara.
 

JAKARTA - Pernyataan Panglima Komando Strategi Angkatan Darat (Pangkostrad) Letjen TNI Gatot Nurmantyo amat mengejutkan karena ia mengungkapkan keraguannya terhadap pelaksanaan demokrasi di Indonesia. Intinya, ia menilai demokrasi di Indonesia telah salah arah.

"Demokrasi Indonesia saat ini adalah kerakyatan yang dipimpin oleh kekuatan dengan cara voting atau pemungutan suara. Demokrasi bukan lagi musyawarah untuk mufakat," kata Gatot di depan organisasi binaan TNI, Pemuda Pancasila.

Pernyataan ini memang tidak salah karena kondisi Indonesia saat ini telah menganut demokrasi liberal di mana kekuatan uang amat menentukan. Pelaksanaan demokrasi liberal ini terjadi karena setelah reformasi, UUD '45 diamendemen sehingga menyebabkan semua partai politik bersifat pragmatis dan mengandalkan uang untuk berkuasa lalu melakukan tindak korupsi secara besar-besaran.

TNI, terutama angkatan darat yang sangat berkuasa di era Orde Baru sejak era Reformasi diputuskan untuk menjadi tentara profesional sehingga setiap pernyataan politik dari petinggi TNI secara terbuka akan mengundang protes keras. Pernyataan petinggi TNI merupakan ancaman bagi demokrasi yang sedang dibangun masyarakat sipil.

Direktur Advokasi Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia (YLBHI) Bahrain menyatakan rakyat Indonesia harus mewaspadai setiap upaya menyeret institusi TNI ke dalam kancah politik seperti era Orde Baru oleh para petinggi TNI itu sendiri.

"TNI telah diputuskan rakyat Indonesia menjadi tentara profesional dan tidak boleh masuk ke kancah politik," kata Bahrain. TNI merupakan alat rakyat Indonesia sehingga tidak berhak mengklaim dan menyuarakan kepentingan rakyat Indonesia.

Masih banyak para petinggi TNI yang tampaknya rindu mengembalikan Indonesia ke zaman Orde Baru di mana pemerintahan otoriter Soeharto berkuasa ditopang dengan lars sepatu tentara.

TNI, terutama AD saat itu seperti dewa yang tak tersentuh dan berdiri di atas kepentingan rakyat selaku pemegang kedaulatan di RI. Zaman sudah berubah dan pemerintah otoriter yang ditopang militer sudah tidak laku di berbagai belahan dunia karena menimbulkan pelangaran hak asasi manusia dan represif.

Di negara-negara Barat seperti Amerika Serikat dan Eropa Barat, militer berada di bawah kendali pemerintahan sipil yang menganut demokrasi liberal.

Demikian pula di Rusia, militer berada di bawah kendali Presiden Vladimir Putin dan jaringan Siloviki yang terdiri atas mantan para anggota Badan Intelijen Uni Soviet, KGB. Di China, Tentara Pembebasan Rakyat berada di bawah kendali Partai Komunis China (PKC) yang memiliki ideologi yang jelas.

Tentara-tentara di Amerika Latin yang progresif juga berada dibawah kendali pemerintah sipil yang dipilih rakyat secara demokratis. Militer di negara-negara Amerika Latin, seperti Venezuela, Bolivia, Brasil, dan Argentina benar-benar independen dan tidak berada di bawah kendali pengaruh Amerika Serikat seperti di Indonesia. Mereka semua menjadi militer profesional yang menjaga kepentingan dan kedaulatan negara dan bukan menjadi alat pengaman para pemilik modal asing.

Orientasi Militer

Hal ini berbeda dengan militer Indonesia, terutama sejak zaman Orde Baru. Sejumlah petinggi-pertingginya lebih sibuk menjadi komisaris atau direksi di perusahaan-perusahaan asing atau perusahaan swasta domestik atau pun masuk ke dunia bisnis.

Kondisi saat ini belum banyak berubah karena para petinggi TNI yang sudah pensiun masih banyak menduduki jabatan-jabatan strategis di perusahaan-perusahaan asing atau swasta.

Namun praktik-praktik ini tidak pernah dianggap penyimpangan oleh petinggi-petinggi TNI. Padahal mereka dijadikan komisaris atau direktur dengan tugas utama mengamankan kepentingan para pemilik modal swasta.

Jika para petinggi TNI konsisten menjunjung tinggi Sapta Marga, Pancasila, UUD '45 dan bukan sekadar lip service maka tak ada pilihan, selain membuktikan dalam tindakan nyata. Hal ini berarti TNI berperan mewujudkan kemandirian bangsa dalam bidang ekonomi, berdikari dalam bidang politik dan berkepribadian secara budaya.

Konsekuensi dari pilihan ini tentu saja TNI bukan menjadi alat kepentingan pemodal asing atau kepentingan negara-negara lain seperti Amerika Serikat atau China.

Jika TNI berpikir besar mewujudkan demokrasi ekonomi dan demokrasi politik maka kesejahteraan prajurit yang selama ini dikeluhkan pelan-pelan akan mampu diatasi. Sekarang yang terjadi adalah para petinggi TNI sejahtera, sedangkan para prajurit TNI merana.

TNI mungkin lupa bahwa struktur ekonomi dan politik Indonesia saat ini didominasi perusahaan-perusahaan asing, terutama di sektor-sektor strategis seperti perusahaan migas, pertambangan, perbankan, air, sehingga perekonomian Indonesia dikendalikan perusahaan-perusahaan asing.

Hal ini sesungguhnya bertentangan dengan Pasal 33 UUD '45 yang asli, sektor-sektor strategis dikuasai negara lewat BUMN. Amat mengherankan jika Panglima TNI memiliki komitmen mengamankan investasi dan terus mendukung pertumbuhan ekonomi nasional, sedangkan Indonesia tak lagi berdaulat di bidang ekonomi.

Menjadi pertanyaan besar bagi masyarakat Indonesia. Di mana gerangan TNI selaku penjaga kepentingan bangsa dan negara, penegak Pancasila, serta UUD '45 berada ketika Indonesia makin tak berdaulat secara ekonomi dan budaya? Kenapa mereka tidak bersuara, padahal kondisi ini sudah menyimpang jauh dari cita-cita para pendiri bangsa dan negara Indonesia?

Jika paradigma TNI hanya sebatas mengamankan investasi dan pertumbuhan ekonomi, apa bedanya TNI dengan KNIL zaman Belanda yang sama-sama bertugas mengamankan kepentingan pemilik modal atau investor untuk meraup keuntungan sebesar-besarnya?

Para petinggi TNI seharusnya masuk ke dalam masalah yang lebih mendasar, yakni bagaimana Indonesia mencapai kemandirian bangsa di bidang ekonomi, politik, dan budaya yang merupakan esensi kemerdekaan yang dicita-cita para pendiri RI sejak 17 Agustus 1945.

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[batavia-news] Japan, Russia agree to expand defense ties

 

 

Japan, Russia agree to expand defense ties

Japan and Russia held their first high-level defense and diplomatic talks Saturday and agreed to step up cooperation between their militaries amid regional security concerns such as North Korea and China.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, and their Russian counterparts Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu also agreed to hold joint military and anti-piracy exercises and establish a defense consultation framework. Their countries' defense ties are geared up toward peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and would not affect existing alliances, including one between Japan and the U.S., they said.

Lavrov told a news conference after Saturday's talks that upgrading defense ties between the two countries could serve their national interests in resolving terrorism and North Korea's nuclear threats, as well as other regional disputes. He welcomed the talks as a landmark development for Russia and Japan, and said that this new cooperation would not interfere with the Japan-U.S. alliance.

Kishida also said that Japan's alliance with Washington remains "the cornerstone" of Tokyo's foreign and security policy.

Earlier Friday, Japan and Russia agreed to continue discussing a territorial dispute that has kept the nations from signing a peace treaty.

"We need to act constructively. We should not be emotional, and avoid provocative remarks," Lavrov said in Friday's news conference.

The diplomats also agreed to hold vice-ministerial talks in late January or February, ahead of Kishida's planned visit to Russia in the spring.

Lavrov did not mention an attack on Russian missiles in Latakia in Syria. Kishida said he and Lavrov planned to discuss Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and other international issues at Friday's working dinner, which was closed to the media.

Japan is seeking to broaden its defense ties, in addition to its key security alliance with the United States, in response to China's growing military presence and threats from North Korea.

Russia has been expanding its trade ties in Asia and President Vladimir Putin has actively sought closer relations with Japan, partly as a counter to China's rising military power.

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[batavia-news] Hakimullah killed in US drone strike

 

 
Saturday, November 02, 2013 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version

Hakimullah killed in US drone strike


* Bodyguard and deputy of TTP chief also killed as drones fire four missiles at a compound in Danda Darpa Khel village of Miranshah

* Security officials says 25 people killed in strike


ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed by a US drone strike on Friday, security sources and a senior Taliban commander said, in a major blow to the country's most feared militant group.

Mehsud was one of Pakistan's most wanted men with a $5 million US bounty on his head. He led an increasingly violent insurgency from a secret hideout in North Waziristan, the Taliban's mountainous stronghold on the Afghan border.

"We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack," a senior Taliban commander said.

Several intelligence, army and Taliban sources across Pakistan confirmed Mehsud, believed to be in his mid-30s, had been killed in the drone strike in North Waziristan.

Drones fired four missiles at a compound in Danda Darpa Khel, a village about five kilometres from the regional capital of Miranshah, killing at least four people, sources said. A senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity that a US drone fired missiles targeting a vehicle at the main gate of the compound, killing four militants. "It was a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan compound which was in use of top TTP commander" Mehsud, he added. Four security officials also confirmed Mehsud's death to Reuters. His bodyguard and driver were also killed, they said. "Among the dead, who are in large numbers, are Hakimullah's personal bodyguard Tariq Mehsud and his driver Abdullah Mehsud, two of his closest people," said one intelligence source.

Mehsud was killed after attending a gathering of 25 Taliban leaders gathering to discuss the government's offer of talks, security officials said.

The information could not be independently verified because journalists have no access to the affected areas.

Mehsud's funeral will be held today (Saturday) in Miranshah, the Taliban commander said – a high-profile event likely to stir tensions further in the already highly volatile region. The death of a man whose name became synonymous with the escalating insurgency in the nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Pakistani Taliban. In May, a drone strike killed Mehsud's second-in-command, and one of his most trusted lieutenants was captured in Afghanistan last month.

The death also follows months of debate over potential peace talks between the Taliban and the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who won a landslide election victory in May, promising to quash the insurgency.

Mehsud took over the Pakistani Taliban in August 2009 after a drone strike killed the previous leader, his mentor. His Pakistani Taliban act as an umbrella for various jihadist groups who are separate but allied to the Afghan Taliban.

The government issued its usual statement denouncing the drone strike but did not comment on reports of Mehsud's death.

Shortly after the attack, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan termed the attack an attempt to sabotage the government's plan to hold talks with the Taliban.

The US had offered $5 million for Mehsud's capture after he appeared in a farewell video with the Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan in 2009.

US prosecutors have charged him with involvement in the attack. Although Mehsud's death will spark calls for revenge, it may make negotiations with the militants easier in the long-run, said Saifullah Mahsud, director of the Pakistani think-tank FATA Research Center.

"Hakimullah Mehsud was a very controversial figure and he had very tough demands," he said. But the strike did not signal the end of the Pakistani Taliban, he said. "It's a very decentralised organisation. They've lost leaders to drone strikes before."

Friday's strike came a day after three insurgents were killed in another drone strike that also targeted a rebel compound near Miranshah. North Waziristan is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan. Washington considers these areas a major hub of Taliban and al Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.

Mehsud's killing comes a week after Nawaz Sharif urged US President Barack Obama to stop drone strikes during a meeting in Washington. agencies

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[batavia-news] Is Al-Qaeda helping Al-Assad?

 

 
 
 
29-10-2013 06:07PM ET

Is Al-Qaeda helping Al-Assad?

More than one group affiliated with Al-Qaeda is involved in the conflict in Syria, but with what end in view, asks Bassel Oudat in Damascus

Is Al-Qaeda helping Al-Assad?

Dozens of armed groups are fighting in Syria today, presumably aiming to bring down the regime led by President Bashar Al-Assad which has ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly four decades.

Some of these groups are secular, and some are moderate Islamists whose agenda is known and who usually fight in the ranks of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

However, others, such as the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), are known affiliates of Al-Qaeda. Presumably, these groups see themselves as fighting for a worldwide jihad, but their agenda in Syria is so bewildering that some now suspect them of taking sides with the regime.

The moderate Islamists fighting in the ranks of the opposition are Syrians, and they do not accept foreign fighters in their ranks. However, the Al-Qaeda affiliates have no such qualms, and their ranks are filled with non-Syrians, including Arabs, Westerners and Asians.

While the leaders of most of the Syrian groups are well known, no one seems to know who is running the Al-Qaeda affiliates. Both the Nusra Front and the ISIS forces are remarkably well-trained, well-equipped, and well-financed, something that the other Syrian groups, endemically short of both cash and ammunition, can only envy.

Over the past few months, Al-Qaeda affiliates have been challenging the FSA by expelling it from positions it had won in battle, chasing it from areas with no particular military value, and generally trying to weaken it.

What has been even more jarring has been the fact that the Al-Qaeda affiliates have also started to interfere with the civilian population, presumably in an attempt to force it to adopt a strict form of Sharia Law, a goal that has never been embraced by the Syrian revolution as a whole and one that can only alienate many of its civilian supporters.

Add to this the curious fact that the regime almost never bombs areas that are controlled by the Al-Qaeda affiliates and the outlines of a conspiracy theory begin to emerge, or at least this is what the Syrian opposition is now coming to believe.

Many in the Syrian opposition say that the Al-Qaeda affiliates are now in fact doing the regime's bidding by weakening its true adversaries, those led by the FSA, and alienating Syrian civilians and the West and thus giving the regime the opportunity to claim it is fighting terrorists.

ISIS fighters recently stormed into the town of Azaz near Aleppo in northern Syria and expelled FSA fighters from it, doing the same thing in areas of Al-Reqqa, Deir Al-Zur and Idlib.

Syrian opposition members are beginning to identify a pattern. Whenever the regime is in trouble, they say, the Al-Qaeda affiliates start a fight with either the FSA or the Kurds, thereby alleviating the pressure on Al-Assad's forces.

To explain this pattern, members of the Syrian opposition say that the Al-Qaeda affiliates have either been infiltrated by the regime, or have forged close ties with its intelligence services.

Such activities by the Al-Qaeda affiliates have done much to discredit the Syrian revolution, and they recently eliminated the chance of a military strike against the regime as legislators in both London and Washington balked at the idea of removing a regime in a country so at risk of falling into the hands of jihadists.

Turkey, increasingly worried about the jihadists in Syria, has also recently closed its main border crossing with Syria, a step that has further weakened the Syrian secular opposition.

The ISIS has also been accused of fomenting clashes between the Arabs and the Kurds who oppose the regime, so as to throw the ranks of the opposition into disarray. It has arrested activists, relief workers and journalists, actions which have reflected badly on the opposition as a whole.

The ISIS has made a habit of occupying oil supply points, major roads and strategic points across the borders, actions that seem less directed against the regime than geared towards maximising its own clout in the country and another reason for the suspicions now surrounding the group's agenda.

The Syrian opposition says that the Nusra Front and the ISIS could not care less about the revolution and its goals, which include creating a pluralistic democracy in Syria and defending citizens' rights, justice and freedom. None of these goals seems to elicit support from the jihadists.

The opposition local coordination committees, which include activists from all currents, claim that the actions of the Nusra Front and the ISIS are helpful to no one but the regime.

Monzir Khaddam, spokesman for the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, said that the jihadists were also implementing a US agenda. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Khaddam said that "for the extremist jihadist groups in Syria, including the Nusra Front and the ISIS, bloodshed is their sole raison d'être."

"They claim that what they are fighting for is the creation of an Islamist regime that would implement Sharia Law in Syria, which is absurd. In truth, the US created the jihadist movements, and it is using them for its own purposes. The jihadists are only a problem for America and the West if they pose a threat to Israel. But if they are destroying Syria, then their presence is tolerated."

"I do not rule out the possibility that at some point as part of a political settlement between the opposition and the regime in Geneva or elsewhere, the Syrian army might join with the FSA to destroy the extremists," Khaddam said.

Sources in the Syrian opposition estimate the number of non-Syrian jihadists at some 17,000, while European sources put the figure at 6,000.

Louay Safi, spokesman for the National Coalition of the Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, said that there was no shortage of Islamist factions that believe in freedom and dignity, but that the Al-Qaeda affiliates were not among them.

"The Syrian people must exercise their right to choose their political leaders in a democratic fashion," Safi said.

Soad Nofal, an activist from Al-Reqqa who staged a one-woman picket in front of the ISIS headquarters for two months to demand that the group stop abducting and arresting activists and burning churches, is convinced that the ISIS have connections with the regime.

Speaking to the Weekly, Nofal said that "all their actions suggest, indeed confirm, that they have links with the regime."

FSA spokesman Fahd Al-Masri called on foreign fighters to leave the country, saying that the FSA would not allow any extremist or terrorist group to stay in Syria after the fall of Al-Assad.

"The countries that talk about how terrorists are infiltrating Syria must ask themselves how this has happened. These groups have been crossing the borders in broad daylight. We have to find out how more than 1,000 Taliban fighters arrived in Syria. We have to find out how members of Al-Qaeda escaped from Iraqi prisons and came to Syria," he said.

"There is an international conspiracy to let Islamists and extremists into Syria in order to upset the military and political balance in the country and distort the Syrian revolution."

Claims that the Syrian regime is in cahoots with Al-Qaeda are not as fantastical as they may seem. During the first year of the revolution, the regime released more than 60,000 criminals from prison, including jihadists who had had dealings with the regime when the country was a route for extremists going to Iraq.

As the extremists continue their activities today, the revolutionaries in Syria find themselves in a tight spot, needing both to fight the regime and the jihadists who are better equipped and better trained than they are

 
 
 
 
 

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