IPT IO N SC R SU B
SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2012
2
150 Fils
Inspections bare serious pollution risks in Kuwait
JAMADI ALAWAAL 16, 1433 AH
7
Malian rebels declare Azawad ‘independent’
No: 15411
48
Cisse lifts Newcastle to fifth place in EPL
24 die as Syria violence rages
Max 33º Min 20º
Troops step up offensives ahead of cease-fire
25 Indonesian maids on death row in Saudi RIYADH: Twenty-five Indonesian maids are on death row in Saudi Arabia and 22 others have been pardoned and sent home, local media reported yesterday, adding that Jakarta will send a delegation for talks on the issue. “Twenty-two death row Indonesian inmates in the Kingdom have been exonerated and repatriated back to Indonesia, while 25 maids are still facing death sentences in Saudi Arabia for various offences,” the English-language daily Arab News reported. “Six housemaids are on death row in Riyadh province alone, whereas about 19 female workers have been handed death sentences in the Western region,” it quoted the Indonesian embassy’s spokesman, Hendrar Pramutyo, as saying. Jakarta will send “a 14member presidential task force to the Kingdom on April 7 to talk to Saudi officials and to intensify efforts in cooperation with its embassy to rescue the maids,” the daily quoted Pramutyo as saying. “We have also asked permission from the host government to allow our presidential task force delegation to visit Saudi jails” where a total of 1,700 Indonesians are serving prison terms, he added. Indonesian anger over the treatment of its manual laborers in the oil-rich Gulf monarchy has grown since last year, after a spate of cases of abuse and killings. Last June, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono denounced the beheading in Saudi Arabia of an Indonesian maid and accused Riyadh of breaking the “norms and manners” of international relations. Ruyati binti Sapubi, 54, was beheaded on June 18, 2011, after she was convicted of killing her Saudi employer, prompting Indonesia to recall its ambassador in Saudi Arabia for “consultations.” Indonesia also announced a moratorium on sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of thousands of Indonesians toil as maids and laborers. Days later, the kingdom announced that it would stop granting work permits to domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines, after hiring conditions were imposed by those two countries. Rights groups say millions of mostly Asian domestic workers are regularly exposed to physical and financial abuse in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states because of poor or non-existent labor laws. — AFP
TAFTNAZ: A photo shows people standing around a mass grave as bodies are laid out for burial in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province. — AFP BEIRUT: At least 24 Syrians were killed in violence yesterday and the military tried to halt a refugee exodus, opposition activists said, only four days before a troop pullback agreed by President Bashar Al-Assad as part of a UN-backed peace plan. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shelling had killed at least 10 people, including four rebel fighters, in the flashpoint central city of Homs. Two soldiers died in separate clashes and one person was killed in the town of Douma, it said. The British-based Observatory, using its network of contacts in Syria, also reported seven civilians and four soldiers killed in clashes and bombardments in Anadan, north of Aleppo. The fresh violence erupted a day after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the conflict was worsening and attacks on civilian areas persisted, despite assurances from Damascus that its troops had begun withdrawing under the peace plan. UN-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan has said the government and opposition must stop fighting at 6 am on April 12, if Damascus meets its deadline 48 hours earlier to pull back troops from cities and cease using heavy weapons. Assad’s opponents have accused the Syrian military of using the runup to the ceasefire to intensify assaults. Syria has now charged insurgents with doing the
same. “In recent days terrorist acts committed by armed groups in Syria have escalated, especially since an understanding was reached on Kofi Annan’s plan,” Syria said in a letter to the United Nations released yesterday. “The international community and the Security Council must take the necessary measures to prevent and stop the funding of any terrorist activities against Syria,” it said. Syrian forces were laying mines near the border with Turkey to try to block a flow of refugees and supplies for insurgents, rebel activists and a Turkish official said. “The Syrians have been mining the border, especially the southern Idlib part which has been restricting the flow of refugees,” said the official, who declined to give his name. Turkey fears all-out war in Syria would unleash a flood of refugees. About half million fled to Turkey after the 1991 Gulf War. Ankara has stated for months that a mass exodus could oblige it to establish a safe zone on the Syrian side. Turkey said there were now 23,835 Syrian refugees on its territory of whom 2,800 arrived on Thursday alone, more than double the highest previous one-day total. “The army is destroying buildings and bombing them till they turn to charcoal,” said Mohammed Khatib, a refugee who said he came from Kastanaz, a Syrian town of 20,000
people. Yesterday, activists reported tank fire in at least three urban centers of Syria - the town of Douma near Damascus, the restive city of Homs and Rastan, north of Homs. “At least 5 tanks and 10 buses loaded with security men and Shabiha (pro-Assad militia) entered Douma,” one local activist said. “There has been shelling on Douma since the morning.” In Rastan, an activist said Free Syrian Army rebels had confronted a morning tank thrust. “They blocked the advance and the Assad army left. Then artillery started,” he said. Accounts are difficult to verify because Syria’s government restricts access to independent journalists. Assad blames the conflict on foreign-backed “terrorists” and has proposed a parliamentary election on May 7 among other reforms. His opponents dismiss these as a sham, saying it is impossible to have a valid vote while bloodshed continues. Anti-Assad demonstrations broke out after Friday prayers in the eastern province of Hasakeh, in the town of Qamishli and Deir Al-Zor city, activists said. Protesters carried the white and green rebel flag. Some saluted other rebel cities. Loyalist forces have killed more than 9,000 people during the unrest, according to a UN tally. Syria says 6,044 have died, including 2,566 soldiers and police. — Reuters