39 Issue | Zarb-e-Jamhoor e-Newspaper | 02 Oct-08 Oct, 2011

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Independence Day NIGERIA - Oct 1

Nigeria officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religion.

The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BCE and the 2nd millennium.

The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, in the late 19th century.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the seventh most populous country in the world, and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is black. It is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. The IMF further projects a 8% growth in the Nigerian economy in 2011.

History

Early history:

The Nok people of central Nigeria produced the earliest terracotta sculptures found in the country. A Nok sculpture resident at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts portrays a sitting dignitary wearing a "Shepherds Crook" on the right arm and a "hinged flail" on the left. These are symbols of authority associated with ancient Egyptian pharaohs and the god Osiris and suggests that an ancient Egyptian style of social structure, and perhaps religion, existed in the area of modern Nigeria during the late Pharonic period.

In the northern part of the country, Kano and Katsina has recorded history dating back to around 999. Hausa kingdoms and the Kanem-Bornu Empire prospered as trade posts between North and West Africa. At the beginning of the 19th century under Usman dan Fodio the Fulani led the centralized Fulani Empire which continued until 1903 when the Fulani population and land were divided into various European colonies. Between 1750 and 1900, between one to two-thirds of the population of the Fulani jihadstates consisted of slaves.

The Yoruba kingdoms of Ifẹ and Oyo in southwestern Nigeria became prominent in the 12th and 14th century respectively. However, Yoruba mythology states that Ile-Ife is the source of the human race and that it pre-dates any other civilization, although the oldest signs of human settlement dates back to the ninth century. Ifẹ produced terracotta and bronze figures, and Ọyọ once extended from western Nigeria to Togo.

The Kingdom of Benin is located in southwestern Nigeria. Benin's power lasted between the 15th and 19th century. Their dominance reached as far as the city of Eko (an Edo name later changed to Lagosby the Portuguese) and further.

The Kingdom of Nri of the Igbo people started in the 10th century until it lost its sovereignty to the British in 1911. It is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. Nri was ruled by the Eze Nri, and the city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture. Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umeuri clan who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure Eri. The oldest pieces of bronzes made out of the lost-wax process in West Africa were from Igbo Ukwu, a city under Nri influence.

The royal Bini mask, one of Nigeria's most recognize d a r t if a c t s

Colonial era:

Spaniard and Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to begin trade in Nigeria in the port they named Lagos and in Calabar. The Europeans traded with the ethnicities of the coast and also negotiated a trade in slaves, to the detriment and profit of many Nigerian ethnicities. Consequently many of the citizens of the former slave nations of the British Empire are descended from a Nigerian ethnic group. Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807 and, following the Napoleonic Wars, established the West Africa Squadron in an attempt to halt the international traffic in slaves.

In 1885, British claims to a West African sphere of influence received international recognition, and in the following year the Royal Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie. In 1900 the company's territory came under the control of the British government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On January 1, 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time. Many wars against subjugation had been fought by the states of what later became Nigeria against the British Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Notably of those were the British Conquest of Benin in 1897 and the Anglo-Aro War from 1901—1902. The restraint or complete destruction of these states opened up the Niger area to British rule.

In 1914, the Niger area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the northern and southern provinces and Lagos Colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since. Slavery was not finally outlawed in northern Nigeria until 1936.

Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. By the middle of the 20th century, the great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa.

Post-independence:

On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Newly independent, Nigeria's government was a coalition of conservative parties: the Nigerian People's Congress (NPC), a party dominated by Northerners and those of the Islamic faith, and the Igbo and Christian dominated National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became Nigeria's maiden Governor-General in 1960. Forming the opposition was the comparatively liberal Action Group (AG), which was largely dominated by the Yoruba and led by Obafemi Awolowo. The cultural and political differences between Nigeria's dominant ethnicities, the Hausa ('Northerners'), Igbo ('Easterners') and Yoruba ('Westerners'), were sharp.

An imbalance was created in the polity by the result of the 1961 plebiscite. Southern Cameroon opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while northern Cameroon chose to remain in Nigeria. The northern part of the country was now far larger than the southern part. The nation parted with its British legacy in 1963 by declaring itself a Federal Republic, with Azikiwe as its first president. When elections came about in 1965, the AG was outmanoeuvred for control of Nigeria's Western Region by the Nigerian National Democratic Party.

Nigerian-Biafran War:

The disequilibrium and perceived corruption of the electoral and political process led in 1966 to several back-toback military coups. The first was in January and led by a collection of young leftists under Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. It was partially successful; the coup plotters murdered Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Premier Ahmadu Belloof of the Northern Region and Premier Ladoke Akintola of the Western Region.

Despite this, they could not set up a central government. President Nwafor Orizu was then pressured to hand over government to the Nigeria Army, under the command of General JTU Aguyi-Ironsi.

The coup was counter-acted by another successful plot, supported primarily by Northern military officers and Northerners who favoured the NPC, it was engineered by Northern officers, which allowed Lt Colonel Yakubu Gowon to become head of state. This sequence of events led to an increase in ethnic tension and violence. The Northern coup, which was mostly motivated by ethnic and religious reasons was a bloodbath of both military officers and civilians, especially those of Igbo extraction.

The violence against the Igbo increased their desire for autonomy and protection from the military's wrath. By May 1967, the Eastern Region had declared itself an independent state called the Republic of Biafra under the leadership of Lt Colonel Emeka Ojukwu in line with the wishes of the people. The Nigerian Civil War began as the Nigerian (Western and Northern) side attacked Biafra (South-eastern) on July 6, 1967 at Garkem signalling the beginning of the 30 month war that ended in January 1970. Estimates in the former Eastern Region of the number of dead from hostilities, disease, and starvation during the thirty-month civil war are estimated at between 1 million and 3 million.

Military era:

During the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria joined OPEC, and billions of dollars generated by production in the oil-rich Niger Delta flowed into the coffers of the Nigerian state. The northern military clique benefited from the oil boom to the detriment of the Nigerian people and economy. As oil revenues fueled the rise of federal subventions to states and precariously to individuals, the federal government soon became the centre of political struggle and the centre became the threshold of power in the country. As oil production and revenue rose, the Nigerian government created a dangerous situation as it became increasingly dependent on oil revenues and the international commodity markets for budgetary and economic concerns eschewing economic stability. That spelled doom to federalism in Nigeria.

Beginning in 1979, Nigerians participated in a brief return to democracy when Obasanjo transferred power to the civilian regime of Shehu Shagari. The Shagari government was viewed as corrupt and incompetent by virtually all sectors of Nigerian society, so when the regime was overthrown by the military coup of Muhammadu Buhari shortly after the regime's fraudulent re-election in 1984, it was generally viewed as a positive development by most of the population. Buhari promised major reforms, but his government fared little better than its predecessor, and his regime was overthrown by yet another military coup in 1985.

The new head of state, Ibrahim Babangida, promptly declared himself president and commander in chief of the armed forces and the ruling Supreme Military Council and also set 1990 as the official deadline for a return to democratic governance. Babangida's tenure was marked by a flurry of political activity: he instituted the International Monetary Fund's Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) to aid in the repayment of the country's crushing international debt, which most federal revenue was dedicated to servicing. He also inflamed religious tensions in the nation and particularly the south by enrolling Nigeria in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

After Babangida survived an abortive coup, he pushed back the promised return to democracy to 1992. When free and fair elections were finally held on 12 June 1993, Babangida declared that the results showing a presidential victory for Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola null and void, sparking mass civilian violence in protest which effectively shut down the country for weeks and forced Babangida to keep his promise to relinquish office to a civilian run government. Babangida's regime is adjudged to be at the apogee of corruption in the history of the nation as it was during his time that corruption became officially diluted in Nigeria.

Babangida's caretaker regime headed by Ernest Shonekan survived only until late 1993 when General Sani Abacha took power in another military coup. Abacha proved to be perhaps Nigeria's most brutal ruler and employed violence on a wide scale to suppress the continuing civilian unrest. Money had been found in various western European banks traced to him. He avoided coup plots by bribing army generals. Several hundred million dollars in accounts traced to him were discovered in 1999. The regime came to an end in 1998 when the dictator was found dead amid dubious circumstances. Abacha's death yielded an opportunity for return to civilian rule.

Nigerian troops, part of the United Nations African Union M i s s i o n i n D a r f u r, e m b a r k i n g on a U S A ir c r a f t

Recent history:

Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 when it elected Olusegun Obasanjo, the former military head of state, as the new President of Nigeria ending almost 33 years of military rule (from 1966 until 1999) excluding the short-lived second republic (between 1979 and 1983) by military dictators who seized power in coups d'état and counter-coups during the Nigerian military juntas of 1966-1979 and 1983-1998. Although the elections which brought Obasanjo to power in 1999 and again in 2003 were condemned as unfree and unfair, Nigeria has shown marked improvements in attempts to tackle government corruption and to hasten development.

Umaru Yar'Adua of the People's Democratic Party came into power in the general election of 2007 – an election that was witnessed and condemned by the international community as being severely flawed.

Ethnic violence over the oil producing Niger Delta region and inadequate infrastructures are some of the current issues in the country.

Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010. Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was sworn in as Yar'Adua's replacement on 6 May 2010, becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State, while his vice,a former Kaduna state governor, Namadi Sambo, an architect,was chosen on 18 May 2010,by the National Assembly following President Goodluck Jonathan's nomination for Sambo to be his Vice President.

Goodluck Jonathan served as Nigeria's president till April 16, 2011,when a new presidential election in Nigeria was conducted. Goodluck Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was declared the winner on 19 April 2011,having won the election by a total of 22,495,187 of the 39,469,484 votes cast to stand ahead of Muhammadu Buhari from the main opposition party, the The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which won 12,214,853 of the total votes cast. The international media reported the elections as having run smoothly with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous elections.

Military The Nigerian Military are charged with protecting The Federal Republic of Nigeria, promoting Nigeria's global security

interests, and supporting peacekeeping efforts especially in West Africa.

The Nigerian Military consist of an Army, a Navy and an Air Force. The military in Nigeria have played a major role in the country's history since independence. Various juntas have seized control of the country and ruled it through most of its history. Its last period of rule ended in 1999 following the sudden death of former dictator Sani Abacha in 1998, with his successor, Abdulsalam Abubakar, handing over power to the democratically elected government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.

Taking advantage of its role as Africa's most populated country, Nigeria has repositioned its military as an African peacekeeping force. Since 1995, the Nigerian military through ECOMOG mandates have been deployed as peacekeepers in Liberia (1997), Ivory Coast (1997–1999),Sierra Leone 1997–1999, and presently in Sudan's Darfur region under an African Union mandate.

Independence Day GUINEA - Oct 2

Guinea officially the Republic of Guinea (French: République de Guinée), is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea (Guinée française), it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau.Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures.Conakry is the capital, largest city and economic center. The other major cities in the country include Labe, Nzérékoré, Kankan, Kindia, Mamou, Boke, and Guéckédou.

Guinea's 10 million people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. The largest and most prominent groups are the Fula 43% (French: Peul; Fula: Fulɓe), Mandinka 35%, and Susu 20% Guinea has almost 246,000 square kilometres (94,981 sq mi). It forms a crescent by curving from its western border on the Atlantic Ocean toward the east and the south. Its northern border is shared with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali, the southern one with Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Niger River arises in Guinea and runs eastward.

History The land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made

it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958. Since independence, Guinea has had autocratic rule in which one person possesses unlimited power, which has contributed to making Guinea one of the poorest countries in the world.

Governments since independence:

Ahmed Sékou Touré became President upon Guinea's independence.

By violent oppression, he ruled until 26 March 1984, when he died unexpectedly. By a quick coup d'état, Lansana Conté became the President after Touré. By despotic[clarification needed] means, Conté clung to power until his death in 2008. Despite extraordinary aluminium rich resources, he was unable to improve the desperate economic plight into which Touré had plunged the country.

On 23 December 2008, Moussa Dadis Camara seized controlof Guinea as the head of a junta. On 28 September 2009, the junta ordered its soldiers to attack people who had gathered to protest any attempt by Camara to become President. The soldiers went on a rampage of rape, mutilation, and murder.

On 3 December 2009, an aide shot Camara during a dispute about the rampage of September 2009. Camara went to Morocco for medical care.

Vice-President (and defense minister) Sékouba Konatéflew back from Lebanon to run the country in Camara's absence.

On 12 January 2010 Camara was flown from Morocco to Burkina Faso.

After meeting in Ouagadougou on 13 and 14 January, Camara, Konaté and Blaise Compaoré, President of Burkina Faso, produced a formal statement of twelve principles promising a return of Guinea to civilian rule within six months. It was agreed that the military would not contest the forthcoming elections, and Camara would continue his convalescence outside Guinea. On 21 January 2010 the military junta appointed JeanMarie Doré as Prime Minister of a six-month transition government, leading up to elections.

The presidential election was set to take place on 27 June and 18 July 2010, it was held as being the first free and fair election since independence in 1958. The first round took place normally on the 27 June 2010 with ex Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo and his rival Alpha Condé emerging as the two runners-up for the second round. However, due to allegations of electoral fraud, the second round of the election was postponed until 19 September 2010. A delay until 10 October was announced by the electoral commission (CENI), subject to approval by Sekouba Konaté. Yet another delay until 24 October was announced in early October. Elections were finally held on 7 November. Voter turnout was high, and the elections went relatively smoothly.

16 November 2010, Alpha Condé, the leader of the opposition party Rally of the Guinean People (RGP), was officially declared the winner of a 7 November run-off in Guinea's presidential election. He has promised to reform the security sector and review mining contracts if elected.

On the night of July 18, 2011, President Conde's residence was attacked in an attempted coup. The attack included a fierce firefight and rocket propelled grenades. The president was unharmed. Sixteen people have been charged with the attempted assassination. Most of those indicted are close associates of Sekouba Konaté.

The legal voting age is 18.

Monument to commemorate the 1970 victory military the Porover t ugue s e inv a s ion

Military

Guinea's armed forces are divided into five branches – army, navy, air force, the paramilitary NationalGendarmerie and the Republican Guard – whose chiefs report to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is subordinate to the Minister of Defense. In addition, regime security forces include the National Police Force (Sûreté National). The Gendarmerie, responsible for internal security, has a strength of several thousand.

The army, with about 15,000 personnel, is by far the largest branch of the armed forces. It is mainly responsible for protecting the state borders, the security of administered territories, and defending Guinea's national interests. Air force personnel total about 700. The force's equipment includes several Russian-supplied fighter planes and transports. The navy has about 900 personnel and operates several small patrol craft and barges.

Foundation Day SOUTH KOREA - Oct 3

Gaecheonjeol (Korean: 개천절) is a public holiday in South Korea on 3 October. Also known by the English name National Foundation Day, this holiday celebrates the creation of the state of Gojoseon (ancient Korea) founded by Dangun Wanggeom in the year 2333 BC.

World Animal Day is celebrated each year on October 4. It started in Florence, Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists. On this day, animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned on locations all over the globe. 4 October was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environNumerous ment. churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to 4 October with a Blessing for the Animals.

However, World Animal Day has now gone beyond being the celebration of a Christian saint and is today observed by animallovers of all beliefs, nationalities and backgrounds. Animal blessings are held in churches, synagogues, and by independent Animal Chaplains in parks and fields. Animal rescue shelters hold fundraising events and open days, wildlife groups organize information displays, schools undertake animal-related project work and individuals and groups of friends or co-workers donate to animal charities or pledge to sponsor a shelter animal.

In Argentina it is celebrated on April 29 as a tribute to the death (in 1926) of Dr. Lucas Ignacio Albarracín. Albarracín was, along with Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, one of the founders of the Sociedad Argentina Protectora de Animales (Argentine Society of Protection of Animals) and the proponent of the National Law on Protection of Animals (No. 2786).

Origin

Unity Day GERMANY - Oct 3

The Day of German Unity (German: Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is the national day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990.

An alternative choice would have been the day the Berlin Wall came down—November 9, 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the proclamation of the German Republic in 1918 and the defeat of Hitler's first coup in 1923. However, 9 November was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogroms against Jews in 1938 (Kristallnacht), so the day was considered inappropriate as a national holiday. Therefore, 3 October 1990, the day of formal reunification, was chosen instead.

Before reunification, in West Germany the "Day of German Unity" (Tag der deutschen Einheit, without capital D) was 17 June, remembering the failed Uprising of 1953 in East Germany against the Stalinist government. The revolt was crushed with Soviet aid; the exact number of fatalities is unknown, but estimated at somewhere above 100. In East Germany, the national holiday was 7 October, the "Day of the Republic" (Tag der Republik), commemorating the founding of the German Democratic Republic in 1949.

Independence Day LESOTHO - Oct 4

Lesotho officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru.

Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The name "Lesotho" translates roughly into "the land of the people who speak Sesotho". About 40% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 a day.

History

The earliest known inhabitants of the area were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced

by Wasja-speaking tribes during Bantu migrations. The Sotho-Tswana people colonized the general region of South Africa between the 3rd and 11th centuries.

The present Lesotho (then called Basutoland) emerged as a single polity under kingMoshoeshoe I in 1822.

Moshoeshoe, a son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bakoteli lineage, formed his own clan and became a chief around 1804. Between 1821 and 1823, he and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain, joining with former adversaries in resistance against the Lifaqane associated with the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1818 to 1828.

Subsequent evolution of the state hinged on conflicts between British and Dutch colonists leaving the Cape Colony following its seizure from the French-occupied Dutch by the British in 1795, and subsequently associated with the Orange River Sovereignty and subsequent Orange Free State. Missionaries invited by Moshoeshoe I, Thomas Arbousset, Eugène Casalis and Constant Gosselin from the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, placed at Morija, developed orthography and printed works in the Sotho language between 1837 and 1855. Casalis, acting as translator and providing advice on foreign affairs, helped to set up diplomatic channels and acquire guns for use against the encroaching Europeans and the Korana people.

Boer trekkers from the Cape Colony showed up on the western borders of Basutoland and claimed land rights, beginning with Jan de Winnaar, who settled in the Matlakeng area in May–June 1838. As more farmers were moving into the area they tried to colonise the land between the two rivers, even north of the Caledon, claiming that it had been abandoned by the Sotho people. Moshoeshoe subsequently signed a treaty with the British Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir George Thomas Napier that annexed the Orange River Sovereignty that many Boers had settled. These outraged Boers were suppressed in a brief skirmish in 1848. In 1851 a British force was defeated by the Sotho army at Kolonyama, touching off an embarrassing war for the British. After repulsing another British attack in 1852, Moshoeshoe sent an appeal to the British commander that settled the dispute diplomatically, then defeated the Tlokoa in 1853.

In 1854 the British pulled out of the region, and in 1858 Moshoeshoe fought a series of wars with the Boers in the Free State-Basotho War, losing a great portion of the western lowlands. The last war in 1867 ended when Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria, who agreed to make Basutoland a British protectorate in 1868. In 1869, the British signed a treaty at Aliwal North with the Boers that defined the boundaries of Basutoland and later Lesotho, which by ceding the western territories effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size.

Following the cession in 1869, the British initially transferred functions from Moshoeshoe's capital in Thaba Bosiu to a police camp on the northwest border, Maseru, until administration of Basutoland was transferred to the Cape Colony in 1871. Moshoeshoe died on March 11, 1870, marking the end of the traditional era and the beginning of the colonial era, and was buried at Thaba Bosiu. During their rule between 1871 and 1884, Basutoland was treated similarly to territories that had been forcefully annexed, much to the chagrin of the Basotho. This led to the Gun War in 1881. In 1884, Basutoland was restored its status as a Crown colony, with Maseru again its capital, but remained under direct rule by a governor, though effective internal power was wielded by traditional chiefs.

Basutoland gained its independence from Britain and became the Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966.

In January 1970 the ruling Basotho National Party (BNP) lost the first post-independence general elections, with 23 seats to the Basutoland Congress Party's 36. Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan refused to cede power to the Basotho Congress Party (BCP), declared himself Tona Kholo (Sesotho translation of prime minister), and imprisoned the BCP leadership.

BCP began a rebellion and then received training in Libya for its Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA) under the pretense of being Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) soldiers of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). Deprived of arms and supplies by the Sibeko faction of the PAC in 1978, the 178-strong LLA was rescued from their Tanzanian base by the financial assistance of a Maoist PAC officer but launched the guerrilla war with only a handful of old weapons.

The main force was defeated in northern Lesotho and later guerrillas launched sporadic but usually ineffectual attacks. The campaign was severely compromised when BCP's leader, Ntsu Mokhehle, went to Pretoria. In the early 1980s, several Basotho who sympathized with the exiled BCP were threatened with death and attacked by the government of Leabua Jonathan. In September 1981 the family of Benjamin Masilo was attacked. A few days later, Edgar Mahlomola Motuba was taken from his home and murdered.

The BNP ruled from 1966 till January 1970. What later ensued was a "de facto" government led by Dr Leabua Jonathan until 1986 when a military coup forced it out of office. The Military Council that came to power granted executive powers to King Moshoeshoe II, who was until then a ceremonial monarch. But in 1987 the King was forced into exile after coming up with a six-page memorandum on how he wanted the Lesotho's constitution to be, which would have given him more executive powers had the military government agreed. His son was installed as King Letsie III. The chairman of the military junta, Major General Justin Metsing Lekhanya, was ousted in 1991 and replaced by Major General Elias Phisoana Ramaema, who handed over power to a democratically elected government of the BCP in 1993. Moshoeshoe II returned from exile in 1992 as an ordinary citizen. After the return to democratic government, King Letsie III tried unsuccessfully to persuade the BCP government to reinstate his father (Moshoeshoe II) as head of state.

In August 1994, Letsie III staged a military-backed coup that deposed the BCP government, after the BCP government refused to reinstate his father, Moshoeshoe II, according to Lesotho's constitution. The new government did not receive full international recognition. Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) engaged in negotiations to reinstate the BCP government. One of the conditions Letsie III put forward for this was that his father should be re-installed as head of state. After protracted negotiations, the BCP government was reinstated and Letsie III abdicated in favor of his father in 1995, but he ascended the throne again when Moshoeshoe II died at the age of fifty-seven in a road accident, when his car plunged off a mountain road during the early hours of 15 January 1996. According to a government statement, Moshoeshoe had set out at 1 a.m. to visit his cattle at Matsieng and was returning to Maseru through the Maluti Mountains when his car left the road.

In 1997, the ruling BCP split over leadership disputes. Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), and was followed by a majority of Members of Parliament, which enabled him to form a new government. Pakalitha Mosisili succeeded Mokhehle as party leader and the LCD won the general elections in 1998. Although the elections were pronounced free and fair by local and international observers and a subsequent special commission appointed by SADC, the oppositionpolitical parties rejected the results.

Opposition protests in the country intensified, culminating in a peaceful demonstration outside the royal palace in August 1998. Exact details of what followed are greatly disputed, both in Lesotho and South Africa. While the Botswana Defence Force troops were welcomed, tensions with South African National Defence Force troops were high, resulting in fighting. Incidences of sporadic rioting intensified when South African troops hoisted a South African flag over the Royal Palace. By the time the SADC forces withdrew in May 1999, much of Maseru lay in ruins, and the southern provincial capital towns of Mafeteng and Mohale's Hoek had seen the loss of over a third of their commercial real estate. A number of South Africans and Basotho also died in the fighting.

An Interim Political Authority (IPA), charged with reviewing the electoral structure in the country, was created in December 1998. The IPA devised a proportional electoral system to ensure that the opposition would be represented in the National Assembly. The new system retained the existing 80 elected Assembly seats, but added 40 seats to be filled on a proportional basis. Elections were held under this new system in May 2002, and the LCD won again, gaining 54% of the vote. But for the first time, opposition political parties won significant numbers of seats, and despite some irregularities and threats of violence from Major General Lekhanya, Lesotho experienced its first peaceful election. Nine opposition parties now hold all 40 of the proportional seats, with the BNP having the largest share (21). The LCD has 79 of the 80 constituency-based seats. Although its elected members participate in the National Assembly, the BNP has launched several legal challenges to the elections, including a recount; none have been successful.

Makhaleng River Gor ge s in t he H ighlands of Lesotho, 2003.

Culture Traditional musical instruments include lekolulo, a kind of flute used by herding boys, setolo-tolo, played by men

using their mouth, and the woman's stringed thomo.

The national anthem of Lesotho is "Lesotho Fatše La Bo-ntata Rona", which literally translates into "Lesotho, Land Of Our Fathers".

The traditional style of housing in Lesotho is called a rondavel.

Traditional attire revolves around the Basotho blanket, a thick covering made primarily of wool. The blankets are ubiquitous throughout the country during all seasons.

The Morija Arts & Cultural Festival is a prominent Sesotho arts and music festival. It is held annually in the historical town of Morija, where the first missionaries arrived in 1833.

St. Petronius Day I TA LY - O c t 4

Saint Petronius (Italian: San Petronio) (died ca. 450 AD) was bishop of Bologna during the fifth century. He is a patron saint of the city. Born of a noble Roman family, he became a convert to Christianity and subsequently a priest. As bishop of Bologna, he built the Church of Santo Stefano.

him is derived from a letter written by Bishop Eucherius of Lyon (died 450-455) to Valerianus (in P. L., L, 711 sqq.) and from Gennadius' De viris illustribus, XLI (ed. Czapla, Münster, 1898, p. 94).

Eucherius writes that the holy Bishop Petronius was then renowned in Italy for his virtues. From Gennadius we receive more detailed information: Petronius belonged to a noble family whose members occupied high positions at the imperial Court at Milan and in the provincial administrations at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries.

His father (also named Petronius) was probably prœfectus prœtorio, since a Petronius filled this office in Gaul in 402-408.

Eucherius seems to suggest (P. L., L, 719) that the future bishop also held an important secular position.

Even in his youth Petronius devoted himself to the practices of asceticism, and seems to have visited the Holy Places in Jerusalem, perhaps on a pilgrimage.

About 432 he was elected and consecrated Bishop of Bologna, where he erected a church to Saint Stephen (Santo Stefano), the building scheme of which was in imitation of the shrines on Golgotha and over the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The buildings belong approximately to the period when Pope Leo I had basilicas erected in Rome and Galla Placidia in Ravenna. Petronius is believed to have written a work on the life of the Egyptian monks (Vitæ patrum Ægypti monachorum); the author of this work, however, is Rufinus of Aquileia.

The treatise De ordinatione episcopi, bearing the name of Petronius as author, is by the elder Petronius, who was a man of eloquence and wide acquaintance with the secular sciences.

Morin has published a sermon entitled "In die ordinationis vel Natale episcopi" (Revue bénédictine, 1897, 3 sq.), which Gennadius ascribes to Bishop Petronius of Verona, whom Czalpa holds is Petronius of Bologna, but this assignment is not certain.

According to Gennadius, Petronius died during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II and Valentinian III, i. e., before 450.

In the twelfth century appeared a legendary life of the saint, whose relics were discovered in 1141. Shortly afterwards a church was erected in his honour at Bologna; a second, planned on a large seal, was begun in 1390 (see San Petronio Basilica). The feast of St. Petronius is celebrated on 4 October.

In iconography, he is depicted as a bishop holding a model of Bologna in his hand.

Day of the Francisco Morazan HONDURAS - Oct 3

General Francisco Morazán (Central American pronunciation: moɾaˈsan; October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a Honduran general and a politician who ruled several Central American states at different times during the turbulent period from 1827 to 1842. He rose to prominence at the legendary Battle of La Trinidad on November 11, 1827. Since then, and until his execution in 1842, Morazán dominated the political and military scene of Central America.

In the political arena, Francisco Morazán was recognized as a visionary and great thinker, as he attempted to transform Central America into one large and progressive nation. He enacted liberal reforms in the new Federal Republic of Central America, including freedom of the press, speechand religion.

Morazán also limited church power by making marriage secular and abolishing government-aided tithing.

These reforms made him some powerful enemies, and his period of rule was marked by bitter infighting between liberals and conservatives. But through his military skills, Morazán was able to keep a firm grip on power until 1837, when the Federal Republic became irrevocably fractured. This was exploited by the conservative leaders, who rallied around the leadership of Rafael Carrera and in order to protect their own interests, ended up dividing Central America into five nations.

Personal life

Early years and education:

Teacher's Day WORLDWIDE - Oct 5

José Francisco Morazán Quezada was born on October 3, 1792, in Tegucigalpa (then in theCaptaincy General of Guatemala, now the capital of Honduras) during the waning years of Spanish colonial rule to Eusebio Morazán Alemán and Guadalupe Quezada Borjas, both members of an upper-class Creole family dedicated to trade and agriculture. His grandparents were: Juan Bautista Morazán (a Corsican immigrant) and María Borjas Alvarenga. Thirteen days after his birth Morazán was baptized at San Miguel Arcángel church, by father Juan Francisco Márquez.

Francisco Morazán was for the most part, a self-educated man. According to historian Ramon Rosa; he "had the misfortune of being born ... in that sad era of isolation and total darkness in which Honduras lacked schools ... therefore Morazan had to learn in private schools with an awful organization and sustained by parents' contributions." In 1804, his parents took advantage of the opening of a Catholic school in the village of San Francisco. At the age of twelve, José Francisco was sent there to learn to write and read, and to receive instruction in mathematics and drawing. The teachings he received were through Friar Santiago Gabrielino, appointed religious instructor to the Guatemalan priest José Antonio Murga.

In 1808 Francisco Morazán and his family moved to Morocelí where they worked the fields inherited by Mr Eusebio. In addition, young José Francisco also engaged in helping the town's mayor with his clerk duties. On 1813 the family moved back to Tegucigalpa. Once there, Mr. Eusebio placed his son under the tutorship of Leon Vasquez who taught him civil law, criminal procedure and Notaries.

Francisco now had access to a library where he learned French, which in turn, allowed him to familiarize himself with the works of Montesquieu, the social contract of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French Revolution, the history of Europe, as well as the biographies of theGreek and Roman leaders.

This dedication and spirit of improvement took Francisco to occasionally excel in his hometown, where he even represented the interest of some people before the colonial courts.

A r m e d For c e s D a y EGYPT - Oct 6

Francisco Morazán married María Josefa Lastiri in the Cathedral of Comayagua on December 30, 1825. They had one daughter, Adela Morazán Lastiri, born in San Salvador in 1838. Lastiri belonged to one of the wealthiest families in province of Honduras. Her father was the Spanish trader Juan Miguel Lastiri, who played an important part in the commercial development of Tegucigalpa. Her mother was Margarita Lozano, member of a powerful Creole family in the city.

María Josefa was a widow who had first married the landowner Esteban Travieso, with whom she had 4 children.

Upon his death, she inherited a fortune. Her fortune and the new circle of powerful and influential friends, that came out of this marriage only enhanced Morazán's own business, and thus his political and military projects.

Outside his marriage, Francisco Morazán fathered a son, Francisco Morazán Moncada, who was born on October 4, 1827 to Francisca Moncada, daughter of a well known Nicaraguan politician named Liberato Moncada. Francisco Morazán Junior lived in the Morazán-Lastiri home and accompanied his father in Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Peru and finally in Costa Rica, where his father was executed. After the death of his father, Francisco Morazán Moncada settled in Chinandega, Nicaragua where he devoted himself to farming. He died in 1904 at age 77.

Morazán also had an adoptive son named José Antonio Ruiz. He was the legitimate son of Eusebio Ruiz and the Guatemalan lady Rita Zelayandía, who handed her son to General Morazán when he was 14 years old. José Antonio accompanied his adoptive father on military actions and became a Brigadier General. He died in Tegucigalpa in 1883.

World Teachers' Day, held annually on October 5th since 1994, commemorates teachers’ organizations worldwide. Its aim is to mobilise support for teachers and to ensure that the needs of future generations will continue to be met by teachers.

According to UNESCO, World Teachers' Day represents a significant token of the awareness, understanding and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development.

Education International (EI) (the global union federation that represents education profesworldwide) sionals strongly believes that World Teachers' Day should be internationally recognized and celebrated around the world.

EI also believes that the principles of the 1966 and 1997 Recommendations should be confor sidered implementation in all nations.

Over 100 countries observe World Teachers' Day. The efforts of Education International and its 401 member organisations have contributed to this widely spread recognition. Every year, EI launches a public awareness campaign to highlight the contributions of the teaching profession.

Egypt celebrates Armed Forces Day on October 6 to commemorate the Egyptian Army’s successful crossing of the Suez Canal which led to the capture of the Bar Lev Line during the 1973 October War.

HISTORY Shortly after midday on Saturday, October 6,

1973, the October War began when Egypt and Syria launched a combined surprise military assault on Israel. They timed the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

During Yom Kippur, most Israelis were in synagogues praying and fasting. Due to the surprise attack, Egypt successfully crossed the Suez Canal on October 7 and Syrian forces advanced on the Golan Heights. However, after suffering heavy losses, Israeli forces succeeded in turning the tide of battle in the North by October 10. During the next three days, Israeli forces advanced into Syrian territory well beyond the 1967 ceasefire lines.

On October 14, Israeli forces succeeded in crossing the Canal and surrounded the Egyptian Third Army. Despite a cease-fire agreement on 22 October, fighting continued which almost brought the USSR and the US to confrontation.

On October 26, all parties involved in the war accepted a US-Soviet backed Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.

Peace talks between Egypt and Israel continued for two months. US Secretary of State Kissinger actively participated in the said talks, which concentrated mainly on an Israeli withdrawal to post-Six Day War lines. Israel later agreed to pull back some 20 km from the Canal. On January 18, 1974, a Disengagement Agreement was signed between Israel and Egypt.

AND ACTIVITIES CUSTOMS Armed Forces Day celebrations typically include parades and other activities, as well as songs, and fireworks displays.

In 1981, President Sādāt was assassinated during an Armed Forces Day parade in Cairo.

The Egyptian Navy in October 2008 launched the largest exercise in its history to commemorate the Egyptian Armed Forces Day.

National German-American Day U.S. - Oct 6

German-American Day is a holiday in the United States, observed annually on October 6. The holiday, which celebrates German American heritage, commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families from Krefeld near the Rhine landed in Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown, Pennsylvania, the first German settlement in the original thirteen American colonies. Originally celebrated in the nineteenth century, German-American Day died out in World War I as a result of the antiGerman sentiment that prevailed at the time.

The holiday was revived in 1983.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed October 6th as German-American Day to celebrate and honor the 300th anniversary of German American immigration and culture to the United States. On August 6, 1987, Congress approved S.J. Resolution 108, designating October 6, 1987, as German-American Day. It became Public Law 100-104 when President Reagan signed it on August 18. A proclamation (#5719) to this effect was issued October 2, 1987, by President Reagan in a formal ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, at which time the President called on Americans to observe the Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

October Revolution War SYRIA-EGYPT - Oct 6

The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War (Hebrew: ‫םירופיכה םוי תמחלמ‬‎ Milẖemet Yom HaKipurim or ‫ רופיכ םוי תמחלמ‬Milẖemet Yom Kipur; Arabic:‫ربوتكأ برح‬‎ ḥarb ʾUktōbar or ‫ نيرشت برح‬ḥarb Tišrīn), also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth ArabIsraeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. The war began when the coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed ceasefire lines to enter the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights respectively, which had been captured and occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War. The conflict led to a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union,both of whom initiated massive resupply efforts to their allies during the war.

The war began with a massive and successful Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canalduring the first three days, after which they dug in, settling into a stalemate. The Syrians coordinated their attack on the Golan Heights to coincide with the Egyptian offensive and initially made threatening gains against the greatly outnumbered Israelis. Within a week, Israel recovered and launched a four-day counter-offensive, driving deep into Syria. To relieve this pressure, the Egyptians went back on the offensive, but were decisively defeated; the Israelis then counterattacked at the seam between two Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal, and advanced southward and westward in over a week of heavy fighting. An October 22 United Nations-brokered ceasefire quickly unraveled, with each side blaming the other for the breach. By 24 October, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of Egypt's Third Army. This development led to tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. As a result, a second ceasefire was imposed cooperatively on October 25 to end the war. At the conclusion of hostilities, Israeli forces were 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Damascusand 101 kilometres (63 mi) from Cairo.

The war had far-reaching implications. The Arab World, which had been humiliated by the lopsided rout of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance in the Six-Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by early successes in the conflict. In Israel, despite impressive operational and tactical achievements on the battlefield, the war effectively ended its sense of invincibility and complacency. The war also challenged many American assumptions; the United States initiated new efforts at mediation and peacemaking. These changes paved the way for the subsequent peace process.

The Camp David Accords that followed led to the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations—the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country. Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely.

Background

The war was part of the Arab-Israeli conflict, an ongoing dispute which included many battles and wars since 1948, when the state of Israel was formed. During the Six-Day War of 1967, the Israelis captured Egypt's Sinai Peninsula all the way to the Suez Canal, which became the cease-fire line, and roughly half of Syria's Golan Heights.

According to Chaim Herzog: On June 19, 1967, the National Unity Government of Israel voted unanimously to return the Sinai to Egypt and the Golan Heights to Syria in return for peace agreements. The Golan would have to be demilitarized and special arrangement would be negotiated for the Straits of Tiran. The government also resolved to open negotiations with King Hussein of Jordan regarding the Eastern border.

The Israeli decision was to be conveyed to the Arab states by the U.S. government. The U.S. was informed of the decision, but not that it was to transmit it. There is no evidence it was conveyed to Egypt or Syria. The decision was kept a closely guarded secret within Israeli government circles and the offer was withdrawn in October 1967.

Egypt and Syria both desired a return of the land lost in the Six-Day War. In September 1967, the Khartoum Arab Summit issued the "three no's", resolving that there would be "no peace, no recognition and no negotiation with Israel". In the years following the war, Israel erected lines of fortification in both the Sinai and the Golan Heights. In 1971, Israel spent $500 million fortifying its positions on the Suez Canal, a chain of fortifications and gigantic earthworks known as the Bar Lev Line, named after Israeli General Chaim BarLev. President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt died in September 1970. He was succeeded by Anwar Sadat, who resolved to win back the lost territory. In 1971, Sadat, in response to an initiative by UN intermediary Gunnar Jarring, declared that if Israel committed itself to "withdrawal of its armed forces from Sinai and the Gaza Strip", to "achievement of a just settlement for the refugee problem", to "the withdrawal of the Israeli armed forces from all the territories occupied since 5 June 1967", and to implementation of other provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 242 as requested by Jarring, Egypt would then "be ready to enter into a peace agreement with Israel." Israel responded that it would not withdraw to the pre-June 5, 1967 lines.

Sadat hoped that by inflicting even a limited defeat on the Israelis, the status quo could be altered. Hafez al-Assad, the leader of Syria, had a different view. He had little interest in negotiation and felt the retaking of the Golan Heights would be a purely military option. After the SixDay War, Assad had launched a massive military buildup and hoped to make Syria the dominant military power of the Arab states. With the aid of Egypt, Assad felt that his new army could win convincingly against Israel and thus secure Syria's role in the region. Assad only saw negotiations beginning once the Golan Heights had been retaken by force, which would induce Israel to give up the West Bank and Gaza, and make other concessions.

Sadat also had important domestic concerns in wanting war. "The three years since Sadat had taken office... were the most demoralized in Egyptian history.... A desiccated economy added to the nation's despondency. War was a desperate option." In his biography of Sadat, Raphael Israeli argued that Sadat felt the root of the problem was in the great shame over the Six-Day War, and before any reforms could be introduced he felt that shame had to be overcome. Egypt's economy was in shambles, but Sadat knew that the deep reforms that he felt were needed would be deeply unpopular among parts of the population. A military victory would give him the popularity he needed to make changes. A portion of the Egyptian population, most prominently university students who launched wide protests, strongly desired a war to reclaim the Sinai and was highly upset that Sadat had not launched one in his first three years in office.

The other Arab states showed much more reluctance to fully commit to a new war. King Hussein of Jordan feared another major loss of territory as had occurred in the Six-Day War, in which Jordan lost all of the West Bank, territory it had conquered and annexed in 1948-49 which had doubled its population. Sadat was also backing the claim of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the West Bank and Gaza and in the event of a victory promised Yasser Arafat that he would be given control of them. Hussein still saw the West Bank as part of Jordan and wanted it restored to his kingdom. Moreover, during the Black September crisis of 1970, a near civil war had broken out between the PLO and the Jordanian government. In that war, Syria had intervened militarily on the side of the PLO, estranging Hussein.

Iraq and Syria also had strained relations, and the Iraqis refused to join the initial offensive. Lebanon, which shared a border with Israel, was not expected to join the Arab war effort because of its small army and already evident instability. The months before the war saw Sadat engage in a diplomatic offensive to try to win support for the war. By the fall of 1973, he claimed the backing of more than a hundred states.

These were most of the countries of the Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organization of African Unity. Sadat had also worked to curry favour in Europe and had some success before the war. Britain and France for the first time sided with the Arab powers against Israel on the United Nations Security Council.

A nwa r Sa da t

Events leading up to the war:

Following Israel's rejection of Sadat's peace initiative, which had proposed a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-67 borders in exchange for a non-belligerency pact, Sadat declared that Egypt was prepared to "sacrifice a million Egyptian soldiers" to recover its lost territory. From the end of 1972, Egypt began a concentrated effort to build up its forces, receiving MiG-21 jet fighters, SA-2, SA-3, SA-6 and SA-7 antiaircraft missiles, T-55 and T62 tanks, RPG-7 antitank weapons, and the AT-3 Sagger anti-tank guided missile from the Soviet Union and improving its military tactics, based on Soviet battlefield doctrines. Political generals, who had in large part been responsible for the rout in 1967, were replaced with competent ones.

The role of the superpowers, too, was a major factor in the outcome of the two wars. The policy of the Soviet Union was one of the causes of Egypt's military weakness. President Nasser was only able to obtain the material for an anti-aircraft missile defense wall after visiting Moscow and pleading with Kremlin leaders. He said that if supplies were not given, he would have to return to Egypt and tell the Egyptian people Moscow had abandoned them, and then relinquish power to one of his peers who would be able to deal with the Americans. The Americans would then have the upper hand in the region, which Moscow could not permit.

One of Egypt's undeclared objectives of the War of Attrition was to force the Soviet Union to supply Egypt with more advanced arms and matériel.

Egypt felt the only way to convince the Soviet leaders of the deficiencies of most of the aircraft and air defense weaponry supplied to Egypt following 1967 was to put the Soviet weapons to the test against the advanced weaponry the United States had supplied to Israel.

Nasser's policy following the 1967 defeat conflicted with that of the Soviet Union. The Soviets sought to avoid a new conflagration between the Arabs and Israelis so as not to be drawn into a confrontation with the United States. The reality of the situation became apparent when the superpowers met in Oslo and agreed to maintain the status quo. This was unacceptable to Egyptian leaders, and when it was discovered that the Egyptian preparations for crossing the canal were being leaked, it became imperative to expel the Soviets from Egypt. In July 1972, Sadat expelled almost all of the 20,000 Soviet military advisers in the country and reoriented the country's foreign policy to be more favorable to the United States. The Syrians remained close to the Soviet Union.

The Soviets thought little of Sadat's chances in any war. They warned that any attempt to cross the heavily fortified Suez Canal would incur massive losses. Both the Soviets and the Americans were then pursuing détente, and had no interest in seeing the Middle East destabilized. In a June 1973 meeting with U.S. President Richard Nixon, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev had proposed Israel pull back to its 1967 border. Brezhnev said that if Israel did not, "we will have difficulty keeping the military situation from flaring up"—an indication that the Soviet Union had been unable to restrain Sadat's plans.

In an interview published in Newsweek (April 9, 1973), President Sadat again threatened war with Israel. Several times during 1973, Arab forces conducted large-scale exercises that put the Israeli military on the highest level of alert, only to be recalled a few days later. The Israeli leadership already believed that if an attack took place, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) could repel it.

Almost a full year before the war, in an October 24, 1972 meeting with his Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Sadat declared his intention to go to war with Israel even without proper Soviet support. Planning had begun in 1971 and was conducted in absolute secrecy—even the upper-echelon commanders were not told of war plans until less than a week prior to the attack, and the soldiers were not told until a few hours beforehand. The plan to attack Israel in concert with Syria was code-named Operation Badr (Arabic for "full moon"), after theBattle of Badr, in which Muslims under Muhammad defeated the Quraish tribe of Mecca.

U pon e a r n ng of t he m pe nd ng a tt a c k Pr m e M n s t e r of s r a e Go da M e r m a de t he c ont r ov e r s a de c s on not t o a unc h a pr e - e m pt v e s t r k e

Lead-up to the surprise attack:

Gaecheon refers to 3 October B.C. 2457, the date when Hwanung (환웅) descended from heaven to live with mankind.

The harvest ceremony was celebrated in each Korean kingdoms; Yeonggo (영고) of Buyeo, Mucheon (무천) of Yemaek, Gyeeum (계음) of Mahan and Byeonhan, Dongmaeng (동맹) of Goguryeo, Palgwanheoi (팔관회 ) of Silla.

In 1909, Gaecheonjeol was enacted as a national holiday. The festival is held annually.

Life The only certain historical information we possess concerning

Animal Day WORLDWIDE - Oct 4

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Directorate of Military Intelligence's (abbreviated as "Aman") Research Department was responsible for formulating Israel's intelligence estimate. Their assessments on the likelihood of war were based on several assumptions. First, it was assumed correctly that Syria would not go to war with Israel unless Egypt did so as well. Second, the department learned from a high-level Egyptian informant, Ashraf Marwan, that Egypt wanted to regain all of the Sinai, but would not go to war until they were supplied MiG-23fighter-bombers to neutralize the Israeli Air Force, and Scud missiles to be used against Israeli cities as a deterrent against Israeli attacks on Egyptian infrastructure. Since they had not received MiG-23s, and Scud missiles had only arrived in Egypt from Bulgaria in late August and it would take four months to train the Egyptian ground crews, Aman predicted war with Egypt was not imminent. This assumption about Egypt's strategic plans, known as "the concept", strongly prejudiced the department's thinking and led it to dismiss other war warnings.

The Egyptians did much to further this misconception. Both the Israelis and the Americans felt that the expulsion of the Soviet military observers had severely reduced the effectiveness of the Egyptian army. The Egyptians ensured that there was a continual stream of false information on maintenance problems and a lack of personnel to operate the most advanced equipment. The Egyptians made repeated misleading reports about lack of spare parts that also made their way to the Israelis.

Sadat had so long engaged in brinkmanship that his frequent war threats were being ignored by the world.

In May and August 1973, the Egyptian army conducted military exercises near the border, and the Israeli army mobilized in response both times at considerable cost.

For the week leading up to Yom Kippur, the Egyptian army staged a week-long training exercise adjacent to the Suez Canal. Israeli intelligence, detecting large troop movements towards the canal, dismissed these movements as mere training exercises. Movements of Syrian troops towards the border were puzzling, but not a threat because, Aman believed, they would not attack without Egypt and Egypt would not attack until the weaponry they wanted arrived.

On September 27 and 30, two batches of reservists were called up by the Egyptian army to participate in these exercises. Two days before the outbreak of the war, on October 4, the Egyptian command publicly announced the demobilization of part of the reservists called up during September 27 to lull suspicion on the Israeli side. Around 20,000 troops were demobilized, and subsequently some of these men were given leave to perform the Umrah (pilgrimage) to Mecca.

The obvious reason for choosing the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur to stage a surprise attack on Israel was that on this specific holiday (unlike any other) the country comes to a complete standstill. Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar; both religiously observant Jews and most of the secular majority fast, abstain from any use of fire, electricity, engines, communications, etc., and all road traffic ceases. Many soldiers also go home from military facilities for the holiday, and Israel is more vulnerable with much of its military on leave. The war coincided that year with the Muslim month of Ramadan, when many Arab Muslim soldiers also fast. Other analysts believe that the attack on Yom Kippur actually helped Israel to more easily marshal reserves from their homes and synagogues, because the nature of the holiday meant that roads and communication were largely open and this eased mobilizing and transporting the military.

Despite refusing to participate, King Hussein of Jordan "had met with Sadat and [Syrian President] Assad in Alexandria two weeks before. Given the mutual suspicions prevailing among the Arab leaders, it was unlikely that he had been told any specific war plans. But it was probable that Sadat and Assad had raised the prospect of war against Israel in more general terms to feel out the likelihood of Jordan joining in."

On the night of September 25, Hussein secretly flew to Tel Aviv to warn Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir of an impending Syrian attack. "Are they going to war without the Egyptians, asked Mrs. Meir. The king said he didn't think so. 'I think they [Egypt] would cooperate.'"Surprisingly, this warning fell on deaf ears. Aman concluded that the king had not told anything that was not already known. "Eleven warnings of war were received by Israel during September from well placed sources. But [Mossad chief] Zvi Zamir continued to insist that war was not an Arab option. Not even Hussein's warnings succeeded in stirring his doubts." He would later remark that "We simply didn't feel them capable [of War]." Finally, Zvi Zamir personally went to Europe to meet with Marwan at midnight on October 5/6. Marwan informed him that a joint Syrian-Egyptian attack was imminent.

It was this warning in particular, combined with the large number of other warnings, that finally goaded the Israeli high command into action. Just hours before the attack began, orders went out for a partial call-up of the Israeli reserves.

Ironically, calling up the reserves proved to be easier than usual, as almost all of the troops were at synagogue or at home for the holiday.

The attack by the Egyptian and Syrian forces caught the United States by surprise. According to the future CIA Director and Defence Secretary Robert Gates, he was briefing a US arms negotiator on the improbability of armed conflict in the region when he heard the news of the outbreak of war on the radio. On the other hand, KGB learned about the attack in advance, probably from its intelligence sources in Egypt.

srae F-4E Phantom of the type present n the dogf ght over Sharm e -She kh Sma Egypt an rounde s on nose cred t the a rcraft w th three a e r a v c t or e s

Lack of Israeli pre-emptive attack:

The Israeli strategy was, for the most part, based on the precept that if war was imminent, Israel would launch a pre-emptive strike. It was assumed that Israel's intelligence services would give, in the worst case, about 48 hours notice prior to an Arab attack.

Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and General David Elazar met at 8:05 a.m. the morning of Yom Kippur, six hours before the war began. Dayan opened the meeting by arguing that war was not a certainty. Elazar then presented his argument in favor of a pre-emptive attack against Syrian airfields at noon, Syrian missiles at 3:00 p.m., and Syrian ground forces at 5:00 p.m.

"When the presentations were done, the prime minister hemmed uncertainly for a few moments but then came to a clear decision. There would be no preemptive strike. Israel might be needing American assistance soon and it was imperative that it would not be blamed for starting the war. 'If we strike first, we won't get help from anybody', she said." Other developed nations, being more dependent on OPEC oil, took more seriously the threat of an Arab oil embargo and trade boycott, and had stopped supplying Israel with munitions. As a result, Israel was totally dependent on the United States for military resupply, and particularly sensitive to anything that might endanger that relationship. After Meir made her decision, at 10:15 a.m. she met with US ambassadorKenneth Keating in order to inform the United States that Israel did not intend to preemptively start a war, and asked that US efforts be directed at preventing war. An electronic telegram with Keating's report on the meeting was sent to the US at 16:33 GMT (6:33 p.m. local time). A message arrived later fromUnited States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger saying, "Don't preempt." At the same time, Kissinger also urged the Soviets to use their influence to prevent war, contacted Egypt with Israel's message of non-preemption, and sent messages to other Arab governments to enlist their help on the side of moderation. These late efforts were futile. According to Henry Kissinger, had Israel struck first, they would not have received "so much as a nail."

David Elazar proposed a mobilization of the entire Air Force and four armored divisions, a total of 100,000 to 120,000 troops, while Dayan favored a mobilization of the Air Force and two armored divisions, totaling around 70,000 troops.

Meir chose Elazar's proposal.

An srae M60 Patton tank de s t r oy e d n t he S na

Casualties

Israel suffered between 2,520 and 2,800 killed in action. An additional 7,250 to 8,800 soldiers were wounded. Some 293 Israelis were captured. Approximately 400 Israeli tanks were destroyed. Another 600 were disabled but returned to battle after repairs. A major Israeli advantage, noted by many observers, was their ability to quickly return damaged tanks to combat. The Israeli Air Force lost 102 aircraft: 32 F-4s, 53 A-4s, 11 Mirages and 6 Super Mysteres. Two helicopters, a Bell 205 and a CH-53, were also shot down. According to Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, nearly half of these were shot down during the first three days of the war. IAF losses per combat sortie were less than in the preceding Six Day War of 1967.

Arab casualties were known to be much higher than Israel's, though precise figures are difficult to ascertain as Egypt and Syria never disclosed official figures. The lowest casualty estimate is 8,000 (5,000 Egyptian and 3,000 Syrian) killed and 18,000 wounded. The highest estimate is 18,500 killed in action of which 15,000 were Egyptian and 3,500 Syrian. Most estimates lie somewhere in between the two, with the Insight Team of the London Sunday Times claiming combined Arab losses of 16,000 killed and yet another source citing a figure of some 15,000 dead and 35,000 wounded. Some 8,372 Egyptians and 392 Syrians were captured. Thirteen Iraqis and six Moroccans were also captured. Arab tank losses amounted to 2,250though Garwych cites a figure of 2,300. 400 of these fell into Israeli hands in good working order and were incorporated into Israeli service. Between 341 and 514 Arab aircraft were shot down.

According to Herzog, 334 of these aircraft were shot down by the Israeli Air Force in air-to-air combat for the loss of only five Israeli planes. The Insight Team of the London Sunday Timesnotes Arab aircraft losses of 450. At sea, 19 Arab naval vessels, 10 of which were missile boats, were sunk for no Israeli losses.

Long-term effects The peace discussion at the end of the war was the first time that Arab and Israeli officials met for direct public discussions since the aftermath of the 1948 war.

Response in Israel:

Though the war reinforced Israel’s military deterrence, it had a stunning effect on the population in Israel. Following their victory in the Six-Day War, the Israeli military had become complacent. The shock and sudden reversals that occurred at the beginning of the war inflicted a terrible psychological blow to the Israelis, who had hitherto experienced no serious military challenges.

A protest against the Israeli government started four months after the war ended. It was led by Motti Ashkenazi, commander of Budapest, the northernmost of the Bar-Lev forts and the only one during the war not to be captured by the Egyptians. Anger against the Israeli government (and Dayan in particular) was high. Shimon Agranat, President of the Israeli Supreme Court, was asked to lead an inquiry, the Agranat Commission, into the events leading up to the war and the setbacks of the first few days.

The Agranat Commission published its preliminary findings on April 2, 1974. Six people were held particularly responsible for Israel's failings: Though his performance and conduct during the war was lauded, IDF Chief of Staff David Elazar was 1) recommended for dismissal after the Commission found he bore "personal responsibility for the assessment of the situation and the preparedness of the IDF." Intelligence Chief, Aluf Eli Zeira, and his deputy, head of Research, Brigadier-General Aryeh Shalev, 2) were recommended for dismissal.

Lt. Colonel Bandman, head of the Aman desk for Egypt, and Lt. Colonel Gedelia, chief of intelligence 3) for the Southern Command, were recommended for transfer away from intelligence duties.

Shmuel Gonen, commander of the Southern front, was recommended by the initial report to be relieved 4) of active duty. He was forced to leave the army after the publication of the Commission's final report, on January 30, 1975, which found that "he failed to fulfill his duties adequately, and bears much of the responsibility for the dangerous situation in which our troops were caught."

Rather than quieting public discontent, the report—which "had stressed that it was judging the ministers' responsibility for security failings, not their parliamentary responsibility, which fell outside its mandate"—inflamed it. Although it had absolved Meir and Dayan of all responsibility, public calls for their resignations (especially Dayan's) intensified.

On April 11, 1974, Golda Meir resigned. Her cabinet followed suit, including Dayan, who had previously offered to resign twice and was turned down both times by Meir. Yitzhak Rabin, who had spent most of the war as an advisor to Elazar in an unofficial capacity, became head of the new government, which was seated in June.

In 1999, the issue was revisited by the Israeli political leadership to prevent similar shortcomings from being repeated.

The Israeli National Security Council was created to improve coordination between the different security and intelligence bodies, and the political branch of government.

Response in Egypt and Syria:

For the Arab states (and Egypt in particular), the psychological trauma of their defeat in the Six-Day War had been healed, allowing them to negotiate with the Israelis as equals. Due to the later setbacks in the war (which saw Israel gain a large salient on African soil and even more territory on the Syrian front), some believe that the war helped convince many in the Arab world that Israel could not be defeated militarily, thereby strengthening peace movements and ending the old Arab ambition of destroying Israel by force.

General Shazli had angered Sadat for advocating the withdrawal of Egyptian forces from Sinai to meet the Israeli incursion on the West Bank of the Canal. Six weeks after the war, he was relieved of command and forced out of the army. Ultimately, he went into political exile for years. Upon his return to Egypt, he was placed under house arrest. Following his release, he advocated the formation of a "Supreme High Committee" modeled after Israel's Agranat Commission, to “probe, examine and analyze” the performance of Egyptian forces and command decisions during the war. His requests were ignored. His book, which candidly described Egyptian military failings and sharp disagreements he had with Ismail, Sadat and others in connection with the prosecution of the war, was banned in Egypt.

The commanders of the Second and Third Armies, Generals Khalil and Wasel, were likewise dismissed from the army. The commander of the Egyptian Second Army at the start of the war, General Mamoun, suffered a heart attack or alternatively, a breakdown after the 14 October Sinai tank battle and was replaced by General Khalil.

The Seventh Division commander, Gen. Omar Abash, who failed to break through Col. Avigdor Ben-Gal's brigade, was alternatively reported to have been killed in the fighting or to have died of a heart attack.

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Camp David Accords:

The Yom Kippur War upset the status quo in the Middle East, and the war served as a direct antecedent of the 1979 Camp David Accords.

Rabin's government was hamstrung by a pair of scandals, and he was forced to step down in 1977. The right-wing Likud party, under the prime ministership of Menachem Begin, won the elections that followed. This marked a historic change in the Israeli political landscape: for the first time since Israel's founding, a coalition not led by the Labor Party was in control of the government.

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Marriage and family:

Early political and military career:

After the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which included Honduras, became independent from Spain (on September 15, 1821) Francisco Morazán began to take an active part in politics and public administration.

He worked at Tegucigalpa's City Hall as deputy mayor and public defender in civil and criminal court cases. Such activities allowed him to acquire a great knowledge of the structure and operation of the public administration of the province. This job also allowed him to get in close contact with the problems of post-colonial society.

In November 1821, shortly after the Captaincy had declared its independence from Spain, a group of dignitaries and politicians known as the 'Interim Advisory Board' sat in Guatemala City in the process of organizing a government to succeed Spanish colonial rule. On November 18, a note from General Agustin de Iturbide arrived in Guatemala City suggesting a union between the Captaincy and the Mexican Empire, pursuant to the Plan of Iguala and the Treaty of Córdoba. The members of the Interim Advisory Board, after reviewing the issue, stated they were not empowered nor deputized to decide on this matter, but suggested forums be held in different cities to hear the views of the people, and thus explore their willingness to go forward with the proposal. The question of annexation to Mexico caused divisions within each of the provinces as some cities were in favor and others against. In Honduras, Comayagua, through its Governor José Tinoco de Contreras, supported the idea of the annexation.

But Tegucigalpa, the second most important city of the province, strongly opposed it. Tinoco then decided to take repressive actions against the authorities of that city.

In order to offset Tinoco's aggressiveness and to defend their independence, an army of volunteers organized in Tegucigalpa. It was during these events, that Francisco Morazán enlisted as a volunteer at the service of the authorities in Tegucigalpa. He was appointed captain of one of the companies, by decision of the organizers of the militias. Thus began Morazán's military life and his struggle against conservative interests.

Tegucigalpa could not maintain its opposition, however, and recognized its annexation to Mexico on August 22, 1822.

The annexation to the Mexican Empire was short-lived, with the collapse of the Mexican Empire and the subsequent creation of the Federal Republic of Central America on April 1, 1823. That same year, the Constitutional Assembly in Guatemala appointed Morazán as a member of a commission to study the affairs of the Federation. That same commission determined the electoral districts, district boards and the departmental boards of the Federal Republic.

A year later Morazán's uncle Dionisio de Herrera, was elected Head of State in Honduras. On September 28, 1824, he appointed Morazán as his secretary general.

President Manuel José Arce was exiled by General Morazán when the C iv il Wa r e nde d

Background of the Federal Republic

Central American Federation (1824–38) comprised the republics of Central America—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. United under a captaincy general in Spanish colonial times, they gained independence in 1821 and were briefly annexed to the Mexican empire formed by Agustín de Iturbide. On July 1, 1823, these nations regained their independence, and joined together in a loose federal state.

On the following year, the Constituent Congress of Central America met in Guatemala City, in which the objective was to decide which system of government would be adopted for the young nation. On the table of debates, two different proposals emerged: the members of the Liberal Party wanted a federalist government, similar to that of the United States of 1789. This type of government would provide every state significant autonomy of self-administration, freedom to create its own laws and reforms, among other things, but always, under the supervision of the federal government, keeper of the constitution.

The Conservatives on the other hand, wanted a centralist government. In this system, the decisions and laws adopted by the central government would apply equally to all the other states. After debating the proposals, the Liberal majority prevailed, and the federalist system was adopted. On November 22, 1824, under the motto: "God, Union, Liberty", the new constitution was approved, and the nation was renamed the Federal Republic of Central America, appointing Manuel José Arce (1825–29) as their first president.

Rise to power

Battle of 'La Trinidad':

In 1826, the Federal Government headed by Manuel José Arce pretended to dissolve the federal congress and called a meeting to be held in Cojutepeque, on October 10, 1826, to elect an extraordinary congress. This unconstitutional move was rejected by the Honduran head of state, Dionisio de Herrera. But President Arce did not recognize Herrera's authority, claiming that Herrera's provisional mandate had expired, and that he was in power illegitimately.

For this reason, the National Assembly had called for new elections in Honduras, but Herrera had ignored this decree and remained in power. For these reasons, but under the guise of protecting Copán's tobacco plantations owned by the federal government, Arce decided to oust Herrera. This mission was entrusted to colonel Justo Milla, who on April 9, 1827, commanded 200 men and seized Comayagua (the state capital) capturing Herrera and sending him to a Guatemalan prison.

While Milla was busy consolidating power in Comayagua, Morazán escaped from the federal troops. He left the besieged capital in the company of colonels Remigio Díaz and José Antonio Márquez, with the purpose of getting reinforcements in Tegucigalpa. Their plan was to return, and to liberate the state capital. Upon their return from Tegucigalpa, his men clashed with Milla's forces on the ranch 'La Maradiaga'. This confrontation, had no major consequences for either side; Milla remained in charge of Honduras, and Morazán left for Ojojona where he was captured and transferred to Tegucigalpa by order of Major Ramón Anguiano.

But Francisco Morazán managed to escape from his captors and left for La Unión, El Salvador, with the intention of emigrating to Mexico.In La Unión, he met Mariano Vidaurre, a special Salvadoran envoy to the government of Nicaragua. Vidaurre convinced him that, in that country, he could find the military support he needed to expel Milla from Honduran territory. He arrived in the city of Leon, Nicaragua, where he met with the commander-in-chief of the Nicaraguan armed forces, José Anacleto "Cleto" Ordóñez. For Morazán the meeting paid off; the Nicaraguan leader provided him with weapons and a contingent of 135 men. These men were joined by Colonel Zepeda's troops from El Salvador, and some columns of Honduran volunteers in Choluteca, Honduras.

When Justo Milla discovered the presence of Morazán in southern Honduras, he quickly moved his troops to Tegucigalpa, where he established his headquarters, meanwhile Morazán headed for Sabanagrande. At 9 am on a November 11, Morazán faced General Milla in the in the memorable battle of 'La Trinidad'. After five hours of intense fighting, Milla's federal troops were crushed by Morazán's men. Milla and few of his officers survived and fled the scene of battle. Following this victory, Morazán marched to Comayagua where he was declared Honduras' new Chief of State.

Civil War:

Following his victory at 'La Trinidad', Morazán emerged as the leader of the liberal movement and his military skills became known throughout Central America. For these reasons, Morazán received calls for help from liberals in El Salvador. As in Honduras, El Salvadoreans opposed the new congressmen and other government officials elected by the decree issued on October 10, 1826. They demanded their restitution, but President Manuel Arce argued that this move was necessary to re-establish the constitutional order. El Salvador responded by attempting to take-over the federal government through military force. President Arce however, defeated the Salvadorean army in Arrazola on March 23, 1828. He then ordered 2,000 federal troops under the command of General Manuel de Arzu to occupy El Salvador. This event marked the beginning of the civil war.

Francisco Morazán accepted the challenge. He placed Diego Vigil as Honduras's new head of state and left for Texiguat, where he prepared the Salvadorean campaign. In April, 1828, Morazán headed to El Salvador with a force of 1,400 men. This group of militants, known as the "Army Protector of the Law", was composed of small groups of Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and Salvadoreans, who brought their own tools of war; others had the support of Indians who served as infantry. Some volunteers continued his liberal convictions, others worked for a political leader, others simply hoped to get something for their efforts after the war ended. This was the combination of forces that joined Morazán in their fight against federal troops.

While the Salvadorean army battled the Federal forces in San Salvador, Morazán positioned himself in the eastern part of the state. On July 6, Morazán defeated Col. Vicente Dominguez's Federal troops at the 'El Gualcho' ranch.

In his memoirs, Morazán described the battle like this: "At 12 midnight I undertook my march... but the rain didn't let me turn the day, and I was forced to wait in El Gualcho,... At 3 o'clock in the morning, the rain stopped, I put two companies of hunters on the hill overlooking to the left of the ranch ... At 5 o'clock I learned the position occupied by the enemy.. I could not go back under these circumstances ... It was no longer possible to continue the march, without serious danger, a vast plain and the very presence of the enemy. Less I could defend myself in the ranch, placed under a height of more than 200 feet ... It was therefore necessary to accept the battle with all the advantages reached by the enemy ... I ordered the hunters to advance over the enemy to stop their movement... While the force rose by a slope and narrow path, fire broke-out...But 175 inexperienced soldiers made impotent for quarter of an hour, the repeated attacks by the bulk of the enemy. The enthusiasm that produced in all the soldiers the heroism of these brave Hondurans, exceeded the number of the enemy. When the action became general on both sides, our right wing was forced to back down. And occupied the light artillery that supported it. But the reserve working on that side, re-established our line, recovered the artillery and ended the action...The Salvadorans assistants.. arrived in time to pursue the dispersed..." enemy soldiers.

Morazán kept on fighting around San Miguel, defeating every platoon dispatched by General Arzu from San Salvador.

This prompted Arzu to leave Col. Montufar in charge of San Salvador and personally deal with Morazán. When the 'liberal caudillo' learned about this, he left for Honduras to recruit more troops. On September 20, Gen. Arzu was along the Lempa River with 500 men in pursuit of Morazán, when he learned that his forces had capitulated in Mejicanos. In the meantime, Morazán returned to El Salvador with a respectable army. Arzu feigning illness returned to Guatemala, leaving his forces under the command of lieutenant colonel Antonio de Aycinena. The colonel and his troops then marched towards Honduran territory, when they were intercepted by Morazán's men in San Antonio. On October 9 Aycinena was forced to surrender. With the capitulation of San Antonio, El Salvador was finally free of federal troops. On October 23, Morazán triumphantly entered the plaza of San Salvador. A few days later, he marched on Ahuachapán, to organize the army with which he intended to invade Guatemala.

Guatemala:

In Ahuachapán Morazán made every effort to organize a large army. He asked the government of El Salvador to provide 4,000 men, but had to settle for 2,000. When he was in position to act in early 1829, he sent a division commanded by Juan Prem to enter Guatemalan territory and to take control of Chiquimula. The order was carried out

by Prem in spite of the resistance offered by the enemy. Shortly after, Morazán placed a small force near Guatemala City under the command of Col. Gutierrez to force the enemy out of their trenches and to cause the defection of their troops. Col. Dominguez had left from Guatemala City with 600 infantrymen to attack Prem but he was informed about Gutierrez's small force. He changed his course of action and went after Gutierrez. This opportunity was seized by Prem who then moved from Zacapa and on to Dominguez's forces, defeating them on January 15, 1829. Prem then was ordered to march with 1400 men under his command to occupy the post of San José, near the capital city.

Meanwhile the people of Antigua organized against the Guatemalan government and placed the department of Sacatepequez under Morazán's protection. This prompted Morazán to invade Guatemala with his 'Protector Army of the law'. Morazán situated his men in the village of Pinula near the capital city. Military operations on the capital began with small skirmishes in front of government fortifications. On February 15 one of Morazán's largest divisions under the command of Cayetano de la Cerda was defeated in Mixco by federal troops. Due to this defeat Morazán lifted the siege of the city and concentrated his forces in Antigua. A strong division of federal troops followed him from the capital under the command of Col. Pacheco, heading towards Sumpango and Tejar with the purpose of attacking Morazán in Antigua. But Pacheco spread his forces, leaving some of them in Sumpango. When he went into San Miguelito with a smaller army, he was beaten by Morazán. This incident raised the morale of Morazán's men once again.

After the victory of San Miguelito, Morazán's army grew larger when Guatemalan volunteers joined his ranks. On March 15 when Morazán was on his way to occupy his former positions, he was intercepted by Col. Prado's Federal troops at the 'Las Charcas' ranch. Morazán, with a superior position, crushed Prado's army. The battlefield was left full of dead bodies, prisoners and weapons, and Morazán moved on to recover his former positions in Pinula and Aceytuno, and to put Guatemala City under siege again.

General Verveer, plenipotentiary minister of the king of the Netherlands to the Central America Federation, attempted to mediate between the Government under siege and Morazán, but they could not reach an agreement. Military operations continued, with great success for the allied army. On April 12, Guatemala's Chief of State, Mariano Aycinena, capitulated and the next day the Central Plaza was occupied by Morazán's troops. Immediately thereafter President Arce, Mariano Aycinena, Mariano Beltranena, and all the officials who had had some role in the war were sent to prison. After these events, the General ran the country dictatorially, until senator Juan Barrundia took over on June 25, 1829.

Presidency

First term, 1830-1834:

Francisco Morazán won the popular vote of the 1830 presidential election, against the conservative challenger José del Valle. He was inaugurated on September 16. In his inaugural speech he declared: "The sovereign people send me, to place myself, in the most dangerous of their destinies. I must obey and fulfill, the solemn oath that I have just rendered. I offer, to uphold the Federal Constitution, which I defended as a soldier and as a citizen."

With Morazán's as president and governors sponsored by him, the liberals had consolidated power. The General was now in position to advance his liberal reforms. Through them, he attempted to dismantle what he felt were archaic Spanish institutions, and to give to his people a society based upon general education, religious liberty and social and political equality. In 1931 Morazán and Governor Mariano Galvez turned Guatemala into a testing ground for these 'enlightenment-like' policies. They oversaw the building of schools and roads, enacted free trade policies, invited foreign capital and immigrants, allowed secular marriage and divorce and freedom of speech, tried to make public lands available to the expanding cochineal economy, separated church from state, abolished tithes, proclaimed religious liberties, confiscated church property, suppressed religious orders, and removed education from church control, among other policies.

All of this new approved legislation struck a blow at the heart of the Guatemalan oligarchy. But more importantly, it stripped the Spanish clergy of their privileges, and curtailed their power. According to historian Mary Wilhelmine Williams: "The immediate reasons for the different enactments varied. Some laws were intended to protect the state from the clergy ... others aimed to help the recoup the public treasure, and at the same time sweep away aristocratic privilege; while still other legislation – especially that of latter date – was enacted for the punishment of opposition to earlier acts and of intrigues against the government" when Francisco Morazán first came to power. Back then, the General had to expel from the country archbishop Ramon Casaus and certain members of the monastic orders, because they were under suspicion of opposing independence. They used their influence against him and the liberal party during the civil war. They also had opposed the reforms, particularly those in the interest of general education which the liberals were determined to push.

In March, 1832, another conflict erupted in El Salvador. Chief of State, José María Cornejo had rebelled against some federal decrees, which prompted President Morazán to act. The commander in chief at the head of the Federal Troops marched on to El Salvador where they beat Cornejo's State Army on March 14. On the 28 of the same month, Morazán had occupied San Salvador. From that point forward, rumors about the need to reform the constitution began.

Second term, 1834-1838:

In 1834 at the request of Governor, Mariano Galvez, the General moved the capital city to Sonsonate and later to San Salvador. The same year, the first four years of Francisco Morazán's presidency had ended. According to the constitution, elections needed to be held in order to elect the next president of the Republic. Moderate, José Cecilio del Valle ran against the incumbent president; for this reason, General Francisco Morazán deposited the presidency on General Gregorio Salazar, so the federal congress could verify the fairness of the election.

When all the votes were counted, José del Valle had defeated Francisco Morazán. The Federal elections showed strong popular opposition to liberal reforms. Valle, however, died before taking office. Most historians agree that had he lived, he might have brought conciliation and harmony between the opposing forces (Liberals and Conservatives).

On June 2, the Federal Congress called for new elections, which were won by Francisco Morazán. On February 14, 1835. General Morazán, was sworn as president for a second term.

End of the Federation:

In February 1837 there occurred in Central America a series of events that ignited a revolution that culminated with the fall of the Federation. An epidemic of cholera scourged Guatemala leaving approximately 1000 people dead and 3000 infected with the virus. The epidemic struck especially the poor and the Indians in the highlands of the state.

At the time when it appeared, the Indians of the district of Mita, influenced by their priests, were much perturbed over the system of trial by jury (incomprehensible to them) which was being introduced. The disease spread rapidly and the government of Mariano Galvez, hoping to alleviate the situation, dispatched the available physicians, medical students and remedies for distribution. But these measures were of little help because the Indians continued to die.

The church viewed this as an opportunity to strike back a the liberal government of Mariano Galvez. The local priests spread the rumor that the government had poisoned the rivers and streams for the purpose of wiping out the indigenous population, and repopulating it with foreigners. In proof, they pointed to a recent grant of territory in Vera Paz made to a British colonization company. A cry was then raised by the frantic Indians against their supposed murderers.

As the cholera continued to spread the Indians took to arms, killed whites and liberals, burned their houses, and prepared to confront Galvez's government.

The governor sent an army to try to stop the revolt. But the army's measures were so repressive, that it only made matters worse. By June Santa Rosa erupted, and from the village of Mataquescuintla emerged a young Rafael Carrera. Carrera was an illiterate, but shrewd and charismatic swineherd turned highwayman, whom the rebels wanted as their leader. The priests proclaimed to the natives that he was their protecting angel Rafael, descended from the heavens to take vengeance on the heretics, Liberals and foreigners and to restore their ancient dominion. They devised various tricks to favor the delusion, which were heralded as miracles. A letter was let down from the roof of one of the churches, in the midst of a vast congregation of Indians, which was supposed to come from the Virgin Mary, commissioning Carrera to lead a revolt against the government.

Under cries of "Long live religion!", and "Death to foreigners!", Carrera and his forces initiated a war against the government. Encouraged by these events the conservatives joined in. The liberal government called General Morazán for help. Francisco Morazán repeatedly defeated Carrera's forces and pacified the state, but he could never catch the Indian leader, as he simply retreated to the mountains and came back to re-occupy the key positions as soon as Morazán's troops left.

By 1838 Morazán was presiding over a dying institution. Galvez had relinquished power, Congress tried to restore some life to the Federal Government by transferring control of their custom revenues. But Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica opposed this move and used it as an opportunity to leave the union. The Federation was dead. On February 1, 1839, Morazán had completed his second constitutional term as president, congress had dissolved and there was no legal basis to name his successor. In the end ignorance, the power of the church, bitter infighting between conservatives and liberals, and the quest for personal glory were the main reasons for the downfall of the 'Federation'.

Chief of state

After Francisco Morazán's second term as President of the Federal Republic ended, he was left without political or military power. On July 13, 1839, however, the general was elected Chief of State of El Salvador.

When Rafael Carrera and the Guatemalan conservatives learned about Morazán's new role, they declared war on El Salvador. Francisco Morazán personified the 'Old Federation' itself and for that reason alone they vowed to defeat him. On July 24, Guatemala and Nicaragua signed a treaty of alliance against Morazán's Government. Carrera then called the Salvadorian people to rise against their government.

These calls resulted in small uprisings within El Salvador, but they were quickly put down and without much effort by Morazán.

When Carrera's attempt failed, Morazán's enemies formed an army of Nicaraguan and Honduran troops.

On September 25, 1839, these forces invaded El Salvador and faced Morazán's army during the Battle of San Pedro Perulapán. The General only needed 600 Salvadorans to defeat 2,000 men commanded by Generals Francisco Ferrera, Nicolás de Espinosa, and Manuel Quijano. After their defeat, the humiliated generals and their troops fled to neighboring states, leaving behind over three hundred dead.

Defeat:

Bust of Morazán Pedro Perulapán, v a dor

at El

San Sal-

On March 18, 1840 Morazán made a last attempt to restore the 'Union'. He gathered what he thought, were enough Salvadorean forces to face Carrera and with them marched to Guatemala. Once positioned, Morazán moved in from the south, striking towards the capital. Carrera then pulled most of his own force out of the capital, leaving only a small, very visible garrison inside. Morazán jumped in, slaughtered much of the bait, then found himself assaulted from all directions by Carrera's main force of about 5,000 men.

It was a battle which became notorious for its savagery and revealed the ruthless side of Carrera. whose Indians sang Salve Regina, and shouted "Long Live Carrera!", "Death to Morazán!" By the next morning, it was Morazán who was running out of ammunition. He then ordered an increase in fire from three corners of the plaza, in order to attract attention, while he himself slipped out through the fourth corner of the plaza with a small escort, to escape back to El Salvador.

This time, the General didn't have the support of the common people he needed it, as he had in 1830. The 'Liberal Reforms' hadn't produce enough of good results for the people to believe, but rather, they resented some of them as it was the case with the Livingston Code, the system of taxation, among others. As for the 'Liberals', they were too busy fighting among themselves that even former liberal president, José Francisco Barrundia had joined Rafael Carrera. Morazán's defeat was so decisive that on March 27, he deposited the headquarters of the State in the hands of director José Antonio Canas and directed a proclamation to the people of El Salvador. Morazán, did not want to cause any more problems to the Salvadoreans. With Francisco Morazán's final defeat, the hopes of a Central American federation vanished.

Exile in South America

On April 8, 1840, General Francisco Morazán took the road of exile. He left from the port of La Libertad, El Salvador, and embarked on the schooner Izalco accompanied by 30 of his closest friends and war veterans. He stopped in Costa Rica where he sought and got political asylum for most of his companions. Seven of them continued the journey to South America with him. Morazán landed at Chiriquí Province, then he moved on to David where his family awaited him. While in David, Morazán was informed by his friends about the fierce persecutions suffered by his supporters at the hands of Rafael Carrea and other Central American leaders. Outraged by this and by the chain of insults and slander against him by some members of the press, he wrote and published his famous 'Manifest of David' dated July 16, 1841.

When he was still in David, Morazán also received calls from his liberal colleagues in Costa Rica. Braulio Carrillo, governor of that state had restricted individual liberties, placed limits on freedom of the press, and derogated the Political Constitution of 1825. He replaced it with a new constitutional charter, denominated "Law of Bases and Guarantees", where he declared himself 'Chief of State for Life'. Furthermore, Carrillo declared Costa Rica a free and independent State. However, Morazán wanted to stay away from Central America affairs, and he travelled to Peru.

Once in Lima, he received the invitation of Mariscal Agustín Gamarra to command a Peruvian division, at a time when his country was at war with Chile. But Morazán declined, because he found this war to be very confusing and troubling. Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Chile were all involved in a twelve-year war, which brought about a train of baneful stages of chaos, among all countries involved.

In Peru, Morazán was fortunate to find good friends with whom he shared the same ideals. These included Generals José Rufino Echenique and Pedro Bermudez. Around 1841, the English began to intervene in the Mosquito territory, located between Honduras and Nicaragua. This event prompted Morazán to end his self-imposed Peruvian exile, and he decided that it was time to return to Central America. With the financial backing of General Pedro Bermudez, he departed from Callao on board the "Crusader" in late December 1841. On that trip he was accompanied by General Cabañas and Saravia, and five other officers. He and his companions made stops in Guayaquil, Ecuador and Chiriqui where he had the chance to meet with his family before returning to Central America.

Return:

On January 15, 1841, Morazán arrived in El Salvador. He made himself available to the Central American leaders for the common defense against the British intervention. On February 16, 1842, he told his countrymen that his return was a "duty" and a "irresistible national sentiment", not only for him but for all "those who have a heart for their homeland." But his offers were rejected, nonetheless. After this episode, he put forth a plan to overthrow Costa Rican head of State Barulio Carrillo. In La Union, El Salvador, Morazán hired three boats. He then travelled to Acajutla, San Salvador and Sonsonate where he was able to reactivate the local forces. From Acajutla, he left for the island of Martin Perez, located on the Gulf of Fonseca. There he organized a military contingent of about 500 men. On April 7 and without any mishap, Morazán's fleet of five vessels landed at Port of Caldera in Costa Rica. When Braulio Carrillo was informed of the presence of Morazán in Costa Rica, he organized a military force under the command of General Vicente Villasenor. On April 9, 1842, Morazán issued a proclamation to the people of Costa Rica in which he stated that he was never indifferent to the "misfortunes" of the Costa Rican people. "Your cries", he said, "have for a long time hurt my ears, and I finally found the means to save you, even at the expense of my own life".

With more experience and political skills, Morazán avoided an armed confrontation with the forces sent by Carrillo.

Through negotiations, he and Vicente Villaseñor signed "The Jocote Accord". This agreement provided for the integration of a single military body, the convening of a National Constituent Assembly, the ousting of Braulio Carrillo and other members of his administration, and the installation of a provisional government under the command of Francisco Morazán. On April 13, 1842, Morazán's forces entered the city of San José.

Thereafter Chief Carrillo was persuaded to accept the treaty. He approved it only when some modifications were added. He then turned the government over to Morazán and left the country. Morazán's first act was to open the doors of the state to Costa Rican and Central American political refugees. He then abolished the laws that Carrillo had imposed limiting trade and property, restored individual and political rights,devoted himself to urgent reforms, and convened the Constituent Assembly, which appointed him Supreme Chief of the Costa Rican State.

According to historian Gomez Carrillo, in the months that followed, Morazán concentrated on recruiting military personnel for the purpose of 'restoring the Central America motherland.' Thereafter, rumors of the possibility of war against the neighboring states spread. This troubled Costa Ricans; they feared Rafael Carrera would intervene in their affairs, specially after Guatemala broke ties with them. In addition they felt financially incapable of sustaining a war, and also considered it unnecessary. After all, the restoration of the 'Union' was a cause they didn't believe in.

For all these reasons they decided to conspire against Morazán.

His death:

On September 11, 1842, a popular movement opposed to Morazán erupted in San José. Led by Portuguese General Antonio Pinto Soares, 400 men Morazán's guard of 40 attacked Salvadoreans.Morazán and his men managed to repel the attacks and retreat to their headquarters. The fighting continued bloody and relentless, and the insurgents increased to 1000, while the besieged diminished. Chaplain José Castro then proposed a capitulation to Morazán ensuring his life, but he refused.

After 88 hours of fighting, Morazán and his closest collaborators resolved to break the siege. General José Cabañas with 30 men held the retreat, which made it possible for the others to flee towards Cartago.

But the insurrection had spread there too, so Morazán turned for help to his friend, Pedro Mayorga. But Mayorga betrayed him, and turned him over to his enemies along with generals, Vicente Villaseñor, José Saravia and José Trinidad Cabañas. Saravia committed suicide, Villaseñor attempted the same but survived.

Subsequently, Morazán and Vicente Villaseñor were sentenced to death. On September 15, Morazán and Villaseñor were transferred to the central plaza in San José.

Before his execution, Morazán dictated his famous will to his son, Francisco. In it, he calls his death "murder" and declares, "I do not have enemies, nor the smaller resentment I take to the grave against my murderers, I forgive them and wish them the greatest good." When he was done, a chair was offered to him but he refused it. Seated next to him was Gen. Villaseñor, sedated and almost unconscious. Morazán then said, "Dear friend, posterity will do us justice" and crossed himself. A few minutes later, Morazán himself commanded the firing squad that ended his life and that of Villaseñor.

With his death, the nation lost a man described by José Martí as "a powerful genius, a strategist, a speaker, a true statesman, perhaps the only one Central America has ever produced". In 1848, the government of José María Castro sent Morazán's remains to El Salvador, fulfilling one of his last wishes.

F r a n c i s c o M o r a z á n ' s To m b at Cemetery of the illustrious in Sa n Sa lv a dor

Politics and the failed Federation

More than a man of ideas, Morazán was a man of action wrote biographer Rafael Eliodoro Valle. But his name can not fail to brighten the history of ideas in Central America, because he knew how to instill in them; the power of his sincerity, the passion that inflamed him, and his faith in the future, like men of vision who always think big. Francisco Morazán pushed with his liberal and progressive ideas a series of revolutionary measures for the time. Thus, promoting education, immigration, established freedom of worship and the press. The first federal administration headed

by Morazán was oriented to the peaceful reconstruction of the several States that comprised the republic.

When liberalism seemed to finally find the opportunity to implement its noblest principles, after a long process of integration as ideological tendency, as a political group and as a power option, the liberal regime was unable to achieve cohesion within the Central American society. The Liberals' sustained fight against the aristocracy and their quest to exclude conservatives from political life was not accompanied by a parallel effort to integrate other sectors such as indigenous people, (The bulk of the population) to the national modern project that they so vehemently postulated.

The indigenous people never found the liberal proposal to be attractive enough, so as to break free from the deep rooted ancient order taught by the Church and the stability they have had for three centuries under the colonial regime.

According to writer, David Alejandro Luna, one of Morazán's biggest mistakes was to not design a plan to break the feudal estates where his secular enemies were sitting ... Morazán's fight was marred of romanticism, his strategic line tended to politically displace the oppressive aristocratic landowners of Central America, his tactics however, disagreed with the political reality. Despite the strenuous efforts made by General Francisco Morazán from the presidency of the Republic. The clerical and aristocratic forces staged a strong anti-liberal building block taking advantage of the fanaticism and discontent that permeated large sections of the population, especially in the state of Guatemala.

Legacy:

Francisco Morazán became a martyr and a symbol of the Republic of Central America. He gave his life however unsuccessfully, attempting to preserve the 'Union'.

Now, more than one hundred and sixty years after his death, Central America still plagued by power struggles, corruption, and poverty. More often than not, the five republics have emulated Carrera than Morazán; but the dream of The Great Central American Country still alive. His image can be found in bills, logos, and stamps. Institutions, cities, departments, schools, and parks among other things bear Morazán's name, in order to preserve his legacy.

El Salvador was among the first countries to pay tribute to Morazán. On March 14, 1887. The National Assembly of the Republic of El Salvador replaced the name of the department of "Gotera" with "Morazán". So as "to perpetuate the name of the great leader of the Central American Union". In 1943, Honduras renamed the Tegucigalpa department, Francisco Morazán. On Novembre 15, 1887 the town of Tocoy Tzimá became 'Morazán' in Guatemala. In 1945, Port Morazán was founded in Nicaragua.

In the political field the idea of integration is still preserved in the mind of many Central Americans. For example; the Central American Parliament, also known by the abbreviation "Parlacen" (from the Spanish Parlamento Centroamericano). This is a political institution devoted to the integration of the Central American countries.

The Parlacen represents a modern version of the historic Federal Republic of Central America, though not including Costa Rica but including Panama and the Dominican Republic. In the past several unsuccessful attempts have been made to restore the 'Union' (1851, 1886, 1921) Morazán's legacy is also present in the arts. The first play of record in El Salvador is titled "La Tragedy of Morazán" written by Francisco Díaz(1812–45) and dramatizing the life of the Central American President. The modern period of in Honduran theater began with Luis Andrés Zúñiga Portillo when he wrote "Los Conspiradores" (The Conspirators, 1916), a historic drama that honored the virtues of Francisco Morazán. In his book Canto General, Pablo Neruda also pays tribute to the 'Liberal Caudillo', with a poem to Central America.

Statues and busts of Francisco Morazán can be found in Chile, El Salvador, United states, Spain among others. The most famous and controversial of these, is the equestrian statue of Morazán located in Tegucigalpa's Central Park.

On his book The Open Veins of Latin America, Uruguayan writer, Eduardo Galeano mentions, that this statue is that of French marshal Michel Ney. According to Galeano, the statue was bought at a flea market, because the persons entrusted to buy it, spent the money in binges. He later retracted. Similar comments were made by Gabriel García Márquez.

Equestrian statue of Morazán loc a t e d i n Te g u c i g a l p a ' s C e nt r a l Squa r e

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Our Lady of the Rosary S PA I N - O c t 7

Independence Day C R O AT I A - S e p 2 7

Republic Day PORTUGAL - Oct 5

The Portuguese First Republic (Portuguese: Primeira República) spans a complex 16 year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy marked by the 5 October 1910 revolution and the 28 May coup d'état of 1926. The last movement instituted a military dictatorship known as Ditadura Nacional (national dictatorship) that would be followed by the corporatist Estado Novo (new state) regime of António de Oliveira Salazar.

Our Lady of the Rosary (also Our Lady of the Holy Rosary or Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary) is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to the rosary.

In 1571 Pope Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto. The victory was attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a rosary procession had been offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast-day to "Feast of the Holy Rosary". This feast was extended by Pope Clement XII to the whole of the Latin Rite, inserting it into the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1716, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Pope Pius X changed the date to 7 October in 1913, as part of his effort to restore celebration of the liturgy of the Sundays.

Prior to the battle of Lepanto, in thanks for the victory of the Battle of Muret, Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester built the first shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Victory.

Our Lady of the Rosary is the patron saint of several places around the world and María del Rosario is a common female Spanish name (colloquially abbreviated to Rosario or Charo). Rosario can also be used as a male first name, particularly in Italian.

republic The The Portuguese First Republic has, over the course of the recent

Remembrance Day T U R K M E N I S TA N - O c t 6

During Earthquake Remembrance Day, Turkmenistan pays its respects to those who were killed in the earthquake of 1948 in Ashgabat.

HISTORY

Ashgabat is Turkmenistan’s capital city. It sits between the Karakum Desert in the northeast and the picturesque Kopet Dag Mountains in the southwest. Ashgabat (also known as Ashkhabad) quickly grew in the nineteenth century thanks to a railway that reached the area in 1885. Soon the small village transformed into a small town.

On the night of October 5, 1948 an earthquake shook Ashgabat and its surrounding communities. The earthquake lasted only 10 seconds, but it devastated the entire city. All of the hospitals, government buildings, offices, apartments, factories, schools, and theaters collapsed to the ground as most of them were made of bricks. Communication to the outside world was cut off as power lines, telephone lines, telegraphs, radio stations, railway stations, and the airport were all damaged.

The next day, the people of the Soviet Union were surprised by the news of the heavy damage Ashgabat had sustained due to the quake. The Soviet Union sent in cargo aircraft to bring in relief goods and take wounded people back for immediate medical attention.

Damage and casualties were also recorded in the Darreh Gaz area of Iran. Fault lines were later observed in the northwest and southeast areas of Ashgabat. Preliminary reports pegged the total casualties at 10,000. However, on December 9, 1988, new information was released correcting the death toll to 110,000. In 2007, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reportedly gave the total number of up to 176,000 who perished in the earthquake.

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES Wreaths are laid on the earthquake memorial at Ashgabat and Gypjak, while government officials offer a sacrificial meal at the Gypjak

mosque. Visits to graveyards and offers of prayers to those affected still are common more than 60 years after the event.

Battle of Angamos PERU - Oct 8

The Battle of Angamos (Combate naval de Angamos) was fought on October 8, 1879, during the naval stage of the War of the Pacific (Guerra del Pacífico). The Chilean Navy, commanded by Captain Galvarino Riveros and Captain Juan Jose Latorre surrounded and captured the ironclad Huáscar, commanded by Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario, who died in combat. After the battle, the crippled Peruvian Navy was unable to prevent the invasion of its territory. The Huascar was repaired and served under the Chilean flag until its decommission, and now sits as a floating museum in the port of Talcahuano.

Background After the Naval Battle of Iquique, the Peruvian ironclad

Huascar made several incursions into Chilean waters, challenging the Chilean navy's domination along its entire coast; the Huascar attacked ports and captured transports.

Chile's plan was to achieve naval supremacy prior to invading Bolivian and/or Peruvian territory to establish the logistic advantage needed to launch a terrestrial campaign.

No attempt to disembark troops could be made by the Chileans, because the Huascar was preventing the entire Chilean Navy from taking control of the sea; the Chilean fleet was in a diminished state of readiness after a long campaign away from its base. In order to initiate the naval stage of the compaign the Huascar had to be eliminated or captured.

The Chilean government accelerated their naval campaign to secure the logistic support for the planned land invasion of Peru. On September 20, the Chilean fleet sailed north, escorting an important convoy with troops bound for Antofagasta. Once at the port of Mejillones, Captain Galvarino Riveros reorganized the fleet into two divisions: I. 1st Division—Commodore Galvarino Riveros.

II. Ironclad Blanco Encalada : Commodore Galvarino Riveros Schooner Virjen de Covadonga : Lt. Captain Manuel Orella Transport Matias Cousiño : Lt. Captain Augusto Castleton.

III. 2nd Division—Commander Juan Jose Latorre IV. Ironclad Almirante Cochrane : Commander Juan Jose Latorre Corvette O’Higgins : Lt. Captain Jorge Montt Alvarez Transport Loa : Lt. Captain Javier Molinas Gacitua.

Chilean strategy: Commander in Chief Galvarino Riveros on October 1 summoned his officers to a council, where it was decided to hunt down the Peruvian

vessel at Arica. The same day Grau in his flagship Huascar gave orders to sail along the Chilean coast as far south as Coquimbo, accompanied by the corvette Union. Because the Chilean fleet sailed close to the shore and the Peruvian fleet was farther out in the open sea, the formations passed in opposite directions without seeing each other.

Chilean Minister of War Sotomayor conceived a plan that called for Latorre’s division to cruise perpendicular to the coast at Mejillones, while Riveros’ division sailed to Antofagasta to observe and to defend the city. So, if the Huascar tried to attack the port, it would be surrounded by the Blanco Encalada and the heavier warships. On the other hand, if Grau passed by, Riveros could follow, keeping him from escaping southward and forcing the Peruvian admiral northward toward Latorre's division.

In Mejillones, on October 7, a plan was approved to deceive the Peruvian ships. Riveros would wait for Grau at Antofagasta while Latorre would set up an east-west barrier-like formation about twenty miles (36 km) from shore.

If Riveros spotted the Huascar, he would follow and keep it from retreating to the south until Latorre engaged the Peruvian fleet.

During the night the Peruvian warships were sailing off the Chilean coast northward toward Arica when they saw the light of Antofagasta. Admiral Grau decided to engage any Chilean vessel in port, intending to inflict some damage.

At 01:10 hrs on October 8, the Huascar searched the bay without encountering any targets. She came up with the Union at 03:00 hrs, and the two warships resumed their northward heading. At the same hour lookouts on the Chilean Blanco Encalada saw two smoke columns on the horizon. Simultaneously, Grau was informed that there were three columns of smoke to the north; he decided to investigate.

Both fleets spotted each other and the Peruvian ships turned back to the south. Riveros ordered a reduction in speed of the Chilean ships to make Grau think it was possible to turn back north and sail for Peru. At 05:40 hrs indeed the two Peruvian ships began to slowly turn once again to the north. The Blanco Encalada increased speed and began closing on the Peruvians to discourage Grau from again turning back to the south.

At 07:15 hrs, steaming northward, the two Peruvian vessels spotted smoke columns ahead; it was Latorre’s division approaching. Since the Peruvian Union could manage 13 knots, she was able to sail northeastward and escape, but the Huascar had to stay the course and fight.

N a v a l B a t t le of A nga m os

Struggle The Off Punta Angamos at 09:25 hrs the Huascar opened fire on the Cochrane. The latter did not return fire but continued to close. She reached

her effective cannon range of 2,200 meters 15 minutes later. The Cochrane, Captain Latorre, began to shell the Peruvian ironclad. One of the Chilean shots pierced the Huascar's turret, wounding the twelve crew members manning the 300-pound cannons. Another shot perforated the armour just above the Huascar's waterline, cutting her left rudder chain and leaving her temporarily adrift. The Huascar now was listing hard to starboard and was hampered also by a deformation in the hull acquired when she rammed the Esmeralda during their engagement at Iquique five months earlier. Barely ten minutes later an emergency rudder had been set by the Huascar's crew.

At 10:00 hrs another shell from the Cochrane hit the Huascar, piercing the bridge cabin and killing Admiral Grau and his adjunct, Diego Ferre. Command then fell to Lt. Captain Elías Aguirre. The explosion also shattered the vessel's rudder wheel. Lt. Captain Gaona’s gunners caused heavy casualties among the Peruvian crew: the Chileans were using Palliser type armor-piercing rounds, which exploded right after penetrating the hull.

At 10:10, the Huascar flag was bring down from its hoist by the intense gunfire. Latorre ordered a halt to the fire, thinking that the ship was surrendered. However, the monitor kept his pace and within minutes an unidentified officer hoisted again, resuming the combat. Meanwhile, the Huascar crew had again repaired the rudder wheel.

At 10:22 hrs, with the Blanco Encalada and the Covadonga at close range, a shot from Blanca Encalada, Commodore Riveros, perforated the Huacar's artillery tower, killing almost all of the sailors within and damaging the rightmost cannon. Another shot, from the Cochrane, passed through the officers' quarters and wrecked the emergency rudder station, which had been disabled already twice before. The Huascarnow could sail only in a wide semicircle to starboard. Once rudder control was regained, Captain Aguirre of the Huascar tried to ram the Cochrane. Latorre was also manoeuvring to ram the Huascar, but the Peruvian ironclad, whose steering was again enabled, suddenly veered to port and both ships passed by each other. Another shell pierced the Huascar's artillery tower 12 minutes later, killing all within, including Captain Aguirre. Command of the ship went to Lt. Pedro Garezon, who in conference with the remaining officers to scuttle the ship rather than allow it to be captured. At 10:54 hrs the order was given to evacuate the wounded from the engine room and open the seacocks to scuttle the ship and hence prevent its capture.

At 10:55 hrs Huascar flag was bring down for second time. The Chilean warships, noticing that the Huascar was decreasing speed, mustered their boarding parties. At 11:08 hrs, 14 to 20 Chileans sailors boarded the Huascar, without encountering any resistance. They closed the seacock valves (with 1.2 meters of water in the engine room) and extinguished several fires while the now captured Peruvian crew was being transported to the Chilean vessels as prisoners of war.

Consequences With capture of the Huascar, plus the previous neutralization of the Independencia at Punta Gruesa, fire power of the Peruvian Navy was drastically reduced, bringing the sea campaign of the War of the Pacific to an end. From now on, the Chilean Navy was able to use the Huascar as one of its own ships.

The decisive victory at Angamos allowed the Chilean Army to freely decide the course of action to attack the Allies, and the land invasion of Peru and Bolivia began.

Navy Day PERU - Oct 8

Navy Day in Peru is a national holiday celebrated on October 8 to commemorate the Battle of Angamos in 1879 and it is also the anniversary of the creation of the Peruvian Navy in 1821.

HISTORY The Peruvian ironclad Huascar continued after the Naval Battle of

Iquique to make several incursions attacking Chilean ports along its entire coast and capturing transports and challenging Chilean naval dominion.

Chile’s plan was to achieve naval supremacy before invading Peru so the Huascar had to be eliminated or captured because it is thwarting Chile’s plans. So the government of Chile made a decision to advance the naval campaign in order to achieve sea domination. Once sea domination was achieved the land operations with the logistic support can commence.

The Huascar opened fire at the Chilean battleship Cochrane on October 8, 1879 at 09:25 hrs at Punta Angamos, but the Cochrane did not fire back until it closed in on the Huascar. Upon reaching its effective cannon range it began to shell the ironclad. One shot pierced the artillery turret wounding the crews of the cannons and another shot punctured the armor cutting the left rudder. Another shot from the Cochrane pierced the Huascar bridge instantly killing its admiral and another officer.

The Chilean war ships noticed that the Huascar was slowing down so they began preparations to board it. The Peruvian Navy’s fire power was drastically reduced with capture of the Huascar. This brought the sea campaign of the War of the Pacific to an end. The Chilean Navy soon used the Huascar as one of its own ships.

The significant victory at Angamos permitted the Chilean Army to decide the best way to attack the Allies.

CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES TRADITIONS, Navy Day celebrations typically include military parades and other activities, such as speeches from politicians and navy leaders.

past, lost many historians to the New State. As a result, it is difficult to attempt a global synthesis of the republican period in view of the important gaps that still persist in our knowledge of its political history. As far as the October 1910 Revolution is concerned, a number of valuable studies have been made, first among which ranks Vasco Pulido Valente’s polemical thesis. This historian posited the Jacobin and urban nature of the revolution carried out by the Portuguese Republican Party (PRP) and claimed that the PRP had turned the republican regime into a de facto dictatorship. This vision clashes with an older interpretation of the First Republic as a progressive and increasingly democratic regime which presented a clear contrast to Salazar’s ensuing dictatorship.

A republican Constitution was approved in 1911, inaugurating a parliamentary regime with reduced presidential powers and two chambers of parliament. The Republic provoked important fractures within Portuguese society, notably among the essentially monarchist rural population, in the trade unions, and in the Church. The republic established wasanticlerical and had a "hostile" approach to the issue of church and state separation, like that of the French Revolution, and the future Spanish Constitution of 1931 and Mexican Constitution of 1917. Even the PRP had to endure the secession of its more moderate elements, who formed conservative republican parties like the Evolutionist Party and the Republican Union. In spite of these splits the PRP, led by Afonso Costa, preserved its dominance, largely due to a brand of clientelist politics inherited from the monarchy. In view of these tactics, a number of opposition forces resorted to violence in order to enjoy the fruits of power. There are few recent studies of this period of the Republic’s existence, known as the ‘old’ Republic. Nevertheless, an essay by Vasco Pulido Valente should be consulted, as should the attempt to establish the political, social, and economic context made by M. Villaverde Cabral (1988).

The Republic repelled a royalist attack on Chaves in 1912.

The PRP viewed the outbreak of the First World War as a unique opportunity to achieve a number of goals: putting an end to the twin threats of a Spanish invasion of Portugal and of foreign occupation of the colonies and, at the internal level, creating a national consensus around the regime and even around the party. These domestic objectives were not met, since participation in the conflict was not the subject of a national consensus and since it did not therefore serve to mobilise the population. Quite the opposite occurred: existing lines of political and ideological fracture were deepened by Portugal's intervention in the First World War. The lack of consensus around Portugal’s intervention in turn made possible the appearance of two dictatorships, led by GeneralPimenta de Castro (January– May 1915) and Sidónio Pais (December 1917-December 1918).

Sidonismo, also known as Dezembrismo (Eng. Decemberism), aroused a strong interest among historians, largely as a result of the elements of modernity that it contained.António José Telo has made clear the way in which this regime predated some of the political solutions invented by the totalitarian and fascist dictatorships of the 1920s and 1930s. Sidónio Pais undertook the rescue of traditional values, notably the Pátria (Eng. Homeland), and attempted to rule in a charismatic fashion. A move was made to abolish traditional political parties and to alter the existing mode of national representation in parliament (which, it was claimed, exacerbated divisions within the Pátria) through the creation of a corporative Senate, the founding of a single party (the National Republican Party), and the attribution of a mobilising function to the Leader. The State carved out an economically interventionist role for itself while, at the same time, repressing working-class movements and leftist republicans. Sidónio Pais also attempted to restore public order and to overcome, finally, some of the rifts of the recent past, making the Republic more acceptable to monarchists and Catholics.

The vacuum of power created by Sidónio Pais' assassination on 14 December 1918 led the country to a brief civil war. The monarchy’s restoration was proclaimed in the north of Portugal on 19 January 1919 and, four days later, a monarchist insurrection broke out in Lisbon. A republican coalition government, led by José Relvas, coordinated the struggle against the monarchists by loyal army units and armed civilians. After a series of clashes the monarchists were definitively chased from Porto on 13 February 1919. This military victory allowed the PRP to return to government and to emerge triumphant from the elections held later that year, having won the usual absolute majority.

It was during this restoration of the "old" Republic that an attempted reform was carried out in order to provide the regime with greater stability. In August 1919 a conservative President was elected –António José de Almeida (whose Evolutionist party had come together in wartime with the PRP to form a flawed, because incomplete, Sacred Union) – and his office was given the power to dissolve Parliament. Relations with the Holy See, restored by Sidónio Pais, were preserved. The President used his new power to resolve a crisis of government in May 1921, naming a Liberal government (the Liberal party being the result of the postwar fusion of Evolutionists and Unionists) to prepare the forthcoming elections. These were held on 10 July 1921 with victory going, as was usually the case, to the party in power. However, Liberal government did not last long. On 19 October a military pronunciamento was carried out during which – and apparently against the wishes of the coup's leaders – a number of prominent conservative figures, including Prime Minister António Granjo, were assassinated. This event, known as the "night of blood" left a deep wound among political elites and public opinion. There could be no greater demonstration of the essential fragility of the Republic's institutions and proof that the regime was democratic in name only, since it did not even admit the possibility of the rotation in power characteristic of the elitist regimes of the nineteenth century.

A new round of elections on 29 January 1922 inaugurated a fresh period of stability, since the PRP once again emerged from the contest with an absolute majority. Discontent with this situation had not, however, disappeared. Numerous accusations of corruption, and the manifest failure to resolve pressing social concerns wore down the more visible PRP leaders while making the opposition’s attacks more deadly. At the same time, moreover, all political parties suffered from growing internal factionfighting, especially the PRP itself. The party system was fractured and discredited. This is clearly shown by the fact that regular PRP victories at the ballot box did not lead to stable government. Between 1910 and 1926 there were forty-five governments.

The opposition ofpresidents to single-party governments, internal dissent within the PRP, the party's almost non-existent internal discipline, and its constant and irrational desire to group together and lead all republican forces made any government's task practically impossible. Many different formulae were attempted, including single-party governments, coalitions, and presidential executives, but none succeeded. Force was clearly the sole means open to the opposition if it wanted to enjoy the fruits of power.

By the mid-1920s the domestic and international scenes began to favour another authoritarian solution, wherein a strengthened executive might restore political and social order. Since the opposition's constitutional route to power was blocked by the various means deployed by the PRP to protect itself, it turned to the army for support. The armed forces, whose political awareness had grown during the war, and whose leaders had not forgiven the PRP for sending them to a war they did not want to fight, seemed to represent, to conservative forces, the last bastion of "order" against the "chaos" that was taking over the country. Links were established between conservative figures and military officers, who added their own political and corporative demands to the already complex equation. TheRevolution of 28 May 1926 enjoyed the support of most army units and even of most political parties. As had been the case in December 1917, the population of Lisbon did not rise to defend the Republic, leaving it at the mercy of the army. There are few global and up-to-date studies of this turbulent third phase of the Republic’s existence. Nevertheless, much has been written about the crisis and fall of the regime and the 28 May movement;. The First Republic continues to be the subject of an intense debate which is impossible to summarise in these paragraphs. Nevertheless, one can distinguish three main interpretations. For some historians, the First Republic was a progressive and increasingly democratic regime. For others, it was essentially a prolongation of the classical liberal regimes of the nineteenth century. A third group, finally, chooses to highlight the regime's revolutionary, Jacobin, and dictatorial nature.

Croatia officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska), is a country in Central Europe and Southeastern Europe at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Adriatic Sea. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. Croatia borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, and has a comparatively small stretch of border with Montenegro at its southernmost tip along the Adriatic coast.

The Croats arrived in the early 7th century in what today is Croatia. They organized the state into two dukedoms.

The first king, King Tomislav was crowned in AD 925 and Croatia was elevated into the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for almost two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Peter Krešimir IV and Demetrius Zvonimir. Croatia entered a union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand from the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, Croatia was included in the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs that declared independence from Austria–Hungary and cofounded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. A Croatian state briefly existed during World War II, but it was a Nazi/Fascist puppet-state. After World War II, Croatia became a founding member of the Second Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991, Croatia declared independence and became a sovereign state.

Since the fall of communism and the end of the Croatian War of Independence, Croatia has achieved high human development and income equality, and ranks highly amongst Central European nations in terms of education, health, quality of life and economic dynamism. Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization and CEFTA. Croatia is an acceding state of the European Union, with entry expected in July 2013, and is a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Croatia is classified as an emerging and developing economy by the International Monetary Fund and a high income economy by the World Bank.

History

Prehistory and antiquity:

The area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period. Fossils of Neanderthals dating to the middle Paleolithic period have been unearthed in the areas of Krapina and Vindija in northern Croatia. Remnants of the Starčevo, Vučedol and Hvar cultures, all dating from the early Neolithic period, were found in other parts of the country. The Iron Age left traces of the Hallstatt culture (early Illyrians) and the La Tène culture (Celts).

Much later the region was settled by Liburnians and Illyrians, and Greek colonies were established on the islands of Vis (by Dionysius I of Syracuse) and Hvar. In 9 AD the territory of today's Croatia became part of the Roman Empire. Emperor Diocletian built a massive palace in Split where he retired from politics in AD 305. During the 5th century the last Roman Emperor Julius Nepos ruled his small empire from Diocletian's Palace before he was killed in AD 480.

Early history of Croatia ends with the Avar invasion in the first half of the 7th century and the destruction of almost all Roman towns. Roman survivors retreated to strategically better defended points on the coast, islands and mountains. The modern city of Dubrovnik was founded by those survivors.

Ethnogenesis of Croatian people (called White Croats before the migration) started with their emigration from the territory of White Croatia, located in central Europe, to the area of the present day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Stjepan Radić, Croatian politic a l l e a d e r, o p poser of the with union Ot on Iv e k ov ić , The a r r iv a l Se r bs , k ille d in of the Croats at the 1 9 2 8 by Puniš a s hor e s of A dr ia t ic .

Medieval Croatia: R a č ić .

According to the work De Administrando Imperio written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Croats had arrived in what

Death of Henri Christophe HAITI - Oct 8

Henri Christophe (who chose for himself an anglicized name Henry Christopher) (6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution, winning independence from France in 1804. On 17 February 1807, after the creation of a separate nation in the north, Christophe was elected President of the State of Haiti. On 26 March 1811, he was proclaimed Henry I, King of Haïti. He is also known for constructing the Citadelle Laferrière.

life Early Born Christopher Henry probably in Grenada, the son of Christophe, a

freeman, Christophe was brought to Saint Domingue as a slave in the northern region. In 1779 he may have served with the French Forces as a drummer boy in the American Revolution in the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Dominigue, a regiment composed of gens de couleur. They fought at the Siege of Savannah.

As an adult, Christophe worked as a mason, sailor, stable hand, waiter, and billiard maker. He worked in and managed a hotel restaurant in CapFrançais, the capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue, where he became skilled at dealing with the grand blancs, as the wealthy white French planters were called. Such political skills also served him well when he became an officer in the military and leader in the country. He was said to have obtained his freedom as a young man, before the Slave Uprising of 1791. Sometime after he had settled in Haiti he brought his sister Marie there, where she married and had issue.

Beginning with the slave uprising of 1791, Christophe distinguished himself in the Haïtian Revolution and quickly rose to be an officer. He fought for years with Toussaint Louverture in the north, helping defeat the French, the Spanish, British, and finally French national troops. By 1802 he was a general under Toussaint Louverture.

is today Croatia probably in the early 7th century. They soon formed two dukedoms; the Duchy of Pannonia in the north and the Duchy of Littoral Croatia in the south. The Christianization of Croats first began in the 7th century when Pope John IV (640–642) sent Christian teachers and missionaries to Croatian Provinces, and was mostly complete by the 9th century. In the late 8th century both duchies became Frankish vassals before regaining independence in the following century. The first native Croatian ruler recognized by thePope was duke Branimir, whom Pope John VIII referred to as Dux Croatorum ("Duke of Croats") in 879.

Duke Tomislav of Littoral Croatia was the most prominent member of the House of Trpimirović, a dynasty which ruled Croatia between the 9th and 11th century. Tomislav annexed parts of Pannonian Croatia and merged the two duchies into a single kingdom in 925, which is assumed to have been delimited by the Adriatic Sea, the Drava river, the Raša river and the Drina river. The medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak in the 11th century during the reigns of Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Zvonimir (1075–1089). Following the extinction of the Croatian ruling dynasty in 1091, Ladislaus I of Hungary – brother of Helen II, the last Croatian queen – became king of Croatia. Croatian nobility of the Littoral opposed this crowning which led to a 10-year war and the subsequent recognition of the Hungarian ruler Coloman as king of Croatia and Hungary in the treaty of 1102 referred to as Pacta conventa. In return, Coloman promised to maintain Croatia as an autonomous kingdom headed by a viceroy, titled Ban. For the next four centuries, the Kingdom of Croatia was ruled by Sabor (parliament) and Bans appointed by the Hungarian king. The Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia remained a legally distinct constitutional entity, but the advent of a Hungarian king brought about other consequences such as: the introduction of feudalism and the rise of native noble families such as the Frankopans and the Šubićs. The 1273Congregatio Regni tocius Sclavonie Generalis, the oldest surviving document written by the Croatian parliament, dates from this period.Subsequent kings sought to restore some of their previously lost influence by granting certain privileges to towns. The first period of personal union between Croatia and Hungary ended in 1526 with the Battle of Mohács and the defeat of Hungarian forces by the Ottomans. After the death of King Louis II, Croatian nobles at the Cetingrad assembly chose the Habsburgs as new rulers of the Kingdom of Croatia, under the condition that they provide the troops and finances required to protect Croatia against the Ottoman Empire.

Dalmatian cities:

While the Kingdom of Croatia controlled much of the hinterland of what was once the Roman province of Dalmatia, the fortified cities of Dalmatia, at the time the economic and cultural centres of the region, still with a substantial amount of Romance-speaking population, mostly remained under nominal Byzantine control, with the Kingdom of Croatia and the Republic of Venice vying for control over them. These included Zadar, Šibenik, Split and Dubrovnik (at the time known as Ragusa). Dubrovnik had originally been founded in the 7th century, and evolved into an independent maritime republic. During the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) the city fell under the control of Venice, which lasted until the 14th century and the 1358 Treaty of Zadar when Venetians' defeat at the hands of the Kingdom of Hungary caused them to lose control of Dalmatia.

By the 15th century Venice again brought much of Dalmatia under its control but the Republic of Ragusa, under protection of the Ottomans and Habsburgs, enjoyed independence and became rich through trade. At a time when inland Croatia was embroiled in a series of devastating wars against the Ottoman Empire, Dubrovnik flourished and became the most important centre for Croatian literature during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In 1797 Napoleon's forces occupied the entire eastern Adriatic coastline as well as a substantial part of the hinterland, ending both the Venetian and the Ragusan republics and establishing the French-controlled Illyrian Provinces. Along with the large Slavic (Croatian) majority, Dalmatia retained large Italian communities along the coast. According to the 1816 Austro-Hungarian census, 22% of Dalmatian population was Italian-speaking. Since the 19th century, most Dalmatian Italians and Morlachs (speakers of the Istro-Romanian language) were gradually assimilated by the prevailing Croatian culture and language.

Habsburg Monarchy and Austria-Hungary:

In 1529 the Ottoman army captured Buda and besieged Vienna in an event which brought turmoil to Croatian border areas. After the failure of early military operations the Kingdom of Croatia was split into civilian and military units in 1553. The latter eventually became known as the Croatian Military Frontier, a territory directly controlled by Vienna. Ottoman raids on Croatian territory continued until the 1593 Battle of Sisak which resulted in Ottoman defeat and after which the borders stabilised for a time. During the Great Turkish War (1667–1698), Slavonia was regained but western Bosnia, which had been part of Croatia since before the Ottoman conquest, remained outside Croatian control.

The present-day crescent-shaped border between the two countries is a historical remnant of this outcome. Dalmatia, the southern part of the crescent, was created by Venetian conquests which ensued following the 13th-century Siege of Zara and was eventually defined by the 17h- and 18th-century wars with Ottomans.

Over the course of the two centuries of Ottoman wars Croatia underwent great demographic changes. Croats who had inhabited the areas of Lika, Moslavina and north-west Bosnia migrated towards Austria and the present-day Burgenland Croats are direct descendants of these settlers. To replace the fleeing Croats the Habsburgs called on the Orthodox populations of Bosnia and Serbia to provide military service in the Croatian Military Frontier. Serb migration into this region, which had started in the 16th century, peaked during the Great Serb Migrations of 1690 and 1737–39.

Fuelled by the ideas of romantic nationalism which became popular throughout Europe in the 19th century, a national revival in Croatia, called the Illyrian movement, began gaining ground in the 1830s. The movement was a political and cultural campaign initiated by a group of Croatian intellectuals who advocated for unity of all South Slavs within the Habsburg Monarchy and their most important focus was the establishment of a standard language as a counter-weight to Hungarian and the promotion of Croatian literature and culture. Prominent members of this movement were writers Ivan Mažuranić and Petar Preradović, poet Antun Mihanović, composer Vatroslav Lisinski and Ljudevit Gaj who published the first standardized orthography of the Croatian language. Due to the popularity of the Illyrian movement Croatian became official language in the Kingdom of Croatia in 1847, replacing Latin.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Croatia sided with Austrian and Russian forces who defeated the Hungarian army in 1849, which ushered a period marked by a policy of Germanization. By the 1860s its failure became apparent, which resulted in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the creation of amonarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The treaty left the issue of Croatia's status unresolved. The kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia were eventually united following the Croatian– Hungarian Settlement of 1868. The sovereignty over the port city of Rijekaremained contested between Croatia and Hungary, while Kingdom of Dalmatia remained under Austrian control. After the Ottoman Empire had lost control over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Austria-Hungary abolished the Croatian Military Frontier and restored the territories to Croatia in 1881. In the late 19th century proHungarian and pro-Austrian political parties played Croats against Serbs with the aim of controlling the parliament. This policy failed in 1906 when the Croat-Serb Coalition won the elections. This political situation remained unchanged until the advent of World War I.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia and World War II: On

Haiti Independent After the French deported Toussaint Louverture to France, and fighting

continued under Rochambeau, Jean Jacques Dessalines recognized they wanted to reenslave the blacks. He led the fight to defeat French forces. As leader, Dessalines declared Saint-Domingue's independence and the new name of Haiti in 1804.

In 1806 Christophe was aware of a plot to kill Dessalines; seeing an opportunity to seize power for himself, he did not warn the self-proclaimed Emperor. The plot was said to involve Alexandre Pétion, a competing "gens de couleur"; as a half-white, Pétion held a weak position among the majority of black leaders and population and possibly viewed assassination as the surest way of removing Dessalines. However, this allegation has not been proven; other sources clear Pétion's name from the plot and say that he has been tied to it only on the basis of such conjectures. In any case, Dessalines was assassinated, and Christophe was elected to the newly created position of president, but without real powers.

State and kingdom of Haiti Feeling insulted, Christophe retreated with his followers to the

Plaine du Nord and created a separate government there.

Christophe had suspected that he would be next to be assassinated. In 1807 Christophe declared himself président et généralissime des forces de terre et de mer de l'État d'Haïti (English: President and Generalissimo of the armies of land and sea of the State of Haïti). Pétion became President of the "Republic of Haïti" in the south backed by General Boyer who had control of the southern armies.

In 1811 Henry made the northern state of Haïti a kingdom, and was ordained King by Arch Bishop of Milot Corneil Breuil. The edict of 1 April 1811 gave his full title as Henri, par la grâce de Dieu et la Loi constitutionelle de l'État Roi d'Haïti, Souverain des Îles de la Tortue, Gonâve, et autres îles adjacentes, Destructeur de la tyrannie, Régénérateur et bienfaiteur de la nation haïtienne, Créateur de ses institutiones morales, politiques et guerrières, Premier monarque couronné du Nouveau-Monde, Défenseur de la foi, Fondateur de l'ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Henri.

Henry, by the grace of God and constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of Tortuga, Gonâve, and other adjacent islands, Destroyer of tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haïtian nation, Creator of her moral, political, and martial institutions, First crowned monarch of the New World, Defender of the faith, Founder of the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry.

He renamed Cap Français Cap-Henri. It is now called Cap-Haïtien.

Christophe named his legitimate son, Jacques-Victor Henry, heir apparent with the title Prince Royal of Haïti. Even in documents written in French, the king's name was usually given an English spelling. He had another son who was a colonel in his army.

Christophe built for his own use six châteaux, eight palaces and the massive Citadelle Laferrière, still considered one of the wonders of the era. Nine years later, at the end of his monarchy, he had increased the number of designated nobility from the original 87 to 134.

Politically, in the North, Christophe was caught between reinforcing a version of the slave plantation system in an attempt to increase agricultural production, or handing out the plantation land for peasant cultivation (the approach taken by Alexandre Petion in the South). King Henry took the route of enforcing corvee plantation work on the population in lieu of taxes alongside his massive building projects. As a result, Northern Haiti during his reign was despotic but relatively wealthy. He preferred trading with English merchants and American merchants than both French and Spanish merchants which did not recognize Haiti as independent country, he ordered that extra Africans be brought to Haiti to work on his vast projects instead of being traded to other Caribbean countries where they would be held as slaves. As a result, numerous Africans who were originally brought by the French as slaves came to Haiti. He made an agreement with Britain that Haiti would not be threat to their Caribbean colonies in return that the British Navy would warn the Kingdom of Haiti of any imminent attack from French troops, in 1807 the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade of 1807 which did not outlaw slavery, but abolishing the importation of African slaves in British territory, because of this increased bilateral trade, he had gathered an enormous sum of British pounds for his treasury. By contrast, Petion's Southern Haiti became much poorer because the land-share destroyed agricultural productivity.

and heraldry Nobility One of Christophe's first acts as king was to create a Haïtian Peerage, with four princes, seven dukes, 22 counts, 40 barons

and 14 chevaliers. Christophe also founded a College of Arms to provide armorial bearings to the newly ennobled.

Christophe's kingship was modelled in part on the enlightened absolutism of Frederick the Great. Thomas Clarkson, the English slave abolitionist, held a long written correspondence with Christophe which gives insights into his philosophy and style of government (Griggs and Prator). The king sought an education for his children along the lines of the princelings of Enlightenment Europe.

of reign End Despite his efforts to promote education and establish a legal system called the Code Henry, King Henri was an unpopular autocratic monarch. In addition, his realm was constantly challenged by that of the South, which was ruled by gens de couleur. Toward the end of Christophe's reign, public sentiment was sharply against what many perceived to be his feudal policies, which he intended to develop the country. Ill and infirm at age fifty-three, King Henry shot himself with a silver bullet rather than face the possibility of a coup. He was buried within the Citadelle Laferriere.

Pierre Nord Alexis, President of Haiti from 1902–1908, was Christophe's grandson.

Michèle Bennett Duvalier, First Lady of Haiti from 1980 to 1986, was Christophe's great-great-great-granddaughter.

29 October 1918 the Croatian Sabor (parliament) declared independence and decided to join the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which in turn entered into union with Kingdom of Serbia on 1 December 1918 to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

In 1921 the kingdom adopted a new constitution which envisioned the country as a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. In 1922 historical provinces were abolished and the country was divided into 33 oblasts.

These decisions effectively put an end to state autonomy and were met with public outcry in Croatia. A movement for the restoration of state autonomy thus began gaining ground under the leadership of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS). As the adoption of the 1921 constitution sparked tensions among ethnic groups, the already unhealthy political situation became even worse after Stjepan Radić, the president of HSS, was assassinated during a Yugoslav Parliament session in June 1928 by a Serb ultranationalist deputy Puniša Račić. Following the political crisis triggered by the shooting, in January 1929 King Alexander abolished the constitution, dissolved the parliament, and declared a royal dictatorship, officially renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In October oblasts were replaced by a system of nine banovinas, with most of Croatian territory split into the northern Sava Banovina (with seat in Zagreb) and Littoral Banovina(with seat in Split).

Vladko Maček, who had succeeded Radić at the helm of HSS and who continued to call for greater autonomy for Croatia, was imprisoned in 1933 and sentenced to three years in jail for treason. However, Maček was released following Alexander's assassination in Marseille in October 1934 which had been organized by foreign-based Macedonian and Croatian nationalist groups, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and the Ustaše. Upon his release, Maček continued to be a vocal proponent of greater federalization of Yugoslavia, which eventually resulted in the Cvetković–Maček Agreementof August 1939 which created the autonomous Banovina of Croatia.

Its borders were in part historical borders of Croatia, and in part based on the application of the principle of ethnicity according to which the territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a majority ethnic Croat population was annexed to the Banovina. The Banovina would be governed in internal matters by the Croatian Sabor (parliament) and a crown-appointed Ban. In April 1941 Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded and occupied by Germany and Italy in little more than ten days. Following the invasion the territory of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region of Syrmia were incorporated into Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a Nazibacked puppet state. Parts of Dalmatia were occupied by Italy and northern Croatian regions of Baranja and Međimurje were occupied by Hungary. The newly installed NDH regime was led by Ante Pavelić and members of his ultranationalist movement Ustaše. The Ustaše regime introduced anti-semitic laws and conducted a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Serb and Roma inhabitants of NDH, exemplified by concentration camps such as the one at Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška where opponents of the Ustaše regime and other 'undesirables' were held. The Jewish Virtual Library estimates that between 45,000 and 52,000 Croatian Serbs were killed at Jasenovac and that between 330,000 and 390,000 Serbs were victims of the entire genocide campaign.

A resistance movement soon emerged and in June 1941 the 1st Sisak Partisan Detachment was formed nearSisak, as the first military unit formed by a resistance movement in occupied Europe. This sparked the beginning of the Yugoslav Partisan movement, a communist multiethnic anti-fascist resistance group led by Josip Broz Tito. Initially fighting as a guerrilla force, the movement grew rapidly and by late 1944, the Partisans numbered 800,000 men and women organized in four field armies and 52 divisions which engaged in conventional warfare.

The Partisans' goal was to create a communist statein Yugoslavia and to this end they attempted to appeal to all the various ethnic groups within Yugoslavia by adopting a policy of brotherhood and unity. Following the Tehran Conference in December 1943 Partisans gained recognition from the Allies. With their support in logistics, equipment, training and air power, and with the assistance of Soviet troops in the November 1944 Belgrade Offensive, they eventually gained control of the entire country and the border regions of Italy and Austria by the end of WWII in May 1945. Post-war estimates have put the number of WWII casualties in present-day Croatia at around 270,000.

Modern era:

Modern Croatia was founded on AVNOJ anti-fascist partisans' principles during World War II, and it became a constitutional federal republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A single-party socialist state was established but, because of the Tito-Stalin split, economic and personal freedom were better than in the Eastern Bloc. From the 1950s, the Socialist Republic of Croatiaenjoyed an autonomy under the rule of the local Communist elite, but in 1967 a group of influential Croatian poets and linguists published a Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Standard Language.

After 1968, the patriotic goals of that document morphed into a generic Croatian movement for more rights for Croatia, greater civil rights and demands for the decentralization of the economy. In the end the Yugoslav leadership interpreted the Croatian Spring as a restoration of Croatian nationalism, dismissed the movement as chauvinistic and arrested most of its important leaders. In 1974, a new Yugoslav federal constitution was ratified that gave more autonomy to the individual republics, thereby basically fulfilling the main goals of the Croatian Spring.

Nationalistic sentiment, which would bring an end to the Yugoslav federation, had been widespread among various ethnicities for some years. Albanian demands in 1981 for Kosovo to be removed from Serbia and transformed to a constituent republic within Yugoslavia led to riots,and similar attitudes surfaced among other nations with the Serbian SANU Memorandum in 1986; Croatia and Slovenia also responded negatively in 1989 after Serbia's leader Slobodan Milošević organized coups in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro to install authorities who would be loyal to his cause.

Croatia declared independence from socialist Yugoslavia in 1991. War broke out in 1991 with Yugoslav National Army open attacks on Croatia. At the end of 1991 there was full-scale war in Croatia. The war was between the Serbs, in what had been the Republic of Serbia in the former Yugoslavia, and Croats in the newly independent Croatia. The reasons for the war are quite complex. To greatly simplify, while Croatia and Slovenia wanted to separate from Yugoslavia, Serbs were largely unwilling to allow this to happen, probably largely for economic reasons.

Franjo Tuđman's election win further inflamed the situation. Croatian Serbs left the Croatian parliament and created the Association of the Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika in Knin. This was later to become the Republika Srpska Krajina. On the events of 1990–92, Milan Babić, Serbian leader and president of Republika Srpska Krajina, was later to declare that he had been "strongly influenced and misled

by Serbian propaganda."

These events culminated in the full scale Croatian War of Independence between 1991 and 1995. The war ended with Croatian victory with Operation Storm (known in Croatian as Oluja) in the summer of 1995. The events of August 1995 remain the subject of several cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, regarding the conduct of the victorious Croatian Army and the exodus of ethnic Serbs.

Croatia was internationally recognized on 15 January 1992 by the European Union, and subsequently the United Nations. During that time, Croatia controlled less than two thirds of its legal territory.

Military

Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) consist of the Army, Navy and Air Force branches in addition to the Education and Training Command and Support Command. The CAF is headed by the General Staff which reports to the Defence Minister, who in turn reports to the President of Croatia. According to the constitution, the President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and in case of immediate threat during wartime he issues orders directly to the General Staff.

Following the 1991–95 war defence spending and CAF size are in constant decline. As of 2005 military spending was an estimated 2.39% of the country's GDP, which placed Croatia 64th in a ranking of all countries. Since 2005 the budget was kept below 2% of GDP, down from the record high of 11.1% in 1994. Traditionally relying on a large number of conscripts, CAF also went through a period of reforms focused on downsizing, restructuring and professionalisation in the years prior to Croatia's accession to NATO in April 2009. According to a presidential decree issued in 2006 the CAF is set to employ 18,100 active duty military personnel, 3,000 civilians and 2,000 18–30 year-old voluntary conscripts in peacetime.

Compulsory conscription was abolished in January 2008. Until 2008 military service was compulsory for men at age 18 and conscripts served six-month tours of duty, reduced in 2001 from the earlier scheme of nine-month conscription tours. Conscientious objectors could instead opt for an eight-month civilian service.

As of April 2011 the Croatian military had 120 members stationed in foreign countries as part of United Nations-led international peacekeeping forces, including 95 serving as part of UNDOF in Golan Heights. As of 2011 an additional 350 troops serve as part of NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan and another 20 with KFOR in Kosovo.

Croatia also has a significant military industry sector which exported around US$120 million worth of military equipment and armament in 2010. Croatian-made weapons and vehicles used by CAF include the standard sidearm HS2000 manufactured by HS Produkt and the M84D battle tank designed by the Đuro Đaković factory. Uniforms and helmets worn by CAF soldiers are also locally produced and successfully marketed to other countries.

INTERNATIONAL Obama Charts a New Route to Re-election WASHINGTON — With his support among blue-collar white voters far weaker than among white-collar independents, President Obamais charting an alternative course to re-election should he be unable to win Ohio and other industrial states traditionally essential to Democratic presidential victories.

Without conceding ground anywhere, Mr. Obama is fighting hard for Southern and Rocky Mountain states he won in 2008, and some he did not, in calculating how to assemble the necessary 270 electoral votes.

He is seeking to prove that those victories on formerly Republican turf were not flukes but the start of a trend that will make Democrats competitive there for years.

“There are a lot of ways for us to get to 270, and it’s not just the traditional map,” said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s chief strategist. “That’s why we’re laying the groundwork across the country to compete on the widest possible playing field next year.”

While Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have slid across the board as unemployment remains high, what buoys Democrats are the changing demographics of formerly Republican states like Colorado, where Democrats won a close Senate race in 2010, as well as Virginia and North Carolina.

With growing cities and suburbs, they are populated by increasing numbers of educated and higher-income independents, young voters, Hispanics and African-Americans, many of them alienated by Republicans’ Tea Party agenda.

“The biggest challenge” for Republicans, said Tad Devine, a senior strategist for Al Gore’s and John Kerry’s presidential campaigns, “is that they have to deal with what I would call the Obama electorate. And the Obama electorate is not the electorate that we have seen in America since I started working on presidential campaigns in 1980.”

Even so, Mr. Devine and other Democrats do not expect an easy race. “It’s not going to be a triumphal march to almost 54 percent of the vote and 365 electoral votes” like in 2008, he said.

“It’s going to be a hard slog, like the ones we did in 2000 and 2004 and came up short. The only difference is, Obama has got places to go that we couldn’t go. We couldn’t even target North Carolina when Kerry’s running mate” — John Edwards, then a senator — “was from North Carolina.”

For Republicans, the reality of those changing demographics tempers their heightened hopes for beating Mr. Obama.

Terry Nelson, a campaign adviser to George W. Bush, John McCain and, this year, the former candidate Tim Pawlenty, said he was “pretty optimistic” for 2012, partly because Mr. Obama’s support among lowerincome, less-educated white vot-

(Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to overhaul Russia's government next year and defended plans for a job swap designed to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin by saying on Friday that voters will decide who leads the country:

ers, never high, has dropped enough that Republicans see good prospects for winning industrial-belt states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.

But, Mr. Nelson acknowledged: “The country is changing. In every election cycle, every year, every day, this country becomes more ethnically diverse. And that has an impact on the kind of coalition that you need to put together to win.” He added, “The truth is, Obama needs fewer white voters in 2012 than he did in 2008.”

Mr. Obama’s recent travel reflects his calculus. On Tuesday, he was in Colorado, at a high school in a heavily Hispanic Denver neighborhood, to promote his jobs plan. This month he was in Ohio, but also in Virginia and North Carolina; he may return soon on a bus tour of neighboring states, aides say.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was in Northern Virginia on Thursday.

Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado together have more than double the number of Ohio’s votes in the Electoral College — 37 versus 18. And Obama advisers say that the same demographic factors at play in those states are also present in states Mr. Obama lost in 2008 — like Arizona (whose senior senator, Mr. McCain, was his rival) and Georgia.

Except for Indiana, a long shot, Obama advisers say the president will be favored or competitive everywhere he won before, including Ohio. But polls underscore how tough a task he will have with independents in the industrial belt, where income and education levels are below the national average, compared with states like Colorado and Virginia with higher-income, better-educated independents.

The latest nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll this month showed that 51 percent of independents with household inbelow $50,000 comes disapproved of Mr. Obama’s performance, as did 57 percent of those with incomes of $50,000 to $100,000. But independents with household incomes above $100,000 approved of his job performance by 50 percent to 43 percent.

In Colorado, the template for a repeat victory is last year’s campaign of Senator Michael Bennet. A Democratic novice, Mr. Bennet defeated a Tea Party Re-

publican in a year when Republicans were triumphant nationwide. He built a coalition of Latino voters, Democrats like himself who are college-educated transplants to Colorado, and independents in Denver and Boulder.

“No candidate can win this state without winning independent voters,” said Mr. Bennet, who joined Mr. Obama on his Denver visit, along with Gov. John W. Hickenlooper and Senator Mark Udall; all three will help Mr. Obama’s organization there in 2012.

With independents, Mr. Bennet said, “The question that resonated in 2010 was, Do you want somebody who will go to Washington and try to work to solve problems, or do you want somebody who will simply be a partisan?” They will seek a problem-solver again next year, he added, “and I think the president has a strong case to make.”

A challenge for Mr. Obama in Colorado and elsewhere is mobilizing Hispanic voters, many of whom complain that he has not tried hard enough to overcome Republican opposition to immigration legislation. And appealing to independents will require some deft politics, since Mr. Obama’s recent switch to a more confrontational approach with Republicans Congressional could cost independent support even as he energizes Democratic voters.

Virginia and North Carolina, with their respected universities, technology centers and diverse suburbs, are similar enough in their changing demographics that Mr. Devine suggests they can be viewed as a single state for purposes of presidential politics. Their combined 28 electoral votes are nearly equal to the 29 votes of Florida, which was traditionally joined with Ohio as must-haves for Democrats.

The change is evident outside Washington, where Virginia’s northern suburbs now dominate in state elections, and south around Richmond.

“It’s the difference between the Old Dominion and the New Dominion,” said Mike Henry, campaign manager for Tim Kaine, the former governor and former Democratic Partychairman who is running for the Senate. Pointing to “an influx of Latinos, families, African-American Asians,” Mr. Henry said, “the demographic characteristics of the state are totally different than what they were 10 years ago.”

US official confirms al-Qaida's al-Awlaki killed in Yemen US-born cleric, branded a "global terrorist" by American authorities, killed in air raid, according to Yemen's Defense Ministry. A Yemeni security official said Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, was hit in a Friday morning air raid in the northern al-Jawf province that borders oil giant Saudi Arabia. He said four others killed with him were suspected al-Qaida members. It was not immediately clear if Yemeni forces had carried out the raid or if Awlaki had been killed by a US drone strike. A US drone aircraft targeted but missed Alwaki in May. The Yemen-based alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) usually confirms the deaths of its members or affiliates on Internet posts a few days after the attack. Awlaki had been implicated in a botched attempt

by AQAP to bomb a US-bound plane in 2009 and had contacts with a US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at a US military base the same year. US authorities have branded him a "global terrorist" and last year authorized his capture or killing, but

Sanaa had previously appeared reluctant to act against him. Eloquent in English and Arabic,

Awlaki encouraged attacks on the United States and was seen as a man who could draw in more al-Qaida recruits from Western countries. Yemen has been mired in turmoil after eight months of mass protests demanding an end to Saleh's 33year rule. International powers have feared the unrest has emboldened AQAP. Militants with suspected links to the group have seized towns in a southern coastal province near a strategic shipping lane. One analyst said Awlaki's killing would be more of a boon to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh than a loss for

AQAP, seen as one of al-Qaida's most aggressive and dynamic wings. "For AQAP, these franchises are usually resilient. There are other capable leaders in AQAP who can fill his shoes," said Theodore Karasik, security analyst for the Dubai based INEGMA group. "It's a short step backwards which will likely result in more assertion in the future, for the revenge of his martydom."

However, Awlaki, if his death is confirmed, may not be so easy for AQAP to replace. He may not be a very senior Islamic cleric, nor is he AQAP's leader - that is Nasser al-Wuhayshi -but he ranks as its most gifted English-language propagandist.

Britain's intelligence chief John Sawers singled him out as a major threat with a global appeal in a speech last October. "From his remote base in Yemen, alQaida leader and US national Anwar al-Awlaki broadcasts propaganda and terrorist instruction in fluent English, over the Internet," he said.

Congress freezes aid to Palestinians United States Congress has blocked nearly $200 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority, threatening projects such as food aid, health care, and support for efforts to build a state, The Independent reported Saturday.

The decision to freeze the funds runs counter to the wishes of the Obama administration and reflects Congressional anger at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who defied US wishes by taking his UN membership bid to the Security Council.

According to the British newspa-

per, the freezing of the funds, which were to have been provided in the US fiscal year that ends Saturday, is the most tangible sign yet of the seriousness of Congressional leaders' threats of an even wider halt to funding in the coming year if Abbas continues with his actions at the UN. Republicans at Congress recently demanded to withhold up to $600 million from the Palestinians – the average amount given by the US every year since 2008 – in the next financial year over the PA bid. The US has already announced it will veto any

Security Council resolution recognizing an independent Palestinian state.

The Obama administration argues that assistance to the Palestinians is "an essential part of the US commitment to a secure future and two-state solution for Palestinians".

Former US President Bill Clinton warned legislators last month to leave the issue of aid to the administration, saying: "Everybody knows the US Congress is the most pro-Israel parliamentary body in the world. They don't have to demonstrate that."

Egyptians protest military leadership Goog e News Aug 20 2011 BE J NG — Ch nese po ce a e c amp ng down on he na on s be eague ed d ss den s o en su e v s ng US V ce P es den Joe B den does no mee any ac v s s du ng h s p gh s de ende s sa d Sa u day Po ce have s epped up su ve ance on d ss den s and wa ned hem aga ns mak ng any h gh p o e p o es s o a emp ng o mee B den du ng h s ve day v s hey sa d The Ch nese gove nmen has been pu ng ou a he s ops o n m da e any and a d ss den s human gh s awye s and soc a ac v s s om ak ng any h gh p o e ac ons Phe m K ne sen o esea che o Human R gh s Wa ch o d GN The wo d has gone ou ha hey shou d keep a ve y ow p o e and ha any a emp a

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Seeking to allay concerns a new Putin presidency could mire Russia in economic and political stagnation, Medvedev promised in an interview to bring in new faces if his mentor wins the March 2012 election and makes him prime minister.

His remarks also appeared intended to placate Russians who feel their voices count for little in a political system dominated by Putin and his ruling United Russia party for more than a decade.

"The government must be renewed," Medvedev said in the interview with Russia's three leading television stations due to be broadcast in prime time.

"It will be a pivotal renewal of the government -- a government consisting of new people. I think this is fundamentally important," Medvedev said, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin.

Voters are free to do as they please in a December 4 parliamentary election and the presidential vote, he said.

"The choice is made by the people, and these are not empty words -- that's absolutely the way it is.

"Only people, only our citizens

are able to give the final word by voting for a given person or political force, or rejecting it."

Medvedev said. "That is democracy."

At the weekend Medvedev and Putin revealed their plan to switch roles, with Putin running for a six-year term as president and appointing Medvedev as prime minister in charge of the economy.

The announcement followed years of mixed signals about which of them would run. Putin, 58, was president from 20002008 and helped steer his loyal protege into office when the constitution barred him from a third straight term.

Both leaders said last weekend they had agreed on the plan long ago. This aggravated feelings among many Russians that they were kept in the dark while the country's political future for years to come had been determined behind closed doors.

POPULARITY CONTEST In the interview, Medvedev said that while he and Putin had a pretty good picture long ago of their plans for 2012, they could have altered them if Russians' preferences had changed.

He suggested a primary factor in the decision for him to stay out of the presidential race and let Putin return to the Kremlin was that Putin remained more popular.

"Prime Minister Putin is without a doubt the most authoritative politician in our country today, and his rating is slightly higher," Medvedev said.

A September poll by the independent agency Levada showed Putin's approval rating unchanged from the previous two

GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office on Friday questioned the fairness of a Bahrain court that sentenced an anti-government protester to death and gave lengthy prison sentences to medical staff who treated the injured during the country’s uprising.

Bahrain’s military-run National Safety Court reportedly gave defendants and their lawyers little time to prepare, failed to investigate allegations of torture and conducted some trials in just 10 minutes, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

The court sentenced one protester to death for killing a policeman, and gave 20 doctors and nurses prison sentences ranging from five to 15 years. At least 33 protesters — among them union leaders and professional athletes — also received sentences of three years or more.

“For such harsh sentences to be handed down to civilians in a military court with serious due process irregularities raises severe concerns,” Rupert Colville, told reporters in Geneva.

“We understand — according to our sources that we trust — that defendants have had limited access to lawyers, and in most cases lawyers definitely did not have enough time to prepare their clients’ defense properly.”

The U.N. human rights office called on the government to ensure that those detained were charged with “a recognizable criminal offense.”

Colville said some of the defendants appeared to have been found guilty of nothing more than exercising their right to free speech.

Secretary-General U.N. Ban Ki-moon added his concerns in a statement from New York.

Ban’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, said Friday the U.N. chief is expressing “deep concern” over the harsh sentences and calling for the release of all political detainees. The U.N. chief “reiterates his appeal to the Bahraini authorities at the highest level to ensure the application of due process and respect for international human rights norms,” Nesirky said.

Hundreds of activists have been imprisoned since March when Bahrain’s rulers imposed martial law to deal with protests by the country’s Shiite majority demanding greater rights and freedoms.

The trial of the medical staff has been closely watched by rights groups, which have criticized Bahrain’s use of the special court whose military and civilian judges are appointed by the commander of Bahrain’s defense force.

The World Health Organi-

EU p es dency asks o gan sed by he M no y R gh s G oup he S a e Sec e a y o he M n s y o Fo e gn A a s Zso Néme h sa d ha Hunga y was comm ed o en su ng ha human and m no y gh s shou d p eva as w de y as poss b e Hunga y s comm ed o ensu ng ha hese gh s a e no on y p ac sed n Hunga y and he coun es su ound ng bu n a w de a ea oo – sa d Néme h em nd ng ha he po cy o p omo ng cu u a d ve s y had been a p o y unde he coun y s EU p es dency The S a e Sec e a y emphas zed ha a en on shou d ocus on m no es who we e he mos vu ne ab e – and a gued ha m no y gh s be onged o b oade concep s o bas c human gh s as membe s o m no es shou d be a o ded access o educa on ood and wa e as we as he gh o p ac se he anguage and cu u e o he own peop es A he same me Néme h po n ed ou ha he membe s o m no es shou d unde ake o be ac ve pa c pan s n he own sus a nab e deve opmen Bes des eco nom c ssues con a ned n deve opmen p ans cons de a on shou d a so be g ven o he own ways o e and cu u a he age B sh Ambassado G eg Do ey sa d ha om he pe spec ve o Budapes he p ob ems o poo coun es may appea d s an bu a away ep dem cs am ne and human and d ug smugg ng had an mpac on he EU On y oge he w h c ose coope a on can we ove come hese p ob ems he sa d

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p ov d ng suppo o p og ammes a eady aunched o he Hunga an commun y n he Se b an p ov nce Va daság Vo vod na espec ve o cu en econom c deve opmen s sa d Hunga y s P me M n s e V k o O bán du ng a ks w h he

go a e and c ea e d a ogue w h he Democ a c A ance o Hunga ans n Roman a RMDSZ and w h a e e van po ca ac o s o he Hunga an commun y The c ea on o a new pa y an dea aunched and p omo ed by he Eu o pean Pa amen V ce P es den Lász ó Tőkés was epea ed y c c sed by he RMDSZ ha s now n he u ng coa on The RMDSZ has ns s ed ha he ounda on o a new o gan sa on wou d Hunga y E dé y T ansy van a 3 on y u he sp he Hunga an com mun y Commen ng on he Cou o Appea s dec s on RMDSZ eade Huno Ke emen sa d ha he was a ways o he op n on ha EMNP s eg s a on was a bad n a ve and he e o e cou d no we come he u ng Ke emen s p edecesso as head o RMDSZ and cu en Depu y P me M n s e Bé a Ma kó was mo e exp c n h s esponse say ng ha he EMNP s po ca cyan de o he RMDSZ and he Hunga ans n T ansy van a RMDSZ Kovászna Covasna coun y eade Sándo Tamás sa d howeve ha EMNP s c ea on d d no ove shadow he A ance s ach evemen s and vo ced con dence ha he wo pa es wou d be ab e o wo k oge he o so ve he Hunga an commun y s ma n p ob ems On he o he hand he Hunga an C v c Pa y MPP we comed he h d pa y s o ma on and exp essed w ngness o wo k w h he new pa y

eade o he A ance o Hunga ans n Va daság VMSZ O bán o d s ván Pász o ha p og ammes aunched by he VMSZ – nc ud ng scho a sh p schemes a ne wo k o boa d ng schoo s and a schoo bus se v ce n he eg on – had a eady bo ne u O bán and Pász o d s cussed Se b an po ca ssues and asse ed suppo o Se b a s asp a on o becom ng an EU membe wh ch s bo h n Hunga y s and VMSZ s n e es

zation also questioned the prosecution of the medical staff, but refrained from outright criticism of the Bahrain government.

“Health care workers have a moral and ethical obligation to treat the injured regardless of their political affiliation and they should never be punished for doing what is required by this obligation,” said WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib.

U.N. statements The echoed concerns expressed Thursday by the U.S. State Department.

Spokesman Mark Toner said the United States, which has stationed the Navy’s 5th Fleet in the Gulf nation, was “deeply disturbed” by the sentencing of the medics.

“We understand that the cases can be appealed and transferred to a civilian appellate court,” Toner said.

“We continue to urge the Bahraini government to abide by its commitment to transparent judicial proceedings, including a fair trial, access to attorneys, and verdicts based on credible evidence conducted in full accordance with Bahraini law and Bahrain’s international legal obligations.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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months at 68 percent, a six-year low but a level that would be envied by many Western politicians.

Medvedev's rating was 62 percent.

Putin's popularity, together with the Kremlin's sway over state media and political levers nationwide, mean he is virtually assured of election. The two-term limit means he could serve until 2024.

Over the past year, Medvedev had repeatedly said he might run for re-election and suggested he would be the right person to lead a country in need of economic and political reform.

In the interview, he said he and Putin "are part of one and the same political force" and "hold very close positions ... in essence on all strategic questions of the country's development, and tactical ones, too."

Under the plan revealed last weekend, Medvedev will lead United Russia's candidate list in the December vote, in which it hopes to maintain its cons u ona wo h ds ma o y n he 450 sea S a e Duma he owe house P om nen Russ an ac v s s sa d h s week ha he vo e wou d a sho o democ a c s anda ds and accused he s a e o d sman ng he ns u e o democ a c e ec ons Medvedev who has a mes s sued ve ed c c sm o Un ed Russ a and sa d Russ a shou d move g adua y owa d g ea e po ca p u a sm sugges ed ha v ew was un ounded Any po ca gu e can a n an e ec on as can h s po ca o ce he sa d Nobody s n su ed aga ns any h ng

UN human rights office criticizes Bahrain sentences for protesters, medics

HUNGARY Hunga y has pu o wa d s cand dacy o a non pe manen sea o he Un ed Na ons Secu y Counc o he pe od 2012 2013 n he pas Hunga y has been a non pe ma nen membe o he Secu y Counc on wo occas ons s n 1968 1969 and hen a mos wen y yea s ago n 1992 1993 Du ng Hunga y s as e m wh ch p oved o be pa cu a y n ense and cha eng ng g ven he acu e s ua on n ou mmed a e ne ghbou hood he Ba kans Hunga an d p omacy accumu a ed a cons de ab e amoun o va uab e expe ence n he e ds o con c managemen and con c eso u on Hunga y s geog aph ca pos on s s gn can expe se ga ned n he a eas o democ acy bu d ng and he u e o aw w a so un doub ed y se ve as a good bas s o s e ec ve con bu on o he wo k o he Secu y Counc The e ec ons w be he d n he au umn o 2011 n he Un ed Na ons Gene a Assemb y Ob ec ves pu sued by Hunga y n he Un ed Na ons Reconc a on o he p nc p e o u e o aw and ad ona va ues o so c e es w h d ve se he age P o ec on o he va ues o cu u a and e g ous d ve s y P o ec on o human gh s by mak ng use o Hunga y s membe sh p n he Human R gh s Counc o he Un ed Na ons s expe ence n hos ng he annua Budapes Human R gh s Fo um and he es ab shmen o he Budapes based n e na ona Cen e o he P even on o Genoc de and Mass A oc es v P omo on o gende equa y wh e ma n a n ng he cohes on o soc e es Equa y o b g sma and med um s ze coun es v v Ove a e o m o he Un ed Na ons w h he a m o c ea ng a mo e co he en e ec ve and anspa en g oba o gan sa on v Fu he ng he espec o he gh s o c v ans nc ud ng he p nc p e o p o ec hem om mass v o ence and no ab y om genoc de v P omo on o he cause o d sa mamen e y ng on he cons de ab e Hun ga an expe ence n he e d x Con bu on o con c p even on peacekeep ng and peace suppo op e a ons bo h n ad ona and nnova ve ways such as he o gan sa on o T a n he T a ne s cou ses x Deve opmen coope a on w h p o ound cons de a on g ven o he e qu emen s o sus a nab e deve opmen x Comm men and con bu on o he mp ovemen o hea h educa on and spo s as ac o s o soc a s ab y and secu y x Fos e ng he n e na ona coope a on n dea ng w h he cha enges o c ma e change and he p omo on o g een economy

PAKISTAN

Russia's Medvedev defends Putin swap plan

comp ehens ve med a po cy pu o wa d by he Depa men o he Med a o he M n s y o Cu u e Med a and n o ma on Soc e y spa k ed con ove sy on pa o he Eu opean Comm ss on EC and ndependen med a c c es as we The Eu opean Comm ss on vo ced c c sm ove he p anned med a s a egy w h espec o he pos s b y o nanc ng he med a o Na ona M no y Counc s om he cen a budge because o he po ca na u e and he ab y o n uence ed o a po cy The EC sugges ed a e na ve nanc ng so u ons o he ma n enance o m no y med a Na ona Counc s a e e ec ed po ca consu ng and coo d na ng bod es comp sed o m no y MPs and ac ng as na ona se gov e nmen s o na ona m no es n Se b a con ce n ng he ssues o he educa on cu u e n o ma on and anguage usage Na ona Coun c s a e ves ed w h es ab she gh s n he med a as we Hunga an un ve s y p o esso s and med a p o ess ona s s m a y exp essed conce ns abou he d a s a egy and w o e a e e o he M n s e o Cu u e P ed ag Ma kov ć S gne s o he e e ob ec ed he con nu ng monopo y o Na ona Counc s ove m no y med a and op ed o a p va zed m no y med a The P es den o he Hunga an Na ona Counc Tamás Ko hecz deemed he e e as a v o a on o he co ec ve gh s o Hunga ans n Se b a The M n s y o Cu u e announced ha he ap po n ed wo k ng g oup on he S a egy had se ous y cons de ed a ece ved ema ks and sugges ons a so ak ng n o accoun seve a pub c deba es o gan zed n Se b an c es he pos on o he AP Vo vod na pos ons o a mos a na ona m no es counc s op n on o he n dependen expe o he Eu opean Comm ss on The wo k ng g oup s mean o c ose a wo yea p ocess o o mu a ng a med a s a egy answe ng mpo an ques ons on he u u e o he med a such as s a e owne sh p med a concen a on and he ndependence o pub c b oad cas e s The s d a s a egy was made pub c on 1 June and hen o owed by pub c d scus s ons n Augus he M n s y pu oge he he p oposa o he med a s a egy ak ng n o ac coun a commen ece ved w h n he pub c de ba e The na ex o he d a o he S a egy o he Deve opmen o he Pub c n o ma on Sys em n he Repub c o Se b a un 2016 wh ch s he u e o he Med a S a egy s expec ed o be adop ed by he gove nmen a he end o Sep embe

Collective guilt remains in the Law on Restitution PR The Law on Re u n ng o Dep ved P ope y and n

demn ca on s among o he s a ong awa ed aw ha s mpo an o he op n on o he Eu opean Comm ss on w h ega d o Se b a s p ospec ve EU membe sh p The aw has unde gone many changes ecen y Aga ns an adop ed mod y ng p oposa o he Hunga an A ance n Va daság Vo vod na VMSZ o as week and we comed by s eade s ván Pász o he e e ence o he p nc p e o co ec ve espons b y has once aga n been nse ed n o he b Unde he a es ve s on o he aw na y adop ed by he Se b an Pa amen on h s Monday hose Va daság Vo vod na 5 who we e gh ng w h n he bond o occupy ng o ces du ng Wo d Wa a e au oma ca y u ed ou om he p ocess o e u n ng de p ved p ope y and ndemn ca on Acco d ng o VMSZ MP Lász ó Va ga h s ega p nc p e s anach on s c and was ende ed pa o he pas s nce decades n Eu opean aws and hus he cu en ex o he b s no way ac cep ab e o he VMSZ Two weeks ago he Hunga an M n s e o Fo e gn A a s János Ma ony he d a ks w h Se b a s Depu y P me M n s e o Eu opean n eg a on Bož da De ć n he Se b an cap a A e he a ks De ć vo ced sa s ac on ove Hunga an e o s o he p Se b a s Eu opean Un on membe sh p Ma ony sa d ha b a e a es w h Se b a we e good and we comed Be g ade s ead ness o s a nego a ons w h ep esen a ves o he Hunga an commun y n no he n Se b a abou he p anned es u on aw The e a e no d spu es conce n ng he es u on o asse s be ween he Se b an and Hunga an gove nmen s The e s howeve a ma e o p nc p e among Eu opean va ues name y ha he dea o co ec ve c me o co ec ve espons b y a e un accep ab e n any o m o us o o he Eu opean Un on em nded he Hunga an m n s e The Res u on Law egu a es he cond ons manne and p ocedu e o he e u n ng and ndemn ca on o he p ope y ha was aken om nd v dua s and ce a n ega en es a e 9 Ma ch 1945 on he e o y o he Repub c o Se b a and hen ans e ed o he na ona s a e soc a o coope a ve p ope y on he bas s o ag a an e o m na ona za on seques a on and o he egu a ons

Hungary won't forgo any Hungarian PR Wh e speak ng n C eve and Oh o Hunga

an P es den Pá Schm a med Hunga y s comm men o a Hunga ans whe eve hey ve Schm a ended a ce emony a he Hunga an He age Museum whe e a dozen oca peo p e ook he oa h o Hunga an c zensh p As was dec a ed n he Na ona Avowa o ou new Cons u on we p om se o p ese ve he n e ec ua and sp ua un y o ou na on o n apa n he s o ms o he as cen u y – sa d Schm a a uncheon he oca Hunga an He age So c e y gave n h s honou The P es den no ed ha he s aw Hunga y s new pa amen passed had n oduced a s mp ed p ocedu e o g an ng Hunga an c zensh p o Hunga ans v ng ab oad He encou aged hose p esen o ake advan age o he oppo un y and exp essed hanks o hose who had a eady assumed Hun ga an c zensh p The p es den p esen ed h gh s a e honou s o h ee p om nen ep esen a ves o Ame can Hunga ans n ecogn on o he me s n o gan s ng he commun y and os e ng es w h Hunga y Schm s he s Hunga an p es den o v s C eve and a c y w h 100 000 es den s who dec a ed hemse ves o Hunga an o g n n he a es census The p es den a d a w ea h on he s a ue o p om nen 19 h cen u y Hunga an s a esman La os Kossu h and ano he a he s a ue o Józse M ndszen y on a squa e named a e he ca d na M ndszen y kep s ess ng ha be y s o he u mos mpo ance o Hunga ans and made no comp om se n h s a ea no ed he P es den abou he s a ue C eve and was Schm s on y s op en ou e o he Un ed Na ons Gene a Assemb y n New Yo k C y Fo ow ng he C eve and v s Schm akes pa n con e ences he d unde he ausp ces o he Un ed Na ons and add esses he Gene a Assemb y sess on on F day

ha m a y chap a ns may o c a e any p va e ce e mony whe he on o o a m a y ns a a on p ov ded ha he ce emony s no p o h b ed by app cab e s a e and oca aws a d ec ve ha opens he doo o chap a ns o pe o m same sex ma ages n s a es ha a ow Cu en y ma age censes a e ssued o same sex cou p es n Connec cu owa Massachuse s New Hamp sh e New Yo k Ve mon and he D s c o Co umb a

WFP official US sending special Abbottabad envoy to Pakistan for dis- visits flood hit areas commission of Sindh pute resolution on Haqqani network Islamabad—Deputy Executive Di- visits OBL com(ANI) The United States is sending its Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Marc Grossman, to Islamabad in a bid to resolve the dispute on the Haqqani network.

Grossman will travel to Dhabi, Ankara, Abu Dushanbe, Bishkek, Astana, Kabul, Beijing, Tashkent, Ashgabat, New Delhi, Islamabad, and Doha from September 30 to October 14, 2011.

“The Secretary has spoken to this issue as well every day this week that we continue to believe that job one between the US and Pakistan on the counterterrorism front is to tackle the Haqqani Network,” State Department Victoria spokeswoman Nuland said during a regular press briefing.

“We continue to make outreaches at all levels to our Pakistani counterparts.

Ambassador Grossman will be travelling to the region… He’ll be in Kabul, he’ll be in Islamabad, he’ll be in some of the neighbouring countries, so this is a chance to continue that work,” she added.

When asked whether there was a deadlock between the US and Pakistan on the Haqqani issue, given the differing opinions on both sides, Nuland pointed out that both nations continue to have candid conversations in this regard.

“I think what’s important in this case is that we continue to have very clear and candid conversations among all of the principals with their Pakistani interlocutors. As I said, Ambassador Grossman is on his way to the region to continue those conversations.

So the dialogue continues. We’ve got to find a way to work on this together,” she said.

She also confirmed that during his trip to the region, Grossman also ‘looks forward to talking to both Afghans and Pakistanis’ about Kabul’s concerns about tripartite talks.

According to a recent media report, Afghanistan has decided to cancel the October 8 meeting among senior US, Pakistani and Afghan officials to discuss ways to get the Taliban into peace talks and end the 10-year-old conflict.

“Ambassador Grossman wants to talk about this directly with the Afghans and he will on this trip,” Nuland said.

“Obviously, we believe that this tripartite dialogue – US, Afghanistan, Pakistan – has been useful.

That it has helped us together solve some problems. So obviously, he’ll be talking to folks both in Kabul and in Islamabad about the value of it to see where we go. But we continue to think it’s an important structure,” she added.

Pakistan shows real mettle

N he backd op o d s u b ng s gna s emana ng om Wash ng on he an as c ou come o he A Pa es Con e ence APC he d n s amabad on Thu sday has g ven a emendous boos o he sagg ng mo a e o he na on as s nk ng he n e na d e ences he en e eade sh p o he coun y — bo h po ca and m a y — s ood ke a c osed s o de ve he gh k nd o message o a conce ned The way he eade s ep esen ng a shades o op n on who o he w se have been ndu g ng n ac mon ous deba e eve y now and hen and qua e among hemse ves even ove pe y ma e s c osed he anks and p e sen ed on y one ace o he na on and he ou s de wo d s an ach evemen pa exce ence and cou d ma k beg nn ng o an en e y new e a o na ona p de and d gn y hey demon s a ed he same eve o se ousness s nce y and ma u y o mp emen he 13 po n consen sus documen C ed goes bo h o he Gove n men and he oppos on o h s h s o c deve opmen as P me M n s e Yusu Raza G an d sp ayed h ghes sense o s a esmansh p by me y conven ng he na ona moo a wh ch he easu y s de gene ous y accommoda ed he v ew po n o d e en pa es and he oppos on oo ex end ng uncond ona suppo on c uc a na ona secu y ssues The beau y o he con e ence was ha was ep esen ed by po ca and e g ous pa es ns de and ou s de he pa amen O cou se some po ca pa es o Ba och s an we e consp cuous y absen whe eas p udence demanded hey shou d have a ended he moo and p esen ed he po n o v ew a h s mpo an o um Anyhow he ag eemen on he me cu ous y wo ded eso u on has sen c ea and oud mes sage bo h o he Wes and he Eas ha he Pak s an na on s u y un ed sp ed and mo va ed o de end s e o a n eg y and sove e gn y and o des gns o hose who a e consp ng o weaken he coun y A a me when he Un ed S a es was hu ng absu d a ega ons aga ns na ona secu y ns u ons o he coun y he na on has conveyed an unam b guous message ha s ood so d y beh nd s a med o ces wh ch a e do ng no h ng bu he sac ed ob sa egua d ng na ona n e es s n he ace o a mu ude o odds The eso u on s e ec ve o he ue asp a ons o he peop e who had ns an y e ec ed Ame can ns nua ons and demanded o he Gove nmen o espond n a was be coo bu d gn ed manne n ac cause o he un ve sa condemna on o he US p essu e ac cs by peop e o Pak s an ha

rector (DED) for Operations of World Food Programme (WFP) Ramiro Lopes da Silva on Friday visited flood hit areas of Sindh. In a meeting with the provincial officials, he expressed WFP’s full commitment to augment efforts of the government to provide relief to the flood victims. He said WFP would extend its support to the provincial government through life saving clusters of food and logistics.

Lopes da Silva said,” we are on target to reach of 0.5 million beneficiaries in September and aim to reach 2.2 million in October- WFP aims to assist, within the Provincial Government plans, those most food insecure”. The warehouse facilities will also be utilized by humanitarian partners, he added. He is likely to meet the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs on Sunday to discuss the needs and WFP’s response to the current flood disaster.—APP

48 Indian fishermen held The Ma me KARACH APP Secu y Agency a es ed 48 n d an she men and se zed 8 boa s o sh ng ega y n Pak s an e o a wa e s Acco d ng o MSA spokesman he agency ook ac on aga ns he nd an she men who we e n e oga ed and a e handed ove o he Docks Po ce was he ou h such se zu e by he MSA n Sep embe as a o a 94 she men we e a es ed and 21 boa s we e se zed he added

Wash ng on has a eady s a ed on ng down s he o c and he pos ve ou come o he APC wou d e n o ce he mp ess on ha he na on wou d no mo e accep he man a o do mo e S m a y as app ehens ons we e gh y be ng exp essed by some qua e s ha he Un ed S a es m gh p omp nd a o some so o m s ch e o advance s ne a ous agenda eso u on has a so sen a s ong message aga ns such an even ua y We a e g ad ha pe haps o he s me he eade sh p has demons a ed he nec essa y sagac y o make ecommenda ons ha have he po en a o e de ne pa ame e s o a ea y ndependen o e gn po cy and p o ec ou po ca sove e gn y by way o econom c se e ance The b e and c sp e e ence o he need o n e na econom c and ax e o ms and e sou ce mob za on s key o mos o ou eco nom c and po ca p ob ems and hope u y he Gove nmen and he oppos on wou d o n hands o dev se an e ec ve s a egy o ea ze h s o y ob ec ve S m a y a a me when he Un ed S a es se was despe a e y y ng o make peace o Ta ban he e was abso u e y no us ca on o aunch ng any ope a on n any pa o he coun y and mo e so n No h Waz s an aga ns Haqqan s who have abso u e y no enm y w h Pak s an and we e a so once b ue eyed boys o he US The e o e augu s we ha he na ona eade sh p has concu ed on he need o n a e d a ogue w h n e na o ces dec a ng ha g v ng peace a chance wou d be he gu d ng cen a p nc p e o he po cy We pay comp men s o S Ch e Gene a Ahmad Shu aa Pasha who came u y p epa ed p aced a ca ds on he ab e and p esen ed ac s and gu es be o e he eade sh p o coun e an Pak s an p opaganda A my Ch e Gene a Ash aq Pa vez Kayan a so d d we by pe sona y n e ven ng a d e en po n s o deba e o c a y h ngs and a ay app ehens ons any abou po c es and ab es o he a med o ces o de end co e secu y n e es s o he coun y Some eade s nc ud ng M an Nawaz Sha m an Khan and Mahmood Khan Achakza hough a sed some b e ques ons bu h s s aga n n ne w h he democ a c and p u a s c po y whe e eve yone s w h n h s gh s o a h s v ews and g evances Bu he way a o hem esponded ns an y o he nv a on o he PM hugged one ano he a he con e ence and ac commoda ed each o he s po n o v ew s he ea essence o he moo As mp emen a on s he ea ssue we a e g ad a pa amen a y pa y wou d be ass gned he ask wh ch w p esen a mon h y p og ess epo Th s cou d be beg n n ng o a genu ne evo u on ead ng owa ds he goa o po ca and econom c ndependence o he coun y

A s if Za r da r i ur ge s U S to r e s um e s e r ious dia logue KARACH SANA P es den As Za da has sa d ha he ecen ve ba assau s by a sec on o he Un ed S a es gove nmen has no on y he ped e o s s bu a so a ec ed he wa aga ns e o The p es den n h s ecen a c e pub shed n he Wash ng on Pos by he name o Ta k o no a Pak s an s essed he need o esump on o se ous d a ogue be ween he wo coun es The s a egy o b am ng Pak s an no on y had a damag ng mpac on he e a onsh p be ween he wo coun es a so comp om sed common goa s o de ea ng e o sm ex em sm and a na c sm P es den Za da w o e s me o he he o c o coo and o se ous d a ogue be ween a es o esume The p es den e abo a ng he cha enges aced by he coun y sa d Pak s an s pounded by he avages o g oba y d ven c ma e change w h oods once aga n mak ng m ons o ou c zens home ess we nd ha ns ead o a d a ogue w h ou c oses s a eg c a y we a e spoken o

ns ead o be ng hea d We a e be ng ba e ed by na u e and by ou ends Th s has shocked a na on ha s bea ng he b un o he e o s wh w nd n he eg on And why?

Pak s an s s on many c ca au nes Te o sm s no a s a s c o us Ou geopo ca o ca on o ces us o ook o a u u e whe e he g ea g oba wa s w be ough on he ba e g ound o deas he sa d He a so men oned he sac ces made by Pak s an n he decade o d wa on e o and sa d we have su e ed mo e han 300 su c de bomb a acks by he o ces ha a eged y nd sanc u a y w h n ou bo de s We have hemo haged app ox ma e y $100 b on d ec y n he wa e o and ens o b ons mo e n os o e gn n ves men The wa s be ng ough n A ghan s an and n Pak s an ye Wash ng on has nves ed a mos no h ng on ou s de o he bo de and hund eds o b ons o do a s on he o he s de Za da sa d

A fgha ns giv e Pa k is t a n e v ide nc e in R a bba ni k illing KABUL A ghan s an A ghan s an s n e gence se v ce sa d Sa u day has g ven Pak s an ha d ev dence ha o me A ghan P es den Bu hanudd n Rabban s assass na on was p anned n he sou he n ou sk s o he Pak s an c y o Que a whe e key Ta ban eade s a e based The Ta ban have no c a med espons b y o k ng Rabban who headed he A ghan gove nmen s e o o b oke peace w h he nsu gen s A su c de bombe c a m ng o be a peace em ssa y om he Ta ban k ed Rabban a he o me p es den s home on Sep 20 by de ona ng a bomb h dden n h s u ban Rabban s dea h was a ma o se back o U S backed e o s o b oke peace w h nsu gen s and end he nea y decade ong wa On he s de nes o he U N Gene a Assem b y mee ng n New Yo k as week an A ghan n e gence o c a sa d Rabban s dea h was p o ed o ou mon hs by he A ghan Ta ban s gove n ng counc known as he Que a Shu a named a e he c y n sou he n Pak s an Lu u ah Masha a spokesman o he A ghan n e gence se v ce p ov ded he s de a s abou whe e he assass na on was a eged y p anned a a news con e ence on Sa

u day The p ace whe e P o esso Rabban s k ng was p anned s a own ca ed Sa e e nea Que a Pak s an Masha o d epo e s The key pe son nvo ved n he assass na on o Rabban has been a es ed and he has p o v ded o s o s ong ev dence abou whe e and how was p anned We have g ven a ha ev dence o he Pak s an embassy The A ghan n e gence se v ce has p ov ded Pak s an s embassy n Kabu w h documen s ha nc ude he add ess pho og aphs and a ayou o a house n Sa e e Masha sa d He sa d he Pak s an s a so have been p ov ded w h he names o nd v dua s who d scussed Rabban s assass na on a he house n Sa e e Masha wou d no d sc ose he den y o he pe son n cus ody say ng on y ha he was a second e gu e w h n he Ta ban h e a chy He sa d add ona de a s soon wou d be e eased by a comm ss on se up o nves ga e Rabban s dea h Asked wha A ghan s an expec ed Pak s an o do w h he n o ma on Masha e e ed he ques on o he A ghan Fo e gn M n s y and he comm ss on Th s s a conc e e ev dence ha nobody can gno e he sa d

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ABBOTTABAD, (SANA): The formal commission set up for probing Osama bin Laden (OBL) fiasco headed by Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal visited the alleged compound of Osama bin Laden on Friday, accompanied by army and police officials.

The officials of District Administration and more than a dozen of representatives of Local Media recorded their statements before of the Commission.

The security of the city was tightened including mosques and other secret places on the information of entrance of a suicide attacker into the city.

Commission visited inside and outside the compound in strict security and met with the local people and asked them to record their statements, adding that security would be provided to them.

On the other side security was tightened when law enforcement agencies received information that a suicide attacker has entered into the city. The civil dressed personals were deputed on mosques and secret places.

Police conducted search operation and checked hotels, hostels, guest houses and public transport strictly.

Other commission members including Lt General (retd) Nadeem Ahmed, Ashraf Jahangir Qazi and former IGP Khyber Pakhatunkhwa Abbas Khan also visited the site and minutely examined the compound.

It is worth mentioning here that Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani constituted the commission for investigation into the presence of Osama bin Laden and the US Special Forces operation in the city of Abbottabad to kill the Al-Qaida chief.

India and Pakistan to work on liberal business regime visa TBM nd a and Pak s an have

ag eed o wo k owa ds n oduc ng a be a sed bus ness v sa eg me o mp ove bus ness ave be ween he wo coun es Th s was ag eed be ween he wo coun es a a M n s e a eve mee ng he d be ween he M n s e s o Comme ce o bo h coun es n New De h Makhdoom Mo hammad Am n Fah m M n s e o Comme ce Gove nmen o Pak s an s cu en y ead ng a ade and ndus y de ega on o nd a and s ho d ng a ks w h h s coun e pa Anand Sha ma M n s e o Comme ce & n dus y Gove nmen o nd a The mee ngs a m s o d scuss ways o no ma se ade e a ons be ween he ne ghbou s and nc ease b a e a ade wh ch s cu en y pegged a USD 2 7 b on P A o USD 6 b on n he com ng yea s The M n s e s no ed ha n he pas ew mon hs nd a and Pak s an have cons uc ve y engaged owa ds a b e a zed bus ness v sa eg me They sa d ha hey now expec h s ma e o be exped ous y conc uded be o e Novembe 2011 The new bus ness v sa eg me wou d a ow mu p e en es and cou d be va d o up o a pe od o one yea The M n s e s exp essed hope o such a new v sa eg me o ap d y expand he v s as o b a e a comme ce They empha s sed ha a mo e secu e eg ona en v onmen wou d p og ess ve y he p bo h coun es keep be a s ng he v sa a angemen s o bus nesspe sons Bo h M n s e s a so ag eed ha con ce ed e o s wou d be made n a a eas o c ea e an env onmen con duc ve o ade and u he p omo e g ea e n a eg ona connec v y h ough oad a sh pp ng and a

India and Pakistan to work on liberal business regime visa TBM nd a and Pak s an have

ag eed o wo k owa ds n o duc ng a be a sed bus ness v sa eg me o mp ove bus ness ave be ween he wo coun es Th s was ag eed be ween he wo coun es a a M n s e a eve mee ng he d be ween he M n s e s o Com me ce o bo h coun es n New De h Makhdoom Mohammad Am n Fah m M n s e o Com me ce Gove nmen o Pak s an s cu en y ead ng a ade and ndus y de ega on o nd a and s ho d ng a ks w h h s coun e pa Anand Sha ma M n s e o Comme ce & ndus y Gove nmen o nd a The mee ngs a m s o d scuss ways o no ma se ade e a ons be ween he ne ghbou s ade and nc ease b a e a wh ch s cu en y pegged a USD 2 7 b on P A o USD 6 b on n he com ng yea s The M n s e s no ed ha n he pas ew mon hs nd a and Pak s an have cons uc ve y engaged owa ds a be a zed bus ness v sa eg me They sa d ha hey now expec h s ma e o be exped ous y conc uded be o e Novembe 2011 The new bus ness v sa eg me wou d a ow mu p e en es and cou d be va d o up o a pe od o one yea The M n s e s ex p essed hope o such a new v sa eg me o ap d y expand he v s as o b a e a com me ce They emphas sed ha a mo e secu e eg ona env on men wou d p og ess ve y he p bo h coun es keep be a s ng he v sa a angemen s o bus nesspe sons Bo h M n s e s a so ag eed ha conce ed e o s wou d be made n a a eas o c ea e an env onmen conduc ve o ade and u he p omo e g ea e n a eg ona connec v y h ough oad a sh pp ng and a