Excerpts: Saudi justice:money talks. "Qaddafi defends Somali pirates".Iraq's
'wounds healing' 7 February 2009

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 7 Feb,'09:"Royal decree OKs terms of pardon in murder
cases "
EXCERPTS:RIYADH: ...King Abdullah has, through a royal decree, approved
recommendations regulating the terms of pardon for prisoners on death row
for murder . . .Accepting blood money is an Islamic way of saving a
convicted murderer from execution provided the victim's relatives
agree.Saudi leaders, including the king, often intervene in such cases,
acting as goodwill ambassadors seeking forgiveness from victims' families.
The Shariah is clear in that nobody but the families of victims can save a
person who has been sentenced to death for murder.
The Saudi Press Agency also noted that there is a seven-year -old standing
royal decree limiting to SR500,000 ($125,000) the amount of cash that can
be claimed to offer pardon. . . . There has been a growing fashion of
people demanding sums as high as SR8 million ($2 million) to offer pardons.
The amount, however, never exceeds SR5-SR6 million($1,25- 1.5 million).
Families are also given short deadlines to raise cash.
There are already two reconciliation committees operating in the Makkah and
Riyadh regions. The Makkah committee has looked into 420 cases so far,
securing 104 pardons last year alone.. . . .

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 7 Feb.'09:"Qaddafi defends Somali pirates",Agencies -
QUOTE:Qaddafi: " 'an act of self-defense against "greedy" Western nations'
"
NAIROBI: Libyan leader and new head of the African Union (AU), Muammar
Qaddafi, has defended the actions of Somali pirates as an act of
self-defense against "greedy" Western nations, the Kenyan newspaper Daily
Nation reported yesterday. ... "It is not piracy, it is self-defense. It is
defending the Somali children's food. It is a response to greedy Western
nations, who invade and exploit Somalia's water resources illegally." The
Libyan leader was commenting on piracy in waters off Somalia.
Yesterday, the US Navy gave food, water and fuel to a Ukrainian arms ship
off the coast of Somalia, helping it get ready to leave the area after being
held hostage by pirates for more than four months. The MV Faina, seized
Sept. 25, was freed Thursday(5 Feb) after pirates received an airdropped
ransom of $3.2 million. The pirates then left with the cash, but the ship
remained anchored at sea near the coastal town of Hobyo.
In addition, the US Navy gave all Faina crew members medical attention, said
Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
The navy has watched over the Faina since its capture to make sure the cargo
of 33 tanks and other heavy weapons did not fall into the hands of Somali
insurgents believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda. Faina Capt. Viktor Nikolsky
told The Associated Press via satellite phone yesterday that the ship would
start traveling to Mombasa, Kenya, today. He hoped to reach the port in
three or four days.
=====================================================================
Ukraine's top human rights official, Nina Karpachova, said the Faina crew
has to test the engine to see whether the ship can sail under its own power.
She also said a US Navy ship will accompany it to Mombasa.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday that his country
planned to dispatch a warship to the Gulf of Aden to join an international
coalition against pirates.
"We have decided that this would be an important positive step toward
ensuring security in the region," Babacan told reporters, adding that the
government had asked Parliament to authorize the mission.
The minister explained that a frigate would be sent under UN Security
Council resolutions authorizing countries to take measures to suppress acts
of piracy and armed robbery in the region.
"This will not be an individual mission but rather one in which Turkey will
be part of a naval force including a number of countries," he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last month the Security Council could
explore the possibility of setting up a maritime task force or adding to
current anti-piracy operations "a quick reaction component."

+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 7 Feb,'09:"EDITORIAL:Iraq's election results
show
that the country's wounds are healing"
QUOTE:"the Iraqi people ... are beginning to again see themselves as Iraqi
citizens"
Iraq's provincial election results come as a welcome sign that a spirit of
nationalism is alive and well in the war-battered nation. By voting for the
bloc of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi people who went to the
polls last week rejected the paradigm of ethnic and sectarian identity
politics that was imposed on them by outsiders, and put the interests of the
nation above those of their various tribes and sects. . . .The results of
the provincial vote bode well for the future of the country - and for its
occupiers. For the United States, the election results mean that Obama can
now more easily fulfil his pledge to the American people that the war in
Iraq will not be an open-ended one. The vote showed that Iraq is beginning
to recover from the series of bad decisions made by the previous US
administration and that the country is better equipped for self-governance.
This does not mean that the Americans can wash their hands of the entire
Iraq war. Indeed, it is their duty to use their remaining time in the
country to continue helping the Iraqis build the institutions that will
allow them to maintain their newfound spirit of national unity.
For Iraq, the elections demonstrated that the Iraqi people are no longer
viewing themselves solely as Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians but are
beginning to again see themselves as Iraqi citizens. The challenge now is to
shore up that sentiment through active diplomacy with the involvement of the
United States and all of Iraq's neighbors.
==========================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
C