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Saturday, January 24, 2015
Excerpts: Efforts continue re Syria conflict resolution. Impartiality of International Criminal Court January 24, 2015

Excerpts: Efforts continue re Syria conflict resolution. Impartiality of
International Criminal Court January 24, 2015

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 24 Jan.’15:”Syria opposition demands ‘radical
change’, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Efforts continue re Syria conflict resolution
FULL TEXT:Syria’s opposition factions called Saturday[24 Jan.] for “radical
democratic change” in the war-torn country ahead of April talks aimed at
unifying their plan for a political solution to the conflict. In a two-day
conference held in Cairo, the regime-tolerated opposition met with members
of the exiled National Coalition and agreed on a 10-point vision, as well as
announcing fresh talks slated for April.

The groups agreed that “any negotiation process should lead to... a
democratic regime and a sovereign civil state,” according to a joint
statement. They added that any political solution to Syria’s four-year civil
war “must guarantee a radical democratic change that criminalizes violence
and sectarianism.”

The National Coalition was informally represented in Cairo by several
members, including Ahmed Jarba, a former coalition chief who is close to
Saudi Arabia.

A Coalition source had earlier said its members were not attending the Cairo
meet in an official capacity.

The next opposition general conference “aims at agreeing on a unified
political vision and to unify the opposition’s efforts,” said Saleh
al-Nebwani, member of the regime-tolerated domestic National Coordination
Committee for Democratic Change.

The Coalition and top opposition figure Moaz al-Khatib previously announced
they will not attend talks with the Syrian regime in Moscow this month aimed
at finding a political solution to the war that has killed more than 200,000
people so far.

But the internal opposition said on Saturday [24 Jan.]that some invited
members were expected to attend the meeting.

Fayez Sarah from the National Coalition said the Cairo meeting did not
discuss the Moscow talks “because a decision was already taken” on this
issue.

Moscow’s effort to host the peace talks comes after two U.N.-brokered
meetings in Geneva last year between regime and opposition representatives
failed to produce results.

Russia is the most powerful backer of the government of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad.


+++SOURCE:Saudi Gazette 224 Jan,’15:”The Rights of Palestinians”.Dr.Noorul
Hasan,India

SUBJECT : Impartiality of International Criminal Court

FULL TEXT:The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou
Bensouda has said that she would conduct a preliminary examination into war
crimes with “full independence and impartiality.” The probe will include
the allegations of war crimes by Israel during last summer’s Gaza attacks in
which more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilian women and children were
killed.

Israel’s settlement construction on occupied Palestinian lands will also be
examined. ICC’s move is praised and welcomed by world leaders, Amnesty
International and many other organizations but America and Israel oppose it,
calling it a “tragic irony”.

America called the action “counterproductive”, arguing that it would only
push the two sides further apart. America called it an escalatory step too.
America wants to resolve the conflict through negotiation, although past
US-brokered negotiations were fruitless. US spokesman Jeff Rathke has said
in a statement that “the place to resolve the differences between the
parties is through direct negotiation, not unilateral actions by either
side.”

The Palestinians right to join the ICC has also been challenged. The United
States has said — in challenging the Palestine’s eligibility to join the
ICC — that Palestine is not a state and therefore not eligible to join it.
But Nabil Abuznaid, head of the Palestinian delegation in The Hague, has
said that “it is a legal matter and we have faith in the court system.”

The Palestinians have the right to join the court since November 2012, when
they became a “non-member observer state” of the UN General Assembly.
Therefore, its elegibility to join the ICC cannot be challenged. America and
Israel should not oppose ICC’s move for it will not only examine Israeli war
crimes but also the war crimes committed by Hamas. If America is impartial
and a proponent of peace and justice, it must not oppose the ICC’s move.

Dr. Noorul Hasan, India
==============
Sue Lerner -Associate, IMRA

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