Category: Politics

Kenya:My opponents want to scuttle my presidential bid, says Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto has asked his Kalenjin supporters to shield him from his detractors who he said were out to stall his 2022 State House bid as rival political camps campaign in the county ahead of the March-7 Kericho by-election.

The DP said he was very close to clinching the presidency, adding that the unity of the Kalenjin community was intact and indissoluble despite claims by the Kanu brigade that the South Rift would chart its own political path to protest over alleged neglect by the Jubilee government.

Speaking at Sossiot Grounds in Belgut Constituency on Saturday, the DP accused some Kalenjin leaders of working to undercut him by splitting the Rift Valley vote at a time when he had convinced other parties including New Ford Kenya, Ford People and 12 ODM MPs from the coastal region to join Jubilee Party.

“We are very close to having our turn at the State House but some foolish leaders from this region are doing everything to prevent me from taking over from President Kenyatta.

Do not follow people who are out to divide you and stand by Jubilee. The difference between us is as day and night,” said the DP who was campaigning for Aaron Cheruiyot.

As the DP and his campaign team traversed parts of Bureti, Belgut and Sigowet/Soin Constituency, the Kanu brigade split into two camps and covered Kipkelion East, Kipkelion West and Ainamoi constituencies.

Kanu candidate is Paul Sang, a former two-term Bureti MP and Health minister.

ELECTION PROMISES

Mr Ruto also sought to downplay allegations that the Jubilee government had failed to fulfil numerous promises it made to the people of the South Rift, adding that as deputy president, his promises would never go unfulfilled.

“I am the Deputy President and only President Uhuru Kenyatta is above me in this country.

When I make decisions on what needs to be done, it will be done. If I said I will construct a road or a school, that will be done. You only need to be patient,” said the DP.

The DP announced the start of construction of a total of 150km of tarmac road in the county and commissioned a 5,000-litre milk cooler at Sossiot shopping centre.

The official campaign period comes to a close on Saturday, March 4.

The Kanu brigade is hoping to turn the tables on Mr Ruto during the by-election to free the Kipsigis, from the Jubilee government, which they say has done very little to bring development to the South Rift since taking power in March 2013.

But DP Ruto and his JAP brigade have fired back, accusing Kanu chairman Gideon Moi and his supporters of being used by opposition leader Raila Odinga to disintegrate his Kalenjin support base.

KANU EMERGENCE

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen said Kericho would never ditch Jubilee to go back to support Kanu.

The Elgeyo Marakwet Senator said the alleged division in the Rift Valley was a mirage, saying the Kalenjin people were fully behind the Deputy President.

“The stories of the alleged rift in the valley are untrue. Kericho voters will prove that they are united behind the President and the DP. Nothing or no one can destroy that unity,” said Mr Murkomen.

Kanu has received the support of DP Ruto’s former political allies turned nemeses in the Rift valley; Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, Narok Senator Stephen Ntutu and MPs Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills), Oscar Sudi (Kapseret) and Johana Ng’eno (Emurua Dikir).

With time running out fast, the candidates and their supporters have gone out of their way and set up camp in Kericho in a bid to campaign for their respective candidates.

DP Ruto for instance, in what seems to be a first in any by-election and in response to the threat his party faces from Kanu – has spent a cumulative four full days in the campaign trail.

KALENJIN UNITY

However, Governor Ruto dismissed the notion of Kalenjin unity in political matters, adding that it would be wrong for any leader to attempt to use Kalenjin unity for selfish political gains.

“The people of Kalenjin are already united by a common language, history and culture. Where does the political unity come in?

It is the right of the people to determine their own destiny without being herded to go in one direction if that does not favour them all,” he said.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, who joined the DP despite having vowed to focus on clearing his name after being mentioned adversely by former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru in an affidavit which linked him to the Nation Youth Service corruption scandal, supported the DP’s sentiments.

“Ignore the petty politics that is being propagated by his opponents in the Rift Valley. Ruto is the real deal and those who are opposed top his move to State House are doomed to fail,” said Mr Duale.

On the other hand, Mr Sudi, a close ally of DP Ruto, said Kericho people would not blindly support a government which does not develop it, adding that they would use the Senate by-election to pass a message of disapproval.

Other leaders who accompanied DP include Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter, Governor Paul Chepkwony (Kericho) and Cleophas Langat (Nandi), senators Wilfred Lessan (Bomet), Beatrice Elachi (nominated) and youthful senators Isaac Melly (Uasin Gishu), Stephen Sang (Nandi) and former Roads minister Franklin Bett.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso led more than 10 MPs to the function.

February 28, 2016
US, China call for tougher sanctions on North Korea

Beijing, Pyongyang’s ally, teams up with Washington in a rare move to respond to latest nuclear test and rocket launch.

The United States and China have presented a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council for stronger sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test and rocket launch.

Samantha Power, US envoy to the UN, said the draft, which for the first time would subject cargo ships leaving and entering North Korea to mandatory inspections, would significantly increase pressure on Pyongyang.

“It is a major upgrade and there will be, provided it goes forward, pressure on more points, tougher, more comprehensive, more sectors. It’s breaking new ground in a whole host of ways,” Power said, before heading into a closed meeting in which the US planned to circulate the draft to all 15 council members.

The draft is the result of an agreement between the US and China, North Korea’s main ally, whose involvement signals a policy shift with regard to its neighbour. The council is expected to vote on the draft over the weekend.

“We are opposed to any nuclear testing and the launch testing of ballistic missile technology and we hope this resolution will help to prevent further occurrences of this nature,” China’s Ambassador Liu Jieyi said, following the meeting.

However, China did not want to exhort too much pressure because a collapse of the North Korean system could lead to “an expanded South Korea on China’s border with its US allies there as well,” Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from Seoul, said.

“The question is, as always, whether North Korea will get around these sanctions and also the level of enforcement of such sanctions. That has been extremely difficult to pin down on that border between China and North Korea,” he said.

“What is significant though is that we have had reports from the northern side of that border saying that things have changed at least in the short term. North Korean ships not coming into port, Chinese trucks coming back from North Korea empty.”

Troy Stangarone, a senior director for congressional affairs and trade at the Korean Economic Institute, told Al Jazeera that Pyongyang was likely to strike back.

“We should expect North Korea to try to respond with some kind of provocation. Most likely this will be something in terms of cyber warfare or some other area where it is hard to identify North Korea as an actual perpetrator,” he said, speaking from Washington DC.

Draft details

According to Power, the sanctions would prohibit the sale of small arms and other conventional weapons to North Korea, closing a loophole in earlier resolutions.

Power said the sanctions would also limit and in some cases ban exports of coal, iron, gold, titanium and rare earth minerals from North Korea, and would ban countries from supplying aviation fuel, including rocket fuel, to the country.

The resolution also imposes financial sanctions targeting North Korean banks and assets, and bans all dual-use nuclear and missile-related items.

Items such as luxury watches, snowmobiles, recreational water vehicles and lead crystal were also added to a long list of luxury goods that North Korea is not allowed to import.

North Korea started off the new year with what it claims was its first hydrogen bomb test on January 6 and followed that up with the launch of a satellite on a rocket on February 7 that was condemned by much of the world as a test of banned missile technology.

Over the past 20 years, North Korea has conducted four nuclear tests and launched six long-range rockets – all in violation of Security Council resolutions.

February 26, 2016
UN’s Ban Ki-moon decries irregularities in polls

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said the world body stands by findings of international election observer groups, the European Union and Commonwealth, which noted widespread irregularities that marred Uganda’s presidential polls held last Thursday.

A spokesperson for Mr Ban Ki-moon, Stephane Dujarric, released a statement in New York on Tuesday night in which the Secretary General called upon “all political actors and their supporters to resolve any disputes that might arise in an atmosphere of peace, through established legal procedures.”

“The Secretary General takes note of the findings of the international observation teams that stated that the elections were largely peaceful yet identified a number of shortcomings and irregularities. The secretary general echoes these concerns while commending the voters for their participation and commitment to the process,” the statement reads.

Mr Ban called upon the “Ugandan authorities to ensure that all claims and concerns related to the process are handled in a fair, expeditious and transparent manner”.
Uganda is part of the 193-member inter-governmental organisation headed by Mr Ban whose main objectives are to promote international cooperation. President-elect Yoweri Museveni, a principal ally of Western powers on matters of regional security, was last Saturday declared winner with 60.8 per cent poll victory with his main challenger FDC’s Kizza Besigye receiving 35 per cent of the vote.

However, FDC insists Dr Besigye won the election and have since slammed the results declared by the Electoral Commission as a sham.

The European Union and Commonwealth observer groups, in their assessment reports, said the exercise was marked by a blatant lack of a level playing field, voter intimidation, a biased Electoral Commission, incidents of violence and harassment of Opposition politicians.

Similarly, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland separately told journalists on Tuesday that the office is alarmed by the continued “intimidating display” of the police and machinegun-wielding military personnel, and their conduct as has been exhibited in the recent days in the crackdown on Opposition politicians and besieging of FDC party headquarters in Najjanankumbi.

Ms Pouilly put specific emphasis on the repeated arrest of Dr Besigye, who since last week has been arrested and detained at least nine times. She also expressed concern about former prime minister Amama Mbabazi whose movements are restricted.

Kampala Police Metropolitan spokesperson Patrick Onyango has told this newspaper that Dr Besigye is arrested whenever he is bound to cause trouble. “He says he wants to go to EC but his intentions are very different.” Mr Onyango said.

He, however, did not provide any proof of the police’s claims. As a signatory to various international human rights instruments, the UN advised Uganda to stick to its obligation “not to unduly restrict freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”

Meanwhile, Botwsana president Ian Seretse Khama’s government has also tendered a note to the Ugandan authorities affirming the findings by international observers, citing last Thursday’s polls as having fallen “short of democratic principles.”

“The government of Botswana remains deeply concerned that such conduct during an election would have deeply undermined the norms of best practice governing democratic elections, as well as, the continent’s efforts towards consolidation of democracy.”

The note issued through the country’s ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, however, urged “all concerned parties to address the election disputes for the peace and stability of their nation.”

Botswana’s Consul in Kampala Maria Odido DiFonzo told this newspaper that, notwithstanding this, what they want to see “is all parties reach dialogue.”

February 25, 2016
Why Trump might win

After a crushing victory in Nevada, Trump’s momentum may sweep away main challengers as Super Tuesday approaches.

There was a lot to amuse when Donald Trump launched his presidential bid. He arrived by slow-moving escalator. His staff allegedly paid people to attend. He spoke without notes and, after what seemed liked a very long time, he summed up with: “In short we are going to do a lot of things very quickly”.

His campaign stops attracted a lot of people. In California in September, I spoke to many who had come to see the man they only knew from the US reality show The Apprentice. Others thought they would vote for someone else, but they wanted to hear what he had to say.

He was the butt of jokes by late-night comedians on US television. Other candidates, with perhaps the exception of Jeb Bush, refused to attack him; worried about drawing his wrath and hoping to secure his support when he dropped out.

The Republican Party establishment thought his campaign would implode. Especially after he insulted Mexicans, war veterans, the disabled‎, women and Muslims. His grand vision seemed short of detail, and that was exposed in the debates. Yet Trump kept getting stronger. His poll numbers haven’t dipped through all the controversies.

Visceral anger

Donald Trump has tapped into a visceral anger in America. People are tired of being taken for granted, of being promised change and never seeing it, of politicians ‎who are so wrapped up in a partisan system and decide policy on what is best for the party, not the people.

And in a rough, unpolished tough guy way, he spoke to that. And he never apologised, never backed down.

The Republican establishment took some pleasure when Trump came second in Iowa. But Ted Cruz had been organising there for more than a year, had spent heavily on research to turn out the vote, and it worked.

Trump’s confidence grows after Nevada caucus win
In New Hampshire, Trump was back on top. With Ted Cruz regarded as another dangerous outsider, the establishment needed a candidate to challenge Trump. Jeb Bush was not doing well enough, John Kasich did not have the organisation, so Marco Rubio seemed most likely. But he stumbled in the northeast.

He recovered in South Carolina, forcing Bush out of the race. And in the days since has picked up money and endorsements. He is now the chosen one, the anti-Trump candidate.

Yet the electoral maths do not stack up for the others.

Trump is getting stronger with each passing contest. A Republican needs 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination. Trump currently has 79. Cruz has 15, Rubio 14. Each primary and caucus allocates delegates.

Until now it’s been done by proportional representation. There are winner-takes-all states coming up and Trump leads in most of them.

Republican establishment

Cruz could drop out. Many in the Republican establishment would like that. It would essentially make it a two horse race. He won’t. At least not ‎until his home state of Texas votes. The first-term senator had a big lead there. But Trump is closing fast.

Even if Rubio emerged as the sole candidate to challenge, there’s no place at the moment where he can obviously win. Not even the senator’s home state of Florida is a given. He is behind Trump in the polls‎. And he cannot keep claiming second places as significant victories.

Twenty-four states hold their nominating contests between now and the middle of March. Trump cannot win the nomination by then – but he could build up such a lead that it would be an almost impossible task to catch him.

And the longer the field remain divided, Trump’s chances just look better and better.

February 25, 2016
Sisi tells Egyptians: Don’t listen to anyone but me

Egypt’s president says he will “remove from the face of the Earth” anyone plotting to bring down the state.

Egypt’s president has said that unfair criticism of the government is contributing to attempts to bring down the state, telling Egyptians not to listen to anyone but him.

On Wednesday, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi did not go into specifics in an address broadcast live, saying only that he would “remove from the face of the Earth” anyone plotting to bring down the state.

Sisi’s government has faced a wave of criticism in recent weeks over alleged police brutality and other rights abuses, as well as its handling of the economy.

The recently elected parliament, a 596-seat chamber, has been widely dismissed by critics as a rubber-stamp legislature.

The ‘remedy’

Sisi said he knows the “remedy” for Egypt’s problems.

“Please, don’t listen to anyone but me. I am dead serious,” he said in a loud, angry voice. “Be careful, no one should abuse my patience and good manners to bring down the state.

“I swear by God that anyone who comes near it, I will remove him from the face of the Earth. I am telling you this as the whole of Egypt is listening. What do you think you’re doing? Who are you?”

As military chief, Sisi led the July 2013 overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, whose divisive rule ignited mass protests.

Sisi was elected president a year later, winning the vote with a landslide.

But critics say he has done little to distinguish his rule from that of the Morsi, particularly regarding freedom of expression.

One of Egypt’s most prominent columnists, Ibrahim Eissa, on Sunday accused Sisi of presiding over a “theocracy” after Ahmed Naji, an author, was jailed for two years over the publication of a sexually explicit passage from one of his novels.

Police brutality

Rights groups have meanwhile compared his rule to that of former President Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled by a 2011 popular uprising driven in large part by anger at police brutality.

The government has jailed thousands of people it says support the Muslim Brotherhood, a now outlawed group in the country, since 2013 along with scores of secular activists, including leaders of the 2011 uprising.

Rights activists have documented the return of arbitrary arrests, torture and disappearances.

Sisi said it is “still very early for open democratic practices, like criticising and pushing (officials) out of office.”

“I am not saying that there is no democracy. By God, no I am not, but be careful. We are practicing it under difficult circumstances, so let us safeguard Egypt,” he said.

Sisi devoted much of his 120-minute speech, by far his longest since coming to office in June 2014, to the threats Egypt faces and his efforts to spare it from the violence convulsing much of the region.

“What has been achieved in the last year and half was not achieved in 20 years before then,” he said, referring to a series of infrastructure projects, including an expansion of the Suez Canal.

Sinai plane crash

He also suggested for the first time that militants were behind the downing of a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Sinai on October 31, killing all 224 people on board.

The crash dealt a major blow to Egypt’s vital tourism sector and raised troubling questions about the state of its airports’ security.

The Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for the crash, and Russia announced in November that a bomb brought down the aircraft shortly after takeoff from a popular Red Sea resort.

Egyptian officials, however, have maintained that they must wait for the findings of an international probe before they can say what caused the crash.

“Those who downed the aircraft, what did they hope to achieve? Just to hit tourism?” Sisi said. “No, they also wanted to strike at our relations with Russia … and, if they could, with the whole world, so we are left alone and isolated.”

Egypt has been battling an ISIL-led insurgency in the Sinai that grew increasingly assertive after Morsi’s overthrow, and which has carried out attacks across the country.

On Wednesday, Sisi acknowledged – also for the first time – that security forces had committed “excesses” in Sinai, saying it was difficult to combat terror while safeguarding people’s rights.

“Am I happy about it? No,” he said.

February 25, 2016
Kenya:Lawyers vote for new leaders in LSK elections

The much-awaited Law Society of Kenya’s elections have started.

The polls had faced uncertainty after a junior advocate, Mr Frank Ochieng Walukwe, moved to the High Court to stop the exercise because he had been locked out.

Both Mr Walukwe and LSK, however, got a reprieve when Justice Weldon Korir ruled that he should be included in the ballot.

The judge faulted the lawyers’ umbrella body for violating his rights.

“This candidate was treated unfairly and this case is not about one’s popularity but a violation of rights, Mr Walukwe is qualified to contest as council member therefore the decision to disqualify him is hereby quashed,” Justice Korir ruled.

The elections are being presided over by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and an estimated 7,154 lawyers are expected to participate in the voting.

COVETED SEAT

The coveted seat of LSK president is being contested by Nairobi lawyer Allen Gichuhi and two Kisumu-based lawyers, Isaac Okero and Aggrey Mwamu among others, who are looking to replace the outgoing chairman Eric Mutua.

Other contested seats include those of the vice-president, governing council, disciplinary tribunal, council of the Nairobi branch and a female representative to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Mr Mwamu is a former president of the East Africa Law Society, from 2012 to 2014, and he is said to be banking on his legacy to win the top seat.

Besides the president’s seat, the female representative to the JSC position has attracted stiff competition because she will have a say in determining the successor of Chief Justice Willy Mutunga after he retires in June.

The contenders are Ms Jane Abuodha, Ms Mercy Deche, Ms Marykaren Kigen-Sorobit, Ms Florence Mwangangi and Ms Jane Njeri Njoki Onyango.

The deputy president seat has attracted two candidates namely Ms Jennifer Shamalla and Ms Faith Waigwa.

The winner qualifies for the governing council, which also consists of the president and 10 other members.

Eighteen contestants will battle it out for the other slots.

At least one member of the council must ordinarily be practising in Mombasa while at least two other members must not practice in Nairobi or Mombasa.

The voting is taking place in 25 polling centres based at the High Court or Law Courts in Mombasa, Malindi, Machakos, Kisumu, Milimani and Supreme Courts in Nairobi, Nakuru and Kericho.

The voting centres include Bungoma, Kakamega, Kitale, Kisii, Eldoret, Meru, Nyeri, Busia, Embu, Migori, Kitui, Mumias, Nyahururu, Murang’a, Thika, Homa Bay and Kerugoya.

The votes will then be tallied at LSK’s secretariat offices in Lavington, Nairobi.

Source:Daily Nation:Lawyers vote for new leaders in LSK elections

February 25, 2016
Tanzania:Zanzibar vows to maintain national unity government

The Minister of the State in Second Vice-President Office, Mr Mohamed Aboud, has said that despite threats from the main opposition party to boycott the upcoming elections, people should not worry about the future of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

“GNU is for the people, and they are free to decide its future. Therefore, the absence of the main opposition party will not affect the system because there are other political parties which can replace it,” Mr Aboud said.

His comments were in response to views by some people that GNU faces imminent collapse after March 20, the date set for the election re-run following threat to boycott the polls by the Civic United Front (CUF).

CUF leaders, led by its candidate Mr Seif Sharif Hamad, have all along insisted that they have decided to boycott the fresh elections because it is against the Zanzibar Constitution.

“Real elections were held on October 25, 2015 in which CUF won both the presidency and majority seats in the House,” said Mr Hamad. However, Mr Aboud, on behalf of the government and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC), stated that preparations for the fresh elections were in top gear and that voters in the Isles should prepare for peaceful elections.

ZEC Chairman Mr Jecha Salim Jecha nullified the general elections in Zanzibar last October, saying it was tainted by fraud, prompting him to call for fresh polls next month.

Mr Jecha said that all the candidates from 14 political parties, who took part in the nullified polls, qualify for the fresh polls. Meanwhile, CUF’s Deputy Secretary General, Mr Nassor Ahmed Mazrui, has dismissed as baseless reports in the social media that Mr Hamad, currently in India for health checks, has undergone major surgery.

“The widely circulated reports are mere rumours from CUF enemies. Mr Hamad is still in India and may pass through other countries before returning home,” Mr Mazrui said, adding that the opposition leader’s medical plan requires him to travel to India for a further check-up every six months.

There are other reports that Mr Hamad has already left India and was now in Oman.

Source:Daily News:Zanzibar vows to maintain national unity government

February 25, 2016
Palestinian anti-corruption chief claws back $70m

Anti-corruption chief tells Reuters news agency millions of dollars still missing abroad due to shady business deals.

The head of the Palestinian anti-corruption body said he has clawed back $70m in five years from officials who used state money to strike business deals abroad and then pocketed the profits.

But Rafiq al-Natsheh, chairman of the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission, told the Reuters news agency in an interview late on Tuesday that “tens of millions of dollars” still needed to be tracked down.

One of the biggest challenges for his team, he said, was finding money that had disappeared abroad.

Natsheh said his investigators had failed to uncover evidence to justify allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds had gone missing.

After years of talk of vast sums going astray, the attorney general of the Palestinian Authority announced in February 2006 that he was investigating 50 cases of embezzlement from the authority’s budget totalling $700m.

President Mahmoud Abbas is under pressure from donors to show he is taking action.

The European Union and the United States, both of which give direct budget support to the Palestinians, want to see tighter controls, with the Europeans going as far as to send investigators to track where some of their money has gone.

Over the last five years, direct support to the Palestinian budget from the EU and others has fallen from around $1.3bn a year to less than $700m, with the decline attributed in large part to frustration over money not being spent where it was intended, or not being fully accounted for.

Natsheh was given sweeping powers to investigate misappropriation of funds, embezzlement, bribery, nepotism and any other corrupt practices.

‘Stressful, difficult’

The $70m recouped for the Palestinian Authority came from a series of successes against senior officials, including three ministers and a director general of the finance ministry, he said.

“We got $40m back from Egypt and $20m from Iraq,” he said, describing deals in which Palestinian officials used state funds to do business abroad and pocketed the proceeds, rather than transferring them to the PA budget.

He mentioned a conviction handed down by the corruption court against an adviser to former president Yasser Arafat, but the $34m missing has not yet been recovered.

The same goes for a case involving $1m, and the former ambassador to Abu Dhabi was convicted of embezzling more than $2m.

“The biggest challenge we face is to get the money back,” he said. “There are many millions outside Palestine, so it depends on foreign countries for us to get the money back.”

Asked how much money was still outstanding, he talked of “tens of millions” of dollars, but wouldn’t go into more detail.

“It’s very stressful work, it’s difficult,” he said.

Source: Reuters:Palestinian anti-corruption chief claws back $70m

February 24, 2016
Saudi and UAE ban citizens from travelling to Lebanon

Bahrain also joins travel ban after Saudi halted $4bn aid to Lebanon army in response to “hostile” Hezbollah positions.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there.

The move on Tuesday came after Riyadh halted $4bn in aid to Lebanese security forces in response to “hostile” positions linked to Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.

The Saudi foreign ministry issued a statement calling on “all citizens not to travel to Lebanon, for their safety, and asking citizens residing in Lebanon or visiting not to stay unless extremely necessary”.

The statement, run by the official SPA news agency, urged citizens to contact the Saudi Embassy in Beirut.

Announcing the aid halt on Friday, an official said the kingdom had noticed “hostile Lebanese positions resulting from the stranglehold of Hezbollah on the state”.

The UAE also banned its citizens from travelling to Lebanon and reduced its diplomatic presence in Beirut.

Bahrain also urged citizens against travelling to Lebanon, and called on Bahrainis there already to leave quickly, according to a statement posted to state news.

On Friday, the United Arab Emirates announced “full support” of Saudi’s review of its relations with Lebanon, blaming the country’s “failure to condemn Iran’s aggression” after Saudi Arabia’s embassy was attacked in Tehran in January.

The embassy attack followed the execution of a renowned Shia leader in Saudi Arabia over “terrorism” charges.

“The UAE fully supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s decision to halt its aid to the Lebanese army and security forces,” said the UAE’s foreign ministry statement, posted on state media on Tuesday.

“At the same time [the UAE] calls upon Lebanon and its people to restore Lebanon to the Arab Nation where it belongs, away from the Iranian influences adopted by the so-called Hezbollah,” the UAE statement added.

On Monday, Lebanon tried to repair relations and vowed to support Arab countries and maintain its Arab identity.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that Lebanon should maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia and that Arab countries must garner a unified response to all obstacles that they face.

“Lebanon will not forget Saudi Arabia’s role … in helping it rebuild the country after the [1975-1990] civil war,” Salam said after a cabinet session.

Former prime minister Saad Hariri also expressed loyalty to the kingdom.

Lebanon’s main political divide pits a Sunni-led coalition against another led by the Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah movement.

Lebanon has seen a series of armed attacks in recent years linked to the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Source: Al Jazeera:Saudi and UAE ban citizens from travelling to Lebanon

February 24, 2016
Trump projected to win Nevada Republican caucuses

Republican frontrunner wins a third straight victory in the Nevada primary, as Rubio comes in second, US media reports.

Donald Trump has won a third straight primary victory in the Nevada caucuses, according to US media, cementing a lead that could soon be insurmountable in the Republican presidential race.

Early results on Wednesday showed Trump, who had been expected to win by a large margin, leading the pack of candidates with about 44 percent of the vote.

Marco Rubio was projected by Fox News to come in second with about 30 percent, edging out Ted Cruz who received 16 percent in the Nevada primary, according to early results.

Both men, however, were far ahead of John Kasich and Ben Carson, Fox News projected.

The Nevada win is the third in a row for Trump in the state-by-state nominating contest for the November presidential election.

A billionaire businessman and political outsider, Trump’s brash, anti-government talk appealed to Nevada residents, political strategists said before the Tuesday evening caucus.

“If you listen to the pundits, we weren’t expected to win too much, and now we’re winning, winning, winning the country,” Trump said at a victory rally in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Basking in his victory, Trump vowed he would keep open the military detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if elected.

“We’re going to load it up with a lot of bad dudes out there,” he said, a day after President Barack Obama presented his latest plan to close the facility.

Trump also drew loud cheers for his vow to build a wall along the southern border and his instance that Mexico will pay for it.

Trump offered shout-outs from the stage to several of his billionaire friends, including Phil Ruffin, who owns the Treasure Island, and casino developer Steve Wynn.

“Now we’re going to get greedy for the United States,” he said.

Cruz and Rubio had both set their sights on a strong second-place finish there in the hopes that a win over the other would provide important momentum ahead of the 12 nominating contests on March 1, known as Super Tuesday.

Source: Al Jazeera:Trump projected to win Nevada Republican caucuses

February 24, 2016