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Sunday 25 December 2005


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Middle East

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 38 for 2-8 September 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Key Humanitarian Developments in Iraq

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he "accepts full responsibility for his own failures" and "regretted his lack of diligence" in pursuing investigations of alleged misdeeds in the Oil-for–Food programme in Iraq, a UN statement said.

The final report by an independent panel was delivered to the UN Security Council on Wednesday. The former director of the programme in Iraq, Benon Sevan, has been accused of taking kickbacks, amounting to nearly US $150,000 in cash.

Annan lifted Sevan's UN immunity at the panel's request. In addition, former UN procurement officer, Alexander Yakovlev, pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from UN contractors. He was accused of taking nearly US $1 million in bribes.

Joseph Stephanides, accused of steering a lucrative contract to a British firm, was the first UN employee sacked over the scandal in June.

In other news, Saddam Hussein has confessed to committing crimes during his rule, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said earlier this week, the international media reported. "Saddam deserves a death sentence 20 times a day because he tried to assassinate me 20 times," Talabani said.

Hussein faces charges of crimes against humanity and his trial will start on 19 October, the Iraqi government said. He could face the death sentence if found guilty.

In addition, a new legal team has been appointed to defend the ousted Iraqi leader, his daughter said on Saturday.

Some 1,500 legal experts were hired initially, but later sacked because they had offered conflicting advice, Raghad Hussein said. The new team will include prominent international lawyers, she added. However no further details were given. Meanwhile, aid has been delivered to Iraq for victims of the stampede, in which more than 1,000 people were killed.

The accident happened on a bridge in northern Baghdad on 31 August, following rumours of a suicide bomb attack targeting pilgrims visiting a mosque in the area.

The Kuwait Red Crescent Society on Friday delivered an equipped ambulance, a truck for transporting aid and 500 first aid kits.

The UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) said it had delivered large quantities of medicines and relief supplies to hospitals and had established an emergency room.

Emergency health kits, containing essential life-saving supplies, were delivered to Baghdad by the World Health Organization, along with oxygen cylinders and emergency medicine for the injured. Other international aid organisations are also providing assistance.

CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Sunnis donate blood for Shi’ite stampede victims
IRAQ: Rights groups condemn executions
EGYPT: Mubarak wins presidential election
EGYPT: ‘Irregularities reported’ during election
EGYPT: Civil society banned from observing elections
EGYPT: Vote against the president say rights groups
EGYPT: Interview with Secretary General of the National Council for Human Rights
JORDAN-SYRIA: Iraqis in Syria and Jordan divided over constitution
SYRIA: Focus on freedom of speech through the internet
SYRIA: Photos give freedom of expression to marginalised women
YEMEN: Leprosy still a major health problem , experts say
YEMEN: Greater efforts needed to reach UN goals
YEMEN: Heavy rains heighten threat of locust infestation

IRAQ: Sunnis donate blood for Shi’ite stampede victims

Sunni religious leaders have called on their followers to donate blood for Shi’ite victims of the tragic stampede in Baghdad last week. The call was made in good faith, following a reported shortage of supplies.

Full report

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IRAQ: Rights groups condemn executions

Human rights organisations have condemned the execution of three men, convicted of murder in Iraq, saying that it was a brutal decision.

Full report

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EGYPT: Mubarak wins presidential election

Hosni Mubarak has won 88.6 percent of votes cast in Egypt’s first contested presidential polls, the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) announced on Friday. Mubarak has been in power for 24 years. The result of Wednesday’s elections gives him another six-year term as president of Egypt

Full report

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EGYPT: ‘Irregularities reported’ during election

Egypt witnessed its first ever contested presidential elections on Wednesday, with more than 32 million eligible voters choosing a leader from 10 candidates.

Full report

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EGYPT: Civil society banned from observing elections

The Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) overruled an administrative court sentence passed on Saturday allowing civil society groups in Egypt to observe presidential elections from inside polling booths.

Full report

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EGYPT: Vote against the president say rights groups

Egyptians should boycott the coming presidential elections or vote for one of the opposition candidates, a group of local human rights organisations said on Saturday.

Full report

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EGYPT: Interview with Secretary General of the National Council for Human Rights

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), along with many other civil society institutions, is hoping to ensure that Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential elections in 24 years and set for 7 September will be free and fair.

Full report

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JORDAN-SYRIA: Iraqis in Syria and Jordan divided over constitution

The debate over the newly completed draft constitution among Iraqis in Jordan and Syria, both hosting large communities of Iraqi expatriates, reflects the existing rifts among the country's divided religious and ethnic groups.

Full report

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SYRIA: Focus on freedom of speech through the internet

Writing individual websites – or blogging as it is better known – is helping young Syrians re-engage with politics, users say, with dozens of web logs or “blogs” coming on line in the last year, promoting freedom of speech.

Full report

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SYRIA: Photos give freedom of expression to marginalised women

Azah's photographs are joyous shots of church weddings in Syria, full of movement and colour. They represent this 20-year-old Christian's dream – a dream that was shattered when she fell in love with a Muslim man.

Full report

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YEMEN: Leprosy still a major health problem, experts say

Leprosy is not getting the attention it deserves from the Yemeni government, even as international organisations recommend sustaining national programmes to confront the disease, experts said. A three day meeting of national leprosy control coordinators from the Middle East and South Asia region that started on Tuesday in the capital, Sana, called for the elimination of the disease, especially among poverty stricken groups.

Full report

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YEMEN: Greater efforts needed to reach UN goals

A special media campaign to impress the importance of Yemen attaining the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was held in the capital, Sana, on Sunday.

Full report

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YEMEN: Heavy rains heighten threat of locust infestation

Agricultural experts are concerned at the potential for a locust infestation in Yemen, following heavy rains and flash floods over the past two weeks.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Children

Other recent MIDDLE EAST reports:

Appeal to Arab world to give more to world’s poorest, 16/Dec/05

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 52 for 11–15 December 2005, 15/Dec/05

“Invisible” children suffering from neglect, says UNICEF, 15/Dec/05

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 51 for 4 – 8 December 2005, 11/Dec/05

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 50 for 25 November – 1 December, 2/Dec/05

Other recent Children reports:

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 309 covering 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

SIERRA LEONE: With no prospects, youths are turning to crime and violence, 22/Dec/05

SENEGAL: Everyman’s library, 21/Dec/05

LIBERIA: UN renews ban on arms, diamonds and timber, 21/Dec/05

NIGERIA: Eight children die in attack on oil pipeline, 21/Dec/05

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