Diplomats and U.N. staff flee Yemen as Houthis target Aden

Sat, Mar 28 17:31 PM EDT By Sami Aboudi and Mohammed Mukhashaf ADEN (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's navy evacuated dozens of diplomats from Yemen on Saturday and the United Nations pulled out international staff after a third night of Saudi-led air strikes trying to stem advances by Iranian-allied Houthi fighters. Residents reported heavy clashes between the Houthis and mainly Sunni tribal fighters in the south of the country, while the air campaign sought to stall a fresh offensive by the Shi'ite Muslim group on Aden from the east. Riyadh's intervention, a surprise move from a conservative monarchy better known for flexing its muscle in oil markets than through military might, is planned to last a month but could extend for five or six, a Gulf diplomatic source said. He said satellite imagery had shown in January that the Houthis had repositioned long-range Scud missiles in the north, close to the Saudi border and aimed at Saudi territory. A Yemeni official said Iran, which says it has not armed the Houthis, was providing parts for the missiles. Eighty-six foreign diplomats and Saudi nationals were shipped out of Aden to the Red Sea port of Jeddah, a Saudi military officer said, escaping the city where President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had taken refuge until Thursday, when he left for Egypt to shore up Arab support for his crumbling authority. The director general of Yemen's Health Ministry, al-Khadher Laswar, said more than 68 people had been killed and 452 wounded in the city since Wednesday. Explosions at Aden's largest ammunition depot on Saturday killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens, he said. In the capital Sanaa, which has been under Houthi control since September, the United Nations said most of its 100 international staff were evacuated. Airport officials said up to 250 other foreigners working for international oil companies and NGOs also flew out to Ethiopia and Djibouti. Houthi fighters seeking to overthrow the Western- and Saudi-backed Hadi have continued to make gains since the Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against them on Thursday. On Friday, the Houthis and allied army units gained their first foothold on Yemen's Arabian Sea coast by seizing Shaqra, 100 km (60 miles) east of Aden, allowing them to open a new front to march on the south's main city. "IRAN'S PUPPET" Residents said a Houthi convoy of armored vehicles, tanks and military trucks heading along the coastal road to Aden from Shaqra was attacked by warplanes before dawn on Saturday, and a number of vehicles were hit. Residents said the convoy had been stopped, but the Houthis were sending reinforcements before resuming the advance on Aden. Heavy clashes erupted between tribal fighters and Houthi-allied soldiers occupying a military camp and adjacent football field in Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, residents said. They said warplanes from Arab states bombed the field twice. Clashes were also reported in al-Houta, the Lahj provincial capital, north of Aden, where residents were facing water shortages and power cuts. At an Arab summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Hadi urged Yemen's army to protect state institutions and obey the orders of Yemen's "legitimate leadership". He also underlined the regional dimensions of the conflict, calling the Houthis "Iran's puppet". Saudi Arabia's intervention is the latest front in its widening contest with Iran for power in the region. Their proxy struggle is also playing out in Syria, where Tehran backs Bashar al-Assad's government against mainly Sunni rebels, and Iraq, where Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias are playing a major role. Saudi Arabia's King Salman told the summit the operation would continue until Yemen achieved peace and security, while Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, said the Houthi advances "pose a threat to our security". After the summit, Hadi flew with King Salman to Riyadh, rather than trying to return to Aden. Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen said he would remain in an Arab capital until conditions allowed his return. Iran has denied giving the Houthis military support, but Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, added to the sense of confrontation, saying: "Saudi Arabia is too small to be able to threaten Iran" and condemning what he described as a Saudi attack on Yemen. A Gulf diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Arab alliance initially planned a month-long campaign, but it could last up to six months. SCUD MISSILES The source said Yemen's military had about 300 Scuds, the bulk of them believed to be in the hands of the Houthis and allied military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and that the campaign so far had destroyed 21 of them. A spokesman for the Saudi-led operations said the air strikes had destroyed most of the Houthis' ballistic missile capabilities, but gave no details. A Yemeni official in Sharm el-Sheikh said Yemeni authorities had received information that Iranian experts had brought in parts for long-range missiles held at a base south of Sanaa. He said the air strikes had targeted these missiles, some of which had been pointing towards Aden or neighboring countries. In the northern city of Saada, a Houthi stronghold near the Saudi border, witnesses said a power station was knocked out by the air strikes. The local prison director also said more than 400 prisoners escaped when their jail was hit. Yemen, by far the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula, has struggled to regain stability since mass protests in 2011 that eventually unseated Saleh after 33 years in power. Hadi led a U.N.- and Gulf-backed national dialogue that was discussing a new constitution when the Houthis took the capital and pushed him aside. The Gulf official said the aim of the Saudi-led intervention was to restore that process, and that the Houthis could have a role in it. In comments addressed to Arab heads of state meeting in Cairo, Saleh called on the coalition to stop "the aggression and return to the negotiating table", saying Hadi had failed to run the country. "Let's go to dialogue and elections, and I promise you that neither I nor any of my relatives will run for the presidency," he said. "Air strikes against Yemen have no justification except Hadi's failure to manage the state. I hope the brothers will not bet on a losing horse." (Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo, Yara Bayoumy in Sharm el-Sheikh, Angus McDowall in Riyadh, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Amena Bakr in Doha and Sam Wilkin in Dubai; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Raissa Kasolowsky)

State of play: In conversation with Ahmed Rashid

By Our Correspondent / Photo: AYSHA SALEEM Published: March 29, 2015 Journalist Ahmed Rashid in conversation with Habib University’s School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences dean Dr Nauman Naqvi at the varsity on Friday. PHOTO: AYSHA SALEEM/EXPRESS Journalist Ahmed Rashid in conversation with Habib University’s School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences dean Dr Nauman Naqvi at the varsity on Friday. PHOTO: AYSHA SALEEM/EXPRESS KARACHI: If you look up Ahmed Rashid on Wikipedia, the entry describes him as a journalist, a best-selling author and a former Pakistani militant. This is how he was introduced as the first speaker of the Dean’s lecture series at Habib University on Friday evening. The crowd chuckled as many audience members were well-aware of Rashid’s body of work — his books have been republished in several languages, including Pashto, Dari and Hindi. Many of his books, including Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, are on the core reading lists for many international relations and policy courses around the globe. As he came up on stage, Rashid, who has written extensively on foreign policy issues in South and Central Asia, said despite his ‘guerilla’ past he used to be a lecturer at the National Defence University — then a college, where he was eventually banned. According to Rashid, his teachings were not in line with the government’s policy so before he could start his lesson, General Hamid Gul used to give his lecture where he would explain the students what the government wanted them to know. Rashid was the ‘alternative point of view’ on Afghanistan, the Taliban and America. “We are the most friendless nation in the region,” he said. “Except for the Gulf states. If we follow them into Yemen, we will be making a grave mistake.” He added that we were fighting proxy wars, giving sanctuaries to militants and housing those who we should turn in. Giving a brief history of which militant organisations were present in the country, Rashid said that at first there were the Kabul and Kandahar Shura, now it was the Quetta and Peshawar Shura. “The alQaeda has been here since 1985. Several others such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are also based in Pakistan now,” he said. “These foreign groups have extended their leadership and base to Paksitan. They are no longer foreigners. They married local women, bought homes and made investments here.” He explained that the network of these groups had strengthened over time — the locals were recruited to fight, they made a lot of money and marriage made the bonds stronger. “If you are sitting next to an alQaeda militant all day,” he said. “You will become radicalised.” This worsened Pakistan’s ties with Afghanistan. After a while, the Afghan government started giving the Pakistani Taliban shelter (soon after the Swat operation). According to Rashid, this is when both countries and the militants adopted a tit-for-tat policy where the Afghan Taliban were using Pakistani territory to attack Afghanistan and visa versa. Across the border Talking about wars with India, Rashid said that there was 1948 where the army first used jihadi fighters in Kashmir — then in 1965, General Ayub Khan and his men made soldiers dress as jihadis and used them in warfare. What happened in 1971 and Kargil, he added, was no secret to anyone. By the time Kargil happened, he said, both countries had reached the brink of nuclear war — all they had to do was press one switch. According to Rashid, what was interesting was that Pakistan had fought all these wars with jihadis — even the conventional ones. All about policy According to Rashid, there were three turning points in the last three decades — when the USSR invaded Afghanistan, the end of the Cold War and 1992 — when, if the government had amended its policy, things could have been different. “The policy choices we made in the 1990s were much more disastrous than those made by General Ziaul Haq,” he said. “Post 9/11, all our loans were forgiven. We received more than $20 billion in aid and helped launch Hamid Karzai. What did we want? More F-16s.” He added that today, were seem to be on the right path with the Afghans. According to Rashid, there is no country in this region that does not want stability in Afghanistan. He said that peace talks between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban could be beneficial for Pakistan as it will weaken the ones in Pakistan. “We have a lot to be blamed for but its not even close to how the Americans have messed up in Afghanistan,” he said. “We have to be able to stand on our own feet. Unfortunately, we have never learnt to do this.” He added that we needed to say no. “We don’t need allies. We need trading partners.” Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2015

Developer says $500 million revamp of SA courts has been terminated by State Government

Developer says $500 million revamp of SA courts has been terminated by State Government Chief Court Reporter Sean Fewster The Advertiser March 12, 2015 4:44PM Lend Lease says the planned $500 million redevelopment of the courts has been terminated by the State Government. THE State Government has decided to terminate the proposed $500 million redevelopment of the courts precinct, the developer that won the project tender has announced. A Lend Lease spokeswoman today told The Advertiser the much-hyped project, slated to have begun earlier this year for completion by 2017, would not go ahead. “We are aware of the decision by the State Government to terminate the Courts Precinct Renewal Process, which did not reflect on the high quality of our proposal,” she said. “Lend Lease looks forward to working with the Government on future capital projects, including other options for renewal of the Courts Precinct.” In a statement this afternoon, Attorney-General John Rau said the decision on the proposed private/public partnership came down to “value for money”. “The process involved seeking a value for money, PPP solution to the undoubted need for investment in courts infrastructure, including IT,” he said. “The actual build proposed was fit for purpose, however it did not achieve the value for money proposition needed by Government for the project to go ahead. “Further consideration of a courts precinct development and IT provision will now occur in the context of budget deliberations.” The vacant lot behind the Supreme Court building in January. Picture: Roger Wyman Opposition deputy leader Vickie Chapman said the government must now reveal how much it had spent on the “abandoned” proposal. “There was $300,000 spent on a scoping study, and we estimate millions have been spent on expressions of interest and to ensure there were staff overseeing this process,” she said. “The process has now been abandoned — we want to know why, we want to know how much has been spent. “We want the government to issue a timeline for any restart to this process.” Mr Rau, Premier Jay Weatherill and then-Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis announced the project in September 2013, calling it the centrepiece of a “massive” justice system reform. The announcement followed a $300,000 “scoping study” in 2012 to ascertain the need for redevelopment. Judges and lawyers have long called for an upgrade of the facility, which features malfunctioning elevators, limited disability access, cracked walls and crumbling exteriors. One of the State Government’s ideas for how the new courts precinct could have looked. Its IT systems are more than 25 years old and considered to be at “high risk” of failure, with the cost of upgrading them alone estimated at more than $50 million. In March 2014, Mr Rau said contracts would be signed by December of that year, construction would begin in 2014 and the building would be finished by 2017. By January, however, work had yet to begin on the project and, in February, a Parliamentary Committee was told it faced significant delays and would not be completed on schedule. Lend Lease was part of the Activate 408 consortia chosen, by the government, as its “preferred negotiating partner” for the tender. The consortia also included developer and financier Capella Capital, design and project manager Mott MacDonald Australia and engineers Aurecon. Today, top barrister David Edwardson, QC, said the situation was “appalling”. He has previously dubbed SA’s court system “the worst in the nation” due to “chronic” under-resourcing by the government.. One of the State Government’s ideas for how the new courts precinct could have looked. “All the promises in the world turned out to mean nothing,” Mr Edwardson said. “We are in a worse position now than we were when I made those comments because more time has passed, we have fewer judges and even longer trial lists.” He said the outdated state of the courts posed real safety risks. “In a recent trial, several high-security prisoners had to be moved from the dock to the jury box because they could not see a DVD of evidence that was being played,” he said. “Can you imagine that, in 2015? It’s breathtaking.” Ms Chapman said Lend Lease’s announcement would prompt “many questions” in State Parliament next week. She said the redeveloped courts precinct was supposed to be a centralised location for courts, the Attorney-General’s department and prosecutors, as well as an opportunity for private business. One of the State Government’s ideas for how the new courts precinct could have looked. “There are a lot of unhappy parties that have presented, to the government, to be part of this precinct,” she said. “This was to be a major opportunity, a major development, and for it to just be abandoned would be very, very disappointing.” Law Society of SA president President Rocco Perrotta called the revelation “a regrettable development for the justice system”. “The state is in dire need of new courts facilities and it seems we will have to wait significantly longer for our tired, inefficient courts infrastructure to be revamped,” he said. Mr Perrotta said the proposed redevelopment had “somewhat mitigated our grave concerns” about the “chronic underfunding” of the courts. He said that, if it were not going ahead, then IT systems should be overhauled and upgraded “as a matter of urgency”. “This should be an absolute priority — it is inexplicable that well into the 21st century files have to be hand delivered to the court,” he said. “Backlogs in the court are not going away ... the government must confront the problems facing our court system and come up with some solutions.” However, Mr Perrotta said he expected the government would “remain committed to building a new courts precinct”.