EDITORIAL : THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD, NEW ZEALAND

Bin Laden raid sparks rare criticism in Pakistan

Outraged Pakistanis stepped up calls for top government officials to resign following the daring American helicopter raid that killed Osama bin Laden and embarrassed the nation.

Some of the sharpest language was directed at the army and intelligence chiefs, a rare challenge to arguably the two most powerful men in the country, who are more accustomed to being feared than publicly criticised.

The Pakistani army has said it had no idea bin Laden was hiding for up to six years in Abbottabad, an army town only two and a half hours' drive from the capital, Islamabad. That claim has met with scepticism from US officials, who have repeatedly criticised Pakistan for failing to crack down on Islamist militants.

But with anti-American sentiment already high in the South Asian nation, many Pakistani citizens were more incensed by the fact that the country's military was powerless to stop the American raid.

Some lawmakers and analysts expressed hope that civilian leaders can seize on this anger to chip away at the military's power, but others doubt that even an embarrassment of this scale will shake the status quo.

"It was an attack on our soil, and the army was sleeping," said Zafar Iqbal, a 61-year-old retired bureaucrat in the central city of Lahore.

He singled out the leaders of Pakistan's army, air force and the main intelligence organisation - Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman and Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha - saying they all should be forced to resign.

"All three of these men have brought insult to us, and they deserve all the punishment," said Iqbal.

The direct criticism of Kayani and Pasha was particularly striking because the two men enjoy a vaunted status in Pakistan due to their role in protecting the country from external threats, especially archenemy India. Some also feared that bad mouthing the shadowy spy agency, known as the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, could cause trouble and possibly even harm.

Kayani has also had strong backing from the US and other NATO countries, which have sought to enlist his help in battling militants along the country's border with Afghanistan.

It is unclear whether anyone will actually be forced to step down. The Pakistani government is viewed by many as totally unresponsive to the numerous woes plaguing the nation, from a struggling economy to frequent terrorist attacks.

"It is not time to sprinkle salt on wounds," said Pakistan's Information Minister Firdous Aashiq Awan when asked about the calls for senior officials to resign. "It is time to apply ointment on the nation's wounds."

The Pakistani military also denied reports that the ISI chief, Pasha, planned to resign in the wake of the bin Laden raid.

US Navy SEALs swooped into Abbottabad by helicopter before dawn Monday, killed bin Laden and were on their way back to Afghanistan before the army could respond. The army has said it had no prior knowledge of the operation - a claim backed up by the US.

"No one other than the ISI and army chiefs are responsible for this disgrace of American attacks on our homeland," said Jaffar Ali, a 35-year-old bank employee in the southern city of Karachi. "It is a complete failure of our security."

In contrast, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a lawmaker for the ruling Pakistan People's Party, fixed the blame squarely on President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani - likely motivated in part by past conflict with the two men.

"This is a great violation of our sovereignty, but it is for the president and prime minister to resign and no one else," Qureshi told reporters Saturday in the central city of Lahore.

The main opposition leader in parliament, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, took a less selective approach. He said anyone from Zardari on down who can be faulted for what happened in Abbottabad should resign.

"This is a call coming from every street of Pakistan," Khan told reporters in Lahore.

Qureshi, the former foreign minister, said parliament should conduct a thorough inquiry into the raid.

Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani defence analyst, said the civilian government should broaden its focus and seize the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the country's military and intelligence agencies - a process that could reign in the amount of money they receive and reduce their power over Pakistani politics.

"I don't want something that just looks at where they went wrong this particular time," said Siddiqa. "It should go beyond this one event."

Others held out little hope that Pakistan's civilian leaders have the skill and authority to take on the army, irrespective of the ripples from the bin Laden raid. Many of them are viewed as corrupt and only looking out for their own self-interest.

"Can we fix ourselves? Take a look around. Does anyone think Asif Zardari has what it takes?" Cyril Almeida wrote on Friday in an editorial in Pakistan's leading English-language newspaper, Dawn.

Zardari and Gilani met with the head of Pakistan's army, Kayani, and other senior officials in Islamabad on Saturday to discuss the bin Laden raid, said the prime minister's office. Gilani plans to brief parliament about the raid on Monday.

It is unclear where bin Laden was located before he moved to Abbottabad. Residents of Chak Shah Mohammad, a sparsely populated village close to Abbottabad, denied a report in the New York Times Saturday that bin Laden had lived there for two and a half years with his family before moving to Abbottabad.

"I don't think the kind of people you and the intelligence agencies are looking for are here or have ever lived here," said Mohammad Shazad Awan, a former army soldier who has driven a public minibus in the area for the last 12 years.

But residents of Abbottabad were also not aware that bin Laden had been living there for such a long time.

Awan, who said he works on the side as an informant for the government, said many Pakistani intelligence operatives were in Chak Shah Mohammad on Friday asking whether bin Laden had lived there.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official said he could neither confirm nor deny the report, which cited information from one of bin Laden's three wives who were detained after the raid. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the agency's policy.

Fanatic's death a hollow victory

Whatever excuses might be made for Hone Harawira's on-air farewell to deceased al Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden, it has to be said that it was spectacularly ill-judged.

Seen in context - the original interview on TVNZ's Maori-language news programme Te Karere is easily located - it can, in part, be construed as consistent with Maori tikanga: Harawira farewelled bin Laden as he travels to "your ancestors who wait for you beyond the veil of death".

But asked whether the dead terrorist "fought for self-determination of his people and for his beliefs", Harawira spoke of bin Laden's people mourning "for the man who fought for the rights, the land and the freedom of his people".

That's piffle. Bin Laden was a pitiless mass murderer and should no more be excused for his sincerity than Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong or Pol Pot, who were all sincerely committed to their causes.

In any case, Harawira should have known what impact his statement would have and it is somewhat pathetic for him to cry foul about "racist media" reports.

That said, there are disturbing elements about the killing of bin Laden. You don't need to have been directly bereaved on 9/11 to think that the man got what he deserved. But the unseemly cheering and chanting in the US that greeted the news was uncomfortably reminiscent of the reaction in some parts of the Arab world to the original attacks.

In almost 10 years since 9/11, the US-led "war on terror" has cost more than 100,000 lives in Iraq alone (two-thirds of them Iraqi civilians), including 4400 US troops. The bill is US$1.2 trillion and counting.

If the assassination of bin Laden is a victory, it is a hollow, Pyrrhic one. If it is a triumph, it is symbolic only. And the world is not a safer place now that he has gone: there is no shortage of successors ready to do his filthy work.

With most of the Arab world embroiled in a struggle for democracy and freedom against despotic regimes, many of which have enjoyed US sponsorship, the geopolitical landscape has changed. Any exultation should be muted indeed.

Telcos' antics fooling no one

The reaction of the telcos to the Commerce Commission edict that they must slash their mobile termination rates has been predictable.

The commission cut rates from 14c to 7c a minute for calls and from 9.5c to 0.06c for text messages, and they will fall further each year until 2014.

Unsurprisingly, Vodafone and Telecom say there is no reason for mobile call prices to fall as a result of the ruling - although charges for landline-to-mobile calls are likely to drop soon.

What is both surprising and disappointing is that the big players' public position is now shared by 2degrees, whose arrival in the market gave the duopoly the shake-up that regulators had failed to achieve.

2degrees, whose market share has almost trebled, to 11 per cent, in the past year, once howled about the mobile termination rates - the fees telcos charge each other for a call or text that originates from a rival network - calling them a barrier to competition.

Yet no sooner had the commission announced the reduction of the rates than 2degrees' chief executive, Eric Hertz, said that prices could come down over the coming months, but could not say when this would be.

It's a distinct change of heart from the man who said in December that mobile operators could afford to lower prices if the termination fees fell. It lends weight to Adam Smith's famous pronouncement that "people of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices". It also makes one wonder what attitude the British-American company will take if, as some industry observers predict, it captures a third of the market.

2degrees can claim some moral high ground, since it has so consistently undercut, typically by 50 per cent, the other operators. Telecom and Vodafone have so such excuse. Having so strenuously resisted measures, including number portability, that would have opened the market to competition, they were not likely to take this lying down.

Vodafone, the largest mobile phone operator, is expected to appeal the decision, which it has described as "extreme" and "significantly below cost".

The company's head of public policy, Hayden Glass, tried to argue on Morning Report on Friday that, because termination rates were a cost when telcos incurred them and a revenue stream when they charged them, the change would be somehow fiscally neutral - an audacious piece of sophistry which suggests a dim respect for consumers' intelligence.

Telecom and 2degrees, meanwhile, are claiming that they anticipated the commission's move and, presumably as a sign of the good faith that has hitherto been so conspicuous by its absence, have already cut charges.

Customers who know a rort when they see one will be doing the maths over the coming weeks and will doubtless follow the suggestion of Telecommunications Users Association chief executive Paul Brislen - a poacher-turned-gamekeeper who used to have Glass' job - and pester their providers for a better deal

Failing that, they can vote with their wallets. There are plenty of players in the market, and it's the work of a few minutes to change providers these days. It's up to customers to ensure the chill winds of competition blow through an industry that has been sheltered from them for far too long.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY OUTLOOK, AFGANISTAN

 

                

 

Unhappy Brothers See Osama Death “Blowing New Spirit”

It is not surprising and unexpected to see a surge in Taliban terrorist attacks as the spring buds have come to full, which have typically betokened the increase in violence and thus deaths of Afghans over the last few years. It is not unexpected either to see the militants get emboldened and more brazen as the president of the country or head of the state continue to call them the "disgruntled brothers." It is now the common belief that Taliban are not strong; it is the government that is weak.
On Saturday, May 07, 2011, the militants attacked the governor's office of southern province of Kandahar. According to reports, at least two explosions rocked the city and the gunmen holed up in a five-storey shopping mall traded fire with security forces at the provincial governor's compound. In the meanwhile, the Taliban militants have issued a statement acknowledging the death of Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda who was killed by American forces last week in Pakistan.
While president Karzai continues to call the Taliban militants as the "unhappy brothers", they have said that the death of Bin Laden "will blow a new spirit into the jihad against the occupiers." It shows that Taliban have not broken with Al-Qaeda and that the two continue to share one ideology. Many believe that President Hamid Karzai should stop calling the extremist militants brothers and instead order international and Afghan forces to squeeze them to disrupt their momentum and ability who kill Afghan men and women and destroy the country.
This is because they believe that Taliban will not embrace Afghan constitution, denounce violence and sever ties with Al-Qaeda, the global terrorist network, if they do not feel that they are defeated. These are the preconditions set to reconcile with the Taliban because observance of these conditions will guarantee a pluralistic, open and peaceful prosperous Afghanistan. So in order to instill a feeling of defeat into these militants, the government and international community must take a tougher approach and increase military pressure on them. In a large gathering of protestors, former intelligence Chief Amrullah Saleh, referring to Taliban, said, "We have not forgotten the burning of our homeland and the humiliation of the men and women of Afghanistan. But you (Karzai) are still calling these people 'brother."

New Political Tradition

In response to the demands of the rally called last week by ex-Afghan intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, the Hamid Karzai office has said that there was a growing new political tradition in Afghanistan: people once dismissed from their positions switch to misleading people and start propagating wrong thoughts about the government. The really was arranged to protest against the peace reconciliation program and also demanded that president Karzai should not call the Taliban as his brothers and bring necessary reforms in its government or it will face Middle East like protests. Mr. Saleh was the intelligence chief of Afghanistan until last year when he and the then Interior Minister Hanif Atmar had to submit their resignations after rocket attacks by Taliban on the tent of Loya Jirga where tribal and political elders of Afghanistan and Pakistan had gathered to discuss the ways of reconciliation with Taliban. Saleh regards the peace program initiated by Hamid Karzai as fake and to him this means selling Afghanistan back to Taliban by empowering them.
Government's opposition has a very vital role in every country. Opposition monitors the decision made by government and defends the people against decisions that are not in the national interests of a country. Unfortunately in Afghanistan the opposition seems to be very weak and feeble and can not press the government, although last week's rally was strongly backed by it.
The new political tradition that the government is talking about is actually quite old. What is obvious is that our government has completely failed to move Afghanistan towards peace, economical prosperity and social and political stability. Security is at its lowest level while corruption, opium and lack of justice are governing the life of people. It's quite rational to say that serious concerns about the weaknesses of government exist on the minds of every Afghan and if not address, will one day, turn into storm which the government will not be able to control.
There is golden opportunity for president Karzai administration to bring positive reforms and address the concerns of the people rather than trying to cover their voices. Golden opportunity, because the international community is backing Afghan government with its forces and funds.

A Bronze Medal for Afghanistan

Perhaps, sports has gone far beyond its classic meaning as mere entertainment and changed more into a symbol of national integrity and national pride. Medals are not any more a symbol of personal and individual success; they are symbols of national victory. Hundreds of thousands of people participate as spectators in every world championships and millions others follow them online or watch live on their televisions and cell phones organized anywhere in the world. Governments along with NGOs are deeply involved in giant investment to build up infrastructure and provide facilities in order to improve the overall condition of sports. A glance to accounts of institutions involved in sports business clearly shows how the huge amount of money channeled through sports, which is far larger then annual GDP of poor countries.

As the sports' business booms comparatively to previous year and the prospect of coming years look also extremely convenient, every country tries to find a foothold in global championships, like Olympic, Football world Cub, Cricket World Cup and etc. These global clubs do not seem to be affected much by economic recessions and they would keep continue their prolific business in severe time and also help countries to improve the level of economic growth resorting to efficient planning for sport programs.

Here in Afghanistan, Years of chaos and political instability left the country absent from world championships, while Afghan people are desperate fan of sports. During past ten years Afghan youngsters have done quite in international sports sphere. However the security crisis and lack of facilities are challenges which cannot be ignored, meanwhile youngsters have succeeded to utilize the optimum effort and bring medals for Afghanistan.
In the recent world Taekwondo championships hosted by South Korea, Mr. Rohullah Nikpa defeating his Jordanian rival in one-fourth round and succeeded to bring bronze medal for Afghanistan. Other Afghani participators, like Nisar Ahmad Bahawi, a national champion also succeeded to defeat their rivals one after another, but, unfortunately, barred in one-fourth round by their rivals.

Rohullah Nikpa is a popular Afghan Taekwondo practitioner and he was the first man in the history of Afghanistan that brought bronze medal in 2008, Beijing Olympics for the country. Having such talented youngsters in international spheres can deeply restore the currently blackmailed popularity of Afghanistan. They are able to draw a new picture, a picture of goodwill, humanistic and moderate, for those who know nothing except suicide attacks committed by terror networks that are actually are not born outside of the country and exported. Thus, how good it would be Afghan officials take notice and pay due attention to our champions and provide facilities for the rest of talented youngsters.

EDITORIAL : THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE

Portugal’s collapse averted

The eurozone is far from monetary stability. Portugal, too, has jumped on the bandwagon and humbly stands in the queue of nations who have sought a bailout on the brink.

 The financial package worth 78 billion euros ($116 billion) is its new lifeline. The EU-IMF largesse deal, penned by Portugal’s caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates, is unlikely to be the last one as Spain is all set to expose its fist. Lisbon is the third one to seek gigantic external loaning facility after Greece and the Irish Republic. All the three had thrown in the towel in less than a period of one year, and it hints at the crisis of fiscal autonomy prevalent in the 27-member eurozone. But that is not the end of the tale, as Portugal’s bailout has come at a time when the much-talked-about Greece rescue doctrine, which is being emulated by other member countries, is unraveling.

While Portugal walks the tight rope of fulfilling the necessary conditionalities, such as measures to increase tax revenue and reduce spending, it will also be testing the waters of political opposition, instantly. Moreover, its economy is all set to contract as a result of inevitable austerity measures without which it cannot remain afloat. This is a serious moment of retrospection for not only Lisbon, but all the member countries, as the euro currency and their respective fiscal policies are showing nervousness. They are jittery as they recollect themselves from the aftershocks of the Wall Street fiasco and, at the same time, try to get along with a plummeting greenback and an irresistible pound sterling. A host of trade and investment upheavals in the wake of Japan’s tsunami have further upped the ante, as the equation of geopolitical interdependence is getting quite toiling.

Something serious is in need of being done to save the embattled euro, which is gradually losing its glitter. The concept of common currency and that too in times of adversity is becoming a tricky issue to handle. It was evident as Athens raised the possibility of leaving the single currency — resultantly making the dollar dip by more than one per cent. Similarly, the cushion fund established by the European Union will be under tremendous pressure to keep all the ailing economies on board, and to coordinate their policies in a consensual manner.  The ugly proposition of the continent’s debt-deficit crisis cannot be dealt with piecemeal gestures. A coordinated approach is indispensable.

Justice hour in Cairo

The sentencing of former Egyptian interior minister Habib Al Adly is likely to prove a milestone. So far, Al Adly has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on corruption and money-laundering charges and has been ordered to pay back more than two million dollars embezzled illegally.

 A far more serious charge of ordering police to open fire at protesters for which he could get the death penalty is yet to be decided. 

The conviction of Al Adly is also likely to boost the Egyptians’ confidence in the interim military government for meting out justice by punishing the key stakeholders of the Mubarak regime. The trial of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and his sons is also on the cards. Mubarak has been in the hospital for some time but is likely to be sent to prison.  In all likelihood the people are going to press Cairo to put the former president on trial. Mubarak had allegedly amassed billions of dollars. His ill-gotten private wealth is Egyptian property according to the masses, who are demanding that the wealth be returned to the state and the culprit be given exemplary punishment.  In addition, the blood of hundreds of protesters is to be accounted for who died at the hands of Mubarak’s forces.

Today, Egyptian politics is at a crossroads. The faith of the people in entrusting the interim government will only be strengthened if the power players of the former regime are brought to justice and the money made from corruption returned to the country. Fed up with years of empty promises and a government that was more interested in oppressing people’s rights and lining its own pockets, thanks to a top-down corrupt administration, the Egyptians chose to bring about a change. The sacrifices made are not likely to be forgotten so soon. In addition, the Egyptian politicians are likely to determine the course of their actions by the mood on the street. So far, the Egyptians want accountability from their past rulers. Their expectations from the future leadership stem from past grievances and they do hope for more honest and effective governance where the common man’s aspirations are met and not throttled. The economic hardships faced by the man on the street are also a major challenge that any new leadership will have to contend with.

It may be a good idea that the prosecutors speed up efforts and have the former regime return the money made at the expense of the state and 
the people. 

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE INDIAN EXPRESS, INDIA

 

Pilot fires

The civil aviation ministry, which has handled the Air India pilots’ strike, showed an alarming softness in dealing with what is egregious white-collar activism in a struggling company. The Air India management took a sensible, firm line to begin with: the pilot’s union leading the strike that has disrupted air travel all over India was de-recognised, its nine leaders fired. It was at that point that the civil aviation ministry stepped in, greatly diluting the strength of the response, allowing the strike to continue for longer, and signalling to those of Air India’s employees hoping to squeeze something extra out of the taxpayer, that the Centre is a soft touch.

What did the civil aviation ministry do? On Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said, “If the agitating pilots of Air India call off their strike, the airline management will take back the pilots who were terminated.” That was unacceptably weak. Flights were cancelled; a loss-making enterprise was driven further into the red; travel schedules of tens of thousands of Indians were horrendously upset. Who will be held accountable for this?

And it won’t just be the pilots that will be reinstated; the entire association, which was appropriately de-recognised, will be formally

re-recognised. The civil aviation ministry has demonstrated a complete lack of spine in this respect, and an unwillingness to consider the fact that it is empowering provocateurs who will only continue to make trouble. These are not oppressed workers by any stretch of the imagination, but white-collar employees who through a loophole in the law are considered “manual workers”. They are a set of overpaid professionals who were angry that their bankrupt company is not overpaying them as it is some other overpaid professionals. Because the bankrupt company in question is state-run, they thought they could blackmail the state into handing over taxpayer money to supplement their already above-market salaries. This was a moment the Centre should have seized to articulate a vision of Air India’s future in which costs are cut, excess workforce shed, and the company taken off the taxpayer’s payroll. Returning to status quo ante is not the solution, and the civil aviation ministry should not think that it is. Air India will inevitably be shut; treating it like a PSU, its employees like errant children, will only prolong the agony.

Yellow vs Red

Calling an election ahead of schedule is always risky, and by all accounts many of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s royalist backers are not quite convinced that he’s done the right thing. It’s not entirely another matter that they believe Thailand would be better off with an extended spell without even scheduled polls — and in their extreme views they frame the political crisis that’s settled over the country these past few years. Ever since Thaksin Shinawatra was removed as PM in a military coup in 2006, the tussle between his supporters and their opponents has acquired geographic and class dimensions. It’s a measure of the severity of the crisis that it’s still far from clear whether the general election — likely to be held by early July — will resolve this rupture in Thai society.

Vejjajiva came to power in 2008 after extended sit-ins in Bangkok by royalist supporters, believed to be backed by the Bangkok elite and the military, and called the Yellow Shirts because of their identifying gear, resulted in the removal from office of Thaksin proteges. (Thaksin, mired in corruption cases, has lived outside Thailand since the coup.) Last year, Thaksin supporters — Red Shirts — took over Bangkok’s streets demanding an election. They are mainly drawn from the north and rural areas, and were won over by his healthcare and credit programmes. In protests like last year’s, which disrupted normal life in Bangkok and provoked an armed crackdown, they argue the majority their leaders get at election-time is blunted by manoeuvres, believed to be with the assent of the military and the palace.

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                Dated - 07/05/2011

EDITORIAL : THE BANGKOK POST, THAILAND

Two-state solution is still the best way

On Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said if peace talks with Israel don't restart by September, France will help promote the international recognition of a Palestinian state. Peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel broke down last September after a freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank expired.

Mr Sarkozy's remarks were made at least partly out of frustration at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's response to the reconciliation between the two major Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, which was brokered in Cairo. In a televised speech at the end of last month when the reconciliation was first announced, Mr Netanyahu said: ''The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both.''

After learning of Mr Sarkozy's support for the recognition of Palestinian independence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she doesn't think such unilateral steps are helpful to the peace process. She may be right in sticking with the two-state solution, but the French president's statement _ which is similar to remarks British Prime Minister David Cameron made to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday _ shows clearly the way the winds are blowing in the Middle East.

For one thing, the declaration of Palestinian independence is coming up for a vote before the United Nations General Assembly in September and it is likely that it will pass with or without the support of France and Britain. But perhaps even more important than that vote _ which will not settle the really thorny issues like border demarcation and the Palestinian right of return _ is the wave of upheaval of old established authority sweeping across the Middle East. It is this upheaval which forced a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, because the leadership of both groups realised that they would be made irrelevant if they didn't stop bickering and start working for the people. It is also obviously what enabled Egypt to facilitate the reconciliation. Since its people forced out Hosni Mubarak last February, Egypt has rapidly grown in importance in the region. It has also begun to chart a new course in foreign policy that isn't checked off by Washington beforehand.

Besides restoring relations with Iran, Egypt has permanently opened the border crossing with Gaza, much weakening Israel's partial blockade on the Palestinian territory, which has been under the control of Hamas. Israel decried the move, saying it would allow Hamas to build up its ''terrorist machine''.

Egypt has long been marginalised in terms of its influence, and its re-emergence as a regional leader brings a whole new dynamic to the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

However, while frustration at the on-again, mostly off-again peace negotiations is driving the international campaign to unilaterally recognise Palestine, almost everyone - and certainly Mr Sarkozy and Mr Cameron, as well as Egypt's interim leadership - realises that Mrs Merkel is correct in her belief that a two-state solution is the only chance for real stability and security.

As Mr Netanyahu said: ''A serious quest for peace can only happen through negotiation ... not a UN dictat.''

Yet Mr Netanyahu and his government can hardly be said to be on a ''serious quest for peace'', especially as long as new settlement construction continues in the West Bank, something that the entire international community, including the US, has condemned. But although the Israeli government probably is most responsible for the lack of peace, Israelis in general cannot be blamed for their suspicions of Hamas, which officially doesn't recognise Israel's right to exist.

However, it is unreasonable to use this point as a justification to reject diplomacy and the resumption of peace talks, since as it stands now Israel is not allowing Palestine to exist as a state.

The two issues holding up a resumption of peace talks are Hamas' refusal to recognise Israel and Israel's refusal to stop settlement construction.

A way out of the dilemma would be if Israel promises to stop construction on the condition that Hamas recognises Israel and Hamas promises to recognise Israel on the condition that Israel stops construction.

The negotiations could begin from there, with neither side having given up anything and the whole world watching and hoping that a spirit of reason will win the day.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY TRIBUNE, THE PHILIPPINES

 

 

Noy’s three tumors

Click to enlarge

 

The other side of the coin in the saying two or more heads are better than one, which Noynoy’s aides have bruited about in making a case for the many-headed communications office in Malacañang, is too many cooks spoil the broth.

Add to that a new saying, which is the chief cook spoils the broth some more.

Both the critics and allies of Noynoy trace his recent dipping survey ratings from the consistent ineffectiveness of the communications team, which has Sonny Coloma, Ricky Carandang and Edwin Lacierda holding Cabinet-rank positions for overlapping functions.

Three chefs and no sous-chefs ever goes well and worse, the master chef can’t even provide any direction for the entire cooking class.

Critics are having a heyday over Noynoy’s dipping popularity since whatever their colors were in the past, the general incompetence being shown by Noynoy as a leader and his equally incompetent administration is making them look good.

But his allies are shaking their heads since they cannot but agree with the view that the many-headed freak in Malacañang should largely be blamed for Noynoy’s fall from grace with the public. It also is another way of their protecting him from charges leveled against Noynoy’s incompetence and ineptitude. Like Noynoy, his allies prefer to lay all blame solely on the three headed hydra known as the Palace communications group. And they deserve the blame. But why just them?

There were many tell-tale signs on the acceptance, even in Noynoy on the lack of the communications team to communicate. Of course, the best argument against criticisms that nothing is happening under his administration is to show that things do happen but Noynoy blamed the lack of communicating the achievements of his administration for his sliding ratings. Still, one has to ask: What solid achievements?

Coming from Noynoy who seems to have a high tolerance for inefficiency when it’s coming from his allies is saying a lot.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said plainly that the information team is ineffective.

Early on, in appointing three communications chief, it was being claimed that one would be making use of the “new media” which usage is hardly effective, as only the Noynoy devotees and supporters buy it.

Even that Facebook for feedback purposes plan was a dud, given the fact that the communications group censored criticial remarks against Noynoy.

The communications team had a lot of form, since Noynoy needed to accomodate three heads sprouting from it, but no substance at all as the news media, which get to experience their performance first hand, do not even get a systematic way for the flow of news from the Palace.

The personalities in the Palace seem to have their own publicists who interact with the media while Noynoy’s communications group is limited to dishing out frequently conflicting statements to a confused Malacañang press corps.

Despite their claim of having distinct functions within the communications group, the three usually end up jostling to give an interview with reporters.

Worse, the unyieldy set up in the communications group ends up in one head rebutting the statement of the other which is similar to the caricature of head buttings in a multiple-headed monster.

The failure of the communications group to learn to communicate among each other is, in turn, largely the result of their being from one of the multiple factions within Noynoy’s circle.

Thus, the focus of the three outgrowths in the Palace seems how to outdo each other rather than make a good case out of the already ineffective Noynoy.

So the vicious cycle of an ineffective head placing his fate in the hands of three inefficient underlings becomes so obvious.

Bad for Noynoy, good for his critics.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

Democrats, Seduced by Secret Dollars

Last year several pro-Republican advocacy groups degraded the Congressional elections by spending at least $138 million in secret donations on advertisements. The public did not know which lobbying interests gave money, or how much, or what they would demand in return. But the donations became a significant factor in the Republican gains in the House and the Senate.

Now several prominent Democrats are abandoning the high ground and have decided to raise millions of their own secret dollars. They have promised they will again try to pass a law preventing this secrecy if they win. (They were stymied in an earlier attempt by a Republican Senate filibuster.) Whatever they gain in money, they stand to lose far more by giving up principles that President Obama and party leaders once claimed to cherish.

Bill Burton, who until February was Mr. Obama’s deputy press secretary, said last week that he would help lead a group called Priorities USA, which will raise unlimited money from undisclosed sources to aid in the president’s re-election campaign. The initial money will come from the Service Employees International Union and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Hollywood producer, but more will inevitably begin to flow in from other unions and wealthy Democrats.

Mr. Obama has long claimed to champion transparency and denounced the secret-money sluice operated by Republicans last year as a “threat to democracy.” As he said in October, “The American people deserve to know who’s trying to sway their elections, and you can’t stand by and let the special interests drown out the voices of the American people.” Last year, speaking for the administration, Mr. Burton called for a “bright light” to shine on the shadowy groups.

The White House says the president has not changed his view, but somehow he no longer seems to recognize Mr. Burton as the man who was recently a close aide. “We don’t control outside groups,” said Jay Carney, Mr. Obama’s press secretary. “These are not people working for the administration.”

Mr. Burton now says he does not like the campaign finance rules, which the Supreme Court helped create, but is unwilling to cede the advantage to the Republicans. “The laws we have are not the ones we wish we had,” he said. “But if you want to change the direction of the car, you have to have your hands on the steering wheel.”

It is true that a group founded by the Republican strategist Karl Rove has said it would raise $120 million for 2012, and another set up by the Koch brothers, conservative activists and industrialists, will raise at least $88 million. But Mr. Obama managed to raise the staggering sum of $750 million in 2008. And though he abandoned the public finance system to do it — possibly damaging it permanently — he at least disclosed all of his donors.

If the president stood up and publicly told Mr. Burton to end his effort, that would probably be the end of it. But he has not done so. The White House is clearly worried it will have trouble collecting big checks from Wall Street and other business interests for the re-election campaign, and has decided the political end justifies the unsavory means. At the very least, he and other Democratic leaders could demand that the Priorities group raise its money through an affiliate, Priorities USA Action, which can collect unlimited funds but must disclose its donors.

A political system built on secret, laundered money will inevitably lead toward an increased culture of influence and corruption. Democrats would attract more support as a principled party that refused to follow the Republicans down that dark alley.

Talking to China

China has vowed to smooth relations with the United States. Since June, it has allowed its artificially cheap currency to rise about 5 percent against the dollar. Its huge trade surplus — a drag on global growth — has shrunk by half since its 2007 peak. During a January visit to Washington, President Hu Jintao promised to end software piracy by government agencies and procurement policies that discriminate against foreign companies. He even admitted that China had to make progress on human rights.

It still has a long way to go — to win global respect or the trust and respect of its own people. When the Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, and the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, meet their Chinese counterparts for their “Strategic and Economic Dialogue” this week, they need to deliver that message loud and clear.

China’s human rights record has gotten worse, as its autocrats nervously watch the Middle East uprisings. Gary Locke, the commerce secretary, who is President Obama’s choice to be the next ambassador to China, rightly criticized Beijing last week for failing to make good on commitments to level the playing field for foreign firms.

The list of complaints is long: 80 percent of the computer software in China is counterfeit. Beijing just published a new investment catalog that keeps a long list of industries off limits for American firms. It changed the investment vetting process to allow Chinese companies to recommend barring acquisitions by foreign rivals. It has done nothing to reduce the enormous subsidies in the form of cheap credit to favored state-owned firms.

In general, we agree with the Obama administration’s patient yet persistent attempts to persuade China to address these economic distortions. Punitive legislation, like that often threatened by Congress, would only set off a destructive trade war. But Beijing’s intrinsic conservatism has only gotten worse as the top leadership prepares for Mr. Hu to step down next year. With the world economy gradually on the mend, China’s trade surplus could explode again and threaten a more long-lasting recovery.

The Obama administration must use whatever tools it has to urge China forward. It can keep reminding Beijing that reform is in China’s own interest. Indeed, allowing its currency to rise faster would be the most effective way to head off inflation that is threatening the living standards of ordinary Chinese. If that logic does not change any minds, Washington has other leverage. China particularly covets a bilateral investment agreement that would ease the path for Chinese firms in the United States. It wants fewer restrictions on American technology exports.

The Obama administration must make clear that these things can happen only if China keeps its promises. If it wants to be treated as a regular market economy, it must behave like one. 

Standing Up for Florida’s Courts

A handful of Republican state senators in Florida bucked G.O.P. leaders last week to help Democrats block a brazenly partisan court-packing plan from gaining a place on next year’s ballot.

Championed by the state’s Republican House speaker, Dean Cannon, and approved by his chamber, the plan called for expanding the Supreme Court from seven to 10 justices, and splitting the bench into two separate five-member divisions for criminal and civil cases. The proposed amendment to Florida’s Constitution would have given the state’s conservative Republican governor, Rick Scott, three new seats to fill on the civil side.

Backers of this radical overhaul offered specious arguments about court efficiency and a nonexistent backlog problem, which were effectively debunked by an impressive array of state and national bar leaders, civic groups, and former state justices and senior judges.

The apparent aim was to retaliate against the court for tossing out defective ballot initiatives last year that had been approved by the Republican Legislature, and to get next year’s round of redistricting cases before a new civil division dominated by judges named by Mr. Scott. Unfortunately, while the court-packing was rejected, other mischievous changes were approved for the ballot, including a provision to allow the Legislature to repeal procedural rules set by the court. And the court-packing fight may not be over. The Legislature has allotted $400,000 for a study of court operations that threatens to revive the issue next year. Bolstered by last week’s victory, opponents of political meddling with the courts need to be ready.

The Goody Pile Survives Bad News 

The summer people will soon discover that one of their secret vacation pleasures — the obligation to personally tote their refuse to the local dump — is being altered by governments on Long Island’s East End. “NO salvaging, scavenging and/or picking of recyclables” boomed the new sign at the Shelter Island town recycling center.

Until now, picking creatively through the separate piles of trash for new stuff has been one of the corollary rewards of having to go to the dump. Other towns are also crimping the fun because officials are concerned about injury insurance and profiteering scavengers.

No less a glory for summer residents in the eastern towns is the level of feisty, far-from-Gotham democracy that can break out. The picking controversy has sparked an impassioned protest on Shelter Island from year-round residents most affected by the change.

“Devastating to our life style,” officials were warned by one native. A plumber protested as one who gives more in old pipes and boilers as he takes from the dump an occasional lamp he can fix. Above all, there’s the “cultural and material asset” bolstering the island’s year-round souls, explained Al Kilb Jr., a former town supervisor. He advised council members to try their hands at turning trash into treasure — like the bench he fashioned in front of Louie the Clip’s barbershop.

Town officials have promised a smarter long-term plan. And they wisely decreed that “the goody pile” — the dump’s luxe section of wistfully favored discards — would remain open for pickers. Summer people will be pleased. Natives still fear the death of picking as they know it.

  

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

          

 

Nuclear plants need stronger disaster protection

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has requested that nuclear reactor operations at Chubu Electric Power Co.'s Hamaoka power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture be suspended.

Scientists say that over the next 30 years there is an 87 percent chance that a massive Tokai earthquake will strike--and the Hamaoka plant stands near the center of the quake's anticipated focal area.

The prime minister cited this "special circumstance" in making the request.

The government intends to call for thorough mid- to long-term safety measures at the plant, such as the construction of an anti-tsunami seawall around it.

These moves come as government officials try to learn from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Given the fact that serious accidents occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant after it was hit by larger-than-expected tsunami caused by that quake, the decisions were inevitable.

Of the five reactors at the Hamaoka plant, the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors were already set to be decommissioned. The operations of the No. 3 reactor had been halted for a regular inspection. Only the Nos. 4 and 5 reactors were operating. It is extremely unusual for the government to ask for the suspension of reactors that are operating normally.

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An ominous location

But the Hamaoka plant is only 180 kilometers from the heart of the Tokyo metropolitan area. And it is near two major national transportation arteries: the Tokaido Shinkansen Line and the Tomei Expressway.

If a disaster were to strike while reactors at the plant were operating, triggering a release of radioactive materials, the nation as a whole could be paralyzed. The Shizuoka prefectural government and municipal governments concerned also have called for improving safety measures at the plant as soon as possible. Chubu Electric should comply with the prime minister's request.

Chubu Electric already has decided to take disaster countermeasures voluntarily, such as building a seawall that could cope with a 15-meter-high tsunami like the one that hit the Fukushima plant. The utility company previously assumed only an 8-meter-high tsunami in its disaster scenarios.

Taking into account the fact that power for reactor cooling systems was lost at the Fukushima plant, causing a serious situation, Chubu Electric has started working to install an additional standby power system. But we wonder if such a measure will be sufficient.

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Many quakes, many waves

In the Great East Japan Earthquake, massive tsunami were caused not only by the main quake off the Sanriku coast but also by a series of earthquakes that occurred almost simultaneously in a wide surrounding area.

It has been said that the expected Tokai earthquake will likely take place almost simultaneously with two more great earthquakes in the neighboring Tonankai and Nankai areas. Under this scenario, it cannot be denied that quakes and tsunami on a scale far larger than expected could occur.

The government is expected to take thorough measures in cooperation with Chubu Electric to cope with such a possible catastrophe. Surely, it is necessary to ensure the safety of nuclear plants even in other areas where the occurrence of a great earthquake is thought unlikely.

If the government and electric power companies move too slowly, the suspension of nuclear plant operations may not be limited to the Hamaoka plant but may be imposed on other plants in other parts of the nation. To avoid that, the government and electric power companies must swiftly take necessary measures.

Sanitation standards for raw meat need overhaul

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Cases of food poisoning linked to raw beef have been spreading.

The Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu barbecue restaurant chain is at the center of the storm. By Friday, four customers of Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu's outlets in Toyama, Fukui and Kanagawa prefectures had died after eating yukke Korean-style raw-beef dishes. All four had been infected with E. coli bacteria, including the O-111 strain.

Nearly 100 other Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu customers have complained of stomachaches and diarrhea after eating raw-beef dishes. More than 20 of them are in serious condition.

Police have launched investigations into the food poisoning cases on suspicion that professional negligence by Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu resulted in the deaths.

How did food poisoning with such severe symptoms emerge in several far-flung prefectures? Investigators must be relentless in getting to the bottom of this matter.

A Tokyo-based meat processing and wholesale company shipped the raw beef in question to Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu outlets.

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Pinpoint contamination source

Public sanitation authorities in many prefectures and Tokyo have been scrambling to analyze the bacteria strains to determine whether the beef was contaminated before it was shipped or after it arrived at the restaurants.

A bureau chief at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry laid down sanitation guidelines for raw-meat dishes including yukke in 1998. This came in the wake of a string of food poisoning cases caused by consuming raw beef liver tainted with the O-157 strain of E. coli bacteria, whose symptoms are similar to the O-111 strain.

Under the ministry guidelines, only meat that meets strict standards--such as being processed on equipment exclusively for handling meat for raw consumption and in a meticulously hygienic environment--can be shipped to be eaten raw.

However, the decision on what meat can be served raw is left up to the restaurant serving it. The wholesaler who sold the beef in question to the Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu chain reportedly told a public health center that the meat it shipped "was supposed to be eaten after being cooked."

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Rules being flouted

The raw-beef poisoning cases have brought to light the fact that following existing sanitation standards for meat to be eaten raw have been reduced to a mere formality.

The sanitation guidelines have no binding power and have largely been ignored. The health ministry, for its part, has long failed to stringently push industries to comply with the sanitation standards.

In response to the latest fatal poisoning cases, the ministry announced it will tighten inspections and issue advice to prevent restaurants from serving meat that does not meet the criteria to be eaten raw. The ministry is set to incorporate the sanitation standards for meat to be eaten raw into the Food Sanitation Law, with penalties to be imposed on violators.

Adding teeth to this law is the obvious step to take, considering the gravity of the food poisoning cases.

Many consumers are anxious about whether ministry-set sanitation standards are being properly observed for other meat, such as horse meat and chicken, that is eaten raw.

To ensure people can eat raw meat without fearing for their health, the government must review the regulations for the entire meat preparation process.

EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Ineffective defence

IN Pakistan, it is rare for anyone to even consider the possibility of their own culpability when faced with errors or slip-ups. This is especially true in sensitive cases. It was therefore a rather courageous step by the Pakistan Air Force to explain why it had failed to detect the US helicopters used in the operation against Osama bin Laden. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman was reported as having said that the high-level radars along Pakistan’s western border had been inactive on the day in question, given that the country was not expecting any aerial threat from Afghanistan. A day later, PAF spokesman Air Commodore Tariq Yazdani said that the air surveillance system had neither been jammed nor had it been inactive. Given that he was unable to confirm whether the PAF had been aware of the helicopters’ incursion, we are left with even more questions.

Meanwhile, the list of Pakistan’s intelligence failures in terms of Bin Laden’s whereabouts constitutes a damning body of evidence. According to Bin Laden’s widow, he and his family left the tribal areas in 2003 to live in Chak Shah Mohammad, a settled area on the highway to Abbottabad, to which place they moved in 2005. This means that Pakistan’s security and intelligence forces somehow failed to take note of the presence of the world’s most wanted man in their backyard for over half a decade. Indeed, Afghanistan’s former intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, said on Thursday that Afghanistan’s intelligence service had suspected that Bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan’s settled areas but that when the then president Musharraf was informed, he refused to entertain the idea.

All these revelations are not just embarrassing; they also raise serious doubts about a defence and security establishment that
prides itself on its effective professionalism. On Thursday, the army chief ordered an investigation into the intelligence failures that led to Bin Laden’s undetected presence, and why US personnel were able to enter Pakistani territory without the country’s security forces noticing. A step in the right direction though this may be, more is needed to assuage the doubts of Pakistanis. Their faith in the effectiveness of the security establishment has been badly shaken. Terrorists strike across the country with impunity; now, it seems that external forces can also enter undetected. An inquiry is needed not only into the recent intelligence failures but also the gaps in the defence and security system. It is hard, after all, to overlook the huge percentage of GDP that is swallowed up by the defence budget, and at a tremendous cost. Are Pakistanis getting what they’re paying for?

Cabinet expansion

THERE is nothing really surprising about new political alliances being forged in a country where scenarios in Islamabad keep changing and ideological identities remain murky. A week is a long time in politics, it is said, and as such it should come as no surprise that the ruling Pakistan People’s Party is now wooing its former arch-rivals, the PML-Q. But winning back former foes and also one-time allies like the MQM comes at a price to the nation. The cabinet and regimen of ministers of state is being expanded yet again to appease all concerned after an earlier decision this year to reduce the size of government, even before the time limit set by the 18th Amendment to the constitution of Pakistan. What this amounts to is profligacy at a time when a majority of the country’s residents are living in dire straits, unable to manage a few square meals a day. In addition to the poor, middle-class citizens too have been hit hard by an inflationary situation that appears to be spiralling out of control. Yet, in the name of political expediency, the authorities in Islamabad are again adding to the ministerial list at the expense of honest taxpayers and indeed the nation.

If the PPP was compelled, for whatever reason, to induct new ministers it ought to have cut down on members of its own retinue. A bloated cabinet at a time of economic deprivation flies in the face of economic sense or, it could be argued, even moral grounding. Much has been said by the government about austerity in recent years but most observers have seen little of it in practice. Words alone will not do when the country’s majority is barely making ends meet. The government must show that it means business, that it cares for the welfare of the people. True, times are tough all around the globe these days and Pakistan is no exception. But the government too must realise that it must play its due role in following an austerity drive, both in letter and in spirit.

Murder of activists

THE murder on Friday of two men associated with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum remains a murky affair. Although charges have been filed, reporters who cover the affairs of the fishermen community say that the exact circumstances of the crime and the identity of the murderers remain unclear. Complicating matters is the death earlier the same day of another fisherman, one who reportedly belonged to a rival group. Whether the PFF men were killed in retaliation remains unclear; the rivalry was reportedly an ongoing one and also involved political and social influence in the area. However, one major undercurrent was almost certainly a dispute over the future of our coastal mangroves. The PFF men had been campaigning for the conservation of mangrove forests, and in the process had taken positions against those seeking to occupy and clear the land for commercial purposes. If their murders were in fact committed in retaliation for this, it constituted a huge blow to an important environmental cause. Pakistan’s mangrove forests are breeding grounds for fish and shrimp that sustain coastal communities and also serve as bulwarks against heavy rains and flooding.

But the incident also points to the larger problem of land grabbing in Karachi. In this metropolis, that is bursting at the seams, land ownership has come to be equated with money and power. The issue has become a deeply violent and politicised one, with land disputes now a routine cause of targeted killings. Sadly, a system of corruption has developed to support this; without the connivance of elements of the police and other departments of the bureaucracy, these actions would almost certainly not be taking place. Often associated with armed gangs in some of the city’s most violent areas, land grabbing may now have claimed the lives of environmental activists.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

                            

Celebrating Tagore

His place in our lives endures

The observance of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore symbolizes the deep reverence in which the poet has always been held by Bengali-speaking people not only in Bangladesh and West Bengal but elsewhere around the world as well. Such reverence has to do with the fact that it was Tagore whose poetry introduced a powerful dose of internationalism in the way Bengalis looked at the wider world around them and the other way round. His was a comprehensive way of looking at life, not just through his poetry but through his prose and his art as well. Rabindranath Tagore happens to be one of those rare of illustrious individuals whose comprehension of life and death and everything happening in between has been total and layered with meaning at various levels.

It is surely a matter of pride for the people of Bangladesh that Tagore has consistently been a huge symbolism for us, one we could always fall back on in times of critical note. In 1961, on the anniversary of the Bard's centenary of birth, we as a people defied every attempt by the then ruling classes to have the poet banished from our culture. Even when the Ayub Khan regime decreed a ban on Tagore songs, we fought back. In our armed struggle for freedom in 1971, it was Tagore whose inspiration was all, enough for us to adopt his Amar Shonar Bangla as Bangladesh's national anthem. The formidable hold he has on our psyche can be gauged from the fact that both India and Bangladesh sing his songs as their national anthems. And now we have stumbled on the discovery that even the Sri Lankan national anthem owes its lyrics and its melody to him.

A century and a half after his birth, therefore, Rabindranath Tagore's place in our collective life endures, indeed becomes stronger by the day. A broad hint of that comes in the reality of his birth anniversary being observed this year jointly by India and Bangladesh. It is just as well, for in Tagore resided a poet, a writer of fiction, a humanist, a seeker of truth through a search for divinity in his music.

Tagore keeps our path illuminated.

Employment abroad

Ensure safety for women workers

We are all for expanding our global labour market. It ensures employment of our large work force as it also contributes towards socio - economic development of the country. Remittances from workers abroad have been substantial over the years. During the July 2010- April 2011 period remittances was $9587.15 million, registering a growth of 4.3 percent over the same period of the last fiscal.

The recent government decision to send ten thousand female workers to Saudi Arabia as domestic help is a good one provided it ensures the physical safety and security of these women, some of whom may become victims of abuse and deprivation.

Saudi Arabia has been the principal market for Bangladeshi workers which roughly employ around two million Bangladeshis. With recent political crises in a number of Arab countries and bans imposed by some governments particularly of South East Asia on our workers, Bangladesh faces severe overseas employment crisis.

Our concerns over the safety of women workers stem from bad experiences in the past. A Human Rights Watch member informs that there is no provision for domestic help under Saudi labour law. Therefore, they neither have weekly holidays nor is there fixed working hours. Many have to work for years without break. Many also go without payments for months and kept confined inside the house. They are also subjected to physical hardships.

We want the ministry concerned to make it known as to what measures it plans to adopt to ensure protection of our workers especially the female while sending them to work abroad as domestic help.

There should be clear guidelines regarding workers protection, pay and privileges to be agreed upon by the employers and the employees; workers should be trained in their jobs and in the local language of the receiving countries to make communications easy; and increase the capacity of our missions abroad with trained and supportive officials who will be able to handle the employment related issues without much hassle.