Conspiracy to make Gota the presidential candidate

 08 September 2014 

The final objective of the legal arguments being posed by former chief justice Sarath Nanda Silva that Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot seek a third term as the president, is to see that defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is made the presidential candidate of the UPFA, a senior minister of the government told ‘Lanka  News Web’.

The Supreme Court has been tasked with giving an interpretation, and the chief justice who chairs the court, is a very close friend of the defence secretary. It was Gotabhaya who had recommended that Mohan Peiris, who had been his advisor, be appointed the chief justice.

If Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot contest under the circumstances, with his blessings, Gotabhaya is made the UPFA presidential candidate, for which a leading Colombo temple, which has the defence secretary and the ex-CJ as its chief patrons, has extended its support.

Bodu Bala Sena too, has blessed the moves to make Gotabhaya a national leader.

Big tax increases on imported food items, including milk powder

By Bandula Sirimanna-Sunday, September 07, 2014

The Government is to increase import duty and cess on several imported food items which an official describes as ‘semi luxury food items’.This plan to be introduced in the November Budget is to increase revenue from these items by 30 per cent to more than Rs. 60 billion next year from an estimated Rs. 46 billion this year.

The percentage of increase on food and beverage items such as canned fish, fruit juices, beer, foreign liquor, sausages and similar products and processed foods such as meat, milk powder, butter cheese, cereal, and chocolate, is yet to be finalised, an official said. Revenue from import duties last year increased by only 3.7 per cent to Rs. 83.1 billion due to lower import duties and exemptions granted to selected items last year, according to the Central Bank’s 2013 annual report.

Although the Government’s aim was to curtail food imports, a record US$ 135.6 million (Rs. 17,628 million) was spent to import food items in June this year. This was an increase of 12.3 per cent in dollar terms compared to food imports amounting to $120.8 million (Rs.15.100 million) in June 2013, according to Finance Ministry figures.
The official said this was far more than the targeted limit of $84 million a month for imports (which amounts to $1 billion annually).

The imposition of taxes on basic food items has resulted in a heavy burden on the poor and this burden should be shifted onto the rich. This is the rationale in increasing taxes on luxury food items and also to promote more locally produced food, the official said. The local economy could replace food imports altogether and a huge value added food industry could be developed, if most of these foreign food products were produced in Sri Lanka, he said.

Common candidate set aside due to Killy’s threats!

Monday, 08 September 2014 

Moves by the National Movement for a Just Society led by Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera to field a common opposition candidate at the next presidential election is facing abandonment, say internal sources of the Movement.

The reason for this is that the main opposition UNP is not responding favourably to the proposal for a common opposition candidate, owing to the threats by Sirasa head Raja Mahendran who is manipulating Sajith Premadasa. Sajith has pressurised Ranil Wickremesinghe that he should contest on the elephant symbol.

Under the circumstances, the JVP too, has decided to field a candidate of its own.

Due to the decision by the two main parties in the south to contest at the presidential election, the Movement’s attempts to field a common candidate is facing abandonment.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party leader Sarath Fonseka too, has decided to contest in the event of no common candidate from the opposition.

Also, the Frontline Socialist Party is going to field a candidate of its own, say internal sources of that party.

At the party’s anniversary meeting in Passara, Sajith stressed that he would support, only if Ranil contests the presidential election under the elephant symbol.

Three more student leaders suspended

MONDAY, 08 SEPTEMBER 2014 

The administration of University of Peradeniya has taken steps to suspend classes of the President of Students’ Council Lasantha Aruna Shantha, its Secretary Kavindu Kulatunga and former President of Students’ Council Dimuthu Gunasekera.

The suspension has been carried out on false charges that the three student leaders scolded and threatened an assistant hostel supervisor. Fist the student leaders were suspended only for a week but later this has been changed to a year’s suspension.

The student leaders say they did not threaten the assistant hostel supervisor but went to the hostel with more than 20 other students when they heard that Nishmy Hostel was to be closed down. When they heard from the assistant hostel supervisor that there was no such plan to close down the hostel they had retuned.

They say the assistant hostel supervisor talked to them amicably.

No alliances with NGOs – Sajith

Monday, 08 September 2014 

UNP deputy leader candidate Sajith Premadasa says the party leader’s campaign for the next presidential election will be based on the Sinhala-Buddhist vote base, and stresses that none of the NGOs that had opposed the war will be part of that campaign.

He was chatting with a UNP MP prior to the UNP meeting in Passara with regard to the fielding of a common opposition candidate at the election.

Expressing his views, he said, “Common candidates are of no use to us. We will field our leader. Anyone accepting our viewpoint can join us. But, no conditions. No common symbols. The leader should contest on the elephant symbol. There is no need to form fronts with NGOs. We can win if we can garner part of the Sinhala Buddhist votes. Tamil and Muslim votes are anyway for us. So, what is the use of a front? Those who speak about fronts and those who aid NGO crows should be expelled from the party.”

Leo Tolstoy And His Great Epic War And Peace

By Ruwan M Jayatunge -September 8, 2014 

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.

At the approach of danger there are always two voices that speak with equal force in the heart of man: one very reasonably tells the man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of avoiding it; the other even more reasonable says that it is too painful and harassing to think of the danger, since it is not a man’s power to provide for everything and escape from the general march of events; and that it is therefore better to turn aside from the painful subject till it has come, and to think of what is pleasant. In solitude a man generally yields to the first voice; in society to the second.  – Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace)

Only known color photograph of the writer, taken at his Yasnaya Polyana estate in 1908 by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky

According to E.M Forster, Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” (Voyna I Mir) is the greatest novel ever written. The French novelist Romain Rolland called it the most fascinating novel of all time.   William James stated  “War and Peace is a  perfection in the representation of human life”  In 1910 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin wrote: ‘succeeded in raising so many great problems and succeeded in rising to such heights of artistic power that his works rank among the greatest in world literature. For over a century, Leo Tolstoy has been one of the most famous and most widely read authors in the whole world (Yegorov, 1994). As indicated by Harding (2010) Leo Tolstoy is widely considered in the West to be the greatest writer of all time (Harding, 2010). 

War and Peace is a philosophical, historical and an epic novel that runs through time and space. In this novel Tolstoy narrates his social, political, philosophical, historical, aesthetic, ethical, religious and moral views. He analyzed the complex processes of historical reality, social dynamics and human behaviour. The ideals and meaning of human existence had been his central theme.  Over four hundred fictional and historical characters are illustrated in this unique novel and art of storytelling and meticulous realism are impressive in this masterpiece               Read More 

Portraits of diversity from Myanmar vital for Sri Lanka

by Kannan Arunasalam 

- on 09/08/2014 

When the British administrator J.S. Furnivall coined the term “plural society” he was talking about colonial Burma to describe the extraordinary diversity of nationalities, ethnicities, races and religions that inhabited its cities. Sixty years ago he wrote, “Bengali Muslims jostled alongside Iraqi Jews and Armenian Christians”. Walking around Yangon’s streets today, you can still experience this diversity in the faces of its people, in the city’s backdrops, and the many places of worship.

On earlier visits to Yangon I was keen to photograph the Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue on 26nd Street. I knew that when the devastating cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008, interfaith prayers were held inside the synagogue. When I visited last year, the place was being refurbished. Inside, the Jewish trustee was giving instructions to the Muslim contractor, who’s two workers, Hindu Tamils, we’re fixing a window. I actually spoke to them in Tamil. This incredible scene — a portrait of diversity — was unfolding in front of me. For me as an outsider it felt extraordinary but I quickly learned that for Myanmar these interactions were commonplace. I wanted to capture more of these everyday interactions and to remind the people of Myanmar that these come naturally to them.

All the remarkable individuals in my short video portraits interact with members of other communities. Dr Khin Win Kyu is an obstetrician at the Muslim Free hospital. For me, the hospital was a microcosm of what an ideal Myanmar society might look like, where people from different faiths come together to help the less fortunate, irrespective of their religion, race or ethnicity. Saw Poe Khwar, a Christian Karen reggae singer, sings about loving each other and stopping the hate, lyrics inspired from his reading of the Bible. Teacher U Aye Lwin recites a Burmese saying, that you need two hands to clap. Importantly, he feels that change must come from both communities, that the Muslims should open the doors to the mosques to show that their religion is not so different. By doing this he debunks myths about Islam. U Nay Win tirelessly helps the victims of violence through his interfaith groups in Mandalay. The group has been especially busy with the recent clashes and curfews in the region. Venerable Tayzar Dipati, a Buddhist monk, stops rumours in their tracks, before they escalate into violence. He works closely with local Muslim leaders in his native town of Shwebo.

I’m grateful to them for trusting me with their stories. I admire their courage in speaking out so publicly about the growing intolerance, rhetoric and violence targeting minority religious communities when so many have been silent.

With the recent religious violence in Sri Lanka, the Myanmar Portraits of Diversity will have particular resonance for Sri Lankans. To echo Saw Poe Kwar words, these messages are not just for Myanmar, but for the whole world.

Dr Khin win Kyu

A Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr Khin Win Kyu has been volunteering much of her time for the last 17 years at the Muslim Free Hospital in Yangon, a hospital that treats poorer communities without charge, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. Earlier Dr Khin Win Kyu worked in the government service for 22 years. Established in the 1930s, the hospital is a microcosm of what an ideal Myanmar society could be like, where people from all faiths work together to treat the less fortunate, irrespective of their religion, ethnicity or race.

Venerable Tayzar Dipati

Venerable Tayzar Dipati is a Buddhist monk from Shwebo, northwest of Mandalay. He grew up in the monastery as a young novice monk and today, his chief role is to care for young HIV patients and to run the monastery of young monks. U Tayzar Dipati is often called upon by the local community in the area to help neutralise rumours before they grow out of control and on social media, and prevent outbreaks of violence locally. He has strong links to the other religious communities in the area and fosters inter-religious understanding. The monk believes that by learning about other religions, we will realise that they are not so different to each other.

U Aye Lwin

Outside of his work as a sports teacher in Yangon, U Aye Lwin, a Muslim, works tirelessly to debunk myths about Muslims and Islam through peaceful ways, like distributing pamphlets and holding interfaith meetings. U Aye Lwin is also the chief convenor if the Islamic Center of Myanmar and a core member of the Religion for Peace Myanmar interfaith organisation. Learned in Buddhism too, U Aye Lwin believes that Muslims must also look within themselves and open their doors to other faiths so they may learn that their religions are not so different from Islam.

U Nay Win

U Nay Win is the General Secretary of the Mandalay YMCA. A Christian, he is from a mixed heritage and his family travelled widely across Burma, making friends from different communities. Many of these places are still home to him. U Nay Win’s work extends to coordinating the efforts of interfaith groups both in Mandalay and surrounding areas, like Meiktila, where there have been recent outbreaks of religious violence targeting Muslim communities. He talks about his work, the challenges he has faced and how Christians could perform an intermediary role.

Saw Pow Kwar

Saw Poe Kwar is a popular reggae singer from Yangon and a former national football player. A Karen, his grandfather was a missionary who raised Saw Poe Kwar as a Christian, with regular Sunday school and joining the church choir. His single “Love each other” has been a huge hit among young people and he performs regularly around Myanmar for diverse audiences. Saw Poe Kwar has two simple messages: “Stop the hate” and “Love one another”, inspiration for which he distilled down from his reading of the Bible. He hopes these will inspire people in Myanmar to coexist peacefully.

###

A series of video portraits celebrating Myanmar’s religious diversity.

Directed by Kannan Arunasalam
Filmed & edited by Ed Perkins & Kannan Arunasalam
Grade, audio mix and sound design by Jeremy Hogg
Music by Adam Nicholas
Produced for the Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies
Produced with the support of the Government of Australia, the Government of Norway and The Asia Foundation

Modi Inaugurates The Asian Era

| by S. D. Muni

In the first 100 days, the SAARC invitation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to neighbouring capitals have greatly improved the atmospherics of the bilateral discourse and created hope for greater regional cooperation and synergy

( September 8, 2014, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Modi government’s neighbourhood initiative, which started even before the government was sworn-in, in the form of invitation to SAARC heads of Government and State, has widely been acclaimed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi established personal contacts with the SAARC leaders, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and paid two official visits to Bhutan and Nepal. 

Modi Inaugurates the Asian Era by Thavam

Ukraine conflict death toll rises above 3,000, says UN

True death toll is likely to be higher than figure announced by UN human rights official that includes victims of MH17 plane crash

The number of people confirmed killed since April tops 3,000 if the 298 passengers and crew on the Mayalsia Airlines flight are included. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Agencies in Vienna and Mariupol

Monday 8 September 2014 

The number of people confirmed killed in the Ukraine conflict has risen above 3,000 if the victims of the MH17 plane crash are included, a senior UN human rights official said on Monday.

Ivan Simonovic, the UN assistant secretary general for human rights, said the number of people confirmed killed in fighting since the conflict erupted in April was now 2,729 but rose to over 3,000 if the 298 passengers and crew on the Malaysia Airlines flight were included, which he said they should be, though the true figure could be much higher.

"This number includes killings registered based on available resources and … the actual number may be significantly higher," he told an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation inEurope (OSCE).

MH17 crashed after apparently being struck by a missile over eastern Ukraine on 17 July. Washington and Kiev accused Russia-backed rebels of shooting down the jetliner with an advanced Russian missile system in the mistaken belief it was a Ukrainian military plane. Russia and the rebels denied the accusation.

The European Union will press ahead with implementing new sanctions on Russia despite a shaky ceasefire in Ukraine, the European Commission said on Monday.

"The package is due to be formally implemented by the member states through a written procedure later today," spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen told reporters.

Details of the fresh economic sanctions, including against oil company Rosneft and units of gas producer Gazprom, are to be announced on Tuesday at the latest.

The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, said in an interview published on Monday that Moscow would respond to new sanctions over Ukraine, possibly preventing flights over Russia, if the US and EU press on with "the temptation to use force in international relations".

The ceasefire struck between Ukrainian government forces and the rebels was largely holding on Monday, although Kiev accused the rebels ofsporadic violations overnight, especially near the port of Mariupol.

The ceasefire, which took effect on Friday evening, is part of a peace roadmap intended to end the five-month conflict that has caused the sharpest confrontation between Russia and the west since the cold war.

"Overall the ceasefire held even though it is still shaky," Thomas Greminger, the current chair of the OSCE, said, adding the next days would be crucial. The OSCE has about 250 monitors in Ukraine.

Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, visited Mariupol on Monday in a symbolic show of strength that underscored Kiev is unlikely to willingly loosen what remains of its grip over the east. Mariupol, a port on the Sea of Azov near the Russian border, is vital for Ukraine's steel exports. A message said on his official Twitter account said the city "was Ukraine".

Петро Порошенко        ✔ @poroshenko

Follow

Mariupol is Ukraine. We will not surrender this land to anyone.

9:19 AM - 8 Sep 2014

The area to the east of Mariupol was the scene of fierce fighting before the ceasefire and it also saw the most serious violation of the truce to date on Saturday night, when government forces said they came under artillery attack by the rebels. A woman was killed and four people injured.

The Ukrainian military's press centre listed five rebel violations of the ceasefire accord overnight into Monday, while the separatists accused government forces of preparing to storm a town near rebel-held Donetsk, the region's industrial hub.

Both the rebels and the Ukrainian military insist they are strictly observing the ceasefire and blame their opponents for any violations.

Saudi Arabia Beheads 26 People in 1 Month, Some for ‘Sorcery': US, FOX Has Nothing to Say About it (Images)

September 5, 2014

WARNING: This article contains graphic images. If you do not wish to see them, do not scroll down.

We condemn ISIS’ public beheadings, but in 2012-13, our allies in Saudi Arabia cut the heads off of 79 people.

Let’s play “Compare and Contrast” for a moment: Two oppressive, authoritarian Muslim regimes acting under the auspices of Sharia Law publicly behead scores of non-violent people, primarily to instill fear in those who might resist said regime’s self-asserted authority over the region.

People whose heads are cut off are disproportionately foreign nationals, or locals with religious or ideological differences. One of them is ISIS, the other is the government of Saudi Arabia. Which one are we bombing again?

Public beheading in Saudi Arabia. Photo: SaudiArabian.TV.

In 2012 and 2013, Saudi Arabia cut the heads off of 79 people for various “crimes” throughout the nation, and it looks like they’re trying to hit the same target this year. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a slowdown earlier in the year, so Saudi Arabia is doing its best to catch up and maintain its previous record.

But Saudi Arabia’s beheadings aren’t just about keeping a title. As London researcher Sevag Kechichian told Al Jazeera:

“One of the reasons behind the surge in executions could be that the Saudi Arabian authorities want to send a strong message that the regime is stable, and does not tolerate breaches of the law in the aftermath of the 2011 uprising and calls for reform in Saudi Arabia including by the country’s Shia Muslim community.”

Saudi Arabian officials display the beheaded bodies of five Yemeni nationals. Photo: The Commentator.

While some would say that the killings aren’t politically motivated (at least in the sense that protesters aren’t being arrested en masse in the Eastern Provinces and beheaded), the King certainly looks to be sending a message since the Qatif protests began in 2011.

Prior to 2011, Saudi Arabia averaged about 27 executions a year; when the King announced a “crackdown” of law enforcement, that number multiplied by three times over almost immediately. And there the figure has stayed. A few examples:

• Once of those beheaded was a prominent Shia cleric named Nimir al Nimir, who was executed for “inciting violence” in his speeches, and “supporting unrest” in his native, heavily Shia area of Qatif.
• Four of those decapitated on August 18th were a family convicted for smuggling “large quantities of cannabis” into the country. They maintained that they were framed by police for the crime, and were tortured into giving false confessions. The appeal was summarily dismissed by a higher court, and the family was executed.
• A man was executed the next day for “sorcery.” And he is far from the first. A similar execution took place in 2012 for a man convicted of possessing “books and talismans,” Between 2011 and 2012, at least five women were decapitated for “witchcraft,” and the practice continues unabated today.

Yet another public beheading in Saudi Arabia. Photo: IBTimes.

Of course, a fair number of the beheadings were for murder convictions and rape, both punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. But just as many were for any one of the following:

• Apostacy (leaving Islam)
• Blasphemy
• Idolatry
• Homosexuality
• Sedition
• Sorcery
• Witchcraft
• Adultry
• Drug Use

In fact, the Saudis love chopping heads so much, that from 2007 to 2012 alone, fully 6.8 percent of all executions in the world (excluding China, which doesn’t publish figures) were committed by Saudi Arabia. This in a nation that only contains about 0.3 percent of the world’s population — that’s about 22 times the rate of the per-capita average worldwide. And it’s getting higher. Almost all of them were decapitations; in fact, statistically, almost all of annual decapitations worldwide are state-sanctioned killings in Saudi Arabia. Many of them are foreign nationals who have done nothing more egregious than cross the will of the ruling theocracy.

And…FOX News says…what, exactly?

Again, there are those who’d say “Well, Saudi Arabia is a strict country — the laws are the laws, and the punishments are the punishments.” And yes, that’s true…except, it isn’t. 

Saudi Arabia has no codified system of crime and punishment the way we do, insofar as specific offenses warrant specific punishments. The King of Saudi Arabia appoints state-sanctioned religious clerics to act as judges, and those judges are free to hand out any sentence they like for any crime they like, and are not bound by the presentation of evidence or burden of proof. In short, in Saudi Arabia, if a judge wants you dead, you’re dead. Guilty or innocent, you’re dead. Much as in our own Salem Witch Trials, the only “evidence” required is an accusation.

And even more to the point, a judge is free to not sentence you to death, or even imprisonment, even if you are rightfully convicted of something as egregious as murder. Saudi judges hold absolute power, and are accountable to no one but the King himself.

And that King wants to send a message.

So, let’s go back to Compare and Contrast between ISIS and Saudi Arabia:

Comparison

• Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia are lead by fundamentalist religious extremists.
• Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia routinely oppress the will of the native population, particularly religious minority groups.
• Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia embrace foreign nationals who support the will of the regime.
• Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia routinely and publicly behead people who oppose the authority or will of the current regime.
• Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia are free to chop the heads off of citizens and foreign nationals without any accountability to anyone but the rulers of the regime.
• Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia do so in order to send a message of fear to those who oppose them.
• Neither ISIS nor Saudi Arabia need any proof of wrongdoing in order to stage a public beheading.
• Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia perform these public beheadings in the name of God.

Contrast

• Saudi Arabia is an ally who sells us oil for cheap, whereas ISIS is sitting on oil fields we don’t control.
• Saudi Arabia is friends with Israel, whereas ISIS is not.
• Saudi Arabia has its own nationalized oil fields, whereas ISIS is threatening the Israeli-held shale oil fields in Syria, in the occupied Golan Heights.
• Saudi Arabia is friends with FOX and its British cousin SKY, whereas ISIS is directly threatening the Israeli-held shale oil fields owned by Rupert Murdoch (FOX) and Jacob Rothschild (SKY).
• Saudi Arabian oil money funded Osama Bin Laden, whereas ISIS oil money funds a bunch of guys who aren’t friends with the Bush family, American oil companies or conservative media billionaires.

BONUS

• Saudi Arabian king tells Americans “ISIS jihadists will be beheading people in America in two months — you see how they carry out beheadings and make children show severed heads in the street. Respond to ISIS now with all necessary force and speed.”
• Whereas ISIS tells Americans “Stop bombing us.”

Saudi Arabian public beheading — a practice that American conservatives and Saudi Arabians called “savage, barbaric and animalistic” when ISIS did exactly the same.

h/t: Al Jazeera

U.S. attempts to combat Islamic State propaganda

WARNING:

YouTube-WARNING:

By Anne Gearan September 7 at 9:55 PM

The stunning rise of the ­Islamic State militant group as both a battlefield force and an Internet juggernaut over the summer has given new urgency to a State Department effort to counter online militant propaganda with a U.S. messaging campaign.
U.S. Attempts to Combat Islamic State Propaganda by Thavam

New U.N. rights boss warns of "house of blood" in Iraq, Syria

Newly appointed U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jordan's Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein speaks at the Human Rights Council at the United Nations Europeans headquarters in Geneva September 8, 2014

Mon Sep 8, 2014

(Reuters) - The new U.N. human rights chief urged world powers on Monday to protect women and minorities targeted by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, saying the fighters were trying to create a "house of blood".

Jordan's Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, the first Muslim to hold the position, called for the international community to focus on ending the "increasingly conjoined" conflict in the two countries, and abuses in other hotspots from Ukraine to Gaza.

Islamic State's Sunni Muslim fighters have over-run large parts of Syria and Iraq since June, declaring a cross-border caliphate. The Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council last week agreed to send a team to investigate killings and other abuses carried out by the group on "an unimaginable scale". [ID:nL5N0R23C4]

Zeid, Jordan's former U.N. ambassador and a Jordanian prince, described Islamic State in his maiden speech to the Council as "takfiris" - hardline Sunni militants who justify killing others by branding them apostates.

"Do they believe they are acting courageously? Barbarically slaughtering captives? ... They reveal only what a Takfiri state would look like, should this movement actually try to govern in the future, said Zeid who succeeds Navi Pillay in the Geneva hotseat.

"It would be a harsh, mean-spirited, house of blood, where no shade would be offered, nor shelter given, to any non-Takfiri in their midst," Zeid added.

He called on Iraq's new government and prime minister to consider joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure accountability for crimes committed there.

"In particular, dedicated efforts are urgently needed to protect religious and ethnic groups, children – who are at risk of forcible recruitment and sexual violence – and women, who have been the targets of severe restrictions," Zeid said.

The ambassadors of Iraq and Syria, in separate speeches, called for combating "terrorist groups" in their homelands and for halting the flow of weapons and funds to Islamist militants.

"Terrorists must not be armed, the source of financing must be stopped. Infiltration of terrorists from abroad must be stopped," said Syria's new envoy Hussam Edin Aala.

"ONLY ANNIHILATION"

The Council has an independent investigation into war crimes by all sides in Syria, where more than 190,000 documented killings have occurred during the conflict that began in March 2011, according to a report by Pillay last month.[ID:L5N0QS28G]

"In the takfiri mind, as we have seen in Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Kenya, Somalia, Mali, Libya, Syria and Iraq ... there is no love of neighbour - only annihilation to those Muslims, Christians, Jews and others, altogether the rest of humanity, who believe differently to them," Zeid said.

Zeid called for an end to Israel's seven-year blockade of the Gaza Strip and said Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank deserved to lead a normal life free of illegal settlements and what he called excessive use of force.

"On this point, I also note that Israelis have a right to live free and secure from indiscriminate rocket fire," he said, referring to rockets fired by militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israel's deputy ambassador Omer Caspi chastised the Council for not naming Hamas as "the perpetrator of war crimes" in a resolution that set up an inquiry last month on the latest war.

"One cannot allow the institutionalised bias against Israel to override the international community's position against terrorism. One cannot allow one country to protect itself against terror and condemn another for doing just that. It is called double standards and it should end," Caspi said.

On Ukraine, Zeid said "at least 3,000 people" have been killed since fighting began in April and called on the Kiev government, armed groups and neighbouring states including Russia to protect civilians and ensure compliance with international law.

Italy's envoy Maurizio Enrico Serra, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), condemned what it called "the aggression by Russian armed forces on Ukrainian soil in clear contravention of international law".

Russia denies accusations by Kiev and the West that it has sent troops into eastern Ukraine to prop up a revolt by pro-Russian separatist rebels.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Andrew Heavens)