Sunday, March 13, 2016

Undue political influence inflicted on witness:

2016-03-13

In a bid to provide false evidence on the Rajagiriya accident where a man was knocked down by a vehicle allegedly belonging to the Ministry of Mr. Patali Champika Ranawaka, undue political influence have been inflicted on the witness of the accident, the Anti Corruption Front (ACF) charged today.

ACF Legal division Chief Namal Rajapakse who came up with this allegation told a media briefing yesterday that he requested the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to carry out a complete investigation on the incident in an impartial and transparent manner.

In a letter addressed to the IGP, Mr. Rajapakse had mentioned that certain politicians had taken effort to publish maps of the accident which they cannot do so, as a case was pending in the Magistrate courts as per a “B” statement.

The letter further stated that the said politicians would offer the youth foreign employment if he provided evidence on their favour.

In his letter, Mr. Rajapakse had added that the youth who witnessed the accident had planned to move to New Zealand before long, and hence, he had requested the IGP to get the courts to impound his passport until the case was completed. He had also informed the IGP to confiscate the 1,000 CC motorbikes involved in the collision, as bikes with such an engine capacity was not permitted to be motored in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the Anti Corruption Front mentioned that they had made a written request to the IGP to investigate into an accident which had taken place on June 29, 2014, where a man was knocked down by a vehicle driven by MP Udaya Gammanpila’s wife. Sources said the parliamentarian had been a Provincial Minister during that time. (Yohan Perera)

Rajapaksa And The Underworld: Indispensable Nexus Of Evil

12 Little Known Laws of Karma (That Will Change Your Life)

There is no generally accepted definition of organized crime. The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 of the United States fails to define organized crime – a number of attributes have been identified by law enforcement agencies and researchers as indicative of the phenomenon.

by Wimalanath Weeraratne

Courtesy : The Sunday Leader, Colombo

( March 13, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Recently, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera who went to a great extent to safeguard the Rajapaksa dynasty during the previous regime and even after its great fall from glory; came out with two startling revelations in the light of Government announcing plans to curb underworld activities.

“Many leading underworld figures, who fled the country during my rule, have returned to the country at the behest of government politicians. Many have been brought back by ruling United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) politicians,” said the former President, who has had no connections with the underworld whatsoever.

“They were brought to engage in canvassing election work during the run-up to 2015 General Election. No one dared enter the country during my time, and we put a full stop to underworld activities,” retorted Rajapaksa.

Last year, the beleaguered Head of State said that those who were in custody and were granted bail didn’t even want to leave the prisons during his time, but had all the freedom to engage in election campaigning with UNP politicians. One might ask as to how Rajapaksa would know what organized gangsters feared and what they preferred!

Underworld is patriotic!

Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera’s revelation is even more startling.

“We know well about the dearly beloved (Pathalaye Pinvathun) members of the underworld. Although we do not associate with them, they truly love this country. Although they may engage in illegal activities and may even kill each other, they are a lot that loves this country. So if this government works against them, it will meet its end from no one else but the underworld itself,” Ven. Thera had the audacity to say.

ContinueReading →

Secret plan of Rajapakses and their den of thieves to get down black monies exposed !

(Lanka-e-News- 12.March.2016, 11.45PM) The Medamulana Rajapakse and their den of thieves have devised a new methodology to get down their black monies that are abroad, based on information reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

The Rajapakses who have by now acquired a monumental notoriety as rogues who plundered the country’s funds and pillaged the State resources , are facing a financial crisis presently because of the obstacles militating against their favorite money laundering activities following so many of their criminal frauds and financial rackets getting exposed and proved , as of late.

To tide over the crisis and to hide their rackets , they have planned to start a campaign to collect bogus aid after going abroad , and send to Sri Lanka their black monies kept hidden there as donations received .

With these fraudulent goals in view , Gotabaya Rajapakse , Rohitha Abeygunawardena alias Ratharan and Wimal Weerawansa the notorious ‘three racketeers’ who have been successful in their crooked acts more than even the ‘three musketeers’ who on the other hand performed brave acts in the Alex Dumas’ fictional story of the past, are due to leave the country on the 18 th on a tour of Japan . They have planned to collect donations from the Sri Lankans in the cities , Thuchiki and Sukuba , Japan. ‘Japan Saman’ the lackey and lickspittle of Weerawansa has made all the arrangements for the touring ‘three racketeers,’ it is learnt.

A Sri Lankan living in Japan speaking to Lanka e news lamented , these Sri Lankan donors in Japan must be suffering from incurable scabies to donate monies to these most notorious crooks like Wimal Weerawansa who transferred a land worth Rs. 300 to 400 million on a deed of gift on the sly to his wife , and the other two rogues Gotabaya and Ratharan who outrageously robbed public funds .

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by (2016-03-13 15:19:47)

A Personal Twist To The Jayawardenepura Saga

By Emil van der Poorten –March 13, 2016

Emil van der Poorten

Last week I provided readers with my observations of the Jayewardenepura Hospital (hereafter JWPH) and its external realities, as a visitor. However, since that little description, replete with comparisons between Rajapaksa’s equivalent to Dubya Bush’s private army in Iraq– Blackwatch – Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd. (RALL), events took a personal and very serious turn.

Let me say at the outset of this narrative that my, admittedly limited, observation of the Intensive Care Unit of that hospital, the HD Unit and a room in the paying section occupied by my partner didn’t suggest anything resembling incompetence. On the contrary all the support staff, of whatever description, appeared caring and competent, something I have observed to be the rule rather than the exception in our grossly under-funded health care facilities. Every one of them appeared to be prepared to “go the extra yard” to ensure the comfort of patients and the peace of mind of visitors connected to the patient. And that is no mean feat under any circumstances.

That said, the patient whom I was visiting was subjected to an experience that certainly rivaled, if not beat, that of the little boy who recently had the wrong leg operated on.

The Cardio-Thoracic surgeon had responsibility for a very major piece of surgery on a patient who was extremely weak and had, in addition, to her heart condition waged a long standing battle with diabetes and asthma. Not the ideal start to something like this.

In any event, after a short sojourn in a room that was comfortable, with people around her who ensured what peace of mind was possible for someone with a life-threatening condition, she went into the operating theatre and, thereafter the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Cardio Thoracic Unit. After about 24 hours in the ICU, she was transferred into the HD Unit (and don’t ask me what “HD” stands for because I neither know nor care!).

She appeared to be making appropriate progress and the surgeon assured me that the surgery itself had been successful but, that with older people with a plethora of other health problems, one shouldn’t be making predictions of an overly-optimistic kind.

I was satisfied that my partner was in good hands and in God’s hands as well, given the fervent prayers and vows her friends were making for her recovery!

The surgery was on the 1st of March and I was compelled to spend some time in Colombo which, to me, is not just purgatory but hell itself, with its overpowering, heat, dust and clamour. No matter, there are things that are more important than personal comfort.

One of the things that occurred at the time my partner entered hospital was that she was paid a visit by probably the most powerful person in the Jayewardenepura Hospital hierarchy. He had apparently walked into her room after having used his influence to have a bigger and better room provided for my partner on the prompting of a relation of mine who was an extremely close friend of his. Suffice it to say that my going to this man for a favour of any kind was as likely as that place down below freezing over. In short, I did not wish to have any contact whatsoever with people of his ilk. And I know his track record, much of which, since Mahinda Rajapaksa was deposed, is probably in the public domain.

ETCA or any other policy is destined to fail if

not properly managed

Critics say that ILFTA has favoured India and not Sri Lanka. This is a misconception and a conclusion arrived at by glancing at the information available on the surface

The best economic policy doesn’t guarantee its success

Monday, 14 March 2016

A country may have the best economists who could come up with a set of best economic policies. Simply because a ‘policy is the best’ does not mean that it would be a success. That is because policies are implemented in the field among people of diverse interests, tastes and ambitions. The list of such people is long. But the key characters, loosely called ‘stakeholders’, include the people at large, critics, Parliamentarians, bureaucrats and foreigners. A policy becomes successful only when it is managed properly among its stakeholders.

Getting support of the people for policies without tears and pains

Economic policies in the past, specifically those intending to introduce market reforms, budgetary discipline, stability in the domestic prices and the exchange rate, have been failures mainly because of the bad policy management. These policies become necessary when a country has ‘lived beyond its means’ creating vast holes within the economy which cannot be filled with available resources. The inevitable corollary is the ballooning of the country’s indebtedness to its own citizens in the case of domestic debt and to foreigners in the case of foreign debt. This, however, worsens the country’s ailments because, now, more and more resources have to be utilised to service the creditors.

The reversal of the trend calls upon people to sacrifice the wellbeing which they have been enjoying unabashedly. But when the situation becomes chronic and acute, as was the case with Greece in the recent past, there is no alternative except getting people to tighten their belts. But, how to get the people to tighten the belts without ‘tears’ and ‘pains’ is the challenge before governments that are required to introduce such painful economic reforms.

Critical economic crisis faced by Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka today is exactly in such an economic mess. Its debt levels have grown beyond its ability to service them without tightening the belts of the Government. In the recent past, the money spent by the Government for repaying debt and paying interest has been more than the Government revenue. Hence, without funds for maintaining the normal services, the Government had to incur more debt not only to repay the principal but also to pay interest on the past borrowings.

This is a critically vulnerable situation for Sri Lanka. Despite the growth in the economy, the Government revenue had fallen as a ratio of the country’s total output, known as the Gross Domestic Product or GDP. Since there was no corresponding cut in the expenditure, the deficit in the budget remained stubbornly high. An artificial reduction in the budget deficit as a ratio of GDP was attained not by cutting the Government’s consumption expenditure, but by curtailing its capital expenditure. The result was the slow growth of the country’s capital stock stunting its future growth potential.

by Kumar David-March 12, 2016, 8:53 pm

ETCA is receiving much coverage, some rational, a lot ignorant, and a not insignificant portion simply to stir up anti this-government sentiment. My piece last week ("Dealing with the elephant next door") despite its title, was not about ETCA but generic about international economic and technical cooperation. Nevertheless it attracted e-mails, phone calls, a TV debate and even a seminar. Perhaps this was because it appeared on the page facing Kishani Jayasinghe’s dignified response to the flood of hateful vituperation heaped on her for singing Danno Buddunge in operatic style. Whether one is a fan of some style of rendition is beside the point; what is alarming is the depravity of the verbal abusers. Ms Jayasinghe did right to bring this to our notice and set off alarm bells about dastardly compatriots who resort to vileness when their prejudices are transgressed.

The relevance of this is that though I suffered no verbal abuse, some commentators were narrow-minded, xenophobic and frog-in-the-well about Lanka’s place in the world. My opponent in a recent TV debate, with dead-pan face, labelled ETCA a dark and dangerous US-Indian plot, hatched in cahoots with Sirisena-Ranil, to push through an imperialist economic takeover of Lanka. He knew full well this was all bollocks, but his aim was to take the gullible in the TV audience for a ride. Painstaking explanation of investment and technical cooperation basics is therefore indispensable since, for historical reasons, visceral anti-Indianism is ingrained in the Lankan psyche.

Complaints

The most frequent complaint about trade with India is that our products suffer unfair obstacles at the hands of bureaucrats who wish to prevent penetration of Indian markets. The categories most mentioned, tea and garments, are not examples that can take India by storm overcoming competition in price and quality. One or two Lankan supermarket chains have broken into India in a small way; possibly they had to first face an uphill battle. Be all this as it may, let us take the complaints of our exporters at face value, as our ETCA negotiators are obliged to, and demand that attention be given to ensuring that obstacles are eliminated and negative lists minimised. What we need is firm constructive engagement if we are to get the best out of ETCA.

By Rumal Siriwardene & Vositha Wijenayake –March 12, 2016

On March 6, 2016, the Government of Sri Lanka launched the ‘Vasa Visa Nethi Ratak‘ – a 3 year programme aimed at curbing the use of agrochemicals, and focusing instead on locally produced organic fertilizers. The government intends to prevent produce such as rice, vegetables and fruits from being tainted by toxic agrochemicals.

It has been widely reported that Sri Lanka annually imports approximately Rs 80 billion worth ofagrochemicals. As Sri Lanka is a tropical country, this has alarming implications for its nitrogen dioxide emissions, since the humidity and heat cause higher amounts of Nitrogen Dioxide to be generated by the soil.

Harmful Impacts Nitrogen Dioxide

Carbon dioxide , produced primarily as a result of burning fossil fuels is the most dominant single source of greenhouse gas emission. Thus climate change policies and legislations across the world focus primarily on cutting down carbon emissions from industrial activities.

The detrimental effects of excess nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere however, has not been given the same meticulous attention as carbon dioxide’s impact. Although the concentration of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere is considerably lower than that of carbon dioxide, the global warming potential of nitrous oxide is considered as being over 300 times greater. According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for every 100 kg of nitrogen fertiliser applied to the soil, one kg ends up in the atmosphere as nitrous oxide (N2O). Also, nitrogen dioxide is the world’s most powerful ozone depleting substance. Due to these reasons, ignoring the impacts of N2O on climate change is not an option, and the global warming effect of nitrous oxide could be considered as extremely harmful as well as greater than the same amount of Carbon Dioxide released to the atmosphere.

March 13, 2016

Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Anura Wijayapala says he is ashamed of the three island-wide blackouts which occurred during last 6 months and that he takes responsibility for the outages.

The CEB Chairman says that he has decided to resign from his position once power is completely restored.

A sudden island-wide power outage occurred at around 2.30pm today (13) and the CEB is still in the process of restoring electricity to several areas.

This comes just weeks after a similar outage occurred on February 25, prompting the Prime Minister to appoint a five-member committee to investigate the incident.

The CEB had said that a possible lightning strike on a transmission line is believed to have caused the power failure which had also resulted in a breakdown at the coal power plant in Norochcholai.

RISE OF THE UNDER WORLD & CHALLENGES BEFORE GOOD GOVERNANCE – BASIL FERNANDO

Inspecting the burned bodies of five peole

Five people reportedly burned alive in this vehicle few days ago, close to Colmbo

14/03/2016

Reports of a series of killings attributed to underworld elements have sent shock waves amongst all Sri Lankans, whether living in Sri Lanka or outside. Almost everyone was speculating as to what these killings aimed to achieve. Some thought the killings were mainly directed towards witnesses of serious crimes being investigated, or already brought to court. There was also speculation that the rise of the underworld could lead to further crimes, including attacks by various political factions against their enemies, and also that it could spread into the economic realm, as well as to illegal businesses such as the drugs trade.

President Maithripala Sirisena himself, recently spoke about the demand for illegal payments from those involved in the transport trade. He mentioned this was a serious problem that needed to be addressed soon.

The Government’s own admission in this area, coupled with daily experiences of very serious crimes, has put to test its promise to bring about good governance throughout the country. The Government promised to end the period of bad governance prevailing in Sri Lanka for many decades, and to bring about orderly governance that will ensure accountability and transparency.

Breeding ground for criminal elements

While the Government’s attempt to develop various units of the police to deal with this issue should be welcomed, such measures alone cannot hope to effectively address the problem of lawlessness, which is a breeding ground for criminal elements.

Despite being fully aware of a 40-year legacy of uncontrolled criminality and disorder, the present Government did not give serious attention to developing a policy to undo this situation and bring about the enforcement of law within a rule of law framework. In fact, rule of law was nearly absent in the vocabulary of the leaders. Thus, criminal gangs and those who exploit them were not dealt with in the manner of overcoming the problems left over by the previous government in the area of law and order and the protection of the people.

The only policy that could answer the level of the collapse of all the protection mechanisms in the country is serious reform of the Sri Lankan police service. It is publicly admitted that the Sri Lankan police was dragged into military work, and used for causing disappearances, illegal arrests, detentions and other illegalities. The issue now is when the police will begin to be restored as a credible institution in Sri Lanka. That question has not been answered; in fact, the Government leaders are silent about the serious reform of the policing service as a first step towards the development of good governance within Sri Lanka.

Modernize the policing force

This issue must be squarely placed with the government think tanks. It is hoped that such think tanks do exist, and that the President and Prime Minister are encouraging them to come up with ideas to solve the problems bedevilling all aspects of life in Sri Lanka.

In particular, it is time for the President and Prime Minister to speak out about the future of the policing service in Sri Lanka, and answer whether the government intends to modernize the policing force as befits a modern democracy. This is an issue on which the Government has no right to remain silent. We urge the Government to speak out, and to let the nation know what plans for modernization of the police are being envisaged, as well as the time frame within which such reforms will be put into effect.

The Government thus has to think in terms of providing human and financial resources for the running of a modernized policing system in Sri Lanka. It is only when the Government can explain its plans to allocate resources for developing an institution capable of dealing with the law and order crisis that people will believe the Government is taking their protection seriously.

– Daily News

Sri Lanka: Move to shelve aircraft deal

( March 13, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) While quoting the government sources, the Sunday Times, weekly newspaper based in Colombo reported, that the Government would introduce cut backs on what is being described as non-priority expenditure in view of the prevailing economic crisis.

One such measure that will be put on hold is expected to be an ambitious plan by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) to buy two 20-year-old C-130 K transport aircraft. One of the aircraft is a long body version whilst the other is a standard version. They are being offered for sale for Sterling Pounds 17.5 million each (or about Rs. 3,576 million) subject to modifications required by the SLAF.

Marshal Aerospace, a British firm, is working through the UK Ministry of Defence for the sale of these two aircraft. They were retired from the Royal Air Force in October 2013. A four-member SLAF delegation led by Air Force Commander Air Marshal Gagan Bulathsinghala, Air Vice Marshal H.A. Silva (Director, Aeronautical Engineering), Wing Commander P.N. Fernando (Representative of Directorate of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering) and Wing Commander A.P. Jayamaha (C-130 Instructor Pilot) were in Britain on a five day visit in January this year to examine the aircraft.

In a report to the Ministry of Defence, Air Marshal Bulathsinghala said that as per Marshal Aerospace and Defence Group, the two aircraft that were available for inspection could be ferried to Cambridge for refurbishment at short notice. However, he said, “the recovery process of aircraft which are in full storage will be initiated only when SLAF submits the consent to purchase.” He has added that “all Electronic Warfare equipment and some avionics that were installed on these aircraft have been removed due to their security sensitive issues.”

Air Marshal Bulathsinghala said the deal should be on a Government-to-Government basis and that Marshal Aerospace and Defence Group are required to provide product support for maintenance of the aircraft and avionics upgrade equipment. The Ministry of Defence in Britain, he has said, is responsible for obtaining the US State Department approval for re-export. This is because the C-130s are manufactured in the United States.

Earlier, the SLAF procured two C-130K converted tanker aircraft also from Marshal Aerospace. Only one of them is operational now. Hence, parts from the second one had been used whenever replacements had become necessary. At present the two C-130s on offer are in a hangar at Statham in Wales. ( The Sunday Times)

Faceless and rudderless Basil starts face book campaign for Rajapakses

(Lanka-e-News- 12.March.2016, 11.45PM) Basil Rajapakse has appointed a group of 50 persons for his face book campaign on behalf of the Rajapakses.Basil who invited them to a house in Kaduwela had given each of them a free Laptop computer and a dongle. In addition he has agreed to pay them a monthly salary of Rs. 25000.00 each.

While saying the Rajapakse regime collapsed because of the face book campaign , and that this government can also be toppled by that campaign , he had appointed this group of fifty to conduct the campaign.

It is the consensus that Basil should have rather started a ‘faceless crooks campaign’ instead of the ‘face book campaign’, for his own kith and kin , and the den of thieves of theirs alone who are now facing criminal charges and arrests could make a much bigger group than his face book campaign group of fifty.

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by (2016-03-13 15:21:30)

The Cabinet Decision On Sri Lanka Accession To The Mine Ban Treaty

By Vidya Abhayagunawardena –March 12, 2016

Vidya Abhayagunawardena

Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines (SLCBL) congratulate President Maithripala Sirisena and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for the Cabinet decision on 2nd March 2016 for acceding to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) commonly known as Ottawa Treaty, banning and eradicating the menace of the anti-personnel landmines from the world. The SLCBL wishes to thank the Government of Sri Lanka particularly the H.E. the President, Hon. Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Hon Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, Hon. Minister of Rehabilitation, Resettlement, Hindu Religious Affairs and Prison Reforms Mr. D.M. Swaminathan and all the officials who were involved in this process. This decision is historical and has got positive media attention locally and internationally particular among the nations working towards a mine-free world and humanitarian disarmament.

Sri Lanka acceding to the MBT will help the country in various ways. Among them, it will enhance the ongoing mine clearance programme and resettling the displaced people of over 10,000 families in the mine-affected areas, more international support can be sought for the mine action programme, enhance the mobilization of international donor funding for the disability sector including landmine victims assistance as well as universalization of the MBT particular among the SAARC nations.

As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on 10th March 2016 made a remark at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council that the next few months will be very important for Sri Lanka and praised its journey towards accountability, reconciliation and durable peace. No doubt that, Sri Lanka’s accession to the MBT will directly help this process. His brother Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-Hussein is the special envoy of the MBT and he requested several times to visit Sri Lanka on universalization mission of the MBT since the end of the war but the previous government did not entertain his request to visit the country. In recent times, he communicated with the SLCBL again on his willingness to visit Sri Lanka for a mission for universalization of the MBT. Read More

Will America’s Olympic Flag Bearer Be Wearing a Hijab?

This summer, the fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad will become the first Muslim American Olympian to compete wearing a hijab.

BY ROBIN WRIGHT-MARCH 4, 2016

Growing up, in Maplewood, New Jersey, where her father was a narcotics detective and her mother a special-education teacher, Ibtihaj Muhammad competed in softball, tennis, volleyball, and track. “In our family, you didn’t have a choice of whether to play sports,” she told me. “You only had a choice of what sports you played.” The family philosophy was that athletics enabled the four girls and one son to better confront discrimination.

Double discrimination, actually. “We’re African-American and we’re Muslim,” Ibtihaj’s mother, Inayah Muhammad, told me. “I’m an educator. I know how important it is for kids to be a part of the community. Sports helps them integrate. Families and fans always unite around teams.”

But, for the girls, team uniforms didn’t cover hair or bodies, as required by their faith. Instead of shorts, Ibtihaj (whose name means “Joy”) wore baggy sweatpants for tennis and track, long loose shirts and leggings for volleyball, and a head scarf, known as a hijab, for them all. She was frequently teased, sometimes harassed. Then, when she was twelve, she and her mother happened to drive past a local high school and saw, through the windows of the cafeteria, students engaging in an unfamiliar sport.

“I didn’t know what it was,” her mother recalled. “But I knew how they were dressed.” The girls wore full-body suits, and helmets that covered their hair. The sport was fencing, and Ibtihaj—her friends call her Ibti—began competing at thirteen. “I’m not sure I fell in love with it at first,” she said. “But I’m really goal-oriented. And when you come from a large family you have to be creative about getting scholarships to college.” She helped her high-school team win two state championships. She still had a hard time winning public acceptance, however.

“When I was young, fencing was a white sport in New Jersey,” she said. “Not many people looked like me. There were no role models. When I competed in local tournaments, there were often comments about me—being black, or being Muslim. It hurt.” She was in advanced-placement English class, in high school, on September 11, 2001. After the second tower of the World Trade Center fell, teachers were instructed to turn off the televisions. Her brother and other Muslim boys were taken from their classrooms to another part of the school. “We still don’t know why,” she told me. “That night, there was panic in my house.”

Too dangerous to play: Dozens of West Bank children killed by Israel forces

Mother of 14-year-old Palestinian boy allegedly shot in the back by Israeli soldiers says that children can no longer go outside safely by themselves

Haitham’s mother, Nasreen al-Baw, denies that her son was throwing rocks when he was killed (Abed al Qaisi)

Luaiy al-Baw said his nephew Haitham was more interested in animals and football than politics (Abed al-Qaisi) - Haitam’s cousin Hamood told MEE that he no longer ventures far from home to play with his friends (Abed al Qaisi)

Sheren Khalel-Sunday 13 March 2016

HALHUL, West Bank – Parents in the occupied West Bank say they can no longer allow their children to play outside because of fears that they could be shot dead by Israeli forces.

A report published this month by a children's rights group said that 41 children had been shot dead during six months of upheaval in which Israeli forces have often responded with lethal force to scores of stabbing and shooting attacks by Palestinians.

Nasreen al-Baw, the mother of 14-year-old Haitham al-Baw who was killed by Israeli soldiers on 5 February, told Middle East Eye that her son had died instantly after being shot in the back while playing on a hillside with his cousin and another teenager and his two new dogs.

Israel security forces said Haitham had been throwing stones at passing cars on the outskirts of Halhul village near Hebron, a statement Nasreen al-Baw denied.

“My son was the oldest of four, and our only son,” she said. “He was very responsible. He had a kind soul that fell for every animal he met, from the chickens to the donkeys and the dogs and cats in our neighbourhood. He didn’t have violence in him.”

According to the Defence of Children International-Palestine (DCIP), which compiled the report into child deaths, an autopsy showed that Haitham had been struck in the back by bullets which pierced his lungs and chest and exited through his mouth.

Haitham's cousin, 16-year-old Wajdi Saada, was tackled and arrested, while the other teenager ran away.

Nasreen al-Baw said she now only allowed her three younger children to leave the family home to go to school, or if they are accompanied by an adult.

“Here the children used to come and go as they pleased. They didn’t sit inside all day on computers, they go would go out and play with their friends after school, but that is not our reality anymore,” she said.

“It’s just too dangerous to let the children out of the house without us. We know now that anything can happen under occupation. A day in a field with a dog can mean death.”

Luaiy al-Baw, Haitham’s uncle, said he had frequently spoken to his nephew about the wave of unrest and warned him to be careful and to stay away from violence.

“I never got the feeling that he was too interested in what was going on though,” he told MEE, sitting in the family’s living room filled with photos and memorial posters of Haitham. “He was more interested in his pets and playing football.”

Five days after Haitham's death, 16-year-old Omar Jawabra was shot dead by Israeli forces when clashes broke out as they entered the nearby al-Arroub refugee camp.

Ivory Coast hotel shooting: Gunmen kill 14 'including four Europeans' in Grand Bassam beach resort

Attack on L'Etoile du Sud hotel in resort popular with Westerners claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Security forces evacuate an injured person in Bassam, Ivory Coast, Photo: Reuters

Ivorian security forces evacuate people after heavily armed gunmen opened fire on March 13, 2016 at a hotel in the Ivory Coast beach resort of Grand-Bassam.

The Etoile du Sud (Southern Star) resort in Grand Bassam, pictured in February

Weapons used by terrorists in Ivory Coast

By Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg and Rory -13 Mar 2016

Gunmen wearing balaclavas stormed three popular hotels at a beach resort in Ivory Coast on Sunday, killing as many as 14 people including four Europeans.

Beachgoers were filmed screaming and running into nearby hotels for cover as up to four gunmen sprayed bullets indiscriminately while shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

Witnesses described the attackers as African, armed with Kalashnikovs and grenade belts and dressed in casual clothes who shot at “anyone they could find” as they “calmly” walked along the packed beachfront of Grand Bassam, 25 miles east of the capital Abidjan at lunchtime on Sunday.

At least one is thought to have been killed as they met police and a shootout ensured. At around 6.30pm local time, an army officer in Grand Bassamsaid two attackers were encircled by special forces.

The attack is the third on West African establishments popular with Westerners since November. In November, the Radisson Blu in Mali’s capital Bamako was targeted in an attack which left 20 dead, then in January gunmen entered the Hotel Splendid and nearby Cappuccino Café in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, killing 30.

Ivory Coast's government says that security forces have "neutralised" six armed men who staged attacks which killed two soldiers among civilians.

Hamed Bakayoko, state minister, said in a statement posted to the government Twitter that security sweeps are underway and a toll of people killed and injured will be announced in the coming hours.

On Sunday night, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) were reported to have claimed responsibility for the attack on the Telegram app.