Anura Senanayake ready to become crown witness ! Two more officers to be arrested before his arrest..!!

(Lanka-e-News- 24.April.2016, 11.30PM) In connection with the brutal murder of Thajudeen , prior to arresting notorious former senior DIG Anura Senanayake on charges of rigging evidence and concealing the truth , two more police officers are to be arrested , based on information reaching Lanka e news inside information division. 

Recently , Narahenpita police crimes division OIC Sumith Champika Perera I.P. was arrested on charges of suppressing the facts in the Thajudeen murder, and Champika  Perera was produced in court on the 21 st and remanded until the 5 th of May after his statement was recorded by the CID.

The CID when making its submissions in court , referred to the news report dated 20th of Lanka e news captioned ‘Ex OIC Narahenpita crimes division arrested in connection with Thajudeen murder’, and  mentioned  the details contained in that report to court. The CID also went on to inform court that in the Thajudeen  murder , the high rung police officers had given instructions to make it look a vehicle accident , and not to conduct further investigations. A number of high ranking police officers had acted in a manner to suppress the  murder and paint the picture it is a  vehicle accident. These officers by producing false information to court had misled the court  , the CID explained in its report to court.

Accordingly , the OIC of Narahenpita police and the ASP who gave advice to him are to be arrested before Anura Senanayake .The latter’s turn will arrive based on the statements made by these officers .

Meanwhile Anura Senanayake has notified  the CID that he is ready to become a crown witness. He has also sent messages after messages to the government’s frontline ministers stating that he is prepared to expose everything what the Rajapakses did , based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division. 

Are the police officers who acted under pressure to be made crown witnesses or ex senior DIG Anura Senanayake who acted unheeding and overriding the IGP then be made a crown witness? Or should he be made an accused? The investigators have yet to decide on that, our inside information division reports.

No doubt, there are as many Rajapakse crimes in which Anura Senanayake was involved as there are crimes he had suppressed. Among them are : apart from the Thajudeen murder , the museum sword robbery , the murder of the monks of Kotte Rajamahavihara, murder of students on Kandy road ,murder of prisoners within the prison,  murder of LokuSeeya, arson committed on Lanka e news portal, setting fire to Colombo Kachcheri, abductions and murders using the white Van and plunder of numerous valuable lands in Colombo that were committed during the Rajapakse era. 

In the circumstances ,if any rascal of a politician is maneuvering  or manipulating to save such a criminal like Anura Senanayake ,  woe betide ! Lanka e news hereby vows strongly   and swears solemnly  that these scoundrels and rascals no matter their status  will be exposed well and thoroughly . 

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by     (2016-04-25 02:04:12)

Other Side Of The Coin On Emirates Deal – A Comment

By Rajeewa Jayaweera –April 24, 2016

Rajeewa Jayaweera

Having read the above titled article written by ‘An Insider’, published in theSunday Island edition of 10 April, this writer wishes to comment on a few issues. However, this is not an attempt to counter or support ‘An Insider’s’ assertions.

At the outset, a few facts need be established;

1. From 1994, it was the desire of the Head of State to privatize then Air Lanka to relieve the Treasury of the burden of a loss making airline.
2. Emirates or for that matter, any other company did not come on bended knees and plead for Air Lanka to be sold to them. They responded to a Bid Document published by GoSL.
3. Two airlines responded; Emirates with an offer to invest in the airline and Continental Airlines with an offer to manage the airline without capital infusion even though Bid Document specified capital investment. Management contract for Emirates was a subsequent development.

It was a Hobson’s choice for GoSL. It had to accept Emirates’ offer of USD 70 million in return for 40% equity and an opportunity to save millions of dollars for the Treasury during the next decade, allow Continental Airlines to manage the airline and continue to underwrite losses in case they were unable to turn around the airline or carry on as before and keep on subsidizing the airline. The then Head of State and Deputy Minister of Finance, notwithstanding objections by the rest of the Cabinet of Ministers, accepted the Emirates offer. It is a matter of public record the Treasury did not dole out any money to the airline from 01 April 1998 till 31 Mach 2008. GoSL achieved its primary objective.

Some of the short comings of Emirates Management pointed out in the article relates to;

Palming off outdated aircraft on SriLankan Airlines

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Govt. Should Not Fish For Opposition MPs – Brito Fernando

By Camelia Nathaniel-Sunday, April 24, 2016

Brito Fernando, President of the Families of the Disappeared, says that the government is under the impression that just like the Rajapaksa regime, they can gather support from Opposition members by offering them ministerial positions within the national government and covering up the charges against them. He points out when the 19th Amendment was brought in, some had felt that as long as something constructive for the country and its democracy was done, it was all right even if the government bought over MPs. However, Fernando told The Sunday Leader that if the government worked in a more transparent manner and won over the confidence and trust of the people, they will not need to fish for opposition MPs by bribing them, in order to solidify their position, and the people will invariably support them.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

Q: Sri Lanka has to submit a report to the UNHRC in June. Do you think we have done enough with regard to the commitment that was undertaken?

A: There are two main factors for consideration, one being the setting up of the task force, which is moving at a very slow pace, but its satisfactory that at least the work has commenced. And the other is the agreement to ratify the UN Convention. In addition, although we are aware of various talks being held at various locations, we don’t see a collective union of these various groups.

For example there are offices set up by Chandrika Bandaranaike, Mangala Samaraweera, Mano Ganesan, D. M. Swaminathan and in addition there are several committees functioning under the Prime Minister. However, in spite of all these various parties functioning independently, there is no consensus among them. Therefore, under these circumstances, even the two steps that were taken have no significance for the families of the disappeared and they don’t feel it.

If the government thinks that they can escape by simply saying that they are working together with the civil organisations, then it is a grave wrong that the government is doing. They may try to go to the UNHRC confidently in June and say that the task force has been established by civil society organisations and the promises made are still being worked on. But this is not the reality on the ground.

However, it is not that we don’t understand the pressure the government is under from Southern extremist forces, and the government needs to work with caution when it comes to matters pertaining to the military. However, I feel that all parties working toward this goal should work together to challenge these extremist southern forces and a clear time frame should be made public for the tasks that need to be achieved or goals that need to be accomplished. The government must give a clear time frame for what they are going to do.

For instance the certificate of absence, even this is still not done. Of course I understand there are legal hurdles, but I don’t think that there are such grave legal issues that justifies such a long period taken for this process. Similarly there are measures that can be taken by the government quite easily, like publishing the list of names of the disappeared, but even these are still not done and they are dragging their feet. The reports of the commissions should have been released as this was a promise that was made during the previous regime. At least there are so many instances of disappearances where evidence is available and the government could have commenced investigations on these. But they have not done it so far.

Under these circumstances on the one hand I am pleased that after 25 years a government has made a promise to address these issues on the disappeared, and    their agreement to ratify the UN convention. However this is not enough to win the trust of the families of the disappeared.

Q: As activists, what are these civil society organisations doing in order to push the government to expedite these processes?

A: We are trying to support the government to challenge the extremist forces who are trying to derail this process, with their famous slogan ‘do not touch our forces.’ On the other hand we are also gearing to push the government to move their feet on the slow pace in implementing the promised actions.

Q: The government keeps calling back those who had to flee the country during the past. However there are allegations that the government is not sincere in their invitation. What is your take on this?

A: Although the government has invited these parties to return to the country, these people have little or no faith in the government’s actions apart from just their word.

Even in the case of Kumar Gunaratnam, we are of the view that if the government invited people to return, even if they have differing political views, and they are seeking their citizenship back, then the government has to take measures to meet these requests. However, seeing what is happening now, those wanting to return will think twice about returning, taking into consideration what is happening to those who have returned.

The measures or the assurances that the government is giving to these people to return is totally inadequate to give them the confidence to return. Some are a bit skeptical if this government will even last. The various contradicting statements made by the leaders and other developments have put some doubt into their minds and they are waiting to see what happens before they decide to return.

However if the government is inviting those who fled the country to return, then even if they have committed certain wrongs, the government should make certain concessions in order to facilitate their return.

Q: Do you see Sri Lanka on a constructive path of reconciliation?

A: There are verbal promises made and some Geneva promises. For instance the land issues. The military is occupying the lands of the people, but the government is more powerful than the military and they should be able to take a decision and release these lands. This is one of the ways that the government can show their commitment and sincerity to the Tamil people. Even the easiest measures that the government can take are being ignored and the government is dragging their feet on the whole reconciliation process.

The government has so far failed to win the confidence and trust of the people in terms of the reconciliation process. It’s not that the government is not doing anything. There is greater freedom than before, but the progress made is not significant enough.

Q: The government is of the view that through a new constitution and power devolution, they can win the trust of the Tamil people and other minority groups. Do you think the new constitution can resolve all the ethnic issues and win over the minority communities?

A: There are two major problems in the constitution. One being that the Tamils given some leverage to ensure their identity and freedom. The other is that the constitution should not give priority to any religion and the constitution should be one that does not include any religious preference. These are the two main problems faced by the country. Hence the government should take a firm stand on these two issues and face whatever criticism or opposition that they have to face, and stand firm.

There is no purpose in drafting a new constitution if the clauses included are not implemented. Then these will just remain in the constitution just like the 13th Amendment. Hence the government should take a firm stand and they should stand by their decision and not be swayed due to any pressure from any party. On the two issues I mentioned earlier, the government should be firm and act steadfastly without bowing down to pressure.

Q: The current government came to power on the promise of eradicating corruption. But corruption is still rampant. How do you see this situation?

A: It is very clear that corruption is still prevalent but I would not go as far as to say it is in the same magnitude as the previous regime. Although there are allegations that there was corruption within the previous regime, we cannot be satisfied that the measures taken to bring those responsible to justice are adequate.

Although we understand that certain legal frameworks are required to prosecute those responsible for corruption, we still feel that the commitment and interest of the government is inadequate.

There are also many allegations regarding the present regime, for instance the 65,000 houses in the North. So it’s not that the current regime is free of corruption, but what we feel is that the measures taken to minimise corruption is totally inadequate. However, as a civil society leader, no matter what, I am ready to do my best to prevent Mahinda Rajapaksa from coming back to power.

A cherry-picking Monetary Board when another major ‘bond scandal’ is rubbing on its nose

Source: EconomyNext-Monday, 25 April 2016

 Monetary Board is the authority on monetary policy

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has issued a response (available at: http://www.ft.lk/article/536676/Central-Bank-responds-to--Dilemma-in-Monetary-Policy--Monetary-Board-caught-in--The-Devil-s-Alternative-?-) to an article which this writer had published in this series (available at http://www.ft.lk/article/534654/Dilemma-in-monetary-policy--Monetary-Board-being-caught-in--The-Devil-s-Alternative-?) earlier. 

This writer’s article had questioned the logic and economic rationale of the loose monetary policy being pursued by the Monetary Board at a time when there is a serious economic crisis looming over the nation. 

These issues were raised with the Monetary Board because it is the board which has been incorporated and charged under the Monetary Law Act with the responsibility for pursuing suitable policies for the preservation of the domestic and external values of the rupee, the legal tender currency in Sri Lanka. The institution known as the Central Bank has no legal status under the law; it simply functions as the Secretariat to and the operational arm of the Monetary Board to facilitate the latter to adopt and implement suitable policies. Hence, if the policies adopted by the Board do fail, its members, consisting of the Governor, Secretary to Ministry of Finance and three outsiders, have to take responsibility for such failure. 

The Central Bank does not have legal responsibility for such failures, though in the eyes of the public it is usually the Central Bank and not the Monetary Board, which is at the receiving end of criticism by all. In this background, it is presumed that the response under reference had had the sanction of the Monetary Board before its issue. The response does not say so, but chooses to refer to the Monetary Board as CBSL, implying that both are synonymous – an inaccurate representation of the board.

Failure of policy by the Monetary Board

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Second bond scandal costs EPF dear – JVP 

April 24, 2016, 12:00 pm

JVP trade Union Wing Leader KD Lalkantha, Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath, Convener of the Voice Against Corruption Wasantha Samarasinghe addressing media at the press conference.

The JVP yesterday said a Central Bank racket had resulted in a huge loss to the Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF).

Addressing a press conference held at party headquarters former JVP MP cum convenor of the Anti-Corruption Voice, Wasantha Samarasinghe alleged that a company owned by a person close to the Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran was involved in the scandal.

Samarasinghe said losses incurred by the EPF due the scandal must be the biggest issue to be addressed on May Day. "Immediately after the change of government last year, the Central Bank advertised its intention to sell Treasury bonds worth Rs. 1,000 million and sold bonds worth Rs 10,000 million at a higher interest to a company owned by the present Governor’s son-in-law. When the racket was exposed President Maithripala Sirisena ordered that Central Ban Governor be removed. But, the Wickremesinghe government did not follow the presidential order. Now, a second scandal has taken place under the watch of the same Governor."

Samarasinghe said the latest bond auction scandal had taken place when 2,030 bonds (for over 14 years) were sold for Rs. 28.9 billion at an average yield of 14.23 per cent on March 29, sharply higher than the 11.66 per cent at an auction on February 05, after originally asking for 20 billion. But only Rs. 10 billion was raised by selling 2,020 bonds at that time.

Samarasinghe said primary dealers could make large profits when the tenure was long. A steeper yield curve would also help them make more profits. The controversial March 29 auction had taken place hours before a monetary policy decision which led to speculation of a rate hike.

Following the auction and the monetary policy statement, the Central Bank called for investment advisors to sell up to USD 3.0 billion in sovereign bonds, changing sentiments and sending yields plunging down. It was not clear why the statement had not been released before the auction. It was the company owned by the Governor’s son-in-law which obtained highest number of bonds during last year through primary dealing, Samarasinghe said.

He said that highest investment share of the EPF monies amounting to Rs. 1,300 billion had been made on Treasury and government bonds. If the EPF had purchased those bonds directly without a primary dealer’s intervention, it would have been able to earn a profit of around Rs. 80 million. Samarasinghe called it a huge robbery of savings of the workers of this country, Samarasinghe said.

"Neither the Finance Minister nor the Prime Minister nor the President has uttered a word against this scam. This money belongs to workers and they are the ones who will suffer," Samarasinghe said.

JVP trade Union Wing Leader KD Lalkantha and Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath also addressed the media.

Let’s see when we come to power – Namal threatens the SLFP organizers

Apr 24, 2016

News reaching us confirms that Galle district SLFP organizer Thisara Gunasinghe has lodged a complaint to the Hikkaduwa police against UPFA parliament MP Namal Rajapaksa for threatening him.

Thisara Gunasinghe said that Namal Rajapaksa threatened him during a wedding ceremony.

 

Gunasinghe said, Namal Rajapaksa who participated for a wedding ceremony yesterday 23rd in Hikkaduwa called him to a side and questioned as to why I decided not to support the joint opposition but the government.

 

Following that Namal Rajapaksa has said that Namal Rajapaksa said “we will soon come to power. Let us see what happens to you all when we come to power” and threatened him.

 

Subsequently Thisara Gunasinghe has immediately lodged a complaint to the Hikkaduwa police and to the Colombo CID regarding the incident. Thisara Gunasinghe is the son of former SLFP parliamentarian Nanda Gunasinghe. Recently president Maithripala appointed Thisara Gunasinghe as the organizer for the SLFP in Galle 

CEJ Questions Sri Lanka’s Rational Behind Signing Paris Agreement, When Promoting Coal Power

April 24, 2016

As the world celebrated Earth day two days ago, and Sri Lanka joining 130 nations to sign the Paris agreement to stop climate change, the Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka (CEJ/FoE) questioned the Sri Lankan government’s rationality in signing the international agreement while promoting coal power, which bears grave repercussions to the country’s environment.

Susil Premajayantha

“Pushing ahead with the Sampur Coal Power plant is completely incompatible with trying to stop climate change. We demand a stop to promoting coal power in Sri Lanka. We demand the Sri Lankan government do its fair share to fight the climate crisis, in line with equity and historical responsibility, and not allow Chinese and Indian polluting Industries to establish in Sri Lanka in the name of foreign investment,” Hemantha Withanage, Executive Director, CEJ/FoE Sri Lanka said.

The organisation further emphasised that the world cannot count on the Paris agreement to stop climate change. On April 22, representatives of over 130 nations attended the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Science, Technology and Research Susil Premajayantha signed the agreement on behalf of the Sri Lankan government.

However, the Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka along with Friends of the Earth International strongly denounced the deal as a weak agreement which failed to deliver the scale of action needed to prevent dangerous climate change.

“Scientists are now telling us that we have entered ‘decade zero’. Decisions taken in the next 10 years – investments in dirty mega infrastructure, exploitation of new fossil fuel sources, mobilisation and distribution of public finance, the scale of emissions reductions that are undertaken – will determine if we breach the 1.5°C guardrail or not,” said Dipti Bhatnagar, Climate Justice and Energy Coordinator for Friends of the Earth International.

“This in turn will determine the scale of impacts on our planet and its people,” she added

She noted that neither the Paris Agreement nor its formal signing this week will safeguard our planet from the ravages of the climate catastrophe.

According to her, In December, it was noted that even though the Agreement mentions the pursuit of ‘efforts to limit increase to 1.5 degrees,’ whilst acknowledging the risks of a 2°C goal, it totally lacks the conviction that is urgently needed to meet the 2°C goal, let alone 1.5°C goal. In fact, current pledges put forward by countries add up to warming of around 3 degrees, and possibly higher – clearly incompatible with a habitable planet.

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Udu(biru)we Dhammaloke possessed by ‘red passport’ satan !

(Lanka-e-News- 24.April.2016, 11.30PM) Uduwe Dhammaloka the robed monk who kept elephants captive like dogs is pressurizing the ministers and MPs of the cabinet to get him an official travel passport (red) despite the fact that he holds no post in the government , based on reports reaching Lanka e news.

Dhammoloka who was an M.P. for some time held a red passport during that period.  Now , it is 7 years since he lost his M.P. post , yet he is still retaining the official red passport. As the passport had expired , he had submitted the red passport to the Immigration and Emigration department to obtain a new one, when the department had issued him an ordinary passport.

To Dhammaloka an exploiter and opportunistic selfish gainer , the red passport secures for him many privileges , and is an avenue of luck when he travels about . He has therefore applied  intense pressures on the frontline ministers and M.P.s to obtain a red official passport.

While the nation salutes the Controller of Immigration and Emigration for abiding by the regulations, and  not permitting anybody to flout the laws , the nation roundly condemns those politicos who attempt to help Dhammaloka the monk to secure special privileges illegally and desecrate even the saffron robe.

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by     (2016-04-25 02:06:45)

Vehicle import duties dominate Govt’s tax drive

Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Government has set a target of Rs. 886 billion revenue from taxes with the biggest contribution expected from vehicle import duties amounting to Rs. 280 billion. The Government is also expecting Rs. 125 billion via import tax followed by Rs. 95 billion from port and airport development levy (PAL), Rs. 85 billion from excise duties, Rs. 75 billion from VAT, Rs. 65 billion from special commodity levy (SCL) and Rs. 54 billion from import Cess levy.

The Finance Ministry has prepared letters, circulars, guidelines, revenue bills, and amendments to the Finance Act and Inland Revenue Act to implement 2016 budget proposals soon, Treasury Secretary R.H.S. Samaratunge told the Sunday Times.

Necessary amendment bills relating to the implementation of VAT and NBT revisions are being prepared although the enactment of revenue bills and the issuing of guidelines and circulars to relevant ministries and institutions had been delayed due to unavoidable reasons, he added.

VAT has been increased to 15 percent from 8-12.5 percent from May 2 but water, electricity and medicinal drugs are exempted from the increase. The NBT will remain at 2 percent, he said adding: “In Sri Lanka it is difficult to implement tax increases but easy to implement tax cuts.”

Is May Day now really meant for the workers?

Apr 24, 2016

Political parties as fast as a deer getting ready for the May Day scheduled on May 1st. Many political parties say that they are going to hold the biggest and the most vivid May Day rally this year.

By now some political parties have reserved sports grounds, building stages and decorating pageant vehicles. Some parties are engaging in a battle to increase the participant heads. However all political parties have forgotten to remember that the May Day is an international day for the working class.

 

The political parties who are trying to create the most attractive May Day rally, May Day procession and increase the heads of party supporter’s has forgotten to win the aspirations of the working class.

 

Some political parties measure the success rate of their May Day procession is by trying to pull the majority of parliament, provincial and local government ministers to their stages or by having the most attractive May Day stage or by having the longest May Day procession.

 

However what is the benefit the working class is going to get by keeping a longest May Day procession or by holding an attractive May Day rally.

 

Majority of the working class in the country is from the private sector and for most of the people May 1st is not a holiday.

 

No reports reaching us confirm that a political party has given at least an announcement to the private sector to grant holidays for their workers.

 

It appears that there is no such necessity for these political parties who is hijacking the international day reserved for the workers to fulfill their sordid political objectives. 

Video: Inside Tel Aviv’s “Death to the Arabs” rally

Dan Cohen and David Sheen-22 April 2016

Thousands converged on Tel Aviv’s city hall this week to register their support for an Israeli soldier who wasfilmed last month executing a Palestinian youth as he lay on the ground, wounded and immobile, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

From across the country, Israelis descended upon Rabin Square, Tel Aviv’s premier venue for large public protests, to express their indignation over the army’s charges of manslaughter against the soldier, 19-year-old Sergeant Elor Azarya.

The rally featured speeches by Azarya’s mother, father and sister and a number of musical performances by popular Israeli artists.

At another rally which we filmed in the soldier’s home town of Ramle, rally-goers voiced harsh criticism for those who do not support Azarya’s action and for those who helped expose his deed – especially the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

They also expressed hostility for his victim, 21-year-old Palestinian Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif, as well as for the Palestinian people in general.

Although he gave Azarya his full-throated endorsement, event organizer and former lawmaker for the hard-right Yisrael Beiteinu party Sharon Gal could scarcely contain the rage of some of the rally’s attendees and their anger boiled over into bursts of violence.

Although one of us was attacked by the crowd and removed from the area by police, the other still managed to film some of the event’s most poignant and frightening moments.

Notably, on the same day as the rally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged leniency for Azarya.

Israeli media reported on Friday that Azarya has been released from custody for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began at sundown.

Dan Cohen is an independent journalist and filmmaker. He is co-producer of the upcoming film Killing Gaza.David Sheen is an independent writer and filmmaker.

Rocket attacks on Turkish town from IS-held territory provoke riots

Attacks may also raise fears that refugee camp where Syrians are to be returned to Turkey under EU deal is unsafe 

Riot police in Kilis, Turkey, used water cannon to disperse protesters after the third rocket attack of the day (MEE/Ibrahim Jawdat)

Family's home was struck by rocket attack, leaving debris scattered across floor (MEE/Ibrahim Jawdat) -

Lizzie Porter-Sunday 24 April 2016

KILIS, Turkey – Angry residents had to be dispersed with water cannons and shots fired in the air on Sunday afternoon after the government failed to stop a third rocket attack of the day on this town along the Syrian border.

One person was reported killed and 16 wounded after the rocket struck the central square of Kilis, which is about one kilometer from Syria and territory held by the Islamic State (IS) group.

The local government office hung up when MEE phoned to ask its position on the attacks and subsequent riot. The mayor's spokesperson said he was not in a position to comment. At least three men who participated in the protests were later seen wearing handcuffs as they were taken into the police station. 

In addition to angering residents, the attacks may raise fears that a refugee camp outside town, where Syrians are to be returned to Turkey under the EU's controversial refugee-returns deal, is an unsafe location. 

One Syrian refugee interviewed outside the established Oncupinar camp, adjacent to the Syrian border, said: "We don't know when or where a bomb will hit. We don't feel safe."

German Prime Minister Angela Merkel was reportedly supposed to visit a new camp next to Oncupinar for refugees being returned under the deal, but that was canceled. Instead, on Saturday she visited a long-established camp miles from the border, which was dismissed by human rights groups as a tour of a "sanitized" centre.

Yalcin Akdogan, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, was in Kilis at the time of the attack on the square, and later said in a statement that Kilis residents should avoid gathering in public places. 

Since the beginning of the year, Kilis has been struck by about 50 rockets fired from IS-held territory in Syria, which have left 15 people dead and many more wounded. Residents have become increasingly frustrated at the government’s failure to halt the attacks, although authorities insist they are retaliating. 

On Saturday, Prime Minister Ahmed Davutgolu said the army "keeps destroying launch points in Syria", but admitted the terrorist group's use of mobile launchers sometimes made counter-attacks difficult.

On Sunday, smoke could be seen rising from IS-held territory across the border, and there were sounds of gunfire and bombing from the area.

Earlier on Sunday, 16 people were wounded as two rockets apparently fired from IS-held Syrian territory struck residential areas of Kilis, destroying two family homes.

Growing resentment

"We feel cursed, the danger follows us everywhere", said Zakaria, who is originally from the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo and saw a two-metre-wide hole torn through his apartment by one of the rockets on Sunday morning.

His ground-floor home of four years - occupied by eight Syrians - was left in a state of disarray, with a child's bouncer ripped to pieces and glass strewn across rugs. 

"Suddenly there was dust everywhere; I couldn't see my children through it," Zakaria said. "The problem with rockets is there is no sound and we didn't see it coming. At least in Syria we could hear the planes attacking us.”

The building's landlord said he hoped the government would help with the cost of repairs. The attacks were not the fault of the Syrians, he said.

"They barely have enough money for bread and I know this has happened to them as well as to us. I do not blame them," he said. 

But increasing resentment towards the refugees in Kilis is evident. Zakaria's brother Youssef said locals broke the wing mirror off an ambulance taking those wounded in this morning's attack to hospital, and the vehicle was prevented from leaving until police arrived on the scene. 

Aladeen, a Syrian shopkeeper in Kilis, said the rocket attacks had increased local Turks' resent at Syrians living in the town, which is now home to about 120,000 refugees, who outnumber the local Turkish population of 80,000.

"IS is randomly shelling to increase rage against Syrians, so that they will be kicked out of Kilis, he told MEE. "Most Turkish people here say this is not Syrians' fault, but after stuff like this some of them start to think they are the cause after all."

A few streets away from Youssef and Zakaria's home, another rocket hit a Turkish family's home, ripping through one wall and leaving family photos strewn across the floor. 

Abdi, who lives in the house with his father, was taken to hospital with minor injuries. He said : "I didn't see the bomb, but suddenly just felt a huge explosion. IS is our neighbour here and I am scared." 

A police officer in Kilis told MEE journalists: "Kilis has a lot of problems now; you should go back to London.”

Concocting lies before Iraq war

Jonathan Power-Apr 21,2016

President Barack Obama observed: “ISIL [Daesh] is a direct outgrowth of Al Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our invasion — which is an example of unintended consequences — which is why we should generally aim before we shoot.”

Many of us looking at the horror of the Iraq war, waged by the US and the UK against the regime of president Saddam Hussein, in which 200,000 civilians died and for which a total of $800 billion were spent, need little to be persuaded that there was a Machiavellian plot to find an excuse to make war.

Yet, there are many in the circles of power in Washington who believe the US should shoot on sight and kill whenever danger is thought to have appeared — in Iraq, Syria, Libya and, before that, in Vietnam.

The so-called “justification” for going to war in Iraq 13 years ago was based on a 93-page classified CIA document that allegedly contained “specific information” on Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programmes and his close links with Al Qaeda.

The document has now been declassified thanks to the work of investigative journalist John Greenewald. His findings have just been published in the online magazine, VICE.

The document, before published with a large number of deletions, is available for everyone to read in its entirety.

It reveals that there was absolutely no justification for the war. It reveals that there was “no operational tie between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda” and no WMD programmes.

President George W. Bush’s secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld, claimed that the US had “bulletproof evidence” linking Saddam to the terrorist group.

“We do have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of Al Qaeda members. We have what we consider to be very reliable reporting of senior-level contacts going back a decade, and of possible chemical and biological-agent training”.

The Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) National Intelligence Estimate report takes a very different line. 

The document observes that its information about a working relationship between Al Qaeda and Saddam was based on “sources of varying reliability”.

“As with much of the information on the overall relationship, we do not know to what extent Baghdad may be actively complicit in this use of its territory for safe haven and transit.”

A report issued last December by the high-powered RAND Corporation, which employs some of the best analysts in the US, titled “Blinders, Blunders and Wars”, said the CIA report “contained several qualifiers that were dropped. As the draft went up the intelligence chain of command the conclusions were treated increasingly definitively”.

One example is that the CIA report concluded that Iraq “probably has renovated a vaccine production plant to manufacture biological weapons, but we are unable to determine whether biological weapons research has resumed”.

The report also said that Saddam did not have “sufficient material” to manufacture nuclear weapons. But on October 7, 2002, in a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bush said that Iraq “possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons” and “the evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons programme”.

As for Rumsfeld’s claim “solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of Al Qaeda members”, the CIA report concluded that it was not at all clear that Saddam “had even been aware of the relationship, if in fact there were one”.

Congress’ later investigation concluded that the intelligence community based its claims on a single source.

Paul Pillar, now a visiting professor at Georgetown University and before that in charge of coordinating the intelligence community’s assessments on Iraq, told VICE that the bio-weapons claims were based on unreliable reporting by sources such as Ahmad Chalabi, the former head of the Iraqi National Congress, an opposition group.

“There was an insufficient scepticism about some of the source material,” Pillar said.

“I think there should have been agnosticism expressed in the main judgements.”

Pillar went on to say Bush and Rumsfeld “had already made the decision to go to war in Iraq, so the CIA report didn’t influence their decision”. But they used their misleading interpretations of it to convince public opinion that war was necessary. (The British ambassador at the time wrote in his book that he had told the British prime minister, Tony Blair, this. Yet, Blair went on telling the public that evidence of malfeasance was still being gathered.)

The RAND study also concluded that the report was wrong on mobile biological labs, uranium ore purchases from Niger and Iraq building rocket delivery systems for WMD.

Yes, aim before you shoot. And do not tell such terrible lies.