[Transcript]  Mosaic News - 7/1/09: World News From The Middle East

Presenter, Male #1
The Turkish National Security Council recently met and had a long and heated discussion about the crisis of confidence between the army and the government. This crisis broke out after reports were released about the existence of new coup plots, which the military denied.

Presenter, Female #1
Yousif Sharif in Ankara is observing these developments and their repercussions.

Reporter, Male #2
This is the first time that the military wing is the defender, rather than the attacker in a National Security Council meeting. They are defending themselves against accusations of plotting a coup. Chief of Staff, General Irkar Bashbo, confirmed that the allegations have been fabricated by an Islamic group with media influence. He stated that this group is trying to divide him and the government, as well as distort the image of the army. It seems that this defense will not convince the Prime Minister, who holds the army accountable. He remembers past years when he had to defend himself and his party in front of the army in this same hall against similar accusations by the secular regime. Times have changed and the positions have changed; this is Turkey’s current situation.

Guest Male #3
In the blink of an eye, the government has amended legislation allowing trials to take place in civilian courts of the military personnel who are accused of coup plots. This is an indicator of the lack of confidence of the government in military trials that often, in the past, vindicated many generals who were accused of similar accusations. The investigative judge of the civil court immediately began by interrogating 8 generals who were vindicated in a military court in the last case. However, there are those who feel that the government exploited the case for political purposes.

Guest, Male #4
There is no legal evidence for the existence of coup plots. All the propaganda and unauthentic documents may have been forged, but the government wants to continue discussing this issue to restore its popularity which it lost in the last elections, and to cover up the news about the economic crisis.

Reporter, Male #2
Is Erdogan’s government oppressing the army and casting doubt on it? Even if this is true he will not abandon the principle of equal treatment. The army is no more confident in Erdogan than in his government. However, previous military coups compel Erdogan to be more cautious before he falls in the same trap twice. For the first time, the Turkish amendment allows the leader of the coup and the military generals to be tried in a civil court. This issue has intimidated the military institution, despite its certainty of innocent, from the accusations that they are facing this time. However, the lesson is not in the proof of the accusations which are highly present in the military record. They are trying to maintain their control of the military by using civil law and its courts. Yousif Shareef. Al Jazeera. Ankara.

Presenter, Female #1
Despite its certainty of innocence, this amendment and the accusations they are now facing has intimidated the military. However, the lesson does not lie within the proof of the accusations that are present in the military records. They are trying to maintain their control of the military by implementing civil law and using its courts. Yousif Shareef, Al Jazeera, Ankara. With us is the Chief of the Al Jazeera Bureau Yusuf Sharif. Yusuf, how will the differences between the investigative judge and the military court and its past decision possibly be resolved?

Reporter, Male #2
We are definitely facing a complicated crisis. Firstly, it is a crisis of confidence between the army and the government, and secondly, it is a power struggle between the military tribunals and the civil courts. Right now, there is a possibility that the president, Abdullah Gul, will object to this amendment that allows for the trials of military personal to take place in civil courts because it may transform the issue into a power struggle. Who will judge the military institution in the future? The military courts? The civilian courts? Or both? Consequently, there is an impending legal crisis. There is a crisis of confidence between the army and the government. The government attempted yesterday, during a 7 and half hour meeting with the National Security Council that then led to a smaller, 2 hour meeting between the President, Prime Minister and Chief of Staff to find a solution to this problem. And that problem is the confidence between the army and the government. With this, we expect that tomorrow’s efforts will attempt to establish a legal basis and spark a political dialogue to get past this problem. However, there remains the problem of the coup conspirators in Turkey. There are definitely conspirators attempting to overthrow the government. The Chief of Staff either does not know anything about them or this is just propaganda. The army sees this as propaganda, promoted by an Islamic group that has major media influence, and is tricking the government to create a division between the government and the army. These are all pressing questions, whose solution requires a deeper and longer dialogue between the government and the army, led by President Abdullah Gul. We can’t say that this crisis has been amended yet, or that the political gap has been filled because the investigative judge of the civil court ordered the imprisonment of Military Officer Chichek, whose release was later ordered by the military court due to a lack of evidence of his involvement in this matter. Therefore, there is a discrepancy between the decisions of the military court and civil court. The government believes that the military courts are covering up the crimes and military coup attempts. We are in the beginning of a crisis, which may last for a long time.

Presenter, Female #1
Thank you Yousif Sharif, speaking to us from Ankara.

Presenter, Female #1
Kuwait’s National Assembly renewed its vote of confidence for the Minister of Interior, Sheikh Jaber al-Khalid. Al-Khalid was questioned by members of the parliament after receiving 30 out of 50 votes in the parliament. According to parliamentary sources, there were not enough votes to pass the no confidence motion against al-Khaled. Meanwhile, the opposing Members of Parliament said that the minister of interior was not politically exonerated. More details are in the following report by Saad al-Ajemi in Kuwait.

Reporter, Male #1
The Kuwaiti government attended the no confidence vote in the parliament, where MPs from the opposition launched efforts to oust the minister of interior, Sheikh Jaber al-Khalid. Thirty out of forty-eight MPs attending the session have renewed their vote of confidence of the minister. Sixteen of the MPs have signed the no confidence motion, with two legislators, including Aseel al-Awadi, declining to vote.

Guest, Male #2
We are convinced that the minister of interior is innocent of any wrongdoing. This is why we voted against the no confidence motion. If more questioning is to come up in the future, God forbid, we will deal with it accordingly, with a great level of integrity and transparency.

Reporter, Male #1
During the no confidence motion, 3 MPs who voted in favor the Minister of Interior and 3 others who voted against him have addressed the parliament. The MPs exchanged accusations, which prompted the speaker of the parliament to five warning that he would issue sanctions against the MPs and adjourn the session.

Guest, Male #3
The fact of the matter is that they are trying to eliminate this man.

Guest, Male #4
All channels leading to the questioning of the minister are solid and strong. The evidence in the case is strong enough to impeach the entire government, not only the minister of interior.

Reporter, Male #1
The MPs backing the no confidence vote said they will file a request to transfer the minister’s case to the Court of Ministers.

Guest, Male #5
We will present this request to some of the Mps to sign, including those who had a different opinion in the case. The Court of Ministers has jurisdiction over the case of the minister. The Court of Ministers has the power to impeach any minister. Each minister must think twice before trying to squander public funds. The National Assembly will hold any minister accountable, whether by questioning them, rendering a no confidence vote against them, or by transferring them to the Court of Ministers.

Reporter, Male #1
This no confidence motion was an unprecedented development in the history of political life in Kuwait. Jaber al-Khale is the first minister from the ruling family to have a no confidence vote held against him. The no confidence motion has ended in a sweet but bitter conclusion. It will, however, create some political tension between the two branches of the government in the upcoming period. Saad al-Ajemi, alarbaiya, Kuwait.

Host, Man # 1
Joining us via satellite is parliament member Dr Hyder Al Aubidi. Dr, first of all we would like to congratulate you on this day of national sovereignty.

Guest, Man # 2
I would like to congratulate you on the transfer of security responsibility from the American forces to the Iraqi forces. God willing all Iraqis Will be able to achieve great victories and manage to control their affairs and destiny.

Host, Man # 1
Dr., Can you evaluate the first wave of oil-deal offerings? Has it helped the Iraqi oil sector?

Guest, Man # 2
In the name of God the merciful and most compassionate. Developing the Iraqi oil sector is a fundamental matter. As you know oil is the bread and butter of the Iraqi economy and without sufficient investments in the oil sector and proper ways of utilizing our oil, we will never be able to reconstruct the country. We need billions if dollars to rebuild the country’s infrastructure. During the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, the infrastructure was ignored and due to acts of terrorism and the situation in Iraq during the past six years, we need more support. Oil resources are our only source of income; oil makes up about 90% of our exports and therefore we need foreign investments to develop the oil sector. The transfer of expertise to Iraqis is a crucial matter. Oil is now an international commodity and no one country holds all the oil resources. Therefore attaining these skills and bringing international technology to Iraq by allowing foreign companies to operate in Iraq is crucially important. Otherwise we can’t develop our oil exportation capabilities. We have a long history of Iraqi expertise but these experts need to be introduced to new technology and international expertise so that we can develop our oil installation in a proper manner. We have been talking about this for a year and a half. Today the zero hour has come; companies are submitting proposals. I think that a high ministerial committee headed by the prime minister, has the right to appeal these oil deals that Iraq is making with oil companies. The decision will be based on what these companies can do to benefit Iraq’s national interests. There is an Iraqi committee overseeing the process, and there are consultants helping the Iraqi side make decisions. As you know the parliament spent two whole days to discuss the subject matter with the minister of oil. All reservations were expressed to the minister of oil and he responded to most of these reservations. We in the parliament do not have all the expertise that we need for a major issue like this one; there are however experts outside the parliament and I think the government should follow proper legal procedures, though there are different views.

Host, Man # 1
Dr., how companies were selected in the second round? Do some of the companies have historical or qualitative advantages? Can all companies the second round of offerings?

Guest, Man # 2
In the first public offering, companies were screened. 120 companies have submitted applications, but after their qualifications were examined they were reduced to thirty-five companies. Any citizen can see the names of the companies that were accepted. These companies represent international oil companies from places like Japan, China, Russia, France, Germany, Holland, Britain, America, Brazil, and other countries such as India which has well known oil companies. All international companies are now present in Iraq. The companies that participated in buying offers are big companies because the offers cost a great deal of money; about 51 million dollars just to buy one offer. This is a large sum of money. 32 companies have bought the offers and now they are competing with each other. Iraq has options from many companies from all over the world. All these companies have expertise and are well know. We have the option to choose the companies that give us better terms.

Presenter, Woman # 1
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that Syria will soon run out of food and medicine supplies in the coming months if donor countries do not provide the organization with immediate aid. These were the words of a UNHCR spokesman in Syria during a joint press conference with the Saudi minister Muhamad Al Idressy, who gave 5 million dollars in support of the UNHCR organization’s projects in Syria and Jordan. We leave you with Hana Hushan in Damascus.

Reporter, Man # 1
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that Syria will soon run out of food and medicine supply in the coming months if donor countries do provide the organization with immediate aid. These were the words of a UNHCR spokesman in Syria during a joint press conference with the Saudi minister Muhamad Al Idressy, who gave 5 million dollars in support of the UNHCR organization. Two thirds of this money will be spent on food and health programs to help Iraqi refugees in both Syria and Jordan.

Guest, Man # 2
I’m sorry to say that if we do not address these shortages in the next few months, it will be difficult to support the needs from Iraqi refugees in Syria and prevent weaker groups from being exploited. Some will have no choice but to go back to Iraq due to economic and social pressure.

Guest, Man # 3
The Saudi Kingdom provides moral and financial support to many organizations working on humanitarian projects.

Reporter, Man # 1
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees says that only 230,000 Iraqi refugees have registered their names at the organization, even though there are more than 1 million Iraqi refugees in Syria. Last year, there were 1.5 million Iraqi refugees living in Syria.

Guest, Man # 5
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is trying to provide essential aid to the Iraqi refugees by giving them food and medicine, which will allow them to live in dignity in Jordan and Syria.

Reporter, Man # 1
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees believes that it is important to establish a rule of law in Iraq. Iraqi refugees who return to Iraq can NOT live in their own homes; rather they have to live in areas that are inhabited mainly by Shiites or Sunnis. Some Iraqi refugees have returned to Iraq, but the situation in Iraq is still not good. When asked whether they want to return to Iraq within a year, most Iraqi refugees said no.

Guest, Man # 4
We can’t go back because we are threatened.

Guest, Woman # 2
Yes, Iraq is our country. But the situation in Iraq, as you know, is not good- people are getting killed.

Reporter, Man # 1
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees says that the time to encourage Iraqi refugees to return home has not come yet, despite the insistence of the Iraqi government. The organization believes that the Iraqi government should direct their attention to the displaced people inside Iraq. Hana Hushan, Al Arabiya, Damascus.

Presenter, Woman #1
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt announced that security forces have arrested four of its leaders in a raid campaign. The Brotherhood described the raid as “proof that the regime is panicking”. A member of the Guiding Bureau and the secretary general of the Arab Doctors’ Union were among the detainees. Accusations ranged from money laundering and following Hezbollah’s directions to form terrorist cells to organizing demonstrations in various regions. The accusations are endless, with many more to come. The Egyptian regime is preoccupied with how to make Mubarak’s son the heir of the presidency, and it is worried about the Muslim Brotherhood. What’s the latest information about the arrests, and will they be followed by the dissolution of the parliament? Joining us from Cairo is Dr. Essam al-Aryam, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. Essam, what are the backgrounds of those most recently arrested from the Muslim Brotherhood leadership?

Guest, Man #1
In the name of God, the merciful and most compassionate, I think that the arrests have become a consistent policy of the regime, which has failed to confront all the problems, and has now become the crisis of a tyrant government.Twenty-eight long years have passed since President Houssni Mubarak’s administration took power, during which the ruling National Democratic Party has completely failed to accomplish any achievement on the regional, national and international level. The situation in Egypt has been deteriorating all along. The Egyptian citizens now go out every day to demonstrate and protest, struggling to make a living; find clean water, safe commutes, and comfortable homes. We are suffering from a chronic crisis. The Muslim Brotherhood is the most prominent opposition group, and during the latest semi-free election in 2005, it was able to prove that it can provide the people with qualified leaders that are trusted by its citizens, and achieved unprecedented success. The Muslim Brotherhood is now a source of concern for the Egyptian regime, which cannot be ignored. Since the government cannot fight the Muslim Brotherhood from within political venues, it responded with taking strong security measures against them. The number of those arrested in these past several months has reached almost 150 people, including three members of the Consultative Bureau. Also there’s another thing that I must point out: that the government and the regime do not comply with or respect the judiciary courts, which insist on releasing these detainees. Dr. Abdul Mumium suffers from many diseases, Dr. Mahmud Houssain, who was arrested a year and a half ago, went under open heart surgery, and many others suffer from serious diseases. They are suffering from harsh and difficult conditions in prison.

MIR: As Iraqi forces took control of towns and cities across the country on June 30, a car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk exploded, killing at least 33 people and injuring more than 100, serving as a grim reminder of the security challenges that Iraqis face following US troop pullout. Kirkuk was also the scene of two suicide bombings last month in which 14 people were killed. It is the center of northern Iraq's oil industry and home to a volatile mix of Kurds, Arabs, Christians and members of the Turkmen community. Although vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi asked Iraqis to stay away from crowded places during the US pullback, his appeal has largely been ignored: more than 250 people were killed in bombings over the past 10 days. Thousands of Iraqis turned up in unprecedented numbers to mark this occasion in a public holiday called National Sovereignty Day. "I never thought that this day would come," said Ahmed Aliyan, a reporter for one of the local television networks. The attacks in Kirkuk are not a coincidence; this northern Iraqi city sits atop lucrative oil reserves where pipelines connect Kirkuk's oilfields to ports on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Kirkuk has long been the prize sought after in an Arab-Kurdish competition for power and wealth, and for the many who wish to prevent stability in Iraq and wreak havoc, Kirkuk is the ideal launching pad. It was just such attacks which provoked Shi'a militias to take brutal revenge against Sunnis in 2006 and 2007, bringing the country to the brink of civil war and disintegration. Will the "enemies of Iraq" (as referred to by Nouri el-Maliki) succeed? This depends on whether Iraqi forces can prevent an upsurge of violence in the period leading up to the elections in January, 2010. Many skeptics worry that the US withdrawal will trigger another spiral of sectarian violence similar to the one the country witnessed three years ago because Iraqi forces still lack the training and capabilities to prevent it. Meanwhile, military experts anticipate more violence in the days ahead. President Obama, who on the occasion of the handover said "Iraq's future is in the hands of its own people," also warned that Iraqis face "difficult days ahead.” Over the past several weeks, I have noticed a surge in confidence-building advertisement airing on the state television network, Al Iraqiya, and the Saudi-sponsored Al Arabiya TV targeting Iraqis to trust their own security forces in protecting them. One such promo ran a "Countdown to Sovereignty" clock but also broadcast promotional spots glorifying Iraqi history, culture and people. It ran images of ordinary Iraqi citizens walking shoulder to shoulder with members of the armed forces and police on the "path of freedom" as they dubbed it. The upcoming days will be a real test for the Iraqi forces. Now that the United States can take credit for restoring democracy to Iraq, is it sufficiently rooted to survive the US withdrawal?