Syria-Turkey tension: Assad 'regrets' F-4 jet's downing

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is quoting as saying he regrets "100 per cent" a Turkish jet was shot down after entering Syrian airspace.

       In an interview with Turkey's Cumhuriyet newspaper, he argues that the plane was flying in an area previously used by Israel's air force.

       The plane went down in the Mediterranean last month and the two pilots have not been found.
The incident has heightened tensions between the two countries.

       Last week, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Syria's action and described the neighbouring country as a "clear and present threat".

      Turkey reinforced border areas with rocket-launchers and anti-aircraft guns.
On Sunday, Turkey said it had scrambled six F-16 fighter jets when Syrian helicopters had approached the border.

     "We will not allow (the shooting down) to turn into open combat between the two countries," President Assad is quoted as saying.

      Cumhuriyet, which published the interview on Tuesday, does not indicate when it took place but shows a picture of Mr Assad standing beside its Ankara bureau chief Utku Cakirozer.

 

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Syria state-sanctioned torture 'is crime against humanity'

 

         The Syrian government is practising a widespread policy of state-sanctioned torture.

       The organisation says it has interviewed more than 200 former detainees and identified at least 27 detention centres across Syria.

       Its details horrific torture methods, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests.

       The report claims the regime's actions amount to a crime against humanity.

        Human Rights Watch wants the regime to be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC), but correspondents say any such move is likely to be blocked by Russia.

       UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the report "should act as a clear warning".
    
       "Those responsible for systematic and widespread human rights violations should not delude themselves: we and our international partners will do everything we can to ensure that they will face justice," he said.

 

       Forced confessions

The report, "Torture Archipelago", draws on the testimony of more than 200 former detainees, including women and children, to describe what it says are cases of mistreatment and torture since March 2011.
Human Rights Watch said everyone it interviewed described conditions of extreme overcrowding and a lack of food, while many said they had been forced to sign or fingerprint confessions admitting that they had attended anti-government protests.
      
         The majority of the eyewitnesses also said they had been tortured and several of them claimed to have seen people die from torture in detention.

        

          In one account, a 13 year old-boy described being tortured for three days at a military security branch near Tal Kalakh.

         "They said, 'You pigs, you want freedom?' They interrogated me by myself.. they electrocuted me on my stomach, with a prod. I fell unconscious.
      
          "When they interrogated me the second time, they beat me and electrocuted me again. The third time they had some pliers, and they pulled out my toenail."

      

     'Truly horrific'

        Eyewitnesses described a wide range of tortures used, including electric shocks, sexual abuse (of both male and female detainees), beatings with batons and whips, hanging from the wrists for long periods and sleep deprivation.

          Amer, a 23-year old arrested in Idlib province, described being subjected to the basat al-reeh, or "flying carpet" and the dulab, or "tire method".

        "They put me on a flying carpet - I was lying on my back, tied to a board, and they lifted my head and legs. All this time I was undressed. They wrapped wires around my penis and turned on the electricity... I passed out.

        "When I regained consciousness they were pushing my legs and hands into a tyre. My entire body was blue from beatings," he said.

        A former intelligence officer is quoted in the report as saying the orders to torture prisoners came directly from security forces who were in touch with President Assad's entourage.

        Human Rights Watch would like the UN to send observers to monitor the situation in Syria's detention centres and to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court.

         Because Syria has not ratified the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, the court will only have jurisdiction if the Security Council adopts a resolution referring the situation in Syria to the court.
Russia and China have previously blocked Security Council efforts to hold the Syrian regime accountable.

       "The reach and inhumanity of this network of torture centres are truly horrific," Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch said.

     "Russia should not be holding its protective hand over the people who are responsible for this."

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Sporting chance for Palestinian Olympians

            After struggling to pursue sport for years because of the impact of the conflict with Israel, Palestinians now have a rare chance to celebrate success.

       Maher Abu Rmelleh, a judoist, is the first ever Palestinian sportsman to qualify on points to participate in the Olympic Games.

       Mr Abu Rmelleh, who found out only weeks ago that he will be travelling to London this summer, will join four other Palestinian "solidarity" athletes who have been invited by the International Olympic Committee to compete despite not having the necessary qualifying points.
    
      In the absence of sports funding or any official sporting infrastructure, Mr Abu Rmelleh works full-time selling  scarves in his shop in Jerusalem's Old City.
He trains early in the morning and after work.
"It's a dream come true" he says, modestly.
    
       "I'm so happy to be representing Palestine. And it's great that I'm from Jerusalem, the capital," referring to the contested city, whose eastern half is sought by the Palestinians as the capital of a future state.

      'Transcending politics'
 
      Sport is a matter of national pride the world over, but for Palestinians it carries extra symbolism.
   
     Maher Abu Rmelleh earned his qualifying points in Japan last year by defeating the judo champion of Hong Kong.

 

       His achievements have defied the odds, but his is not a totally isolated success story.
Palestinian football has been doing well for some time, and the game attracts players of both sexes.
First there was a women's five-a-side national indoor football tournament. Then in 2009 a full national women's football team was established that now competes internationally.
For the past two years one man has been behind the promotion of sports in the Palestinian territories - Jibril Rajoub, former head of security for the Palestinian Authority, now President of the Palestinian Football Federation and of the Palestinian Olympic Committee.
     
       His latest initiative is an annual football tournament to commemorate the Nakba, or 'catastrophe', the Palestinian name for the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes or were displaced.
      This year in May, Asian and African national teams competed and Mr Rajoub hopes that European and other countries will participate next year.
     "Sport transcends politics," Mr Rajoub says, but he is also aware of its political message, seeing it as "a peaceful means of exposing Palestinian suffering".
      His goal, he says, is to use "the ethics and values of sport to convince the international community that the occupation should come to an end."
       Ibrahim Habash, former captain of the Palestinian basketball team (1998-2011), now coaches women's under-18 basketball at Seriyyeh First Ramallah Club.
       Mr Habash appreciates Jibril Rajoub's success in attracting international teams to compete in the Palestinian territories and is delighted with the encouragement given to women's sports.

      He is concerned, however, that the organisation of sport for Palestinians needs an overarching, long-term administrative structure.

      We need "experts," he says, "not just coaches and trainers but also managers."

 

       Obstacles       
       For Ibrahim Habash and Maher Abu Rmelleh, as for members of the women's football team at Serriyeh, obstacles to Palestinian sporting success are far greater than either the opportunities or the support structure.
The biggest obstacle of all is the Israeli occupation. With travel for Palestinians extremely difficult owing to measures Israel says are necessary for security, athletes have little or no chance to train together before competitions.
      Mr Abu Rmelleh rarely gets the opportunity to meet up with judoists from Gaza or areas of the West Bank, such as Bethlehem and Hebron.
     This is particularly hard on team sports such as football and basketball. Such an example is the case of    Mahmoud Sarsak, a footballer from Gaza, detained by Israel as he set off to compete in a match in the West Bank in 2009.
      Sarsak has been held without charge or trial since then, under Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law, which he protested against with a three-month hunger strike.
     Israel says Sarsak belongs to the Islamic Jihad militant group and is a threat to national security, an allegation Sarsak denies.
   In the Israel-Palestinian conflict, even the beautiful game can turn ugly.

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Brotherhood's Mursi sworn in as Egyptian president

Supporters cheered President Mursi as his car passed through Cairo

  Mohammed Mursi has been sworn in as Egypt's first civilian, democratically elected president at a historic ceremony in Cairo.

Hours after the ceremony, he was saluted by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, leader of the military council which is handing over power.
Mr Mursi has promised to restore the parliament dissolved by the military.
In a speech at Cairo University, the Muslim Brotherhood politician said the army must respect the people's will.
He will have to sort out a very difficult relationship with an entrenched military, regional analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says.
The regime of former President Hosni Mubarak is still largely intact and many in it will not work with the new president, he adds.
Overthrown in February last year after mass pro-democracy demonstrations, Mubarak was sentenced to life imprisonment at the beginning of this month for failing to prevent the killing of protesters by the security forces.
Egypt, the biggest Arab nation, is a key US ally in the region, as well as one of the few states in the Arab world to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.
'Full freedom'

Mohammed Mursi took the oath before the Supreme Constitutional Court

Parliament was dissolved by Field Marshal Tantawi's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), which assumed legislative powers under a controversial "interim constitutional declaration".
The Scaf is due to hand over power to Mr Mursi later on Saturday.
"The army now returns to his original role, protecting the nation and its borders," Mr Mursi said.
Parliament, the new president insisted, had been elected in a free and fair ballot and had been entrusted with drafting a new, democratic constitution.
He hailed those killed in the uprising against President Mubarak. Families of some of the dead were in the hall and they held up photos of their sons and daughters.

In the ceremony before the court, Mr Mursi said the Egyptian people had "laid the foundations for a new life, for full freedom, a genuine democracy, for putting the meaning and significance of the constitution and stability above everything else".

His government would be based on the democratic pillars of "the constitutional court, the Egyptian judiciary, and the executive and legislative powers".
The oath of office had originally been scheduled to take place at the parliament, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Freedom and Justice Party and other Islamists.
Mr Mursi said he was determined that the constitutional court, which had declared November's parliamentary election to be flawed, would remain "independent, strong, effective - away from any suspicion and abuse".
Unlike during the Mubarak days, Cairo traffic was not stopped for Saturday's ceremony - underlining Mr Mursi's wish to be seen as one of the people, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in the city.
Salute Field Marshal Tantawi gave the new president a military salute when he arrived from Cairo University at the Hykestep military area on the outskirts of Cairo.
Mr Mursi is expected to attend a military parade as part of the hand-over of power.

In a statement obtained by Reuters news agency, the Scaf stressed it would keep its promise to hand over power to the new president on Saturday.

"Today is the day to fulfil the pledge, the day that our great army and its national leadership proves that it is the guardian after God," it said.
Maj Gen Mohamed al-Assar, a Scaf member, told Egyptian media earlier that Field Marshal Tantawi would remain as defence minister under Mr Mursi.
When the Scaf leader arrived at Cairo University earlier for Mr Mursi's speech, hostile students standing outside chanted "The people want to execute the field marshal", according to Egyptian news website Al-Misri al-Yawm.
On Friday, Mr Mursi performed prayers at Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, one of the most prominent seats of learning in Sunni Islam.
He has sought to allay fears among some secular and Coptic Christian Egyptians that he will use his presidency to impose Islamic law.
Mr Mursi's campaign has said he plans to appoint a woman and a Coptic Christian as his vice-presidents.
In his speech at Cairo University, he said all Egyptians would be equal before the law.

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