Positive News Update 7/14/06
I bet these stories didn't make the
front page of your newspaper.
Iraq: Restrained Ramadi offensive
suggests US charm
IRIN News reprorted on 7 July 2006 that hundreds
of families returned to the city of Ramadi, some 110km
west of the capital, Baghdad, two weeks after the
US military launched an unusually restrained
offensive there.
'Residents began returning to Ramadi after being
informed by those who had remained behind that
US troops were not targeting civilians,' said Ahmed
Barak, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Aid Association
(IAA).
On 19 June, thousands of US and Iraqi troops
descended on Ramadi in the restive western
Anbar governorate with the ostensible aim of
restoring stability.
Insurgents had reportedly been in control of much
of the densely populated city, in which street battles
remain common.
According to Barak, while about 1,500 families fled
Ramadi in advance of the attack, more than 1,000
families have since returned. 'Returnees received
some assistance while they were displaced, but this
was only for a short period,' said Barak.
'And those that have returned say they're being
well-treated by the US and Iraqi militaries in Ramadi.'
Local doctors, meanwhile, say there were no civilian
causalities during the course of the offensive, while
residents say that US and Iraqi troops—unlike in
previous episodes—behaved respectfully.
'We didn't flee our home because US troops didn't tell
us to leave,' said Ramadi resident Muhammad Gazi, 55. '
They knocked at our door and politely asked
permission to enter—we were absolutely
astonished.'
US military sources say that this approach is part
of a strategy of adopting more culturally sensitive
tactics when dealing with local populations.
As part of the new charm offensive, US marines
have also begun repairing some of Ramadi's
water-purification and power plants.
'For the first time, US troops have started
getting the Iraqi people on their side,' said Barak.
'Locals are generally afraid of them, but a kind
word can do a lot to end violence.' Residents,
meanwhile, hope that the restraint shown by
the US military will become the rule rather
than the exception.
Positive News Network News comments:
PNN recognises that real problems remain
in the region, but views this as a step in a
more positive direction.
Indonesia approves law
cementing peace deal
7/11/06
JAKARTA, Indonesia the Associated Press
reported that Indonesia passed a law Tuesday
granting tsunami-ravaged Aceh province greater
autonomy and paving the way for elections,
cementing the terms of a landmark 2005 peace
accord with separatist rebels.
The 2004 tsunami that killed more than 131,000
in the province speeded up efforts to end the
29-year civil war that killed 15,000 people.
The rebels handed in all of their self-declared
840 weapons and gave up their long-held
demand for independence, and the government
pulled nearly half of its 50,000 troops from the region.
The 116-page law, rushed through Indonesia's
notoriously slow parliament, gives Aceh control
over 70 percent of its mineral wealth—including
significant oil and gas reserves.
It also allows the former rebels to run in elections
expected later this year for the governor's post and
other senior positions either as independents or
as representatives of their party—both of which
would have been illegal under old laws.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views support for national reconciliation as a
step in a positive direction.
Sunni bloc in parliament to end boycott
11 July 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq: Various wire services reported
that the largest Sunni bloc in parliament will end
its legislative boycott following a call for calm and
unity by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr,
the head of the bloc said Tuesday.
The Iraqi Accordance Front suspended its participation
in parliament meetings this month after one of its
members was kidnapped in a Shiite neighborhood
in Baghdad.
Female legislator Tayseer al-Mashhadani is still held
by her kidnappers. ``We have decided to attend the
meetings as of tomorrow in response to the call by
Muqtada al-Sadr,'' Adnan al-Dulaimi, whose bloc
holds 44 seats.
Many Sunnis blamed al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia
for the kidnapping, although the organization has
denied any involvement. Al-Sadr has called for unity
amid rising sectarian tension here.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views support for national reconciliation as a
step in a positive direction.
Gun violence down: Police
10 July 2006
Toronto police are optimistic that gun violence
will continue to decrease in the Canadian city.
Police say shootings were down by about 16 per cent
— '137 this year compared to 164 at the same time
last year'
Toronto police are optimistic the city will see a vast
improvement over last year's 'summer of the gun.
Police are seizing guns as aggressively as years past',
Staff Inspector Brian Raybould, head of homicide and
a member of the police force for 37 years as saying,
'we'll keep trying to improve.'
Positive News Network views this news as a
sign of rising positivity in the Toronto.
Togo: Inching towards peace
In a step aimed at ending years of political hostilities,
most of Togo's feuding politicians have agreed on the
general lines of a framework for holding free and fair
elections.
After several months of talks to shore up political
dialogue in the divided country, seven of the nine
groups taking part signed off on a deal late Thursday
that aims to steer Togo onto a peaceful path to
elections expected at the end of next year.
Togo's 'national dialogue' is one of 22 pledges made
by Togo in 2004 to the European Union in order
that Brussels restore aid that was cut off in 1993
due to concerns over human rights and democracy.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views support for national reconciliation as a
step in a positive direction.
British dismantling last N Ireland tower
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - The British army
said Wednesday its last watchtower along the
Northern Ireland border will be dismantled
next week, ending decades of high-profile
surveillance in an Irish Republican Army
power base.
The watchtower overlooking the border village
of Forkhill is the last of 16 such observation posts,
which British army engineers erected in the
mid-1980s to hamper movements of the
outlawed IRA in the so-called ``bandit country''
of South Armagh.
Several of the watchtowers were torn down
following Northern Ireland's Good Friday
peace accord of 1998.
Last year, Britain announced that eight
remaining posts would disappear by mid-2006
in response to the IRA's decision to surrender
its weapons stockpiles and declare its 1997
cease-fire permanent.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views this as a step in a positive direction.
front page of your newspaper.
Iraq: Restrained Ramadi offensive
suggests US charm
IRIN News reprorted on 7 July 2006 that hundreds
of families returned to the city of Ramadi, some 110km
west of the capital, Baghdad, two weeks after the
US military launched an unusually restrained
offensive there.
'Residents began returning to Ramadi after being
informed by those who had remained behind that
US troops were not targeting civilians,' said Ahmed
Barak, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Aid Association
(IAA).
On 19 June, thousands of US and Iraqi troops
descended on Ramadi in the restive western
Anbar governorate with the ostensible aim of
restoring stability.
Insurgents had reportedly been in control of much
of the densely populated city, in which street battles
remain common.
According to Barak, while about 1,500 families fled
Ramadi in advance of the attack, more than 1,000
families have since returned. 'Returnees received
some assistance while they were displaced, but this
was only for a short period,' said Barak.
'And those that have returned say they're being
well-treated by the US and Iraqi militaries in Ramadi.'
Local doctors, meanwhile, say there were no civilian
causalities during the course of the offensive, while
residents say that US and Iraqi troops—unlike in
previous episodes—behaved respectfully.
'We didn't flee our home because US troops didn't tell
us to leave,' said Ramadi resident Muhammad Gazi, 55. '
They knocked at our door and politely asked
permission to enter—we were absolutely
astonished.'
US military sources say that this approach is part
of a strategy of adopting more culturally sensitive
tactics when dealing with local populations.
As part of the new charm offensive, US marines
have also begun repairing some of Ramadi's
water-purification and power plants.
'For the first time, US troops have started
getting the Iraqi people on their side,' said Barak.
'Locals are generally afraid of them, but a kind
word can do a lot to end violence.' Residents,
meanwhile, hope that the restraint shown by
the US military will become the rule rather
than the exception.
Positive News Network News comments:
PNN recognises that real problems remain
in the region, but views this as a step in a
more positive direction.
Indonesia approves law
cementing peace deal
7/11/06
JAKARTA, Indonesia the Associated Press
reported that Indonesia passed a law Tuesday
granting tsunami-ravaged Aceh province greater
autonomy and paving the way for elections,
cementing the terms of a landmark 2005 peace
accord with separatist rebels.
The 2004 tsunami that killed more than 131,000
in the province speeded up efforts to end the
29-year civil war that killed 15,000 people.
The rebels handed in all of their self-declared
840 weapons and gave up their long-held
demand for independence, and the government
pulled nearly half of its 50,000 troops from the region.
The 116-page law, rushed through Indonesia's
notoriously slow parliament, gives Aceh control
over 70 percent of its mineral wealth—including
significant oil and gas reserves.
It also allows the former rebels to run in elections
expected later this year for the governor's post and
other senior positions either as independents or
as representatives of their party—both of which
would have been illegal under old laws.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views support for national reconciliation as a
step in a positive direction.
Sunni bloc in parliament to end boycott
11 July 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq: Various wire services reported
that the largest Sunni bloc in parliament will end
its legislative boycott following a call for calm and
unity by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr,
the head of the bloc said Tuesday.
The Iraqi Accordance Front suspended its participation
in parliament meetings this month after one of its
members was kidnapped in a Shiite neighborhood
in Baghdad.
Female legislator Tayseer al-Mashhadani is still held
by her kidnappers. ``We have decided to attend the
meetings as of tomorrow in response to the call by
Muqtada al-Sadr,'' Adnan al-Dulaimi, whose bloc
holds 44 seats.
Many Sunnis blamed al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia
for the kidnapping, although the organization has
denied any involvement. Al-Sadr has called for unity
amid rising sectarian tension here.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views support for national reconciliation as a
step in a positive direction.
Gun violence down: Police
10 July 2006
Toronto police are optimistic that gun violence
will continue to decrease in the Canadian city.
Police say shootings were down by about 16 per cent
— '137 this year compared to 164 at the same time
last year'
Toronto police are optimistic the city will see a vast
improvement over last year's 'summer of the gun.
Police are seizing guns as aggressively as years past',
Staff Inspector Brian Raybould, head of homicide and
a member of the police force for 37 years as saying,
'we'll keep trying to improve.'
Positive News Network views this news as a
sign of rising positivity in the Toronto.
Togo: Inching towards peace
In a step aimed at ending years of political hostilities,
most of Togo's feuding politicians have agreed on the
general lines of a framework for holding free and fair
elections.
After several months of talks to shore up political
dialogue in the divided country, seven of the nine
groups taking part signed off on a deal late Thursday
that aims to steer Togo onto a peaceful path to
elections expected at the end of next year.
Togo's 'national dialogue' is one of 22 pledges made
by Togo in 2004 to the European Union in order
that Brussels restore aid that was cut off in 1993
due to concerns over human rights and democracy.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views support for national reconciliation as a
step in a positive direction.
British dismantling last N Ireland tower
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - The British army
said Wednesday its last watchtower along the
Northern Ireland border will be dismantled
next week, ending decades of high-profile
surveillance in an Irish Republican Army
power base.
The watchtower overlooking the border village
of Forkhill is the last of 16 such observation posts,
which British army engineers erected in the
mid-1980s to hamper movements of the
outlawed IRA in the so-called ``bandit country''
of South Armagh.
Several of the watchtowers were torn down
following Northern Ireland's Good Friday
peace accord of 1998.
Last year, Britain announced that eight
remaining posts would disappear by mid-2006
in response to the IRA's decision to surrender
its weapons stockpiles and declare its 1997
cease-fire permanent.
Positive News Network News comments: PNN
recognises that real problems remain in the region,
but views this as a step in a positive direction.
posted by Mr. Positive! at 9:24 AM
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