North Korea ‘executes’ army chief, Seoul reports

Speech by Mark Williams at UK Parliamentarians meeting with Maryam Rajavi, Iranian opposition leader

EIFA: Iran-backed groups in Iraq main cause of sectarian conflicts

Source: President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA)

Iran-backed paramilitary forces which operate as criminal groups or in the guise of popular mobilization forces are today the main cause of sectarian conflicts, killing and murder, ethnic cleansing and population displacement in Iraq. They are driving the country towards internal conflict and ultimate collapse. In addition, these groups have turned into mafia-style murderers, kidnappers, robbers and drug-traffickers.

Regrettably, the government of Haider al-Abadi has not taken action to dissolve the paramilitary groups despite international demands and calls by religious authorities and political forces in Iraq. The popular mobilization forces are now a tool in the hands of criminal elements such as Nouri al-Maliki, Hadi Al-Ameri, and Abu-Mahdi Mohandess, who are in turn the most important agents coordinating the destruction of Iraq, fueling sectarian war and facilitating the emergence of DAESH. The people of Iraq have been demanding their prosecution in their weekly demonstrations for many months.

In a new act of aggression, the paramilitary forces backed by the Iranian regime have taken control of the houses and commercial buildings belonging to Christians in Baghdad. These Christians left Iraqi due to the appalling security situation. (Al-Jazeera TV and Al-Hayat, February 7, 2016).

Human Rights Watch (HRW) World Report 2016 that was published on January 27 states: “Mostly Shia militias fighting ISIS, such as Badr Brigades, League of the Righteous, or Imam Ali Battalions, carried out widespread and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, in particular, demolishing homes and shops in recaptured Sunni areas.”

The European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) calls on the government and Prime Minister of Iraq to immediately disband paramilitary and popular mobilization forces, as barriers to reforms, national reconciliation in Iraq, and victory over Daesh. Otherwise any international aid package would have the same destiny as previous ones.

EIFA also calls on the Iraqi government to attend without delay to the humanitarian conditions in Fallujah, which has been taken over by these paramilitary forces to prevent the starvation of tens of thousands of citizens. Dozens of people have starved to death so far. According to Faleh al-Essawi, vice president of the Provincial Council of al-Anbar, starvation is prevalent in Fallujah and there are no food supplies or medical equipment in the city. (Al-Arabiya TV, February 1, 2016).

Struan Stevenson

President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA)

(Struan Stevenson was a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 and was President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq from 2009 to 2014.)

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Acehnese Authorities Publicly Whip 32 Men for Gambling

MEULABOH, Indonesia – Some 32 men in Aceh were publicly whipped on Friday as punishment for gambling, a violation of Islamic Sharia law as practiced in Indonesia’s semi-autonomous province of Aceh on Sumatra Island.

Black-masked punishers, locally known as algojo, lashed the men’s backs in front of a crowd of onlookers at Baitul Makmur Mosque at Meulaboh, the capital city of West Aceh Regency, according to witnesses.

Aceh – the only province in Indonesia which implements Islamic Sharia law – has over the past decade increasingly cracked down on “un-Islamic” practices, with whipping being one of many corporal punishments for violating laws including the public dress code or meetings between unmarried individuals, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Indonesia.

In 2010, a university student was apprehended for being on an isolated road with her boyfriend and taken into police custody.

“A Sharia police officer ... told my mom and me that I should be buried and stoned to death. I said, ‘Sir, I was only trying to look for a shortcut, and I should be stoned for that? What about the officers who raped me last night?’” said Nita, 20, explaining that she had been sexually abused by authorities while in detention, as quoted by HRW.

Aceh introduced Sharia Law after it was granted autonomy from the rest of Indonesia in 2005, as part of a deal to end the separatist insurgency that had wracked the northwestern tip of the archipelago since 1976.

Security Forces Thwart Kidnapping of 4 Youths in Mexico

VERACRUZ, Mexico – A group of gunmen abducted four youths in the Mexican Gulf coast city of Veracruz, but the victims were rescued soon afterward thanks to a security operation, authorities said.

The four young men were led away Thursday by four or five men armed with handguns, according to eyewitnesses and family members of the victims.

But the youths were rescued around three hours later thanks to a security operation that involved blocking access roads to the port city, Veracruz state Gov. Javier Duarte de Ochoa said.

“As a result of an intense security operation, ‘Safe Veracruz’ forces rescued the four Veracruz youths safe and sound,” the governor wrote on Twitter, adding that the victims underwent a medical checkup after being rescued to “assess their state of health.”

The federal government launched “Operation Safe Veracruz” several years ago in an effort to stem drug-related violence in the Gulf coast state.

The governor said authorities were still trying to track down the perpetrators, who burst into a taco restaurant in the tourist zone of Veracruz to kidnap the youths.

One of the young people fled and took refuge inside his father’s establishment, but the criminals found him and abducted him as well.

Surveillance footage broadcast by local media shows the group of gunmen – all dressed in civilian garb – pointing guns at the restaurant’s employees, grabbing one of the youths by the neck and leading him out of the establishment face-down.

Five other young people were kidnapped on Jan. 11 in Tierra Blanca, a municipality in that same state.

Those individuals were arrested by state police at a gas station and handed over to a drug cartel, according to the official investigation.

Officials said this week that DNA tests confirmed that charred human remains found at a ranch in Veracruz state were those of two of the five young people, but family members have challenged the investigators’ findings and called for additional genetic testing.