Tag: Opposition

US secretly financing Syrian opposition

WASHINGTON - The US government has been secretly financing Syrian opposition groups, including a satellite TV channel beaming anti-regime programming into the country, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Citing previously undisclosed diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks, the newspaper said the London-based Barada TV channel, which began broadcasting in April 2009, has ramped up operations to cover the mass protests in Syria.
Barada TV is closely affiliated with the Movement for

Senior Indian opposition leader slams government on corruption

NEW DELHI - India's former deputy prime minister and senior Opposition BJP leader L.K. Advani has hit out at the Congress-led UPA government, saying its sincerity in tackling corruption would be visible only through actions taken by it in scams that have rocked the country.
"Even before the Parliament meets for its Monsoon Session and takes up the Lokpal Bill being considered by the Committee secured by Anna Hazare, the real test of Government's sincerity about tackling

Bahrain says will not disband opposition groups

DUBAI - Bahrain's foreign minister said on Friday the Gulf Arab state was not trying to dissolve the biggest opposition party, in comments that came after the United States criticised legal action against the group, Wefaq. Bahrain's Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs said on Thursday it would dissolve Wefaq and another group in Bahrain's toughest crackdown yet on Shi'ite dissidents who led an uprising to demand more say in the Sunni-ruled monarchy. "A clarification: Bahrain is

Yemen opposition wants Saleh out within two weeks

SANAA - Yemen's opposition rejected an offer on Thursday to join Saudi-mediated talks on a transfer of power and set a two-week deadline for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step aside.
"We have renewed our emphasis on the need for speeding the process of (Saleh) standing down to within two weeks. Therefore we will not go to Riyadh," said Mohammed al-Mutawakkil, a prominent opposition leader.

Yemen opposition seeks details on Gulf plan

SANAA - Yemen opposition parties on Tuesday urged Gulf mediators to spell out whether President Ali Saleh would hand over power early under their proposal to end a two-month crisis over leadership and political reforms.
Gulf Arab foreign ministers said this week they would invite Saleh and the opposition coalition to mediation talks in Riyadh, a key financier of Sanaa who analysts say Saleh trusts, on a transition of power.
The opposition said on Monday they rejected the

Syrian opposition says 200 killed in protests

AMMAN - Syria's main human rights movement said the death toll from pro-democracy protests against President Bashar al-Assad had reached 200 and urged the Arab League to impose sanctions on the ruling hierarchy.
Syria, the latest Arab country shaken by mass uprisings against authoritarian rulers, has witnessed unprecedented protests across the tightly-controlled country for the last three weeks.
Assad has responded with force -- witnesses say security forces have opened fire

‘Opposition to devolution storm in teacup’

ISLAMABAD - Senator Raza Rabbani has termed the opposition to the devolution of the Higher Education Commission 'a storm in the teacup' and 'a furore by vested interests'. Speaking in the Senate on Friday, he said that those opposing the idea were politicising the issue.
"Those opposing the devolution of the HEC are trying to create an impression that it could affect the present scholarships and the foreign funding will stop", he added. He said that there would be no adverse

Spain poll shows clear opposition win in 2012

MADRID - Spain's centre-right opposition Popular Party would defeat the Socialists, in power for eight years, if elections were held now, El Pais newspaper said. The latest monthly poll results from Metroscopia, published by El Pais on Sunday, shows the PP widening its lead slightly in an election scenario, garnering 44.1 percent of votes compared with 28.3 percent for the Socialists.
The poll comes one day after Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he would not seek

Police break up opposition rally in Azerbaijan

BAKU - Azeri police arrested dozens of opposition activists who tried to stage a protest rally in the centre of the oil-producing Muslim country's capital Baku on Saturday. Riot police seized protesters and pushed them into buses near Fountains Square in Baku, where the opposition had wanted to hold a rally but failed to receive approval from authorities. One of the opposition leaders said after completion of the protest that about 1,000 people had taken part and more than 200 were

Rabbani loses temper over opposition to HEC devolution

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Inter- Provincial Coordination and Chairman of Implementation Commission on 18th Amendment, Mian Raza Rabbani on Monday lost his temper while defending devolution of Higher Education Commission (HEC) to provinces. During the question-hour session in Senate, he threw his notes on the table, while responding to questions raised by senators including Azam Swati, Dr Khalid
Mahmood Soomro, Wasim Sajjad,Javid Ali Shah, Haji Adil and former education

Bahrain opposition accepts Kuwait’s offer to mediate

MANAMA - Bahrain's largest opposition group Wefaq has accepted Kuwait's offer to mediate in talks with Bahrain's government to end a political crisis gripping the tiny kingdom, a member of Wefaq said.
Bahrain on March 16 ended weeks of protests that had prompted the king to impose martial law and call in troops.
Jasim Husain, a member of Wefaq, said Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has offered to mediate between Bahrain's ruling family and opposition groups.

Jordan opposition demands PM’s ouster after unrest

AMMAN - Jordan's Islamist opposition, leftists and trade unions on Saturday demanded the ouster of Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit, who they blame for violence that has killed one person and injured 130.
"The Islamist movement demands the resignation, or the sacking, of the government and the formation a national unity and reformist government that would win the people's trust and protect their lives,"
Hamzah Mansur, chief of the powerful Islamic Action Front (IAF), said. "Any

Indian opposition attacks PM over vote-buying scam

NEW DELHI - India's opposition parties on Wednesday mounted a united attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after he denied any knowledge of an alleged cash-for-votes scandal. The opposition targeted Singh after US cables released by WikiLeaks last week said his government had allegedly paid cash to lawmakers to win a key 2008 confidence vote for a nuclear technology deal with the US. "The prime minister has to take responsibility (for the scandal), he is the head of the government,"

Opposition undecided on strategy for president’s address

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE - The concerted efforts undertaken by the government on Monday, a day ahead of the president's address to the joint sitting of parliament, remained fruitful to the extent that no opposition party announced boycott of the session, all of them remaining undecided and divided on the issue. The divided opposition failed to devise a joint strategy for the president's address until Monday with some looking towards the others and some not remained firm on their earlier

Bahrain’s main opposition groups ease demands

MANAMA - Bahrain's main opposition groups have eased conditions for talks to end a crisis that has drawn in neighbouring Gulf armies and raised tensions in the oil-exporting region.
Led by the largest Shi'ite opposition party Wefaq, they called late on Saturday on security forces to free all those detained in the wake of a month of protests, end their crackdown and ask Gulf Arab troops to leave so talks could begin.
"Prepare a healthy atmosphere for the start of political

Bahrain opposition decries crackdown on Shias

MANAMA - The leader of Bahrain's largest opposition group has urged Saudi Arabia to withdraw its forces and called for a UN inquiry into a crackdown on mainly Shia protesters that has raised tensions in the oil-exporting region.
Bahrain arrested seven opposition leaders on Thursday, a day after its forces moved in to end weeks of pro-democracy protests that have sucked in troops from its fellow Sunni-ruled neighbour and prompted the king to declare martial law. Among those

Opposition slams, govt defends release

ISLAMABAD - Condemning the release of Raymond Davis on Wednesday, the PML-Q, JI, JUI-F, PTI and PML-Q Likeminded alleged that both the federal and Punjab governments were responsible for clandestine arrangements to save the Raymond Davis. PML-Q Information Secretary Kamil Ali Agha said both the federal and provincial governments had played their role to get Davis released.
"The Punjab government pressurised the heirs of victims to accept blood money," he said, adding that both