Egyptians poured into Tahrir Square Wednesday to celebrate their revolution of one year ago. Women, embattled for decades under autocratic rule, are among the tens of thousands celebrating the one-year anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
The new United Nations envoy to Afghanistan said Wednesday any peace talks with the Taliban must be Afghan-led in order to be successful. Despite calls by U.N. and U.S. officials that peace talks with the Taliban be Afghan-led, the insurgent group has not included the Afghan government in its comments about peace negotiations
In Syria the killings continue. The Arab League says the withdrawal of monitors from Gulf Arab states will not hinder its work as France, Britain and Germany joined efforts at the United Nations to end President Bashar al-Assad's rule. A league official said Wednesday a new group of observers is set to replace the 55 monitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council who left Syria Wednesday.
Iran is "more isolated than ever" and its leaders facing "crippling" sanctions, according to US President Obama in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. The president said that he will not rule out any option for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but that the issue can be resolved peacefully. Iran claims the latest sanctions could actually benefit them.
Details after the break.
Egypt
Egyptian women, embattled for decades under autocratic rule, are among the tens of thousands pouring into central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
By early afternoon, Tahrir Square was packed with Egyptian women of all ages and backgrounds. Children stood side by side with their parents and grandparents amid a sea of people waving Egyptian flags.
Seventeen-year-old Israa says that she first marched in Tahrir Square in the first days of the protests.
A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, which commanded 47 percent of the vote in the recent lower house parliamentary elections, Israa is thrilled at the direction the country is moving.
"Things are better now for women, that they have more of an opportunity to play a role in society, politics and culture," she says via translator.
Some women in the crowd traveled for hours to take part. Mona Mohammed, from southern Egypt, says what impresses her most is that Egyptians seem to be acting in unison.
"We’re all standing together as one people," she says. "We’re all calling for our rights together as Egyptians."
Alongside the celebrations are calls for the ruling military council to step down. The council is trying to placate its opponents, releasing prisoners, honoring victims of the uprising, and partially lifting the much-hated emergency laws.
For presidential hopeful and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, the partial repeal falls short.
"Nothing is enough. It's a step, but nothing is enough until the total abolition of the law, the emergency law," said Moussa.
Afghanistan
The new United Nations envoy to Afghanistan said Wednesday any peace talks with the Taliban must be Afghan-led in order to be successful.
Jan Kubis said that no major party should be excluded from the discussions. Kubis took over the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan from Staffan de Mistura, who held the post until the end of 2011. Kubis has been meeting with Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai, since arriving in Afghanistan last week.
Despite calls by U.N. and U.S. officials that peace talks with the Taliban be Afghan-led, the insurgent group has not included the Afghan government in its comments about peace negotiations. Instead, the Taliban has called the government led by President Karzai a “stooge” administration.
In France Wednesday, President Nicolas Sarkozy honored four French soldiers shot dead last week in central Kapisa province by an Afghan soldier during a training exercise. In a somber ceremony in the southeastern town of Varces, Mr. Sarkozy said “we will not allow ourselves to be impressed by this barbarism.”
After Friday's shooting, President Sarkozy suspended military operations in Afghanistan and said he was considering an early pullout from the country if security conditions are not clearly established.
Separately, NATO said a bomb attack killed one of its service members in southern Afghanistan Wednesday. The coalition did not give further details.
Earlier this month, the Taliban said it reached a preliminary agreement to open a political office in Qatar. President Karzai says his government will accept the liaison office, despite his preference for it to be located in Afghanistan.
During a visit to Kabul earlier this week, U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman also endorsed the Taliban's move to open a diplomatic office in Qatar.
But he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have said that the Taliban must renounce terrorism and endorse peace initiatives if they want to take part in talks to end the 10-year Afghan war. The U.S. embassy in Kabul Wednesday reiterated the need for those steps, including breaking ties with al-Qaida, ending violence and respecting the Afghan constitution, including its protections for women and minorities.
Syria
The Arab League says the withdrawal of monitors from Gulf Arab states will not hinder its work in Syria as France, Britain and Germany joined efforts at the United Nations to end President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
A league official said Wednesday a new group of observers is set to replace the 55 monitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council who left Syria Wednesday after their governments said they were certain “the bloodshed and killing of innocents would continue.” He said the 15 Mauritanians, 10 Palestinians and six Egyptians will head to Syria within a week.
About 120 monitors already in Syria pledged to continue the mission, now extended until February 23, to verify Syria's compliance with an earlier Arab peace plan.
Arab League foreign ministers agreed to the latest transition plan Sunday and authorized the regional bloc's chief to seek support for it at the U.N.
Gulf Arab nations have become increasingly supportive of international action against Syria in recent weeks, as pro-Assad forces have continued attacking peaceful protesters and fighting deadly battles with army defectors.
But Russia says it will not support international action on Syria that may include sanctions or military intervention. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday moves by the U.N. Security Council against Syria, a long-time Russian ally, would be “unfair and counterproductive.”
Moscow is a veto-wielding member of the Security Council. It joined China last October in vetoing a Western-backed resolution that would have condemned the Syrian government's violent crackdown on the revolt. Lavrov said Russia is open to what he called a “constructive” resolution on Syria that explicitly rules out any interpretation that could justify foreign military action.
Meanwhile, at least 25 UNESCO member states have joined in an attempt to remove Syria from two of the organization's committees that deal with human rights issues. Syria was named to the panels in November by UNESCO's Arab bloc. But now a number of countries – including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, South Korea and European nations – are mounting a campaign to unseat Damascus.
In the latest violence on the ground, Syrian rights activists say government forces fired heavy weapons at the opposition hub of Hama late Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least two people in the central Syrian city. They say security forces also killed at least five other civilians in attacks on centers of protest in Homs and Damascus.
Also Wednesday, the head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent branch in the northern town of Idlib was shot dead in an attack the country's state news agency blamed on “terrorists.” An ICRC statement said he was riding in a “vehicle clearly marked with a Red Crescent emblem” and expressed shock at the killing.
The United Nations says violence linked to the uprising has killed more than 5,400 people. But U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said Wednesday her agency has stopped compiling a death toll for Syria's deadly crackdown because it is too difficult to get information. Pillay said some areas are totally closed, such as parts of the central city of Homs, “so we are unable to update that figure.”
Syrian authorities say terrorists have killed about 2,000 security force members since the unrest began.
Iran
U.S. President Barack Obama says the world is united in its response to Iran, leaving the country "more isolated than ever" and its leaders facing "crippling" sanctions.
The president said in an address to the nation Tuesday that he will not rule out any option for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but that the issue can be resolved peacefully.
"But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations."
The president said the pressure on Iran will continue as long as it fails to live up to its responsibilities.
The United States and other Western nations have stepped up a campaign of sanctions against Iran, which they accuse of trying to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the charge.
The sanctions include a ban on Iranian oil imports and measures targeting the country's banking system. The United Nations has also imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran.
Iran has threatened to respond to new sanctions by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital pathway for global oil supplies. The United States has warned it will not tolerate such a move.
Iranian officials said Tuesday the latest Western sanctions will not work, and could even benefit Iran by leading to higher prices for Iranian crude.
All content based on VOA News reports.