INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014

Emaciated children in South Sudan point to looming famine

LEER: A surge in the number of emaciated children arriv- Her three-year-old son weighs just 2 kg because of Food Prices Soar While there has been some small-scale crop planting ing at a feeding centre in Leer, a muddy rebel-held town acute malnutrition, whereas a healthy three-year-old in South Sudan sits on Africa’s third-biggest oil reserves in the last couple of months, Leer County rebel commis- in South Sudan’s oil-rich Unity State, is fuelling fears that South Sudan would normally weigh 10-12 kg, according and the United States and other Western backers hailed sioner Peter Keak Jal said the effort was not enough to the world’s newest nation is on the brink of famine. to a paediatrician in Juba. independence from Sudan three years ago as a foreign feed the population. “We are approaching the end of Food stocks are running low across conflict-ravaged The United Nations has warned for months that a policy success. But political turmoil and conflict threaten the year so there will be no good food,” Jal said. “It’s northern regions of the country, aid workers say, and the famine looms if there is no end to fighting that erupted in to plunge the country back into the same cycle of war going to be hard.” The U.N. World Food Programme onset of the rainy season has dashed hopes that South mid-December between the government and rebels. and human misery that plagued its people when it was declared a famine in the region in 2008 due to drought. Sudan’s displaced subsistence farmers will plant enough More than a third of the nation’s roughly 11 million peo- still part of Sudan and rebels were fighting the northern Famine is defined as when acute malnutrition exceeds crops to feed themselves. ple could be on the brink of starvation by the end of the government in Khartoum. 30 percent of the population and the deaths exceed The country is the size of France but has hardly any year, U.N. officials have said. At least 10,000 people have been killed and more two people per 10,000 each day, among other criteria. paved roads and the United Nations and humanitarian Aid agencies, who say funds to deal with the crisis are than a million displaced since clashes between rival army Rebels blame the government for violating two agencies are struggling to provide aid to remote regions. running low, complain work has been hindered by rebel factions broke out in December. Foreign investment has ceasefires agreed earlier this year and for driving the Even plane deliveries are dwindling as rain soddens dirt and government soldiers who have looted vehicles and collapsed and the cost of the war has crippled the gov- nation to disaster. The government accuses the rebels roads that act as air strips. plundered food stores. “We lost all our nine cars,” said ernment’s budget. In Unity state, rebels loyal to former of sparking the conflict. “It is of course the rebels to Aid agencies say South Sudan, which gained inde- Sabrina Sharmin, an acting coordinator for Medecins vice president Machar have seized oil wells and halted blame, they are now in flagrant violation of the cessa- pendence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict, Sans Frontieres (MSF), speaking in Leer last week. production. At Leer market, a handful of makeshift shops tion of hostilities,” Information Minister Michael Makuei could be headed for the worst famine since the 1984 “Delivering (supplies) from the airstrip to our compound sell millet, soap and even music CDs, a rare sign of nor- told Reuters in Juba, adding that only three of the 10 Ethiopian famine. The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres is challenging; we are now using donkey carts.” mality in a town devastated by clashes between govern- South Sudanese states would be affected. (Doctors Without Borders) said it had treated about 1,800 The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian ment and rebel troops. Both sides have accused the other of violating two malnourished children at its feeding centre in Leer since Affairs (OCHA) said aid agencies in Leer were treating But Kuel Nin, 34, a sorghum seller, said days would ceasefire deals - one in January and another in May. mid-May. In 2013 it treated 2,300 children during the more than 1,000 cases of child malnutrition every month. pass without customers purchasing anything. With roads The blame game holds little significance for Jared whole year. Before violence broke out in December it was about 40 blocked and river transport too dangerous as barges Tut. He fled Leer town after government troops In relief agency feeding centres, mothers seeking per month. Western diplomats say the looming famine is have often been attacked, prices of basic commodities in attacked early in the year. He is now lying in an MSF-run medical help for skeletal children tell harrowing tales of “man made” and avoidable. But they expect thousands to rural South Sudan have risen out of reach for many. hospital after diving into a river and being bitten by a life in the bush, where they could only scavenge for fruit die and much of the country to suffer as neither President “It is expensive,” said Nin, standing near a towering crocodile. or roots. “We ran and hid in the bush for months without Salva Kiir or rebel leader Riek Machar appear ready to tree shading two abandoned and rusting military tanks, “My house near the market was burned down (in the food,” said one woman who fled fighting in the Leer strike a lasting peace deal. baking in the midday heat. “People suffer hunger, they fighting) and I still cannot find my wife and child,” he region. “We were eating wild berries and plant roots.” have no money.” said in hospital. — Reuters

Murdoch tabloid suspends ‘fake sheikh’ UK reporter

LONDON: Mazher Mahmood, a British journalist mer editor Andy Coulson and two other senior journal- known for his undercover work posing as a “fake ists were jailed for the hacking scandal following an sheikh”, was suspended by Rupert Murdoch’s Sun news- eight month trial. paper yesterday after the collapse of a celebrity trial in Rebekah Brooks, who later ran Murdoch’s British which he was a main witness. newspaper arm now called News UK, was acquitted of His suspension comes just weeks after the editor involvement, often cited Mahmood’s work during her and senior journalists from a now-defunct Murdoch defence as examples of good investigative journalism. tabloid were jailed for their part in a phone-hacking Mahmood carried out the inquiry which led to the scandal which led to demands for action over the “dark 2011 conviction of three Pakistani cricketers for taking arts” of Britain’s aggressive tabloid press. bribes to fix incidents in a match against England. In his Mahmood, well-known for revealing wrongdoing most famous exclusive in 2001, he posed as an Arab amongst politicians, celebrities and even royalty, had sheikh to dupe Sophie, Countess of Wessex, who is mar- given evidence in the trial of Tulisa Contostavlos, a for- ried to Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son Prince Edward, mer judge on the British version of the “X Factor” TV tal- into making indiscreet comments about other mem- ent show. bers of the royal family and senior politicians. She had denied being involved in the supply of Contostavlos, who found fame in Britain as a singer drugs to Mahmood while he posed as a film producer, with the hip-hop act N-Dubz, said his “entrapment” tac- but her trial collapsed on Monday, with the judge say- tics should be outlawed. ing he suspected the reporter had lied to the court. “We have now succeeded in exposing the real cul- “The Sun, of course, takes the judge’s remarks very prit and most importantly the real liar,” she said outside seriously. Mr Mahmood has been suspended pending London’s Southwark Crown Court. an immediate internal investigation,” a spokesman for “I urge both police and News UK to investigate the newspaper said. Mazher Mahmood and his team and to put an end to Mahmood previously worked for Murdoch’s News of his deceit in pursuit of sensational stories for commer- the World tabloid which the media mogul was forced to cial gain.” shut in 2011 when it was disclosed journalists had Despite suspending Mahmood, the paper said it hacked voicemails on mobile phones of thousands of stood by the way in which the story was investigated. people, including that belonging to a murdered school- “We are very disappointed with this outcome, but LES FLANADES: People walk, yesterday, in Sarcelles, a northern Paris suburb, near a restaurant of a shopping center in Les Flanades girl, to find exclusive stories. do believe the original investigation was conducted neighborhood, damaged on Sunday after a rally against Israel’s Gaza offensive descended into violence pitting an angry pro- That led to a public inquiry into press ethics and within the bounds of the law and the industry’s code,” Palestinian crowd against local Jewish businesses. — AFP demands for reform. Earlier this month, the paper’s for- its spokesman said. — Reuters Looting in Paris as Europeans protest against Gaza conflict Thousands rally to oppose Israel’s offensive

SARCELLES: A French rally against the deadly Some commentators in France, and the left- the violence that unfolded “justifies all the more Israeli offensive in Gaza once again descended wing party which helped organise Saturday’s the brave choice by the interior ministry to ban a into chaos yesterday as protesters looted shops march, railed against the ban, particularly as oth- demonstration.” and riot police lobbed tear gas and rubber bul- er protests in France and Europe took place Speaking as he commemorated the anniver- lets into the crowds. The demonstration in the without incident. sary of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup-a mass arrest of northern Paris suburb of Sarcelles is the third to On Saturday, parts of central London were Jews in Paris on July 16 and 17, 1942 — Valls have deteriorated in the space of eight days in a brought to a standstill as thousands marched warned of “a new form of anti-Semitism”. country that counts the largest Muslim popula- against the Israeli offensive. He said it was spreading “on the Internet, on tion in western Europe and a huge Jewish com- London saw both pro- and anti-Israel rallies networks, in working class areas, among young munity. on Sunday, but police kept demonstrators at a people who are often aimless, who have no A decision by authorities to ban protests in distance and no arrests were made. awareness of history, who hide their ‘hatred of areas deemed too sensitive has also garnered Some 11,000 marched in central Vienna on the Jews’ behind the facade of anti-Zionism and controversy as they took place anyway and Sunday to protest “the murder and oppression in behind hatred of the Israeli state.” President turned violent, while authorised ones elsewhere Palestine”. “We’re not anti-Semites, we’re here for Francois Hollande also hit out at anti-Semitism in the country-as well as in other cities across the people. We call on Europeans and Americans and racism Sunday, saying it would not be toler- Europe-were peaceful. to finally do something,” the organisers said at ated. “The Republic is about being able to live From Vienna to Stockholm and on to the start of the march. Smaller protests of 500 to together, to look at our history and at the same Amsterdam, thousands rallied on Sunday to 600 people were also held in the Austrian cities time to always be ready to defend democratic oppose Israel’s offensive, which has left more of Graz and Linz. In Amsterdam, they were some values, not to be influenced by arguments that than 400 Palestinians and 20 Israelis 3,000 marchers carrying signs including “Stop are too far away from here to be imported, not dead.Though patrolled by police, few incidents the war” and “Israel war criminals,” an AFP corre- to be swept away by global shock waves,” he were reported in those demonstrations. “We’re spondent said. “It just has to stop. Children are said. Meanwhile, former French prime minister BUDAPEST: A photo of Jewish child victims and a speech of Hungarian President Janos Ader made in not anti-Semites, we’re here for the people. We being killed and they are innocent,” said Ekrem and leading right-wing politician Alain Juppe Auswitz in 2014, are seen in front of a monument commemorating victims of the country’s occupation call on Europeans and Americans to finally do Kara, 32, wearing a traditional Palestinian black criticised the Israeli offensive, which he said was by Nazi Germany at the Freedom square in Budapest yesterday. The government says the structure — something,” organisers of the 11,000-strong and white keffiyeh scarf. In Stockholm about seeking to destroy Hamas but “mostly what we which will depict Hungary as an angel being attacked by a German eagle — will commemorate all the march in Vienna said. 1,000 people protested. see is terrorised families caught in the trap of the victims of the country’s occupation by Nazi Germany. — AFP But in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles-some- Tsahal’s bombardments”. On his blog, Juppe said times nicknamed “little Jerusalem” for its large Another Paris rally he “does not understand the Israeli govern- community of Sephardic Jews-a banned but France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls defend- ment’s strategy”, and called for an immediate orderly demonstration of several hundred ed the decision to stop the Paris protest, saying truce. — AFP Turkey’s Kurdish candidate says descended into chaos when dozens of youth- peace does not hinge on Erdogan some of them masked-set fire to bins and lit fire- crackers and smoke bombs. Looters then began Turkey stops airing BERLIN/ANKARA: Turkey’s peace process with dialogue either,” he said. Support for the HDP is below raiding shops, wrecking a funeral home and Kurdish militants will go on whether or not Tayyip 10 percent in opinion polls, suggesting a significant destroying its front window as several protesters Erdogan wins the presidency in August, his pro- proportion of Turkey’s Kurds might vote for Erdogan, shouted: “F... Israel!”. spy drama after threat Kurdish rival said, but he declined to reveal whether he but the party is aiming to broaden its appeal beyond Access to synagogue blocked would back the prime minister in the event of a sec- its Kurdish roots. ISTANBUL: Turkey’s state television channel abducted 49 Turkish citizens as they cap- ond-round run-off. Sister party of the recently renamed Democratic Others raided a drugstore which caught fire. Young girls grabbed baby milk inside. “We’re stopped broadcasting an ambitious TV dra- tured swathes of northern Iraq. Selahattin Demirtas, the presidential candidate for Regions Party (DBP), which dominates much of the going to get the cash register,” one person ma series about the country’s spy agency fol- The show had also came under fire for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), is mainly Kurdish southeast, the HDP was formed late last shouted, his voice drowned by the noise of a lowing warnings from police about a possi- making discriminatory remarks about the running a distant third in the polls. He left unclear year to contest mayoral elections elsewhere in Turkey, police helicopter overhead and the alarm of a ble jihadist threat, local media reported yes- country’s minority Alevi community, which which of the leading candidates he might support. where Kurds are in a minority. nearby pizzeria. terday. follows a moderate form of Islam. Support from Kurds, who make up a fifth of the Demirtas, a 41-year-old human rights lawyer, is sig- Security forces then fired rubber bullets in TRT stopped airing the “Kizilelma” (“The Osman Sinav, who also directed Turkish population, could be key to Erdogan’s securing the nificantly younger than either Erdogan, 60, or the direction of the looters. Not far away, riot Red Apple”) just three weeks after Turkish hit action series “Kurtlar Vadisi” (“Valley of the absolute majority he needs in the first round of the Ihsanoglu, 70, a former head of the Organisation of police blocked access to the local synagogue, national police urged the company to take Wolves”), said in a May interview that the presidential election on Aug. 10, or equally important Islamic Cooperation (OIC) who is running on the ticket where a group of young men stood armed with measures against the threats the drama show reflected Turkey’s ambitions to become in the event of a run-off two weeks later. of the main secularist opposition Republican People’s clubs and iron bars-one of them flying an Israeli could pose by drawing the wrath of Islamic a regional leader. Erdogan has done more than any previous Turkish Party (CHP). flag. The deadly bombing of Gaza has brought State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, “In this region, there is a conflict between leader to advance Kurdish rights, and he is hoping to Despite widespread anti-government protests and to light deep divides within French society-a the Milliyet daily reported on its website. spy agencies. Turkey is now a country with benefit from Kurdish support as a result, in the coun- a corruption scandal during his past term as prime Jewish community increasingly concerned over In a memo titled “hostility toward ISIL in aims and objectives. Turkey will position itself try’s first direct election for the presidency. minister, Erdogan still enjoys huge support and is anti-Semitism, a growing radical Islamic fringe, Turkish dramas” and dated April 28, the in line with these aims,” he said. Under his leadership, Turkey began peace talks with widely expected to win the presidency. and far-left activists whose opposition to Israeli police said ISIL militants were represented in Turkey, which backs the uprising against jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan in 2012, Two polls last month suggested a comfortable vic- policies sometimes verges on anti-Semitism. Kizilelma as a gang slaughtering and terroris- President Bashar al-Assad, has repeatedly in an effort to end a 30-year-old insurgency that has tory in the first round on Aug. 10, putting Erdogan on The violence in Sarcelles closely mirrored that ing people and were being “humiliated”, denied allegations that it is shipping arms to killed 40,000 people. But Demirtas said the future of 55-56 percent, a 20-point lead over Ihsanoglu. If no of a rally Saturday in a northern district of Paris, according to Milliyet. rebels or backing Al-Qaeda linked groups in the peace process did not hinge on Erdogan alone. candidate wins more than 50 percent in the first round, when a protest that began peacefully spiralled The show, which made its debut in Syria. “The negotiation process is not just a process a runoff vote will be held on Aug. 24. The scale of sup- out of control, leading to clashes with riot police January amid great fanfare and chronicled Ankara’s alarm has reached new heights dependent on Erdogan,” he told Reuters in a telephone port for Erdogan has left Turkey’s disparate opposition and dozens of arrests. the missions of a Turkish spy agency in Syria, after ISIL-which has changed its name to interview from the western German city of Cologne, trying to work out what alliances might dent him. Both rallies had been banned out of fear of Iran, Iraq, was taken off air in May with the Islamic State and which Turkey included on where he addressed Turkish citizens over the weekend. Demirtas declined to give a percentage of the vote the unrest and amid concern that the Jewish com- official reason “low ratings”. its list of terrorist organisations in June- “If I was president, I would make better progress. HDP was targeting, or to say whom it might back in a munity would be targeted after protesters last It came three weeks before ISIL militants declared a “caliphate” straddling Turkey’s (The main opposition presidential candidate) second round. To do so, he said, “would not be in the weekend tried to storm two synagogues in the stormed Turkey’s consulate in Mosul and neighbours Iraq and Syria. — AFP Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has said he does not oppose spirit of a truly free election.” — Reuters French capital.