Iran, Saudi Arabia fight proxy conflict in Syria

Deutsche Welle, 18 August 2012

While there is much talk of shared values and Islamic unity between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two countries are engaged in a bitter rivalry to expand their influence in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two rivals over the leadership role in the Islamic world, were eager to project harmony - at least when it came to outside appearances - at this week's summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Mecca, the holy city of Islam.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got a seat right next to the host, King Abdulla of Saudi Arabia. In his speech, Ahmadinejad stressed that the shared belief in one religion, a shared prophet and one holy text outweighed the countries' differences with each other.

Diplomatic defeat for Tehran 

At the OIC summit, the leaders
 tried to stress their cooperation

But neither the seating arrangement nor the amicable speeches nor the heated debates behind closed doors could influence the outcome of the summit: the suspension of Syria from the organization - and the diplomatic defeat it represented for Iran, which is Damascus' closest ally in the region.

Ahead of the summit, Hermidas Bawand, professor for international relations at Tehran University, warned on a reformer website that "we will be made to look like a fool."

Ahmadinejad himself had in fact not expected to be able to prevent the anti-Syrian resolution.

"My voice was the only vote against it, and it had to be raised at the conference," he said after returning to Iran. His failure to push Tehran's point at the Mecca summit was also because the Saudis are well aware that he's a politician on his way out.

Ahmadinejad's term up next spring, and he has very little to say on crucial matters of the Islamic republic - like the country's nuclear ambitions or Tehran's ties with Damascus. Saudi Arabia knows that religious leader Ali Khamenei is setting the agenda in Iran. And that he's putting his country on a path of confrontation.

Islamic rivals 

Saudi Arabia doesn't see
Ahmadinejad as the one in charge

The old rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia as to who is leading the Islamic world is also fought on Syrian soil. The Saudi king described himself as "the servant of the holy shrines in Mecca and Medina" while Khamenei claims to be "the leader of the Islamic revolution."

The two countries also stand for the schism of the Islamic world: Saudi Arabia sees itself at the helm of the Sunnis, while Iran is leading the Shias. The conflict in Syria is increasingly fought along that sectarian divide with the Assad clan being Alawi, a denomination close to the Shias and therefore a natural ally to Tehran.

The unofficial proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia moved center stage early in August when 48 Iranians were kidnapped in Damascus. Quickly, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the men were religious pilgrims. Hours later, a pro-Saudi Sunni rebel group in Damascus claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. A video of the Iranians was then shown on the Saudi-financed television station Al-Arabiya. In the video, the rebel spokesman says the kidnapped were in fact not pilgrims but members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

US worries about role of Iran 

Iran wants to prevent the
 Assad regime from collapsing

The Revolutionary Guards do not dispute their activities in Syria. The country was, they said, a bastion of resistance against Israel, that's why Iran was supporting Syria, General Ismail Ghaani, vice president of the guards' Quds brigades, explained on an Iranian website. "If it wasn't for us, there'd be even more people dying." That quote though was later taken off the website.

Military and intelligence officials in the United States said they believe Iran is trying to train militias to support the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. At least some of the kidnapped pilgrims were members of the Republican Guards, an elite division specializing in exactly such tasks, says Washington. US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the White House was very concerned about the development and that Iran should stay out of the conflict. At the same time, Panetta suggested that the US would step up its support for the Syrian opposition.

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Rewriting History: Family of Secrets by Russ Baker

President George H.W. Bush and King Fahd share a laugh
during meetings in Saudi Arabia, Nov. 21, 1990. George
Bush Presidential Library and Museum

"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."

(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)

Experts skeptical of Saudi plans for women-only work zone

Deutsche Welle, 17 august 2012

Saudi Arabia is planning to estabilsh a work-zone to be staffed exclusively by women. With women facing many barriers to joining the country's workforce, experts wonder if the zones will only reinforce segregation.

Women make up more than 60 percent of high school graduates in Saudi Arabia, but represent just 15 percent of the country's workforce. Many of them go abroad to earn an advanced degree, only to return home unable to find a job.

Now Saudi Arabia is planning its first women-only work zone, an industrial area in the eastern city of Hofuf expected to provide 5,000 jobs. Yet experts are skeptical whether the plan will really provide a solution to female unemployment and underemployment in the kingdom.

High hurdles

"It would probably be much more efficient and effective to reduce hurdles for women by building up a normal labor market," Christoph Wilcke of Human Rights Watch told DW. 

Women have been arrested for
 trying to drive in Saudi Arabia

According to Wilcke, these structural barriers include Saudi Arabia's traditional system of guardianship, in which women need a male family member's written consent to take up a job. He added that the country's ban on female drivers and, not least, strict segregation of the sexes at work also limit women's employment opportunities.

Saudi Arabia expert Ulrike Freitag, Director of the Modern Orient Center, told DW she is also skeptic about the proposal for a women-only work zone.

"I think this is an attempt to implement the current segregation - which exists in banks, universities and school - on a wider basis," she said, "and suppress efforts toward a truly mixed public sphere."

Still, Freitag added, female work zones could possibly open up new chances to women that might not arise in a mixed public sphere.

Conservative attitudes

Middle East expert Stephanie Doetzer described her experiences as a journalist working for Al Jazeera in Saudi Arabia's neighbor Qatar. 

Women at a mall in Saudi Arabia

"Women are often the ones to call for separation of the sexes," she said. "It is women who say, 'I am not comfortable with men at work; I can only think of work in a place where women are among each other'."

Doetzer added that women with such conservative attitudes are still in the majority. She said for many women in the Gulf states, a work zone reserved for women is completely reasonable.

Doetzer continued that while more and more women in Qatar are working in a mixed-gender environment, it remains a big issue.

"Not all women are satisfied with" the situation, she said. "The more women work in Qatar, the more there are who decide to wear a facial veil. That is a sort of portable gender separation, which finds its expression in clothes."

Change on the way?

"The majority of women are definitely still conservative," Freitag said. "But other voices with a big influence on society and especially the economy are growing."

One is Olfat Kabbani, deputy chairman of commerce and industry in the western Saudi city of Jeddah. The Internet blog Saudiwoman's weblog quoted her as criticizing the plan for a women-only work zone in the Okaz newspaper.

Kabbani said it is much more necessary to create educational opportunities, remove legal barriers and encourage investors to create jobs for women.

Freitag said other women working to carve out a place in public life. She said that's "not least because Saudi youths are very closely following what is happening in the Arab Spring around them."

Related Article:

'A golden age for Saudi women'

Uganda prime minister hacked 'over gay rights'

BBC News, 16 August 2012

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Most Ugandan government website
are hosted by private companies,
officials say

The Ugandan prime minister's website was attacked by hackers on Tuesday and Wednesday, a government official has confirmed to the BBC.

Screen grabs showing the website with messages from gay activists are being circulated on social media sites.

In one, the prime minister apologises to all homosexuals living in Uganda and gives his support to a gay pride march.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda and gay people have faced physical attacks and social rejection.

Earlier this year, a controversial anti-gay bill, which proposes to increase the penalties for homosexual acts from 14 years in jail to life, was re-tabled in the Ugandan parliament.

The bill was first introduced in 2009 but never debated - and the MP backing the legislation says a clause proposing the death penalty will be dropped.

It originally said those found guilty of "aggravated homosexuality" - defined as when one of the participants is a minor, HIV-positive, disabled or a "serial offender" - would face the death penalty.

'Narrow mindedness'

The Uganda Justice Law and Order Sector website was also reportedly taken over by hackers this week.

Ambrose Ruyooka, commissioner for the Information Communications Technology ministry, told the BBC the problem had now been rectified.

The government has created a directorate of security for all government websites and tightened cyber laws to counter rising cyber crime, he said.

An activist named @DramaSett3r on Twitter is said to be behind the attacks.

The operations were carried out by a group known as The Elite Society and the Anonymous hacktivist community, the activist said.

On Wednesday, the official website of Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi quoted him as saying: "We have got to expel the narrow mindedness from this country, and begin afresh, starting with a full and formal apology to all homosexuals living in Uganda today," screen grabs on Twitter and Facebook show.

A message allegedly posted by the hackers on the prime minister's site on Tuesday said: "Your violations of the rights of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people have disgusted us.

"All people have the right to live in dignity free from the repression of someone else's political and religious beliefs."

The East African nation is a largely conservative society and many people condemn homosexuality both as unAfrican and unChristian.

Western donors have recently said they could withdraw aid from those countries, including many in Africa, which do not recognise gay rights.

Dutch vet fights South African rhino poachers

RNW, by Elles van Gelder, 16 August 2012

 (Elles van Gelder)

              

Every day in South Africa, a rhinoceros will bleed to death after its horn has been hacked off by poachers. The horns are sold on the black market in Asia, mostly in Vietnam, where they’re believed to have powerful medicinal properties. Dutch veterinarian Martine van Zijl Langhout works together with local wardens to try and protect this threatened species.

Van Zijll Langhout stalks as quietly as possible through the tall grass at Mauricedale Park in the east of South Africa near the famous Kruger Park. She pulls back the trigger on her special tranquiliser rifle, takes aim and fires. The rhinoceros in her sights wobbles groggily for a few minutes before sinking onto its knees and rolling unconscious onto its side. Van Zijll Langhout and her team, carrying a chainsaw, approach the animal cautiously.

Brutal killings

There are some 20,000 rhinos in South Africa, 80 percent of the world population. And every day these animals are slaughtered savagely by poachers. First the rhino is shot to bring it down, and then the horn is hacked off with axes and machetes. The poachers cut as deeply into the animal’s head as possible. Every extra centimetre of horn means more money in their pockets. In 2007, thirteen rhinos in South Africa fell victim to poachers.  Last year that number had soared to 448, and the toll so far this year is 312.

Reducing risk

Loud snoring can be heard. The vet blindfolds the rhinoceros and then the park manager starts up the chainsaw and proceeds to slice into the beast’s horn.  Van Zijll Langhout monitors its breathing: “This is one way to stop the poachers” she explains. “They want as much horn as possible so rhinos with a small horn are a less attractive target”.

Van Zijll Langhout came to South Africa in 1997 when she was still a student and worked at Kruger Park with lions, elephants and rhinos. She knew she’d found her dream job, and five years ago she returned as a qualified vet. “It’s an unquenchable passion, such an adventure, and every day is different,” she says, “It’s such a privilege to work with African animals and an honour to be able to do something for them”.

No better option

The preventive removal of the rhinoceros’ horn takes about ten minutes. Van Zijll Langhout, an energetic woman in her thirties with wildly curly hair, compares the process to clipping nails or having a haircut: “It’s completely painless; we cut above the blood vessels”. Again she checks the animal’s breathing as its snores echo through the bush. “It’s not nice that we have to do this, but I don’t really see a better option”, she sighs, “and the horn does grow back, otherwise we wouldn’t do it.” The fact that visitors to the park might be disappointed and expect to see rhinos complete with proud curving horns doesn’t bother her: “What matters is the animals’ survival”.

Organised crime

The fight against poaching is a difficult one. “These are professional criminals”, explains Van Zijll Langhout. “This isn’t about poor locals living in huts. Poachers have advanced weapons and sometimes even use helicopters.” The horns are worth more than their weight in gold, so it’s a lucrative trade for organised crime syndicates.

The horn falls to the ground; the team will preserve it and register it. The rhino is given an injection. Within minutes he’s back on his feet and walking off into the bush. His newly weightless head is no guarantee of safety though. A rhino was poached in the park the same week as the horns were sawn off. Even the stump that remains after the procedure is worth big money.

Click to watch Elles van Gelder's video about rhino poaching (Dutch language)

http://www.stoprhinopoaching.com/

Rhino and wardens in Mauricedale Park (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

Anaethsetised rhinoceros (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

Sawing off the horn (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

Proceedure completed (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

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South African police open fire on striking platinum miners

Unknown number of workers injured, possibly dead, after officers move in on strike over pay which has already seen nine killed

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press in Johannesburg, Thursday 16 August 2012

Police surround the bodies of workers after opening fire on a strike at the
Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, South Africa. Photograph: AP

South African police have opened fire on a crowd of striking workers at a platinum mine, leaving an unknown number of people injured and possibly dead.

Police moved in on the strikers who gathered on a rocky outcrop near the Lonmin mine on Thursday afternoon. On TV footage, a volley of intense gunfire could be heard. The private television broadcaster e.tv showed images of still bodies lying in blood in the dust. Another image showed some miners looking in the distance at heavily armed police officers in riot gear.

Police Captain Dennis Adriao, a spokesman for the officers at the mine, declined to immediately comment. Jeff Wicks, a spokesman for the private ambulance company Netcare, which was standing by at the mine, also declined to comment.

Barnard Mokwena, an executive vice-president at Lonmin, would only say: "It's a police operation." Lonmin is the world's third-largest platinum producer.

In a statement earlier on Thursday, Lonmin had said striking workers would be sacked if they did not turn up for their shifts on Friday.

"The striking (workers) remain armed and away from work," the statement read. "This is illegal."

The unrest at the Lonmin mine began on 10 August when about 3,000 workers walked off the job in protest over pay. Management described the action as an illegal strike.

Those who tried to go to work on Saturday were attacked, management and the National Union of Mineworkers said.

On Sunday, a crowd killed two security guards after setting their car ablaze, authorities said. By Monday, angry mobs killed two other workers and overpowered police, killing two officers, officials said. Officers opened fire that day, killing three, police said.

Operations appeared to come to a standstill on Tuesday as workers stayed away from the mines, where 96% of Lonmin's platinum is produced.

The shootings on Thursday saw stock in Lonmin plunge 6.33% in trading on the London Stock Exchange.

While the walkout appeared to be about wages, the ensuing violence has been fuelled by the struggles between the dominant National Union of Mineworkers and the upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. Disputes between the two unions escalated into violence earlier this year at another mine.

Both unions have blamed each other for the trouble at the mine at Marikana, about 40 miles (70km) north-west of Johannesburg.

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Ethiopian church patriarch Abune Paulos 'dies'

BBC News, 16 August 2012 

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Abune Paulos headed the church
since 1992

The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos, has died aged 76, an official has told the BBC.

The news was confirmed by Mulugeta Aserate Kassa, an adviser at the Ethiopian embassy in London.

He suffered a heart attack, according to opposition website Ethiopian Review.

No funeral details have been released, but Abune Paulos is expected to receive a state funeral. About half of Ethiopia's population are estimated to be Orthodox Christians.

Mr Mulugeta told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme the patriarch had been "very healthy" on Wednesday, when he led a service in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

'Pragmatist at heart'

He later fell ill and was rushed to hospital, said Mr Mulugeta, a close friend of the patriarch.

The patriarch died early on Thursday morning, he added.

Mr Mulugeta said he could not confirm the cause of death, but the patriarch had suffered from hypertension and diabetes.

Abune Paulos was chosen to lead the church in 1992 - a year after the overthrow of the communist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

"He brought the church in line to meet the challenges of the 21st Century," Mr Mulugeta said.

"He was a pragmatist at heart."

He was jailed under Mengistu and then went into exile in the US.

Critics accused him of being close to current Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has also been ill recently.

Abune Paulos was the first person from the Tigray ethnic group - the same as Mr Meles - to head the country's Orthodox Church, Mr Mulugeta said.

"He was loved by many," he added.

Related Article:

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Bahrain activist Nabeel Rajab jailed for three years

BBC News, 16 August 2012

Bahrain Protests 

• Meeting Bahrain's hunger striker
• Bahrain police 'still torturing'
• Profile: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja
• Country profile: Bahrain

Mr Rajab has attracted support from
many in Bahrain's protest movement

Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been jailed for three years for taking part in "illegal gatherings".

He is already serving a three-month sentence he received in July over comments on social networking websites.

Mr Rajab, president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, had previously been detained several times.

He was one of the organisers of pro-democracy protests which have rocked the Gulf kingdom since last February.

Mr Rajab's lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said three year-long sentences had been handed down on three separate counts.

Mr Jishi said he plans to appeal against the ruling.

Fellow activists immediately condemned the decision, with some members of the protest movement calling for demonstrations on Thursday evening.

Mr Rajab's sentence in July came after prosecutors received complaints that he had libelled residents of the town of Muharraq on Twitter.

He wrote on Twitter, where he has more than 155,000 followers, that Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa should step down, and that Muharraq residents had only welcomed him during a visit because he had offered them subsidies.

Last week, several members of the US Congress wrote to the Bahraini King Hamad al-Khalifa expressing concern over Mr Rajab's case and urging the release of "Bahrainis being held for crimes related to freedom of expression".

Dutch Eritreans forced to pay ‘war tax’

RNW, 14 August 2012

(ANP/ scris.it)

The Eritrean Consulate in The Hague has been extorting money from Eritreans in the Netherlands for almost twenty years. A report in Dutch daily de Volkskant claims people are being forced to hand over two percent of their monthly income to support the regime of President Issayas Afewerki.

According to de Volkskrant, those who refuse to pay are subject to threats and intimidation and are denied consular services. An Eritrean entrepreneur told the paper that he was only given permission to visit his mother in Eritrea when he agreed to pay “tax arrears” amounting to more than 600 euros.

The man then made monthly payments, but when he wanted to travel to Eritrea a second time to visit a seriously ill brother he was again confronted with a demand for “arrears” of almost 800 euros.

A report earlier this year from the United Nations suggested that the Eritrean regime was systematically extorting money from the global diaspora.  President Afewerki’s regime insists this ‘tax’ is needed to wage jihad or ‘holy war’ in the Horn of Africa.  Eritrea funds and arms the radical Islamic terrorist network Al Shabaab which is active in the region.

There are an estimated 14,000 Eritreans in the Netherlands. The Hague Consulate has not yet responded to de Volkskrant’s report.

Uganda Olympic champion Kiprotich given hero's welcome

BBC News, 15 August 2012

Kiprotich travelled in open-top car with the number plate "UG GOLD"

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Crowds in Uganda have given a hero's welcome to Stephen Kiprotich, the country's first Olympic gold medal winner in 40 years.

Kiprotich, a prison warden who won the men's marathon on Sunday, was then presented with a cheque for $80,000 (£51,000) by President Yoweri Museveni.

He was also promoted nine ranks to become an assistant superintendent in the prisons service.

Mr Museveni promised that more would be done to invest in athletes in future. 

Convoy blocked

Kiprotich asked the president
to build his parents a house

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in Entebbe says people lined the street as Kiprotich waved from an open-top car with the personalised number plate "UG GOLD".

At one stage the convoy was forced to stop by the crowds blocking the road on the way to State House, where Kiprotich had breakfast with the president, she says.

After Kiprotich was presented with the cheque, he asked the president if he would build a house for his parents in north-eastern Kapchorwa district.

Mr Museveni agreed that a three-bedroom house would be constructed.

The president also admitted that funding in sports had suffered as the country had concentrated on development projects such as building schools and roads.

But he promised that in future all athletes who won international medals would receive a 1m Ugandan shillings (about $400) monthly stipend to help them train.

A high-altitude training school would also be built, he promised.

Correspondents say the reaction in Uganda to Kiprotich's victory has been euphoric.

Thestate-owned Vision media group set up a fund to raise prize money for therunner after he won on Sunday - and in three hours raised more than $100,000 - it aims to make it to $500,000.

Uganda's last Olympic champion was 400m hurdler John Akii-Bua, who won gold at Munich in 1972.

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MAP: Here Are All Of The Big Chinese Investments In Africa Since 2010

Business Insider, Mamta Badkar, Aug. 13, 2012

Chinese investments in Africa have raised many eyebrows, as competitors like the U.S. argue that it's motivated by Beijing's desire to exploit the continent's resources.

Earlier this year China promised $20 billion in investments to various African countries, and U.S. secretary of state Hilary Clinton said in a speech that African countries should consider partnerships with more responsible countries as against countries that exploit resources in a veiled reference to China.

This prompted Chinese state news-agency Xinhua (via the Guardian) to write "Whether Clinton was ignorant of the facts on the ground or chose to disregard them, her implication that China has been extracting Africa's wealth for itself is utterly wide of the truth."

Given the recent debate we drew on this map from Stratfor to highlight Chinese investments offers in Africa since 2010. From Stratfor:

"While China has proposed $750 million for agriculture and general development aid and about $50 million to support small- and medium-sized business development in addition to the aforementioned projects, it has been criticized for the extractive nature of its relationship with many African countries, as well as the poor quality of some of its construction work.

However, since many African countries lack the indigenous engineering capability to construct these large-scale projects or the capital to undertake them, African governments with limited resources welcome Chinese investments enthusiastically. These foreign investment projects are also a boon for Beijing, since China needs African resources to sustain its domestic economy, and the projects in Africa provide a destination for excess Chinese labor."

We first spotted the map on The Big Picture:

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Egypt President Mursi explains army chief replacement

BBC News, 13 August 2012

Egypt changing 

• Mursi's swipe at military
• Mohamad Tantawi
• Mohammed Mursi
• Revolution 'failing Egyptian women'

Relations between President Mursi
 (centre) and Egypt's two top generals
have been tense

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has said his move to order the retirement of two of the country's top generals was for "the benefit of this nation".

He was speaking after replacing the powerful head of the armed forces, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, and the chief-of-staff, Gen Sami Annan.

Mr Mursi also said a constitutional declaration by the military aimed at curbing his powers had been cancelled.

The generals assumed presidential powers after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

'Holy mission'

"The decisions I took today were not meant ever to target certain persons, nor did I intend to embarrass institutions, nor was my aim to narrow freedoms," Mr Mursi said during a speech to mark the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"I did not mean to send a negative message about anyone, but my aim was the benefit of this nation and its people," he said.

The president also praised the armed forces, saying they would now focus "on the holy mission of protecting the nation".

It was announced earlier that a career army officer, Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, would replace Field Marshal Tantawi as both armed forces chief and defence minister.

Field Marshal Tantawi, 76, has not yet indicated whether he accepts the moves.

However Gen Mohammed al-Assar, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), told the Reuters news agency the decision had been "based on consultation with the field marshal, and the rest of the military council".

A presidential spokesman said Gen Annan and Field Marshal Tantawi had been appointed as presidential advisers and were given Egypt's highest state honour, the Grand Collar of the Nile.

Islamist raid

BBC Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly says the dismissal of senior military officers will be seen by Egyptians as a decisive move in a struggle for real power between the country's newly elected politicians and the generals who have exercised power for many years.

As head of Scaf, Field Marshal Tantawi became Egypt's interim ruler after President Mubarak was ousted following last year's mass protests.

Under the interim constitutional declaration issued by Scaf before Mr Mursi was sworn in, the president could not rule on matters related to the military - including appointing its leaders.

The council also dissolved parliament, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).

Tensions between the presidency and Scaf were further exacerbated after Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula killed 16 border guards last week, in a raid that embarrassed the military.

The president sacked Egypt's intelligence chief and two senior generals following the attack.

Mr Mursi resigned from his leadership positions within the Brotherhood, including his role as chairman of the FJP, when he won the presidential election in June.

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"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."

Somali Olympians deny seeking asylum over threats

BBC News, 12 August 2012

The Islamist al-Shabab group oppose activities they deem to be "Western",
including certain sports

Somalia - Failed State 

• 'Healing Somalia'
• In pictures: Rebuilding Mogadishu
• 10 things about Somalia
• A doctor's mission

One of two Somali athletes competing at the Olympic Games in London has denied that they are seeking asylum in the UK.

Mohamed Hassan Mohamed, a 1,500m runner, told the BBC Somali Service they both intended to return home.

Earlier his compatriot Zamzam Mohamed Farah, who ran in the first heat of the women's 400m, spoke of the threats she has faced since competing.

Somalia has been devastated by two decades of conflict and an al-Qaeda group controls many areas.

Its last functioning national government was ousted in 1991 and the resulting vacuum has enabled both pirates and lawlessness to flourish.

'Worried'

Mr Mohammed, 20, told the BBC that he and Ms Farah were going back to the capital, Mogadishu, this coming Tuesday.

He admitted that they were worried about the threats they had received but they did not intend to stay in the UK and apply for asylum as some reports had suggested.

The Islamist al-Shabab, which joined al-Qaeda in February and controls much of rural southern and central Somalia, oppose activities they deem to be "Western", including certain sports.

Ms Farah told London-based Universal TV that she had been singled out for carrying the national flag at the opening ceremony and "exposing herself" during her race.

An observant Muslim, the 21-year-old took to the track in a headscarf and with her arms and legs covered. She also ran while fasting, in accordance with the holy month of Ramadan, the television reported.

"There are a lot of threats coming through both Facebook and on the telephone. My parents have also been called and were informed that what I did was not a good thing and that once I return, I will be dealt with."

She added that Mohamed had been told that "there is a cross on his head and that if he returns to Mogadishu, his head will be no more". 

Mo Farah left Somalia as a child and
now competes for Team GB

In April, the president of Somalia's Olympic Committee, Aden Yabarow Wiish, and the Somali Football Federation chief, Said Mohamed Nur, were killed in a suicide attack in Mogadishu.

In 2010, al-Shabab said it carried out twin bombings in Uganda which killed more than 70 people who had gathered to watch the World Cup final on TV.

But for several months, the group has come under pressure on several military fronts and the capital is now mainly under the control of African Union peacekeepers.

Correspondents say despite continued insecurity and assassinations in the city this has led to a construction boom and hopes that the UN-backed process under way to elect a new government and president this month will bring more stability to the country.

Speaking before the games, Ms Farah, who shares the name of the two-time Olympic gold winner Mo Farah - a Somali-born British athlete, said medals were not a priority for her: "I am not going for pride... I will be representing my flag, my soil and its people."

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