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Abuse worse than under Saddam, says Iraqi leader · Allawi in damning indictment of new regime · Bush prepares way for US troop pull-out Human rights abuses in Iraq are now as bad as they were under Saddam Hussein and are even in danger of eclipsing his record, according to the country's first Prime Minister after the fall of Saddam's regime. 'People are doing the same as [in] Saddam's time and worse,' Ayad Allawi told The Observer. 'It is an appropriate comparison. People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same things.' In a damning and wide-ranging indictment of Iraq's escalating human rights catastrophe, Allawi accused fellow Shias in the government of being responsible for death squads and secret torture centres. The brutality of elements in the new security forces rivals that of Saddam's secret police, he said. Allawi, who was a strong ally of the US-led coalition for...

Blood debt women offered up for rape By Isambard Wilkinson in Sultanwala Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/22/wdebt22.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/11/22/ixworld.html ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dmax Comment I wonder what the United Nations, The US, the EU and the British Commonwealth are doing to make Pakistan change into a democratic society...This week Senior Members of the Pakistani government (that for your info did not take their power through a normal election, but by means of a coup d'état) will be in Malta making nice speeches about human rights and world peace, bla, bla, bla... Would the Maltese Government or the so-called Maltese European free press comment? Ray de Bono ------------------------------------------------------------------- A village council in Pakistan has decreed that five young women should be abducted, raped or killed for refusing to honour childhood "marriages". The women, ...

UK troops out of Iraq 'next year' Dmax Editor Notes with Regret I am concerned that this indirect announcement on behalf of the British through the Iraqi government is nothing but a likely smoke screen behind the UK's official retreat from the Iraqi front. Why didn't the British announce it themselves, if their job was finished well? Are they trying to give the impression the Iraqis support such a retreat from an essential member of the US coalition thus acknowledging they are now ready to take over the country's administration? Many agree that the Iraqi mission is a non finished job. The Iraqi troops are ill-trained, ill-equipped, lack morale and are reported to be infiltrated with Islamists and Jihadists ready to blow themselves at the right moment. The state of security for the average citizens in Baghdad, Basra and other parts of the country leaves much to be desired. Iraqi police get blown up many times daily so much so that it stopped being headline news. But...

In Maltese we have a saying...'biex tiskongra trid tkun pur..." in other words, "only the pure can cast out demons'... The US came out with a long list of reasons why Iraq was attacked, cos its harboring terrorists, financing them, creating them, cos its storing nuclear weapons, building long-range missiles, developing chemical arms, its leader killed his own people, disrespected human rights , bla, bla, bla...All bad but now we are seeing that on some counts the USA is not so 'pure' and righteous itself in its deeds... A shocking piece of news just released by Italian State TV 'RAI' explains why... Points to Ponder The Italians have historically been known as ambivalent allies...Recent history shows them first aligning themselves with Nazi Germany in World War Two till victory was within reach, only to shift sides after massive failures against superior Allied resistance... Nowadays we are witnessing yet another colossal shift all'Italiana ...The ...

French Muslims face job discrimination I felt it was good to see what possibly could have been the real factors behind this mayhem in Paris. It is worrying considering the growing number of muslims in the EU that such events are taking place in this day and age. We need to identify the motivation of these riots, whether or not they are coming from a genuine desire by these people to integrate in French society, or if its part of a wider political or Islamist agenda....I question the cause behind the plight of these angry young men... Is it just poverty? Are they being used? Instigated? Ray de Bono, obo The Dmax News Team Days of rioting in the bleaker suburbs of Paris have highlighted discontent among many French youths of North African origin. As part of a series on French Muslims, the BBC News website's Henri Astier looks at the issue of discrimination, a leading source of frustration in France's unemployment-riddled ghettos. Sadek recently quit his job delivering groceries...

Riots erupt in more Paris suburbs French Interiors Minister,Nicolas Sarkozy has come under fire for his handling of the unrest... Rioting has spread to more suburbs of Paris on a sixth night of unrest in the outskirts of the French capital. At Aulnay-sous-Bois, cars were torched as gangs of youths hurled stones at police in riot gear, who responded by firing rubber bullets. But the epicentre of the trouble, Clichy-sous-Bois, was said to be calm, with a heavy police presence. The unrest was sparked by the death of two boys whom locals think were fleeing police, despite official denials. Correspondents say anger has been fuelled by a tear gas canister hurled into the town's mosque on Sunday night, and arrests. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called earlier for a return to calm, during a meeting with the families of the teenagers. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy joined the meeting, although the parents had refused to meet him a day earlier. He has been criticised for ...