Morocco: Activists, politicians weigh in on environmental charter Morocco is consulting with political and environmental groups about the first draft of the country's environmental charter, which targets preserving the environment and fostering sustainable development. While the first draft was taking shape, the government struggled with how to encourage Moroccans to practice environmental stewardship. To address this issue, King Mohammed VI launched the country-wide consultation last October, while also holding regional awareness-raising workshops this month. The results of the consultation will be considered as the charter's second draft is drawn up. US, Algeria, Egypt named by UN in secret detentions The United States is among dozens of countries that have kidnapped and held terrorism suspects in secret detention over the past nine years, violating their basic human rights, a United Nations report charged Tuesday. It said that Algeria, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Russia, Sudan and Zimbabwe were also detaining security suspects or opposition members in unknown places. “On a global scale, secret detention in connection with counterterrorist policies remains a serious problem,†investigators said in a yearlong study that will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in March. South Africa releases Tunisian on terror alert South Africa’s Hawks police released Mohammed Ali Harrath, a Tunisian arrested on an Interpol terror alert, because the Tunisian government didn’t respond to South Africa within the 48 hours he could be held. Harrath was arrested on Jan. 24 after arriving at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo airport from London. “This man has been freed,†Musa Zondi, a spokesman for the Hawks unit which carries out special investigations, said today in an interview from Cape Town. “Mostly because we have not received anything from the Tunisians. We had 48 hours to continue justifying his arrest before the magistrates.†Libyan minister in Russia for arms talks Libya's defense minister arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for talks that Russian media said could result in a $2 billion defense contract including 20 jets. Officials in the Libyan Embassy in Moscow confirmed that Major General Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr was making the trip but declined to discuss the likelihood of a deal, saying only that a news conference might be scheduled for Wednesday. “Libya is ready to buy around 20 fighter planes, not less than two divisions of S-300PMU-2 air defense systems, several dozen T-90S tanks from Russia, and also to modernize more than 140 T-72 tanks and other weapons,” Interfax reported, citing what it called “a military-diplomatic source.” German ambassador visits South Sudan The German Ambassador to Sudan, Mr. Rainner Eberle, yesterday paid a visit to UNAMID's regional headquarters in Nyala, South Darfur. The diplomat's mission was to gain a better picture of the situation in the region, as the country prepares for national elections scheduled for April 2010. Mr. Eberle was briefed by the Mission's regional Head of Office on the overall security and humanitarian situation, as well as the state government's efforts to create an environment conducive for the voluntary return of IDPs. Boeing, NTSP investigate Lebanon crash The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will dispatch an aviation investigator to assist the government of Lebanon in its review of the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Boeing 737-800 off the coast of Lebanon. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, aircraft registration ET-ANB, tumbled into the sea on Monday, January 25, at about 2:30 a.m. local time, minutes after taking off from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (BEY) in poor weather. Witnesses described a “ball of fire” falling from the sky. Lebanese army officials confirmed that the plane caught fire shortly after taking off, and broke into at least four pieces before impact 3.8 miles (6 km) off the coast. Terrorism has initially been ruled out. Gulfsands gets Syrian oil rights London-listed oil and gas company Gulfsands Petroleum announced that authorities in Syria consented to the development of the Yousefieh oil field. Gulfsands Petroleum acts as the operator at Yousefieh. Syrian authorities granted the company a production license for 25 years with the possibility of a 10-year extension. The company said it assessed the field in 2008, estimating the combined proven and probable reserves at around 11 million barrels of oil. BM
