Court rejects Suu Kyi appeal

Myanmar's supreme court has rejected an appeal by Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's detained opposition leader, against her continued house arrest.

The long-awaited ruling was delivered on Friday in the former capital, Yangon.

Her lawyers had earlier said they were optimistic that the court would rule in their favour, although court judgements in military-ruled Myanmar rarely go in favour of the opposition.

Following the supreme court rejection, she can make one final appeal to Myanmar's chief justice.

The appeals of two female assistants against similar periods of detention were also thrown out.

The Nobel peace laureate was sentenced last August to an additional 18 months under house arrest after being convicted of breaking the terms of her detention by sheltering an uninvited American man who swam to her lakeside villa.

She had initially been sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour, but that sentence was immediately commuted to 18 months of house arrest by Senior General Than Shwe, the head of Myanmar's ruling military.

Her lawyers appealed against the sentence to the supreme court in November last year after a lower court upheld the decision to extend her house arrest.

'Final argument'

Aung San Suu Kyi has already spent most of the past 20 years in jail or under house arrest.

Speaking to the Associated Press on Thursday, her lawyer Nyan Win, said he was confident the court ruling would go their way.

"We strongly believe that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be acquitted. We have presented strong legal points during our final argument last month," he said.

"Daw" is a term of respect for older women used in Myanmar.

Friday's court ruling comes nearly two weeks after the release of Tin Oo, the 82-year-old deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, after nearly seven years in detention.

It also comes a week after a UN human rights envoy left Myanmar, expressing disappointment that he had not been allowed to meet the opposition leader.

Hopeful

Speaking after his release Tin Oo said he was very hopeful that Aung San Suu Kyi would be released soon, noting that in 1995 he was released from an earlier stint in prison not long before Aung San Suu Kyi herself was freed.

Last month a report quoted a senior Myanmar official as saying the government was planning to free Aung San Suu Kyi in November, when her current term of house arrest comes to an end.

The report cited sources who attended a meeting with Myanmar's home minister, Major General Maung Oo, who also said that Tin Oo would be released in February.

A November release for Aung San Suu Kyi would come a month after many observers believe Myanmar will hold its first parliamentary elections in two decades.

The government has said the vote is a key part of what it says is a "roadmap to democracy, but critics say the plan will only reinforce military rule.

No firm date has yet been set for the election.

Deadlock at US healthcare summit

Barack Obama has wrapped up a marathon televised debate with congressional leaders on his plans for healthcare reform, but with no sign of a breakthrough on reaching a deal.

The US president called Thursday's summit meeting in an effort to save his health reform programme and get Republicans to agree to his proposals to bring coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans.

But after more than seven hours of talks at the Blair House presidential guesthouse the debate ended with little movement towards an agreement.

The meeting saw Obama continue to clash with Republicans over the size and costs his proposals, with the US president arguing that reform was imperative for the future economic vitality of the US.

But Republican leaders argued instead for ditching the plans and starting again from scratch, calling for more discussions on the issue and saying that America cannot afford Obama's bill as it stands.

That idea was firmly rejected by Obama at the end of the meeting, as he suggested that Democrats will try to pass the sweeping overhauls without Republican support.

"We cannot have another yearlong debate about this," Obama said.

Earlier, Obama cast health care as "one of the biggest drags on our economy", tying the health debate to an issue that is seen as even more pressing to many Americans.

Beginning Thursday's summit of 40 key Republicans and Democrats, he had urged both sides to avoid "political theatre" and focus instead on areas of agreement.

But early on he acknowledged that agreement may not be possible.

"I don't know that those gaps can be bridged," Obama said. "If not, at least we will have better clarified for the American people what the debate is all about."

'Clean sheet'

Lamar Alexander, a Republican senator, argued at the debate that the new healthcare bill would mean higher taxes, more regulations, and ultimately less choice for the US public.

"We have to start by taking the current bill and putting it on the shelf and starting with a clean sheet of paper," Alexander said.

"This is a car that can't be recalled and fixed."

Passing a version of the health care bill is critical to the president's political future and that of his Democratic party ahead of congressional elections in November.

Both chambers of Congress passed separate bills late last year after months of wrangling.

But before the two versions could be reconciled, Republicans captured the Massachusetts Senate seat in a special election following the death of Edward Kennedy.

That loss cost Democrats their 60-vote supermajority needed to overcome Republican procedural obstacles and pass major legislation.

With little sign of a bipartisan consensus being within reach the White House has now indicated it may end up forcing through a bill using a procedure known as budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority of 51 Senate votes.

Compromise

Democrats have been reluctant to use that process so far because of concerns that it would enrage Republicans and likely further worsen the partisan divide.

Earlier this week, the White House unveiled what it considers to be a compromise bill to break the deadlock over the issue. The new bill would provide healthcare coverage to 31 million Americans without adding to the national deficit.

The proposal would require most Americans to carry health insurance coverage, with federal subsidies to help many afford the premiums.

Under the planned legislation, insurance companies would be barred from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more.

It also grants the federal government greater power to block hikes in insurance premiums and envisages the creation of a new monitoring body of health industry experts.

Estimated to cost about $1 trillion over 10 years, Obama's plan would be paid for by a mix of tax increases, new fees on health care industries and cost cutting in an existing government health care programme for the elderly.

Speaking after Thursday's health summit, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, said he was "discouraged by the outcome" of the talks.

He said it was "pretty clear" that Obama and the Democrats wanted to revive the healthcare bill passed by the Senate last December, but said he did not believe there would be any Republican support.

Darfur War Over: Sudan’s Beshir

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir has declared the seven-year Darfur conflict over, a day after signing an initial peace deal with a major rebel group.

"Now the war is finished in Darfur,” Beshir told supporters Wednesday, February 24 at a rally El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, reported Reuters.

“... We must start fighting the war for development."

The Khartoum government signed Tuesday a ceasefire agreement with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

The two sides also signed a framework accord to launch immediate talks to reach a final peace agreement by March 15.

The 12-point provisional deal offered the JEM a power-sharing role in Sudan, where presidential and legislative polls are due in April.

"The war in Darfur is over. Darfur is now at peace," said Beshir, the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

"The combat of arms is over, and the one of development now begins.

"We need to make more efforts to develop Sudan and Darfur," he said.

The Darfur conflict broke out in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government accusing it of discrimination.

The UN says over 300,000 have died as a result of conflict, disease and malnutrition and 2,5 million have been displaced.

The Sudanese government says that 10,000 have died.

No independent inquiry has been made to date.

Peace Hopes

Consolidating peace efforts, the Khartoum government released scores of JEM fighters.

"Today we free 57 people: 50 had been condemned to death, five to prison terms and two who were being investigated," said Justice Minister AbdelBasit Sabdarat.

Half of those freed were imprisoned for launching a shock attack on Khartoum in 2008.

"This is a big day. My brother is in prison. He is a soldier of JEM. I am a supporter of JEM," a student told Reuters outside Khartoum’s Kober prison.

"This is the first time that JEM is acting in front of the people, in front of the people's eyes."

A group of about 30 blue-shirted detainees were swamped by supporters as they walked out of the prison grounds.

"My only concern is to give the people of Darfur their rights, to give any old woman or child their rights," said freed prisoner Adam Abdullah al-Nur.

Another of those released, Ali Baraka Hamid, also cheered the peace deal.

"All I want to say is up with justice, up with Khalil," he shouted from a bus shuttling the men from the prison gates, in reference to JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim.

Despite the high peace hopes, the JEM leader renewed calls for the government to postpone the scheduled April elections.

"Our position is to postpone elections in Sudan, because a majority of people are displaced outside the borders,” Ibrahim said.

“We're asking for more time. Otherwise we're excluding masses of people, four to five million."

America's First Muslim College

As interested students race to beat the fast approaching enrolment deadline, Muslims are turning their sights to the Zaytuna College in California to see if America's first ever Muslim college will live up to the high expectations.

"We’ve been waiting for this time," Imam Zaid Shakir, a scholar-in-residence and lecturer at Zaytuna Institute and a co-founded of the college, told IslamOnline.net in an exclusive interview.

"It’s been a long road to get here, Alhamdulillah, and to know that we’re in this final part to getting freshman class set is very exciting."

Zaytuna College, a brainchild of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Shakir and Professor Hatem Bazian, will stop accepting applications for its first freshman class of 2010 on March 1.

With the application process coming to a close, a committee is readying to study the applications and admit between 20-25 students as incoming freshmen.

And although the college is seeking Muslim students, it is not exclusive to Muslims.

There will be no gender separation at the college and academic pursuits and freedom will be paramount.

Course subjects have been decided on, but educators are now writing syllabi and mapping out teaching methodology for the subjects.

Currently only two majors are being offered: Arabic language and Islamic law and theology.

As the class size increases and more educators are hired, other majors will be offered, Imam Shakir said.

Zaytuna College is in the rigorous process of seeking accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, a process that will take a number of years and one that Imam Shakir hopes will be completed by the time the freshman class graduates.

He noted that they have been able to achieve the goal of raising nearly $4 million needed for its temporary location at Berkeley.

Now they face the challenge of raising upwards of $65 million for an endowment fund that will ensure a consistent monetary support and alleviate the need for constant fundraising.

Along with that comes a move in the near future to a permanent location in Northern California.

Where America Meets Islam

Imam Shakir, along with other Zaytuna College advisors, criss-crossed the country to drum up support, raise funds and answer questions from perspective students and their parents.

He also held a series of weekly informational online seminars explaining the unique nature of the college, which aims to meld two types of learning institution: a college focusing on religious study and one where such study will be explored in the context of a liberal arts education.

"It’s the first time something like this is being attempted in this country," said Bazian, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley and at St. Mary’s College of California.

"Years ago when we discussed the need for an accredited Muslim college in the US, we knew that we needed one where students learn about the Islamic faith but also how Islam works into the American fabric and into various liberal arts subjects—sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy."

For example, says Imam Shakir, in a philosophy class students will study Descartes but also spend a lot of time on Al-Ghazali.

"We want to teach the fundamentals of Islam—Shariah, history, Arabic, Qur’an—but we want to bring it into the context of an American education, how these branches of Islam work in the context of other educational subjects."

One of the goals of the college is to produce scholars of Islam who are a product of an American education system.

One of the main obstacles to the rise of Islam in the US has been that the majority of educators and mosque leaders are educated overseas.

"The wonderful scholars we have in the US get their Islamic foundation from universities in Egypt, Turkey, and other countries," notes Bazian.

"But we have not been able to produce scholars who received their education here in the US and who can truly understand and address the questions and concerns of the Muslim-American population."

Bazian asserts that Zaytuna College graduate could become imams at mosques and directors of Islamic community centers.

Imam Shakir explains that another important goal of the college is to provide a sound liberal arts education grounded by Islamic studies that can then be a jumping-off point to any advanced degrees in law, business, medicine and other subjects.

Omar A. Ansari says if he were 18 again, he would apply to Zaytuna College.

"I think a B.A. from Zaytuna would be a great foundation upon which to build further, even if one intends to do law, medicine, etc," he told IOL.

"I am looking forward to the day when the college allows its classes to be audited, inshallah."

Mona El-Bashir, a high school student in Virginia, she has been following the development of the Zaytuna College and is excited to see it opening in 2010.

"I am thinking about applying for 2011," she told IOL.

"I will have to convince my parents that it is a worthy enough education for me to travel all the way to the West Coast."