22/12/2013 BBC Weekend News


22/12/2013

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David Cameron calls the death of a British doctor in a Syrian jail a

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sickening tragedy. Abbas Khan's body is flown home, the Prime Minister

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tells his mother the regime should be held to account. After criticism

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from the family that they were abandoned by the British Government,

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we'll look at how the case has been handled. Also tonight: Train

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operators warn of disruption tomorrow as many areas face gales

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and high winds amid the Christmas travel rush.

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With ten days to go until the lifting of work restrictions on

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Bulgarians and Romanian, the Business Secretary says UKIP is

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causing Conservative panic on immigration. And England are caught

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in a spin as Graeme Swann announce announces he is retiring.

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Good evening. The Prime Minister says the Syrian regime must answer

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for the death of a British surgeon in a Damascus jail last week,

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calling it a sickening tragedy. In a letter to the mother of Abbas Khan

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made public today, David Cameron said the doctor was badly treated by

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the Syrian authorities and Britain will press for those responsible to

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be held to account. Dr Khan's body was flown home today.

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Abbas Khan, a father of two children and a surgeon who died in a Syrian

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prison, just days before he was due to be released. After criticising

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the Government for not helping them his family have released a letter

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from the Prime Minister. He offers condolences and described the death

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as a sickening and appalling tragedy, which the Syrian regime

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should answer for. David Cameron acknowledges he knows from his own

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experience of losing a child that words are of little comfort. This

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morning his mother flew back from Syria with her son's body. She

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appealed to the British and other international embassies for help.

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India didn't want to help. They said, no, no, you are British. We

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will not help you. I went to the Russian embassy. They said, no, you

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are British and we're not going to help you. You are British and we

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don't want to help you. I was British and they said no, I didn't

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get help from the British Government.

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The Foreign Office have said Abbas Khan was, in effect, murdered by the

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Syrian authorities. That and Mr Cameron's letter are not enough for

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the family. His sister says she wants to see action, not just words.

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We have received letters from the Prime Minister who said he is now

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going to help us get answers, but nothing has been said as to how and

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when. His body has been taken to the East London Coroner's office. A

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postmortem will be carried out tomorrow. After that, the family say

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their priority is to lay his body to rest.

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Our chief international correspondent is just back from

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Syria. The question will be not just what the British Government says,

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but what it is doing and what it did in the past This letter from David

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Cameron suggests the British Government behind the scenes was

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doing more than the family was aware of. You heard the grief there -

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mixed with anger. When I spoke to them in Beirut, in a telephone

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conversation with them, they used words like abandoned and forsaken.

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Fatima told me she only found out during the 13 months through the

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Indian embassy he was still alive. David Cameron said they did work

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with the ement baysy which represents -- the embassy which

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works with British interests there. The family feels very much alone. In

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Beirut they were given the telephone number of a funeral director to try

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and get the body back to Britain. Of course, it is a complicated

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political story. It is a story of no relations between Britain and Syria.

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A very strained relationship. Therefore, it was hard for Britain

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to react in this case. The big question is now - could they have

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done more? What could they have done?

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Lyse Doucet, thank you. Anyone planning to travel home for

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Christmas tomorrow should brace themselves for delays ahead of

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warnings of heavy rains and strong winds. Airliners have advised people

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to check their websites before setting off.

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Let's get the latest now from Euston station. How is it looking, Ben?

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Well, Christmas travel problems seem to be turning into an unwelcome

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festive tradition now. The problem this time is a huge storm in the

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Atlantic, heading this way. At its heart possibly the most intense

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low-pressure system recorded here for nearly 130 years. Whichever way

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you are planning to travel you may face disruption. For many people the

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railways are the best Christmas travel option. To encourage

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passengers to beat the storm all operators say tickets dated for

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travel tomorrow will be accepted today. Tomorrow, we plan to travel

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at 4. 30pm. According to the weather that is the worst time. It is quiet

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here. Hopefully we'll be all right. The problem is a huge depression

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heading towards the south coast of England from the Atlantic. It is

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expected to cause high winds of up to 70 miles per hour across southern

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England and south Wales. And up to 60 mms of rain throughout the day.

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The Environment Agency has issued six flood warnings. On the roads,

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the risk to cars and lorries is also considerable. The Highways Agency

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said its website has hints for driving safely in deteriorating

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conditions. The AA says people should plan their journeys.

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And for those jetting off for the Christmas break, air travel is not

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immune. So far, no flights have been cancelled due to the weather, but

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Heathrow is urging passengers flying tomorrow to check airline websites

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before setting out. And for many people it is a double

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whammy. Not only do you have the normal commuters, you have the extra

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Christmas travellers. If you can change your plans, the message is,

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try and travel before lunch time. Thank you.

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The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has admitted there are tensions in

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the Government with EU immigration, accusing the Conservatives of being

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in a panic over the issue because of UKIP. He has been speaking with ten

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days to go until restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians working in

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the UK are lifted. Ten days and counting until we all

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need a new calendar and until the lifting of restrictions which are

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now causing a deepening row over immigration. From January 1st,

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people here in Bulgaria and Romania can pack their bags, move to the UK

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and look for work. The Government has changed the rules to predict

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migrants from claiming out of work benefits for their first three

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months here. This change and some of the language used in discusses

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immigration has irritated the President of Bulgaria. In an

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interview with The Observer he said there is a danger of isolating

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Britain and damaging Britain's reputation. Immigration, he claims,

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is good for the UK. You guys are making a profit out of this. Keep it

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like that. Liberal Democrats say a cap on

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European Union migrants, referred to in a leaked Home Office document,

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would be illegal. Vince Cable, for one, is not afraid of sounding off

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about the Conservatives. We periodically get these immigration

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panics in the UK. I remember going back to Enoch Powell and Rivers of

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Blood and all that. And if you go back a century, a panic over Jewish

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immigrants from Eastern Europe. The responsibility of politicians, when

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people are getting anxious is to try and reassure them and give them

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facts and not panic. No word from the Prime Minister today. He was in

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Brussels on Friday and said further rule changes would be needed if

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other countries joined the European Union in future.

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As we contemplate countries like Serbia or Albania one day joining

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the EU, we must find a way to slow down full access to each other's

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labour markets, until we can be sure this will not cause vast migrations.

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The bigger picture is the rise of the UKIP and the jostling for

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position going on ahead of the European elections in six months'

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time. There is the Conservative's desire to renegotiate our

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relationship with the European Union and put our membership to a

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referendum in 2017. The Russian oilty conreleased by

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President Putin after ten years in jail has said he has no plans to

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enter politics and will work for the freedom of political prisoners.

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Mikhail Khodorkovsky also said he will not be returning to Russia

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without guarantees that he'll be able to leave again.

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This report contains flash photography.

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Stepping back into the limelight today, the Russian oligarch who

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became the country's most famous political prisoner. In his first

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public appearance since his prize release, he described the moment

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when he heard he would be freed. TRANSLATION: It was 2am, when the

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head of the prison woke me up and told me I was going home. During the

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journey I was told I was going to Berlin.

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He had spent ten years in prison for fraud and money laundering. Many

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people believe he was there because President Putin ordered it.

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??FORCEWHITE REPORTER: Do you intend to return to

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Russia or are you in exile? Ful TRANSLATION: The President's

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spokesman says no-one is stopping me returning to Russia. Unfortunately I

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have no guarantees that I would be able to leave again if I needed to.

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For a man who has been in jail for ten years, he was calm, moderate and

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without anger. His main concern - the other political prisoners who

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have been left behind. This evening, his oldest son, who

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did not see his father for ten years, described to me the toll his

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imprisonment has taken on the family. My younger brothers, who

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were four years old when my father was arrested are now 14. They have

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grown up without a father. And I think that is way too much of a

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price to pay. Once Russia's richest man Khodorkovsky made his money in

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oil and banking. When President Putin came to power he became a

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fierce critic of the corruption surrounding the Kremlin and ended up

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in prison. Today, he said he wouldn't be returning to Russian

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politics and symbolically drove off through Berlin's famous checkpoint

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charily. The UN says hundreds of thousands of

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people in South Sudan are fearing for their lives amid escalating

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ethnic violence. 500 people have been killed in fighting which broke

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out a week ago between soldiers loyal to the President Syracuse Sir.

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-- Salva Kiir. Tens of thousands are seeking refuge in compounds. They

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talk of targeted killing of civilians, ferocious fighting. An

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oil-rich country is beginning to tear itself apart. There is a

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considerable amount of tension W that tension we see a build-up of

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people that have been dispersed from their towns and villages. We've got

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a considerable number of people that we are here to protect. South Sudan

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is the world's youngest nation. A power struggle between President

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Salva Kiir and the Vice-President who he sacked in July has reignited

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a festering ethnic conflict. As the violence escalates, Government

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troops have been sent to the areas seized by the rebel forces.

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In order to try and push out this renegade in the main centre. That

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was done yesterday. In fact they are being cleared out from the city.

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With fiercer battles likely to come, many oil workers have been

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evacuated. The capital of a vital oil-rich state has already fallen to

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the rebels. The UN is overwhelmed. Two Indian peacekeepers were killed

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in one attack on a UN base, prompting kaults for calm and the --

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calls for calm and . Of I call them to stop hostilities and end the

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violence against civilians. There is little sign the blood-letting and

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the tragic fallout will end soon. The American diplomat tasked with

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resolving some of Northern Ireland's most contention issues has

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recommended a separate process to deal with the flying of flags.

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Earlier today Richard Haass gave the parties his revised proposals on how

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to deal with issues still outstanding after the peace process.

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Let's join our correspondent. What is the view Mr Haass has come to?

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These are the most significant political negotiations here,

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designed to deal with the contentious issued left over. Dr

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Richard Haass has been talking to political parties and others for

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several months. He's proposed new bodies will set up to deal with two

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of the issues - parading and the legacy of Northern Ireland's

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troubled past. In his latest draft document, he said the politicians

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have not been able to find a common position on the issue of flags. That

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is an issue which has the potential to cause street violence here. A

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year ago Belfast City Council voted to restrict the flying over the flag

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in the civic building. He has proposed a new commission to look at

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the issue over the long-term. The parties will discuss that at round

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table talks tomorrow. Thank you. In Iraq, suicide bombings and

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assassinations are reaching levels last seen five years ago, with the

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UN estimating that 8,000 people have been killed this year. In a BBC

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interview Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki blamed the conflict

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in neighbour neighbouring Syria. He has been speaking exclusively to our

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correspondent. A life came to a halt a month ago.

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She was shopping with her children, when suddenly, nearby a suicide

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bomber detonated his explosives. She was so badly hurt, her family kept

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the truth from her. TRANSLATION: It has been a month and

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I didn't know what had happened to them. The truth was, they were dead.

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I have just been told. It was a lie. They weren't in

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hospital. My life is not beautiful any more without them. I wish I

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would have died with them. The last thing she lebs is a --

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remembers is a hug from Omar. His five-year-old sister died in their

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father's arms. People here are caught in the middle of a sectarian

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conflict. It is turning Iraqi against Iraqi, Sunni against Shia.

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More than 6,000 civilians have been killed this year. Iraq's Prime

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Minister told us its trouble -- it is trouble outside the country that

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is causing the violence. TRANSLATION: We have high confidence

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we'll be able to contain this wave of terrorism which is not only

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dangerous to Iraq, but the whole region and maybe the world. The

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solution should be to contain the crisis in Syria, which is feeding

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terrorism within the region. In Baghdad, traffic is regularly

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brought to a standstill by increased security checks. The Security

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Services don't have a grip on the insurgency. The minority Sunni

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population is blamed for the attacks. We met one man who was

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arrested in a Government raid. Like many others, he says he was

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tortured. He asked for his identity to be concealed.

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TRANSLATION: My hands were cuffed behind my back. I was blindfolded

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and hung upside down from the ceiling. They wanted me to confess

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to something, but I didn't know what. Now I am too scared to sleep

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in my own bed. I feel like a stranger living in Iraq.

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It is Shia neighbourhoods baring the brunt of the attacks. Those linked

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to Al-Qaeda try and tear the country apart on secretary tarp lines. One

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senior official told me there are large swathes of the country where

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it is not safe for the Security Services.

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Now to cricket and the surprise news that spin bowler Graeme Swann is

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retiring with mediate effect in the middle of the Ashes in Australia.

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England y lost the series, although there are two more Tests to play.

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This report contains flash photography. You may have thought

:18:16.:18:19.

England's Ashes campaign could not have got any worse. With two Tests

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to play Graeme Swann made a shock announcement. The tourists would

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have to build without him. I was desperately hoping to win the Ashes

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out here like we did in 2010, 2011. With it gone now, I think personally

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to stay on and selfishly play to experience another boxing day Test

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match would be wrong. He was integral across all foremaths. He is

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six -- formats. He is sixth in his country list. A natural performer on

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and off the pitch. This series had not been as much fun. Having

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struggled with injury and form, Swann decided mid-series that he'd

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had enough. The iconic boxing day Test match here at Melbourne Cricket

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Ground was meant to be a pivotal fixture. Instead it has become

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crucial for England for very different reasons, as they try and

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recover from what has been an ill fated tour. The wheels are often in

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the England's camp. We have been 3-0 down. You have what I believe is one

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of the top three England spinners of all time retiring. Monty Panesar

:19:34.:19:38.

must step up as England enter a period of transition. Whichever way

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it is spun, Swann's surprise departure mean the changes may start

:19:43.:19:47.

sooner than anticipated. That's it from us. Now on BBC One,

:19:48.:19:50.

time for

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