UN Humanitarian Chief Admitted to Syria, Heads to Homs, Tours Baba Amr

(PHOTO: Valerie Amos, UNOCHA Chief meets w/ Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem in Damascus/HAARETZ)(UPDATED) - Valerie Amos accompanied the Syrian Red Crescent into Baba Amr, the former rebel-held district of Homs where dissidents have reported bloody reprisals by President Bashar Assad's forces.  "She went in with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to Baba Amr &stayed about 45 minutes," an International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman said.  The Red Crescent team found that most residents had fled the district, where rebels had resisted a 26-day army siege until March 1, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva.  An ICRC convoy has been unable to enter Baba Amr since arriving in Homs on Friday, a day after the district fell.  --- The UN humanitarian chief arrived in Syria to start a 3-day trip after previously being blocked access to the country.  Valerie Amos visited with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem before departing for Homs where activists have accused President Bashar al-Assad's regime forces of trying to cover up evidence of a month-long military assault & alleged execution-style killings against civilians & journalists.  Despite international appeals, the Syrian government still has not allowed any aid workers into the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs saying there was a `security risk'; though in recent days the International Committee of the Red Cross has been allowed some access to the war torn city. It was unclear if Amos would visit Baba Amr.

(PHOTO: ICRC & Syria Red Crescent in action in Homs, Syria/British Red Cross)Amos has said the aim of her visit is "to urge all sides to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies."  The trip comes as Syrian President Bashar Assad defies mounting international pressure to end the year-old crackdown on an uprising against him.  The UN says more than 7,500 people have been killed since Syria's uprising began. Activists put the death toll at more than 8,000. UN/Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan will arrive for his own  trip to the country on Saturday. (Read More at Haaretz)

Tongan Prime Minister visits his troops in Afghanistan

(PHOTO: Tongan troops perform the Sipi Tau war challenge for the Tongan Prime Minister to welcome him to Camp Bastion
, Afghanistan/Sgt Mark Nesbit, Crown, MODUK )His Excellency Lord Tu’ivakano, Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs of Tonga, met seniorUS & UK commanders while on a 3-day visit toAfghanistan, before spending time with troops to learn about the contribution his nation is making to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission. The Tonga Defence Serviceshas served as part of the Camp Bastion Force Protection Wing since November 2010. The 55 personnel serve alongside members of the RAF Police & RAF Regiment to provide security for Camp Bastion’s main entry points, perimeter, & airfield. The Tongan Prime Minister said:  “It was a unique experience to see Tongan troops in Afghanistan. To learn from a 2-star general down to a private soldier how well the contingent were performing & contributing to the international mission. I would like to thank everyone for making the trip possible & I look forward to returning to Tonga to inform the King, Parliament & the Tongan people of my experience.”  (Read More at Taimionline)

Dozens Die in Remote Afghanistan Avalanche

(PHOTO: Badakhshan province, Afghanistan/UKPA)In a mountainous area of northeasternAfghanistan, rescuers - some of whom had walked for 2 days from neighboring villages & were the 1st to reach the site - searched through deep snow Tuesday looking for victims of an avalanche that destroyed Dasty village, in Darwaz district, in the province of Badakhshan province; close to the Tajikistan border where the avalanche occurred on Sunday night. It took government officials in the provincial capital ofFaizabad 11 hours to drive to the remote area. Equipped only with shovels, disaster workers are looking for anyone who might be alive. Initial reports were that only 3 women & 1 child had survived, as they were not in the village at the time.  37 people have been confirmed dead, but authorities fear the death toll will rise.  Deadly avalanches are common in this mountainous region in winter.  In February 2010, 170 people were killed at the 12,700-foot-high Salang Pass; the major route through the Hindu Kush mountains to the north.  (Read More at RFL)

Solomon Island people prepared to reconcile over ethnic conflict

(MAP: Solomon Islands/EZILON)The chairperson of the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission says people are definitely prepared to reconcile over ethnic tensions in which thousands were displaced & an unknown number killed during the nation's civil unrest between 1998 & 2003, which began when Guadalcanal militants forced many Malaitan settlers off the island.  The commission is modeled after the TRC of South Africa, which was chaired by then Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has taken an active role in the establishment of the TRC in the Solomon Islands.

(PHOTO: Honiara Harbor, Capitol of SI/Guadalcanal.com)The commission’s report, which began with its official investigative launch on April 29, 2009, at the Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara, the capital; & began its 1st of 11 public hearings in March 2010 has been formally handed to the prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo & will become public after it’s presented to parliament.  The commission’s chair Father Sam Aata says people "are prepared to make peace, as long as the process is handled with respect & the issues are properly addressed – by the government but also by the perpetrators.”  Ata says the government is legally bound to implement the report’s recommendations, without delay, which includes reparations.

(Video: Australian Broadcasting Corp, 2009 TRC SI Opens)

Members of the SI TRC Commission number 5, and include:  Reverend Sam Ata of Malaita Province, Solomon Islands (Chairman); George Kejoa of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; Caroline Laore of Western Province, Solomon Islands; Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi of Fiji; Sofia Macher, a human rights activist from Peru(Deputy Chair).  (Read More at Radio New Zealand)

World Wildlife Fund-India captures rare Snow Leopard's in Kashmir

(PHOTO: WWF-INDIA)Conservationists have caught a pair of rare & reclusive snow leopards on camera wandering a remote, mountain region once ravaged by conflict between India & Pakistan in 1999; killing hundreds of soldiers on both sides before a cease-fire was established with US mediation.  Infrared camera traps set up months ago by World Wildlife Fund-India filmed the adult snow leopards in Kargil district just a few kilometres from the heavily militarised Line of Control that runs through the disputed territory of Kashmir.

(PHOTO: Kargil town, India, Kashmir region/Wikipedia) WWF-India says it's the 2nd photo sighting of endangered snow leopards in Kargil, after 1 was photographed hunting a herd of Asiatic Ibex in 2009.  Snow leopards are thought to be the most endangered of big cats, facing threats from poaching & habitat loss. It's believed there are between 4,000 & 6,500 left in the wild in the Himalayan regions of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Siberia, Mongolia, Pakistan & India. The recent sighting has encouraged environmentalists as it suggests the big cats were not scared away from the Kargil mountains by the war.  (Read More at The Indian Express)