Rescuers race against time as India toll nears 600

By Mahesh Pandey | AFP News – 30 minutes ago

• View PhotoEvacuees cover their faces as an Indian Air Force helicopter prepares to land, in …
• View PhotoIndo-Tibetan Border Police prepare to get a flood evacuee across a raging river in …
• View PhotoAn Indian boy rescued from flood-hit areas waits to be evacuated in Uttarakhand on …
• View PhotoAn Indian pilgrim is evacuated by medics at the Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, …
• View PhotoIndian children, evacuated because of rising flood waters, sit outside makeshift …

Relief teams were racing against time to rescue tens of thousands of stranded people in rain-ravaged northern India as the death toll from flash floods and landslides neared 600.

Rescuers have recovered scores of bodies from the swollen Ganges river with nearly 63,000 people, mainly pilgrims and tourists, still stranded or missing after torrential monsoon rains struck the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, officials said.
Raging rivers have swept away houses, buildings and entire villages, and destroyed bridges and narrow roads leading to pilgrimage towns in the mountainous state, which is known as the "Land of the Gods" for its revered Hindu shrines.
"575 bodies have been recovered so far but the toll is likely to go up. As per our records, 62,790 people are still stranded," Uttarakhand home secretary Om Prakash told AFP Saturday.
A seven-member team of doctors and officials was on its way to the popular Hindu pilgrimage site of Kedarnath "to collect the bodies lying there", Prakash added.
Dozens of helicopters and thousands of soldiers have been deployed to rescue the trapped people, almost one week after the rains hit.
TV images showed paratroopers rappelling from military choppers to assist in rescue operations.
Rescue teams were bracing for more challenges with further downpours expected in the state and also in parts of central India from Sunday onwards.
"We are running against time," Ajay Chaddha, chief of the army unit overseeing rescue operations in the state, was quoted as saying by the Times of India Saturday.
The Indian Express said rescuers had a "narrow window of just 48 hours" to complete their operations with bad weather expected from Sunday night.
Meanwhile, a group of 20 trekkers including six Americans were rescued Saturday after they were trapped near a remote glacier since the rains struck last week.
"They were on a trekking trip but got trapped because of the landslides and flash floods. The chopper has landed there now and they are all safe," Neeraj Khairwal, a top official of Pittorgarh district, told AFP.
Also Saturday, the army managed to make contact with nearly 1,000 people stuck in mountains near Kedarnath, the NDTV news network reported.
"This kind of disaster has never happened in Himalayan history," state Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said Friday.
He attacked the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for not issuing adequate warning ahead of the heavy rains, which struck earlier than expected, saying the local government was unable to prepare for the deluge and evacuate people on time.
"The IMD warning was not clear enough," he said, adding that it would take another 15 days to evacuate all the tourists.
Distraught relatives clutching photographs of missing family members have been waiting for days outside Dehradun airport hoping for news of their loved ones.
Amit Thakur, 40, said his 11-year-old nephew had been missing since their family-run hotel collapsed last week.
"I just hope the army will trace our little boy. I have been standing outside the airport for the last three days to get any information about him," Thakur told AFP.
The military operation, involving some 50 helicopters and more than 10,000 soldiers, was focused on reaching those stranded in the holy town of Badrinath after earlier finding widespread devastation in the Kedarnath temple area.
Home ministry spokesman Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia told AFP late Friday: "Our soldiers have rescued more than 50,000 people, including around 16,000 people who were evacuated today."
Another 17 people have been killed in the adjacent state of Himachal Pradesh, a senior government official said.
Floods and landslides from monsoon rains have also struck neighbouring Nepal, leaving at least 39 people dead, the Nepalese government said.
Pictures showed pilgrims, aided by soldiers, using ropes and makeshift ladders to climb down cliffs and cross rivers.
Rescue workers who managed to reach those stranded were racing to cut down trees and clear vegetation to allow military helicopters to land and evacuate those most in need, a state official said.
"Thousands of tourists are waiting in the dense forests. They had all taken refuge in the jungle after hotels and other buildings collapsed," the state's principal secretary Rakesh Sharma said.
"We are trying all possible ways to rescue them. Roads are totally destroyed."
Federal Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and a senior leader of the main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party, Narendra Modi, were Saturday due to undertake an aerial survey of the state.

Why Taliban would talk as U.S. withdrawal looms

By Nic Robertson, CNN

June 19, 2013 -- Updated 0315 GMT (1115 HKT)

Taliban fighters stand with their weapons and Qurans after joining Afghan government forces, on January 30, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• CNN's Nic Robertson assesses why the Taliban would want to talk now
• Possibility of a grand bargain between U.S and Taliban is possible but lots of hurdles remain
• Taliban group agreeing to talks is the one that was in charge of Afghanistan for 9/11 attacks
• Taliban might think that if civil war returns to Afghanistan they may not be successful

(CNN) -- The United States will have its first formal meeting with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, a source close to the talks who did not want to be named told CNN.

Meanwhile, the Taliban told reporters in Doha that they want to improve relations with the world. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson explains what's happening and why now.

What are we talking about?

The Taliban will open an office in Qatar and begin talks there with Afghan and U.S. officials to end the fighting in Afghanistan.

Taliban talks announced

Is there a grand bargain to be had?

International representatives close to the process in the past have told me not to rule it out. A bargain where the Taliban accept United States bases in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 pullout date is possible and agree to not attack them is possible. The same people also say don't hold your breath, this has been a long time coming.

Uncertainty marks Afghan handover

What are the demands?

The Taliban must renounce al Qaeda. In the past, the Taliban have demanded all foreign troops leave the country and have asked for specific percentages of representation in the Afghan political and military structures. They also want their prisoners released from U.S.-controlled detention.

Taliban officials have said in the past that theirs is a national struggle, and that al Qaeda has an international agenda. However they would take support where they could get it. The demand to renounce al Qaeda has been made to the Taliban since their first tentative "talks" in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 2008.

Which Taliban are we talking about?

Mullah Omar's Taliban, the Afghan leader or Emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan before September 2001. His right hand man, Tayyab Agha, heads the Taliban mission in Qatar. Other principal Taliban and Afghan opposition factions include the Haqqani faction, the TTP or Pakistani Mehsud faction and the Hekmatyar faction in the North East.

Those close to Mullah Omar's Taliban say the vast majority of Taliban support him.

International representatives close to the process say while that may be true, powerful groups like the Haqqani's could continue an insurgency even if Mullah Omar makes peace with Kabul.

Why would the Taliban talk now?

The civil war that the Taliban had all but won in 2001 has gone into remission with the presence of international forces. If the Taliban were to fight for the whole country again they may not do so well.

The civil war bubbles beneath the surface and should it resurface the former northern warlords who have profited from the U.S. presence would make a Taliban fight for supremacy much harder. In short, they may get a better deal at the table than the battlefield.

Why has it taken so much time to get talks going?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on several occasions felt bypassed by back door U.S. conversations with the Taliban in Qatar. He reportedly blocked progress. The Taliban also walked out on talks when Taliban prisoners at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay were not released as they had expected.

Where is Mullah Omar and why's that important?

He is widely believed to be in Pakistan unable to move freely without Pakistan's approval. That's what his supporters believe although Pakistan has denied it. Pakistan wants a say in Afghanistan's future. If Afghanistan drifted towards Pakistan's arch enemy India, its sphere of influence would be upset.

What influence will Pakistan have on the talks?

Mullah Omar's representative Tayyab Agha could not have established an office in Qatar and be in a position to talk to Afghans and Americans without Pakistan's permission. That's the understanding of some in the Taliban at least.

Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, has long been accused by Afghan President Karzai and U.S. officials of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The ISI denies that.

What hiccups can we expect?

Karzai says the next talks must be in Afghanistan. That is unlikely to sit well with Pakistan.

But just to get to this point has been very difficult. For the talks to work all sides will need to be committed.

Taliban Step Toward Afghan Peace Talks Is Hailed by U.S.

By MATTHEW ROSENBERG and ALISSA J. RUBIN

WASHINGTON — The Taliban signaled a breakthrough in efforts to start Afghan peace negotiations on Tuesday, announcing the opening of a political office in Qatar and a new readiness to talk with American and Afghan officials, who said in turn that they would travel to meet insurgent negotiators there within days.

If the talks begin, they will be a significant step in peace efforts that have been locked in an impasse for nearly 18 months, after the Taliban walked out and accused the United States of negotiating in bad faith. American officials have long pushed for such talks, believing them crucial to stabilizing Afghanistan after the 2014 Western military withdrawal.

But the Taliban may have other goals in moving ahead. Their language made clear that they sought to be dealt with as a legitimate political force with a long-term role to play beyond the insurgency. In that sense, in addition to aiding in talks, the actual opening of their office in Qatar — nearly a year and a half after initial plans to open it were announced and then soon after suspended — could be seen as a signal that the Taliban’s ultimate aim is recognition as an alternative to the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

By agreeing to negotiations, the Taliban can “come out in the open, engage the rest of the region as legitimate actors, and it will be very difficult to prevent that when we recognize the office and are talking to the office,” said Vali Nasr, a former State Department official who is the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

The United States, already heading toward its military exit, has little to offer beyond prisoner exchanges, and the Taliban are “not trying to help our strategy,” Mr. Nasr warned. “They’re basically trying to put in place their own strategy.”

The Taliban overture coincided with an important symbolic moment in the American withdrawal: the formal announcement on Tuesday of a complete security handover from American troops to Afghan forces across the country. That shift had already become obvious in recent months as the Afghan forces had tangibly taken the lead — and as the Taliban had responded by increasing the tempo of attacks against them.

Yet since at least 2009, even top American generals maintained that a permanent peace could not be won on the battlefield, and American diplomats have engaged in nearly three years of holding secret meetings and working through diplomatic back channels to lay the groundwork for talks to begin.

The opening for Tuesday’s developments appeared to come in the third week of May, when the Qataris told the United States that the Taliban might be ready to start talking again, according to an American official with knowledge of the talks.

To that point, diplomats and intermediaries from Germany, Norway and Britain also played crucial roles, administration officials said Tuesday, and some said they believed Pakistan had played a more active role in recent months to urge the exiled Taliban leadership to move toward talks.

President Obama called the Taliban’s announcement “an important first step toward reconciliation,” but cautioned that it was only “a very early step.”

“We anticipate there will be a lot of bumps in the road,” Mr. Obama said at a meeting with President François Hollande of France at the Group of 8 summit meeting in Northern Ireland.

There have been plenty of bumps already. Over the last 18 months, the peace effort has encountered pressure from nearly every quarter at one time or another: Mr. Karzai, the exiled Taliban leadership, the Taliban’s patrons in Pakistan and critics in the United States who have reacted coolly to what they perceive as talking to terrorists.

A pair of Afghan mullahs made the Taliban announcement in a televised address from Doha, the capital of Qatar, cutting a red ribbon at the villa that will serve as the office. The Taliban’s political and military goals “are limited to Afghanistan,” said Muhammad Naim, the Taliban spokesman who read the statement.

The Taliban “would not allow anyone to threaten the security of other countries from the soil of Afghanistan,” Mr. Naim added, and they seek “a political and peaceful solution” to the conflict.

The appearance seemed to answer one immediate question hanging over the peace efforts: who was empowered to speak for the Taliban’s secretive leader in exile, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

American officials said recent signals had made them sure that the Qatar office was being opened by Mullah Omar’s true intermediaries. As well, the Taliban’s wording on Tuesday adhered to previous requirements by American officials, officials said.

In particular, the statement represented the beginning of what is hoped will become a public break with Al Qaeda, which the Taliban sheltered before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the officials said.

Along with getting the Taliban to disown international terrorist groups, the ultimate goal of the talks, from a Western and Afghan government point of view, is to persuade the Taliban to disarm and accept the Afghan Constitution.

While Western officials have in the past suggested that the Constitution can be changed, the Obama administration stressed Tuesday that accepting the charter’s “protections for women and minorities” was considered a condition of any eventual peace deal.

In the shorter term, American officials said, envoys were to meet this week with Taliban representatives in Qatar, and then members of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, which is to represent the government in talks, were to travel to the Persian Gulf emirate to sit down with the insurgents.

But the first meetings will probably feature little more than an exchange of agendas, another senior administration official said, cautioning against expectations that the talks might yield substantive results any time soon. “There is no guarantee that this will happen quickly, if at all,” the official said.

Talks between the United States and the Taliban “can help advance the process, but the core of it is going to be negotiations among Afghans, and the level of trust on both sides is extremely low, as one would expect,” the official said. “So it is going to be a long, hard process if indeed it advances significantly at all.”

Mr. Karzai signaled his acceptance of the office’s opening at a ceremony on Tuesday celebrating the transfer of all security responsibilities across Afghanistan to Afghan forces. But he made it clear that he wanted any talks moved to Afghanistan as soon as possible, and his support for the process getting under way in Qatar seemed tepid.

“The reason we are worried is the hands of the outsiders,” he said, focusing his comments on his government’s concerns. “We will go forward cautiously.”

Among Mr. Karzai’s concerns is that the Taliban will use the Doha office as a forum to try to re-establish their political legitimacy, especially in international circles, rather than confining the office to peace talks.

American officials said they, too, wanted the talks to move to Afghanistan eventually. But with the Taliban insistent that the talks be held on neutral ground, “it’s not going to be possible in the near future,” one administration official said.

Mr. Karzai’s concerns, moreover, did not appear unfounded. The Taliban, in their statement on Tuesday, offered an expansive view of the role to be played by the Qatar office. The office would allow the Taliban “to improve its relations with countries around the world through understanding and talks,” as well as help them establish contact with the United Nations and aid groups, and to talk to the news media.

The statement allowed for potential meetings with Afghan officials, but that was qualified with a terse addition: “if needed.”

The insurgents offered little clarity on why they were now willing to open the office and begin talks with the United States and the government of Mr. Karzai, whom they have derided as an American puppet for years.

American officials said there was no agreement on what was once a central enticement offered by the United States: a swap of five Taliban prisoners held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for the sole American soldier known to be held by the Taliban, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The failure of the proposed exchange was the main reason the Taliban offered for suspending preliminary talks early in 2012.

“Of course we expect the Taliban to raise this issue,” said Jennifer R. Psaki, a spokeswoman for the State Department. She added that Ambassador James F. Dobbins, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who will lead the team headed to Doha, would also raise the prospect of Sergeant Bergdahl’s return.

Without the prisoner swap, it was hard to discern what, if anything, the Taliban’s leadership could show the rank-and-file to keep them fighting while talks moved forward.

Western diplomats in Kabul and officials in Washington said they believed the Taliban had grown weary of their international isolation and wanted to shed their outcast status. And in the end, the group’s announcement on Tuesday came at little evident cost: the insurgents do not need to make realistic proposals or strike an actual deal, some diplomats and officials warned.

“If they have any long-term plan to be involved in running Afghanistan, international recognition is an important part even if they aren’t going to come to the table with real offers of peace at this point,” one Western diplomat in Kabul said.

Matthew Rosenberg reported from Washington, and Alissa J. Rubin from Kabul, Afghanistan. Reporting was contributed by Sharifullah Sahak and Habib Zahori from Kabul; Jackie Calmes from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland; and Steven Lee Myers from Washington.

Viewpoint: What does Pyongyang want?

After North-South talks were aborted, Pyongyang's next move is unclear

In recent months North Korea has conducted its third nuclear test, threatened attacks on regional targets, offered and then scrapped high-level talks with Seoul and, most recently, suggested talks with the US. Dr John Swenson-Wright of Chatham House looks at what is driving Pyongyang's actions.

Following the abrupt cancellation last week of planned talks in Seoul between the two Koreas - what would have been the first formal bilateral ministerial negotiations since 2007 - it remains unclear what the prospects are for an improvement in ties.
Ostensibly, the talks foundered on the failure of the two sides to agree on the status of their respective delegation heads, but it is possible that Pyongyang was never serious about a meeting, simply using the offer of talks to demonstrate to China, its key political and economic patron, that it had adopted a more moderate posture.
Apparent moderation in this context may have been designed to offset efforts by Beijing and Washington at the recent Obama-Xi summit to pressure the North to give up its nuclear weapons.
If this were the intention, the North has failed to achieve its goal. Judging from the rhetoric of the US-China meeting, Beijing and Washington are firmly on the same page in calling for the North to denuclearise.
They have both upheld international sanctions to prevent Pyongyang from proliferating and made clear that the North's nuclear weapons programme is incompatible with the its economic development goals.
Increasing danger

“Start Quote

The North has used the spectre of hostilities on the peninsula to try to force the Obama administration to agree to direct talks”

Since the North's test last December of a medium-range ballistic missile and its February detonation of a third nuclear device, it has become clear that Pyongyang - at least in terms of its weapons capabilities - represents an ever-increasing threat to regional and international security.

Most technical specialists assume that it is some three to five years away from marrying its missile and nuclear programmes to allow it to deploy a nuclear warhead on a medium-range missile capable of reaching US bases in Japan, Guam and possibly the west coast of America.
However the time horizon for nuclearising short-range missiles to strike at Seoul may be worryingly much shorter, perhaps as a little as a year or two.
North Korea's enhancement of its military assets may be, as it claims, a defensive move to bolster its deterrence capabilities to counter what it views as a hostile United States and its South Korean "puppet" ally.
However, the North's unusually belligerent rhetoric, and its high profile deployment of its military assets in March and April, suggests a more intentionally provocative stance.
The North could have as many as five possible motives in mind.

The influence of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il is still keenly felt in North Korea

Firstly, fostering a sense of crisis with the outside world is a means of creating unity at home, thereby reinforcing the legitimacy and status of the North's young and relatively untested leader.
Since his accession to power following the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011, Kim Jong-un has consolidated his control over the key party, state and military institutions.
The visual impact and theatrical presentation of the nation united-in-arms also bolsters Kim Jong-un's political and reputational authority in the eyes of ordinary North Koreans, by directly associating him with the martial and guerrilla traditions of his father, and most notably his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the nation's founder.
Secondly, deliberately raising the prospect of war on the peninsula may be, in the view of Andrei Lankov, a noted Seoul-based North Korea watcher, a form of extortion.
The threats could be designed to secure economic and humanitarian assistance from the international community in return for a moderation of the North's belligerent posture.
Third, threatening its neighbours may also be the North's effort to divide the US from its allies. Historically, Pyongyang has used such pressure tactics to test the resolve of new presidents when they assume office in South Korea.
However, this approach seems to have failed, judging from the confident, self-assured manner in which the new South Korean President Park Geun-hye has managed the current crisis - a phlegmatic approach which mirrors the calm resilience of the populace in the face of the North's repeated provocations.

North Korea relies on foreign aid to feed millions of its people

Fourthly, a deliberately engineered stand-off with the international community has also allowed the North to justify breaching the terms of past agreements, whether by suspending direct lines of communication with the South or reactivating its suspended plutonium and uranium-reprocessing facilities at Yongbyon.
The latter is especially important since it will give the North the necessary time, once these facilities become active again, to expand its stockpile of fissile materials, allowing it to increase its arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Most important of all, the North has used the spectre of hostilities on the peninsula to try to force the Obama administration to agree to direct talks not merely on the nuclear question, but on a wider set of issues.
These include encompassing a formal peace treaty to end the Korean War (suspended at present by the armistice agreement of 1953), political recognition through the establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the US, provision of economic assistance and the advancement of formal trade and investment opportunities.
The Japan factor Washington remains opposed to such all-encompassing talks and has made it clear repeatedly that any discussions are conditional on the North initially complying with its existing obligations to freeze and ultimately dismantle its nuclear programme.
Additionally, the Obama administration continues to view international sanctions as a vital tool, arguing that the current restrictions represent a floor, rather than a ceiling, for measures that might apply additional pressure on Pyongyang to change course.
In this regard, the US has recently secured valuable additional support from China.

Shinzo Abe's personal envoy made a rare trip to Pyongyang in May

Beijing has closed the accounts of North Korea's key Foreign Trade Bank and used the visit to Beijing in late May of Vice-Marshall Choe Ryong-hae, the personal envoy of Kim Jong-un, to signal its growing displeasure with the North's obduracy on the nuclear issue.
Sanctions alone may be of limited value in forcing the North to change course. Economic incentives are potentially equally important and here Japan may be an unexpected and important catalyst for change.
Prime Minister Abe's personal envoy, Isao Iijima, visited Pyongyang in late May to talk about the unresolved fate of Japanese citizens abducted by the North in the 1970s and 1980s.
Progress in resolving this longstanding issue would open the door, in principle, to bilateral normalisation between Japan and North Korea, and a financial settlement of some $5-10bn that would be hugely advantageous to the North's sclerotic economy and might persuade Kim Jong-un to compromise materially on the nuclear issue.
However, Japan's independent diplomatic stance has ruffled feathers in Seoul, where some government officials see Japan's actions as undermining the unified international response to the North's provocations.
Relations between Tokyo and Seoul have been undermined by persistent disagreements over historical and territorial issues, and a co-ordinated approach to North Korea may be a casualty of such tensions.
Stalemate? For the immediate future, the prospects for a major breakthrough in the standoff with North Korea are relatively poor.
The Obama administration shows little willingness to depart substantively from its longstanding de facto policy of strategic patience towards the North.

North Korea routinely carries out missile tests

Newly intensified pressure from China may help to impress on Pyongyang the need for a change of course, but it will depend on how much direct pain is felt by a North Korean leadership historically jealously protective of its diplomatic independence and fiercely resistant to falling into line with Chinese instructions.
The best hope for progress may rest with South Korea, where the Ministry of Unification - the key bureaucratic actor responsible for dialogue with the North - has maintained a moderate, pragmatic posture in the hope of keeping the door open for future talks.
The forthcoming meeting of the Asean regional forum in early July in Brunei will be attended by both senior North and South Korean officials and may provide a venue for renewed dialogue, but it would be wise to guard against any immediate and dramatic breakthroughs.
North Korea is likely to continue to test the patience of the international community.
Looming in the background is the threat of another unanticipated provocation from the North, perhaps in the form of a missile launch or a border incident designed to raise regional anxieties and to reaffirm its historic success, notwithstanding its relative political and economic weakness, in determining the pace and timing of negotiations on the Korean peninsula.
John Swenson-Wright is Senior Consulting Fellow of the Asia Programme at Chatham House and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, at the University of Cambridge.

Turkey clashes: Why are Gezi Park and Taksim Square so important?

Plans to redevelop Istanbul's Gezi Park into a complex with new mosque and shopping centre have sparked a wave of protests in the Turkish city and beyond.

But what began as a demonstration against urban redevelopment has turned into a wider expression of anger against government policies. The excessive use of force by riot police has escalated tensions.
Gezi Park and Taksim Square: How they look now

Gezi Park - an area inside Taksim Square, filled with sycamore trees - is one of the few green spaces left in central Istanbul.
It has been compared with Cairo's Tahrir Square - the focus of the demonstrations which toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 - and protesters' banners claim that redeveloping the park is akin to the commercial takeover of Central Park in New York, or Hyde Park in London.
Under the redevelopment plans, the government wants to pedestrianise and ease traffic around Taksim Square, which effectively means much of Gezi Park will be replaced by concrete.
Gezi Park and Taksim Square: The plans

Protesters are angry about the removal of green space. They also claim that access to the square will become increasingly controlled, giving pedestrians only two entry points.
The redevelopment plans include the construction of a shopping centre, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists will not be "a traditional mall" but will include cultural centres, an opera house and a mosque.
An Ottoman-era military barracks will be rebuilt near the site, and the historic Ataturk Cultural Centre will be demolished.
But critics say the decision to go ahead with the redevelopment was made too fast and without proper public and media debate.
There are also questions over the choice of Kalyon Group, a company which has close ties with the governing Justice and Development (AK) Party, as the project's main contractor.
For some Turks, the proposed reconstruction of the barracks has a symbolic significance. According to some accounts, it was at the barracks that a (failed) mutiny by Islamic-minded soldiers was initiated in 1909 intent on bringing in Sharia law.
The barracks were demolished in 1940, and attempts to rebuild them are seen by opponents to have the ring of Islamism.
This protest has now become about more than just Gezi Park.
It has broadened into a wider expression of anger at what protesters see as the government's increasing authoritarianism - and also the heavy-handed tactics of police who used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a peaceful rally, resulting in scores of injuries.
Taksim Square has seen several other demonstrations this year, including one on May Day in which police also fired tear gas at protesters.

Profile: Hassan Rouhani

Hassan Rouhani, 64, has been elected new president of Iran.

He was the only cleric contesting the Iranian presidential election.
He says he wants to steer the country towards moderation and has the backing of the reformists led by former President Mohammad Khatami.
He had the endorsement of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who represents other moderate Islamists and is barred from running for office.
He pulled large crowds wherever he was on the campaign trail - speaking of reform, promising to free political prisoners, to guarantee civil rights and promising to return "dignity to the nation".
In televised debates, he raised taboo subjects, such as the nuclear stand-off with world powers, damaging international sanctions, the dire state of the economy and Iran's extreme isolation in the international community.

Hassan Rouhani

• A religious moderate
• The only cleric contesting the Iranian presidential election
• Key figure in Iranian politics who has held some of the country's top jobs, including chief nuclear negotiator
• Has the backing of two former presidents

He has also vowed to restore diplomatic ties with Iran's old enemy, the United States, which cut relations with Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by Islamist students.

Mr Rouhani urged Iranians to vote, saying that the hardliners "don't want you to vote, they want to win the ballot unchallenged".
Key figure
He is a key figure in Iranian politics, having held several parliamentary posts such as deputy speaker and as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative at the Supreme National Security Council.
Mr Rouhani was Iran's chief nuclear negotiator under Mr Khatami, and he currently heads the Expediency Council's Strategic Research Centre (the council is a top advisory body to the Supreme Leader).
During student demonstrations against the closure of a reformist newspaper in 1999, Mr Rouhani adopted a tough stance, declaring that those arrested for sabotage and destroying state property would face the death penalty if found guilty.
But more recently, he supported the demonstrations that erupted after the 2009 election and criticised the government for opposing what he saw as the people's right to peacefully protest.
And he has openly criticised outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by saying that his "careless, uncalculated and unstudied remarks" have cost the country dearly.
Mr Rouhani is said to be fluent in English, German, French, Russian and Arabic, and has a law doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University.

Profiles: Iran election candidates

Eight candidates were approved to stand in the presidential elections by Iran's Guardian Council. Two of the candidates withdrew days before the poll. The winner will replace incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is constitutionally barred form seeking re-election. Here are the candidates' profiles.

Saeed Jalili

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, is running for president for the first time. He is said to be very close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr Jalili seeks an aggressive policy abroad and limited political openness at home

He first came to prominence after he was appointed as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and Iran's top negotiator with the West in September 2007.
Born in the north-eastern city of Mashhad in 1965, he joined the paramilitary Basij force and served in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) on several tours of duty as a volunteer. He was wounded in combat and lost his right leg.
A PhD holder, Mr Jalili wrote his doctoral thesis on the "political thought in the Koran". Iranian news websites have portrayed him as an intellectual loyal to Islamic "ideals" and leading the "simple life".
His critics say he lacks the administrative experience to run the country, especially at a time when Iran is suffering from West-imposed sanctions over its nuclear programme.

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf

The current mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf is seen as a pragmatic conservative, loyal to the Supreme Leader.

Mr Qalibaf is seen as a moderniser and technocrat within the right-wing and conservative elements

The 51-year-old is a former military and police commander who later turned to politics, coming fourth in the 2005 presidential election.
The mayor has often been critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies, particularly regarding the economy and his management of the country; and was also closely associated with a coalition of conservative critics of the outgoing president.
Mr Qalibaf had previously served as head of the air force wing of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and is a frontline veteran of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war before becoming the national chief of police.
He is credited with firm tactics that suppressed student protests peacefully in 2003, and initiated popular police reforms in which women were allowed to serve for the first time.
A qualified pilot, Mr Qalibaf was reportedly still moonlighting for Iran Air and flying Airbus jets whilst holding his post as head of the country's police forces. He is also a lecturer at Tehran University.

Ali Akbar Velayati

'Mr may I' Ali Akbar Velayati has a wealth of political experience

Few candidates can match the political experience of Ali Akbar Velayati, the Supreme Leader's longstanding advisor on international affairs, who is also Iran's longest-serving minister since the 1979 revolution.
Seen as an irreproachable character, he is sometimes referred to by the public as "Mr may I", suggesting he seeks permission from the Supreme Leader at all times. He has been Ayatollah Khamenei's advisor since 1997, and is also the secretary-general of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening.
Mr Velayati was born in 1945 in Tehran. A qualified medical doctor, he served as the deputy health minister from 1980 to 1981 and then as foreign minister for an unprecedented 16 years, from 1981 to 1997.
He belongs to the same "principle-ist" or conservative coalition as presidential candidates MP Haddad-Adel and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

Hassan Rouhani

Hassan Rouhani is a key figure in Iranian politics, having held several parliamentary posts such as Deputy Speaker and Ayatollah Khamenei's representative at the Supreme National Security Council.

Mr Rouhani has said some of President Ahmadinejad's remarks have cost Iran dearly

Mr Rouhani has been a chief negotiator in nuclear talks with the EU, and he currently heads the Expediency Council's Strategic Research Centre.
The 64-year-old cleric is often described as a "moderate" or "pragmatic conservative". He has openly criticised President Ahmadinejad by saying that his "careless, uncalculated and unstudied remarks" have cost the country dearly.
During student demonstrations against the closure of a reformist newspaper in 1999, Mr Rouhani adopted a tough stance, declaring that those arrested for sabotage and destroying state property would face the death penalty if found guilty.
But more recently, he supported the demonstrations that erupted after the 2009 election and criticised the government for opposing what he saw as the people's right to peacefully protest.
Mr Rouhani is said to be fluent in English, German, French, Russian, and Arabic, and has a law doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University.
Full profile

Gholamali Haddad-Adel (has withdrawn)

Mr Haddad-Adel pulled out of the race 'to help promote a conservative victory'

Gholamali Haddad-Adel withdrew from the race four days before the elections "to help promote the conservative victory". Mr Haddad-Adel is seen as completely loyal to the Supreme Leader, an impression reinforced by his family ties by marriage to the Khamenei family. Mr Haddad-Adel's daughter is the wife of Ayatollah Khamenei's son Mojtaba.
Although these connections were regarded by some as a strong point in the elections, he was seen to be lacking in oratory skills. In addition, some wonder why there seems to be little information available about his role in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In Iran's political arena, being a revolutionary activist is an important advantage for political figures.
The 68-year-old MP for Tehran served as parliamentary Speaker from 2004-2008 and has been a parliamentarian since 2000. He has held several positions in the Islamic system since the revolution and he was the first non-cleric Speaker of parliament. He has also written several religious books, and is fluent in Arabic and English.
Mr Haddad-Adel was part of the same conservative coalition as Ali Akbar Velayati and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

Mohammad Reza Aref (has withdrawn)

Mr Aref withdrew days before the election

Mohammad Reza Aref pulled out of the race three days before the poll, saying the head of the reformist movement, former President Mohammad Khatami, had asked him to withdraw. A reformist politician, Mr Aref is also a member of the Expediency Council, a top advisory body to the Supreme Leader.
Born in 1951 in the central city of Yazd, Mr Aref has held various executive posts in post-revolutionary Iran. Seen as intelligent and well-educated, his reputation rests on his scientific achievements as much as his political record. Mr Aref studied electrical engineering at Stanford University, and currently teaches at Tehran's prestigious Sharif University of Technology.
Unlike many other reformist figures, he was not targeted by Iran's hardliners after the disputed 2009 elections. He has been a somewhat reluctant candidate in the past, having registered and subsequently withdrawn from two previous elections. Mr Aref had said that if Mr Khatami joined the 2013 election as a candidate, he would step aside.
Mr Aref's wife caused a stir in the media on the day of his registration, as she appeared by his side in more relaxed Islamic dress than other potential first ladies, rather than the traditional chador.

Mohsen Rezai

Mohsen Rezai currently holds the post of secretary of the influential expediency council headed by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, with whom he seems to have a good working relationship.

Mohsen Rezai is a close ally of the Supreme Leader

A major-general who has served for over 15 years as the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, Mr Rezai has been accused by Argentina of involvement in the 1994 attack on a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires which killed 85 people, and is on Interpol's Wanted List.
Mr Rezai registered as a presidential candidate in 2005 but then withdrew his candidacy, and in 2009 when he came in third place with only 1.7% of the vote. Mr Rezai initially contested the outcome along with the other candidates, alleging fraud, but later withdrew from protests after the Supreme Leader decided to back Mr Ahmadinejad's victory and refused to respond to the allegations.
He is regarded as a close ally of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and is seen as a conservative, but has been highly critical of Ahmadinejad's government, particularly on economic issues.
He was born in 1954 in Masjed-e-Soleyman and holds a doctorate in economics from Tehran University.

Mohammad Gharazi

Mr Gharazi was imprisoned during the Shah's rule

Mohammad Gharazi, a name little heard on Iran's political stage, is running for president for the first time. He is arguably the most low-key candidate in this election round, having been away from the country's political scene since 1997.
The Guardian Council's decision to approve Mr Gharazi to stand in the election took Iran's media by surprise. He was quoted as saying that he had neither a political party, nor any money to spend on a campaign.
He is best described as a moderate figure and is running under the campaign slogan of "government of no inflation".
Mr Gharazi was born in the central city of Isfahan in 1941 and studied engineering in Iran and France. He was politically active during the Shah's rule, as a result of which he was sent to prison in 1971 and later moved abroad.
He has had a varied political career in Iran since the 1980s, serving as oil minister, telecommunications minister and as governor of Iran's southern province of Khuzestan and western province of Kordestan.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Hassan Rowhani, a Shi'ite cleric

June 15, 2013

CAIRO/RIYADH — The election of a moderate Iranian president could help rein in hostility between Tehran and its Arab neighbors, but many Arabs doubt he can end a sectarian confrontation that has been inflamed by war in Syria.

Hassan Rowhani, a Shi'ite cleric known for a conciliatory approach and backed by reformists, will have only limited say in policy determined by Iran's supreme leader; but with the Syrian carnage fueling rage among Sunni Arabs across the region, any gestures from Tehran may help contain it.

"We hope the new Iranian president will be a believer in a political solution in Syria," said one ambassador at the Arab League in Cairo. "All that we read about Rowhani might be grounds for hope - but there is a great difference between election campaigns and what is said once in office."

For the United States and Western powers, at odds with Iran for decades and now rallying with arms behind rebels fighting Syria's Iranian-backed president, fierce religious enmities in the oil-rich Middle East add to fears of wider instability.

In Saudi Arabia, whose U.S.-allied rulers lead opposition to what they see as Iran's drive to spread its power and religion, analyst Jamal Khashoggi said: "I'm sure for the Saudi leadership this is the best outcome of the elections."

He recalled that Iran's last reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, who visited Riyadh while in office from 1997-2005, had mended ties - but at a time of less ferocious disputes. Unlike now, Khashoggi said, "Iran was not meddling heavily in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen ... There were no Shi'ites killing Sunnis."

In Syria, where mainly Sunni rebels are battling Iran's ally President Bashar al-Assad and his Alawite establishment, who belong to an offshoot of Shi'ism, opposition activists saw little hope for change from Rowhani.

"The election is cosmetic," said Omar al-Hariri from Deraa, where the uprising began during the Arab Spring two years ago.

Muhammed al-Husseini, from the Sunni Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham in Raqaa, noted power in Iran rested with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The powers given to the Iranian president are weak these days," he said. "They are fake powers."

In Bahrain, whose Saudi-backed Sunni monarchy accuses Iran of fomenting protests among the Shi'ite majority on the island since 2011, Information Minister Samira Rajab said: "I think Rowhani is one of a team. And anybody who comes from that team will continue the same policy ...  We have no more trust in the Iranian regime after what happened in Bahrain."

Egyptian Caution

In Egypt, by far the biggest Arab nation, new rulers from the Muslim Brotherhood had lately launched a rapprochement with Iran but have now joined a Sunni call for jihad in Syria after Iran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah sent in its fighters last month.

Traditionally more open than the Saudi clerical hierarchy to conciliation across the sectarian divide, the Brotherhood still hopes for a change of heart in Tehran.

"We are looking forward to seeing how the winner is going to act," said Murad Ali, a spokesman for the Islamist movement's Freedom and Justice Party. "Will there be any change to the policies from the Iranians, especially concerning the Syrian crisis? We are in general open to cooperation with Iran ... However, we do have our concerns ... related to ... their interference in Syrian affairs."

On the streets of Cairo, however, sectarian passions are running high, piling pressure on Egyptian and other Arab rulers.

Outside the Al-Azhar Mosque, built 1,000 years ago by the Shi'ite Fatimid caliphs who founded the city but now a major seat of Sunni learning, construction worker Mohamed Abdelsattar, 35, said: "All Egyptians hate Iran after what has happened in Syria. What's happening there now is Shi'ites killing Sunnis."

Limousine driver Abdelaziz Darwish, 57, had low expectations of any change in Tehran. "All Iranians are the same," he said. "Shi'ites are more dangerous even than the Jews."

Standing by his fresh-juice stand, Khaled Fathi, 49, twinned his anger at Iranian involvement in Syria with suspicion of the welcome that Islamist President Mohamed Morsi gave earlier this year to Iran's hardline outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Iran makes problems for us all over the world," he said. "Iran is helping Morsi, I'm sure of it."

A group of Lebanese Sunni clerics, visiting Al-Azhar while attending the Cairo conference that has issued a call for holy war in Syria, voiced some hope for change from Rowhani, however.

"Maybe this new president in Iran will be better," said Sheikh Hassan Abdelrahman from the city of Tripoli, which has seen recent fighting between Lebanese Sunnis and Shi'ites.

"We came to Egypt to tell Mohamed Morsi that we reject Iranian actions in Syria ... But we are working for all religions to be at peace," said Sheikh Malik al-Jdeideh, also from Tripoli.

Sectarian atrocities in Syria, and the open appearance of Iran's Lebanese allies on the battlefield, has forged an unusual degree of unity among major Arab governments following the wave of revolt that shook the region and notably replaced U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak in Egypt with the Islamists of the Brotherhood.

Gulf Tensions

Iran's new influence in Iraq - after the 2003 U.S. invasion replaced the Sunni Saddam Hussein with an elected, Shi'ite-led government - had already put Saudi Arabia on the defensive. And Tehran's nuclear dispute with the West and Israel has alarmed oil-exporting neighbors, who fear a war, with all the upheaval it would bring.

One Arab League ambassador said Gulf states hoped Rowhani, a former nuclear negotiator, might help to defuse that tension.

But a Gulf envoy at the League said Rowhani would have little power and was unlikely, in any case, to differ in his views: "They all aim to export the Iranian revolution to neighboring states and interfere in the Gulf states and Syria and Lebanon."

For Shi'ites who live in Sunni-ruled states, and often complain of being unfairly branded as agents of the Persian-speaking power, any reduction in tension would be welcome.

Khalil Ebrahim al-Marzooq of Bahrain's opposition al-Wefaq party, which speaks for many Shi'ites, said the election might bring warmer ties across the Gulf that would help his community.

"When relations are better," he said, "it gives the government no excuses to deprive the people of Bahrain of their rights."

"If this sectarian war going on in the region can cool down or stabilize, that will help to improve the relations between the Sunnis and the Shi'ites here," said Jafar al-Shayab, a former elected official in the mainly Shi'ite Saudi district of Qatif:

Khalil al-Anani, a senior fellow at Washington's Middle East Institute currently in Cairo, said Rowhani's ability to induce the Iranian leadership to take the heat out of its standoff with the Sunni Arab powers was unclear, but of vital importance.

"Mending Iran's relations with Arabs would require Rowhani to secure strong support from other influential power centers in Iran ... which is unlikely in the short term," he said. "The question of whether Rowhani can be another Khatami is important and crucial for both Iran and the Arabs."

Iranians celebrate Hassan Rouhani's election as president

Supporters of the reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani celebrate his victory

Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets of Tehran, shouting pro-reform slogans and hailing Hassan Rouhani's election as president.

The reformist-backed cleric won just over 50% of the vote and so avoided the need for a run-off.
Mr Rouhani said his win was a "victory of moderation over extremism".
The US expressed concern at a "lack of transparency" and "censorship" but praised the Iranian people and said it was ready to work with Tehran.
Some 72.2% of the 50 million eligible voters cast ballots on Friday to choose the successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Mr Rouhani on his victory, saying: "I urge everyone to help the president-elect and his colleagues in the government, as he is the president of the whole nation."
Ayatollah Khamenei will ratify the vote on 3 August and the new president will then take the oath in parliament.
'Victory for wisdom' There were scenes of celebration in the capital, as thousands of people, many sporting Mr Rouhani's election colour of purple, took to the streets.

At the scene

Mohsen Asgari BBC News, Tehran

Minutes after the announcement of the final result of the election, people in Tehran showed their happiness by pouring on to the streets. Standing on the roof of the BBC building in northern Tehran, I could hear cars blowing their horns and some people cheering.
On the phone a friend excitedly told me how people had left their cars and were walking toward Vali-Asr Square in central Tehran, which has witnessed many of Mr Rouhani's rallies in the past 10 days.
The reaction of the people showed how much they trusted the electoral system, after there had been much debate within the opposition about whether to boycott the election or take part.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent a message of congratulations to the people and called them the real winners of the election. Iran's supreme leader had urged everyone - even those who do not like the Islamic system but love their country - to vote.

Security officials stood by but did not intervene as crowds chanted: "Long live Rouhani".

One student, Sahar, told AFP news agency: "I see happiness in the city after eight years. I see it on the faces of my people."
Another in the crowd, Ashkan, said: "Tonight we rejoice, as there is once more hope in Iran."
One voter, Mina, told Reuters news agency: "I haven't been this happy in four years. They finally respected our vote. This is a victory for reforms and all of us as reformists."
After the last presidential election in June 2009, millions of Iranians took to the streets to demand a re-run, when the supreme leader dismissed claims by the three defeated candidates of widespread fraud.
On Saturday, some chants were heard calling for the release of political prisoners, a policy Mr Rouhani appears to support.
After his victory, Mr Rouhani issued a statement saying that "a new opportunity has been created for those who truly respect democracy, interaction and free dialogue".
The 64-year-old cleric said: "I thank God that once again rationality and moderation has shone on Iran... This victory is a victory for wisdom, moderation and maturity... over extremism."
But he also said: "The nations who tout democracy and open dialogue should speak to the Iranian people with respect and recognise the rights of the Islamic republic."

Hassan Rouhani

• A religious moderate, fluent in English, German, French, Russian and Arabic
• The only cleric contesting the Iranian presidential election
• Key figure in Iranian politics who has held some of the country's top jobs, including chief nuclear negotiator
• Has the backing of two former presidents

One of Mr Rouhani's main election pledges was to try to ease international sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme.

Iran has been suffering economic hardship, with rising unemployment, a devalued currency and soaring inflation.
But although Mr Rouhani has pledged greater engagement with Western powers, correspondents caution that power remains in the hands of the ruling clerics and the Revolutionary Guard.
Western powers remained circumspect in their assessment of the result.
The US said it respected the vote and would "engage Iran directly" to find a "diplomatic solution that will fully address the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear programme".
But White House spokesman Jay Carney did congratulate Iranians for their courage in voting.
The UK Foreign Office urged Mr Rouhani to "set Iran on a different course for the future: addressing international concerns about Iran's nuclear programme... and improving the political and human rights situation for the people of Iran".
France said it was "ready to work" with the new leader.
But Israel's foreign ministry said Ayatollah Khamenei remained in charge, adding: "Iran must conform to the demands of the international community and stop its nuclear programme and cease spreading terrorism in the world."
Surge of support Mr Rouhani, who has held several parliamentary posts and served as chief nuclear negotiator, had not been an obvious landslide winner.

Election results

• Hassan Rouhani: 18,613,329
• Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf: 6,077,292
• Saeed Jalili: 4,168,946
• Mohsen Rezai: 3,884,412
• Ali Akbar Velayati: 2,268,753
• Mohammad Gharazi: 446,015
• Votes cast: 36,704,156

The surge of support for him came after Mohammad Reza Aref, the only reformist candidate in the race, announced on Tuesday that he was withdrawing on the advice of pro-reform ex-President Mohammad Khatami.

Mr Rouhani thus went into polling day with the endorsement of two ex-presidents - Mr Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was disqualified from the race by the powerful Guardian Council, a 12-member body of theologians and jurists.
In the end, Mr Rouhani won 18,613,329 of the 36,704,156 votes cast. This represented 50.71% of the vote, giving him enough to avoid a run-off.
Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf won 6,077,292 votes to take second place (16.56%).
Saeed Jalili came third and Mohsen Rezai fourth.

A lost medieval city that thrived on a mist-shrouded Cambodian mountain 1,200 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists using revolutionary airborne laser technology, a report said.

In what it called a world exclusive, the Sydney Morning Herald said the city, Mahendraparvata, included temples hidden by jungle for centuries, many of which have not been looted.
A journalist and photographer from the newspaper accompanied the "Indiana Jones-style" expedition, led by a French-born archaeologist, through landmine-strewn jungle in the Siem Reap region where Angkor Wat, the largest Hindi temple complex in the world, is located.
The expedition used an instrument called Lidar -- light detection and ranging data -- which was strapped to a helicopter that criss-crossed a mountain north of Angkor Wat for seven days, providing data that matched years of ground research by archaeologists.
It effectively peeled away the jungle canopy using billions of laser pulses, allowing archaeologists to see structures that were in perfect squares, completing a map of the city which years of painstaking ground research had been unable to achieve, the report said.
It helped reveal the city that reportedly founded the Angkor Empire in 802 AD, uncovering more than two dozen previously unrecorded temples and evidence of ancient canals, dykes and roads using satellite navigation coordinates gathered from the instrument's data.
Jean-Baptiste Chevance, director of the Archaeology and Development Foundation in London who led the expedition, told the newspaper it was known from ancient scriptures that a great warrior, Jayavarman II, had a mountain capital, "but we didn't know how all the dots fitted, exactly how it all came together".
"We now know from the new data the city was for sure connected by roads, canals and dykes," he said.
The discovery is set to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.
Damian Evans, director of the University of Sydney's archaeological research centre in Cambodia, which played a key part in developing the Lidar technology, said there might be important implications for today's society.
"We see from the imagery that the landscape was completely devoid of vegetation," Evans, a co-expedition leader, said.
"One theory we are looking at is that the severe environmental impact of deforestation and the dependence on water management led to the demise of the civilisation ... perhaps it became too successful to the point of becoming unmanageable."
The Herald said the trek to the ruins involved traversing rutted goat tracks and knee-deep bogs after travelling high into the mountains on motorbikes.
Everyone involved was sworn to secrecy until the findings were peer-reviewed.
Evans said it was not known how large Mahendraparvata was because the search had so far only covered a limited area, with more funds needed to broaden it out.
"Maybe what we see was not the central part of the city, so there is a lot of work to be done to discover the extent of this civilisation," he said.
"We need to preserve the area because it's the origin of our culture," secretary of state at Cambodia's Ministry of Culture, Chuch Phoeun, told AFP.
Angkor Wat was at one time the largest pre-industrial city in the world, and is considered one of the ancient wonders of the world.
It was constructed from the early to mid 1100s by King Suryavarman II at the height of the Khmer Empire's political and military power.

Wider World by CS: นี่คือพระสมเด็จยุคแรก/เนื้อมวลสาร/และพิมพ์สวย

Wider World by CS: นี่คือพระสมเด็จยุคแรก/เนื้อมวลสาร/และพิมพ์สวย

นี่คือพระสมเด็จยุคแรก/เนื้อมวลสาร/และพิมพ์สวย

การเล่นพระสมเด็จวัดระฆังนั้นต้องการ การศึกษาและความรอบครอบ อีกทั้งต้องมีประสบการณ์การแสวงหา พระสมเด็จวัดระฆังนั้น สร้างติดต่อกันมาหลายสิบปี จึงได้ยุติการสร้าง ด้วยเหตุผลทางการชราภาพของท่านสมเด็จโต และการหมดลงไปของมวลสารเป็นที่ตั้ง

ดังนั้นถ้าท่านรักพระเครื่องพระสมเด็จวัดระฆัง ควรจะได้มีการแสวงหาบ่อยๆ แลกเปลี่ยนทางการซื้อขายและแสวงหาองค์อื่นๆต่อไป อย่างไม่จบสิ้น จนกว่าท่านจะพึงพอใจองค์ใดองค์หนึ่งเฉพาะ และเก็บไว้เป็นมรดกชั่วลูกชั่วหลานต่อๆกันไป แต่อยากจะแนะนำให้ท่านเก็บองค์แรกๆของยุคที่ท่านสมเด็จโตสร้าง นั้นคือ องค์ที่มีมวลสารหลากหลายตามที่ท่านใช้สร้างพระเพราะนั้นแสดงถึงพุทธคุณเต็มเปี่ยมตามเจตนาการสร้างพระของท่าน ที่ต้องครบสูตรครบขั้นตอน ไม่ใช่สุกเอาเผากินแบบง่ายๆ

วันนี้ขอนำมาลงพระสมเด็จวัดระฆัง องค์สวย/ดูง่ายมากและเปี่ยมไปด้วยมวลสาร ท่านจะพบมวลสารมากมายซึ่งตำละเอียดได้ดีและบดผสมเป็นอย่างดีเช่นเดียวกัน อีกทั้งพิมพ์ทรงก็สวยงามและการติดของเนื้อพระนั้น ชัดเจนดีทุกรูปแบบไม่ว่าจะเป็น ขอบพระ/ฐานพระ/ตัวพระเอง นับว่าดีเลิศแสดงออกถึงการตั้งใจทำและการตัดขอบพระอย่างดี

นอกจากนี้ความแห้งของมวลสารนั้นแสดงออกมาชัดเจน การหดตัวของมวลสารต่างๆก็เช่นกัน รวมทั้งคราบแป้งที่ติดมากับพิมพ์พระก็ยังคงความงาม เอาเป็นว่า ดีทุกมิติก็แล้วกัน ท่านจงใช้เวลาพิจารณาชมเองก็แล้วกัน และทำความเข้าใจให้สุดซึ้ง เพื่อว่าท่านจะไม่พลาดเมื่อมีองค์ใดในลักษณะนี้ผ่านมือท่านมา  (ภาพประกอบให้ชมกัน เทียบองค์หนึ่งและองค์สอง  ทั้งสององคเป็นพระเก่าสะสมหาอยากมากๆเหตุใดจึงพูดเช่นนั้น เพราะองค์ที่สองได้มาหลังจากองค์ที่หนึ่งเกือบสามสิบปี)

 

องค์นี้ได้มาปีพ.ศ. ๒๕๓๑ ช่วงตอนเล่นพระใหม่ๆ

องค์นี้ได้มาประมาณต้นปี๒๕๕๕หรืออาจจะเป็นปลายปี๒๕๕๔

ทั้งสององค์ถ่ายภาพในปี ๒๕๕๖

ม. โชคชัย ทรงเสี่ยงไชย
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With no update on Mandela's condition, friend urges: 'It's time to let him go'

From Faith Karimi and Robyn Curnow, CNN

June 9, 2013 -- Updated 1837 GMT (0237 HKT)

Nelson Mandela, now 94, endured 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa's first president from 1994 to 1999. Pictured, Mandela in Mmabatho for an election rally on March 15, 1994.

HIDE CAPTION

Revolutionary and politician Nelson Mandela

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The website of the president's office crashes
• The office has not offered an update on Mandela's condition
• A newspaper quotes Mandela's friend as saying it's time to say goodbye
• A British lawmaker invites Twitter's ire by calling Mandela a 'terrorist'

Johannesburg (CNN) -- South Africans offered prayers at church services while the rest of the world awaited word Sunday on Nelson Mandela's condition, a day after the ailing civil rights icon was rushed to the hospital yet again.

The office hasn't offered a new update since informing the world Saturday that Mandela was in "serious but stable condition" at a Pretoria hospital with a recurring lung infection.

Visitors to the website of the South African president's office got error messages Sunday.

Reached via e-mail Sunday, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told CNN he did not have an update to offer.

Spokesperson: Celebrate Mandela's life

Nelson Mandela,94,back in hospital

Look back at Mandela's early years

Mandela, 94, has become increasingly frail, and has been in and out of hospitals in recent years.

Each time he has done so, he has sparked concerns worldwide.

'We will release him'

On Sunday, the front page of South Africa's Sunday Times read, "It's time to let him go."

The paper quoted Mandela's longtime friend Andrew Mlangeni as saying that the time may have come for South Africans to say goodbye to the beloved icon.

"You have been coming to the hospital too many times. Quite clearly you are not well and there is a possibility you might not be well again," Mlangeni told the paper.

"Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow. We will say thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too," Mlangeni said.

Lawmaker invites ire

While lawmakers in South Africa and abroad tweeted their well wishes, Nick Griffin, the head of the far-right British National Party invited the anger of Twitter users when he called Mandela "a murdering old terrorist."

"Saint #nelsonmandela on last legs it seems. Make sure to avoid BBC when the murdering old terrorist croaks. It'll be nauseating," he posted on Twitter on Saturday.

Mandela was hospitalized early Saturday after the state of his health deteriorated in the last few days, Maharaj said earlier.

Mandela was breathing on his own, Maharaj said.

Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, is at the hospital with him, sources told CNN. She canceled her plans to attend the Hunger Summit meeting in London on Saturday.

History of ailments

South Africa's first black president gets round-the-clock care, and his house is retrofitted with medical equipment that mirrors that of an intensive care unit.

His history of lung problems dates to when he was a political prisoner on Robben Island during apartheid, and he has battled respiratory infections over the years.

Last year, he spent Christmas holidays undergoing treatment for a lung infection and gallstones, one of his longest hospital stays since his release from prison in 1990.

Considered the founding father of South Africa's democracy, Mandela became an international figure while enduring 27 years in prison for fighting against apartheid, the country's system of racial segregation.

"He has taught us ... that we enhance our own humanity when we serve and make a difference to other people's lives," Maharaj said. "It's easy to serve oneself, own interests, but serving the interests of others, making their lives better changes the quality of all humanity."

In 1993, Mandela and then-South African President F.W. de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hero of democracy

The iconic leader was elected the nation's first black president a year later, serving only one term, as he had promised.

He has not appeared in public since South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2010.

But despite rare public appearances in recent years, he retains his popularity and is considered a hero of democracy in the nation. Last year, South Africa launched a new batch of banknotes with a picture of a smiling Mandela on the front, a testament to his iconic status.

Mandela's impact extends far beyond South African borders. After he left office, he mediated conflicts from Africa to the Middle East.