Headlines:

• France Proposes Extension of Muslim Headscarf Ban
• Egyptian Government Offers Muslim Brotherhood Ministerial Posts
• Rebels Gain Control of Government Air Base in Syria
• Wary of US' 'Asia Pivot' Strategy, China Keeps Eye on Kerry's Pakistan Visit

Details:

France Proposes Extension of Muslim Headscarf Ban

France's official council promoting integration has struck a raw nerve by proposing that Muslim headscarves, already banned in the civil service and state-run schools, also be outlawed at the country's universities. The High Council for Integration, in a confidential report leaked to Le Monde Newspaper, said this was needed to counter problems caused by students wearing religious garb and demanding prayer space and special menus at universities. France's 2004 ban on headscarves in schools and 2010 ban on full face veils in public have alienated many of its five million Muslims. Rioting broke out in a Paris suburb last month after police checked identity papers of a fully veiled woman. "This is one more step in the legal stigmatisation of Muslims," the March 15 Liberty Committee, a Muslim group opposed to the school headscarf ban, said on Tuesday. "The separation of church and state cannot be reduced, as some want it to be, to an arsenal of laws against Muslims." Several politicians also weighed in, warning a new ban could fan tensions between the Socialist government, which stands for a strong defence of France's official secularism, and Muslims who feel such laws are aimed at isolating and punishing them. "We have to find the right balance between the need for neutrality in the public sphere and the personal choice to express a religious conviction," said Herve Mariton, a deputy for the opposition UMP party. [Source: ArabBusiness.com]

Egyptian Government Offers Muslim Brotherhood Ministerial Posts

Egypt's military leaders are understood to have offered to include the Muslim Brotherhood in a political process that gives the vanquished movement three ministerial posts in a unity government and frees some members from prison. A security source close to the discussions confirmed the substance of the discussions. However, the Egyptian military and the presidency later denied that talks had taken place, or that any offers had been made to the Brotherhood, which has remained sidelined since its leader, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted as president on 3 July. "Within the framework of national reconciliation there have been promises made by the government to the Brotherhood, but only after they clear the sit-ins and end the protests," the security source told the Guardian. "These promises include three ministerial posts in the new government; unfreezing the assets of the senior Muslim Brotherhood and only letting out of prison those who have not incited violence against the state," he said. He said other Brotherhood members who had incited violence against security officials would face trial. However, charges against those accused of insulting the military or the judiciary would be lifted. Two senior Brotherhood officials also denied that a deal had been reached. "These are all lies," said one official, Gamal Heshmat. "The Brotherhood did not receive nor will it accept to make deals of this sort. Any resolution will have to be part of national reconciliation involving the national coalition that involves the Brotherhood and other groups opposing the coup." However, senior Egyptian officials confirmed over the weekend that a dialogue had been under way for some time, with both sides tentatively trying to end a standoff that has paralysed political life, polarised Egyptian society and led to the deaths of about 300 people, most of them among Brotherhood supporters who are holding sit-ins in two parts of Cairo. [Source: The Guardian]

Rebels Gain Control of Government Air Base in Syria

Rebel fighters on Monday swept into a sprawling government air base in northern Syria where isolated government troops had fought off their attacks for nearly a year, and by early Tuesday controlled almost all the base, seizing several tanks and other munitions and taking soldiers prisoner, rebel and opposition groups said. Such gains have sometimes been reversed within days, as the government strikes back from the air. But if it holds, the rebels' seizure of the Minakh base in Aleppo Province will challenge the government's assertion that it is rolling to victory and demonstrate the complexity of the Syrian battlefield, which neither side has been able to control and where momentum shifts from place to place and week to week. Even as the battle at Minakh was raging, the government was celebrating its own victory in the central city of Homs, where the defense minister toured the shattered Khalidiyeh neighborhood, long held by insurgents, and posed in front of the Khalid bin al-Waleed Mosque - a 13th-century landmark that had been a rebel rallying point and was heavily damaged in the fighting. Yet to the north, a large rebel force armed with tanks and rocket launchers pushed deeper into an area that has long been a relatively quiet government stronghold, the coastal mountains of Latakia Province, sending civilians fleeing. The dueling victories show the de facto splitting of Syria into zones of government and rebel control. The government appears committed and strong in the corridor leading from Damascus north through Homs to its coastal stronghold. But in the north it has lost the ability to manoeuvre through most roads and rural areas and struggles to hold on to isolated military outposts. [Source: New York Times]

Wary of US' 'Asia Pivot' Strategy, China Keeps Eye on Kerry's Pakistan Visit

Wary of US's "Asia pivot" strategy, China kept an eye on Secretary of State John Kerry's first visit to Pakistan as the state media noted that the Obama administration has adopted a "milder" approach on issues like terrorism and drone strikes to improve bilateral ties. "Washington is quickening its steps to implement its "pivot to Asia" and "return to South Asia strategies", an article in the state-run Global Times said last week. "Pakistan, the second largest country after India in South Asia, is an important neighbour and strategic partner of China. Thus the future development of US-Pakistani ties is worthy of our close attention," it said. Kerry is on his maiden trip to Pakistan since he became the secretary of state to improve relations after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to power in Islamabad. US-Pakistani relations have looked to be improving since the beginning of the year. Kerry had expressed his hope to visit Islamabad on phone soon after Sharif won the May 11 general elections this year. Unlike his predecessor Hillary Clinton, who held a "tough attitude towards Pakistan, Kerry has adopted a far milder manner by avoiding any links between the country and terrorism as well as calling for India and Afghanistan to develop friendly ties with Islamabad", it said. "What's more, Sharif conveyed his willingness to strengthen ties with the US immediately upon returning to power," it said. [Source: Times of India]

Abu Hashim