Nile River row: Could it turn violent?

The giggles started when the seventh journalist in a row said that his question was for Egypt’s water and irrigation minister, Mohamed Nasreddin Allam.

The non-Egyptian media gave him a bit of a hammering at last week’s talks in Addis Ababa for the nine countries that the Nile passes through.

Allam bared his teeth when a Kenyan journalist accused him of hiding behind “colonial-era treaties” giving his country the brunt of the river’s vital waters whether that hurt the poorer upstream countries or not.

“You obviously don’t know enough about this subject to be asking questions about it,” he snapped before later apologising to her with a kiss on the cheek.

Five of the nine Nile countries — Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya — last month signed a deal to share the water that is a crucial resource for all of them. But Egypt and Sudan, who are entitled to most of the water and can veto upstream dams under a 1929 British-brokered agreement, refused.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi have not signed yet either and analysts are divided on whether they will or not. Six Nile countries must sign the agreement for it to have any power but Egypt says even that wouldn’t change its mind. The five signatories — some of the world’s poorest countries — have left the agreement open for debating and possible signing for up to a year.

Tensions were clearly still running high after two days of negotiations in Addis and despite grinning around the table and constantly referring to each other as “my brother”, the ministers always seemed in danger of breaking into bickering.

When the Sudanese water minister said his country was freezing cooperation with the Nile Basin Initiative — the name given to the ten-year effort to agree on how to manage the river — Ethiopia’s water minister loudly protested to the media that his Sudanese colleague had not revealed that during their private meetings.

Highlighting the seriousness of the issue, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abul Naga, arrived in Addis Ababaon Wednesday to again meet Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

It’s no surprise that the spat is getting a lot of press in both Ethiopia and Egypt.

“Egypt is a gift of the Nile,” people like to say in a country that worshipped the river as a God in ancient times. “If Egypt is a gift of the Nile, then the Nile is a gift of Ethiopia,” Ethiopians shoot back with growing confidence.

And they have a point. More than 85 percent of the waters originate in Ethiopia, which relies on foreign aid for survival and sees hydropower dams as a potential cash cow and central to its plans to become one of Africa’s only power exporters.

But Egypt is not for turning. Almost totally dependent on the Nile for its agricultural output (a third of its economy) and already worried about climate change, it is determined to hold onto its 55.5 billion cubic metres of water a year, a seemingly unfair share of the Nile’s total flow of 84 billion cubic metres.

The Egyptians point out that they don’t benefit from rains like the upstream countries. Everybody, it seems, has valid points. Nobody is budging. Now some regional analysts are even saying the row could turn into the world’s first major water war and similar thoughts are being expressed in cafes from Cairo all the way upriver to Dar es Salaam.

So what next? The nine countries are due to meet again in Nairobi sometime between September and November. But where is the way forward? Who will blink first? And who really should? Could this bickering turn violent?

Protests bring two Yemen cities to standstill, 2 dead

An anti-government protester demanding the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh helps a fellow protester who was wounded during clashes with police in Sanaa May 11, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah

SANAA | Wed May 11, 2011 07:31 pm

SANAA (Parclays) - Yemeni security forces killed two protesters and wounded dozens on Wednesday as mass rallies demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh paralyzed two major cities, residents and medics said.

The violence comes as Yemen faces a growing fuel crisis so severe that the modest oil producer is considering buying crude from Saudi Arabia to counteract a blockade on its main oil- and gas-producing province by tribesmen aligned with protesters.

After three months of daily protests in the Arabian Peninsula state, demonstrators frustrated by Saleh's reluctance to relinquish power after nearly 33 years have been seeking new ways of loosening his grip.

Many have called for extending a sporadic general strike to become a daily event.

South of the capital Sanaa, snipers killed two protesters in Taiz, where demonstrators sought to ratchet up pressure on Saleh to resign by sealing off state buildings, effectively bringing the daily rhythms of Yemen's main industrial center to a halt.

"Stores are closed and the streets are completely empty of pedestrians, only protesters are around in the areas they are confronting (security forces)," resident Wajdi Abdullah said.

Dozens of protesters were wounded by gunfire, tear gas and beatings by bat-wielding plainclothes security men who tried to disperse their blockade on the education ministry in the city of 540,000 people, medics said.

Protesters retaliated by torching a police building. Rather than retreat, they extended their blockade to seal off Taiz's public services and a branch of the oil ministry.

Neighboring oil giant Saudi Arabia and the United States fear escalating violence could push impoverished Yemen, already riven by tribal and separatist conflict, into chaos that could allow al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing to operate more freely.

Protesters also brought life in the city of Ibb to a virtual halt. "Almost all the stores are shut in Ibb except a few selling basic food items. No one is going to work -- this is unprecedented in this city," resident Ali Noaman said.

CITIES SHUTTING DOWN

Tribesmen have for weeks blockaded Maarib province, the main source of Yemen's oil and gas. A shipping source told Reuters the government was losing around $3 million a day as exports were blocked.

Traders said on Wednesday Yemen was in talks with Saudi Aramco to buy around 2 million barrels of crude oil to send to its main refinery in Aden, which had been shut down for weeks due to lack of supply.

The protesters' pressure on oil supplies is also crushing for residents, as areas including Sanaa face hours of daily power cuts.

Yemen's fragile economy is struggling to stay afloat as the currency tumbles below 240 against the dollar, and prices of basic necessities skyrocket. All this will increase hardship for the 40 percent of Yemen's 23 million people who live on less than $2 a day and a third of whom suffer chronic hunger.

Residents in more remote areas are also suffering severe water shortages because trucks have stopped bringing water shipments due to fuel rationing.

Promote information flow for public trust

The growth and maturity of democracy in any society striving to build this model of governance is closely tied in with openness and accountability in all areas of public endeavour.

This is a truth that quickly responds with harsh repercussions when defied.

That is why it is critical for all public officials to not only keep this in mind, but put in place mechanisms to ensure openness and accountability, when carrying out their duties.

President Jakaya Kikwete touched on this pertinent area when opening the orientation seminar for ministers, their deputies, and permanent secretaries whose theme is Understanding Unity, Cooperation, Accountability for Sustainable Development in Dodoma on Monday.

He reminded ministers of the need to be open, ensure information is made available, especially to the media, which is the medium, through which the public at large will get to know what is going on within the government.

As pointed out by the president, the gap in information flow has been exploited by political and sectarian interests, damaging the government image in the eyes of the public.

Save for a few government institutions, which have put in place mechanisms to respond to media pursuit for information, many are still stuck in operational secrecy, even over issues which are ‘open secrets’ so to speak.

The experience of many a journalist is that some ministries have ‘perfected’ a system of ‘running’ away from the media, when asked to respond to even the most routine of issues.

This behaviour is reflected in a MISA-TAN research released in October last year, which sent out a questionnaire to a number of public institutions.

Only the Public Service Management at President’s Office responded in time and in the most transparent manner to earn the top trophy for transparency, while the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement then earned a padlock for being the most secretive.

Some people reading the report then wondered what was so secret about land, housing and human settlement issues!

Sadly, some of the ministries mentioned in the report, routinely view journalists seeking responses to public queries as troublemakers, whose sole mission is to expose the government as inefficient.

Is it so difficult to assign people who are trained in media issues to oversee this very crucial area, and ensure they are fully locked into the information circuit of the institution?

Indeed with a clear mandate, they can respond timely to issues which are routine and save the government not only embarrassment, but expose misinformation and lies.

Again many of those who were members of the President’s cabinet in 2005-2010 will recall that he issued a directive to all ministries to ensure media have access to information.

This included setting aside days they would meet and answer questions from the media. The directive was implemented by a few ministries for a while and then quietly abandoned.

For the sake of enhancing accountability and democracy, the president’s call this time must be translated into action, most urgently and sustained.

The government must also appoint a spokesperson with the authority and resources, both human and financial to undertake the task.

It should not be forgotten that the public has a right to such information under the constitution.

Despite global dip, farmers urged to accept tobacco prices

A tobacco farmer at work in Mpanda District, Tabora Region. (File photo)

Despite a USD 0.52 decline in global tobacco prices per kg, Tanzania farmers are being urged to accept the new lower price for the 2011 season, which is described by representatives of local cooperatives as “not being that bad.”

Last year, farmers got USD 2.12 for every kg they sold. The outlook for 2011 is such that they can only expect around USD 1.60 per kg, according to the Chairman of the Western Zone Tobacco Cooperatives Union, Alcado Ilagila.

Briefing the press on tobacco prices for season 2011 at the weekend, Ilagila said that they have found a market for 60 million kgs of Tabora’s tobacco, but had only secured a unit price of USD1.60 despite negotiations with buyers.

There is a relative increase in farm output per kg this year, according to Ilagila, who attributes this higher productivity to farmers being enticed by the promise of record sale prices, and lower input costs.

Last year, for instance, the price of one bag of NPK was USD49.30 and has since gone down to USD43.34 in 2011, according to him.

He implored local farmers to show willingness to work with them on this, saying that the price could have become worse.

According to him there is a secure market for all of the region’s tobacco this year. “It will all be bought, so don’t worry,” he promised.

However, he cautioned them against cutting dried tobacco with lower grade materials, urging local leaders to work to ensure the crop remains unadulterated. Higher crop grades are the only way to secure a higher purchase price, he said.

Ilagila further cautioned against adulteration by tobacco blenders, saying farmers will not stand for this. He instead asked them to be willing to have their operations inspected to ensure only the highest grade tobacco makes the cut.

Besides, the cooperative boss asked local buying unions to pay tobacco farmers fair price for their produce, saying the Union will take legal action against any form of price discrimination.

Police foil theft bid at North Mara gold mine

North Mara Gold Mine

Over 500 villagers near African Barrick’s North Mara Gold Mine forced their way into the facility early this week in what the police have described as “an attempt to steal gold nuggets from a crusher used to process gold ore”.

Four people were seriously injured when police and North Mara gold mine security guards were forced to engage the rampaging villagers in an attempt to restore order.

Speaking to journalists in his office yesterday, the Commander for Tarime/Rorya Special Police Zone, Constantine Massawe revealed that the incident took place on Monday afternoon when local citizens reportedly heard rumours that a large gold deposit had been unearthed.

“Over 500 people from neighbouring villages of Nyakunguru, Nyangoto, Matongo, Kerende, Genkuru and Nyamwaga descended on (the mine) between 11am and 2pm…on Monday May 9,” said Massawe, adding that it took his officers over three hours to restore order.

He said the raiders were armed with an assortment of traditional weapons including machetes, clubs, metal rods, stones and arrows.

“We got news of the mine invasion and sent our officers to reign in the marauding villagers,” Massawe said, adding that they used teargas, rubber bullets and live rounds.

“In the pandemonium, a police officer identified only as PC Clement was injured by a flying stone that landed on his back,” disclosed the commander.

The Tarime/Rorya Police Commander said further that one of North Mara’s security guard, Saimon Shayo, was also badly injured when the villagers slashed his shoulder and back with a machete.

He identified the other two wounded as 15-year old Sylvester Laurent and Nyantinyi Biraro (25), both residents of Nyangoto Nyamongo village in the area around the North Mara gold pits.

They suffered facial injuries and have been admitted at Nyamongo hospital for treatment. The two will be kept for further questioning on the incident, according to Massawe.

Police are holding three additional suspects in relation to the incident, although Commander Massawe was unwilling to release their identities for fear of jeopardising investigations into the incident.

The Police Chief called on residents of the villages surrounding North Mara Gold Mine to refrain from taking the law in their own hands.

Massawe said that North Mara owners, African Barrick Gold were a legitimate business concern that needed to be respected, adding that breaking into their property with the intention of stealing gold was a criminal offense in much the same way as breaking into a local merchant’s shop.

He said police would not hesitate to conduct massive manhunts for individuals involved in this latest raid on North Mara pits.

In January 2009 Barrick Gold, the world’s largest pure gold mining company, suffered USD 15 million in damages after about 200 people invaded its North Mara mine and clashed with security personnel.

Govt: No way out of looming power crisis

Mtera dam

The government has said it can do nothing at the moment to help factories and ordinary customers out of the looming power crisis as water levels at Mtera dam remain low due to poor rains.

This includes the shutdown of the Songo Songo gas flow for maintenance of the wells and the plants, from May 19 to 26.

“Both issues are sensitive and complex. We (government) cannot increase the level of water at Mtera dam and we cannot prevent maintenance plans of Songo Songo gas fields,” said Energy and Minerals deputy minister Adam Malima in an interview with 'The Guardian' yesterday.

“What do you think the government can do under such circumstances?” asked the minister.

The government's reaction comes as a nationwide power crisis looms following decreasing water levels at Mtera dam, one of the country’s strategic hydro-power stations, and an expected shutdown of the gas-for-electricity Songo Songo system.

Already, Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Ltd (Tanesco) has announced a 16-hour power-rationing, from May 19 to 26, to pave the way for extensive maintenance of the Songo Songo gas fields in Kilwa District.

As of yesterday, the Mtera dam water level had reached 691 metres, which the minister said could hardly support efficient production of power required by industrial and ordinary consumers.

Malima said the government had no alternative at the moment to rescue power consumers from the problems triggered by Mtera dam's water shortage and Songo Songo's technical inspection.

“We cannot increase the amount of water in the dam (Mtera), nor can we stop the maintenance of gas fields at Songo Songo. If we do that it will adversely affect the gas plant and systems. In short, it will cause irreparable loss to the investors of the gas plant, the government and the general public in terms of revenue lost and a worse power crisis in the future,” said Malima.

According to Tanesco Managing Director William Mhando, the maintenance of gas wells and the plant was geared at improving the quantity of natural gas produced and transported from Songo Songo Island to Dar es Salaam for power generation and industrial use.

However, economists say that Tanesco’s planned 15-hour daily power blackout will hit not only small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but also the overall national industrial sector into 2012.

An 8-day manufacturing shutdown will send the industrial sector as a whole into a tailspin, according to Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO) Director General Mike Laiser.

Tanesco announced on Saturday that from May 19 to 26 it will be cutting off electricity between 8am and 11pm as a result of scheduled maintenance of the Songo Songo gas plant by its operators, Pan African Energy Tanzania Limited.

Many factories will be forced to operate using alternative and undoubtedly more expensive energy sources, and most will have to plan for higher production volumes in the run-up to May 19.

Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) administrator Hussein Kamote told 'The Guardian' that some large factories might have to resort to 24-hour shifts in the days leading to the planned blackouts.

Research indicates that the manufacturing and light industry sector alone contributes a full 22.6 per cent (2009 Statistics) to Tanzania’s gross domestic product (GDP). Of this, 50 per cent is from SMEs, according to a 1997 paper by chief economist of Productive Sectors Cluster at the President’s Office: Planning Commission (POPC) Erick Kirumba.

Laiser acknowledged that SMEs are most at risk because they lack the capacity and resources to invest in alternative energy sources, echoing sentiments expressed by CTI’s Kamote, who said he expects SMEs to be most affected by Tanesco’s planned 16-hour outages.

However, the SIDO chief sees chronic power supply problems as having far greater consequences for the state of the nation’s overall manufacturing industry.

“Power-rationing over eight days means no production,” he said, adding that calculated over a one-year period, the losses from a one week shutdown could easily translate into 5 per cent shrinkage across the entire industrial sector.

“It is simple arithmetic,” he stressed.

He added that the biggest problem is the fact that power interruptions trigger a chain reaction of negative outcomes that reverberate throughout the national economy.

The loss of 8 production days, for instance, means a week during which none of the people working for the affected companies makes any money. Income loss means a decline in consumption, according to Laiser, because most will have little discretionary income.

"It becomes a vicious cycle where factories that are forced to stop production because of power cuts can’t pay anybody, and those that can produce can’t sell anything to anyone. In other words, it’s the very definition of an economic slowdown," Laiser said.

The only way forward, according to Laiser, is for power utilities to become more efficient, stabilising power supply to local industries.

“Total energy output is far below production capacity,” he said, adding that he recently learned that Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL), which supplies power to Tanesco, operates at a mere 30 per cent of production capacity.

The SIDO chief argued that a review of the energy tariff structure is one way to bring about production efficiencies. “How do we know these (electricity) charges are at all necessary?” he said, adding that energy security for industry is possible only if utility companies such as Tanesco become better at generating and supplying electricity.

Govt, local mobile phone operator organise clean-up campaign in Dar

The Ministry of State in the Vice-President’s Office (Environment), in collaboration with mobile phone service operator Tigo, has organized a campaign under which some areas in Kinondoni District will be cleaned on Saturdays with a view to collecting over 4,000 tonnes of garbages.

The exercise, which kicked off recently at Magomeni hospital through Morogoro road, aims at sensitizing the people to stop indiscriminate disposals of garbage and instead build the habit of keeping the environment clean.

Speaking to journalists during the clean-up, campaign minister in the Vice-President's Office (Environment) Dr Terezya Huvisa said the campaign would be sustainable, adding that after Kinondoni it would involve another district in the region.

She thanked Tigo for following up on their pledge to keep the city's environment clean.

“We can clearly see that the company is making huge efforts to ensure our city's environment is clean. It’s a challenge for other organizations,” she said.

Huvisa said the campaign was intended to sensitize and remind the community and local governments on what they should do in their localities regarding cleanliness.

“We are doing this to sensitize the people to keep the city clean by stopping dumping garbages in the drainage systems and other areas,” she said.

The minister said it was possible for communities to make the city clean if they collaborate with the responsible authorities and make sure that everybody is involved. She said by so doing the city’s dirty condition would soon be history.

For her part, Tigo customer care officer Harriet Lwakatare said the company planned to support the community in various aspects. “This is the beginning, but in future we have many initiatives in store that are aimed at supporting communities lead a better life,” she said.

She said Tigo wanted to see the community living a better life in a good environment. “When you live in a clean environment you guard your body against illness, and hence you are in a better position to engage in various productive activities,” Lwakatare said.

The Vice-President’s Office has set every first Saturday of the month, from 7am to 10am, to be clean-up time in all towns in the country.

Libya: a mixed bag

It has debt levels to die for and huge amounts of oil, but economically it’s lagging and political concerns remain. Speakers at a Libyan trade and investment forum this week saw the North African country as a mixed bag.

Robert Tashima, an editor for Oxford Business Group, highlighted the country’s “elephantine” levels of FX reserves, and the privatisation of 80 companies so far, with telecoms and steel sales slated for this year.

Rory Fyfe, an economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit, said he expected the country’s budget to remain in surplus and inflation under control, and pointed to high levels of non-oil growth, but said the economy should be doing better than it is.

Charles Gurdon, managing director of Menas Associates, said in his presentation on politics that the lack of a designated successor to Muammar Gaddafi, who has led Libya for over 40 years, could lead to violence.

Abdulmagid El-Mansuri, chairman of the industry ministry’s foreign investment advisory committee, said the country was privatising at a pace and was also allowing joint ventures with international firms, such as soon-to-be-announced joint-venture licenses for foreign banks.

But perhaps indicating the sensitive nature of Libya’s political system, he said Gurdon’s decision to include pictures of Gaddafi and key family members in his presentation was “completely outrageous”.

Ronaldo hat-trick keeps Barca waiting for title

The German playmaker also laid on Ronaldo's second after a swift counter-attack in the 57th.

Substitute Karim Benzema then guided in Xabi Alonso's long pass before Ronaldo sealed his hat-trick with a penalty in added time, taking his league tally for the season to an unrivalled 36 goals, ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi with 31.

"I'm in good form. I am fighting to win the top scorers' award but I am not obsessed with it," Ronaldo told Spanish television.

Racing were all but assured of La Liga football next season with their win over Europa League-chasing Atletico after an emotional pre-match tribute to former fan and local resident Seve Ballesteros.

The Spanish golfer, a five-times major winner, died aged 54 on Saturday after a struggling to overcome a brain tumour diagnosed in 2008.

Both teams walked out at the Sardinero stadium with shirts dedicated to Ballesteros, while a group of children carried a giant photo of him into the centre circle, for a minute's silence before kickoff.

Although Mario Suarez scored first for Atletico, goals from Kennedy Bakircioglu and Markus Rosenberg ensured the match finished with huge celebrations from the home fans.

Malaga were fired to their fifth consecutive win by in-form Brazilian forward Julio Baptista, who scored his seventh goal in five matches with a spectacular mid-air scissors volley.

Deportivo, champions in 2000 and European regulars in the early part of the last decade, pulled away from trouble courtesy of Adrian Lopez's effort, which was diverted into his own net by Bilbao's Carlos Gurpegui, and a Xabi Castillo own goal.

Uganda opposition leader barred from flight - party official

KAMPALA - Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was barred in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Wednesday from boarding a flight back to Uganda, a party official said.

It was not immediately clear who ordered Besigye to be stopped from travelling on the Kenya Airways flight and why the action was taken. No comment was available from the airline or government officials.

Besigye flew to Nairobi two weeks ago after sustaining wounds when Ugandan police dragged him from a vehicle and drenched him in pepper spray to prevent him from taking part in a protest over rising food and fuel prices.

"They have imposed exile on Kizza Besigye. The flight has left without him. Both he and his wife are still in Nairobi," said Anne Mugisha, deputy foreign secretary of Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is due to be sworn in for a fourth term on Thursday after winning an election in February in which Besigye was his closest opponent.

Pakistan squanders chance to bring military to heel

Pakistan's civilian government has a rare opportunity to bring the powerful security establishment to heel as the army writhes in humiliation over the surprise swoop by U.S. forces on Osama bin Laden. It will probably miss it.

"I think this is the first time since 1972 that the political government has a small window of opportunity to take the military on and change the skewed civil-military balance," said Ayesha Siddiqa, an expert on the Pakistani army.

"But they are losing the space so fast."

The killing of al Qaeda's leader on May 2 in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad just 50 km (30 miles) up the road from Islamabad dealt a body blow to the military's prestige.

It was embarrassed by the revelation that the world's most-wanted man had been holed up for years under its very nose, and the public was shocked that a bunch of helicopter-borne foreign commandos could slip unnoticed into the nuclear-armed country.

Over the past week Pakistan's media has been unusually scathing of the army's apparent incompetence and intelligence failure.

The army remains a potent and widely respected centre of power, however, and it is unlikely that the political class will find the will, agility or unity to challenge it.

The military has ruled for more than half of Pakistan's turbulent 64-year history and no civilian government has ever served out a full term.

Although the current administration might become the first to survive the allotted five years, despite public disgust over its handling of the economy, it remains firmly under the thumb of the army when it comes to internal security and both foreign and defence policy.

A pro-democracy civil society group on Tuesday bemoaned a stark "absence of parliamentary leadership" in defining national security policy and overseeing its implementation.

Even the United States sees the military as its main interlocutor: the first person it contacted in Pakistan after the bin Laden raid was Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Kayani.

BEATEN BACK BEFORE

President Asif Ali Zardari has tried on several occasions to assert his authority over the security establishment, and each time he has failed.

His bid to bring the military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency under the interior ministry in 2008 was quashed by the army. The same fate befell his efforts to reach out to old rival India and win U.S. Congressional support for promoting civilian primacy in Pakistan.

However, the discredit of the army over the bin Laden incident presented a fresh opportunity for the civilian government to reclaim some control over security policy.

The moment could hardly have been more timely.

Just hours after the killing of the al Qaeda leader the deeply unpopular government shored up its grip on power with a new coalition partner and a few days earlier, the chairman of the U.S. military's joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, had accused the ISI of maintaining links with the Taliban.

Despite that, more than a week since the bin Laden drama, there have been no signs that the politicians are pushing back or that the military is ceding ground.

"I think it is an opportunity they have missed already," said Cyril Almedia, a columnist for Dawn, a daily newspaper. "The political government we have has chosen to lie back, keep quiet and try not to be blamed for a crisis in the country."

"There is also the fear that if you take on the army at a moment of weakness you potentially invite its wrath further down the road."

Zardari could have demanded that Kayani or the head of the ISI resign to take responsibility for the military and intelligence failures. It would have been a risky step, though, given that the last time a civilian leader tried to sack the army chief, in 1999, he himself was ousted in a bloodless coup.

WAITING FOR THE AMERICANS

No heads have rolled in the security establishment and -- far from taking responsibility for any failings -- the army kept a low profile for a week and finally left it to the civilian government to explain to the people of Pakistan what happened.

It had a heavy hand in that explanation, helping draw up a speech by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to parliament.

In his address, Gilani said: "I want to dispel the impression outside that there is no harmony between the state institutions. They are on the same page."

Gilani announced that an inquiry into the incident would be overseen by a general.

Siddiqa said that the army also appeared to have successfully steered the narrative in the right-wing media, which has not been asking "why was bin Laden here?" but "how come the Americans conducted this operation in our country?".

"That is a method or turning the debate on its head," she said. "Nobody is asking the army chief to resign. Or the intelligence chief."

Talat Masood, a retired general and defence analyst, said the government would miss its "golden opportunity", partly because it is pinned down by opposition parties that are baying for the president and prime minister to resign over the affair.

"They are more interested in demolishing what little credibility remains of the civilian government rather than building up institutions," Masood said.

Siddiqa said another explanation for the government's failure to seize the moment was a vain hope that Washington would lose all faith in the military as a reliable partner in its war on Islamic militancy and create an easier opportunity to redress the balance of power.

"It's waiting for the Americans to destroy the military and its reputation so that there is enough space for it to walk in," she said. "This is not going to happen."

Facebook may have leaked your personal information: Symantec

Facebook users' personal information could have been accidentally leaked to third parties, in particular advertisers, over the past few years, Symantec Corp said in its official blog.

Third-parties would have had access to personal information such as profiles, photographs and chat, and could have had the ability to post messages, the security software maker said.

"We estimate that as of April 2011, close to 100,000 applications were enabling this leakage," the blog post said.

" ... Over the years, hundreds of thousands of applications may have inadvertently leaked millions of access tokens to third parties," posing a security threat, the blog post said.

The third-parties may not have realized their ability to access the information, it said.

Facebook, the world's largest social networking website, was notified of this issue and confirmed the leakage, the blog post said.

It said Facebook has taken steps to resolve the issue.

"Unfortunately, their (Symantec's) resulting report has a few inaccuracies. Specifically, we have conducted a thorough investigation which revealed no evidence of this issue resulting in a user's private information being shared with unauthorized third parties," Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich said in a statement.

Lucich said the report also ignores the contractual obligations of advertisers and developers which prohibit them from obtaining or sharing user information in a way that "violates our policies."

She also confirmed that the company removed the outdated API (Application Programing Interface) referred to in Symantec's report.

Facebook has more than 500 million users and is challenging Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for users' time online and for advertising dollars.