Word: pro
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Earlier on Saturday, a military convoy carrying two prominent cohorts of Sufi Mohammed, the hardline pro-Taliban cleric the government once negotiated with, came under attack and the pair was killed. As the vehicle made its way past the notorious gun-running town of Sakhakot, a roadside bomb exploded and militants opened fire. One of the men inside was Ameer Izzat Khan, Sufi Mohammed's fast-talking spokesman, who is considered one of the most senior militants killed so far. There is confusion over whether the attacking militants were trying to rescue the pair, or kill them before the military...
...Alon Pinkus, a former adviser on U.S. affairs to four Israeli foreign ministers, says that before Obama's speech, "the national mood was that the U.S. and Israel were on a collision course. But Obama made a very balanced, respectful speech. It wasn't too pro- or anti-Israeli." (See pictures of Obama in Egypt...
...delicate balance, one that pro-democracy advocates worry is tipping toward Beijing. Last year the Chinese government postponed direct elections in the territory, bumping the date from 2012 to 2017 for the chief executive and to 2020 for the legislature. The move outraged veteran campaigners like Martin Lee, Hong Kong's "Father of Democracy." Lee, recently the target of a foiled assassination plot, says Beijing is buying time, stacking the democratic deck. "They have postponed and postponed," he says. "Hong Kong will not have democracy until Beijing knows they have people...
...fear shared by many here. Pro-democracy groups see Beijing's not-so-invisible hand tightening its grip on the city. In the run-up to the anniversary, two Tiananmen-era dissidents, Xiang Xiaoji and Yang Jianli, were turned away at Hong Kong's airport. The city won't comment, but it denied charges that it kept an immigration blacklist at the behest of Beijing. The incident sparked outrage nonetheless, with critics accusing Hong Kong officials of kowtowing to mainland authorities ahead of the politically sensitive anniversary. (See pictures of Hong Kong...
...speak up they do - as pro-Beijing commentators are quick to point out. "Where is the threat?" asks Lau Nai-keung, a Hong Kong journalist with ties to Beijing. "People here can express their feelings." Indeed, when the city's chief executive, Donald Tsang, recently downplayed the anniversary to legislators during a legislative council debate, he was met with fierce opposition and forced to apologize. When Ayo Chan, a student leader at Hong Kong University, suggested pro-democracy protesters were to blame for the 1989 crackdown, angry students moved to vote him out of office. And, unlike the uprising...