LONDON (Reuters) – Cyber activists say they have brought down Zimbabwean government websites after the president's wife sued a newspaper for publishing a WikiLeaks cable linking her with illicit diamond trading.
President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace is suing a private newspaper for $15 million for publishing details from U.S. cables on WikiLeaks saying she gained "tremendous profits" from illicit diamonds.
The activists, acting under the name Anonymous, said in a statement on their website: "We are targeting Mugabe and his regime in the ZANU-PF who have outlawed the free press and threaten to sue anyone publishing WikiLeaks."
The Zimbabwean government web portal www.gta.gov.zw was unreachable on Thursday, while the Finance Ministry's website, www.zimtreasury.gov.zw, displayed a message saying it was under maintenance.
Anonymous previously shut down the sites of Visa and Mastercard after they restricted payments to WikiLeaks.
The WikiLeaks site has enraged the United States and affected its relations with some countries by publishing hundreds of leaked confidential cables from U.S. diplomats. It says it has a total of a quarter of a million cables.
Its next data release early next year is widely expected to center on Bank of America.
The WikiLeaks founder and editor in chief, Julian Assange, is on bail and under house arrest in Britain preparing to fight extradition to Sweden, where authorities want to question him about alleged sexual offences
Friday, December 31, 2010
Forced evacuations as Australians flee floods
BUNDABERG, Australia (AFP) – Australia started forced evacuations of a major town on Friday as floods that have already affected 200,000 people swamped more communities in the stricken northeast.
As Prime Minister Julia Gillard consoled evacuees, police moved the elderly and those in low-lying areas from Rockhampton, where 4,000 homes are at risk from floods paralysing an area the size of France and Germany combined.
"Police will order people in affected areas to leave their homes," Rockhampton mayor Brad Carter told AAP news agency.
Meanwhile military Blackhawk helicopters evacuated residents and dropped batches of food in Emerald, population 11,000, after 80 percent of the rural town was deluged by mucky waters.
Floods triggered by tropical cyclone Tasha have hit the farming and mining belt near Brisbane particularly hard, cutting road and rail links and crippling the region's all-important coal production.
As river levels continued to rise, some 22 towns were inundated or isolated, with sugar cane centre Bundaberg, known for its rum, divided in two by the floodwaters.
Shops, homes and businesses have been swamped by the murky tide, with cars submerged and caravan parks sitting metres (feet) deep, as residents take to boats and kayaks to negotiate the waters.
Gillard made a "humbling" visit to a Bundaberg evacuation centre sheltering refugees from the floods, who now number in their thousands state-wide.
"As devastating as these floods are, we are seeing a magnificent response by all levels of government and by emergency personnel," Gillard told reporters.
"The overwhelming sentiment is one of resilience and one of care and concern for their neighbours. That sense of community pulling together, that Australian sense that when times are tough we work together and look after each other."
The Bundaberg Chamber of Commerce said Friday it could take businesses months to get back on their feet.
"By the time the water has gone, the insurance claims are paid and work is back into order, we might end up being a couple of months before some businesses are back in full trade," chamber president Dion Taylor told the ABC.
Queensland premier Anna Bligh called the situation "dire" in some parts of the state, which is facing one of its worst ever disasters and a damage bill running into several billions of dollars.
She warned that the crisis was far from over, with some floods set to peak in the coming days and not subsiding for another week, and relief and clean-up operations lasting for weeks afterwards.
"We now have three major river systems in flood, we have 17 evacuation centres active, we have more than 1,000 people in those evacuation centres, and many more thousands staying with relatives and friends," Bligh said.
"And we've still got major places like Rockhampton with floodwaters coming down the river and what may well be the biggest flood they've ever experienced. So a lot more to go before we can really say we're in full recovery mode."
On Friday, Bundaberg's port was closed to all shipping because of choking detritus washed downstream, while Rockhampton airport was expected to be shut on Saturday afternoon.
Industry giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are among a group of companies to announce production problems at mines churning out nearly a quarter of Australian hard coking coal exports -- much of it bound for Asian steel mills.
Huge quantities of ruined crops are expected to send prices of bananas, mangoes and sugar soaring, while officials are concerned over food shortages in isolated areas and possible disease outbreaks from contaminated water.
Meanwhile forecasters warned that another cyclone was forming off Western Australia, on the other side of the country, while extreme heat posed a wildfire risk in South Australia and Victoria over the New Year holiday.
US Homeland Security chief arrives in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (neh-pahl-ih-TAN'-oh) has arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, to spend New Year's Eve with U.S. troops and the Homeland Security officers who have been working with the Afghan government to try to secure that country's porous borders from militants, as well as weapons and drug smugglers.
The department said in a statement that Napolitano will meet with top American and Afghan officials before traveling to the Persian Gulf state of Qatar (GUH'-tur), then to Israel and Belgium.
Napolitano is checking on progress to track and stop the flow of terrorist financing through the Gulf, and regional efforts to increase aviation security. Yemen's al-Qaida offshoot attempted to bring down two U.S.-bound cargo planes with explosives-packed printer cartridges in September.
The department said in a statement that Napolitano will meet with top American and Afghan officials before traveling to the Persian Gulf state of Qatar (GUH'-tur), then to Israel and Belgium.
Napolitano is checking on progress to track and stop the flow of terrorist financing through the Gulf, and regional efforts to increase aviation security. Yemen's al-Qaida offshoot attempted to bring down two U.S.-bound cargo planes with explosives-packed printer cartridges in September.
Hamas stages Israeli attack to recall Gaza war
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Hamas rulers have staged a mock attack by Israel to commemorate Israel's 2008 Gaza offensive.
The re-enactment included loud booms, clouds of smoke, fake blood and rubble. Only the rubble was real.
About 40 actors put on the show Thursday at an apartment tower heavily damaged in the war.
Booms inside the building were followed by plumes of smoke and children's screams. Medics rushed to evacuate children covered in red paint. A car burned nearby.
About 200 people watched.
Some 1,400 Gazans and 13 Israelis were killed in the war, which Israel launched two years ago to stop rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Hamas official Ashraf Abu Daya said the show sought to "remind the world of the agony of the Gaza war" and the suffering that followed.
The re-enactment included loud booms, clouds of smoke, fake blood and rubble. Only the rubble was real.
About 40 actors put on the show Thursday at an apartment tower heavily damaged in the war.
Booms inside the building were followed by plumes of smoke and children's screams. Medics rushed to evacuate children covered in red paint. A car burned nearby.
About 200 people watched.
Some 1,400 Gazans and 13 Israelis were killed in the war, which Israel launched two years ago to stop rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Hamas official Ashraf Abu Daya said the show sought to "remind the world of the agony of the Gaza war" and the suffering that followed.
Pakistan on strike over blasphemy law change bid
Vehicles line up outside a gas filling station in Islamabad on December 30. Businesses were shut across Pakistan on Friday in a protest strike
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Businesses were shut across Pakistan on Friday in a protest strike over moves to amend a blasphemy law that permits the death penalty and which rights campaigners say encourages Islamist extremism.
Conservative religious groups called for a national strike in a bid to block any intended amendment after thousands of Islamists rallied in major cities last week.
The strike went ahead despite a categorical announcement by deputy information minister Samsam Bokhari on Thursday that the government had no intention to amend the controversial law.
AFP reporters said markets were closed on Friday and roads deserted in the otherwise bustling cities of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and its neighbouring garrison town of Rawalpindi.
"We will start a civil disobedience movement if the government makes any amendment to the law," the chairman of influential Muslim grouping the Sunni Ittehad Council, Sahebzada Fazal Karim told AFP.
Former Information Minister Sherry Rehman from the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) sparked fury when he lodged a private member's bill seeking to abolish the death penalty for blasphemy.
Pakistan provoked international condemnation after the death sentence was passed on a Christian woman found guilty of defaming the Prophet Mohammed.
Pope Benedict XVI has called for the release of mother-of-five Asia Bibi.
Samsam Bokhari disassociated the government from the bill, saying it was not policy.
"As far as the party is concerned, the law is not being amended, nor does the government intend to bring any change in it."
In Pakistan's financial hub of Karachi shopping centres, colleges and universities were closed and examinations scheduled for Friday were postponed.
President of the local transport association in Karachi, Irshad Bokhari, told AFP that public transport would remain off the road in response to the strike call.
Chairman of Karachi Traders Unity, Atiq Mir said: "All markets and business centres are closed because the protection of Prophet Mohammad's honour is supreme to us."
Shops and business centres were also shut in the northwestern city of Peshawar and capital Islamabad.
Only around three percent of Pakistan's population of 167 million are thought to be non-Muslim and minorities complain of discrimination.
Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy. Most of those given the death penalty have their sentences overturned or commuted on appeal through the courts
Hameed says sorry over cricket-fixing 'interview'
KARACHI (AFP) – Former Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed said on Friday he had apologised to cricket authorities over an interview with a British tabloid in which he accused fellow players of fixing matches.
"I was trapped into it but I should not have said all that before a stranger and I apologise to all the players who were hurt because of that," Hameed told AFP.
Hameed was secretly filmed telling undercover reporters from the News of the World in September that his fellow players fix matches with impunity.
"They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match," Yasir said. "God knows what they were up to.
"Scotland Yard was after them for ages. It makes me angry because I'm playing my best and they are trying to lose."
The conversation was broadcast two days after three Pakistani players -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on charges of spot-fixing during the team's Lord's Test against England in August.
The trio will find out at the ICC's anti-corruption tribunal in Doha, Qatar, from January 6-11 whether the suspensions are to be turned into bans or they are absolved.
Hameed initially denied he had given any interview but admitted he was trapped by an undercover reporter who was in the guise of an airline representative who wanted him and other players to sign up to a commercial.
Hameed, 32, has not been picked since the scandal erupted.
"I have been doing well in the domestic matches and still hope that I will be selected in the team for the future series," he said.
"I was trapped into it but I should not have said all that before a stranger and I apologise to all the players who were hurt because of that," Hameed told AFP.
Hameed was secretly filmed telling undercover reporters from the News of the World in September that his fellow players fix matches with impunity.
"They were doing it (fixing) in almost every match," Yasir said. "God knows what they were up to.
"Scotland Yard was after them for ages. It makes me angry because I'm playing my best and they are trying to lose."
The conversation was broadcast two days after three Pakistani players -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on charges of spot-fixing during the team's Lord's Test against England in August.
The trio will find out at the ICC's anti-corruption tribunal in Doha, Qatar, from January 6-11 whether the suspensions are to be turned into bans or they are absolved.
Hameed initially denied he had given any interview but admitted he was trapped by an undercover reporter who was in the guise of an airline representative who wanted him and other players to sign up to a commercial.
Hameed, 32, has not been picked since the scandal erupted.
"I have been doing well in the domestic matches and still hope that I will be selected in the team for the future series," he said.
UK cable in 1980 said Israel ready to use bomb
LONDON (Reuters) – A British ambassador to Israel warned as early as 1980 that Israel would detonate a nuclear bomb in case of a new war with the Arabs, according to previously secret state documents released on Thursday.
"If they (Israelis) are to be destroyed, they will go down fighting this time. They will be ready to use their atomic weapon," ambassador John Robinson wrote in a cable to the Foreign Office on May 4, 1980.
Israel has never confirmed or denied having atom bombs under a policy of ambiguity to deter numerically superior foes.
Robinson's message, published under a rule that allows official British papers to be released after 30 years, voiced concern that U.S.-hosted negotiations would not lead to a comprehensive agreement on the Middle East conflict.
"As long as there is no agreement on the West Bank and Jerusalem which satisfies the Palestinians, they will be driven increasingly to extremism; moderate governments in the area and Western interest will be increasingly threatened; opportunities for Soviet influence and intervention will increase; and so will the danger of a new war," the cable said.
"If they (Israelis) are to be destroyed, they will go down fighting this time. They will be ready to use their atomic weapon," ambassador John Robinson wrote in a cable to the Foreign Office on May 4, 1980.
Israel has never confirmed or denied having atom bombs under a policy of ambiguity to deter numerically superior foes.
Robinson's message, published under a rule that allows official British papers to be released after 30 years, voiced concern that U.S.-hosted negotiations would not lead to a comprehensive agreement on the Middle East conflict.
"As long as there is no agreement on the West Bank and Jerusalem which satisfies the Palestinians, they will be driven increasingly to extremism; moderate governments in the area and Western interest will be increasingly threatened; opportunities for Soviet influence and intervention will increase; and so will the danger of a new war," the cable said.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Former Israeli president convicted of rape
JERUSALEM – Former President Moshe Katsav was convicted Thursday of raping an employee when he was a Cabinet minister, the most serious criminal charges ever brought against a high-ranking official in Israel and a case that shocked the nation.
Katsav, 65, likely faces from four to 16 years in prison for the crimes, which included two counts of raping an employee in 1998 when he was tourism minister and lesser counts of indecent acts and sexual harassment involving two other women who worked for him when he was president.
Katsav served as a minister in several right-wing Likud governments before he was elected president, a largely ceremonial post, in 2000. He has denied the rape charges, claiming he was a victim of a political witch hunt and suggesting he was targeted because he comes from Israel's Sephardic community. Sephardic Jews, of Middle Eastern origin, were for decades an underclass. Katsav was born in Iran and immigrated to Israel as a child.
A somber Katsav left the courtroom without commenting, surrounded by his legal team. He was ordered to surrender his passport while awaiting sentencing at a date that has not yet been set.
Katsav can appeal the verdict, but legal experts said Israel's Supreme Court was unlikely to overturn such a sweeping conviction. A presidential pardon is also highly unlikely because of the severity of the offenses. In his ruling, the judge said Katsav's defense was full of lies.
Katsav's son Boaz vowed his father would clear his name.
"We will continue to walk with our heads high and all the nation ... with God's help, will know that father, the eighth president of the state of Israel, is innocent," he said.
One of Katsav's lawyers, Avigdor Feldman, said he hopes his client will appeal, but he has not yet decided how to proceed. "I don't know how strong he is, how long he can continue this saga," Feldman said.
Katsav's case initially broke in 2006, when the then-president complained that a female employee was extorting him. The woman then went to police with her side of the story, detailing a series of sexual assaults and prompting other women to come forward with similar complaints.
According to the indictment, Katsav forced one woman to the floor of his office at the Tourism Ministry in 1998 and raped her. A second time that year, he summoned her to a Jerusalem hotel to go over paperwork and raped her on the bed in his room. The indictment alleged that Katsav tried to calm his victim by saying: "Relax, you'll enjoy it."
The indictment also alleged that he harassed two women during his term as president, embracing them against their will and making unwanted sexual comments.
On Katsav's 60th birthday in 2005, an assistant offered congratulations. He then hugged her at length, sniffing her neck, according to the indictment. She complained to police, and the indictment said Katsav later tried to persuade her to change her testimony, earning him an additional charge of obstruction of justice.
The conviction by a three-judge panel was widely praised as a victory for Israel's legal system and for women's rights.
"The court sent two clear and sharp messages: that everyone is equal and every woman has the full right to her body," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. He called the verdict a sad day for Israel and its citizens.
The conviction capped a four-and-a-half year saga that stunned Israelis, both with its lurid details and bizarre twists and turns.
Katsav resigned in 2007, two weeks before his seven-year term expired, under a plea bargain that would have required him to admit to lesser charges of sexual misconduct. He was replaced by former prime minister Shimon Peres.
But in a dramatic reversal in April 2009, Katsav rejected the deal, which would have kept him out of jail, and vowed to clear his name in court.
Around that time, he held a bizarre news conference in which he lashed out at prosecutors and the media and denied any wrongdoing. His erratic behavior, in which he shook in anger, waved a computer disc that he said proved his innocence and screamed at reporters in the room, raised questions about his state of mind at the time.
The president in Israel is head of state but a largely ceremonial post, representing the country at ceremonies around the world. The post, filled by parliament, is traditionally given to an elder statesman as a reward for years of public service.
Katsav's case sparked a high-profile campaign by woman's right groups. On Thursday, hundreds of women stood outside the courtroom holding signs against Katsav and chanting: "The whole nation knows Katsav is a criminal."
Prosecutor Ronit Amiel said the verdict sent a strong message that victims of abuse of power should not keep silent.
"This day is not a happy day. It is not an easy day," she said.
Oren Gazal-Ayal, a professor of criminal justice at Haifa University, called the verdict a "badge of honor" for the country's legal system.
"I think we should be very proud of the Israeli justice system," he said. He said that while Katsav's crimes could carry a total of nearly 40 years in prison, under Israel's legal practices, sentences are served concurrently, so the maximum penalty would not exceed 16 years, the top penalty for the rape convictions.
The conviction was the latest in a series of high-profile cases against Israeli officials.
Former Israeli Finance Minister Avraham Hirchson is currently in prison after being convicted of embezzling more than $600,000 from a workers union. Former Justice Minister Haim Ramon was convicted in March 2007 of forcibly kissing a female soldier. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is currently standing trial on corruption charges.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Venezuela congress grants Chavez decree powers
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan lawmakers granted President Hugo Chavez broad powers Friday to enact laws by decree, undermining the clout of a new congress that takes office next month with a bigger opposition bloc.
Chavez opponents condemned the move as a power grab, saying the law will be a blank check for the leftist leader to rule without consulting lawmakers. The National Assembly approved the special powers for 18 months.
A new congress goes into session Jan. 5 with an opposition contingent large enough to hinder approval of some types of major laws. Opposition lawmakers say decree powers now give Chavez a blank check to rule autocratically while ignoring the congress.
Chavez has argued he needs decree powers to fast-track funds to help the victims of recent floods and landslides, and also to hasten Venezuela's transition to a socialist state.
The president's critics view the law as one of many controversial measures being pushed through in the final weeks of a lame-duck congress.
Another measure under discussion Friday was the revised "Social Responsibility Law," which would impose broadcast-type regulations on the Internet and ban online messages "that could incite or promote hatred," create "anxiety" in the population or "disrespect public authorities."
Questions remain about how the Internet regulations would be enforced.
"They're accusing me of being a dictator," Chavez had said of the decree powers on state television Thursday night, dismissing the criticism as unfounded. "We're building a new democracy here that can't be turned back."
The law to grant Chavez decree powers, the fourth such legislation of his nearly 12-year presidenccy, also will allow him to unilaterally enact measures involving telecommunications, the banking system, information technology, the military, rural and urban land use, and the country's "socio-economic system."
Among the planned decrees already announced, Chavez intends to increase the value-added tax, now 12 percent, to raise funds for coping with the disaster caused by weeks of heavy rains. The government is erecting tents to house thousands left homeless and is accelerating public housing construction.
Critics accuse Chavez of taking advantage of the disaster to tighten his grip on power.
"Once again the government shows its authoritarian, arbitrary and antidemocratic character," newly elected lawmaker Tomas Guanipa said in a statement.
Chavez has enjoyed near total control of the National Assembly since the opposition boycotted 2005 elections.
That is set to change Jan. 5, when the new congress takes office with 67 of the 165 seats controlled by the opposition — enough to prevent Chavez from having a two-thirds majority that is needed to approve some types of major legislation and to confirm Supreme Court justices.
Anticipating that shift, pro-Chavez lawmakers earlier this month appointed nine new Supreme Court justices, reinforcing the dominance of judges widely seen as friendly to his government.
Lawmakers on Friday also approved a new banking law that describes banking as a "public service" and clears the way for increased state intervention in the sector. Venezuela's private banks make up about 70 percent of the banking industry, while the government controls the rest
UK judges: Temporary immigration cap is unlawful
LONDON – Britain's government says it could appeal a High Court decision that ruled a temporary limit on the number of non-Europeans allowed to work in the U.K is unlawful.
Two justices ruled on Friday that the quota imposed while legislators debated plans for a permanent cap being introduced in April had not been subjected to proper scrutiny by Parliament and was invalid.
Britain set the temporary limit in June, capping at 5,400 the number of skilled workers from outside Europe allowed entry without the offer of a job.
From April, the number of non-EU nationals permitted to work in the U.K. will be capped at about 22,000 — a reduction of about one-fifth from 2009.
Immigration minister Damian Green says the government will appeal, if it has grounds
Two justices ruled on Friday that the quota imposed while legislators debated plans for a permanent cap being introduced in April had not been subjected to proper scrutiny by Parliament and was invalid.
Britain set the temporary limit in June, capping at 5,400 the number of skilled workers from outside Europe allowed entry without the offer of a job.
From April, the number of non-EU nationals permitted to work in the U.K. will be capped at about 22,000 — a reduction of about one-fifth from 2009.
Immigration minister Damian Green says the government will appeal, if it has grounds
N.Korea says war with South would go nuclear
SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea warned that another war with South Korea would involve nuclear weapons, as diplomatic efforts continued Friday to ease high tensions over its atomic ambitions and deadly artillery attack.
The military also threatened to strike back if South Korea goes ahead with a planned live-fire drill on a border island, state media reported.
Uriminzokkiri, the official website of the communist state, said in a commentary seen Friday that war on the Korean peninsula is only a matter of time.
"Because of the South Koreans' reckless war policies, it is not about war or peace on the Korean peninsula but when the war will break out," the website said.
"If war breaks out, it will lead to nuclear warfare and not be limited to the Korean peninsula," it said in a posting dated Thursday.
The North frequently claims nuclear war is imminent. But military tensions have risen sharply since it bombarded South Korea's Yeonpyeong border island on November 23, killing two marines and two civilians.
Pyongyang's disclosure last month of an apparently working uranium enrichment plant -- a potential new source of bomb-making material -- also heightened regional security fears.
In a separate commentary, the North's ruling communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun Friday described the peninsula as the world's most dangerous place.
It reiterated calls for a formal peace treaty with Washington and the withdrawal of 28,500 US troops from South Korea.
"The Korean peninsula remains a region fraught with the greatest danger of war in the world," the paper said. "This is entirely attributable to the US pursuance of the policy of aggression against the DPRK (North Korea)."
Prominent US politician Bill Richardson, a veteran troubleshooter with North Korea, is paying a private visit to Pyongyang to try to ease tensions.
And the US envoy to stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear disarmament, Sung Kim, held talks in Seoul Friday with his South Korean counterpart Wi Sung-Lac.
In Beijing a US delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg wrapped up three days of discussions on the Korean peninsula situation.
Washington's embassy said the two sides had "useful conversations concerning shared interests in peace and stability in northeast Asia" as well as "the importance of realising the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".
The United States, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia are members of the denuclearisation forum which the North abandoned in April 2009, a month before its second atomic weapons test.
Host China along with Russia is trying to revive the forum to ease the crisis, and the North says it is willing to talk. But the United States, South Korea and Japan say the North must first mend ties with the South and show genuine seriousness about abandoning its nuclear drive.
The US and South Korea have staged a major naval show of strength to deter the North, and the South is preparing to hold a one-day live-fire artillery drill on Yeonpyeong sometime between Saturday and Tuesday.
A similar firing drill into the Yellow Sea on November 23 was answered by the North's deadly bombardment of villages on the island.
The South's military said its guns would be aimed away from the North as usual but it would respond strongly if provoked.
Members of the US-led United Nations Command will observe the exercise, and about 20 US soldiers will play a supporting role.
But a top US general Thursday voiced concern over a possible "chain reaction".
General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the drill was being held on a "well-established and well-used" range in a transparent way, but could draw a North Korean reaction.
"What we worry about obviously is... if North Korea were to react to that in a negative way and fire back at those firing positions on the islands, that would start potentially a chain reaction," Cartwright told reporters.
"What you don't want to have happen out of that is for... us to lose control of the escalation."
Amid the continuing tensions, Japan said it would strengthen missile defences against the threat from North Korea. Its major strategic review announced Friday describes the North as an "urgent, grave factor for instability".
Iran supreme leader blames West for bombing
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's supreme leader on Friday blamed the West for a deadly suicide bombing at a mosque this week, saying the country's enemies were trying to divide Muslims and halt its nuclear activities.
The armed Sunni militant group Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's double bombing outside a Shiite mosque in the southeastern port city of Chahbahar near the Pakistan border, which killed 39 people.
In a condolence message read during funeral ceremonies for the victims, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the attack on "arrogant powers," a reference to the United States and its allies.
"The people have perceived the goals of the enemy and realized that the arrogant powers do not want the Islamic world to have pride or leadership," he said, according to the state news agency IRNA. "The enemies do not want the unity of Muslims ... They do not want to see uranium enrichment in our country."
He did not elaborate on the connection. Iran has often accused the United States and its allies of supporting Jundallah in hopes of causing instability in Iran, a claim Washington has denied. The U.S. and other countries condemned Wednesday's attack, and the United States designated Jundallah a terrorist organization earlier this year.
Jundallah has carried out a series of deadly attacks on the military and civilians in eastern Iran over the past years, and said the latest attack was to avenge the hanging of its leader Abdulmalik Rigi earlier this year.
The United Nations has demanded Iran halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to build a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the claim, saying its nuclear program is peaceful and that it has a right to enrich uranium.
State TV showed footage of the funeral ceremonies, including photos of the victims. At least three of them wore uniforms, apparently policemen.
Aussie PM: WikiLeaks has not broken Australian law
SYDNEY – Police in Australia have concluded that WikiLeaks and its Australian-born founder Julian Assange have not broken any laws in his home country by publishing classified U.S. documents, the government said Friday.
The finding has no direct bearing on investigations in the United States into the original leaking of the thousands of classified diplomatic documents to Assange's organization, or the sexual assault allegations for which he is wanted in Sweden.
But it will come as good news to Assange, who has complained of persecution by the Australian government over the publication of the documents, which have outraged Washington and been condemned by the United States and its allies.
Assange has not said he wants to return to Australia, though his mother and son both live in the country.
The government said last month it had ordered Australian Federal Police to determine whether WikiLeaks had broke any Australian laws by publishing the U.S. cables. Reports of documents obtained by WikiLeaks have included classified reports from the U.S. Embassy in Canberra to the State Department.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday said the police had now reported back to the government.
"The advice is that there has been no breaches of Australian law," Gillard told reporters.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland gave a little more information, saying in a statement that, on the current information available, police had not identified any criminal offenses within Australia's jurisdiction so no formal investigation had been launched.
Gillard again condemned WikiLeaks for publishing the documents, saying it was "grossly irresponsible." The government has said publication of the internal documents could harm relations between governments.
She said whoever leaked the documents to WikiLeaks had clearly broken U.S. laws. She said that theft was appropriately being investigated by U.S. authorities. Australian officials have said they are assisting U.S. authorities in that investigation.
Assange was released on bail Thursday from a London jail, where he was being held in connection to the Swedish sexual molestation allegations. Assange has denied any wrongdoing, but has said that he is concerned that if he goes to Sweden he may eventually be sent to the United States on charges related to the leaks.
No such charges have been laid, but U.S. officials are investigating whether Assange could be charged in U.S. court under the Espionage Act or face other crimes — such as theft of government property or receipt of stolen government property.
The U.S. government suspects WikiLeaks received the documents from an Army private, Bradley Manning, who is in the brig on charges of leaking other classified documents to the organization.
The finding has no direct bearing on investigations in the United States into the original leaking of the thousands of classified diplomatic documents to Assange's organization, or the sexual assault allegations for which he is wanted in Sweden.
But it will come as good news to Assange, who has complained of persecution by the Australian government over the publication of the documents, which have outraged Washington and been condemned by the United States and its allies.
Assange has not said he wants to return to Australia, though his mother and son both live in the country.
The government said last month it had ordered Australian Federal Police to determine whether WikiLeaks had broke any Australian laws by publishing the U.S. cables. Reports of documents obtained by WikiLeaks have included classified reports from the U.S. Embassy in Canberra to the State Department.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday said the police had now reported back to the government.
"The advice is that there has been no breaches of Australian law," Gillard told reporters.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland gave a little more information, saying in a statement that, on the current information available, police had not identified any criminal offenses within Australia's jurisdiction so no formal investigation had been launched.
Gillard again condemned WikiLeaks for publishing the documents, saying it was "grossly irresponsible." The government has said publication of the internal documents could harm relations between governments.
She said whoever leaked the documents to WikiLeaks had clearly broken U.S. laws. She said that theft was appropriately being investigated by U.S. authorities. Australian officials have said they are assisting U.S. authorities in that investigation.
Assange was released on bail Thursday from a London jail, where he was being held in connection to the Swedish sexual molestation allegations. Assange has denied any wrongdoing, but has said that he is concerned that if he goes to Sweden he may eventually be sent to the United States on charges related to the leaks.
No such charges have been laid, but U.S. officials are investigating whether Assange could be charged in U.S. court under the Espionage Act or face other crimes — such as theft of government property or receipt of stolen government property.
The U.S. government suspects WikiLeaks received the documents from an Army private, Bradley Manning, who is in the brig on charges of leaking other classified documents to the organization.
Pakistani officials: US missiles kill 54 in NW
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Three American missile attacks killed 54 alleged militants Friday close to the Afghan border, an unusually high number of victims that included commanders of a Taliban-allied group that were holding a meeting, Pakistani officials said.
The attacks took place in the Khyber tribal region, which has been rarely struck by American missiles before over the last three years. That could indicate a possible expansion of the CIA-led covert campaign of drone strikes inside Pakistani territory.
The Obama administration has intensified missile attacks in northwest Pakistan since taking office, desperate to weaken insurgent networks there that U.S. officials say are behind much of the violence against U.S. troops just across the frontier in Afghanistan.
The first strike targeted two vehicles in the Sandana area of the Tirah Valley, killing seven militants and wounding another nine. The men were believed to belong to the Pakistani Taliban, one of the country's largest and deadliest insurgent groups.
Later, missiles hit a compound in Speen Darang village where the Lashkar-e-Islam, a Taliban affiliate known to be strong in Khyber, were meeting, killing 32 people, among them commanders. The third strike took place in Narai Baba village and killed 15 militants, the officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
U.S. officials do not acknowledge firing the missiles, much less comment on who they are targeting. It is impossible to independently report on the aftermath of the attacks because outsiders are not allowed to visit the tribal regions. Human rights groups say there are significant numbers of civilian casualties in the attacks.
Most of the more than 100 missile attacks this year inside Pakistan have taken place in North Waziristan, which is effectively under the control of a mix of Taliban, al-Qaida and related groups. The region, seen as the major militant sanctuary in Pakistan, has yet to see an offensive by the Pakistani military.
On Thursday, President Obama urged Pakistan to do more in tackling extremists in the border lands. Pakistan's army has moved into several tribal regions over the last two years, but says it lacks the troops to launch a North Waziristan operation anytime soon and hold gains it has made elsewhere.
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said the United States would like the Pakistani army to move into North Waziristan "tomorrow" but that he believed Islamabad's stated reasons for not attacking the region immediately.
"I think there is a capacity issue," Munter told reporters Friday. "There is a great amount of capacity being used in holding the ground the Pakistani army has won at great cost."
Pakistani officials protest the missile strikes, but are believed to secretly authorize and provide intelligence on at least some of them. Analysts also say targeting information for many of the attacks is likely to be provided by Pakistani intelligence officials.
Also Friday, police said nine people were killed by mortar rounds fired by suspected Sunni extremists in two attacks in the northwest. The presumed targets in Hangu district and the nearby tribal area of Kurram were Shiite Muslims, said Hangu police chief Abdur Rasheed.
In Hangu, three mortars missed a Shiite mosque, hitting a house, killing six and wounding eight. In Kurram, a mortar hit a house, killing three, he said.
Anti-Shiite militants in Pakistan predate al-Qaida and the Taliban, which are also Sunni. These days, the groups are firmly allied and have overlapping memberships. They generally believe it is acceptable, even meritorious, to kill Pakistan's minority Shiites because they consider them heretics.
About 140 inmates escape Mexican border prison
MEXICO CITY – About 140 inmates have escaped from a state prison in the northern Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas.
Mexico's federal interior department blames the escape on local authorities, saying they did not properly guard the facility.
The exact number of escapees is still being reviewed. The federal Attorney General's Office says initial reports indicated 148 inmates had escaped. But local media put the number at 141.
A Friday statement from the interior department says "deplorable" security conditions at state facilities have caused many such escapes.
Some of the latest escaped inamates were being held on drug and weapons charges.
Mexico's federal interior department blames the escape on local authorities, saying they did not properly guard the facility.
The exact number of escapees is still being reviewed. The federal Attorney General's Office says initial reports indicated 148 inmates had escaped. But local media put the number at 141.
A Friday statement from the interior department says "deplorable" security conditions at state facilities have caused many such escapes.
Some of the latest escaped inamates were being held on drug and weapons charges.
Mugabe threatens nationalisation of British, US firms
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Friday threatened to nationalise British and American companies if a slew of international sanctions against him and his inner circle were not dropped.
The veteran leader told the annual conference of his ZANU-PF party that it was time to take "revenge" against the international community by using a law that allows the state to take over foreign firms operating on Zimbabwean soil.
Mugabe, 86, and his inner circle are subject to travel bans and asset freezes in the European Union and the United States, which accuse his government of human rights abuses and denials of basic freedoms.
The Indigenisation and Empowerment Act took effect on March 1, requiring large foreign corporations to give majority stakes to local shareholders.
Mugabe's arch-foe but power-sharing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) believes the law will deter much-needed investment in an economy that has been ravaged in the past decade.
International companies operating in Zimbabwe include BP, Total, Chevron, Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and platinum giant Zimplats.
"Why should we continue to have 400 British companies operating here freely?" Mugabe told more than 4,000 members of his ZANU-PF party in the eastern city of Mutare.
"Why should we continue having companies and organisations that are supported by Britain and America without hitting back? Time has come for us to revenge," he said to loud applause from supporters.
"We can read the riot act and say this is 51 percent we are taking and if the sanctions persist we are taking over 100 percent."
Mugabe, who for months has been pushing for new elections, also said the power-sharing government is not working and must end, putting him on a collision course with Tsvangirai and the former opposition MDC.
The two men have been at loggerheads for months amid mounting tension in a country where rights groups say hundreds of political activists were killed during the last presidential election in 2008.
Mugabe said the uneasy arrangement with the MDC should be dissolved.
"We agreed to work together... as a compromise to enable us to sort things out, establish peace, political stability, now some are dragging their feet, they don't want elections," he said.
"The GPA can't be allowed to continue," he added, referring to the Global Political Agreement with the MDC, who joined ZANU-PF in a makeshift unity government in February 2009.
The coalition has been beset by disagreements over how to handle the country's massive debt and food shortages, and internal haggling over who gets key jobs. Mugabe said the MDC had not honoured the deal.
"What it has done is to reveal and expose to us what we did not know, now we know this creature the MDC, has no policy, no ideology, no philosophy except change, change," he said, opening the conference.
"I hear the MDC only want presidential elections. Whatever elections will be held must be elections that are held together," he added, demanding that a parliamentary ballot take place on the same day as a presidential vote.
Africa's oldest leader wants elections to be held next year, but the MDC has said key reforms must be put in place first to ensure a free and fair vote.
ZANU-PF delegates at the party conference in Mutare, however, are on Saturday expected to rubber stamp the party leader's push for polls.
In March 2008, Tsvangirai won the presidential election defeating Mugabe, but he fell short of the required majority resulting in a run-off ballot which the MDC leader refused to take part in, allowing Mugabe to win unopposed.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed the compromise administration six months later.
The MDC has previously said credible polls are not possible until 2012 at the earliest.
"Mr Mugabe and ZANU-PF cannot win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa.
"They think they can use the bullet and muscle instead of the ballot to win an election. Mr Mugabe and ZANU-PF are losers and they know it."
The veteran leader told the annual conference of his ZANU-PF party that it was time to take "revenge" against the international community by using a law that allows the state to take over foreign firms operating on Zimbabwean soil.
Mugabe, 86, and his inner circle are subject to travel bans and asset freezes in the European Union and the United States, which accuse his government of human rights abuses and denials of basic freedoms.
The Indigenisation and Empowerment Act took effect on March 1, requiring large foreign corporations to give majority stakes to local shareholders.
Mugabe's arch-foe but power-sharing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) believes the law will deter much-needed investment in an economy that has been ravaged in the past decade.
International companies operating in Zimbabwe include BP, Total, Chevron, Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and platinum giant Zimplats.
"Why should we continue to have 400 British companies operating here freely?" Mugabe told more than 4,000 members of his ZANU-PF party in the eastern city of Mutare.
"Why should we continue having companies and organisations that are supported by Britain and America without hitting back? Time has come for us to revenge," he said to loud applause from supporters.
"We can read the riot act and say this is 51 percent we are taking and if the sanctions persist we are taking over 100 percent."
Mugabe, who for months has been pushing for new elections, also said the power-sharing government is not working and must end, putting him on a collision course with Tsvangirai and the former opposition MDC.
The two men have been at loggerheads for months amid mounting tension in a country where rights groups say hundreds of political activists were killed during the last presidential election in 2008.
Mugabe said the uneasy arrangement with the MDC should be dissolved.
"We agreed to work together... as a compromise to enable us to sort things out, establish peace, political stability, now some are dragging their feet, they don't want elections," he said.
"The GPA can't be allowed to continue," he added, referring to the Global Political Agreement with the MDC, who joined ZANU-PF in a makeshift unity government in February 2009.
The coalition has been beset by disagreements over how to handle the country's massive debt and food shortages, and internal haggling over who gets key jobs. Mugabe said the MDC had not honoured the deal.
"What it has done is to reveal and expose to us what we did not know, now we know this creature the MDC, has no policy, no ideology, no philosophy except change, change," he said, opening the conference.
"I hear the MDC only want presidential elections. Whatever elections will be held must be elections that are held together," he added, demanding that a parliamentary ballot take place on the same day as a presidential vote.
Africa's oldest leader wants elections to be held next year, but the MDC has said key reforms must be put in place first to ensure a free and fair vote.
ZANU-PF delegates at the party conference in Mutare, however, are on Saturday expected to rubber stamp the party leader's push for polls.
In March 2008, Tsvangirai won the presidential election defeating Mugabe, but he fell short of the required majority resulting in a run-off ballot which the MDC leader refused to take part in, allowing Mugabe to win unopposed.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed the compromise administration six months later.
The MDC has previously said credible polls are not possible until 2012 at the earliest.
"Mr Mugabe and ZANU-PF cannot win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa.
"They think they can use the bullet and muscle instead of the ballot to win an election. Mr Mugabe and ZANU-PF are losers and they know it."
Darfur violence displaces 12,000 in week: UN
KHARTOUM (AFP) – Clashes between the Sudanese army and former rebels who signed a peace treaty with Khartoum have forced the displacement of more than 12,000 people in less than a week, UN officials said on Friday.
The soldiers clashed with fighters of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction led by Minni Minnawi -- the only rebel group to have signed a peace deal with Khartoum -- on Friday in the South Darfur village of Khor Abeche.
"There are indications of combatant casualties being treated at UNAMID camp, but the number and classification of injured is yet to be established," said Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the UN-African Union Mission In Darfur.
He said villagers had been gathered at the peacekeeping mission's site under their protection.
Fighting in Khor Abeche on December 10-11 already led to the displacement of 12,000 people in the village and surrounding areas, said the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Georg Charpentier.
"I strongly condemn any violence against unarmed civilians and call on all parties to cease fighting," he said in a statement.
Humanitarian officials said the people displaced over the past week had been moved to camps in Shangil Tobaya and Zam Zam, in the neighbouring state of North Darfur.
Relations between Minni's SLA and the government have deteriorated to the point of armed confrontations between the two sides since last week.
Darfur has been gripped by a civil war since 2003 that has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2.7 million, according to UN figures. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died in the conflict.
The soldiers clashed with fighters of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction led by Minni Minnawi -- the only rebel group to have signed a peace deal with Khartoum -- on Friday in the South Darfur village of Khor Abeche.
"There are indications of combatant casualties being treated at UNAMID camp, but the number and classification of injured is yet to be established," said Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the UN-African Union Mission In Darfur.
He said villagers had been gathered at the peacekeeping mission's site under their protection.
Fighting in Khor Abeche on December 10-11 already led to the displacement of 12,000 people in the village and surrounding areas, said the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Georg Charpentier.
"I strongly condemn any violence against unarmed civilians and call on all parties to cease fighting," he said in a statement.
Humanitarian officials said the people displaced over the past week had been moved to camps in Shangil Tobaya and Zam Zam, in the neighbouring state of North Darfur.
Relations between Minni's SLA and the government have deteriorated to the point of armed confrontations between the two sides since last week.
Darfur has been gripped by a civil war since 2003 that has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2.7 million, according to UN figures. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died in the conflict.
Exile or sanctions, Ivory Coast's Gbagbo told
ABIDJAN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – African nations have promised Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo a "soft landing" in exile, a senior U.S. official said on Friday as pressure grew on him to concede last month's disputed election.
The West African state has been in turmoil since the November 28 vote in which Gbagbo claimed victory with backing from the nation's top legal body, rejecting as fraudulent results showing he lost by a near 8 percent margin to rival Alassane Ouattara.
Rebels loyal to Ouattara exchanged fire with the army in Abidjan and elsewhere on Thursday while protests in Abidjan left at least 20 dead, raising worries of a return to all-out conflict in a country still split after a 2002-03 civil war.
"There is at least one African offer of a soft landing, but it is up to him to take it," William Fitzgerald, the State Department official in charge of West African affairs, told Reuters in an interview.
He added that the United States was ready to impose travel sanctions on Gbagbo, his inner circle and their families within days if the crisis remains unresolved, echoing French threats.
European Union leaders on Friday also called on Ivory Coast's army to defect from Gbagbo to Ouattara, while Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga went further with a direct call for African nations to oust Gbagbo by force if necessary.
"Mr Gbagbo must be forced even if it means using military means to get rid of him because now he is just relying on military power, not the people's power, to intimidate the people," Odinga told a news conference in Nairobi.
"The African Union should develop teeth."
The Ivorian military is seen as divided, but Gbagbo's presidential guard, of unknown numbers, are diehard loyalists.
Alain Toussaint, a spokesman for Gbagbo, told Reuters in London: "The European Union call is totally irresponsible and scandalous."
Cocoa exporters said most had shut down in the world's top supplier since Thursday. Fear of a disruption to supplies has pushed futures prices close to four-month highs.
"TOO MUCH BLOODSHED"
Ouattara supporters seeking to seize the state broadcaster RTI on Thursday clashed with security forces while pro-Ouattara rebels exchanged fire with government soldiers in Abidjan and in the town of Tiebissou on the rebel-government dividing line.
A Gbagbo spokesman said 20 were killed, 10 of them security forces. Ouattara's camp spokesman said 14 protesters died.
A possible stumbling block to Gbagbo leaving is fear of prosecution facing him and loyalists for past violence, notably attacks by his supporters on Ivory Coast's French community in 2004, and death squad killings of opposition activists.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague, whose prosecutor this week named six suspects accused of being behind post-election violence in Kenya, has warned all actors in Ivory Coast's conflict that they will be prosecuted for any abuses.
Guillaume Soro, prime minister in Ouattara's government, offered Gbagbo a process of reconciliation.
"If Laurent Gbagbo puts an end to the killing in the streets of Abidjan ... there will still be a chance for national reconciliation of the type seen in South Africa," he told French news channel LCI on Friday.
"But if Laurent Gbagbo is going to keep killing civilians ... it will obviously be his duty to report to the International Criminal Court."
A call for renewed protests by Ouattara allies went unheeded on Friday for fear of another crackdown.
"It seems (...) that something is moving forward, that maybe it is better to wait it out than be killed on the streets," said Patrick Achi, a Ouattara spokesman. "It is too much bloodshed."
Top African Union official Jean Ping held talks on the election dispute that has reopened the wounds of the civil war and prompted the United Nations to warn of a refugee crisis.
Gbagbo has shown little sign of buckling under pressure and has accused foreign powers of meddling in Ivorian politics.
"The danger is that the crisis degenerates into civil war. This would have serious consequences for the region where porous borders and an abundance of small arms means instability would be quickly exported to neighboring countries," said Joseph Lake, an analyst at London-based Economist Intelligence Unit.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday in New York that Gbagbo trying to hold on "cannot be allowed to stand."
The United Nations has about 10,000 soldiers and police in the country, and several hundred peacekeepers are deployed at the Golf Hotel where Ouattara has set up his headquarters.
The West African state has been in turmoil since the November 28 vote in which Gbagbo claimed victory with backing from the nation's top legal body, rejecting as fraudulent results showing he lost by a near 8 percent margin to rival Alassane Ouattara.
Rebels loyal to Ouattara exchanged fire with the army in Abidjan and elsewhere on Thursday while protests in Abidjan left at least 20 dead, raising worries of a return to all-out conflict in a country still split after a 2002-03 civil war.
"There is at least one African offer of a soft landing, but it is up to him to take it," William Fitzgerald, the State Department official in charge of West African affairs, told Reuters in an interview.
He added that the United States was ready to impose travel sanctions on Gbagbo, his inner circle and their families within days if the crisis remains unresolved, echoing French threats.
European Union leaders on Friday also called on Ivory Coast's army to defect from Gbagbo to Ouattara, while Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga went further with a direct call for African nations to oust Gbagbo by force if necessary.
"Mr Gbagbo must be forced even if it means using military means to get rid of him because now he is just relying on military power, not the people's power, to intimidate the people," Odinga told a news conference in Nairobi.
"The African Union should develop teeth."
The Ivorian military is seen as divided, but Gbagbo's presidential guard, of unknown numbers, are diehard loyalists.
Alain Toussaint, a spokesman for Gbagbo, told Reuters in London: "The European Union call is totally irresponsible and scandalous."
Cocoa exporters said most had shut down in the world's top supplier since Thursday. Fear of a disruption to supplies has pushed futures prices close to four-month highs.
"TOO MUCH BLOODSHED"
Ouattara supporters seeking to seize the state broadcaster RTI on Thursday clashed with security forces while pro-Ouattara rebels exchanged fire with government soldiers in Abidjan and in the town of Tiebissou on the rebel-government dividing line.
A Gbagbo spokesman said 20 were killed, 10 of them security forces. Ouattara's camp spokesman said 14 protesters died.
A possible stumbling block to Gbagbo leaving is fear of prosecution facing him and loyalists for past violence, notably attacks by his supporters on Ivory Coast's French community in 2004, and death squad killings of opposition activists.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague, whose prosecutor this week named six suspects accused of being behind post-election violence in Kenya, has warned all actors in Ivory Coast's conflict that they will be prosecuted for any abuses.
Guillaume Soro, prime minister in Ouattara's government, offered Gbagbo a process of reconciliation.
"If Laurent Gbagbo puts an end to the killing in the streets of Abidjan ... there will still be a chance for national reconciliation of the type seen in South Africa," he told French news channel LCI on Friday.
"But if Laurent Gbagbo is going to keep killing civilians ... it will obviously be his duty to report to the International Criminal Court."
A call for renewed protests by Ouattara allies went unheeded on Friday for fear of another crackdown.
"It seems (...) that something is moving forward, that maybe it is better to wait it out than be killed on the streets," said Patrick Achi, a Ouattara spokesman. "It is too much bloodshed."
Top African Union official Jean Ping held talks on the election dispute that has reopened the wounds of the civil war and prompted the United Nations to warn of a refugee crisis.
Gbagbo has shown little sign of buckling under pressure and has accused foreign powers of meddling in Ivorian politics.
"The danger is that the crisis degenerates into civil war. This would have serious consequences for the region where porous borders and an abundance of small arms means instability would be quickly exported to neighboring countries," said Joseph Lake, an analyst at London-based Economist Intelligence Unit.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday in New York that Gbagbo trying to hold on "cannot be allowed to stand."
The United Nations has about 10,000 soldiers and police in the country, and several hundred peacekeepers are deployed at the Golf Hotel where Ouattara has set up his headquarters.
UN chief says WikiLeaks makes diplomacy difficult
UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that WikiLeaks' release of U.S. diplomatic documents will make the conduct of business, and especially diplomacy, "very difficult."
"It's unfortunate that these confidential documents have been leaked," the U.N. chief said.
It was Ban's first press conference since WikiLeaks began releasing more than 250,000 leaked United States embassy cables late last month including a July 2009 document published in The Guardian newspaper in Britain on Nov. 29 instructing U.S. officials to gather intelligence about him and other top U.N. officials and diplomats.
The document, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sought technical details on communication systems, biometric information, and credit card and frequent flyer numbers. The document shocked many at the United Nations because it went beyond what is considered normal information-gathering in diplomatic circles.
"I'm quite transparent, but there needs to be a decent and reasonable way of respecting the privacy and confidential way of conducting business as secretary-general or any other senior positions," Ban said. "I think there needs to be a balance ... between freedom of expression, right to know as well as to preserve the necessary and confidential conduct of diplomacy."
"Whatever the motivations of this leakage might be on the part of the leakers, this will make (it) very difficult for the normal and reasonable conduct of business, particularly in the diplomatic world," Ban said.
"It's unfortunate that these confidential documents have been leaked," the U.N. chief said.
It was Ban's first press conference since WikiLeaks began releasing more than 250,000 leaked United States embassy cables late last month including a July 2009 document published in The Guardian newspaper in Britain on Nov. 29 instructing U.S. officials to gather intelligence about him and other top U.N. officials and diplomats.
The document, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sought technical details on communication systems, biometric information, and credit card and frequent flyer numbers. The document shocked many at the United Nations because it went beyond what is considered normal information-gathering in diplomatic circles.
"I'm quite transparent, but there needs to be a decent and reasonable way of respecting the privacy and confidential way of conducting business as secretary-general or any other senior positions," Ban said. "I think there needs to be a balance ... between freedom of expression, right to know as well as to preserve the necessary and confidential conduct of diplomacy."
"Whatever the motivations of this leakage might be on the part of the leakers, this will make (it) very difficult for the normal and reasonable conduct of business, particularly in the diplomatic world," Ban said.
Nigeria drops charges against Halliburton, Cheney
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria's anti-corruption agency said on Friday it had dropped bribery charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and oil services company Halliburton after the company agreed to pay a fine.
"It was formally dropped today," Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesman Femi Babafemi said. He said the Nigerian government had agreed to an offer made by Halliburton to pay fines totaling up to $250 million.
Halliburton, which has said the Nigerian charges have no legal basis, confirmed that they were dropped but declined additional comment.
The EFCC said it received the offer when it met with officials representing Cheney and Halliburton in London last week after filing 16-count charges at a federal high court in Abuja in a case dating back to the mid-1990s.
Cheney served as U.S. vice president under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009.
Houston-based engineering firm KBR, a former Halliburton unit, pleaded guilty last year to U.S. charges that it paid $180 million in bribes between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion in contracts for the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Niger Delta.
KBR and Halliburton reached a $579 million settlement in the United States. But Nigeria, France and Switzerland have conducted their own investigations into the case.
The EFCC last week charged Halliburton Chief Executive David Lesar, Cheney, and two other executives. It also filed charges against Halliburton as a company, which was headed by Cheney during the 1990s, and four associated businesses.
Halliburton split from KBR in 2007. It has said that its current operations in Nigeria -- raided by the EFCC last month -- were not involved in the Bonny project and that there is no legal basis for the charges.
Babafemi said although the investigation into Halliburton was over, the EFCC was still pursuing a case against a number of Nigerians who it says accepted bribes from the U.S. firm.
Shares of Halliburton fell 31 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $39.96 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
"It was formally dropped today," Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesman Femi Babafemi said. He said the Nigerian government had agreed to an offer made by Halliburton to pay fines totaling up to $250 million.
Halliburton, which has said the Nigerian charges have no legal basis, confirmed that they were dropped but declined additional comment.
The EFCC said it received the offer when it met with officials representing Cheney and Halliburton in London last week after filing 16-count charges at a federal high court in Abuja in a case dating back to the mid-1990s.
Cheney served as U.S. vice president under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009.
Houston-based engineering firm KBR, a former Halliburton unit, pleaded guilty last year to U.S. charges that it paid $180 million in bribes between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion in contracts for the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Niger Delta.
KBR and Halliburton reached a $579 million settlement in the United States. But Nigeria, France and Switzerland have conducted their own investigations into the case.
The EFCC last week charged Halliburton Chief Executive David Lesar, Cheney, and two other executives. It also filed charges against Halliburton as a company, which was headed by Cheney during the 1990s, and four associated businesses.
Halliburton split from KBR in 2007. It has said that its current operations in Nigeria -- raided by the EFCC last month -- were not involved in the Bonny project and that there is no legal basis for the charges.
Babafemi said although the investigation into Halliburton was over, the EFCC was still pursuing a case against a number of Nigerians who it says accepted bribes from the U.S. firm.
Shares of Halliburton fell 31 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $39.96 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
North Korea says to strike South if drill goes ahead
SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) – North Korea said on Friday it would strike again at the South if a live-fire drill by Seoul on a disputed island went ahead, with an even stronger response than last month's shelling that killed four people.
North Korean official news agency KCNA issued the threat as South Korea prepared for firing drills on Yeonpyeong island near a disputed maritime border with the North for the first time since November's exchange of artillery fire.
"The strike will play out a more serious situation than on November 23 in terms of the strength and scope of the strike," KCNA said.
A leading South Korean defense analyst said he doubted the North would carry out its threat, which rattled financial markets, and South Korea's Defense Ministry said the exercise planned for December 18-21 would go ahead.
The North had said its November shelling was a response to South Korean "provocations" after an artillery battery on the island fired in what Seoul said was a routine drill.
North Korea's warning came after Seoul promised a more robust response to any further attacks on its territory. The shelling of the island was the first time since the Korean War that North Korea had attacked South Korean territory.
"They would have to be committing to a full-out war if they did that (struck again)," said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, an expert on North Korea's military strategy.
"What's likely is they will do something as a face-saving action, such as firing their own artillery near the disputed waters," he said.
The Korean won currency fell slightly in offshore forward trading against the dollar, with the 1-month non-deliverable dollar/won forwards rising to as high as 1,159 soon after the news broke from around 1,155.
CHINA URGES U.S. TO PLAY CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE
China, the North's main backer, has said Pyongyang had promised restraint. China told visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg the two big powers should cooperate more in defusing tension on the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. diplomatic troubleshooter Bill Richardson is visiting Pyongyang in an effort to "reduce the tension on the Korean Peninsula.
China's top diplomat, Dai Bingguo, urged closer coordination over the Korean Peninsula during talks with Steinberg, the second most senior official in the U.S. State Department, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
Steinberg was in Beijing for three days till Friday to press China to rein in North Korea, which as well as shelling the island last month also disclosed advances in uranium enrichment that could give it a new path to making nuclear weapons.
China has avoided publicly condemning its long-time ally over the shelling and nuclear program, and instead pleaded with other powers to embrace fresh talks with North Korea.
Russia summoned the ambassadors of South Korea and the United States to express "extreme concern" and urged the two countries to halt the exercise to prevent "the further escalation of tensions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that U.S. military officers were to observe the South Korean exercise.
"North Korea was called upon to display maximum restraint," the Russian statement added.
The U.S. State Department underscored the U.S. stance that South Korea had every right to conduct the exercises, but indicated that it, too, was worried.
"We are absolutely concerned about the current trajectory," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, adding that Pyongyang was responsible for raising the tensions.
"We trust that South Korea will be very cautious in terms of what it does, but that said, let's put the responsibility squarely where it lies," he said.
SEEKING NEGOTIATIONS
North Korea is seeking the restart of six-party nuclear talks with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
It wants the talks to resume without preconditions, something Washington and South Korea have ruled out because they do not want to reward Pyongyang for hostile actions.
Analysts say the North uses the threat of attacks and even nuclear conflict to win concessions such as food and economic aid at talks over its nuclear stockpile.
At the same time as the poor, reclusive country is pushing for aid, the North is also in the throes of a potential leadership succession as ailing leader Kim Jong-il grooms his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as the next ruler.
North Korean official news agency KCNA issued the threat as South Korea prepared for firing drills on Yeonpyeong island near a disputed maritime border with the North for the first time since November's exchange of artillery fire.
"The strike will play out a more serious situation than on November 23 in terms of the strength and scope of the strike," KCNA said.
A leading South Korean defense analyst said he doubted the North would carry out its threat, which rattled financial markets, and South Korea's Defense Ministry said the exercise planned for December 18-21 would go ahead.
The North had said its November shelling was a response to South Korean "provocations" after an artillery battery on the island fired in what Seoul said was a routine drill.
North Korea's warning came after Seoul promised a more robust response to any further attacks on its territory. The shelling of the island was the first time since the Korean War that North Korea had attacked South Korean territory.
"They would have to be committing to a full-out war if they did that (struck again)," said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, an expert on North Korea's military strategy.
"What's likely is they will do something as a face-saving action, such as firing their own artillery near the disputed waters," he said.
The Korean won currency fell slightly in offshore forward trading against the dollar, with the 1-month non-deliverable dollar/won forwards rising to as high as 1,159 soon after the news broke from around 1,155.
CHINA URGES U.S. TO PLAY CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE
China, the North's main backer, has said Pyongyang had promised restraint. China told visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg the two big powers should cooperate more in defusing tension on the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. diplomatic troubleshooter Bill Richardson is visiting Pyongyang in an effort to "reduce the tension on the Korean Peninsula.
China's top diplomat, Dai Bingguo, urged closer coordination over the Korean Peninsula during talks with Steinberg, the second most senior official in the U.S. State Department, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
Steinberg was in Beijing for three days till Friday to press China to rein in North Korea, which as well as shelling the island last month also disclosed advances in uranium enrichment that could give it a new path to making nuclear weapons.
China has avoided publicly condemning its long-time ally over the shelling and nuclear program, and instead pleaded with other powers to embrace fresh talks with North Korea.
Russia summoned the ambassadors of South Korea and the United States to express "extreme concern" and urged the two countries to halt the exercise to prevent "the further escalation of tensions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that U.S. military officers were to observe the South Korean exercise.
"North Korea was called upon to display maximum restraint," the Russian statement added.
The U.S. State Department underscored the U.S. stance that South Korea had every right to conduct the exercises, but indicated that it, too, was worried.
"We are absolutely concerned about the current trajectory," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, adding that Pyongyang was responsible for raising the tensions.
"We trust that South Korea will be very cautious in terms of what it does, but that said, let's put the responsibility squarely where it lies," he said.
SEEKING NEGOTIATIONS
North Korea is seeking the restart of six-party nuclear talks with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
It wants the talks to resume without preconditions, something Washington and South Korea have ruled out because they do not want to reward Pyongyang for hostile actions.
Analysts say the North uses the threat of attacks and even nuclear conflict to win concessions such as food and economic aid at talks over its nuclear stockpile.
At the same time as the poor, reclusive country is pushing for aid, the North is also in the throes of a potential leadership succession as ailing leader Kim Jong-il grooms his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as the next ruler.
Wikileaks on Cuba: Fidel Castro 'nearly died'
Cuban leader Fidel Castro came close to death in 2006, according to the latest secret US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks.
Mr Castro almost died after suffering a perforated intestine during an internal flight, unnamed sources told US diplomats in Havana.
The illness led Mr Castro to hand power to his brother Raul, although he has since returned to public life.
The 84-year-old's health is considered a state secret in Cuba.
The Wikileaks cables, published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, reveal the intense efforts made by US diplomats in Havana to find out the nature of Fidel Castro's illness and his chances of recovery.
The names of the sources of information reported in the cables have been redacted by Wikileaks, but some apparently knew people who were close to the Cuban leader, or had access to his medical records.
The details of what they say cannot be independently verified.
One cable, sent in March 2007 by the then-head of the US interests section in Havana, Michael Parmly, quotes a report by an unnamed doctor on the moment Mr Castro fell seriously ill in July 2006.
As it was a short flight there was no doctor on board and they had to land urgently once they knew of Mr Castro's bleeding. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the colon.
The source said Mr Castro had a perforation of the large intestine and needed surgery.
But it says he "capriciously" refused to have a colostomy, with the result that his condition deteriorated over time and he required further surgery.
"This illness is not curable and will not, in her opinion, allow him to return to leading Cuba," the report concludes.
"He won't die immediately, but he will progressively lose his faculties and become ever more debilitated until he dies."
Defiance
Further leaked cables quote other sources as saying Mr Castro was terminally ill, and examine statements by his medical team and reports of specialist drugs being brought into Cuba
But the reports of his imminent death have proved to be exaggerated.
Mr Castro has since made an apparent recovery and earlier this year returned to making speeches and appearing in public, though he has not taken back the reins of power from his brother Raul.
The former Cuban leader recently praised Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, saying the leaks of thousands of diplomatic cables had brought the US "morally, to its knees".
"Julian Assange, a man who a few months ago hardly anyone in the world had heard of, is showing that the most powerful empire in history can be defied," he wrote in an article published by Cuban state media.
The US government and its intelligence agencies have been staunch enemies of Mr Castro and the communist government in Cuba for more than half a century.
So far, all their predictions of the imminent demise of communist party rule on the island have proved false.
Mr Castro almost died after suffering a perforated intestine during an internal flight, unnamed sources told US diplomats in Havana.
The illness led Mr Castro to hand power to his brother Raul, although he has since returned to public life.
The 84-year-old's health is considered a state secret in Cuba.
The Wikileaks cables, published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, reveal the intense efforts made by US diplomats in Havana to find out the nature of Fidel Castro's illness and his chances of recovery.
The names of the sources of information reported in the cables have been redacted by Wikileaks, but some apparently knew people who were close to the Cuban leader, or had access to his medical records.
The details of what they say cannot be independently verified.
One cable, sent in March 2007 by the then-head of the US interests section in Havana, Michael Parmly, quotes a report by an unnamed doctor on the moment Mr Castro fell seriously ill in July 2006.
As it was a short flight there was no doctor on board and they had to land urgently once they knew of Mr Castro's bleeding. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the colon.
The source said Mr Castro had a perforation of the large intestine and needed surgery.
But it says he "capriciously" refused to have a colostomy, with the result that his condition deteriorated over time and he required further surgery.
"This illness is not curable and will not, in her opinion, allow him to return to leading Cuba," the report concludes.
"He won't die immediately, but he will progressively lose his faculties and become ever more debilitated until he dies."
Defiance
Further leaked cables quote other sources as saying Mr Castro was terminally ill, and examine statements by his medical team and reports of specialist drugs being brought into Cuba
But the reports of his imminent death have proved to be exaggerated.
Mr Castro has since made an apparent recovery and earlier this year returned to making speeches and appearing in public, though he has not taken back the reins of power from his brother Raul.
The former Cuban leader recently praised Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, saying the leaks of thousands of diplomatic cables had brought the US "morally, to its knees".
"Julian Assange, a man who a few months ago hardly anyone in the world had heard of, is showing that the most powerful empire in history can be defied," he wrote in an article published by Cuban state media.
The US government and its intelligence agencies have been staunch enemies of Mr Castro and the communist government in Cuba for more than half a century.
So far, all their predictions of the imminent demise of communist party rule on the island have proved false.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Report details KLA organ snatching ring in Albania
TIRANA (Reuters) – A Council of Europe draft report gives gruesome details alleging Kosovo Albanian guerrillas loyal to now-Prime Minister Hashim Thaci harvested the organs of some captives, mainly Serbs, they killed a decade ago.
The report by Swiss senator Dick Marty, a rapporteur of the Council of Europe, is expected to be adopted by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Council's Parliamentary Assembly and it urges Kosovo's EU-run judiciary in Kosovo to probe the charges.
Kosovo Albanians believe such information about events from the late 1990s war years was fabricated by Serbia to smear their KLA liberators. Belgrade lost control of the province, now independent, after NATO's air attack in 1999.
Marty says in the report that almost 500 people disappeared in Kosovo after NATO troops arrived. About 100 were Albanians and close to 400 non-Albanians, most of them Serbs.
Citing evidence from witnesses, the draft report says the KLA network maintained bases to keep scores of captives, select them for the suitability of organ harvesting and later killed some of them to extract organs from mid-1999 to mid-2000.
"In the months directly after the declared end of the Kosovo conflict in June 1999, members and affiliates of the KLA purportedly delivered scores of persons they had abducted into secret detention on Albanian territory," Marty's report said.
ORGANS REMOVALS
Evidence suggested, Marty added, that the organizers used
safe locations in Kukes on the Kosovo border, Rripe in the Mat region further south, and at Fushe-Kruje near the international airport. The location in Fushe-Kruje was specially built.
"It constituted a state-of-the-art reception center for the organized crime of organ trafficking. It was styled as a makeshift operating clinic, and it was the site at which some of the captives held by KLA members and affiliates had their kidneys removed against their will," Marty's report said.
Age, sex, state of health and ethnicity, with mostly Serbs targeted, determined the selection.
"Some of these captives are said to have pleaded with their captors to be spared the fate of being 'chopped into pieces,'" Marty said, citing source testimonies his team had obtained.
"The testimonies on which we based our findings spoke credibly and consistently of a methodology by which all of the captives were killed, usually by a gunshot to the head, before being operated on to remove one or more of their organs."
Then they shipped them to overseas clinics, part of an international black market in organ-trafficking for transplants.
Albania has denied it knew or condoned such activity and has considered the matter closed, saying the claims proved untrue. Serbia's war crimes prosecutor, who has not been allowed to investigate in Albania, has started his own investigation.
Serbia could have an eyewitness, sources said.
Claims the KLA had engaged in organ trafficking emerged in April 2008 in the memoirs of the ex-chief war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, who said she had been prevented from properly investigating alleged atrocities by the KLA.
Xhavit Haliti, a senior official of Thaci's PDK party mentioned in the report as one KLA commander active in Albania, said he believed Marty's report was politically motivated, but welcomed an investigation to shed light on the matter.
"Smuggling organs is a very serious accusation, which I think should be verified. I believe it is impossible to imagine that the KLA had a mechanism (for involvement in) it. It is impossible. Professionally it was impossible," Xhaviti said.
The report by Swiss senator Dick Marty, a rapporteur of the Council of Europe, is expected to be adopted by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Council's Parliamentary Assembly and it urges Kosovo's EU-run judiciary in Kosovo to probe the charges.
Kosovo Albanians believe such information about events from the late 1990s war years was fabricated by Serbia to smear their KLA liberators. Belgrade lost control of the province, now independent, after NATO's air attack in 1999.
Marty says in the report that almost 500 people disappeared in Kosovo after NATO troops arrived. About 100 were Albanians and close to 400 non-Albanians, most of them Serbs.
Citing evidence from witnesses, the draft report says the KLA network maintained bases to keep scores of captives, select them for the suitability of organ harvesting and later killed some of them to extract organs from mid-1999 to mid-2000.
"In the months directly after the declared end of the Kosovo conflict in June 1999, members and affiliates of the KLA purportedly delivered scores of persons they had abducted into secret detention on Albanian territory," Marty's report said.
ORGANS REMOVALS
Evidence suggested, Marty added, that the organizers used
safe locations in Kukes on the Kosovo border, Rripe in the Mat region further south, and at Fushe-Kruje near the international airport. The location in Fushe-Kruje was specially built.
"It constituted a state-of-the-art reception center for the organized crime of organ trafficking. It was styled as a makeshift operating clinic, and it was the site at which some of the captives held by KLA members and affiliates had their kidneys removed against their will," Marty's report said.
Age, sex, state of health and ethnicity, with mostly Serbs targeted, determined the selection.
"Some of these captives are said to have pleaded with their captors to be spared the fate of being 'chopped into pieces,'" Marty said, citing source testimonies his team had obtained.
"The testimonies on which we based our findings spoke credibly and consistently of a methodology by which all of the captives were killed, usually by a gunshot to the head, before being operated on to remove one or more of their organs."
Then they shipped them to overseas clinics, part of an international black market in organ-trafficking for transplants.
Albania has denied it knew or condoned such activity and has considered the matter closed, saying the claims proved untrue. Serbia's war crimes prosecutor, who has not been allowed to investigate in Albania, has started his own investigation.
Serbia could have an eyewitness, sources said.
Claims the KLA had engaged in organ trafficking emerged in April 2008 in the memoirs of the ex-chief war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, who said she had been prevented from properly investigating alleged atrocities by the KLA.
Xhavit Haliti, a senior official of Thaci's PDK party mentioned in the report as one KLA commander active in Albania, said he believed Marty's report was politically motivated, but welcomed an investigation to shed light on the matter.
"Smuggling organs is a very serious accusation, which I think should be verified. I believe it is impossible to imagine that the KLA had a mechanism (for involvement in) it. It is impossible. Professionally it was impossible," Xhaviti said.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sweden appeals UK granting bail for Julian Assange
LONDON – A British judge granted Julian Assange bail on Tuesday but the WikiLeaks founder will remain in custody for at least another 48 hours after Swedish prosecutors said they would challenge the decision.
Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, has already spent a week in a U.K. jail following his surrender to police in a Swedish sex-crimes investigation. He denies any wrongdoing and his lawyers say he plans to fight Sweden's extradition request.
Britain's High Court will hear the Swedish appeal, although it wasn't immediately clear when.
Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens said his client's relief at the bail decision had already evaporated, calling it "unfortunate" that "the Swedes won't abide by the umpire's decision."
"They clearly will not spare any expense but to keep Mr. Assange in jail," Stephens told journalists outside the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. "This is really turning into a show trial."
Celebrity supporters in the court and pro-WikiLeaks protesters outside the building had earlier cheered Judge Howard Riddle's decision to free Assange.
Assange's mother Christine, who was flown to Britain by Australian media outlets, watched the hearing nervously from the public gallery but gave a huge smile as the judge announced his decision.
"I just want to thank everyone who's turned up to show their support and who's taken an interest," Christine Assange said.
Under the ruling Tuesday, Assange would be subject to strict bail conditions. Stephens said the court was demanding 200,000 pounds ($316,000) in bail up front before Assange could be freed. He would also have to wear an electronic tag, live at a registered address, report to police every evening and observe two four-hour curfews each day.
Several wealthy supporters have put up a total of 240,000 pounds ($380,000) as a guarantee for Assange, his lawyers said.
Assange's next court appearance was set for Jan. 11, ahead of a full hearing on Feb. 7 and 8.
Lawyer Gemma Lindfield, acting for Sweden, had asked the court to deny Assange bail because the allegations in Sweden were serious, Assange had only weak ties to Britain and he had enough money "to abscond."
At a court hearing last week, Lindfield said Assange is accused of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion. She told the court one woman had accused Assange of pinning her down and refusing to use a condom on Aug. 14 in Stockholm. That woman also accused of Assange of molesting her.
A second woman has accused Assange of having sex with her without a condom while he was a guest at her Stockholm home and she was asleep.
In Sweden, a person who has sex with an unconscious, drunk or sleeping person can be convicted of rape and sentenced to up to six years in prison.
Assange denies the allegations and has not been charged in Sweden. His lawyers say the allegations stem from a dispute over "consensual but unprotected sex."
Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, has already spent a week in a U.K. jail following his surrender to police in a Swedish sex-crimes investigation. He denies any wrongdoing and his lawyers say he plans to fight Sweden's extradition request.
Britain's High Court will hear the Swedish appeal, although it wasn't immediately clear when.
Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens said his client's relief at the bail decision had already evaporated, calling it "unfortunate" that "the Swedes won't abide by the umpire's decision."
"They clearly will not spare any expense but to keep Mr. Assange in jail," Stephens told journalists outside the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. "This is really turning into a show trial."
Celebrity supporters in the court and pro-WikiLeaks protesters outside the building had earlier cheered Judge Howard Riddle's decision to free Assange.
Assange's mother Christine, who was flown to Britain by Australian media outlets, watched the hearing nervously from the public gallery but gave a huge smile as the judge announced his decision.
"I just want to thank everyone who's turned up to show their support and who's taken an interest," Christine Assange said.
Under the ruling Tuesday, Assange would be subject to strict bail conditions. Stephens said the court was demanding 200,000 pounds ($316,000) in bail up front before Assange could be freed. He would also have to wear an electronic tag, live at a registered address, report to police every evening and observe two four-hour curfews each day.
Several wealthy supporters have put up a total of 240,000 pounds ($380,000) as a guarantee for Assange, his lawyers said.
Assange's next court appearance was set for Jan. 11, ahead of a full hearing on Feb. 7 and 8.
Lawyer Gemma Lindfield, acting for Sweden, had asked the court to deny Assange bail because the allegations in Sweden were serious, Assange had only weak ties to Britain and he had enough money "to abscond."
At a court hearing last week, Lindfield said Assange is accused of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion. She told the court one woman had accused Assange of pinning her down and refusing to use a condom on Aug. 14 in Stockholm. That woman also accused of Assange of molesting her.
A second woman has accused Assange of having sex with her without a condom while he was a guest at her Stockholm home and she was asleep.
In Sweden, a person who has sex with an unconscious, drunk or sleeping person can be convicted of rape and sentenced to up to six years in prison.
Assange denies the allegations and has not been charged in Sweden. His lawyers say the allegations stem from a dispute over "consensual but unprotected sex."
Nigeria considers deal to drop Cheney charges: officials
LAGOS (AFP) – Nigeria will consider a deal to drop charges against US ex-vice president Dick Cheney and his former company Halliburton over a bribery scandal after "fruitful" weekend talks, officials said Monday.
Asked whether the charges were being dropped after the negotiations in London, prosecutor Godwin Obla said, "The possibility is there."
However, he would not provide details on the talks he said included high-ranking officials from energy firm Halliburton. Government officials must approve any settlement, said Obla.
"We had fruitful negotiations in London," he added.
A spokesman for Nigeria's anti-graft agency also refused to comment in detail on the talks, saying only that those involved in the case had offered to pay fines to avoid prosecution.
"There is the need for the team from London to brief the government," said Femi Babafemi.
Halliburton officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Nigerian authorities charged Cheney and several others last week with 16 counts over a bribery scandal related to the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant. Cheney was head of Halliburton before becoming US vice president serving president George W. Bush following 2000 elections.
Others charged included Halliburton CEO David Lesar, as well as Halliburton Inc., its former subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), former KBR head Albert "Jack" Stanley and that firm's current leader William Utt.
The case involves an alleged 182 million dollar cash-for-contract scandal over 10 years until 2005 over construction of the liquefied natural gas plant in southern Nigeria.
Halliburton has denied involvement in the allegations, and a spokesman for Cheney has dismissed the accusations against him as baseless.
The consortium involved in the gas plant, TSKJ, was also charged.
US authorities said last year that Halliburton and KBR had agreed to pay 177 million dollars to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States over the scandal.
KBR agreed to pay a further 402 million dollars to settle criminal charges brought by the US Justice Department.
Asked whether the charges were being dropped after the negotiations in London, prosecutor Godwin Obla said, "The possibility is there."
However, he would not provide details on the talks he said included high-ranking officials from energy firm Halliburton. Government officials must approve any settlement, said Obla.
"We had fruitful negotiations in London," he added.
A spokesman for Nigeria's anti-graft agency also refused to comment in detail on the talks, saying only that those involved in the case had offered to pay fines to avoid prosecution.
"There is the need for the team from London to brief the government," said Femi Babafemi.
Halliburton officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Nigerian authorities charged Cheney and several others last week with 16 counts over a bribery scandal related to the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant. Cheney was head of Halliburton before becoming US vice president serving president George W. Bush following 2000 elections.
Others charged included Halliburton CEO David Lesar, as well as Halliburton Inc., its former subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), former KBR head Albert "Jack" Stanley and that firm's current leader William Utt.
The case involves an alleged 182 million dollar cash-for-contract scandal over 10 years until 2005 over construction of the liquefied natural gas plant in southern Nigeria.
Halliburton has denied involvement in the allegations, and a spokesman for Cheney has dismissed the accusations against him as baseless.
The consortium involved in the gas plant, TSKJ, was also charged.
US authorities said last year that Halliburton and KBR had agreed to pay 177 million dollars to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States over the scandal.
KBR agreed to pay a further 402 million dollars to settle criminal charges brought by the US Justice Department.
S.African president says cartoon defamed him
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's president is suing over a newspaper cartoon that depicted him preparing to rape a blindfolded woman depicting justice.
Eric van der Berg, a lawyer for the Sunday Times, said Tuesday that notice had arrived at the paper's Johannesburg offices a day earlier.
The cartoon caused a storm when the Times published it in 2008, but President Jacob Zuma had not followed up on threats to sue until now.
Zuma is claiming 4 million rand (about $587,000) for humiliation and degradation, and another 1 million rand ($147,000) for damage to his reputation.
Prosecutors dropped corruption charges Zuma had been facing before he took office in 2009. He also had been acquitted of rape charges in 2006.
Eric van der Berg, a lawyer for the Sunday Times, said Tuesday that notice had arrived at the paper's Johannesburg offices a day earlier.
The cartoon caused a storm when the Times published it in 2008, but President Jacob Zuma had not followed up on threats to sue until now.
Zuma is claiming 4 million rand (about $587,000) for humiliation and degradation, and another 1 million rand ($147,000) for damage to his reputation.
Prosecutors dropped corruption charges Zuma had been facing before he took office in 2009. He also had been acquitted of rape charges in 2006.
South Korea suspects North has more uranium sites
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea believes that the North has been secretly enriching uranium at new locations outside its main nuclear site, the country's foreign minister said Friday, declining to say how many sites there were.
Earlier, a South Korean newspaper cited an unnamed intelligence official as saying that the North was enriching uranium at three or four sites in addition to its main nuclear site in Yongbyon.
"It is a report based on what is still intelligence and let me just say that we have been following this issue for some time," Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan told a press briefing on Tuesday when asked about it.
Kim reiterated South Korean demands that China, the reclusive North's backer, exercise greater influence on its ally "with a clearer voice."
Uranium enrichment could give the North a second source of fissile material for weapons on top of its plutonium production program at the Soviet-era nuclear program at Yongbyon, which was frozen under a now-defunct international disarmament deal.
The report of additional uranium enrichment facilities came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov chided North Korea over its nuclear program and condemned an artillery attack on a South Korean island that killed four people last month.
Concern over the scope of North Korea's nuclear program grew after U.S. nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker toured the Yongbyon site in November, where he saw hundreds of centrifuges and was said to have been "stunned" by the sophistication of the program.
Later that month, North Korea launched an artillery barrage against a South Korean island in what Pyongyang says are disputed waters, triggering concern about a potential conflict that could draw in the United States and China.
Although tension has subsided, Seoul has staged a series of military drills that at one stage involved a U.S. aircraft carrier.
Monday, South Korea launched a new series of live-firing drills at sea, although these are far away from the so-called Northern Limit Line, the maritime boundary between the countries.
Earlier, a South Korean newspaper cited an unnamed intelligence official as saying that the North was enriching uranium at three or four sites in addition to its main nuclear site in Yongbyon.
"It is a report based on what is still intelligence and let me just say that we have been following this issue for some time," Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan told a press briefing on Tuesday when asked about it.
Kim reiterated South Korean demands that China, the reclusive North's backer, exercise greater influence on its ally "with a clearer voice."
Uranium enrichment could give the North a second source of fissile material for weapons on top of its plutonium production program at the Soviet-era nuclear program at Yongbyon, which was frozen under a now-defunct international disarmament deal.
The report of additional uranium enrichment facilities came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov chided North Korea over its nuclear program and condemned an artillery attack on a South Korean island that killed four people last month.
Concern over the scope of North Korea's nuclear program grew after U.S. nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker toured the Yongbyon site in November, where he saw hundreds of centrifuges and was said to have been "stunned" by the sophistication of the program.
Later that month, North Korea launched an artillery barrage against a South Korean island in what Pyongyang says are disputed waters, triggering concern about a potential conflict that could draw in the United States and China.
Although tension has subsided, Seoul has staged a series of military drills that at one stage involved a U.S. aircraft carrier.
Monday, South Korea launched a new series of live-firing drills at sea, although these are far away from the so-called Northern Limit Line, the maritime boundary between the countries.
Monday, December 13, 2010
US diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies
Richard Holbrooke,President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – Richard Holbrooke, a brilliant and feisty U.S. diplomat who wrote part of the Pentagon Papers, was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan and served as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, died Monday, the State Department said. He was 69.
Calling Holbrooke "a true giant of American foreign policy," Obama paid homage to the veteran diplomat as "a truly unique figure who will be remembered for his tireless diplomacy, love of country, and pursuit of peace." Holbrooke deserves credit for much of the progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the president said.
[ For complete coverage of politics and policy, go to Yahoo! Politics ]
Holbrooke, whose forceful style earned him nicknames such as "The Bulldozer" and "Raging Bull," was admitted to the hospital on Friday after becoming ill at the State Department. The former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. had surgery Saturday to repair a tear in his aorta, the body's principal artery.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Holbrooke one of America's "fiercest champions and most dedicated public servants."
"Richard Holbrooke served the country he loved for nearly half a century, representing the United States in far-flung war zones and high-level peace talks, always with distinctive brilliance and unmatched determination," Clinton said.
Holbrooke served under every Democratic president from John F. Kennedy to Obama in a lengthy career that began with a foreign service posting in Vietnam in 1962 after graduating from Brown University, and included time as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., called the loss of Holbrooke "almost incomprehensible," adding that his "tough-as-nails, never-quit diplomacy" saved tens of thousands of lives. Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, who will chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee next year, called Holbrooke "a dynamic force in American diplomacy" whose "stellar service is deeply appreciated and held in the highest esteem."
Holbrooke's sizable ego, tenacity and willingness to push hard for diplomatic results won him both admiration and animosity.
"If Richard calls you and asks you for something, just say yes," former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said. "If you say no, you'll eventually get to yes, but the journey will be very painful."
He learned to become extremely informed about whatever country he was in, push for an exit strategy and look for ways to get those who live in a country to take increasing responsibility for their own security.
"He's a bulldog for the globe," Tim Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation, once said.
The bearish Holbrooke said he has no qualms about "negotiating with people who do immoral things."
"If you can prevent the deaths of people still alive, you're not doing a disservice to those already killed by trying to do so," he said in 1999.
Born in New York City on April 24, 1941, Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke had an interest in public service from his early years. He was good friends in high school with a son of Dean Rusk and he grew close to the family of the man who would become a secretary of state for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
Holbrooke was a young provincial representative for the U.S. Agency for International Development in South Vietnam and then an aide to two U.S. ambassadors in Saigon. At the Johnson White House, he wrote one volume of the Pentagon Papers, an internal government study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam that was completed in 1967.
The study, leaked in 1971 by a former Defense Department aide, had many damaging revelations, including a memo that stated the reason for fighting in Vietnam was based far more on preserving U.S. prestige than preventing communism or helping the Vietnamese.
After stints in and out of government — including as Peace Corps director in Morocco, editing positions at Foreign Policy and Newsweek magazines and adviser to Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign — Holbrooke became assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs from 1977-81. He then shifted back to private life — and the financial world, at Lehman Brothers.
A lifelong Democrat, he returned to public service when Bill Clinton took the White House in 1993. Holbrooke was U.S. ambassador to Germany from 1993 to 1994 and then assistant secretary of state for European affairs.
One of his signature achievements was brokering the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia. He detailed the experience of negotiating the deal at an Air Force base near the Ohio city in his 1998 memoir, "To End a War."
James Dobbins, former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan who worked closely with Holbrooke early in their careers, called him a brilliant diplomat and said his success at the Dayton peace talks "was the turning point in the Clinton administration's foreign policy."
Holbrooke's efforts surrounding Dayton would later lead to controversy when wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic told a war crimes tribunal in 2009 that Holbrooke had promised him immunity in return for leaving politics. Holbrooke denied the claim.
Holbrooke left the State Department in 1996 to take a Wall Street job with Credit Suisse First Boston, but was never far from the international diplomatic fray, serving as a private citizen as a special envoy to Cyprus and then the Balkans.
In 1998, he negotiated an agreement with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw Yugoslav forces from Kosovo where they were accused of conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign and allow international observers into the province.
"I make no apologies for negotiating with Milosevic and even worse people, provided one doesn't lose one's point of view," he said later.
When the deal fell apart, Holbrooke went to Belgrade to deliver the final ultimatum to Milosevic to leave Kosovo or face NATO airstrikes, which ultimately rained down on the capital.
"This isn't fun," he said of his Kosovo experience. "This isn't bridge or tennis. This is tough slogging."
Holbrooke returned to public service in 1999, when he became U.S. ambassador to the United Nations after a lengthy confirmation battle, stalled at first by ethics investigations into his business dealings and then unrelated Republican objections.
At the U.N., Holbrooke tried to broker peace in wartorn African nations. He led efforts to help refugees and fight AIDS in Africa. He also confronted U.N. anger over unpaid U.S. dues to the world body and persuaded 188 countries to overhaul the United Nations' financing and reduce U.S. payments.
"What's the point of being in the government if you don't try to make things better, which means trying to change things," Holbrooke told The Associated Press in a 2001 interview, reflecting on his time at the United Nations.
Holbrooke, with his long-standing ties to Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, was a strong supporter of her 2008 bid for the White House. He had been considered a favorite to become secretary of state if she had won. When she dropped out, he began reaching out to the campaign of Obama.
"Richard Holbrooke saved lives, secured peace and restored hope for countless people around the world," Bill Clinton said in a statement late Monday.
Reflecting on his role as Obama's special envoy, Holbrooke wrote in The Washington Post in March 2008 that "the conflict in Afghanistan will be far more costly and much, much longer than Americans realize. This war, already in its seventh year, will eventually become the longest in American history, surpassing even Vietnam."
Holbrooke's relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was strained after their heated meeting in 2009 over the fraud-tainted Afghan presidential election. Karzai brushed it off, saying he had "no problem at all with Mr. Holbrooke." But the U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan, not Holbrooke, were the ones who ended up developed the closest relations with the mercurial Afghan leader. The State Department said Sunday that Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari were among those calling to wish Holbrooke well.
Holbrooke rejected direct comparisons between Afghanistan and Vietnam, but acknowledged similarities and repeatedly pressed the administration to do more to win the hearts and minds of both the Afghan and Pakistani people.
He was fully engaged in that effort until his unexpected death.
A torn aorta — the condition that cost Holbrooke's life — is a rip in the inner wall of the body's largest artery. The result is serious internal bleeding, a loss of normal blood flow and possible complications in organs affected by the resulting lack of blood, according to medical experts. Without surgery it generally leads to rapid death.
"True to form, Richard was a fighter to the end," said Clinton. "His doctors marveled at his strength and his willpower, but to his friends, that was just Richard being Richard."
Holbrooke is survived by his wife, author Kati Marton, and two sons from an earlier marriage, David Holbrooke and Anthony Holbrooke.
Official: Don King stopped in Ohio for ammo in bag
CLEVELAND – Boxing promoter Don King was stopped by security at Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport for having ammunition in his carry-on luggage.
Hopkins Airport spokeswoman Jacqueline Mayo says the 79-year-old King was stopped by members of the Transportation Safety Administration on Sunday night. She says King had ammunition for .38-caliber and .357-caliber firearms in his bag.
Mayo says the ammunition was taken and that King was released to continue his trip, she believes to Florida. She said she didn't know if King received a citation.
King didn't immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
WOIO-TV in Cleveland first reported the incident and said King was in Cleveland for his wife's funeral.
Eighty-seven-year-old Henrietta King died Thursday in Florida from complications from stomach cancer
Hopkins Airport spokeswoman Jacqueline Mayo says the 79-year-old King was stopped by members of the Transportation Safety Administration on Sunday night. She says King had ammunition for .38-caliber and .357-caliber firearms in his bag.
Mayo says the ammunition was taken and that King was released to continue his trip, she believes to Florida. She said she didn't know if King received a citation.
King didn't immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
WOIO-TV in Cleveland first reported the incident and said King was in Cleveland for his wife's funeral.
Eighty-seven-year-old Henrietta King died Thursday in Florida from complications from stomach cancer
Iran's president fires foreign minister
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's president abruptly fired his foreign minister Monday and named the nuclear chief as acting top diplomat, the latest sign of a rift at the top levels of the Islamic theocracy as the country faces intense pressure from the West over its nuclear program.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave no explanation for the change in a brief statement on his website. But the fired diplomat, Manouchehr Mottaki, is seen as close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And the president may be aiming to install a figure more personally loyal to himself as Tehran resumes critical talks with world powers over the nuclear program that has brought four rounds of U.N. sanctions on Iran.
The nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, is one of Ahmadinejad's 12 vice presidents.
"This move shows not only the internal tensions but the primacy of the nuclear issue as Iran's main foreign policy objective," said Rasool Nafisi, an expert on Iranian affairs at Strayer University in Virginia.
Just a week before the shake-up, Iran resumed negotiations with six world powers over its suspect nuclear program after a long hiatus and another round is planned for early next year. Four sets of U.N. sanctions appear to be biting into the Iranian economy and Ahmadinejad may be looking for a loyal foreign minister who will help him clinch a deal with the six powers to ease the punitive measures.
A fourth round of sanctions was imposed in June over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a key part of its nuclear program that is of international concern because it can be used both for making reactor fuel and atomic weapons. Iran insists its aims are entirely peaceful, but the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency says its years of investigating have not been able to confirm that.
The sanctions are making it more difficult for Iran to trade with the outside world.
The president of Iran's chamber of commerce, Mohammad Nahavandian, said last month that import prices for most goods have risen by 15 to 30 percent because of sanctions. That is because companies, particularly Asian firms, are bumping up prices because they know Iran is now a desperate market and insurance is difficult — if not impossible — to obtain on shipments to Iran.
And many European firms avoid dealings with Iran or their banks refrain from transactions with Iran.
Some of the tensions between Ahmadinejad and Mottaki have spilled out into public in this closely guarded nation.
In the past year, Mottaki opposed a decision by Ahmadinejad to appoint his own special foreign envoys to key areas such as the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea region. Mottaki found the appointments embarrassing to the foreign ministry and allegedly took his complaint to the supreme leader. Khamenei has final say in all state matters in Iran, he runs the nuclear program and stands at the top of the clerical leadership that rules the country.
Khamenei reportedly sided with Mottaki, forcing Ahmadinejad to moderate his position and change their title only to the level of advisers.
The difference was exposed in September when Mottaki publicly attacked Mohammad Baghaei, one of the four trusted foreign policy envoys appointed by Ahmadinejad, calling him an "inexperienced" figure who was "creating problems for the country's foreign policy." Mottaki overtly said that parallel foreign policy work must be avoided, a clear reference to Ahmadinejad appointees who operated outside the foreign ministry.
Ahmadinejad has challenged the supreme leader in the past over some political appointments. Last year, the president tried to resist Khamenei's order that he fire one his vice presidents opposed by conservatives, though Ahmadinajed finally caved and removed him.
Iranian media have also reported in the past year that some lawmakers were pushing for Mottaki to be dismissed, arguing that he failed to adequately defend Iran at international organizations such as the United Nations.
It was not immediately clear how long Salehi — who holds a doctorate in nuclear physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. — would remain in the caretaker role. The semiofficial Fars news agency says Mohammad Ghannadi, a prominent nuclear scientist, is expected to replace Salehi as the new nuclear chief — an indication Ahmadinejad wants him to keep the job permanently. Ghannadi is currently Salehi's deputy at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Salehi — or any other candidate — has to win a vote of confidence from the 290-seat parliament to be appointed to the job.
Prominent conservative lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi says he was stunned to hear the news, saying the parliament was not aware of Ahmadinejad's decision to dismiss Mottaki, according to khabaronline.ir news website.
Mottaki was fired as he was in the middle of a tour of African nations that took him to Senegal, where he delivered a message from Ahmadinejad to the West African nation's president on Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The president thanked him for his more than five years of service — spanning Ahmadinejad's entire time in office.
"It's unpleasant that he is fired in the middle of a foreign assignment. The president should have waited for Mottaki to return home first before a replacement," said conservative lawmaker Mahmoud Ahmadi Biqash.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Mottaki's dismissal should not affect the nuclear talks, which should continue regardless of the officials involved.
The next round of talks between Iran and the six permanent U.N. Security Council members — the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — and Germany is scheduled for January.
"We put emphasis that talks which just started in Geneva will continue and that different political constellations in Iran will not lead to any disruptions or delay in the talks," Westerwelle said in Brussels, where he is attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Talks between Iran and the world powers broke down last year when Iran rebuffed a U.N.-drafted plan to ship abroad its stockpile of low-enriched uranium in exchange for reactor-ready fuel. Low-enriched uranium can be used in reactors, but also for warheads if brought to much higher enrichment levels.
Earlier this month, Mottaki attended a security conference in Bahrain that included U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mottaki, however, was on the defensive after American diplomatic memos released by WikiLeaks showed some Gulf Arab leaders urging for a U.S. military strike to cripple Iran's nuclear program.
He tried to reassure Gulf Arab nations that Iran was not a regional threat, but his statements did not resonate, said Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.
"He had a golden opportunity to change some minds about Iran, but failed," said Shaikh. "This showed that Iranian foreign policy was stumbling and perhaps this led to the change."
___
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave no explanation for the change in a brief statement on his website. But the fired diplomat, Manouchehr Mottaki, is seen as close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And the president may be aiming to install a figure more personally loyal to himself as Tehran resumes critical talks with world powers over the nuclear program that has brought four rounds of U.N. sanctions on Iran.
The nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, is one of Ahmadinejad's 12 vice presidents.
"This move shows not only the internal tensions but the primacy of the nuclear issue as Iran's main foreign policy objective," said Rasool Nafisi, an expert on Iranian affairs at Strayer University in Virginia.
Just a week before the shake-up, Iran resumed negotiations with six world powers over its suspect nuclear program after a long hiatus and another round is planned for early next year. Four sets of U.N. sanctions appear to be biting into the Iranian economy and Ahmadinejad may be looking for a loyal foreign minister who will help him clinch a deal with the six powers to ease the punitive measures.
A fourth round of sanctions was imposed in June over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a key part of its nuclear program that is of international concern because it can be used both for making reactor fuel and atomic weapons. Iran insists its aims are entirely peaceful, but the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency says its years of investigating have not been able to confirm that.
The sanctions are making it more difficult for Iran to trade with the outside world.
The president of Iran's chamber of commerce, Mohammad Nahavandian, said last month that import prices for most goods have risen by 15 to 30 percent because of sanctions. That is because companies, particularly Asian firms, are bumping up prices because they know Iran is now a desperate market and insurance is difficult — if not impossible — to obtain on shipments to Iran.
And many European firms avoid dealings with Iran or their banks refrain from transactions with Iran.
Some of the tensions between Ahmadinejad and Mottaki have spilled out into public in this closely guarded nation.
In the past year, Mottaki opposed a decision by Ahmadinejad to appoint his own special foreign envoys to key areas such as the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea region. Mottaki found the appointments embarrassing to the foreign ministry and allegedly took his complaint to the supreme leader. Khamenei has final say in all state matters in Iran, he runs the nuclear program and stands at the top of the clerical leadership that rules the country.
Khamenei reportedly sided with Mottaki, forcing Ahmadinejad to moderate his position and change their title only to the level of advisers.
The difference was exposed in September when Mottaki publicly attacked Mohammad Baghaei, one of the four trusted foreign policy envoys appointed by Ahmadinejad, calling him an "inexperienced" figure who was "creating problems for the country's foreign policy." Mottaki overtly said that parallel foreign policy work must be avoided, a clear reference to Ahmadinejad appointees who operated outside the foreign ministry.
Ahmadinejad has challenged the supreme leader in the past over some political appointments. Last year, the president tried to resist Khamenei's order that he fire one his vice presidents opposed by conservatives, though Ahmadinajed finally caved and removed him.
Iranian media have also reported in the past year that some lawmakers were pushing for Mottaki to be dismissed, arguing that he failed to adequately defend Iran at international organizations such as the United Nations.
It was not immediately clear how long Salehi — who holds a doctorate in nuclear physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. — would remain in the caretaker role. The semiofficial Fars news agency says Mohammad Ghannadi, a prominent nuclear scientist, is expected to replace Salehi as the new nuclear chief — an indication Ahmadinejad wants him to keep the job permanently. Ghannadi is currently Salehi's deputy at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Salehi — or any other candidate — has to win a vote of confidence from the 290-seat parliament to be appointed to the job.
Prominent conservative lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi says he was stunned to hear the news, saying the parliament was not aware of Ahmadinejad's decision to dismiss Mottaki, according to khabaronline.ir news website.
Mottaki was fired as he was in the middle of a tour of African nations that took him to Senegal, where he delivered a message from Ahmadinejad to the West African nation's president on Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The president thanked him for his more than five years of service — spanning Ahmadinejad's entire time in office.
"It's unpleasant that he is fired in the middle of a foreign assignment. The president should have waited for Mottaki to return home first before a replacement," said conservative lawmaker Mahmoud Ahmadi Biqash.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Mottaki's dismissal should not affect the nuclear talks, which should continue regardless of the officials involved.
The next round of talks between Iran and the six permanent U.N. Security Council members — the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — and Germany is scheduled for January.
"We put emphasis that talks which just started in Geneva will continue and that different political constellations in Iran will not lead to any disruptions or delay in the talks," Westerwelle said in Brussels, where he is attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Talks between Iran and the world powers broke down last year when Iran rebuffed a U.N.-drafted plan to ship abroad its stockpile of low-enriched uranium in exchange for reactor-ready fuel. Low-enriched uranium can be used in reactors, but also for warheads if brought to much higher enrichment levels.
Earlier this month, Mottaki attended a security conference in Bahrain that included U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mottaki, however, was on the defensive after American diplomatic memos released by WikiLeaks showed some Gulf Arab leaders urging for a U.S. military strike to cripple Iran's nuclear program.
He tried to reassure Gulf Arab nations that Iran was not a regional threat, but his statements did not resonate, said Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.
"He had a golden opportunity to change some minds about Iran, but failed," said Shaikh. "This showed that Iranian foreign policy was stumbling and perhaps this led to the change."
___
India protests U.S. frisking of top diplomats
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's foreign ministry has protested to Washington after reports two of New Delhi's diplomats were frisked at U.S. airports, describing the searches as serious breaches of protocol. Hardeep Puri, India's ambassador to the United Nations, was subjected to a pat-down search and held for 30 minutes at Houston airport a fortnight ago after refusing on religious grounds requests by officials to remove his turban, the Press Trust of India news agency reported on Monday.
On December 4, Indian ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar was selected by security officials at a Mississippi airport for a pat-down search, despite reportedly notifying officials of her diplomatic status.
"We have taken it up with the U.S. authorities and the matter is at that stage," External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said on Monday, referring to Puri, a Sikh.
Sikh men keep their hair covered at all times with a turban, which is not allowed to be touched in public.
The searches sparked off outrage in India, with several political parties demanding U.S. officials too be frisked at Indian airports. India exempts holders of diplomatic passports from airport searches. "Let me be frank. This is unacceptable to India. We are going to take it up with the government of the United States so that such unpleasant incidents do not recur," Krishna told reporters on Thursday in response to the Shankar incident.
There have been past instances of Indian officials at U.S. airports being searched, but beyond New Delhi issuing protests, they have not caused any major diplomatic row.
Last year, Continental Airlines frisked former Indian President Abdul Kalam. Then-Indian defense minister George Fernandes was strip-searched twice at a Washington airport in 2002 and 2003. The U.S. Homeland Security Department had initially described Shankar's pat-down as "appropriate under the circumstances" before Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on Thursday said she was "concerned" and an official apology was issued.
"Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has indicated that they have to revisit some of their procedures particularly with reference to the diplomatic corps of other countries," Krishna told NDTV on Monday.
On December 4, Indian ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar was selected by security officials at a Mississippi airport for a pat-down search, despite reportedly notifying officials of her diplomatic status.
"We have taken it up with the U.S. authorities and the matter is at that stage," External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said on Monday, referring to Puri, a Sikh.
Sikh men keep their hair covered at all times with a turban, which is not allowed to be touched in public.
The searches sparked off outrage in India, with several political parties demanding U.S. officials too be frisked at Indian airports. India exempts holders of diplomatic passports from airport searches. "Let me be frank. This is unacceptable to India. We are going to take it up with the government of the United States so that such unpleasant incidents do not recur," Krishna told reporters on Thursday in response to the Shankar incident.
There have been past instances of Indian officials at U.S. airports being searched, but beyond New Delhi issuing protests, they have not caused any major diplomatic row.
Last year, Continental Airlines frisked former Indian President Abdul Kalam. Then-Indian defense minister George Fernandes was strip-searched twice at a Washington airport in 2002 and 2003. The U.S. Homeland Security Department had initially described Shankar's pat-down as "appropriate under the circumstances" before Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on Thursday said she was "concerned" and an official apology was issued.
"Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has indicated that they have to revisit some of their procedures particularly with reference to the diplomatic corps of other countries," Krishna told NDTV on Monday.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrested in London
The founder of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been arrested by police in London.
The 39-year-old Australian, who was the subject of a European arrest warrant, denies allegations he sexually assaulted two women in Sweden.
Mr Assange is due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court later.
A Wikileaks spokesman said Mr Assange's arrest was an attack on media freedom but it would not stop the release of more secret files.
Kristinn Hrafnsson told Reuters on Tuesday: "Wikileaks is operational. We are continuing on the same track as laid out before.
"Any development with regards to Julian Assange will not change the plans we have with regards to the releases today and in the coming days."
Secret locations
He said Wikileaks was being operated by a group in London and other secret locations.
Scotland Yard said Mr Assange was arrested by appointment at a London police station at 0930 GMT.
Mr Assange is accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of rape, one of unlawful coercion and two counts of sexual molestation, alleged to have been committed in August 2010.
If the district judge rules the arrest warrant is legally correct, he could be extradited to Sweden.
But the process could take months.
Police contacted his lawyer, Mark Stephens, on Monday night after receiving a European arrest warrant from the Swedish authorities.
An earlier warrant, issued last month, had not been filled in correctly.
Mr Stephens said his client was keen to learn more about the allegations and anxious to clear his name.
He said: "It's about time we got to the end of the day and we got some truth, justice and rule of law.
"Julian Assange has been the one in hot pursuit to vindicate himself to clear his good name."
Mr Stephens said Mr Assange had been trying to meet the Swedish prosecutor to find out the details about the allegations he faces.
Mr Assange has come in for criticism in the last week for the revelations made on Wikileaks.
On Monday Foreign Secretary William Hague criticised the website for publishing details of sensitive sites, including some in the UK, saying they could be targeted by terrorists.
Former US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has described Mr Assange as "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands".
Wikileaks was forced to switch to a Swiss host server after several US internet service providers refused to handle it.
It has also come under cyber attack and several companies, including PayPal and Amazon, have refused to supply it.
Mr Assange is expected to appear before a district judge at City of Westminster Magistrates Court before 1230 GMT, unless special permission is given for a later hearing.
City of Westminster deals with most extradition cases but there are huge differences in the time it takes.
Extradition can be extremely swift if the accused waives his legal rights.
But some cases, such as the extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon to the United States, have been going on for years because of legal challenges.
A European arrest warrant is designed to speed up the process but there can be delays.
Last week a district judge finally agreed to extradite British businessman Ian Griffin to France 18 months after he was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend in a Paris hotel.
Gerard Batten, a Ukip MEP, said the Assange case highlighted the dangers of the European arrest warrant because the judge has no power to listen to the evidence to judge if there is a prime facie case.
He said: "What concerns me is that it could be used against political dissidents. I don't know of the quality of the evidence in Mr Assange's case but it does seem that he is involved in political turmoil and intrigue and there are a lot of people keen to shut him up and there is nothing a court in the UK can do to look at the evidence before they extradite him."
Mr Assange is an Australian citizen and his supporters have written an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard asking her to protect him.
One of the signatories, prominent barrister, Julian Burnside QC said: "First and foremost Julian Assange is an Australian citizen who is entitled to the protection of his country and does not deserve to be betrayed by his country.
"Julia Gillard has been making it virtually impossible for Assange to return to Australia where he is entitled to be. And she has even threatened to cancel his passport. That is an outrageous stance to take."
Following his arrest, Mr Assange will be brought before a court as soon as possible. That may be on Tuesday afternoon. If the court is satisfied the arrest warrant is valid, a date will be set for a full hearing, which is not likely to take place for some weeks.
Mr Assange will be able to raise his arguments against extradition at this stage.
The 'fast-track' European arrest warrant system is based on the concept that all the participating countries have legal systems which meet similar standards, and fully respect human rights. In other words, it is assumed that a person will get an equally fair trial in any of these countries.
If the accusation from the requesting state is valid, the grounds for opposing extradition are very limited.
The 39-year-old Australian, who was the subject of a European arrest warrant, denies allegations he sexually assaulted two women in Sweden.
Mr Assange is due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court later.
A Wikileaks spokesman said Mr Assange's arrest was an attack on media freedom but it would not stop the release of more secret files.
Kristinn Hrafnsson told Reuters on Tuesday: "Wikileaks is operational. We are continuing on the same track as laid out before.
"Any development with regards to Julian Assange will not change the plans we have with regards to the releases today and in the coming days."
Secret locations
He said Wikileaks was being operated by a group in London and other secret locations.
Scotland Yard said Mr Assange was arrested by appointment at a London police station at 0930 GMT.
Mr Assange is accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of rape, one of unlawful coercion and two counts of sexual molestation, alleged to have been committed in August 2010.
If the district judge rules the arrest warrant is legally correct, he could be extradited to Sweden.
But the process could take months.
Police contacted his lawyer, Mark Stephens, on Monday night after receiving a European arrest warrant from the Swedish authorities.
An earlier warrant, issued last month, had not been filled in correctly.
Mr Stephens said his client was keen to learn more about the allegations and anxious to clear his name.
He said: "It's about time we got to the end of the day and we got some truth, justice and rule of law.
"Julian Assange has been the one in hot pursuit to vindicate himself to clear his good name."
Mr Stephens said Mr Assange had been trying to meet the Swedish prosecutor to find out the details about the allegations he faces.
Mr Assange has come in for criticism in the last week for the revelations made on Wikileaks.
On Monday Foreign Secretary William Hague criticised the website for publishing details of sensitive sites, including some in the UK, saying they could be targeted by terrorists.
Former US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has described Mr Assange as "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands".
Wikileaks was forced to switch to a Swiss host server after several US internet service providers refused to handle it.
It has also come under cyber attack and several companies, including PayPal and Amazon, have refused to supply it.
Mr Assange is expected to appear before a district judge at City of Westminster Magistrates Court before 1230 GMT, unless special permission is given for a later hearing.
City of Westminster deals with most extradition cases but there are huge differences in the time it takes.
Extradition can be extremely swift if the accused waives his legal rights.
But some cases, such as the extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon to the United States, have been going on for years because of legal challenges.
A European arrest warrant is designed to speed up the process but there can be delays.
Last week a district judge finally agreed to extradite British businessman Ian Griffin to France 18 months after he was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend in a Paris hotel.
Gerard Batten, a Ukip MEP, said the Assange case highlighted the dangers of the European arrest warrant because the judge has no power to listen to the evidence to judge if there is a prime facie case.
He said: "What concerns me is that it could be used against political dissidents. I don't know of the quality of the evidence in Mr Assange's case but it does seem that he is involved in political turmoil and intrigue and there are a lot of people keen to shut him up and there is nothing a court in the UK can do to look at the evidence before they extradite him."
Mr Assange is an Australian citizen and his supporters have written an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard asking her to protect him.
One of the signatories, prominent barrister, Julian Burnside QC said: "First and foremost Julian Assange is an Australian citizen who is entitled to the protection of his country and does not deserve to be betrayed by his country.
"Julia Gillard has been making it virtually impossible for Assange to return to Australia where he is entitled to be. And she has even threatened to cancel his passport. That is an outrageous stance to take."
Following his arrest, Mr Assange will be brought before a court as soon as possible. That may be on Tuesday afternoon. If the court is satisfied the arrest warrant is valid, a date will be set for a full hearing, which is not likely to take place for some weeks.
Mr Assange will be able to raise his arguments against extradition at this stage.
The 'fast-track' European arrest warrant system is based on the concept that all the participating countries have legal systems which meet similar standards, and fully respect human rights. In other words, it is assumed that a person will get an equally fair trial in any of these countries.
If the accusation from the requesting state is valid, the grounds for opposing extradition are very limited.
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