STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden is investigating to see whether the U.S. embassy has committed any crime by carrying out surveillance measures, the prosecutor's office said on Monday in a case similar to one that has blown up in neighboring Norway.
The probe to see if illegal intelligence gathering has taken place was launched after the Swedish Security Police at the weekend confirmed the U.S. embassy had a surveillance system in place since 2000, without informing the local authorities.
The Swedish office of public prosecution said in a statement that a preliminary probe had been opened to see whether the U.S. measures constituted a crime and to see who had carried out such a crime, if one had been committed.
"The investigation concerns American measures to protect the U.S. embassy in Stockholm and American personnel," the statement said.
The U.S. embassy in Stockholm said in a statement at the weekend that it did have a program to detect suspicious activities around its facilities. It said the system was neither secret nor an intelligence program.
The issue first came up in Norway last week when television network TV2 reported that a team of U.S. agents and retired Norwegian security officers had been conducting illegal systematic surveillance from a base near the U.S. embassy in Oslo.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry has said it is seeking an explanation from the U.S. side.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Indictment: Somali gangs trafficked girls for sex
MINNEAPOLIS – Twenty-nine people have been indicted in a sex trafficking ring in which Somali gangs in Minneapolis and St. Paul allegedly forced girls under age 14 into prostitution in Minnesota, Tennessee and Ohio, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.
The 24-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee, said one of the gangs' goals was recruiting females under age 18, including some under age 14, and forcing them into prostitution so the defendants could get money, marijuana or liquor.
The indictment details several instances in which young Somali or African American girls were taken from place to place and forced to engage in sex acts with multiple people. One girl was under 13 when she was first prostituted. Another girl was 18 when she was raped by multiple men in a hotel room, the indictment said.
John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the case is significant because the girls were repeatedly victimized over several years and transported to many places. The indictment lists incidents involving four victims, but says "other minor children" were involved. It's not clear how many victims there were in all.
"Human traffickers abuse innocent people, undermine our public safety, and often use their illicit proceeds to fund sophisticated criminal organizations," Morton said. "ICE is committed to bringing these criminals to justice and rescuing their victims from a life in the shadows."
Van Vincent, the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, wouldn't comment on the status of the girls, other than to say they were safe.
The indictment claims the ring involved three Minneapolis-based gangs — the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws — and that all three gangs are connected. The men and women charged were either gang members or associates of the gangs, the indictment said. They range in age from 19 to 38.
The indictment says the sex trafficking ring operated for 10 years, with the defendants recruiting young girls to engage in sex acts.
One girl was just 13 when, in 2005, she was taken from the Minneapolis area to an apartment in Nashville to engage in prostitution, it said. The girl was also taken to Columbus, Ohio, and other locations for prostitution.
In another case, a girl was under age 13 when she was first forced to engage in sex acts in November 2006. Two defendants had sex with her the next month at an apartment in St. Paul, and then other males arrived and were charged money to do the same, the indictment said. That scenario happened on many occasions.
The indictment refers to the girl as Jane Doe Two. The Associated Press does not identify victims of sex crimes.
"Jane Doe Two was informed ... that selling Jane Doe Two for sex would be called a 'Mission.' It was a rule that members of the (gangs) would not be charged for sex with Jane Doe Two as they were fellow gang members," the indictment said.
One defendant, Haji Osman Salad, nicknamed "Hollywood," later made Jane Doe Two "his girl," picking her up from school, engaging in sex acts with her, and then instructing her to engage in sex acts with other men, the indictment said.
Over the course of two-day period in April 2009, the girl was forced to engage in sex acts at least 10 times with nine different men, it said. Then, she was driven to Nashville. On the way there, Salad made a cell phone video of her engaging in sex acts with some of the occupants of the vehicle, the indictment said.
Law enforcement officials said Monday that 12 of the indicted people were arrested in Minnesota, eight in Tennessee, and six were already in various jails. Three of the defendants were at large.
Jerry Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said the defendants traveled back and forth easily between Nashville and St. Paul, and some may have been related. Both cities, as well as Columbus, have large Somali refugee populations.
Along with sex trafficking, the indictment charges some of the defendants with conspiring to obstruct the investigation by lying to a federal grand jury. It also alleges some stole a motor vehicle, committed burglaries, and engaged in credit card fraud — causing one credit card company to lose $231,000 over a one-year period.
The 24-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee, said one of the gangs' goals was recruiting females under age 18, including some under age 14, and forcing them into prostitution so the defendants could get money, marijuana or liquor.
The indictment details several instances in which young Somali or African American girls were taken from place to place and forced to engage in sex acts with multiple people. One girl was under 13 when she was first prostituted. Another girl was 18 when she was raped by multiple men in a hotel room, the indictment said.
John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the case is significant because the girls were repeatedly victimized over several years and transported to many places. The indictment lists incidents involving four victims, but says "other minor children" were involved. It's not clear how many victims there were in all.
"Human traffickers abuse innocent people, undermine our public safety, and often use their illicit proceeds to fund sophisticated criminal organizations," Morton said. "ICE is committed to bringing these criminals to justice and rescuing their victims from a life in the shadows."
Van Vincent, the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, wouldn't comment on the status of the girls, other than to say they were safe.
The indictment claims the ring involved three Minneapolis-based gangs — the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws — and that all three gangs are connected. The men and women charged were either gang members or associates of the gangs, the indictment said. They range in age from 19 to 38.
The indictment says the sex trafficking ring operated for 10 years, with the defendants recruiting young girls to engage in sex acts.
One girl was just 13 when, in 2005, she was taken from the Minneapolis area to an apartment in Nashville to engage in prostitution, it said. The girl was also taken to Columbus, Ohio, and other locations for prostitution.
In another case, a girl was under age 13 when she was first forced to engage in sex acts in November 2006. Two defendants had sex with her the next month at an apartment in St. Paul, and then other males arrived and were charged money to do the same, the indictment said. That scenario happened on many occasions.
The indictment refers to the girl as Jane Doe Two. The Associated Press does not identify victims of sex crimes.
"Jane Doe Two was informed ... that selling Jane Doe Two for sex would be called a 'Mission.' It was a rule that members of the (gangs) would not be charged for sex with Jane Doe Two as they were fellow gang members," the indictment said.
One defendant, Haji Osman Salad, nicknamed "Hollywood," later made Jane Doe Two "his girl," picking her up from school, engaging in sex acts with her, and then instructing her to engage in sex acts with other men, the indictment said.
Over the course of two-day period in April 2009, the girl was forced to engage in sex acts at least 10 times with nine different men, it said. Then, she was driven to Nashville. On the way there, Salad made a cell phone video of her engaging in sex acts with some of the occupants of the vehicle, the indictment said.
Law enforcement officials said Monday that 12 of the indicted people were arrested in Minnesota, eight in Tennessee, and six were already in various jails. Three of the defendants were at large.
Jerry Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said the defendants traveled back and forth easily between Nashville and St. Paul, and some may have been related. Both cities, as well as Columbus, have large Somali refugee populations.
Along with sex trafficking, the indictment charges some of the defendants with conspiring to obstruct the investigation by lying to a federal grand jury. It also alleges some stole a motor vehicle, committed burglaries, and engaged in credit card fraud — causing one credit card company to lose $231,000 over a one-year period.
Gunmen attack rig off Nigeria, take five foreign hostages
KET, Nigeria (AFP) – Gunmen attacked an oil rig off Nigeria's coast on Monday, taking two Americans, two French and one Canadian hostage while wounding two other people, company and security sources said.
The pre-dawn attack occurred in the country's turbulent Niger Delta region, the heart of one of the world's largest oil industries, and it was not immediately clear whether a ransom had been demanded.
"A security breach has occurred on the High Island VII jackup rig, which had recently arrived on location, preparing to commence infill drilling at the Okoro field," said a statement from Afren, the company that oversees the rig.
"Two crew members are stable after receiving wounds to the leg, and have been evacuated by helicopter to a shore-based clinic. It is believed that five crew members have been taken hostage."
It did not provide the nationalities of the victims, but a company source said later that they included two Americans, two French and one Canadian. A security source also provided the same nationalities.
Afren added in its statement that a second "security breach" occurred at a support vessel, but did not provide details. The statement said "the vessel and rig are both under the control of the company."
Preparations for drilling operations on the rig had been temporarily suspended.
The security source said a crew member was shot in the leg after resisting the attackers.
The Okoro field is located some 12 kilometres (eight miles) off the coast off Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state. Afren is headquartered in Britain and works with a local partner, AMNI International, while the rig is owned by Transocean.
Nigerian security officials could not provide precise details on the attack, the latest in the Niger Delta.
The pre-dawn attack occurred in the country's turbulent Niger Delta region, the heart of one of the world's largest oil industries, and it was not immediately clear whether a ransom had been demanded.
"A security breach has occurred on the High Island VII jackup rig, which had recently arrived on location, preparing to commence infill drilling at the Okoro field," said a statement from Afren, the company that oversees the rig.
"Two crew members are stable after receiving wounds to the leg, and have been evacuated by helicopter to a shore-based clinic. It is believed that five crew members have been taken hostage."
It did not provide the nationalities of the victims, but a company source said later that they included two Americans, two French and one Canadian. A security source also provided the same nationalities.
Afren added in its statement that a second "security breach" occurred at a support vessel, but did not provide details. The statement said "the vessel and rig are both under the control of the company."
Preparations for drilling operations on the rig had been temporarily suspended.
The security source said a crew member was shot in the leg after resisting the attackers.
The Okoro field is located some 12 kilometres (eight miles) off the coast off Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state. Afren is headquartered in Britain and works with a local partner, AMNI International, while the rig is owned by Transocean.
Nigerian security officials could not provide precise details on the attack, the latest in the Niger Delta.
Netanyahu presses U.S. for military threat on Iran
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday that only a credible military threat can deter Iran from building a nuclear weapon, Israeli political sources said.
In comments signaling growing Israeli impatience with diplomacy, the sources said Netanyahu, beginning a five-day U.S. visit, argued that economic sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear program.
However, Biden said after the talks that the sanctions "have a bite" and were having a "measurable impact," though he expressed frustration that Tehran had brushed aside overtures by President Barack Obama's administration.
Netanyahu and Biden met on the sidelines of an American Jewish conference in New Orleans, and also discussed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks suspended in a dispute over building in settlements in the West Bank.
"The only way to ensure that Iran will not go nuclear is to create a credible threat of military action against it if it doesn't cease its race for a nuclear weapon," one of the sources said Netanyahu told Biden.
"The economic sanctions are making it difficult for Iran, but there is no sign that the Ayatollah regime plans to stop its nuclear program because of them."
In remarks to the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, Biden said the door to diplomacy remains open for Iran "but there is a price to walk through that door -- acting rationally."
"We continue to seek a peaceful resolution and to hope Iranian leaders will reconsider their current destructive and debilitating course," he said. "But let me be very clear about this: We are also absolutely committed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons."
The tough talk from the Israelis swiftly raised speculation in Israeli media that Netanyahu, who has rebuffed U.S. and international calls to reimpose a freeze on building in West Bank settlements, was trying to shift the focus of his visit away from stalemate.
The West believes that Iran aims to use its uranium enrichment program to build atomic weapons, and both Israel and the United States have said all options are on the table in dealing with its nuclear ambitions.
But Netanyahu had made clear that Israel wanted to see if tough economic sanctions could eliminate what it has described as a threat against its existence.
Tehran denies it is out to produce nuclear arms.
In comments signaling growing Israeli impatience with diplomacy, the sources said Netanyahu, beginning a five-day U.S. visit, argued that economic sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear program.
However, Biden said after the talks that the sanctions "have a bite" and were having a "measurable impact," though he expressed frustration that Tehran had brushed aside overtures by President Barack Obama's administration.
Netanyahu and Biden met on the sidelines of an American Jewish conference in New Orleans, and also discussed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks suspended in a dispute over building in settlements in the West Bank.
"The only way to ensure that Iran will not go nuclear is to create a credible threat of military action against it if it doesn't cease its race for a nuclear weapon," one of the sources said Netanyahu told Biden.
"The economic sanctions are making it difficult for Iran, but there is no sign that the Ayatollah regime plans to stop its nuclear program because of them."
In remarks to the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, Biden said the door to diplomacy remains open for Iran "but there is a price to walk through that door -- acting rationally."
"We continue to seek a peaceful resolution and to hope Iranian leaders will reconsider their current destructive and debilitating course," he said. "But let me be very clear about this: We are also absolutely committed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons."
The tough talk from the Israelis swiftly raised speculation in Israeli media that Netanyahu, who has rebuffed U.S. and international calls to reimpose a freeze on building in West Bank settlements, was trying to shift the focus of his visit away from stalemate.
The West believes that Iran aims to use its uranium enrichment program to build atomic weapons, and both Israel and the United States have said all options are on the table in dealing with its nuclear ambitions.
But Netanyahu had made clear that Israel wanted to see if tough economic sanctions could eliminate what it has described as a threat against its existence.
Tehran denies it is out to produce nuclear arms.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Indonesia volcano blasts searing gas; 122 now dead
MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia – Searing gas avalanched down an Indonesian volcano with a thunderous roar, torching houses and trees and incinerating villagers as they fled Mount Merapi's worst eruption in a century. Scores of bodies found Friday raised the death toll to 122.
The injured — with clothes, blankets and even mattresses fused to their skin by the 1,400 degree Fahrenheit (750 degree Celsius) heat — were carried away on stretchers following the first big explosion just before midnight.
All Friday, Merapi shot towering plumes of ash that dusted the windshields of cars 300 miles (480 kilometers) away. Bursts of hot clouds occasionally interrupted aid efforts, with rescuers screaming "Watch out! Hot cloud!"
The intensifying eruptions have baffled scientists who have monitored the mountain for years and left them uncertain what to expect. Dozens of explosions that followed Merapi's initial blast Oct. 26 had been predicted to ease pressure behind a magma dome.
The danger zone where residents have been ordered to flee has now been expanded to 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the crater.
Friday's explosion — said by volcanologists to be the biggest since the 1870s — hit hardest in Bronggang, a village nine miles (15 kilometers) from the crater. Soldiers joined the rescue operations, pulling at least 78 bodies from homes and streets blanketed by ash up to one foot (30 centimeters) deep.
Crumpled roofs, charred carcasses of cattle and broken chairs — all layered in white soot — dotted the smoldering landscape.
The volcano, in the heart of densely populated Java island, has erupted scores of times in the past, killing more than 1,500 people in the last century alone. But tens of thousands of people live on its rolling slopes, drawn to soil made fertile by lava and volcanic debris.
China quarantine bureau rejects U.S. corn cargo
BEIJING (Reuters) – China's quarantine bureau confirmed on Tuesday it had discovered traces of an unapproved genetically modified organism (GMO) in a U.S. corn cargo and had refused it entry into China.
"A genetically-modified element which is not approved by the Agriculture Ministry has been identified in the cargo and according to the relevant State Council regulation, the cargo will be returned," an official with the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau told Reuters, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
The official declined to identify the buyer of the cargo, but said the unapproved GMO strain was MON89034.
One trading manager at a feed mill in Guangdong said the cargo belonged to COFCO Co. Ltd, which bought on behalf of several feed mills in the province.
The cargo arrived at the port of Chiwan in September and was discharged into silos at ports, but feed mills were not allowed to take the goods, said the manager, who is one of the end-users.
"We have paid COFCO for delivery at port in Guangdong, but now we are not allowed to take the goods," said the manager, who declined to be identified.
China, the world's second largest consumer, has booked the largest volume of U.S. corn in a decade after tight supply drove up domestic prices higher than U.S. prices in the first half of the year.
The official said the cargo was most likely resold to the overseas market. COFCO bought the cargo from a Japanese trading house, Mitsubishi Corp, three trading sources said.
Traders from both companies could not be immediately reached for comment, and both companies have earlier declined to comment on the Reuters story.
"A genetically-modified element which is not approved by the Agriculture Ministry has been identified in the cargo and according to the relevant State Council regulation, the cargo will be returned," an official with the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau told Reuters, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
The official declined to identify the buyer of the cargo, but said the unapproved GMO strain was MON89034.
One trading manager at a feed mill in Guangdong said the cargo belonged to COFCO Co. Ltd, which bought on behalf of several feed mills in the province.
The cargo arrived at the port of Chiwan in September and was discharged into silos at ports, but feed mills were not allowed to take the goods, said the manager, who is one of the end-users.
"We have paid COFCO for delivery at port in Guangdong, but now we are not allowed to take the goods," said the manager, who declined to be identified.
China, the world's second largest consumer, has booked the largest volume of U.S. corn in a decade after tight supply drove up domestic prices higher than U.S. prices in the first half of the year.
The official said the cargo was most likely resold to the overseas market. COFCO bought the cargo from a Japanese trading house, Mitsubishi Corp, three trading sources said.
Traders from both companies could not be immediately reached for comment, and both companies have earlier declined to comment on the Reuters story.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Iranian woman to be hanged Wednesday: rights group
BERLIN (Reuters) – An Iranian woman whose sentence of execution by stoning for adultery provoked a worldwide outcry will instead be hanged for murder on Wednesday, a human rights group said.
"The authorities in Tehran have given the go-ahead to Tabriz prison for the execution of Iran stoning case Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani," the International Committee against Stoning, a German-based campaign group, said on its website.
"It has been reported that she is to be executed this Wednesday, 3 November."
Officials in Iran were not available to confirm or deny the report.
British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt spoke to Iran's charge d'affaires in London, Safar Ali Eslamian Koupaei, by phone on Tuesday to press for an update on Ashtiani's case.
But the Iranian diplomat was unable to confirm whether reports about her imminent execution were accurate, the Foreign Office said.
"I ... took the opportunity to remind him that the UK government would regard the execution of Ms Ashtiani as utterly unacceptable," Burt said in a statement.
The White House said the case showed a fundamental disregard for human rights. "We condemn in the strongest terms the government of Iran's apparent plans to move forward in executing Ms. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani," it said Tuesday.
Ashtiani's stoning sentence was suspended after prominent political and religious figures called it medieval, barbaric and brutal. Brazil, a close ally of Iran, offered to give the 43-year-old mother of two asylum.
A government spokesman said in September Ashtiani's adultery conviction was under review but the charge of being complicit in the murder of her husband was still pending.
Under the Islamic law in force in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, murder is punishable by hanging, adultery by stoning.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fended off questions about the case from reporters when he attended the U.N. General Assembly in September, saying it had been fabricated by hostile Western media and called the United States hypocritical for its record on executions.
The case has worsened relations between Iran and the West, which are locked in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, and was further complicated last month when two Germans were arrested in Iran while conducting an interview with Ashtiani's son.
The men entered Iran with tourist visas and were not authorized to act as journalists, judicial officials said. The German government is trying to secure their release.
In August, Iranian television aired an interview with a woman it said was Ashtiani admitting a relationship with a man who then murdered her husband. The International Committee Against Stoning, called the TV show "toxic propaganda."
The United States has imposed sanctions on eight senior Iranian officials, including the commander of the Revolutionary Guards and several cabinet ministers, for human rights abuses.
That is in addition to the sanctions over Iran's nuclear activities, which it fears is aimed at making an atomic bomb, something Tehran denies.
According to Amnesty International, Iran is second only to China in the number of executions it carries out. It put to death at least 346 people in 2008.
"The authorities in Tehran have given the go-ahead to Tabriz prison for the execution of Iran stoning case Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani," the International Committee against Stoning, a German-based campaign group, said on its website.
"It has been reported that she is to be executed this Wednesday, 3 November."
Officials in Iran were not available to confirm or deny the report.
British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt spoke to Iran's charge d'affaires in London, Safar Ali Eslamian Koupaei, by phone on Tuesday to press for an update on Ashtiani's case.
But the Iranian diplomat was unable to confirm whether reports about her imminent execution were accurate, the Foreign Office said.
"I ... took the opportunity to remind him that the UK government would regard the execution of Ms Ashtiani as utterly unacceptable," Burt said in a statement.
The White House said the case showed a fundamental disregard for human rights. "We condemn in the strongest terms the government of Iran's apparent plans to move forward in executing Ms. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani," it said Tuesday.
Ashtiani's stoning sentence was suspended after prominent political and religious figures called it medieval, barbaric and brutal. Brazil, a close ally of Iran, offered to give the 43-year-old mother of two asylum.
A government spokesman said in September Ashtiani's adultery conviction was under review but the charge of being complicit in the murder of her husband was still pending.
Under the Islamic law in force in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, murder is punishable by hanging, adultery by stoning.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fended off questions about the case from reporters when he attended the U.N. General Assembly in September, saying it had been fabricated by hostile Western media and called the United States hypocritical for its record on executions.
The case has worsened relations between Iran and the West, which are locked in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, and was further complicated last month when two Germans were arrested in Iran while conducting an interview with Ashtiani's son.
The men entered Iran with tourist visas and were not authorized to act as journalists, judicial officials said. The German government is trying to secure their release.
In August, Iranian television aired an interview with a woman it said was Ashtiani admitting a relationship with a man who then murdered her husband. The International Committee Against Stoning, called the TV show "toxic propaganda."
The United States has imposed sanctions on eight senior Iranian officials, including the commander of the Revolutionary Guards and several cabinet ministers, for human rights abuses.
That is in addition to the sanctions over Iran's nuclear activities, which it fears is aimed at making an atomic bomb, something Tehran denies.
According to Amnesty International, Iran is second only to China in the number of executions it carries out. It put to death at least 346 people in 2008.
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