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CIA DIRECTOR LEON PANETTA SAYS IRAN HAS
ENOUGH URANIUM TO BUILD TWO NUCLEAR BOMBS
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--CIA
Director Leon Panetta says Iran
probably has enough low-enriched uranium
for two nuclear weapons, but that it
likely would take two years to build the
bombs. Panetta also says he is doubtful
that recent U.N. penalties will put an
end to Iran's nuclear ambitions. He says
the penalties could help to weaken
Tehran's government by creating serious
economic problems. But he adds, "Will it
deter them from their ambitions with
regards to nuclear capability? Probably
not."
Panetta tells ABC's "This Week" that
there is "some debate" as to whether
Iran will proceed with the bomb. Asked
about a potential Israeli military
strike on Iran's nuclear facilities,
Panetta said he thinks Israel is giving
the U.S. room on the diplomatic and
political fronts.
"I think, you know, Israel
obviously is very concerned, as is the
entire world, about what's happening in
Iran. And they in particular because
they're in that region in the world,
have a particular concern about their
security. At the same time, I think, you
know, on an intelligence basis, we
continue to share intelligence as to
what exactly is Iran's capacity. I think
they feel more strongly that Iran has
already made the decision to proceed
with the bomb. But at the same time, I
think they know that sanctions will have
an impact, they know that if we continue
to push Iran from a diplomatic point of
view, that we can have some impact, and
I think they're willing to give us the
room to be able to try to change Iran
diplomatically and culturally and
politically as opposed to changing them
militarily. |
|
IRAN SAYS IT WANTS TO PUNISH WEST, WARNS
OF RETALIATION
TEHRAN,
IRAN--Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
says Tehran will not hold talks with the
West over its disputed nuclear program
until late August to "punish" world
powers for imposing tougher economic
sanctions. The U.N. Security Council
approved new sanctions against Iran
earlier this month over Tehran's refusal
to halt uranium enrichment.
Ahmadinejad told a news conference
that Iran was prepared to return to
talks but only by the second half of the
Muslim festival of Ramadan -- in late
August. The Irani President told
reporters that the decision is aimed at
"punishing them (the West) to teach them
the custom of talking to our nation."
"It's a punishment to teach them a
lesson to know how to have a dialogue
with nations," he said. The West
suspects Iran's nuclear program is
designed to produce nuclear weapons but
Tehran says it is for fuel and medical
use. When asked what Iran would do if
its ships were inspected, the hardline
president said: "If they make the
slightest mistake we will definitely
retaliate." He did not elaborate. The
U.S. and some of its allies accuse Iran
of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran denies the charge. |
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north korea warns u.s. over DEPLOYMENT
OF "heavy ARTILLERY" at dmz
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--The North, accused by the South and
the United States of sinking one of its
naval vessels in March, has already
raised tension to a new height by
threatening war if it is punished for
the naval attack which it says was
fabricated by the South. South Korean
and U.S. forces remain in a tense
standoff with the North at Panmunjom
that straddles the Demilitarised Zone
after it was established at the end of
the 1950-53 Korean War. "U.S. forces
introduced weapons (to the truce
village) at around 7:25 a.m. on June
26," the North's official KCNA news
agency said, quoting its military,
adding that the weapons must be
withdrawn immediately. "If it does not
comply with the principled demand of the
Korean People's Army, strong military
counter-measures will be taken in the
area," the agency said.
North Korea's military, with 1.2 million
troops, is one of the largest in the
world. The two sides are technically
still at war as the 1950-53 conflict
ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.
A U.S. military spokesman could not
immediately comment on what may have
occurred in the truce village Saturday
that triggered the North's comments.
Sunday, the North rejected a call for a
meeting of the commission overseeing the
truce and demanded direct military talks
with the South to discuss the sinking of
the South Korean navy corvette in which
46 sailors died. A delegation from the
U.S.-led U.N. Command is probing whether
North Korea violated the armistice by
sinking the Cheonan, a probe the North
has denounced as a sham.
North Korea said, not for the first
time, that it faced a U.S.
administration bent on imposing a
nuclear threat and that it had no choice
but to bolster its own nuclear
deterrent. "Historical facts prove that
the DPRK was quite right when it made a
decision to react to nukes with a
nuclear deterrent," KCNA said, referring
to North Korea by its official name, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"The recent disturbing development on
the Korean peninsula underscores the
need for the DPRK to bolster its nuclear
deterrent in a newly developed way to
cope with the U.S. persistent hostile
policy toward the DPRK and military
threat toward it." U.S. President Barack
Obama said Sunday the world needs to
rally around South Korea in order to
send North Korea a clear message over
the sinking of the corvette. |
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G-8 URGES MORE WORK ON GLOBAL
ECONOMY, CRITICIZES IRAN, NORTH KOREA
HUNTSVILLE,
CANADA--World
leaders in the Group of Eight (G8)
have concluded their summit in Canada
with a communique saying the global
economy is at an important crossroads,
with the world still at the beginning of
a fragile recovery from economic
crisis. G8 leaders now taking part in
the wider G20 summit, also criticize
Iran and North Korea over their nuclear
programs, and address the situation in
Afghanistan. The 43 point communique
says G8 nations are bound together by a
shared vision on major challenges, and
the group has demonstrated the capacity
to design credible approaches to meet
global challenges. The statement
addresses a range of development and aid
issues, along with trade, and
environmental issues. It does not
contain any broad statement about how
countries will pursue economic recovery,
saying progress will be made by the G20
toward sustainable recovery of the
global economic and financial system.
G8 leaders express concern about serious
threats to global peace and security,
from the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, terrorism, organized
crime, piracy and political and ethnic
conflict. They condemn the sinking of
the South Korean warship this past March
that an international investigation said
was carried out by North Korea. Iran and
North Korea come in for specific
criticism over their nuclear programs.
Urging full implementation of the new
U.N. Security Council resolution
imposing new sanctions, the G-8 calls on
Iran to engage in a transparent dialogue
about its nuclear activities and meet is
international obligations. Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke
earlier about the G8's position. "The
governments of Iran and North Korea have
chosen to acquire weapons to threaten
their neighbors. The world must see to
it that what they spend on these weapons
will not be the only cost that they
incur," he said.
The G8 also urges Iran to respect the rule of law and
freedom of expression, language that
mirrors a communique from a previous G8
summit. The G8 calls on Afghanistan to
demonstrate tangible progress toward
assuming increasing responsibility for
security within five years, saying a
conference in Kabul in July would be an
important opportunity to detail such
plans. President Barack Obama said he
and British Prime Minister David Cameron
had extensive discussions on
Afghanistan, telling reporters the right
strategy is in place to provide the
Afghan government to build its military
capacity over the coming months and
years. The president spoke after those
talks. "On foreign policy issues the
United States and the United Kingdom are
not only aligned in theory, but are
aligned in fact," he said. |
|
DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ MEETS WITH SYRIA'S
ASSAD IN VENEZUELA
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--Venezuelan
DICTATOR Hugo Chavez met with Syrian
President Bashar Assad on
Saturday and called on Latin America and
the Arab world to fight what he called
America's imperialist and capitalist
interests abroad. During a meeting at
Venezuela's presidential palace, Chavez
told Assad it was an honor to host the
Syrian leader on his first visit to
Latin America. Chavez presented Assad
with a gold-plated replica of a sword
that once belonged to South American
independence hero Simon Bolivar - the
inspiration for his "Bolivarian
Revolution." "Arab civilization and our
civilization, the Latin American one,
are being summoned in this new century
to play the fundamental role of
liberating the world, saving the world
from the imperialism and capitalist
hegemony that threaten the human
species," Chavez said. "Syria and
Venezuela are at the vanguard of this
struggle."
Assad praised Chavez for standing up to
the United States and supporting the
Palestinian struggle. "There are few
politicians who are courageous to speak
out when it's necessary," he said
through an interpreter. "Chavez has
projected the image of a resistant
Venezuela." Assad strongly criticized
Israel, calling the Jewish state's
government "extremist" and condemning
its blockade of Gaza. "The resistance
must be supported," he said. Chavez is
perhaps Latin's America's most outspoken
critic of the United States, lashing out
at the U.S. government for purportedly
conspiring against him and meddling in
the region's affairs. U.S. officials, in
turn, have raised concerns that Chavez
is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
Chavez also condemned the U.N. Security Council for
tightening sanctions against Iran as a
means of curbing development of the
Islamic state's nuclear program and he
warned Washington against starting a war
with his ally, saying: "Don't make a
mistake with Iran." Assad said all
nations, including Iran, "have the right
to develop nuclear energy." Chavez has
built close diplomatic relations with
Syria, Iran and other Middle Eastern
countries while severing Venezuela's
ties to Israel. Last year, the socialist
leader visited Syria, where he called
Israel an imperialist nation that
annihilates its neighbors and accused
its government of doing Washington's
bidding by trying to divide the Middle
East. Following his meeting with Chavez,
Assad is slated to travel to Cuba,
Brazil and Argentina. |
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DICTATOR CHAVEZ TO NATIONALIZE OIL RIGS
BELONGING TO U.S. COMPANY HELMERIC &
PAYNE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--VENEZUELAN
DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ will nationalize a
fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S.
company Helmerich and Payne, the latest
takeover in a push to socialism as
Chavez struggles with lower oil output
and a recession. A former soldier
inspired by Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez
has made energy nationalization the
linchpin in his 'revolution'. He has
also taken over assets in
telecommunications, power, steel and
banking. The 11 drilling rigs have been
idled for months following a dispute
over pending payments by the OPEC
member's state oil company PDVSA.
Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on
Wednesday the rigs, the Oklahoma-based
company's entire Venezuelan fleet, were
being nationalized to bring them back
into production. Ramirez said companies
that refused to put their rigs into
production were part of a plan to weaken
Chavez's government. "There is a group
of drill owners that has refused to
discuss tariffs and services with PDVSA
and have preferred to keep this
equipment stored for a year," Ramirez
told reporters in the oil producing
state of Zulia. "That is the specific
case with U.S. multinational Helmerich
and Payne." Chavez, who faces
legislative elections in September,
often pushes ahead with radical plans
during election campaigns. The
55-year-old leader is having a hard time
in his 11th year in power.
Venezuela's economy is the worst performing in Latin
America this year, a problem exacerbated
by a drop in oil output since 2008,
power outages and soaring inflation. The
takeover of Helmerich and Payne's rigs
was not a surprise, considering Chavez
penchant for nationalizations and the
company's refusal to work before being
paid the $49 million it has invoiced
PDVSA. Helmerich and Payne is a small
player in the drilling industry, but
global giants like Halliburton,
Schlumberger and Baker Hughes also have
a presence in Venezuela. Halliburton and
Schlumberger have avoided public spats
with the government. Chavez has kept
pressure up on the private sector in
recent months, blaming a "parasitic
bourgeoisie" for Venezuela's recession
and 30 percent annualized inflation, |
|
venezuela asks the united nations to
rectify report on drugs and crime
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--The
Venezuelan government said that
the 2010 World Drug Report released by
the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (Unodc)
"does not bear correspondence to
reality" and asked the United Nations to
rectify the figures that "distort" the
real situation of the country.
"We have expressed the concern of the Venezuelan
government over this report and its
data, as they have no correspondence to
reality, to results," said Venezuela's
Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami. A
report published by the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime (Unodc) on Wednesday
claimed that more than half of all
intercepted shipments of cocaine to
Europe over 2006-2008 came from
Venezuela, AFP reported. "There are
irregular data, that distort and
manipulate" reality, insisted the
Venezuelan top official, after a meeting
with Ali Abdussalam Treki, who is the
president of the sixty-fourth session of
the United Nations General Assembly.
"We trust in the will of our guest to rectify this report and
(we hope) that truth comes out as well
as the dignity of our people," El
Aissami said. The Venezuelan minister
requested an "objective report that
continues to demonstrate the efficiency
of the policies implemented by the
Bolivarian government." Venezuela argues
that it has increased its war against
drug trafficking since 2006, when it
ceased cooperation with the DEA, the US
anti-drug agency. |
|
IRAN CANCELS SENDING AID SHIP TO GAZA
TEHRAN,
IRAN--Iran
canceled sending an aid ship to the Gaza
Strip which was supposed to set sail for
the Palestinian territory on Sunday,
state news agency IRNA reported. "The
trip is not going to happen," Hossein
Sheikholeslam, secretary general of the
International Conference for the Support
of the Palestinian Intifada, an Iranian
body set up by parliament, told
reporters on Thursday, IRNA said. He
said the ship had originally been due to
depart on Thursday, but "due to
restrictions from the occupying Zionist
regime, it was decided that this ship
would leave on Sunday. But now the trip
is not going to happen."
Sheikholeslam, speaking in the
northern Iranian city of Rasht, said
that the aid supplies that had been
collected for the voyage will be sent by
other means to Gaza. "The Zionist
regime has made the blockade a political
issue and we do not wish to politicize
this kind of humanitarian aid because
the most important thing for us is to
break the blockade of Gaza," he said.
He said the voyage was canceled as
Israel "had sent a letter to the United
Nations saying that the presence of
Iranian and Lebanese ships in the Gaza
area will be considered a declaration of
war on that regime and it will confront
it," IRNA quoted him as saying.
"In order to deprive the Zionist
regime of any excuse, the aid collected
for the oppressed people of Gaza will be
delivered to them by other means without
mentioning the name of Iran." On
Tuesday, Iranian Red Crescent official
Abdolrauf Adibzadeh had said that the
ship, "Gaza Children", would leave on
Sunday from the Gulf port of Bandar
Abbas. It was to have carried aid
including medicine and foodstuffs, he
said. The Iranian Red Crescent had
initially planned to send two aid ships
to the Palestinian territory earlier
this month. But an official with the
organization said on Monday the
departure for Gaza had been delayed
because of a lack of coordination and a
change of cargo. |
|
VENEZUELAN COMPTROLLER GENERAL VOWS TO
DISQUALIFY OTHER PEOPLE FOR PUBLIC
OFFICE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--Comptroller
Russián said that his agency
would impose the appropriate penalties
to those found responsible for the case
of rotten food which his office has
investigated since 2008.
Venezuela's Comptroller General accused the opposition
of "creating a scandal" with the topic
of spoiled food containers in order to
capitalize the issue on the upcoming
election. He said that his agency will
investigate the distribution activities
of the state-run food storage,
distribution and wholesale network
Mercal since 2008.
"When elections are held, (the opposition) provokes a
scandal, such as the one with the
problem of food. We have been
investigating the case since 2008," the
Comptroller General said in the
state-run TV network Venezolana de
Televisión. Russián said that the
Comptroller General's Office will impose
the corresponding penalties. He also
defended the political disqualifications
imposed during his tenure. |
|
DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ WARNS ABOUT WAR
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
QUITO,
ECUADOR--Venezuelan
DICTATOR Hugo Chávez, who
is attending an ALBA Summit held in
Ecuador, called people's attention to
the warnings made by former Cuban
President Fidel Castro on a possible war
in the Middle East.
"Fidel has been warning on an
imminent war in the Middle East, because
while the world is only paying attention
to soccer, the US empire has sent its
whole fleet to besiege Iran," Chávez
said. He confirmed that Syria's
President Bashar al-Assad is to arrive
in Caracas on Friday night. Chávez said
that "all the (Middle East) area is
threatened."
"We greet the Arab people, as well as
Palestinians and Persians. We warn the
US empire to stop threatening the people
of the world. (We urge them) to respect
the sovereignty of the peoples of the
world." "There is evidence that the US
rather than North Korea planted a bomb
on a South Korean navy warship to try to
justify a war between the two Koreas and
a new intervention," he said. |
|
NORTH KOREA HAS ISSUED A NO-SAIL WARNING
OFF THE WEST COAST OF THE KOREAN
PENINSULA
SEOUL,
SOUTH KOREA--North Korea
has issued a no-sail
warning off the west coast of the Korean
Peninsula in what South Korean officials
said on Friday was likely part of
routine military drills, amid heightened
antagonism between the rivals. Tensions
between the two Koreas have grown since
the South blamed the North for
torpedoing one of its navy ships in
March killing 46 sailors. The North
denies involvement in the sinking,
saying the accusation is a fabricated
political ploy. "North Korea has
designated a north-west area of the
(Yellow Sea) as a no-sail zone for June
19 to 27," a South Korean Defense
Ministry official said. "This appears to
be part of training exercises and we
have no indications of unusual
activities by the North Korean
military."
A report by a local newspaper on
Friday said a no-sail waning issued by
the North was in effect possibly as a
preparation for launching a short-range
missile. The report triggered a rally in
South Korean defense stocks in early
trading. Players in the Korean financial
markets largely shrugged off the report
as they typically do when news of the
North's provocations fall short of
direct confrontation.
North Korea has protested the
accusation by the South that its
submarine fired a torpedo that sank the
corvette Cheonan, and warned of war if
Seoul imposed punishment. Marking the
60th anniversary of the outbreak of the
Korean War, South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak demanded an apology from the
North and called for an end to
provocations. "North Korea must halt
reckless military provocations and join
the road to coexistence among the 70
million Korean nation," he said. "Our
ultimate goal is not military
confrontation but peaceful unification." |
|
US SENATE
OKs
NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN'S ENERGY, BANKS
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--The
us Senate on Thursday approved tough
new unilateral sanctions aimed at
squeezing Iran's energy and banking
sectors, which could also hurt companies
from other countries doing business with
Tehran. The Senate passed the bill 99-0.
The House of Representatives was
expected to follow suit later in the
day, then the measure will go to
President Barack Obama to sign into law.
Congress' intent is to pressure
Tehran into curbing its nuclear program,
which Washington suspects is aimed at
making a bomb. Lawmakers from both
parties have been pushing for months to
tighten U.S. sanctions on Iran. At the
Obama administration's request, they
held off until the United Nations
Security Council and the European Union
agreed new multilateral sanctions. But
the lawmakers then declared that still
tougher measures were needed.
"The U.N. sanctions, though a good
first step, are quite tepid. And they
are tepid because there are other
members of the Security Council who want
to keep doing that business with Iran
... The United States therefore has to
pass these unilateral sanctions,"
Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski said
during debate in the Senate. The
legislation penalizes companies
supplying Iran with gasoline as well as
international banking institutions
involved with Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, its nuclear
program or what the United States calls
its support for terrorist activity. It would effectively deprive foreign
banks of access to the U.S. financial
system if they do business with key
Iranian banks or the Revolutionary
Guards. Global suppliers of gasoline to
Iran could also face bans on access to
the U.S. banking system, property
transactions and foreign exchange in the
United States. |
|
BISHOPS TERM A "SIN THAT HEAVEN IS
CRYING OVER" THE SCANDAL OF ROTTEN FOOD
IN VENEZUELA
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--The
leaders of the Venezuelan Bishops'
Conference (CEV) said that the
scandal related to thousand tons of
spoiled food in several ports of the
country is "a sin that Heaven is crying
over," and therefore they urged
authorities to punish people involved in
this case and take the necessary
measures to prevent this from happening
again. In a statement, bishops Ubaldo
Santana (Maracaibo), Baltazar Porras
(Mérida), Roberto Luckert (Coro) and
Jesús González (Caracas) said that this
case "underlines the moral deterioration
of the government agencies" in charge of
food imports and distribution.
Based on an article published last
Sunday by daily newspaper El Universal,
the 122,000 tons of rotten food found so
far in Venezuela could have been used to
feed 17 million Venezuelans, which are
more than half the population of the
country, for a month. According to the
National Statistics Institute (INE), by
the end of 2009, 24.20 percent of
Venezuelans were under the poverty
line. So far, only three people have
been arrested in connection with this
case: Luis Pulido, who was the president
of state-run food distribution network
Pdval until September 2009; Romel
Flores, Pdval's general manager and
Dilesca Betancourt, executive director
of Operations and Logistics.
The bishops also took the opportunity to express their
position on the situation of freedom of
speech, and criticized the latest legal
actions adopted against journalists and
media owners. "People in public office
should avoid the use of power and the
enactment of laws as tools of
intimidation and punishment. Democracy
without freedom, without autonomous and
fair powers deteriorates and opens the
door to abuse and impunity," the
statement said. Finally, the Church
leaders urged the Venezuelan authorities
to take the necessary steps to pave the
way for the upcoming parliamentary
elections to be held on September 26 to
be take place in a "social and political
environment conducive to spiritual calm
that allow us to have a comprehensive
view of reality." |
|
INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST: VENEZUELAN
DEMOCRACY IS THREATENED BY DICTATOR HUGO
CHAVEZ
PARIS,
FRANCE--The
worldwide organization of social
democratic, socialist and labor
parties criticized the “authoritarian
regime” established in Venezuela. The
International Socialist unanimously
approved a report submitted by an
international mission of the
organization that visited the country in
January. The report condemns the
"authoritarian regime established in
Venezuela."
According to the document, which
examines different aspects of the
Venezuelan situation, Venezuela's
democracy is threatened "by an
authoritarian regime that uses
shamelessly and regularly government
institutions to put an end to democratic
principles."
It added that the International Socialist needs to supports
the different democratic sectors in
Venezuela to restore civil liberties,
democratic institutions and, therefore,
the democratic system. "Appropriation
of the legislative framework (by the
Executive Office) is a key element in
the government's mechanism to ensure its
own perpetuity in power." |
|
PAKISTAN JAILS FIVE AMERICANS FOR TERROR
PLOT
SARGODHA,
PAKISTAN--
Five American men were convicted
Thursday on terror charges by a
Pakistani court and sentenced to 10
years in prison in a case that has
heightened concerns about Westerners
traveling to Pakistan to contact
al-Qaida and other Islamist extremist
groups. The trial of the young Muslim
men from the Washington, D.C., area was
sensitive for the U.S., which has a duty
to ensure justice for its citizens
abroad but also has pushed Pakistan to
crack down on militancy.
Prosecutors said e-mail records and
witness statements proved the men used
the Internet to plot terror attacks in
Pakistan and nations allied with it. The
father of one of the men said they were
in Pakistan to attend his son's wedding,
but had intended to cross into
Afghanistan for humanitarian work. The
verdict comes the same week
Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad
pleaded guilty to trying to bomb New
York's Times Square in May after getting
training by the Taliban in Pakistan's
tribal areas. The judge on Thursday
handed down two prison terms for each
man, one for 10 years on a criminal
conspiracy charge, and the other for
five years on the charge of funding
banned organizations for terrorism. A
copy of the decision seen by The
Associated Press said the terms were to
be served concurrently.
A Pakistani government prosecutor says he has presented
evidence in court that shows contacts
between five detained Americans with an
Al Qaeda linked militant leader. The
men, all in their 20s, had faced up to
life in prison. They were acquitted of
three charges, including planning to
wage war against the U.S. and
Afghanistan -- allies of Pakistan. The
men have been identified as Ramy Zamzam
of Egyptian descent, Waqar Khan and Umar
Farooq of Pakistani descent, and Aman
Hassan Yemer and Ahmed Minni of
Ethiopian descent. They were reported
missing by their families in November
after one left behind a farewell video
showing scenes of war and casualties and
saying Muslims must be defended. |
|
DICTATORS HUGO CHAVEZ AND RAUL CASTRO
THE "WORST OF THE WORST" AS EVALUATED BY
FOREIGN POLICY
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Venezuelan
dictator Hugo Chávez and Cuban dictator
Raúl Castro appear in a list of
the 23 worst "tyrants" on planet,
prepared by the US review Foreign
Policy. North-Korean Kim Jong Il heads
the list.
Chávez and Castro, labeled as dictators
by the publication, rank 17 and 21,
respectively in the list, Efe quoted. In
the opinion of the Foreign Policy
editors, none of them have the status of
tyrant awarded to Fidel Castro in 2007.
That year, Castro occupied the 15th
position.
As for Chávez, the review stated, "the quack leader of the
Bolivarian Revolution, Chávez promotes a
doctrine of participatory democracy in
which he is the sole participant."
According to the publication, in his 11
years in office, Chávez has "jailed
opposition leaders, extended term limits
indefinitely, and closed independent
media." |
|
DIEGO ARRIA, FORMER UN AMBASSADOR: WE
WILL DO ALL WE CAN TO TAKE CHAVEZ TO THE
HAGUE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--Former
UN ambassador Diego Arria
reported that there is an organized
process to take dictator Hugo Chávez to
the International Court of Justice at
The Hague for human rights violations.
"Definitely, it is possible to try him,
and we will make it real. We are getting
ready to take Mr. Hugo Chávez to The
Hague. No doubt about it," Arria said in
an interview with the Venezuelan radio
station Unión Radio.
"When a regime such as Venezuela's
carries out a state policy based on
plundering, looting, it is a very
serious crime against humanity," Arria
said, and clarified, "I am not saying
this. This is what lawyers of the
international court have said."
He regretted that some opposition
leaders consider that it is impossible
that President Chávez can be tried in a
court. "It is incredible that the people
who have mostly undermined the arguments
against the (Venezuelan) regime come
from the opposition. They prefer to
attack opposition leaders rather than
recognize them." Diego Arria published a
public letter last Saturday entitled "Chávez,
see you in The Hague." |
|
IRAN SAYS HAS ENRICHED 17 KG URANIUM TO
20 PERCENT PURITY
TEHRAN, IRAN--
Iran has enriched 17 kg of uranium to 20
percent purity, a top official
said on Wednesday, underscoring Tehran's
determination to push ahead with its
nuclear program despite new
international sanctions. Iran's
enrichment activities are at the heart
of its standoff with the West which
fears it is seeking nuclear weapons
capability. Two weeks ago, the United
Nations Security Council agreed to
impose a fourth round of sanctions on
Iran. Iran started refining uranium to
20 percent purity -- up from around 5
percent previously -- in February,
saying it aimed to make fuel for a
medical research reactor.
The move alarmed the West as it was seen
as a significant step toward making
weapons-grade uranium, which is 90
percent enriched. Iran says its nuclear
program is for peaceful purposes and
primarily aimed at electricity
generation. "We have already produced 17
kg of 20 percent enriched uranium, and
we have the ability to produce 5 kg each
month but we do not rush," Ali Akbar
Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy
Organization, was quoted as saying by
the ISNA news agency. "We do not want to
produce anything which we do not need
and we don't want to convert all our
uranium reserves to 20 percent enriched
uranium, so we produce 20 percent of
enriched uranium according to our
needs." Salehi told Reuters in February
that the Tehran medical reactor required
around 1.5 kg of fuel per month. By
early April Iran had produced 5.7 kg,
according to the International Atomic
Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear
watchdog.
Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow for non-proliferation
at the International Institute for
Strategic Studies in London told Reuters
that around 200 kg of 20 percent
enriched uranium, if further enriched,
would be required to make a nuclear
bomb. That offer, brokered in May by
Turkey and Brazil, revived a deal struck
with major powers in October, but
Western diplomats said the fuel swap was
no longer meaningful as Iran had
increased its LEU stockpile considerably
in the meantime. Saheli said the test
phase of third generation centrifuges --
unveiled by President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad at a ceremony in April --
was nearly completed and that work on a
fourth generation was under way. The
centrifuges Iran uses now to enrich
uranium are adapted from a 1970s design
and have been prone to breakdowns. |
|
SIN PALABRAS
|
|
dr. darsy ferrer found guilty, then
freed
HAVANA.
CUBA--
A Cuban court found prominent opposition
leader Darsy Ferrer guilty of purchasing
black-market cement on Tuesday,
but he was released on time served since
it took nearly a year for his case to go
to trial. Human rights officials say
that Ferrer was arrested for a common
crime officials usually overlook - or
punish with a simple fine - in an
attempt to silence his criticism of the
government. Ferrer's trial was closed to
the media and most of the public, but
his wife, Yusnaimy Jorge Soca, said he
was found guilty of purchasing
black-market building materials and was
ordered released. He is supposed to
serve the roughly four months remaining
on his 15-month sentence at the couple's
Havana home.
"I think what happened inside was
the fair outcome. It's what we've waited
for since the beginning," Jorge told
reporters outside the courthouse in the
Cuban capital's 10 de Octubre district.
"We only wanted to repair our home."
Ferrer was taken to a police station for
processing, but was expected to head
home soon. While other prisoners arrived
at court together in a van, Ferrer was
brought in a police car with two
Ministry of Interior agents wearing
green uniforms. Jorge and about 30
relatives and supporters, many of them
self-described dissidents, waited
outside the courthouse for about two
hours, occasionally shouting "Liberty!"
and anti-government slogans. Jorge was
allowed to enter when her husband's
trial started.
Diplomats from the United States,
Britain and a few other nations stood in
the shade of nearby trees, but they made
no comment and left before the verdict
was announced. Cuban state security
agents in plain clothes watched from
surrounding street corners. A physician,
Ferrer is among Cuba's most prominent
dissidents. Like most of those, however,
he is better known abroad than in his
own country, where the state-run media
almost never mentions him. In years
past, he organized tiny street
demonstrations to mark International
Human Rights Day in December, but he has
been in prison since July 21, 2009.
Ferrer and his wife said they obtained
the cement to repair a collapsing wall
in their home, and didn't expect it to
become a political issue. Ferrer's
release after being held without trial
for 11 months could add to signs Cuba's
government is softening its stance
toward organized dissent.The government
of Raul Castro recently promised Roman
Catholic Church leaders to move
political prisoners to facilities closer
to home, and to give better access to
medical care for inmates who need it. |
|
IRAN TO SEND BLOCKADE-BUSTING SHIP TO
GAZA
TEHRAN,
IRAN--Iran
said Tuesday it would send a
blockade-busting ship carrying aid and
pro-Palestinian activists to Gaza,
fueling concern in Israel, where
commandos were training for another
possible confrontation at sea. Israel
warned archenemy Iran to drop the plan.
The Iranian announcement came days after
Israel eased its three-year-old blockade
of Gaza under international pressure
following its deadly raid on a
Gaza-bound flotilla last month.
"No one in their right mind can believe that a ship
sent by the ayatollahs and their
Revolutionary Guards has anything to do
with humanitarian aid," said Israeli
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
"I don't think there is one single
country in this region and beyond that
would let such an ayatollah ship come
near its coasts." Security officials
said the prospect of an Iranian boat
headed for Gaza had Israel deeply
worried, and that naval commandos were
training for the possibility of taking
on a vessel with a suicide bomber on
board. The officials spoke on condition
of anonymity because they were not
authorized to disclose operational
details.
Egypt had joined Israel in blockading Gaza, but it opened its
land crossing with the territory
indefinitely after the May raid to let
thousands of Palestinians through.
Egyptian transportation official
Mohammad Abdelwahab suggested his
country was ready to back off the naval
blockade as well. He said Egypt would
not prevent the Iranian ship from
passing through the Suez Canal, a
strategic passageway that connects the
Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea that
Gaza borders. "As long as the ship is
not at war with Egypt and doesn't
pollute the air, water or land, then it
will be allowed to cross," Abdelwahab
said. Iran's state television reported
that an Iranian ship called "Infants of
Gaza" would sail Sunday for Gaza
carrying 1,100 tons of relief supplies
and 10 pro-Palestinian activists. |
|
VENEZUELAN
CATHOLIC CHURCH VIEWS LOSS OF FOODSTUFFS
ALARMING
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The
president of the Venezuelan Bishops'
Association (CEV) Ubaldo Santana
labeled on Monday as "alarming and
worrisome" the loss of tons of imported
food stored in several ports throughout
the nation.
"While in our houses, we struggle to tighten our budgets and
someone else cannot afford buying food
and should resort to those popular
networks, huge amounts of food are lost
and nobody is held accountable," Santana
lamented.
The food was found two weeks ago stored in Puerto Cabello, a
major port located on the central coast.
The expired food, estimated at more than
70,000 tons, is part of the imports made
by Pdval, a food retail chain ascribed
to state-run oil holding Petróleos de
Venezuela (Pdvsa), DPA quoted.
|
LOS MOCOSOS DEL ALBA
|
|
ABNORMAL RADIATION DETECTED NEAR
NORTH KOREAN BORDER
SEOUL,
SOUTH KOREA--Abnormally
high radiation levels were
detected near the border between the two
Koreas days after North Korea claimed to
have mastered a complex technology key
to manufacturing a hydrogen bomb, Seoul
said Monday. The Science Ministry said
its investigation ruled out a nuclear
test by North Korea, but failed to
determine the source of the radiation.
It said there was no evidence of a
strong earthquake, which follows an
atomic explosion.
On May 12, North Korea claimed its
scientists succeeded in creating a
nuclear fusion reaction -- a technology
necessary to manufacture a hydrogen
bomb. In its announcement, the North did
not say how it would use the technology,
only calling it a "breakthrough toward
the development of new energy." South
Korean experts doubted the North
actually made such a breakthrough.
Scientists around the world have been
experimenting with fusion for decades,
but it has yet to be developed into a
viable energy alternative. On May 15,
however, the atmospheric concentration
of xenon -- an inert gas released after
a nuclear explosion or and radioactive
leakage from a nuclear power plant -- on
the South Korean side their shared
border was found to be eight times
higher than normal, according to South
Korea's Science Ministry.
South Korea subsequently looked for signs of a
powerful, artificially induced
earthquake. Experts, however, found no
signs of a such a quake in North Korea,
a ministry statement said. "We
determined that there was no possibility
of an underground nuclear test," it
said. The ministry said the gas is not
harmful. While any fusion test would
have registered seismic activity,
according to nuclear expert Whang Joo-ho
of South Korea's Kyung Hee University,
the presence of xenon could also have
come from a leak. Since the wind was
blowing from north to south when the
xenon was detected, a Science Ministry
official said the gas could not have
originated from any nuclear power plants
in South Korea. But the official --
speaking on condition of anonymity,
citing department policy -- said the
xenon could have come from Russia or
China. Whang agreed, saying a nuclear
test or radioactive leakage would be the
only reasons that could explain the
atmospheric concentration of xenon
reported by the ministry. |
|
argentina DENIES "PARALLEL FOREIGN
MINISTRY" WORKING DIRECTLY WITH DICTATOR
HUGO CHAVEZ
BUENOS
AIRES, ARGENTINA--Newly
appointed Argentine Foreign Minister
Héctor Timerman denied the
existence of a "parallel foreign
ministry" in trade relations with con
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, as
opposition sectors has said after the
Argentine Judiciary filed an
investigation into the alleged payment
of bribes to export products. The case
came in the spotlight last month when
Eduardo Sadous, who was the Argentine
Ambassador to Venezuela in 2002-2005,
reported that Argentine businessmen had
said that they had to pay between 15 and
20 percent in deals with Venezuela.
"I am going to talk to Sadous. I am
convinced that he knows, as a
professional, that under the law
ambassadors cannot disclose confidential
information. If they do so, they would
be committing a crime," warned Timerman
in an interview published by the
Argentine newspaper Página/12 after
being appointed foreign minister last
Friday following the resignation of
former Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana.
Several sources said that the
resignation of Taiana was triggered by
differences with the Argentinean
President Cristina Kirchner on the
investigation of alleged bribery related
to trade deals with Venezuela and the
monitoring of a pulp mill in Uruguay.
In the case of the investigation
conducted with regard to business
between Argentina and Venezuela, Taiana
has given the green light to former
Ambassador Sadous to testify next
Wednesday before the parliamentary
committee which investigates the case.
The new Argentine Foreign Minister also
said that Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez has been legitimized in more than
14 elections. "There is no other Latin
American leader that has been so
legitimized in democratic processes,"
Timerman said. |
|
CATHOLIC CHURCH WARNS OF CARTEL CONTROL
IN MEXICO
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO--
Mexico's Roman Catholic Church
says drug cartels now control parts of
some cities and warns that the gangs may
be trying to influence this year's state
elections.
The Archdiocese of Mexico says in an
editorial that organized crime groups
may try "to impose candidates" in the
July 4 elections that will decide 12 of
Mexico's 31 governorships. It says
cartels may also try to impede voters
from going to the polls.
The editorial posted Sunday on the
archdiocese's website says drug gangs
are intimidating governments in some
states and "control entire neighborhoods
in some cities." More than 22,700 people
have died in drug-related violence since
Mexico launched an anti-drug offensive
in late 2006. |
|
CUBA AND THE VATICAN CELEBRATE THE
75TH ANNIVERSARY OF "UNINTERRUPTED"
DIPLOMACY
"fool me once, shame on you, fool
me twice shame on me"
HAVANA,
CUBA--According
to the libel "Granma," respect
and cordiality” were highlighted last
night at the concert commemorating 75
years of diplomatic links between Cuba
and the Holy See. The event was
attended by Vice President Esteban Lazo
Hernández and Monsignor Dominique
Mamberti. "La Misa Cubana" by José María
Vitier highlighted the musical evening,
which was also attended by Foreign
Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla;
Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino,
archbishop of Havana; Monsignor Giovanni
Angelo Becciu, the apostolic nuncio; and
Caridad Diego Bello, director of the
Religious Affairs Office of the Central
Committee.
Also present were bishops and other
representatives of the Catholic Church;
Eusebio Leal Spengler, Havana City
historian; and eminent Cuban artists and
intellectuals and invited guests. The
"profound, continuing and ascending
relations" between the two countries
were emphasized by the Cuban foreign
minister and Monsignor Mamberti during a
press conference on Wednesday morning
after official talks. At the same time
they both praised the growing and
fruitful dialogue between the Cuban
Catholic Church and government
authorities.
Bruno Rodríguez commented on the honor it is for our
people to receive Monsignor Mamberti in
the framework of the 75th anniversary of
uninterrupted ties between both states.
In response, the Archbishop said that he
was happy to make this official and
pastoral visit, and predicted a
progressive strengthening of the ties
established June 7, 1935. Alluding to
the U.S. blockade of the Island,
Rodríguez thanked his counterpart for
the Vatican position, expressed in the
earlier visits of Pope John Paul II and
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who described
that policy as "ethically unacceptable"
and "oppression of the people,"
respectively. Before the press
conference, the Vatican Secretary for
Relations with States placed a wreath at
the monument to José Martí in Plaza de
la Revolución. |
|
argentina's foreign minister jorge
taiana resigned
BUENOS
AIRES, ARGENTINA--Argentine
Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana, a
former political prisoner who led the
country’s bid to reclaim the Falkland
Islands from Britain, has resigned, the
ministry’s press office said. Taiana,
60, was named foreign minister by
then-President Nestor Kirchner in
November 2005 following the departure of
Rafael Bielsa, under whom Taiana served
as deputy minister for two years.
A new foreign minister was named on
Friday, tapping its ambassador to the
United States, Hector Timerman, after
Taina’s resignation citing unspecified
personal motives. Taiana was a key
figure in the governments of President
Cristina Fernandez. He was confirmed in
his post by Kirchner’s wife and
successor, Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner, when she took office in
December 2007. A sociologist and human
rights activist, he was imprisoned for
seven years during Argentina's military
dictatorship, and coordinated a Latin
American peace and justice center after
the return of democracy in 1983.
Taiana was a
political prisoner for seven years and
was released in 1982, a year before the
end of Argentina’s last military regime.
He recently testified in a human rights
abuse trial against leaders of the
dictatorship. Timerman also has strong
human rights credentials. The son of the
late journalist Jacobo Timerman, he too
became a journalist, studied in U.S.
exile during the dictatorship and
co-founded the human rights organization
Americas Watch. |
|
TWIN SUICIDE CAR BOMBINGS IN CENTRAL
BAGHDAD KILLED AT LEAST 30
BAGHDAD, IRAQ--At
least 30 people have been killed in a
twin suicide car bombing close to a
state-owned bank in the Iraqi capital,
Baghdad, officials have said.
More than 50 others were also hurt when
the vehicles exploded simultaneously
outside the Trade Bank of Iraq's
headquarters in the Yarmouk district.
The blasts severely damaged the building
and the nearby offices of an interior
ministry identity-card centre. There has
been increased unrest in Iraq since
March's parliamentary election.
Baghdad security spokesman Maj-General
Qassim al-Moussawi told the Reuters news
agency that the two cars were packed
with around 80kg (176lb) of explosives
each, and were driven directly at the
main gates of the Trade Bank. The bombs
were detonated simultaneously by the
drivers shortly after 1100 (0800 GMT)
when their vehicles struck the
blast-walls protecting the building, he
added. Several security guards
stationed outside the building were
killed by the explosions. A bank
employee said the death toll would have
been worse had it not been for the
blastwalls and the building's
shatterproof glass.
At least two of the dead were police officers guarding the
nearby interior ministry building,
outside which a number of people were
queuing to apply for identity cards at
the start of the working week. "All the
bank's guards were killed." The Trade
Bank of Iraq is one of the public
sector's most active financial
institutions and at the forefront of
efforts to encourage foreign
investment. The attack came just a week
after gunmen wearing explosive belts
attacked the Iraqi Central Bank,
engaging security forces in a lengthy
gun battle before blowing themselves
up. The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says
it is not clear whether banks have now
become the latest category of target for
insurgents, though officials have
speculated that they may be turning in
that direction because their funds are
running out. Despite the recent attacks,
correspondents say the general level of
violence in the country remains far
lower than it was at the height of the
insurgency and sectarian conflict in
2006 and 2007. |
|
CATALINA BOTERO, SPECIAL IACHR
RAPPORTEUR, FEARS THAT FREEDOM OF THE
PRESS COULD WORSEN IN VENEZUELA
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Catalina
Botero, the Special Rapporteur for
Freedom of Expression, Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR),
said on Wednesday, during a
hearing at the US Congress, that the
situation in Venezuela could worsen
before the election for parliament in
September.
"We have witnessed increasing harassment
over these days. Things will likely
worsen. Yes," Botero answered when
queried by Democratic Representative
Eliot Engel, Chairman of the
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
about freedom of the press during the
election campaign. The hearing was held
on the Subcommittee initiative, AP
quoted. The hearing, where special
attention was paid to the Venezuelan
case, took place few days after the two
major stockholders of opposition news TV
channel Globovisión left the country for
facing criminal charges.
Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chávez denied any "chase" of
Guillermo Zuloaga and Nelson Mezerhane
and urged them to appear in court. For
his part, Republican Representative
Connie Mack requested President Chávez
"to allow for free and fair congress
election in September, by removing
government interference in the media and
stopping intimidation of dissenting
voices." |
|
BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
DILMA ROUSSEFF ACCUSED OF SPYING ON
ADVERSARY
BRASILIA,
BRAZIL--A
member from the campaign team of
Brazilian presidential candidate Dilma
Rousseff was forced to resign
because of an alleged espionage plan to
tap information from the main opposition
hopeful Jose Serra. Journalist Luiz
Lanzetta resigned to the Communications
Department of the Ms Rouseff campaign,
from the ruling Workers Party of
President Lula da Silva. According to
the weekly magazine Veja, Lanzetta
together with a retired police officer
and a retired military officer, both
experts in intelligence gathering and
bugging were planning to mount a network
to collect information on Brazilian
Social Democrat (PSDB) Jose Serra the
most serious opposition to the incumbent
candidate.
Lanzetta in a Sunday release admits
having met with the former police
officer with the purpose of “monitoring
adversaries”, but denied point blank
have done spying on Serra. Serra accused
Ms Rousseff of allowing her advisors to
get involved in clandestine operations.
The issue is expected to have political
and judicial repercussions this week.
PSDB Deputy Gustavo Pruet announced he
would be summoning to Congress all those
involved in the alleged espionage plot
to listen to their statements and is
also considering presenting the case in
court. The statement is ambiguous
because according to the latest May
opinion polls both contenders are tied
at 37% vote intention, although compared
to April Ms Rousseff was up five points
and Serra down 3 points.
Rousseff has been gaining ground on Serra in other
recent polls, thanks to an improving
economy and support from outgoing
President Lula da Silva, whose
administration is considered good or
excellent by 75% of people surveyed.
Meanwhile President Lula da Silva was
fined by the Brazilian Superior
Electoral Tribunal for the fifth time
for having campaigned in favour of Ms
Rousseff. The president will have to pay
approximately 4.500 US dollars for
calling on the unions’ federation, last
May first, to give their vote to the
incumbent candidate. Brazilians will be
voting on the successor of President
Lula da Silva October 3. |
|
ROTTEN FOOD CONTAINERS CONTINUE TO
APPEAR NATIONWIDE IN VENEZUELA
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Members
of the staff of Bolipuertos who
work in the primary area of the docks
have said that the ship arrived at the
shipping terminal a few days ago. The
vessel brought back 68 containers with
approximately 39 tons of rotten food. A
new cargo of spoiled food would have
been located in a warehouse in Puerto
Cabello, as reported on June 16 by
Ylidio Abreu, a town councillor of
Puerto Cabello municipality. The
government official added that the
authorities had found 1,600 tons of
rotten rice "that could have been used
to give one kilogram of rice to each
inhabitant of the state." Abreu said
that the huge amount of rice had been
abandoned 18 months ago in a warehouse
near the port facilities. He said that
according to a report issued by the
Municipal Institute for Environmental
Protection, the food has bacterial
spores, fungi and mycotoxins.
Members of the staff of the Puerto
Cabello Ports Authority confirmed the
presence of Santa Paula, a ship with the
Venezuelan flag, which was returned to
Venezuela by authorities of the
Dominican Republic, where the ship had
been sent with a shipment of spoiled
food to aid Haiti. According to the
reports, the ship is anchored in the C
area of the docks. The entry date was
June 6. Sources have said that some
containers have been unloaded. The
Venezuelan ship was returned from
Dominican Republic because the
containers with humanitarian aid sent to
Haiti had rotten food.
Meanwhile, a group of officials of the Bolivarian
Intelligence Service (Sebin) raided the
house of Yara Margarita Aguilera, who
was the former customs manager of the
state-run food distribution network
Pdval in the region until the first week
of May 2010, when she disclosed the
discovery of 1,197 containers with
spoiled food. Anzoátegui state governor
Tarek William Saab admitted that there
is rotten food in the industrial port of
Jose. The pro-government governor said
that the shipment of powdered milk that
arrived in the industrial port had
already expired and it was the result of
a deal between a Chinese company and the
state-run food distribution network
Pdval, the private TV news network
Globovisión reported. |
|
defense secretary robert gates:
EUROPE COULD FACE HUNDREDS OF IRANIAN
MISSILES
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Citing
the growing Iranian missile threat,
the United States announced plans
last September to integrate sea- and
land-based missile defenses in and
around its NATO allies in Europe,
referred to as the "phased adaptive
approach." "One of the elements of the
intelligence that contributed to the
decision on the phased adaptive array
(approach) was the realization that if
Iran were actually to launch a missile
attack on Europe, it wouldn't be just
one or two missiles, or a handful,"
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a
congressional hearing. "It would more
likely be a salvo kind of attack, where
you would be dealing potentially with
scores or even hundreds of missiles."
Gates voiced confidence that upgraded
missile interceptors in development
"would give us the ability to protect
our troops, our bases, our facilities
and our allies in Europe."
Gates said having those interceptor
systems in place by around 2020 was
critical not only because of the missile
threat from Iran and North Korea, but
because "I think by 2020 we may well see
it from other states, especially if
we're unsuccessful in stopping Iran from
building nuclear weapons." Earlier in
the hearing, however, Gates sought to
allay Russian concerns about the new
U.S. approach to missile defenses in
Europe by playing down the system's
ability to counter a large-scale attack
from Russia. "Our missile defenses do
not have the capability to defend
against the Russian Federation's large,
advanced arsenal. Consequently, U.S.
missile defenses do not and will not
affect Russia's strategic deterrent,"
Gates said. "The Russians know that our
missile defenses are designed to
intercept a limited number of ballistic
missiles launched by a country such as
Iran or North Korea," he said.
The Obama administration has held out the possibility that
Moscow could take part in the missile
defense system in partnership with the
United States. But Gates said: "There is
no meeting of the minds on missile
defense. The Russians hate it. They've
hated it since the late 1960s. They will
always hate it, mostly because we'll
build it and they won't." U.S.
intelligence agencies have long warned
about Iran's growing missile threat and
officials say anti-ballistic missile
systems should cover all of Europe by
2018. The multibillion-dollar effort is
designed to defend against Iranian
missiles that could be tipped with
chemical, biological or nuclear
warheads, officials say. According to
U.S. estimates, Iran could produce
enough bomb-grade fuel for a nuclear
weapon in as little as one year but
would probably need three to five years
to deploy a "usable" one. |
|
VENEZUELA REFUSES REQUESTS OF UN
RAPPORTEUR IN ZULOAGA CASE
NEW
YORK CITY, NEW YORK--According
to Venezuelan Ambassador to the United
Nations Jorge Valero, Frank La
Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur for
Freedom of Opinion and Expression, “acts
as the propaganda arm of the media
campaign of the US Department of State”
Venezuelan Ambassador to the United
Nations (UN) Jorge Valero refused on
Thursday a request made by Frank La Rue,
the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Opinion and Expression, to lift a bench
warrant against Guillermo Zuloaga, the
CEO of news TV channel Globovisión, and
his son.
The diplomat labeled the request as "a new and
unacceptable interference" of the UN
expert, and accused him of being
identified with "the political plans of
the pro-coup opposition" against
dictator Hugo Chávez. The Rapporteur,
he said, "is keenly aware that Guillermo
Zuloaga is not judicially wanted for his
links with a media outlet, but for
alleged crimes related to his business
activity."
|
|
VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR TO THE US: IACHR'S
ACTIONS ARE "INTOLERABLE"
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Bernardo
Álvarez, the Venezuelan
ambassador to the US, said that his
country "guarantees freedom of press and
information, which are fundamental
rights enshrined in the Venezuelan
Constitution and laws," and described as
"a sad drama" the hearing on freedom of
expression in the hemisphere held on
Wednesday in the US House Subcommittee
on the Western Hemisphere, where the
Venezuelan situation was discussed.
"A hearing on press freedom in the
hemisphere that purported to review the
behavior of sovereign and independent
countries is an interventionist imperial
practice," the top diplomat said in a
statement issued by the Venezuelan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the beginning of the hearing on freedom of the press, the
Chairman of the House Subcommittee on
the Western Hemisphere expressed his
concern about a bench warrant issued
recently against Guillermo Zuloaga, the
CEO of Venezuelan news TV channel
Globovisión, and his son. With regard
to the statements of Catalina Botero,
the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression at the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the
ambassador said: "It is intolerable that
Special Rapporteur Botero visits the
United States Congress, to sort of
report on the actions of this OAS
agency." |
|
OAS SECRETARY GENERAL, JOSE MIGUEL
INSULZA, SAYS THAT DEMOCRACY IN
VENEZUELA CANNOT BE IMPOSED FROM OUTSIDE
WASHINGTON, D.C.--José
Miguel Insulza, the Secretary General of
the Organization of American States
(OAS), said on Thursday that
"democracy cannot be imposed from
outside," adding that Venezuela must
solve its problems internally.
"We may send 50 (OAS) missions, but any
democracy-related problem in Venezuela
will be solved internally," Insulza told
journalists. Some sectors have
criticized the OAS in recent times
claiming that the hemispheric body is
very weak in the face of the onslaught
on democracy in countries like
Venezuela.
Insulza recalled that the OAS only acts when a member
country asks it to do so. "I am not
aware of any country that has called for
any action with regard to Venezuela," he
stressed. The OAS Secretary General
also said that "the US Congress should
ask the State Department, through its
representation in the OAS, to raise any
issue to the member countries."
|
|
VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR TO UN, JORGE
VALERO, DESCRIBES AS "SHOW" HEARING ON
PRESS FREEDOM
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--
Venezuelan Ambassador to the United
Nations Jorge Valero described as
a political show the hearing on freedom
of expression to be held at the US House
of Representatives, where the only
person representing Venezuela will be
Marcel Granier, the CEO of TV station
RCTV.
"This is a political show staged by the
most conservative sectors of the United
States along with coup plotters in
Venezuela, on the eve of parliamentary
elections and with the intention to
influence the electoral process," Valero
said in an interview with radio station
Radio del Sur, state-run news agency ABN
reported. The hearing will take place
in the Subcommittee on Western
Hemisphere, US House of Representatives.
"This is a campaign that has been under way since the
administration of George W. Bush, but
really who should be included among the
countries involved in terrorism is the
United States. The best example is the
genocidal wars it wages around the
world, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Such wars violate the international law
and, in the case of Iraq, United Nations
resolutions," Valero said. He added
that "the United States administration
should be brought to the International
Criminal Court for practicing state
terrorism and carrying out genocidal
practices condemned by the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court."
|
|
64 %
OF VENEZUELANS WOULD LIKE DICTATOR
CHAVEZ TO STEP DOWN
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--A
survey conducted by pollster Hinterlaces
found that 37 percent holds
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez
accountable for domestic troubles; 44
percent has a good opinion of the
government compared with 50 percent in
2009 Sixty-four percent of Venezuelans
would like President Hugo Chávez to step
down in 2012, when he will go in search
of reelection for an additional six-year
term in office, according to the
findings of a survey which were released
on Wednesday.
In the opinion of Hinterlaces Chairman
Oscar Schemel, most Venezuelans are
looking for another leader with a better
approach as an alternative to the
11-year old Bolivarian government, DPA
quoted. The poll conducted in May found
that 37 percent holds Venezuela's
President Hugo Chávez accountable for
domestic troubles; 44 percent has a good
opinion of the government compared with
50 percent in 2009.
"We are coming to Chávez's election ceiling, which is between
36-40 percent. Sixty-four percent agrees
on Chávez leaving in 2012. There are new
expectations about the future and the
majority is looking for another leader,"
he reported during a meeting with
foreign correspondents. "People are
tired. About 89 percent claims that
government and opposition should come to
terms. They want anybody to come and
work, instead of fighting," he added.
The survey was based on 1,300
interviews nationwide as of May |
|
members of congress comment on letter
sent by 256 former cuban political
prisoners to rep. COLLIN peterson
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Congressmen Lincoln Diaz-Balart
(R-FL), Albio Sires (D-NJ), and Mario
Diaz-Balart (R-FL), along with
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
(R-FL), yesterday commented on a letter
sent to Congressman Collin Peterson
(D-MN) by 256 Cuban former political
prisoners who suffered a combined 3,551
years as political prisoners in the Castros’ gulags. The letter by the
former political prisoners was in
reaction to comments made by Rep.
Peterson last week when he declared
that, “…people who oppose [H.R. 4645]
are not speaking on behalf of the Cuban
people, regardless of what they say.”
“No one has more moral authority to
speak regarding the Cuban tragedy than
Cuban political prisoners and former
political prisoners. This letter by 256
former Cuban political prisoners is
extremely powerful and must be listened
to,” commented Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
“Some of my colleagues believe that
enhancing trade and doing away with
regulations with the dictatorial regime
in Cuba will somehow improve the lot of
the Cuban people. The world has been
trading with Cuba for the last half a
century and what benefits has this
brought to the Cuban people? None. On
the contrary, Cubans have endured more
oppression and repression at every level
of society, from preschool to the
workplace.
Enhanced US trade to Cuba will only
add to the coffers of a regime that does
everything within its grasp to take away
every right from the Cuban people. The
letter of these brave former political
prisoners should bring some common sense
to those who put profit over freedom,”
declared Congresswoman Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen. “These former political
prisoners experienced the cruelty of the
Castro regime for decades, and they
understand how increased resources can
and will be used to repress civil
society in Cuba,” said Congressman
Sires. “Their voices must be respected
and heard.” “The signatories of this
letter to Rep. Peterson not only
represent the suffering of the Cuban
people, they are also the embodiment of
the struggle for Cuba’s freedom,”
remarked Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.
PLEASE
Click HERE AND READ the text of THE letter
sent to Congressman Peterson
|
|
vatican foreign minister in cuba amid
high hopes
HAVANA,
CUBA--
The Vatican's foreign minister
came
to Cuba late Tuesday to discuss the
island's economic plight, and rights
activists hope his visit may get more
political prisoners freed or at least
moved to jails closer to home.
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti was
greeted at the airport by Foreign
Minister Bruno Rodriguez and Caridad
Diego, head of religious affairs for the
Cuban Communist Party, as well as Havana
Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega.
Mamberti will mark Catholic Social
Week by leading discussions among
religious leaders on reconciliation
among Cubans, specifically the divide
between islanders and those who left are
in the Cuban-American exile community in
the U.S. Mamberti's visit comes after
negotiations between President Raul
Castro's government and Ortega's office
prompted authorities to free one
political prisoner for health reasons
and transfer 12 more to facilities
closer to their homes.
Mamberti is the first top Vatican
official to visit Cuba since a 2008 trip
by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary
of state to Pope Benedict XVI, and
opposition leaders hope the communist
government may make more concessions
while he is here. The Roman Catholic
Church has suddenly become a major
political voice, apparently with the
consent of Cuba's leaders. In May,
Ortega negotiated an end to a ban on
marches by a small group of wives and
mothers of political prisoners known as
the Ladies in White. The cardinal and
another church leader subsequently met
with Castro for hours. Church officials
then announced the government would
allow transfers for prisoners held far
from their families and give better
access to medical care for inmates who
need it - so far prompting the dozen
transfers and freedom for prisoner Ariel
Sigler in Matanzas province.
|
|
cuba PREPARING FOR POSSIBLE ARRIVAL OF
US OIL SPILL
HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba's civil defense chief
said
Tuesday that authorities are preparing
coastal residents for the oil spill
fouling the Gulf of Mexico, and a top
military official said its possible
arrival would be "a disaster." It still
is unclear whether some of the millions
of gallons of spilled crude will reach
Cuba, though government scientists
appeared on state television within days
of the April 20 rig explosion that
touched off the spill to say the island
was not immediately at risk. So far
there has been no apparent impact on
tourism to the island's breathtaking
north coast beaches.
"In Cuba we have had small spills
involving tankers on our coasts, but
we've never had to confront anything of
this magnitude," Gen. Ramon Espinosa,
vice minister of the armed forces, said
at a government meeting on natural
disaster preparedness. "Nonetheless we
are documenting and studying. We are
preparing with everything in our power."
Espinosa provided no details on
preparations, but added that "for Cuba
it would be a disaster" if the spill
hits. Some oil has already reached the
coast of Florida, and scientists worry
that crude will get caught up in the
loop current, a ribbon of warm water
that begins in the Gulf of Mexico and
wraps around Florida.
U.S. and Cuban officials have put
aside nearly 50 years of frigid
relations to hold working-level talks on
how to respond. Espinosa said he had no
information on any concrete cooperation.
Speaking on the sidelines of the same
event, Ramon Pardo, head of Cuban civil
defense, also said he could not comment
on discussions with Washington. But
Pardo said Havana "is taking all
precautions: the preparation of the
coast, vigilance, creating all necessary
conditions, preparing the people who
live on the coasts that could be
impacted." Both Espinosa and Pardo said
the island will rely on the expertise of
Venezuela, one of Cuba's top allies and
a major oil producer. |
|
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS COLLAPSES DURING
SENATE HEARING ON AFGHANISTAN
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Gen.
David Petraeus collapsed in what
appeared to be a brief fainting spell
Tuesday while testifying at a Senate
hearing on the progress of the Afghan
war. Petraeus was able to walk from the
hearing room on his own and strolled
back in about 15 minutes later to
applause. "Just a little light-headed
there. Just a little de-hydrated,"
Petraeus said in explanation of his
stunning slump at the witness table.
Military aides rushed to assist the head
of the Central Command as he slumped
forward at the hearing table and
senators bounded from behind their
microphones to check on his condition as
Petraeus was ushered from the hearing
room. As Petraeus slumped forward, chief
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell jumped
to his feet and positioned himself to
block one of the committee's television
cameras from observing the general. He
then motioned to an underling to block
the view of a second camera.
After a few chaotic minutes, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.),
chairman of the Armed Services
Committee, said that Petraeus, who was
being attended in an anteroom, "appears
to be doing much better." Levin said the
hearing would be delayed while medical
staff decided whether Petraeus should
continue. The collapse came as Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.) was addressing Petraeus,
saying "I think you're one of America's
great heros." McCain's face turned ashen
and he appeared to mutter "Oh my God" as
the general's head fell into his hands.
Petraeus joked when he returned that he
would not blame his collapse on "Sen.
McCain's questioning." The head of
Central Command was in the midst of a
dialogue with Arizona Sen. John McCain
when he slumped over the witness table.
Several officials gathered around
Petraeus, who was able to stand up and
walk out on his own. When he returned a
few minutes later to a round of
applause, he told the committee that he
had gotten "light-headed." |
|
US PUTS CUBA ON NOTICE FOR TRADE IN
HUMAN BEINGS AND ADOLESCENT SEXUAL
SLAVERY
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--The
Obama administration on Monday
warned more than a dozen states,
including perennial rogues Cuba, Iran,
North Korea and Myanmar, of possible
sanctions for failing to do enough to
fight human trafficking. The State
Department's 10th annual review of
global efforts to eliminate the trade in
human beings and sexual slavery put 13
countries on notice that they are not
complying with minimum international
standards and could face U.S. penalties.
Other nations receiving a failing grade
were the Democratic Republic of Congo,
the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Kuwait,
Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Another 58
countries were placed on a "watch list"
that could lead to sanctions unless
their records improve. For the first
time, the United States was included in
the department's "Trafficking in Persons
Report" and was given high marks. The
report said that while trafficking is a
problem here, the U.S. is complying with
all minimum standards. It placed the
U.S. along with 27 other mainly European
countries in the top "Tier 1" category
for compliance.
"We believe it is important to keep
the spotlight on ourselves," Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in
presenting the report. "Human
trafficking is not someone else's
problem. Involuntary servitude is not
something we can ignore or hope doesn't
exist in our own communities." The
report, which looked at 177 countries,
demoted Switzerland from the top tier
because it said Swiss law does not bar
prostitution by 16- and 17-year-olds in
all cases. As a result, it said
Switzerland risks becoming a child sex
tourism destination. Switzerland was
ranked in "Tier 2," a category that does
not carry the threat of sanctions.
|
|
cuba denounces us criticism on human
trafficking and sexual slavery
HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba
reacted angrily Tuesday to its inclusion
on a U.S. list of countries that could
be sanctioned for failing to fight human
and child trafficking, calling it
a "shameful slander" and part of
Washington's efforts to justify its
trade embargo. Cuba is one of 13
countries put on notice Monday that they
are not complying with the minimum
international standards to eliminate the
trade in human beings and sexual
slavery, and could face U.S. penalties.
Compiled by President Barack Obama's
administration, the list also includes
Iran, North Korea, and Myanmar. Another
58 countries were placed on a "watch
list" that could lead to sanctions
unless their records improve.
Cuba was singled out for allegedly not
doing enough to prevent the trafficking
of children who work as prostitutes on
the island, mostly serving foreign
tourists. It also said some Cuban
doctors have complained that the
government leases out their services to
foreign countries as a way of canceling
Cuba's debt. "Cuba categorically rejects
these allegations as false and
disrespectful," Josefina Vidal Ferreiro,
director of the Cuban Foreign Ministry's
North American affairs office, said in a
statement sent to the foreign news media
Tuesday. She said the allegations are
all the more offensive because the
communist government has concentrated
its limited resources on protecting
women and the young, providing far more
for the most vulnerable members of
society than most nations in the region.
Cuba has been included as one of the
worst offenders on the State Department
human trafficking list since 2003. It is
also on a separate list of countries
that the U.S. deems to support
terrorism. It was not clear what
sanctions, if any, Cuba could face. It
is already the target of a 48-year trade
embargo, which bans the sale of most
American goods on the island. American
tourists are not allowed to vacation in
Cuba, depriving the Caribbean hotspot of
what would likely be its top source of
visitors. Vidal Ferreiro said Cuba's
inclusion on the trafficking list is
political. "It can only be explained by
the desperate need that the U.S.
government has to justify, under
whatever pretext, the persistence of its
cruel blockade, which has been
overwhelmingly rejected by the
international community." Cuba was not
the only country in the region to react
strongly to the report. |
|
EL
GOTERO DEL CAMBIO
|
|
COLOMBIAN GENERAL RESCUED AFTER 12
YEARS IN CAPTIVITY OF THE FARC
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombian
armed forces have rescued Luis Mendieta,
a general kidnapped 12 years ago by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),
President Alvaro Uribe said Sunday.
Mendieta is the highest-ranking military
officer kidnapped by the FARC to date.
"The Joint Operations Command of our
armed forces just rescued General
Mendieta and Colonel (Enrique) Murillo.
The forces are combating in the jungles
of Guaviare department to take them out
from there," Uribe said. "Both of them
are with our forces at present," the
president said. "The rescue was made in
a rural zone of Calamar municipality."
Mendieta and Murillo were kidnapped on
Nov. 1, 1998 by the FARC in the Mitu
city, capital of southeastern Vaupes
province, when the FARC fought to take
the city. At that time, 43 people were
killed during the battle, including
soldiers, policemen and civilians, and
61 others were kidnapped. Uribe
announced the rescue at the Communal
Council of Government in Quibdo city in
the northwest of the country. "It is a
difficult operation that we have been
carrying out since months ago. They
killed one sergeant of ours. General
Mendieta and Colonel Murillo are safe
with the armed forces and we continue
fighting there to rescue more," Uribe
said.
Uribe also made contact with Mendieta's wife, Maria Teresa de
Mendieta. Teresa said early Sunday that
she was celebrating the birthday of her
husband, and that she had sent him
congratulatory messages through a radio
station. "I was waiting for him since
long time ago, and today is a blessed
day for me. I want to thank the
President of the Republic, the members
of the armed forces, all the people who
prayed for us," she said. Meanwhile,
Murillo's mother said Murillo would
finally meet his son, who was just one
year old when his father was taken
hostage. "I am very happy because I will
see my son after 12 years since he was
taken hostage ... According to what Mr.
President told me, my son is in good
health and we will meet with them as
soon as possible," the mother said.
|
|
SPAIN PUBLIC WORKERS GO ON STRIKE IN
RESPONSE TO RECENT SPENDING CUTS
MADRID,
SPAIN--Spain's
public-sector workers went on
strike in what could be a run-up to a
full general strike in response to
recent spending cuts the government has
announced to reduce Spain's budget
deficit. Striking public-sector workers
in Malaga, Spain, protest the
government's austerity plan on Tuesday,
carrying a banner reading 'No to social
cuts. For the quality of public
services.' The strike is a challenge
against austerity measures worth a total
of €15 billion ($17.88 billion) this
year and next, including a 5% cut in
public-sector wages this year and a
freeze in pensions next year. Socialist
Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez
Zapatero won parliamentary approval for
the measures last month by the narrowest
of margins, a single vote. Financial
markets are watching to see whether
Spain and other highly indebted euro
zone countries have the political muscle
to overcome popular resistance to
painful austerity plans.
In the Spanish capital, near the Puerta
del Sol at the city's center, protestors
gathered in front of the Finance
Ministry. "No matter who is in
government, the unions won't stop until
restoring our salaries because the
government has scorned the work of
thousands of people," said Julio
Lacuerda, a top official at Union
General de Trabajadores. The
public-sector strike is the first step
in a series of protests labor unions
have prepared and could lead to a
general strike. Comisiones Obreras has
said it has started preparations for a
general strike. In addition to the
austerity measures, unions are concerned
that an upcoming overhaul of labor laws
could harm to workers' rights.
The government, on the other hand, is under intense
international pressure from financial
markets and the European Union to rein
in a double-digit deficit as the
Greek-centered financial crisis has
spread to other fiscally frail
countries. Institutions like the
International Monetary Fund say a
radical overhaul of labor laws is
necessary to spur growth in Spain and to
lower the country's historically high
unemployment rate. Mr. Zapatero has
pledged to approve labor market reform
June 16, with or without an agreement
with unions and business groups, a move
that represents a dramatic break with
previous policy. The Socialist leader
had previously said his government would
not make any changes to labor
regulations unless agreed with the
so-called social partners. "I'd like to
believe that up until the last minute we
could reach an agreement ... The labor
reform isn't a priority for the
country," Ignacio Fernandez Toxo, the
head of Comisiones Obreras, said in a
radio interview. |
|
VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ
"SUGGESTS" NAMING PDVSA "SOCIALIST
venezuelan PETROLEUM"
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--DICTATOR
Hugo Chavez on Sunday proposed
changing the name of one of the world's
largest oil companies and a major
supplier of crude to the United States,
Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, to
Socialist Venezuelan Petroleum. During
11 years in office, Chavez has added a
star to Venezuela's flag, created a new
time zone half an hour out of sync with
its neighbors and even renamed the
country -- it is now called the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
The president has put large swathes of
the economy under government control,
from multibillion dollar oil projects to
supermarket chains and coffee roasters.
The charismatic leader, often accused by
critics of creating a personality cult
around himself, refrains from putting
his own name on streets or public works.
But most companies swept into his
nationalization drive now bear names
linked to his leftist politics or to
South American independence hero Simon
Bolivar. "This country has started to be
governed by the people, by the working
class, and this is a tool of the working
class," Chavez said on his weekly TV
show.
"The new homeland, the new PDVSA, Socialist Venezuelan
Petroleum," he said, broadcasting from a
heavy crude upgrader controlled by
ConocoPhillips until a 2007
nationalization. PDVSA is ranked as the
world's fourth largest oil company in an
annual survey by industry publication
Petroleum Intelligence Weekly. It is
South America's top oil exporter and a
key supplier of crude to the United
States. Chavez said he ordered a study
to see if the name could be changed. |
|
two iranian red crescent ships ready
to sail WITH HUMANITARIAN AID to gaza
TEHRAN, IRAN--Abdul-Raouf
Adeeb Zada, head of the
International Relations Department at
the Iranian Red Crescent , stated
Wednesday that two Iranian ships
carrying humanitarian supplies will be
sailing to Gaza by the end of this week.
Zada stated that “after the Israeli
aggression against the Freedom Flotilla,
the Red Crescent decided to send
humanitarian aid to Gaza, once again”,
and added that several meetings were
held in this regard. He also said that
the first ship carries humanitarian
supplies, while the second ship carries
relief supplies to the Palestinian Red
Crescent society.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard stated
earlier this week that it is willing to
accompany and guard the ships should the
Iranian Supreme Leaders, Ali Khomeini,
issue an order in this regard. Ali
Shirazi, the assistance of Khomeini,
stated that the Revolutionary Guard is
ready and willing to accompany the ships
to ensure their safety and to ensure
humanitarian supplies make it into Gaza.
Also on Wednesday, the United Nation Security Council
voted to impose a fourth round of
sanction on Iran after claiming the
Tehran failed to stop its nuclear
enrichment program. The sanctions
include an expanded embargo on arm, and
further restriction on finance. The
decision fell short of what the United
States wanted, as its representative
demanded tighter sanctions on Tehran.
The Islamic Republic insists that it is
not seeking nuclear weapons, but is only
seeking nuclear energy. |
|
IRANIAN MARINES SET TO ESCORT RED
CRESCENT FLOTILLA -- "TO TEACH
ISRAEL A LESSON"
TEHRAN,
IRAN--Iran’s
elite Revolutionary Guards are
ready to provide a military escort to
cargo ships trying to break Israel’s
blockade of Gaza, a representative of
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
said on Sunday. “Iran’s Revolutionary
Guards naval forces are fully prepared
to escort the peace and freedom convoys
to Gaza with all their powers and
capabilities,” Ali Shirazi, Khamenei’s
representative inside the Revolutionary
Guards, was quoted as saying by the
semi-official Mehr news agency. Any
intervention by the Iranian military
would be considered highly provocative
by Israel which accuses Iran of
supplying weapons to Hamas, the Islamist
movement which rules Gaza.
The Two Iranian ships intended to head
for Hamas-controlled Gaza are waiting
for their government's approval to
challenge Israel on the high seas,
escorted by "volunteer marines" that
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
wants to send "to teach Israelis a
lesson." An Iranian Red Crescent
official said the two ships are waiting
for the Iranian foreign ministry to give
the green light for launching, according
to the French news service AFP, quoting
the Iranian Mehr news service. The Red
Crescent said a third ship probably
would join the fleet.
Red Crescent official Mojtaba Majd also claimed that
more than 100,000 Iranians have signed
up to board the ships, but only those
with "expertise" would be accepted. Majd
did not define the area of expertise
required. Ali Shirazi, the
Revolutionary Guards's spokesman for
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
said it was "Iran's duty to defend the
innocent people of Gaza." Iran does not
recognise the Israeli state and
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has often
predicted its imminent demise.
|
|
15 REPORTEDLY KILLED IN IRAQ CENTRAL
BANK SIEGE
BAGHDAD, IRAQ--Homicide
bombers and gunmen wearing military
uniforms killed 15 people and took
hostages Sunday in a daring raid
on the Iraq Central Bank in Baghdad,
triggering an ongoing siege with
security forces. The violence began at
around 2:50pm local time when a suicide
attacker wearing an army captain's
uniform detonated his payload near the
building, causing multiple casualties, a
high-ranking defense ministry official
said. Most of those killed in the raid
were bank workers, with a further 43
people wounded, and many other employees
being held captive inside, he said.
The attackers took control of the
building as a total of eight explosions
sounded throughout the area in less than
an hour amid exchanges of gunfire and as
army helicopters circled overhead. The
gunmen were continuing to occupy the
building and the attackers posted
snipers on the roof of the bank in an
attempt to deter police and soldiers
from wrestling back control, according
to the defense official. Major General
Qassim Atta, a spokesman for the
security forces in Baghdad, said
soldiers and police were "besieging" the
attackers whom he described as "a
terrorist group." He said it was unclear
if they had intended to rob the bank,
target its employees, or destroy the
building.
Government figures showed that 337 people were killed
in violence across Iraq in May, the
fourth time this year that the overall
death toll was higher when compared with
the same month of 2009. The audacious
attack came one day before the reopening
of the conflict-torn nation's
parliament, the country's second
democratic grouping since the U.S.-led
invasion that ousted dictator Saddam
Hussein in 2003. The opening session of
the Council of Representatives marks one
of the few tangible forward steps taken
by the war-battered country's
politicians since a general election on
March 7 resulted in deadlock between
rival parties. U.S. forces are steadily
being pulled out of Iraq and a new
administration in Baghdad is seen as key
to a smooth withdrawal of all American
troops -- 88,000 remain in country -- by
the end of 2011. |
|
VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ
ORDERED ARREST OF GLOBOVISION PRESIDENT
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--
Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest
warrant Friday for the owner of a
television channel that takes a critical
line against President (dictator) Hugo
Chavez. Intelligence agents
arrived at a home owned by Guillermo
Zuloaga seeking to arrest him and one of
his sons Friday night, but their
whereabouts were unknown, defense lawyer
Perla Jaimes said.
Zuloaga is president and majority
shareholder of Globovision, the
country's only remaining channel on the
airwaves that is stridently opposed to
Chavez.
A
court issued the warrant for the
businessman and his son, also named
Guillermo, citing accusations of
illegally keeping 24 new Toyota
sport-utility vehicles stored at a home
owned by Zuloaga, Attorney General Luisa
Ortega said. Zuloaga and his son are
charged with usury and conspiracy.
Zuloaga has denied wrongdoing,
saying the charges were trumped up in an
attempt to intimidate him. Police and
soldiers raided his property and found
the vehicles in May 2009, but there had
been little action in the case for
months. The arrest warrant came a week after Chavez publicly lamented
that Zuloaga remained free.
"They caught that man with a
bunch of cars in his house and that's a
crime - hoarding. And he's free and he
has a television channel," Chavez said
in a televised speech. He called it a
case of "structural weakness" in
Venezuela's legal system.
Zuloaga also is facing other
accusations in court, including criminal
charges filed earlier this year accusing
Zuloaga accusing of making false and
offensive remarks about Chavez at a
meeting of the Inter American Press
Association in Aruba. Chavez has long
accused Globovision and other opposition
media outlets of conspiring against him.
Globovision has been the only
anti-Chavez channel on the air since
another opposition-aligned channel, RCTV,
was forced off cable and satellite TV in
January.
RCTV had been booted off the open
airwaves in 2007. In a June 3 speech,
Chavez took issue with the fact that
Zuloaga wasn't in jail in spite of the
pending case against him for his remarks
in Aruba. "He's walking around free,"
Chavez said. "That only happens here in
Venezuela. Let Zuloaga go to any other
country and say the president ordered
someone killed and let's see what
happens. They'd put him in jail
immediately." The attempt to arrest
Zuloaga came as a Venezuelan journalist,
Francisco Perez, was sentenced Friday in
a separate case for slandering a public
official. Perez, a veteran columnist for
the newspaper El Carabobeno, called it a
blatant violation of free speech and
said he would appeal. Perez was
sentenced to three years and nine months
in prison but was allowed to remain free
on the condition he regularly appear in
court and not practice journalism. Perez
had written that Valencia Mayor Edgardo
Parra, an ally of Chavez, had various
family members on the city payroll.
|
|
CUBAN CATHOLIC Church: THE
"MAGNANIMOUS" DICTATOR RAUL
CASTRO agrees to free AN ILL
political prisoner
HAVANA,
CUBA--
CUBAN
Roman Catholic leaders announced
Friday that Cuban authorities have
agreed to free an ill political prisoner
and transfer six others to jails nearer
home, the latest in a rare series of
concessions from a government not known
for its tolerance of dissent. The
decision means freedom for Ariel Sigler,
one of 75 activists, community
organizers and journalists arrested in a
2003 crackdown. Sigler, who was serving
a 25-year sentence for treason, has been
hospitalized recently for an unknown
ailment. Six other prisoners - Hector
Fernando Maceda, Juan Adolfo Fernandez,
Omar Moises Ruiz, Efren Fernandez, Jesus
Mustafa Felipe and Juan Carlos Herrera -
will be moved to jails closer to their
homes, bringing to 12 the number of
imprisoned dissidents sent to new
facilities this month. "This will be a
relief for the families. The release of
Sigler is very good news," Elizardo
Sanchez, who heads the Havana-based
Cuban Commission on Human Rights and
National Reconciliation, told The
Associated Press.
The moves, announced by the office of
Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega, are set to
take place Saturday. They come just days
before a visit to Cuba by the Vatican's
foreign minister, Archbishop Dominique
Mamberti. Opposition and church leaders
had expressed hope the communist
government might make concessions ahead
of the trip, the first to Cuba by a top
Vatican official since Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, secretary of state to Pope
Benedict XVI, visited the island in
February 2008. Mamberti is heading a
gathering that is due to wade into some
deeply political issues, holding
discussions on the country's economic
and social problems as well as the issue
of Cuban emigration and its effect on
the family. The church has suddenly
become a major political voice in Cuba,
apparently with the consent of President
Raul Castro's government.
In May, Ortega negotiated an end to a ban on marches by a
small group of wives and mothers of some
of the dissidents jailed in 2003 known
as the Ladies in White. The cardinal and
another church leader later met with
Castro, coming away from the encounter
convinced the government was prepared to
start on a road to better relations with
the opposition. Shortly after, church
officials announced the government would
allow transfers for prisoners held far
from their homes and give better access
to medical care for inmates who need it.
Sigler's release would be the first
since negotiations began, and would
raise hopes that more are on the way.
Many opposition figures previously
expressed disappointment the
church-government talks had not produced
more results. Church officials have been
careful not to be seen to be publicly
pressuring the government for faster
action. |
|
VENEZUELAN Catholic Church asks DICTATOR
HUGO CHAVEZ to recover "humanitarian
sense"
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Cardinal
Jorge Urosa Sabino, the
archbishop of Caracas, thinks that in
the face of human rights issues, such as
the cases of farmer Franklin Brito, in
hunger strike, or judge María Lourdes
Afiuni, behind bars, and all the
government steps taken against private
property, Venezuela undoubtedly
"undergoes an ordeal."
"It seems that the government onslaught
-I do not know about the purpose- is
simply to strengthen its power. This is
in line with the orientation intended by
the government for its revolution, which
is quite unacceptable. It (the
government) would like to be the owner
of the whole country; the country is
nobody's property but belongs to any and
all Venezuelans," Urosa Sabino told
Unión Radio in an interview on Monday.
In his opinion, "we are heading for a Marxist totalitarianism
which is totally opposed to justice,
democracy and totally opposed to the
national Constitution." The archbishop
deemed it important for the people to
realize that such a situation is "very
dangerous and Venezuelans' freedom is at
stake." |
|
RUSSIA DEFIES PRESIDENT OBAMA AND PLANS
TO SELL MISSILE TO IRAN DESPITE NEW
SANCTIONS
MOSCOW, RUSSIA--One
day after the United Nations approved a
fresh round of sanctions against Iran,
Russia maintains it has the right to
sell S-300 surface-to-air missiles to
the Iranian regime, NPR's David
Greene reports. A senior Russian
lawmaker says United Nations sanctions
against Iran do not affect Russia's
plans to sell Tehran surface-to-air
missiles. Mikhail Margelov - head of the
Federation Council's foreign affairs
committee - says Russia's contract to
sell Iran S-300 missiles was completed
before the proposed sanctions. He also
said Friday that Russia is a
"responsible seller" of products on
foreign markets and is "not interested
in the militarization" of the Middle
East.
Russia signed a contract in 2007 to sell
the S-300 missiles to Iran but
implementation has been delayed. The
United States and Israel have strongly
objected to the sale because the
missiles could potentially be used to
thwart air attacks against Iranian
nuclear sites. Since a new deal was
brokered in 2008, the United States and
Israel have opposed it, fearing Iran
could use the long-range missiles to
defend nuclear sites against attack.
According to Greene, Russian officials
"have always been dodgy about whether
they'll ever deliver the weapons."
After Russia backed the new resolution, adopted by the United
Nations Security Council yesterday,
Interfax, the Russian news agency,
quoted an unnamed person in the Russian
arms industry who said the new sanctions
meant the contract to deliver the S-300
missiles was frozen. Then, within hours,
a foreign ministry spokesman said the
new sanctions do not cover the
particular missile systems; thus, he
said, Russia is not required to scrap
the deal. |
|
RUSSIA NOW SAYS IRAN SANCTIONS PREVENT
THE DELIVERY OF S-300 AIR DEFENSE
MISSILES
MOSCOW,
RUSSIA--The
new U.N. sanctions prevent Russia from
delivering S-300 air-defense missiles to
Iran, a Kremlin official said
Friday, in a reversal of the position
announced by Russia's Foreign Ministry
the day before. The Kremlin statement
was sure to please Israel and the United
States, which have long urged Russia not
to supply the powerful missile system.
Russia signed a deal to sell the
missiles in 2007, but has delayed their
delivery.
The U.N. Security Council resolution passed Wednesday bans
Iran from developing ballistic missiles
capable of delivering nuclear weapons,
investing in nuclear-related activities
and buying certain types of heavy
weapons. The Kremlin official, speaking
on condition of anonymity, said the
S-300 falls under these sanctions. The
U.N. resolution does not specifically
prohibit Russia from supplying the
S-300, the U.S. State Department
spokesman said. "However, for the first
time, the resolution calls for states to
exercise vigilance and restraint in the
sale or transfer of all other arms and
related materiel," spokesman P.J.
Crowley told reporters in Washington.
"We appreciate Russia's restraint in the transfer of
the S-300 missile system to Iran." This
distinction may help explain the initial
confusion. On Thursday, Foreign
Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko
said the U.N. resolution did not apply
to air-defense systems, with the
exception of shoulder-fired missiles.
The head of the Federal Service for
Military-Technical Cooperation, which
oversees arms trade, also said Thursday
that the sanctions would not affect the
S-300 deal. But on Friday the agency
said an analysis of the resolution
indicated that the missile system was
banned under the new sanctions.
|
|
IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
CALLS UN RESOLUTION "TOILET PAPER"
SHANGHAI, CHINA--
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
on Friday dismissed new sanctions aimed
at punishing his country for failing to
halt part of its nuclear program,
calling the latest U.N. resolution
"toilet paper." During a visit to
China's financial hub of Shanghai,
Ahmadinejad also accused the United
States of hypocrisy for leading the
drive to censure Iran and accused
President Barack Obama of pursuing the
same "bullying" tactics of his
predecessor, George W. Bush. The
resolution adopted by the U.N. Security
Council on Wednesday "is a piece of
paper. A toilet paper," Ahmadinejad said
at a news conference while visiting the
World Expo in Shanghai.
Rather than impeding Iran's development, the resolution "may
have an impact on our country by
expediting the pace of our development,"
he said. The new sanctions seek to
punish Iran for rejecting proposals to
halt uranium enrichment and take its
nuclear fuel from abroad. The West and
its allies fear Iran is developing
nuclear weapons, though Iran says it is
seeking nuclear power only for peaceful
energy and medical research purposes.
Despite hopes by China that the
sanctions would give a boost to renewed
negotiations, Ahmadinejad said that
could only happen in a "friendly
atmosphere." "Having dialogue under a
hostile atmosphere has no meaning,"
Ahmadinejad said.
His visit comes two days after host China yielded to
international pressure to back a fourth
round of nuclear sanctions targeting
Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard,
ballistic missiles and nuclear-related
investments in a bid to compel Tehran to
cooperate with international inspectors.
Ahmadinejad was not scheduled to meet
Chinese leaders while in China. He also
skipped Thursday's summit in Uzbekistan
of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, which was attended by
Chinese President Hu Jintao. Iran is an
observer in that group. As a permanent
member of the Security Council and key
Iranian ally, China could have exercised
its veto power to block the sanctions.
But it reversed its earlier opposition
out of frustration with Tehran's
intransigence and a desire to avoid
becoming isolated over the issue,
analysts said. |
|
VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ BLUNTLY
REJECTS SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--
The Venezuelan DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ
expressed on Thursday his "blank
refusal" to a resolution from the UN
Security Council on new political and
economic sanctions against Iran, one day
after he asked for "respect" for his
allied nation.
The UN Security Council "lashes out
again at the dignity" of Iran, by
imposing sanctions on "the fellow
Iranian people and their brave
government" in a decision which
"disregards the efforts made by goodwill
countries to reach together with Tehran
an unprecedented agreement in the field
of nuclear cooperation," stated the
government in a press release.
They added that the "incredible
decision came few days after the State
of Israel unleashed a massacre in
international waters, and the Security
Council was unable to condemn the
attacking country." In this way, the
communiqué added, the UN Security
Council "made it clear that it lacks the
ethical legitimacy and representation
requisite and necessary to ensure true
peace and justice in the world." The
Venezuelan government also upheld its
"unrestricted support to the legitimate
expectations" of Iran concerning the use
of nuclear power "for peaceful
purposes." |
|
THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS
SECRETARY CLINTON'S STATEMENTS ABOUT
DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA--Through a statement, dictator Hugo
Chávez's government condemned the
"arrogant and interventionist" tone of
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
when referring to freedom of expression
in Venezuela, Ecuador or any of the
countries of the region. The Venezuelan
government on Thursday branded "clumsy
and inappropriate" US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton's statements against it,
and regretted that such remarks drive
away the possibility of improving
bilateral relations.
These statements by Clinton, during a
tour of Ecuador and Colombia, are
"clumsy and inappropriate" and represent
an onslaught on the Venezuelan
government and "against democracy and
the dignity of the people of Simón
Bolívar," said the government in a
statement. Clinton said she was "very
sorry for what is happening to the
Venezuelan people," as they would be
"suffering for certain measures" applied
by Chávez's Bolivarian, socialist
"revolution."
Such statements, "which are a
hallmark of the US officialdom, merely
ward off the prospect of normalization
of political relations between our
countries, for which equal treatment and
respect for sovereignty is a
nonnegotiable condition," the press
release added. Venezuela, stressed the
communiqué, also "condemns the arrogant
and interventionist tone of the
Secretary of State when referring to
freedom of expression in Venezuela,
Ecuador or any of the countries in our
region, and rejects that the US is
seeking to establish rules governing the
operation of our democracies." |
|
SPAIN'S PUBLIC SECTOR ON STRIKE
MADRID, SPAIN--
Spanish civil servants
banged drums, blew horns and chanted
anti-government slogans Tuesday as they
staged a one-day strike to protest wage
cuts aimed at trimming a huge deficit
and calming fears Spain is headed for a
Greek-style debt crisis. The stoppage
was seen as a test of whether unions
have the support to stage a full-blown
general strike over labor market reforms
the Socialist government says it will
impose by decree very soon if the unions
do not reach agreement on their own with
management. The reforms are deemed
critical to resurrecting Spain's
moribund economy and reassuring jittery
investors who have sent the government's
borrowing costs soaring. Spain has some
2.6 million civil servants, although few
of them belong to unions.
The strike's main event - an evening
march to the front gate of the Finance
Ministry in Madrid - was attended by a
red flag-waving crowd of just a few
thousand, and it had to cover a route of
about 300 meters (330 yards), unlike
much longer processions in other recent
protests. After sunny weather much of
the day, rain fell on the marchers.
Union leader Candido Mendez refused to
say if the turnout was enough to say his
forces could reasonably call a general
strike. He said it is up to the
government - and whether its reforms
favor businesses or workers - as to
whether unions take that step. "We don't
trigger strikes. We just convene them,"
he said. The civil servant wage cuts of
an average of 5 percent are part of a
plan to save euro15 billion ($19
billion) this year and next. The plan,
which passed by just one vote in
Parliament, has also frozen pensions and
cut government investment in
infrastructure and spending foreign aid.
The shift is a big U-turn for
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero, who had resisted
spending cuts until he came under fierce
pressure from the European Union, the
IMF and even US President Barack Obama.
Now Zapatero face the twin ills of an
oversized deficit that requires spending
cuts and a sluggish economy that is
saddled with a 20 percent jobless rate
and needs help to stimulate growth.
Called to strike were workers in
government offices, schools and
hospitals but not public transport.
Observance of agreed minimum services
meant most workplaces functioned almost
as usual. In the protest outside Finance
Minister Elena Salgado's offices, Pepe
Molina, 50, wore a sign that alluded to
how much his monthly salary has gone
down as of June: "I have been robbed of
euro80. How about you?" "Lowering a
person's salary is the worst thing you
can do to them," he said. "If Zapatero
is not capable of getting us out of this
mess he should call early elections." |
|
UN SECURITY COUNCIL VOTES TO SLAP NEW
SANCTIONS TO IRAN FOR ITS NUCLEAR
PROGRAM
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK--The
United Nations Security Council
voted Wednesday to impose new sanctions
on Iran to try to force it to suspend
its nuclear program. The vote was 12-2,
with Lebanon abstaining. Brazil and
Turkey opposed the sanctions -- the
fourth set of measures to try to rein in
Iran since 2006. "True security will not
come through nuclear weapons," Obama
said. He called Iran the only signer of
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
"that cannot convince the IAEA that its
nuclear program is intended for peaceful
purposes," referring to the U.N.'s
International Atomic Energy Agency. But
the Iranian ambassador to the United
Nations blasted the vote.
"What is at stake today is the credibility of the Security
Council, which has turned into the tool
in the toolbox of a few countries that
do not hesitate to use it," Mohammed
Khazaee said. He reiterated Iran's
long-standing insistence that the
country is not seeking nuclear weapons,
pointing out that the country's Supreme
Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has
declared them "religiously forbidden."
But Obama -- speaking in Washington at
the same time Khazaee was speaking at
the U.N. in New York -- said Iran had
failed to live up to its
responsibilities. He said Iran had
concealed a nuclear enrichment program
near the city of Qom and "violated
obligations to suspend uranium
enrichment."
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, dismissed
Khazaee's comments as "ridiculous
rhetoric." "These sanctions are not
directed at the Iranian people," Rice
said earlier, immediately after the
vote. Instead, they "aim squarely at the
nuclear ambitions" of the regime, she
said, calling them "as tough as they are
smart and precise." She placed the blame
for the sanctions squarely on Iran. "We
are at this point because the government
of Iran has chosen clearly and wilfully
to violate its commitments to the IAEA
and the resolutions of this council,"
she said. Iran warned before the vote
that it would break off negotiations
with the United States and its allies if
new sanctions were put in place. "These
hasty measures are mere deviation from
the path of constructive transaction and
an indicative of the fact that the other
parties rather prefer confrontation,"
Khazaee said Tuesday. "In such a
condition, the Islamic Republic of Iran
has no choice but to react accordingly
in the way it considers appropriate," he
said. |
|
NORTH KOREA WARNS UN NOT TO DISCUSS
WARSHIP SINKING
SEOUL,
SOUTH
KOREA--
North Korea sent the U.N.
Security Council a letter warning the
world body to not even open debate on
the deadly sinking of a South Korean
warship blamed on Pyongyang, state media
reported Wednesday. South Korea last
week officially asked the U.N. Security
Council to punish North Korea, after an
international investigation said a North
torpedo attack sunk a South ship in
March, killing 46 sailors. North Korea
flatly denies responsibility and says
any punishment would trigger war.
Sin Son Ho - North Korea's permanent representative at the
U.N. - sent Security Council president
Claude Heller a letter Tuesday saying
the council must not open a debate on
the "the unilaterally forged"
investigation results because that would
fringe upon the North's sovereignty, the
official Korean Central News Agency said
in a dispatch from Pyongyang. "No one
would dare imagine how serious its
consequences would be" over security on
the Korean peninsula if the debate
starts, Sin said in the letter,
according to the KCNA dispatch. Sin said
the U.N. council instead should take
steps helping South Korea and the U.S.
accept North Korean inspectors to verify
the investigation results, it said.
The ship sinking is the first inter-Korean provocation
in which the South has taken the North
to the Security Council, despite a
history of attacks by the North since
the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The
Security Council has several choices: a
resolution with or without new sanctions
against North Korea, a weaker
presidential statement calling for
specific actions, or a press statement.
The Security Council earlier imposed
sanctions against North Korea after its
two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
These include U.N. embargoes on nuclear
and ballistic missile-related items and
technology, on arms exports and imports
except light weapons, and on luxury
goods. |
|
MILITANTS ATTACK NATO CONVOY IN
PAKISTAN; 7 KILLED
SANGJANI, PAKISTAN--
Militants
attacked dozens of trucks ferrying
vehicles for Western troops in
Afghanistan early Wednesday near the
Pakistani capital, a bold assault that
killed seven people and illustrated the
vulnerability of a crucial U.S. supply
line. Militants and ordinary criminals
have often attacked NATO and U.S. supply
convoys over the past two years, but
Wednesday's strike was the first so
close to the well-protected capital,
something likely to cause particular
unease. Much of the fuel and supplies
for Western troops in Afghanistan
travels through Pakistan after arriving
in the port city of Karachi.
An Associated Press photographer saw
around 60 containers damaged at a truck
depot on the main road leading to the
border with Afghanistan, about six miles
(10 kilometers) from Islamabad. Many
carried military vehicles such as
Humvees. Charred shells of the trucks
were jumbled together at the depot, and
firefighters were dousing small blazes.
The pungent smell of smoke gripped the
air as officials surveyed the damage.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said about
30 trucks contracted to transport
supplies for NATO were damaged in the
attack in Tarnol and the matter was
under investigation by Pakistani
authorities. A group of around 15
suspected militants first opened fire
with automatic weapons and grenades
before torching the trucks, police
officer Kalim Imam said. Police official
Shah Nawaz said Wednesday afternoon that
seven people died. The victims'
identities were not known, but they were
believed to be Pakistanis employed as
drivers or assistants. Seven people were
also wounded.
The convoy attacks have added impetus to
American efforts to open new supply
lines into Afghanistan, but commanders
say they have not affected operations
there. Guns, bombs and ammunition are
not believed to be transported in the
trucks, thousands of which make the
journey each week. The attack near
Islamabad followed clashes between the
Pakistani military and insurgents in the
northwest tribal belt bordering
Afghanistan that killed 54 people,
including eight soldiers, officials
said. One clash occurred in Orakzai
tribal region when dozens of militants
attacked a security convoy, sparking a
battle that killed six soldiers and 40
militants, government administrator
Samiullah Khan said. The army had
declared Orakzai cleared of insurgents
earlier this month. Also Wednesday,
government official Maqsood Khan said
militants attacked two security
checkpoints in Mohmand, another part of
the tribal belt that has endured army
operations. The overnight attack sparked
gunbattles that killed two soldiers and
six insurgents and wounded several from
both sides. |
|
VENEZUELA LAMBASTS THE UNITED STATES
BECAUSE OF HONDURAS
LIMA, PERU--Venezuelan
Vice-Foreign Minister for Latin American
and the Caribbean Francisco Arias
Cárdenas lashed on Tuesday at the
United States at the 40th Meeting of the
General Assembly of the Organization of
American States (OAS) for the stance
taken by the US government with regard
to Honduras, its expenditure in arms and
the "deployment" of military bases.
Cárdenas also criticized the US
purchase of arms.
Arias Cárdenas referred himself to the
remarks made by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton. During a luncheon
behind closed doors, Clinton recommended
the heads of delegation "listening to
the reasons" of the Honduras government
and its president Porfirio Lobo.
In the opinion of Arias, such an attempt at "listening
to the reasons of coupsters, of those
who use power and force to impose their
will," glaringly shows how "some purport
to make unpunished the last coup d'état
against legitimate President Manuel
Zelaya." Honduras was removed from the
OAS on July 4, 2009 following a coup
against President Zelaya. The issue of
Honduras potential return to the OAS has
been the focus of the attention at the
40th Meeting of the OAS General Assembly
held in Lima. |
|
AT LEAST $500 MILLION HAS BEEN SPENT BY
THE PENTAGON ON RENOVATING GUANTANAMO
NAVAL BASE
GUANTANAMO
NAVAL BASE, CUBA--The
U.S. government has spent more than $500
million constructing prison camps
and renovating the naval station at
Guantanamo Bay since the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Here are the
costs of some of the projects. At the
U.S. naval station here, a handsome
electronic sign hangs between two
concrete pillars. In yellow enamel
against a blue metal backdrop is a map
of Cuba, the "Pearl of the Antilles,"
above flashing time and temperature
readings. The cost of the marquee,
along with a smaller sign positioned
near the airfield: $188,000. Among other
odd legacies from war-on-terror spending
since 2001 for the troops at Guantanamo
Bay: an abandoned volleyball court for
$249,000, an unused go-kart track for
$296,000 and $3.5 million for 27
playgrounds that are often vacant.
The Pentagon also spent $683,000 to
renovate a cafe that sells ice cream and
Starbucks coffee, and $773,000 to
remodel a cinder-block building to house
a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant. The
spending is part of at least $500
million that has transformed what was
once a sun-beaten and forgotten
Caribbean base into one of the most
secure military and prison installations
in the world. That does not include
construction bonuses, which typically
run into the millions. Also not
included are annual operating costs of
$150 million -- double the amount for a
comparable U.S. prison, according to the
White House. Add in clandestine
black-budget items, such as the
top-secret Camp 7 prison for high-value
detainees, aptly nicknamed Camp
Platinum, and the post-Sept. 11, 2001,
bill for the 45-square-mile base easily
soars toward $2 billion.
Overall, the prison camp operation that
hugs the Caribbean coastline cost about
$220 million to build over several
years, a price that does not include
Camp 7, which holds 16 of the most
notorious detainees, including Khalid
Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed
mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. And
$13 million was spent to construct a
courthouse complex that appears
custom-designed for Mohammed and his
four co-defendants. But as spending
accelerated over the years, and more and
more construction and renovation
contracts were awarded, the number of
detainees steadily declined, from a peak
of 680 in May 2003 to 181 now. Millions
went to build artificial-turf football
and baseball fields that professional
players would envy, surrounded by a
cluster of facilities, including a
running track, a skate park, an outdoor
roller hockey rink and batting cages.
|
|
BEIJING SAYS NORTH KOREA KILLED THREE
CHINESE AT THE BORDER
BEIJING, CHINA--
North Korean border guards shot and
killed three Chinese suspected
smugglers and wounded a fourth last
week, prompting a complaint from
Pyongyang's only major ally, China's
Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. China
formally complained to Pyongyang, and
the incident was being investigated,
ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a
regular news briefing in the Chinese
capital. "In the early morning on June
4, North Korea's border defense troops
fired at some citizens of Dandong in
Liaoning province, because they were
suspected of illegally crossing the
border to trade," Qin said. "Three
people were killed, and one was
wounded."
Pyongyang has a heavily militarized
southern border which sees occasional
exchanges of fire, and a South Korean
tourist was shot dead by a North Korean
soldier in 2008 while at a resort in the
North. But attacks on Chinese citizens
are rare. The Sino-Korean border, in
China's northeast, is quiet and fairly
porous, with a steady flow of refugees
and traders coming over to escape food
shortages or profit from them.
Beijing tolerates the cross-border traffic in part
because it is fearful that a collapse of
the regime would turn that trickle into
a flood, and could one day mean South
Korean or even U.S. troops stationed on
its border. It also provides support
including grains and energy for the
shaky regime. The loss of Chinese life
in the shooting may stir up discontent
about Beijing's policies toward its
secretive neighbor, although it is
unlikely to drastically change
government policy. "The Chinese side
have paid great attention to this
incident, and immediately made solemn
representations to the North Korean
side. At present this case is in the
process of being investigated and dealt
with further," Qin said. Any further
information would be released later, he
added. |
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de cada cual su capacidad
|
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NORTH KOREA'S KIM JONG-iI SACKED HIS
PRIME MINISTER AND CONSOLIDATES POWER
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--
North Korea named a brother-in-law of
leader Kim Jong-il to a powerful
military post on Monday and sacked its
premier in moves seen as consolidating
Kim's grip on power and paving the way
for his youngest son to succeed him.
Kim attended a rare session of the
rubberstamp parliament, the Supreme
People's Assembly, to personally name
Jang Song-thaek as vice chairman of the
National Defense Commission, the North's
KCNA news agency said.
The commission, headed by the "Dear
Leader" himself, represents the pinnacle
of power in the hermit state. The second
assembly session in two months came amid
growing momentum in the international
community to punish Pyongyang for the
sinking of a South Korean navy corvette
in March that killed 46 sailors. Jang,
who had once fallen out of Kim's favor
but has since returned to his inner
circle, is the husband of the leader's
sister, and is viewed as the key figure
for ensuring a smooth transfer of power
from Kim to one of his sons.
"Jang would be the most trustworthy person to Kim who can
establish the foundation for succession
to Jong-un," said Park Young-ho of the
Korea Institute for National Analysis.
"This is a signal that they will be
moving on existing power structures, no
innovation or openness or reform." The
parliament also sacked the country's
premier, who is considered the top
economic official, and replaced him with
Choe Yong-rim, a member of the old guard
and another confidant of Kim's family
who has been in key economic posts. The
dismissal of premier Kim Yong-il is
likely linked to a currency revaluation
late last year that, according to some
media reports, incited widespread public
discontent. Kim, who suffered a stroke
in 2008, missed the previous session of
the Supreme People's Assembly in April,
which amended the country's constitution
to strengthen his power. |
|
IRAN'S RED CRESCENT WILL TRY TO BREAK
THE ISRAELI BLOCKADE OF GAZA
TEHRAN,
IRAN--Iran's
Red Crescent Society will try to break
the Israeli blockade of Gaza by
sending food and medical supplies to the
besieged Palestinian territory, an
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said
Monday. Red Crescent official Abdul Rauf
Adibzadeh said one shipment of relief
goods will arrive in Gaza via Egypt by
the end of the week, Iranian media
reported. The aid group is also
preparing to send two relief ships to
the coast of Gaza, including a hospital
ship with doctors, nurses and operating
rooms and another vessel with more
relief goods like food and medication,
the IRNA and Mehr news agencies
reported. Israel stopped a convoy of six
ships trying to deliver aid to Gaza last
week in defiance of an Israeli blockade,
killing at least nine people in the
course of boarding one of the vessels.
Adibzadeh said there is a possibility
that Iranian Red Crescent ships may be
attacked but added that, despite the
danger, if the Iranian authorities
approve, the shipments will be sent to
Gaza. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin
Mehmanparast said the Iranian ships will
be part of a new aid flotilla organized
by several Islamic countries, though he
declined to say which countries are
involved. He called it "strictly a
humanitarian effort for the people of
Gaza." "We are preparing two ships to
head for Gaza that will provide
humanitarian aid," Mehmanparast said.
"Their departure depends on how soon we
coordinate with other countries that are
also sending aid ships. The process of
organizing the operation is under way."
Separately, a "Jewish boat" is planning
to try to reach Gaza, two
pro-Palestinian European Jewish groups
announced Monday.
"Our purpose is to call an end to the siege of Gaza, to this
illegal collective punishment of the
whole civilian population," Edith Lutz
said on behalf of European Jews for a
Just Peace in the Near East and Jews for
Justice for Palestinians. The group is
not saying when the boat is sailing or
where it is leaving from "in order to
avoid sabotage," Lutz said. Israeli
commandos intercepted the first convoy
at sea May 31 and stormed the largest
vessel, the Turkish-flagged Mavi
Marmara. The ships were carrying
humanitarian aid to Gaza, organizers
said. The Palestinian territory has been
blockaded by Israel since its takeover
by the Islamic movement Hamas in 2007.
Israeli officials have defended the
legality of the raid, criticizing those
aboard the Mavi Marmara for attacking
the boarding party and insisting that
they can handle the investigation
themselves. |
|
ISRAEL NAVY KILLS 4 PALESTINIAN
MILITANTS OFF GAZA
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israeli
naval forces shot and killed four
men wearing wet suits in the waters off
the coast of Gaza Monday, and a militant
group said they were members of its
marine unit training for a mission. The
attack was the latest escalation in
tensions over the 3-year-old blockade of
Gaza. It came a week after Israel raided
a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying
humanitarian supplies and hundreds of
activists protesting the closure of the
Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.
Israeli soldiers killed nine activists
in a clash on one of the flotilla boats,
bringing fierce international
condemnation and new pressure to ease
the blockade.
The latest clash took place early
Monday. The Israeli military said a
naval force spotted the Palestinians in
the waters off Gaza and opened fire. It
claimed the forces had prevented an
attack on Israeli targets. The
Palestinian militant group Al-Aqsa
Martyrs' Brigades said the four killed
were members of its marine unit who were
training in Gaza's waters. Al-Aqsa, a
violent offshoot of Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction,
made the claim in a text message sent to
reporters in Gaza. Four bodies were
retrieved and taken to a hospital in
central Gaza, said Moawiya Hassanain, a
Palestinian health official. The
Palestinian naval police said two people
were still missing.
"The bloody escalation today is a desperate attempt by the
occupation government to divert the
world attention away from the massacre
committed against the flotilla," Hamas
spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters
in Gaza. The flotilla clash has brought
renewed international focus on Israel's
blockade of Gaza, which Egypt has also
enforced along its border with the
impoverished coastal strip. The killings
seriously damaged Israel's relations
with Turkey, which had been its closest
ally in the Muslim world. Turkey
unofficially supported the flotilla and
eight of the nine activists killed were
Turkish citizens. One held dual
Turkish-American citizenship. Turkey has
said it will reduce military and trade
ties with Israel and shelved discussions
of energy projects. It has also
threatened to break ties unless Israel
apologizes. |
|
ISRAEL REJECTS UNITED NATIONS PROPOSAL
FOR GAZA PROBE
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel
has rejected a proposal from United
Nations Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
to establish a multinational
commission to investigate a deadly
Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told
cabinet ministers Sunday that he had
informed Mr. Ban of his decision. He
said he told the U.N. chief an
investigation of facts needed to be
carried out "responsibly and
objectively." Israel's U.S. ambassador,
Michael Oren, told "Fox News Sunday"
Israel had the ability and right to
conduct its own investigation.
Mr. Ban proposed establishing a panel
led by former New Zealand Prime Minister
Geoffrey Palmer to investigate last
Monday's Israeli commando raid that
killed nine international activists.
The raid outraged Turkey and many other
nations. Eight Turkish citizens and one
American of Turkish origin were killed
in the Israeli raid. The Mavi Marmara
ship was part of an aid convoy that was
trying to break a three-year-old Israeli
blockade and deliver aid directly to
Gaza.
On Saturday, Israeli forces peacefully seized control
of the Rachel Corrie, another aid ship
trying to reach Gaza. Israel continues
the process of deporting international
activists from the Rachel Corrie.
Israeli forces escorted the ship to the
port of Ashdod Saturday after
intercepting the vessel as it approached
Gaza. The Irish aid ship was named after
Rachel Corrie, an activist with the
pro-Palestinian International Solidarity
Movement. The 23-year-old Corrie was
killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the
Gaza Strip while trying to keep Israeli
soldiers from bulldozing a Palestinian
home in 2003. During Israel's Sunday
cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said a group of activists
boarded the Mavi Marmara in a way that
allowed them to avoid a security check.
He said they had the sole intention of
initiating a violent confrontation with
Israeli soldiers. |
|
ISRAEL SAYS ACTIVISTS PREPARED TO FIGHT
JERUSALEM,
ISRAEL--Israel's
prime minister claimed Sunday
that the Turkish activists who battled
Israeli naval commandos in a deadly
clash last week prepared for the fight
ahead of time, before boarding the ship
in a different city from the rest of the
passengers. Benjamin Netanyahu's charges
highlight Israel's frantic efforts to
portray the activists as terrorists and
counter a wave of harsh international
condemnation that has left the Jewish
state isolated and at odds with some of
its closest allies. Last Monday's
operation, in which nine activists were
killed aboard a ship headed to the
blockaded Gaza Strip, damaged Israel's
ties with Turkey - its main Muslim ally
- and brought heavy pressure on Israel
to lift the 3-year closure of
Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Netanyahu told his Cabinet that "dozens
of thugs" from "an extremist,
terrorism-supporting" organization had
readied themselves for the arrival of
the naval commandos. "This group boarded
separately in a different city,
organized separately, equipped itself
separately and went on deck under
different procedures," he said. "The
clear intent of this hostile group was
to initiate a violent clash with
(Israeli) soldiers." Late Sunday,
Netanyahu's office released a statement
saying he discussed the international
criticism with world leaders, including
Vice President Joe Biden, the president
of France and the premier of Canada.
Netanyahu told them any country would
act in self defense if it were targeted
by thousands of rockets as Israel has
been by Gaza militants. Videos released
by the military have shown a crowd of
men attacking several naval commandos as
they landed on a ship from a helicopter,
beating the soldiers with clubs and
other objects and hurling one soldier
overboard.
On Sunday, the Turkish daily Hurriyet showed new pictures
taken by unidentified people of wounded
Israeli commandos, including some with
bloodied faces. Israeli government
spokesman Mark Regev said the images
seemed to corroborate Israel's version
of the events. "It shows that our
boarding party in fact did face deadly
violence from the hardcore Islamist
activists on the boat ... and that our
boarding party was forced to respond,"
he said. "Had they not, they would have
been killed." The fighting took place on
the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, and
the dead included eight Turks and a
Turkish-American man. The ship was
organized by the IHH, a Turkish Islamic
charity that Israel has outlawed because
of its alleged ties to Hamas. The group
is not on the U.S. State Department list
of terror organizations, however. |
|
VENEZUELAN AUTHORITIES FIND 1,103
CONTAINERS WITH ROTTEN FOOD IN SEAPORT
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Authorities
of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin)
located on Thursday other 1,103
containers with out-of-date food in a
courtyard adjacent to storage company
Centro de Almacenes Congelados (Cealco),
a subsidiary of state-run company
Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), located
in the industrial area of La Belisa,
Puerto Cabello, in central Carabobo
state. With this new discovery, 2.300
shipping containers of rotten food have
been found in the coasts of the state of
Carabobo.
On May 25, police officers investigating
the theft of three containers of
powdered milk found 1,197 shipping
containers in warehouses owned by
state-run food distribution network
Pdval, which is attached to Pdvsa.
Governor of Carabobo state Henrique
Fernando Salas Feo described as "a
perfect business" the reality that hides
behind the containers found in Puerto
Cabello with expired food. He reported
that there are at least two procedures
used by mafias linked to the government
to get big profits under the guise of
food imports for alleged distribution
among poor people.
First, "they use the foreign exchange system and buy food
with preferential dollars at an official
exchange rate of VEB 2.30 per US dollar,
then, they purchase products at a price
lower than they actually report, and
finally they trade excess dollars at an
exchange rate of VEB 8 per US dollar."
In addition to that, the government has
to pay USD 3,250 per day for the
courtyards where containers are stored.
Since there are 1,200 containers of
food, storage costs amount to USD 3,900
per day, thus totaling over USD 117,000
per month that Pdvsa has to pay to
Venezuelan ports authority Bolipuertos.
Despite this complaint, dictator Hugo
Chávez voiced on Thursday support for
Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael
Ramírez. |
|
PRESIDENT OBAMA NOMINATES RETIRED
LT. GEN. JAMES CLAPPER TO BE THE NEW
DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C.-
President Obama nominateS retired Air
Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper to be the
new director of national intelligence,
a senior U.S. defense official
confirmed today. Clapper, now a
top Pentagon intelligence official,
would replace Dennis Blair, who resigned
at the end of last month. If confirmed,
Clapper will become the nation's fourth
DNI in the last five years. The position
was created after the September 2001
terrorist attacks to oversee the 16
agencies of the U.S. intelligence
community.
Clapper, who retired from the Air Force
in 1995 after a 32-year career, served
as head of the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from
September 2001 to June 2006. He has
served as the under secretary of defense
for intelligence since April 2007. Some
political observers have indicated that
Clapper's prospects for confirmation on
Capitol Hill, however, are questionable.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the
Democratic head of the Senate
Intelligence Committe, recently said the
"best thing for the U.S. intelligence
community is to have someone with a
civilian background in charge." The
ranking Republican on the Intelligence
Committe, Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, said
he has reservations about Clapper. "I
believe he is too focused on the Defense
Department issues and he has tried to
block out efforts to give more authority
to the DNI," Bond said.
Bond's counterpart on the House side, Rep. Pete
Hoekstra, R-Michigan, also said he
believes Clapper is the wrong person,
because he is "not forthcoming, open or
transparent" with Congress. Blair, a
retired admiral, was pressured to resign
as DNI because of differences with the
White House over the scope of his role
and turf wars with CIA Director Leon
Panetta and other members of the
intelligence community. One source
familiar with Blair's situation said
that from the very beginning, "the White
House did not have the same view (as
Blair) of what the DNI should be." That
might be the crux of the problem. The
law that created the position of DNI
after the 9/11 terrorist attacks is too
"ambiguous," said Lee Hamiliton, a
former congressman who pushed Congress
for intelligence reform. |
|
BERLIN, MOSCOW EYE QUICK U.N. MOVE ON
IRAN SANCTIONS
MESEBERG,
GERMANY--
The leaders of Germany and Russia
said on Saturday that world powers were
on the verge of approving a new round of
sanctions against Iran for its nuclear
work. Germany and the five permanent
members of the United Nations Security
Council -- Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United States -- have
been discussing a fourth round of
sanctions for months and Washington has
said a vote is likely next week.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
speaking at a joint news conference with
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev north
of Berlin, described the consensus among
world powers on the issue as a "major
diplomatic advance" and said she
expected the U.N. to move quickly. "It
is possible that in the near future the
sanctions can be approved by the U.N.
Security Council," Merkel said. "I am
very happy that we can stand here
together today and say this is a common
position, including not only the
European Union, the United States and
Russia, but also China," she added.
The United States and Europe overcame
reservations in China and Russia, which
have strong trade ties to Iran, and
forged agreement on a draft sanctions
resolution last month. "The situation is
such that an agreement on sanctions
almost exists," said Medvedev, adding
that no one wanted to impose sanctions,
but sometimes they were necessary. "We
hope that the voice of the international
community will be heard by the Iranian
leadership," he said. "One cannot
continue behaving irresponsibly. It is
important to listen to what is said in
the international arena." |
|
VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER NICOLAS
MADURO RECOMMENDS THE US LOOKING FOR
TERRORISM INSIDE
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás
Maduro rebutted on Friday the
opinion of US analysts who claimed that
the Venezuela-Iran partnership poses a
threat to the stability of the Western
Hemisphere, and accused the US
government of supporting "criminal
States."
"Iran is a brother; a close, strategic
ally of the Bolivarian revolution and we
will continue this way. Rather than
being an accomplice to the massacres
(perpetrated by) the State of Israel,
the United States should react. The US
people should require their authorities
to react to the continued massacres of
the State of Israel," Maduro said. "The
recent statements made by US
Vice-President Joe Biden are really
shameful when justifying the massacre
against the aid flotilla, the flotilla
for freedom that was slaughtered some
days ago in international waters, in
front of the Gaza Strip," the minister
added.
"They (the United States) justified that the State of
Israel killed unarmed men and women who
carried medicines and food for the
Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip
was their legitimate defense; that is
shameful indeed." "If you are to see
terrorism, look at it inside yourselves;
in your own government; in your own
allies; in criminal States, such as
Israel, which are protected by the US
government. In the meantime, we keep on
walking, keep on building, and give a
damn to any such remarks from that elite
which is simply discredited," Maduro
reasoned. |
|
PRESIDENT OBAMA: ISRAEL RAID ON 'FREEDOM
FLOTILLA' WAS 'TRAGIC', BUT
STOPPED SHORT OF CONDEMNING THE COMMANDO
ATTACK
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL-While
president Obama said the deaths of nine
people were unnecessary, he said
the U.S. wants to wait for “an
investigation of international
standards” to determine the facts.
Israel, he said, should agree to such an
investigation. “They recognize that this
can’t be good for Israel’s long-term
security,” Obama said in an interview
with CNN’s Larry King airing Thursday
night.
Monday’s predawn raid of a flotilla attempting to break
Israel’s blockade of Gaza has drawn
international criticism and calls for
Israel to end the blockade. Israel says
the blockade is meant to keep weapons
out of the hands of Hamas fighters, not
keep aid from the reaching the
Palestinian people, a view the U.S.
generally supports. Obama said the most
recent incident presents an opportunity
for all parties involved to break out of
the current impasse and move toward a
two-state solution in which Palestinians
and Israelis can live peacefully side by
side. “We have been trying to do this
piecemeal for decades now,” Obama said.
“It just doesn’t work.”
I think that we need to know what all the facts are,
the President said. But it's not
premature to say to the Israelis and to
say to the Palestinians, and to say to
all the parties in the region that the
status quo is unsustainable. We have
been trying to do this piecemeal for
decades now. It just doesn't work.
You've got to have a situation in which
the Palestinians have real opportunity
and Israel's neighbors recognize
Israel's legitimate security concerns
and are committed to peace. |
|
TURKISH CHARITY THAT SENT "FREEDOM
FLOTILLA" TO GAZA MAY HAVE LINKS WITH
ISLAMIC TERRORISTS
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--The
Turkish charity whose fleet of
Gaza-bound aid ships was
controversially raided by Israel that
saw the death of nine of its
crew-members, is now under the scanner
over alleged terrorist links and
providing a facade for raising funds for
terrorist organisations. Despite their
repeated denial of such accusations and
assertions of their being a “peaceful”
organization, the charity named The
Foundation for Human Rights, Freedoms
and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) has
dubious antecedents and has previously
been found to be embroiled in Islamic
fundamentalism and an attempted bombing
of a US airport.
According to The Times, the IHH,
which Israel says has links with the
Palestinian group Hamas, first gained
attention in the 1990s. Jean-Louis
Bruguihre, a French investigating
magistrate and an authority on
counter-terrorism, has said that in the
mid-1990s the group’s leader, Bulent
Yildirim, made efforts to “recruit
veteran soldiers in anticipation of the
coming holy war. In particular, some men
were sent into war zones in Muslim
countries in order to acquire combat
experience”, the paper reports. The
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said
that some security officials believed
there was a link between the ship, which
was purchased for the trip by the IHH,
and Turkey’s ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK).
The IHH had been unable to charter a
ship for the risky voyage, and had
resorted to buying the Mavi Marmara for
900,000 euros 750,000 pounds; money it
said it had raised from its members in
Turkey. It also bought the 10,000 tonnes
of aid intended for Gaza, including
electric wheelchairs and pre-fabricated
houses. In its defense, the IHH said
that anyone attempting to help the
unfortunate Gaza dwellers is hastily
labeled a “terrorist”. “We don’t have
anything against Israel. Our only aim
was to carry aid to the people of Gaza.
But for Israel, regardless of your
religion or your nationality, if you
help the people of Gaza you will be
declared a terrorist,” said an IHH
statement. |
|
EXPERTS BRAND VENEZUELA A "THREAT'
BECAUSE OF TIES WITH ISLAMIC TERRORISTS
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Roger
Noriega, the former US Assistant
Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs, claimed to have
information on the “direct relationship
between Middle East terrorist groups and
(Venezuela’s President Hugo) Chávez’s
regime in terms of financial support and
weapons”.
Venezuela has turned out to be a
"threat" to security of the Americas
because of its close links with Iran.
Therefore, the US Government should keep
a watching eye on these ties as they are
dangerous, several political analysts
warned on Thursday. The rapprochement
between the two countries was the main
subject of the Second Conference on
Venezuela, hosted by the Center for
Hemispheric Policy, University of Miami,
with the participation of Latin American
and US experts, Efe reported.
"The subject needs to be seriously
faced in order to ponder on the extent
of the threat and how we and our allies
will answer to it," said Roger Noriega,
the former US Assistant Secretary of
State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
At the end of his presentation, Noriega
told reporters that he is in possession
of information which points to the
"direct relationship between Middle East
terrorist groups and (Venezuela's
President Hugo) Chávez's regime in terms
of financial support and weapons."
|
|
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES SAYS
CHINA'S PLA MAY BE TRYING TO THWART TIES
SINGAPORE--Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on
Thursday he believed the Chinese
military was thwarting efforts to
improve military-to-military relations
in an apparent split with the country's
political leadership. U.S. In what some
American officials took as a snub, China
turned down a proposed visit by Gates
aimed at mending fences during his trip
to Asia this week. U.S. officials have
long described China as a "hard target"
for intelligence-gathering. Gates, a
former CIA director, acknowledged that
the Pentagon was having difficulty
reading the intentions of the People's
Liberation Army (PLA). "My opinion (is)
that the PLA is significantly less
interested in developing this
relationship than the political
leadership of the country," Gates told
reporters on his plane as he arrived in
Singapore to attend a major security
conference.
"I'm disappointed that the PLA
leadership has not seen the same
potential benefits from this kind of a
military-to-military relationship as
their own leadership and the United
States seemed to think would be a
benefit," he said. Gates is scheduled to
meet his Japanese and South Korean
counterparts but not a Chinese
delegation, led by a general, at the
summit in Singapore. Some U.S. officials
saw the friction with China as
particularly worrisome given heightened
tensions in the region after the United
States and South Korea concluded that
North Korea was behind the sinking of a
South Korean warship in March. Seoul
wants the U.N. Security Council to
censure North Korea for allegedly
torpedoing the South Korean corvette
Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors. It
was the deadliest military incident
between the two Koreas since the
1950-1953 Korean War. But Beijing,
which is North Korea's only major ally
and which fought alongside the North in
the Korean War, has declined publicly to
join international condemnation of
Pyongyang, saying it is still assessing
the evidence.
Gates said his attendance at the
Singapore summit was meant to convey the
message that "we are a Pacific power and
intend to remain a power in the
Pacific." He said Washington and Seoul
were considering "shows of force,"
including anti-submarine exercises, to
deter behavior by North Korea he termed
"even more unpredictable than usual." "I
think having a conversation with the
Chinese about North Korea would be
helpful," Gates said. "But we're not
interested if they're not interested."
Some U.S. military officials are
concerned the international community's
failure to respond in a forceful way to
the sinking of the Cheonan will not only
embolden North Korea but will undermine
U.S.-led efforts to contain Iran's
nuclear program. "They can't be looked
at in isolation," one U.S. military
official said of North Korea and Iran. |
|
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS WINS BACKING OF
COLOMBIA'S CONSERVATIVES
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Already strongly favored to win the
Colombian presidency, former Defense
Minister Juan Manuel Santos got another
boost on Tuesday when the Andean
nation's Conservative party said it will
back him in the June 20 vote. Santos, a
scion of an elite family, had a 25-point
lead over former Bogota Mayor Antanas
Mockus in a first round vote on Sunday
but was around 3 percentage points shy
of winning outright. The two men will
now face each other again in a June 20
runoff.
Santos, a scion of an elite family, is
the political heir to staunch Washington
ally President Alvaro Uribe, who steps
down in August. Uribe is still popular
after two terms dominated by his war
against drug-trafficking rebels and his
pro-business approach that attracted
foreign investment, especially in oil
and mining. The Conservative Party
candidate Noemi Sanin got 6 percent of
the vote on Sunday, compared to Santos'
47 percent. The endorsement may not
bring him all the voters from the
Conservatives who are divided over their
party's support for Santos and his
predecessor. The Conservative Party for
years alternated power with the Liberal
Party, and as one of the coffee, coal
and oil exporting nation's oldest
political organizations is experienced
at getting out the vote.
Party leader Fernando Araujo said a
majority of the party's lawmakers
decided to back Santos on the grounds he
represents continuity with the Uribe
government. Uribe's U Party, headed by
Santos, is the strongest bloc in the
Congress and was allied with the
Conservatives during his eight years in
office. Santos is also likely to seek
the support of the Cambio Radical party,
whose candidate German Vargas Lleras
came third in Sunday's vote with just
over 10 percent of the votes. Mockus,
who got an unexpectedly low 21 percent,
on Tuesday said he was not seeking the
support of other parties for the second
round. Instead, he said, he will focus
reducing abstention. "The only alliance
I will do is an alliance with the
people," the Green Party candidate said. |
|
TALEBAN SENDS MESSAGE OF WAR TO
AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT KARZAI'S PEACE
SUMMIT
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--More
than 1,600 dignitaries — tribal elders,
ministers, MPs and ambassadors —
had
gathered in Afghanistan’s most venerated
tent for a conference about peace. An
estimated 12,000 soldiers, policemen and
intelligence agents were involved in
keeping all of them safe. The rest of
the country was enjoying a two-day
holiday. Moments into Mr Karzai’s
opening address, however, he was
interrupted by the whistle and thud of
an incoming rocket. The Taleban —
conspicuous by their absence — had,
nonetheless, managed to get their point
across.
At least five rockets were fired during
the morning, police said, with two
suicide bombers killed and a third
arrested after they were found hiding in
the shell of a house under construction
barely 500 meters from the Loya Jirga,
or Grand Assembly tent. Undeterred by
either the risk to his life — he has
survived at least three assassination
attempts — or to the credibility of his
conference, Mr Karzai urged his audience
not to panic. “Sit down, nothing will
happen,” he said. “I have become used to
this.” In a direct appeal to his “dear
Taleban brothers”, he said: “May God
bring you to your homeland. Don’t
destroy your homeland, don’t destroy
yourself.”
The President left the conference in an
armored convoy, as planned, while the
rest of the delegates formed smaller
groups to try to agree on a set of
ground rules for negotiating with the
Taleban. Mr Karzai’s message was
clearly designed to fit in with the
White House’s rhetoric about possible
amnesties for senior Taleban — but
strictly no talks with al-Qaeda. “I
can’t forgive al-Qaeda or those who kill
students, teachers, scholars — there is
no room for them in the jirga,” Mr
Karzai said. However, he admitted that
his Government, and the international
troops which secure it, were partly to
blame for some people supporting the
insurgency. “Those Taleban compelled to
flee are welcome to come and join us,”
he said. The UN special representative
to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, who
was among about 200 diplomats invited,
predicted a tough road ahead. “Every
difficult negotiation starts with an
attempt of strength by either side,” he
said. |
|
US CALLS FOR FREEING OF CUBA PRISONERS
WITHOUT CONDITIONS
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The
U.S. government and a top Cuban human
rights activist on Wednesday
urged the island's leaders to release
jailed political prisoners, not just
transfer them to facilities nearer to
their homes. On Tuesday, at least six
political prisoners were moved to jails
closer to their homes under a deal with
the Roman Catholic Church to improve
prison conditions. Dissident leaders
have said the agreement worked out
between the government and the church
includes an understanding that some of
the 26 ailing political prisoners would
be freed, but church officials have said
only that the government would provide
better access to medical care. "We
continue to hope that prisoners of
conscience will be released, rather than
just relocated, as soon as possible,"
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley
told reporters at a briefing in
Washington.
In Cuba, human rights leader Elizardo
Sanchez told The Associated Press the
transfers "don't satisfy our hopes, nor
do they satisfy the hopes of the
international community, which is
seeking the prisoners' unconditional
release." Sanchez, who heads the
Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human
Rights and National Reconciliation, said
he hopes to hear word on more transfers
soon. Bertha Soler, the wife of prisoner
Angel Moya and one of the leaders of the
Ladies in White, a group of wives and
mothers of 75 people arrested in a
sweeping 2003 crackdown, hopes the
prison transfers are a signal that
ailing prisoners will be released. "They
started with these six men, but we hope
soon to get word of the release of those
who are most sick," she said. Human
rights groups say Cuba is holding some
200 prisoners of conscience, including
53 still in jail from the 2003 arrests.
The six prisoners moved Tuesday were all
sent to jail in 2003 on charges of
treason and sentenced to terms between
20 and 25 years. The wife of a seventh
prisoner said Tuesday that her husband
was part of the prison transfer, but as
of Wednesday there was no confirmation
he was being moved.
The agreement also calls for Cuba to provide medical
treatment for ailing prisoners, though
there has been no word on that starting.
Cuban dictator Raul Castro met on May 19
with Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who
has become a leading figure in efforts
to improve relations between dissidents
and Cuba's communist leaders.
Concessions of any kind would have been
unthinkable just a few months ago, when
the government was in the midst of a
vocal defense of its human rights record
after the death of a hunger striking
dissident. At the time, Cuban officials
warned that if another dissident hunger
striker died, his blood would be on the
hands of the international community.
Cuban officials describe the dissidents
as traitors who are on Washington's
payroll, and say any government should
have the right to imprison those seeking
its overthrow. The dissidents counter
that they are in jail for expressing
their views, and say there is no
evidence any of them had plans or the
means to seriously threaten the
government's control. |
|
ISRAEL: GLOBAL JIHAD LINKED TO THE
"FREEDOM FLOTILLA"
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israeli
defense officials now say dozens of
passengers who were aboard the Turkish
ship Mavi Marmara, the scene of a
bloody showdown with Israeli commandos
Monday, are suspected of having
connections to terrorist organizations.
The Israeli Army says it's identified 50
passengers on the ship with terrorist
links. It's known the flotilla of 6
ships was in part organized by the IHH
group in Turkey, which reportedly has
links to Al Qaeda. And three members of
Yemen's Parliament, from the Islah
Party, were also among the more than 600
activists detained by Israel after ships
refused to stop for Israeli patrol boats
and were boarded by Israeli Navy SEALs
who eventually opened fire, killing 9
people. The Islah party is also said to
have shadowy links to Al Qaeda. Both
groups certainly support the Hamas
organization in Gaza.
Israel believes the larger danger is
that Turkey, a NATO ally, is becoming a
foe of the U.S. and Israel. Israel's
intelligence Chief, Meir Dagan, told top
government ministers here that Turkish
President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has "a
dream of returning Turkey's dominance
through going down the Islamic hall." He
cites Turkey's warmer relations with the
Palestinians and Hamas, and improving
relations with Syria, Iran and others.
Dagan described a new anti-Israel
coalition. Turkey facilitated the
flotilla and the Marmara is
Turkish-flagged. When Israeli commandos
lowered themselves onto the deck of the
Marmara they met a violent mob armed
with bats, steel bars, knives -- and
even guns ripped from Israeli troops who
were beaten to the point they feared for
their lives. Four of the Israelis were
set upon, stabbed and shot, and are
still in the hospital.
Even close allies are under pressure. U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton has been wobbling
between supporting Israel's right to
defend its borders against Hamas
smuggling and the need to show sympathy
for 1.5 million Palestinians under a
3-year blockade struggling to get
everything from medical supplies to
food. Clinton won't condemn the
blockade, even though Israel itself is
increasingly questioning keeping it in
place, considering that Hamas manages to
smuggle arms from underground tunnels in
Egypt regardless. The defense
official's claim a portion of the
activists aboard the 6 ships had such
serious links to extremist groups raises
more questions about who in Israel
ultimately approved the bungled plan to
board the ships. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's inner cabinet is said to be
fuming about not being consulted on the
actual details of the raid and is
demanding answers now. |
|
ISRAEL TRANSFERS HUNDREDS OF GAZA
FLOTILLA ACTIVISTS TO AIRPORT FOR
DEPORTATION
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel
has begun deporting the first batch of
foreign activists seized aboard a
six-ship humanitarian aid flotilla
seized in an Israel Navy raid en route
to the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry
said Wednesday, indicating that the rest
of the activists will be escorted out of
the country throughout the day. 325
foreign activists were transferred on
Wednesday morning from the Ela detention
facility in Be'er Sheva to Ben Gurion
Airport for flights to their countries
of origins. Israeli soldiers walking
in front of one of the Gaza-bound ships
at the port of Ashdod June 1, 2010
Another 186 flotilla activists were
still at the prison in Be'er Sheva but
Israeli authorities were processing
their release "at this moment," said a
prison service spokeswoman.
A Turkish Airlines plane landed at Ben
Gurion on Wednesday morning, to pick up
detained Turkish activists. Two more
Turkish Airlines planes are expected to
arrive over the course of the day. A
deputy Turkish foreign minister arrived
on the first plane to accompany the
activists on their trip home. The
decision to deport the hundreds of
foreign activists was announced by Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided late
Tuesday, in the face of mounting world
criticism of Monday's assault. Israeli
officials said all 680 activists held
would be released, including two dozen
Israel had threatened earlier to
prosecute charging they had assaulted
its troops. In addition, 124 activists
from 12 Muslim nations - most of them
without diplomatic ties with Israel -
crossed the Allenby Bridge aboard five
Jordanian buses.
Jordanian government spokesman Nabil Al-Sharif said
there were 30 Jordanians in the group.
Jordan is one of two Arab nations with a
signed peace treaty with Israel. The
bridge's Jordanian chief, Brig. Mahmoud
Abu Jumaa, said Jordan will help
repatriate the activists - who include
lawmakers and journalists - to their
respective countries in coordination
with their governments. Kuwaiti
ambassador Sheik Faisal Al Sabah said
there were 16 Kuwaitis aboard the buses.
They will be flown home aboard a Kuwaiti
government-chartered plane later
Wednesday, Al Sabah said. He said the
other activists came from Azerbaijan,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Algeria,
Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen, Oman and
Bahrain. Dozens of other activists
remain in Israeli detention, but most
are expected to be deported in the
coming days. |
|
VENEZUELA IN THE US STATE DEPARTMENT
LIST OF COUNTRIES WHICH FAIL TO HELP
WITH ANTI-TERRORIST EFFORTS
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The
US Department of State this year,
one more time, blacklisted Venezuela
among the countries which do not fully
cooperate with US anti-terrorist
efforts, as a certificate attesting to
it since 2006 was renewed. Sources of
the US Department of State reported on
Tuesday that US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton last May 11 notified the
US Congress of the certificate renewal,
effective from October 1, Efe reported.
The step is pursuant to Section 40A of the Arms Export
Control Act, on transactions with
countries that do not fully cooperate
with Washington's anti-terrorist efforts
and bans the sale of defense materials
and the provision of military and
defense service, as well as issue of
licenses for export of weapons and
technology.
The US Government should certify every year, on or before May
15, which countries are "blacklisted."
US Secretary of State made her decision
before 12 Republican Senators sent her a
letter on May 25 asking her both to
review the "increasing ties" of
Venezuela with terrorist groups which
appear in the Department of State list
of foreign terrorist organizations and
include it in the list of states
sponsors of terrorism. |
|
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS AND ANTANAS MOCKUS
HEADED TO RUNOFF IN COLOMBIAN
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Former
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos and
former Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus
are headed for a June 20 runoff
after Sunday's voting in Colombia's
presidential election, according to
unofficial results. With 98.7 percent of
precincts reporting, Santos was ahead
with 46.6 percent of vote to 21.5
percent for Mockus. Since none of the
nine candidates received more than 50
percent, the two top finishers will
face-off next month. The winner will
succeed the wildly popular President
Alvaro Uribe.
Elections officials reported heavy
voting, which went smoothly in most
parts of the country, although clashes
between troops and leftist rebels of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
or FARC, were reported in isolated areas
of the south. Maria Paula Garcia, a
19-year-old student voting in Bogota,
said she cast her ballot for Mockus, a
former philosophy and mathematics
professor who has run his campaign on
promises of clean government, because he
is the ``candidate of young people. He
is the future of Colombia.'' Oscar
Anibal Fernandez, 56, declined to
indicate how he voted, but said that the
most important thing was to ``keep the
country on track.''
Santos has campaigned on being the
heir to Uribe's successful security
policies that brought the country back
from the brink of becoming a failed
state. The U.S. has poured billions into
Colombia, one of its strongest allies in
the hemisphere. Supporters of the
candidates began to gather at different
areas of the capital Bogota as results
began to pour in. Santos has maintained
a lead from the start of counting. “May
the will of God and of the people be
done,'' said Santos after voting at a
school. Before casting his ballot near
the National University where he was a
rector, Mockus said: ``The people's duty
is to chose the best candidate.''
|
|
BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
MORATINOS SAYS EUROPEAN
UNION POSITION ON CUBA CAN'T BE
JUSTIFIED
MADRID, SPAIN--
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel
Moratinos said in an interview
published Monday by the Brazilian daily
O Globo that the European Union’s Common
Position with regard to Cuba can no
longer be justified. Moratinos, who
participated last week in the 3rd Forum
of the Alliance of Civilizations in Rio
de Janeiro, said Spain, which occupies
the EU presidency for the first half of
this year, has unfrozen relations with
Cuba and established a political
dialogue, adding that the only think
left to do is to overcome the so-called
Common Position.
“We’re going to discuss that in June and we don’t know
what the final decision will be because
we have to have consensus. But it’s a
position which there is no reason to
maintain,” Moratinos told O Globo. “The
foreign policy of the EU is defined via
bilateral, regional accords ... And this
is the only common position that the EU
had (in) the entire world. There are
those who defend it who say that it
needs to be harsher, but that road does
not serve to reach our objectives,”
Moratinos said. The EU’s Common
Position, established in 1996 on the
initiative of then-Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar, links
dialogue with Cuban authorities to moves
on their part in favor of a democratic
opening and defends the dialogue process
with the internal opposition.
The Spanish government has emphasized the need to
convert the Common Position into a
bilateral accord that commits Cuba to
respect human rights and release
political prisoners. “Relations with
Cuba were frozen. There was no dialogue.
In Spain, we’ve begun a new policy of
dialogue in the past five years. When we
assumed (the Spanish government) there
were 300 prisoners of conscience in Cuba
and today I think there are 206,”
Moratinos said. “We’re continuing to
work but always respecting the rhythms
and the decisions of the Cuban
authorities. That mechanism is the one
we want to bring to the EU,” the Spanish
foreign minister said. |
|
AL QAEDA NO. 3 KILLED IN U.S. MISSILE
STRIKE
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--Al
Qaeda announced Monday that its No. 3
official, Mustafa al-Yazid, had been
killed along with members of his family
-- perhaps one of the most severe
blows to the terror movement since the
U.S. campaign against Al Qaeda began. A
senior U.S. official told Fox News that
al-Yazid died in a U.S. missile strike.
A statement posted on an Al Qaeda
Website said al-Yazid, which it
described as the organization's top
commander in Afghanistan, was killed
along with his wife, three daughters, a
grandchild and other men, women and
children but did not say how or where.
The statement did not give an exact date
for al-Yazid's death, but it was dated
by the Islamic calendar month of "Jemadi
al-Akhar," which falls in May.
A U.S. official in Washington said
word had been "spreading in extremist
circles" of his death in Pakistan's
tribal areas in the past two weeks and
the U.S. government had confirmed the
reports. His death is a major blow to Al
Qaeda, which in December "lost both its
internal and external operations
chiefs," the official said on condition
of anonymity because of the sensitivity
of the information. The Egyptian-born
al-Yazid, also known as Sheik Saeed al-Masri,
was a founding member of Al Qaeda and
the group's prime conduit to Usama bin
Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri. He was key
to day-to-day control, with a hand in
everything from finances to operational
planning, the U.S. official said.
The intelligence officials said they
received word of al-Yazid's death last
week and confirmed it by speaking to
local tribal elders and Taliban members.
They said their sources had not seen al-Yazid's
body and did not know where he was
buried. Al-Yazid has been one of many
targets in a U.S. Predator drone
campaign aimed at militants in Pakistan
since President Barack Obama took
office. Al-Yazid made no secret of his
contempt for the United States, once
calling it "the evil empire leading
crusades against the Muslims." "We have
reached the point where we see no
difference between the state and the
American people," al-Yazid told
Pakistan's Geo TV in a June 2008
interview. "The United States is a
non-Muslim state bent on the destruction
of Muslims." The shadowy, 55-year-old
al-Yazid has been involved with Islamic
extremist movements for nearly 30 years
since he joined radical student groups
led by fellow Egyptian al-Zawahri, now
the No. 2 figure in Al Qaeda after bin
Laden. |
|
Las nuevas ONG = Organización Neo
Guerrillera
|
|
10 DEAD AS ISRAEL COMMANDOS
STORM GAZA AID "FREEDOM FLOTILLA"
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--International
condemnation poured in Monday after
Israeli soldiers stormed a flotilla of
ships carrying aid intended for
Palestinians in Gaza, leaving at
least 10 people dead in the resulting
violence. Israel claimed it was
defending itself, with the Israel
Defense Forces saying the soldiers'
lives were in danger after they were
attacked with "severe physical violence,
including live fire, weapons, knives and
clubs." IDF spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital
Leibowitz said light weapons and
handguns were confiscated. "We basically
encountered a lynch," she said. "We had
to control this violence." But other
nations condemned the military action
and called for an investigation.
The Spanish and French governments
called the action "disproportionate."
The Italian foreign minister asked the
European Union to investigate, and
several nations, including Greece and
Sweden, were summoning their Israeli
ambassadors. An indignant Turkey
recalled its ambassador from Israel,
canceled three planned military
exercises with the Israeli military and
called home its youth national football
team, which had two games scheduled in
Israel, said Deputy Prime Minister
Bulent Arinc. Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan was in Chile, but will
return after meeting with the Chilean
president, Arinc said. The chief of the
Turkish military was cutting short a
trip to Egypt. The Turkish foreign
minister, in Venezuela, was calling the
United Nations Security Council to an
emergency meeting, Arinc said.
Five Israeli soldiers were wounded, the military said.
The ships of the flotilla were being
taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod,
according to IDF. The Free Gaza
Movement, one of the groups sponsoring
the flotilla, disputed Israel's claim of
violence by people aboard the ships. "At
about 4:30 am, Israeli commandos dropped
from a helicopter onto deck of Turkish
ship, immediately opened fire on unarmed
civilians," said a post on the group's
Twitter page. Video aired on CNN sister
network CNN Turk showed soldiers
abseiling onto the deck of a ship from a
helicopter above. The boarding of the
ships took place more than 70 nautical
miles outside Israeli territorial
waters, according to IHH. The Turkish
foreign ministry said the incident
"might cause irreversible consequences"
in the nation's relationship with
Israel. |
|
THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT REGRETS THE LOSS
OF LIFE ABOARD THE "FREEDOM FLOTILLA"
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The
United States has said it deeply
regrets the deaths and injuries caused
when Israeli commandos stormed a convoy
of Gaza-bound aid ships leading to more
than 10 deaths but stops short of
condemning the Israeli attack that
resulted in the casualties. "The
United States deeply regrets the loss of
life and injuries sustained, and is
currently working to understand the
circumstances surrounding this tragedy,"
said White House spokesman William
Burton. President Barack Obama was in
Chicago for the Memorial Day holiday. He
had been scheduled to meet with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at
the White House on Tuesday but that
meeting was now in doubt as Netanyahu
considered returning home to handle the
crisis.
Britain's Foreign Secretary William
Hague also deplored the loss of life in
the incident. He said: "I deplore the
loss of life during the interception of
the Gaza flotilla. Our embassy is in
urgent contact with the Israeli
government. "We are asking for more
information and urgent access to any UK
nationals involved. "We have
consistently advised against attempting
to access Gaza in this way because of
the risks involved. But at the same
time, there is a clear need for Israel
to act with restraint and in line with
international obligations. "It would be
important to establish the facts about
this incident and especially whether
enough was done to prevent death and
injuries.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked"
by the Israeli raid. "I am shocked by
reports of killings and injuries of
people on boats carrying supplies for
Gaza," the UN chief said at a press
conference following the opening in
Uganda of a key conference on the
International Criminal Court. "I
condemn this violence," Mr Ban added, as
an Israeli television channel reported
that as many as 19 pro-Palestinian
activists may have been killed in the
Israeli military raid. "It is vital
that there is a full investigation to
determine exactly how this bloodshed
took place. I believe Israel must
urgently provide a full explanation," he
added. |
|
ISRAEL SAYS ITS COMMANDOS ACTED IN SELF
DEFENSE WHEN THEY STORMED THE
FLOTILLA
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel
says its commandos acted in self-defense
when they stormed THE "FREEDOM FLOTILLA"
of aid ships bound for Gaza. The raid
in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast
of Israel killed at least nine
pro-Palestinian activists, and left many
more wounded. The flotilla was trying
to break a three-year-old blockade of
the Palestinian enclave. Video images
released by the Israel Defense Forces
show activists on board the deck of the
largest ship in the flotilla, a Turkish
vessel, using metal bars to beat Israeli
commandos who had boarded the ship on a
rope from a helicopter overhead.
Israeli military officials said the
soldiers were carrying paint-ball guns
and had orders to use their pistols only
to defend themselves. They said the
activists took the guns from two of the
soldiers and used them to fire at the
commandos, who then returned fire. The
deadly confrontation has raised
questions about the blockade that Israel
- along with Egypt - have maintained on
Gaza and which the hundreds of activists
aboard the flotilla were trying to
break.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in Canada
as he cut short a trip to North America,
tried to quell some of the intense
criticism that Israel is facing in the
wake of the incident. "Our policy is
this. We try to let all humanitarian
goods food medicine, and the like. What
we want to prevent coming in to Gaza
used to attack our civilians. This is
our ongoing policy and it is the one
that guided our action," said Netanyahu.
Israel says it will inspect the
thousands of tons of aid that the ships
are carrying and transfer the cargo to
Gaza by land. Israeli officials say most
of those killed in the raid were Turkish
nationals. Turkey angrily condemned the
Israeli action and withdrew its
ambassador to Israel. The six ships
carrying nearly 700 international
activists were towed to Israeli ports
where the wounded were transferred to
Israeli hospitals. Others were
processed for deportation and some were
jailed after refusing to provide
identification. |
|
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS WON FIRST ROUND OF
COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: SANTOS,
46.6 %; MOCKUS, 21.5%
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--The
two leading candidates in Colombia's
presidential race will compete in a
runoff June 20, since neither
garnered more than 50 percent of the
vote in Sunday's election. With 99
percent of polling stations reporting,
Colombia's National Civil Registry said
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos had
46.6 percent of votes while former
Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus received
21.5 percent of votes. Polls had placed
the two in a statistical dead heat going
into Sunday's election, but more than
twice as many voters cast their ballots
for Santos -- who has led high-profile
operations against leftist guerrillas
during his tenure.
In a speech Sunday Santos praised
outgoing President Alvaro Uribe's
leadership and asked for supporters
across the political spectrum to join
his campaign. "My government will be a
government of inclusion. It will be a
government by all Colombians and for all
Colombians, for work and against
poverty. It will be a great agreement so
that we can have work, work and more
work," he said. At a rally Sunday
evening, Mockus also called for unity
and said he was determined to win the
next round of elections, chanting with
supporters as he jumped up and down on
stage.
"Together we can radically transform
society. We know that violence,
inequality and corruption are not a
destiny. They are problems that we can
overcome," he said. Voting proceeded
smoothly for the most part Sunday,
though a government official reported
isolated clashes between the military
and armed groups in the country's
interior. One soldier was killed in one
of the skirmishes, Justice and Interior
Minister Fabio Valencia said. The winner
of the runoff will replace Uribe, a
two-term president who has high approval
ratings for his tough stand against
Marxist guerrillas that have been waging
war against the government since the
1960s. Uribe also has been sparring with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who
Colombia accuses of supporting the
rebels. |
|
VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ ASKS
ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE FOOD
GIANT POLAR FOR HOARDING
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"If
Polar continues hoarding goods, we will
have to go after it." Venezuelan
dictator Hugo Chávez instructed the
Attorney General Office to investigate
major food producer Polar. He asked for
"a probe, because if they continue
hoarding, we will have to go after
Polar. We will not let anybody blackmail
us." The Venezuelan Head of State's
warning came during his weekly radio and
TV show Aló Presidente, broadcast from
the municipality of San Diego, in
central Carabobo state. The Venezuelan
government is building in San Diego a
section of a railway linking the towns
of Puerto Cabello and La Encrucijada.
Chávez said that he did not want to take
actions against Polar. He dared,
however, to forecast the future of some
divisions of food giant Empresas Polar
if they were expropriated by the State.
"What is the government going to do
with a brewery? I would close it. Is
beer a national need? How many deaths
have there been here due to Polar's
beer? How many people have been wounded?
How many street fights?" In his speech
about the future of beer production by
Empresas Polar, President Chávez said:
"This brewery could become an ice cream
factory, a food processing plant. What
will we do with a brewery? What for? It
is not necessary. People get beer
bellies, and their cholesterol grows
higher and they turn crazy."
Chávez said that beer production is one of the tools used by
capitalism. "It is our undoing. These
are weapons to promote bad habits in our
peoples. (They are used) to keep poor
people dominated and exploited. That's
the truth, the real truth." After
justifying the seizure of 120 tons of
foodstuffs from Empresas Polar in
Barquisimeto, northwestern Lara state,
Chávez said, "(In Venezuela), we have a
bourgeoisie that wants to hurt people
through food. They are not going to make
it. We will remove them progressively
from the food distribution system." At
the same time, he criticized the stance
of Polar employees. "I saw some workers
defending Polar. Poor people! They are
supporting those who exploit people,
supporting the bourgeoisie. This makes
me sad. The working class must be
aligned with people, not with the
bourgeoisie." |
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FORMER AMBASSADOR DIEGO ARRIA VISITS
EUROPE TO DENOUNCE HR VIOLATIONS IN
VENEZUELA
PARIS,
FRANCE--Diego
Arria, former Venezuelan Ambassador to
the United Nations and owner of the
expropriated ranch "La Carolina,"
is visiting several European countries.
The former chairman of the UN Security
Council will go to different
international organizations to complain
about the violation of human rights in
his country.
Arria was in Paris on Friday talking
about the Venezuelan situation in a
meeting of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). "I held a
meeting with European MP's who were
alarmed at the Venezuelan situation," he
said.
Arria just started a tour to air the human rights
situation in Venezuela. The former UN
Ambassador said on Monday that he would
visit Geneva to attend meetings with the
Human Rights Council of the UN system,
the Anti-Torture League, and the
Director-General's Office of the
International Labor Organization. Arria
said that Venezuela's President Hugo
Chávez has used the figure of the
oligarch to violate the rights of
workers. |
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