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LATEST NEWS OF APRIL 2011 |
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la foreign ministers disagree in celac
about oas future; postponed discussion
of democratic clause
caracas, venezuela--For
some countries, the Organization of
American States (OAS) enjoys a good
health. For others, the birth of the
Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States (Celac) means the end
of the OAS. Within the incipient
regional forum, there is no unanimity on
the future of the OAS. At the end of
the meeting of Latin American and
Caribbean foreign ministries (CLAC),
Venezuelan envoy Nicolás Maduro
expressed his opinion. He said that the
OAS has completed its useful life span
and now it is the time of Celac, which
excludes the United States and Canada.
  However, Mexico did not support the views of the Venezuelan
top diplomatic official. Mexican Foreign
Minister Patricia Espinosa was
interviewed by Notimex news agency about
the possibility that Celac replaces the
OAS. "We view it as a complementary
process," Espinosa said. OAS and Celac
"should not be seen as mutually
exclusive. Processes such as Mercosur
(Common Market of the South), the
European Union, for instance, are
complementary. We should make efforts so
that this complementary nature helps to
strengthen the process as a whole," she
added.
Countries that will be parties to the Community of
Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac)
resolved to set a deadline of 30 days to
ponder on the adoption of a democratic
clause. Members of the forum, which
includes 30 countries, postponed the
approval of the aforementioned clause
during the Second Meeting of Foreign
Ministers of the Latin American and
Caribbean Summit on Integration and
Development (Lacsid), which was held on
Tuesday in the Venezuelan capital. By
the time the foreign ministers discussed
the feasibility of the democratic clause
and when Ricardo Patiño, the Ecuadorian
Foreign Minister, talked about the
issue, Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez
p a surprise visit to the forum. "A
democratic clause? Yes, we approve and
support it, (but) we have to respect
sensitivities because who is going to
ask another country: 'look, your country
must be just like mine,'" he said. "A
democratic clause? That's OK. But we
should also approve a non-bombing
clause. Allow me to say that!" the
Venezuelan Head of State said, recalling
the war in Libya. |
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israel rejects palestinian government
with hamas
jerusalem, israel--
Israeli leaders on Thursday rejected the
Palestinian unity deal between rivals
Hamas and Fatah, saying it could
destroy prospects for peace and ruling
out negotiations with any Palestinian
government that includes the Islamic
militant group. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu convened his security Cabinet
to discuss the deal, as Israeli
President Shimon Peres called the
Palestinian agreement a "grave mistake."
The comments came a day after Hamas and
Fatah reached an initial unity deal in
Cairo to end a four-year-old dispute
that has left the Palestinians with
rival governments: a Fatah-dominated
administration in the West Bank and the
Hamas regime that controls the Gaza
Strip. The Palestinians claim both
territories for a future independent
state.
  While the Palestinian announcement did not address many key
issues, the Egyptian-brokered deal
revived hopes of ending bitter
infighting that weakened the
Palestinians politically and killed
dozens in violent clashes and
crackdowns. The Palestinian plan calls
for formation of a joint caretaker
government to prepare the way for
elections next year. The Palestinians
say the move is a step toward
independence. With a breakdown in peace
talks with Israel, the Palestinians have
been campaigning to get the United
Nations to recognize Palestinian
statehood in September, with or without
a peace deal. By including Hamas — which
Israel, the U.S. and European Union
consider a terror organization — the
Palestinians have essentially ruled out
peace negotiations with Israel and have
put hundreds of millions of dollars in
U.S. and European aid money in jeopardy.
In the West Bank, President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, a
proponent of peace with Israel, stressed
he would retain overall control over
foreign policy. He said he remains ready
to talk peace with Netanyahu if Israel
halts its settlement construction on
occupied lands. Seeking to blunt
international criticism, he said the
caretaker government would not include
Hamas activists. Israel is adamant that
it will not engage Hamas, which has sent
dozens of suicide bombers and thousands
of rockets into the Jewish state and is
committed to Israel's destruction. "We
would like to see the Palestinian people
unite, but for the sake of peace," said
Peres, a Nobel peace laureate. "The
world cannot support the establishment
of a state that part of its regime is a
terror organization." Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman warned that the
Palestinian agreement opens the door to
Hamas gaining a foothold in the
Fatah-controlled West Bank. "The
significance of the agreement is that
terrorists will take hold of the West
Bank. Hundreds of terrorists will flood
the West Bank and therefore we need to
prepare for a different situation," he
told the Army Radio station. |
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cuban dissident DR. darsi ferrer arrested
again
havana, cuba--
Cuban dissident dr. Darsi Ferrer
was arrested Thursday along with four
other people as they were staging a
peaceful protest in downtown Havana,
according to information provided by the
Cuban Human Rights and National
Reconciliation Commission.
  Ferrer and his associates demanded during a “small
demonstration” that the Cuban government
“respect the freedom of movement of
citizens inside the island and (allow
them to travel) abroad with the right to
return to the country,” the commission
said in a communique on the matter,
signed by its spokesman Elizardo
Sanchez. Also participating in the
protest, besides Ferrer, were his wife
Yusnaimi Jorge, Juan Mario Rodriguez,
Ricardo Aguilar and Joaquin Sarduy.
The dissidents also displayed posters alluding to their
demand during the protest mounted
Thursday afternoon on a street corner in
front of the well-known Coppelia ice
cream shop, located in the El Vedado
neighborhood, according to the
commission. A source close to the
dissidents told Efe that none of the
protesters has been released by Cuban
authorities. Ferrer, a 41-year-old
physician, was released in June 2010
after being held in prison for 11 months
without charge. For several months,
Ferrer has been denouncing the fact that
Cuban immigration authorities have
denied him, his wife and son permission
to leave the country and travel to the
United States. EFE |
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TORNADOES KILLED AT LEAST 294 PEOPLE IN
6 SOUTHERN STATES
PLEASANT GROVE, ALABAMA--Dozens
of tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm
system wiped out neighborhoods across a
wide swath of the South, killing at
least 294 people in the deadliest
outbreak in nearly 40 years, and
officials said Thursday they expected
the death toll to rise. Alabama's state
emergency management agency said it had
confirmed 131 deaths, while there were
32 in Mississippi, 16 in Tennessee, 13
in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in
Kentucky. The National Weather Service's
Storm Prediction Center in Norman,
Okla., said it received 137 tornado
reports around the regions into
Wednesday night.
 
"We
were in the bathroom holding on to each
other and holding on to dear life," said
Samantha Nail, who lives in a
blue-collar subdivision in the
Birmingham suburb of Pleasant Grove
where the storm slammed heavy pickup
trucks into ditches and obliterated tidy
brick houses, leaving behind a mess of
mattresses, electronics and children's
toys scattered across a grassy plain
where dozens used to live. "If it wasn't
for our concrete walls, our home would
be gone like the rest of them." Dave Imy,
a meteorologist with the prediction
service, said the deaths were the most
in a tornado outbreak since 1974, when
315 people died. In Alabama, where as
many as a million people were without
power, Gov. Robert Bentley said 2,000
national guard troops had been activated
and were helping to search devastated
areas for people still missing. He said
the National Weather Service and
forecasters did a good job of alerting
people, but there is only so much that
can be done to deal with powerful
tornadoes a mile wide.
  One of the hardest-hit areas was Tuscaloosa, a city of
more than 83,000 and home to the
University of Alabama. A massive
tornado, caught on video by a news
camera on a tower, barreled through late
Wednesday afternoon, leveling the city.
"When I looked back, I just saw trees
and stuff coming by," said Mike Whitt, a
resident at DCH Regional Medical Center
who ran from the hospital's parking deck
when the wind started swirling and he
heard a roar. The storm system spread
destruction from Texas to New York,
where dozens of roads were flooded or
washed out. The governors of Alabama,
Mississippi and Georgia each issued
emergency declarations for parts of
their states. President Barack Obama
said he had spoken with Bentley and
approved his request for emergency
federal assistance. "Our hearts go out
to all those who have been affected by
this devastation, and we commend the
heroic efforts of those who have been
working tirelessly to respond to this
disaster," Obama said in a statement.
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UNITED NATIONS FAILED TO AGREE ON
CONDEMNING SYRIA'S VIOLENT CRACKDOWN
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK--The
deeply divided U.N. Security Council
failed to agree on a European and
U.S.-backed statement condemning Syrian
violence against peaceful protesters on
Wednesday, with Russia saying security
forces were also killed and the actions
don't threaten international peace. "A
real threat to regional security in our
view could arise from outside
interference in Syria's domestic
situation including attempts to push
ready-made solutions or taking of
sides," Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador
Alexander Pankin warned the U.N.'s most
powerful body during a public session
that followed, saying this could lead to
civil war. "It is extremely important to
focus all attempts on avoiding such a
dangerous turn of events, especially as
Syria is a cornerstone of the Middle
East security architecture," he said.
"Destabilizing this significant link in
the chain will lead to complications
throughout the region."
 
China and India called for political
dialogue and peaceful resolution of the
crisis, with no mention of condemnation.
China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said
the turbulence in the Mideast and North
Africa has also "dealt a big blow to the
stability in this region." If the
underlying issues aren't addressed, he
warned, "they will jeopardize peace and
stability in other regions. They would
also have a major negative impact on the
recovery of the world economy."
Lebanon's U.N. Ambassador Nawaf Salam
stressed the country's special
relationship with Syria, saying "the
hearts and minds" of the Lebanese people
are with the Syrian people and are
supporting President Bashar Assad's
lifting of the state of emergency and
reforms.
 
France, Britain, Germany and Portugal
circulated a draft media statement on
Monday calling for the 15-member council
to condemn the violence. But during
consultations Wednesday afternoon,
several members were opposed so at the
request of the Europeans and the U.S.,
the Security Council then moved into
open session to hear a briefing from the
U.N. political chief and statements from
council members. Syria's U.N. Ambassador
Bashar Ja'afari welcomed the council's
inaction and questioned the
"unprecedented enthusiasm" by some
members for the statement and a "lack of
such enthusiasm" for attempting to end
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The
Syrian ambassador blamed the violence on
"extremist groups whose fundamental
objective is clearly the fall of the
Syrian government" and said law
enforcement had acted with the "utmost
restraint" to prevent the killing of
civilians. He waved a list of 51 members
of the armed forces he said were killed
"by armed gangs." |
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LEFT-WING HUMALA WITH SMALL LEAD OVER
KEIKO FUJIMORI IN PERU'S
PRESIDENTIAL RACE
LIMA, PERU--Left-wing
nationalist Ollanta Humala's lead over
right-wing lawmaker Keiko Fujimori has
narrowed to less than 4 percentage
points, a poll ahead of the June
5 presidential election showed on
Thursday. Enrique Castro-Mendivil
Peru's main stock index responded by
surging 3.42 percent to 18,573 points,
while the sol currency firmed 0.35
percent to 2.82 per U.S. dollar as
traders bet Fujimori, who is more
trusted by investors, had improved
chances of winning the contest. Peru's
presidential candidate Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine
Heredia met with Mexican
President Felipe Calderon in Lima April
28, 2011.
 
The rally came after weeks of heavy
selling of financial assets in Peru, one
of the world's fastest-growing
economies, where investors worry Humala
could roll back years of free-market
reforms if elected. The latest poll,
conducted by local pollster CPI, showed
Humala, who has moderated his fiery tone
since narrowly losing the 2006 race,
with 40.6 percent of the votes. Fujimori
-- the daughter of former President
Alberto Fujimori, who was jailed for
human right crimes and corruption -- got
36.8 percent in the poll. The gap
between them in the CPI poll, just 3.8
points, was narrower than a 6-point gap
in a poll published on Sunday by Ipsos
and an 8-point gap that separated them
in the first-round vote on April 10.
The CPI poll of 1,800 voters was taken April 20-24 and
had a margin of error of 2.3 points.
Humala has promised to keep key economic
policies intact if elected, although
investors remain uncertain about him.
Excluding undecided voters and those who
would abstain, Humala would get 52.5
percent of votes and Fujimori 47.5
percent, the CPI poll said. Pollsters
have cautioned that the outcome of the
race is highly unpredictable in part
because voters view both candidates
warily and many voters have not yet
decided who they will support. Undecided
voters made up 10.6 of the CPI poll's
respondents and voters who will likely
abstain 11.9 percent. |
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LEON PANETTA TO PENTAGON, GENERAL
PETRAEUS TO CIA
WASHINGTON, D.C.--President
Barack Obama plans to name CIA Director
Leon Panetta as the next secretary of
defense and move Gen. David Petraeus,
now running the war in Afghanistan, into
the CIA chief's job in a major shuffle
of the nation's national security
leadership, administration and other
sources said Wednesday. All sources
spoke on condition of anonymity because
the changes haven't been announced by
the president. The changes would
probably take effect this summer.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has
already said he will leave this year,
and the White House wants to schedule
Senate confirmation hearings in the
coming months. The officials say Obama
is expected to also announce that Lt.
Gen. John Allen would replace Petraeus
as Afghanistan commander, and that
diplomat Ryan Crocker will be the next
U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan.
 
The changes are expected to be announced
Thursday at the White House. A former
U.S. official said all four candidates
would stand together with Obama for the
announcement. Allen, now the deputy
commander of U.S. Central Command in
Florida, is due in Washington on
Wednesday, and sources in Afghanistan
said Petraeus was also headed to
Washington. A U.S. official who
confirmed Panetta's move to the Pentagon
said the White House chose him because
of his long experience in Washington,
including working with budgets at the
intelligence agency, as well as his
extensive experience in the field during
his time as CIA director. The official
said Panetta had traveled more than
200,000 miles, to more than 40 CIA
stations and bases and more than 30
countries, including Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
Petraeus, who took over as Afghanistan war commander in
June, has been expected to leave that
post before the end of this year. His
name had been floated for weeks as a
possible replacement for Panetta if
Obama tapped Panetta to replace Gates as
Pentagon chief. Current and former
administration officials noted that
Petraeus would bring a customer's eye to
the job as one of the key people to use
and understand CIA and military
intelligence during the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq. The nearly
wholesale changes at the top of Obama's
Afghanistan military and diplomatic
lineup will leave fewer military and
civilian leaders who have Obama's ear
and who also have Afghanistan
experience. Allen, the choice to become
Afghanistan war commander, has never
served there. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will leave
his post in September after four years
dominated by the ebb of the war in Iraq
and the escalation of the one in
Afghanistan. The top candidate to
replace Mullen is Marine Gen. James
Cartwright, who also has never served in
Afghanistan. |
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SECRETARY GATES HINTS AT BOMBING RISK TO
DICTATOR GADHAFI
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The
US took its first steps Tuesday short of
military assistance to aid Libyan
rebels, even as Defense Secretary
Robert Gates said that Libyan military
command centers "wherever we find them"
are legitimate targets for U.S. and NATO
air attack, suggesting that dictator
Moammar Gadhafi himself is increasingly
in danger. The Obama administration
eased its sanctions on Libya, a move
that will allow the opposition forces to
sell the oil it controls and use the
income to buy weapons and other
supplies. The White House also ordered
the expenditure of up to $25 million in
surplus, nonlethal goods and commodities
to support and protect the rebels. At a
joint news conference with British
Defense Minister Liam Fox, Gates said
that NATO planes are not targeting
Gadhafi specifically but will continue
to take aim at his command centers. That
distinction is exceedingly thin, given
that Gadhafi is commander in chief of
government forces using brute force
against civilians seeking to overthrow
him.
 
Gates and Fox, speaking to reporters at
the Pentagon after a meeting that
included Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated
that facilities from which Libyan
leaders command their forces will remain
at risk. "We consider them legitimate
targets," Gates said. "We are not
targeting him specifically, but we do
consider command and control targets to
be legitimate targets wherever we find
them." Although Gates said such targets
have been considered legitimate from the
beginning of the NATO-led air campaign
more than one month ago, the initial
bombing focus was on Gadhafi's air
defenses, supply depots and maneuvering
ground forces - particularly those in
the east that have clashed repeatedly
with rebel forces and those in the
western port city of Misrata. Now NATO
is attempting to ratchet up pressure on
Gadhafi and those in his inner circle by
holding at risk his command centers as
well as related structures that enable
the regime to exercise power. A separate
airstrike in Tripoli on Monday hit
Libyan TV and temporarily knocked it off
the air.
Gates said
Libyan military command centers in
Tripoli and elsewhere are legitimate
targets under the U.N. Security Council
resolution that authorized the use of
force - short of inserting an occupying
ground force - to protect civilians from
attacks by the Libyan government. "Those
(command) centers are the ones that are
commanding the forces that are
committing some of these violations of
humanitarians rights, such as in Misrata,"
Gates said. In his remarks, Fox alluded
in vague terms to this evolution, saying
he, Gates and Mullen had discussed how
to "exploit emerging opportunities on
the ground" in Libya, mentioning the
U.S. decision last week to add armed
Predator drone aircraft to the mix of
NATO aircraft attacking targets in urban
settings. "There is little doubt across
the alliance that this key contribution
has proven to be of immense value
protecting civilians in Misrata and have
helped opposition forces to defend
themselves against this brutal regime
there," Fox said. Later he asserted,
"The regime is on the back foot," and
that the sooner Gadhafi "recognizes that
the game is up," the better for all. |
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COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT SANTOS THANKS "HIS
BEST FRIEND" DICTATOR CHAVEZ FOR PEREZ
BECERRA EXTRADITION
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Joaquín
Pérez Becerra, also known as
Alberto Martínez, who is an alleged
member of the rebel Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) and editor of
the Stockholm-based Noticias Nueva
Colombia (Anncol) news agency, was
arrested at Maiquetía international
airport Saturday following a red notice
issued by the International Police
(Interpol). He arrived on Tuesday in
Bogotá, deported from Venezuela. After
Martínez's deportation from Venezuela,
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
thanked his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo
Chávez "for his cooperation in the fight
against drug trafficking and terrorism."
 
"I think that the action yesterday
(Monday) of the Venezuelan government in
sending to Colombia a guerrilla member
of the FARC (Colombian Revolutionary
Armed Forces) shows that we can work
together," Colombian Foreign Minister
María Ángela Holguín said on Tuesday in
leaving the second meeting of Latin
American and Caribbean Foreign
Ministers. Colombia's Minister of
Foreign Affairs María Ángela Holguín
thanked on Tuesday Venezuela's dictator
Hugo Chávez for the extradition of the
alleged leader of the Colombian
Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC)
Joaquín Pérez Becerra and deemed it a
"proof" that both countries can work
together. "I think that the action
yesterday (Monday) of the Venezuelan
government in sending to Colombia a
guerrilla member of the FARC shows that
we can work together," Holguín told
reporters.
 
Pérez Becerra, the alleged FARC
"chancellor" in Europe and the editor of
a news agency which spreads information
on the FARC, was delivered up to
Colombian authorities by the Venezuelan
government after his capture last
weekend at the Maiquetía international
airport. "We are convinced that the
relationship with Venezuela is well on
its way and we will keep on going that
way," said the minister, who is
attending in Caracas the Second Meeting
of Foreign Ministers of the Latin
American and Caribbean Summit on
Integration and Development (Lacsid). |
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china warns u.s. not to interfere on
human right
beijing, china--China
warned the United States on Tuesday not
to overstep bounds in human rights talks
this week that the State
Department says will focus on an ongoing
dissident crackdown that appears to be
Beijing's most severe in years. China
hopes the meeting will help deepen
mutual understanding but doesn't want
human rights used as a pretext to meddle
in domestic affairs, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a
briefing. "We oppose any country that
uses human rights to interfere in
China's internal affairs," said Hong.
  The two-day U.S.-China Human Rights Dialogue starts Wednesday
in Beijing. The State Department said
last week the talks would focus on the
dissident crackdown, rule of law,
freedom of religion and expression, and
labor and minority rights. China wants
to talk about new human rights
developments in both countries, as well
as China-U.S. cooperation on human
rights at the United Nations. Beijing
says Washington is hypocritical to
lecture others on rights when it has so
many problems of its own, such as high
crime, homelessness, racial
discrimination, and killings of
civilians and other abuses by U.S.
forces overseas. The lead participants
are Michael Posner, assistant secretary
for democracy, human rights and labor,
and Chen Xu, director-general of the
department of international
organizations and conferences of the
Chinese Foreign Ministry.
China's annual assessment of America's human rights
situation earlier this month accused the
U.S. of advocating Internet freedom to
boost its influence over other
countries, while at the same time
pursuing legal challenges to the
WikiLeaks secret-spilling website. The
report advised the U.S. government to
improve its human rights conditions and
stop interfering in other countries'
internal affairs. U.S. officials have
voiced concern about the growing number
of Chinese government critics detained
or put under house arrest in recent
months. The crackdown on writers,
lawyers, artists, and other
intellectuals follows anti-government
protests in the Middle East and North
Africa and appears to have been
triggered by concern that similar unrest
could erupt here. |
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baharain king expels iranian diplomat
manama, bahrain--Bahrain
has ordered the expulsion of an Iranian
diplomat for alleged links to a spy ring
in fellow Gulf Arab state Kuwait,
state media said, in a further
deterioration of relations with Tehran.
The kingdom also sought criminal charges
against 30 health ministry staff,
extending a crackdown against public
employees suspected of participating in
pro-democracy protests that Bahrain
crushed last month with outside military
help. Relations between Shi'ite Iran and
Gulf Arab states have nosedived since
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates sent troops into the island
state, where a Sunni-led monarchy rules
over a Shi'ite majority, to end weeks of
pro-democracy protests.
  Bahrain accused the Islamic Republic of fomenting Shi'ite
unrest. A statement on the Bahrain News
Agency late on Monday said the foreign
ministry had summoned Iranian charge
d'affaires Mehdi Islami to inform him
that diplomat Hojjatullah Rahmani had 72
hours to leave "based on his link to the
spy cell in Kuwait." "Bahrain calls on
Iran to desist from these serious
violations of standards of international
relations, which are a threat to the
security and stability of the region,"
it said. Kuwait expelled three Iranian
diplomats earlier this month over
accusations of involvement in an alleged
spy ring, prompting Tehran to order
three Kuwaiti diplomats to leave Iran.
That was after a Kuwaiti court sentenced
two Iranians and a Kuwaiti to death in
March for involvement in espionage.
Bahrain, a U.S. ally that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet,
has also begun the trial of two Iranians
and a Bahraini on charges of spying for
Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Iran's
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin
Mehmanparast said Iran may take
"retaliatory measures," Iranian media
reported. "The latest move by the
Bahraini Foreign Ministry is against the
two countries' good neighborly relations
and not based on realities," he was
quoted as saying. Iran, which once
claimed sovereignty over Bahrain,
complained to the United Nations over
the recent crackdown that has continued
with the arrests of hundreds of
activists and deaths of some in police
custody. |
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VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ ACCUSES
THE OPPOSITION OF DESTABILIZATION PLANS
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan
DICTATOR Hugo Chávez cashed in on
a telephone conversation with state-run
TV channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV)
to claim that dissenting sectors are
scheming against his government ahead of
the election for president in
2012..According to the Head of State, a
sector of the opposition Unified
Democratic Panel (MUD) is getting ready
to create a country environment which
favors deployment of foreign forces,
like in Libya and Ivory Coast.
  "Some opposition sectors (...) and we have plenty of
evidence of it, are getting ready to -if
they fail to, and they will hardly do
it- destabilize the country," Chávez
commented. "They dream of a Libya-style,
Ivory Coast-style scenario (...) Be
aware of a group of destabilizing
opponents thinking about it." We went
through that, in 2002, and in 2006 they
did not recognize the victory of the
referendum. But anyway, it does not hurt
to start us to prepare. First to be
aware of the destabilizing plans of the
opposition groups"
Chavez took the opportunity to criticize an alleged
division within the Bureau of Democratic
Unity: "You see war within the so-called
'unity', which is not unity nor
anything. They now that say if the
right group, or the group left, and are
throwing knives to each other. They have
about 20 presidential candidates. Ahh!
But they say they have won, that
whoever they throw in has almost 70%
and Chávez and the revolution 30, I do
not know many. They started now to
attack the CNE, "he argued. |
|
three senators want immediate military
aid for libyan rebels
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Fearing
a stalemate in Libya, three members of
the Senate Armed Services Committee want
immediate military aid for the rebels
fighting Moammar Gadhafi's forces,
stepped up NATO airstrikes and more
direct U.S. involvement. They said they
interpreted the U.N. Security Council
resolution - authorizing military action
to protect Libyan civilians and imposing
a no-fly zone - as also allowing moves
necessary to drive Gadhafi from power.
"I think it gives justification if NATO
decides it wants to, for going directly
after Gadhafi," said Sen. Joe Lieberman,
an independent from Connecticut. "I
can't think of anything that would
protect the civilian population of Libya
more than the removal of Moammar Gadhafi."
A protracted stalemate and a divided
Libya, with Gadhafi and the opposition
controlling different parts, could open
the door to the al-Qaida terrorist
network, said Arizona Sen. John McCain,
who visited a rebel stronghold this past
week.
 
He described the opposition in Benghazi
as "this very legitimate government."
Even with more arms for the rebels, said
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., there isn't
enough momentum for them to reach
Tripoli, the capital, and there isn't
"deep support" for Gadhafi's continued
rule. "So my recommendation to NATO and
the administration is to cut the head of
the snake off, go to Tripoli, start
bombing Gadhafi's inner circle, their
compounds, their military headquarters,"
he said. "The way to get Gadhafi to
leave is have his inner circle break and
turn on him. And that's going to take a
sustained effort through an air
campaign," Graham said. While saying
it's good to have international
coalitions and U.N. involvement, "the
goal is to get rid of Gadhafi," he
argued. "The people around Gadhafi need
to wake up every day wondering, 'Will
this be my last?' The military
commanders in Tripoli supporting Gadhafi
should be pounded," Graham said. "So I
would not let the U.N. mandate stop what
is the right thing to do. You cannot
protect the Libyan people if Gadhafi
stays.
You cannot protect our vital national security
interests if Gadhafi stays." He urged
actions that are in the best interests
of the U.S., the Libyan people and the
world, without being hamstrung by U.N.
politics. "You can't let the Russians
and the Chinese veto the freedom agenda.
So any time you go to the United Nations
Security Council, you run into the
Russians and the Chinese. These are
quasi-dictatorships, so I wouldn't be
locked down by the U.N. mandate," Graham
said. Lieberman and McCain want
increased use of U.S. precision weapons
and American air power returned to the
mission. "We need our allies. I
appreciate that they've come in. But
we're the heart of NATO and it's not
exactly as if we took the ball and gave
it to NATO," Lieberman said. He said
that "every time we pull back, it says
to Gadhafi that he can tough this out.
And I want him to feel that we're just
going to squeeze and squeeze until he
decides it is time to go because that's
the only end that will be meaningful
here." Lieberman and McCain appeared on
CNN's "State of the Union" broadcast on
Sunday; Graham's remarks, aired on the
same show, were taped on Friday. |
|
NATO BOMBS HIT GADHAFI BUNKER
TRIPOLI, LIBYA--NATO
air raids on Tripoli killed three people
in the Libyan capital Saturday and two
bombs struck a bunker in Moammar
Gadhafi's compound, officials
said. Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim
showed reporters the aftermath of the
strike, which showed two bombs had
shattered the concrete and steel and
left a large crater, the BBC reported.
The British broadcaster said the bunker
was on the periphery of the compound and
didn't appear to be part of the central
security area.
 
Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister
Khaled Kaim said the Libyan army had
been ordered to stop fighting in the
rebel-held port city of Misrata, 120
miles east of Tripoli. There has been
fierce street fighting in the city for
six weeks as NATO jets bombarded Gadhafi
artillery positions, The Daily Telegraph
said. The exact death toll isn't known,
but aid organizations say at least 1,000
people have been killed in Misrata.
U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters U.S. and NATO
airstrikes have destroyed 30 percent to
40 percent of Libya's ground forces, the
BBC said. The revolt calling for Gadhafi
to end his 42-years of rule began in
February with calls for political
reform. Gadhafi responded by using the
military to put down demonstrations and
refused international calls to respect
the citizens. The United Nations then
authorized NATO to enforce a no-fly zone
and take out government command and
control and artillery positions. |
|
TALIBAN HELP 450 PRISONERS ESCAPE FROM
AFGHAN PRISON
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--Taliban
insurgents dug a more than 1,050-foot
tunnel underground and into the main
jail in Kandahar city and whisked
out more than 450 prisoners, most of
whom were Taliban fighters, officials
and the insurgents said Monday. The
massive jailbreak overnight in
Afghanistan's second-largest city serves
as a reminder of the Afghan government's
continuing weakness in the south,
despite an influx of international
troops, funding and advisers. Kandahar
city, in particular, has been a focus of
the international effort to establish a
strong Afghan government presence in
former Taliban strongholds. The
1,200-inmate Sarposa Prison has been
part of that plan. The facility has
undergone security upgrades and
tightened procedures following a brazen
2008 Taliban attack that freed 900
prisoners. Afghan government officials
and their NATO backers have regularly
said that the prison has vastly improved
security since that attack.
 
But on Sunday night, around 475
prisoners streamed out of a tunnel dug
between the prison and the outside and
disappeared into Kandahar city, prison
supervisor Ghulam Dastagir Mayar said.
He said the majority of the missing were
Taliban militants. Taliban spokesman
Zabiullah Mujahid said insurgents on the
outside dug the 1,050-foot tunnel to the
prison over five months, bypassing
government checkpoints and major roads.
The tunnel finally reached the prison
cells Sunday night, and the inmates were
ushered through it to freedom by three
prisoners who had been informed of the
plan, Mujahid said. He said more than
500 inmates were freed, and that about
100 of them were Taliban commanders.
Four of those who escaped were
provincial-level Taliban commanders,
said Qari Yousef Ahmadi, another Taliban
spokesman.
The highest-profile Taliban inmates would likely
not be held at Sarposa. The U.S. keeps
detainees it considers a threat at a
facility outside of Bagram Air Base in
eastern Afghanistan. Other key Taliban
prisoners are held by the Afghan
government in a high-security wing of
the main prison in Kabul. A man who
Taliban spokesmen said was one of the
inmates who helped organize the escape
from the inside said a group of inmates
obtained copies of the keys to the cells
ahead of time. "There were four or five
of us who knew that our friends were
digging a tunnel from the outside," said
Mohammad Abdullah, who said he had been
in Sarposa prison for two years after
being captured in nearby Zhari district
with a stockpile of weapons. "Some of
our friends helped us by providing
copies of the keys. When the time came
at night, we managed to open the doors
for friends who were in other rooms." He
said they woke the inmates up four or
five at a time to get them out quietly.
Abdullah spoke by phone on a number
supplied by a Taliban spokesman. His
account could not be immediately
verified. |
|
PRESIDENT OBAMA CONDEMNS 'OUTRAGEOUS'
SYRIA VIOLENCE, IRAN AID
WASHINGTON, D.C.-US
President Barack Obama condemned Syria's
"outrageous" use of violence,
accusing the regime of seeking Iran's
aid in a brutal month-long crackdown
that left over 70 people dead Friday.
Obama also dismissed Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad's move to scrap the
emergency rule imposed by the ruling
Baath Party when it seized power in 1963
and allow for peaceful demonstrations as
"not serious" in light of the violence
against protesters. "The United States
condemns in the strongest possible terms
the use of force by the Syrian
government against demonstrators. This
outrageous use of violence to quell
protests must come to an end now," Obama
said in a statement. "We call on
President Assad to change course now,
and heed the calls of his own people."
 
He denounced the Assad regime's use of
force and "outrageous human rights
abuses," saying it had chosen to reject
the rights and aspirations of the Syrian
people. "Instead of listening to their
own people, President Assad is blaming
outsiders while seeking Iranian
assistance in repressing Syria's
citizens through the same brutal tactics
that have been used by his Iranian
allies," Obama added. "We strongly
oppose the Syrian government's treatment
of its citizens and we continue to
oppose its continued destabilizing
behavior more generally, including
support for terrorism and terrorist
groups." US diplomats leveled similar
accusations last week amid reports that
Tehran was providing Syria with
equipment to put down anti-government
protests and monitor opposition groups,
in addition to technical assistance to
monitor online communication from
opposition groups to organize protests.
Obama's comments came after activists and rights groups
said the bloodiest day in over a month
of protests saw Syrian government forces
kill at least 72 people when they opened
fire on demonstrators, seeking to
disperse thousands who took to the
streets for "Good Friday" protests. The
latest deaths brought to nearly 300 the
number of people killed in pro-democracy
protests since mid-March. Tens of
thousands of people took to the streets
across the country a day after Assad
scrapped the decades-old emergency rule.
But his forces fired live rounds at
demonstrators in several towns and
cities nationwide, witnesses and
activists said. White House spokesman
Jay Carney had earlier called on
Bashar's regime to "cease and desist
from the use of violence." "We call on
the Syrian government to follow through
on its promises and take action toward
the kind of concrete reform that they
promised," he added. Assad, in power
since replacing his father Hafez as
president in 2000, issued decrees
Thursday scrapping emergency rule,
abolishing the state security court and
allowing citizens to hold peaceful
demonstrations. But his detractors said
the moves were not enough, and the
so-called Syrian Local Coordinating
Committees of protesters made a raft of
demands, urging a halt to the torture,
killings and arrests of protesters. |
|
YEMENI DICTATOR AGREES TO STEP DOWN
WITHIN 30 DAYS IN EXCHANGE FOR IMMUNIT
SANAA, YEMEN--Yemen's
embattled DICTATOR, Ali Abdullah Saleh,
agreed Saturday to a proposal by Gulf
Arab mediators to step down within 30
days and hand power to his deputy in
exchange for immunity from prosecution,
a major about-face for the autocratic
leader who has ruled for 32 years. A
coalition of seven opposition parties
said they also accepted the deal but
with reservations. Even if the
differences are overcome, those parties
do not speak for all of the hundreds of
thousands of protesters seeking
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster,
and signs were already emerging that a
deal on those terms would not end
confrontations in the streets. A day
earlier, protesters staged the largest
of two months of demonstrations, filling
a five-lane boulevard across the capital
with a sea of hundreds of thousands of
people. Day after day of protest have
presented a stunning display of defiance
in the face of a crackdown that has
included sniper attacks and killed more
than 130 people.
 
The uprising and a wave of defections by
allies, including several top military
commanders, have left Saleh clinging to
power and now appear to be pushing him
to compromise on his earlier refusal to
leave office before his term ends in
2013. For decades the former military
officer has fended off numerous
challenges, deftly maneuvering among the
nation's powerful and fractious tribes
and using security forces to put down
opponents. Al-Qaida's most active
franchise has attacked his forces, an
armed rebellion has battered the north
of the country and a secessionist
movement has reappeared in the
once-independent south. The United
States has watched the uprising with
particular concern because Saleh has
been an ally in fighting al-Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula, which is based in
Yemen's remote mountainous south and has
made several nearly successful attempts
to attack U.S. and other targets abroad.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said
Washington welcomes the proposal for
ending the crisis and called for
immediate dialogue by all sides on a
transfer of power. "We will not
speculate about the choices the Yemeni
people will make or the results of their
political dialogue," he said. "It is
ultimately for the people of Yemen to
decide how their country is governed."
The opposition movement, fed up with
poverty and corruption under Saleh, took
inspiration from the toppling of leaders
in Tunisia and Egypt and has grown in
numbers since the first protests in
early February. The six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council, which includes
powerful Saudi Arabia, has been seeking
to broker an end to the crisis in the
fragile nation on the southern edge of
the Arabian peninsula. Under the latest
draft, Yemen's parliament would grant
Saleh legal protection from prosecution.
The president would submit his
resignation to lawmakers within 30 days
and hand power to his vice president,
who would call for new presidential
elections. Opposition spokesman Mohammed
Kahtan described the Gulf council's
initiative as "positive" and said the
leaders of the opposition parties have
all agreed on it. |
|
US DRONE STRIKES LIBYA; REBELS CLAIM
GAINS IN MISRATA
TRIPOLI, LIBYA--Despite
government claims that Moammar Gadhafi's
soldiers were withdrawing from the
besieged city of Misrata, fierce
fighting erupted Saturday and rebels
said they had retaken control of the
main thoroughfare. The rebel gains came
as the United States conducted its first
Predator drone airstrike Saturday
afternoon, said Pentagon spokesman Capt.
Darryn James. Keeping with U.S.
practice not to comment on drone
strikes, the Pentagon offered no other
information. In Misrata, an opposition
spokesman told CNN that Tripoli Street,
notorious now for rooftop snipers, was
back in rebel hands and that they would
open it back up to the public once
unexploded ordnances were defused.
Battles were continuing on the eastern
gates of the city, said the spokesman,
who did not want to be identified for
safety reasons. He said a wounded
loyalist soldier told the rebels that he
had not eaten in five days.
 
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Khaim had
said the Libyan military was withdrawing
from the Misrata and that tribal leaders
would deal with the rebels. "The
situation in Misrata will be eased and
will be dealt with by the tribes
surrounding Misrata," Khaim told
reporters. "You will see how they will
be swift and quick and fast." He said
the residents of Libya's third largest
city have been in the grip of the
conflict. "The tribal leaders have
issued an ultimatum to the military
saying they will deal with the situation
if the military cannot do it. ... They
will speak with the rebels and, if there
is no solution, they will fight the
rebels." In the de facto rebel capital,
Benghazi, opposition spokesman Ahmed
Bani reacted to Khaim's comments with
laughter and derision.
"This confirms that our rebels in Misrata have
liberated Misrata and that Libya is
still in one piece, not two, the way
Gadhafi hoped," Bani said. "In regards
to the tribes fighting the rebels; how
would you believe that a person will
fight his brother? And who are the
tribes that are supporting Gadhafi,
anyway?" Bani said some of Gadhafi's
fighters were negotiating to surrender
their weapons to the rebels in exchange
for the assurances that they would not
be harmed. Hundreds of people have been
killed in the battle for Misrata, under
a bloody siege from Gadhafi's forces for
seven weeks and the scene of some of the
deadliest battles in the rebels' attempt
to oust the Libyan strongman. Human
Rights Watch said Gadhafi was using
internationally banned cluster bombs and
other lethal munitions to
indiscriminately kill civilians. |
|
WIFE OF U.S. CONTRACTOR ALAN GROSS IN
CUBA JAIL MAKES PASSOVER PLEA FOR HIS
RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The
wife of U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross,
who was sentenced in Cuba to 15 years in
prison for subversion, sent a Passover
message to Cuban dictator Raul Castro
asking him to free her husband as a
gesture toward all Jews. During Monday
night’s ceremony marking the start of
Passover, Judy Gross adapted the
traditional reading and reciting from
religious texts to include a special
prayer for her husband and to direct her
comments to the two men who hold the
fate of the Gross family “in their
hands” – Raul Castro and U.S. President
Barack Obama.
  “I call on President Obama, in whom my husband believed
so much, to make Alan’s release a top
priority,” she said. “And I call on
President Castro to make a genuine
gesture to the Jewish community around
the world this Passover by releasing
Alan immediately on humanitarian
grounds.” A chair was left vacant to
recall Gross’s absence from the Passover
ceremony, which was presided over by
Rabbi Stan Levin, Gross, 61, was
arrested Dec. 3, 2009, while
distributing satellite communications
equipment among Cuba’s Jewish community.
Havana says he was illegally aiding
dissidents and inciting subversion on
the island.
  Fifteen months later, Gross, a sub-contractor for the
U.S. Agency for International
Development, or USAID, was formally
accused by the Cuban government of “acts
against the independence and territorial
integrity” of the country. He was
convicted in March and sentenced to 15
years behind bars. “Over the past year,
I have learned that nothing comes easy
when it has to do with the decades-old
impasse between Washington and Havana,”
Judy Gross said in her Passover message.
“I have painfully come to realize that
my husband is but a pawn caught in the
midst of a futile political war that
neither side can claim to be winning.”
|
|
EGYPTIAN COURT ORDERS IMMEDIATE REMOVAL
OF MUBARAK NAME FROM PUBLIC FACILITIES
CAIRO, EGYPT--An
Egyptian court on Thursday ordered the
name of ousted President Hosni Mubarak
and his wife Suzanne removed from all
public facilities and institutions,
the latest step in dismantling the
legacy of the former leader's 29 years
in power. Early in his rule, Mubarak
said that out of modesty he didn't want
his name put on public buildings, but
there are now hundreds, perhaps even
thousands, of schools, streets, squares
and libraries that bear the name of the
former leader or his wife - as well as a
major subway station in central Cairo.
  Now all those will have to go, a new blow to Mubarak, who was
ousted on Feb. 11 and last week was put
under detention in a hospital for
investigation on charges of corruption
and the deadly shooting of protesters.
Mubarak's wife Suzanne, who wielded a
great deal of behind-the-scenes
influence over how the country was run,
is due to be questioned over allegations
of illegally amassing wealth. In
announcing the ruling, Judge Mohammed
Hassan Omar said "people have uncovered
Mubarak's journey of corruption." "It
has become clear that the size of the
corruption (under Mubarak) that's being
uncovered every day exceeds by far
anyone's imagination," he said.
After the ruling, Transport Minister Atef Abdel-Hameed told
reporters he would act quickly to remove
Mubarak's name from the ministry's
facilities, including the Cairo subway
station. Mubarak, who will be 83 next
month, remains in detention under guard
at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of
Sharm el-Sheikh. State television on
Thursday said the attorney general has
ordered the government's top forensic
doctor to examine Mubarak to ascertain
whether his condition allows him to be
removed to the Tora prison hospital.
Attorney General Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud
also instructed the doctor to inspect
the Tora hospital with a view to
providing it with the equipment needed
for Mubarak's treatment.
|
|
VENEZUELA OUT OF THE ANDEAN COMMUNITY OF
NATIONS AS
OF APRIL 22
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela
is officially out of the Andean
Community of Nations (CAN) as of April
22, five years after the country
advised the CAN General Secretariat of
its withdrawal from the bloc, as
established under the Cartagena
Agreement. To date, the government of
Venezuela together with those of other
CAN members (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and
Bolivia) have tried to sign bilateral
trade agreements that preserve the
Andean integration and trade.
  As regards trade between Venezuela and Colombia, whose
trade volume is substantial in the
subregion, as in 2008 it exceeded USD
7.7 billion, their governments failed to
sign an Agreement on Economic and Trade
Complementarity to replace the favorable
tariff conditions existing under the
Andean Community. Presidents Hugo
Chávez of Venezuela and Juan Manuel
Santos of Colombia met on April 9 in
Cartagena de Indias. They agreed to a
temporary extension of the existing
trade agreement between the two
countries, within the CAN.
According to José Rozo, the president of the Venezuelan
Confederation of Industries and Trade (Fedecamaras),
Táchira state chapter, from April 23 "binational
trade will be marked by legal
uncertainty and questions." He
explained that the governments of
Venezuela and Colombia had to notify the
authorities of the Andean Community on
their joint decision to extend the
existing trade agreement between the two
countries in the context of Andean
regulations. "It is not enough that the
leaders of those countries say it," he
stressed. "The General Secretariat of
the Andean Community should take a
stance in this connection." |
|
US HONORS CUBA'S "LADIES IN WHITE"
WASHINGTON, D.C.--
The Obama administration has honored a
group of mothers and wives of Cuban
dissidents with an award for defending
human rights. Senior State
Department official William Burns says
the U.S. stands with the Damas de Blanco
- or "Ladies in White" - in calling for
the release of all political prisoners
held by the communist government. The
group is comprised of female relatives
of some of the 75 dissidents arrested in
a government operation in March 2003.
All have since been released. Most went
into exile in Spain. Cuba's government
regularly denounces the Damas. It
considers them common criminals who take
money from Washington to destabilize the
island and bring down its social
revolution. But Burns said the women are
a poignant reminder of the "day-to-day
repression that Cubans face."
  Berta Soler, a representative of “ Damas de Blanco,”
said today she was "shaken" and
"committed" to continue the fight after
receiving the award of U.S. Human Rights
for their peaceful work for the release
of political prisoners and human rights
situation in Cuba. Berta also said that
the group believes that this recognition
is not only from the State Department,
but from all "the American people and
the rest of the world who want to
recognize the work we are doing." "It is
very important to know that we will not
disappoint those who have placed
confidence in us and our struggle," said
Soler. The Human Rights Award will be
presented Thursday to the Ladies in
White in a ceremony at the State
Department, which Soler and Laura Pollan,
one of the group's leaders were invited
by the U.S. government.
Soler said today that last month she received the news
of the award and an invitation to
Washington through the Interests Section
in Havana United States, but the Cuban
Government did not give them permission
to leave the island. As stated, they
intend to follow today the award live
via telephone from the chicken house.
The award for the Defense of Human
Rights recognizes individuals and
nongovernmental organizations that
"have shown exceptional courage and
leadership in advocating for the
protection of human rights and democracy
against repressive governments." The
State Department said that in the case
of the Damas de Blanco, it recognizes
"visible vigils which have they held
which have attracted international
attention, not only to political
prisoners, but on the overall human
rights situation in Cuba ". This award
will also be received by the U.S.
ambassador in Amman, Stephen Beecroft.
|
|
PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS OK'd USE OF DRONES
IN LIBYA, SECRETARY GATES SAYS
WASHINGTON, D.C.--President
Barack Obama has approved the use of
armed Predator drones in Libya,
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said
Thursday. Gates told the international
press that the unmanned Predators would
allow for "some precision capability"
against the forces of longtime Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi, and will offer a
"modest contribution" to NATO efforts to
support Libyan rebels.
  NATO, meanwhile, has signaled it may ramp up air
strikes on Gadhafi's regime. NATO issued
a new warning to Libyan civilians to
stay away from military areas -
foreshadowing plans for attacks on
targets seen as strategically
significant in stopping the government's
attacks against civilians, according to
a NATO military official. Libyan rebels
had recently complained that NATO was
not being aggressive enough to protect
civilians from Gadhafi's forces.
Planes and missiles from a coalition including the
United States, the United Kingdom and
France began attacking Libyan
air-defense targets March 19 in part to
establish a no-fly zone. It was
authorized by a U.N. Security Council
resolution, which approved military
action –short of occupation - to prevent
Gadhafi's forces from attacking
civilians and cities. The intervention
came after a Libyan uprising, which
began in mid-February after clashes
between government forces and
protesters. Opposition forces are
seeking the ouster of Gadhafi, who has
ruled for nearly 42 years. |
|
PROCESSION OF THE NAZARENE ENDS WITH
MASS DOWNTOWN CARACAS
CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Caracas
Square, downtown the capital city,
turned into a temple to receive the
image of the Nazarene of Saint Paul at
the end of a procession that started at
Santa Teresa Basilica and passed along
Lecuna and Baralt avenues up to the
platform located in the square. Cardinal
and Caracas Archbishop Jorge Urosa
Savino celebrated the mass and offered
it to all Caracas residents. "Let us
pray for our homeland, for Caracas, for
God to fulfill our hearts' longings."
  While scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, the mass began
half an hour in advance to prevent the
rain from shooing parishioners and
damaging the images which left the
Basilica at 5:00 p.m. Like in the midday
mass, Urosa Savino lamented the violence
which has lately hunted the Venezuelan
society. "Violence and killing crime is
a terrible scourge that has increased
over the past few years due to drug
traffic and drug abuse. We cannot get
used to see the numbers of violence in
newspapers as the results of a game
(...) We must ask the authorities to
fulfill the sacred duty of safeguarding
each human being," the cardinal said.
Urosa was pleased with the 15,000 attendants who
listened to the mass in Caracas Square.
"What a happiness to see all of you
gathered here, united by the same faith,
regardless of our political likings and
social differences," he added. |
|
CUBA'S CULTURE MINISTER, ABEL PRIETO,
OUSTED
HAVANA, CUBA-- Cuba’s
longtime culture minister, Abel Prieto,
appeared to have been the biggest loser
in the Communist Party Congress that
wound up Tuesday, being dropped from the
party’s two top ruling bodies. Prieto, a
novelist known for his relatively open
views and long mullet haircut, was
dropped from the party’s 15-member
ruling Political Bureau, as well as its
more decorative Central Committee, with
more than 100 members.
 
Party officials made no specific
announcement of Prieto’s ouster — his
name was simply not on the lists of new
members of the two bodies that were read
Tuesday at the end of the VI Communist
Party Congress. Prieto has served as
culture minister since 1997 and
previously served as deputy minister and
head of the Cuban National Union of
Writers and Artists (UNEAC) — the
party-controlled group that claims to
represent Cuban intellectuals. One UNEAC
member in Havana said Prieto has been
asking for years to be relieved of the
ministry so he could return to writing.
Another said he believes Prieto was ousted for allowing
too many union members to write
sometimes-strident criticisms of the
economic reforms that Cuban leader Raúl
Castro is pushing. The reforms seek to
move the island away from its Soviet-era
command economy and toward a more open
system, but they have been harshly
criticized as too little or too much,
too quick or too slow. The UNEAC member
speculated Prieto might be replaced by
Miguel Barnet, 71, a well-known novelist
who has defended Castro’s reforms. |
|
FRANCE, ITALY JOINS BRITAIN IN SENDING
TROOPS TO ADVISE LIBYAN REBELS
PARIS, FRANCE--France
and Italy announced Wednesday
that they will send military officers to
advise rebels fighting for the ouster of
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
Following a similar announcement by the
British government Tuesday, French
government spokesman Francois Baroin
said a "small number" of French troops
were being sent to advise the rebels'
Transitional National Council. French
Defense Minister Gérard Longuet again
ruled out sending ground troops to fight
alongside the rebels. "This is a real
issue that deserves an international
debate," he said, adding, "We are
working within the framework of the 1973
resolution," a reference to the U.N.
resolution that authorized action in
Libya. "You cannot please everyone all
the time," he said.
  Italy will send military advisers to train the rebels
in self-defense tactics, Italian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari
announced. Britain sent a contingent of
experienced military officers to the
rebel stronghold of Benghazi in an
advisory role. The team will work with
the Transitional National Council on how
the opposition can improve military
organizational structures,
communications and logistics, the
British Foreign Office said. It will
also assist in the delivery of
critically needed aid. "This deployment
is fully within the terms of UNSCR 1973
both in respect of civilian protection
and its provision expressly ruling out a
foreign occupation force on Libyan
soil," Foreign Secretary William Hague
said. The efforts to bolster the
rebellion come as Libya's main
opposition body pleaded for an
international military intervention.
Libyans are "being slaughtered every day
by the Gadhafi forces," rebel spokesman
Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Wednesday
said some of the Libyan government's
attacks on the besieged city of Misrata
could constitute international crimes.
"The pro-government forces besieging the
city, including their commanders and all
other personnel, should be aware that --
with the International Criminal Court
investigating possible crimes -- their
orders and actions will be subject to
intense scrutiny," Pillay said in the
statement. "Under international law, the
deliberate targeting of medical
facilities is a war crime, and the
deliberate targeting or reckless
endangerment of civilians may also
amount to serious violations of
international human rights law or
international humanitarian law."
|
|
DICTATOR GADHAFI FORCES SHELL MOUNTAIN
TOWNS IN WESTERN LIBYA
TRIPOLI, LIBYA--Muammar
al-QadHafi's loyalists shelled a
mountain town and clashed with
opposition forces in a besieged coastal
city Wednesday, rebels said, as the
Libyan leader sought to quell resistance
in the western part of the country that
is largely under his control. France and
Italy, meanwhile, promised more support
for Libya's opposition, saying they
would join Britain in sending military
advisers to help the rebels break a
battlefield stalemate. France said it
would also intensify airstrikes against
Libyan military targets after a month of
NATO airstrikes has failed to rout
Qadhafi's forces.
  In Geneva, the U.N.'s top human rights official
said Libyan government forces may be
committing war crimes by using heavy
weapons against civilians in the
besieged port city of Misrata. Navi
Pillay said Qadhafi's troops should be
aware that their actions will be
scrutinized by the International
Criminal Court. Fighting in Libya
erupted two months ago, when protests
against Qadhafi's four decades in power
turned into an armed uprising. Rebels
now control most of the east, while
Qaddafi holds most of the west. However,
there are rebel-held areas in western
Libya, particularly the Nafusa mountain
area that is home to Libya's Berber
minority.
Since the weekend, the Nafusa region town of
Yifran, with a population of about
25,000, has come under daily attack with
Grad rockets, tank shells and
anti-aircraft guns, said a rebel
fighter, who would only give his first
name, Belgassem, for fear of reprisals.
The fighting in the mountain region has
sent thousands fleeing into nearby
Tunisia. The rebel fighter said the
assault damaged a water tank as well as
homes in Yifran. Doctors had to abandon
the town's hospital because of the
shelling, said Belgassem, speaking by
phone from the nearby town of Qalaa.
Qalaa has also come under attack, but
there was no shelling Wednesday,
Belgassem said. "We are defending our
city and they can't get into the center
because we are here," he said. In Nalut,
another mountain town near the Tunisian
border, rebels fought off Qaddafi
loyalists on Monday and pursued them for
about 30 kilometers (18 miles), said
Ayman, a rebel fighter from Nalut. In
clashes Tuesday, the rebels seized
weapons and ammunition from Qaddafi's
forces, said Ayman, who would not give
his last name for fear of repercussions. |
|
CUBAN COMMUNISTS APPROVE LANDMARK
ECONOMIC REFORMS
HAVANA, CUBA-- Cuba's
Communist Party approved landmark
economic reforms on Monday and voted for
new leaders in a key party congress to
chart Cuba's future,
state-run media reported. The Caribbean
island's highest political body selected
new First and Second Secretaries, its
Central Committee and powerful Political
Bureau, but the results would not be
disclosed until Tuesday's closing
session, Cuban television said. The
reforms represent the biggest changes to
Cuba's struggling, Soviet-style economy
in decades and are aimed at securing the
future of socialism in one of the
world's last communist states.
 
The congress'
approval had been widely expected
because some of the reforms, such as
allowing more self-employment and
leasing of state land to private
farmers, are already in place. The
reforms include slashing more than a
million government jobs over the next
few years, cutting subsidies,
encouraging more private initiative,
giving more autonomy to state companies,
encouraging more foreign investment and
reducing state spending. Under President
Raul Castro's plan, which included more
than 300 reforms, one of the trademark
features of the paternalistic socialist
system -- the universal monthly food
ration -- will be gradually phased out
for those who do not need it.
Castro
said on Saturday the ration given all
Cubans since 1963 had become an
"unsupportable burden" for the
cash-short government trying to
rationalize its finances. Cuba spends
heavily on food imports, but hopes to
increase food production by
decentralizing agriculture and
increasing the role of private farmers.
The reforms also include a widely
hoped-for call for allowing Cubans to
buy and sell homes for the first time in
many years, although it remains to be
seen whether restrictive regulations
will accompany the change. There is home
ownership in Cuba, but at present houses
can only be swapped, not sold, although
under-the-table payments often are
involved. |
|
BRITAIN SENDING MILITARY ADVISERS TO
HELP LIBYAN REBELS
LONDON, ENGLAND--Britain
said Tuesday it will send a team of up
20 senior military officers to Libya to
help organize the country’s haphazard
opposition forces. Foreign
Secretary William Hague said the
military advisers would join a group of
British diplomats already cooperating
with rebel leaders in Benghazi. The
decision ran into immediate opposition
from a member of Prime Minister David
Cameron’s Conservative Party, Reuters
reported. “We are now looking at regime
change and we are clearly backing the
rebels,” Peter Bone, a Conservative M.P.
said in an interview with Sky News. “We
seem to be taking sides in a civil war.
That may well be right but it’s not for
the government to decide, it’s for
parliament to decide.”
 
The decision by
Britain’s National Security Council to
deploy the military team comes as
international allies search for ways to
help the opposition end a military
stalemate with forces loyal to Col.
Muammar el-Qadhafi.
France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy,
said he would meet with a rebel leader,
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in Paris on
Wednesday to discuss ways to break the
deadlock in the two-month conflict,
Reuters reported. Mr. Jalil is expected
to ask that NATO increase its air
strikes, and could supply a list of
names of officials in Tripoli with whom
the opposition would be willing to work
if Colonel Gadhafi
departs, Reuters said, citing a source
close to the Libyan opposition. “Mustafa
Abdel Jalil will bring precise
information on military targets,
including inside Misurata,” the besieged
rebel-held city in western Libya, the
source told Reuters. Mr. Sarkozy’s
office said the talks would focus on how
to bring about a democratic transition
in Libya, and the French foreign
minister, Alain Juppé, said France
opposed sending troops there, calling
the situation there “difficult” and
“confused,” Reuters said.
Britain has said it
would not become involved in directly
supplying weapons to the rebels,
although it has already sent non-lethal
support, including 1,000 sets of body
armor and 100 satellite phones. Mr.
Hague said the advisers would work with
the National Transitional Council, the
political wing of the rebel movement,
which has been officially recognized by
Italy, France and Qatar. But he
confirmed that the advisers would not be
involved in supplying weapons to the
rebels, or in assisting their attacks on
Qadhafi’s
forces. ”They will advise the National
Transitional Council on how to improve
their military organizational
structures, communications and
logistics, including how best to
distribute humanitarian aid and deliver
medical assistance,” he said. On
Monday, Britain pledged $3.3 million to
finance efforts to evacuate about 5,000
foreign workers stranded in Misurata,
where heavy fighting raged on Wednesday.
The Qaddafi forces have been accused of
using cluster bombs in civilian areas in
that bitter conflict, an action widely
considered to be a war crime. “As the
scale of the humanitarian crisis has
grown, so has the urgency of increasing
our efforts to defend civilians against
the attack from Qadhafi
forces,” Mr. Hague said.
|
|
international rights group says 12
syrians killed in clashes
DAMASCUS, SYRIA--
More than 10,000 mourners in Syria
joined funeral processions Monday
a day after witnesses said security
forces opened fire on crowds challenging
the authoritarian rule of President
Bashar Assad. A rights group claimed at
least 12 people died in the bloodshed.
At least four coffins were carried by
the funeral marchers in the western city
of Homs, the center of Sunday's clashes,
said a witness. Security forces stayed
away from the mourners in an apparent
move to avoid confrontation, said the
witness, who spoke on condition of
anonymity for fear of government
reprisals. The witness' account could
not be independently confirmed because
Syria has placed tight restrictions on
media outlets and expelled foreign
journalists.
 
Ammar Qurabi, head
of Syria's National Organization for
Human Rights, said the death toll had
risen to 12 from the Sunday shootings
during protests and a funeral for an
anti-government activist. He said eight
people died in Homs, 100 miles (160
kilometers) north of Damascus, and a
nearby village. He added that four
protesters were killed in clashes
between security forces and protesters
in the northern cities of Latakia and
Idlib. In the past month, Syrian
security forces in uniforms and
plainclothes have launched a deadly
crackdown on demonstrations, killing at
least 200 people, according to human
rights groups.
The government has
blamed armed gangs seeking to stir up
unrest for many of the killings.
Syria's state-run news agency said one
policeman was killed and 11 other
policemen and security personnel were
wounded when an "armed criminal gang"
opened fire on them in Talbiseh on
Sunday. The latest killings were bound
to increase pressure on Assad, who has
tried to quell the popular uprising with
a mixture of brute force and
concessions. On Saturday, he promised to
end nearly 50 years of emergency rule
this week, a key demand of the
protesters. Syria's widely despised
emergency laws have been in place since
the ruling Baath Party came to power in
1963, giving the regime a free hand to
arrest people without charge and
extending state authority into virtually
every aspect of life. But he warned
there will no longer be "an excuse" for
organizing protests once Syria lifts
emergency rule and implements reforms,
which he said will include a new law
allowing the formation of political
parties. |
|
UNITED NATIONS, LIBYA REACH DEAL ON
PROVIDING HUMANITARIAN AID
TRIPOLI, LIBYA--
Muammar Qaddafi's government has
promised the U.N. access to the besieged
rebel city of Misrata, a senior U.N.
official said Monday, following weeks of
heavy shelling of the city by Libyan
government forces. Such access is part
of an agreement, reached Sunday, to
enable the U.N. to deliver humanitarian
aid in western areas of Libya under
Qaddafi's control. The U.N. has already
set up an aid operation in rebel-run
eastern Libya. Libyan government
spokesman Moussa Ibrahim confirmed that
the deal with the U.N. includes setting
up a humanitarian corridor to Misrata, a
city of 300,000 and the sole rebel
holdout in Qaddafi-controlled western
Libya. "The agreement is to provide safe
passage for people to leave Misrata, to
provide aid, food and medicine," Ibrahim
said late Sunday.
 
The Libyan
government has denied it has used heavy
weapons against Misrata, where rebels
are clinging to positions near the sea
port, their only lifeline to the outside
world. However, residents and hospital
officials in the city have described
heavy shelling over the weekend, and
said 17 people were killed Sunday. U.N.
officials said children and elderly
people have been among the casualties in
recent days. U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon on Monday appealed to Libyan
forces to hold their fire. "Considering
the magnitude of this crisis, and as
this fighting is still continuing, it is
absolutely necessary that Libyan
authorities stop the fighting, stop
killing people," he told a news
conference in Budapest, Hungary.
Ban said the
basic needs of tens of thousands of
people in Libya are not being met. He
said the U.N. will have a "humanitarian
presence" in the Libyan capital of
Tripoli, which is under Qaddafi's
control. From Tripoli, the U.N. will try
to expand operations with the help of
the Red Cross and others, Ban said. He
did not elaborate. The U.N. has already
set up an aid operation in the rebel
stronghold of Benghazi. Valerie Amos,
the U.N. humanitarian chief, said she
has received assurances from government
authorities in Tripoli that the U.N.
would be allowed into Misrata. "What I
would like to do is get access to
Misrata, not just from the sea, but also
from the road," Amos told reporters in
Benghazi. "We have very little sense of
what is going on across the city."
Ibrahim, the Qaddafi government
spokesman, said the agreement with the
U.N. also calls for free access of
international aid agencies and ensuring
that electricity, water and other
services are provided to Misrata. City
residents have said supplies have been
severely disrupted. |
|
COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT SANTOS: I DID NOT
SAY THAT THERE ARE NOT GUERRILLAS IN
VENEZUELA
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--In an interview
with radio 94.9 Bogotá, Colombian
President Juan Manuel Santos said that
his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez
promised to thwart the operations of
terrorist camps in Venezuelan territory
 
"I have not
said that there are not guerrillas in
Venezuela. My exact words were that
these camps found in Venezuelan
territory are not there anymore,"
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
told radio 94.9 Bogotá to clarify his
remarks to reporters in his tour of
Spain. "I have not said that these
camps moved to Colombia or that they
remained in Venezuela, because we do not
know it. Regrettably, the intelligence
work that we had advanced was lost
because they realized that we were
watching them and made provision. We do
not know whether they are in Venezuela
or Colombia," he added.
In his view,
camps of the Colombian Revolutionary
Armed Forces (FARC) and the National
Liberation Army (ELN) are "likely in
Venezuela." "Chávez clearly promised
that he would not allow terrorist camps
to operate in Venezuelan territory. He
told me that from the very beginning and
has upheld it in our subsequent
meetings. I not have any reasons to
distrust him," the Colombian president
said. |
|
COMMODITIES PRICE SURGE BOOST CUBA'S
FOOD-IMPORT BILL
HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba announced
Friday that it will have to spend 25
percent more than its original estimates
to pay the cost of food imports due to
the international surge in commodity
prices. In a statement published Friday
in the Communist Party daily Granma, the
president of state-owned importer Alimport, Igor Montero, said that the
impact of the world crisis on the Cuban
economy this year is expected to total
more than $308 million for importing
basic products. “That means that all the
growth expected in revenues from the
export of nickel, services, sugar and
other goods and services, will not be
net gains but must be spent to cover the
deficit of the food-import bill,”
Montero said.
 
There will also be “an increase in
subsidies in proportions not
contemplated in the plan” for the year,
due to the “current structure of food
distribution and sales,” which includes
consumers’ use of rationing cards to buy
a specific group of products at
subsidized prices, he said. Cuba
imports close to 80 percent of the food
supplies consumed by its 11 million
inhabitants at a cost of some $1.5
billion per year. Granma specifies that
the expenditure goes mainly to buy
wheat, corn, powdered milk, flour and
soybean oil, which make up as much as 73
percent of the nation’s food bill.
According to Montero, among the
government’s measures to check inflation
has been to contract imports in the
first months of the year and to buy
commodity futures.
Montero said
that the third strategy is to get moving
with all projects aimed at increasing
domestic agricultural production, which
President Raul Castro has described as a
matter of “national security” and is a
priority in his plan of reforms. “Thanks
to the inexplicable contrivances of
perseverance, much more than the real
possibilities of our economy, our
government pays whatever it costs so
that, among the unprotected on this
earth, there is not one Cuban,” Granma
said, referring to the humanitarian
consequences of the food crisis.
“Nonetheless, ways of working miracles
are running out, and in a world where
the mathematics of trade increases its
pragmatism, the more the whirlwind slams
those who have the least, the more we
must find in our own lands and
industries the strength to escape its
vortex,” the newspaper said. |
|
EL
DESFILE DE LA VERDAD
|
|
OBAMA, SARKOZY, CAMERON PLEDGE OUSTER OF
GADHAFI FROM LIBYA
PARIS, FRANCE--U.S.
President Barack Obama, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy and U.K. Prime Minister
David Cameron pledged that the
U.S., France, the U.K. and other NATO
nations will keep up military pressure
in Libya until Muammar Gadhafi is forced
out. Gadhafi “must go, and go for good”
if Libya is to begin forming a new
government so that Libyan citizens can
choose their own futures, they wrote in
a joint declaration published in the
International Herald Tribune, Le Figaro
and the Times of London. The unified
message from the three leaders was
released as differences were emerging
over the Libya campaign in the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization and a
seven-week drive by rebels to push
Gadhafi from power has ground to a
standstill.
  “So long as Qaddafi is in power, NATO and its coalition
partners must maintain their operations
so that civilians remain protected and
the pressure on the regime builds,” the
leaders wrote. “Then a genuine
transition from dictatorship to an
inclusive constitutional process can
really begin, led by a new generation of
leaders.” Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron
said that while the United Nations
Security Council resolution authorizing
military action to protect civilians
doesn’t include overthrowing Gadhafi ,
“it is impossible to imagine a future
for Libya with Gadhafi in power.” The
message from the three leaders did not
refer to any of the differences that
were being discussed at a meeting
yesterday of NATO’s 28 foreign ministers
and leaders from other allied nations in
Berlin. “We need a few more
precision-fighter ground-attack aircraft
for air-to-ground missions,” NATO
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
said.
The call for more warplanes, which Rasmussen said
wasn’t directed at a specific alliance
member, comes 10 days after the U.S.
largely withdrew its ground-attack
planes operating over Libya. U.S. and
French officials said that their
governments don’t plan to offer
additional warplanes and that it is up
to other allies to help. Rebel
commanders have complained that NATO
isn’t doing enough to drive back Qaddafi
loyalists. Leaving Gadhafi in power
would condemn Libya “to being not only a
pariah state, but a failed state too,”
the leaders wrote. “Together with our
NATO allies and coalition partners, the
United States, France and Britain have
been united from the start in responding
to the crisis in Libya, and we are
united on what needs to happen in order
to end it,” Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron
wrote. “Britain, France and the United
States will not rest until the United
Nations Security Council resolutions
have been implemented and the Libyan
people can choose their own future.” |
|
GADHAFI'S DAUGHTER SENDS DEFIANT MESSAGE
FROM FATHER'S COMPOUND
TRIPOLI, LIBYA--From
her father's compound, struck by U.S.
bombs exactly 25 years ago, Muammar al-GadHafi's
daughter sent a defiant message
early Friday: Libya was not defeated by
airstrikes then and won't be defeated
now, she told a cheering crowd. The
daughter, Aisha, pumped her right fist
as she led the audience in late-night
chants from the second-floor balcony of
the badly damaged Bab Aziziyah compound,
targeted by U.S. warplanes in 1986.
"Leave our skies with your bombs," she
said, referring to NATO airstrikes that
had struck Tripoli just hours earlier.
  Qaddafi, in power for 42 years, has been testing the
international community's resolve on the
battle field. On Thursday, his forces
shelled the besieged western Libyan town
of Misrata, where rebels are clinging to
positions near the port area, their only
link to the outside world. U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton told NATO foreign ministers
meeting in Berlin on Thursday that
Gadhafi is taunting the alliance by
continuing to strike cities held by the
rebels seeking his overthrow. "As our
mission continues, maintaining our
resolve and unity only grows more
important," Clinton said. NATO members
agree that Gadhafi has to go to end the
crisis in Libya, but made clear they are
not the ones to oust him.
The Libyan leader has a long and troubled history with
the West. In the 1980s, he was seen as
sponsor of militant groups, and Libya's
secret service was held responsible for
the April 5, 1986 bombing of a Berlin
disco that killed two U.S. servicemen.
Ten days later, U.S. warplanes struck
targets in Benghazi and Tripoli,
including Gadhafi's Bab Aziziyah
compound. Dozens were killed in the
strikes. Qaddafi never repaired Bab
Aziziyah, instead turning it into a
museum. Hundreds rallied there late
Thursday and early Friday, chanting pro-Gadhafi
slogans, such as "Only Allah, Moammar
and Libya," and "The people want Moammar
as their leader." The crowd erupted in
cheers when Aisha appeared on the
balcony. "Let me go back to the past
when I was a child, when I was nine
years old, in this house," she said. "A
rain of missiles and bombs. They tried
to kill me. They killed dozens of
children in Libya." "Now, after 25
years, the same missiles, the same
bombs, rain on our children's heads,"
she said. "We are a people that cannot
be defeated," she added. |
|
COLOMBIA OFFERS THE US "FULL ACCESS" TO
DRUG LORD WALID MAKLED
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Although
Walid Makled, a drug lord and Venezuelan
citizen of Syrian descent, will
be extradited to Venezuela, the US
government may question him before his
extradition.
  "We have given full access to the US government for any
proceedings they may deem useful," said
Germán Vargas Lleras, the Colombian
Minister of Interior and Justice, as
reported by DPA. "I have instructed
(officials) that the US authorities have
full access for any matter they may deem
useful. The request was made and we have
granted permission," he said.
Makled has been questioned several times by Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents,
Colombian Ambassador to the United
States Gabriel Silva said this week in
response to an editorial in The
Washington Post: "Since his arrest in
August 2010, Colombian authorities have
allowed several meetings between he (Makled)
and US officials." For his part,
former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe
on Thursday fueled a controversy over
Colombia's Fdecision to extradite Makled
to Venezuela, claiming that he disagrees
with Santos' decision. |
|
EL CABALLO DE TRALLA
Your Job is to infiltrate and soften
them, we'll take care of the rest.
|
|
COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT SIGNS MAKLED'S
EXTRADITION TO VENEZUELA
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Venezuelan
DICTATOR Hugo Chavez clinched a
major diplomatic victory over the U.S.
after the Colombian government confirmed
that it will extradite Walid Makled to
Caracas instead of the U.S. The White
House has tagged Mr. Makled, a
Venezuelan national now being held in a
jailhouse near Bogota, one of the
world's top drug lords. The decision,
announced Wednesday by Colombian
Interior Minister German Vargas Lleras,
could represent a major setback for
Washington's anti-narcotics efforts in
the region since U.S. officials are
likely to have limited access to a
treasure trove of information on
suspected drug-running networks in
Venezuela.
 
Vargas Lleras said Colombia had decided
to send Mr. Makled to Venezuela because
that country presented its extradition
request before the U.S. He added that
Mr. Makled faces charges of homicide in
Venezuela, on top of money laundering
and narcotrafficking, which trump the
U.S. accusations of cocaine trafficking.
The U.S. may not end up totally empty
handed. Mr. Makled says, and U.S.
officials confirm, that he met numerous
times with U.S. law enforcement
officials while in prison in Colombia.
But it's difficult to calculate what
information, if any, U.S. officials
obtained from their meetings with the
alleged drug trafficker. When asked in
interviews with different media about
the most incendiary allegations, Mr.
Makled said he would only talk about
them once he was in the U.S.
The decision by the government of President Juan Manuel
Santos had been widely expected after
Mr. Santos pledged last year to send Mr.
Makled to Venezuela and reaffirmed that
promise in a television interview
earlier this month. Despite the clear
signals from Bogota that Mr. Makled
would be shipped to Venezuela, the
extradition became a high-stakes
tug-of-war. U.S. congressmen such as
Connie Mack (R., Fla.) pressured Mr.
Santos to send Mr. Makled to the U.S.
just as Colombia and the White House
moved to revive a stalled free-trade
agreement. The decision also represents
a rare disagreement in Colombia's close
diplomatic relations with Washington,
which has helped finance Colombia's
crackdown on narcotrafficking and
Marxist guerrillas to the tune of $6
billion over the last nine years.
|
|
SANTOS, URIBE AT ODDS OVER PRESENCE OF
COLOMBIAN GUERRILLAS IN VENEZUELA
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombian
President Juan Manuel Santos said
on Tuesday that the rebel camps of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
in Venezuela have been dismantled, in an
interview with state-run Spanish
television during a visit to Madrid, AFP
reported. "We know for certain that the
rebel camps we had detected (on
Venezuelan soil) are no longer there,"
Santos said in the second day of his
first official visit to Spain.
 
Venezuela "handed over (on Tuesday) two
guerrilla members who had killed two
Colombian marines and had fled across
the border." This is an "unprecedented
gesture" in the relations between
Colombia and Venezuela, Santos said.
While Santos praised his relation with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez,
Colombian TV channel Noticias Uno aired
a video of former Colombian president
Álvaro Uribe, criticizing the actions of
his successor in the relations with
Venezuela.
"I do not understand that the (Colombian) government
says that the other side (Venezuela) has
complied because it handed over some
middle-rank guerrillas and a group of
petty drug dealers," said Uribe. Uribe
admitted that under his administration,
Colombian troops crossed the border to
capture guerrillas in Venezuela. "How
many guerrillas did they hand over and
how many did we arrest there?," he
asked. |
|
SECRETARY HILLARY CLINTON URGES NATO TO
MAINTAIN UNITY OVER LIBYA
BERLIN,
GERMANY--Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton urged NATO on
Thursday to maintain unity,
saying Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was
trying to test the alliance's resolve in
the Western-led air campaign against his
forces. "As our mission continues,
maintaining our resolve and unity only
grows more important," Clinton said in
prepared remarks to a NATO foreign
ministers' meeting in Berlin amid signs
of strain within the alliance. "Gaddafi
is testing our determination." Clinton
spoke after France and Britain said NATO
needed to do more to stop Gaddafi's
forces assaulting rebel-held cities and
towns.
 
Clinton said the international
coalition was "escalating the pressure
and deepening the isolation of the
Gaddafi regime." She called for efforts
to "sharpen the choices facing those
around him." "We need to tighten the
squeeze on Gaddafi's inner circle
through asset freezes, travel bans and
other penalties. We need to work with
Libya's neighbors to aggressively
enforce the arms embargo so that Gaddafi
cannot resupply his forces." Clinton
reaffirmed the United States' commitment
to the military campaign against Gaddafi
but stopped short of signaling a
stronger U.S. role after Washington
relinquished command of the operation to
NATO last month. "The U.S. is committed
to our shared mission. We will strongly
support the coalition until our work is
completed," she said.
She reiterated U.S. demands that Gaddafi cease attacks
and withdraw his forces, restore vital
services to Libya's citizens and allow
unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid.
"Gaddafi knows what he must do. As long
as he does not comply with these
demands, NATO will strike his forces
inside these areas," she said. Clinton
expressed concern about what she
described as "atrocities" unfolding in
the town of Misrata, saying: "We are
taking actions to respond, and those
responsible will be held accountable."
She urged intensified political,
diplomatic and economic pressure to
force Gaddafi from power. "We must see
Gaddafi go. Only then can a viable
transition move forward." |
|
EGYPT'S MUBARAK AND TWO OF HIS SONS
DETAINED FOR INVESTIGATION
CAIRO, EGYPT--Egypt's
ousted President Hosni Mubarak
was put under detention in his hospital
room Wednesday for investigation on
accusations of corruption, abuse of
power and killings of protesters in a
dramatic step Wednesday that brought
celebrations from the movement that
drove him from office. Mubarak's two
sons, Gamal and Alaa, were also detained
for questioning and taken to Cairo's
Torah prison, where a string of former
top regime figures - including the
former prime minister, ruling party
chief and Mubarak's chief of staff - are
already languishing, facing similar
investigations on corruption.
 
The move was brought by enormous public
pressure on the ruling military, which
was handed power when Mubarak stepped
down on Feb. 11. Tens of thousands
protested in Cairo's central Tahrir
Square on Friday, the biggest rally in
weeks, demanding Mubarak and his family
be put on trial. Many in the crowd
accused the military of protecting the
former president. The detention is a new
landmark in the stunning fall of the
82-year-old Mubarak, who only months ago
appeared unquestioned in his control of
Egypt after nearly 30 years of rule.
Even after his fall, he seemed
untouchable, living with his family at a
palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh.
On Tuesday night, Mubarak was taken to a hospital in
Sharm el-Sheikh because of heart
troubles, and so that his health could
be monitored as he submitted to the
first round of questioning by
investigators. Hours later, the public
prosecutor announced early Wednesday
that Mubarak was ordered put under
detention for 15 days for investigation.
He was to be flown later in the day to a
military hospital outside Cairo, where
he would remain in detention, a security
official in Sharm el-Sheikh said. Later
Wednesday, prosecutors announced a new
arrest - that of former parliament
speaker Fathi Surour, a prominent ruling
party figure who led the legislature
since 1991 until it was dissolved
following Mubarak's fall. He was ordered
detained for 15 days for investigation
on allegations of amassing wealth and
misuse of power. Mubarak's detention
also marks a new chapter in Egypt's
still unsure transition to what
protesters hope will be a democratic
post-Mubarak future. |
|
NO ONE TOLD US PRISONER RELEASE IS OVER,
CUBAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SAYS
HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba’s
Catholic hierarchy said Tuesday
that it had not received any
notification from the Communist
government that the church-mediated
process of releasing political prisoners
is over. The Archdiocese of Havana was
responding to last week’s announcement
by the Spanish Foreign Ministry in which
it said that the prisoner-release
process was finished. “With respect to
that, we state that the Catholic Church
in Cuba has not received – from the
Cuban government – any notification
regarding the suspension of the said
process,” said the Archdiocese in a
succinct announcement.
  The Spanish government said after a group of 37 former
Cuban political prisoners and about 200
of their family members arrived in
Madrid that the prisoner-release process
begun last year was over. Of the 115
Cuban dissidents who have left jail in
the last nine months, only 12 – all from
the “Group of 75” jailed in March 2003 –
remain in Cuba, having refused exile to
Spain.
The Cuban government promised last year to release all
52 of the Group of 75 members then still
behind bars within the framework of an
unexpected dialogue initiated with the
Catholic Church and supported by the
Spanish government. Cuban authorities
later expanded the releases to other
prisoners convicted of crimes against
state security, although the internal
opposition on the Communist-ruled island
does not recognize many of them as
active dissidents. Cuba has released
every detainee recognized by Amnesty
International as a prisoner of
conscience. |
|
CUBAN CAPITAL FACES WORST WATER SHORTAGE
IN 50 YEARS
HAVANA,
CUBA--The
Cuban capital is facing its worst water
shortage in the last 50 years due
to the effects of the drought and the
progressive deterioration of the fresh
water supply network, Communist Party
daily Granma said Tuesday. More than a
million people are being affected by the
situation, which could become "more
aggravated" if the hoped-for rains do
not come in May and June, the paper
said.
  With a deficit of 519,307 cubic meters per day,
somewhat more than 100,000 Havana
residents are only receiving their water
from cistern trucks, a situation that
imposes an "elevated cost" on the
depressed national economy, the paper
said. The situation originated with the
drought and the scarcity of rain, but it
worsened due to the deterioration in the
water supply network: about 70 percent
of Havana's 3,158 kilometers (1,958
miles) of pipelines are in poor shape
and allow part of the water pumped to
the city from nearby reservoirs to be
lost.
Another negative factor is "the lack of a culture of
water saving" and the fact that "the
attitude of waste continues" despite the
dire situation and the fines imposed on
all wasteful public entities. Among the
"great wasters" of water, Granma pointed
to entities such as the Marina Hemingway
tourist center and the Havana convention
center. Granma noted that the Cuban
government had allocated an investment
amounting to "millions" - the precise
sum was not specified in the article -
for assorted projects designed to extend
the functioning of depressed water
sources and to improve water
distribution. |
|
LIBYAN REBELS SWIFTLY REJECT AFRICAN
UNION PEACE PLAN
BENGHAZI, LIBYA--Libyan opposition leaders on Monday
rejected an African Union "road map" for
making peace with Moammar Gadhafi,
saying that nothing short of the
strongman's immediate resignation would
satisfy them. The proposal, which
Gadhafi reportedly endorsed after
meeting with the African delegation
Sunday in Tripoli, called for a
cease-fire in the nearly two-month-old
conflict, suspension of the NATO
airstrikes - which have slowed Gadhafi's
military campaign against the
eastern-based rebels - and talks between
the sides on political reforms.
 
The opposition swiftly countered that
the plan ignored its main demand.
"This proposal did not include the exit
of Col. Gadhafi and his sons and inner
circle, and it included reforms within
the structure of the Gadhafi regime.
This is rejected completely," said Abdul
Hafiz Ghoga, a member of the
Transitional National Council, the de
facto rebel government based in the
eastern city of Benghazi. "I only see
this going one way," said a Western
diplomat who has spent the last few days
meeting with opposition leaders,
referring to Gadhafi's ouster. "It's
only a matter of when." He requested
anonymity because he wasn't authorized
to speak to journalists.
Gadhafi has long been one of the African
Union's loudest champions, and he has
contributed a sizable chunk of its
budget every year in a bid to win
influence on the continent. That may be
one reason that the group's delegation,
representing South Africa and four other
African countries, was willing to make a
presentation that advocated a continuing
Gadhafi role in Libya. But the results
of the delegation's closed-door meeting
with opposition leaders at a Benghazi
hotel was easily foretold. Hundreds of
protesters gathered outside under a
banner that read: "First Gadhafi and his
family leaves, then we negotiate." The
Italian foreign minister, Franco
Frattini, strongly backed the rebels'
position, saying that Gadhafi's
resignation would have to occur "in
parallel" with a cease-fire. "The sons
and the family of Gadhafi cannot
participate in the political future of
Libya," Frattini told France's Europe 1
radio. |
|
EGYPT'S MUBARAK HOSPITALIZED WITH HEART
PROBLEMS
SHARM
EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT--Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
was abruptly hospitalized Tuesday for
heart problems during an investigation
over allegations of corruption and the
violence against protesters, reported
state TV. The 82-year-old former
president was deposed Feb. 11 after 18
days of popular protests and has been
under house arrest in the Red Sea resort
of Sharm El-Sheikh for the last two
months. The public prosecutor said
Monday he would be questioned. Mubarak's
two sons were also summoned and were
being questioned at the prosecutor's
office in the provincial capital of
El-Tor Tuesday. Dozens of demonstrators
picketed the hospital, denouncing the
president and carrying a sign reading
"Here is the butcher." They scuffled
with supporters of Mubarak amid a
massive security presence.
 
Two security officials said Mubarak
arrived under heavy police protection to
the main hospital and, according to two
doctors in the hospital, he stepped out
of his armored Mercedes unaided and was
taken to the presidential suite in the
pyramid-shaped building. The officials
and doctors spoke on condition of
anonymity because they were not
authorized to speak to the media.
Mubarak has been suffering for a number
of ailments and underwent gallbladder
surgery in Germany in March last year.
He has kept a low profile since he was
ousted, living on his compound in Sharm
el-Sheikh. He was banned from traveling
and his assets have been frozen. Many of
his senior aides have already either
been questioned or detained pending
investigations.
Egypt's state TV reported that Safwat
el-Sherif, a senior aide of Mubarak and
one of the most powerful men in his
regime, was ordered detained for an
additional 15 days pending investigation
into his role in attacks on protesters
during the uprising. El-Sherif had
already been remanded into custody for
15 days pending corruption
investigations. On Sunday, Mubarak
defended himself in a pre-recorded
message saying he had not abused his
authority, and investigators were
welcome to check over his assets. It was
his first address to the people in the
two months since he stepped down.
Shortly after, the prosecutor general
issued a summons for Mubarak to appear
for questioning. Deciding on the site
for the interrogation was a dilemma for
the authorities who wanted to grant the
ailing president a degree of privacy and
security. |
|
WITNESSES SAY SYRIAN MILITIA
ATTACKED TWO VILLAGES
DAMASCUS,
SYRIA--Syrian troops took positions on rooftops
and gunfire crackled for hours Tuesday
as pro-government gunmen attacked two
villages in northeastern Syria
in a move to crush a popular uprising
against President Bashar Assad's
authoritarian regime, witnesses said.
Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the
Damascus Declaration, urged the Arab
League to impose sanctions on the regime
and said the death toll from more than
three weeks of unrest had topped 200.
The White House joined a growing chorus
of international condemnation, saying
the "escalating repression by the Syrian
government is outrageous."
 
Protests erupted in Syria more than
three weeks ago and have been growing
steadily, with tens of thousands of
people calling for sweeping reforms. The
Assad family has kept an iron grip on
power for 40 years, in part by crushing
dissent. Assad blames the violence on
armed gangs rather than reform-seekers
and has vowed to crush further unrest.
He has made a series of overtures to try
and appease the growing outrage,
including sacking local officials and
granting Syrian nationality to thousands
of Kurds, a long-ostracized minority.
But the gestures have failed to satisfy
protesters who are demanding political
freedoms and an end to the decades-old
emergency laws that give the regime a
free hand to arrest people without
charge.
Details were sketchy on Tuesday's
violence in the villages of Bayda and
Beit Jnad, but a resident from a nearby
town said he heard heavy gunfire until
late afternoon. From a distance, he saw
troops in Bayda taking positions on
rooftops. He said residents in Bayda
told him by telephone that two people
were shot and wounded and dozens were
detained. The villages are several miles
(kilometers) from the port city of
Banias, which the army has sealed off
during days of unrest. Security forces
killed four protesters in Banias on
Sunday. Haitham al-Maleh, a leading
Syrian opposition figure in Damascus
said residents told him that attackers
were using automatic rifles in Bayda and
Beit Jnad. Al-Maleh said villagers have
told him there were casualties in
Tuesday's attack, but the reports could
not be independently confirmed. The
White House on Tuesday called on Syria
to respect "universal rights of the
Syrian people, who are rightly demanding
the basic freedoms that they have been
denied." |
|
OLLANTA HUMALA TOPS VOTE IN PERU, FACES
KEIKO FUJIMORI IN RUN-OFF
LIMA, PERU----
OLLANTA HUMALA, An ex-army officer and
popular leftist candidate, survived a
round in Perú's presidential election to
force a runoff in June – and is set to
face Keiko Fujimori, the
right-wing daughter of imprisoned former
President Alberto Fujimori. Humala and
Fujimori edged-out three more moderate
candidates who canceled each other out
in Sunday's election. The outcome
reflects the disarray that has plagued
Peruvian politics since Fujimori's 1990
emergence from obscurity. Humala – the
lone candidate advocating a greater
state role in the economy to provide
poor Peruvians with a greater share of
the country's mining riches – will face
Fujimori in the June 5 runoff.
 
The ex-army lieutenant colonel also won
the first round in Perú's 2006
presidential vote but was defeated 53
percent to 47 percent by Alan García in
a runoff widely seen as a rebuff to Hugo
Chávez, who had openly backed him. This
time, Humala distanced himself from the
leftist Venezuelan president, while
Fujimori backed away from vows to pardon
her father she made two years ago when
he was convicted of approving death
squad killings and sentenced to 25 years
in prison. Nobel literature laureate
Mario Vargas Llosa had called the Humala-Fujimori
runoff option "a choice between AIDS and
terminal cancer," given perceptions of
both candidate's anti-democratic
tendencies. The official vote count was
slow, but complete unofficial results
provided by nonprofit electoral watchdog
Transparencia gave Humala 31.7 percent —
well short of the simple majority needed
to win outright.
Keiko Fujimori — whose father Peruvians alternately
esteem and revile — got 23.3 percent,
trailed by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a
72-year-old former World Bank economist
and investment banker, with 18.3
percent. In fourth was Alejandro Toledo,
Peru's president from 2001-2006, with
15.9 percent. Former Lima Mayor Luis
Castañeda was fifth with 9.9 percent.
Pre-election polls had indicated either
Toledo or Castañeda would defeat Humala
in a second round while Kuczynski and
Fujimori would have a harder time. Keiko
Fujimori constantly invoked her father
during the campaign, running on his
legacy of delivering essential services
to Perú's forgotten backwater and of
being tough on crime. It's a potent
message in a nation 30 million where one
in three live on less than $3 a day and
lack running water, and the murder rate
doubled under García. During her victory
speech from the terrace of a downtown
hotel, jubilant supporters changed
"Chino. Chino. Chino," her father's
popular nickname. |
|
BELARUS SUBWAY BLAST KILLS AT LEAST 12
IN MINSK
MINSK,
BELARUS--An
explosive device killed at least 12
people and injured 126 in the
Minsk subway during the evening rush
hour yesterday, hitting the Belarusian
capital’s busiest metro station, which
is near President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s
residence.
 
The death toll may rise, Lukashenko
suggested at an emergency meeting with
his government in Minsk, the Interfax
news agency reported on its website. The
country’s Prosecutor General’s Office
declared the blast “an act of terrorism”
and began a criminal investigation.
Lukashenko said the blast, which
occurred at 5:56 p.m. local time, was
probably orchestrated from abroad, the
Russian news website Grani reported. The
device went off as two trains were
arriving at the Oktyabrskaya station,
where the capital’s two metro lines
intersect, according to Russian state
television. The subway transports about
2 million people a day, according to
Interfax.
President George W. Bush in 2005 described
Lukashenko’s regime as “the last
remaining dictatorship in Europe.”
Lukashenko was first elected in 1994 and
was returned to office for a fourth term
in December. The office has no term
limits. A bomb explosion in the capital
during a concert attended by Lukashenko
in July 2008 was classified by
law-enforcement authorities as
“hooliganism.” About 40 people were
injured in that incident. |
|
CUBA BLAMED FOR LOSS OF HUMANITARIAN AID
TO HAITI
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--
Executives with Harbor Homes LLC
said late Saturday that the Cuban
government denied the U.S. Coast Guard
permission to enter its waters to
reclaim a drifting barge carrying $2
million worth of humanitarian supplies
bound for the quake-devastated Caribbean
country. As a result, the barge carrying
cargo to build 1,000 homes in Haiti sank
in December as the Cuban military
attempted to tow it ashore. A tow line
snapped and the barge ran aground,
scattering building supplies, three
tractors, and a bulldozer into the
Atlantic, company officials said. "At
the end of the day the Cuban government
is directly and solely responsible for
the sinking of this vessel," said Matt
Williams, a spokesman for Harbor Homes
and its subsidiary PermaShelter. "A lot
of homes aren't being built because of
the Cuban government."
 
The loss of the humanitarian supplies
comes as relief workers and the Haitian
government struggle to house more than
600,000 Haitians displaced after the
January 2010 quake. A Christian relief
group, a tugboat towing the barge left
Jacksonville, Florida, on Nov. 17. The
tugboat captain refueled in the Bahamas,
but officials said the gas was
contaminated with water. The vessel's
engine eventually died about 13 miles
from Cuba's easternmost coast. The
barge's GPS tracker then showed
something strange. "The barge took an
unnatural turn on Dec. 1," Williams
said. A printout of a map shows the
vessel taking a hard right turn south,
just north of the Cuban shoreline.
Williams contacted the U.S. Coast Guard
and it dispatched a cutter and a
helicopter to try and pull the boats to
safety until they could find a vessel to
take the boats to Haiti or bring fresh
fuel.
The Coast Guard contacted the Cuban authorities
for permission to enter their waters but
was denied access. Matthew Batson, vice
president of Harbor Homes, and Col.
Felix Vargas, a retired U.S. Foreign
Service officer who worked as a
consultant for the company, traveled to
Santiago de Cuba in December in an
effort to reclaim the barge and cargo.
They said Cuban officials showed them an
eight-minute video of the wreckage site.
"I could clearly see that the vast
majority of the cargo had spilled into
the ocean," Batson wrote in an email to
World Vision. The pair tried to visit
the barge but Cuban port officials
wouldn't let them. Cuban officials told
them they couldn't because they had
tourist visas and the visit was business
related. |
|
AFRICAN UNION COMMITTEE MEETS DICTATOR
GADHAFI IN TRIPOLI
TRIPOLI, LIBYA--A
delegation from the African Union met
with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi
Sunday evening, but no immediate
announcement of what, if any, progress
was made to end the fighting between
Gadhafi and rebels. At the conclusion
of the meeting at his compound in
Tripoli, Gadhafi made a rare public
appearance for international media
before riding off in a car as he waved
to supporters near his tent. The Africa
Union's visit is the latest diplomatic
effort to stop the bloodshed in Libya.
 
After meeting with government officials,
they planned to connect with opposition
members in the Libyan rebel stronghold
of Benghazi. The African Union's special
committee on Libya is represented by
Mauritania, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Mali, Uganda and South Africa.
Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel
Aziz told journalists on Sunday that the
meetings "will discuss the ways to
resolve the crisis in Libya, and our
main goal is to stop the military
operations and find adequate solutions
for the problem between our Libyan
brothers," according to a Mauritanian
news agency.
The United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
will travel to Cairo Thursday to head
meetings on Libya at the Arab League
headquarters. Among the participants
will be Catherine Ashton, the
representative for foreign affairs and
security for the European Union. While
Gadhafi has largely stayed out of the
public eye in recent days, state TV
aired images Saturday of the leader
visiting what appeared to be a primary
school in Tripoli. The anchor said the
school was a target of international
airstrikes and was going to be attacked. |
|
HAMAS MADE A RARE APPEAL TO ISRAEL FOR A
HALT TO THE FIGHTING
JERUSALEM,
ISRAEL--
A senior member of Gaza's ruling Hamas
movement on Sunday made a rare
appeal to the Israeli public for a halt
to the escalating cross-border fighting,
telling an Israeli radio station in
fluent Hebrew that Hamas is ready to
stop its rocket fire if Israel ends its
attacks on Gaza. As nightfall
approached, Gaza militants had fired
about 10 rockets and mortar shells at
Israel, police said, but Israel had not
hit back. At a late afternoon meeting of
Israel's Security Cabinet, made up of
senior ministers, the military was told
to "continue to operate against
terrorists in order to stop the (rocket)
fire on Israel." Hamas' deputy foreign
minister, Ghazi Hamad, delivered the
message to state-run Israel Radio. "We
are interested in calm but want the
Israeli military to stop its
operations," Hamad said in Hebrew.
 
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said if
militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza cease
their attacks, so would Israel. But
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a
more combative tack. "If the attacks on
Israeli citizens and soldiers continue,
the response will be far harsher" than
it has been, Netanyahu told his
Cabinet.Arab League leader Amr Moussa
called on the U.N. to impose a no-fly
zone over Gaza to protect Palestinians.
Arab League support for a no-fly zone
over Libya was crucial in its imposition
there. It was unlikely the world body
would take such drastic action against
Israel in light of the Hamas rocket
attacks. The violence escalated a week
ago when an Israeli airstrike killed
three Hamas militants who Israel said
were planning a cross-border kidnapping.
On Thursday, Hamas militants fired a
guided anti-tank missile at an Israeli
school bus, wounding the two people on
board, including a teenage boy who was
critically hurt.
Since Thursday, Palestinians fired more than 120
rockets and mortar shells into southern
Israel, prompting Israeli reprisals that
have killed 19 Palestinians, including
six civilians, and wounded 65 others. It
has been the most intense fighting
between Israel and Gaza militants since
a major Israeli offensive in the
Palestinian territory ended in January
2009. While neither side appears
interested in all-out war, the fear is
that an isolated incident could easily
spark an Israeli offensive because of
the combustible situation that has
developed over the past month. Mohammed
Awad, Hamas' foreign minister, told the
group's Al-Quds TV station that there
was a "sustained effort" to halt the
fighting. "I can say we were in contact
with Egypt, Turkey and the United
Nations," he said. Islamic Jihad, a
smaller Palestinian militant group, also
called for a halt to the violence. |
|
US CITIZENS AMONG BUS PASSENGERS
ABDUCTED IN MEXICO
MEXICO
CITY, MEXICO--At
least one U.S. citizen was among dozens
of men reportedly forced off passenger
buses by armed attackers in the
northeastern border state of Tamaulipas,
where 72 bodies were found in
mass graves last week, U.S. officials
said Sunday. The man has yet to be
located, said a warden's message posted
on the website of the consulate, which
is located in the Tamaulipas city of
Matamoros, across the border from
Brownsville, Texas. It is not unusual
for people living or working in Mexican
border states to have been born in the
U.S.
 
In a separate warden's message issued
Friday, the consulate had warned that
Mexican criminal gangs may be planning
attacks "in the near future" against
U.S. law enforcement or U.S. citizens in
Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and San Luis
Potosi, three northern states wracked by
drug violence as cartels battle for
territory. The report said the
information was uncorroborated but was
being distributed to all U.S. employees
in those three states. There was no
mention of closing consulates or sending
State Department workers out of the
country. The consulate's statement did
not say when or where the U.S. man went
missing from the passenger bus.
The consulate is warning U.S. citizens against
traveling through Tamaulipas, either by
public bus or private transportation.
Investigators uncovered the 72 bodies in
10 pits near San Fernando, a town about
90 miles (145 kilometers) south of
Brownsville on a well-traveled stretch
of highway that runs near the Gulf
Coast. It is an area regularly patrolled
by the Mexican military. It was the
second-such gruesome find in less than a
year: In August, investigators found the
bodies of 72 migrants in San Fernando.
Federal authorities said they are
holding 14 people — 12 men and two women
— as suspects in the latest case.
|
|
COLOMBIA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL RECOMMENDS
THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO SEND MAKLED TO
VENEZUELA
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombia's
Office of the Attorney General asked the
government of President Juan Manuel
Santos not to extradite alleged drug
lord Walid Makled to Venezuela.
"It is very likely that the human rights
of (suspected kingpin) Walid Makled
García can be harmed. Therefore, the
Office requests (the government) to
issue a negative decision," said the
Office of the Attorney General.
According to them, this is because of
the "deplorable" Venezuelan prison
system. This opinion is included in a
document that the Attorney General
Office handed over to the Court,
Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported.
Also, in their view, the Venezuelan
government has not met all the
requirements for the extradition. The
Attorney General Office added that the
application submitted to the Colombian
government did not include the formal
charges of Venezuelan judges against
Makled for drug trafficking.
  The deadline for the Colombian government to
decide on the country where Venezuelan
businessman Walid Makled will be
extradited to is Monday, April 11.
Makled is accused of drug trafficking by
the governments of the United States and
Venezuela. His extradition has been
requested by the two countries. on
April 12, Colombia's Minister of the
Interior Germán Vargas will hand over to
President Juan Manuel Santos a document
suggesting the country where the alleged
drug kingpin should be extradited to,
and the Colombian Head of State will
make a decision, Caracol Radio
reported. "This issue has attracted
much interest from the public, but the
Colombian government will decide based
on the recommendation made by the
Supreme Court of Justice," said the
Colombian minister.
The Attorney General Office has an ongoing
investigation into alleged drug
trafficker Walid Makled, reported
Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz.
Ortega Díaz added that she expects the
presumed kingpin to be extradited to
Venezuela to ask him for "evidential
elements" of the claims which compromise
high-ranking officers. "There is an
investigation at the Public Prosecutor
Ministry, where everything related to
Walid Makled is being investigated,"
Ortega Díaz said in a news conference.
The Attorney General said that her
Office undertook an investigation as
soon as the alleged drug trafficker was
captured last August in Colombia. |
|
SHOOTING ON BRITISH NUCLEAR SUB KILLS
ONE
LONDON,
ENGLAND--A
shooting on board the HMS Astute,
a British nuclear submarine making a
visit to Southampton, left one person
dead and another critically wounded,
authorities said Friday. One man was
arrested after the shooting, said
police, who were contacted by the
Ministry of Defense about the incident.
"I am greatly saddened to hear of this
tragic incident and of the death of a
Royal Navy serviceman," Defense
Secretary Liam Fox said in a statement
Friday. "It is right and proper that a
full police investigation is carried out
and allowed to take its course. "My
thoughts and sympathies are with those
who have been affected and their
families." No other details of the
incident were immediately released.
  The Astute made headlines last year when it ran aground off
the Isle of Skye, in northern Scotland,
while doing sea trials. Its nuclear
propulsion system was not damaged in the
incident, and its reactor was declared
safe, with no environmental impact. It
was eventually pulled free and escorted
back to port. The submarine can carry a
mix of as many as 38 Spearfish
heavyweight torpedoes and Tomahawk
land-attack cruise missiles, according
to the ministry. The 7,500-tonne
submarine is the first of a new class of
nuclear-powered submarines. Commissioned
into the Navy last August, she does not
carry nuclear weapons.
"Hampshire police were called by their Ministry
of Defense colleagues at 12.12 pm (1112
GMT) today....and are currently liaising
with them to establish the exact
circumstances of the incident," police
said in a statement. The local Southern
Daily Echo said one person had died and
another was in hospital. The one billion
pound sub, which has a 98-strong crew,
had arrived in Southampton on Wednesday
for an informal five-day visit, from its
base in Faslane, Scotland, and it was
her first trip south. During her stay
she was not due to be open to the
general public though civic leaders, Sea
Cadets, scouts and school and college
parties had been invited onboard. The
MoD said the incident was being handled
by local police. |
|
DIPLOMATS TALK AMID FIERCE FIGHTING IN
KEY LIBYAN CITY
AJDAbIYA,
Libya--A
battle raged in Adabiya, a strategically
located Libyan city, Saturday as state
television showed a fist-pumping Moammar
Gadhafi visiting a school. Rebels fought
hard in a back-and-forth war for
Ajdabiya, the last stop before their
stronghold, Benghazi, further to the
east. Witnesses reported three hours of
fighting that they said involved
explosions caused by NATO aircraft.
NATO, however, denied any airstrikes in
Ajdabiya Saturday. As the sun set, the
rebels appeared to have averted a major
setback by maintaining control of the
hard-won city -- but it was tenouous at
best. Outgunned, they conceded they were
facing a formidable foe. In a hospital,
witnesses told CNN that three of
Gadhafi's fighters who were killed were
carrying identification cards from
Syria, Algeria and Chad. Far from the
battleground, African leaders meeting in
Mauritania Saturday in an attempt to
forge a mediator role in Libya's
impasse.
  The African Union's special committee on Libya --
represented by Mauritania, Congo
Republic, Mali, Uganda and South Africa
-- will then travel to the Libyan rebel
stronghold of Benghazi to meet with the
opposition leaders Sunday and Monday,
according to the South African
government. The South African government
also said NATO has granted the committee
permission to meet with Gadhafi in the
Libyan capital, Tripoli. Gadhafi has
been a big supporter of the African
Union and has channeled large sums of
money its way. Libya also holds a seat
on the 15-member Peace and Security
Council. As such, opposition leaders in
Benghazi did not express optimism over
the success of mediation. The United
Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
will travel to Cairo, Egypt next
Thursday to head meetings on Libya at
the Arab League headquarters. Among the
participants will be Catherine Ashton,
the representative for foreign affairs
and security for the European Union.
Meanwhile Libyan Foreign Minister Khaled Gaim condemned
on state-run television the reopening of
key ports in the eastern cities of
Tobruk and Benghazi, which he said
enables the rebels to resume an oil
trade. He accused NATO of violating the
United Nations Security Council
resolution that mandates the protection
of civilians. State TV also aired
images Gadhafi visiting on Saturday what
appeared to be a primary school in
Tripoli. The anchor said the school was
a target of international airstrikes and
was going to be attacked. Former U.S.
lawmaker Curt Weldon visited Libya this
week hoping to speak directly with
Gadhafi but left without a meeting. He
did manage to secure a letter from the
strongman to U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton. "I am disappointed that
I did not get to sit down face to face
with Colonel Gadhafi as promised, but I
may have been able to get something even
more significant -- a path to a
resolution of this conflict," Weldon
said in a statement on his departure. |
|
LUIS POSADA CARRILES, EX-CIA AGENT,
ACQUITTED IN TEXAS PERJURY CASE
EL Paso, texas--A
Texas jury has found luis posada
carriles, an ex-CIA AGENT, not
guilty of all 11 counts of perjury,
obstruction and immigration fraud.
After a 13-week trial, jurors
deliberated for just three hours before
agreeing Friday to exonerate 83-year-old
Luis Posada Carriles.
 
Federal prosecutors have accused the
lead attorney for Posada Carriles of
trying to mislead the court by claiming
the U.S. government delayed delivery of
documents that could exonerate the Cuban
exile militant of responsibility in a
string of Cuban tourist site bombings in
1997. Posada was born in Cuba and spent
decades working to destabilize Latin
American communist governments. He often
had Washington's support. But he
sneaked into the U.S. in 2005 and was
charged with lying during citizenship
hearings in El Paso about how he reached
U.S. soil, and about allegedly
masterminding deadly 1997 bombings in
Cuba.
Posada is viewed as Public Enemy No. 1 in his homeland
and is considered ex-President Fidel
Castro's nemesis. He had been living in
Miami before his trial began. Jury
heard more than two hours of a taped
interview with Cuban exile militant Luis
Posada Carriles on bombings in Cuba.
Prosecution star witness ends long
testimony, never wavering about her
claim that Luis Posada Carriles admitted
organizing the bombing campaign in Cuba
in 1997. |
|
NATO ADMITS IT STRUCK LIBYAN REBELS
NAPLES,
ITALY--The
deputy commander of NATO forces in Libya
acknowledged Friday that the alliance
struck rebel tanks outside the eastern
oil town of Brega a day earlier but
blamed the deadly incident on a lack of
communication from the rebels. Rear Adm.
Russell Harding said "it would appear
that two of our strikes yesterday may
have resulted in the deaths of a number
of TNC forces," referring to the
Transitional National Council, the
rebels' de facto government. Doctors
said that at least five people were
killed in the Thursday morning strike,
the second friendly-fire incident in
less than a week involving NATO forces
and the rebels battling Libyan strongman
Muammar Gadhafi. "I'm not apologizing,"
Harding told reporters in Naples, Italy.
"The situation on the ground was
extremely fluid and remains extremely
fluid. And up until yesterday we had no
information that the TNC or the
opposition forces were using tanks."
  Harding's assertion directly contradicted the rebels'
military commander, Gen. Abdelfatah
Younis, who said that his forces
informed NATO that they were moving
about 20 tanks from the rebel capital of
Benghazi to the frontline near Brega.
The tanks included several Soviet-made
T-72s that belonged to Gadhafi's army,
but which rebels had seized in recent
battles. "We had supplied them with all
the information and (said) that they
would be transported on tank transports
and told them the direction they are
going to," Younis said Thursday night.
Rebels said that missiles launched from
a low-flying warplane struck four tanks
and a passenger bus carrying fighters
about 12 miles outside of Brega. Rebels
who were injured in the attack expressed
shock that NATO warplanes could mistake
a convoy of their tanks - which they
said were stationary and flying the
tricolor rebel flag - for those loyal to
Gadhafi.
The incident came five days after at least 13 rebels
were killed in another NATO airstrike on
Brega, and it underscored confusion
between the alliance, which took over
command of the U.N.-ordered no-fly zone
earlier this week, and the inexperienced
rebels, who have been unable to hold
their ground against Gadhafi's forces
along the pivotal coastal Mediterranean
road. Despite Younis's claims that the
rebels are in "minute-by-minute
communication" with NATO, the two sides
seem increasingly at odds. Nearly 12
hours after the Brega incident occurred,
Younis said that he hadn't directly
communicated with NATO commanders about
it, and Harding said Friday that he
wasn't aware of Younis's comments from
the day before. In recent days rebels
and opposition supporters in eastern
Libya have accused NATO of failing to do
enough to protect civilians. |
|
ISRAELI MILITARY STRIKES GAZA MILITANTS
FOLLOWING SCHOOL BUS ATTACK
JERUSALEM,
ISRAEL--Israeli
aircraft and ground forces struck Gaza
on Friday, killing two Hamas
gunmen and wounding seven other
Palestinians in a surge of fighting
sparked by a Palestinian rocket attack
on an Israeli school bus the day before.
Israel's ongoing retaliation for the bus
attack has killed five militants, a
policeman and a civilian. An Israeli
Cabinet minister said the strikes will
continue.
  In Thursday's attack, Gaza militants hit an Israeli school
bus near the border with an anti-tank
rocket, badly wounding the driver and a
16-year-old boy. Hamas, the Iran-backed
militant group that controls Gaza,
claimed responsibility for the attack.
The boy remains unconscious in the
intensive care ward of an Israeli
hospital.
"We see Hamas as responsible for everything originating in
Gaza, and we expect that Hamas will
understand what is allowed, and of
course, what is forbidden," Defense
Minister Ehud Barak told the Jerusalem
Post. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu condemned the attacks, saying
it "crossed the line." "Whoever tries to
hurt and murder children: the blood is
on his hands," he said during a meeting
with the Czech president, according to
the Jerusalem Post. At around midnight
Thursday, with Gaza rocked by
explosions, Hamas announced a
cease-fire. The Israeli strikes
continued, hitting Hamas facilities and
smuggling tunnels. An Israeli airstrike
Friday morning near the town of Khan
Yunis killed two Hamas gunmen and
wounded a third, according to Hamas.
Gaza's Health Ministry said three
civilians were wounded. |
|
U.S. EXPELS ECUADORIAN ENVOY IN
WIKILEAKS AFFAIR
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--PRESIDENT
OBAMA
administration expelled the
Ecuadorean ambassador Thursday in
retaliation for the expulsion of the
U.S. envoy to Ecuador over her comments
in leaked State Department cables. The
move escalates tensions between the U.S.
and Ecuador and comes amid a fraying of
ties between Washington and other Latin
American capitals.
 
Ecuadorean
Ambassador Luis Gallegos was summoned to
the State Department and informed of the
decision by Assistant Secretary of State
for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo
Valenzuela, the department said. It said
Gallegos was declared "persona non
grata" and ordered to leave the United
States as soon as possible. High-level
U.S.-Ecuador talks set for June have
been suspended, the department said. The
step follows Ecuador's expulsion this
week of Heather Hodges, the U.S.
ambassador in Quito, over corruption
allegations she made about senior
Ecuadorean police authorities in
confidential documents released by the
website WikiLeaks.
"The unjustified
action of the Ecuadorean government in
declaring Ambassador Hodges persona non
grata left us no other option than this
reciprocal action," said Charles Luoma-Overstreet,
a department spokesman.He said the
United States wants a positive
relationship with Ecuador but that the
decision to expel Hodges had damaged
ties and would have to be taken into
account going forward. Correa has now
expelled three U.S. diplomats from
Ecuador since taking office in 2007.
While a close ally of Presidents Hugo
Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of
Bolivia, Correa had been far less
antagonistic with the United States.
Hodges' expulsion leaves all three
nations without U.S. ambassadors. |
|
AT LEAST 13 DEA IN BRAZIL SCHOOL
SHOOTING
RIO
DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--A
gunman opened fire at an elementary
school in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday and
at least 13 people were killed,
including the shooter. It was not clear
whether the gunman, who is believed to
be a former student at the school, shot
himself or was killed by police. At
least 20 people, including children,
were wounded in the shooting at the
school for students aged 10 to 15, fire
department spokesman Evandro Bezerra
told the Globo television network.
 
A fire department
spokeswoman confirmed for The Associated
Press that there were deaths, but she
did not know how many. She spoke on
condition of anonymity as she was not
authorized to discuss the matter.
Terrified parents rushed to the school
and television images showed them crying
and screaming for information about
their children.
The gunman was a
23-year-old man and former student at
the school, a police spokeswoman told
the AP. She also spoke on condition of
anonymity, saying that she was not
authorized to discuss the matter. Local
police commander Djalma Beltrame told
Globo TV that the gunman left a letter
at the scene indicating he wanted to
kill himself, but that it did not give a
clear motive for the shooting.
Television images showed three
helicopters landing on a football field
next to the school and then ferrying the
wounded to nearby hospitals. The
shooting began about 8:30 a.m. local
time. Witnesses said police responded
quickly and traded fire with the gunman. |
|
MISSILE FROM GAZA HITS ISRAELI SCHOOL
BUS; 2 HURT
JERUSALEM,
ISRAEL--An
anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza
Strip struck a school bus in southern
Israel Thursday, wounding two
people, including one child critically,
Israeli officials said, prompting fierce
Israeli retaliation. Israel unleashed
airstrikes against Hamas targets across
the border as well as tank fire that
killed a 50-year-old civilian outside
his home and wounded nine other people,
Palestinian medics said. The sudden
outbreak of violence illustrated the
fragile situation along the Israel-Gaza
border, where small bouts of violence
can quickly escalate into heavy-scale
warfare. After a two-year lull,
tensions have been rising between Israel
and Palestinian militants in Gaza over
the past few weeks. From Israel’s
perspective, Thursday’s attack was the
most serious of this period.
 
Israel’s defense
minister, Ehud Barak, ordered the army
to respond quickly and said he held the
Hamas militant group, which rules Gaza,
responsible for the violence. A small
militant faction known as the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine
claimed responsibility for the attack.
Israeli medical services said the bus
was nearly empty after dropping off
school children and was carrying only
the driver and a lone passenger at the
time of the attack. Paramedics were
trying to resuscitate a 16-year-old boy
with a serious head wound at the scene.
The driver was moderately wounded. TV
footage showed a yellow bus with its
windows blown out and its rear charred.
Police said it was struck by an
anti-tank missile. The apparent
targeting of a civilian bus, and the
Israeli casualties, marked a significant
escalation in recent cross-border
attacks.
Israeli President
Shimon Peres condemned the attack from
New York, where he was holding meetings
at the United Nations. “This is another
example of Gaza becoming a terror
state,” he said in a statement.
“Hundreds of thousands of mothers and
children in southern Israel cannot sleep
quietly at night as a result of the
rocket fire from Gaza.” Palestinian
officials reported tank fire toward Gaza
shortly after the missile attack. The
Israeli fire killed a 50-year-old man
sitting outside his home and wounded
seven people, said Palestinian health
official Adham Abu Salmiya. Later
Thursday, Israeli aircraft and tanks
attacked Hamas facilities in the central
Gaza Strip. A tank shell also struck a
fuel depot in northern Gaza, sending a
plume of smoke above the area. No
casualties were reported. |
|
DICTATOR GADHAFI SENDS LETTER TO
PRESIDENT OBAMA URGING END TO AIR
STRIKES
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--Libyan
DICTATOR Muammar al-Qadhafi has
appealed directly to President Obama to
halt what the Libyan leader called "an
unjust war," and wished Obama good luck
in his bid for re-election next year.
In a rambling, three-page letter to
Obama obtained Wednesday by The
Associated Press, Qadhafi implored Obama
to stop the NATO-led air campaign, which
the Libyan called an "unjust war against
a small people of a developing
country."
 
"You are a man who has enough courage to
annul a wrong and mistaken action,"
Qaddafi wrote in the letter that was
sent to the State Department and
forwarded immediately to the White
House, according to a U.S. official who
has seen the letter. "I am sure that you
are able to shoulder the responsibility
for that." "To serving world peace ...
Friendship between our peoples ... and
for the sake of economic, and security
cooperation against terror, you are in a
position to keep Nato (NATO) off the
Libyan affair for good," Qadhafi wrote.
White House press secretary Jay Carney
confirmed that the White House received
a letter from Qadhafi. As for Qadhafi
call for a ceasefire, Carney appeared to
dismiss it for now. "The conditions the
president laid out are clear," Carney
told reporters traveling with Obama to
New York Wednesday afternoon.
In the letter, received earlier
Wednesday, Qadhafi says his country had
been hurt more morally than physically
by the NATO campaign and that a
democratic society could not be built
through missiles and aircraft. He also
repeated his claim that his foes are
members of the Al Qaeda terrorist
network. Addressing Obama as "our son"
and "excellency," Qadhafi said that his
country had been hurt more "morally"
than "physically" by the NATO campaign.
The letter, composed in formal but
stilted English, includes numerous
spelling and grammatical errors. |
|
u.s. reaches deal on colombia free trade
washington,
d.c.--The
Obama administration has reached a free
trade deal with Colombia, the
White House announced Wednesday. The
agreement came after Colombia addressed
human rights concerns and ensured they'd
improve protections for workers. The
White House said the deal was vital for
the president's plans for the economy
and jobs, saying it would pump U.S.
exports up to more than $1 billion a
year. Republicans have long supported
the deal and used it as a negotiating
tactic to hold-up other nominations and
bills on Capitol Hill.
  Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who is on a key committee
overseeing trade, praised the news.
"While long overdue and despite
unreasonable delay, today's announcement
by the administration is welcome news.
Colombia has emerged as one of our
strongest allies in Latin America and
our workers, farmers and job creators
can no longer afford to be put at a
disadvantage in this growing economy,"
said Hatch in a statement. President
Obama is scheduled to meet with
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
on Thursday at the White House where
they will "discuss important issues
related to our enduring bilateral
partnership" and discuss the next steps
of the agreement, the White House said
in a statement.
Under President George W. Bush, agreements with Colombia,
Panama and South Korea were reached -
however Congress never took them up for
a vote. This gave the Obama
administration and U.S. Trade
Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk,
time to clear out provisions they didn't
like. The South Korean agreement was
re-worked late last year and is pending
a final vote, and the Panama one is
being held up over tax laws. The next
step for the Colombia one is
Congressional approval. The business
community also hailed Wednesday's
development, with the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce President Tom Donohue saying,
"The U.S.-Colombia trade agreement will
level the playing field for U.S.
workers, farmers, and companies by
immediately eliminating Colombian duties
on more than 80 percent of U.S.
exports." |
|
DRUG TRAFFICKER WALID MAKLED LINKS
VENEZUELAN TOP MILITARY COMMANDERS WITH
HIS BUSINESSES
BOGOTA,
COLOMBIA--Venezuelan
drug trafficker Walid Makled, who
is arrested in Colombia pending
extradition to Venezuela...or the United
States, said in a TV interview that top
Venezuelan military officers and
government officials were involved in
his businesses. Makled, whose
extradition is sought by both Venezuela
and the United States, said that eight
years ago he was supported by senior
Venezuelan military commanders who
helped him in his businesses. "I worked
with dictator Hugo Chávez's government
for eight years (...) I worked in many
businesses we had," he said.
  Makled reported to US TV network Univisión in an interview
from the prison of La Picota in Bogotá
his links with executives at state-run
oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa),
deputies at the National Assembly and
members of the ruling United Socialist
Party of Venezuela (PSUV). "I was
awarded three multimillion contracts by
the Venezuelan petrochemical industry. I
made several multimillion payoffs. The
last payment I made amounted to USD 7.5
million," he said.
He added that there were five Venezuelan deputies of
the ruling party in his payroll. "I was
granted whatever I needed," he said.
Makled added that "there was a USD 2
million donation to Chávez's party." The
alleged drug kingpin said that he worked
very closely with several Venezuelan
military commanders. He said that the
recipients of payoffs numbered 40
including generals, colonels and majors.
Despite all the allegations against
Chavez, Colombian President Santos said
he gave "his word" to the dictator
that Makled would be extradited to
Venezuela, not to the United States. It
will be very interesting to observe how the
US Congress reacts when the extradition
process is completed. |
|
ECUADOR DEMANDS REMOVAL OF U.S.
AMBASSADOR OVER WIKILEAKS CABLE
QUITO,
ECUADOR--Ecuador
is seeking the expulsion of their U.S.
ambassador over a 2009 diplomatic
cable in which she accuses the country's
police chief of corruption. The cable
was divulged by WikiLeaks. Foreign
Minister Ricardo Patiño announced the
request in a news conference on Tuesday
morning. "We have asked her to abandon
the country in the least amount of time
possible," Patiño said.
 
He also reaffirmed that the decision,
"has without a doubt no intention of
affecting the relationship with the
United States." U.S. Embassy spokeswoman
Martha Youth says the embassy is aware
that Ecuador has declared Ambassador
Heather Hodges a "persona non grata,"
diplomatic language for an expulsion
order. She had no further immediate
comment. The expulsion marks the first
time that a country has taken direct
public action to oust a U.S. ambassador
over Wikileaks.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Carlos
Pascual, resigned in what appeared to be
direct fallout after the release of
thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic
cables also released by Wikileaks. In
the cables, Pascual remarked on
in-fighting at the highest level between
Mexican officials in charge of the war
on drugs. Mexican President Felipe
Calderón made no secret of his personal
anger with Pascual, calling the
ambassador ignorant and intrusive. |
|
CUBA RENEWS LETTER SERVICE TO US, BUT
NOT PACKAGES
HAVANA,
CUBA--Cuba's
postal service said Tuesday it is
re-establishing light mail service to
the United States but leaving in place a
ban on heavier packages. Correos de Cuba
will once again handle U.S.-bound
postcards and letters weighing up to 500
grams (18 ounces) starting Wednesday,
according to an announcement published
in the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
As before, the correspondence will be
shipped through third countries. There
has not been direct mail service for
decades between the two nations, which
do not have formal diplomatic relations.
 
"Correos de Cuba's decision to
re-establish mail service to that
country responds to flexibility in
security measures announced by the U.S.
Transportation Security Administration
for all nations belonging to the
Universal Postal Union," the postal
company said. "The restriction on the
mailing of packages to the United States
remains in effect," it added, along with
an apology for any inconvenience.
Mail service between the former Cold War rivals was suspended
in the 1960s, shortly after Fidel Castro
came to power. Limited service through
third countries resumed in 2009,
following talks between U.S. and Cuban
officials. But those deliveries were
suspended last November following a U.S.
decision to increase security measures
after a failed terror threat involving
packages mailed from Yemen. In January,
just days after the Obama Administration
announced it was easing travel
restrictions on academics and church
groups seeking to visit the island, Cuba
expanded the mail ban to cover all types
of correspondence in a setback for
relations. U.S. and Cuban officials have
met regularly for talks on establishing
direct mail service, though the
governments have not reached an
agreement. |
|
AT LEAST 12 KILLED, HUNDREDS WOUNDED IN
YEMEN VIOLENT CRACKDOWN
TAIZ,
YEMEN--Yemeni
troops opened fire on crowds of
protesters demanding the ouster of
President Ali Abdullah Saleh,
killing at least 12 and wounding
hundreds on Monday in the second
straight day of clashes in a southern
city of Taiz, witnesses and medical
officials said. The bloodshed in the
city of Taiz further stoked the more
than month-old uprising against Saleh's
32-year-rule. The opposition has been
holding continual protest camps in main
squares of cities around the country,
and on Monday new demonstrations in
solidarity with the Taiz protesters
erupted in several places.
Anti-government protesters gather
during a rally to demand for the ouster
of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh
in the southern city of Taiz March 11,
2011.
 
The violence began when thousands of
protesters marched through Taiz toward
Freedom Square, where demonstrators have
been camped out. As the march passed the
governor's headquarters, troops
stationed there blocked the procession,
and clashes broke out, with some
protesters throwing stones, witnesses
said. Troops on nearby rooftops opened
fire with live ammunition on the crowd
and the marchers then turned to besiege
the governor's headquarters, said Bushra
al-Maqtara, an opposition activist in
Taiz, and other witnesses. At least 12
protesters were killed and hundreds
wounded, some with gunshots to the head
and chest, said Zakariya Abdul-Qader, a
doctor at a clinic set up by protesters
in Freedom Square. Other doctors at the
clinic confirmed the figure.
The military has clamped down on the city of nearly half a
million, about 120 miles (200
kilometers) south of the capital, Sanaa.
For a second day, tanks and armored
vehicles blocked entrances to the city
to prevent outsiders from joining the
protests. They also surrounded Freedom
Square, bottling up the thousands in the
protest camp there and arresting anyone
who tried to exit. Saleh's top security
official in Taiz, Abdullah Qiran, is
accused by demonstrators of
orchestrating some of the most brutal
crackdowns against demonstrators,
particularly in the southern port town
of Aden, where he was previously
stationed until his transfer several
weeks ago. Marches in solidarity with
the Taiz protesters erupted in the
cities of Mukalla, in the east, and
Hodeida, on Yemen's western Red Sea
coast. In Hodeida, protesters tried to
march on a presidential palace in the
city but were blocked by security
forces, who opened fire with tear gas
and live ammunition, said activist
Abdel-Hafiz al-Abbasi. |
|
ITALY RECOGNIZES LIBYAN REBEL COUNCIL
ROME,
ITALY--Italy
has become the third nation to declare
the Libyan rebel interim council as the
only legitimate government in the North
African country, dealing a blow
to separate diplomatic efforts by
Moammar Gadhafi's government, as well as
by two of his sons. In Rome Monday,
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said
Italy has decided to recognize the
Transitional National Council as the
only legitimate representative of the
Libyan people. He said Italy plans to
send an envoy to the eastern city of
Benghazi - where the rebels' government
is based - within days.
  Italy follows France and Qatar in recognizing the rebel
council. Frattini welcomed rebel envoy
Ali al-Essawi, who said an idea to
replace Mr. Gadhafi with one of his sons
is unacceptable. The New York Times
reported that at least two of the Libyan
leader's sons have proposed Mr. Gadhafi
relinquish power for a transition to
constitutional democracy under the
direction of his son, Seif al-Islam
Gadhafi. But government spokesman Mussa
Ibrahim said Monday that while Libya is
ready for a "political solution" with
world powers, Mr. Gadhafi's future is
non-negotiable. He said Libya could
have "elections, referendums, anything"
- but that Mr. Gadhafi must lead any
political transition.
State television showed the Libyan leader briefly waving to
supporters Monday outside his compound
in Tripoli. It was Mr. Gadhafi's first
public appearance in more than a week.
In Ankara, acting Libyan Foreign
Minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi held talks
with senior Turkish officials on
brokering a cease-fire with opposition
forces. Turkey said it expects to host
representatives from the rebel national
council in the next few days. Meanwhile,
Libyan rebels made gains Monday in a
battle for a key oil town. Foreign
media reports said the rebels controlled
access in and around the eastern town of
Brega, where rival forces have been in a
standoff for days. On the western front,
troops loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi
used tanks and snipers to keep the city
of Misrata under siege. |
|
DICTATOR GADHAFI SEEKING A DIPLOMATIC
SOLUTION TO THE LIBYAN CRISIS
ATHENS,
GREECE--
Following the defection 0f Libyan
Foreign Minister, Moussa Koussa,
an acting foreign minister, Abdel Ati
al-Obeidi is in Greece seeking talks.
Given the poor state of the Greek
economy, he added, its government is
currently particularly susceptible to
incentives from Libya, such as cheap
oil. While it has not participated in
the air strikes, Greece has provided
access to its territorial waters to
French aircraft carriers southwest of
Crete, along with permanent territorial
access to NATO and US forces. Abdel Ati
al-Obeidi has told the Greek prime
minister in Athens that embattled Libyan
leader Muammar Gadhafi is seeking an end
to fighting in the country. “It seems
that the Libyan authorities are seeking
a solution,” Dimitris Droutsas, the
Greek foreign minister, said. He added
that Obeidi planned to travel on to
Malta and Turkey.
  In a statement, the Greek foreign ministry said it was
committed to seeking a “political,
diplomatic solution” to the crisis in
Libya, where government forces are
battling rebels seeking to end Gadhafi’s
decades-old rule. “We reiterated the
clear message from the international
community: respect for and full
implementation of UN resolutions, an
immediate ceasefire to stop the
violence, particularly against the
civilian population of Libya.” Obeidi
crossed into neighbouring Tunisia and
travelled from Djerba airport to the
Greek capital on Sunday and met George
Papandreou, the Greek prime minister,
later in the day. “They [Libyan
government] requested to send an envoy
with a message for prime minister George
Papandreou and that is why he is in
Athens,” a senior Greek government
official said.
Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Tripoli,
said there is much speculation about
what might be discussed during the
reported negotiations. They could
involve some of transitional arrangement
to help Gadhafi “take a graceful exit
from the Libyan political scene,” she
said. Greece is likely to be viewed by
Tripoli as one of few potential
negotiating partners in Europe, McNaught
said. “Would Libya think that Greece
would be a more sympathetic ear in
Europe, than old friends like Italy,
which Libya feels betrayed by, and all
the other implacable voices in the rest
of the EU?” Obeidi served as prime
minister under Gaddafi in the late
1970s. Later, he was head of the General
People’s Congress, or parliament. His
current post is minister of state for
European affairs and he has served as an
envoy for Gadhafi during the present
crisis. |
|
CIA OPERATIVES ON THE GROUND IN LIBYA
BENGHAZI,
LIBYA--The
CIA has sent small teams of operatives
into Libya after the agency's station in
the capital was forced to close,
and officers assisted in rescuing one of
the two crew members of an F-15E Strike
Eagle that crashed, an American official
and a former U.S. intelligence officer
told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The agency's precise role in Libya is
unclear. Intelligence experts said the
CIA would have sent officials to make
contact with the opposition and assess
the strength and needs of the rebel
forces battling Libyan leader Moammar
Gadhafi in the event President Barack
Obama decided to arm them.
  The American official and the former U.S. intelligence
officer, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the information, said the CIA helped
safely recover the fighter jet's weapons
specialist, who was first picked up by
rebels. The pilot was rescued by
Marines. They suffered only minor
injuries, the military has said.
Officials have declined to say what
mission the F-15 was on at the time of
the crash March 21. The crew ejected
after the aircraft malfunctioned during
a mission against a Libyan missile site.
The former intelligence officer said
some CIA officers also had been staging
from the agency's station in Dubai, in
the United Arab Emirates. The New York
Times first reported the CIA had sent in
groups of CIA operatives and that
British operatives were directing
airstrikes.
President Obama said in a national address Monday night
that U.S. troops would not be used on
the ground in Libya. The statement
allowed for wiggle room as the president
explores options in case he decides to
use covert action to ship arms to the
rebels and train them. That would
require a presidential finding. In that
event, the CIA would take the lead, as
it has done in the past such as in
Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks
and the run-up to the Iraq invasion in
2003. In those covert action programs,
CIA officers along with special
operation forces were sent in, providing
arms to opposition forces to help fight
the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam
Hussein in Iraq. The White House said
Wednesday it is assessing options for
"all types of assistance" to the rebels.
"No decision has been made about
providing arms to the opposition or to
any groups in Libya," said White House
press secretary Jay Carney. "We're not
ruling it out or ruling it in." |
|
LIBYAN OPPOSITION MEETING WITH BRITISH
DIPLOMATS IN BENGHAZI
BENGHAZI,
LIBYA--
British diplomats were on the ground in
Libya meeting with key figures of the
opposition, but no decision has
been made by Western allies on whether
to arm them, the U.K. Foreign Office
said Sunday. "What we are engaged in is
protecting the civilian population in
Libya, which we have done with a lot of
success ... when people look at what
we're doing in Libya they do have to
look at what would be happening if we
didn't do what we'd done over the last
few weeks and it would have been a
catastrophic situation," U.K. Foreign
Secretary William Hague said. A
spokesperson for the office said the
goal of the British diplomatic team is
to build on the work of a previous team
and to "establish further information
about (the opposition), its aims, and
more broadly, what is happening in
Libya."
 
Meanwhile, the United States agreed to
extend until Monday the use of its
strike aircraft over Libya due to poor
weather conditions over the past few
days, NATO spokesman Oana Lungescu said.
"These aircraft will continue to
conduct and support alliance
air-to-ground missions throughout this
weekend," he said. Last week, Libyan
opposition leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil
laid out cease-fire conditions that
included freedom of expression for the
Libyan people and the removal of
snipers, mercenaries and militias from
western cities. Ultimately, he said, the
opposition's goal remains regime change
in Libya. But government officials
spurned the opposition cease-fire
proposal. Government spokesman Musa
Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli on
Friday the offer included "silly
conditions." "They are asking us to
withdraw from our own cities and open
our cities to people, who are holding up
arms, who are tribal, violent, no
unified leadership, al Qaeda links, and
no one knows who they are," he said. "If
this is not mad, then I don't know what
it is."
Rebel spokesman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga sought to clarify the
opposition's position Saturday. "There
is no, and was no, negotiation on a
cease-fire with Colonel Gadhafi's
dictatorship," he said at a news
conference. He repeated the opposition
demands that Gadhafi halt all military
action, end the sieges laid on cities
like Misrata and allow free speech and
assembly. Sources close to Gadhafi have
told CNN that political solutions are
still possible but that the Libyan
leader would relinquish power only to
others within his inner circle. The
rebels have been hampered by a lack of
organization and training on heavy
weaponry when confronting the
better-trained, better-armed forces of
Gadhafi, who is under investigation for
alleged crimes against humanity by the
International Criminal Court.
|
|
LIBYA OFFICIAL IN ATHENS CONVEYS
DICTATOR GADHAFI'S MESSAGE TO
PRIME MINISTER PAPANDREOU
ATHENS,
GREECE--
Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati
Obeidi flew to Greece Sunday to
deliver a message from Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi to the Greek prime
minister, a senior government official
told Reuters. His trip came after Greek
Prime Minister George Papandreou had a
phone conversation with Libyan Prime
Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmudi
Saturday on developments in Libya. "They
(Libyan government) requested to send an
envoy with a message for Prime Minister
George Papandreou and that is why he is
in Athens," said the official, who asked
not to be named. It was not clear what
the message was about, the official
said. Obeidi was expected to meet
Papandreou late Sunday, the prime
minister's office said.
 
Along with Gaddafi, Papandreou spoke
with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad
Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani Saturday,
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
Sunday, and UK's Prime Minister David
Cameron Friday. Earlier Sunday, a
security source at Tunisia's Djerba
airport told Reuters that Obeidi crossed
from Libya into neighboring Tunisia and
from there flew to Athens. Tunisia's
official TAP news agency also reported
that Obeidi crossed overland into
Tunisia and was heading to Djerba
airport, near the border, adding that he
was not on an official visit to Tunisia
and had not been in contact with
Tunisian officials.
Last week Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa
crossed into Tunisia then flew from
Djerba airport to Britain. The British
government said he had defected. In
Tripoli, Libyan officials were not
immediately available to comment on
Obeidi's movements. Obeidi served as
prime minister under Gaddafi in the late
1970s, and later was head of the General
People's Congress, or parliament. His
current post is minister of state for
European affairs. Greece has said it
will not send any warplanes or take part
in air strikes against Libyan targets
but the NATO-member country has made
available to European and U.S. forces
the Souda military base on the island of
Crete and three other air bases. |
|
SPAIN'S PRIME MINISTER WON'T SEEK THIRD
TERM
MADRID,
SPAIN--Spain's
embattled prime minister announced
Saturday he will not seek re-election at
general elections in 2012 as his country
grapples with debt, high
unemployment and a faltering economy
badly hit by the international financial
crisis. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
told a party meeting he would limit his
time in office to two terms, opening a
process of primaries to elect his
successor at the helm of the Socialist
Party. "I will not be a candidate in the
forthcoming general elections," he said,
adding it was the right decision for the
country, his party and his family.
Zapatero, 50, was elected to office in
2004 in the wake of terror attacks on
Madrid's trains that left 191 dead and
1,800 injured, and a wave of public
disapproval at the previous government's
involvement in the Iraq war.
 
At the time, Spain's economy was one of
the most dynamic in Europe having
recorded continuous growth for around a
decade. But the credit crunch and
subsequent financial crisis has dogged
Zapatero's second term and immersed
Spain in debt and a eurozone-high
unemployment rate of 20 percent. The
Socialist Party faces regional and
municipal elections on May 22 and then
must build toward nationwide general
elections with a new leader. The most
likely candidates are current Deputy
Prime Minister and Interior Minister
Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba and Defense
Minister Carme Chacon, who would become
Spain's first female premier if elected.
A tired-looking Zapatero said he had been convinced
that two terms as leader of the
government was enough seven years ago
when he first took office, and he
remained convinced of that decision
today. The Socialists must choose their
new candidate in March 2012 for national
elections at an as-yet unspecified date
later that year. Rubalcaba, 59, is seen
by many as a very experienced politician
who has acted as Zapatero's hard man
against the violent Basque separatists
of ETA. At 40, Chacon cuts a youthful
dash but has gained considerable respect
in charge of the nation's defense,
overseeing Spain's troops in Afghanistan
and as part of the international effort
to enforce a no fly zone over and a
naval blockade off Libya. The
conservative opposition Popular Party
used its Twitter web feed network to
call on the government to hold early
general elections. |
|
Nato AIRSTRIKES KILLED SEVERAL LIBYAN
REBELS
BENGHAZI,
LIBYA--Coalition
airstrikes have hit several rebel
vehicles in Libya and the opposition is
looking into reports that some rebel
fighters were killed, a spokesman
for the Libyan opposition said Saturday.
NATO is also investigating a report that
a coalition airstrike in the eastern oil
town of al-Brega hit opposition rebels,
a NATO spokeswoman said Saturday. "NATO
takes any reports of civilian casualties
very seriously, but exact details are
hard to verify as we have no reliable
sources on the ground," NATO's Oana
Lungescu said. "Clearly, if someone
fires at one of our aircraft, of course
they have the right to defend
themselves." Meanwhile, forces loyal to
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi showed no
signs of backing down Saturday after
officials spurned an opposition
cease-fire proposal. Government
spokesman Musa Ibrahim told reporters in
Tripoli on Friday that rebels were not
"really serious" about the offer, which
he said included "silly conditions."
 
"They are asking us to withdraw from our
own cities and open our cities to
people, who are holding up arms, who are
tribal, violent, no unified leadership,
al Qaeda links, and no one knows who
they are. If this is not mad, then I
don't know what it is," he said. "We
will not leave our cities. We will not
stop protecting our civilians." His
comments came after Libyan opposition
leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil laid out
cease-fire conditions that included
freedom of expression for the Libyan
people and the removal of snipers,
mercenaries, and militias from western
cities. Ultimately, he said, the
opposition's goal remains regime change
in Libya. Sources close to Gadhafi told
the international press that political
solutions are still possible but that
the Libyan leader would relinquish power
only to others within his inner circle.
The dictator's forces, however, still
outnumber rebels by about 10 to 1 in
terms of armor and other ground forces,
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Navy Adm.
Mike Mullen told the House Armed
Services Committee on Thursday.
They said there is still time for dialogue but
expressed doubts about who would
represent the opposition. Any
transition, they said, would involve
Gadhafi's second son, Saif al-Islam
Gadhafi, and for such a transition to
take place there would first have to be
an end to the fighting. In a fresh
offensive Friday, Libyan opposition
forces led by army units that have
defected from Gadhafi's forces were able
to push back Gadhafi's troops, rebel
spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said.
Rebels were fighting with newly
refurbished rocket launchers and
artillery delivered to the frontlines
Thursday night by the army units that
switched sides, Abdulmolah said.
Fighting raged at the gates of the oil
town of al-Brega, which has changed
hands six times in as many weeks under
the dramatically shifting circumstances
of Libya's civil war. In the west,
witnesses reported more explosions and
fierce urban warfare in the besieged
city of Misrata, once the final rebel
stronghold in the western part of the
country. |
|
THOUSANDS DEMONSTRATED IN YEMEN
DEMANDING PRESIDENT SALEH'S RESIGNATION
SANAA,
YEMEN--Thousands
of anti-government demonstrators have
packed the streets of Sanaa, the capital
of Yemen, to commemorate dozens of
people killed in weeks of street
protests. The protesters turned out in
'Change Square' on Thursday to
chant slogans against Ali Abdullah Saleh,
the president, who withdrew an offer to
step down by the end of the year as
political talks collapsed. Meanwhile,
tribe members opposed to the embattled
president attacked electricity pylons in
the central province of Maarib,
triggering power outages in parts of the
capital.
 
The blackouts, lasting up to two hours,
also hit the southern port of Aden and
the Red Sea city of Hudeida. A
government official said the tribesman
in Maarib had opened fire on the
electricity towers. One official accused
tribe members "of the opposition party"
of being behind the attacks. It was the
second such incident in two weeks. Mass
protests have been shaking Yemen for
weeks, with demonstrators inspired by
successful uprisings in Egypt and
Tunisia. Opponents of Saleh's regime
complain that the government has failed
to meet the basic needs of the country's
23 million people. Unemployment is about
35 per cent and 50 per cent for young
people. Oil wealth is dwindling and
water is running out. Saleh, who has
served for 32 years, has co-operated
closely with the US in the battle
against al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, which
has used areas of the country that have
long been out of state control to launch
attacks.
The president is also battling regional rebellions in
the north and south, with the opposition
accusing him of exploiting Western fears
that al-Qaeda could rise to fill a
vacuum if he were ousted. State control
in Yemen has diminished sharply this
month as the massive demonstrations
continued to swell in major cities and
the government pulled police from many
towns. In an attempt to arrange a
peaceful transition, the head of Yemen's
largest tribe, of which Saleh is a
member, has guaranteed that the
president would not be harmed if he
steps down. On Tuesday, Saleh held talks
with Mohammed al-Yadoumi, head of the
Islamist Islah party, once a partner in
his government. Saleh is looking for
avenues to stay on as president while
new parliamentary and presidential
elections are organised by the end of
the year, an opposition source said. The
talks have stalled and it was not clear
how they could restart. Saudi Arabia has
resisted Yemeni government efforts to
involve them in mediation. |
|
PROTESTS RIPPLE ACROSS SYRIA; AT LEAST 7
KILLED
DAMASCO,
SYRIA--
At least seven people died and dozens
were injured as Syrian troops assaulted
demonstrators who took to the streets
after Friday prayers, witnesses
and activists said. Troops used gunfire
amid protests in the Damascus suburb of
Douma, according to witnesses and
opposition sources, and one witness saw
at least six dead demonstrators taken
into a hospital morgue. Witnesses also
said a man was shot in the head with a
rubber bullet and dozens were injured.
Another death and 10 injuries occurred
when troops shot at protesters marching
toward the southern town of Al Sanameen,
witnesses said. Protests also were
reported by witnesses in the cities of
Daraa, Latakia, Homs, Baniyas and
Kamishli, sources said. Opposition
sources cited witnesses in Homs as
saying thousands of people had gathered
around a mosque.
 
Thousands of demonstrators from
different villages and towns gathered
near Daraa and marched toward Al
Sanameen. They were 25,000 strong by the
time they reached a military checkpoint
just outside the city, witnesses said.
About 1,000 heavily armed troops at the
checkpoint fired on demonstrators
forcibly trying to cross the spot and
enter Al Sanameen, witnesses said.
"Their blood is on my shirt and we are
tending to the wounded as we speak," a
witness said. Ambulance sirens could be
heard in the background during the
witness's phone call to CNN.
Demonstrators are staying at the
checkpoint and demanding they be allowed
into the city. According to an
eyewitness, the gunfire had stopped and
protesters were trying to appeal to
soldiers, chanting, "The people and the
army are one hand." They also chanted,
"With our bloods, our souls we will
sacrifice for you, Daraa."
One witness said security forces attacked thousands of
protesters at the "big mosque" in the
center of Douma with electric batons,
tear gas and live ammunition. "I have
never in my life seen such violence: men
shooting guns into an unarmed crowd
without a thought," said the eyewitness,
who had been hurt in an electric-baton
beating and taken to the hospital for a
head injury. Along with the six dead, he
said, he saw dozens of wounded, many of
whom were seriously injured. Another
witnesses said a mosque in Kafr Sousa,
another Damascus suburb, had been
surrounded by security forces who had
fired rubber bullets, and Maleh said he
was told about the unrest there.
"Hundreds are now trapped in Abdul Karim
Rifai mosque in Kafr Sousa near
Damascus," he said. The Syrian
government has made no public comment
about Friday's events, though the Syrian
Arab News Agency (SANA), citing an
official source, said armed groups in
Douma fired on security forces and
civilians, killing "several" people and
injuring "dozens" of others. In Homs, a
group shot into a crowd, killing a girl,
SANA said. |
|
U.S. ENDING ITS AIR COMBAT ROLE IN LIBYA
WASHINGTON,
D.C.--The
Pentagon is about to pull its
attack planes out of the international
air campaign in Libya, hoping NATO
partners can take up the slack. The
announcement Thursday drew incredulous
reactions from some in Congress who
wondered aloud why the Obama
administration would bow out of a key
element of the strategy for protecting
Libyan civilians and crippling Moammar
Gadhafi's army. "Odd," "troubling" and
"unnerving" were among critical comments
by senators pressing for an explanation
of the announcement by Defense Secretary
Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman
Adm. Mike Mullen that American combat
missions will end Saturday. "Your timing
is exquisite," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
said sarcastically, alluding to
Gadhafi's military advances this week.
  Gates and Mullen, in back-to-back appearances before
the House and Senate armed services
committees, also forcefully argued
against putting the U.S. in the role of
arming or training Libyan rebel forces,
while suggesting it might be a job for
Arab or other countries. The White House
has said repeatedly that it has not
ruled out arming the rebels, who have
retreated pell-mell this week under the
pressure of a renewed eastern offensive
by Gadhafi's better-armed and
better-trained ground troops. "My view
would be, if there is going to be that
kind of assistance to the opposition,
there are plenty of sources for it other
than the United States," Gates said.
  The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said he saw no
contradiction between Gates' remarks and
President Barack Obama's statement that
"he has not ruled it in or out." As yet,
none of Obama's top advisers have
publicly advocated a significant
expansion of the U.S. role aiding the
opposition. Gates and Mullen were early
skeptics of getting involved militarily
in Libya, and Gates made clear Thursday
that he still worries about the
possibility of getting drawn into an
open-ended and costly commitment. That
explains in part his view that if the
rebels are to receive foreign arms, that
task - and the training that would
necessarily go with it - should not be
done by Americans. Gates said no one
should be surprised by the U.S. combat
air pullback, but he called the timing
"unfortunate" in light of Gadhafi's
battlefield gains. He noted that the air
attacks are a central feature of the
overall military strategy; over time
they could degrade Gadhafi's firepower
to a point that he would be unable to
put down a renewed uprising by
opposition forces, he said. |
|
DICTATOR GADHAFI'S PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVES HOLD NEGOTIATION TALKS
IN LONDON
LONDON,
ENGLAND--A
key Libyan official involved in
negotiations on the future of Moammar
Gadhafi's regime said Friday that
Tripoli was attempting to hold talks
with the U.S., Britain and France to
find a mutual end to the crisis. Abdul-Ati
al-Obeidi, a former Libyan prime
minister, said Gadhafi's government was
reaching out to those leading the
international military campaign in an
attempt to halt airstrikes against
regime targets which began March 19. The
claim follows confirmation that a Libyan
government aide has held talks in
Britain with U.K. officials in recent
days. "We are trying to talk to the
British, the French and the Americans to
stop the killing of people. We are
trying to find a mutual solution," al-Obeidi
told Britain's Channel 4 News, speaking
in Tripoli. Al-Obeidi was involved last
month in Gadhafi-sanctioned negotiations
with the African Union.
  British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman, Steve
Field, said the U.K. has been in contact
with a number of Libyan officials over
recent weeks, though he declined to give
specific details. "We are sending them
all one very clear message, which is
that Gadhafi must go," he told
reporters. Mohammed Ismail, a senior
aide to Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam
Gadhafi, has met with and also spoken by
phone to British officials, who repeated
to him their public calls for the Libyan
leader to step down. Two people familiar
with the matter, who both demanded
anonymity to discuss details, said
Ismail had been in Britain to visit
relatives, and that, when officials
became aware of this, they took the
opportunity to hold talks. Field
insisted that Britain had not been
involved in negotiating any possible
trade-offs aimed at sealing Gadhafi's
exit from power. "There are no deals,"
he said.
David Solomont, the U.S. ambassador in Spain, said Gadhafi
supporters appeared to be losing
confidence in the likelihood he will
cling to power. "I think he is becoming
increasingly more isolated in his own
country," Solomont told reporters in
Madrid on Friday. A second senior Libyan
official, Ali Abdessalam Treki — Libya's
former envoy to the U.N. and also a
former foreign minister — announced that
he had quit Thursday. Former NATO
Secretary-General George Robertson, also
an-ex British defense secretary, said it
was likely international troops could be
needed on the ground in Libya, if
airstrikes don't halt Gadhafi's attacks
on civilians. Robertson urged European
countries to take the lead — warning
that the United States would no longer
plug the gaps caused by hesitance to get
involved or defense cuts that left some
nations lacking troops. "The boots
assuredly would not be American. Their
president and defense secretary have
made it very clear this week their
people are tired of coming the rescue of
a Europe that won't invest in its own
security insurance," he said. |
|
LIBYAN REBELS PROPOSE A CEASE-FIRE
IF DICTATOR GADHAFI PULLS TROOPS FROM
CITIES
BENGHAZI,
LIBYA--
Libya's rebels will agree to a
cease-fire if DICTATOR Muammar
al-Qaddafi pulls his military
forces out of cities and allows peaceful
protests against his regime, an
opposition leader said Friday. Mustafa
Abdul-Jalil, head of the opposition's
interim governing council based in
Benghazi, spoke during a joint press
conference with U.N. envoy Abdelilah Al-Khatib.
Al-Khatib is visiting the rebels' de
facto stronghold of Benghazi in hopes of
reaching a political solution to the
crisis embroiling the North African
nation. Abdul-Jalil said the rebels'
condition for a cease-fire is "that the
Qaddafi brigades and forces withdraw
from inside and outside Libyan cities to
give freedom to the Libyan people to
choose and the world will see that they
will choose freedom."
  The U.N. resolution that authorized international airstrikes
against Libya called for Qaddafi and the
rebels to end hostilities. Qaddafi
announced a cease-fire immediately but
has shown no sign of heeding it. His
forces continue to attack rebels in the
east, where the opposition in strongest,
and have besieged the only major
rebel-held city in the west, Misrata.
Abdul-Jalil said the regime must
withdraw its forces and lift all sieges.
He stressed the ultimate goal was
Qaddafi's ouster. "Our aim is to
liberate and have sovereignty over all
of Libya with its capital in Tripoli,"
Abdul-Jalil said.
Forces loyal to Libya's leader of nearly 42 years spent much
of this week pushing the rebels back
about 100 miles along the coast, and the
opposition was trying to regroup. The
rebels had mortars Friday, weapons they
previously appeared to have lacked, and
on Thursday night they drove in a convoy
with at least eight rocket launchers —
more artillery than usual. The rebels
also appeared to have more communication
equipment such as radios and satellite
phones, and were working in more
organized units, in which military
defectors were each leading six or seven
volunteers. The rebels' losses this
week, and others before air strikes
began March 19, underlined that their
equipment, training and organization
were far inferior to those of Qaddafi's
forces. The recent changes appear to be
an attempt to correct, or at least ease,
the imbalance. A Libyan opposition
official said rebels will be able to buy
more arms thanks to an oil deal they
reached with the tiny Arab nation of
Qatar. Ali Tarhouni, who handles
finances for the opposition's National
Transitional Council, said Qatar has
agreed to market oil currently in
storage in rebel-controlled areas of
southeastern Libya. |
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LIBYA DEFECTOR COOPERATING EVEN WITHOUT
IMMUNITY
LONDON,
ENGLAND--Britain
on Thursday offered new details about
the defection of Libya’s foreign
minister, Moussa Koussa,
insisting that there had been no deal to
lure him in return for immunity from
prosecution. And in another sign that
the cracks in the Libyan government may
be widening, a second top Libyan
official, Ali Abdussalam el-Treki,
defected Thursday to Egypt. In decades
of service, Mr. Treki had served as both
foreign minister and United Nations
representative. The capital of Tripoli
was alive with rumored defections on
Thursday, with the prime minister,
speaker of Parliament and oil minister,
among other top figures, said at various
times to be quitting the country. None
of those reports could be verified.
 
Other than Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s
sons, the only other official as close
to the Libyan leader as Mr. Koussa is
Adbdullah Senussi, his brother-in-law
and a top security adviser. Like the
Qaddafi family, his whereabouts were
unknown Thursday, but there were no
credible reports that he had fled. Mr.
Koussa was a confidant of Colonel
Qaddafi and was considered a pillar of
the Qaddafi government since the early
days of the 1969 revolution. He has been
listed by the prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court among those
who “commanded and had control” over
Libyan security forces suspected of
“crimes against humanity.” Mr. Koussa
flew into a noncommercial British
airfield at Farnborough southwest of
London aboard an executive jet on
Wednesday and, according to a statement
released by the British authorities,
said that he was resigning his post.
In a speech in London on Thursday, Foreign Secretary
William Hague said Mr. Koussa, a former
intelligence chief in the Libyan regime,
had fled to London “of his own free
will.” “Moussa Koussa is not being
offered any immunity from British or
international justice,” Mr. Hague said.
“He is voluntarily talking to British
officials, including members of the
British Embassy in Tripoli now based in
London, and our ambassador, Richard
Northern.” The prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court, Luis
Moreno-Ocampo, said on March 3 that he
would investigate “alleged crimes
against humanity committed in Libya
since 15 February, as peaceful
demonstrators were attacked by security
forces.” He placed Mr. Koussa second
after Colonel Qaddafi on a list of “some
individuals with formal or de facto
authority, who commanded and had control
over the forces that allegedly committed
the crimes.” |
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RADIATION LEVELS IN SEAWATER OFF JAPAN
PLANT SPIKE TO ALL-TIME HIGH
TOKYO,
JAPAN--The
levels of radiation in ocean waters off
Japan's embattled Fukushima Daiichi
plant continue to skyrocket, the
nation's nuclear safety agency said
Thursday, with no clear sense of what's
causing the spike or how to stop it. The
amount of the radioactive iodine-131
isotope in the samples, taken Wednesday
some 330 meters (361 yards) into the
Pacific Ocean, has surged to 4,385 times
above the regulatory limit. This tops
the previous day's reading of 3,355
times above the standard -- and an
exponential spike over the 104-times
increase measured just last Friday.
Officials have downplayed the potential
perils posed by this isotope, since it
loses half of its radiation every eight
days.
 
Yet amounts of the cesium-137 isotope --
which, by comparison, has a 30-year
"half life" -- have also soared, with a
Wednesday afternoon sample showing
levels 527 times the standard. "That's
the one I am worried about," said
Michael Friedlander, a U.S.-based
nuclear engineer, explaining cesium
might linger much longer in the
ecosystem. "Plankton absorbs the cesium,
the fish eat the plankton, the bigger
fish eat smaller fish -- so every step
you go up the food chain, the
concentration of cesium gets higher.
On Thursday, Hidehiko Nishiyama, a Japanese nuclear safety
official, reiterated that seawater
radiation doesn't yet pose a health risk
to humans eating seafood. Fishing is not
allowed within 20 kilometers (12 miles)
of the plant, and waterborne radiation
should dilute over time, Nishiyama said.
Still, authorities don't know where the
highly radioactive water is coming from
or how it reached the sea. The
contamination may be coming from either
a leak or ground seepage. The high
levels suggest the release of radiation
into the atmosphere alone couldn't be
the lone source, an official with Tokyo
Electric Power Company, which owns the
Daiichi plant, said Thursday. Tokyo
Electric had previously announced plans
to spray a water and synthetic resin mix
around the complex to envelop
radioactive particles, so they can't
spread any further. Still, persistent
rain and wind on Thursday forced
authorities to postpone the start of
that effort. |
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CUBAN GOVERNMENT OKs CREDITS FOR
ENTREPRENEURS, FARMERS
HAVANA,
CUBA--Cuba
has authorized government banks to offer
credit to farmers and small business
owners, a key step in a series of
sweeping economic changes ushered in
over the last six months, state-run
media announced Wednesday. The
government has granted tens of thousands
of business licenses to new
entrepreneurs, and has also loosened
restrictions in order to allow farmers
to sell their products directly to
consumers from roadside kiosks. One of
the main challenges facing the new
businesses is a lack of financing,
making bank credits an important
ingredient for success.
 
The program authorizes credits for
purchasing farming equipment in
authorized stores - rather than on the
black market. It also allows for "loans
to persons authorized to operate private
businesses to finance working capital
and investment," according to an article
in the Communist Party daily Granma.
The article said the measure was
approved Friday at a meeting of the
Council of Ministers, presided over by
President Raul Castro. It gave no
details on how credits can be obtained,
or what interest rate or other rules the
payouts will be subject to, or what the
total amount of such loans will be. Some
economists have expressed doubts that
cash-strapped Cuban banks will be able
to handle the loans and have urged the
state to reach out to foreign investors
for capital.
While the article made no mention of such a move, many
entrepreneurs are receiving foreign
capital infusions of a kind: seed money
sent in the form of remittances from
relatives overseas, most of them in the
United States and Spain. A recent
decision by the Obama Administration
that allows any American to send up to
$2,000 a year to Cuba could make such
loans even easier. Castro has said the
economic overhaul is intended to update
Cuba's socialist economic model and is
not a wholesale switch to capitalism.
The newly approved credit measure
"supports the updating of the Cuban
economic model," Granma said Wednesday.
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