May 31, 2011

OUSTED FORMER PRESIDENT ZELAYA RETURNS TO HONDURAS

       TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--The ousted ex-president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, has arrived back in his home country, greeted by thousands of supporters after being run out of office almost two years ago. Zelaya's flight from Nicaragua landed at Tegucigalpa's airport Saturday afternoon where thousands of his supporters had been camping out. Zelaya, who spent much of his exile in the Dominican Republic, is scheduled to meet with Hondura's current President, Porfirio Lobo, and Organization of American States chief Jose Miguel Insulza.

     Zelaya was removed from office in June 2009 by the military for ignoring a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum, which asked citizens if they favoured changing the constitution. In November that year, a national election put Lobo in the presidential seat. Lobo promised to make amends with Zelaya and to ensure his safe return. A deal, brokered by the Colombian and Venezuelan governments, was signed in Cartagena, Colombia, last Sunday by Zelaya and Lobo,which paved the way for the ex-president's return.   The deal allows Zelaya and his allies to return to Honduras without the threat of jail — corruption charges against Zelaya were dropped this month — thus clearing the way for Honduras to rejoin the OAS.

      The United States and other countries restored ties shortly after Lobo took power in January 2010. But Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and Ecuador opposed restoring Honduras to the OAS unless Zelaya could return from exile without facing the threat of prison. The deal includes: A national plebiscite on reforming fundamental laws. Respect for human rights and the investigation of possible violations.  A guarantee that Zelaya supporters can participate in Honduras's political life and in 2014 elections as a political party.  Critics of the former president had claimed Zelaya wanted to hijack the democratic process to enable his re-election, which is prohibited by the constitution. Zelaya has denied that. His supporters say he was tossed out because of his plans to reform Honduras's political and economic structure.

FOR PRESIDENT SANTOS, COLOMBIAN INTERESTS FIRST AND FOREMOST

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--According to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, in renewed Colombia-Venezuela relations, Colombian interests have taken precedence over confrontation with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez. His remarks were made during an interview with Spanish daily newspaper ABC. During the interview, President Santos replied to critics who consider that the change of discourse in the stance of both Heads of State as soon as Santos took office was too hasty. The Colombian president is certain that neither he nor Chávez have changed their mind over power and governance. They just opted to be pragmatic, based on common respect.

      "This is the outcome of Realpolitik, of a situation where we, as countries, were in the worst of the worlds: there was no dialogue or diplomatic ties. We had not been paid for exports; trade was totally blocked and there was talk of war. For me, this is quite inconceivable in countries, such as Colombia and Venezuela. It is like coming to blows in a party of decent people," Santos explained. "History tells that when you have some responsibilities as a Head of State, you have to think about people's wellbeing, without sacrificing your principles or values. I tried and received a positive answer. We respect our differences -for there are deep differences between dictator Chávez's and my own way of thinking. I have not changed my view of the Bolivarian revolution. Nor do I think that Chávez has become a liberal democrat like me. But if we respect our differences, then we can benefit our peoples. Facts over the past nine months are evidence of it."

     As regards the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), "President Chávez has told me, not once, but ten times: 'Rest assured, we will not let those terrorist groups -he does not call them terrorist; I do- these unlawful groups operate in Venezuela against Colombia.' And we will do our best for this to happen this way. I, so far, have trusted him, because he has attested to it." According to Santos, a proof of President Chávez's word was the recent deportation of FARC leader Joaquín Pérez Becerra. "He would arrive in Venezuela in a specified flight. I called him (President Chávez), and 24 hours later, that subject was here in Colombia. You have surely heard the criticism received by Chávez from the hardcore left. This confirms me that this is better than what we previously had."

senator richard lugar questions dictator chavez' links to terrorists

        washington, d.c.-- US Senator Richard Lugar, the highest-ranking Republican in the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, is afraid that sanctions on state-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) resulted from "Venezuela's unwillingness to break relations with terrorist organizations and with countries which sponsor them."

    The US Government on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven foreign companies, including Pdvsa, for doing business with Iran. According to Washington, these firms have helped developed a controversial nuclear program undertaken by Iran. The move puts Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez in an uncomfortable position despite the temptation to retaliation, according to Simon Wardell, energy research market at IHS Global Insight, Reuters quoted.

    "As a last resort, I do not think that Chávez will be able to do much with regard to sanctions. He could speak a lot and make lot of noise, but he will continue selling oil to the United States," Wardell reasoned.

May 29, 2011

FORMER PAKISTANI PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA IS ARROGANT

       ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--U.S. President Barack Obama is showing "arrogance" in the aftermath of a mission that killed terror leader Osama bin Laden, said former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in an interview that aired on CNN Thursday night. Musharraf further called the May raid an "act of war." "Certainly no country has a right to intrude into any other country," Musharraf told Piers Morgan. "If technically or legally you see it, it's an act of war."

     The American president said this week in an interview on British television that, if the opportunity arose, he would do the same thing again to take out al Qaeda terrorists. "I think such arrogance should not be shown publicly to the world," Musharraf said. "I think it is arrogance that: 'We don't care. We don't care for your national opinion. We don't care for your people. We will come in and do the same thing.' This is arrogance." Musharraf conceded that it was a "terrible mishap, a terrible failure" that Pakistani intelligence didn't seem to know more about bin Laden's whereabouts, saying they should have know he was living in a compound in Abbottabad, a short distance from a Pakistan military academy.

    A Navy SEAL team killed the al Qaeda leader during a 40-minute assault on the compound in the early morning hours of May 2. Musharraf called bin Laden's death "absolutely illegal." Asked by Morgan if it was an unlawful assassination, he responded: "I don't want to get involved in these legalities of the issue," but "technically, theoretically, I'll agree."

IN RARE MORNING BOMBINGS, NATO HITS GADHAFI COMPOUNDS 

        TRIPOLI, LIBYA--A series of explosion rocked the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Saturday morning, including blasts at a compound belonging to ruler Moammar Gadhafi and one on a nearby tribal compound, a government official said.  The official said one strike occurred on Bab bin Ghashir, a tribal compound near Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, where the other strikes occurred. The official believed the strikes were NATO attacks. No casualties were reported.

     Morning strikes in Tripoli are rare. NATO confirmed one of the attacks -- a press officer said the strike on Bab bin Ghashir was timed to minimize civilian casualties. NATO said it targeted a vehicle storage area at Bab bin Ghashir.  The tribal compound is used by people who volunteer as support forces for Libyan authorities. A decade ago, the compound was used as a military station. NATO is operating under a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the use of any means -- with the exception of foreign occupation -- to protect civilians from attack or the threat of attack. It has been conducting airstrikes targeting Gadhafi's military resources.

     The alliance said Saturday that it struck targets in several areas in Libya on Friday, including a command-and-control facility in Tripoli.  The unrest in Libya has persisted for months as opposition members demand an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule. Intense fighting took place Friday, when at least 10 people were killed and more than 40 were wounded in Dafniya, outside the hotly contested coastal city of Misrata.

EGYPT REOPENS ITS BORDER CROSSING INTO GAZA

        JERUSALEM, ISRAEL-- In a highly symbolic break with previous policy, Egypt reopened its border crossing into Gaza on Saturday, opening the door for Palestinians to the outside world and raising fears among some Israelis of an increase in militant attacks. Crossing officials said more than 600 Palestinians passed Saturday through the Rafah border, which had been subject to frequent closures by Egypt after Hamas, an Islamic militant group, took control of Gaza in June 2007. The closure of the border had been part of an embargo policy by Egypt and Israel aimed at cutting off Hamas, though it simultaneously created an economic hardship in Gaza by limiting shipments of goods in and out of the country. Egypt opted to reopen the border to offer relief to the people of Gaza, said Ambassador Menha Bakhoum of the country's foreign ministry.

     Palestinian Authority adviser and negotiator Nabil Shaath heralded the move by the government in Cairo, calling it a "brave and bold decision" that demonstrated "the new Egypt stands by the Palestinian people." It was seen as a victory by many in the Hamas government of Gaza, which staged a celebration rally Saturday near the crossing. Some in Israel's security establishment have privately expressed concerns that the increased traffic at Rafah could serve to allow more militants and weapons to cross in and out of Gaza and that it could ultimately serve to bolster the position of Hamas, which Israel and the United States consider a terrorist organization, but the Israeli government has said little publicly. Neither the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor the foreign ministry would publicly comment due to the sensitive nature of relations with Egypt.

     Sari Bashi, who serves as director of Gisha, an Israeli organization that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement, welcomed the changes at the crossing and said Israel need not be overly concerned. "It continues to prevent goods from traveling via Rafah and it also continues to limit travel to those listed in the Israeli-approved Palestinian population registry," Bashi said of the new Egyptian policy. "Egypt is allowing an incremental and welcome change, but it is still expressing its willingness to engage Israel and engage Israeli security concerns." The Rafah crossing was open sporadically between June and January, when Egypt ordered it opened to those in need of medical care, students, and foreign passport and residency card holders. Among those people allowed to cross were those wounded during an Israeli assault aboard a flotilla of ships headed to Gaza last year. Rafah is one of two crossings through which Palestinians can exit Gaza; the other is controlled by Israel and bars passage by most Palestinians save for those with emergency medical conditions. Since the flotilla raid, Israel has allowed a greater amount of goods to enter Gaza, but it still maintains a complete blockade of the airspace and territorial waters and has limited most exports. After Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was forced from office, the interim government promised to reopen the border.

May 28, 2011

DICTATOR GADHAFI CALLS ON RUSSIA TO MEDIATE CEASE-FIRE

       TRIPOLI, LIBYA--Libya is calling on Russia to mediate a cease-fire, a sign that Moammar Gadhafi's regime may be ready to bring about an end to the months-long war. In a telephone call, Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi asked for help in achieving a cease-fire and starting talks without preconditions, according to a statement posted by late Thursday by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The request comes after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was asked by the Group of Eight to mediate a settlement. It was unclear what role, if any, Medvedev would be willing to play. Russia has been a staunch critic of the NATO-led bombing campaign that began in March. It operates under a U.N. Security Council resolution to protect Libyan civilians by any means necessary as Gadhafi's forces battle rebels calling for an end to his 42 years of rule.

     It is unclear what role, if any, Russia will take. The country, a permanent member of the Security Council, abstained during the U.N. vote. During the conversation with al-Mahmudi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Libya would have to comply with Security Council resolutions and stop any action that would cause harm to civilians, the statement said. Medvedev was among eight world leaders attending the G8 summit in Deauville, France. At the summit, U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they remain committed to the Libya campaign.  "We agreed that we have made progress on our Libya campaign, but that meeting the U.N. mandate of civilian protection cannot be accomplished when Gadhafi remains in Libya directing his forces in acts of aggression against the Libyan people," Obama said after a meeting of the two leaders. "And we are joined in resolve to finish the job." And a spokesman for Libya's transition government said Gadhafi must leave before the opposition could consider negotiations or a cease-fire.  "There is no more room for him in or near Libya," said Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council.

     NATO member Spain said Thursday that Libya had sent a message to Madrid and other European capitals, listing "a series of proposals that could lead to a cease-fire," but the allies have so far rebuffed earlier Libyan proposals for an end to the fighting. Meanwhile, NATO warplanes bombed the Libyan capital late Thursday, with a tribal site near central Tripoli the target of the latest attacks, a Libyan official said. Five explosions, most large enough to shake buildings some distance away, struck Tripoli shortly before midnight. The Libyan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the target was the tribal compound at Bab Al-Azizya, about 2 kilometers (1.3 miles) from the center of Tripoli. The site is a former military base now used to welcome tribal visitors to Tripoli, offering them guest houses during their stay, the official said. It has been used as a center for people volunteering to support Libyan authorities since the revolt against longtime strongman Gadhafi erupted in February.

SECRETARY CLINTON WANTS TO SEE GREATER COOPERATION BETWEEN THE US AND  PAKISTAN

        ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad yesterday to reinforce a message that the US wants to see greater coperation in tackling militants following the killing of Osama bin Laden near the Pakistan capital. Clinton, the most senior American official to visit Pakistan since US commandos killed the al-Qaeda leader, and Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, the head of Pakistan's military. Tensions between the US and Pakistan have risen, with American lawmakers questioning Pakistan's commitment to fighting militants and the wisdom of giving $US7.5 billion ($A7 billion) in aid over five years.

     Pakistan has responded by limiting military contacts with the US and suggesting the closure of a supply route for troops in Afghanistan that runs through its territory. Pakistan's decision to grant the CIA access to the compound where bin Laden was killed is an example of the increased co-operation in counterterrorism that the US is seeing, an administration official said. The US had also asked for information gathered from the house and had received it, he said. The administration had made it clear to Pakistani leaders that they risked losing US aid unless they showed greater efforts to co-operate, the official said, adding that it took the Pakistanis time to understand that the Taliban were their enemy too. Pakistan's leaders were asking the right questions on what they should be doing following the al-Qaeda leader's death on May 2, the official said.

      Clinton's message will stress that alongside greater help in tracking militants, the US wants to see more co-operation and co-ordination in aiding reconciliation efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the official said. The US also wants Pakistan to make political and economic changes, including taxing its elite, to build roads and schools. The Secretary of State's Islamabad stop also follows a May 16 visit by Democrat senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who asked Pakistani leaders to address some of the complaints from US lawmakers after the discovery of al-Qaeda's leader in Abbottabad, an army-dominated town 50 kilometres north of the capital. President Barack Obama said the Pakistani government must investigate whether any of its officials helped shelter bin Laden. US officials have said there is no clear evidence Pakistan's leaders were aware of bin Laden's presence.

MEDICAL TEAM SAYS RATKO MLADIC READY FOR EXTRADITION

        BELGRADE, SERBIA--A medical team in Serbia has determined that war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is in good enough shape to be extradited to face a war crimes tribunal, a court spokeswoman in Belgrade said Friday. While Mladic suffers from several chronic conditions, the team said there are no immediate problems barring a move. This comes after five doctors examined Mladic Thursday night, said Mladic's lawyer, Milos Saljic. "The court decided that conditions for extradition have been met," court spokeswoman Maya Kovacevic said. The determination was made during a deportation hearing Friday, held to decide whether Mladic will be transferred to the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.Mladic refused to make any statement before the court, but Saljic said the Mladic team will appeal. That appeal could come by Monday. Asked how soon the judge would rule on the appeal, Kovacevic answered, "immediately."

    Mladic's son, Darko, said his father has trouble speaking and his right arm is partially paralyzed. "We saw him for the first time in many years. He's in bad shape," Darko Mladic said to reporters in front of the courthouse. "His health is very deteriorated." He said the family is asking the court to send Mladic to a hospital for treatment and analysis and wants Russian doctors to examine him. His father is not guilty of the grave charges against him, insisted Darko Mladic. But Bruno Vekaric, the deputy prosecutor of Serbia's Special Court for War Crimes, dismissed the family's account of Mladic's health as a defense ploy. "He's like a young man," Vekaric said. "He's not so ill or in a bad situation." Mladic's right arm seemed to be bothering him, but he was fine Friday, Vekaric said.  Mladic refused to read the indictment against him, telling the judge, "I don't want to read the papers of the tribunal," according to Vekaric.  An angry Mladic accused Vekaric of being a CIA agent but apologized Friday, the deputy prosecutor said. He asked Vekaric for a few books by Russian authors Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol. He also made one other request, one that the prosecutor found odd coming from the man once known as the "Butcher of Bosnia."  "He asked for strawberries," Vekaric said, laughing.

    Mladic is in a jail near Belgrade facing charges that he presided over Europe's worst massacre since World War II. He was arrested Thursday after more than 15 years in hiding. Mladic was the highest-ranking fugitive to remain at large after the conflicts that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Saljic described Mladic as a "ruin of a man" who has suffered two heart attacks and three strokes since 1996. Serbian President Boris Tadic said Serbian authorities are still investigating who aided Mladic during his decade and a half on the run, but he called allegations that the country's military sheltered him "rubbish." "At the end of the day, he was protected by a very small group of people from his family," Tadic said. He acknowledged that Mladic may have been aided by military officers early on, "but at the end of that process, I don't believe that." The former Yugoslav army officer was the commanding general of Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-95 war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has charged him with leading a genocidal campaign against Bosnia's Muslim and Croat populations, including "direct involvement" in the 1995 killings of nearly 8,000 men and boys in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica -- the worst European massacre since the Holocaust.

May 27, 2011

BOSNIA GENOCIDE SUSPECT RATKO MLADIC ARRESTED IN SERBIA

       BELGRADE, SERBIA--Police in Serbia have arrested former Serbian military commander Ratko Mladic, the highest-ranking war crimes suspect still at large from the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Serbia's president announced Thursday. "Today we arrested Ratko Mladic," Serbian President Boris Tadic said in a dramatic and hastily announced news conference in Belgrade. Mladic was detained in Serbia following an investigation that took about three years, Tadic said. He refused to give more details about the operation. "All war criminals must face justice," Tadic said. Mladic, 69, is wanted on charges of genocide, extermination and murder, among others, by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The tribunal accuses him of "direct involvement in the genocide committed after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995," and the killing of "close to 8,000 men and boys following the fall of this enclave."

     The massacre of the Muslim men and boys is thought to be the largest individual slaughter in Europe since the end of World War II. Mladic remains a hero to some of his soldiers, said David Owen, a former European Union envoy to Yugoslavia, suggesting that his supporters had sheltered him in Serbia. Serbia -- once a part of multi-ethnic Yugoslavia -- continues to probe "who aided and abetted Mladic... and those people will face justice," Tadic said. The president said the arrest will help the process of reconciliation throughout the Balkans. It should also pave the way for Serbia's entry to the European Union.

    EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hailed the arrest as a victory for "the rule of law in Serbia," and praised Tadic and his government for "this courageous action." She called for the quick transfer of the suspect to the Netherlands for trial. Tadic declined to say how long the extradition would take, explaining it was not up to him.  Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List was the first to report the arrest of Mladic, saying that police were doing DNA tests on a suspect to determine if he was the notorious former commander.  The 1992-1995 Bosnian war was the longest of the wars spawned by the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.  Backed by the government of then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Bosnian Serb forces seized control of more than half the country and launched a campaign against the Muslim and Croat populations. Mladic has been on the run since the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended in 1995. Milosevic was toppled in 2000 and put on trial at The Hague. He died in jail in 2006 before the trial came to an end.

SPANISH AUTHORITIES THWART SALE OF HELICOPTERS TO IRAN AND VENEZUELA

        MADRID, SPAIN--The failed sale of spare helicopter parts to Venezuela, after a police operation announced on Thursday by the Spanish authorities, who also prevented the illegal sale of nine Bell-212 military transport helicopters to Iran is a new incident that adds up to previous difficulties in trade arms between the Latin American country and Spanish companies. The Spanish police announced that it had prevented the sale of nine US-made Bell-212 military transport helicopters, adapted to transport "war material" and the sale of spare parts for export to Venezuela, after an operation in which eight people were arrested, including five Spaniards and three Iranians.

     In addition to preventing the sale of the aircrafts to Iran for contravening the sanctions approved by the United Nations on June 9, 2010, the police operation prevented the sale of spare parts to Venezuela. It is "defense equipment regulated by European Community and Spanish rules and it is considered an illegal export according to those rules," a police spokesman said.  The helicopters and spare parts were seized in a hangar in Sabadell, near Barcelona, Spain.  The helicopters and spare material were hidden in warehouses located in the towns of Navas del Rey (Madrid), Sabadell and Terrassa (Barcelona). In the warehouses, owned by the business consortium of the arrested Spaniards, the helicopters were assembled and prepared prior to there sale and transfer to Iran and Venezuela. The group  tried to cover the sale (which may entail revenues close to 100 million euros) under legal cover aircraft repair activities.

    Investigators learned of the arrival in Spain of the Iranian buyers to complete the documentary and economic  activities with the Spanish businessmen and formalize the sale, so an operation was deployed to conduct their arrest. In total, 8 people were arrested in Madrid (5) and Barcelona (3), as alleged perpetrators of crimes of possession and storage of weapons and contraband. There have been three house searches. Specifically in a wharehouse of Sabadell (Barcelona) in which the authorities seized six Bell 212 helicopters, equipment and aircraft parts, as well as numerous documents related to the projects. In Madrid, in the warehouse of Navas del Rey (Madrid) it has been intercepted three Bell 212 helicopters, spare parts for helicopters and aircraft, and numerous documents and computers related to the investigation. 

VENEZUELAN OIL CHAMBER FEARS CONSEQUENCES OF US SANCTIONS

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Although the US Department of State promised on Wednesday that sanctions imposed on state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) for its dealings with Iran do not affect the capacity of the Venezuelan oil company to sell crude oil to the United States and do not undermine the operations of Pdvsa' US subsidiary Citgo, there are still doubts about the real extent of the measures adopted by the US government.

     The announcement only referred to sanctions that prohibit Pdvsa from competing for US government contracts or getting financing from the US Export-Import Bank. But the decision adopted by US President Barack Obama and reported to the Congress in Washington, includes prohibitions "on any United States financial institution from making loans or providing credits" to Pdvsa; on "any transactions in foreign currency (from Pdvsa) that are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States;" and on "any transfers or credit or payments between financial institutions" where Pdvsa is involved. The Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Representatives, US Congress, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who was interviewed by El Universal, said that the sanctions "confirm the concerns of the US Congress on the support to Iran's energy sector offered from institutions in countries such as Venezuela. They also highlighted the growing cooperation between Iran and other governments."

     Meanwhile, the Venezuelan Oil Chamber condemned the sanctions and said without providing more details that "they could directly affect the services provided by our companies to the oil and energy industry in general and, as a result, undermine the development of Pdvsa's projects as the Oil Sowing Plan and the development of the Orinoco Oil Belt." From a financial point of view, Venezuela's economic research firm Ecoanalítica eases the fears and explains that "in a context where some US companies have stakes in joint ventures in the Orinoco Oil Belt, the possibility of putting into risk energy relations would have a significant effect for both parties, particularly for Pdvsa, given its committed levels of production." Ecoanalítica anticipates just a "political" reply from the Venezuelan government. "We do not believe that there will be more sanctions on Venezuela by the US government."

May 26, 2011

VENEZUELA CONDEMNS US SANCTIONS AGAINST PDVSA

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's PDVSA is a major supplier of crude oil to the US. The Venezuelan government has condemned US sanctions against state oil company PDVSA for trading with Iran. The moves were "imperialist aggression", Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said. Washington imposed the sanctions on PDVSA and six other firms on Tuesday as part of a campaign to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.

    Venezuela is one of the biggest suppliers of crude oil to the US but its exports are unlikely to be hit. Under the sanctions, PDVSA cannot enter into contracts with the US government and will be barred from import-export financing. But the company's sale of oil to the US and the operations of its US-based subsidiary Citgo are unaffected.   Maduro told a news conference that Venezuela condemned the "hostile action" by the US, while energy minister and PDVSA head Rafael Ramirez said they were studying what impact the sanctions might have. However, a source in PDVSA told Reuters they believed the sanctions would have little effect. "It's obvious this is just a political response by the Obama government to pressures from the Senate which has a position very hostile to the Chavez government," the source said.

     Ties between the Washington and President Hugo Chavez have long been strained. Venezuela sends about 45% of its crude oil to the US, although in recent years it has sought to diversity its markets, including shipping more to China. As well as PDVSA, the US imposed sanctions on firms based in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Singapore, Monaco and Jersey. A US official said the sanctions would add "further pressure" on Iran to halt what the US and others believe is a nuclear weapons programme.

VENEZUELA "ASSESSES" THE EXTENT OF SANCTIONS ON OIL OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY TO THE US

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--After several statements from the US Department of State and the US Congress, the government of the United States finally announced the imposition of unilateral sanctions on state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) due to its business relations with Iran and interest in the Iranian energy sector. Iran has been questioned by US diplomacy agencies for its alleged nuclear weapons program.

     Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicolás Maduro and Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramírez replied in the name of the Venezuelan government. Maduro read a statement whereby the government "condemned the decision of the US Department of State because it represents a hostile action, is in breach of international law and violates the principles of the Charter of the United Nations." "The Venezuela government is doing an overall assessment of the situation to determine to what extent these sanctions affect Pdvsa operations and the supply of 1.2 million barrels per day to the United States," Maduro said. According to the US government, average shipments of Venezuelan oil amounted to 987,000 bpd in 2010.

     Meanwhile, Ramírez highlighted that Venezuela "is a sovereign country." "We will continue a close cooperation with other oil producing countries, particularly the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)," he said. According to Minister Ramírez, the OPEC is under attack by the US government. "Shipments (of crude oil) to our US-based subsidiaries is ensured, but we would discuss the supply to clients other than Citgo," he explained. In reference to the price of oil following the sanctions: "if oil consuming countries want price stability, they must stop their invasions and attacks." Ramírez did not respond on US claims about gasoline shipments to Iran.

BLAST HITS IRAN REFINERY AS AHMADINEJAD VISITS

        TEHRAN, IRAN --An explosion blamed on a gas leak rocked Iran's largest refinery on Tuesday around the time of a visit to the plant by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian media reported that up to two people were killed. The blast occurred just before Ahmadinejad was to inaugurate and expansion project at the 400,000 barrel per day refinery in the southwestern city of Abadan, and injured 20 people, the semi-official Fars news agency said. The explosion was blamed on a "gas leakage," but no other details were provided. Ahmadinejad himself was not injured. Conflicting reports over the toll and timing of the blast surfaced but officials at the plant were not reachable for comment. The semi-official Mehr news agency said two people were killed in the explosion that took place while the president was visiting. Mehr said Ahmadinejad ordered a special plane to airlift those critically injured to Tehran. Meanwhile, state television said the explosion occurred after Ahmadinejad had left the site and the station broadcast a live feed showing the president speaking to officials at a local hall in Abadan.

     The plant alone accounts for about 25 percent of Iran's fuel production, which is about 1.67 million barrel per day. Fazel Kaebi, an Abadan resident, told The Associated Press over the phone that he saw ambulances and rescue teams rush to the site shortly after the explosion. He said the townspeople had noticed black smoke coming from the refinery in the past few days, which he speculated could have been from a fire. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, the reports said, but the extend of the damage was not immediately clear. Iran is the second largest exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries but it has been struggling to meet local demand for fuel. Its oil sector is under pressure because of sanctions linked to Tehran's controversial nuclear program, and Iran has been forced to increasingly rely on local expertise for developing its vast oil and gas resources as well as expanding its refining capacity.

     The expansion at the Abadan plant is aimed at increasing capacity by about 30 percent at the century-old plant - the largest of Iran's nine refineries. During his speech shown on state TV from Abadan, Ahmadinejad appeared unperturbed about the blast and assailed the country's enemies, telling local officials that Iran is today able to meet all its domestic oil needs. "The hopes of Iran's enemies in imposing pressure through restrictions on the sale of oil products have turned into a complete disappointment," he said. Ahmadinejad recently took over the oil ministry's portfolio, serving as its caretaker minister, after the government merged eight ministries into four as part of a plan to slim down the bureaucracy. His stewardship of the country's most vital sector, however, has stoked criticism, with the constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, ruling Monday that he cannot serve as the caretaker of the ministry. The council is close to Iran's supreme leader who has grown increasingly critical of Ahmadinejad over the past few weeks.

May 25, 2011

PRESIDENT OBAMA: WOULD RAID PAKISTAN AGAIN IF TERRORIST LEADER FOUND

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--President Barack Obama would approve a new incursion into Pakistan if the United States found another leading militant there, he said in a BBC interview broadcast on Sunday. U.S. President Barack Obama is seen being interviewed by Britian's Andrew Marr of the BBC in the Diplomatic Reception Room in the White House, in Washington in this photograph received in London on May 21, 2011. REUTERS/Pete Souza/The White House/BBC/Handout U.S. Navy SEALs killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities in 2001, in a raid on his fortified compound in Pakistan on May 2, ending a manhunt for the world's most-wanted militant.

    Asked if Obama would do the same again if the United States discovered another "high-value target" in Pakistan or another country, such as a senior al Qaeda member or Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, he said he would "take the shot." "We are very respectful of the sovereignty of Pakistan. But we cannot allow someone who is actively planning to kill our people or our allies' people, we can't allow those kind of active plans to come to fruition without us taking some action," Obama told the BBC. "I had made no secret. I had said this when I was running for the presidency, that if I had a clear shot at bin Laden, that we'd take it."

      A spokesman for Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, Farhatullah Babar, said in response to Obama's remarks: "We need to move away from unilateral actions and should focus on cooperation in countering terrorism." He declined to comment further. Obama's comments echoed those of U.S. Senator John Kerry, a Democrat close to his administration and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Asked this month if the United States would conduct a similar raid in Pakistan to kill Omar if they knew his whereabouts, he said Washington would consider all its options. U.S. officials have long maintained Omar fled to Pakistan after the Taliban government was overthrown in late 2001 by U.S.-backed Afghan forces and is still in hiding there. Islamabad has denied reports he is in Pakistan. Obama arrives in Britain on Tuesday for a three-day state visit -- the first state visit by a U.S. president since 2003. He will hold talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron and address the parliament to hail the two countries' special relationship and stress the importance of transatlantic ties.

DICTATOR CHAVEZ'S PDVSA SANCTIONED BY US GOVERNMENT

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--Venezuelan state-owned oil major PDVSA has been slapped with sanctions by US authorities over business dealings with Iran.  The action brought by the State Department criticises the Caracas-based oil company, and others, for "irresponsibly" supporting Iran's energy industry and helping to facilitate the pariah state in evading US sanctions.  Petrochemical Commercial Co International (PCCI), Middle Eastern player Sepahan Oil and Royal Oyster Group as well as shipowners and shipbrokers made up the list of seven companies hit by the US with sanctions on Tuesday.

     The Department claimed that PDVSA "has delivered at least two cargoes of reformate to Iran between December 2010 and March 2011, worth approximately $50 million".  It continued: "The sanctions we have imposed on PDVSA prohibit the company from competing for US government procurement contracts, from securing financing from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and from obtaining US export licenses".  Crucially, however, the sanctions do not apply to subsidiaries of the oil major and do not stop PDVSA from exporting crude to the US.  Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has been a staunch and outspoken supporter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In December Venezuelan lawmakers approved the creation of a $1.5 billion joint venture between PDVSA and Iran's Petropars to develop a mature oil and gas field in Venezuela.  In October, following a trip to Tehran by Chavez, PDVSA announced that it planned on investing $750 million in a project in Iran's vast South Pars gas field.

     On PCCI, Sepahan and Royal Oyster the Department wrote: "These firms are among the largest current suppliers of refined petroleum products to Iran and all three regularly engaged in deceptive practices in order to ship these products to Iran and evade US sanctions.  "The sanctions we have imposed on these firms will prohibit them from US foreign exchange transactions, US banking transactions, and all US property transactions."  The other companies hit with sanctions on Tuesday are Monaco-based shipbroker Associated Shipbroking, Singaporean shipowner Tanker Pacific and Ofer Brothers Group, an Israeli shipping and industrial conglomerate. The last two are controlled by Israeli billionaire Sammy Ofer who, along with his family, was recently listed by Forbes as the 79th richest person in the world with a fortune of $10.3 billion.

PAKISTAN STRENGTHEN TIES WITH CHINA AMID STRAINS WITH US

        ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--Pakistan's prime minister declared China his country's best friend in an apparent slap at Washington as he was to begin a visit to China on Tuesday with US ties tested over Osama bin Laden's killing. Yousaf Raza Gilani's trip follows the killing of the al Qaeda leader by US special forces on Pakistani soil, in a raid that has cast a pall over US Pakistan ties and was widely expected to push Islamabad closer to Beijing.V"We appreciate that in all difficult circumstances, China stood with Pakistan.VTherefore we call China a true friend and a time-tested and all-weather friend," Gilani told China's official Xinhua news agency.V"We are proud to have China as our best and most trusted friend, and China will always find Pakistan standing beside it at all times," he said in an interview released Tuesday.VGilani's comments appeared to underscore tensions with Washington following the May 2 US raid on a compound in northern Pakistan, which left the country's civilian and military leaders angry and embarrassed.

     On Monday, US Senator John Kerry demanded Pakistan make progress against terrorism through "actions, not by words" in a visit to the country.VThe fact that the terrorist mastermind had been hiding out in Pakistan, possibly for years, has raised accusations the country's powerful security establishment was either incompetent or complicit in bid Laden finding a haven.VGilani was to arrive in Shanghai on Tuesday and speak on Wednesday at a cultural forum in the eastern city of Suzhou, Pakistani officials said.VHe will then travel to Beijing, where he will meet with Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.VThe two sides are expected to sign a series of cooperation agreements and discuss how they can better combat extremism.

     China is the main arms supplier to Pakistan, which sees Beijing as an important counter-balance to Pakistan's traditional rival India. India has recently improved its ties with the United States, causing worry in Islamabad.VChina has voiced firm support for Pakistan since the bin Laden episode and the two were expected to reaffirm their "all-weather" friendship during Gilani's stay.VBy contrast, Kerry stressed that US lawmakers were demanding a review of billions of dollars in aid money to Pakistan.V"Ultimately, the Pakistani people will decide what kind of country Pakistan becomes, whether it is a haven for extremists or the tolerant democracy that (Pakistani founder) Muhammad Ali Jinnah envisioned 64 years ago," said Kerry, chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In a televised address, Kerry said he had President Barack Obama's backing "to find a way to rebuild the trust" after previously warning of "profound" consequences if the allies cannot fix their fractured ties. Facing weak Western investment in its moribund economy and crippling power shortages, Pakistan is looking for closer trade and energy ties with China.

May 24, 2011

AT LEAST 116 PEOPLE DEAD AFTER TORNADO HITS JOPLIN, MISSOURI

       JOPLIN, MISSOURI--More than 1,500 police and firefighters from four states worked in a pouring rainstorm Monday afternoon, combing the wreckage of central Joplin, Missouri, for survivors of one of the deadliest tornados in U.S. history. The Sunday night tornado chewed through a densely populated area of the southwest Missouri city, killing at least 89 as it tore apart homes and businesses, ripped into a high school and caused severe damage to one of the two hospitals in the city. "Everybody's going to know people who are dead," said CNN iReporter Zach Tusinger, who said his aunt and uncle died in the Sunday night tornado. "You could have probably dropped a nuclear bomb on the town and I don't think it would have done near as much damage as it did." The tornado -- the fourth-deadliest since the National Weather Service began keeping count in 1950 -- caused significant damage to as many as a quarter of the buildings in the southwest Missouri city, fire and emergency management officials said. Parts of the city of 50,500 were unrecognizable, according to Steve Polley, a storm chaser from Kansas City, Missouri, who described the damage from the Sunday night tornado as "complete devastation." Aerial footage from CNN affiliate KOTV showed houses reduced to lumber and smashed cars sitting atop heaps of wood.

    Store customers pray, scream in dark Tornado damage in Waverly, Missouri 'We are going to need a lot of help. "The particular area that the tornado went through is just like the central portion of the city, and it's very dense in terms of population," Joplin Emergency Management Director Keith Stammer said on CNN's "American Morning." More than 1,000 law enforcement officers from 40 agencies in four states were in Joplin aiding with disaster response, including search and rescue, said Collin Stosberg, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Gov. Jay Nixon said 500 firefighters, 140 National Guard members and a specialized search-and-rescue team were on the ground working rescue missions. President Barack Obama also ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate and an incident management team to Joplin to coordinate federal disaster relief assistance efforts, White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro said Monday.

     Searchers were combing the center of the city for trapped survivors as well as additional bodies, Stosberg said. But the work was being slowed by a new round of severe weather that rolled through the city Monday morning, as well as widespread problems with broken natural gas lines and other safety issues, authorities said. Rescuers pulled five families from rubble on Monday morning, Nixon said. The hospital was treating 183 people when the storm struck, Britton said. It was unclear if any were injured in the storm. The patients were taken to hospitals as far away as Springfield, Missouri, and northwest Arkansas. Structural engineers were on their way to Joplin to assess the building, where 1,700 people work, Britton said. Residents 70 miles away from Joplin in Dade County, Missouri, found X-rays from St. John's in their driveways, said Foreman, indicating the size and power of the storm. Gurneys were blown several blocks away. Officals evacuated long-term patients from the city's other medical center, Freeman Hospital, to make room for emergency cases from the tornado, Nixon said. Missouri governor: 'Total devastation' Witness: 'We saw power lines snapping' Tornado damages hospital Storm chaser: 'Trees are de-barked'

GRIEF, ANGER IN SYRIA AFTER DEADLY   VIOLENCE

        DAMASCUS, SYRIA--At least ELEVEN people were killed and dozens more were injured on Saturday when security forces in the restive Syrian city of Homs Saturday greeted anguished mourners with brute force, an activist told CNN The latest confrontation rattled a country on edge after at least 44 people died in Homs and other cities Friday when Syrian security personnel fired at demonstrators, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. The violence erupted after as tens of thousands of people marched in a funeral procession and went to a graveyard to bury some of the Friday's victims, the activist said. The assault began after mourners were filing out of the cemetery, the activist said. "We were chanting and praying for the martyrs and they just sprayed us with their bullets. I saw seven to eight people on the ground bleeding and moaning. I ran as fast as I could as bullets flew past us towards the fields and hid among the olive trees until another mourner saw me and helped me walk to the main road," the activist said.

    Assad admits to 'some mistakes' U.S. sanctions target Syrian president Should Obama get even tougher on Syria? "From there I ran to my apartment to see my wife and children. We live very close to the graveyard and I can still hear the sound of heavy gunfire coming from the area." Security forces earlier used force against 300 demonstrators in Homs who were demanding the right of mourners to march through the city center. But security forces forcefully put down the turnout in about 30 minutes, and many of the demonstrators were arrested.  Later Saturday, tens of thousands of people gathered for the funeral procession on the outskirts of the city to bury eight victims of the Friday demonstrations, and it appeared the event would remain peaceful. The miles-long funeral procession defiantly passed by army stations and several tanks, but the marchers were greeted kindly by soldiers to which the crowd responded by chanting, "The people and the army are one hand." However, violence erupted as security forces stepped in, the activist said. Mourners quickly dispersed some into the graveyards and surrounding fields, and gunfire could be heard.

     The deaths occurred after demonstrations broke out after Friday prayers in Syrian cities, as they have for weeks. Every week, the demonstrations have particular themes. May 20 was Azadi Friday in honor of the Syrian Kurdish protesters. Azadi means "freedom" in Kurdish. A military source quoted by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said at least 17 civilians and security personnel were killed on Friday by the unidentified "armed groups" the government has been blaming for the discord. For two months, Syria has been torn by street protests against political repression and a fierce security crackdown against demonstrators. The government's fierce actions toward marchers and its thousands of mass arrests have drawn widespread criticism. Around 830 people have been killed in protests, according to the Syrian Human Rights Information Link. That number does not include security personnel, many of whom have been killed in attacks by "armed groups," according to the Syrian government. The United States has imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials. On Thursday, President Barack Obama singled out Syria for criticism during his speech on the Middle East.

BRITISH MILITARY FORCES END MISSION IN IRAQ

        bAGHDAD, IRAQ--The last of Britain's military forces in Iraq pulled up anchor yesterday, Sunday, ending more than eight years of fighting militants and training security forces since invading in 2003. Eighty-one Royal Navy sailors turned over the task of patrolling waters off the southern port city of Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf to Iraq's fledgling navy. It was the last hands-on mission that British troops had in Iraq since combat forces pulled out of the southern city of Basra in July 2009.

     Brig. Gen. Max Marriner, commander of British forces in Iraq, cited dramatic security gains across the country, and particularly in the south, that he said British troops helped make happen. "Security has fundamentally improved and as a consequence, the social and economic development of the south has dramatically changed for the better, as too have people's lives," Marriner said in a statement. He said the Iraqi Navy is ready to go the mission alone, "so now is the time for the UK to dress back and let them complete the mission they were created for." Officials said 179 British troops died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. But the war has been unpopular in Britain, where a government inquiry is examining mistakes made in the build-up to and aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion.

     The question of whether information making the case for war that was presented to Parliament in September 2002 was "sexed up" has been hotly debated since the invasion, as has the failure to find any evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. A small number of British defense officials will continue to work at the embassy in Baghdad, and 44 British military personnel also will remain in Iraq as part of the NATO training mission at the Iraqi Military Academy at a base in the capital's south. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said U.S. sailors will continue training Iraqi forces to secure waters off the nation's coast through the end of the year.

May 23, 2011

ORLANDO ZAPATA'S MOTHER AND FAMILY HEADED FOR U.S.

       HAVANA, CUBA--Thirteen relatives of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died last year in prison after a hunger strike, plan to leave the Communist-ruled island next month for the United States, the late prisoner’s mother told Efe Friday. Officials at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana “confirmed to us yesterday that we will travel June 9 and we are already making arrangements,” Reina Luisa Tamayo said by telephone from her home in the eastern town of Banes.

     Those arrangements include asking the government to extend their exit permits – due to expire May 24 – and finalizing plans for the exhumation and cremation of Orlando Zapata’s body, she said. Reina Tamayo vows not to leave Cuba without the ashes of her son, who died behind bars in February 2010 after a lengthy fast. State Security officials have previously told her the process of exhumation will take place within 72 hours of the family’s setting a firm date for their departure, she said Friday. Once the travel arrangements are complete, the family will leave Banes for Havana, where authorities have promised to lodge them in a “safe place” pending their departure for the United States, Reina Tamayo said.

      The U.S. government issued refugee visas in February for Reina and 12 other family members. With the Catholic Church acting as intermediary, President Raul Castro’s government reached out to the family last October, offering them permission to emigrate. Orlando Zapata was among the “Group of 75” dissidents jailed in March 2003 amid the harshest crackdown in decades. His ultimately fatal hunger strike was aimed at forcing the Cuban government to acknowledge his designation by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. Raul Castro’s unprecedented public expression of regret over Zapata’s death did not stop an international outcry against the Cuban government.  In what could be seen as a response to the criticism, Castro launched last May a dialogue with the Cuban Catholic hierarchy that led to the release of more than 100 political prisoners, including all of the remaining Group of 75 members.

PERU'S KEIKO FUJIMORI CRITICIZES HUGO CHAVEZ AS 'DICTATORIAL'

        LIMA, PERU--Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori criticized Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chavez on Saturday, saying he displays dictatorial attitudes. Fujimori will compete in a June 5 runoff against leftist former military officer Ollanta Humala, whom critics in Peru liken to Chavez. Fujimori made the remark about Chavez during a news conference when asked if she would cut relations with Venezuela if elected. "I believe Mr. Hugo Chavez has dictatorial attitudes. However, if I am president of Peru, I'm going to work for the integration of Latin America," she said.

     She said she would focus on having good relations with the region's nations "in spite of the ideological and political differences there may be with certain presidents." Her father, Alberto Fujimori, was Peru's president from 1990 to 2000 and is now imprisoned for corruption and government-sanctioned killings during his administration. Keiko Fujimori, a 35-year-old congresswoman, said that during her father's presidency, Peru's government did not display "populist attitudes like those we see on the part of dictator Chavez." "My father established an economy that fought against inflation, something that isn't happening in Venezuela," she said, referring to Venezuela's 23 percent inflation. There was no immediate reaction from Venezuela's government. Recent polls say Fujimori and Humala are in a dead head ahead of the June 5 vote.

     Humala was defeated in the last presidential elections in 2006, and many analysts have said his close association with Chavez appeared to have hurt him then. Humala has distanced himself from Chavez during his current campaign. Fujimori also said she bears no ill feelings toward Chile, which extradited her father to Peru in 2007 on charges that eventually led to his conviction and a 25-year sentence. Her father had fled Peru amid scandal in 2000, moving to his ancestral Japan and resigning the presidency in a fax. He later arrived unannounced in Chile in 2005 and was eventually extradited. While Keiko Fujimori said that was not the result she had hoped for, "today my father is in Peru and he's close to our family."

european union opens diplomatic office in benghazi, libya rebelS' capital

        benghazi, libya--In a boost to Libya's rebels, the European Union opened a diplomatic office Sunday in their eastern stronghold and pledged support for a democratic Libya where Moammar Gadhafi "will not be in the picture." The office in the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi gives Gadhafi's opponents a key point of contact with the 27 nations in the European bloc and adds to the growing international recognition of the rebels' political leadership. In return, the head of the rebels' National Transitional Council held out the possibility of future rewards for those who offer early support, and he said his nascent administration would respect human rights and international law. "The United States and the European Union should know that we are a righteous people," said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. "We are fighting for a better future and they will not regret helping us.

    The rebel-held east is home to most of Libya's oil resources, and Abdul-Jalil said backers of the rebel council could stand to benefit in future business deals. "Our friends who support this revolution will have the best opportunity in future contracts in Libya," he said. A number of other countries - including France, Italy, Qatar and the West African nation of Gambia - have already recognized the rebels, while the United States and other countries have sent envoys to open talks. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton opened the bloc's office in Benghazi's heavily guarded Tibesti Hotel, saying she looked forward to a better Libya "where Gadhafi will not be in the picture." "I have seen the vision of the Libyan people today all around. I saw the posters as I came from the airport with the words 'We have a dream,'" she said after meeting with Abdul-Jalil.

     In a statement released by her office in Brussels, Ashton said she found that the rebel leaders "have great aspirations for the people of this country and they have the leadership qualities and skills necessary to take the country forward." She said she discussed EU support in border management, security reform, the economy, health, education and in building civil society. Ashton did not offer what the rebels say they need most - heavy weapons to match the arsenal of Gadhafi, Libya's leader of more than 40 years, who controls the capital, Tripoli, and most of western Libya. Gadhafi has responded to the uprising that began in mid-February by unleashing his military and militias against the rebels, who have been aided by NATO bombing runs aimed at maintaining a no-fly zone and at keeping Gadhafi from attacking civilians. The two sides have been stalemated in recent weeks, with the rebels complaining they cannot defeat Gadhafi's better-equipped army. But no country has agreed to send arms.

May 22, 2011

LAWYERS ASK NYC JUDGE TO FIND IRAN LIABLE FOR 9/11 

       NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--Lawyers representing 9/11 families are asking a federal judge to find Iran culpable in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, saying new evidence shows Iranian officials had advanced word of the attacks and helped train the hijackers. The lawyers filed papers Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan saying there is "clear and convincing" evidence to conclude default judgment damages should be paid to their plaintiffs - families and personal representatives of some of those killed in the attacks. Supporting their arguments, the lawyers cited the testimony of three defectors from Iran's intelligence service, the Ministry of Information and Security, saying they worked in positions that gave them access to sensitive information regarding Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism. They said the testimony, part of 28 hours of testimony by four witnesses, supports a claim that Iranian officials had advanced word of the attacks and that Iran helped train those who carried it out.  The Shiite regime in Iran and al-Qaida, a Sunni group, are natural enemies, though they have sometimes had a relationship of convenience based on their shared hatred of the U.S.

     The lawyers said Iran and "its proxy terrorist organization," the Lebanese group Hezbollah, entered into a terrorist alliance with al-Qaida in the early 1990s that continued throughout the preparations for the 2001 attacks. They said Iran and Hezbollah gave material support to al-Qaida after the attacks by helping some of the terrorist group's leaders and their families escape from the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. As part of their proof, the lawyers said they were filing videotaped testimony under seal in which three defectors from Iran's intelligence service "circumstantially and directly" implicate Iran and Hezbollah in the Sept. 11 attacks. Iran and Hezbollah had "foreknowledge of, and complicity in, the overall design of, and preparations for, the 9/11 attacks, involving, but not limited to, facilitation of the hijackers' international travel, training and through Iran provision of safe haven for al-Qaida after the attacks," the lawyers wrote. They said the witnesses, identified in court documents only as "Witnesses X, Y and Z," also provided testimony revealing that then-senior Hezbollah operative Imad Mughniyah had an integral role in the Iran-Hezbollah-al-Qaida terror alliance. One of the witnesses testified that Iran anticipated a retaliatory strike against Iran if its role in the 9/11 attacks was discovered. Mughniyah died in a car bombing in 2008.

       The lawyers said it was necessary to file the testimony under seal because the witnesses have reason to fear for the safety of themselves and their families if the testimony became public. The lawyers included in their submission portions of the findings reached by the U.S. 9/11 commission, which wrote that there "is strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al-Qaida members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers." They also cited commission findings that evidence suggests that eight to 10 of the Saudi "muscle" operatives used in the attacks traveled into or out of Iran between October 2000 and February 2001. In their papers, the lawyers said they had found the evidence that the 9/11 commission had not: "that Iran and Hezbollah were aware of the planning for the 9/11 attacks, and, further, that Iran and Hezbollah were complicit in that planning." In a second sealed memorandum, the lawyers say they detailed evidence that "further shows that Iran originated the general design of the 9/11 attacks and Iran provided material support to al-Qaida in connection with the recruitment and training of the 9/11 hijackers as well."

IRAN ARRESTS 30 PEOPLE IT SAYS SPIED FOR U.S.

        TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran has arrested 30 people it said were spying for the United States, official media reported on Saturday. "The Intelligence Ministry's active and pious forces, in their ardent confrontations with the agents of the CIA ... arrested 30 people who were spies for America," state television's lunchtime news announced.

     According to the semi-official Fars news agency, the suspects had passed information to U.S. officials at embassies and consulates in third countries, including Malaysia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. It said Iran had identified 42 U.S. intelligence officers in such countries, saying: "they engage in collection of information regarding Iran's nuclear, aerospace defense and bio-technology fields," among other areas of interest. Spying in Iran can carry the death penalty.

     Washington has had no diplomatic presence in Iran since the 1979 revolution which deposed the U.S.-backed shah and was followed by the lengthy occupation of the U.S. embassy. Diplomatic cables published by the WikiLeaks website showed the United States operated information-gathering desks on Iran in neighboring countries where diplomats would seek to glean intelligence from traveling Iranians. The announcement of the arrests comes two days after U.S. President Barack Obama made a speech on the Middle East, reiterating Washington's view that Tehran sponsors terrorism and is seeking nuclear weapons, charges Iran denies.

NATO WARPLANES BOMBED GADHAFI COMMAND CENTER

        TRIPOLI, LIBYA--NATO warplanes bombed command centers near Tripoli and in Libya's southwest as part of a continuing effort to cut communications links between Muammar al-Gadhafi and his units on the battlefields, the military alliance said Saturday. The raids targeted a facility near the capital on Friday and a command and control node near Sebha, a Gadhafi stronghold deep in Libya's southwestern desert, a NATO statement said. Three surface-to-air missile launchers were hit near the government-held town of Sirte, and three rocket launchers near the rebel-held town of Zintan in the mountains south of Tripoli.

     The alliance said its aircraft has flown more than 7,500 sorties since it took command of the aerial offensive, including nearly 3,000 strike missions. With the bombing campaign entering its third month, NATO has come under increasing criticism that it is overstepping the U.N. Security Council's mandate, which provides for the protection of the civilian population but not for wider aerial attacks. Regional support for the daily bombings also appeared to be wavering. This week, the South Africa-based Pan African Parliament, the legislative body of the African Union, condemned "the military aggression of NATO forces" and called for an urgent session of the U.N. General Assembly to consider the situation.

     The legislature reiterated its support for the AU peace plan that called for an immediate cease-fire and dialogue between the government and the rebels. The rebels have rejected that plan. The Pan African Parliament also criticized NATO attacks on "public facilities, infrastructure and residential sites and the targeted assassination of (Libyan) leaders." The African Union will hold an emergency session next week to discuss the crisis. On Thursday, NATO warplanes bombed eight Libyan naval vessels in three ports, leaving ships partially sunken and charred and showering docks with debris in the military alliance's broadest attack on Muammar al-Gahdafi's navy. The two frigates, a Soviet-built Koni class anti-submarine boat and a French-built Combattante class missile craft, were moored at the dock when they were hit with laser-guided bombs. It was not immediately clear whether their crews were aboard when they were struck.

May 21, 2011

CUBAN OIL RIG TO DRILL SOUTH OF FLORIDA KEYS BY SEPTEMBER

       HAVANA, CUBA--A  huge, Chinese-made semi-submersible oil rig is almost complete and will be leaving Singapore by June. The rig, named the Scarabeo 9, will likely begin drilling for oil about 6,500 below the surface of the Straits of Florida by late summer or early fall. It will be positioned about 40 to 50 miles from Key West. Jorge Piñon, a former energy industry executive and current visiting research fellow at the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, said the transit time for the rig to get here is about 60 to 70 days.  “My worst-case scenario is late September, including set-up time,” Piñon said, regarding when drilling will begin. The rig will have a crew of about 220 people, none of them American because of the nearly 50-year trade embargo imposed by the United States. The rig is owned by Saipem SpA, a subsidiary of Italian oil company, Eni SpA. The first company to operate the vessel will be Repsol from Spain.

     Construction of the rig began at the CIMC Raffles Shipyard in China and was moved to the Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore last fall. The rig will be drilling for oil in an area known as the Jagüey. The depth it will be drilling is about 1,500 feet deeper than the Macondo Prospect, made infamous by the British Petroleum DeepWater Horizon oil spill that poured millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in the spring and summer of 2010. It was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The inevitability of the rig’s arrival is worrisome to both critics of the Communist Cuban government and to those who fear an oil spill in the Jagüey could be devastating to Florida’s environment, and in turn, its tourism-dependent economy. What’s even more concerning to some is that the embargo would likely delay any help U.S. companies or government agencies could offer Cuba in the event of a spill.

     News of the Scarabeo 9 broke about two years ago, prompting Ros-Lehtinen, who is chairman of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs, to introduce legislation two sessions in a row that would prohibit entry into the United States any foreign principal of a company or shareholder who owns a controlling stake in a company that has made an investment of $1 million or more in a Cuban energy operation. The bill would also make it illegal or any U.S. citizen to invest in or work for a Cuban offshore drilling project. “The Cuban regime is desperately attempting to prolong its overdue existence and tyrannical influence by setting up this oil rig. The U.S. must apply stronger pressure to prevent other companies from engaging commercially, and any other means, with this crooked and corrupt regime.” Ros-Lehtinen said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. Florida congressman, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, introduced a bill a month ago that would punish oil companies doing business with Cuba by directing the U.S. Interior secretary to deny them American oil permits. “Repsol has 20 drilling permits awaiting approval for projects in the Gulf of Mexico. My bill essentially tells Repsol to decide whether it wants to continue doing business with Cuba or the United States,” Buchanan said in a statement.

NATO AIRSTRIKES TAKE OUT 8 LIBYAN WARSHIPS

        TRIPOLI, LIBYA--NATO fighter jets struck three ports and eight warships in bombing runs overnight, targeting ruler Muammar al-Qaddafi's navy with a goal of protecting the nearby rebel-held port of Misrata, NATO said Friday. It was the broadest attack on Libya's naval forces since the alliance joined the conflict. One bombing run hit the main port of Tripoli, where reporters could see flames and smoke rising from the stricken warship into the night sky. Other targets were the Khoms port, between Tripoli and Misrata, and Sirte, east of the city. In Brussels, NATO confirmed that its warplanes targeted the ports and accused Libya of using its ships in the escalating conflict, including attempts to mine the harbor in Misrata. Rebels trying to end the nearly 40-year rule of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi have been struggling to hold Misrata against repeated attacks by Qaddafi's forces.

     British Maj. Gen. John Lorimer, a communications officer, said British warplanes hit two corvette warships in the Khoms harbor and "successfully targeted a facility in the dockyard constructing fast inflatable boats, which Libyan forces have used several times in their efforts to mine Misrata and attack vessels in the area." He said the port was "the nearest concentration of regime warships to the port of Misrata, which Col. Qaddafi has repeatedly attempted to close to humanitarian shipping." Mohammed Rashid, general manager of the Tripoli port, told reporters that the coast guard boats were used to patrol Libyan waters for immigrant boats trying to make it to Europe and for search-and-rescue activities. The port official said some damage was done to the port, but it was minimal. A government official later said he feared the NATO strike would discourage ships from using the Tripoli port, reducing imports and driving up the cost of basic goods for Libyans.

     Rear Adm. Russell Harding, deputy commander of the NATO operation, said the Qaddafi regime was employing more ships in its campaign against rebel fighters. "Given the escalating use of naval assets, NATO had no choice but to take decisive action to protect the civilian population of Libya and NATO forces at sea," he said.  "NATO has constantly adapted to the rapidly changing and dynamic situation in Libya and at sea," he said in a statement. NATO is operating under a U.N. mandate to maintain a no-fly zone over Libya and to prevent attacks on the civilian population. The Western coalition has stepped up its airstrikes in Tripoli in an apparent attempt to weaken Qaddafi's chief stronghold, the Libyan capital, and potentially target the leader himself. The Qaddafi family compound, Bab al-Aziziya, has been targeted several times.bAlso, a NATO strike early Friday hit a police academy in the Tripoli neighborhood of Tajoura, a government official said. The airstrikes came a day after Qaddafi's forces rocketed the strongholds of rebel fighters the strategic mountain heights southwest of the Libyan capital, rebels said.

SPAIN YOUTH PROTESTS against zapatero government GROW

        MADRID, SPAIN--Spanish youth vowed on Friday to continue demonstrating against unemployment and mainstream politics, and the government thought twice about enforcing a ban on election weekend protests that could provoke clashes. Dubbed "los indignados" (the indignant), tens of thousands demonstrating against unemployment and deep austerity measures have filled the main squares of Spain's cities for five days, marking a shift after years of patience with an economic slump. The electoral board ruled on Thursday that protests would be illegal on Saturday, the eve of elections when Spaniards will choose 8,116 city councils and 13 out of 17 regional governments.

    Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who has failed to contain the highest unemployment in the European Union, at 21.3 percent, said he may not enforce the ban. "I have a great respect for the people protesting, which they are doing in a peaceful manner, and I understand it is driven by economic crisis and young people's hopes for employment," Zapatero said during a radio interview. He said the Justice Ministry was reviewing the electoral board's ruling to determine whether it should stand. Some protesters in Puerta del Sol, the central Madrid plaza that has been ground zero for the movement, said they would respect election rules in Spain that forbid active campaigning on the eve of voting, but that they would remain in the square. Analysts said police action against the protesters would be a disaster for the Socialists. The protesters have called on Spaniards not to vote for the two main parties, the Socialists or the center-right opposition Popular Party.

    Leaders of both parties have said they sympathize with the protesters and blame the problems on the other party. "We won't protest but we'll continue camped out here. We've been here since the beginning and we represent a group of assemblies that want change," said Hernan, a protest leader who declined to give his full name because he said he represented the collective. Spain has struggled to emerge from a recession, and the collapse of the construction sector and a slump in consumer spending have hit the young particularly hard, with 45 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds unemployed. "They can't kick us out. The politicians won't allow it, it'll make them look bad right before the voting," said 32-year-old Virginia Braojos, a logistics technician who has come with three friends to the protests every night this week. The protests have had huge media attention, but will not change the outcome of Sunday's elections, when the ruling Socialist party is expected to suffer heavy losses over its handling of the economic crisis, said the head of one of Spain's most prestigious polling companies.

May 20, 2011

IMF CHIEF RESIGNS IN WAKE OF CHARGES OF SEXUAL ATTACK

       NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned Wednesday as head of the International Monetary Fund after explosive accusations that he had sexually attacked a housekeeper in a Midtown hotel room. "It seems we have forgotten that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. From all reports in the media, DSK looks guilty as sin." “It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of managing director of the I.M.F.,” he said in a statement dated Wednesday and released early Thursday by the I.M.F. “I think at this time first of my wife — whom I love more than anything — of my children, of my family, of my friends.”

      His resignation comes four days after Mr. Strauss-Kahn was taken off an Air France plane at Kennedy International Airport and arrested in connection with the accusations, and a day after Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, urged the I.M.F. to appoint an interim managing director. Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, had been expected to declare his candidacy for the French presidency soon. He was seen as one of the candidates most likely to defeat President Nicolas Sarkozy. In issuing his resignation, Mr. Strauss-Kahn said, “I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me.”

     French news organizations quickly announced Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s resignation and underscored that he was leaving to focus on proving his innocence. Commentators said it was unusual for Mr. Strauss-Kahn to use personal language, including references to his wife, family and colleagues at the I.M.F. The selection of a successor will now take an official turn, with the executive board expected to meet quickly, possibly as early as Thursday, to start opening up the application process, said an I.M.F. official who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the situation. Officials had originally planned to wait for a decision from the grand jury in New York to see whether Mr. Strauss-Kahn would be freed from Rikers Island prison before starting a formal selection process. But as Mr. Geithner and others suggested Mr. Strauss-Kahn step aside, people within the fund were already thinking about the future. “The I.M.F. is not decapitated,” said the official. “But with his resignation, it’s better to find a new managing director quickly.”

AL QAEDA SELECTS SAIF-ALADEL AS BIN LADEN'S SUCCESSOR

        CAIRO, EGYPT--EGYPTIAN MILITANT SAIF AL-ADEL reportedly has taken over as an interim operational leader of Al Qaeda until the terror group appoints Usama bin Laden’s permanent successor after the U.S. Navy SEALs' deadly raid on bin Laden's Pakistan.

     Noman Benotman, an analyst with the Quilliam Foundation think tank and a former associate of bin Laden, told Reuters of the promotion Tuesday. Al-Adel will remain as Al Qaeda's operational leader while the organization collects pledges to appoint Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's top deputy, as Al Qaeda's new leader – a move that is expected. Benotman cited contacts in jihadist circles as his sources, but the report could not be independently confirmed. "This role that he has assumed is not as overall leader, but he is in charge in operational and military terms," he told Reuters.

     U.S. prosecutors say Al-Adel helped coordinate the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Al-Adel also served as the head of the military committee of Al Qaeda following the death of Mohammed Atef in late 2001, making him the commander over Khalid Sheikh Muhammad. He has a longstanding working relation with Iran, going back the early 1990s, when he went from Sudan to Lebanon to be trained by Hezbollah in improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Al-Adel returned to Sudan and Afghanistan in the 1990s to set up training camps for Al Qaeda. Al-Adel was the coordinator of the May 2003 attacks in Saudi Arabia and probably Morocco. He was captured, but in March 2009 he was released in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in the tribal areas of Pakistan two years earlier.

BLASTS IN NORTH IRAQI CITY KILLED 25 PEOPLE 

        BAGHDAD, IRAQ--Three bombs targeting Iraqi security forces exploded near government buildings in the center of Iraq's disputed northern oil city of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing up to 25 people and injuring scores, sources said. Kirkuk, whose population is a volatile mix of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and others, lies amid some of the world's richest oil reserves and is a potential flashpoint as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year, more than eight years after the invasion that removed Saddam Hussein. A small bomb stuck to a police officer's car exploded near police headquarters, followed by two big car bomb blasts as security forces and rescuers rushed to the scene during the attack officials blamed on al Qaeda affiliates. "I was on my way into police headquarters and suddenly I fell to the ground, but did not feel anything because I lost consciousness," said Talib Jabar, a policeman whose hands and feet were injured. "When I woke up I found myself in the hospital with doctors around me and I was bleeding everywhere."

       Television footage showed the twisted and burned wreckage of cars in the street as police officers picked through the debris. A local hospital was filled with the injured. "There were three explosions that targeted the security forces near the local government buildings," Hassan Turan, the head of the Kirkuk provincial council, told Reuters. "The first was a sticky bomb on a car of a police officer, followed by a car bomb targeting the police who gathered near the car," Turan said. "Afterwards there was a second car bomb that exploded in the same place." Turan put the death toll at 17 with dozens injured but an Interior Ministry source and a hospital source said there were 25 dead and 68 wounded. "We expect the death toll to rise because most of the wounded are serious cases," the hospital source said.

      The third bomb, which went off not far from the first two, targeted Colonel Oras Mohammed, the head of Kirkuk's counter-terrorism unit, the Interior Ministry source said. He was not hurt but four of his bodyguards were killed. Major-General Jamal Tahir, the police chief in Kirkuk province, blamed al Qaeda in Iraq for the attack. "It is a joint operation between al Qaeda and the armed groups allied with them ... it is an al Qaeda technique," he said. "Certainly, al Qaeda is behind today's explosions." Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, is at the heart of a long dispute between Iraq's central government and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, which lays claim to the city and its oil riches. U.S. military commanders consider Kirkuk a potential trouble spot as they withdraw about 47,000 remaining American troops from Iraq by December 31 under a security pact between the two countries.

May 19, 2011

CANF COMMEMORATES MAY 20, 1902, "CUBAN INDEPENDENCE DAY"

       MIAMI, FLORIDA--On May 20th, the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) luncheon will commemorate the 109th anniversary of the Independence of Cuba, a tradition dating back to the foundation's establishment in 1981.

      The event will pay homage to Brigade 2506 on its 50th anniversary as well as the political prisoners of "La Primavera Negra" (The Black Spring) in 2003. With the announcement of his retirement from the United States Senate, CANF will also honor Senator Joseph Lieberman as the Keynote Speaker in gratitude of his tireless efforts to advance freedom in Cuba.

WHAT: CANF's Annual 20 de Mayo Cuban Independence Day Luncheon
WHEN: May 20, 2011 @ 12'o'clock NOON
WHERE: JW Marriott Marquis Miami, 255 Biscayne Boulevard Way, Miami, Florida

FOR MORE INFORMATION:  LALY SAMPEDRO (305) 592-7768

YEMENI OPPOSITION, PRESIDENT SALEH REACHED DEAL

        SANAA, YEMEN--The Yemeni government and the opposition have agreed to sign a deal for transition of power designed to end months of political crisis in the country.  The deal, brokered by Persian Gulf Arab states, would lead to the departure of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, and the formation of a national unity government. The opposition says they have agreed to sign the deal after certain modifications were made in the original version, including the requirement for Saleh to sign the document in his capacity as president and not merely as the leader of the ruling General People's Congress (GPC).

     "After American, European and Arab efforts, there was agreement by the president on the [P]GCC initiative after simple changes, and the signing will be today," Reuters quoted an opposition official Yahya Abu Usbua as saying on Wednesday.  "The president will sign for the government in his capacity as president of the republic and as head of the ruling party," Abu Usbua added.  The isolated Yemeni president previously refused to sign in his capacity as president, insisting on endorsing the agreement only as the leader of the ruling GPC.  "The main points have been agreed on from both differing sides in the Yemeni political arena. Saleh is ready to sign the proposal as president of Yemen and on behalf of the ruling party," Zaid Thari, a Saleh aide, said.

     The opposition, however, believes Saleh will "refuse" to sign the deal, expected to be signed later on Wednesday.  The original exit plan suggested the formation of a national unity government, transfer of power from Saleh to his vice president and submission of Saleh's resignation to the parliament within 30 days, which would be followed by presidential election within two months.  In exchange, Saleh and his top aides would be granted immunity from prosecution.  The deal also calls for an end to the nationwide anti-government protests.  According to local reports, at least 300 protesters have been killed and many others injured during clashes with riot police and armed forces loyal to the embattled Yemeni president since anti-Saleh demonstrations began in late January.

LIBYAN OIL MINISTER, SHUKRI GHANEM, DEFECTS

        TRIPOLI, LIBYA--Libya’s oil apportion defected and fled to Tunisia, a Tunisian confidence central pronounced Tuesday, one of a tip form total to desert Moammar Gadhafi’s government. Shukri Ghanem, a conduct of a National Oil Co. and Libya’s oil minister, crossed into Tunisia by highway on Monday and defected, a Tunisian central said. The official, formed in a segment around a Ras Jdir limit crossing, spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not certified to pronounce to a media. Ghanem is one of a many distinguished members of Gadhafi’s supervision to leave amid fighting between a troops and rebels seeking to finish Gadhafi’s some-more than 40-year rule.

     Others who have defected embody Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, one of Gadhafi’s beginning supporters; Interior Minister Abdel-Fatah Younes; Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, and Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former U.N. General Assembly president. A series of ambassadors and other diplomats also have quiescent their posts. Ghanem, a latest apportion to defect, had been during contingency with a Gadhafi regime before, fundamentally losing his post for a while in 2009 as dual of Gadhafi’s sons differed on a instruction a nation should take in reforming a domestic and mercantile systems. His abdication was seen, during slightest in part, as related to a origination of a new superstructure ruling a nation’s oil sector, with a new group designed to reinstate one he supported.

     Before presumption a oil ministry’s portfolio, Ghanem served for around 3 years as primary apportion during a time when Libya was rising from underneath a cloud of some-more than a decade of general sanctions. Ghanem is among Gadhafi supervision officials underneath U.S. sanctions announced by a Treasury Department in early April. Abdel Moneim al-Houni, a former Libyan Arab League deputy who was among a initial call of Libyan diplomats to defect, reliable that Ghanem had defected though pronounced no central proclamation has been done out of regard for a reserve of family members who are still in Tripoli. Al-Houni pronounced that he spoke to Ghanem after he crossed a border. Guma El-Gamaty, London-based orator for a Libyan opposition’s Interim National Council, pronounced “all what we know is that Shukri Ghanem is in Tunisia.”

IRAN BUILDING SECRET MILITARY BASES IN VENEZUELA

        BERLIN, ALEMANIA--The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Friday edition. The paper assures that dictator Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed a secret agreement to build the military base. Iran is building intermediate- range missile launch pads on the Paraguaná Peninsula, and engineers from a construction firm – Khatam al-Anbia – owned by the Revolutionary Guards visited Paraguaná in February. Amir al-Hadschisadeh, the head of the Guard’s Air Force, participated in the visit, according to the report. Die Welt cited information from “Western security insiders.” The rocket bases are to include measures to prevent air attacks on Venezuela as well as commando and control stations.

      The Iranian military involvement in the project extends to bunker, barracks and watch tower construction. Twenty-meter deep rocket silos are planned. The cost of the Venezuelan military project is being paid for with Iranian oil revenue. The Iranians paid in cash for the preliminary phase of the project and, the total cost is expected to amount to “dozens of millions” of dollars, Die Welt wrote. The Paraguaná Peninsula is on the coast of Venezuela and is roughly 120 kilometers from America’s main South American partner, Columbia. According to Die Welt, the clandestine agreement between Venezuela and Iran would mean the Chavez government would fire rocket at Iran’s enemies should the Islamic Republic face military strikes.

     Meanwhile the German press agency (DPA) reported on Friday that Germany will not contest the placement of the Hamburg- based European- Iranian Trade Bank (EIH) on the EU sanctions list at the end of the month. The US Treasury Department sanctioned the EIH last year, saying it was one of the most important institutions in Europe for financing Iran’s missile and nuclear proliferation programs. Germany was the subject of criticism from American, French, British and Israeli officials because it refused to shut the EIH. The EIH plays a crucial role in facilitating financial transactions for midsize German firms that are active in Iran. German- Iranian total trade amounted to over 4 billion euros in 2010, making German Iran’s No. 1 EU trade partner.

May 18, 2011

ISRAEL TROOPS FIRED AS PALESTINIAN MARCHERS BREACH BORDERS

       ISRAEL,JERUSALEM--Israel’s borders erupted in deadly clashes on Sunday as thousands of Palestinians — marching from Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank — confronted Israeli troops to mark the anniversary of Israel’s creation. More than a dozen people were reported killed and scores injured. With an unprecedented wave of coordinated protests, the popular uprisings that have swept the region touched Israel directly for the first time. Like those other protests, plans for this one spread over social media, including Facebook, but there were also signs of official support in Lebanon and Syria, where analysts said leaders were using the Palestinian cause to deflect attention from internal problems. At the Lebanese border, Israeli troops shot at hundreds of Palestinians trying to force their way across. The Lebanese military said 10 protesters were killed and more than 100 were wounded. Israel said it was investigating the casualties.

    In the Golan Heights, about 100 Palestinians living in Syria breached a border fence and crowded into the village of Majdal Shams, waving Palestinian flags. Troops fired on the crowd, killing four people. The border unrest could represent a new phase in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. In the West Bank, about 1,000 protesters carrying Palestinian flags and throwing stones and occasional firecrackers and gasoline bombs fought with Israeli riot troops near the military checkpoint between Ramallah and Israel. Scores were injured, local medical officials said. In Gaza, when marchers crossed a security zone near the border, Israeli troops fired into the crowd, wounding dozens. In Jordan and Egypt, government security forces thwarted protesters headed to the border. Every year in mid-May, many Palestinians observe what they call “the nakba,” or catastrophe, the anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948 and the war in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes through expulsion and flight. But this was the first year that Palestinian refugees and their supporters in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, inspired by the recent protests around the Arab world, tried to breach Israel’s military border from all sides. “

     At day’s end, as a tense calm returned to the country’s borders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the protests had been aimed at destroying Israel, not creating a Palestinian state alongside it. “The leaders of these violent demonstrations, their struggle is not over the 1967 borders but over the very existence of Israel, which they describe as a catastrophe that must be resolved,” he said. “It is important that we look with open eyes at the reality and be aware of whom we are dealing with and what we are dealing with.” Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, saluted the protesters in a televised speech, referring to the dead as martyrs. “The blood of the nakba fatalities was not spilled in vain,” he said. “They died for the Palestinian people’s rights and freedom.” Nearby, hundreds of Israeli troops roamed the area, using stun guns and tear gas. In Gaza, the Hamas police stopped buses carrying protesters near the main crossing into Israel, but dozens of demonstrators continued on foot, arriving at a point closer to the Israeli border than they had reached in years and drawing Israeli fire. Later, in a separate episode, an 18-year-old Gazan near another part of the border fence was shot and killed by Israeli troops when, the Israeli military says, he was trying to plant an explosive.

PAKISTAN AND NATO FORCES EXCHANGE FIRE

        ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--Pakistani ground troops opened fire on two NATO helicopters that crossed into Pakistan’s airspace from Afghanistan early Tuesday morning, the Pakistani Army said in a statement. A firefight then briefly erupted between NATO forces and the troops, the statement said, and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded.  The clash took place at Admi Kot Post in the North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan, an area that American officials have long regarded as a haven used by militants to attack coalition forces inside Afghanistan. NATO officials said they were looking into the incident, and could not immediately confirm whether the helicopters had indeed entered Pakistan’s airspace.  The exchange of fire between NATO and Pakistani forces appeared likely to worsen frictions between Pakistan and the United States.

     The Pakistani Army “lodged a strong protest and demanded a flag meeting,” the statement said, referring to a meeting between officials from Pakistan and NATO.  Last September, Pakistan shut down for more than a week the land route through Pakistan that NATO uses to supply its forces in Afghanistan, after two Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed in a similar border clash.  Tuesday’s clash came as Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, traveled to Beijing. Analysts said that visit was meant to signal to the United States that Pakistan saw China as an alternative source of security and economic aid.   On Monday, Senator John Kerry met with top civil and military leaders in Pakistan in an effort to smooth the fraying relations between the two countries in the wake of the American raid by forces that killed Osama bin Laden.

     The Pakistani Parliament in a closed-door session last week urged the government to renew and revisit its terms of engagement with the United States. It also warned that it might sever supply lines to coalition forces in Afghanistan if there were further unilateral incursions.  Drone attacks, which are operated by the C.I.A., not by the NATO-led coalition force, are highly unpopular in Pakistan. Nationalist and right-wing Islamist political parties regularly denounce the use of drone attacks inside Pakistani territory. Government officials who in the past privately approved the use of drones have lately been joining the chorus of public criticism.  Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s leading spy organization, also maintains that it has stopped cooperating with the United States in choosing targets for drone attacks.  At the same time, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani Army chief, has resisted American pressure to start a military operation in North Waziristan, a stronghold of the Haqqani network, whose militants cross into Afghanistan to battle American and NATO soldiers.

CUBA LOOSENS RULES OF PRIVATE SECTOR

        HAVANA, CUBA-- Communist-run Cuba has given all small businesses the authority to hire labor and will loosen other regulations governing private enterprise, the government said in a statement on Monday. The measure was the latest indication that President Raul Castro’s government has decided to loosen its grip on economic sectors that include retail services, construction and transportation in favor of private business. Last year, the government allowed some types of family businesses and skilled trades to hire workers.

     The government said that “the Council of Ministers agreed to extend to all non-state activities authorization to contract workers and continue the process of making more flexible regulations on self employment.” It provided no further details in the statement read on state-run television. The Cuban economy is dominated by the state, which employed about 85 percent of the labor force through 2009.  The government announced plans late last year to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers and move them to what it called the “non-state” sector as part of an efficiency drive.

     In the years after the 1959 revolution, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, now retired, nationalized all small businesses. Self-employment, often a euphemism for small private businesses, was first authorized in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union plunged Cuba into crisis, but it was severely restricted until last year. In September, the government began issuing new licenses, allowed family businesses to rent space outside their homes, sign contracts with the state, hire labor and seek bank credits, among other measures. More than 200,000 new licenses have been granted since October, compared with less than 150,000 that existed previously

May 17, 2011

IMF CHIEF ARRESTED IN ALLEGED SEX ASSAULT IN NEW YORK

       NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK-- The head of the International Monetary Fund was removed from a Paris-bound flight in New York minutes before takeoff Saturday afternoon and was arrested in connection with a sexual assault on a housekeeper at a Manhattan hotel earlier that day, police told the Associated Press. The AP reported that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, was questioned by the New York Police Department’s special victims office, according to Paul J. Browne, police spokesman. The IMF chief was arrested at 2:15 a.m. Sunday on charges of criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, police said.  According to the AP report, Browne said the housekeeper told authorities she entered Strauss-Kahn’s suite at the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan’s Times Square at about 1 p.m., and that he attacked her. She said she had been told to clean the spacious $3,000-a-night suite, which she had been told was empty, Browne said.

     The wire service said the woman gave this account to police: Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She said she fought him off, but then he dragged her into the bathroom. The woman was able to break free again, escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, and they called police, authorities said. Browne said that when police detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the hotel, leaving behind his cellphone, the AP reported. “It looked like he got out of there in a hurry,” Browne said. Police discovered that he was at the airport, and they contacted Port Authority officials, who removed Kahn from first class on the Air France flight that was scheduled to depart at 4:40 p.m. and was just about to leave the gate.

    The allegations create immediate uncertainty for the Washington-based IMF, which has been playing an important role in stabilizing the global economy amid the financial crisis. It also promises to stir up politics in France, where Strauss-Kahn is widely thought to be considering challenging French President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s election. Polls have indicated that he has a good chance of defeating Sarkozy. About 10 minutes before Air France Flight 23 was to take off Saturday, officers with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey boarded the plane and removed Strauss-Kahn, authorities said. They did not handcuff him. The officers were acting at the behest of the NYPD and turned over the Frenchman to police shortly thereafter. The Associated Press reported that a top police spokesman said that Strauss-Kahn had been staying at the Sofitel near Times Square. An economist and lawyer who has gained prominence while leading the IMF through one of the world’s worst financial crises, Strauss-Kahn joined the organization in 2007 with the support of the United States and many European nations.

JUDGE DENIES BAIL TO IMF CHIEF IN SEX ASSAULT CASE

        NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was denied bail on Monday on attempted rape and other criminal charges, and prosecutors said they are investigating whether he may have engaged in similar conduct once before. Defense lawyers, who sought unsuccessfully for Strauss-Kahn to be released on $1 million bail, denied the charges against their client, once seen as a strong contender for French presidential elections next year. One of the defense attorneys, Ben Brafman, said it was "quite likely he will be exonerated." Strauss Kahn made his first appearance in court to face charges of trying to rape a Manhattan hotel maid in a case that has altered France's political landscape and left the IMF in turmoil. Prosecutors asked that Strauss-Kahn be remanded in custody due to concerns he might flee to France if released. The judge set May 20 as the next date for the case.

     A defense lawyer said Strauss Kahn did not flee the hotel and the person he was having lunch with on Saturday, the day of the incident, will testify on his behalf. Looking tired and grim-faced, Strauss-Kahn met with his lawyers in a back room of the Manhattan Criminal Court before he entered the courtroom. His hair was disheveled and he appeared to be wearing the same clothes he wore on Sunday. Strauss-Kahn was not handcuffed when he was escorted to the booking station at the court. His lawyers said he would plead not guilty to charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment that could bring a humiliating end to his public career and political ambitions. "Our client willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination ...," said William Taylor, the IMF chief's Washington-based lawyer. "He's tired but he's fine." Any restriction the judge places on Strauss-Kahn's freedom of movement after Monday's arraignment hearing may determine whether he is able to continue in his globe-trotting role as managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

     Strauss-Kahn  arrest plunged the Washington-based global lender into disarray in the midst of the euro zone's debt crisis and threw France's presidential race wide open. The IMF board postponed an informal meeting pending further information from New York. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet on Sunday, said that finding a successor for the Frenchman was "not a question for today," but there were good grounds to have a European candidate ready. European sources said French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde had been picking up support before the Strauss-Kahn news broke. Former Turkish Economy Minister Kemal Dervis is considered a favorite among the non-European possibilities. More allegations involving Strauss-Kahn surfaced in Paris, where a lawyer said a woman writer was considering filing a legal complaint against the IMF chief over an alleged sexual incident dating back to 2002. Strauss-Kahn, the Socialist early favorite in the 2012 presidential race, had his hands manacled behind his back and looked strained on Sunday as detectives led him to a waiting police sedan in front of a battery of television cameras.

MASSACRE IN NORTHERN GUATEMALA LEAVES 29 DEAD

        GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA-- Assailants killed at least 29 people - decapitating most of the victims - on a ranch in a part of northern Guatemala plagued by drug cartels, national police said Sunday. The massacre took place early Sunday in the town of Caserio La Bomba in Peten province near the Mexico border, according to National Civil Police spokesman Donald Gonzalez. Among the 29 dead were two children and two women. It is one of the worst massacres since the end of Guatemala's 36-year civil war in 1996. Gonzalez said police are investigating whether the attack is related to Saturday's killing in Peten of Haroldo Leon, the brother of alleged Guatemalan drug boss Juan Jose "Juancho" Leon. "Juancho" Leon was killed in 2008 in an ambush that Guatemalan authorities blame on Mexico's Zetas drug cartel, which has increasingly wrested control of the drug trade outside Mexico, at times by eliminating their competition.

     Guatemalan police said the victims of Sunday's massacre were bound and their bodies showed signs of torture. They were believed to have worked on the farm. Police found a message written in blood at the scene saying: "Salguero, we're coming for you." Police did not say who Salguero was. Authorities said soldiers were searching the area for the unidentified assailants and didn't offer a motive for the attack."This is a terrible event that we must clarify and investigate regardless of the consequences, whoever is the author of this massacre," said Guatemala Prosecutor General Claudia Paz y Paz. Late Sunday, authorities said they had found a wounded survivor of the massacre, who stayed alive by pretending to be dead. But officials did not release any details of what the survivor said. Guatemala is a major transshipment point for drugs, the U.S. State Department said in its latest narcotics report. Its weak law enforcement, rampant corruption and proximity to Mexico have drawn Mexican drug cartels into its border regions.

     In February, the government lifted a two-month-long state of siege that it had declared in Alta Verapaz province, which neighbors Peten province, during which security forces were sent to quell drug-related violence. The state of siege gave the army emergency powers - including permission to detain suspects without warrants - and resulted in the arrest of at least 20 suspected members of the Zetas. The Zetas are a group of ex-soldiers who began as hit men for Mexico's Gulf drug cartel before breaking off on their own, quickly becoming one of Mexico's most violent organized crime groups and spreading a reign of terror into Central America. They are notorious for their brutality, including beheading rivals and officials. Authorities have linked them to a series of massacres and mass graves in northern Mexico. The Zetas began controlling cocaine trafficking in the Alta Verapaz region in 2008 after killing "Juancho" Leon.

May 16, 2011

MICHEL MARTELLY SWORN IN AS HAITI'S NEW PRESIDENT

       PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI--Michel Martelly in his inaugural speech asked the people to join him in rebuilding their poor, earthquake-ravaged nation and said he would work to provide jobs, health and education. A big crowd roared approval of his words in Creole as they pressed against the railings of the crumbled white-domed presidential palace that was badly damaged in last year's devastating earthquake that killed over 300,000 people.  Speaking under a pavilion erected on the palace lawn, Martelly, 50, who is known as 'Sweet Micky' and had no previous government experience, stressed the populist promise of change that swept him to victory in a 20 March presidential runoff. His speech was heralded by a ceremonial blowing of conch shells, the crude trumpets used by the black slaves who rose up in a revolt that led to Haiti's independence from France in 1804.

     In the small but volatile Caribbean nation with a history of revolts and dictatorships, the inauguration marked the first time a democratically elected Haitian president handed over power to a freely elected leader from the opposition. Martelly also sought to reassure foreign donors who have pledged more than $10bn, most of it still undelivered, for Haiti's reconstruction.  He promised security and guarantees for investments and private property owners. Shouldering the daunting task of reconstruction in one of the world's poorest and most disaster-prone countries, Martelly earlier donned the red and blue presidential sash in a prefabricated UN supplied structure erected on the site of the old parliament building destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. Reflecting the rebuilding challenges facing the nation, a power outage left the swearing-in ceremony in semi-darkness.

     Among supporters at the inauguration was fellow musician and Haitian-American hip-hop star Wyclef Jean, who said Haitians were enthused by Martelly's dynamic promise of change. In his inaugural speech, Martelly repeated his promises to transform Haiti from a development basket case into a new Caribbean destination for investment and tourism that will provide jobs and better lives for its 10 million people. Managing high expectations, especially from the hundreds of thousands of destitute quake survivors who need jobs and homes, will be one of his biggest challenges. Martelly, who proposes restoring Haiti's disbanded army to eventually replace the more than 12,000 UN peacekeepers in his country, said he would not tolerate unrest or violence. Joining outgoing President Rene Preval at the inauguration ceremony were the presidents of Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, Honduras and Suriname, as well as other Caribbean leaders and representatives of major donor nations. Martelly won a popular mandate in a sometimes turbulent election protected by UN peacekeepers.

THOUSANDS PROTEST ACROSS SYRIA; AT LEAST 6 KILLED BY SECURITY FORCES

        DAMASCUS, SYRIA--Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters Friday, killing at least six people as soldiers tried to head off demonstrations by occupying mosques and blocking public squares, human rights activists said. A leading activist told The Associated Press that three people were killed in Homs, two in Damascus and one in a village outside Daraa, the southern city where the nationwide uprising began in March. He asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals by the government. In Damascus, the capital, three rallies were held - the largest number of protests held at one time in the city during the two-month revolt against President Bashar Assad.

     Thousands in Syria have persevered with the demonstrations, turning up in huge numbers on Fridays - the Islamic day of prayer - only to be met with bullets, tear gas and batons by security forces. One activist in Homs, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said security forces dressed in black and shadowly pro-regime gunmen known as "shabiha" were doing the shooting. He said the regime forces first fired in the air, then shot directly into the crowd as protesters continued their way. Human rights groups say that between 700 and 850 people have been killed since the start of the revolt against Assad's repressive regime.

     In Damascus, security forces fired tear gas in the Zahra neighborhood, forcing scores of people to disperse. In nearby Mazzeh, protesters ran away when security forces arrived. In Muhajereen, security forces used batons to scatter dozens of people, activists said. Assad has come under scathing criticism for the crackdown, with the United States and Europe imposing sanctions. On Friday, Britain summoned Syria's ambassador to warn that new sanctions will target the regime's hierarchy if Assad does not halt the country's violent crackdown on protesters. Syrian Ambassador Sami Khiyami was called in for talks with political director Geoffrey Adams - the second time in recent weeks he had been ordered to explain his government's actions. In several volatile areas of Syria, residents said soldiers occupied mosques and blocked off major public areas Friday to prevent people from leaving their homes. "The army has transformed major mosques in the city into military barracks where soldiers sleep, eat and drink," said a resident in the coastal town of Banias. "They've put up barriers and sandbags around the mosques."

VIOLENCE SPREADS ALONG ISRAEL'S BORDER AS PALESTINIANS COORDINATE PROTEST 

        JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israeli troops have fired at protesters along Israel's borders with Lebanon and Syria.  At least 15 people have been killed as thousands of Palestinians mobilized to mark the anniversary of the uprooting of Palestinians that resulted from the creation of the state of Israel.   It was supposed to be a series of nonviolent protests, the first coordinated move by Palestinians to try to overwhelm Israeli checkpoints along the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and along Israel's boundaries with Syria and Lebanon. At the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank town of Ramallah and Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinians - mainly young people - clashed with Israeli soldiers.  Some demonstrators threw rocks at soldiers who fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets. This 16-year-old Palestinian says he was hit by a rubber bullet.  He says he came to protest and vent what he feels about the Palestinians' situation.  He says he came to express his belief that the Palestinians will one day take back Jerusalem from the Israelis, including its Muslim holy places.

     As he was talking, demonstrators ran when Israeli soldiers moved in to disperse the crowd.  In the north, Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinians who breached a fence separating the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria.  Israel Defense Forces spokesman Captain Barak Raz said soldiers fired when the demonstrators cut through the fence. "We were met with thousands of violent rioters on the Syrian side of the border who at first attempted to and then successfully breached and infiltrated into Israel, making it into the center of the village of Majdal Shams.  We are talking about violent rioters who were hurling rocks," he said. Witnesses in Majdal Shams say the Palestinians described themselves as refugees living in Syria who said they were trying to return to their former homes. Along the border with Lebanon, several Palestinians were shot to death while trying to cross the Israeli boundary.  To the south, in Gaza, demonstrators tried to reach the Erez checkpoint separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.  Witnesses say Israeli forces fired at the demonstrators, wounding a number of them.

      At another point along Gaza separation barrier, Israeli forces say they shot one person.  Palestinian officials say the person died. Organizers have been planning the demonstrations for months.  They call it the first coordinated effort by Palestinian refugees or their descendents to enter Israel.   The effort comes after the main Palestinian rival factions signed a reconciliation agreement last month.   Palestinian activist Dr. Moustafa Barghouti, a vocal proponent of the agreement, took part in the demonstrations at Qalandia. "This reconciliation agreement brought unity to Palestinians and what you see today, Palestinians are unified, demanding ending the occupation, demanding ending apartheid, demanding their rights.  It is an uprising for freedom and this is one of the outcomes of the reconciliation agreement," he said. Palestinians each year mark the anniversary of what they describe as the Naqba, the event in 1948 in which hundreds of thousands fled or were forced from their homes at the creation of the State of Israel.

May 15, 2011

OSAMA BIN LADEN WANTED TO KILL PRESIDENT OBAMA AND HIS GRANDMOTHER

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--U.S. officials are analyzing one million pages of data from the trove found in Osama bin Laden’s compound during the raid that killed him, and say they have learned more in the past ten days than in the past 10 years. Among the things they’ve learned is that the al Qaeda leader wanted to find a way to kill President Obama. Meanwhile, the first revenge attack for the bin Laden raid has killed 80 outside a military training center in Pakistan, and President Obama has acknowledged that threats against his own grandmother from another al Qaeda group are being closely monitored.

     In the Kenyan village where she lives, the president’s 88-year-old step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, shrugged off death threats against her from an al Qaeda affiliate in East Africa called al Shabaab. “My life has not been affected in any way,” Sarah Obama told ABC News. “It has not restricted my movement.” But President Obama seemed more concerned when asked directly about his grandmother by a Miami Spanish-language television station. “There is no doubt that when it comes to the American people,” he told WLTV, “that after having killed bin Laden there may be a desire on some al Qaeda members to exact revenge and that’s something that we have to be vigilant about and we’re monitoring all these situations.”

     Bin Laden’s own writings discovered at his compound indicate he urged his followers to assassinate the President, and find ways to disrupt the 2012 American elections. “I would say this is probably very personal on bin Laden’s part, to kill a President that he believes has violated the Muslim faith,” said Brad Garrett,” an ABC News consultant and former FBI profiler. “He is incensed, inflamed, obsessed about killing the President.” In fact, the video of bin Laden watching television in his hideout shows that whenever President Obama came on the screen, bin Laden quickly tried to change the channel. It was President Obama who got bin Laden first. In Kogelo, Kenya, security has been increased around the home of President Obama’s step-grandmother. Kenyan police told ABC News they are patrolling round the clock after the threat from Al Shabaab. Sarah Obama has been protected ever since Obama became president, and security was added to her house the day after bin Laden was killed because of fear of reprisals. The number of patrolling officers has ballooned, however, since Al Shabaab’s threat was issued. One police chief told ABC News he now had enough officers “to patrol the entire village.”

DICTATOR GADHAFI SAYS HE IS ALIVE AND IN A PLACE WHERE NATO CAN'T GET TO AND KILL HIM 

        TRIPOLI, LIBYA--Taunting NATO, Moammar Gadhafi said Friday that he is alive despite a series of airstrikes and "in a place where you can't get to and kill me." The defiant audio recording was broadcast after the Libyan government accused NATO of killing 11 Muslim clerics with an airstrike on a disputed eastern oil town. Gadhafi had appeared on state TV but not been heard speaking since a NATO attack on his Tripoli compound two weeks ago, which officials said killed one of his sons and three grandchildren. In a brief recording played Friday on Libyan TV, Gadhafi said he wanted to assure Libyans concerned about a strike this week on his compound in Tripoli. "I tell the coward crusaders - I live in a place where you can't get to and kill me," he said. "I live in the hearts of millions."  He referred to a NATO airstrike on Thursday that targeted his Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli, claiming it had killed "three innocent journalist-civilians."

     On Thursday reporters were shown the airstrike damage by Libyan officials, including one who said Gadhafi and his family had moved away from the compound some time ago. One missile appeared to have targeted some sort of underground bunker at the compound - a sprawling complex of buildings surrounded by towering concrete blast walls Many people "driven by their love for me put in many calls to check on my well-being after they heard of the cowardly missile attack of the crusaders on Bab al-Aziziya last Thursday, May 12," Gadhafi said in the recording, which lasted just over a minute. "We are not targeting him, our targets are solely military," alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said in Brussels. Shortly before Gadhafi's remarks were broadcast, regime spokesman Moussa Ibrahim claimed that NATO had attacked Brega while dozens of imams and officials from around Libya were gathered there to pray for peace. Ibrahim said 11 imams were killed in their sleep at a guesthouse, and 50 people were wounded, including five in critical condition.

     One of the slain men was wearing beige military clothing. The alliance, responding to the claim, said it had attacked a military command-and-control center in Brega, 450 miles (750 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli. "We're very careful in the selection of our targets and this one was very clearly identified as a command center," said an official at NATO's operational headquarters in Naples, Italy, who spoke under the alliance's rules that he could not be named. Ibrahim rebutted comments from Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, suggesting that Gadhafi may have been wounded and possibly had fled Tripoli for some other place in Libya. "The leader is in very good health, high morale and high spirits," Ibrahim said. "He is in Tripoli, he is fighting... He is leading the country day by day." Imams accompanying Ibrahim when he announced the Brega attack said the slain clerics should be avenged. "We call upon Muslims all around the world to take revenge for our brothers," said imam Noureddin el-Mashrab. "For every man, he should take down 1,000 men."

PAKISTAN PARLIAMENT RESOLVES TO REVIEW RELATIONS WITH US

        ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--The PAKISTAN Parliament held an in-camera session lasting 13 hours and unanimously resolved to comprehensively review relations with US and the war on terror.It was also resolved that drone attacks in Pakistan are against its sovereignty and if any incident like the one in Abbottabad is repeated, it will lead to cutting off NATO oil supplies.

     The formation of an independent commission was agreed to investigate the US operation in Abbottabad. The commission would be formed after consultation with the prime minister and opposition leader. The commission would include judges and members of civil society. Earlier, the Director General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha said that after the Tora Bora operation, Osama Bin Laden became an enemy of Pakistan. He said that his supporters have been identified but with the presence of Afghans, it is impossible to control the situation.

      DG ISI Shuja Pasha said that Osama’s compound in Abbottabad was registered under a fake name. He said that Pakistan has scarified the most in the war against terror. The world over, a total of 102,500 US and NATO soldiers are fighting the war against terror while 146,000 Pakistani soldiers are fighting this same war. Pasha said that there are 112 check posts of the allied forces as opposed to the 812 f the Pakistani forces. He said that 2300 soldiers of the allied forces have been killed while 3500 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the war against terror. According to Pasha, nobody other than the Prime Minister expressed their condolences over the 78 officials of the ISI who have been killed. Pasha said that the actions of the United States were not expected from an ally in war against terrorism. He said that there is difference between India and the United States. – Dunya news

May 14, 2011

CATHOLIC OFFICIAL IN TRIPOLI SAYS GADHAFI LIKELY FLED TRIPOLI, NOT LIBYA

       ROME, ITALY--Moammar Gadhafi may have fled Tripoli and at least one Catholic official in Tripoli reports that the Libyan strongman has been hurt, the Italian foreign minister said Friday. Franco Frattini said that Tripoli's bishop has said Gadhafi is "probably wounded." Frattini stressed that Italy has "no hard information on the current fate of Gadhafi." Still, "I tend to take as credible the words of the Tripoli Archbishop (Giovanni) Martinelli who tells us that Gadhafi is very probably outside of Tripoli and probably also wounded," the ANSA news agency quoted Frattini as telling reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

    Frattini said "international pressure has likely provoked the decision by Gadhafi to seek refuge in a safe place." That comment came during a TV interview with Corriere della Sera that was posted on the newspaper's website. "I lean toward the solution of an escape from Tripoli, not an escape from Libya," Frattini said. "Libya is a big country, with desert areas." Martinelli has been a vocal critic of the NATO bombing campaign against the Gadhadi regime's forces.

    Gadhafi is expected to be among three Libyan officials targeted by arrest warrants to be issued Monday by the International Criminal Court. Gadhafi's compound has been a frequent site of NATO-led airstrikes, including an attack on April 30 where he is believed to have been inside but have escaped unharmed. Seeking to quell speculation he might have been killed, Libyan state TV this week showed Gadhafi meeting tribal leaders, apparently in a Tripoli hotel on Wednesday. Frattini said he had "many doubts that that footage had been made that day and especially in Tripoli."

AL QAEDA TERRORISTS'  'FIRST REVENGE' FOR BIN LADEN'S DEATH LEAVES 80 DEAD IN PAKISTAN

        ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN-- A pair of suicide bombers attacked recruits leaving a paramilitary training center in Pakistan on Friday, killing 80 people in the first retaliation for the killing of Usama bin Laden by American commandos. The Taliban claimed responsibility, blaming the Pakistani military for failing to stop the U.S. raid. The blasts in the northwest were a reminder of the savagery of Al Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan. They occurred even as the country faces international suspicion that elements within its security forces may have been harboring bin Laden, who was killed last week in a raid in Abbottabad, about a three hours' drive from the scene of the bombing. "We have done this to avenge the Abbottabad incident," Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, told The Associated Press in a phone call. He warned that the group was also planning attacks on Americans living inside Pakistan.

     The bombers blew themselves up in Shabqadar at the main gate of the facility for the Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped but front-line force in the battle against Al Qaeda and allied Islamist groups like the Pakistani Taliban close to the Afghan border. Like other branches of Pakistan's security forces, it has received U.S. funding to try to sharpen its skills. At least 80 people were killed, including 66 recruits, and around 120 people were wounded, said police officer Liaqat Ali Khan. Around 900 young men were leaving the center after spending six months of training there. They were in high spirits and looking forward to seeing their families, for which some had brought gifts, a survivor said. Some people were sitting inside public minivans and others were loading luggage atop the vehicles when the bombers struck, witnesses said. "We were heading toward a van when the first blast took place and we fell on the ground and then there was another blast," said 21-year-old Rehmanullah Khan. "We enjoyed our time together, all the good and bad weather and I cannot forget the cries of my friends before they died."

     The scene was littered with shards of glass mixed with blood and flesh. The explosions destroyed at least 10 vans. It was the first major militant attack in Pakistan since bin Laden's death on May 2, and the deadliest this year. Militants had pledged to avenge the killing and launch reprisal strikes in Pakistan. The Taliban spokesman suggested the attack was aimed as punishment against Pakistani authorities for failing to stop the unilateral U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, something that has sparked popular nationalist and Islamist anger. "The Pakistani army has failed to protect its land," Ahsan said. In its communications, the Taliban often tries to tap into popular sentiments in the country, where anti-Americanism is often stronger than feelings against Islamist militants. This is despite militant attacks over the last four years claiming the lives of many hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians.

TRIAL HEARING OF JUDGE MARIA LOURDES AFIUNI ADJOURNED

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Caracas 26th Trial Judge Alí Fabricio Paredes on Thursday adjourned the trial hearing of suspended Caracas 21st Control Judge María Lourdes Afiuni, according to information provided by Nelson Afiuni, brother of María Lourdes Afiuni.  "Afiuni entered the court room and asked her defense lawyers to leave. She gave a lecture in law and asked respectfully the judge (Alí Paredes) to refrain from hearing the case. The Judge (Paredes) therefore deferred the trial hearing," posted on Twitter Nelson Afiuni, the brother of the suspended 31st Caracas Control Judge.

    At 5:30 in the morning, as has been customary every Thursday in the last few months, Judge Afiuni was transferred from her residence to the courthouse, downtown Caracas, to appear in the administrative offices of Caracas Courhouse, as provided for under the house arrest order imposed by the 26th Trial Court. A National Guard convoy and a contingent of more than 15 troops guarded Afiuni while she was taken to court.

     Judge Afiuni also requested that the trial be conducted in the presence of international observers and media.   Judge Afiuni, facing the judge, said  that her  case was totally manipulated by Venice White and Judge Luisa Estella Morales and that there is no any crimes in the record that justify the sentence of 30 years in prison as they claim."   One of Afiuni’s lawyers  reported that the defense team has asked in writing to the Court Judgement, 26, for an extension of the filing of the judge 31 of Control to the administrative offices of the courts.  Paredes has three days to decide on the petition." Graterol also sent a message to the judge stating that: "There is nothing more manly than to be a feminist. Do not go chasing a woman just to move up in the Judiciary ladder. Be a man, sir," he said.

May 13, 2011

WALID MAKLED KEEPS SILENCE IN VENEZUELAN COURT

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Walid Makled decided to remain silent and refused to testify before Caracas First Control Judge Domingo Arteaga. Therefore, he disappointed those who expected the former Venezuelan businessman of Syrian descent to repeat his accusations against General-in-Chief Henry Rangel Silva, the Head of the Strategic Operational Command (SOC); General Luis Mota Domínguez, the National Guard Commander, and General Hugo Carvajal, the director of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin), or to come forward with new allegations against other military officers and top government officials.

     With Makled's decision, the arraignment hearing of "The Turk" -which started on Tuesday noon, suspended on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and resumed on Wednesday at noon- ended after 4 p.m. on Wednesday.  There were no surprises in the hearing. As expected, public prosecutors Marisela de Abreu, Betsy Andrade, Jhoana Peña and José Luis Sapiaín charged the alleged drug lord with the crimes of paid assassination, for allegedly ordering the murder of Venezuelan journalist Orel Sambrano and veterinarian Francisco Larrazábal.  Makled was also charged with illicit drug traffic, money laundering and conspiracy to commit a crime, for the drugs that were found in his family's ranch.

      At the same time, those who predicted that Makled would continue remanded in custody in the cells of the Sebin headquarters, located in Plaza Venezuela, north Caracas, were right.  This information, which was unofficially leaked in Caracas Courthouse, was later confirmed by the Attorney General Office, which convened a press conference for the second consecutive day with Leoncio Guerra, the head of the Organized Crime Division. However, the meeting with the press was suspended again.  The hearing lasted almost two days because public prosecutors requested the joinder of charges brought against Makled and his brothers Adel Makled García, Alex José Makled García, Al Chair Abdullah Makled García, Basel Makled García and Anderson Makled García on drug trafficking. Walid Makled's brothers are already being prosecuted.  After the arraignment hearing, the prosecutors have 45 days to accuse the alleged drug lord.

SECRETARY CLINTON BLASTS "BRUTAL" CRACKDOWN BY SYRIA'S ASSAD

        NUUK, GREENLAND-- In some of her strongest remarks yet on Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham said Thursday the brutal crackdown against protesters demonstrated the government's weakness, though she stopped short of saying President Bashar Assad must quit. Syrian soldiers and tanks surrounded the city of Hama, which President Bashar Assad's father laid waste to in 1982 to stamp out an earlier uprising, an activist said. Government forces also used clubs to disperse 2,000 demonstrators on a northern university campus.

     Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, is trying to crush an uprising that exploded nearly two months ago and is now posing the gravest threat to his family's 40-year ruling dynasty. The level of violence is intensifying as forces move into more volatile areas, and the United States called the crackdown "barbaric."  Clinton, in Greenland for talks about Arctic cooperation, repeated U.S. denunciations of the crackdown, which she said has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people since March. "They engage in unlawful detention, torture, and the denial of medical care to wounded persons. There may be some who think that this is a sign of strength. But treating one's own people in this way is in fact a sign of remarkable weakness," she said.

     The United States has edged closer to calling for Assad to go, after abandoning hope that he would make good on repeated promises of political reform. Clinton said Syria's future can only be secured by a government that reflects the popular will of its people. She added a warning about Syria's neighbor Iran, which has sought to expand its influence in Syria as some of Assad's global support peels away. "Relying on Iran as your best friend and your only strategic ally is not a viable way forward," Clinton said. Assad retains considerable international backing despite the protests, and there are no plans for an international intervention such as the U.N.-authorized no-fly zone over Libya.

NATO ROCKETS HIT GADHAFI COMPOUND AGAIN; AIM COULD BE TO KILL HIM 

        TRIPOLI, LIBYA--NATO missiles struck Moammar GadHafi’s compound early Thursday , government officials said, hours after the longtime leader appeared on state television to dispel rumors that he had died. Missiles could be heard screeching through the sky shortly after 3 a.m., followed by massive explosions that shook windows across the capital. Several sites inside Gadhafi’s expansive residential and governmental complex appeared to have been struck--including what seemed like an underground bunker next to the ruins of the building hit by airstrikes in 1986 and preserved by Gadhafi as a monument . NATO jets attacked Tripoli again overnight as the campaign to force out Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continues. The strikes followed an appearance by Gaddafi on Libyan TV.

     Moussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, said that three people had died in the attack on the Bab al-Aziziya compound and 27 were injured. The strikes appeared to be part of a stepped-up NATO campaign in recent days that reflects better coordination with Libyan rebels and has helped the rebels make significant advances in the key city of Misurata. Ibrahim denied that missiles had hit an underground bunker, saying that it was a sewage treatment tank, although reporters inspecting the remains could see an underground chamber stretching at least 30 feet deep that was built of reinforced concrete. Civilians have streamed into Gadhafi’s compound every evening since the NATO campaign started in mid-March, serving as human shields. Some civilians could be seen in the complex--which NATO also bombed March 20 and April 30--while it was being shown to foreign reporters Thursday.

    On Wednesday night, foreign journalists were apparently roped into the civilian shield role as well, without being aware of it. Gadhafi reportedly visited the hotel where accredited foreign journalists are being housed, in order to meet with tribal leaders.  The hotel, presumably the safest place in Tripoli to avoid NATO bombs because of the number of Western journalists known to be housed there, was clearly visible in footage of his appearance. But the visit was unannounced, and government minders kept journalists at the hotel unaware of it.  The visit was broadcast on state television, and constituted the first evidence Gadhafi was alive and in the country since the April 30 bombing of his complex, in which his youngest son was killed. In footage of Wednesday night’s meeting, the Libyan leader appeared frail, wearing dark glasses and speaking slowly. Hours after the latest missile strike, the government took journalists from the hotel to tour Gaddafi’s compound. They saw one damaged building that, according to government minders, had been also struck by bombings three weeks earlier. The minders described it as an administrative building.

May 12, 2011

FORMER PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA TO RETURN SOON TO HONDURAS

       TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Former President Manuel Zelaya will likely return to Honduras within a month, ending his exile nearly two years after the coup that ousted him, and aide and a key supporter said Wednesday. Conditions are right for Zelaya to return this month from the Dominican Republic after the Honduran Supreme Court dropped corruption charges against him, said Rasel Tome, a top aide of the former president.  "He has the will and desire to return to his homeland," Tome told The Associated Press.

     Zelaya's return could pave the way for Honduras to be reincorporated into the Organization of American States, which suspended the Central American country following the June 2009 coup. The United States and many other countries in the Americas have long since restored diplomatic ties with Honduras, but other nations, including Venezuela and Brazil, have balked. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said she was confident the OAS would restore Honduras. "Now that the obstacles to former President Zelaya's return to Honduras have been removed, I am confident that we will soon welcome Honduras back as a full member of the inter-American system," Clinton said Wednesday at the 41st Conference on the Americas in Washington. "That is a step that is long overdue."

     Juan Barahona, a leader of the pro-Zelaya National Popular Resistance Front, said Zelaya plans to return to Honduras before the June 5 OAS General Assembly meeting in El Salvador. "The day and hour that he will return has not been determined, but we will announce it publicly so that a massive number of people can welcome him at the airport," Barahona said. Zelaya was ousted by the military in a dispute over changing the Honduran Constitution. International sanctions and months of negotiations led by the U.S. and the OAS failed to persuade an interim government to restore Zelaya to power.  Current President Porfirio Lobo was elected in November 2009 elections that had been scheduled before the coup. The U.S. and other countries restored ties shortly after Lobo took office in January 2010. But Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and Ecuador have opposed restoring Honduras to the OAS unless Zelaya can return from exile without facing the threat of prison.

LIBYAN REBELS TAKE AIRPORT FROM GADHAFI TROOPS IN BESIEGED CITY OF MISRATA

        MISRATA, LIBYA-- Libyan rebels have captured the airport in Misrata from QadHafi troops Wednesday, the BBC reports. Witnesses tell the BBC that hundreds of rebels in the besieged city were celebrating after driving Libyan troops out.  This comes as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called for "an immediate, verifiable cease-fire" in Libya on Wednesday and said Muammar al-Qadhafi's government had agreed to another visit by a special envoy. The secretary-general said he spoke with Libya's prime minister by phone late Tuesday to urge a cease fire and demand unimpeded access for U.N. humanitarian workers there. He also called on Qadhafi's forces to stop attacking civilians. Ban said the prime minister, Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, agreed to receive a special U.N. envoy who would now travel to Tripoli to undertake "negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers."

     The U.N. chief said it would be the seventh such visit to Libya by his envoy, Abdul Ilah Khatib, a Jordanian politician and economist who has twice served as foreign minister. Ban pronounced the uprisings across North Africa and the Arab world a rare but fragile opportunity to advance democracy and human rights. He said the movements must be "nurtured and carefully handled by the people who created it." Ban called on all nations' patrol ships off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean Sea to help prevent more tragedies like the apparent deaths of all 600 African migrants aboard an overcrowded ship to Europe that broke apart within sight of the Libyan capital.

     "I'm disturbed by accounts of people fleeing the fighting, losing their lives at sea," Ban said. "I ask patrol vessels in the Mediterranean not to wait for distress signals to offer help. Any boat leaving Libya should be considered a boat in need of assistance and protection."  Ban said he approved of President Barack Obama's decision to send Navy SEAL commandos into Pakistan to kill Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden. "This operation was conducted under extremely difficult, extremely dangerous situations, and that's why I expressed my relief that justice was done to this mastermind of crimes," Ban said. Asked whether he believes NATO coalition forces are exceeding their U.N. authorization or should step their attacks to oust Qaddafi, Ban said those forces have a mandate "to take necessary military action to prevent Qaddafi forces (in their attempt) to kill those civilian population(s)."

ECUADOR REFERENDUM TIGHTENS

        QUITO, ECUADOR--Ecuador’s government accused the National Electoral Council of manipulating the vote count of Saturday’s controversial referendum to make it appear as if it was losing two of the 10 issues. With 51 percent of the vote counted on Tuesday, the National Electoral Council said the government was behind on two questions. On a plan to create a media-regulation board, the “no” vote was winning 44 percent versus 43 percent, according to the council’s website.

     A measure that would let the government create a technical commission to appoint judges for the next 18 months was also being voted down. According to official figures, 45 percent have voted against it, versus 44 percent for it. In a video posted on the presidential website, President Rafael Correa said the National Electoral Council was dragging its feet on counting the votes from the nation’s five largest provinces, which he said were overwhelmingly voting with the government. “This is how they manipulate public opinion,” he said. Since Saturday, when the final vote was cast, Correa has maintained that his administration won the “yes” vote on all 10 points. A tracking polls done the day before the vote by Cedatos, Ecuador’s Gallup affiliate, also predicted the government would win on all 10 questions.

     Saturday’s referendum was a hodgepodge of social and political questions. The mandatory vote asked Ecuadoreans to outlaw casinos and bullfighting, but also extend prison terms and bar financial institutions and media outlets from having investments in other industries. Correa has said the judicial reforms are needed to combat escalating crime in the Andean nation. But critics are worried he’ll use the new body to stack the courts. Correa, a charismatic populist, has been in a long-running fight with the media, often referring to them as the greatest enemy of his “citizen revolution.” In an interview on Ecuadorean TV Tuesday, Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño admonished local press for even suggesting the race was tight. “That’s not the case,” he told Ecuavisa TV. “We have won all 10 questions.”

May 11, 2011

IISS REPORT ON RAUL REYES' COMPUTERS POINTS DIRECTLY TO DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

       LONDON, ENGLAND--Venezuela's DICTATOR Hugo Chávez promised "USD 300 million" in 2007 to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to which Chávez provided political support and continued access to cross-border sanctuaries, according to a study of the e-mails and strategic documents of the computers owned by Raúl Reyes, a member of FARC's seven-man Secretariat, which was released Tuesday in London by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a leading think-tank based in the United Kingdom.  The report entitled The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador and the Secret Archive of "Raúl Reyes" claimed that the coming to power in 2007of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who allegedly "requested and accepted illegal funds from the FARC" during his political campaign, was for the Colombian guerrillas a "climax" of years of efforts to infiltrate Ecuador, AFP reported.

      These are the main findings of the report published by the IISS, after a two-year study of the e-mails and thousands of strategic documents obtained from three laptops, two hard drives and three USB pen drives that were found in the FARC camp where the former FARC number two leader "Raúl Reyes" was killed on March 1, 2008, after a Colombian bombing raid in Ecuador.  The report stressed that although the Colombian guerrilla arrived in Venezuela long before Chávez, its relationship with the Venezuelan Head of State strengthened when he took office in 1999.  "Since at least 2000, Chávez harbored the intention of providing financial support on a scale aimed at affecting the strategic balance in Colombia," the report highlighted. It added that in 2007 the Venezuelan president "promised USD 300 million to the rebel group."

     According to the documents found in Reyes' computers, it appears that Chávez did not fulfill his promise, although the IISS said that there is no indication that the offer was "withdrawn," as it mentions "some smaller transfers of money, weapons and ammunitions."  The alliance allowed the rebel group to access Venezuela's trading partners such as Belarus or China, which according to the IISS "expressed at different times their interest in providing weapons to the FARC by means of triangular arrangements through Venezuela's oil exports.  The files also show that Chávez provided "a significant political support to FARC in order to promote its legitimacy abroad" and "to undermine Colombian government's interests" and allowed them to "use freely the Venezuelan territory" with some "minor restrictions."  In this context, the IISS said that the resumption of relations between Caracas and Bogotá since Juan Manuel Santos took office is "unlikely" to "last."

IISS REPORT: VENEZUELA ASKED COLOMBIAN REBELS TO KILL OPPOSITION FIGURES

        LONDON, ENGLAND--Colombia’s main rebel group has an intricate history of collaboration with Venezuelan officials, who have asked it to provide urban guerrilla training to pro-government cells here and to assassinate political opponents of Venezuela’s president, according to a new analysis of the group’s internal communications. The book comes at a delicate stage in the FARC’s ties with Venezuela’s government. Chávez acknowledged last month for the first time that some of his political allies had collaborated with Colombian rebels, but insisted they “went behind all our backs.” The archive describes a covert meeting in Venezuela in September 2000 between Chávez and Reyes, the FARC commander whose computers, hard drives and memory sticks were the source of the files. At the meeting, Chávez agreed to lend the FARC hard currency for weapons purchases.

      In some of the most revealing descriptions of FARC activity in Venezuela, the book explains how Venezuela’s main intelligence agency, formerly known by the acronym Disip and now called the Bolivarian Intelligence Service, sought to enlist the FARC in training state security forces and conducting terrorist attacks, including bombings, in Caracas in 2002 and 2003. A meeting described in the book shows that Chávez was almost certainly unaware of the Disip’s decision to involve the FARC in state terrorism, but that Venezuelan intelligence officials still carried out such contacts with a large amount of autonomy.

      Drawing from the FARC’s archive, the book also describes how the group trained various pro-Chávez organizations in Venezuela, including the Bolivarian Liberation Forces, a shadowy paramilitary group operating along the border with Colombia. FARC communications also discussed providing training in urban terrorism methods for representatives of the Venezuelan Communist Party and several radical cells from 23 de Enero, a Caracas slum that has long been a hive of pro-Chávez activity. The book also cites requests by Chávez’s government for the guerrillas to assassinate at least two of his opponents. The FARC discussed one such request in 2006 from a security adviser for Alí Rodríguez Araque, a top official here. According to the archive, the adviser, Julio Chirino, asked the FARC to kill Henry López Sisco, who led the Disip at the time of a 1986 massacre of unarmed members of a subversive group. “They ask that if possible we give it to this guy in the head,” said Reyes, the former FARC commander.

COLOMBIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AVOID COMMENTING ON IISS REPORT ABOUT DICTATOR CHAVEZ'S RELATIONSHIP WITH FARC

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombia's Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín avoided commenting on a report released Tuesday in London by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a leading think-tank based in the United Kingdom, about the alleged relationship between the Colombian guerrilla of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Venezuelan and Ecuadorian governments.  "Venezuela already knew about this report. I talked to them about it. It is up to them to decide whether to comment it or not.

     We are not going to make any comments," Holguín said in an interview with Colombian radio station La W.  "I hope that this report does not make noise and somehow damages the path we have taken," said Holguín.   "I talked to the Foreign Minister (of Venezuela Nicolás) Maduro about the release of the report and we agreed to turn the page. I believe this new relationship, this new rapprochement we have had with Venezuela, as with Ecuador, forces us to turn the page and look forward," she added.  The IISS report stressed that although the Colombian guerrilla arrived in Venezuela long before President Hugo Chávez, its relationship with the Venezuelan Head of State strengthened when he took office in 1999.

     "Since at least 2000, Chávez harbored the intention of providing financial support on a scale aimed at affecting the strategic balance in Colombia," the report highlighted. It added that in 2007 the Venezuelan president "promised USD 300 million to the rebel group."  According to the documents found in Reyes' computers, it appears that Chávez did not fulfill his promise, although the IISS said that there is no indication that the offer was "withdrawn," as it mentions "some smaller transfers of money, weapons and ammunitions."

May 10, 2011

COLOMBIA SENDS REPUTEDS DRUG KINGPIN, WALID MAKLED, TO VENEZUELA

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA-- Colombia extraditED to Venezuela a man the White House has called an important international drug kingpin.  However, he was sent to Venezuela where Walid Makled is accused of drug trafficking and murder.

     His extradition by Colombia has generated a great deal of attention because Makled says some close associates of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez (generals and ministers) were his business partners, and has accused them of accepting bribes. Officials named by Makled have denied the accusations. Both Venezuela and the United States requested his extradition, but Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Chavez's "best friend," decided to turn him over to Venezuela. Makled was led handcuffed by police to a waiting Venezuelan jet at a Bogota air base Monday morning. The jet took off for Caracas.

     Makled arrived at Francisco de Miranda military airbase (La Carlota) on board the YV2670 aircraft, owned by state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa). He was taken to the headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) located in Plaza Venezuela, Caracas. Makled is expected to be transferred to the Caracas Courthouse and there he will be taken to the First Control Court.   Minister of Interior and Justice Tarek El Aissami will hold a press conference to provide details about the steps that will be taken in Walid Makled's case.  The businessman born in Tinaquillo (central state of Cojedes) has been accused of the murder of Venezuelan journalist Orel Zambrano and veterinarian Francisco Larrazábal, in addition to drug trafficking charges.

nato's secretary-general said that gadhafi and his regime "have no future"

        NAPLES, ITALY-- NATO's secretary-general told CNN on Monday that Moammar Gadhafi and his regime "have no future," but refused to predict how long the Libyan leader could hold on.  Anders Fogh Rasmussen denied that the situation in Libya had devolved into a "stalemate," insisting that NATO was "making progress" and had "taken out" a substantial part of Gadhafi's military capability.

     "I'm not going to guess about a timeline. I want a solution sooner rather than later," Rasmussen said. "It's hard to imagine an end to the violence as long as Gadhafi remains in power," he said, stressing that a political solution was required.  Gadhafi's forces have been inflicting a heavy toll on rebels in the port city of Misrata, survivors there have told CNN.  Survivors in Misrata -- the only city in western Libya held by rebels -- described what the carnage inflicted by indiscriminate shelling has wrought: crushed bones, burns and amputations.

     "They are shelling the port and civilian neighborhoods. It has become an operation of revenge, not just taking over the city of Misrata," said Ibrahim al-Neairy, a rebel who was injured in the fighting and evacuated to Benghazi. Mostafa Bozen, a spokesman for the rebels, said fighters attacked Gadhafi's forces about 22 kilometers (14 miles) from Tripoli, killing 12 and hitting a tank.

AFTER 52 YEARS OF DICTATORSHIP, CUBA CONSIDERS ALLOWING ITS CITIZENS TO TAKE TOURIST TRIPS ABROAD 

        HAVANA, CUBA-- After 52 years of dictatorship, Cuba is evaluating a move to end restrictions on Cubans' tourist trips abroad, according to a reform plan drafted in last month's Communist Party congress and published Monday.

      Cuba has limited its citizens' trips abroad for half a century. Since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959, Cubans' travels off the island have been gradually limited to only allow migration abroad and business trips. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cubans could take collective trips to the Soviet Union and other countries within the Soviet bloc. Nowadays, to be able to travel abroad, Cubans need letters of invitation filed at the relevant Cuban consulate by their host, and their exit needs to be approved by Cuban authorities.

     There is no specific timetable regarding plans to ease restrictions on travel--it may well takes another 52 years. It also remains to be seen how Cuban authorities intend to handle the case of dissidents, who are regularly denied permission to leave the island. The reforms approved by the Communist Party Congress includes separate measures on buying and selling homes and vehicles among private citizens, a practice which is not allowed in Cuba. The congress' proposals have yet to be made law.

May 9, 2011

SECRETARY ROBERT GATES: BIN LADEN DEATH MAY BE AFGHAN "GAME-CHANGER" 

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden "could be a game-changer" that would have a significant impact on the war in Afghanistan. Gates, speaking to about 450 airmen of the 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, said U.S. forces would probably be able to tell within six months whether bin Laden's death has had an effect on the war.

      "I think that there is a possibility that it could be a game-changer," Gates said while fielding questions from service members at the base near Goldsboro. "Bin Laden and (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar had a very close personal relationship and there are others in the Taliban who have felt betrayed by al Qaeda, (who felt) that it was because of al Qaeda's attack on the United States that the Taliban got thrown out of Afghanistan," he said. "So we'll have to see what that relationship looks like. Frankly I think it's too early to make a judgment in terms of the impact inside Afghanistan, but I think in six months or so we'll probably know if it's made a difference," Gates said, according to a Pentagon transcript of his remarks.

      Gates gave no indication that bin Laden's death would have an impact on the timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan. "We will begin the drawdown in Afghanistan in July. But at the same time ... we don't expect the transition to Afghan security lead to be completed until the end of 2014. So we will still have a robust presence in Afghanistan for at least the next three years," he said. Responding to a question about Pakistan's commitment to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, Gates acknowledged the relationship was "complex" but pointed to Pakistan's effort against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in its own tribal areas and the use of its territory as a U.S. supply route.

CUBAN DISSIDENT DIES FROM POLICE BEATING

        HAVANA, CUBA--JUAN WILFREDO SOT, A Cuban dissident, died Sunday following a run-in with authorities at a protest, said fellow government opponents who accused police of beating him and provoking his death. Soto died early in the morning in the central city of Santa Clara, fellow dissident Guillermo Farinas told The Associated Press in an interview by telephone from a funeral home where he said family members were gathered. Farinas said Soto was detained and beaten Thursday during an anti-government protest. Soto was hospitalized and Farinas said doctors told him he died of pancreatitis, but he said he had not seen a death certificate yet.

    Cuban authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and details of the protest and alleged beating. Pancreatitis has a number of possible causes, and Farinas acknowledged that Soto, 46, had a number of pre-existing health issues including diabetes, circulatory and heart problems, and gout. But Farinas said he believes police are responsible: "This killing cannot go unpunished." Little-known outside Santa Clara, Soto was among those who supported a 134-day hunger strike by Farinas last year to press for the release of political prisoners, a protest that the European Union recognized by awarding Farinas its Sakharov human rights prize.

    The government frequently calls the island's small community of dissidents "mercenaries," common criminals financed from the United States with the purpose of undermining the revolution.  Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the dissident Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, also linked Soto's death to his detention. "We believe that the blows he received were a catalyst," Sanchez said. "We do not think there was a political intent to kill him, but there was a struggle when he was yelling anti-government slogans." He alleged that there has been increased physical intimidation and violence against dissidents in the past two months.

GEN. DOUGLAS FRASER CALLED DRUG THUGS THE GREATEST THREAT IN AMERICA

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--The commander of the U.S. Southern Command said that the threat to U.S. security in Latin America comes not from any conventional source but rather transnational criminal organizations. Mexican drug cartels have cut a murderous swathe across the United States’ nearest southern neighbor and also threaten Central America, but Gen. Douglas Fraser of the Doral-based Southern Command said he wasn’t only talking about drug trafficking. Criminal gangs in the region, he said, are also involved in arms smuggling, bulk cash flows across borders and people smuggling.

     Speaking at the University of Miami Center for Hemispheric Policy’s Sixth Annual Latin America Conference, Fraser said Mexican cartels have representatives in more than 230 U.S. cities and lamented that many people in the United States don’t recognize U.S. drug demand “as a threat to our security.’’ “The traffickers are well-financed and very capable,’’ he said. While an estimated 35,000 deaths have been attributed to criminal gang-related violence in Mexico over the past five years, Fraser noted that there have been 67,000 homicides in Central America, which he has called the “deadliest zone in the world’’ outside Iraq and Afghanistan. “A drug-trafficking tsunami has befallen the region,’’ said Kevin Casas-Zamora, former vice president of Costa Rica and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

     As a result of U.S. and Mexican efforts to stem the flow of cocaine traffic through traditional Mexican land routes, Central America and the Caribbean have increasingly become the springboards for entry of Andean cocaine into the United States, said Arturo Sarukhan, Mexican ambassador to the United States. “We have to provide a holistic approach’’ to combating drug flows in the region, Sarukhan said. Otherwise, he said, trafficking will simply spread from one country to another. Far more help is needed from the U.S. on counter-narcotics efforts in Central America as well as more serious discussion in the United States on how to deal with narco-trafficking, Casas-Zamora said.  He noted that large numbers of young people who aren’t working or studying are easy targets for cartel recruitment in Central America. “Beneath organized crime lie very basic and unmet development challenges,’’ he said. “Contrary to what may be popular perception, we’re paying a huge amount of attention to Central America,’’ countered Daniel Erikson, a senior advisor in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

May 8, 2011

TOP US LATIN AMERICA DIPLOMAT, ARTURO VALENZUELA, RESIGNS

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. government’s top diplomat for Latin America, ARTURO VALENZUELA, will be leaving his post this summer as the Barack Obama administration struggles to engage its American neighbors.  In an email to staff members late Thursday, Valenzuela, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said he would be returning to his duties as professor of government at Georgetown University. “As you may know the University gave me a two-year leave of absence to serve in the Administration —and those two years have come to an end this spring,” he wrote in an email to colleagues. “Although the exact date of my departure has not been set, it will take place sometime later this summer.”

     The U.S. State Department would not immediately confirm the news.  Valenzuela took the post in November 2009 as newly elected Obama pledged to renew ties with Latin America. But the financial crisis in the United States and dual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq kept the administration distracted.  The State Department’s mixed reaction to a coup in Honduras in 2009 and its inability to effectively deal with Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez provoked criticism from U.S. politicians on the right. And despite initial attempts to reach out to Latin America’s emerging left, those diplomatic efforts have largely failed.

     Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador — all part of the ALBA group of center-left nations — are currently without U.S. ambassadors. In May, Mexico demanded the resignation of U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual after WikiLeaks publicized his memos in which he criticized that nation’s counternarcotics effort. “I have been deeply engaged in Hemispheric affairs for my en

COLOMBIA TO EXTRADITE WALID MAKLED OVER THE WEEKEND

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA-- Colombia's Foreign Minister María Angela Holguín said that alleged drug lord Walid Makled would be extradited to Venezuela over the weekend because the last documents required to proceed to his deportation arrived on May 5 from Caracas.  Miguel Angel Ramírez, Makled's defense lawyer, confirmed in a telephone interview with AP that the documents were received by officials of Colombia's Ministry of Interior and Justice.  "The documents from Venezuela arrived on Thursday (May 5)... I believe that the extradition will be carried out over the weekend...or on Monday (May 9)," Holguín said.

    The documents are human rights guarantees that Colombia requests from any country for extradition purposes. In such documents Venezuela undertakes not to sentence the detainee to death and to respect his human rights, Holguín explained.  Makled was arrested in August 2010 in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta and the United States had also filed an application for his extradition. However, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos decided to extradite Makled to Venezuela, claiming that Venezuelan authorities requested Makled's extradition first and that in Venezuela he is facing more serious charges than in the US, where he was charged with drug trafficking only. In Venezuela, Makled is to face charges for drug trafficking, murder and money laundering.

     These two elements: the application date and the severity of charges are considered key factors to decide to which country a person will be extradited, whenever he is required by more than one nation. Makled, a Venezuelan citizen of Syrian descent, has said in several interviews that he paid multimillion bribes to Venezuelan military officials and people close to President Hugo Chávez in return for political favors.

US DRONE STRIKE IN YEMEN FAILED TO KILL RADICAL CLERIC

        shabwa, YEMEN--  A U.S. drone strike in Yemen on Thursday was aimed at killing Anwar al Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric who is suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks on the U.S., but the missile missed its target, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing Yemeni and U.S. officials. The attack came days after a U.S. Navy SEALs team killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. Had Thursday's strike succeeded, the U.S. would have killed two of the most-wanted terrorists in a week. Awlaki has emerged as a leading charismatic front-man of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP, a group the U.S. considers the world's most active terror organization.

      With bin Laden's death, some officials believe Awlaki and the Yemen-based group now represent the gravest threat to the U.S. He has been linked to at least three major incidents -- the Ft. Hood shootings, the Christmas 2009 plot to blow up a U.S.-bound passenger plane and a plan to blow up cargo planes. The attack appears to be unrelated to intelligence information taken in the raid that killed bin Laden, whose death was confirmed by al Qaeda Friday in a statement that vowed to continue attacks on Americans. According to a Yemeni account of Thursday's strike, the U.S. launched two separate attacks within 45 minutes aimed at Awlaki in the southern province of Shebwa, which is considered an AQAP stronghold. The strike was conducted by the U.S. military, but the operation -- like the bin Laden raid -- appears to have benefited from close cooperation between the Department of Defense, the CIA and Yemeni officials.

      In the first strike, the U.S. fired three rockets at a pickup truck in which Awlaki and a Saudi national and suspected al Qaeda member were traveling outside the village of Jahwa, located some 20 miles away from the Shebwa provincial capital, said local residents and the Yemeni security official. Those missiles didn't hit their target. Two Yemeni brothers, who were known by local residents for giving shelter to al Qaeda militants, rushed to the scene of the attack. Awlaki switched vehicles with them, leaving the two Yemenis in the pickup. A single drone then hit the pickup truck, killing the Yemenis inside. Awlaki escaped in the other vehicle along with the Saudi. A Yemeni defense ministry official identified the two dead men as Musaid Mubarak al Daghari and his brother Abdullah. Unlike the bin Laden raid, which was carried out without Pakistani knowledge, the Yemeni government was a participant.  "The Yemeni government gave the U.S. authorities vital details of Awlaki's whereabouts in Shabwa days ago," said a senior Yemeni security official. The official said the Yemeni government had full knowledge of the attack ahead of the U.S. strike.

May 7, 2011

THREE DAYS AFTER BIN LADEN'S DEATH, A CIA DRONE ATTACK KILLS 15 TERRORISTS IN PAKISTAN

       PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN--The CIA carried out its first drone attack in Pakistan since Osama bin Laden's death in an American raid this week, killing 15 people in a hail of missiles near the Afghan border Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike targeted a vehicle suspected of carrying foreign militants in the North Waziristan tribal area, an al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold that has been subject to frequent missile attacks, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

     The aircraft fired eight missiles at the vehicle as it drove near a roadside restaurant, killing at least 15 people, including foreign militants, said the officials. At least one civilian died when the missiles damaged the restaurant and a nearby home, they said. It was unclear whether intelligence gleaned from the U.S. commando raid that killed bin Laden on Monday played a part in the drone strike. Drone attacks are extremely unpopular in Pakistan, and the most recent attack could further increase tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan that have spiked in the wake of bin Laden's death.

     Many U.S. officials have expressed skepticism of claims by Pakistani officials that they didn't know where bin Laden was hiding — even though he was found in a compound in the army town of Abbottabad, only about a two hours' drive from the capital. The U.S. refuses to publicly acknowledge the covert CIA drone program in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the attacks have killed many senior al-Qaida and Taliban commanders. Pakistani officials regularly condemn the attacks as violations of the country's sovereignty. But many are believed to privately support the program, and some of the drones are suspected of taking off from inside Pakistan.

SYRIAN SECURITY FORCES KILLED AT LEAST 30 DEMONSTRATORS

        DAMASCUS, SYRIA-- Syrian security forces opened fire Friday on thousands of DEMONSTRATORS demanding regime change, killing more than 30 people in a sign that President Bashar Assad is prepared to ride out a wave of rapidly escalating international outrage. The U.N. said it is sending a team into Syria to investigate and the European Union is expected to place sanctions on Syrian officials next week - both significant blows to Assad, a British-educated, self-styled reformer who has tried to bring Syria back into the global mainstream over his 11 years in power.

     In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. was pressing the Syrian government to cease "violence against innocent citizens who are simply demonstrating and trying to state their aspirations for a more democratic future."  Friday's protests spanned the nation of 23 million, from the capital to the Mediterranean coast and the arid northeast. The bloodshed was the latest spasm in what has become a weekly cycle of mass protests followed by a swift and deadly crackdown. But pressure was mounting on Assad, who insists the unrest is a foreign conspiracy carried out by "terrorist groups." More than 580 civilians and 100 soldiers have been killed since the revolt began, rights groups say. "What it looks like here is a systematic attack on a civilian population, a political decision to shoot to kill unarmed demonstrators and that could very well be a crime against humanity," Human Rights Watch counsel Reed Brody told AP Television News.

     Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, is determined to crush the revolt that has now become the gravest challenge to his family's 40-year dynasty. He has tried a combination of brute force, intimidation and promises of reform to crush the unrest, but his attempts have failed so far. Still, Syria is a highly unpredictable country, in part because of its sizable minority population, the loyalty of the military and the regime's web of allegiances to powerful forces including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Shiite powerhouse Iran. Serious and prolonged unrest are likely to hurt the regime's proxy in Lebanon - Hezbollah - and weaken Iran's influence in the Arab world. Even as protests were raging on Friday, Syria's prime minister announced the formation of a committee to study ways to combat corruption. In the past, the overtures would have been seen as significant concessions. But protesters were largely unmoved, inspired by the uprisings sweeping the Arab world and enraged at the mounting death toll in Syria.

france expels 14 libyan diplomats loyal to DICTATOR gadhafi

        PARIS, FRANCE--France on Friday ordered 14 diplomats loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to leave the country within 48 hours, the foreign ministry said. The 14 worked for Libya's embassy before it was shut about a month ago, said a ministry spokesman on condition of anonymity in line with the official protocol. The 14 have been deemed "persona non grata," and that they have between 24 to 48 hours to leave France, the ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.

    France has recognized Libya's opposition movement, and has been a major backer of a NATO-led military mission aimed to protect civilians from an onslaught by Gadhafi's forces. At a regular briefing on Friday, ministry spokesman Bernard Valero declined to specify what the diplomats had done to merit the expulsions, and noted that Vienna conventions on diplomatic relations allow a country to order home anyone for any reason. Meanwhile, after meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Russia's belief that a U.N. Security Council resolution that paved the way for the NATO-led operation "openly and clearly" forbids a possible land operation in Libya.

     Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the "sovereignty, independence and unity" of Libya's territory must be respected. Russia and China abstained in the Security Council vote and have both voiced concern about civilian casualties and excessive use of force since the operation began. Moscow has expressed worries that NATO's mission could evolve into a ground campaign. The opposition has outlined a political transition for the country if and when Gadhafi falls, announcing at the conference plans to install an interim government while a constitution is drafted and parliamentary elections held. The move to bolster the rebels and plot a Gadhafi-free future for Libya came despite a virtual military stalemate on the ground. Since the uprising against Gadhafi broke out in mid-February, the two sides have largely been stalled: A U.S. and now NATO-led bombing campaign launched in mid-March has kept Gadhafi's forces from advancing to the east, but has failed to give the rebels a clear battlefield advantage.

May 6, 2011

BELIEVE IT OR NOT! FORMER DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO CALLS AN "ABHORRENT DEED" THE "MURDER" OF BIN LADEN

       HAVANA, CUBA--FORMER DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO WHO, WITHOUT  TRIAL, MURDERED HUNDREDS  OF CUBANS IN THE SIERRA MAESTRA AND THOUSANDS AFTER THE TRIUMPH OF THE REVOLUTION, today  has called the U.S.’s killing of Osama Bin Laden “an abhorrent act,” and says the “assassination” in Pakistan violated that country’s laws, “offended” its national dignity and “desecrated” its religious traditions.  Castro, in the statement reported by Granma and also by the Cuban News Agency, said that “having assassinated (Bin Laden) and plunging his corpse into the bottom of the sea are an expression of fear and insecurity,” and that “this turns him into a far more dangerous person,” Castro believes.  Castro says that after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, “our people expressed its solidarity with the US people,” and that at that time Cuba offered “modest” assistance in the “area of health” to the 9/11 victims. But, he says, it cannot be “conceal(ed)” that Bin Laden was “executed in front of his children and wives, who are now under the custody of the authorities of Pakistan.”

      Castro says that while the attacks on 9/11 were “brutal,” the actions of the U.S. since then has resulted in “unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” and that as a result of those wars  “hundreds of thousands of children were forced to grow up without their mothers and fathers and the parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace.” The former Cuban leader also included his criticism of the U.S.’s actions at its Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, which Castro calls an “occupied Cuban territory.” He said “horrible images” from the base were “still engraved in the minds of hundreds of millions," and called actions there “unbearable and excruciating tortures.”

     Castro believes that after the “initial euphoria” of Bin Laden’s killing in the U.S., public opinion will end up “criticizing the methods used,” and that the act will “multiply the feelings of hatred and revenge against them (U.S. citizens).”  Although it is normal for Castro to offer criticism of American actions in international events, the international organization Human Rights Watch calls Cuba a country that is “repressive” and says the Cuban government continues to create a “climate of fear that has a profound impact on dissidents and Cuban society as a whole.”  Castro and his Communist forces overthrew the Cuban Batista government in 1959 and he has, in effect, ran the country ever since although he turned over the office of President in February 2008 to his brother Raul Castro. Castro retained the position as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba until April 19, 2011, when he also turned that role over to Raul Castro.

ALLIES OFFER LIBYAN REBELS CASH LIFELINE

        rome, italy--Cash-strapped Libyan rebels won a financial lifeline potentially worth billions of dollars from the United States and other allies on Thursday, as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi pounded rebel towns in the west. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would seek to unlock some of the $30 billion of Libyan state funds frozen in the United States to help the rebel movement. Italy, host of a meeting in Rome of the "contact group" on Libya, said a temporary special fund would be set up by allied nations to channel cash to the rebel administration in its eastern Libyan stronghold of Benghazi.

     Kuwait pledged $180 million to the fund, while Qatar promised $400-500 million, Qatar's prime minister said. France said it was evaluating its contribution to the fund, which should be operational within weeks. A rebel spokesman in Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, said pro-Gaddafi forces had fired about 50 Russian-made Grad rockets into the rebel-held town so far on Thursday. The spokesman, Abdulrahman, said the first salvo landed at about 6:45 a.m. (12:45 a.m. EDT). He said NATO air strikes had destroyed at least two government helicopters near Zintan as they were being transported on trucks. A Libyan man who fled the town of Nalut, near the border with Tunisia, said it was under bombardment. Ayub, who left Nalut earlier on Thursday, told Reuters after crossing the border into Tunisia: "They are firing from a mountain about 10 km (6 miles) to the east of Nalut. They are firing Grads." This is the first time there have been reports of Nalut coming under bombardment.

      As the fighting has generally descended into a stalemate, the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) says it needs up to $3 billion to keep going in the coming months. But efforts to unblock Libyan state assets frozen in overseas accounts or to allow the rebels to get past U.N. sanctions that prevent their selling oil on international markets have been held up so far. Clinton said Washington hoped to change the law to allow it to use some of the more than $30 billion of frozen Libyan assets in the United States to help the Libyan people. "I'm pleased to announce that the Obama Administration, working with Congress, has decided to pursue legislation that would enable the U.S. to tap some portion of those assets owned by Gaddafi and the Libyan government in the United States, so we can make those funds available to help the Libyan people," she said. As ministers gathered in Rome, Clinton said: "We'll be discussing a financial mechanism, we'll be discussing other forms of aid."

SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 20 POLICEMEN IN CENTRAL IRAQ

        BAGHDAD, IRAQ--A suicide car bomber rammed his explosive-packed vehicle into a barrier outside a police building in central Iraq on Thursday morning, killing 20 police officers and wounding dozens more, a local councilman said. The blast is the second significant attack in Iraq since the death of Osama bin Laden Monday at the hands of a U.S. commando team in Pakistan. Iraqis have been on edge, waiting for al-Qaida's branch in Iraq to strike back as a way to demonstrate it is still dangerous.

     Iraqi officials have said they are increasing security in the wake of bin Laden's killing. Already security is vastly improved since the days when bin Laden's associates terrorized the country, but Thursday's deadly attack underscored how difficult it is for Iraq to wipe out all traces of the insurgency. Iraq also faces the withdrawal of the remaining American forces - about 46,000 troops - from Iraq by the end of this year, a prospect that many Iraqis fear will leave their country more vulnerable to violence. A police official said the bomber hit when officers were assembling in a square in front of the police building for a shift change in the city of Hillah, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of the capital Baghdad.

     A member of the region's Babil Provincial Council, Hamid al-Milli, said 20 policemen were killed and 40 more were wounded in the bombing. He said the car was believed to have been loaded with about 330 pounds (150 kilograms) of explosives. The attacker sped toward the police building and the guards did not have a chance to shoot at him, he said. A witness at the scene said the blast knocked down the concrete ceiling covering a parking lot where many police cars were parked. The fact that the bomber was able to wipe out so many policemen in one blast immediately raised questions about security at the building. "The incident is definitely a security breach and all the security services in the province, especially the police command, are held responsible for that," said Mansour al-Mani'i, a member of the Hillah council.

May 5, 2011

INTERPOL ISSUES INTERNATIONAL ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST GADHAFI AND 15 OTHER LIBYANS

       PARIS, FRANCE--Interpol has issued a global alert known as an Orange Notice against Colonel Muammar GadHafi and 15 other Libyan nationals, including members of his family and close associates, the Lyon-based international police organization said on Friday.  "As a first priority, we must work to protect the civilian population of Libya and of any country into which these Libyan individuals may travel or attempt to move their assets,” said Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble.

     Interpol said it would cooperate with the International Criminal Court whose prosecutor said on Wednesday he was formally opening an investigation into crimes against humanity in Libya by Gadhafi, his sons and key aides amid allegations that forces loyal to the strongman have used heavy weaponry against civilians in a bid to quell the uprising which broke out in mid-February. Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed in the unprecedented revolt against Gadhafi's 42-year rule of Libya.  Gadhafi and his sons are determined to hold onto power and save their skins by every means possible, even if it takes a bloodbath, regime insiders and diplomat say. Libyan security forces used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters after Friday prayers in Tripoli - a Gadhafi stronghold - amid a heavy military presence on main roads around the Tajoura district where demonstrators reportedly burned the official Libyan flag. 

     A wave of detentions, killings and disappearances has been reported in Tripoli in recent days and bodies of missing people have reportedly bee left in the street.  At least 30 civilians have been killed after security forces loyal to Muammar Gadhafi, Libyan leader, attempted to retake the rebel-held town of Zawiyah, near the capital Tripoli, that has for days been defying his rule, according to witnesses. Pro-Gadhafi forces have also been trying to re-take strategic cities in the rebel-controlled east of the country. Heavy shelling and machine gun fire has been reported near Ras Lanuf, the eastern oil port located 660 kilometres from Tripoli.  Libyan forces carried out an air strike near a military base on the western outskirts of the Mediterranean port town of Ajdab

fatah, hamas reconciliation pact ends 4-year rift

        cairo, egypt-- Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have proclaimed a landmark, Egyptian-mediated reconciliation pact aimed at ending their bitter four-year rift. The ceremony took place Wednesday at the Egyptian intelligence headquarters in Cairo. Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the accord ends "four black years" that hurt national Palestinian interests. He also said at the ceremony that he would soon visit Hamas-held Gaza Strip. The pact provides for the creation of a joint caretaker Palestinian government ahead of national elections next year.

     International mediators should drop their demand that the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers recognize Israel, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday, just hours before his Western-backed government was to sign a reconciliation deal with Hamas. The accord, to be inked in Cairo, would end a four-year rift between the bitter rivals and pave the way for a joint caretaker government ahead of national elections next year. Israel has denounced the plan for Abbas' Fatah movement to join forces with Hamas because of the militant group's long history of deadly attacks against Israeli targets, and has equated the deal with a renunciation of peacemaking. Like the United States and the European Union, Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization and says it will not negotiate with a future Palestinian government that includes the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group. It's not clear whether Western powers would deal with the new government that is to emerge from the unity deal. They've said they are waiting to see its composition.

     The Quartet of Mideast mediators – the U.S., the EU, the United Nations and Russia – has long demanded that Hamas renounce violence and recognize the principle of Israel's right to exist. But Abbas aide Nabil Shaath told Israel Radio ahead of Wednesday's signing that these demands "are unfair, unworkable and do not make sense." The only thing the Quartet needs to know, he said, is that Hamas "would refrain from any violence ... and be interested in the peace process." Hamas and other Palestinian militant factions in Gaza have agreed to abide by an unofficial truce with Israel, largely in place since Israel's January 2009 war in the territory. But it is unclear how long that truce will last, and Hamas has consistently rejected negotiations with Israel. The reconciliation deal is designed to unify the dueling Palestinian governments that emerged after Hamas violently wrested control of Gaza from security forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007, leaving his Fatah controlling only the West Bank.

us to examine possible sanctions against venezuelan dictator hugo chavez

        washington, d.c.--The US House of Representative's Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing to examine the Venezuelan government activity and determine whether it must be subject to sanctions.  The hearing, which will be attended by senior US administration officials, was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, but was postponed due to the death of Saudi terrorist Osama Bin Laden, which forced the Congress to change the agenda.

    Some of the officials who will determine whether Venezuela's activities will be punished with sanctions are Daniel Benjamin, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State; Robert Cekuta, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy, Sanctions & Commodities at US Department of State and Adam Szubin, an official at the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Treasury Department.

     Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla, who is the Chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, has accused Venezuela of violating the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Disinvestment Act of 2010 imposed by the United States against Iran.  "I have repeatedly said that Venezuela is violating US sanctions on Iran- now, you do not have to take it from me. Hugo Chávez and Pdvsa are actively helping Iran bypass both US and international sanctions in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. These sanctions were carefully crafted as a nuclear determent strategy to protect US interests and allies. If it were important to the Administration, it would act immediately," Mack said.

LAS ALEGACIONES DEL BEZNOCA
 

May 4, 2011

TURKEY ASKS GADHAFI TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY "FOR THE SAKE OF HIS COUNTRY"

       ISTANBUL, TURKEY--Turkey escalated the pressure on Moammar Gadhafi on Tuesday despite its long-standing ties to the Libyan leader, with its prime minister insisting Gadhafi must immediately leave "for the sake of his country's future." Gadhafi has ignored calls for change in Libya and instead preferred "blood, tears and pressure against his own people," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference in Istanbul. "We wish that the Libyan leader immediately withdraw from the administration and leave Libya for his own sake and the sake of his country's future without leading to further destruction, tears and bloodshed," Erdogan said.

     He said if Gadhafi did take such a step, diplomats would arrange for his safety and for his departure to a country that will host him. Erdogan did not say whether any country was ready to accept Gadhafi in exile. Turkish leaders had previously gently urged Gadhafi to meet demands for change from the rebellious opposition, then suggested that he step down. But Erdogan's comments Tuesday were his strongest public message to Gadhafi yet. Erdogan said Gadhafi, who lost his second youngest son and three of his grandchildren Saturday in a NATO bombing, must be suffering from "great grief" but must understand that the Libyan people are also suffering under his attacks. "We want to remind that the Libyan people feel the same grief and urge him to feel their pain and take this inevitable step to prevent further pain," Erdogan said.

     On Monday, Turkey temporarily closed its embassy in Tripoli due to deteriorating security and its staff were evacuated to Tunisia, a move that came a day after vandals attacked and burned the British and Italian embassies and a U.N. office there. The U.N. has withdrawn its international staff. The Turkish consulate in the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi remains open. Turkey initially balked at the idea of military action in Libya, but as a NATO member it is helping to enforce an arms embargo on Libya and volunteered to lead humanitarian aid efforts. Last month, Erdogan proposed a peace plan for Libya, urging forces loyal to Gadhafi to withdraw from besieged cities and calling for the establishment of humanitarian aid corridors and comprehensive democratic change. Turkey has vast trade interests in Libya. Turkish companies have been involved in lucrative construction projects worth billions of dollars, building hospitals, shopping malls and five-star hotels there before the uprising began. 

CHINA CALLED THE KILLING OF OSAMA BIN LADEN A LANDMARK EVENT

        BEIJING, CHINA--China called the killing of Osama bin Laden a landmark event in the fight against global terrorism and expressed support for close ally Pakistan amid suggestions Islamabad's security forces may have sheltered the world's most wanted man. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday that bin Laden's death in a U.S. raid on his Pakistani hide-out was a "milestone and a positive development for international anti-terrorism efforts."

     China calls for closer international cooperation in attacking terrorism and its root causes, Jiang told a regularly scheduled news conference Tuesday, repeating the text of a statement issued the night before. She said terrorism is the common enemy of the international community and that China has also been a victim. Beijing says Muslim militants fighting for independence in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have links to international terror rings.

     Bin Laden was killed in a large house close to a military academy in the northwestern Pakistan town of Abbottabad, not in the remote Afghan border region where many had assumed he was hiding. That has been taken as a sign of possible collusion with Pakistan's security establishment, which Western officials have long regarded with suspicion. Jiang said China had no doubts about Pakistan's determination in fighting terrorism, and that its actions had proven effective and were an important contribution to the global struggle. "On this point, we really should not have any doubts," Jiang said. The Chinese and Pakistani armed forces have close ties dating back decades, based largely on mutual suspicion of common neighbor India.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ CALLS FOR AN END TO THE "US OCCUPATION" IN CENTRAL ASIA

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The government of DICTATOR  Hugo Chávez reacted to the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden by demanding  the United States to put an end to what Venezuela termed as the violence unleashed in the region. The Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded on Monday an immediate end to "the occupation and violence" unleashed by the United States in Central Asia "with the alleged intention to neutralize" Osama bin Laden, following the death of whom the statement described as "a known terrorist" and "obscure figure."

     The Foreign Ministry made this request "assuming that the announced death of bin Laden is true," according to a statement released on Monday. The Venezuelan government added that the US methods are "outrageous" and "illegal," as they fight terrorism with more terrorism, Efe reported.  "You can not fight terror with terror, or violence with more violence," said the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, after the US military operation that killed on Sunday Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, "without the knowledge of the country's authorities," the Venezuelan government highlighted.

     The statement added that the Al Qaeda leader was an "obscure figure, trained and armed by the US intelligence agencies," that "later used his terrorist practices against the United States" to become "the best excuse for the ongoing war against the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan."  Venezuela also expressed "its solidarity with the people of the United States, particularly the relatives of the victims of the attack on September 11, 2001," attributed to bin Laden, and reaffirmed "its unconditional condemnation to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, its repudiation of all forms of violence, and its commitment to peace."  Earlier, Venezuela's Vice-President Elías Jaua criticized the celebrations of the death of the Al Qaeda leader and warned against the use of murder as a tool to solve problems."

NO TODA LA CARROÑA ES COMESTIBLE...
 

May 3, 2011

AMERICANS GATHER JOYFULLY TO MARK OSAMA BIN LADEN'S DEATH

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--Joyous at the release of a decade's frustration, Americans streamed to the site of the World Trade Center, the gates of the White House and smaller but no less jubilant gatherings across the nation to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden - cheering, waving flags and belting the national anthem. Ground zero, more familiar these past 10 years for bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace" and solemn speeches and arguments over what to build to honor the Sept. 11 dead, became, for the first time, a place of revelry. "We've been waiting a long time for this day," Lisa Ramaci, a New Yorker whose husband was a freelance journalist killed in the Iraq war, said early Monday.  Uptown in Times Square, dozens stood together on a clear spring night and broke into applause when a New York Fire Department SUV drove by, flashed its lights and sounded its siren. A man held an American flag, and others sang "The Star-Spangled Banner."

     In Washington, in front of the White House, a crowd began gathering before President Barack Obama addressed the nation late Sunday to declare, "Justice has been done." The throng grew, and within a half-hour had filled the street in front of the White House and begun spilling into Lafayette Park. "It's not over, but it's one battle that's been won, and it's a big one," said Marlene English, who lives in Arlington, Va., and lobbies on defense issues. She said she has baked thousands of cookies to send to friends serving in Iraq and Afghanistan over the years and that she was at the White House because they couldn't be. The celebrations began to come together late on Sunday night, after Americans began hearing about the death of bin Laden from bulletins on television, texts and calls from family and friends and posts on social networking sites.

     Bin Laden was slain in his luxury hideout in Pakistan, early Monday local time and late Sunday night in the United States, in a firefight with American forces. Obama said no Americans had been harmed in the operation. As news of the president's announcement began to filter across the country, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies were in the middle of a game in Philadelphia, and chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" began in the top of the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Fans could be seen all over the stadium checking their phones and sharing the news. The chant - "U-S-A! U-S-A!" - echoed in Dearborn, Mich., a heavily Middle Eastern suburb of Detroit, where a small crowd gathered outside City Hall and waved American flags. Across town, some honked their car horns as they drove along the main street where most of the Arab-American restaurants and shops are located. There were smaller, spontaneous gatherings around the nation - a handful of Idahoans who made their way to the state Capitol in downtown Boise, a small group who waved flags and cheered on an Interstate 5 overpass south of Seattle known as Freedom Bridge.

SECRETARY HILLARY CLINTON: THE DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN DOESN'T END WAR ON TERROR

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is not the end of the war on terrorism and warned the network's members that the United States would be relentless in its pursuit of them. Clinton said bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. forces in Pakistan nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks proved the United States was committed to tracking down the perpetrators of extremist violence and bringing them to justice. "Even as we mark this milestone, we should not forget that the battle to stop al-Qaida and its syndicate of terror will not end with the death of bin Laden," she said. Turning to deliver a direct message to bin Laden's followers, she vowed: "You cannot wait us out. You cannot defeat us but you can make the choice to abandon al-Qaida and participate in a peaceful political process."

    Clinton's message comes as the U.S. and its partners in Afghanistan are trying to convince Taliban militants to renounce ties with al-Qaida and join Afghan society as part of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's reconciliation program. She said the U.S. would continue to boost counterterrorism cooperation with other nations, including Pakistan. Clinton also said the U.S. was committed to supporting the people and government of Pakistan and defending their people and democracy from violent extremism. She said that bin Laden had also declared war on Pakistan and had ordered the killing of Pakistani men, women and children. Clinton said that history would record that bin Laden's death had come at a time when people in the Middle East and North Africa were rejecting the "extremist narrative" and were standing up for freedom and democracy. She said there was "no better rebuke to al-Qaida and its heinous ideology."

     Shortly after President Barack Obama announced bin Laden's death, the State Department issued a worldwide travel alert, warning U.S. citizens traveling or living overseas of the heightened risk of anti-American violence in the wake of the operation. It did not specify individual countries of concern, but on Monday the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, as well as the U.S. consulates in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar were closed for all but emergency services. The embassy in Islamabad released a notice advising Americans "of the possibility of violent protests and demonstrations in major cities of Pakistan," specifically near the U.S diplomatic missions. "Spontaneous protests in reaction to the recent events could erupt at any time at locations perceived as Western, including restaurants and areas where foreigners are known to congregate and may turn violent," it said.

DNA CONFIRMS OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD...REALLY DEAD

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--A DNA match confirms Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. operation, a senior administration official told CNN Monday.  There are also photographs of the body with a gunshot wound to the side of the head that shows an individual who is not unrecognizable as bin Laden, a U.S. government official said. No decision has yet been made on whether to release the photographs and if so, when and how.  The mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- the worst terrorist attacks on American soil -- was killed by U.S. forces Monday in a mansion in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, U.S. officials said. Four others in the compound also were killed. One of them was bin Laden's adult son, and another was a woman being used as a shield by a male combatant, the officials said.

     A U.S. government official told CNN the operation that killed the founder and leader of al Qaeda was designed to do just that, not to take him alive. But another senior U.S. official told CNN the operation included instructions to arrest bin Laden alive if he surrendered -- however, no one involved expected that he would surrender.  Details of exactly how the raid played out have not been released.  The successful operation sends a message to the Taliban in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.  "You cannot wait us out. You cannot defeat us. But you can make the choice to abandon al-Qaida" and participate in a peaceful political process, Clinton said.  "There is no better rebuke to al-Qaida and its heinous ideology," she said. "The fight continues and we will never waver."

     Some doubted that the terrorist leader would ever be caught, she said, but "this is America... We persevere, and we get the job done."  Clinton also noted that bin Laden's death comes at a time of "great movements toward freedom and democracy."  Bin Laden's body was later buried at sea, an official said. Many Muslims adhere to the belief that bodies should be buried within one day.  The official did not release additional details about the burial, but said it was handled in keeping with Muslim customs.  The death of the founder and leader of al-Qaida comes almost 10 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The announcement in the United States of bin Laden's death came on the same date -- May 1 -- that Adolf Hitler's death was announced in 1945.  Terrorists "almost certainly will attempt to avenge" the death of Osama bin Laden, CIA Director Leon Panetta said in a message sent to agency employees.

May 2, 2011

LIBYANS BURN UK, ITALY MISSIONS AFTER GADHAFI'S SON IS KILLED

        TRIPOLI, LIBYA--Angry mobs attacked Western embassies and U.N. offices in Tripoli Sunday after NATO bombed Moammar Gadhafi's family compound in an attack officials said killed the leader's second-youngest son and three grandchildren. Russia accused the Western alliance of exceeding its U.N. mandate of protecting Libyan civilians with the strike.  The vandalized embassies were empty and nobody was reported injured, but the attacks heightened tensions between the Libyan regime and Western powers, prompting the United Nations to pull its international staff out of the capital.  

      After news of the Gadhafi’s son death  spread in Tripoli, an angry mob burned down the British embassy buildings, including the ambassador's residence, the British Foreign Office said. Britain has taken a leading role in supporting the rebels.  Only burned shells remained, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, adding that the buildings had been "ransacked, vandalised and completely destroyed."  After the attack, a police vehicle was parked outside the British embassy. The fire had damaged a nearby car, an embassy war memorial plaque and the British coat of arms emblem above the embassy entrance.

      The Italian embassy in Tripoli was also burned, the Italian Foreign Ministry said, accusing the Gadhafi regime of failing to take measures to protect foreign missions. Italy withdrew its diplomats weeks ago and promised the attack on the embassy "will not weaken" its determination to continue with its partners in that mission.  A Libyan anti-Gadhafi activist who toured Tripoli said the U.S. Embassy was also damaged with scorch marks outside the building's windows and a green Libyan flag draped over the roof on one side. The windows in the guard shack at the entrance were smashed, said the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.  Vandals also entered empty U.N. offices in Tripoli and some vehicles were taken, according to Stephanie Bunker, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Bunker said 12 foreign staffers left for neighboring Tunisia because of the unrest.

BRITISH GOVERNMENT EXPELS LIBYA DIPLOMAT AFTER EMBASSY ATTACK  IN TRIPOLI

        LONDON, ENGLAND-- Libya's ambassador to the UK is being expelled after the British embassy in Tripoli was attacked.  Foreign Secretary William Hague said Omar Jelban was "persona non grata" and had been given 24 hours to leave the country. Diplomatic missions belonging to a number of Nato states have been targeted after an airstrike reportedly killed Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son and three of his grandchildren. All that remains of what was the British embassy building is a burnt-out shell.

     Mr Hague said: "I condemn the attacks on the British Embassy premises in Tripoli as well as the diplomatic missions of other countries. "The Vienna Convention requires the Gaddafi regime to protect diplomatic missions in Tripoli. By failing to do so that regime has once again breached its international responsibilities and obligations. "I take the failure to protect such premises very seriously indeed. "As a result, I have taken the decision to expel the Libyan Ambassador. He is persona non grata pursuant to Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and has 24 hours to leave the country. "The attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya."

     Meanwhile, a UN spokeswoman has confirmed international staff are preparing to pull out of Tripoli because of the unrest in the capital. And in the Libyan city of Misratah, rebels are said to be fighting for control of the city's airport from forces loyal to Col Gaddafi. A rebel spokesman said: "Fierce fighting is taking place for control of the airport. "The revolutionaries are making progress. They will manage to secure full control soon, God willing."

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ CONDEMNS DEATH OF GADHAFI'S SON IN NATO ATTACK

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chavez is condemning the killing of one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons and three of his grandchildren in a NATO airstrike in Libya. Chavez asked how some European leaders such as those of Spain, France and Italy can continue to support the airstrikes in Libya. A NATO airstrike Saturday night killed the youngest son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and three of his grandsons at his son's home in Tripoli, the Libyan government said Ibrahim Musa, a Libyan spokesman.  The Libyan dictator and his wife survived, despite being inside the building, the spokesman added. "All governments must be respected, the powers of heads of state and sovereignty of the countries ... but who can support this madness, I do not know how Europe supports this," Chavez said in a televised speech.

     The Venezuelan dictator, who is considered a good friend of the Libyan dictator, has vehemently rejected the international military actions, like Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia. Chavez said he was not surprised that United States support such deadly military action. "With the Yankees (Americans) everything is possible, but that a government like Spain, a government like Italy, which until recently did business with Qaddafi and where he was well received not long ago… the government of France and they also talk about human rights but they are killing innocent people in Libya "

    Chavez said  that through diplomatic channels "a cease fire can be reached and also respect to the sovereignty of the Libyan nation" The South American leader proposed two months ago the creation of an international commission of peace to stop the fighting in Libya. Chavez reiterated his criticism of the United States and its European allies. "How long are they going to believe that  the Americans and their NATO allies have the right to bomb the world and end the world? What madness is this?" He asked himself. Chavez called on the leaders of Spain, France and Italy, the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to reflect on the role they have in the military offensive in Libya .  “Without any doubts, they have given orders to kill Qaddafi, no matter who they kill "to achieve their objetive, he said. "This is murder. "

May 1st, 2011

mubarak could be sentenced to death by hanging

        cairo, egypt-- Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak would face the death penalty if convicted of ordering the shooting of protesters during the uprisings that brought him down, the country's new justice minister said Saturday. Mohammed el-Guindi told the daily Al-Ahram Saturday that Mubarak, his two sons and wife are also facing allegations of corruption, which he said the former president had made the chief "discourse" of his government. Mubarak, 82, stepped down Feb. 11 after 18 days of sustained protests. He was later placed under arrest after being hospitalized in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for heart problems. At least 846 protesters were killed during the uprising.  "Certainly, if convicted for the crime of killing protesters, it could result in the death sentence," said el-Guindi.

      He added that the key to the case was whether former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, also under investigation, would testify that Mubarak had given the order to open fire on the protesters. "The only one capable of pardoning Mubarak ... would be the new president," said el-Guindi. "If I were the president, I will not pardon him for killing 800 martyrs." The minister also blamed Mubarak for engendering a culture of corruption in the government and he said the former president's wealth came from gas exports to Israel, through a company owned by a personal friend, and arms deals. Suzanne Mubarak, the former first lady, will also be investigated, the minister added, with the first questioning to take place in the next few days at the Sharm el-Sheikh Hospital where the former president is convalescing.

      Mubarak's wife, who was involved in a number of high profile charitable ventures, is suspected of illegally amassing wealth through her non-governmental organizations. Mubarak and his two sons Alaa and Gamal were remanded into 15 days custody this week after prosecutors launched a probe into violence against protesters during an 18-day popular uprising that forced Mubarak to resign on February 11.   A corruption panel will begin questioning them next week on suspicion of graft, the newspaper reported.  Shalash said the testimony by Mubarak's former interior minister Habib al-Adly, who himself is on trial on charges of ordering the shootings of anti-regime protesters, made Mubarak an accomplice if proven.  Adly said he was ordered to use violence against protesters by the former leader.  "If proven, he (Mubarak) will receive the same punishment as the person who carried it out and it could reach execution if it is proven that peaceful demonstrators were killed with premeditation," he said.  Mubarak may receive life if shown there was no premeditation in the deaths of the protesters, he added.  An estimated 800 people were killed in protests that toppled the veteran leader. 

dictator gadhafi calls for negotiations with nato as airstrikes hiT tripoli

        tripoli, libya- NATO bombs struck a Libyan government complex before dawn Saturday, damaging two buildings, just as Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi called for a cease-fire and negotiations with NATO powers in a live speech on state TV. The targeted compound included the state television building, and a Libyan official alleged the strikes were meant to kill Qadhafi. "We believe the target was the leader," said government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. However, the TV building was not damaged, and Qadhafi spoke from an undisclosed location. Reporters visiting the scene of the strikes were told the damaged buildings housed a commission for women and children and offices of parliament staff. One of at least three bombs or missiles knocked down a huge part of a two-story Italian-style building. In another, doors were blown out and ceiling tiles dropped to the ground. A policeman said three people were wounded, one seriously.

     Qadhafi, meanwhile, called for a cease-fire in a speech that was both subdued and defiant and lasted for more than an hour. "The door to peace is open," said the Libyan leader, sitting behind a desk and repeatedly flipping through handwritten notes. "You are the aggressors. We will negotiate with you," he said. "Come, France, Italy, U.K., America, come, we will negotiate with you. Why are you attacking us?" He said Libyans have the right to choose their own political system, but not under the threat of NATO bombings. "Why are you killing our children? Why are you destroying our infrastructure," he said, denying that his forces had killed Libyan civilians. Rebel leaders have said they would only negotiate a truce after Qadhafi has stepped aside, something the Libyan leader has refused to do. The uprising against Qadhafi, Libya's ruler of 42 years, erupted in mid-February, and has claimed hundreds of lives.

     Rebels are controlling the east of the country, while Qaddafi has retained most of the west. Just hours before the speech, Qadhafi's forces shelled the besieged rebel city of Misrata, killing 15 people, including a 9-year-old boy, hospital doctors said. The city of 300,000 is the main rebel stronghold in western Libya, and has been under siege for two months, with the port its only link to the outside. On Friday, NATO foiled attempts by regime loyalists to close the only access route to Misrata, intercepting boats that were laying anti-ship mines in the waters around the port. The Qaddafi regime signaled Friday that it is trying to block access to Misrata by sea. Ibrahim, the Libyan official, said he was unaware of the attempted mine-laying. However, he said the government is trying to prevent weapons shipments from reaching the rebels by sea. Asked whether aid vessels would also be blocked, he said any aid shipments must be coordinated with the authorities and should preferably come overland.

NATO DISMISSES DICTATOR GADHAFI TRUCE OFFER

        NAPLES, ITALY--NATO has rejected an offer from strongman Moamar Gadhafi for a ceasefire and negotiations, saying Western air strikes on government forces in Libya will continue as long as civilians are threatened.  With neither side able to gain the upper hand in the conflict, Mr Gaddafi struck a more conciliatory tone, saying he was ready for negotiations provided NATO "stops its planes" but refusing to step down. Libyan rebels believe Mr Gadhafi's offer is a "dirty game", and NATO agrees the offer lacks credibility. "We need to see actions, not words," a NATO official told Reuters.  "NATO will continue operations until all attacks and threats against civilians have ceased, until all of Gaddafi's forces have returned to base and until there is a full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all people in need of assistance."

     The military alliance, fulfilling a United Nations mandate to protect civilians during a bloody crackdown on an anti-government rebellion in Libya, has in the past rejected Mr Gadhafi's calls for truce. "The regime has announced ceasefires several times before and continued attacking cities and civilians... Any ceasefire must be credible and verifiable," the NATO official said. He declined to comment whether NATO would be open to meeting Mr Gadhafi's representatives for talks, if contacts for such talks were made. NATO has been in command of Western military operations in Libya for a month, enforcing a no-fly zone over the north African country and an arms embargo.  Its strikes on Mr Gadhafi's firepower have helped rebel forces but failed to tip the balance in a bloody civil war so far.

     On Friday, the alliance said Mr Gadhafi's forces had mined the entrance to the western port of Misrata, where rebels have been under siege for weeks and aid agencies say humanitarian conditions are dire. The rebels' transitional national council also dismissed Mr Gadhafi's gesture, saying the Libyan leader had repeatedly offered ceasefires only to continue violating human rights. "Gadhafi's regime has lost all credibility," council spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga said in a statement.  "The time for compromise has passed. The people of Libya cannot possibly envisage or accept a future Libya in which cannot Gadhafi's regime plays any role." Rebel military spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Bani, said Mr Gaddafi was "playing dirty games". "He doesn't speak honestly. We don't believe him and we don't trust him," he said. In his offer, Mr Gadhafi refused to leave his North African homeland or quit, the central demand of the rebels, the United States, and also of France and Britain which are leading the NATO air campaign. "I'm not leaving my country," he said. "No one can force me to leave my country and no one can tell me not to fight for my country."

EL CABALLO DE TRALLA
 
 Your Job is to infiltrate and soften them, we'll take care of the rest.