Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

December 10, 2008 (12:02 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda A brief world news roundup for 10 December 2008.

United States & the Americas

White House – As my Administration has made clear, it is time for Robert Mugabe to go. Across the continent, African voices are bravely speaking out to say now is the time for him to step down. These leaders share the desire of ordinary Zimbabweans for a return to peace, democracy, and prosperity. We urge others from the region to step up and join the growing chorus of voices calling for an end to Mugabe’s tyranny.
CNN – Three of five Guantanamo Bay detainees who said they wanted to confess to charges relating to the September 11 terrorist attacks rescinded the offer after a judge required two to undergo competency hearings, according to a military spokesman.
canada.com – Toronto MP Michael Ignatieff is set to be acclaimed as federal Liberal leader Wednesday, after his chief rival and longtime friend Bob Rae abruptly halted his own campaign to replace Stephane Dion.
Blake Lambert – Canada arguably exists as a luxury parking garage for human souls. Nonetheless, seriousness and functionality are prized here. Unfortunately, national politics this century renders that mantra as myth. While the country is not approaching the dictatorial depths of Equatorial Guinea, it is now one of the least stable members of the G-8.
LAHT – Suspected leftist FARC rebels on Monday dynamited a bridge in the southern Colombian province of Guaviare, cutting off road access to a vast region, authorities said.
IRNA – Visiting Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador said on Monday that Iran’s nuclear program is of peaceful nature and the pressures exerted by big powers as well as sanctions imposed on the country have left no impacts on Iran’s development program.
Miami Herald – Raul Castro’s first official trip abroad since assuming Cuba’s presidency will be to attend a summit in Venezuela. Venezuelan Information Minister Jesse Chacon says Castro will be in Venezuela’s capital on Dec. 14 for a meeting of the regional trade bloc known as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA.
The Latin Americanist – Ex-hostage Betancourt thanks Hugo Chavez; Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt met with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez as she came to the tail end of her tour of Latin America.
RIA Novosti – Mexico has welcomed Russia’s return to Latin America following the Russian leader’s week-long tour of the southern continent in late November, the Mexican deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday.
AP – A senior Mexico City police commander who oversaw raids in the capital’s gang-filled Tepito neighborhood was slain in a drive-by shooting outside his home, officials said Tuesday. Victor Hugo Moneda, who led the city’s investigative police, was killed as he was getting out of his car Monday night, the Mexico City prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

Press TV – Moscow’s bid to equip Tehran with advanced air defense systems does not violate international regulations, says a former Russian official. In a Tuesday nuclear conference, former Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov dismissed any concern over Russia’s defense agreements with the Islamic Republic.
Russia MoD – Russian Minister of Defence Anatoly Serdyukov sets off on a trip to China between 9 and 11 December. While in Beijing Anatoly Serdyukov is to take part in a meeting of Russia-China Joint Iintergovernmental Commission on Military-technical Cooperation and Security.
RIA Novosti – Russia’s Finance Ministry has denied a report that the country had agreed to write off most of Cambodia’s debt, a Finance Ministry official said on Tuesday.
Nikolai Petrov, Carnegie – The severe economic crisis in Russia is currently spilling over into the political and administrative spheres. However, the government is not responding properly. Instead of improving administration effectiveness, the Russian government is simply reshuffling regional heads. In economics, the Kremlin is putting unneeded burden on businesses and regional governments.
Kyiv Post – Activists from the youth wing of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s ruling party held demonstrations against immigrant workers on Monday, demanding they return home and blaming them for Russia’s recent economic woes.
RIA Novosti – A Tajik national was decapitated near Moscow in what is believed to have been a race-hate murder, Russia media reported on Tuesday. Police are currently searching for those involved in the attack on the two men.
Kyiv Post – Ukrainian lawmakers have forged a three-party governing coalition, a top legislative leader said Tuesday, ending months of deadlock that paralyzed the country amid its worst financial crisis in a decade. The new coalition puts back together the fractured alliance of President Viktor Yushchenko and his rival Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko along with another smaller party.
Kavkaz Center – Police checkpoint was attacked by sniper fire in Zyazikov-Yurt (Malgobek district). The checkpoint was attacked around 1:50 PM, nobody was hurt, a security official told RIA Novosti. One policeman was wounded in Ordzhonikidzevskaya. The policeman was wounded on Zavodskaya street around 12:10 PM in a gunfire attack, a security official told Interfax. One Russian soldier was wounded Tuesday in Troitskaya. The soldier was wounded in an attack on a checkpoint near the entrance to the army barracks around 11:30 AM, a security official told Interfax. One policeman was wounded in Tuesday morning in Nazran.
Ahto Lobjakas – A regular meeting of the three South Caucasus ministers with EU foreign-policy chiefs in Brussels brought no breakthroughs, and instead served to strengthen the impression, gaining ground in Brussels recently, that the EU has reached a high-water mark in its relations with the region. The foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were in Brussels for their annual working lunch with EU counterparts, which was focused mainly on the details of the EU’s new ‘Eastern Partnership’ initiative.

Japanese Air Self-Defense Force aircrew members wave a final farewell to their American counterparts, Dec. 8, as they depart Iraq on their last mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (photo by Master Sgt. Brian Davidson)

Middle East

NPR – Security companies are the most visible symbol of the booming private contractor industry that has accompanied America’s five-year occupation of Iraq. But the new Iraqi-American security pact going into effect in January will end the immunity from prosecution in Iraq the companies have enjoyed.
Reuters – Violence in Iraq has in the past few weeks fallen to its lowest level since summer 2003 and security gains, while still at risk of reversal, are less fragile than before, General David Petraeus said on Tuesday.
Independent – Britain will begin withdrawing its 4,100-strong force from Iraq by the beginning of March, with almost all troops leaving within a few months, a senior defence source revealed yesterday. The Prime Minister is expected to announce the pullout that, in effect, ends the UK’s engagement in one of the most controversial wars in recent times, in the Commons next January.
Joshua Hammer, The Atlantic – Getting Away With Murder? Why Rafiq al-Hariri’s assassins may never be caught
Al Jazeera – Jimmy Carter, the former US president, has said he is ready to meet with Hezbollah officials if they agree to see him. Carter made his comments upon arrival in Lebanon on Tuesday where he will assess whether his Atlanta-based Carter Centre would take part in monitoring next year’s parliamentary elections.
NOW Lebanon – US Ambassador Michele Sison and Major General Charles T. Cleveland, who leads the Special Operations Command of the United States Central Command, attended a closing ceremony held by the Lebanese Armed Forces for the latest session of the Joint Combined Exercise Training programs with U.S. Military Personnel on Monday.
SANA – French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed that he was confident of Syria, highlighting importance of the dialogue he opened with it. Speaking in a speech in Paris on Monday on the 60th anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration, President Sarkozy praised Syria’s positive role over Lebanon as it led to the election of a Lebanese President, formation of a national unity government and preparations for the next general elections.
MSNBC – The leader of an al-Qaida-linked Lebanese group has probably been killed in Syria, according to a statement purportedly posted by the faction on an Islamic militant Web site Tuesday. Shaker al-Absi went on the run last year after his group, Fatah Islam, battled the Lebanese army for weeks inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
BBC – Israel’s right-of-centre Likud party has elected a list of candidates dominated by hardliners for next February’s general election. Polls show that if a vote were held now, Likud would defeat the governing Kadima Party.
Spiegel – Amid corruption scandals and stagnating reform, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, praised in Europe as a modernizer, is seeking refuge in nationalist rhetoric, adopting a tougher stance on the Kurds and moving closer to the country’s military leaders.
The National – A series of reported human rights abuses by Turkish policemen and accusations of a “culture of impunity” that shields wrongdoers in the force from being punished have shaken public trust in the institution so deeply that many citizens are afraid of the officers that are supposed to protect them, critics say.

Iran

Press TV – Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani says that the Islamic Republic does not intend to engage in a war with the US. “We have no intention to involve in a conflict with the US. Iran only intends to stand on its two feet and set a role model for regional countries to uphold their independence and freedom,” Rafsanjani said Tuesday addressing prayers of Eid Al-Adha in Tehran.
Iran Press Service – Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i was again compelled to come down personally in the political arena, acting not as the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic who stands above political lines, but as the champion of a political party fighting for survival. On 7th December, Mr. Khameneh’i once again expressed his full support of Mr. Ahmadi Nezhad during a meeting with Mr. Raphael Correa, the leftist President of Ecuador by the Iranian President as “a young man who works relentlessly day and night with plenty of energy”.
Fars – Davoud Zareian, a spokesman for the Iranian state-owned telecoms operator, said that investors from China, Russia and Indonesia have already voiced interest in acquiring a stake in the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI). This is while Iran’s telecoms regulator is expected to announce the winning technical bid for the third domestic mobile phone carrier at the end of the month.
Eritrea Daily – (Nov 29) An Eritrean website in Tigrigna, asena-online.com, reported that Iran has stationed its troops in Eritrea. Citing sources from inside Eritrea, same website said that using submarine ships heavily armed units of the Iranian army have landed in the Eritrean sea port of Assab. The Iranian troops are slated to be stationed in the city of Assab reportedly under the pretext of protecting the Russian-built Eritrean Assab Oil Refinary.
Payvand – Two days after national Students Day, several hundred students at Iran’s Shiraz University marked the day with a demonstration against government policies, despite attempts to shut it down. One participant at the gathering told Radio Farda that as soon as the event began, security agents from the university “tried to disperse the students by taking away loudspeakers, which eventually led to some physical clashes.”
Press TV – Security forces say they have arrested some elements of a terrorist group in eastern Iran who had a hand in the execution of 16 police officers.
IMINT and Analysis – Below is a link to a video, showing a presentation given by Dr. Frank Pabian at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The concept behind Dr. Pabian’s presentation was to depict the effect of open source imagery as an analysis tool in nonproliferation and the response of potentially hostile nations in the form of improved denial and deception. Dr. Pabian uses the ongoing nuclear issue with Iran to illustrate this issue.
Adventure Journey – Anthon Jackson details his exploits in the land of ancient Persia; Jackson is among first Americans issued diplomatic visa to Iran in almost thirty years

South Asia

CJTF-A – Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces killed seven insurgents in the Nad Ali district, located approximately 515 km southwest of Kabul, Helmand province, Tuesday. The combined forces were conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol when they were engaged by militants from multiple fighting positions using small-arms, indirect and rocket fire.
AFPS – Afghan and coalition forces killed two militants yesterday in the Nar Surkh district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, military officials reported. Militants using an illegal checkpoint attacked the combined forces with small-arms fire. Also yesterday, Afghan National Police and coalition forces detained nine suspected militants during a combined operation to disrupt the Haqqani terrorist network southeast of Kabul in Khowst province, officials said.
Dawn – NATO and Afghan forces killed a Taliban commander during a targeted operation just south of Kabul in a province militant fighters have poured into this year, the NATO-led force said Tuesday.
NATO – The Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, Mr. Atmar Mohamad Hanif Atmar, will visit NATO Headquarters on Wednesday 10th December 2008. He will meet with the Secretary General, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and address a meeting of the North Atlantic Council with non-NATO ISAF contributors.
Pat Lang – The long standing vulnerability of coalition forces in Iraq to “line of communication” (LOC) interdiction on the roads from Kuwait to central Iraq was never exploited to its potential by the inhabitants of the Shia south of Iraq. Conflicted Shia politics, and Iranian unwillingness to bring on that great a crisis were largely responsible for the avoidance of what might have been a catastrophic situation. There do not seem to be similar inhibitions with regard to LOCs leading to Afghanistan. Political and business relationships in Pakistan are entwined in complex patterns that are exacerbating the threat to land based LOCs that extend from Karachi to Kabul through the FATA and from Karachi to Kandahar through Baluchistan.
Geo – A 10-year-old boy was killed and four children were wounded in a suicide attack in Dagar, an area of Buner on Tuesday. The attacker struck during the celebrations of Eid-ul-Azha on a busy street in the town of Buner in NWFP. According to police, the suicide bomber wanted to target a government installation but suddenly his jacket was torn and the bomb exploded.
Geo – Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar has been placed under house arrest as international pressure mounted on Pakistan to act against such “non-state actors” in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in which Pakistani elements were reportedly found to be involved. Restrictions were imposed yesterday on Azhar”s movements and he was confined to his Bahawalpur home.
Mr. Ahamed, India Minister of State for External Affairs, to UN Security Council – We have requested the Security Council to proscribe Pakistani group Jammat-ud-Dawa since it is a terrorist outfit and should be proscribed under Security Council Resolution 1267.
Mark Silverberg – Pakistan may well be the single largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, possibly beyond even Iran, yet it has never been listed by the U.S. State Department as such, even in the wake of the 9/11 Commission Report and the recommendation of the State Department’s counter-terrorism director. That is because the prevailing attitude within past U.S. administrations has been that such a designation would destroy U.S. influence in Islamabad. That attitude, however, seems to be changing.
Times of India – Pakistan has arrested two key terror suspects India wants and could permit New Delhi to interrogate them if this is done jointly, a senior Pakistan minister said on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera – Indian police have released the names or aliases of nine suspected gunmen killed during last month’s deadly attacks in the city of Mumbai.
World Focus – Q&A: Kashmiri people, history and human rights; Professor Haley Duschinski answers your questions about Kashmir.
Howrah – Five militants of the banned People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) have been killed in an encounter with police commandos in interior Thoubal district of Manipur, official sources said on Tuesday.

Far East & Pacific

Jakarta Post – China on Tuesday distributed a draft proposal on how to verify North Korea’s account of its past atomic activities, the latest attempt to resolve a deadlock that has held up the implementation of a disarmament-for-aid accord reached last year. Verification is the focus of the international talks, which opened Monday in Beijing with North Korea refusing to let outside inspectors take samples – a key method of ensuring that the communist regime is being truthful – from its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon.
Xinhua – Chiefs of the general staffs of the Chinese and Hungarian armed forces held talks in Beijing Tuesday on further enhancing military exchanges and cooperation.
Leslie Hook – Over the next few days the Democrat Party and the Puea Thai Party will be jostling for control of a new government. The fact that this battle is being fought in parliament, rather than in occupied airports, is a positive step, and will result in a more stable Thailand in the short term. But in the long term, regardless of which political party comes out on top, Thailand’s democracy will be the loser.
Reuters – Thailand’s parliament could vote next week for a new prime minister, a parliamentary official said on Tuesday, as both the main party in the outgoing government and the main opposition party claimed they had enough votes to win.
Asia Times – Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, giving up power only once since 1955 for just 10 months, is in danger of losing the next election. Prime Minister Taro Aso’s numerous gaffes have led to dramatic plunges in public support, exacerbated by the government’s inaction on an ailing economy. Internal party criticism, meanwhile, is steadily growing.
Japan Times – The economy shrank much faster in the third quarter than the government initially estimated, after businesses cut spending and slashed inventories in anticipation of a prolonged recession, Cabinet Office data showed Tuesday. Gross domestic product contracted at an annual 1.8 percent pace in the three months ended Sept. 30, the Cabinet Office said, more than the 0.4 percent reported last month.
tvnz – Nepal’s Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda has threatened to walk out of a coalition government, less than four months after his election amid a deadlock with the main opposition party over the future of ex-fighters. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who still goes by his nom de guerre that means fierce, told a meeting in west Nepal this week that his party would take to the streets if the centrist opposition Nepali Congress party did not cooperate with him.
Canberra Times – Australia will provide $1 billion to Indonesia as a stand-by loan to help tackle the global financial crisis if it’s needed, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says. Rudd has held bilateral talks with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bali, on the sidelines of a democracy forum the two men are co-charing.
stuff.co.nz – A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck the Kermadec islands north of New Zealand, the fourth significant quake in the area in the past three months.

Europe

Guardian – Britain will fall behind eurozone laggard Italy in the global economic league table next year as a deep recession and the weakness of the pound affect the value of national output, a London-based consultancy said. After ranking fourth behind the United States, Japan and Germany in terms of the size of the economy earlier this decade, the UK is set to end 2009 in seventh place, the Centre for Economics and Business Research said. Britain has already ceded fourth place to China and will be overtaken this year by France, the CEBR said.
Ioannis Michaletos – The riots (in Greece) were orchestrated since late summer 2008. There were reports within the Greek police that the riots would commence by the Christmas period at the latest; the location and the justification was not known, but any event could have caused them. This is a copycat case of what happened in France in Octomber 2005. The culprits in the higher level are Islamic netowrks in the Middle East, hand-in-hand with corrupted Western officials that are selling their services for the highest bidder.
EU Observer – Macedonia is ready to start accession talks with the EU and the fact that a 17-year-old dispute with Greece over its name is hindering the process harms not just Skopje, but the EU’s credibility as well, Macedonian foreign minister Antonio Milososki has said.
France24 – Czech lawmakers have put off a debate on whether to ratify the EU Lisbon Treaty by two months just weeks before the country takes on the EU presidency. The Czech Republic is the last to decide on the controversial reform charter.
Telegraph – The European Commission has given its strongest sign yet that Ireland will hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty next autumn.
AFP – A Lebanese man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for a failed plot to blow up German passenger trains which the court said could have triggered “a bloodbath of monstrous proportions.” The regional superior court in this western city convicted Yusef Mohammed al-Hajj Dib, 24, of multiple counts of attempted murder for his part in an attempt to attack two regional trains packed with travellers in July 2006. (see related article in German from Die Welt)
Washington Times – Spain’s government is investigating links between the Basque separatist group ETA and Colombian FARC rebels, following reports by Colombian officials that the groups have trained together and jointly planned assassinations and bombings.
Earth Times – More than a month after it triumphed in a general election, a new government coalition took charge of the Baltic country of Lithuania Tuesday evening, following a swearing-in ceremony at the national parliament, the Seimas. Now the new Lithuanian government can begin to tackle a worsening economic situation in the largest of the Baltic states, under the leadership of 52-year-old Andrius Kubilius.

Africa

Russia Today – Pirates operating off the Somali coast are about to receive another $3.5 million ransom for the release of the Ukrainian freighter Faina. That will bring their total haul to some $40 million so far this year. But does the money stay in their pockets? Some industry experts say pirates are tools in the hands of global players, faced with the collapse of shipping rates.
UK MoD – The Royal Navy’s Rear Admiral Phil Jones took charge of the EU led counter-piracy naval operation, which is to operate off the coast of Somalia. The operation, called Op ATALANTA, is the European Union’s first naval task force, and it has been assembled to ensure the protection of vessels of the World Food Programme delivering food aid to displaced persons in Somalia as well as protection to other vulnerable shipping off Somalia.
Asharq Al Awsat – Hundreds of passengers on a round-the-world cruise will disembark before reaching waters off Somalia and fly to Dubai to avoid pirates, German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd said Tuesday. The company said the 150-meter (490-foot) MS Columbus and its crew will continue on through the Gulf of Aden.
Garowe – Ethiopian troops have reportedly amassed near the Somali-Ethiopian border, rising military tensions in Hiran and Galgadud regions, Radio Garowe reported Tuesday. An Ethiopian army convoy of 20 military trucks has reportedly reached a village 30km northwest of Beletwein, the capital of Hiran region.
CTB – The transcript of our panel on the Mumbai attacks, held December 4 in Washington, is available here as an Acrobat document. The panel consisted of Contributing Experts Dr. Walid Phares and Farhana Ali, and Dr. David Kilcullen.
VOA – Delegations from the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the rebel National Congress for Defense of the People, or CNDP, gathered for a second day of talks at the U.N. compound in Nairobi.
BBC – More than 200,000 jobs have been lost in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid a collapse in mineral prices as a result of the global economic downturn. There are fears the job losses could reach 300,000 by the end of this month.
Javno – What Next For Uganda’s Rebels? Following Kony`s latest no-show, countries in the region may opt to attack the rebels, currently holed up in eastern Congo.
ICG – Since the coup d’etat that brought President François Bozizé to power on 15 March 2003, the risk of renewed wider violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) has never been greater than today. The opening of an inclusive political dialogue on 8 December – initially planned for June 2008 – has continued to be negotiated inch by inch, but both the regime and the main opposition forces see armed conflict as the ultimate way out of the crisis and are making preparations to return to it.
IRIN – Marrying off Mauritanian girls as young as six years old to men in Gulf states is turning into a profitable trafficking enterprise as a typically rural marriage practice migrates to the city, according to urban families.

Soldiers of El Salvador's Battalion Cuscatlan stand in formation during a ceremony welcoming Gen. Jorge Alberto Molina, El Salvador's minister of defense to Forward Operating Base Delta Dec. 5 (photo by Sgt. Daniel West)

The Global War

UN Security Council – Expressing deep concern over “continuous terrorist attacks around the world”, the Security Council this afternoon called on Member States to renew the degree of international solidarity against the scourge that was manifested immediately after the tragic 11 September 2001 attacks, following a day-long meeting during which some speakers warned that the Mumbai carnage of 26 to 29 November could mark a new stage in the violence.
Virginia Lunsford, Proceedings – A piracy expert surveys the history of the phenomenon and highlights the five factors that are still keeping piracy alive.
Al Arabiya – A trial version of the world’s first Muslim-friendly virtual world was launched Tuesday, catering primarily to Muslims living in western countries who long to reconnect with other Muslims. The site is called Muxlim Pal and allows users to create an online persona, design their own rooms, buy virtual items and interact with others.
DoD IG – Specifically, MCCDC officials did not develop a course of action for the UUNS, attempt to obtain funding for it, or present it to the Marine Corps Requirements Oversight Council for a decision on acquiring an MRAP-type vehicle capability.
AFRICOM – During the Southern European Task Force (SETAF) Transformation Ceremony today, SETAF cased its old colors, ending the airborne chapter of its history, and uncased its new colors, signifying acceptance of a new mission. serving as the Army component in support of U.S. Africa Command.
UN FAO – Another 40 million people have been pushed into hunger this year primarily due to higher food prices, according to preliminary estimates published by FAO today. This brings the overall number of undernourished people in the world to 963 million, compared to 923 million in 2007 and the ongoing financial and economic crisis could tip even more people into hunger and poverty, FAO warned.
Michael Yon – Here is a rare and curious thing: an antique British WB-57 bomber flying over Afghan skies. These planes flew in the 1950s and 60s, performing top of the atmosphere reconnaissance. The U.S. Air Force retired the WB-57 decades ago. But NASA owns two, which it uses for an odd group of missions, including collecting cosmic dust from extremely high altitudes. It seems doubtful that NASA came all the way to Afghanistan to collect cosmic dust, but this would be an interesting region in which to search for traces of nuclear debris, drifting upwards from Iran, Pakistan, various Central Asian states, China, or India.

Sights & Sounds

CSIS – Cuba’s Economy – Prospects for Change; examined the current state of the Cuban economy, including the energy sector, the outlook for future development and investment, and the potential for evolution toward a more open system.