Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

December 11, 2008 (12:33 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda A brief world news roundup for 11 December 2008.

United States & the Americas

Jurist – A federal judge in Utah ruled Monday that five indicted Blackwater USA guards involved in the September 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians must report to a DC court. Lawyers for the five guards tried to move the proceedings to Utah, where one of the guards lives, but a federal magistrate judge in Salt Lake City agreed with the Department of Justice that the case should remain in DC.
Al Arabiya – A New York court heard an appeal Tuesday by a Canadian man suing the U.S. government for falsely accusing him of terrorist links and sending him to be tortured in Syria. The full 12-judge panel Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the lawyer for Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria, allege a top-level “conspiracy” in 2002 to illegally deport the software engineer to a country the State Department and human rights organizations had condemned for torture.
Ottawa Citizen – Michael Ignatieff’s first act as new Liberal leader Wednesday was to warn Prime Minister Stephen Harper of his willingness to defeat his minority Conservative government when Parliament resumes in late January if the federal budget is “not in the national interest of our country.”
Secretary Rice, in Panama – Thank you very much, and I am really delighted to join my foreign minister colleagues and the trade ministers here for our Pathway ministerial. It’s our first opportunity to get together after the heads of state meeting. This groundbreaking forum is bringing together partners who share a fundamental commitment to expanding opportunities for their people
LAHT – In Venezuela, in the absence of official statistics, Provea, a civil rights group, says that 10,606 people died by violent means in the 12 months ending in September this year. That marked a 10.86% jump on the already high figure of 9,567 killings in the corresponding period a year before. Provea is estimating that on current trends the full year will end with more than 13,000 murders.
enerpub – A total of 17 bodies of murder victims were found in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Baja California, just a few miles away from U.S. territory. In Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, California, five bodies were found. Two murdered men were found in one locality of Tijuana; one of these was found wearing a diaper and had a baby pacifier hanging from his neck, while the second was wearing women’s clothing, according to police authorities. Not far away were found three more victims dressed in pyjamas in a pickup truck. One of these was a woman.
Miami Herald – Mexico’s Congress on Tuesday voted to broaden police powers, allowing law enforcement agencies to use undercover agents and taped conversations as evidence in a bid to help them fight increasingly bloody drug cartels.
Jaime Daremblum – Recent events suggest that Barack Obama will be facing a veritable perfect storm of challenges in Latin America. The death toll in Mexico’s war on drugs is mounting. The future of Plan Colombia, which began as a U.S.-backed anti-drug initiative, is uncertain. Argentina may be on the verge of yet another economic collapse.
Lowy Institute – In a speech to the 2008 Annual Australia Latin America Business Council dinner on 1 December Deputy Director Martine Letts (and a Director on the Council on Australia Latin America Relations) makes the case for a comprehensive whole of government Australian strategy to engage with Latin America.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

AFP – The presidents of Russia and Argentina Wednesday sealed an array of cooperation deals, including in nuclear energy, and vowed to work together to promote a “multipolar world.” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and visiting Argentinian counterpart Cristina Kirchner held talks in the Kremlin that focused on promoting economic relations beyond trade towards areas like nuclear energy or military cooperation.
RIA Novosti - Russia and China are set to boost cooperation in the sphere of combat aircraft production, the director general of Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer said on Wednesday.
State Dept – We are deeply concerned about a raid by Russian law enforcement officers on the research center operated by Memorial in St. Petersburg last week. Memorial is a respected non-governmental organization dedicated to remembering the victims of totalitarian repression, and the historical documents and information in its archives are invaluable sources for historians and social scientists worldwide. It is vital to permit their important work to continue without hindrance. We urge Russian authorities to ensure the speedy and safe return of all seized equipment and archival material.
CRN – Amnesty International is calling for a full investigation of the raid by Russian law enforcement officers on the office of an independent Research and Information centre Memorial in St Petersburg, amid concerns that serious violations of Russian law were committed during the process.
OSCE – The Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, Ambassador Terhi Hakala, condemned today’s shooting by unknown assailants at an OSCE monitoring patrol near the administrative border of South Ossetia.

Middle East

Al Sumaria – Coalition List MP Qays Al Amiri affirmed that Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki is excited to conclude a security pact with Britain despite that he has some reservations over the role of British troops in Basra Province in recent years.
Asharq Al Awsat - Iraq’s election commission will run a petition drive to see if there’s enough support for a referendum to decide whether the oil-rich province of Basra will become a self-ruled region, officials said Wednesday.
AFPS – Coalition forces killed an armed attacker and detained 18 suspected terrorists while targeting al-Qaida in Iraq leadership and bombing networks in Iraq.
NOW Lebanon – Hezbollah has refused to meet visiting former US President Jimmy Carter to discuss legislative elections set for the spring, Carter’s spokesman said on Wednesday.

Iran

Press TV – EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana says the 5+1 group policies towards Iran’s nuclear program are based on diplomatic and peaceful solutions.
Press TV – Former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski has urged Washington to establish ties with Iran saying the move would benefit the US.
IRNA – A senior official of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces said on Wednesday that Iran has produced anti-tank missile evading system. Brigadier-General Mohammad-Hossein Baqeri told IRNA reporter that the system would be installed on the armor vehicles.
ITIC – Iran and Hezbollah operate an extensive network of cultural and religious institutions as well as publishing houses. This network is used to inculcate Lebanese society, primarily the Shi’ite community, with Iranian radical Islamic ideology.
MEMRI – The Iranian daily Kayhan, which is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, states that the U.S. is behind the Mumbai attacks, either alone or in cooperation with England and Israel. The IRGC weekly Sobh-e Sadeq also states that the U.S., England, and Israel carried out the attacks, because of their resemblance to the 9/11 attacks “[also] carried out by them.”
Fars – Trinidad and Tobago voiced preparedness to hold talks with Iran and Russia as it seeks to make maximum financial returns from its sale of natural gas on the international market. Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Conrad Enill, speaking on a local television program yesterday, said these countries, along with Qatar and Brunei, controlled at least 60 per cent of the global gas production and were now seeking to strengthen their collaboration.

Afghan women attend last week’s shura in Bazarak District. Thirty-four women from 15 different villages in Bazarak District gathered together with Miriam Panjshiri, the director of woman’s affairs, and the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team woman’s affairs team, Dec. 2. The women discussed needs and planned for future projects. (photo by Lory Stevens)

South Asia

NY Times – United States forces killed six Afghan police officers and one civilian on Wednesday during an assault on the hide-out of a suspected Taliban commander, the authorities said, in what an American military spokesman called a “tragic case of mistaken identity.” Thirteen Afghan officers were also wounded in the episode.
The Australian – Australian special forces will use the onset of Afghanistan’s harsh winter to continue to keep pressure on Taliban insurgents in a year that has been the bloodiest yet for the NATO-led coalition. There has been no let up in violence wracking southern Oruzgan province where Dutch and Australian troops are struggling to maintain security.
NATO – It has been confirmed that a Taliban commander was killed by ISAF and ANSF forces during a targeted operation in Pol-e Alam district, Logar province overnight. Muhammed Bobi was killed as a result of a successful joint operation by ANSF and ISAF forces. Bobi was a Taliban Commander who had facilitated suicide bombings against local civilians, ANSF and ISAF troops.
CSIS – Nearly three decades after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan sent some 3.5 million refugees into exile in Pakistan, nearly 2 million are still there. The refugees’ own meager assets, lack of education and skills, compounded by Afghanistan’s lack of infrastructure to accommodate returnees, have made returning an unattractive option. The refugees represent a political and economic strain on Pakistan today; if they return, they will add to the stresses in Afghanistan. The result is a continuing policy problem for the United States.
Geo – Four blasts in a row, devastated 4 shops completely while other 10 also received minor damages in the Billi Tang area of Kohat here on Thursday, sources said. However no loss of life was reported. The shops were of Jewellery and cosmetics.
Frontier Post editorial – And what do you expect when a wicked axis of America’s CIA, India’s RAW and Israel’s Mossad with in tow Afghanistan’s own intelligence service as their carpet sweeper are so active in fueling and fanning militancy in our tribal region? They all are embedded safely in Afghanistan, freely working on fructifying the geopolitical objectives of their political bosses.
AP – A U.N. Security Council panel has declared a Pakistan-based charity a front group for the terrorist organization blamed in the attacks on Mumbai that killed 171 people. In a move sought by India and the U.S., the panel said the charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa was a front for the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and subject to U.N. sanctions on terrorist organizations. It also designated four suspected plotters of the Mumbai attack as terrorists subject to sanctions. (See Security Council document)
Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mullen – It’s just confirming that it was these 10 individuals that held this city of 15 to 18 million people at bay, for 72 hours, and did it in a very systematic, sophisticated way and were, they were, a group that was well-trained over a period of time to execute this operation.
Jakarta Post – The Pakistani-based militant group blamed for the Mumbai attacks kept an Indian militant as a “point man” to shepherd gunmen across India’s porous borders to stage attacks, police said.
Daniel Pipes - Still Asleep After Mumbai
Gulf News – At least 63 people were killed when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire after a serious accident in northern India, police said on Wednesday.
TamilNet – More than 60 SLA soldiers were killed and 12 SLA bodies recovered by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) defensive units, 5 km west of Ki’linochchi Wednesday after defeating the SLA formations that attempted to advance from Oottuppu’lam to Puthumu’rippu, Tiger officials said.
Brian Calvert – The November 2007 attack video was not posted by the apparent attackers, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, but by the Sri Lankan government’s Ministry of Defense, whose 25-year war with the insurgents has been marked by many losses on the information front. The launch of a viral video on YouTube, however, demonstrated a more sophisticated effort to control what is called the “information environment,” an effort to “publicize insurgent violence and use of terror to discredit the insurgency,” a tenet of the U.S. Army-Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual.

Far East & Pacific

NTI – Malaysia has freed seven long-imprisoned alleged militants, including an al-Qaeda operative suspected of seeking to organize chemical and biological weapons development programs in Afghanistan. “We consider them no longer a threat. They will not harm public order or security of the nation,” Malaysian Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said of the suspects, who never faced trial. In addition to his suspected WMD activities, al-Qaeda operative Yazid Sufaat allegedly provided fake employment credentials to Zacarias Moussaoui, a convicted collaborator in the attacks of Sept. 11.
Xinhua – Six parties involved in the Korean Peninsula nuclear talks ended a third day of negotiations without making any progress. The sticking point was how to verify the nuclear program of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK).
Asia Times – Nepal’s Maoist prime minister is playing a juggling act, hosting India and China’s foreign affairs ministers separately in the span of a week. It is the porous, uncontrolled border between Nepal and India where security concerns of both Delhi and Beijing are focused, albeit for very different reasons.
haber27 – Thirteen militants and one soldier have been killed during fire exchanges in the southeast Philippines, a military commander says. Eight soldiers were also wounded in Wednesday’s clash in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometers south of Manila.
Manila Times – The Armed Forces of the Philippines chief, General Alexander Yano, has ordered the military to pressure to no end the Abu Sayyaf Group following the fierce encounter on Sunday that killed at least five government soldiers and an undetermined number of bandits.

Europe

ABC – In Greece, the government, which also faced a crippling general strike Wednesday, insists it has acted in the public’s best interests, safeguarding lives over property amid an unprecedented explosion of rage sparked by the shooting death by police of a 15-year-old in one of Athens’ often volatile neighborhoods. The two officers involved in the shooting were quickly arrested, charged and ordered jailed.
DutchNews – Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende has refused to echo US president Geeorge Bush who said last week that he ‘regretted’ the fact that incorrect information was published in 2003 about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, reports the NRC.
AKI – Local and national Muslim officials on Saturday are expected to attend the opening of the first Muslim cemetery to be created in the southern Italian region of Puglia.

Africa

CSM – Ethiopian troops launch major offensives against Islamist insurgents in Somalia; The action raises questions about whether troops will withdraw, as planned, by the end of the year.
UN – The top United Nations envoy to Somalia today welcomed the return of an opposition leader, who took part in reconciliation talks with the strife-torn Horn of Africa nation’s Government, to the capital Mogadishu. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, characterized the return after a nearly two-year absence of Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, who heads the Alliance of the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), as “a most welcome development.”
AFP – Talks between Congolese rebels and Kinshasa government officials stalled Wednesday on their third day in Nairobi, with the rebels accusing the United Nations of taking sides and threatening a walkout. One hurdle is that the rebels want to discuss the situation in the whole of Democratic Republic of Congo, not just the east, he said. The other is the lack of decision-making authority on the part of the rebel delegation.
Bloomberg – Ghana will hold a run-off presidential election on Dec. 28 after neither of the two main candidates in this weekend’s poll won more than 50 percent of the vote. Nana Akufo-Addo, the candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party, gained 49.1 percent of ballots cast in 229 of the 230 constituencies, while his main rival John Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress received 47.9 percent.

A young child walks along the barrel of an 8-inch coastal defense gun used by Japanese defenders during the Battle of Tarawa. (photo by III Marine Expeditionary Force Public Affairs)

The Global War

Thomas Grose, US News – The Rise of Islamic Banking in a Time of Economic Crisis; How some financial institutions avoid trouble by following the strict rules of the Koran
UN – Making the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations Member States reaffirmed today their commitment to the full realization of all human rights for all peoples, and pledged to enhance international cooperation and dialogue among peoples and nations on the basis of mutual respect and understanding towards that goal.
US Navy – USS Ohio (SSGN 726), the first operational Trident guided-missile submarine, pulled into Naval Station Pearl Harbor Dec. 8, before returning to its homeport of Bangor, Wash., from its maiden deployment. “It’s a great opportunity to be in Hawaii,” said USS Ohio Commanding Officer Capt. Dennis Carpenter. “Our ship has been deployed for 15 months, and for a lot of our guys it’s their first time here. We’re also excited some of the families were able to come out and welcome their guys home in paradise before we actually have to go home to winter.”

Sights & Sounds

CSIS recently interviewed Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the U.N. World Food Program; she discussed how the current financial crisis is affecting global food security.