Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

February 18, 2009 (12:40 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda A brief world news roundup for 18 February 2009.

United States & the Americas

Globe and Mail – A Federal Court judge has drawn a line between citizens such as Omar Khadr and overseas detainees with other connections to Canada in turning down two terror suspects seeking evidence from Canadian intelligence agents. The judge found only citizens can benefit from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms when they are jailed overseas, and even then under limited circumstances. Ahcène Zemiri and Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who have both lived in Montreal, wanted Canadian material to bolster U.S. court cases seeking their release from Guantanamo Bay prison. (read decision here)
Jordan Times – Jordan and Canada on Tuesday signed a cooperation agreement in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in a complementary step to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in June last year. According to the agreement, Canada will provide Jordan with technology to build a nuclear reactor for energy-generating purposes as well as water desalination, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Xinhua – Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived midday on Tuesday in Caracas for an official visit to Venezuela. In a written speech issued at Simon Bolivar International Airport, Xi said that he came to strengthen friendship, amplify consensus, deepen cooperation and to promote development.
COHA – China’s Latest Geopolitical Assault on Latin American Commodities and Bilateral Trade
Al Jazeera – Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico, has asked the US for “firm” measures against weapons trafficking, following the deaths of 15 people in drug violence in the country’s border areas with the US since Sunday.
Miami Herald – Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom apologized to Cuba on Tuesday for his country’s having allowed the CIA to train exiles in the Central American country for the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

RIA Novosti – China will extend $25 billion in loans to Russian state-controlled crude producer Rosneft and pipeline operator Transneft at 6% per annum in exchange for long-term oil supplies, a source close to negotiations said Tuesday.
Kremlin – Dmitry Medvedev sent a message to the President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao on issues of further development of friendly cooperation in the economic sphere. The President of Russia emphasized the need to “promote consultations between OJSC Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation on possible supplies of natural gas and electrical energy from Russia to the PRC.”
Russia Today – Russia’s first liquefied natural gas plant comes on stream on Wednesday. A tanker with the first load of LNG produced on Sakhalin Island will set sail for Japan in March opening new market for Russian hydrocarbons.
RIA Novosti – Iran’s defense minister is likely to discuss the delivery of Russian S-300 air defense systems to the Islamic Republic during a meeting with his Russian counterpart on Tuesday, a business daily said. Russia’s Kommersant said Moscow had signed an S-300 contract with Tehran, but would not rush to implement it due to a seeming thaw in Russia’s relations with the new U.S. administration.
Itar-Tass – The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has warned Russian Ambassador in Kiev Viktor Chernomyrdin that he might be announced persona non grata over his ‘undiplomatic comments on Ukraine’. Chernomyrdin was invited to the ministry on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Vladimir Ogryzko protested against his “unfriendly and highly undiplomatic comments on Ukraine and the Ukrainian administration.”
BBC – The US commander for the Middle East and Central Asia, General David Petraeus, is in Uzbekistan for talks with leaders. US officials said Gen Petraeus would meet President Islam Karimov to discuss key regional security issues.
Moscow Times – Kyrgyzstan’s parliament said Tuesday that it will vote this week on a bill to close a U.S. air base that provides key support to military operations in Afghanistan, while the top U.S. commander for the region visited Uzbekistan in search of new supply routes for forces fighting the Taliban.
RIA Novosti – Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev, who lives in self-imposed exile in Britain, said on Tuesday he was resolved to return to Chechnya and “work for a lasting peace” in the region. “I will definitely return to my motherland. I cannot abide the idea of living in a foreign land either for myself or for my children and grandchildren,” he said in an interview on Radio Echo Moskvy.
today.az – “The Democratic party of Azerbaijan has made a statement which says that strengthening of ties between Turkey and Armenia contradics to the national interests of our country”, reports Day.Az with reference to the press service for the party. “The session considers that by unilateral strengthening of relations with Armenia, Turkey is losing Azerbaijan’s trust. The party hopes that official Ankara will be more cautious about this issue.

memorial service at Forward Operating Base Marez

Command Sgt. Maj. James Pippin, with the 3rd Heavy Bde. Combat Team, 1st Cav. Div. from Archer City, Texas, and the brigade’s commanding officer Col. Gary Volesky, from Spokane, Wash., pay their respects to the five individuals whose lives were lost after a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive attack detonated near their vehicle, Feb. 9, in Mosul, Iraq during a memorial service at Forward Operating Base Marez. (photo by Pfc. Sharla Perrin)

Middle East

Al Sumaria – After militants bombed the Al Askari Shrine once in 2006 and another time in 2007, Iraqi officials hope the mosque can be restored to its former majestic glory in a few years. Meanwhile, a team of engineers has effectively redrawn the design from scratch and have started to rebuild the shrine.
Haaretz – Israeli warplanes bombed seven smuggling tunnels on the Philadlephi Route in the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, and struck a Hamas post in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. The strikes came as a response to the firing of a mortar round by Palestinian militants into Israel on Tuesday evening.
Press TV – Egypt has agreed to the establishment of a Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) base in the country as the terrorist group seeks a new home.
Ya Libnan – Lebanese parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri said after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that he supports Lebanon, the Lebanese state and the Special Tribunal for trying the killers involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Daily Star – A court ruling to indict suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will be issued a few days before the June elections, An-Nahar daily reported Tuesday. The indictment is expected to be announced shortly before the June 7 parliamentary polls, the paper said, without elaborating.
Saba – Turkey’s Foreign minister Ali Babacan arrived Tuesday in Yemen on a two-day visit during which he will hand President Ali Abdullah Saleh a letter from his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. Babacan will meet with Yemeni senior officials to discuss ways to promote bilateral cooperation
News Yemen – Minister of Interior Mutahar Rashad Al-Masri confirmed that Al-Qaeda is no more existed in Yemen, and that the 4000 wanted people announced by the ministry are wanted over criminal acts. Those people have no ties to al-Qaeda, but they are wanted over other crimes, al-Masri said in an interview with the Jordanian al-Dostor newspaper.

Iran

Fars – Bushehr nuclear power plant will come into operation soon in future, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said in Moscow on Tuesday, describing construction of the nuclear facility as an instance of high level of cooperation between Iran and Russia.
Press TV – Tehran says Western countries have resorted to misinformation in an attempt to force Moscow out of the Iranian nuclear market. In a Monday interview with RIA Novosti, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki suggested the West has launched a misinformation campaign against his country to force an end to Russian nuclear cooperation with Iran.
Payvand – An Iraqi Kurdish official claims an agreement has been reached with Iran to halt its shelling of Iraqi border areas in pursuit of Kurdish rebels. Jabbar Yawer, the undersecretary for peshmerga (Kurdish armed forces) affairs in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq that the agreement came into effect on February 14.
Pak Tribune – Iranian Judiciary Spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi here Tuesday rejected claims by a US senator that former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared almost 2 years ago, is in Iranian jails.
Mehr – Iran’s Judiciary spokesman announced on Tuesday that 24 Israeli officials responsible for the Gaza Strip massacres will soon be prosecuted for war crimes.
Fars – Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo Basile Ikouebe announced his country’s enthusiasm for using Iran’s capabilities in different fields. Speaking to reporters following his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki here Tuesday, Ikouebe referred to Iran’s capabilities in different fields, including energy, construction and road-construction, and announced his country’s willingness for using Tehran’s capabilities in these fields, particularly mechanization of his country’s agriculture.
IRNA – Iran and Singapore explored ways of boosting cooperation. During a meeting with Iran’s visiting ambassador to the country Mohsen Omid Zamani, Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs George Yeo discussed ways of further expanding the existing ties between the two countries.

South Asia

AFPS – Coalition and Afghan forces have killed 16 insurgents in western Afghanistan in recent days, including at least three Taliban commanders, military officials reported. A coalition forces precision strike today killed a militant commander affiliated with the Hezb-e-Islam Gulbuddin organization and other Taliban commanders near Gozara district in Herat province.
CentCom – Afghan National Army Commandos with the 207th Commando Kandak, assisted by Coalition forces, killed five insurgents while searching the compound of a suspected weapons facilitator in the Qala Ga District, Farah Province, located in western Afghanistan approximately 80 km from the Iranian border.
IRIN – The closure of schools and continuing attacks on students in the southern Helmand Province forced Abdul Wakil’s parents to send him to a madrasa (Islamic school) in neighbouring Pakistan. Almost two months later, Abdul Wakil [not his real name] quit the school outside Quetta, capital of Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province, and returned home.
Geo – Eight people were killed while 16 others injured when a blast took place in a vehicle outside the house of a Union Councillor here on Tuesday. According to CCPO Peshawar, the vehicle was parked outside Union Councillor Faheem’s house. Six people were killed on the spot while UC men gunned down two attackers when they tried to flee the scene.
Daily Times – Security forces on Tuesday killed six Taliban during their ongoing operation to target suspected hideouts in Bajaur Agency, officials said. “Six militants were killed and scores injured during shelling by gunship helicopters in Inayat Qilay, Bhaicheena and Umerey areas in Mamoond tehsil,” the officials said on condition of anonymity
The Acorn – It is the third time in the last year that the the Pakistani government is attempting to strike a deal with the father-in-law in order to get the son-in-law to cease violence. It has failed twice—because Mr Fazlullah and Swat are pieces on a larger chessboard that also includes, among others, Baitullah Mehsud and Waziristan. These two militant leaders have been able to whipsaw the half-hearted attempts by the Pakistani state machinery into submission.
The News – Life returned to near normalcy in Swat on Tuesday as the elderly cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad, heading a peace caravan of hundreds of his black-turbaned followers, reached Mingora after a three-hour drive from Timergara.
Times of India – After Pakistan agreed to enforce Islamic law in large areas of its restive North West Frontier Province (NWFP), including Swat Valley, in a concession to buy peace in the region, intelligence sources on Tuesday confirmed the threat that Taliban actually poses to India which is not far from the Indian boundary. Sources have revealed that the Taliban have plans to attack western cultural centres in Indian cities. However, no specific intelligence inputs on the nature of the threat, the specific target, the timing or the group have been received.

Far East & Pacific

Chosun Ilbo – North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has chosen his third son Jong-un as his heir apparent, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Tuesday. The Japanese daily quoted a North Korean official as saying the General Political Staff, the key organ of the People’s Army, has been distributing a memorandum saying Jong-un (26) was chosen as the heir early last month.
Yonhap – South Korea’s top diplomat emphasized on Wednesday that North Korea’s missile program poses a serious threat to international security due to its ability to launch a nuclear bomb. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan also said that Pyongyang would still face stern punitive measures from the United Nations even if it launches a satellite, and not a missile as feared.
Canberra Times – Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith has visited the turbulent border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mr Smith who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, flew by helicopter from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to the northern city of Peshawar and on to the Khyber Pass. There he was briefed by Pakistani military and security officials on their efforts to suppress the Taliban and members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
China Daily – A group of high-ranking Chinese military officials are in Japan to discuss the disputed Diaoyu Islands, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.
Japan Times – A Tokyo trading house extensively involved in exporting equipment to Pakistan for use in its clandestine nuclear arms program was forced to scrap the sale of key uranium enrichment devices after the United States became aware of the deal, a source connected with the company said Monday.
Asia Times – By helping establish a new Eurasian transport corridor, Japan can honor commitments to its ally Washington in the “war on terror”, and revive its long-lost Central Asian initiative. This re-energized role in the region – namely, sending troops to Afghanistan – fits in well with Tokyo’s vision for an invigorated Japanese diplomatic strategy in the 21st century.
AP – Japan’s finance minister resigned in disgrace Tuesday after slurring his speech and nodding off during the G-7 summit in Rome last weekend in yet another political distraction as the world’s No. 2 economy battles an ever-deepening recession. Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa denied he was drunk on the job and blamed his bizarre behavior at a press conference in Italy on cold medicine and jet lag, but friends and foes alike weren’t buying his excuse.

Europe

Germany Foreign Ministry – At the start of a two-day trip to Iraq, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Baghdad this morning (17 February). In the course of the day, the Federal Foreign Minister will conduct talks with the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and his counterpart, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Talks with Human Rights Minister Wijdan Salim and Christian clergy are also planned. The visit, the first by a German Foreign Minister to Iraq since 1987, will focus on the future shape of German-Iraqi relations, as well as the current situation in Iraq and the region.
Austrian Times – Two Lower Austrian policemen have been suspended from duty and arrested for spying for the Kazakhstan secret service. Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia today (Tues) confirmed the news as reported by the weekly magazine “Falter.” He said the two policemen had been working in Lower Austria but declined to identify the location.
EurActiv – Growing political instability in Latvia, Ukraine and Georgia are mainly triggered by the global economic crisis and deep internal problems, such as corruption. But problems with Moscow could be adding an extra “irritant” to an already bad situation, according to leading analysts questioned by EurActiv. Ukraine, Georgia and Latvia are moving into a period of political instability as they sink deeper into economic recession.
EUbusiness – Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose nation holds the rotating EU presidency, on Tuesday denounced protectionism and nationalism in Europe in a fresh implicit attack on France.
Eurostat – During 2008, euro area trade recorded a deficit of 32.1 bn euro, compared with +15.8 bn in 2007. The EU27 recorded a deficit of 241.3 bn in 2008, compared with -192.4 bn in 2007.

Africa

Shabelle – Ethiopia started arming and training Somali militias in Mustahil District in the Somalia regional state of Ethiopia, witnesses said on Tuesday. Sources say the Somali militias led by former warlords who were forced to flee from Hiiraan ,Gedo, Bay and Galgaduud regions in Somalia are regrouping in Mustahil, where Ethiopian officers are training their militias. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Friday he would support any group that wants assistance to face al-Shabaab and recapture the territories they used to control.
CSM – Why did Sudan make a deal with Darfur rebels?
BBC – An unidentified armed group has launched an attack on the presidential palace in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The West African country’s ambassador to London accused Nigerian militants and said they had been repulsed. But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) denied this, telling the BBC: “They are paranoid.”
Reuters – Nearly 600 rebels laid down their weapons in northern Mali on Tuesday, state radio reported, in the latest sign that military pressure and Algerian mediation may be helping end a rebellion led by Tuareg nomads. Algeria has brokered several agreements between Mali’s government and the rebels, who are calling for greater autonomy and development in the north, but the latest progress follows a military offensive launched last month against rebel bases.
Vanguard – Amidst fear the global economic recession may have on the country negatively, the Nigerian government today urged the Chinese government to come to its rescue.

Secretary Gates escorts Iraqi Minister of Defense Abd al-Qadir Al-Mufriji

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, escorts Iraqi Minister of Defense Abd al-Qadir Al-Mufriji into the Pentagon to discuss bilateral security issues, Feb. 17, 2009. (photo by R. D. Ward)

The Global War

MIT International Review – One of the most important political questions of our time is: Where is Osama bin Laden? We use biogeographic theories associated with the distribution of life and extinction (distance-decay theory, island biogeography theory, and life history characteristics) and remote sensing data (Landsat ETM+, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, Defense Meteorological Satellite, QuickBird) over three spatial scales (global, regional, local) to identify where bin Laden is most probably currently located. We believe that our work involves the first scientific approach to establishing his current location.
UPI – The U.S. Navy has contracted BAE Systems for the company to develop and demonstrate an electromagnetic railgun. British company BAE was awarded the 30-month contract from the Office of Naval Research. Under the $21 million deal, BAE will develop an electromagnetic railgun to support the Navy’s strategic mission objectives as part of the Innovative Naval Prototype Railgun program. (h/t DPN)

Sights & Sounds

Africa Today – *Sudan’s government hails an initial agreement with the JEM rebels of Darfur. *The government of Equatorial Guinea blames militants from Nigeria for an attack on the presidential palace this morning. *And we hear from Nigeria’s central bank governor on why he feels his country will be spared the worst of the global economic crisis.