Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

November 6, 2009 (12:37 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda A brief world news roundup for 6 November 2009.

United States & the Americas

Army Times – An Army psychiatrist was identified Thursday as one of the gunmen in a shooting rampage on Fort Hood, Texas, that left at least 12 people dead and up to 31 wounded. A Pentagon source identified the shooter as Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan; the source said Hasan was a psychiatrist recently reassigned from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to work with soldiers at Darnall Army Medical Center on Fort Hood. He was killed at the scene.
Treasury Dept – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated First East Export Bank (FEEB), a Bank Mellat subsidiary located in Malaysia, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13382 for being owned or controlled by Bank Mellat. Treasury also designated the Chairman of Bank Mellat, Ali Divandari, for acting on behalf of Bank Mellat. E.O. 13382 freezes the assets of designated proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with them.
US House Armed Services Cmte – Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee testimony on Iraq and Afghanistan: Perspectives on U.S. Strategy, Part II.; Major General Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army (ret.) (pdf), Dr. C. Christine Fair (pdf), Professor Muqtedar Khan (pdf), Dr. Marin Strmecki (pdf)
Pentagon briefing – This is not like Iraq, where we had a very sophisticated enemy who was, you know, getting EFPs from Iran and others and deploying those in a sophisticated way against our forces. These are people who are massing together fertilizer and other homemade bomb-making devices and just using quantity over sophistication. For example, the Stryker that was — that was hit last week was hit with a thousand-pound bomb.
Miami Herald – Peru’s defense minister says Shining Path rebels attacked a military outpost in the country’s coca-producing highlands, killing one soldier and wounding three
Nosint – France is pursuing further arms sales in Latin America after its extensive weapons deal with Brazil and is hoping to persuade Argentina to become its next big customer for military hardware. French Defense Minister Herve Morin, currently on a Latin American tour, told Argentine government leaders during a visit to the capital France could help the country recapture its pre-eminence through closer military cooperation with Paris.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

RIA Novosti – Russia will use its Armed Forces outside the country only in extreme circumstances to protect Russian nationals, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
RFERL – Russian military intelligence believes Georgia might again attack South Ossetia, the pro-Moscow region over which the two countries fought a war last year, a powerful spy chief said
Caucasian Knot – Today is two years after the leader of North-Caucasian militants Doku Umarov proclaimed the Islamic state – the Imarat Kavkaz. From the time when the accent in the ideology got offset from the political aspect to the religious one, the situation in Northern Caucasus has noticeably aggravated

Middle East

Al Sumaria – UN Chief’s special envoy to Iraq Oscar Fernandez appointed to review Iraq’s demand to form an investigation commission into Baghdad recent bombings received from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki in addition to a number of ministers and security chiefs evidence on the implication of some neighboring countries including Syria in Baghdad recent attacks, sources from the UN Commission to Baghdad told Al Hayat Newspaper
Ehud Yaari – Iran’s Nuclear Program: Deciphering Israel’s Signals; The Israeli political leadership – in government as well as in the opposition – refrains from addressing this very complex dilemma except by making brief vague statements. The military and intelligence communities are under strict instructions to avoid making remarks except to affirm that Israel is preparing itself for “any eventuality.”
UN – The General Assembly today endorsed the report of the United Nations investigation which found that both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants were guilty of serious human rights violations during the conflict in the Gaza Strip at the start of the year. After two days of debate in the Assembly, at UN Headquarters in New York, 114 Member States voted in favour of a resolution endorsing the report’s findings and its recommendations for further action. Eighteen States voted against the resolution and another 44 countries abstained.
ynet – Hezbollah on Thursday denied any and all connections to the cargo ship Francop, which was seized Wednesday by Israel Navy commandos. Tons of weapons and ammunition were found hidden among the civilian cargo on the ship. In a statement issued by the Lebanese organization, Hezbollah denied any link to “the weapons that the Zionist enemy claims it confiscated from the ship.” In addition, the terrorist organization condemned “the Israeli pirates operating in international waters.”
Daily Star – Fourteen suspects denied having any contact with terrorist groups, during their questioning by the permanent Military Tribunal on Thursday, and claimed they were beaten by Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) during earlier interrogations. The suspects denied their previous statements and said they were forced to confess under torture by the ISF
MEMRI – Egyptian authorities recently arrested 17 individuals belonging to the Islamic Jihad organization in Al-Daqhaleya province; the individuals were found to have weapons and explosives for terror operations in their possession
Al Arabiya – A Yemeni Defense Ministry official denied on Thursday that Saudi forces had struck targets inside Yemen, after Shiite rebels launched a cross-border attack into Saudi Arabia earlier this week. “Saudi Arabia did not hit targets in Yemen,” the official told Reuters, but declined to give further comment on reports that the kingdom’s air force had attacked rebel positions.
Saba – A Yemeni top security official has said that al-Qaeda was behind Tuesday’s attack against policemen in the eastern province of Hadramout, the state-run 26sep.net reported on Thursday

Iran

NCRI – In a bid to create fear and terror during November 4 demonstrations and rallies, the Iranian regime used rubber bullets that splashed red paint on the targeted participants. These bullets were used against demonstrators in many parts of Tehran including in Haft-e Tir Square; Behashti and Motahari streets; and Kesahvarz Boulevard. In Haft-e Tir Square tear gas and hot water cannons were used extensively against demonstrators.
Payvand – Security forces and militia used brutal force to disperse thousands of protesters on the streets of Tehran and other cities today, resulting in a number of injuries and arrests, in violation of international standards regarding the proportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrations, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
NY Times - U.N. inspectors found “nothing to be worried about” in a first look at a previously secret uranium enrichment site in Iran last month, the International Atomic Energy chief said in remarks published Thursday. Mohamed ElBaradei also told the New York Times that he was examining possible compromises to unblock a draft nuclear cooperation deal between Iran and three major powers that has foundered over Iranian objections.
Press TV – Iran’s top lawmaker says efforts are underway to create a rift between Tehran and Baghdad, but stresses that all such efforts are in vain. “Iran and Iraq have great potential for economic cooperation. That is why serious attempts are made to prevent them from establishing deep ties,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said during a Wednesday meeting with Iraqi lawmakers in Baghdad.
Fars – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili in a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem called Tehran-Damascus ties strategic. During the meeting, Jalili also reiterated that the two countries must take “the initiation to be the axis of more constructive relations in the region.”
Al Alam – The Saudi-based Arabsat and Cairo-based Nilesat’s move to take Al-Alam network off air has prompted international ire against the two companies’ illegal act. In a shock move against the Tehran-based network on Tuesday, Arabsat and Nilesat stopped Al-Alam’s broadcast without any specific reasons.
ISNA – Iran says German Chancellor’s remarks on Iran’s nuclear issue came under influence of Zionist lobbies and against Germany’s national interests. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Thursday that Angela Merkel’s remarks “baseless accusations” at the US Congress came as Iran is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the IAEA has reiterated several times that Iran’s nuclear issue is peaceful.

South Asia

AFPS – Combined Afghan and international forces killed or detained suspected militants in Afghanistan’s Wardak and Khowst provinces, and officials are investigating whether an International Security Assistance Force rocket attack caused civilian casualties, military officials reported.
Washington Times – The Stryker is “essentially a paramilitary police vehicle,” said retired Army Col. Doug Macgregor, a specialist on tank warfare. “It’s designed to transfer American light infantry down a road,” not to fight an elusive enemy in treacherous terrain. Many soldiers and officers interviewed by The Times over the past two weeks also questioned the use of Strykers in southern Afghanistan.
WSJ – The United Nations said it is temporarily relocating more than half its staff in Afghanistan following last week’s deadly Taliban attack against U.N. workers.
Ghosts of Alexander – A Hybrid Rumsfeld/Soviet Strategy for Afghanistan
Military.com – The villagers said they just wanted to be left alone. They claimed they had asked the Taliban to stay away, and wished the Americans would do the same. But now the Americans were back, determined to stop the Taliban from passing through the village to attack U.S. targets. And shortly afterward the gunfire from the hills above served notice that the Taliban had no intention of leaving.
Geo – The police held 75 suspects during a search operation launched in the wake of the killing of 2 female teachers in Bajaur Agency on Thursday. The police has deported 21 Afghanis from Bajaur Agency and handed them over to the Afghanistani officials at Torkham border. The security men have destroyed several militants’ dens with explosives in Malasid locality of Tehsil Salarzai.
Daily Times – Suspected Taliban blew up a girls’ school in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency and another in Hangu district, officials and residents said on Thursday. Sources told Daily Times that the terrorists blew up the building of Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Akakhel
Dawn – Troops captured the strategically located Laddah Fort in the Mehsud heartland on Thursday. They had repulsed 14 major attacks by militants amid fears that a hostage situation and a massacre could take place if the fort collapsed. According to the official, 28 militants were killed on Wednesday and Thursday and five others were captured.
The News – Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud has urged his fighters to stand fast against the military offensive in South Waziristan, warning them in an intercepted message obtained on Thursday that cowards will go to hell.
Geo – At least four persons were killed and four others injured during the attack carried out by a suspected US unmanned spy plane on Norok tehsil of Mir Ali in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) late on Wednesday night
Dawn – Security forces on Thursday arrested three Iranians suspected of planning a suicide attack in Iran’s southeastern region last month which killed 42 people, officials said. The ethnic Baloch men were arrested by the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary troops in a raid on Thursday in Turbat, a district in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on the Iranian border, intelligence and paramilitary officials said.
The News – A senior professor of the University of Balochistan was shot dead on the Kassi Road here on Thursday night. The defunct Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the killing.
Times of India – A top Sri Lankan official today said the rebel LTTE may have had links with the Maoists in India, days after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the left wing extremists were acquiring arms from abroad
Asia Times – More than 70,000 paramilitary troops are poised to begin Operation Green Hunt, a massive offensive against Maoist rebels in India’s northeast “Red Corridor”, should a final appeal to the Maoists to sit down with the government for talks fail.

annual bilateral Korean Integrated Training Program exercise

A U.S. Marine Corps light armored vehicle assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit disembarks a U.S. Navy landing craft, air cushion during an amphibious assault exercise. The 31st MEU, embarked aboard ships of the Denver Amphibious Ready Group, is participating in the annual bilateral Korean Integrated Training Program exercise. (photo by Casey Kyhl)

Far East & Pacific

Jakarta Post – Thailand and Cambodia recalled their ambassadors from each other’s country in a diplomatic spat over Phnom Penh naming fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra a government adviser. The actions Thursday were a major escalation in tensions between the two countries, which have also had a series of small but sometimes deadly skirmishes over the demarcation of their border.
NY Times – Inhabited by the Wa, an ethnic group once notorious for headhunting, neither the British colonial overlords nor the Burmese kings who preceded them saw much point in controlling the area. But to Myanmar’s military government this rebel region is an irritating piece of unfinished business and an impediment to the long-cherished goal of national unity. Myanmar’s generals are demanding that the Wa disband their substantial army here and fully subjugate themselves to the central government, a call that has so far gone unheeded. Both sides are bracing for potential conflict.
Yonhap – North Korea has built Soviet-style apartment complexes to face-lift its border town of Ryongchon where a 2004 explosion devastated the lives of thousands of people, according to a satellite image compiled by a U.S. researcher.
Japan Times – A Chinese naval training vessel with some 360 crew members on board called Thursday at the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Etajima port in Hiroshima Prefecture. The crew of the 5,470-ton Zhenghe, including naval officer candidates, are expected to visit sites including the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum during their visit through Monday.
CBS – Japan used weapons-grade plutonium to fuel a nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time as part of efforts to boost its atomic energy program. Kyushu Electric Power Co. said workers fired up the No. 3 reactor at its Genkai plant in the southern prefecture of Saga using MOX fuel – a mixture of plutonium oxide and uranium oxide.
Manila Times – The United States government reportedly withheld $2-million worth of military aid to the Philippines in 2009 due to concerns raised by human rights groups and churches in the US on the human rights record of the government. Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna said the conditional aid was not released because of the failure of the administration of President Gloria Arroyo to account for the spate of human rights violations in the country.

Europe

Balkan Insight – The Hague Tribunal Chamber rules that the trial of Radovan Karadzic will continue on March 1, 2010 and a Defence attorney will be appointed to represent the indictee if he continues to refuse to appear in court.
Russia Today – The Swedish and Finnish cabinets have approved the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline through their exclusive economic zones in the Baltic Sea.
Reuters – Lithuania’s parliament voted on Thursday to investigate allegations that the Baltic state hosted a secret CIA prison for al Qaeda suspects

Africa

IslamOnline – Somalia’s main Sufi movement, Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa, decided to declare war on Al Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabab militant group which is fighting the UN-supported interim government and African peacekeepers.
Garowe – At least 3 people were killed and nine others wounded in a battle among Somali government forces in the capital Mogadishu, Radio Garowe reports on Thursday. The fighting erupted at the junction between Banadir and Zope in the south of Mogadishu, where a group of government forces engaged with another armed group wearing the Somali forces uniforms who attacked vehicles carrying humanitarian goods, according to eyewitnesses.
Shabelle – the Islamist officials of Hizbul Islam have imposed a curfew to Beledweyn town overnight, just after heavy fighting between the Islamist forces and transitional government troops which left more on Wednesday in out of the town. witnesses told Shabelle radio on Thursday
Sudan Tribune – The border talks between Sudan and Kenya have been indefinitely suspended by the Kenyan government, disclosed Southern Sudan Commissioner for Peace and Reconciliation
BBC – Morocco has expelled a Swedish diplomat for passing on official documents to separatist groups active in Western Sahara, its foreign ministry says.
Magharebia – The al-Qaeda emir responsible for executing British hostage Edwin Dyer last May was gravely injured in a clash with Algerian troops in Adrar, El Khabar and Journal Tahalil reported on Wednesday (November 4th). Hamid Essouffi, aka Abdel Hamid Abou Zeid, leads the “Taregh ibn Ziyad” brigade. The katibate is one of four such brigades operating in al-Qaeda’s Southern Zone, the Sahara-Sahel region stretching from northeast Mauritania to Somalia
SW Radio Africa – The government’s campaign to lobby for support of the country’s continued participation in the global diamond trade has paid off, with the country escaping a ban by international diamond regulatory body, the Kimberley Process.

upcoming rotation to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin

More than 3,800 Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, including supporting elements from units across Fort Carson, prepared, inspected and rail loaded 1,170 tactical vehicles and pieces of equipment for an upcoming rotation to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. Oct. 26 (4th ID photo)