Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

August 15, 2008 (12:05 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda
A brief world news roundup for 15 August 2008.

United States & the Americas

State Dept – On August 14, 2008, the United States and Libya signed a comprehensive claims settlement agreement in Tripoli. The agreement is designed to provide rapid recovery of fair compensation for American nationals with terrorism-related claims against Libya. It will also address Libyan claims arising from previous U.S. military actions. The agreement is being pursued on a purely humanitarian basis and does not constitute an admission of fault by either party.
CBS – A federal appeals court ruled Thursday [opinion] that Saudi Arabia and four of its princes cannot be held liable in the Sept. 11 attacks even if they were aware that charitable donations to Muslim groups would be funneled to al Qaeda.
US Census Bureau – Minorities, now roughly one-third of the U.S. population, are expected to become the majority in 2042, with the nation projected to be 54 percent minority in 2050. By 2023, minorities will comprise more than half of all children. In 2030, when all of the baby boomers will be 65 and older, nearly one in five U.S. residents is expected to be 65 and older. This age group is projected to increase to 88.5 million in 2050, more than doubling the number in 2008 (38.7 million).
IPS – Amidst anticipation and apprehension regarding the imminent political transition, Paraguay is gearing up for Friday’s inauguration of centre-left President-elect Fernando Lugo, known as the “bishop of the poor”, who is putting an end to six decades of Colorado Party rule. More than ideological differences, the biggest challenge for Lugo will be resolving conflicts of interest between the various groups in his government, political scientist Line Bareiro said.
Javno – Hooded gunmen dressed in black burst into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in northern Mexico, dragged patients out of a prayer session and shot them dead in an attack that killed eight people.
Oxford Analytica – The Argentine authorities will be hoping to see a rise in investor confidence this week, after announcing on August 10 a new ‘integral financing strategy’ involving plans to buy back bonds maturing in 2008. Around 100 million dollars worth of bonds were repurchased the following day (out of an estimated total of about 1 billion).

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

France24 – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Tbilisi on Friday to secure Georgia’s signature to a fragile peace deal with Russia. This as Tbilisi said Russian tanks were moving deeper into Georgian territory.
AP – Russia’s foreign minister declared Thursday that the world “can forget about” Georgia’s territorial integrity, and American and Georgian officials said Russia appeared to be targeting military infrastructure, including radars and patrol boats at a Black Sea naval base and oil hub.
McClatchy – Perhaps more than any other piece of land in Georgia, the road from Gori to Tbilisi on Thursday symbolized the humiliating defeat that Georgia has suffered at the hands of the Kremlin, which was its overseer during the days of hard-line rule by the Soviet Union.
TIME – From Russia there is only one way to get in and out of South Ossetia. The Transcaucasian Highway, or Transkam, runs from Vladikavkaz, the capital of the semi-autonomous republic of North Ossetia to the 3.5 km-long Roki Tunnel, which opens into South Ossetia. All the men and material that Russia is now using to fight Georgia came along this road. I went up the Transkam on Wednesday to determine if the Russian army was pulling any men or machines out of the fight.
EurasiaNet – Public sentiment in Azerbaijan is clearly on the side of neighboring Georgia, but the Azerbaijani government is treading lightly, not wanting to do or say anything that might provoke Russia. Baku, which is intent on recovering its own separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, is concerned about how the fighting in Georgia will impact the fates of Georgia’s break-away entities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Stars and Stripes – The first C-17 was greeted with applause from the waiting group of Georgians. Then, shortly after touching down in Tbilisi, the plane was back in the air and bound for Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to reload. “It’s flying a leap frog,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker, a spokesman for U.S. European Command. In all, about $2 million in humanitarian aid was delivered aboard back-to-back U.S. military flights Wednesday and Thursday, according to EUCOM.
OSCE – The situation in and around the South Ossetia conflict area remains “fragile” and up to 100 additional OSCE monitors are needed, the Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Heikki Talvitie, told a special meeting of the Organization’s Permanent Council in Vienna.
ICG – President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has turned Kyrgyzstan in effect into a one-party state, but its surface calm could soon be shattered if he does not deal with its real problems of corruption and economic crisis before winter sets in. A further deterioration in living conditions could spark serious anger among a public already worn down by power cuts, the steady increase in fuel prices and the memory of the previous grim winter. If anger turns to violence, it risks being brutal, destructive and xenophobic – and the remnants of the discredited opposition may not be able to channel demonstrations into a more controllable form.

Middle East

BBC – Eighteen people have died and another 75 were injured after a female suicide bomber struck in southern Iraq. The female attacker blew herself up while among a group of Shia pilgrims in the town of Iskandariya.
Bloggers Roundtable – Owing to the combination of forces, and especially the co-location of U.S. and Iraqi troops in towns and villages around Babil, victories have been recently scored against Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia. In turn, improved security has enabled growth in government and economic systems, Army Col. Thomas James explained.
Al Arabiya – Syria and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to resume work towards formally demarcating their borders but Damascus said the boundaries of the disputed Shebaa Farms would not be drawn until Israel withdrew from them. Demarcation of the borders between Syria and Lebanon would be a major step towards meeting international demands on Damascus to formalise ties with its smaller neighbour.
AFP – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday accused Israel of seeking to eliminite the Lebanese Shiite movement’s leaders, in a televised speech on the second anniversary of the summer war with Israel.

Iran

Hurriyet – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties, including the enhancement of an energy partnership, and Tehran’s nuclear program. Turkey and Iran failed to reach consensus on an energy deal, but signed other cooperation deals.
Washington Times – Iranian state radio says three Kurdish separatists and one Iranian soldier were killed in a shootout in the northwest of the country.
Al Arabiya – A number of Iranians are flocking to Malaysia, attracted by a fellow Islamic country with a relatively low cost of living, instead of pursuing their dreams in traditional exile hubs such as Canada or Sweden.
MEMRI – The Iranian daily Kayhan, which is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, stated that since January 2008 the Saudi television network Al-Arabiya had been waging a minor and clandestine war on Iran, and that its Farsi-language website served to egg on Iranian opposition groups and as a platform for hostile reformist criticism of the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Southeast Asia

Newsday – An explosion targeting international troops on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan killed three members of the U.S.-led coalition Thursday, the coalition said.
AKI – Around 135,000 residents have reportedly fled a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan to avoid clashes between security forces and Taliban militants. Officials said that up to half of the population of some villages in the troubled Bajaur tribal district had fled, although militants were trying to stop people from leaving.
National Interest - Despite the explosive nature of the crisis and apparent consensus between the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees about the need for additional focus on the area—as well as military forces there—the popular analysis of the situation often fails to appreciate the very basic facts of the issue. At the core of this insurgency is Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which encompasses about 27,220 square kilometers of mountainous terrain and is home to approximately 3.5 million Pashtuns. Ethnic Pashtuns not only strongly dominate FATA and the adjoining North-West Frontier Province, they also straddle the Afghan-Pakistan border, demarcated by the British in 1893.
Daily Times – The coalition government has offered indemnity and security to President Pervez Musharraf if he resigns, sources privy to the developments said on Thursday. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif has agreed to change his rigid stance against the president, who is likely to finalise a decision in the next few days. The drop scene is likely in a few days, the sources said.
News Agency of Kashmir – Curfew relaxed in Kashmir, Kishtwar still under seize ; Protests continued, 45 injured in fresh violence across valley; Curfew defied in Uri, Baramulla, Rafaiabad
AP – A wave of battles across the front lines in Sri Lanka’s 25-year-old civil war killed 14 ethnic Tamil rebels and two government soldiers, the military said Thursday. Government jets hit a series of Tamil Tiger targets in the Mullaittivu region early Thursday in support of troops fighting on the ground.
Red Cross – Tens of thousands of people have fled areas affected by fighting in the Mannar and Kilinochchi districts following an escalation of hostilities between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in northern Sri Lanka. Among those displaced – most of whom headed towards Kilinochchi – are people who have had to abandon their homes several times in recent months. Access to food, shelter, sanitation and clean water is an urgent priority. Although health facilities in the area are struggling to cope with the increased demand, they have so far been able to meet the population’s basic needs.

Far East & Pacific

Daily Yomiuri – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s announcement Monday that the United States would postpone removing North Korea from its list of terrorism-sponsoring nations came after Washington and Pyongyang failed to reach an agreement on procedures to verify North Korea’s declaration of its nuclear programs.
Xinhua – Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will meet with South Korean envoy Kim Sook in New York Friday to discuss the nuclear issue of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Thursday. The visit comes amid another visit by Sung Kim, director of the office of Korean affairs at the State Department, to China on the DPRK nuclear disarmament.
NPR – A series of attacks in the Xinjiang region of northwest China have raised concern about Muslim separatists, who the government says is responsible for the violence. Michel Martin talks to Dru Gladney, president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College, about understanding the religious and political goals of the diverse Muslim community in China.
Reuters – Japan marked the 63rd anniversary of its surrender in World War Two on Friday, but Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was expected to avoid visiting a shrine for war dead seen by Asian neighbors as a symbol of Tokyo’s past militarism.
Times Online – The New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, was evacuated in atrocious weather from a mountain in the country’s South Island after her mountain guide and close friend died of a heart attack during an alpine camping trip.

Europe

Irish Times – Warsaw and Washington have signed a preliminary agreement to install 10 American missile interceptors in Poland, as concerns over the Georgian conflict helped break an 18-month deadlock. Prime minister Donald Tusk appeared on national television yesterday evening, announcing that US negotiators had agreed to help boost Poland’s air defences in exchange for it hosting part of Washington’s missile shield.
Prague Monitor – The Czech Republic has been the largest supplier of tanks, self-propelled guns and artillery to Georgia in the past two years, the daily Pravo reported Wednesday, referring to information from the Russian Defence Ministry published in the Komsomolskaya pravda Russian paper. The Russian paper writes that the Czech Republic has also supplied missile launchers to Georgia. Moscow has accused Georgian troops of having massacred the inhabitants of Cchinvali exactly by these tanks and missile launchers.
CSM – Russia’s invasion of Georgian territory last week, in addition to reasserting Moscow’s military strength, has complicated Europe’s effort to diversify its oil and gas supplies away from the growing dominance of Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom. The Russo-Georgian conflict is the latest in a series of setbacks for Europe’s planned Nabucco pipeline – its best hope of weaning itself off Gazprom, which set off alarm bells by cutting crucial gas supplies to the continent in the winters of 2006 and 2008.
Daily Star – Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is ready to stand trial in Jordan over his controversial caricature depicting the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb in his turban, the press reported on Thursday. A Jordanian prosecutor summoned Westergaard for questioning in June after local media outlets sued him over his cartoon, which was republished in at least 17 Danish dailies in February, sparking violent protests in Muslim countries, including the kingdom. “I would like to go to Amman to stand trial. However, what I fear is that I am convicted in advance,” Westergaard told the government-owned Jordan Times in Copenhagen.
Brussels Journal – I recently wrote an essay regarding how the Council of Europe, in close cooperation with the European Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Arab League and other Islamic organizations, are working to combat “Islamophobia” in Europe by all means necessary. Now the French blog Galliawatch takes a look at the CoE as well. This should be considered required reading for all those numerous people who still stubbornly dismiss Eurabia as a “conspiracy theory.”

Africa

Afrol – International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has raised concern with increased hijack and attack reports in recent weeks, off Somali coast. On Tuesday, Somali pirates hijacked a Thai general cargo ship, which is the third in a series with a month.
Press TV – Around 20 Ethiopian soldiers have been killed by their fellow servicemen in the Somali military in the southern district of El Warego. The region was a scene of heavy fighting between Ethiopian soldiers and Somali troops, Press TV correspondent reported.
This Day – At the solemn ceremony held at the Perigrino Hall of Government House, Calabar, the Nigerian delegation led by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, exchanged flags with the Deputy Prime Minister of Cameroon, Mr. Ahmadu Ali. That signalled the final withdrawal and transfer of authority in the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.
The Citizen – Debate over the establishment of Islamic courts in Tanzania yesterday split parliamentarians after the minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ms Mathis Chikawe, presented his 2008/09 budget estimates. The opposition MP said their call for the establishment of the courts is based on the fact that there are special issues in Muslim communities that need to be handled only by Kadhi courts.
AllAfrica – Zimbabwean officials have blocked Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other top party officials from leaving the country to attend this weekend’s summit of the Southern African Development Community. (It was returned.)
World Bank – An additional US4 million food price crisis response grant for Sierra Leone was approved by the Bank’s Executive Board of Directors, following swiftly on the heels of the US3 million dollars in budget support approved earlier this month to offset lost revenues resulting from the spike in food prices. The grant will be specifically used to support the implementation of an emergency cash-for-work program with the objective of providing temporary employment opportunities for those most susceptible to the crisis.
Carnegie – The bloodless military coup that overthrew Mauritania’s democratic government poses challenges for U.S. policy in the region. Washington can encourage the military to move toward elections by leveraging its military assistance, and humanitarian and institutional capacity-building programs.

The Global War

RIA Novosti – The composition of the Russian Air Force is estimated by a number of sources to be as follows: 90 strategic bombers, including 16 Tu-160s (Blackjack) and 74 Tu-95MSs (Bear); 124 long-range Tu-22M3 (Backfire) bombers; 20 A-50 early warning aircraft; Su-25M close support aircraft, Su-24 (Fencer) tactical bombers and Su-34 (Fullback) fighter bombers totaling 800 planes; 725 MiG-31 (Foxhound), MiG-29 (Fulcrum), MiG-25 (Foxbat) and Su-27 (Flanker), including Su-27SMKs, interceptor fighters; around 300 An-12, An-22, An-124 (Condor) and Il-76 (Candid) airlifters and Il-78 (Midas) tanker planes; 650 Mi-8, Mi-17, Mi-24, Mi-26, Ka-50 and Mi-28N helicopters. In addition, it has 1900 anti-aircraft missile launchers, including S-300V, S-300P Favorit, S-400 Triumf and other systems.
ISN – The US Geological Survey presented the first publicly available assessment of the Arctic Circle’s petroleum resources on 23 July, revealing an estimated 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, but technically recoverable, oil north of the Circle. If the report is accurate, the find would account for roughly 13 percent of undiscovered oil in the world – enough to meet worldwide supply for the next three years (at current consumption rates). In addition, the area also contains 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas.

Sights & Sounds

CSM – Correspondent Jeff White discusses concerns that Russia’s offensive in Georgia may be motivated by oil and gas interests.