Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

September 2, 2008 (12:38 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda
A brief world news roundup for 2 September 2008.

United States & the Americas

Times-Picayune – Although New Orleans escaped serious damage from Hurricane Gustav on Monday morning, winds of the Category 2 storm pushed a 12-foot storm surge into the Industrial Canal, sending waves sloshing over the western wall and triggering minor flooding in the Upper 9th Ward.
CSM – Over the weekend, tens of thousands of Mexicans participated in peace marches across Mexico, voicing mounting frustration over the insecurity and impunity that they say is reigning. Calderón responded by meeting Sunday with 14 civic leaders who staged the protests, saying he’d set up citizens’ panels to monitor government progress, recruit better police, and equip officers with more powerful weapons. Yet if violence is not reduced, it could backfire for the president who has made security a cornerstone of his leadership.
canada.com – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has scheduled a meeting with opposition leader Stephane Dion for Monday, their offices said, in a further sign a general election could be called within days. Harper had asked to meet the leaders of the three major opposition parties to determine if they would work with his minority Conservative government through the autumn.
Reuters – President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suspended the entire leadership of Brazil’s intelligence agency on Monday after it was accused of spying on the Supreme Court chief and members of Congress.
Washington Times – President Hugo Chavez’s insistence that Venezuela doesn’t need U.S. help in fighting drug trafficking is raising diplomatic tensions as American officials warn of a surge in cocaine flights out of the country.
NY Times – A car bomb exploded early Monday near the Palace of Justice in Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, killing 4 people and wounding as many as 20, above. Security forces said they suspected the bomb had been planted by guerrillas from the FARC.

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

RIA Novosti – France’s Foreign Ministry has urged Russia to conduct a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Yevloyev’s death.
BBC – Opposition leaders in Russia’s volatile Ingushetia region have condemned the killing of the owner of a website critical of the Kremlin. Magomed Yevloyev was arrested and later shot after getting off the same flight as the local, Kremlin-backed leader.
Prague Watchdog – The Ingush President hated Magomed with a blend of hysteria and schizophrenia. He was unable to close down the site by taking legal proceedings. His team offered 1.5 million dollars for the web site and were willing to increase the price. Recently, Zyazikov launched public recriminations against his subordinates in the law enforcement agencies. At cabinet meetings he accused them of having no “real men” among them who were capable of stopping Yevloyev. And then, he finally found such men, who did not hesitate to fire two shots at point-blank range into the head of an unarmed man.
IHT – Hundreds of angry mourners protested Monday in Russia’s North Caucasus at the funeral of a government critic and independent Web site journalist killed by police. Up to 1,200 people turned up at the funeral, and some in the crowd turned it into a demonstration, carrying banners demanding the resignation of regional leader Murat Zyazikov and a fair investigation into Yevloyev’s death, Mutsolgov said.
Ingushetiya.ru – Recently there were reports that the rally in Nazran broken up. Taking advantage of the fact that people stood commit morning prayers and no one will be able to provide resistance at the time of its commission, the republic authorities have ordered protesters stormed.
RIA Novosti – Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom, plans to apply for permission to ship crude oil to China via Kazakhstan in the fourth quarter of this year and in 2009, the company CEO said on Monday.
NY Times – In Tajikistan, the source of more than 40 percent of Central Asia’s water, this is no mere platitude. The mountainous state lacks the industry and natural riches that bless other former Soviet Central Asian republics. Water is one of the few resources the country possesses in great abundance. (slideshow)

U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly, commanding general of Multi-National Force - West (left) and Al Anbar provincial governor Ma'moon Alwani sign the Memorandum of Understanding that transfers security of the province to the Iraqi Civilian Authority and to the Iraqi security forces, photo by Capt. Timothy LeMaster

Middle East

Al Bawaba – A ceremony to transfer US military security control of the Sunni province of Anbar to local forces was held Monday morning. The US military said the transfer of security was an “important milestone with regard to security” in the province. After the transfer, American forces will withdraw to their bases and will participate in military operations only if requested by the provincial governor.
Voices of Iraq – The handover ceremony was attended by the national security advisor, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie; the governor of Anbar, Ma’moun al-Alwani; the head of the Anbar Sahwa Council, Sheikh Abdelsattar Abu Risha; and the head of its provincial council, Abdelsalam al-Aani. The name of the province translates “granaries,” as this region was the primary entrepôt on the western borders of Lakhmid Kingdom.
MNF Iraq – Coalition forces captured two suspected members of the Shi’ite group Asaib al Haq Monday morning during an operation in Ar Rumaythah, about 200 km southeast of Baghdad in al-Muthanna Province. Intelligence tips led forces to the location of suspected Asaib al Haq criminals, believed to be associated with the senior commander of all Asaib al Haq in Iraq. Asaib al Haq is a Shi’ite faction once part of Muqtada al Sadr’s militia. The group broke ties in opposition to the ceasefire and reconciliation with the Iraqi government. Several suspected criminals in custody have asserted that the leaders of Asaib al Haq say they no longer have to be loyal to Sadr, claiming he has abandoned the struggle against Coalition forces.
Press TV – As part of his economic reforms, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says his citizens will be the benefactors of the county’s oil profits.
AFP – Egyptian police on Monday found a large cache of weapons in the Sinai desert during a routine patrol of the area, a security official said.
Daily Star – Turkey has started carrying out extra border inspections of Russian goods in a mounting trade row that many fear was triggered by the conflict over Georgia, the Anatolia news agency reported. Foreign Trade Minister Kursat Tuzmen was quoted as saying that Russian goods would be subjected to detailed searches at border posts in retaliation for the extensive inspections holding up Turkish trucks in Russian customs.
ITIC – The Al-Aqsa Foundation, based in Umm al-Fahm and belonging to the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was closed down due to its cooperation with Hamas’s civilian infrastructure in Jerusalem.

Iran

Press TV – Iran’s Foreign Ministry has denied reports that Tehran has purchased the S-300 system, an advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft missile.
BBC – Bolivian President Evo Morales has arrived in Iran to discuss trade and closer ties with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Walid Phares – In Iran, strategic planners knew all too well that even though it was the United States which threatened the regime’s ambitions, it was in fact the passive entente between the old foes of the Cold War that allowed Americans to come so close to Iran’s borders. Hence, in order to reverse the Western advance in the Middle East and, more importantly, in order to escape a democratic revolution against the regional tyrannies, the Russo-American entente would have to crumble.

Southeast Asia

NATO ISAF – ISAF accidently killed three civilians and wounded seven others with artillery fire Sept. 1 in Paktika province. The event began when insurgents fired upon an ISAF patrol in the Gayan district. The ISAF forces called for artillery to return fire on the insurgents. The ISAF soldiers went to the qalat and found three dead children and seven wounded civilians.
Asharq Al Awsat – U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed more than 220 suspected Taliban militants in strikes in southern Afghanistan last week, the U.S. military said on Monday, the biggest insurgent toll reported in recent weeks.
AKI – Pakistan’s central bank has directed the country’s commercial banks to freeze the bank accounts of one of the country’s most violent militant groups, the Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Dawn – At least 95 people were killed and 200 others injured in fresh clashes between rival tribes at the weekend in Pakistan’s volatile Kurram Agency, bordering Afghanistan. The fighting between Turi and Bangash tribes erupted on Saturday and continued on Sunday, despite a unilateral announcement of a ceasefire by the Turi tribe in reverence for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Gulf news – Pakistan suspended fighting in the volatile northwest on Monday for the Muslim month of Ramadan, allowing some of the 300,000 people displaced by airstrikes and gunbattles to pack up belongings and return to their shattered homes.
McClatchy – Pakistan’s top security official Monday admitted that al Qaida’s leadership moved freely in and out of the country and vowed that “no mercy” would be shown to extremists based in its tribal territory that borders Afghanistan.
Colombo Page – Intense battles raged in northern Sri Lanka as Sri Lankan troops of Army’s 57 division facing stiff resistance from the Tamil Tiger rebels encircled the strategic town of Mallavi in Mullaitivu district. Clashes across the embattled region killed 32 Tigers and 5 soldiers, the military said. Another 50 Tigers were wounded and 12 others were recorded as either killed or wounded. Twenty-two soldiers also received injuries.
Bloomberg – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers, watching their fiefdom in the north shrink under daily army attacks, showed by last week’s air raid on a naval base they still pose a military threat, defense analysts said. Government troops are advancing in Kilinochchi district, where the LTTE has its headquarters, and Mullaitivu to its east. They are the last remaining districts of Wanni that the Tamil Tigers still control, the Defense Ministry said on its Web site last week.

Far East & Pacific

Asahi Shimbun – Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced Monday that he will resign, citing anticipated difficulty in passing key bills in the divided Diet. The bills include one to allow the Maritime Self-Defense Force to continue its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean as part of the U.S.-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan and to create his cherished consumer affairs agency.
Straits Times – Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on Tuesday, state radio announced, hours after clashes between opponents and supporters of his government left one dead. Early on Tuesday morning, the weeks of tension and huge gulf between the Bangkok elites and upcountry rural Thailand erupted into a pitched battle on Rajadamnoen Avenue in the heart of historic Bangkok.
Nirmal Ghosh – A pitched battle ensued where the two rival mobs met, with many at the rear of the pro-government crowd running helter skelter as they realised the PAD had the upper hand and heard the gunshots. After an initial shot, more shots were heard at random intervals as the struggle surged back and forth for about two or three minutes. The shots were clearly coming from the PAD ranks. Bullets zinged into the trees above me and another journalist from Bloomberg; we were the only foreign journalists there. At the gunfire, I shouted ‘bullet’. Dan Ten Kate and I both ducked and ran with the crowd.
Philippine Star – In the Philippines, a powerful homemade bomb blew up inside a parked bus at a terminal in Digos City, Davao del Sur, killing at least six people and injuring 28 others. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was launched on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Europe

European Union – Meeting in an extraordinary session on 1 September following the conflict that broke out in Georgia, the European Council unanimously expressed its concern at the consequences, particularly in human terms, of this situation and its condemnation of Russia’s unilateral decision to recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It considers that this crisis has placed the relationship between the EU and Russia at a crossroads and that it is in Russia’s own interest not to isolate itself from Europe. Until troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to 7 August, meetings on the negotiation of the Partnership Agreement will be postponed.
Reuters – A economic downturn in Britain could aggravate racial tensions and grievances that help to feed terrorist recruitment, according to a leaked government document. The draft letter from the Home Office warned that a recession could create conditions likely to increase support for radical Islamist groups.

Africa

Washington Post – In a region more often associated with grinding poverty, Ruharo is part of a modestly growing segment of sub-Saharan Africa, upwardly mobile, low- to middle-income consumers. The group includes working Africans who make as little as $200 a month, a paltry sum by Western standards, yet hardly the $1 or so a day in earnings that describe life for about half the continent’s population.
Ghanain Chronicle – There was pandemonium at the Jubilee Park in Tamale when unknown gunmen allegedly opened fire and succeeded in scuttling away supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who had turned up in their numbers to listen to Nana Akufo-Addo’s running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
AFP – A small plane believed to be carrying United Nations staffers did not land as scheduled Monday in the Democratic Republic of Congo and officials were unsure of its whereabouts, UN sources said.
Chatham House – Angola is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producer, reaching 2 million barrels a day. It is also OPEC’s newest member. Angolans go to the polls on Friday 5 September 2008 for legislative elections, the first multiparty polls since 1992. Ten parties and four coalitions with 5,198 candidates will contest 220 seats. Chatham House’s pre-election assessment examines the run-up to these elections in this strategic southern African country whose export earnings in 2008 will be over US$84 billion.

British soldiers of J (Sidi Rezegh) Battery, 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, spend the early evening hours calibrating the AS90, 155-mm self-propelled gun at Multi National Division Southeast in Basra, Iraq, on Aug. 28, photo by Pfc. Rhonda Roth-Cameron

The Global War

Al Arabiya – The masked gunmen threw themselves to the ground, rolled over and came up firing their assault rifles at an imaginary target. Jaysh al-Ummah, or the Army of the Nation, a Palestinian Islamist group modeled on the ideology of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda, was training for battle with Israel. “We are coming, Jews,” read graffiti daubed on a wall inside its private training base in the Gaza Strip, where Reuters journalists were allowed rare access.
Australia Foreign Ministry – The Australia-Russia civil nuclear cooperation agreement was signed in September 2007 and tabled in Parliament on 14 May 2008. The Agreement is currently before the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. The Committee will conduct a further public hearing on the Agreement in Canberra. When considering ratification the Government will take into account recent and on going events in Georgia and Australia’s bilateral relationship with Russia.
Jerusalem Post – The Mossad scrapped a plan to seize the notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who was located in Argentina in 1960, in order not to botch the capture of Adolf Eichmann, the former spymaster Minister for Pensioner Affairs Rafi Eitan said Monday.

Sights & Sounds

Africa Today – *The UN humanitarian chief says Ethiopia’s drought is the worst food crisis in the world. *Sierra Leone’s president becomes the country’s first leader to publicly declare his assets. *And we check on preparations for Angola’s so-called high tech elections taking place this Friday.