Peace Like A River » Cables, dispatches and memoranda

Cables, dispatches and memoranda

October 9, 2008 (1:14 am) | Daily Roundup | By: Jeff Kouba

Cables, Dispatches and Memoranda
A brief world news roundup for 9 October 2008.

United States & the Americas

Zee News – President Bush on Wednesday signed a bill to ratify the India-US civil nuclear deal. Following the signature, India and the US will on Thursday exchange diplomatic notes pursuant to Article 16(1) of the 123 Agreement, thereby bringing the agreement into force.
Press TV – Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa is to visit Iran next month at the head of a high-ranking delegation, Iran’s Foreign Ministry says. Correa’s visit to Iran comes as part of the two countries’ plan to improve political and economic relations.
Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research – Argentina: The Crisis That Isn’t
The Age – Protests are sweeping Peru as thousands march in at least five cities to protest against the government’s economic policies.
Spiegel – Brazil’s very recent emergence on the global stage has fueled debate in the country between those advocating adaptation to international norms and those who view Brazil’s real interests as conflicting with the current world order.
Anna Aliaga – Bolivia Spirals Toward Crisis; Things have been going from bad to worse under President Evo Morales, a Chavez clone.
Dipnote – Colombia: A Status Report

Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia

AFP – Russian forces completed a withdrawal from buffer zones around Georgia’s rebel regions Wednesday, two months after a war over South Ossetia poisoned relations between Moscow and the West. Russia abandoned positions around the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said.
Kommersant – The number of servicemen in the Russian Army will be reduced to 1 million by 2012, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced at the collegium of the Defense Ministries of Russia and Belarus. That will include 150,000 officers, a reduction from the current 450,000. “Now the Armed Forces of Russia will consist mainly of units in permanent readiness,” Serdyukov explained.
Pavel Baev, et al. Centre for European Reform – Pipelines, Politics and Power: The Future of EU-Russia Energy Relations
Telegraph – The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, has called on European leaders to create a new world order that minimises the role of the US.
Kyiv Post – Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko dissolved Parliament Wednesday and called a snap election, dashing hopes for the revival of a pro-Western coalition and throwing this politically volatile ex-Soviet nation into further turmoil. The vote will be the third parliamentary election in less than three years and deal a severe blow to an economy already battered by the global financial crisis. The date of the election has not yet been announced.
AFPS – United States continues to support NATO membership action plans for Ukraine and Georgia, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today following a meeting with Ukraine’s defense minister.
Michael Totten – The Forgotten War; There is another frozen conflict in the South Caucasus that few have even heard of, fewer know much about, and even fewer have thought to include in any analysis. This war, the forgotten war of Nagorno (or “Mountainous”) Karabakh, has so far racked up a much higher body count – tens of thousands – than any in Georgia lately.

leaflet distribution in Sadr City district

A smiling Iraqi soldier from 2nd Company, 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Army Division carries information leaflets as he walks through sector seven of the Sadr City district of Baghdad on Oct. 3. The leaflets contain information about denying the return of special groups to the area, which was named Operation Striker Storm which was a smaller part of Operation Ironhorse Blizzard. (photo by Tech Sgt. Cohen Young)

Middle East

Al Jazeera – A suicide bomber has killed eleven people outside a court in the Iraqi city of Baquba. More than 20 people were wounded in the attack in central Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, on Wednesday morning. The attacker was thought to be female, but a police official said it was too early to confirm as bombers use women’s clothing to avoid detection.
Washington Times – An Iraqi archbishop expressed concern Wednesday over what he called a “campaign of killings and deportations” against Christians in the northern city of Mosul after police reported seven Christians killed in separate attacks this month.
Asharq Al Awsat – The Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades in the Gaza Strip has denied any connection with the Palestinian Hezbollah which announced itself in a statement whose validity could not be confirmed. The argument regarding who is behind the group continues, as authoritative sources in Hamas said the [Palestinian] Authority was behind these formations to embarrass Hamas, Fatah sources said Hamas was probably behind this group and the purpose is to pressure the world to deal with it lest other extremist organizations and movements might emerge like this Palestinian Hezbollah and Al-Ummah Army.
Haaretz – Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah reiterated his promise on Wednesday to avenge the assassination of his deputy Imad Mughniyeh, for which he blames Israel.
NOW Lebanon – The American Embassy released a statement (here) seeking information on the whereabouts of two American journalists who went missing somewhere between Beirut and Aleppo last week.
Turkish Daily News – Unidentified assailants on Wednesday killed five police and a civilian driver in an attack in southern province of Diyarbak?r, hours before the Turkish Parliament approved the extension of the military’s mandate to conduct cross border operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, for a year.
NY Times – Turkey’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to extend by one year its authorization of military operations against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, keeping the door open to future strikes in the region. The approval, by a vote of 497 to 18, had been largely expected, and came amid a flurry of attacks in the country’s largely Kurdish southeast.
Guardian – But few could fail to wonder about the foreign sailors dockside and the grey warship dominating a harbour that was once a trading hub of the Phoenician empire and is now the centre of a new projection of power, this time by Syria’s old ally Russia. Tartous is being dredged and renovated to provide a permanent facility for the Russian navy, giving Moscow a key military foothold in the Mediterranean at a time when Russia’s invasion of Georgia has led to fears of a new cold war.

Iran

Hurriyet – Turkey’s Energy Minister said on Wednesday that Turkey was going to push ahead with its deal with Iran to produce and export gas from Iran, saying cancellation of the deal was “out of the question.”
Rooz Online – Mohammad Atrianfar sits on the central council of the Servants of Construction ["Kargozaran-e Sazandegi"] party. He discussed with Rooz recent death threats made against Abdullah Nouri by certain members of the hardline Ansar Hezbollah militia and the judiciary’s reluctance to investigate this matter. Atrianfar believes that powerful political institutions are backing such threats
Arash Sigarchi – I was a newspaper journalist in the Islamic Republic, but censorship forced me to blog. My blogging led to my arrest and eventual departure from my homeland. To comprehend how pervasive censorship is in Iran today and how difficult it is for Iranians to access a wide range of accurate information about everyday news, it is essential to understand how the Iranian government censors journalists. Iranian censorship is enforced by six major entities.
NCRI – Following the strike by the jewelers over three percent tax hikes in the central city of Isfahan, valuable gems market was virtually shutdown in the central city of Isfahan. Since September 22, the new law went into effect forcing the merchants to pay extra taxes on all of their profits. The jewelers set the precedence for other merchants to follow suit. Shoe sellers, textile, home appliances and other shopkeepers are closing down in support of the jewelers.
Tehran Times – Iran and Pakistan have agreed that bilateral cooperation in various sectors of economy like energy, railways, roads and trade would be enhanced.
Fars News – A top Iranian military official urged the Iraqi government to reject a proposed security deal with the United States, saying approval of such an agreement would be a “disgrace” for Iraq.

South Asia

AP – U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan on Aug. 22 killed some 30 civilians, far more than the military has previously acknowledged, defense officials said Wednesday. A new probe found that the strikes against a suspected Taliban compound in the western province of Herat killed about 30 civilians — not the five to seven the U.S. originally acknowledged, according to a Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
Xinhua – The U.S.-led Coalition forces Wednesday said it will supply over 6,000 up-armored Humvees and more than 75,000 M-16 rifles to equip Afghan government forces over the next year.
UK MoD – A ceremony was held at Headquarters Task Force Helmand in Lashkar Gah today, Wednesday 8 October 2008, to mark the Transfer of Authority in Helmand province between 16 Air Assault Brigade and 3 Commando Brigade.
Prague Daily Monitor – The Czech military base Shank in the Afghan province Logar was attacked by rockets Monday night, but no member of the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was wounded, the Czech Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
Dawn – Continuous movement of the spy planes and fear of military operations have triggered mass exoduses from the Mehsud areas of the South Waziristan tribal region. Displaced families have been seen moving towards the adjacent districts and other parts of the country. Rents of houses have shot up manifold in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan after the arrival of the displaced people. Residents said that displaced people carrying their belongings were arriving in the two adjacent districts and looking for accommodation.
Daily Times – Local Taliban blew up two private girls’ colleges in Sangota area of Swat on Tuesday. Before bombing Excelsior Public Girls College and Sangota Public Girls College, the Taliban kidnapped two policemen and two security guards deployed there for security. (see also here)
BBC – Munir (not his real name), an administrator in the Swat region of Pakistan, describes the challenges of daily life in his valley as the Taleban and the army vie for influence. This week, as schools are burned down in nearby villages, the area has to cope with lengthy power cuts.
Xinhua – At least five militants were killed and 27 others were arrested by security forces during ongoing operation in Northwest Pakistan, official APP reported Wednesday. The APP quoted security officials as saying that the security forces targeted militants with artillery and pounded suspected hideouts of miscreants in Tor Chapar, Akhurwal and Peerwal Khel areas in the NWFP.
Times of India – Police in Jammu and Kashmir claim to have killed two guerrillas belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba from Kerala in separate shootouts this week, the first time since 1989 that guerrillas from another state have been killed here.

Far East & Pacific

Manila Times – Soldiers and police patrolled Bangkok’s streets Wednesday in an effort to maintain calm a day after chaotic and bloody protests rocked the Thai capital, leaving two persons dead and hundreds injured. PAD leaders, however, expressed outrage at Tuesday’s crackdown, during which 443 people were injured, including eight who had to have damaged limbs amputated, the Health ministry said in a statement. One woman died of internal injuries, while a man was killed in a car bomb near parliament, the ministry statement said.
Asia Times – An influx of free-spending foreign Islamic groups is revitalizing the culture and identity of Cambodia’s Cham Muslims – a minority decimated in the 1970s under the Khmer Rouge regime. But cultural resurgence has come with certain political costs, and has hardly gone unnoticed by the United States security apparatus.
Jakarta Post – An Indonesian ambassador says Indonesia is now closer to signing an extradition treaty and strategic partnership action plan with China. One of the main aims of the extradition treaty, which would serve as a legal ground for a strategic partnership framework, is for both countries to cooperate in corruption eradication efforts, particularly in handling stolen assets and fugitives.
Nosint – Malaysia’s second Scorpene submarine was launched by Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah here Wednesday, marking another milestone in the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) bid to further enhance its capability amid growing maritime security challenges.

Europe

Asia Times – A serious rift is developing in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization over contingency plans for Baltic states feeling exposed to a rising “Russian threat”. European allies fear the maneuver could provoke open confrontation, while the United States wants to avoid another embarrassing strategic loss.
NATO – NATO’s ongoing operations and the Alliance’s transformation agenda will be the focus of informal discussions between Defence Ministers in Budapest, Hungary, on 9 and 10 October.
Pentagon – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today called on southeastern European nations to consider helping the military training effort in Afghanistan.
Russia Today – The UN General Assembly has asked the International Court of Justice to determine whether Kosovo broke international law by declaring independence.
Reuters – The U.N. war crimes tribunal sentenced on appeal the former leader of rebel Serbs in Croatia, Milan Martic, to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for ordering atrocities in a breakaway region of Croatia. (see judgment summary)
VOA – Britain announced Wednesday a huge, comprehensive government plan that will pump nearly $90 billion of taxypayers’ money into the British banking system to shore it up.
ABC – Iceland is on the brink of becoming the first “national bankruptcy” of the global financial meltdown.
AP – British army experts have defused a roadside bomb planted by IRA dissidents in Northern Ireland four days after finding it. The Police Service of Northern Ireland says the bomb was designed to ambush a passing police vehicle at the Wattlebridge crossroads.

Africa

Press TV – Al-Shabab fighters have killed at least fourteen Somali soldiers in an attack on a military checkpoint south of the capital, Mogadishu. Heavily armed fighters from the military wing of the Union of the Islamic Courts (UIC), al-Shabab, attacked and took control of Sarkuusta checkpoint near an Ethiopian base in southern Mogadishu, Press TV’s Somali correspondent reported Wednesday.
Strategy Page – The pirates know that, as long as they keep the body count (among the ship crews) down, they can go on with this scam for some time. At the moment, less than one half of one percent of the ships transiting the Gulf of Aden are even being attacked by the pirates, and fewer are being captured. From a business point of view, the shipping companies see this as a manageable risk.
IRIN – Thirteen fighters have died in clashes between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army and rebel Front Populaire pour la Justice au Congo (FPJC) militia in the north-eastern Ituri region, an army spokesman said.
UN – Rising banditry across eastern Chad has forced several aid organizations to temporarily suspend their work, the United Nations humanitarian wing reported today, warning of the effect this is having on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region.
Zawya – An Algerian army major died in a bomb attack blamed on Islamic militants in M’sila, 250 kilometers southeast of the capital Algiers, the country’s newspapers reported Wednesday.
AKI – The leader of Al-Qaeda’s North African branch has sacked its Islamic scholar or mufti, Rashid Zerami, for opposing suicide bombings in Algeria, local daily Ennahar reports.
Javno – The road that snakes past stalls piled with bananas, charcoal and dried fish through Fengolo village in western Ivory Coast looks peaceful. But it marks an invisible front-line in battles over land, ethnicity and origin that tore this West African state apart during a short but divisive 2002-2003 civil war. As the world’s top cocoa grower moves falteringly towards presidential elections, scheduled for Nov. 30 but likely to be delayed, old wounds over land disputes still fester, especially in the western reaches near the border with Liberia.

An F/A-18C assigned to the "Stingers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 113 refuels with a U.S. Air Force KC-10 in southeastern Afghanistan during a mission supporting British troops in the Helmand province (photo by Cmdr. Erik Etz)

The Global War

IMF – World Economic Outlook Report 2008; “Like its predecessors, this is a remarkable document which gives the reader a clear sense of what is happening in the world economy.”
NEFA Foundation – The NEFA Foundation has obtained and transcribed a copy of the latest English-language video message from American Al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn (a.k.a. “Abu Azzam al-Amriki”) released on October 3, titled “The Believer Isn’t Stung from the Same Hole Twice.” Breaking his silence after a nearly ten-month unexplained absence from Al-Qaida propaganda videos, Gadahn sharply criticized the Pakistani government and military under the leadership of, respectively, President Asif Ali Zardari and General Ashfaq Kayani.
Homeland Security Policy Institute – The increasingly fractured international map is easily exploited by terrorists, who merge their syndicates with criminal groups to globetrot without ever raising their heads above ground. This merging and malleable network allows the free flow of currency, arms, people and drugs — anything the terrorists and criminal groups need — and proves the fallacy of national borders in an ever-shrinking world.
Al Arabiya – Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, began at sundown Wednesday amid closures in the West Bank and new revelations about Israel’s miscalculation during the 1973 October war. Declassified documents about the war highlight just how much Israel had underestimated the strength of its Arab foes amid deep divisions among its military and political establishment.
Stars and Stripes – The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team has deployed three times in the last five years to Iraq and Afghanistan. On Tuesday, the brigade’s soldiers officially met the commander who will likely lead them during their next stint downrange. Col. James H. Johnson III took command of the Sky Soldiers from Col. Charles Preysler in a ceremony on Caserma Ederle.

Sights & Sounds

Africa Today – * South Africa’s ruling ANC party splits, as former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota, announces plans to form a new breakaway party. *Somalia’s government welcomes a UN security council resolution to use force to fight piracy in their waters. * And Kenya insists the arms on a hijacked ship off the coast of Somalia are definitely meant for its army.