Israel, U.S. tense as WikiLeaks sets to release classified bilateral communiqués

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WikiLeaks material includes diplomatic cables sent to Washington from American embassies throughout the world, a senior Israeli official says.
The United States Embassy in Tel Aviv has informed the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem that the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks was planning on releasing hundreds of thousands of American diplomatic cables, some of which might deal with Israel-America relations.

The Americans said they wanted to let the Israeli government know so it would not be surprised and would be prepared for publicity that might cause diplomatic embarrassment.

A senior Israeli official familiar with the contents of the message, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that according to the Americans, the WikiLeaks material includes diplomatic cables sent to Washington from American embassies throughout the world. Sources in Washington said the documents would be coming out soon, perhaps even today.

The cables date from the past five years and include media reports, talks with politicians, government officials and journalists, as well as evaluations and various analyses by American diplomats regarding their host countries.

According to the senior Israeli official, the U.S. Embassy said that the documents were not highly classified, but the administration did not know the precise content of the cables.

"The Americans said they view the leak very seriously. They don't know when they will be released on the internet and what exactly they say, but they didn't want us to read about it in the newspapers," the official said.

The American message said that if cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv were released, it could be embarrassing because they relate to relations between Israel and the United States, which are usually kept confidential, or because they involve internal correspondence between American diplomats that do not always reflect the official position of the U.S. administration.

The Americans said that if there was embarrassment, it was important for Israel to know that this was not their intention.

Kurt Hoyer, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, neither confirmed nor denied that the embassy had conveyed a message relating to the matter to the Prime Minister's Bureau and the Foreign Ministry.

However, Hoyer said that the release of classified cables from any U.S. embassy in the world could have serious implications and even affect peoples' lives.

Hoyer said the embassy harshly condemned the release of classified documents and was very concerned about the impact on American foreign relations.

The State Department in Washington also approached several other countries to warn them of the implications of the release of the classified cables. From a check of their archives, the Americans reportedly believe WikiLeaks might release as many as 400,000 cables.

The New York Times, The U.K.'s Guardian and the German weekly new magazine Der Spiegel have reportedly been given a preview of the documents to decide which ones they want to publish.

The media is disappointing Ghanaians - info minister

The minister for Information Hon. John Akologo Tia has bemoaned the attitude of a cross section of the Ghanaian media who sees nothing good about the President Mills led government and thereby making things difficult for the good people of the country.

He said because of the attitude of the media recently for not promoting the kind of developmental journalism that we should have been having, so much concern had been raised about their unprofessional attitude ‘’at the recent GJA awards night all the speakers spoke about the need for a responsible journalism, it is coming to the fore because they can be friends and enemies as well’’ The info minister said.
He said, ‘’somehow the media wants to call the shots and by so doing they end up tying the hands of government and almost everybody and that is where we have problems’’.

On whether the attitude of the media is against government and the better Ghana agenda, John Akologo Tia stated that ‘’the NDC government is receiving a lot of the bashing, but there are some members of society who are equally getting a fair share of irresponsible reportage, it’s a big problem. The media has made things very difficult for everybody via the type of things they present to the public’’. John Tia said.

The Information Minister tells Gold News that the media has allowed politicians to use them more. ‘’If you look at the kind of programs and radio phone INS they don’t talk about developmental issues rather 70-80 % of their work is concentrated on building conflict’’.

He said though the media could be described as a two edged sword which can build and destroy the country needs a media that can reach or get to the people with government activities, programs and policies but that is not happening thus the reason they can be of a disservice through their reportage’. He said while a section of the media is focused, balanced and attaches great professionalism towards their work another group tries so hard to promote conflict thereby creating fear and panic in a peaceful society. They tend to drum up the issues raised by politicians whether right or wrong.
"When politicians are at each other’s throat the media comes up to highlight
them beyond acceptable proportions" Hon John Akologo Tia said. Generally we have a vibrant media but a cross section is trying to make things difficult for government.

When asked if the attitude of the media he referred to is preventing government from fully pursuing the better Ghana agenda? Hon. John Tia said, " though they are creating problems government is focused and religiously succeeding with the implementation of its manifest pledges. There is massive change since the NDC government came into office".

He recounted some of the achievements under the President Mills led government as the enhancement of the school feeding program, capitation grant, removal of schools under trees, free exercise books, dormitories and classroom blocks being built all over the place, the reversal of the four year senior high school which he says will relieve parents of some pressure. On the economy he said government has been able to stabilise the cedi, inflation and bank rates reduced and also gave the indication that there are a lot of investors in the country because of the confidence in the President’s leadership style. He cited the strides government is making in Agriculture, the road infrastructure and many more but a section of the media has sworn to undo the government so they will not highlight the positives of government.

When asked if the attitude of the ‘media’ is as a result of the attitude of
government the Info minister noted that he is a part of the media, the Vice
President is also a media man coupled with the President’s humility, good
countenance, and transparent nature government will not antagonise itself with the media or anybody, thus government is not the problem at all.
He said, that though government is doing well some journalists have made it a
point that, come what may, they will run down the Mills administration.

He urged Ghanaians to be steadfast and wary of writers of ‘dark’ tidings.
Stressing that government is on course and will not fail the good people of
Ghana no matter the challenges the BETTER GHANA agenda will be achieve.

Majority of Ghanaian pastors are fake - Ken Agyepong

GhanaWeb


MP for Assin North, Kennedy Agyepong has taken a swipe at "fake pastors" accusing them of being responsible for fifty percent of deaths that occur in the country. Although he failed to prove his assertion, he stated emphatically that majority of pastors operating in the country are fake.

The MP told Citi FM that such pastors are manipulating the mindset of Ghanaians and called on stakeholders to urgently address the problem.

Mr. Agyepong said pastors have been extorting money from the poor to enrich themselves rather than concentrating on the people’s salvation and described their activities as a phenomenon that retards the country’s development.

The MP, who is reported to have made the comment about a week ago on a Tema-based radio station, incurred the wrath of some pastors.

But speaking to Citi News, he maintained his comments and vowed to speak about the menace until Ghanaians come to the realization that they are being taken for a ride. He dared any pastor who thinks he is not speaking the truth to bring it on. The MP cum businessman is asking Government to tax churches since most of them were making money through nefarious means.

“I still stand by my point and I am not scared of anybody. If the Minister of Finance is going to introduce taxes for churches, the NDC government should be bold because I support them for introducing such taxes. I think it was unnecessary for the Information Ministry to come out with a rejoinder against that move” he said.

According to him, even ordinary salaried workers pay taxes so why not pastors.

“Do you know how many pastors are making so much money and do not pay anything under pretext of the church. Go and look at their houses and find out whether you have a home like that to live in. Let us speak the truth once and for all. They use churches to do all kinds of things for themselves whiles the few people in the net are paying taxes to support this country".

"So I said I support what the Finance Minister had said so the Minister of Information should not even have come out with that rejoinder. About fifty percent of the cause of death in this country is caused by pastors who do not speak the truth”.

Mr. Agyapong listed several examples of activities of so-called pastors that have brought the country’s name into disrepute on the international scene and worsened the plight of already suffering Ghanaians. He cited a visit he made to New York where a Ghanaian Church was televised with people in chains because they were believed to be mentally sick.

According to him, her diabetic mother’s condition was worsened after a pastor gave her a toffee to cure the disease. Mr. Agyapong said he also had a personal experience where a Prophetess who told him he was going to die before Easter in 2010.

“I was told the same Prophetess prophesied that Quashigah was going to die and he died so I am the next person and she told me point blank. So she asked me to come to Koforidua but I told her not to call me again and hanged up on her. My friend’s sister was sick but the woman was so superstitious and did not tell anybody and went to a pastor’s house. She was there fore three months and the day she started coughing blood, the Pastor called her relatives to come and pick her to the Hospital. What is this? And this same people have doctors surrounding them and when they are sick, they are taken care of. I have done my statistics and I know that especially these young pastors prey on the conscience of the ignorant and we need to speak about it. Politicians need to be bold” he said.

Although Mr. Kennedy Agyepong admits that some pastors contribute positively to the social and spiritual needs of the people, he believes they are doing more harm than good. He cited instances where he stopped pastors from preaching on his radio station because they were peddling falsehood.

“In this country, majority of the pastors are fake. And about fifty percent of deaths are caused by these pastors who don't speak the truth. You listen to radio and the kind of preaching they do is nothing better. They should be preaching like Mensah Otabil and the others who will never tell you that your mother is a witch. Productivity in this country is so low and I can attribute it to some fake pastors because as early as 6:00am, they ask people to come and pray till 2:00pm, so who should work and come back to church to give the offerings”? He asked.

The MP, who studied theology himself, bemoaned how the speaking of tongues was being abused by such fake pastors.
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