Accra, April 30, GNA - The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Saturday directed all delegates for the April 30 parliamentary primaries to contact constituency chairmen or treasurers for their transport allowances.
A statement in Accra signed by Ms Esther Dzifa Ofori, National Treasurer, to the Ghana News Agency said the National Secretariat had transferred transport allowance of all delegates to the respective constituencies for disbursement.
Meanwhile the Elections 2012 flag bearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on behalf of the party, has extended best wishes to all the parliamentary candidates and delegates taking part in Saturday's parliamentary primaries across the country.
"We have had a very successful period of rebuilding after the 2008 general elections. The party's constitutional amendments of 2009 led to significant expansion of our electoral colleges for the election of party officers, parliamentary candidates and presidential candidate.
"Since then, we set out on a series of elections of party officers, from polling station executives, electoral area coordinators, constituency executives, regional executives to national executives," Nana Akufo Addo stated in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
He said the entire nation bore testimony to the "efficient, peaceful and successful manner" in which the party and its membership conducted themselves during all these elections.
"Last August, over 107,000 delegates cast their votes in the national congress to elect the 2012 presidential candidate, a massive jump from about 2,300 delegates previously.
"That impressive contest, the first of its kind anywhere in Africa, took place simultaneously in all constituencies nationwide and without any negative incident," the statement noted.
Nana Akufo Addo said these parliamentary primaries were the last of the necessary internal party contests in the party's preparations towards Election 2012.
"All the successes and improvements we have made so far as a party since 2008 may come to nothing if we do not conduct these upcoming parliamentary primaries with the same kind of competence, maturity, esprit de corps and unity of purpose."
He said the ultimate objective was winning power in 2012 to deliver for the Ghanaian people a brighter future and enhanced governance, adding "we should all be guided by this."
GNA
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Jerry Seinfeld Calls Donald Trump 'God's Gift to Comedy'
Last week, I wrote about a feud between Presidential hopeful (nopeful) Donald Trump, and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, ignited when the Seinfeld pulled out of a charity event due to Trump's inflammatory remarks about President Obama's citizenship. But can a flap like this properly be called a "feud" if only one half of its participants is actually mad? Apparently, Seinfeld isn't so much upset by the whole thing as he is amused.
It would be reasonable for Seinfeld to be somewhat annoyed by Trump's comments about "The Marriage Ref" (to wit: "failed show"). But in an interview yesterday with the syndicated entertainment news show "Extra," Seinfeld told correspondent AJ Calloway, "I love Donald Trump," adding, "All comedians love Donald Trump. If God gave comedians the power to invent people, the first person we would invent is Donald Trump."
At least two other comedians can corroborate Seinfeld's claim. Earlier this week, "The Daily Show" covered President Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate, and Trump's having taken credit for its publication. In the course of the segment, both host Jon Stewart and correspondent Jason Jones express their hope that Trump really will run for President, presumably so they don't have to stop mocking him.
I'll say this for Seinfeld: His whole demeanor in this clip proves the adage that living well is the best revenge. Who wouldn't want this guy's life? Of course he doesn't care if Donald Trump's angry at him. Seinfeld may be the comedian in this one-sided feud, but Trump is the clown
It would be reasonable for Seinfeld to be somewhat annoyed by Trump's comments about "The Marriage Ref" (to wit: "failed show"). But in an interview yesterday with the syndicated entertainment news show "Extra," Seinfeld told correspondent AJ Calloway, "I love Donald Trump," adding, "All comedians love Donald Trump. If God gave comedians the power to invent people, the first person we would invent is Donald Trump."
At least two other comedians can corroborate Seinfeld's claim. Earlier this week, "The Daily Show" covered President Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate, and Trump's having taken credit for its publication. In the course of the segment, both host Jon Stewart and correspondent Jason Jones express their hope that Trump really will run for President, presumably so they don't have to stop mocking him.
I'll say this for Seinfeld: His whole demeanor in this clip proves the adage that living well is the best revenge. Who wouldn't want this guy's life? Of course he doesn't care if Donald Trump's angry at him. Seinfeld may be the comedian in this one-sided feud, but Trump is the clown
Friday, April 29, 2011
Exxon Profit Surges as Consumers and Lawmakers Fume Over Gasoline Prices
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the world’s largest company by market value, posted its largest profit in almost three years as soaring gasoline prices fueled discontent among consumers and policymakers.
With U.S. motorists paying the most for gasoline since prices reached a record $4.11 a gallon in the summer of 2008, Exxon said today that its first-quarter net income jumped 69 percent to $10.7 billion. The Irving, Texas-based company is sitting on a cash pile of $13.2 billion, even after distributing more than $7 billion to shareholders in buybacks and dividends.
President Barack Obama has called for an end to decades-old tax breaks for domestic oil and natural-gas drilling, and urged Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, to help rein in surging world crude prices by boosting output. Exxon said inflicting higher taxes would drain funds the company needs to find new oil and gas fields.
“Over the past five years, we incurred a total U.S. tax expense of almost $59 billion, which is $18 billion more than we earned in the United States during the same period,” Kenneth Cohen, Exxon’s vice president of public and government affairs, said yesterday in a blog post on the company’s website. “Critics often try to ignore these facts by saying the oil and gas industry receives ‘subsidies.’ But what they really mean is that they want to increase our taxes by taking away long- standing deductions for our industry while leaving these same deductions in place for other sectors of the economy.”
Exxon’s expenditures for new wells and production platforms rose 24 percent during the first three months of this year to $6.9 billion, the company said today in a statement. New projects such as West Qurna 1 in Iraq contributed to a 10 percent increase in oil and gas production.
Shell, Occidental
Exxon was the latest oil company to report expanding first- quarter profits. Earlier today, Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), the world’s second-largest gasoline producer after Exxon, said net income rose 30 percent to $6.3 billion. Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), the largest onshore oil producer in the continental U.S., said first-quarter profit increased 46 percent to $1.56 billion.
ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, yesterday reported a 44 percent profit gain. Chevron Corp. (CVX), the No. 2 U.S. energy producer, is expected to report a 31 percent increase in net income when results are announced tomorrow, according to the average estimate of four analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
The average U.S. price for regular gasoline touched $3.886 a gallon yesterday, the highest since August 2008, according to AAA. Prices have escalated 26 percent this year. The all-time high of $4.11 was reached on July 15, 2008, which helped drive Exxon’s record $14.8 billion quarterly profit that summer.
‘Windfall Profits’
“The government should tax the windfall profits of the oil giants and invest the money in renewable energy programs so that we reduce our dependence on oil and dirty energy,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group.
Exxon fell 70 cents to $87.08 at 12:14 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has 10 buy ratings from analysts, 12 holds and one sell.
Exxon plans to spend $34 billion this year on capital projects such as new oil wells, pipeline repairs and refinery upgrades. Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson told analysts last month that he is targeting a 4 percent increase in oil and natural gas production this year.
“Increased capital expenditures are necessary to continue adding reserves,” said Eliecer Palacios, energy sector specialist at Maxim Group, a boutique investment bank.
Subsidies Examined
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told ABC News in an interview broadcast on April 25 that subsidies for oil and gas companies are “certainly something that we ought to be looking at.”
“Everybody wants to, to go after the oil companies,” Boehner said. “And, frankly, they’ve got some part of this to blame.”
Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget plan, unveiled Feb. 14, proposes eliminating oil and gas tax breaks estimated at $46.2 billion over 10 years. They include $11.2 billion from the so-called percentage depletion deduction for oil and natural gas wells, which benefits small producers.
Taking resources from highly taxed companies that use profits “predominantly” to reinvest in creating future supplies of energy is “the wrong thing” to do for an energy policy, ConocoPhillips (COP) Chief Financial Officer Jeff Sheets said yesterday in a telephone interview.
“We disagree that we’re under taxed currently when we’re paying taxes at rates that are higher than what most other industries are paying,” Sheets said
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Libya: western leaders call for Nato to target Gaddafi
The Teleghraph
Senior western leaders called for Nato to adopt an assassination policy against Col Muammar Gaddafi to salvage the bombing campaign in Libya from a descent into stalemate.
The calls came as Col Gaddafi was reported to have strengthened his grip on power by repatriating billions of dollars in overseas assets that should have been frozen by UN sanctions.
On Sunday, there was growing pressure on Coalition forces to directly target Col Gaddafi with military strikes.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services committee, said that the quickest way to end the emerging stalemate was to "cut the head of the snake off". He said: "The people around Gaddafi need to wake up every day wondering, 'Will this be my last?'
Senator John McCain, who visited Libya at the weekend, also said that the Libyan dictator should be targeted but argued that it was more important to increase American firepower over Libya. He said: "It's pretty obvious to me that the US has got to play a greater role on the air power side. Our Nato allies neither have the assets, nor frankly the will - there's only six countries of the 28 in Nato that are actively engaged in this situation."
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, also on Sunday refused to rule out using remote-controlled American drones to assassinate Col Gaddafi. Mr Hague said "who and what is a legitimate target depends on their behaviour." However, he denied that there was a stalemate in Libya and ruled out proposals to partition the country.
Mr Hague said he was still hopeful about sanctions beginning to undermine the regime, despite the reports of Libya circumventing the UN-led financial crackdown.
The European Union and United States have barred access to more than $60 billion in Libyan bank accounts and funds but other nations have done little or nothing to prevent Col Gaddafi and his associates sustaining themselves.
Col Gaddafi has moved billions of dollars back to Tripoli since the rebellion began in mid-February, according to European, American and United Nations officials who spoke to the Los Angeles Times.
The full scale of sanctions-busting is unknown, partly because many investments in companies and financial institutions hide Col Gaddafi's identity.
Libya's circumvent of the sanctions has complicated Nato's efforts to end Col Gaddafi's four decades in power. His ability to siphon off cash has also hampered attempts to persuade his advisers and military commanders to flee.
Officials said the case was a cautionary one about the limits of sanctions and could be compared with Saddam Hussein's success at getting around international sanctions in the years before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Kenya and Turkey are among the countries with strong economic ties to Libya that have resisted carrying out the freeze, mandated by UN Security Council resolutions in February and March. A number of other African countries have also been reluctant.
China, India and Russia, three of the world's biggest economies, have resisted European and American attempts to expand the sanctions. They argue that such actions could damage their own industries.
A UN diplomat told the "Los Angeles Times" that "only a handful" of governments had reported back to the Security Council enforcement committee, which oversees the sanctions, that they had blocked access to Libyan assets.
"We've done pretty well," the diplomat said. "But when you're dealing with somebody as sophisticated as Gaddafi, with such sprawling commercial interests, this has been an uphill struggle.... It's been hard." Under UN rules, governments don't have to report their efforts to comply with sanctions until late June.
This four-month delay "is a major weak flank in the system", the diplomat said, and Gaddafi "understands the system".
Senior western leaders called for Nato to adopt an assassination policy against Col Muammar Gaddafi to salvage the bombing campaign in Libya from a descent into stalemate.
The calls came as Col Gaddafi was reported to have strengthened his grip on power by repatriating billions of dollars in overseas assets that should have been frozen by UN sanctions.
On Sunday, there was growing pressure on Coalition forces to directly target Col Gaddafi with military strikes.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services committee, said that the quickest way to end the emerging stalemate was to "cut the head of the snake off". He said: "The people around Gaddafi need to wake up every day wondering, 'Will this be my last?'
Senator John McCain, who visited Libya at the weekend, also said that the Libyan dictator should be targeted but argued that it was more important to increase American firepower over Libya. He said: "It's pretty obvious to me that the US has got to play a greater role on the air power side. Our Nato allies neither have the assets, nor frankly the will - there's only six countries of the 28 in Nato that are actively engaged in this situation."
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, also on Sunday refused to rule out using remote-controlled American drones to assassinate Col Gaddafi. Mr Hague said "who and what is a legitimate target depends on their behaviour." However, he denied that there was a stalemate in Libya and ruled out proposals to partition the country.
Mr Hague said he was still hopeful about sanctions beginning to undermine the regime, despite the reports of Libya circumventing the UN-led financial crackdown.
The European Union and United States have barred access to more than $60 billion in Libyan bank accounts and funds but other nations have done little or nothing to prevent Col Gaddafi and his associates sustaining themselves.
Col Gaddafi has moved billions of dollars back to Tripoli since the rebellion began in mid-February, according to European, American and United Nations officials who spoke to the Los Angeles Times.
The full scale of sanctions-busting is unknown, partly because many investments in companies and financial institutions hide Col Gaddafi's identity.
Libya's circumvent of the sanctions has complicated Nato's efforts to end Col Gaddafi's four decades in power. His ability to siphon off cash has also hampered attempts to persuade his advisers and military commanders to flee.
Officials said the case was a cautionary one about the limits of sanctions and could be compared with Saddam Hussein's success at getting around international sanctions in the years before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Kenya and Turkey are among the countries with strong economic ties to Libya that have resisted carrying out the freeze, mandated by UN Security Council resolutions in February and March. A number of other African countries have also been reluctant.
China, India and Russia, three of the world's biggest economies, have resisted European and American attempts to expand the sanctions. They argue that such actions could damage their own industries.
A UN diplomat told the "Los Angeles Times" that "only a handful" of governments had reported back to the Security Council enforcement committee, which oversees the sanctions, that they had blocked access to Libyan assets.
"We've done pretty well," the diplomat said. "But when you're dealing with somebody as sophisticated as Gaddafi, with such sprawling commercial interests, this has been an uphill struggle.... It's been hard." Under UN rules, governments don't have to report their efforts to comply with sanctions until late June.
This four-month delay "is a major weak flank in the system", the diplomat said, and Gaddafi "understands the system".
American Politics of Destruction - Donald Trump says Barack Obama wasn't qualified for Ivy League
Real estate mogul Donald Trump suggested in an interview on Monday that President Barack Obama had been a poor
student who did not deserve to be admitted to the Ivy League universities he attended.
Mr Trump, who is mulling a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, offered no proof for his claim but said he would continue to press the matter as he has the legitimacy of the president's birth certificate.
"I heard he was a terrible student, terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard?" Mr Trump said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records."
Mr Obama graduated from Columbia University in New York in 1983 with a degree in political science after transferring from Occidental College in California. He went on to Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude 1991 and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.
Mr Obama's 2008 campaign did not release his college transcripts, and in his bestselling memoir, "Dreams From My Father," Mr Obama indicated he hadn't always been an academic star. Mr Trump told the AP that Mr Obama's refusal to release his college grades were part of a pattern of concealing information about himself.
"I have friends who have smart sons with great marks, great boards, great everything and they can't get into Harvard," Mr Trump said. "We don't know a thing about this guy. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered about our president."
Katie Hogan, a spokeswoman for Mr Obama's re-election campaign, declined to comment.
Mr Trump has shaped himself as an ultraconservative candidate, reversing some positions he once held. He now would make abortion illegal, opposes gay marriage and gun control. He advocates repeal of Mr Obama's health care overhaul that became law last year. He wants to cut foreign aid, is highly critical of China's trade and monetary policies and wants to end the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But he has got the most political traction by latching onto the "birther" movement: those who believe claims initiated by the far-right that Mr Obama was born outside the United States – despite the release of official birth records in Hawaii and other evidence. The U.S. Constitution requires that presidential candidates be "natural-born" U.S. citizens.
Of late, Mr Trump has appeared in interviews on all the major American cable television networks, pushing relentlessly his message that Mr Obama needs to prove he was born in the United States. He points to his rising poll numbers as proof that Americans like what he is saying on that deeply divisive issue.
"I have more people that are excited about the fact that I reinvigorated this whole issue," Mr Trump said, adding "the last guy (Obama) wants to run against is Donald Trump."
Mr Trump is scheduled to travel to the early primary states of New Hampshire and Nevada this week and said he will make a final decision about a presidential bid by June.
The Donald’s fortunes rise as he voices Obama 'birther' suspicions
By Rachel Ray, Washington
Donald Trump was described in the media as 'Poor Donald' almost exactly two years ago as the ratings for his show 'The Celebrity Apprentice' sank concurrently with his real estate empire.
By September 2010, there was no improvement- the show failed to capture even five million viewers against rerun competition.
But since February, ratings have steadily climbed- coinciding with The Donald’s “birther” suspicions about the legitimacy of President Obama’s birth certificate.
By the end of March, Mr Trump flat out told Fox News he was "really concerned" about Obama's citizenship, adding "I'm starting to wonder myself whether or not [Obama] was born in this country."
And in the April 4th week ratings analysis, The Celebrity Apprentice numbers had jumped 15 percent in the adult 18-49 group and 22 percent in total viewers since the same time in 2010.
GOP wise man Karl Rove went on Fox too on Saturday to denounce Trump’s birther talk and label him a “joke” candidate. The Donald may be bad news for the Republicans but things are looking up at NBC.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Libya: Misrata firing despite army 'halt to operations'
There are reports of explosions and gunfire in the Libyan city of Misrata, despite an announcement that the Libyan army had halted operations there.
The army said had stopped fighting to give local tribal leaders an opportunity to negotiate with rebels.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said government troops had not withdrawn from the besieged port city.
Rebels dismissed his remarks. Saturday was one of the bloodiest days yet in the city, with at least 24 killed.
There were conflicting reports about whether forces loyal to Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had in fact pulled back.
Misrata - Libya's third largest city - is the rebels' main stronghold in the west of the country.
Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed in weeks of fighting in there, as rebels have struggled to fend off attacks by forces loyal to Col Gaddafi.
'Military option'
Early on Sunday, Mr Kaim said armed forces had not withdrawn from Misrata, but "ceased operations" because tribal leaders "decided to... do something to bring back ordinary life to Misrata".
"The other option which is still available from the heads of the tribes is the military intervention to liberate Misrata," he said.
However, correspondents reported bursts of automatic weapons fire and rocket explosions in the city.
A Misrata resident told the BBC that pro-Gaddafi had been firing rockets on residential areas overnight. The account could not immediately be verified.
On Saturday Mr Kaim said tribes around Misrata had given the army an ultimatum that if it couldn't defeat rebels in Misrata, their fighters would.
He said tribal leaders were angry that fighting had brought life and trade in the western city to a standstill.
But the loyalties of different tribes are not certain, the BBC's Peter Biles reports from the rebel-held city of Benghazi.
While some groups may be supportive of Colonel Gaddafi, others, including the non-Arab tribes of Misrata, rebels say others have been fighting on their side.
Tripoli hit
Rebel leaders in Benghazi have said Libyan Col Gaddafi is "playing games" and would not allow his forces to leave Misrata.
Meanwhile, Nato aircraft have carried out more air strikes on targets around the capital Tripoli and other cities, Libyan state news agency Jana reported.
Foreign journalists based in Tripoli reported hearing three large explosions late on Saturday as jets flew overhead.
On Saturday, the US confirmed the first strike by one of its unmanned drone aircraft over Libya, destroying a government rocket launcher near Misrata.
In a statement, Nato said it had carried out more than 3,000 sorties since assuming control of the UN-backed mission late last month.
"We have struck a broad range of targets across the country - tanks and rocket launchers, armoured vehicles and ammunition stores, command and control sites," it added in a statement.
The popular revolt against Col Gaddafi - inspired by similar uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia - began in February and a UN mandate later sanctioned air strikes against Libyan state forces to protect civilians.
Ivory Coast: Alassane Ouattara recalls army to barracks
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has ordered all soldiers to return to their barracks as he tries to restore normality after months of unrest.
He said that law and order would now be enforced by the police and gendarmes.
He took power last week after his forces arrested his rival, Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to concede defeat in last year's elections.
But some pro-Gbagbo militias continue to operate in parts of the main city, Abidjan.
Earlier this week, two rival group of pro-Ouattara forces clashed in the city - the "Invisible Commandos" which had taken control of parts of Abidjan and the Republican Forces who had swept across the country from their northern bases in March.
"As commander-in-chief of the army, I order you to pull all combat units to their barracks and bases of origin, whether that is in the north or the south," Mr Ouattara told senior generals from both sides on Friday, reports the Reuters news agency.
The BBC's John James in Abidjan says the decision to send troops back to the barracks is not without it risks, but it shows many of the northern ex-rebel soldiers that brought Mr Ouattara to power are proving as much a weakness as a strength in Abidjan.
Now most of the fighting is over, the often ill-disciplined force is accused of looting and perceived as a threat by some civilians, he says.
But he says an elite unit of the northern forces is likely to remain in the city to work alongside the UN peacekeepers guarding the new government.
The return of the police to the streets will encourage people to go back to work and businesses to reopen in the world's main cocoa producer, our correspondent says.
Banks to reopen
Defence ministry spokesman Alla Kouakou Leon told BBC Afrique that Prime Minister Guillaume Soro would meet Ibrahim Coulibaly, leader of the "Invisible Commandos", to try to resolve the dispute.
He also said that 5,000 members of the Republican Forces would be integrated into the army.
Mr Ouattara has been receiving pledges of allegiance this week from senior military officers and the heads of main institutions at Abidjan's Golf Hotel where he has been based since the post-election crisis began.
On Thursday, President Ouattara said banks should open next week and that by the end of the month the normalisation process should be a reality.
He is to be officially sworn in as president in the second half of May, in the official capital, Yamoussoukro.
He said that law and order would now be enforced by the police and gendarmes.
He took power last week after his forces arrested his rival, Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to concede defeat in last year's elections.
But some pro-Gbagbo militias continue to operate in parts of the main city, Abidjan.
Earlier this week, two rival group of pro-Ouattara forces clashed in the city - the "Invisible Commandos" which had taken control of parts of Abidjan and the Republican Forces who had swept across the country from their northern bases in March.
"As commander-in-chief of the army, I order you to pull all combat units to their barracks and bases of origin, whether that is in the north or the south," Mr Ouattara told senior generals from both sides on Friday, reports the Reuters news agency.
The BBC's John James in Abidjan says the decision to send troops back to the barracks is not without it risks, but it shows many of the northern ex-rebel soldiers that brought Mr Ouattara to power are proving as much a weakness as a strength in Abidjan.
Now most of the fighting is over, the often ill-disciplined force is accused of looting and perceived as a threat by some civilians, he says.
But he says an elite unit of the northern forces is likely to remain in the city to work alongside the UN peacekeepers guarding the new government.
The return of the police to the streets will encourage people to go back to work and businesses to reopen in the world's main cocoa producer, our correspondent says.
Banks to reopen
Defence ministry spokesman Alla Kouakou Leon told BBC Afrique that Prime Minister Guillaume Soro would meet Ibrahim Coulibaly, leader of the "Invisible Commandos", to try to resolve the dispute.
He also said that 5,000 members of the Republican Forces would be integrated into the army.
Mr Ouattara has been receiving pledges of allegiance this week from senior military officers and the heads of main institutions at Abidjan's Golf Hotel where he has been based since the post-election crisis began.
On Thursday, President Ouattara said banks should open next week and that by the end of the month the normalisation process should be a reality.
He is to be officially sworn in as president in the second half of May, in the official capital, Yamoussoukro.
Government denies Ghana-Ivory Coast embassy closure
Government has refuted allegations that the Ghana Embassy in Ivory Coast has been closed down.
The Foreign Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, told Radio Ghana that government took a decision to evacuate the non-essential staff of the Embassy at the height of the post election violence.
He said there is no antagonism between the government of Ghana and that of Ivory Coast
Libyan rebels flee as Obama authorizes covert support
WASHINGTON/AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – As Libyan rebels fled in headlong retreat from the superior arms and tactics of Muammar Gaddafi's troops on Wednesday, U.S. officials said President Barack Obama had signed a secret order authorizing covert support for the rebels.
While the United States, France and Britain have raised the possibility of arming the rebels, they have all stressed that no decision had yet been taken.
As Gadaffi's army pushed back the rebels, their lack of heavy weapons and feeble fighting capabilities exposed the vulnerability of their forces in the absence of Western air strikes to tip the scales in their favor.
Despite some dissent within the Western military coalition attacking Gadaffi's forces, news that Obama had given the covert authorization surfaced as he and other U.S. and allied officials began speaking openly about the possibility of sending arms to the rebels.
Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding," within the last two or three weeks, according to four U.S. government sources familiar with the matter.
Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the CIA. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place but does not mean that it will.
"As is common practice for this and all administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
"We're assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters." The CIA declined to comment.
It took more than five days of allied bombardment to destroy Libyan government tanks and artillery in the strategic town of Ajdabiyah before rebels rushed in and chased Gaddafi's troops 300 km (200 miles) west in a two-day dash along the coast. Two days later the rebels have been pushed back to close to where they started.
While Gaddafi's forces were on the offensive the international face of his government, foreign minister Moussa Koussa, suddenly arrived in London on Wednesday to seek refuge after quitting the government in protest against the attacks by Gaddafi's forces on civilians.
"Koussa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi's government and his role was to represent the regime internationally -- something that he is no longer willing to do," a British government spokesman said.
The Libyan army first ambushed the chaotic caravan of volunteers and supporters outside Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, then outflanked them through the desert, a maneuver requiring the sort of discipline the rag-tag rebels lack.
The towns of Nawfaliyah, Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf fell in quick succession to the lightning government counter-strike.
Rebel spokesman Colonel Ahmad Bani said fighting was going on at Brega, the next town east along the narrow coastal strip that has been the theater of most of the fighting. But many rebels had pulled back further to the strategic town of Ajdabiyah and regrouped.
AIR STRIKES
"We thought it better to make a tactical withdrawal until we can think of better tactics and a strategy to face this force," said Bani, adding: "One of the defense points will be Ajdabiyah, not the only one."
He appealed for more allied air strikes and heavier weapons. "We are seeking weapons that will be able to destroy the heavy weapons they are using against us such as tanks and artillery."
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration had made no decision yet on whether to arm the Libyan rebels and some lawmakers questioned the wisdom of such a move.
The chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, Republican Mike Rogers, said he opposed supplying arms to the Libyan rebels "at this time."
"We need to understand more about the opposition before I would support passing out guns and advanced weapons to them," Rogers said in a statement.
In town after town along the Libyan coast, Gaddafi force's have unleashed a bombardment from tanks, artillery and truck-launched Grad rockets which has forced rebels to flee.
"These are our weapons," said rebel fighter Mohammed, pointing to his assault rifle. "We can't fight Grads with them."
Without Western air strikes, the rebels seem unable to make advances or hold their positions against Gaddafi's amour. Western airplanes flew over the battlefield on Wednesday, but there was no evidence of any bombardment of government forces.
Rebel forces lack training, discipline and leadership. There are many different groups of volunteers and decisions are often made only after heated arguments.
"Whether we advance 50 km (30 miles), or retreat 50 km ... it's a big country. They will go back the next day," rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani told reporters in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.
"This revolution really is only five weeks old. On the political front it is very organized," he said. "Normally it takes six months to train a soldier ... We are talking about citizens who picked up guns to protect their homes."
Libya's official Jana news agency said air strikes by forces of "the crusader colonial aggression" hit residential areas in the town of Garyan, about 100 km (60 miles) south of Tripoli, on Tuesday. It said several civilian buildings were destroyed and some people wounded.
RUSSIAN WARNING
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 sanctions air power to protect Libyan civilians, not to provide close air support to rebel forces. That would also require troops on the ground to guide in the bombs. Without forward air controllers, intervening from the air in such a fluid battle space is fraught with risks.
Russia has already accused the allies of overstepping their U.N. remit by carrying out strikes on Gaddafi's ground forces and on Wednesday warned the West against arming the rebels.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was obvious Libya was "ripe for reforms," but Libyans themselves must decide without influence from outside.
"I find it hard to see how the coalition can agree politically to arming the rebels, but without arms I can't see how the rebels can win," said Daniel Keohane of the Institute for Security Studies in Washington.
Aid agencies are increasingly worried about a lack of food and medicines, especially in towns such as Misrata where a siege by Gaddafi's forces deprives them of access.
But a blockade of Misrata's Mediterranean port by pro-Gaddafi forces has now ended, allowing two ships to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate people wounded in the fighting.
Oil shipments from Africa's third-largest producer have been blocked for weeks due to heavy fighting and western sanctions. A source at Qatar Petroleum said it was struggling to work out how to market Libyan oil on behalf of the rebels
While the United States, France and Britain have raised the possibility of arming the rebels, they have all stressed that no decision had yet been taken.
As Gadaffi's army pushed back the rebels, their lack of heavy weapons and feeble fighting capabilities exposed the vulnerability of their forces in the absence of Western air strikes to tip the scales in their favor.
Despite some dissent within the Western military coalition attacking Gadaffi's forces, news that Obama had given the covert authorization surfaced as he and other U.S. and allied officials began speaking openly about the possibility of sending arms to the rebels.
Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding," within the last two or three weeks, according to four U.S. government sources familiar with the matter.
Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the CIA. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place but does not mean that it will.
"As is common practice for this and all administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
"We're assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters." The CIA declined to comment.
It took more than five days of allied bombardment to destroy Libyan government tanks and artillery in the strategic town of Ajdabiyah before rebels rushed in and chased Gaddafi's troops 300 km (200 miles) west in a two-day dash along the coast. Two days later the rebels have been pushed back to close to where they started.
While Gaddafi's forces were on the offensive the international face of his government, foreign minister Moussa Koussa, suddenly arrived in London on Wednesday to seek refuge after quitting the government in protest against the attacks by Gaddafi's forces on civilians.
"Koussa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi's government and his role was to represent the regime internationally -- something that he is no longer willing to do," a British government spokesman said.
The Libyan army first ambushed the chaotic caravan of volunteers and supporters outside Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, then outflanked them through the desert, a maneuver requiring the sort of discipline the rag-tag rebels lack.
The towns of Nawfaliyah, Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf fell in quick succession to the lightning government counter-strike.
Rebel spokesman Colonel Ahmad Bani said fighting was going on at Brega, the next town east along the narrow coastal strip that has been the theater of most of the fighting. But many rebels had pulled back further to the strategic town of Ajdabiyah and regrouped.
AIR STRIKES
"We thought it better to make a tactical withdrawal until we can think of better tactics and a strategy to face this force," said Bani, adding: "One of the defense points will be Ajdabiyah, not the only one."
He appealed for more allied air strikes and heavier weapons. "We are seeking weapons that will be able to destroy the heavy weapons they are using against us such as tanks and artillery."
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration had made no decision yet on whether to arm the Libyan rebels and some lawmakers questioned the wisdom of such a move.
The chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, Republican Mike Rogers, said he opposed supplying arms to the Libyan rebels "at this time."
"We need to understand more about the opposition before I would support passing out guns and advanced weapons to them," Rogers said in a statement.
In town after town along the Libyan coast, Gaddafi force's have unleashed a bombardment from tanks, artillery and truck-launched Grad rockets which has forced rebels to flee.
"These are our weapons," said rebel fighter Mohammed, pointing to his assault rifle. "We can't fight Grads with them."
Without Western air strikes, the rebels seem unable to make advances or hold their positions against Gaddafi's amour. Western airplanes flew over the battlefield on Wednesday, but there was no evidence of any bombardment of government forces.
Rebel forces lack training, discipline and leadership. There are many different groups of volunteers and decisions are often made only after heated arguments.
"Whether we advance 50 km (30 miles), or retreat 50 km ... it's a big country. They will go back the next day," rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani told reporters in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.
"This revolution really is only five weeks old. On the political front it is very organized," he said. "Normally it takes six months to train a soldier ... We are talking about citizens who picked up guns to protect their homes."
Libya's official Jana news agency said air strikes by forces of "the crusader colonial aggression" hit residential areas in the town of Garyan, about 100 km (60 miles) south of Tripoli, on Tuesday. It said several civilian buildings were destroyed and some people wounded.
RUSSIAN WARNING
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 sanctions air power to protect Libyan civilians, not to provide close air support to rebel forces. That would also require troops on the ground to guide in the bombs. Without forward air controllers, intervening from the air in such a fluid battle space is fraught with risks.
Russia has already accused the allies of overstepping their U.N. remit by carrying out strikes on Gaddafi's ground forces and on Wednesday warned the West against arming the rebels.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was obvious Libya was "ripe for reforms," but Libyans themselves must decide without influence from outside.
"I find it hard to see how the coalition can agree politically to arming the rebels, but without arms I can't see how the rebels can win," said Daniel Keohane of the Institute for Security Studies in Washington.
Aid agencies are increasingly worried about a lack of food and medicines, especially in towns such as Misrata where a siege by Gaddafi's forces deprives them of access.
But a blockade of Misrata's Mediterranean port by pro-Gaddafi forces has now ended, allowing two ships to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate people wounded in the fighting.
Oil shipments from Africa's third-largest producer have been blocked for weeks due to heavy fighting and western sanctions. A source at Qatar Petroleum said it was struggling to work out how to market Libyan oil on behalf of the rebels
32 more corpses found in Mexico pits, total at 177
MEXICO CITY – Like weathermen announcing the daily rainfall, authorities released another tally of corpses unearthed from pits in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas: 32 bodies discovered in the past week, bringing the monthly total to 177.
And that's only in one region of the country.
The killing fields extend to the nearby states of Durango and Nuevo Leon and to the northwestern states of Sonora and Sinaloa, where so far this month authorities have found 68 bodies. They continue to dig for more.
The graves are discovered with such numbing regularity that "at this point nothing shocks us," wrote Miguel Carbonell in a column for the daily El Universal newspaper published Thursday.
The drumbeat of dead has prompted scattered marches by outraged citizens and a call by Roman Catholic Cardinal Norberto Rivera to end the "demented" levels of violence in the country.
"When will this end, Lord?" Rivera cried during a Holy Thursday Mass, according to the front-page reports of several daily newspapers.
"How many innocent people murdered by cowards? How many people kidnapped and extorted, tortured and violated, stripped of their dignity and their freedom, their belongings and their lives?"
The latest bodies were found in eight pits in the town of San Fernando, Tamaulipas state prosecutors said in a statement released late Thursday.
Authorities began exhuming corpses in San Fernando on April 1 after they were led to the site by suspects who confessed to kidnapping and killing bus passengers traveling through the area. It is the same region where authorities say the Zetas drug gang killed and buried 72 Central American migrants in August.
Prosecutors said that 122 of the unearthed bodies could be those of passengers, who began disappearing in late March. The other 53 were killed before the kidnappings, they said.
The Zetas are also suspected in the latest massacre. Federal prosecutors have detained more than 60 suspects in the case, including the alleged leader of the Zetas' San Fernando cell, Martin Estrada.
The motive for the bus abductions remains unclear, though prosecutors have suggested the gang may have been forcefully recruiting people to work for it.
Many of those who have disappeared are poor men from the Mexican countryside traveling to northern Mexico or heading to the United States in search for work. Most were never reported missing by their families out of fear.
But the widespread coverage of the clandestine graves has prompted 345 people who have missing relatives in Tamaulipas to come forward, state prosecutors say. So far, authorities have only identified one of the bodies from the pits: that of a Guatemalan migrant. They believe most of the victims are Mexican.
The harrowing discovery has also led several Mexican states to start keeping tallies of missing people.
The Zetas and rival Gulf Cartel have been locked in a vicious fight since last year in Tamaulipas and in neighboring states over lucrative drug transit routes to the U.S.
On Tuesday, federal police rescued 68 people, including 12 Central American migrants, in the border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas. Some of the victims told police they were taken by members of the Gulf drug cartel from buses heading to Reynosa's bus station or from the station itself. The route is frequently used by Central Americans seeking to enter the United States without documents.
The federal Public Safety Department said the group was rescued after federal agents went to a neighborhood in Reynosa to check on a tip and ran into two armed men, who ducked into a house where the kidnap victims were being held.
Eight Guatemalans, two Hondurans, a Salvadoran and a Panamanian were among those freed, the department said.
Cartel hit men have been increasingly using clandestine graves to dispose of their victims and their enemies as turf battles rage in several states.
Prosecutors in the state of Durango said Thursday they have recovered 37 bodies that were buried at a vacant lot in the state capital of the same name.
The grisly Holy Week discovery came just days after police found 10 complete bodies, three headless bodies and four severed heads in a pit in Durango, a state that has become a battleground between the Zetas and Sinaloa drug cartels.
Prosecutors did not say whether the bodies were found in small pits or, as in the case of the 177 bodies in Tamaulipas, in mass graves.
The steady stream of grizzly drug-related violence in Mexico has almost inoculated public opinion to every additional horrifying discovery, said Robert Pastor, director of the Center for North American Studies at American University in Washington.
"Americans have heard so many of these terrible reports, just like Mexicans, that they are not really sure what more there is to say or do," Pastor said. "Both our countries and governments are staggered by the atrocities and everyone is looking for some path to ending them but it keeps getting worse."
And that's only in one region of the country.
The killing fields extend to the nearby states of Durango and Nuevo Leon and to the northwestern states of Sonora and Sinaloa, where so far this month authorities have found 68 bodies. They continue to dig for more.
The graves are discovered with such numbing regularity that "at this point nothing shocks us," wrote Miguel Carbonell in a column for the daily El Universal newspaper published Thursday.
The drumbeat of dead has prompted scattered marches by outraged citizens and a call by Roman Catholic Cardinal Norberto Rivera to end the "demented" levels of violence in the country.
"When will this end, Lord?" Rivera cried during a Holy Thursday Mass, according to the front-page reports of several daily newspapers.
"How many innocent people murdered by cowards? How many people kidnapped and extorted, tortured and violated, stripped of their dignity and their freedom, their belongings and their lives?"
The latest bodies were found in eight pits in the town of San Fernando, Tamaulipas state prosecutors said in a statement released late Thursday.
Authorities began exhuming corpses in San Fernando on April 1 after they were led to the site by suspects who confessed to kidnapping and killing bus passengers traveling through the area. It is the same region where authorities say the Zetas drug gang killed and buried 72 Central American migrants in August.
Prosecutors said that 122 of the unearthed bodies could be those of passengers, who began disappearing in late March. The other 53 were killed before the kidnappings, they said.
The Zetas are also suspected in the latest massacre. Federal prosecutors have detained more than 60 suspects in the case, including the alleged leader of the Zetas' San Fernando cell, Martin Estrada.
The motive for the bus abductions remains unclear, though prosecutors have suggested the gang may have been forcefully recruiting people to work for it.
Many of those who have disappeared are poor men from the Mexican countryside traveling to northern Mexico or heading to the United States in search for work. Most were never reported missing by their families out of fear.
But the widespread coverage of the clandestine graves has prompted 345 people who have missing relatives in Tamaulipas to come forward, state prosecutors say. So far, authorities have only identified one of the bodies from the pits: that of a Guatemalan migrant. They believe most of the victims are Mexican.
The harrowing discovery has also led several Mexican states to start keeping tallies of missing people.
The Zetas and rival Gulf Cartel have been locked in a vicious fight since last year in Tamaulipas and in neighboring states over lucrative drug transit routes to the U.S.
On Tuesday, federal police rescued 68 people, including 12 Central American migrants, in the border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas. Some of the victims told police they were taken by members of the Gulf drug cartel from buses heading to Reynosa's bus station or from the station itself. The route is frequently used by Central Americans seeking to enter the United States without documents.
The federal Public Safety Department said the group was rescued after federal agents went to a neighborhood in Reynosa to check on a tip and ran into two armed men, who ducked into a house where the kidnap victims were being held.
Eight Guatemalans, two Hondurans, a Salvadoran and a Panamanian were among those freed, the department said.
Cartel hit men have been increasingly using clandestine graves to dispose of their victims and their enemies as turf battles rage in several states.
Prosecutors in the state of Durango said Thursday they have recovered 37 bodies that were buried at a vacant lot in the state capital of the same name.
The grisly Holy Week discovery came just days after police found 10 complete bodies, three headless bodies and four severed heads in a pit in Durango, a state that has become a battleground between the Zetas and Sinaloa drug cartels.
Prosecutors did not say whether the bodies were found in small pits or, as in the case of the 177 bodies in Tamaulipas, in mass graves.
The steady stream of grizzly drug-related violence in Mexico has almost inoculated public opinion to every additional horrifying discovery, said Robert Pastor, director of the Center for North American Studies at American University in Washington.
"Americans have heard so many of these terrible reports, just like Mexicans, that they are not really sure what more there is to say or do," Pastor said. "Both our countries and governments are staggered by the atrocities and everyone is looking for some path to ending them but it keeps getting worse."
Five women brutally murdered in Mexico beach resort
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Five women, all apparently connected to a beauty parlor, were found brutally murdered in the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco on Saturday morning, state police said.
The semi-naked and bound bodies of two women and a 14-year-old girl were discovered in the salon in the early hours of Saturday morning. All three had their throats slashed.
Police later found the corpses of another two women with cut throats dumped in the streets. Mexican media said both victims worked at the beauty parlor. No motive was given for the killings.
Acapulco, famed in the 1960s as a glamorous haunt for Hollywood stars, has been convulsed by drug violence in recent months as powerful cartels battle for smuggling routes, prompting the United States to warn tourists against visiting the downtown center of the resort.
Mexican officials have been anxious to downplay the impact of the violence on tourism, one of the country's main foreign exchange earners, pointing out that the number of visitors arriving in Mexico has continued to rise in recent years.
Spreading drug violence that killed more than 15,000 people last year has prompted foreign governments to issue a number of travel warnings for parts of Mexico.
The semi-naked and bound bodies of two women and a 14-year-old girl were discovered in the salon in the early hours of Saturday morning. All three had their throats slashed.
Police later found the corpses of another two women with cut throats dumped in the streets. Mexican media said both victims worked at the beauty parlor. No motive was given for the killings.
Acapulco, famed in the 1960s as a glamorous haunt for Hollywood stars, has been convulsed by drug violence in recent months as powerful cartels battle for smuggling routes, prompting the United States to warn tourists against visiting the downtown center of the resort.
Mexican officials have been anxious to downplay the impact of the violence on tourism, one of the country's main foreign exchange earners, pointing out that the number of visitors arriving in Mexico has continued to rise in recent years.
Spreading drug violence that killed more than 15,000 people last year has prompted foreign governments to issue a number of travel warnings for parts of Mexico.
Yemen's Saleh to quit
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh agrees to quit in return for immunity from prosecution.
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