The International Committee of the Red Cross sent evidence to US diplomats about widespread torture by Indian security forces in Kashmir, according to cables obtained by Wikileaks.
Visits to detention centres in the region in 2002-04 revealed cases of beatings, electric shocks, sexual abuse and other types of ill-treatment.
The organisation concluded that India condoned torture in the region.
There has been no comment from the US. The ICRC said it was investigating.
The chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, told India's NDTV channel that the allegations related to a period before his government took power and that he did not condone torture.
SM Sohai, inspector general of police in Indian-administered Kashmir, said the reports were baseless "propaganda".
"I do not how the Red Cross could have accessed that information because, normally they would not have access to these kind of locations, so it's completely unfounded," he told the BBC.
"Torture doesn't happen... Where can it happen?"
Correspondents say the revelations will be embarrassing for Delhi, coming at a time of heightened sensitivity in Kashmir, which is divided between Indian and Pakistani control.
They were published by The Guardian newspaper in the UK, one of five publications - including the New York Times, France's Le Monde, El Pais in Spain and Germany's Der Spiegel - given access to the entire archive of the reports from US diplomats out in the field by Wikileaks.
Wikileaks website says it has obtained more than 250,000 cables passed between the US State Department and hundreds of American diplomatic outposts - but it has so far only published a small sample of those messages.
The site's founder, Julian Assange, was on Thursday freed on bail in London, where he is fighting extradition to Sweden over sex assault allegations made by two women. He denies any wrongdoing.
Electric shocks
The torture allegations come at a time of heightened tensions in Kashmir, with massive public protests and numerous curfews in recent months.
The ICRC told diplomats they had made 177 visits to detention centres and met 1,491 detainees, a cable published in the UK Guardian newspaper said.
Ill-treatment was reported in 852 cases, the ICRC said.
A total of 171 said they were beaten and 681 subjected to one or more of six forms of torture:
Electric shocks
Suspension from ceiling
Crushing of leg muscles
Legs split 180 degrees
Water torture
Sexual abuse
Nonetheless the situation was "much better than it was in the 1990s", officials said.
There were no longer cases of security forces indiscriminately raiding villages and detaining their inhabitants, they added.
ICRC spokesman Alexis Heeb said the organisation was looking into the matter, but would not comment on the contents of the diplomatic correspondence as that was an internal communication between the US embassy in New Delhi and Washington.
The latest batch of documents to be released by Wikileaks is made up of diplomatic messages sent from US embassies around the world.
The website released 77,000 secret US files on the Afghan conflict in July, and 400,000 documents about the Iraq war in October.
Washington has strongly criticised Wikileaks for publishing classified diplomatic cables and military reports.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Leak: US fears theft of bioweapons from India labs
NEW DELHI – U.S. officials fear lax security at Indian laboratories could make the facilities targets for terrorists seeking biological weapons to launch attacks across the globe, according to comments in a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable made public Friday.
The cable was part of a trove of documents sent from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi that was obtained by the website WikiLeaks and published Friday by the British newspaper The Guardian.
The cables also dealt with accusations of Indian torture in Kashmir, India's complaints about Pakistan's handling of the Mumbai terror attacks, and the concerns of Rahul Gandhi — seen as India's prime-minister-in-waiting — that Hindu extremists posed a greater danger to India than Islamist militants.
One of the cables from June 2006 raised concerns that terrorist groups could take advantage of weak security at Indian laboratories to steal "bacteria, parasites, viruses or toxins."
"Terrorists planning attacks anywhere in the world could use India's advanced biotechnology industry and large biomedical research community as potential sources of biological agents," read the cable, marked "confidential." "Given the strong air connections Delhi shares with the rest of the world and the vulnerabilities that might be exploited at airports, a witting or unwitting person could easily take hazardous materials into or out of the country."
"Getting into a facility to obtain lethal bio-agents is not very difficult here," one expert, whose name was redacted from the cable, told U.S. diplomats.
A second expert said that academic research facilities maintain only very loose security procedures. "The harsh reality is that you can bribe a guard with a pack of cigarettes to get inside," the expert was quoted as saying.
One source told the diplomats that India's thousands of biological scientists also might be recruited, either out of ideological sympathies or for money.
An Indian government official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly address the issue, dismissed the concerns as "far-fetched and fanciful."
However, Suman Sahai, a biotechnology expert, told The Associated Press that security remains very poor at biotech firms four years after the cable was written.
The regulatory system is porous, employees are easily influenced and those leaving public laboratories to work for private companies often steal seeds, genetic material and other sensitive property before they head out the door, she said.
While India has not been the target of a biological attack, it has suffered devastating conventional terror strikes, including a 2001 attack on its parliament and the 2008 attack by 10 Pakistan-based militants who laid siege to the city of Mumbai for 60 hours.
Indian officials made it clear that they were focusing more on a possible nuclear or chemical attack — presumably from longtime rival Pakistan — than a biological one, which they considered unlikely to happen, the cable read.
India's surveillance system and its public health system were ill-prepared for the possibility of such an attack, the cable said.
While many countries are poorly prepared for a bioterror attack, the cable said, "few live in the kind of dangerous neighborhood that India does, where terrorism, lax security, petty corruption, high population density, weak public health and agricultural infrastructures, and a booming and sophisticated biotech industry coexist."
Another cable released Friday revealed the extent of India's frustration with rival Pakistan, where it says the Mumbai plot was hatched and received army support.
Earlier this year, India's Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told visiting FBI Director Robert Mueller that Pakistan had "done damn near nothing" to prosecute the Mumbai suspects, according a cable. While Pakistan has arrested seven people in connection with the attacks, those trials have not yet properly begun.
Instead of pursuing militants, Pakistan's military is "hypnotically obsessed" with India's military, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was quoted as saying. She added that peace talks would remain on hold until Pakistan did more to dismantle terrorist networks that target India.
The cables also discussed a confidential 2005 briefing by the International Committee of the Red Cross that accused India of the widespread use of torture in Kashmir, where the Indian government confronts a raging separatist insurgency.
The Red Cross said it had interviewed 1,491 detainees in Kashmir between 2002 and 2004 and found that many had been beaten, hung from the ceiling, put in stress positions, sexually abused or tortured with electricity, water or a round metal object called "the roller" used to crush a person's thighs, the cable said
The agency had raised the issues with India for a decade and the continuation of the practice led the agency to believe the government condoned the torture, it said.
On Friday, ICRC spokesman Christian Cardon said in Geneva that the briefing referred to in the cable did take place, but declined comment on what was said during it.
In response to the accusation, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said Friday: "India is an open and democratic nation which adheres to the rule of law. If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with."
The cables also revealed that Rahul Gandhi, a top official in the ruling Congress Party, warned in 2009 that homegrown Hindu extremist groups could pose a greater threat than established Islamist militant groups, such as Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the Mumbai attacks.
Gandhi appeared to be referring to the danger of a flare up in Hindu-Muslim communal violence caused by some of the more extreme leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, according to the cable, which was written by Ambassador Timothy Roemer.
The cable was part of a trove of documents sent from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi that was obtained by the website WikiLeaks and published Friday by the British newspaper The Guardian.
The cables also dealt with accusations of Indian torture in Kashmir, India's complaints about Pakistan's handling of the Mumbai terror attacks, and the concerns of Rahul Gandhi — seen as India's prime-minister-in-waiting — that Hindu extremists posed a greater danger to India than Islamist militants.
One of the cables from June 2006 raised concerns that terrorist groups could take advantage of weak security at Indian laboratories to steal "bacteria, parasites, viruses or toxins."
"Terrorists planning attacks anywhere in the world could use India's advanced biotechnology industry and large biomedical research community as potential sources of biological agents," read the cable, marked "confidential." "Given the strong air connections Delhi shares with the rest of the world and the vulnerabilities that might be exploited at airports, a witting or unwitting person could easily take hazardous materials into or out of the country."
"Getting into a facility to obtain lethal bio-agents is not very difficult here," one expert, whose name was redacted from the cable, told U.S. diplomats.
A second expert said that academic research facilities maintain only very loose security procedures. "The harsh reality is that you can bribe a guard with a pack of cigarettes to get inside," the expert was quoted as saying.
One source told the diplomats that India's thousands of biological scientists also might be recruited, either out of ideological sympathies or for money.
An Indian government official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly address the issue, dismissed the concerns as "far-fetched and fanciful."
However, Suman Sahai, a biotechnology expert, told The Associated Press that security remains very poor at biotech firms four years after the cable was written.
The regulatory system is porous, employees are easily influenced and those leaving public laboratories to work for private companies often steal seeds, genetic material and other sensitive property before they head out the door, she said.
While India has not been the target of a biological attack, it has suffered devastating conventional terror strikes, including a 2001 attack on its parliament and the 2008 attack by 10 Pakistan-based militants who laid siege to the city of Mumbai for 60 hours.
Indian officials made it clear that they were focusing more on a possible nuclear or chemical attack — presumably from longtime rival Pakistan — than a biological one, which they considered unlikely to happen, the cable read.
India's surveillance system and its public health system were ill-prepared for the possibility of such an attack, the cable said.
While many countries are poorly prepared for a bioterror attack, the cable said, "few live in the kind of dangerous neighborhood that India does, where terrorism, lax security, petty corruption, high population density, weak public health and agricultural infrastructures, and a booming and sophisticated biotech industry coexist."
Another cable released Friday revealed the extent of India's frustration with rival Pakistan, where it says the Mumbai plot was hatched and received army support.
Earlier this year, India's Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told visiting FBI Director Robert Mueller that Pakistan had "done damn near nothing" to prosecute the Mumbai suspects, according a cable. While Pakistan has arrested seven people in connection with the attacks, those trials have not yet properly begun.
Instead of pursuing militants, Pakistan's military is "hypnotically obsessed" with India's military, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was quoted as saying. She added that peace talks would remain on hold until Pakistan did more to dismantle terrorist networks that target India.
The cables also discussed a confidential 2005 briefing by the International Committee of the Red Cross that accused India of the widespread use of torture in Kashmir, where the Indian government confronts a raging separatist insurgency.
The Red Cross said it had interviewed 1,491 detainees in Kashmir between 2002 and 2004 and found that many had been beaten, hung from the ceiling, put in stress positions, sexually abused or tortured with electricity, water or a round metal object called "the roller" used to crush a person's thighs, the cable said
The agency had raised the issues with India for a decade and the continuation of the practice led the agency to believe the government condoned the torture, it said.
On Friday, ICRC spokesman Christian Cardon said in Geneva that the briefing referred to in the cable did take place, but declined comment on what was said during it.
In response to the accusation, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said Friday: "India is an open and democratic nation which adheres to the rule of law. If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with."
The cables also revealed that Rahul Gandhi, a top official in the ruling Congress Party, warned in 2009 that homegrown Hindu extremist groups could pose a greater threat than established Islamist militant groups, such as Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the Mumbai attacks.
Gandhi appeared to be referring to the danger of a flare up in Hindu-Muslim communal violence caused by some of the more extreme leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, according to the cable, which was written by Ambassador Timothy Roemer.
China fishing boat capsizes in scuffle; 1 dead
SEOUL, South Korea – A Chinese fishing boat capsized in a maritime scuffle with a South Korean coast guard ship trying to curb its illegal fishing activities Saturday, killing one fisherman and leaving two others missing, South Korea's coast guard said.
About 50 Chinese fishing boats were illegally fishing in western South Korean waters off Gunsan city, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) south of Seoul, when the South Korean ship approached them, coast guard spokesman Ji Kwan-tae said. One of the boats intentionally hit the larger coast guard ship to allow fellow Chinese vessels to sail back to their waters, and then capsized, he said.
Eight people from the capsized boat were plucked from the sea, but one was unconscious and later died at a Gunsan hospital, the coast guard said in a statement. Coast guard boats and helicopters were dispatched to the area to locate the two missing Chinese sailors, it said.
Coast guard officers fought with fishermen on other Chinese boats who wielded steel pipes, shovels and clubs, and four of the officers suffered fractured arms and other injuries, the statement said. None of the injuries were life-threatening, Ji said.
Chinese fishing fleets have been going farther afield to feed growing domestic demand. A collision between a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese coast guard vessels in September led to a nasty diplomatic spat between the two countries over disputed islands in the East China Sea. The incident soured what had been improving relations between China and Japan.
More than 300 Chinese fishing boats are captured for fishing illegally in South Korean waters every year, according to South Korea's coast guard. In 2008, one South Korean coast guard officer was killed and six others injured in a maritime scuffle with Chinese fishermen fishing in South Korean waters.
A senior South Korean Foreign Ministry official expressed regret over the death of the Chinese fisherman in a phone call to the Chinese consul general in Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported. Calls to the South Korean Foreign Ministry went unanswered.
A man answering the phone at the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center in Beijing confirmed that a Chinese fishing boat capsized Saturday in the Yellow Sea and two Chinese fishermen were missing. But another man at the center — reached by phone an hour later — said nine fishermen had been rescued and only one was missing. South Korea's coast guard couldn't immediately explain the discrepancy in the number of missing fishermen.
Both men — who didn't give their names, as is common with Chinese officials — said China dispatched a rescue boat to the area.
Calls to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul went unanswered
In Israel, a rabbi who argues that anti-Arab measures are un-Jewish
Jerusalem – At first glance, Arik Ascherman seems more like a soft-spoken university lecturer than a combative crusader for the rights of the “other,” be they Palestinian or African refugee.
Yet the American-born rabbi is embroiled in two of Israel’s main conflicts today: the struggle with Palestinians over the West Bank and, within Israel, a rising tide of anti-Arab and anti-foreigner sentiment. The latter is starkly illustrated by an unprecedented rabbinical edict calling on Jews not to rent or sell property to non-Jews.
Both conflicts are at the heart of a debate over whether Israel can be live up to its ideal of being democratic as well as Jewish.
Q&A: Why only 51 percent of Israelis support equal rights for Arab minority
Israel is at a particularly sensitive, even dangerous point in its history, argues Rabbi Ascherman, a liberal voice struggling to be heard among Israel’s more prevalent Orthodox strain. In the face of “huge warning signs,” such as the recent rabbinical edict, he sees an urgent need to temper xenophobic fears with education about human rights.
“Things always go in waves, but they have reached a height I don’t ever recall seeing before,” says the Harvard grad, who helped found Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) in Israel more than 20 years ago.
“Your average Israeli does not want bad things for non-Jews,” he says, “but they think: (a) our self-defense comes first, and (b) we are a small country and must take care of ourselves first. The demagogues play on these fears – the danger of an Arab living next to you or the danger of allowing refugees in our society, diluting Jewish culture, [the danger] that our children will intermarry. All of these play on fears so that even decent people who are not racist are overcome by these fears.”
Rabbi rulings against Arabs, AfricansIndeed, the religious edicts banning rentals to non-Jews seem to be based as much on xenophobia as religious beliefs.
Seven rabbis in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak published a ruling last month calling on landlords to refrain from letting to “illegal residents and their ilk.” The rabbis wrote that an influx of African asylum seekers had reached “horrific proportions,” accusing the refugees of being idle and harassing others.
Then there were the statements of rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu of Safed, a northern town, who spearheaded an edict to ban Arabs from living there. According to the rabbi, this was self-defense – otherwise Arabs would gradually take over Safed, considered a holy Jewish city.
“I have great compassion for human beings, even for animals. I have no compassion for enemies,” he told Maariv newspaper last month. “The moment a person comes and tells me in my house that I am a guest and not the owner, the moment a person distorts history, the moment a person acts in my city as if its his village, I have no obligation to be merciful towards him.”
Rabbi Eliyahu’s approach was adopted on a national scale last week, when some 50 rabbis from across the country issued an edict banning the rental of apartments to Arabs.
“The land of Israel is intended for the people of Israel,” Yosef Shainin, chief rabbi of the coastal town of Ashdod, explained to Army Radio.
All of this is anathema to Ascherman and his group, which draws on the humanistic teachings of the late American rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched along with Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement and opposed the Vietnam war.
How RHR respondedAt the first sign of trouble last month, when rabbis in Tel Aviv called on landlords not to rent to African asylum seekers, RHR put together its own religious opinion, signed by 50 liberal rabbis. RHR rabbis wrote that banning rentals – a movement that has gathered steam, with 50 rabbis around Israel endorsing it – contradicted biblical values and was reminiscent of Jewish persecution, including that by Nazi Germany.
“The tradition of Israel comes out against the natural human tendency to hate the stranger and those who are different,” the rabbis wrote. They quoted Leviticus 19:34 in the Old Testament: “The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the homeborn among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
Over the years, Ascherman has applied that injunction to the Palestinians. Every autumn, he organizes RHR volunteers to protect Palestinians from Israeli settler violence during the olive harvest.
And six years ago he had to perform 120 hours of community service after being convicted of interfering with the Jerusalem municipality’s attempt to destroy an unlicensed Palestinian home by blocking a bulldozer. His reasoning: It was unjust and un-Jewish to demolish the homes when Palestinians did not have a fair chance to obtain a building license.
Why RHR struggles to be heardRHR is not popular with West Bank settlers, and has struggled to gain traction even with average Israelis.
“Ascherman instigates Palestinians against the Jewish residents, I’m sorry the organization exists, it is very unproductive,” says David HaIvri, spokesman for the Samaria Council in the northern West Bank. “It is definitely not concerned with the human rights of Jews or assisting in a peaceful solution. Its agenda is to show how evil settlers are.”
Ascherman says the organization is now having an internal discussion on whether to go further and to issue a call on the government for the dismissal from their posts of the rabbis – most of them on state payroll – who called for halting rentals to Arabs.
But RHR has limited impact on Israeli public opinion, partly because most of its rabbis come from non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, including conservative, reform, and reconstructionist traditions.
In Israel, where only Orthodox rabbis are officially recognized, such streams have small followings and are widely viewed as foreign imports.
“Ascherman is saying clear things but in the confused Israeli agenda they are hard to swallow,” says Uri Dromi, once a spokesman for former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “People say, ‘What kind of rabbis are these?' Most of the population does not connect with reform or conservative Judaism.”
“Neither the public nor the religious community are receptive to their messages,” agrees Menachem Klein, a political scientist at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
Ascherman is more optimistic, but admits RHR’s task is a tough one. “There’s been a lot of progress on people understanding there is another authentic Jewish voice. But many know more about the 50 rabbis [who issued the edict] than they do about our rabbis and we clearly have a lot of work to do.”
Q&A: Why only 51 percent of Israelis support equal rights for Arab minority
Yet the American-born rabbi is embroiled in two of Israel’s main conflicts today: the struggle with Palestinians over the West Bank and, within Israel, a rising tide of anti-Arab and anti-foreigner sentiment. The latter is starkly illustrated by an unprecedented rabbinical edict calling on Jews not to rent or sell property to non-Jews.
Both conflicts are at the heart of a debate over whether Israel can be live up to its ideal of being democratic as well as Jewish.
Q&A: Why only 51 percent of Israelis support equal rights for Arab minority
Israel is at a particularly sensitive, even dangerous point in its history, argues Rabbi Ascherman, a liberal voice struggling to be heard among Israel’s more prevalent Orthodox strain. In the face of “huge warning signs,” such as the recent rabbinical edict, he sees an urgent need to temper xenophobic fears with education about human rights.
“Things always go in waves, but they have reached a height I don’t ever recall seeing before,” says the Harvard grad, who helped found Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) in Israel more than 20 years ago.
“Your average Israeli does not want bad things for non-Jews,” he says, “but they think: (a) our self-defense comes first, and (b) we are a small country and must take care of ourselves first. The demagogues play on these fears – the danger of an Arab living next to you or the danger of allowing refugees in our society, diluting Jewish culture, [the danger] that our children will intermarry. All of these play on fears so that even decent people who are not racist are overcome by these fears.”
Rabbi rulings against Arabs, AfricansIndeed, the religious edicts banning rentals to non-Jews seem to be based as much on xenophobia as religious beliefs.
Seven rabbis in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak published a ruling last month calling on landlords to refrain from letting to “illegal residents and their ilk.” The rabbis wrote that an influx of African asylum seekers had reached “horrific proportions,” accusing the refugees of being idle and harassing others.
Then there were the statements of rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu of Safed, a northern town, who spearheaded an edict to ban Arabs from living there. According to the rabbi, this was self-defense – otherwise Arabs would gradually take over Safed, considered a holy Jewish city.
“I have great compassion for human beings, even for animals. I have no compassion for enemies,” he told Maariv newspaper last month. “The moment a person comes and tells me in my house that I am a guest and not the owner, the moment a person distorts history, the moment a person acts in my city as if its his village, I have no obligation to be merciful towards him.”
Rabbi Eliyahu’s approach was adopted on a national scale last week, when some 50 rabbis from across the country issued an edict banning the rental of apartments to Arabs.
“The land of Israel is intended for the people of Israel,” Yosef Shainin, chief rabbi of the coastal town of Ashdod, explained to Army Radio.
All of this is anathema to Ascherman and his group, which draws on the humanistic teachings of the late American rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched along with Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement and opposed the Vietnam war.
How RHR respondedAt the first sign of trouble last month, when rabbis in Tel Aviv called on landlords not to rent to African asylum seekers, RHR put together its own religious opinion, signed by 50 liberal rabbis. RHR rabbis wrote that banning rentals – a movement that has gathered steam, with 50 rabbis around Israel endorsing it – contradicted biblical values and was reminiscent of Jewish persecution, including that by Nazi Germany.
“The tradition of Israel comes out against the natural human tendency to hate the stranger and those who are different,” the rabbis wrote. They quoted Leviticus 19:34 in the Old Testament: “The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the homeborn among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
Over the years, Ascherman has applied that injunction to the Palestinians. Every autumn, he organizes RHR volunteers to protect Palestinians from Israeli settler violence during the olive harvest.
And six years ago he had to perform 120 hours of community service after being convicted of interfering with the Jerusalem municipality’s attempt to destroy an unlicensed Palestinian home by blocking a bulldozer. His reasoning: It was unjust and un-Jewish to demolish the homes when Palestinians did not have a fair chance to obtain a building license.
Why RHR struggles to be heardRHR is not popular with West Bank settlers, and has struggled to gain traction even with average Israelis.
“Ascherman instigates Palestinians against the Jewish residents, I’m sorry the organization exists, it is very unproductive,” says David HaIvri, spokesman for the Samaria Council in the northern West Bank. “It is definitely not concerned with the human rights of Jews or assisting in a peaceful solution. Its agenda is to show how evil settlers are.”
Ascherman says the organization is now having an internal discussion on whether to go further and to issue a call on the government for the dismissal from their posts of the rabbis – most of them on state payroll – who called for halting rentals to Arabs.
But RHR has limited impact on Israeli public opinion, partly because most of its rabbis come from non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, including conservative, reform, and reconstructionist traditions.
In Israel, where only Orthodox rabbis are officially recognized, such streams have small followings and are widely viewed as foreign imports.
“Ascherman is saying clear things but in the confused Israeli agenda they are hard to swallow,” says Uri Dromi, once a spokesman for former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “People say, ‘What kind of rabbis are these?' Most of the population does not connect with reform or conservative Judaism.”
“Neither the public nor the religious community are receptive to their messages,” agrees Menachem Klein, a political scientist at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
Ascherman is more optimistic, but admits RHR’s task is a tough one. “There’s been a lot of progress on people understanding there is another authentic Jewish voice. But many know more about the 50 rabbis [who issued the edict] than they do about our rabbis and we clearly have a lot of work to do.”
Q&A: Why only 51 percent of Israelis support equal rights for Arab minority
Bolivian president says he'll recognize Palestine
LA PAZ, Bolivia – Bolivian President Evo Morales says he plans to recognize an independent and sovereign state of Palestine.
Morales says he will send a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announcing his decision and that in coming days "we also will send official statements to various international organizations."
Bolivia joins Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela in its recognition of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with borders recognized prior to the 1967 Mideast war. Uruguay has indicated that it is poised to do the same.
Bolivia severed relations with Israel in January 2009 after its invasion of the Gaza Strip in December 2008.
Morales announced his decision Friday.
Morales says he will send a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announcing his decision and that in coming days "we also will send official statements to various international organizations."
Bolivia joins Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela in its recognition of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with borders recognized prior to the 1967 Mideast war. Uruguay has indicated that it is poised to do the same.
Bolivia severed relations with Israel in January 2009 after its invasion of the Gaza Strip in December 2008.
Morales announced his decision Friday.
Prosecutor: Sudan's Al-Bashir stole billions
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Saturday he has evidence Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has stolen billions of dollars from his impoverished country.
"From different sources, we have information about possible accounts that could belong to President Bashir in foreign banks," Luis Moreno Ocampo said in a statement to The Associated Press.
But he said that his prosecution is focused on al-Bashir's alleged orchestration of genocide in Darfur and not suspected embezzlement.
"The most urgent reason to arrest Mr. Bashir is not because he could have billions in his secret accounts but because he is still controlling an ongoing genocide in Darfur," Moreno Ocampo said. He gave no further details of the information his office has about the alleged foreign accounts, but said they were not in Britain.
The court issued arrest warrants for al-Bashir in July on three charges of genocide for allegedly masterminding atrocities in his country's Darfur region. He also was charged last year with crimes against humanity in the war-torn region.
Al-Bashir, who was re-elected to a new five-year term earlier this year, refuses to recognize the court's authority and has insisted he will not turn himself in to stand trial.
The United Nations estimates 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have be forced from their homes in Darfur since ethnic African rebels rose up in 2003, accusing Sudan's Arab-dominated central government of neglect and discrimination.
The embezzlement accusations were first reported Saturday by British newspaper The Guardian, based on a diplomatic cable provided by the Wikileaks website.
Citing a "senior US official" in a leaked cable, The Guardian said Moreno Ocampo had suggested revealing the embezzlement allegations as a way of turning the tide of public opinion against al-Bashir. The cable said Moreno Ocampo put the amount of stolen funds at $9 billion.
Moreno Ocampo said he could "make no judgment on the authenticity of the alleged US State Department cables."
But he said that if stolen money could be found in al-Bashir accounts it could eventually be paid out to victims of allegedly state-sponsored violence in Darfur if al-Bashir is convicted.
"As part of its mandate, the (prosecutor's) office is investigating money that could belong to President al-Bashir," Moreno Ocampo said. "This money could be used to compensate President Bashir's victims."
Mariam Sadiq, a senior member of the opposition Umma Party in Sudan, called the allegations "disgraceful and sad."
"This is something we knew for ten years when petrodollars were pouring into Sudan but never trickled down to the people of Sudan," she said. "Instead, the Sudanese citizen became poorer and needy."
She said that the theft along with the possible secession of the south following a referendum scheduled for January and the Darfur crisis could mark the end of al-Bashir rule in Sudan.
"These accumulations will end up with a regime change in Sudan and it will have broad and heavy impact on the public since these practices are threatening the existence of Sudan as a nation and a state," Sadiq said.
Radical Muslim sect again stalks northern Nigeria
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – In the dusty streets of northeastern Nigeria, far from the battlegrounds of Afghanistan, a group known as the Nigerian Taliban is waging war against a government it refuses to recognize.
The radical Muslim sect called Boko Haram was thought to be vanquished in 2009, when Nigeria's military crushed its mosque into concrete shards, and its leader was arrested and died in police custody. But now, a year later, Maiduguri and surrounding villages again live in fear of the group, whose members have assassinated police and local leaders and engineered a massive prison break, officials say.
Western diplomats are concerned that the sect is catching the attention of al-Qaida's North Africa branch. They also worry that Boko Haram represents chaos and disintegration in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and one of the top suppliers of crude oil to the United States.
"It is possible that Nigeria could be a future Pakistan," a leaked cable released by the WikiLeaks website quotes U.S. Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Johnnie Carson as saying earlier this year. "In 25 years, there could be impoverished masses, a wealthy elite and radicalism in the north. The question is whether the oil wells will be dry as well."
The cable later adds: "Nigeria is at a critical financial and political threshold and the entire nation could possibly tip backwards permanently."
Maiduguri sits in the upper northeast reaches of Nigeria, about 1,040 miles (1,675 kilometers) away from the country's commercial capital and seaport of Lagos. The sun rises as early as 6 a.m., quickly scorching the dusty streets and lands slowly being taken over by the growing Sahara Desert.
It was here a decade ago where Mohammed Yusuf, a one-time moderate imam, began preaching against the practices of Western education in life across Nigeria's Muslim north. Boko Haram was a constant refrain in the Hausa-language sermons, meaning "Western education is sacrilege."
Yusuf's words came at a time when about a dozen northern states adopted Islamic Shariah law, in the wake of the country becoming a democracy after decades of military dictatorships. Many believed the law, a code of conduct based on the teachings of the Quran, would end the corruption that gripped the country's government.
However, the Shariah courts remained under the control of secular state governments, which pushed them into roles of directing traffic and stopping beer trucks. Government continued as always, with politicians driving black luxury Land Rovers, and one trader boasted a mansion built for about $100 million, complete with a room plated in gold. In the meantime, more than 80 percent of the country's 150 million people lived on less than $2 a day.
"People are living in absolute poverty," said Ibrahim Ahmed Abdullahi, an imam in Maiduguri. "Whenever people are living in this type of poverty, if you start saying to them, 'Look, come let us bring about change,' ... people must listen to you."
University graduates who joined Boko Haram tore up their diplomas. Others joined riots in 2007 attacking police stations. Yusuf's preaching became even more incendiary.
In July 2009, sect members attacked local police stations and government buildings throughout northeast Nigeria. The riots brought a crackdown by Nigeria's military and left more than 700 dead. Yusuf himself died after he was captured by the military and turned over to police in a country where so-called "extrajudicial killings" by authorities remain the norm.
An overrun, grassy field is all that remains of Boko Haram's former headquarters, surrounded by the hulked, rusted remains of motorcycles and cars set ablaze during the group's last stand. The loudspeaker that once called members to prayers lies on the ground, silent, as paramilitary police pat down passers-by on motorcycle taxis and take palmed bribes from drivers.
But rumors began this year about the group rearming. A short time later, two-man teams on the back of the motorcycle taxis that fill Nigeria's streets began attacking police officers, religious leaders and local officials who had testified against the group in open court.
In September, authorities say, Boko Haram members attacked a federal prison in Bauchi, freeing about 750 inmates — with more than 100 belonging to the sect. It remains unclear how many members the group has in total.
Boko Haram members have amassed around Maiduguri, as well as across Nigeria's border with nearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger, said Borno state police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi. The group's swelling arms supply comes across Lake Chad and the expansive, poorly-patrolled bush that surrounds the city, Abdullahi said. The ancient trading routes that tied the region to Islam centuries ago now funnel weapons and foreign fighters to Boko Haram.
The radical Muslim sect called Boko Haram was thought to be vanquished in 2009, when Nigeria's military crushed its mosque into concrete shards, and its leader was arrested and died in police custody. But now, a year later, Maiduguri and surrounding villages again live in fear of the group, whose members have assassinated police and local leaders and engineered a massive prison break, officials say.
Western diplomats are concerned that the sect is catching the attention of al-Qaida's North Africa branch. They also worry that Boko Haram represents chaos and disintegration in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and one of the top suppliers of crude oil to the United States.
"It is possible that Nigeria could be a future Pakistan," a leaked cable released by the WikiLeaks website quotes U.S. Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Johnnie Carson as saying earlier this year. "In 25 years, there could be impoverished masses, a wealthy elite and radicalism in the north. The question is whether the oil wells will be dry as well."
The cable later adds: "Nigeria is at a critical financial and political threshold and the entire nation could possibly tip backwards permanently."
Maiduguri sits in the upper northeast reaches of Nigeria, about 1,040 miles (1,675 kilometers) away from the country's commercial capital and seaport of Lagos. The sun rises as early as 6 a.m., quickly scorching the dusty streets and lands slowly being taken over by the growing Sahara Desert.
It was here a decade ago where Mohammed Yusuf, a one-time moderate imam, began preaching against the practices of Western education in life across Nigeria's Muslim north. Boko Haram was a constant refrain in the Hausa-language sermons, meaning "Western education is sacrilege."
Yusuf's words came at a time when about a dozen northern states adopted Islamic Shariah law, in the wake of the country becoming a democracy after decades of military dictatorships. Many believed the law, a code of conduct based on the teachings of the Quran, would end the corruption that gripped the country's government.
However, the Shariah courts remained under the control of secular state governments, which pushed them into roles of directing traffic and stopping beer trucks. Government continued as always, with politicians driving black luxury Land Rovers, and one trader boasted a mansion built for about $100 million, complete with a room plated in gold. In the meantime, more than 80 percent of the country's 150 million people lived on less than $2 a day.
"People are living in absolute poverty," said Ibrahim Ahmed Abdullahi, an imam in Maiduguri. "Whenever people are living in this type of poverty, if you start saying to them, 'Look, come let us bring about change,' ... people must listen to you."
University graduates who joined Boko Haram tore up their diplomas. Others joined riots in 2007 attacking police stations. Yusuf's preaching became even more incendiary.
In July 2009, sect members attacked local police stations and government buildings throughout northeast Nigeria. The riots brought a crackdown by Nigeria's military and left more than 700 dead. Yusuf himself died after he was captured by the military and turned over to police in a country where so-called "extrajudicial killings" by authorities remain the norm.
An overrun, grassy field is all that remains of Boko Haram's former headquarters, surrounded by the hulked, rusted remains of motorcycles and cars set ablaze during the group's last stand. The loudspeaker that once called members to prayers lies on the ground, silent, as paramilitary police pat down passers-by on motorcycle taxis and take palmed bribes from drivers.
But rumors began this year about the group rearming. A short time later, two-man teams on the back of the motorcycle taxis that fill Nigeria's streets began attacking police officers, religious leaders and local officials who had testified against the group in open court.
In September, authorities say, Boko Haram members attacked a federal prison in Bauchi, freeing about 750 inmates — with more than 100 belonging to the sect. It remains unclear how many members the group has in total.
Boko Haram members have amassed around Maiduguri, as well as across Nigeria's border with nearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger, said Borno state police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi. The group's swelling arms supply comes across Lake Chad and the expansive, poorly-patrolled bush that surrounds the city, Abdullahi said. The ancient trading routes that tied the region to Islam centuries ago now funnel weapons and foreign fighters to Boko Haram.
Gbagbo orders UN peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – The man who refuses to step down from the presidency ordered thousands of U.N. peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast immediately on Saturday, calling the global body that has endorsed his political rival an "agent of destabilization."
The move was the latest act of political defiance by Laurent Gbagbo, who has been in power since 2000 and maintains he is the rightful winner of last month's runoff vote in the West African nation despite growing international pressure on him to concede defeat.
The statement read on state television came just two days after as many as 30 people were killed in street violence in Ivory Coast. Earlier Saturday, masked gunmen opened fire on the U.N. base; no one from the U.N. was harmed in the attack.
Gbagbo's spokeswoman said Saturday that the U.N. mission known as UNOCI has not remained neutral in the election dispute. The United Nations certified results showing that opposition leader Alassane Ouattara had won by "an irrefutable margin."
The U.N. had been invited by the country itself to supervise the vote and certify the outcome following a peace accord after Ivory Coast's 2002-2003 civil war.
"The state of Ivory Coast considers that the UNOCI has shown itself to be guilty of serious misconduct, which indubitably proves that it is an agent of destabilization and contributes to the further division of the Ivorian people," she said.
The United Nations did not immediately respond to Gbagbo's request. There are about 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers in the country, and about 800 of them have been protecting the compound from which Ouattara is trying to govern the country.
While the United States, France and the African Union have endorsed Ouattara as the rightful winner of the election, Gbagbo maintains control of both the military and state media.
Earlier Saturday, masked men in military uniforms opened fire on the U.N. base after following guards back from a patrol, the U.N. mission said. No one at the U.N. was harmed in the shooting.
The six armed men in a civilian vehicle shot at the patrol as it entered the mission compound early Saturday and continued firing along the wall of the compound, the U.N. mission said in a statement. The U.N. guards returned fire.
Saturday's violence comes just two days after as many as 30 people were killed during violent protests. Ouattara called on his supporters on Thursday to seize key state institutions that Gbagbo has refused to let go of. Police and troops loyal to Gbagbo prevented Ouattara's supporters from marching on government buildings Friday.
International pressure is growing on Gbagbo to give up his claim to power in this nation that was once an economic hub because of its role as the world's top cocoa producer. The civil war split Ivory Coast in a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south, and many had hoped that the election would help reunite the country.
While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Ouattara still draws his support from the northern half of the country where he was born while Gbagbo's power base is in the south.
Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential election only after his allies threw out half a million ballots from Ouattara strongholds in the north, a move that infuriated residents there who have long felt they are treated as foreigners in their own country by southerners.
National identity remains at the heart of the divide. The question of who would even be allowed to vote in this long-awaited election took years to settle as officials tried to differentiate between Ivorians with roots in neighboring countries and foreigners.
Ouattara had himself been prevented from running in previous elections after accusations that he was not Ivorian, and that he was of Burkinabe origin.
The move was the latest act of political defiance by Laurent Gbagbo, who has been in power since 2000 and maintains he is the rightful winner of last month's runoff vote in the West African nation despite growing international pressure on him to concede defeat.
The statement read on state television came just two days after as many as 30 people were killed in street violence in Ivory Coast. Earlier Saturday, masked gunmen opened fire on the U.N. base; no one from the U.N. was harmed in the attack.
Gbagbo's spokeswoman said Saturday that the U.N. mission known as UNOCI has not remained neutral in the election dispute. The United Nations certified results showing that opposition leader Alassane Ouattara had won by "an irrefutable margin."
The U.N. had been invited by the country itself to supervise the vote and certify the outcome following a peace accord after Ivory Coast's 2002-2003 civil war.
"The state of Ivory Coast considers that the UNOCI has shown itself to be guilty of serious misconduct, which indubitably proves that it is an agent of destabilization and contributes to the further division of the Ivorian people," she said.
The United Nations did not immediately respond to Gbagbo's request. There are about 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers in the country, and about 800 of them have been protecting the compound from which Ouattara is trying to govern the country.
While the United States, France and the African Union have endorsed Ouattara as the rightful winner of the election, Gbagbo maintains control of both the military and state media.
Earlier Saturday, masked men in military uniforms opened fire on the U.N. base after following guards back from a patrol, the U.N. mission said. No one at the U.N. was harmed in the shooting.
The six armed men in a civilian vehicle shot at the patrol as it entered the mission compound early Saturday and continued firing along the wall of the compound, the U.N. mission said in a statement. The U.N. guards returned fire.
Saturday's violence comes just two days after as many as 30 people were killed during violent protests. Ouattara called on his supporters on Thursday to seize key state institutions that Gbagbo has refused to let go of. Police and troops loyal to Gbagbo prevented Ouattara's supporters from marching on government buildings Friday.
International pressure is growing on Gbagbo to give up his claim to power in this nation that was once an economic hub because of its role as the world's top cocoa producer. The civil war split Ivory Coast in a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south, and many had hoped that the election would help reunite the country.
While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Ouattara still draws his support from the northern half of the country where he was born while Gbagbo's power base is in the south.
Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential election only after his allies threw out half a million ballots from Ouattara strongholds in the north, a move that infuriated residents there who have long felt they are treated as foreigners in their own country by southerners.
National identity remains at the heart of the divide. The question of who would even be allowed to vote in this long-awaited election took years to settle as officials tried to differentiate between Ivorians with roots in neighboring countries and foreigners.
Ouattara had himself been prevented from running in previous elections after accusations that he was not Ivorian, and that he was of Burkinabe origin.
SKorea delays firing drills amid NKorea threat
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – Military maneuvers planned by South Korean troops will be delayed because of bad weather on a border island shelled by North Korea last month, as Russia and China expressed concerns over rising tensions on the divided peninsula.
The North warned Friday that it would strike even harder than before if the South went ahead with its planned drills. Four people died last month in the North's attack on Yeonpyeong Island near the tense sea border.
The U.S. supports South Korea, saying the country has a right to conduct such a military exercise. However, Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed its "extreme concern" Friday over the drills and urged South Korea to cancel it to prevent a further escalation of tensions.
China, the North's key ally, said it is firmly against any acts that could worsen already-high tensions on the Korean peninsula. "In regard to what could lead to worsening the situation or any escalation of acts of sabotage of regional peace and stability, China is firmly and unambiguously opposed," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement Saturday.
China's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun also warned in a statement the situation on the Korean peninsula is "extremely precarious."
The North issued a warning Saturday saying South Korea would face "catastrophe" if it went ahead with the planned drills, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday that marines would go ahead with the drills as scheduled and that the military was ready to respond to any possible provocation.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said the drills are defensive in nature and are not aimed at stoking regional tensions.
The artillery drills were not expected to be held over the weekend because of bad weather and will be conducted either Monday or Tuesday, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.
Marines carrying rifles conducted routine patrols Saturday morning on Yeonpyeong, and no warning for residents to evacuate to underground shelters had been issued. About 300 residents, officials and journalists remain on Yeonpyeong, but officials from Ongjin County, which governs the island, said they had no immediate plans to order a mandatory evacuation to the mainland.
"North Korea said it will deal the powerful ... blow at us if we go ahead and fire artillery. So residents are getting more restless," said Yoon Jin-young, a 48-year-old islander.
Later Saturday, activists launched balloons containing about 200,000 propaganda leaflets toward the North from the island, which is only about seven miles (11 kilometers) from North Korean shores. The balloons also carried 1,000 $1 bills and DVDs containing information on the North's artillery barrage last month.
Several bloody naval skirmishes occurred along the western sea border in recent years, but last month's assault was the first by the North to target a civilian area since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The North does not recognize the U.N.-drawn sea border in the area.
The North claims South Korea fired artillery toward its territorial waters before it unleashed shells on the island last month, while the South says it launched shells southward, not toward North Korea, as part of routine exercises.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday that North Korea should not view South Korea's upcoming drills as a threat.
"A country has every right to train and exercise its military in its own self-defense," Crowley said. "North Korea should not use any future legitimate training exercises as justification to undertake further provocative actions."
Still, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, voiced concerns of a potential chain reaction if the drills are misunderstood or if North Korea reacts negatively. "What you don't want to have happen out of that is for us to lose control of the escalation," he told reporters at the Pentagon.
A flurry of regional diplomacy was under way to defuse the tensions, with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson visiting the North.
A frequent unofficial envoy to the reclusive country, Richardson said he wanted to visit the North's main nuclear complex and meet with senior officials during his four-day trip, though details of his schedule were unclear.
"My objective is to see if we can reduce the tension in the Korean peninsula," Richardson said Thursday at the airport in Pyongyang, according to Associated Press Television News.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg held closed-door meetings Thursday with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo. Beijing's top foreign policy official returned last week from talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. China has come under growing pressure to push North Korea to change its behavior.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the Nov. 23 attack on Yeonpyeong "one of the gravest provocations since the end of the Korean War."
Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, urged North Korea to show restraint and called on both Koreas to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The North warned Friday that it would strike even harder than before if the South went ahead with its planned drills. Four people died last month in the North's attack on Yeonpyeong Island near the tense sea border.
The U.S. supports South Korea, saying the country has a right to conduct such a military exercise. However, Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed its "extreme concern" Friday over the drills and urged South Korea to cancel it to prevent a further escalation of tensions.
China, the North's key ally, said it is firmly against any acts that could worsen already-high tensions on the Korean peninsula. "In regard to what could lead to worsening the situation or any escalation of acts of sabotage of regional peace and stability, China is firmly and unambiguously opposed," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement Saturday.
China's Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun also warned in a statement the situation on the Korean peninsula is "extremely precarious."
The North issued a warning Saturday saying South Korea would face "catastrophe" if it went ahead with the planned drills, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday that marines would go ahead with the drills as scheduled and that the military was ready to respond to any possible provocation.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said the drills are defensive in nature and are not aimed at stoking regional tensions.
The artillery drills were not expected to be held over the weekend because of bad weather and will be conducted either Monday or Tuesday, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.
Marines carrying rifles conducted routine patrols Saturday morning on Yeonpyeong, and no warning for residents to evacuate to underground shelters had been issued. About 300 residents, officials and journalists remain on Yeonpyeong, but officials from Ongjin County, which governs the island, said they had no immediate plans to order a mandatory evacuation to the mainland.
"North Korea said it will deal the powerful ... blow at us if we go ahead and fire artillery. So residents are getting more restless," said Yoon Jin-young, a 48-year-old islander.
Later Saturday, activists launched balloons containing about 200,000 propaganda leaflets toward the North from the island, which is only about seven miles (11 kilometers) from North Korean shores. The balloons also carried 1,000 $1 bills and DVDs containing information on the North's artillery barrage last month.
Several bloody naval skirmishes occurred along the western sea border in recent years, but last month's assault was the first by the North to target a civilian area since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The North does not recognize the U.N.-drawn sea border in the area.
The North claims South Korea fired artillery toward its territorial waters before it unleashed shells on the island last month, while the South says it launched shells southward, not toward North Korea, as part of routine exercises.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday that North Korea should not view South Korea's upcoming drills as a threat.
"A country has every right to train and exercise its military in its own self-defense," Crowley said. "North Korea should not use any future legitimate training exercises as justification to undertake further provocative actions."
Still, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, voiced concerns of a potential chain reaction if the drills are misunderstood or if North Korea reacts negatively. "What you don't want to have happen out of that is for us to lose control of the escalation," he told reporters at the Pentagon.
A flurry of regional diplomacy was under way to defuse the tensions, with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson visiting the North.
A frequent unofficial envoy to the reclusive country, Richardson said he wanted to visit the North's main nuclear complex and meet with senior officials during his four-day trip, though details of his schedule were unclear.
"My objective is to see if we can reduce the tension in the Korean peninsula," Richardson said Thursday at the airport in Pyongyang, according to Associated Press Television News.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg held closed-door meetings Thursday with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo. Beijing's top foreign policy official returned last week from talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. China has come under growing pressure to push North Korea to change its behavior.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the Nov. 23 attack on Yeonpyeong "one of the gravest provocations since the end of the Korean War."
Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, urged North Korea to show restraint and called on both Koreas to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Bank of America stops handling WikiLeaks payments
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bank of America Corp. has joined several other financial institutions in refusing to handle payments for WikiLeaks.
With its announcement, the Charlotte-based bank joins a fray that has ratcheted financial pressure on the website that released thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, but has also prompted cyber attacks on businesses that cut ties with the activist site. The move comes as WikiLeaks says it's preparing a release of information on banks, which could include documents it says it has on Bank of America.
The Charlotte-based bank released a statement Saturday saying it will no longer process any transactions that it believes are intended for the site.
"This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments," the bank said.
Reached by phone, Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri declined further comment to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Other Internet companies and financial institutions_ including MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc., PayPal Inc. and Amazon.com — have also cut ties with WikiLeaks, hurting the site's ability to accept donations and support publishing efforts. The websites of some companies perceived as trying to stifle WikiLeaks have come under cyber attack in recent weeks by hackers who support its mission.
WikiLeaks has said it does not sanction the hackers' work, which has caused some sites to temporarily go out of service.
WikiLeaks responded to Bank of America's announcement with a Twitter message urging supporters to stop doing business with the bank.
"We ask that all people who love freedom close out their accounts at Bank of America," WikiLeaks said in its posting Saturday. It also called on businesses to switch funds from the bank.
In an interview with CNBC on Friday, Assange said his organization has plans to soon release information about banks, and he told Forbes magazine last month that the data would show "unethical practices."
Assange told Computerworld magazine in 2009 that his organization had a trove of files on Bank of America. "At the moment, for example, we are sitting on 5GB from Bank of America, one of the executive's hard drives. Now how do we present that? It's a difficult problem," he was quoted as telling the magazine.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said repeatedly a criminal investigation of the WikiLeaks' continuing release of some 250,000 secret U.S. State Department cables is under way and that anyone found to have broken the law will be held accountable. The Justice Department has provided no other public comment on who is under investigation or its legal strategy.
Assange said Friday he fears the U.S. is preparing to indict him.
With its announcement, the Charlotte-based bank joins a fray that has ratcheted financial pressure on the website that released thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, but has also prompted cyber attacks on businesses that cut ties with the activist site. The move comes as WikiLeaks says it's preparing a release of information on banks, which could include documents it says it has on Bank of America.
The Charlotte-based bank released a statement Saturday saying it will no longer process any transactions that it believes are intended for the site.
"This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments," the bank said.
Reached by phone, Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri declined further comment to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Other Internet companies and financial institutions_ including MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc., PayPal Inc. and Amazon.com — have also cut ties with WikiLeaks, hurting the site's ability to accept donations and support publishing efforts. The websites of some companies perceived as trying to stifle WikiLeaks have come under cyber attack in recent weeks by hackers who support its mission.
WikiLeaks has said it does not sanction the hackers' work, which has caused some sites to temporarily go out of service.
WikiLeaks responded to Bank of America's announcement with a Twitter message urging supporters to stop doing business with the bank.
"We ask that all people who love freedom close out their accounts at Bank of America," WikiLeaks said in its posting Saturday. It also called on businesses to switch funds from the bank.
In an interview with CNBC on Friday, Assange said his organization has plans to soon release information about banks, and he told Forbes magazine last month that the data would show "unethical practices."
Assange told Computerworld magazine in 2009 that his organization had a trove of files on Bank of America. "At the moment, for example, we are sitting on 5GB from Bank of America, one of the executive's hard drives. Now how do we present that? It's a difficult problem," he was quoted as telling the magazine.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said repeatedly a criminal investigation of the WikiLeaks' continuing release of some 250,000 secret U.S. State Department cables is under way and that anyone found to have broken the law will be held accountable. The Justice Department has provided no other public comment on who is under investigation or its legal strategy.
Assange said Friday he fears the U.S. is preparing to indict him.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Ghana Immigration rounds up Forty Chinese Nationals for breaking the law
About forty Chinese nationals were rounded up by the Immigration and Naturalization Services today at a mining facility. Speaking to the Ghana Telescope the arresting officer whose identity was asked to remain anonymous said. "These foreign nationals know that we are a nation of laws and they know that our laws disallow foreigners from working unless they have work permits. Our process of issuing work permit is among the simplest and quickest in the world. We take any violation as a serious breach"
Asamoah Gyan crowned BBC winner
Ghana and Sunderland star Asamoah Gyan has been crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2010.
The Black Stars striker clinched the title with an overwhelming majority - receiving more than half of the vote.
He finished well ahead of fellow Ghanaian Andre 'Dede' Ayew, Ivorians Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon.
"I'm so happy, I can't believe it," he said. "I'm so thankful to all the fans who voted for me."
He added: "It was really hard to win this award, especially because of all the other players I was up against.
"So I'm so appreciative to all my fans in Africa - especially my family and fans in Ghana."
Gyan had a memorable year internationally, leading Ghana to second place at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, scoring three of the four goals that helped Ghana reach their first final in 18 years.
At the World Cup in South Africa, the 24-year-old grabbed the world's attention as his three goals helped the Black Stars progress from the group and into the quarter-finals.
But he shot to prominence through unfortunate circumstances as his missed penalty against Uruguay with the last kick of the game denied Africa its first semi-final berth.
He then earned widespread praise and went some way to redeeming his error when recovered his composure to score in the shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.
Despite the disappointment of the World Cup exit, the finals boosted his career as he left French side Rennes to become Sunderland's record signing at £13m.
"Asamoah has been a fantastic addition to the Sunderland squad," said Sunderland coach Steve Bruce, who presented Gyan with the African Footballer of the Year trophy.
"As our record signing, he had a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders but he has embraced the club wholeheartedly and has settled in very well.
"He's a strong, quick player and brings something different to the side.
"He has formed positive partnerships with other strikers and he's a real bright spark around the place too - always smiling and happy.
"He has an infectious joy for football, and we are reaping the rewards of that.
"I'm thrilled for Asamoah that he has been awarded this honour, it is thoroughly deserved."
The search for BBC African Footballer of the Year 2010 began on 15 November when fans were given a chance to choose their African football hero from a shortlist selected by experts from each of the continent's 52 countries.
Public voting closed on 10 December 2010 - with votes cast online at bbc.com/africanfootball or via text messages
The Black Stars striker clinched the title with an overwhelming majority - receiving more than half of the vote.
He finished well ahead of fellow Ghanaian Andre 'Dede' Ayew, Ivorians Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon.
"I'm so happy, I can't believe it," he said. "I'm so thankful to all the fans who voted for me."
He added: "It was really hard to win this award, especially because of all the other players I was up against.
"So I'm so appreciative to all my fans in Africa - especially my family and fans in Ghana."
Gyan had a memorable year internationally, leading Ghana to second place at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, scoring three of the four goals that helped Ghana reach their first final in 18 years.
At the World Cup in South Africa, the 24-year-old grabbed the world's attention as his three goals helped the Black Stars progress from the group and into the quarter-finals.
But he shot to prominence through unfortunate circumstances as his missed penalty against Uruguay with the last kick of the game denied Africa its first semi-final berth.
He then earned widespread praise and went some way to redeeming his error when recovered his composure to score in the shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.
Despite the disappointment of the World Cup exit, the finals boosted his career as he left French side Rennes to become Sunderland's record signing at £13m.
"Asamoah has been a fantastic addition to the Sunderland squad," said Sunderland coach Steve Bruce, who presented Gyan with the African Footballer of the Year trophy.
"As our record signing, he had a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders but he has embraced the club wholeheartedly and has settled in very well.
"He's a strong, quick player and brings something different to the side.
"He has formed positive partnerships with other strikers and he's a real bright spark around the place too - always smiling and happy.
"He has an infectious joy for football, and we are reaping the rewards of that.
"I'm thrilled for Asamoah that he has been awarded this honour, it is thoroughly deserved."
The search for BBC African Footballer of the Year 2010 began on 15 November when fans were given a chance to choose their African football hero from a shortlist selected by experts from each of the continent's 52 countries.
Public voting closed on 10 December 2010 - with votes cast online at bbc.com/africanfootball or via text messages
AKUFO-ADDO WARNS MILLS
Ghanaian Chronicle
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2012 elections, has descended heavily on the Majority side in Parliament that voted to allow revenue from the new oil find to be used as collateral, to enable the government raise loans.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, he envisages a number of disturbing developments if the revenue and reserves from the oil would be haphazardly treated, and has therefore, prevailed upon President Mills not to give assent to the amendment of the bill. The collaterisation of the nation's oil revenue, he emphasised, was unfortunate and ill-informed,
'Much as the nation is rejoicing at the first pouring of the oil, there are already expressions of disquiet, as to the manner in which our oil reserves and revenues are to be treated. The decision by the majority in Parliament to amend its own bill to allow for collateralisation of our oil revenue is rather unfortunate and ill-informed.'
The NPP aspirant was making an address after holding a party in honour of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, as part of the latter's 72nd Birthday. The ceremony also marked the 10th Anniversary of the party's victory at the polls in December 2000.
Addressing the teeming supporters of the party at his residence at Nima on Wednesday evening, Nana Akufo-Addo said available evidence from the experience of other oil producing countries suggest that the policy of collateralisation of oil revenues became prominent during the oil boom of the 1970s, when oil-rich countries such as Angola, Nigeria and Venezuela, excited by the prospects of increased future oil revenues, embarked on heavy borrowing, usually on projects with inflated price tags.
The effect of the inflated cost of projects was that the economies of such countries were tied to their creditors, whilst the subsequent servicing of these debts crippled economic transformation, arguing, 'Ghana risks joining this tried and tested cursed path.'
'To avoid trouble, I would like to take this opportunity to urge the President of the Republic, not to give his assent to the bill containing the amendment of Clause 5, which removes the urgency of restraint on government expenditure, as embodied in the original bill, approved by his own cabinet. It is not in the interest of both the current and future generations,' he complained.
Touching on the achievements of Mr. Kufuor, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was full of joy, minced no words in applauding Mr. Kufuor over his eight years administration.
He described the eight year administration of the NPP, under the leadership of Mr. Kufuor, as the most progressive administration, which brought to life the concept of development in freedom.
According to him, the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 2007, under the leadership of former President Kufuor, was one of the myriads of achievements that the NPP government recorded in its eight-year rule.
'It took a careful and determined effort on the part of the NPP government, led by President John Agyekum Kufuor, together with all the Jubilee Partners, for this feat to be achieved. Like many others who know how far our nation has come on that front, and how much you personally put in to ensure this discovery, we say to you your Excellency, 'Ayekoooo!' he said.
Nana Akufo-Addo told the ecstatic crowd that a few days ago, Ghana's Social Health Insurance Model was recognised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), and singled out for the coveted South-South Cooperation Excellence Award, in Geneva, Switzerland.
He added that a documentary, aired on the BBC in 2008, stressed the importance of the School Feeding Programme and the Capitation Grant, and the positive impact the two were having on primary school enrolment in Ghana. Both social interventions were instituted under the NPP's rule, led by President Kufuor.
'In the area of governance, Ghana scored an excellent record of good governance under NPP's rule. The separation of powers, the independence of the Judiciary and the Legislature were respected. The media enjoyed unprecedented freedom. The rule of law prevailed, and the fundamental human rights of the people were respected,' Akufo-Addo said. The 2012 presidential candidate recalled what he underscored as rapid economic progress which helped half the national poverty rate from approximately 50 per cent in 1991, to 28.5 per cent by 2006.
He further went on to say that those who fiercely challenged the fact that the GDP of Ghana had quadrupled (or grew tenfold per rebasing) under the Presidency of John Agyekum Kufuor, were today basking in the recent assertion that Ghana had now reached Middle Income status.
'The argument as to who is the best President in our history will in due course be settled by the historians. For me, it is enough to say how proud I was, and am, to have been a member; dare I say that even as a senior member of the most progressive administration in my adult life, an administration that brought to life the concept of development in freedom,' Nana Addo said.
Nana Akufo-Addo recounted, particularly, how proud he was to have been the instrument chosen by President Kufuor to facilitate the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, which has led to a radical expansion of media freedom in our country.
'There are many people today, who, when they see the abuse to which that freedom is being subjected by some irresponsible elements in the media, question the wisdom of the repeal. Even though I am one of the greatest victims of that abuse, I still insist that media freedom is of itself vital for the welfare of the society,' Akufo-Addo further added.
Mr. Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, National Chairman of the NPP, read the citation of the party to the former President. 'Your eight years in office from January 2001 to 2009 were a success story of the New Patriotic Party's philosophy, and the application of Social Economic Policies that continue to be praised at home, across Africa, and indeed the world,' part of the citation said.
Responding, Mr. Kufuor expressed gratitude for the honour done him, and told the cheering supporters that it was only the NPP that could transform the lives of Ghanaians. To this end, he urged party members to remain loyal and work together as a team for the victory ahead of the party in 2012.
The former Head of State promised to do everything within his power to see to the success of the party, and urged its members to eschew internal bickering, and consider themselves as one family.
Many party gurus, including former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2008 vice-presidential running mate, and a host of others, graced the occasion.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wikileaks on Cuba: Fidel Castro 'nearly died'
Cuban leader Fidel Castro came close to death in 2006, according to the latest secret US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks.
Mr Castro almost died after suffering a perforated intestine during an internal flight, unnamed sources told US diplomats in Havana.
The illness led Mr Castro to hand power to his brother Raul, although he has since returned to public life.
The 84-year-old's health is considered a state secret in Cuba.
The Wikileaks cables, published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, reveal the intense efforts made by US diplomats in Havana to find out the nature of Fidel Castro's illness and his chances of recovery.
The names of the sources of information reported in the cables have been redacted by Wikileaks, but some apparently knew people who were close to the Cuban leader, or had access to his medical records.
The details of what they say cannot be independently verified.
One cable, sent in March 2007 by the then-head of the US interests section in Havana, Michael Parmly, quotes a report by an unnamed doctor on the moment Mr Castro fell seriously ill in July 2006.
As it was a short flight there was no doctor on board and they had to land urgently once they knew of Mr Castro's bleeding. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the colon.
The source said Mr Castro had a perforation of the large intestine and needed surgery.
But it says he "capriciously" refused to have a colostomy, with the result that his condition deteriorated over time and he required further surgery.
"This illness is not curable and will not, in her opinion, allow him to return to leading Cuba," the report concludes.
"He won't die immediately, but he will progressively lose his faculties and become ever more debilitated until he dies."
Defiance
Further leaked cables quote other sources as saying Mr Castro was terminally ill, and examine statements by his medical team and reports of specialist drugs being brought into Cuba
But the reports of his imminent death have proved to be exaggerated.
Mr Castro has since made an apparent recovery and earlier this year returned to making speeches and appearing in public, though he has not taken back the reins of power from his brother Raul.
The former Cuban leader recently praised Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, saying the leaks of thousands of diplomatic cables had brought the US "morally, to its knees".
"Julian Assange, a man who a few months ago hardly anyone in the world had heard of, is showing that the most powerful empire in history can be defied," he wrote in an article published by Cuban state media.
The US government and its intelligence agencies have been staunch enemies of Mr Castro and the communist government in Cuba for more than half a century.
So far, all their predictions of the imminent demise of communist party rule on the island have proved false.
Mr Castro almost died after suffering a perforated intestine during an internal flight, unnamed sources told US diplomats in Havana.
The illness led Mr Castro to hand power to his brother Raul, although he has since returned to public life.
The 84-year-old's health is considered a state secret in Cuba.
The Wikileaks cables, published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, reveal the intense efforts made by US diplomats in Havana to find out the nature of Fidel Castro's illness and his chances of recovery.
The names of the sources of information reported in the cables have been redacted by Wikileaks, but some apparently knew people who were close to the Cuban leader, or had access to his medical records.
The details of what they say cannot be independently verified.
One cable, sent in March 2007 by the then-head of the US interests section in Havana, Michael Parmly, quotes a report by an unnamed doctor on the moment Mr Castro fell seriously ill in July 2006.
As it was a short flight there was no doctor on board and they had to land urgently once they knew of Mr Castro's bleeding. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the colon.
The source said Mr Castro had a perforation of the large intestine and needed surgery.
But it says he "capriciously" refused to have a colostomy, with the result that his condition deteriorated over time and he required further surgery.
"This illness is not curable and will not, in her opinion, allow him to return to leading Cuba," the report concludes.
"He won't die immediately, but he will progressively lose his faculties and become ever more debilitated until he dies."
Defiance
Further leaked cables quote other sources as saying Mr Castro was terminally ill, and examine statements by his medical team and reports of specialist drugs being brought into Cuba
But the reports of his imminent death have proved to be exaggerated.
Mr Castro has since made an apparent recovery and earlier this year returned to making speeches and appearing in public, though he has not taken back the reins of power from his brother Raul.
The former Cuban leader recently praised Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, saying the leaks of thousands of diplomatic cables had brought the US "morally, to its knees".
"Julian Assange, a man who a few months ago hardly anyone in the world had heard of, is showing that the most powerful empire in history can be defied," he wrote in an article published by Cuban state media.
The US government and its intelligence agencies have been staunch enemies of Mr Castro and the communist government in Cuba for more than half a century.
So far, all their predictions of the imminent demise of communist party rule on the island have proved false.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A $15 million loan credit to Ghana
The government of Turkey has granted a $15 million loan credit to Ghana to support export promotion.
The Turkish Trade Minister, Zafar Caglayan, who is at the head of a 150 member delegation to the country, said this at a media briefing in Accra.
Mr. Caglayan said his government is also providing an amount of USD 3 to 24 million to help boost Ghana's tourism industry.
He said to deepen the economic ties between Turkey and Ghana, negotiations are ongoing to address the issue of double taxation to protect and encourage mutual investments as well as contractual agreements to ensure development in both countries.
Mr. Caglayan said his country is prepared to be an open gate to Asia and Europe for the development of commercial and economic co-operation.
The Turkish Trade Minister earlier signed the Exim Bank Credit for Ghana and extended his President's invitation to Vice President, John Mahama to visit that country.
The Turkish Trade Minister, Zafar Caglayan, who is at the head of a 150 member delegation to the country, said this at a media briefing in Accra.
Mr. Caglayan said his government is also providing an amount of USD 3 to 24 million to help boost Ghana's tourism industry.
He said to deepen the economic ties between Turkey and Ghana, negotiations are ongoing to address the issue of double taxation to protect and encourage mutual investments as well as contractual agreements to ensure development in both countries.
Mr. Caglayan said his country is prepared to be an open gate to Asia and Europe for the development of commercial and economic co-operation.
The Turkish Trade Minister earlier signed the Exim Bank Credit for Ghana and extended his President's invitation to Vice President, John Mahama to visit that country.
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