International News and Commentary, May 27-June 30, 2005-Volume 15 Options

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Carnegie News:
What's New?: Access a comprehensive list of our latest publications and the most up-to-date nuclear resources featured on Carnegie's Proliferation News and Resources Website, www.ProliferationNews.org.

Deadly Arsenals II: The second edition of Carnegie's proliferation atlas, Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Threats, will be released in July 2005. The second edition is substantially revised and updated with new chapters on Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya and others. The original 2002 book was selected as a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title in 2003 as a "best of the best in published scholarship." The study is widely used in university graduate and undergraduate courses and is a staple on experts' bookshelves. Order now and be the first to receive when the publication appears in July 2005. For additional information, please email cdutto@carnegieendowment.org.

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Ethiopian protest leaves 22 dead:

Ethiopian security forces have opened fire on stone-throwing protesters in the capital, leaving at least 22 people dead, the government said.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=52256



UN alert as nuclear plans go missing :

Electronic drawings that give comprehensive details of how to build and test equipment essential for making nuclear bombs have vanished and could be put up for sale on the international black market, according to UN investigators.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/st...1502378,00.html

http://snipurl.com/fgq8



Germany: 9-11 terror suspect Mzoudi acquitted by high court :

Germany's high court confirmed on Thursday the acquittal of Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, 32, who had been accused of assisting the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
http://snipurl.com/fh58



The US and that 'other' axis:

Beijing's increasingly close ties with Moscow and Tehran will thwart Washington's foreign policy goal of expanding US security footholds in the Middle East, Central Asia and Asia.
http://atimes.com/atimes/China/GF09Ad08.html



China Plans to Invest Project Investments :

Chinese officials on Thursday signed preliminary agreements to invest about $1.5 billion in construction, timber, agriculture and other industries in Russia.
http://snipurl.com/fh59



Israeli High Court: "The West Bank and Gaza, are not part of Israel." :

Yoram Sheftel, an attorney for the settlers, said his expectations were low because the Supreme Court has a tendency of ruling against settlers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/586419.html

http://snipurl.com/fh5a



Israel attempts damage control on growing missile scandal:

The Israelis are denying that the Colombian shipment was of complete missiles and are claiming that it was only "missile parts" and that previous shipments had already passed through Venezuelan transit muster without complaint ... previous shipments have amounted to the assembly of at least a dozen missiles.
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=37230

http://snipurl.com/fh5b



Video: Mosaic: World News Reports from Middle East TV For 06/08/05:

The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.
http://snipurl.com/fh5c



Departing Bolivia president warns of civil war threat :

The departing president, Carlos Mesa, warned his country to step back from the brink of civil war. Bolivian's pressing for expropriation of private oil companies occupied installations belonging to Repsol YPF of Spain and British Gas, forcing the companies to shut down production.
http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file...ews/bolivia.php

http://snipurl.com/fh5d



Bolivia Unrest May Cut Natural Gas to Brazil in Days:

Bolivian unrest may curtail natural gas supplies to Brazil, South America's largest economy, within days, leaving its industrial heartland without adequate energy to run factories and electricity plants.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=100...r=latin_america

http://snipurl.com/fh5e



U.S. wants to allow Haiti to buy weapons:

A spokesman for interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said money for a weapons purchase had already been deposited in a Florida bank and that Haitian authorities were simply waiting for a green light from Washington.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=8736926

http://snipurl.com/fh5f



World Bank Approves $2M Grant for Haiti :

The World Bank on Tuesday approved a US$2 million (euro1.63 million) grant to help Haiti manage its finances, warning the country's economic recovery won't be effective without proper accounting of public resources.
http://www.forbes.com/business/services/fe.../ap2081472.html

http://snipurl.com/fh5h



How African aid can be the new imperialism :

The idea of the new American empire has been powerfully explained by Niall Ferguson, the Glasgow-born historian. Washington, he argues, is the new Rome as it maintains a new global world order, at great expense.
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=627722005

http://snipurl.com/fh5i



Broken promises leave three million children to die in Africa:

Three million children will die in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa as a result of the failure of the global community to meet its promise of slashing the death rates of the under-fives by 2015
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9085.htm

http://snipurl.com/fh5j



Child rights report critical of Australia:

It highlights how the incarceration of children in detention centres is in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1387955.htm

http://snipurl.com/fh5l

[theglobalchinese]

British memo faulted US postwar plan Boston Globe
A briefing paper prepared for Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and his top advisers eight months before the US-led invasion of Iraq concluded that the US military was not preparing adequately for what the memo predicted would be a ''protracted and costly" postwar occupation. The eight-page memo provides new insights into how senior British officials saw a Bush administration decision to go to war as inevitable and realized more clearly than their US counterparts the potential for the postinvasion instability that continues to plague Iraq. In its introduction, the memo, ''Iraq: Conditions for Military Action," says US ''military planning for action against Iraq is proceeding apace," but adds that ''little thought" has been given to ''the aftermath and how to shape it." The White House took exception yesterday to the characterization of the British memo. ''There was significant postwar planning," said spokesman David Almacy. ''More importantly, the memo in question was written eight months before the war began; there was significant postwar planning in the time that elapsed." The July 21, 2002, memo was produced by Blair's staff in preparation for a Downing Street meeting with his national security team two days later that has become controversial on both sides of the Atlantic since the disclosure last month of official notes summarizing the session. In the meeting minutes, which have come to be known as the Downing Street Memo, British officials who had just returned from Washington said Bush and his aides believed war was inevitable and were determined to use intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and his relations with terrorists to justify invading Iraq. The ''intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy," said the memo, an assertion attributed to the chief of British intelligence and denied by US officials and Blair during a news conference with Bush last week in Washington. But Democrats in Congress led by Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan have scheduled an unofficial hearing on the matter for Thursday. Now, disclosure of the memo written in advance of that meeting, along with other British documents recently made public, indicates that Blair's aides were not just concerned about Washington's justifications for invasion, but also believed that the Bush team lacked understanding of what could happen in the aftermath. In a section titled ''Benefits/Risks," the July 21 memo states, ''Even with a legal base and a viable military plan, we would still need to ensure that the benefits of action outweigh the risks." Saying ''we need to be sure that the outcome of the military action would match our objective," the memo's authors note that ''a postwar occupation of Iraq could lead to a protracted and costly nation-building exercise." The authors add: ''As already made clear, the US military plans are virtually silent on this point. Washington could look to us to share a disproportionate share of the burden." The memo and other internal British government documents originally were obtained by Michael Smith, who writes for the London Sunday Times. Excerpts were made available to The Washington Post, and the material was confirmed as authentic by British sources who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter. A March 14, 2002, memo to Blair from David Manning, then the prime minister's foreign policy adviser and now British ambassador in Washington, reported on talks with Condoleezza Rice, the former national security adviser. Among the ''big questions" coming out of his sessions, Manning reported, was that the president ''has yet to find the answers . . . [and] what happens on the morning after." About 10 days later, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain wrote a memo to Blair to prepare him for meeting with Bush in Crawford, Texas, on April 8, 2002. Straw said ''the big question" about military action against Hussein was, ''how there can be any certainty that the replacement regime will be any better" because ''Iraq has no history of democracy."
Prewar British Memo Says War Decision Wasn't Made New York Times
White House insists there was "significant" post-war planning for Xinhua
KWWL - Aljazeera.net - Yahoo News - The Argus - all 338 related »

[theglobalchinese]

Expert Warns of Afghan Cholera Epidemic CRI
An outbreak of cholera killing at least 8 peole in the Afghan is on the verge of turning into an epidemic. A senior epidemiologist has warned that an outbreak of cholera in the Afghan capital Kabul is on the verge of turning into an epidemic with at least eight people killed and more than 2,000 others feared infected. Despite the threat, the expert said the Afghan government was well equipped to deal with the crisis and had set up an emergency task force. Health officials in the war-shattered city of 4 million, where rubbish and sewage fill roadside ditches and water wells are polluted, claimed the threat had been contained. Nevertheless, dozens of tents were being pitched in hospital gardens to isolate patients should the number of cases spike. The disease has been detected in wells, the source of drinking water for most Kabul residents, and irrigation ditches. Cholera is an explosive disease. As soon as water sources are contaminated, it spreads. Cholera is a major killer in developing countries, where it is spread mainly through contaminated food or water. The bacterium attacks the intestine and causes severe diarrhea and dehydration. The last cholera outbreak in Kabul was in 2003, but it was minor and quickly addressed. In 2001, 114 people died from an outbreak in the country's north.
Expert Warns of Afghan Cholera Epidemic ABC News
Afghan officials confirm 30 cases of cholera Financial Times
Houston Chronicle - Guardian Unlimited - Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - Xinhua - all 376 related »

[theglobalchinese]

Innovation in civil aerospace!

Airline to create 'Son of Concorde' This is London
A NEW supersonic jet - an heir to Concorde - could take to the skies in the next decade. Just 18 months after its final flight, Japanese and French aerospace executives today signed research agreements suggesting Airbus, the French-led aircraft manufacturer 20-owned by BAE Systems, may be looking at developing a nextgeneration supersonic jet. Speaking at the Paris Air Show, Japanese Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said: 'We would like the [French and Japanese aerospace] industries to realise supersonic transport by combining Japan's manufacturing technology with France's supersonic technology.' Leading the development is Japanese engine maker Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, commissioned and funded by the Japanese government to find a supersonic technology that is cheaper, more efficient, cleaner and less-noisy than Concorde, the Rolls Royce-powered aircraft which proved a financial drain on British Airways and Air France. Airbus first expressed an interest in developing supersonic ties with Japanese engine makers back in 2003. A spokesman for Airbus parent Eads said today: 'A supersonic aircraft is not a priority for Airbus as it is focusing on the A380 [550-seater superjumbo] and the A350 [rival to Boeing's mid-size 787 Dreamliner].' Industry experts believe a new-generation supersonic aircraft would probably have 50 seats. The 100-seat Concorde often flew half empty.
'Son-of-Concorde' plans unveiled BBC News
Japan and France seek Concorde successor Financial Times
BusinessWeek - CNN International - Bloomberg - Webindia123 - all 60 related »

[theglobalchinese]

Iranians ready to choose a new president CNN
Iranians began casting ballots Friday in a tightly contested presidential election, with opinion polls showing former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani likely headed towards a runoff against either a reformist candidate or a conservative allied with the country's powerful Shiite hierarchy. Seven candidates are vying to succeed President Mohammed Khatami, a reform-minded cleric barred from seeking a third term. Though Khatami was elected by landslides in 1997 and 2001, many of his initiatives were blocked by clerical hard-liners who hold vast power under Iran's Islamic system of government. With high unemployment and a sense of deep social dissatisfaction -- particularly among young people and women -- even conservative candidates talked the language of democracy and reform during the campaign. Two of the leading contenders, Rafsanjani and Mostafa Moin, have also said they want to improve Iran's strained ties with the West. Some 48 million Iranians are eligible to vote. If no candidate captures a majority, the two top vote-getters will face each other in a runoff. The hard-line Guardian Council screened candidates, disqualifying those it deemed unsuitable. More than 1,000 would-be candidates were barred from Friday's election by the council, including all the women who applied. Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989 to 1997, has been trying to position himself in the political center and has said he is for "a policy of relaxation of tension" with the United States, which has not had formal diplomatic ties with Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "If Americans are sincere in the cooperation, working with Iran, I think the time is right to open a new chapter in our relations with the United States," he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. (See interview) "But if the United States wants to continue its obstructions and hostility, then the previous past conditions will persist." Rafsanjani said the United States has exhibited a "hostile attitude" toward Iran, and "created" the al Qaeda terrorist network, which was behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "If there is terrorism under the name of al Qaeda, the responsibility lies directly with the United States," he said. On Thursday, the White House released a statement from U.S. President George W. Bush in which he said the electoral process in Iran "ignores the basic requirements of democracy." "Iran's rulers denied more than a thousand people who put themselves forward as candidates, including popular reformers and women," Bush said. "The Iranian people deserve a genuinely democratic system in which elections are honest -- and in which their leaders answer to them instead of the other way around." One of Rafsanjani's main rivals is Moin, a reformist former education minister and protege of Khatami, who has said he will push measures to weaken the control of ruling clerics. On the other side of the spectrum is the third top contender, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a conservative former police chief widely seen as the favorite of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameinei. Under Iran's system, Khameinei -- not the president -- has the last word in matters of state.
"Election" Day in Iran About Globalization
As Iranians Go to Polls, Reformers See Hope for an Upset Los Angeles Times
Voice of America - Financial Times - Bloomberg - Guardian Unlimited - all 441 related »

This post has been edited by theglobalchinese: Jun 17 2005, 12:35 AM

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Juan Cole: Apartheid for Arabs in Irbil? :

Iranian Kurds Riot:
http://www.juancole.com/2005/06/apartheid-...il-iranian.html

http://snipurl.com/fnny



Kurdish Officials Sanction Abductions in Kirkuk:

Police and security units, forces led by Kurdish political parties and backed by the U.S. military, have abducted hundreds of minority Arabs and Turkmens in this intensely volatile city and spirited them to prisons in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, government documents and families of the victims.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9165.htm

http://snipurl.com/fnnz



Fears of military action on Iraq-Iran border :

Tensions between Iran and Iraq have escalated in recent weeks to the extent that threats of military action have been made, a senior member of Iraq’s security forces said.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF....rticleID=169442

http://snipurl.com/fno0



Mother whose son died in Iraq serves summons on Blair :

TONY BLAIR has been summonsed by a county court to appear as a witness in a case involving the mother of a soldier killed two days after the war in Iraq began in 2003.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1657757,00.html

http://snipurl.com/fno1

[theglobalchinese]

US respect key to rejoining talks, N. Korea asserts London Free Press
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said yesterday the communist country could return to international nuclear disarmament talks as early as next month -- ending its year-long boycott -- if it gets appropriate respect from the U.S. Kim also said "if the regime's security is guaranteed, there is no reason to possess a single nuclear weapon," according to South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who returned to Seoul after meeting the North Korean leader in Pyongyang, the North's capital. Kim said the North would rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the nuclear standoff was resolved and allow inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog, Chung told a news conference. North Korea pulled out of the treaty after the latest crisis erupted in late 2002, when U.S. officials accused the North of running a secret uranium enrichment program in violation of an earlier agreement. Kim also offered an olive branch to Washington amid the usually heated rhetoric between the sides, saying he "has no reason to think badly" of U.S. President George W. Bush, Chung said. But the Bush administration said it did not believe North Korea was ready to return to nuclear talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. North Korea has boycotted the negotiations for nearly a year, citing "hostile" U.S. policies. Bush recently referred to Kim as "Mr." -- a softened tone after earlier comments labelling him a "tyrant" and lumping his country in an "axis of evil" that included Iran and Saddam-era Iraq. The North has called Bush a "political imbecile." But Chung said Kim told him "if it is certain that the United States is respecting the North as a partner, North Korea could come to the six-party talks as early as July, but it has to be further negotiated with the United States."
Kim Jong-Il "willing" to rejoin six-party nuclear talks Hindu
N. Korea says can return to atomic talks in July Reuters
Los Angeles Times - CBC News - Capital News 9 - Sify - all 750 related »

[theglobalchinese]

US Closes Consulate in Nigeria Amid Security Threat Voice of America

[theglobalchinese]

Kyrgyz ex-president denies involvement in capital's riot Monsters and Critics.com

[theglobalchinese]

Bin Laden Aide Rejects Role for the US in the Mideast New York Times
Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader disparages the American concept of reform in the Middle East and says armed jihad is the only way to bring change in the Arab world, according to a videotape broadcast Friday by Al Jazeera. The video was the first by Al Qaeda's top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, since February. He is shown sitting before a plain backdrop with an automatic weapon next to him. He is wearing a white turban and black and white robes. "The removal of the crusader and Jewish invaders won't occur by peaceful demonstrations," he said in one of three brief clips shown by Al Jazeera. "Reform and expelling the invaders from the countries of Islam won't happen except through fighting for God's sake." He outlined what he called a true program for reform - based on the rule of Islamic law, the end of American and Western domination and the freedom of Muslim nations to run their own affairs. "We cannot imagine any reform while our countries are occupied by the crusader forces," he said. "We cannot imagine any reform while our governments are being ruled from the American embassies in our countries." A spokesman for Al Jazeera, Jihad Ballout, said the station received the tape on Friday, but he would not provide details, and the network would not say how long the full message was. In another clip, Dr. Zawahiri called on Palestinian militant groups to end a cease-fire with Israel and stay out of coming legislative elections in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The newscaster said that in other parts of the tape, Dr. Zawahiri denounced sexual assaults on women during antigovernment protests last month in Egypt and sharply criticized the Pakistani, Saudi and Egyptian governments. Dr. Zawahiri received his medical training in Egypt and served time here for his role in militant activities. After his release, he moved to Afghanistan, where he joined forces with Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, in the late 1990's. He went into hiding when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
Al-Jazeera Airs Video Tape by Al-Qaida Deputy Leader Voice of America
Qaeda's Zawahri says peaceful reform impossible Reuters
CRI - 13WHAM-TV - Newswatch 50 - WLS - all 147 related »

[theglobalchinese]

US launches 2nd major Iraq operation: 50 rebels dead Malayala Manorama

[theglobalchinese]

Anti-Myanmar protesters mark Suu Kyi's birthday Reuters

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In Case You Missed It

Interview with Gen. Hussein Kamel, head of Iraq's weapons programme:

"I ordered destruction of all chemical weapons. All weapons - biological, chemical, missile, nuclear were destroyed" (22 August 1995)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9188.htm

http://snipurl.com/fo9v



Democracy Hypocrisy

Iraq In The Name Of Freedom

Warning

Video contains images depicting the reality and horror of war and should be viewed by a mature audience.

Real Video - Click Here To View
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9174.htm

http://snipurl.com/fnni

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5061701214.html

Chinese render bird flu drug useless

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http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...18-082908-3841r

EU Trade Official Calls for CAFTA approval

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http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...18-080206-7380r

Interview: Rafsanjani runoff win may bring changes to Iran

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Japan faces 58 bil. yen tab for interceptor :

The United States has asked Japan to contribute 58 billion yen toward a joint missile defense development project expected to begin in fiscal 2006, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Sunday.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20050620wo01.htm

http://snipurl.com/fppn

[Snuffysmith]

New luster for Colombia's gem industry
An association of miners, exporters, dealers, and jewelers is designed
to administer a 1 percent tax on emerald exports. By Matthew Fishbane
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0621/p06s01-woam.html?s=hns


UN tackles sex abuse by troops
Changes include a new code of conduct for peacekeepers and monitors
within each mission. By Michael J. Jordan
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0621/p06s02-wogi.html?s=hns



Anti-Syrian sweep in Lebanon boosts opposition
The final election round puts changes in motion over the composition of
the government there - and in Syria. By Nicholas Blanford
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0621/p07s01-wome.html?s=hns

[theglobalchinese]

Jaime Sin, retired Philippine cardinal Arizona Republic
Cardinal Jaime Sin, one of Asia's most prominent religious leaders and a key figure in the "people power" revolts that ousted two Philippine presidents, died today. He was 76. The cardinal had been in ill health for years and retired as Manila archbishop in November 2003. He was unable to attend the Vatican conclave that chose a new pope in April. "As I enter a new chapter in my twilight years, I can say with gratitude that I have given my very best to God and country," he said after the late Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation. "I beg pardon from those I might have led astray or hurt. Please remember me kindly." Father Jun Sescon, Sin's spokesman, told DZBB radio that the cardinal was hospitalized Sunday with a high fever and suffered multiple organ failure before his death early today. "Our call to all the faithful is to include in their prayers the soul of Cardinal Sin," Sescon said. Sin was the Philippines' moral compass, known for his vocal stances on everything from birth control to poverty, politics and the U.S.-led war in Iraq. When he spoke, presidents listened. He stepped down as head of the Manila archdiocese, which he served for nearly three decades, after reaching retirement age of 75. Declining health forced him to curtail appearances, but he remained a guardian of democracy. Hours before hundreds of soldiers and officers staged a failed revolt against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in July 2003, he urged Filipinos to be vigilant against groups plotting to violently overturn democratic institutions. The 14th of 16 children of a Chinese merchant and a Filipino woman, Sin had a sense of humor about his name, often referring to his residence as "the house of Sin." He burst onto the international stage when he called on Filipinos to surround the police and military headquarters in metropolitan Manila in 1986 to protect then-military Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, who broke away from dictator Ferdinand Marcos. That led to the "people power" revolution that ousted Marcos over suspected corruption and human rights violations. The largely peaceful revolt became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes worldwide. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. But the country's problems continued, partly because of the endemic corruption that blossomed under Marcos. "We got rid of Ali Baba, but the 40 thieves remained," Sin once quipped. Sin also helped lead street protests that led to the ouster of President Joseph Estrada over suspected corruption and misrule in January 2001. The church wasn't fond of Estrada, a womanizer who sired children by several women and was known for late-night drinking and gambling. The Philippine church also opposed the war in Iraq. Although revered by many Filipinos, Sin came under criticism over his active advocacies. He had a thorny relationship with President Fidel Ramos, a Protestant whose 1992-98 administration promoted the use of artificial birth control.
Philippines' Cardinal Sin, People Power icon, dead Metro Toronto
In near death, Sin still wanted to serve flock ABS CBN News
Washington Post - Xinhua - Washington Times - AsiaNews.it - all 188 related »

Cardinal Jaime Sin