Many Died Saving Kims' Portraits in Blast?

(Via Fark)

REUTERS: Many Died Saving Kims’ Portraits in Blast?

Many North Koreans died a “heroic death” after last week’s train explosion by running into burning buildings to rescue portraits of leader Kim Jong-il and his father, the North’s official media reported on Wednesday.

Portraits of Kim and his late father, national founder Kim Il-sung, are mandatory fixtures in every home, office and factory in the hardline communist state of 23 million. All adults are required to wear lapel pins bearing images of one or both Kims.

Last Thursday’s blast in the town of Ryongchon, near the Chinese border, killed at least 161 people and injured 1,300, according to international relief agencies. Many of the victims were children.

The dead also included workers and teachers who died clutching the portraits of the country’s ruling family, said North Korea’s official KCNA news agency.

“Many people of the county evacuated portraits before searching after their family members or saving their household goods,” KCNA said in a report with a Ryongchon dateline.

“Upon hearing the sound of the heavy explosion on their way home for lunch, Choe Yong-il and Jon Tong-sik, workers of the county procurement shop, ran back to the shop,” KCNA said.

“They were buried under the collapsing building to die a heroic death when they were trying to come out with portraits of President Kim Il-sung and leader Kim Jong-il,” it said.

The KCNA report could not be independently verified.

Randinho's Latin America Briefing: Apr 28/04

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on Latin America, courtesy of Randy Paul.

TOP TOPIC

• President Uribe’s impunity amnesty plan for Colombian rebels hits a major snag as internecine wars between top figures in the AUC leave a major question open: Where is Carlos Castaño?

Other Topics Include: Is the Latin American public moving away from democracy?; Are we stuck with Hugo Chávez?; Is Bolivia unraveling - again?; A dapper perp walk in Haiti; Guatemala’s new president is a class act; a book recommendation on a Latin American country too often ignored.

Read The Rest…

Terrorism insurance?

AP: IOC Gets Olympics Cancellation Insurance

Hedging against disaster at the Athens Games this summer, international Olympic officials have for the first time taken out cancellation insurance: a $170 million policy to protect against war, terrorism or earthquakes.

The policy does not protect corporate sponsors or TV networks, which have billions of dollars riding on the games; instead, it’s designed to ensure the International Olympic Committee and its affiliated national committees and sports federations have enough money if the games are called off.

Reports: Blasts Heard in Syrian Capital Damascus

REUTERS: Reports: Blasts Heard in Syrian Capital Damascus

Blasts and heavy shooting shook the Syrian capital late Tuesday, Arab television stations reported.

Al Jazeera television said the blasts and shooting were heard from a western district of Damascus where it said the British embassy is located. Al Arabiya quoted its correspondent as reporting explosions were heard in the city. They gave no further details.

Other reports say the explosions were near both the British and Saudi embassies.

UPDATE:
REUTERS: Report: Blasts and heavy shooting in Syrian capital of Damascus

Blasts and heavy shooting shook the Syrian capital, Damascus, late on Tuesday, Arab television stations reported.

Al Jazeera television said the blasts and shooting were heard from a western district of Damascus where it said the British ambassador’s residence and the Saudi embassy are located.

Al Arabiya quoted its correspondent as reporting explosions were heard in the city. They gave no further details.

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman in London said the explosion took place on a street close to the Iranian Ambassador’s residence.

“It is closer to the Iranian ambassador’s residence than it is to our ambassador’s residence… (There were no) injuries to UK embassy staff but our staff are in the process of assessing the situation,” he said.

“There was no damage to the British embassy.”

Another update… Reuters reports 15 explosions total.

FURTHER UPDATES WILL BE POSTED TO CP - GWOT

Don't Force us Back to Bombing, Gaddafi Tells West

Gaddafi/Qaddafi in Brussels, addressing reporters during his meetings with the EU:

REUTERS: Don’t Force us Back to Bombing, Gaddafi Tells West

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appealed to the West Tuesday to take up Libya’s offer of peace and not force his country back to its old days of sponsoring and harboring what he called “freedom fighters.”

In a rambling 45-minute speech to journalists on a ground-breaking first visit to European Union headquarters, Gaddafi declared: “I hope that we shall not be prompted or obliged by any evil to go back or to look backwards.

“We do hope that we shall not be obliged or forced one day to go back to those days when we bomb our cars or put explosive belts around our beds and around our women so that we will not be searched and not be harassed in our bedrooms and in our homes, as it is taking place now in Iraq and in palestine.”

N. Korea Receives Aid for Train Blast

AP: N. Korea Receives Aid for Train Blast

Tents and blankets, instant noodles and water purification tablets streamed into a North Korean town pulverized by a train explosion last week as international aid efforts accelerated Monday.

But North Korea was hesitant to open its heavily armed border with South Korea to let in aid shipments from the South Korean Red Cross.

As a cold rain fell on the devastated community of Ryongchon, just across the Chinese frontier, relief workers said more assistance was still needed. The death toll stood at 161 on Monday and more than 1,300 people were listed as injured in Thursday’s huge blast, fed by a cargo of oil and chemicals.

“There is still a huge need for help,” said Brendan McDonald, a U.N. aid coordinator in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. “The immediate needs for the homeless are under control. The main concern is for those in hospital.”

Japan planned to send medical kits and Russia promised aid Monday. South Korea, Australia and China have also agreed to contribute money and supplies.

NK: pictures after the blast

The BBC has a slideshow of 12 pictures of the North Korea blast.

Reports from North Korea

Journalist Rebecca MacKinnon reports from NK, with photos (non graphic) of the train blast.

Aid Workers Describe N. Korean Train Site

AP: Aid Workers Describe N. Korean Train Site

Aid workers and journalists who visited the site of a North Korean train explosion Saturday said the blast destroyed a rail station, gouged a 30-foot-deep crater and ripped the roofs off buildings more than two miles away.

Pictures from China’s Xinhua news agency showed a huge hole that dwarfed onlookers in the city of Ryongchon.

“Buildings around were totally flattened,” Jay Matta, a Red Cross official, said by phone from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

A three-story agricultural school near the station “was totally leveled” by Thursday’s blast, said Dr. Eigil Sorensen, the World Health Organization representative in Pyongyang. “There was nothing left. It was rubble.”

At a three-story primary school about 300 yards from the station, the roof was ripped away and the top floor collapsed, he said.

Nonunification

AP is reporting that Greek Cypriot exit polls show voters overwhelmingly rejecting the UN-brokered reunification plan.

Respectability & Civility

Michele and I choose to permit comments at Command Post because we believe the ability to participate in journalism is inherent to the nature of our site, and that the ability to exchange and argue over ideas is at the core of a vigorous democracy.

That said, our comments area is not a forum in which anything goes. We believe the democratic way of life, and a better understanding of humanity, are furthered not by any discourse, but by reasoned discourse. Our vision for the Command Post comments is a forum that not only permits the participation in journalism, that not only facilitates the exchange of perspectives, but that does so as a reflection of human civility.

So: We welcome you to post comments at Command Post, and we encourage you take part in our marketplace of ideas, be you left, right, or center; red, blue, or green; Christian, Muslim, or atheist. If you do, our comment policy is very simple. We welcome comments that are:

• Respectable: “Worthy of respect; fitted to awaken esteem; deserving regard; hence, of good repute; not mean.”

• Civil: “Not rude; marked by satisfactory (or especially minimal) adherence to social usages and sufficient but not noteworthy consideration for others.”

It’s a simple policy. It provides an enormous field for the exchange of ideas. It allows vigorous and heated arguments over policy or philosophy. It welcomes the familiar and the arcane, the banal and the compelling, the grave and the humorous.

It is also a policy we will enforce. We will delete comments that we feel do not meet the simple standards of respect and civility, and we will ban the IP address of those posting such comments. If you feel you have been treated unfairly as a result of this policy, we welcome your appeal via email. If your appeal is neither respectable nor civil, it is an appeal we will ignore.

What does the policy mean in application? Where we will draw the boundaries? We don’t know. We suppose our experience will be much as Justice Potter Stewart described the limitation of pornographic speech: we’ll know it when we see it. We can’t guarantee we won’t make bad calls. We can’t guarantee we won’t upset one or more of our readers. But we can guarantee that no deletion or IP ban will ever be because of a point of view; it will always be because a point of view was articulated with neither respect nor civility. We don’t want to engage in censorship, we want to engage in sense.

A commitment to respectable and civil commentary on a weblog. It may sound high minded. It may sound like not much fun. But it’s our forum, and it’s what we’ll allow. Readers disappointed in our perspective are welcome to create their own sites and maintain their own comment forums. Because we choose to believe that most people are reasonable … that they want an intelligent exchange of perspectives … that all things being equal, they’d choose not to engage in an online slugfest of slanderous rubes … we think it’s the right way to go.

So that’s what we’re going to try and create, and if we can’t do so, well, then frankly, we’d prefer not to have comments at Command Post. Because at the end of the day, this is a hobby for us. We derive virtually no economic benefit from Command Post. Our reward, and we presume the reward for our contributors, is intangible—the pride that comes from building something that others value, that is a unique first step for decentralized journalism. Command Post is something Michele and I love, and frankly it’s something of which we want to feel proud. Hateful, biting, insulting commentary does not make us feel proud. It robs us of one of the only rewards we derive from the site … our ability to say, “Look at what we made … it’s good, and it’s a model of what the online exchange of ideas and information can be.”

We will not be robbed. We have anywhere from 15,000 to 120,000 visitors a day to our corner of the blogosphere … we’re more than happy to alienate a handful if it’s the means of creating a forum of civil exchange for the remainder. And deep in our hearts, independent of the fact that such a forum is something we’ll feel better about, something of which we’ll be proud, we also believe such a forum is something the remainder will value, visit, and enjoy.

So, jump on in, but please keep it respectable and civil. It’s all we ask, and thanks for reading The Post.

UN team to assess damage from train explosion in DPR of Korea

UN NEWS CENTER: UN team to assess damage from train explosion in DPR of Korea

The United Nations is sending a damage assessment team this weekend to the site of the train explosion in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that killed 50 people and injured more than 1,000 others, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.

“A formal request for international assistance in response to the disaster was received by OCHA this afternoon from the Government,” it said, noting the multi-agency mission to Ryongchon County is planned for Saturday.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have already reallocated about $150,000 worth of medicines and medical supplies from existing programmes to meet some of the immediate needs.

(Kofi Annan has already offered condolences to the victims of the blast, but no word yet on the victims of prison camps.)

North Korea Disaster Relief

The United Nations is reporting that North Korea is formally requesting disaster assistance. (Yahoo Full Coverage)

Once again, please check back here and with American Red Cross and ICRC for links to donation sites should they be placed online. The Chinese Red Cross and South Korean Red Cross will likely be heavily involved in recovery and relief work.

Dynamite the Cause of NK Blast

From Reuters via the ABC :

Aid workers at the site of a massive explosion in North Korea have put the death toll at 150, with more than 1,000 others injured.

Thursday’s blast at Ryongchon station, which took place nine hours after a train carrying leader Kim Jong-il passed through, hurled debris and acrid smoke high into the sky.

Some schoolchildren were killed in the town near North Korea’s border with China, an Irish aid worker based in Pyongyang said.

“They (North Korean authorities) have said that 150 people died in the explosion, including some schoolchildren,” Ann O’Mahony, the regional director of Concern, told Irish state radio RTE.

“Some buildings have collapsed, 800 residences were destroyed, and over 1,000 people were injured.”

North Korean officials said railworkers were trying to uncouple two carriages carrying dynamite and link them to another train.

“They got caught in the overhead electric wiring. The dynamite exploded and that was the cause of the explosion,” Ms O’Mahony said.

Russia’s Tass news agency reported from Pyongyang that the explosives were to be used to build an irrigation canal.

International aid agencies have been invited to visit the scene of the train blast on Saturday, Ms O’Mahony said.

A Pyongyang representative of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office also received the invitation, Brussels said.

Rescue teams were scouring the rubble of 1,850 households levelled by the blast, John Sparrow, a regional delegation spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told Reuters.

Expect the toll to grow much higher then… 1,850 households “levelled”…

Worst Train Disaster Ever : Update

News from North Korea is always difficult to get at the best of times. Here’s what’s being reported, mainly from Chinese sources:

Cause

(From Xinhua, via the AFP thence The Australian)

China has revealed the cause of a train explosion in North Korea was leaking ammonium nitrate, state media reported.

”The accident was caused by the leaking of ammonium nitrate in one of the trains,” Xinhua cited the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang as saying. It said the embassy had set up a special team to deal with the accident and was providing “essential assistance” to the victims

(From Chosun Ilbo)

The trains were reportedly carrying petroleum and natural gas when they collided.

Red Cross, UN Food Agency allowed to help

(From the AAP via The Australian )

Pyongyang has accepted help from the United Nations following a serious train crash in North Korea and several aid agencies will be sent to the area, the UN’s food agency said today.

(From the Chosun Ilbo)

A Red Cross official in Beijing said Friday that North Korea has asked the organization to visit the site of Thursday night’s massive train collision and subsequent explosion.

Casualties

(From the Chosun Ilbo again)

Up to 3,000 people were killed or injured when two trains loaded with fuel collided and exploded at a North Korean station near the Chinese border, Chinese sources said.

(From a later report from the same source)

According to a source in the Chinese border town of Dandong, not only was Ryongcheon Station destroyed in the blast, but so were the nearby school and a large number of civilian dwellings; casualties are presumed to be very high, Yonhap News reported.

The source said a Chinese who saw the scene of the accident and returned to Dandong said the area around Ryoncheon Station “had been transformed into ruins, like it was bombed… It was still difficult to grasp exactly how many casualties there were.”

The casualty total is presumed to be high, however, since this area — with a school and a high concentration of houses and apartments — was totally destroyed.

Satellite Photos before and after would seem to confirm this.

(UPDATE : the “after” photo has been revealed as incorrect. Thanks to reader Angie Schultz for bringing this to our attention.)

(From the AFP/Reuters via the ABC in Australia)

A blast believed to have been caused by explosives on rail wagons has killed 54 people and injured 1,249 people in North Korea, a Red Cross spokesman has said, quoting North Korean authorities.

John Sparrow, a regional spokesman for the Red Cross in Beijing, told Reuters 1,850 households and 12 public buildings were levelled by the blast near the Ryongchon town’s centre and another 6,350 homes were partly destroyed.

The figures from Red Cross workers at the scene were the first official figures to emerge more than a day after the disaster on Thursday.

Mr Sparrow said the number of casualties could climb as rescue crews combed through the rubble.

“That figure could increase, obviously,” Mr Sparrow said of the death toll after speaking to Red Cross officials at the accident scene.

A collision between two fuel-laden trains triggered the explosion, South Korean officials and media have reported.

Mr Sparrow said the disaster appeared to have been caused by rail cars laden with explosives possibly intended for mining.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said leaking ammonium nitrate in one of the trains ignited the blast. Other reports had said two trains carrying fuel had collided.

South Korean media had put the toll at up to 3,000 dead or injured.

The accident happened just hours after reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il had passed through en route to the capital, Pyongyang, after a rare visit to China.

It would be difficult to imagine a worse combination than Mining Explosives, Natural and LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) all going up together. There could have been a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Capour Explosion) much like 1000+ FAE (Fuel Air Explosion) bombs going off at once. Such an explosion would have been larger than many tactical nuclear warheads, including all the “suitcase nukes”. Not Hiroshima sized, but possibly 1/5 of that.
The Satellite Photos appear to show damage that is less than could be expected given these circumstances (ie no BLEVE), but the casualty total is undoubtedly and tragically much, much higher than current official figures.

For North Korea to actually ask for help is unprecedented - things must be truly dire.

UPDATE : Don’t expect any announcement from the DPRK soon though:
From The Australian :

Isolated North Korea threw its customary blanket of silence today over an explosion on a rail line in a northern city that may have killed or injured thousands of people.

The opaque Stalinist regime that holds a monopoly on power and views freedom of information as a potential threat to its survival responded to the blast in the northern city of Ryongchon in typically secretive fashion.

Phone links to the outside world were cut, neighbouring countries were starved of information, and a tight news blackout was imposed, according to officials and media reports.

North Korea has yet to break its silence on the explosion which ripped through the railway station at Ryongchon in the north-west of the country, 20km south of the border with China.
[…]
South Korea’s government complained of “difficulties confirming details” and Jeong Se-Hyun, the unification minister who handles relations with North Korea, said he had received no official word from Pyongyang concerning the blast.
[…]
Offers of humanitarian aid from South Korea, Australia and the United States were met with silence.

International aid agencies and diplomats based in Pyongyang have also been kept in the dark.

A correspondent for Russia’s ITAR-TASS, one of the few journalists from an outside country based in Pyongyang, said that North Korean officials refused to comment on the disaster and North Korea’s media was mute.

The only direct confirmation has come from a railway official on duty at Pyongyang station who said there had been an accident near the border with China, ITAR-TASS reported.

“It is a rule for the North Korean propaganda mill not to talk about any accidents,” said a North Korean defector based in Seoul who helps run a radio station that broadcasts information into North Korea.

“I’ve never found out a thing about accidents or disasters through North Korea’s media,” he said.

Another defector, Jong Yong-Sun, 68, said North Koreans would clam up and refuse to talk about any negative events, fearing the ubiquitous public security agents.
[…]
A Western diplomat based in Seoul said that North Korea was probably in a panic about how to respond to the disaster. A knee-jerk reaction was to try and cover it up.

“To admit it is embarrassing and to admit they need help is probably worse,” the diplomat said of the regime that boasts of its self-reliance.

Defectors speak of major disasters in the past that have gone unreported.

In late 1980s, one defector told AFP that a military munitions factory in her hometown, Kanggye, exploded. Many people died, she recounted.

There was never an official death toll and the incident is still unknown to ordinary North Koreans outside the town, she said.

Another major rail disaster went unacknowledged in 1997, when more than 2000 people died after a passenger train plunged off a bridge.

South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said on its website that North Korea’s Ministry of Public Security, in an internal record, put the toll at 2400 dead.

And from the the same ABC report quoted earlier :

Meanwhile, officials at the North Korean border and hospitals in the Chinese border city of Dandong are denying dealing with casualties from the train crash.

”No, we have seen nothing. Our border post was kept closed all night,” an official at the border post near Dandong, said.

Workers at both the Dandong No 1 and No 2 hospitals deny they are treating casualties.

“No, absolutely not. We don’t have in our hospital any foreign patients,” said a woman doctor surnamed Xiao.

Their denials are echoed by the local government.

“I have never heard of this,” said a government official surnamed Li.

Seoul officials told Yonhap news agency early today they have confirmed up to 3,000 casualties are being taken to hospitals in Dandong just over the border and other areas.

NK Disaster Map

Our own contributor the Marmot has a post on his blog with a map of the North Korea explosion location, as well as some local rumors about the death toll. Read his post here.

Breaking news: NK train crash

Read the breaking news on NewsNow.

North Korean Train Explosions

AP is reporting as many as 3,000 killed in a train crash and explosions at a North Korean train station.

UPDATE:
Confirmed, via Reuters.

Up to 3,000 people have been killed or injured in a huge explosion after two goods trains collided in a North Korean station hours after leader Kim Jong-il had passed through, South Korea’s YTN television station says.

Yonhap news agency also said there were thousands of casualties. Both Yonhap and YTN did not give a breakdown of deaths and injuries.

UPDATE 2:
Two updates:

As many as 3,000 people were killed or injured Thursday when two trains carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas collided and exploded in a North Korean train station, South Korean media reported.

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, reportedly had passed through the station as he returned from China hours earlier, South Korea’s all-news cable channel, YTN, reported.

The number killed or injured could reach 3,000, YTN said.

(Assassination attempt?)

UPDATE 3:
Donations? Information about NK Red Cross at ICRC site.

Also, keep an eye on American Red Cross and ICRC for more information, which will eventually be linked from here.

Russian veto defeats Security Council draft resolution on Cyprus

UN NEWS CENTER: Russian veto defeats Security Council draft resolution on Cyprus

The Russian Federation today vetoed a draft resolution in the Security Council that would have terminated the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and replaced it with the UN Settlement Implementation Mission in Cyprus (UNSIMIC).

Russian Ambassador Gennady Gatilov said his country supports the efforts by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to settle the Cyprus problem and the planned referenda on the settlement plan, after which the Security Council should take a decision on the issue, but voiced concern about the process concerning the draft resolution, which should have been subject to more extensive discussion. Russia therefore had no choice but to exercise a “technical veto” at this stage, he said.

The last time the Russian Federation vetoed a draft in the Security Council was in 1994 on a text concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total, Moscow has exercised the veto a total of 122 times.

AfricaPundit's Regional Briefing: Apr 21/04

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on Africa, courtesy of AfricaPundit.

TOP TOPICS

• South Africa held national elections this month, returning the ANC to power with a healthy majority.

• Algeria also held national elections this month, also re-electing the incumbent by a wide margin. As in South Africa, the elections were judged “free and fair” by international observers, but as reported by Mostly Africa, a bunch of people are still unhappy.

• Zimbabwean Independence Day, marking the 24th anniversary of the end of Ian Smith’s white-ruled Rhodesian government, was celebrated in London by protests against Comrade Mugabe’s misrule. In Zimbabwe, as Cathy Buckle reports, celebrations largely consisted of trotting out the same old stale propaganda.

Other Topics Today Include: South African elections reaction; Rwanda remembered; War on Terror update; Libya liberalizing (?); the continuing DDT debate; the final resting place of used clothing.

Read The Rest…

Mutiny in Batumi

Tucked away in the Caucasus, a nasty confrontation has been brewing between the Georgian government and the President of the autonomous region of Ajaria. It just got worse with the recently dismissed commander of the 25th Armored-Mechanized Brigade proclaiming its allegiance to Ajaria, not Georgia.

Civil.Ge: Chief of Batumi-Based Military Unit Mutinies

Maj. Gen. Roman Dumbadze, who was dismissed as a commander of the 25th Armored-Mechanized Brigade, deployed in Adjarian capital Batumi, has officially announced his insubordination to the Defense Ministry orders. Maj.Gen. Dumbadze says “the 25th brigade is subordinated only to the [Adjarian leader] Aslan Abashidze.”

“I serve the Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze and my dismissal is only up to him. 25th Brigade answers to Aslan Abashidze, who is our supreme commander,” Roman Dumbadze told a press conference in Batumi on April 19.

Georgian Defense Ministry has claimed earlier that the 25th Brigade is under the central authorities’ control. The Ministry refused to comment Maj. Gen. Dumbadze’s statement.

“The Defense Ministry will make an official statement later,” Irakli Chikovani, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry told Civil Georgia.

Gen. Dumbadze was relieved of his command on 3 April by the direct orders of Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili. He was accused of insubordination during a standoff between Tbilisi and Batumi in March, a claim that was confirmed by the internal investigation of the Ministry of Defense. Later on, President Saakashvili used his authority as supreme commander of the armed forces to dismiss Gen. Dumbadze from the military service.

Kind of cross-posted from The Argus with a hat tip to Sean-Paul Kelley

UN 'Doesn't Know' Reason for Police Clash in Kosovo

REUTERS: UN ‘Doesn’t Know’ Reason for Police Clash in Kosovo

Four Jordanians were detained yesterday after the incident and they are in custody,” U.N. Police Commissioner Stefan Feller told a news conference in the provincial capital, Pristina.

“We don’t know the motive,” he said in response to questions about a report that violent emotions over Iraq was behind the clash. “I cannot say the reasons for the incident,” Feller added, calling it a “reckless attack.”

The Americans involved had arrived less than two weeks ago in Kosovo for a tour of duty with the U.N. force, Feller said. The Jordanians had been there only a week or so longer.

Police sources at the scene of Saturday’s firefight inside the U.N. compound in the northern city of Mitrovica said hostility over Iraq or the Middle East had sparked the fight.

A U.N. spokesman denied that the shooting had been preceded by a verbal clash. But a U.S. policeman who declined to be named said the attack had been “organized.”

Russia's New Great Game

Catherine Belton of the Moscow Times had an interesting article yesterday about Russia’s growing place in the global energy industry… and how it intends to leverage that position economically and politically.

Top Palestinian official: U.S. commitments endanger future of region

HA‘ARETZ: Top Palestinian official: U.S. commitments endanger future of region

U.S. President George W. Bush’s commitments to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday endanger the future of the entire region, a senior Palestinian official said.

“Bush and Sharon are trying to protect each others’ political future but are endangering the political future of Israel, the Palestinians and the whole region,” Yasser Abed Rabbo said Wednesday evening.

(The usual threats, since the coffin just got nailed shut on Resolution 242.)

PRC News China Briefing: April 14/04

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. Today’s Regional Briefing focuses on China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, courtesy of Adam Morris in Tianjin.

TOP NEWS ITEMS:

• The China blogosphere widely reported that all blogs using Typepad and all blogs.com-based blogs have been blocked just as blogspot blogs were earlier last year. Six Apart ruled out technological problems on their end. The move prompted a 100-strong blackout in virtual protest, and other schemes have been initiated in response.

• The controversial anti-China referendum failed on account of not making a quorum but Chen Shui-bian took the Taiwan election, but not without further controversy. See below for full coverage.

• Beijing asserts superiority in all things political in Hong Kong, unilaterally interpreting the island’s mini-constitution. The central government has likely taken over the political situation there, possibly leaving Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa without any power to speak of.

Other Topics Today Include:More Taiwan election coverage; Cheney’s upcoming Beijing trip; Hepatitis B carriers are damned to be jobless; You just can’t win a Chinese lottery; and the implications of the impending death of the man who took the fall for the Tiananmen Square Massacre 15 years ago this June.

Read the Rest…

U.S. pledges to Israel will be end of peace process

HAARETZ: Arafat: U.S. pledges to Israel will be end of peace process

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said Wednesday that possible U.S. assurances that Israel could keep some key settlement blocs and would not have to absorb Palestinian refugees would signal the end of the peace process.

(Better fill your gas tanks now, folks.)

Eyes on Korea: Apr 13/04

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. Today’s Regional Briefing focuses on Korea, courtesy of Robert Koehler in Seoul.

TOP TOPICS

• Rebecca MacKinnon asks if the North Korea’s recent offer (perhaps) to trade its nuclear program for “appropriate corresponding measures” really means anything.

• Conrad of the Gweilo Diaries links to some outstanding pieces in the National Review discussing how aid to North Korea may be fueling the regime’s depravity.

• Korea’s 3,500 troops won’t be heading to Kirkuk, as originally planned. Instead, they’ll be heading somewhere in the Kurdish autonomous region — probably Sulaimaniyah or Irbil.

Other Topics Today Include: RAND study of ROK-US relations; Major US military realignment; SK elections and key info sources; More on SK & Iraq; NK Freedom Day April 28; NK budget & reforms bad news; What - no visas?; NK TV & Internet; NK - a middle way?; Libya model for NK; Spotlight on NK apologists in SK & USA.

Read The Rest…

Khatami withdraws key reform bills

JERUSALEM POST: Khatami withdraws key reform bills

President Mohammad Khatami formally withdrew two key reform bills Tuesday, while a man reviled by reformers as a killer of press freedom was publicly honored as the “best manager” in the Iranian judiciary - small signs of the waning strength of the reform movement.

The bills, which Khatami announced last month he would remove from further parliamentary consideration, had sought to bring democratic change to Iran’s religious theocracy. Abandoning them was an acknowledgment of the failure of the pillars of Khatami’s presidency.

One of the bills was aimed at increasing presidential powers in order to stop constitutional violations by unelected hard-liners. The other sought to bar the hard-line oversight body, the Guardian Council, from disqualifying parliamentary and presidential election candidates.

Khatami withdrew the bills in a letter addressed to the parliamentary speaker, Mahdi Karroubi. The letter was read Tuesday in an open session of parliament and broadcast live on Tehran radio.

12 held for smuggling arms to Palestinian terror groups

HAARETZ: 12 held for smuggling arms to Palestinian terror groups

Israeli security forces have uncovered a weapons-smuggling cell comprising of four Israeli Bedouin, seven Egyptians and a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Nablus.

The 12 are suspected of smuggling arms from Egypt to terror organizations operating out of the Palestinian Authority-administered areas.

The weapons were smuggled from the Sinai Peninsula into Israel and then to Palestinian parts of the West Bank. Details of the case were released for publication on Tuesday.

Some 140 Kalashnikov rifles, two RPG launchers, six RPGs and a large cache of ammunition were seized. Security forces believe that additional arms did get through to the Palestinian territories.

The 12 were detained by officers from the Shin Bet security services, the anti-terrorism squad and from the police’s southern division. Indictments have already been filed against some of the members of the cell.

Hungary foils plot to kill Katsav, blow up Holocaust museum

HAARETZ: Hungary foils plot to kill Katsav, blow up Holocaust museum

Hungarian police have thwarted a plan to assassinate President Moshe Katsav during his current state visit to Budapest, the president’s office in Jerusalem confirmed Tuesday.

Katsav’s visit will continue as planned despite the incident, a spokeswoman at his office said, but added that she had no information on the nature of the attack or how close to execution the plan was.

“They’re all right. That’s what we’re concerned about,” she said.

The president and his wife, Gila, left for a three-day state visit to Hungary on Tuesday morning, where he is scheduled to inaugurate the new Holocaust Memorial Center in Budapest on Thursday.

In Budapest, police spokesman Attila Petofi said only that “one man has been detained and he is suspected of preparing a terrorist act.”

But officials at the Israeli Embassy in Budapest said they had been told that three Arab men had been detained for planning a bomb attack against the Israeli president.

(The General Assembly of the United Nations condemned Israeli for considering an assassination of Yasser Arafat. What would the General Assembly have done if Katsav had been killed by Arabs?)

UPDATE:
Hungarian police now say that the plot to blow up the Holocaust Museum is unrelated to Katsav’s visit.

Report: over 1,000 Kurds arrested in Syria

JERUSALEM POST: Report: over 1,000 Kurds arrested in Syria

Syrian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 Kurds as part of a continuing campaign against the Kurdish minority, a Syrian human rights group claimed Monday.

It was the second report in less than a week of an alleged clampdown on Kurds in Syria since last month’s clashes between Syrian security forces and Kurdish rioters in which 25 were killed and more than 100 wounded.

In a statement faxed to foreign news agencies in Damascus Monday, Aktham Naisse, the chairman of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria, said “arbitrary daily arrests” were still continuing against Kurdish women and men. More than 1,000 Kurds have been arrested and many of them were tortured, he said.

Naisse said two Kurds, Firhad Mohammad Daoud, 21, from Qamishli in northeast Syria, and Hussein Hmak Nassom 22, from the northern town of Afreen, died under torture in prison.

(This is the price of appeasement of the Turks)

Violent clashes in central Vietnam

REUTERS: Violent clashes in central Vietnam

Communist Vietnam barred foreign nationals from travel to its restive Central Highlands after ethnic minorities clashed with police and military with stones and sticks on in a repeat of protests three years ago.

Thousands of the hill tribespeople drove into Buon Ma Thuot city, the capital of Daklak province, on Saturday and massed outside the provincial government office, local residents said.

“They marched as if in a military parade,” said one resident.

The Montagnard Foundation Inc, which says it represents some of the hill tribespeople, says they are Protestants protesting against alleged repression by authorities.

Major unrest in the highlands in February 2001 over religious and property rights was crushed by Hanoi and the region has since been under a blanket of security. Diplomats and foreign journalists must get clearance to travel to the area.

Weekend Briefing 4/11/04

Cross-posted at Backcountry Conservative.

A roundup of global events from this weekend. If you have blogged on any of these events or others I missed be sure to link, trackback or comment with the link.

Citizen Smash has the latest Sandbox Roundup.

Iraq
Link for Released Hostage Story from TCP

Iran + Hezbollah = Aid for al Sadr from TCP

Hostages Released? from TCP

How to Win in Iraq from AlphaPatriot

Iraq XV from The Agonist

Report: Tentative Ceasefire in Fallujah from The Command Post

AL JAZEERA OUT OF FALLUJAH from Begging to Differ

Iran and al Sadr from the Agonist

Apache Down, Another Chopper Missing from TCP

Iraq XIV from The Agonist

More Marines Move In from TCP

Damned if You Do . . . from Outside the Beltway

Al Jazeera claims team targeted by US forces from Rantburg

Al Jazeera: All Death, All the Time from TCP

Abu Ghraib - Island in Iraq’s Gulag Archipeligo from The Agonist

Threats Against American Hostage from TCP

Germany: Missing Guards Most Likely Dead from TCP

Iraq Group to Release Japanese Hostages from TCP

Difficult Tasks from OTB

Debka’s latest map from TCP

Iraqi Governing Council Fractured from OTB

Iraqi Voices: Liberation or Occupation from TCP

Out Of The Nest from OTB

Seeds of the Revolt: U.S. Targeted Fiery Cleric In Risky Move from The Agonist

Iraq XIII from The Agonist

Iraq XII from The Agonist

Iraq XI from The Agonist

Hardliner Made New Interior Minister in Iraq from The Agonist

Iraq X from TA

Kerry calls for larger role for allies from TA

Iraq IX from TA

Iraq VIII from TA

Middle East
Toe tags for six in Yemen cops-robbers festivities from Rantburg

Yemen Frees Two Britons Jailed on Terror Charges from Rantburg

Bush and Kofi Annan issue warnings to Sudan from Middle East and Morality

Fearful Arab regimes refrain from criticising US from Rantburg

Jordan Says Found Cars Laden with Explosives from TCP

Terrorism won’t be tolerated, says Durrani from Rantburg

Mobs set fire to network cables from Rantburg

Irate over Iran from BTD

Clashes in Iran, Mullahs v. US from TCP

Bahrain Vows to Tighten Security After Bank Heist from Rantburg

Israel/Palestine
US won’t withhold loans on account of fence from TCP

Palestinian sources: Hamas wants to join PA security bodies from TCP

Asia
North Korea on ‘brink of nuclear war’ with US from TCP

Nepal king gives police sweeping powers as protests rise from Rantburg

Malaysia’s opposition warns detractors of divine wrath from Rantburg

MILF Lodges Complaint Against Army Soldiers from Rantburg

Military Warned of Philippine Jailbreak from Rantburg

Intel/Military
Iraq War Lessons Identified from OTB

Hired Guns from Slate (link via OTB)

The problems with private military corporations from Intel Dump

DoD Intel Transformation from OTB

Team Bush Accountability from OTB

“Sea Pay” for Soldiers from OTB

Terrorism
Osama fled Pakistan through port? from Rantburg

Don’t Forget the Fatwah from PoliBlog

Cole Attack Probe in 2000 Nearly Unraveled 9/11 Plot from The Agonist

Pre-Cole Attempts from PoliBlog

U.S. Releases pre-9/11 Document from TCP

PDB Roundup from OTB

Terrorist Jailbreak in Phillipines from TCP

Uzbek Terrorists Said Trained by al-Qaida from TCP

U.N./Diplomacy
Interventionism Vs. Non-Interventionism from Dean Esmay

Clashes in Iran, Mullahs v. US

There’s a whole lot going on in Iran these days that just isn’t making the news - in some part because what’s going on in Iraq is the main event and in some part because the news from Iran is always underreported.

Visit Danshoo.org for all the Iran news you can read, including the latest:

New clashes rocked the cities of Esfahan and Damavand, today, leading to tens of injured and arrests following the brutal attacks of the regime’s special forces.

Don’t miss this one: Mullahs v. U.S.

Nobody else is saying it, so, once again, it is left to me to explain what really happened in Iraq yesterday.

Iran declared war on the U.S.

The signs have been there for a long time. I don’t know if they have been intentionally ignored by U.S. forces in Iraq, or whether there is some master plan at the Defense Department to deal with this scenario.

All I can tell you is we are now fighting a regional war. Our local opposition in Iraq is being trained, armed and directed with foreign support – by neighboring Iran

Jordan Says Found Cars Laden with Explosives

REUTERS: Jordan Says Found Cars Laden with Explosives

Jordanian authorities have found cars carrying explosives that an underground group believed linked to al Qaeda planned to use to attack American interests, a senior security source said on Saturday.

The source told Reuters an unspecified number of cars laden with explosives were found and the suspects who sought to use them had been arrested.

“The group planned attacks on American interests including the embassy and a number of U.S. organizations based in Jordan,” he said. “There is no doubt in our minds they are linked with al Qaeda,” he said, adding that the militant network led by Osama bin Laden sought to punish Jordan for supporting Washington’s goal of pacifying post-war Iraq.

North Korea on 'brink of nuclear war' with US

ABCnews Online reports:

North Korea has issued its latest pronouncement in its diplomatic stoush with the United States, saying it is on the brink of nuclear war with the US. Pyongyang has dismissed the recent multilateral talks on the region as fruitless. The Korean Central News Agency says Washington is “driving the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war”. It argues Pyongyang has no choice but to step up its push for nuclear weapons.

Read some of that KCNA-stuff yourself….

Iran and the Nuclear Issue--An Update

While this article indicated the possibility of further cooperation between Iran and the IAEA on the subject of Iran’s nuclear program, this story gives one reason to worry anew:

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Tehran plans to build a heavy-water reactor in central Iran that some say could be part of a nuclear weapons program. Iran says construction work on the reactor is due to start within months.

IAEA spokesman, Mark Gwozdecky, says the agency is aware of Iran’s intention to start building a heavy-water reactor near Arak that could produce weapons-grade plutonium.

“In 2003, Iran declared to the agency its construction at Arak of a heavy-water production plant and its planned construction of a heavy-water reactor,” Mr. Gwozdecky said. “Iran provided preliminary design information on the reactor along with preliminary information of the facility intended to manufacture the fuel.”

The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in a report issued last year that his inspectors were surprised by the information given by Iran on the Arak reactor.

Meanwhile, the Islamic regime appears to be giving what is at least moral support to the insurrection in Iraq:

Iran’s influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, on Friday hailed the Shi’ite Muslim militia of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as “heroic” for rising up against the U.S. occupation in Iraq.

Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran that a distinction should be drawn between Shi’ite fighters, who have battled U.S.-led troops across southern Iraq this week, and insurrectionist supporters of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party he described as “terrorists.”

“Contrary to these terrorist groups in Iraq, there are powerful bodies which contribute to the security of that nation…among them is the Mehdi Army, made up of enthusiastic, heroic young people,” he told the crowd.

Algeria president wins landslide

AP: Algeria president wins landslide

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected to a second term in a landslide vote, the Interior Ministry announced Friday, after a bitter campaign that pitted him against five rivals.

Bouteflika’s former prime minister, who came in a distant second, immediately cried foul.

The 67-year-old Bouteflika — who campaigned on a record of restoring calm to a nation wracked by more than a decade of Islamic-inspired bloodshed — won the balloting in Thursday’s election with 83 percent of the vote, said Interior Minister Nourredine Zerhouni.

Supporters of former Prime Minister Ali Benflis, who won only 8 percent of the vote according to official results, immediately denounced the election as fraudulent, but without offering proof.

“One has a tendency to laugh at the announcement of this result. But we are crying for the future of the country,” said Soufiane Djilali, a spokesman for Benflis.

(Multicandidate elections and election observers… so, is Algeria a democracy?)

Sharon: Bush must prevent Palestinian terror state

JERUSALEM POST: Sharon: Bush must prevent Palestinian terror state

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to ask US President George W. Bush in Washington next Wednesday to rule out the establishment of a Palestinian state until the Palestinian Authority dismantles terrorist organizations and confiscates weapons, Sharon said Thursday in meetings with Likud MKs.

As part of his efforts to persuade the Likud to endorse his unilateral disengagement plan, Sharon met in his Tel Aviv office with Health Minister Dan Naveh, Deputy Internal Security Minister Ya’acov Edri, Deputy Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Michael Ratzon, and MK Moshe Kahlon.

Sharon told the four that he hopes that in his meetings in Washington, he will obtain US guarantees that will make it much easier to sell the plan to the Likud and the public. Sharon said he is seeking declarations from Bush ruling out the return of Palestinian refugees to the borders of Israel and calling upon PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei to begin implementing the road map.

Only when the PA has dismantled terrorist groups and confiscated weapons would it be able to declare a state in the Gaza Strip, Sharon said.

Sharon’s associates said that if the PA attempts to declare a state in the Gaza Strip before implementing the road map, the US-led international community will not recognize the state, and that Israel would be under no obligation to continue providing the area with water and electricity.

Top Rebel Killed, Ministers Hurt in Indian Kashmir

REUTERS: Top Rebel Killed, Ministers Hurt in Indian Kashmir

At least four people died and 35, including two state ministers, were hurt in a blast in Indian Kashmir on Thursday hours after troops killed the chief of a rebel group blamed for a raid on India’s parliament.

The explosion occurred during campaigning for this month’s national elections by Jammu and Kashmir state’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the busy trading town of Uri, near the frontier with Pakistan.

Police said they suspected the attack, in which state Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tourism Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir were wounded, was carried out by Muslim separatists fighting Indian rule in the Himalayan region.

The ministers were not seriously wounded.

Terror attacks leave Italy on edge

CNN: Terror attacks leave Italy on edge

A series of recent police raids and arrests suggest the Italian government remains concerned about the possibility that Italy may be the next terror target.

Security has been reinforced at many locations in anticipation of a busy holiday season and the government has identified more than 13,000 potential targets, including train stations, embassies and tourist sites.

Tight security cannot be guaranteed at all locations but the interior minister has told CNN there is no specific or imminent threat of an attack.

“We are exposed to a terrorist threat like all other European nations deployed in Iraq,” Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu says. “But at this time we have no information regarding a specific imminent attack against civilian or religious targets.”

Al-Jazeera reporter indicted for allegedly aiding terror groups

HAARETZ: Al-Jazeera reporter indicted for allegedly aiding terror groups

A foreign correspondent for the Al-Jazeera television station was indicted at the Samaria military court in the West Bank on Thursday, Israel Radio reported.

The reporter, Dib Abu Zayad, who was arrested three months ago, is accused of serving as a liaison between the Fatah organization in Lebanon and Palestinian terrorist organizations, and of supplying militants with money and weapons that he received from Fatah members.

(If Al-Jazeerah reporters ferry weapons and money to Palestinian terrorists, then what do they do for Iraqi terrorists?)

Diplomats: Iran Plans New Reactor in June

GUARDIAN: Diplomats: Iran Plans New Reactor in June

Iran will start building a nuclear reactor in June that can produce weapons-grade plutonium, diplomats said Wednesday. Although Tehran insists the heavy water facility is for research, the decision heightens concern about its nuclear ambitions.

One diplomat said the planned 40-megawatt reactor could produce enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon each year, an amount experts commonly say is 8.8 pounds.

The diplomats told The Associated Press that Iran informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency last year of its plans to build a reactor, and Iranian officials have previously suggested the reactor was already being built.

But the diplomats said construction had not yet begun and that Iranian officials announced the June start date for the first time during talks Tuesday in Tehran with Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.

Greece 'guarantees' safe Olympics

JERUSALEM POST: Greece ‘guarantees’ safe Olympics

Greece’s prime minister promised Wednesday to hold safe and successful Olympics despite “choking deadlines” in construction and admissions by his ministers of delays in security preparations at two key sites.

“Not a single hour can be wasted,” Premier Costas Caramanlis said in an interview with a magazine issued by organizers of the Aug. 13-29 Games. “Everyone knows that four months before the Olympic Games we are facing chocking deadlines.”

But he added: “I want to be clear, our main concern and highest priority in Olympic preparations is to secure the complete safety of the country, of athletes and visitors … Greece will guarantee safe games.”

Court frees only Sept. 11 suspect ever convicted

JERUSALEM POST: Court frees only Sept. 11 suspect ever convicted

The only September 11 suspect ever convicted was freed by a Hamburg court Wednesday pending the outcome of his retrial on charges of aiding the suicide pilots.

Mounir El Motassadeq, 30, has been serving a maximum 15-year prison term in Hamburg since a court in the city convicted him in February 2003 of giving logistical help to the Hamburg al-Qaida cell that included three of the September 11 pilots.

He was ordered freed on condition that he stay in Hamburg and not be issued a new passport, said Sabine Westphalen, spokeswoman for the Hamburg state court.

10 years after Rwanda genocide, Annan unveils plan to stop future massacres

UN NEWS: 10 years after Rwanda genocide, Annan unveils plan to stop future massacres

Ten years after more than 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by their fellow countrymen, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today unveiled a five-point plan for the United Nations to prevent future genocides while calling particular attention to the crisis unfolding now in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Addressing the Geneva-based UN Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Annan voiced his “grave concern” over reported human rights abuses in Darfur, citing a recent warning by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the area.

“Such reports leave me with a deep sense of foreboding,” said the Secretary-General. “Whatever terms it uses to describe the situation, the international community cannot stand idle.”

…

In an attempt to establish a mechanism for an “early and clear warning” about potential genocides, the Secretary-General noted his decision to appoint a Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, who will report through him to the Security Council and the General Assembly, as well as the Commission.

The adviser will work closely with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect information on potential or existing situations or threats of genocide, he said, serve as an early-warning mechanism to the Security Council and other parts of the UN system, and make recommendations to the Council on actions to be taken to prevent or halt genocide.

Read the entire article for more details.

(Based on the UNHCHR’s track record, which country do you think will be the first to be condemned and singled out for application of the “five steps” ?)

U.S. caution against including Hamas in leadership

HAARETZ: PA rejects U.S. caution against including Hamas in leadership

The Palestinian Authority of Wednesday rejected a warning by the United States administration against inviting Hamas to join a unified leadership group.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told the Israeil Itim news agency that the U.S. has no authority to intervene in internal Palestinian matters. He added that the Americans should be giving the Palestinians guarantees that if Israel does indeed withdraw from the Gaza Strip, under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan, the pullout will be part of the U.S.-backed road map.

The U.S. said Tuesday it opposes any cooperation with the militant Palestinian organization.

Al Qaeda Gives Spanish Socialists Their Marching Orders

Via IraqNet Information Network:

- - - - - - -

SPAIN will suffer terrible new attacks that would make “blood flow like rivers” unless it pulls its forces out of Iraq, according to a letter purportedly written by an al-Qaeda-linked group.

Spanish authorities revealed on Sunday night that the Ansar group had contacted the Spanish newspaper ABC the previous evening demanding Spain announces the withdrawal of troops from both Iraq and Afghanistan by the following day.

If not, the fax said, “there will be more killings” and the country would be turned “into hell”.

As the nation began a week of religious processions in the run-up to Easter, this new threat could not be better timed to cause maximum fear and unrest.

Ansar - who claimed responsibility for the 11 March bombings in Madrid - has a history of striking during holiday periods and using suicide bombers in crowds.

- - - - - - -

EU: money laundering enables continued terrorism

JERUSALEM POST: EU: money laundering enables continued terrorism

Gaps in the fight against money laundering remain in several European countries nearly three years after they agreed to joint action to fight crime and terrorism, the European Union’s head office warned on Tuesday.

The 25 EU leaders last month listed the money laundering decision as one of a half dozen measures with “a decisive role to play in combatting terrorist activities” in Europe.

However, the European Commission said in an interim report that “a number of member states still have a long way to go” to fully implement the June 26, 2001, framework.

“There are so many different problems country by country,” said Commission spokesman Pietro Petrucci. But he denied any “major concern” that the gaps could undermine counterterrorism efforts.

(Never mind the direct payments from the EU to organizations which them reallocate charitable funds towards terrorism and the luxuries enjoyed by the wives of its leadership in Paris.)

Haiti Arrests Ex-Aristide Minister Over Massacre

REUTERS: Haiti Arrests Ex-Aristide Minister Over Massacre

Haiti arrested the former interior minister of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Tuesday on charges of coordinating a massacre during a bloody revolt that toppled the government, the new justice minister said.

Former Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert surrendered to police early Tuesday after an arrest warrant was issued, becoming the first minister of Aristide’s fallen government to be detained.

The arrest came the day after Secretary of State Colin Powell visited the poorest country in the Americas to pledge U.S. support for the interim government — which has been criticized by rights groups for failing to arrest rebels accused of rights abuses.

“He surrendered himself this morning,” Justice Minister Bernard Gousse told Reuters, declining to comment when asked if arrest warrants had been issued for other members of exiled Aristide’s cabinet. “It would be counterproductive to go into that at this time.”

(Hans Blix has yet to say whether Haitians are better off after the removal of Aristide than before.)

Amr Moussa: Arab summit in Tunisia in May

JERUSALEM POST: Amr Moussa: Arab summit in Tunisia in May

Amr Moussa told the London-based Arab newspaper al-Hayat that the Arab summit postponed by Tunisia last week is likely to be held in Tunisia in mid-May.

Meanwhile, the Japanese foreign office said that Moussa has cancelled a planned trip to Japan due to meetings being held in Arab capitals, reported Army Radio Tuesday.

Tunisia said it postponed the summit because of differences between Arab states over dealing with the US-backed Greater Middle East Initiative, a reform plan that has been met with strong opposition from Middle Eastern leaders.

An example of the obfuscating perspective from the Times of Oman: “Arab Disunity Is the Enemies’ Strongest Weapon”

UN inspector: Iran to stop building centrifuges

JERUSALEM POST: UN inspector: Iran to stop building centrifuges

Iran will stop building and assembling centrifuges for uranium enrichment this week, the country’s nuclear chief said Tuesday after a meeting with the chief UN weapons inspector.

Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the country would “voluntarily” suspend its centrifuge work starting April 9.

Jordan to execute eight for death of US officials

Jordan to execute eight for death of US officials

Jordan’s military court convicted eight Muslim militants and sentenced them to death for the 2002 killing of a US aid official in a terror conspiracy linked to al-Qaida.

The court also handed down jail terms ranging from six to 15 years for two other men convicted in the conspiracy, which began with the killing of Laurence Foley, 60, an Amman-based administrator for the US Agency for International Development. Foley was gunned down outside his Amman home on Oct. 28, 2002.

Report: Saudi Security Forces Surround Militants

REUTERS: Report: Saudi Security Forces Surround Militants

Saudi security forces surrounded a group of wanted militants in the capital Riyadh on Monday after a shootout, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite television reported.

There was no immediate confirmation from officials but residents told Reuters heavy gunfire had been heard in the eastern district of Rawda.

Egyptian FM Maher hospitalized

JERUSALEM POST: Egyptian FM Maher hospitalized

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher postponed on Monday his upcoming visit to Washington after being hospitalized with heart trouble.

Al Messa newspaper, a pro-government daily, reported Maher was hospitalized Sunday night with heart problems. A doctor at Wadi el-Nil Hospital, who would not give his name, confirmed the report to The Associated Press. He would not elaborate.

Al Messa did not provide details on the nature of the heart trouble, but said Maher had “fully improved” after receiving treatment. It said he was in stable condition and would be released Tuesday.

(Ahmed Maher recently offered to wage war on Israel for $100 billion. The United States sends $2 billion a year in foreign and military to Egypt.)

Court allows barrier construction near Jerusalem to go ahead

MAARIV: Court allows barrier construction near Jerusalem to go ahead

The High Court of Justice has ruled to renew the construction work on the security barrier in large sections around Jerusalem, after rejecting a petition to issue another court order to halt the work.

Posted by Laurence Simon at 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Court acquits settler of belonging to Bat Ayin terror cell

HA‘ARETZ: Court acquits settler of belonging to Bat Ayin terror cell

The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday acquitted Zuriel Amior, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Adi Ad, of belonging to a Jewish terror cell.
Amior was charged with helping prepare an explosive device used in an attempted attack on an East Jerusalem girls’ school in April 2002.

The three judges unanimously agreed to acquit Amior as there was more than a reasonable doubt that he was not involved in the attack, even though three of his fingerprints were found on the device.

EU terror-funding report under attack

AP: EU terror-funding report under attack

The European Union’s failure to find evidence linking its funds with terrorist activity supported by the Palestinian Authority has angered at least one member of the investigatory committee, who on Friday called a newly released report on the matter “a partial whitewash.”

“The Working Group Majority Report has chosen to ignore signed payment orders by [Palestinian Authority] Chairman Yasser Arafat to the tune of $39,000 to people linked to terrorist activities or their families on the basis that these are circumstantial evidence only and do not prove anything, as payment cannot actually have been shown to have taken place,” said British European Parliament Member Charles Tannock, who was part of the probe.

“I still believe that, of the money we handed over, some of it, directly or indirectly, ended up where it wasn’t intended to end up,” said Tannock, who co-authored the minority report. He fears it was given to terrorists, families of suicide bombers, or was taken for Arafat’s family’s personal use.

PLF elects successor to dead leader

JERUSALEM POST: PLF elects successor to dead leader

The Palestine Liberation Front, the terrorist group once backed by Saddam Hussein, said Saturday that it has elected a new leader to succeed Mohammed Abbas, the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijack ringleader who died in US military custody in Iraq last month.

The group issued a statement, which was obtained by The Associated Press in Lebanon, saying its central committee unanimously elected PLF second-in-charge Omar Shibli, also known as Abu Ahmed Halab, to replace Abbas, better known as Abul Abbas.

It gave no further details.

Jordanians seek al Qaida members planning attacks

Follow-up to Jordanian terror story…

JERUSALEM POST: Jordanians seek al Qaida members planning attacks

Searches for two explosives-laden vehicles and another carrying three suspected terrorists continue in Jordan, reported Army Radio Friday.

The Jordanian A-Rai newspaper reported Friday that the three are connected to al Qaida and plan to perpetrate attacks on government offices, hotels, embassies, TV and radio stations in the capital.

The three, Suleiman Darwish, Azmi Jaiousi and Mwaffaq Odwan, are reportedly on orders from an al Qaida senior operative – Mussav el Zarkawi – a Jordanian by origin also responsible for attacks against Americans in Iraq.