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Pakistan praised India response on Mumbai attacks: WikiLeaks

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 10:56 am

A Pakistan High Commission official praised India for acting “responsibly and maturely” following the Mumbai terror attacks which killed 166 people, according to US official cables released by WikiLeaks.

A fire breaks out of the dome of the Taj hotel in Mumbai, 2008.

The official, whose name was deleted in the confidential cable, made the comments when contrasting New Delhi’s reaction to the Mumbai attacks to its response after the bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul in July 2008.


The cable, dated December 1, 2008 and signed by then US envoy David C. Mulford, spoke of strong demands in the Indian media for retaliatory action against terror camps in Pakistan after Mumbai.


It quoted the Pakistani official as saying the Indian government’s reaction to the embassy bombing was “impulsive and politically motivated” when it swiftly blamed Pakistan’s intelligence agency.


More than 40 people, including India’s military attache and a diplomat, were killed in the July 2008 attack on the embassy in Kabul, while 166 people died in the Mumbai attacks by Islamist gunmen in November 2008.


According to the Pakistan officer, the negative effects of the Mumbai attacks on ties between the nuclear-armed rivals, who have fought three wars, would “fizzle out over the next few months”, the cable said.


The concluding comment on the Mumbai attacks by the US Embassy was: “No Military Confrontation Anticipated”.


India is still pressing Pakistan to bring to justice the alleged masterminds of the attacks in which 10 Islamist gunmen attacked a host of targets including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and the train station.


Nine of the gunmen were killed and the sole survivor, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was condemned to death by a Mumbai court in May. He is challenging the sentence.


Seven suspects in Pakistan including the alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Zarar Shah have been put on trial in the country, but none has yet been convicted.

Source: SGGP

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WikiLeaks chief Assange fears US charges

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 10:27 am

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said it was “increasingly likely” the US would try to extradite him on charges related to leaked cables as he savoured his first day on bail.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (C) holds up a copy of Britain’s Guardian newspaper as he addreses media in the grounds of Ellingham Hall in Norfolk, eastern England, on December 17, 2010.

Speaking Friday outside Ellingham Hall, a friend’s mansion in eastern England, where he must live while on bail, Assange said he was concerned about potential moves from US authorities.


“The big risk, the risk we have always been concerned about, is onwards extradition to the United States. And that seems to be increasingly serious and increasingly likely,” the Australian told reporters.


The 39-year-old founder of the whistle-blowing website is fighting extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he sexually assaulted two women, which he denies.


But Assange said his lawyers believed a secret US grand jury investigation had been started into his role in WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables — a probe he condemned as “illegal”.


Looking relaxed, he said the mansion was a “big improvement” on the London jail where he was held in solitary confinement for nine days before his release on bail Thursday.


Media reports suggest that US prosecutors are trying to build a case against Assange on the grounds that he encouraged a US soldier, Bradley Manning, to steal US cables from a government computer and pass them to WikiLeaks.


Assange said: “I would say that there is a very aggressive investigation, that a lot of face has been lost by some people, and some people have careers to make by pursuing famous cases.”


He said WikiLeaks had pledged 50,000 dollars (38,000 euros) towards Manning’s legal fund.


But he told ABC television in the US that “I had never heard of the name Bradley Manning before it was published in the press.


“WikiLeaks technology (was) designed from the very beginning to make sure that we never know the identities or names of people submitting us material.”


Meanwhile, the Pentagon defended itself against allegations that Manning was being kept in harsh conditions in a military brig at the Quantico Marine base, Virginia, where he has been placed under a maximum security regimen.


Manning was in solitary confinement because he was considered a national security risk, said prison spokesman First Lieutenant Brian Villiard.


“What I will tell you is that he is not treated any differently than any other maximum confinement detainee,” he said.


In interviews with British media, Assange said Manning “is the only one of our military sources who has been accused and that means that he is in a difficult position.”


Meanwhile, in Washington a report by congressional researchers said the Espionage Act and other US laws could be used to prosecute Assange, but there is no known precedent for prosecuting publishers in such a case.


“Leaks of classified information to the press have only rarely been punished as crimes, and we are aware of no case in which a publisher of information obtained through unauthorized disclosure by a government employee has been prosecuted for publishing it,” the report said.


On the Swedish case against him, Assange, a former computer hacker, claimed it was part of a “smear campaign” linked to WikiLeaks. But Swedish prosecutors deny their case is related to WikiLeaks.


Assange’s supporters have put up a 240,000-pound (283,000-euro, 374,000-dollar) surety to ensure he does not flee the country.


He has also been electronically tagged, is subject to a curfew and must report daily to a police station near the mansion in picturesque Suffolk.


The mansion is owned by Vaughan Smith, a former army officer and journalist who founded the Frontline Club in London, which acts as WikiLeaks’ British base.


Assange has vowed the allegations against him will not stop WikiLeaks from releasing further documents.


“People like to present Wikileaks as just me and my backpack — it is not true. We’re a large organisation,” he told reporters Friday.


The latest US cables released by WikiLeaks showed that the former New Zealand Labour Party government led by Helen Clark courted China and France in an attempt to curb American and Australian influence in the Pacific.


They also indicated that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir siphoned off nine billion dollars (6.79 billion euros) of oil money into British bank accounts.


Meanwhile, according to yet another cable, the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, said last year the world should focus on climate change in Tibet rather than politics as environmental problems in his Himalayan homeland were more pressing.
 

Source: SGGP

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Russians protest Kremlin time zone plan

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 10:27 am

Several dozen people on the Russian Pacific coast on Saturday rallied against a Kremlin plan to cut the number of time zones to further the sprawling country’s economic integration.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delivers a speech as he presents the Federal Security Service flag in Moscow on December 17, 2010.

President Dmitry Medvedev surprised the country last year when during his state-of the-nation address he suggested cutting the number of time zones in order to improve coordination across Russia.


At the time of his announcement, the country spanned 11 time zones from Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea to Chukotka on the Bering Sea and earlier this year the number of time zones fell to nine.


Under the Kremlin plan, the country’s Primorye region on the Pacific is to go from being seven hours ahead of Moscow to six next year after Medvedev’s initiative was rubber-stamped by a local legislature.


Most local residents are however unhappy about the move which would mean reduced hours of daylight in the evening and several dozen campaigners including from opposition parties gathered in central Vladivostok to protest against the plan.


Some of the slogans spotted at the rally read “We are not vampires. We do not want to live at night” and “The president’s message: outrun and outdo time.”


In nearby Sakhalin region, which is also seven hours ahead of Moscow, campaigners have already collected several thousand signatures against the Kremlin initiative.


Medvedev has said eliminating time zones could help the residents of some remote Russian regions but critics have derided his idea as silly and proof that he is a weak leader incapable of implementing substantive reforms.


Russia was divided into 11 time zones in 1919. The Soviet Union introduced daylight saving in 1981 and it has continued ever since.


The elimination of the time zone will be accomplished by having residents not set their clocks forward when Russia switches to daylight savings time in March.


Galina Medvedeva, a deputy representing the Communist party in the local legislature, said at the protest the plan did not take people’s opinion into account.


“If they cancel switching from summer to winter time then it will be getting dark in our region virtually in the middle of the day,” she added.


The remote region bordering China has tight economic ties with Asia and its residents often scoff at the Kremlin’s initiatives, their independent streak sometimes manifesting itself in mass rallies unseen in central Russia.


In 2008, authorities had to dispatch riot police all the way from Moscow to break up a protest against higher tariffs on used imported cars.

Source: SGGP

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Preval agrees not to release Haiti vote count: OAS

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 10:26 am

Haitian President Rene Preval has agreed not to release final results of the impoverished country’s disputed elections until after consultations with members of the Organization of American States, an official told AFP.

The candidates in Haiti’s presidential election.

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza “spoke with President Preval today and requested a delay of the announcement of the final results of the elections,” assistant secretary general Albert Ramdin told AFP on Friday.


After the call from the OAS, Preval “agreed that he would ask the (Provisional Electoral Council, CEP) not to announce any results for now, until the OAS can help with the clarification process,” Ramdin said.


The Haiti electoral commission has said it will review the results of the presidential elections released earlier this month after Preval’s handpicked candidate Jude Celestin defied predictions to win a place in a run-off vote.


“We will see if everybody agrees these terms of reference, then start the process of clarification and recount,” Ramdin said.


It was also important to not “only focus on the electoral aspect but also on creating momentum for political acceptance of the final outcome of the clarification process,” he added.


The CEP previously has set a December 20 deadline to announce final election results.


The electoral commission plans a recount of tally sheets in the presence of the three main candidates, although popular singer Michel Martelly — ousted in the first round — and Mirlande Manigat — a former first lady who topped the poll — have refused to take part.


Manigat meanwhile Friday said she welcomed a second round in the poll but not with three or more candidates, a possibility that was raised earlier this week by French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie.


Ramdin on Wednesday visited Haiti after Preval asked for the OAS to set up a mission to help in the recount, which he said could be ready by early next week.


However, Ramdin said the special mission was not prepared to travel to Haiti unless the final election results were delayed.


“There’s no sense in clarifying the election results if those results are made final,” he said.


Ramdin also said the special mission “can only be successful if it is given access to all the information and an independent report is guaranteed.”


The OAS official said that over the weekend Celestin, Manigat and Martelly would be consulted to see if an agreement can be reached on how the recount is to be carried out.


Once an agreement is reached, he added, the recount will begin.


Martelly, who lost the number 2 spot in the November 28 polls by a mere 7,000 votes, on Wednesday warned that his supporters could “take to the streets” to protest what he insists were flawed election results,


“I’m telling you, if they come back to us with bad solutions, the people are going to take to the streets,” he told AFP.


The singer called this week for a re-run of the entire vote, with all 18 candidates taking part in the do-over, and the victor claiming Haiti’s presidency.


UN peacekeepers in riot gear had to restore order in major cities last week after at least five people were killed in politically charged riots, but the streets of Port-au-Prince have been calm since Friday.


Haiti’s chaotic election was carried out amid widespread allegations of fraud and the disenfranchisement of thousands of quake survivors and slum dwellers, who either couldn’t get the necessary papers to vote or weren’t on the register.


 

Source: SGGP

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S.Korea to go ahead with fire drill despite N.Korea threat

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 10:26 am

South Korea’s military said Saturday it would go ahead with a live-fire drill on a border island bombarded by North Korea last month, despite the North’s threat to strike back again with deadlier firepower.

A South Korean Navy vessel berths at a Movement Sea Base (MSB) off the South Korea-controlled island of Yeonpyeong near the disputed waters of the Yellow Sea on December 17, 2010.

But an AFP photographer on Yeonpyeong island said the atmosphere was calm and a media report said the one-day training exercise — scheduled for sometime between Saturday and Tuesday — may be delayed till next week.


“There is no change in our stance with regards to the live-fire exercise,” a defence ministry spokesman told AFP. “We cannot confirm… whether we will carry out the exercise today.”


The North threatened Friday to “deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow” if the artillery exercise goes ahead.


“It will be deadlier than what was made on November 23 in terms of the powerfulness and sphere of the strike,” it said.


Pyongyang disputes the Yellow Sea border drawn after the 1950-53 war and claims the waters around Yeonpyeong and other frontline islands as its own maritime territory.


The November 23 bombardment killed two marines and two civilians and damaged dozens of homes. It came after a firing drill into the sea by South Korean marines based on the island.


The North’s latest warning sharply raised the stakes in the regional crisis.


Russia urged South Korea not to go ahead with the exercise and China, the North’s sole major ally, said it opposed any action that would raise tensions.


Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned South Korea’s ambassador Yu Woo-Ik Friday afternoon to express concern at the planned drill, Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.


South Korea, outraged at the first shelling of civilian areas since the war, has fortified Yeonpyeong with more troops and artillery and vowed to use air power against any future attack.


Its military has said artillery will be aimed away from the North as usual during the upcoming drill, but it would respond strongly if provoked.


But a military source quoted by Yonhap said the firing might be delayed a day or two.


“Weather conditions are the most important factor in deciding the time for a drill. Early next week will be the most likely time to hold it because the weather should improve,” the source said.


Asked why weather was a factor, a military spokesman cited comments by a government source in Chosun Ilbo newspaper.


“The live-fire exercise itself will end in 1-2 hours, but since we have to prepare for North Korea’s provocation afterwards, there is a good possibility the exercise will be delayed to when the weather is good all day long,” the source was quoted as saying.


“It is highly likely that the drill will be held early next week.”


The South’s close ally the United States plans to send some 20 US soldiers to play a supporting role in the drill.


State Department spokesman Philip Crowley Friday again defended the South’s right to hold the drill in the face of North Korea’s “ongoing provocations”.


But he said Washington trusts that the South “will be very cautious in terms of what it does”.


Pyongyang’s disclosure last month of an apparently working uranium enrichment plant — a potential new source of bomb-making material — has also heightened regional security fears.


The North’s website Uriminzokkiri said the drill could spark nuclear war.


“It is clear if war breaks out again in this land, a grave nuclear disaster will take place which will bear no comparison to the Korean War.”


US troubleshooter Bill Richardson said he urged North Korean officials during his current visit to Pyongyang to let the South go ahead with the drill.


“I’m urging them extreme restraint,” the New Mexico governor told CNN, saying he was “very, very strong with foreign ministry officials” during a dinner on Friday.


“I think I made a little headway,” Richardson said. “My sense from the North Koreans is that they are trying to find ways to tamp things down.”


Analyst Andrei Lankov said that for the first time in decades, a new war appeared to be a distinct probability.


Lankov, a professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University, said the Pyongyang regime seemed determined to escalate provocations, and South Korean society was in “unusually bellicose mood” after the last Yeonpyeong attack.


But in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine, Lankov said “the hard truth is that restraint is the only option for South Korea”.

Source: SGGP

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Two Chinese missing after clash with S.Korea coast guard

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 9:57 am

Two Chinese fishermen are missing and another is in a critical condition after their trawler collided with a South Korean coastguard ship Saturday and capsized, officials said.

South Korean Coast Guard patrols near a group of disputed islets.

Four coastguard officers were also injured as they tried to arrest the crew of the Chinese boat for illegal fishing off South Korea’s Eocheong island in the Yellow Sea.


The Chinese fishermen attacked the Korean officers with iron pipes and clubs, the Yonhap news agency quoted the coastguard as saying.


The 63-ton Chinese boat capsized after it collided with the 3,000-ton coastguard ship, leaving two of its crew members missing. Eight other Chinese were rescued but one was in a coma and taken to hospital by helicopter.


Eight boats and four helicopters were searching for the missing.


Illegal Chinese fishing is common in South Korean waters. In 2008 a South Korean coast guard officer was attacked and drowned while trying to inspect a Chinese boat operating illegally.


 

Source: SGGP

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Putin calls embattled doctor in show of support

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 9:56 am

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called an embattled doctor who is under pressure after his complaints of “window-dressing” unleashed a torrent of criticism, his spokesman said on Saturday.


The powerful Russian prime minister called cardiologist Ivan Khrenov on his mobile phone late Friday in a show of support, his spokesman told AFP.


“So are they putting the squeeze on you?” the premier asked the doctor in remarks confirmed by his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.


“Well, you do not worry, we will not leave you in the lurch. Call us if anything,” Putin told the doctor.


Khrenov, a young cardiologist from the central Russian town of Ivanovo, has become a reluctant national celebrity after he complained about “window dressing” at local hospitals during Putin’s recent visit.


He told Putin during a live call-in show this week that officials had told doctors to lie about their salaries. He also said medical equipment had been temporarily brought to a regional hospital from elsewhere.


Officials vehemently denied the accusations, with Ivanovo region governor Mikhail Men saying equipment like a CT scan could not have been removed from other hospitals simply because it is too big.


The General Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday the doctor’s report was being verified and local prosecutors said they planned to call in Khrenov for questioning.


Putin has expressed bewilderment at the report and said it had to be thoroughly checked.


Anecdotal evidence regularly emerges in Russia that local officials thoroughly prepare for Putin’s visits and often take it to extremes in order to please the top boss.


His marathon call-in show was seen as a reaffirmation of his status as the true Russian number one, even after handing the presidency to his protege Dmitry Medvedev in 2008.


Speculation is buzzing that he may be planning to return as head of state in 2012 elections.


 

Source: SGGP

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China, Pakistan to formalise 10 billion dollar deals

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 9:56 am

China and Pakistan are set to conclude another 10 billion dollars’ worth of deals on Saturday, the latest signings on a trade-focused trip to South Asia by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.


Business leaders are scheduled to formalise the deals — adding to the 20 billion dollars’ worth of deals inked Friday — at Islamabad’s five-star Marriott Hotel, where a huge suicide truck bomb killed 60 people in 2008.


Boosting trade and investment have been the main focus of the first visit in five years by a Chinese premier to the nuclear-armed Muslim nation on the front line of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda.


Pakistan regards China as its closest ally and the deals are seen locally as incredibly important to a moribund economy, which was dealt a massive blow by catastrophic flooding this year and suffers from sluggish foreign investment.


The Islamabad city administration declared Saturday a public holiday, apparently for security reasons with the country on full-time alert for suicide attacks and bombings blamed on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.


Wen inaugurated a cultural centre built as a monument to Pakistani-Chinese friendship, and was to hold talks with the country’s opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and senior figures in the military, which depends on China for hardware.


The 35-million-dollar Pakistan-China Friendship Centre offers the Pakistani capital a conference venue, theatre, cinema and space for multiple events.


Young Pakistani girls dressed traditionally and waving the flags of both countries danced for Wen and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, before Wen kissed one of them on the cheek and posed for photographs.


Wen said Chinese medics will provide 1,000 Pakistani patients with free cataract surgery next year to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.


“China-Pakistan friendship will last forever,” he told a ceremony commemorating Chinese workers who died in the 1970s while building the Karakoram Highway, the main road to the Chinese border through the Himalayas.


After the business leaders’ meeting, President Asif Ali Zardari is to host a state banquet late Saturday. Wen addresses a special joint session of parliament early Sunday before leaving.


Pakistani Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the countries signed 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding on Friday in fields ranging from energy to railways, from reconstruction to agriculture and culture.


Kaira said China had promised to fund “all the energy projects of Pakistan,” which he termed a “major breakthrough”. Pakistan suffers from a debilitating energy crisis and produces only 80 percent of the electricity it needs.


“China will provide assistance in 36 projects in Pakistan to be completed in five years,” he said. “Basically this is a five-year development plan.”


Although not specifically mentioned, behind-the-scenes talks are expected on China building a one-gigawatt nuclear power plant as part of Pakistani plans to produce 8,000 megawatts of electricity by 2025 to make up its energy shortfall.


“The outcome of the visit is beyond our expectations. It is an historic day,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Beijing Masood Khan said Friday.


Pakistan depends on China’s financial and political clout to offset the perceived threat from rival India and rescue its economy from the doldrums of catastrophic flooding, a severe energy crisis and poor foreign investment.


Pakistan’s prime minister has expressed hope that trade will rise to between 15 and 18 billion dollars over the next five years.


China, meanwhile, has been concerned about the threat of Islamist militants infiltrating its territory from Pakistan.


Before arriving in Islamabad, Wen visited India, where he and his 400-strong delegation inked deals that will see bilateral trade double to 100 billion dollars a year by 2015.

Source: SGGP

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Northern mountains get rare ice and snow

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 9:27 am

Affected by a strong cold front, temperatures in northern mountainous provinces on December 17 have continued to fall. This has cause ice and snow to appear in the areas, said the National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Centre.

Tourists take pictures of ice-covered grass on top of Mau Son Mountain, northern Lang Son Province. (Photo:VNA)

The cold spell has been accompanied by thick fog, which has caused traffic delays.

According to Ha Van Tien, director of Lang Son Province’s Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Centre, daytime temperatures are only 7-10 degrees Celsius and ice has appeared on the top of Mau Son Mountain, in Lang Son Province’s Loc Binh District.

The temperature on the 1,541 meter mountain in Mau Son Commune fell to -0.8 degrees Celsius on December 16.

Luu Minh Hai deputy director of Lao Cai Province’s Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Centre, said ice and snow have been reported to be on trees on the Fansipan Mountain. Temperatures on the mountain have fallen to zero degrees Celsius. In addition, temperatures in Sapa in Lao Cai Province fell to a chilly 2.7 degrees.


Temperature in Cao Bang Province is less than 10 degree Celsius, but other areas only 5-8 degrees Celsius.


The provinces authorities have asked that schools are to be close, if the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius.


According to the National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Centre, the cold front from the north has spread into southern Vietnam and it is forecast that the weather will turn much colder from December 18.


Meanwhile, the cold front has caused medium to heavy rains and it is extremely cold in the northern region, said the weather centre.


Related articles:


Cold front lashes central region
Central region to experience downpour, colder weather
Southern region to turn cold

Source: SGGP

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Vietnam not found any baby bottles with BPA

In Uncategorized on December 18, 2010 at 9:27 am

The Ministry of Health’s Food Hygiene and Safety Department of Vietnam on December 17 announced that it has not found baby bottles containing bisphenol-A (BPA), which is a hormone-altering agent.

A woman uses a baby bottle to feed her newborn son. (Photo:AFP)

Earlier, the department had collected samples from baby bottles and food packing plastics for testing.


According to Nguyen Thanh Phong, deputy director of the Food Hygiene and Safety Department, BPA is an industrial chemical used in making plastics in most reusable food drink containers and baby bottles.


Vietnam authorities have detected a permissible bisphenol-A (BPA) level in the plastic bottles sold across the country.


Vietnam is applying the decision 46/2007/QĐ – BYT, which allows BPA to be at 2.5mg per kilogram of material.


A recent market survey in Vietnam showed that concerned parents in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are switching to bottles imported from Korea, England and Germany. These countries advertise that their bottles are ‘BPA free’. In addition, parents are also turning to glass bottles. Although heavier and more expensive, as compared to the plastic ones, glass bottles are probably much safer.


Nguyen Cong Khan, from the Ministry of Health, said that mothers should breastfeed their child as this can ensure better protection and enhance the immune system of the child.


In November, the European Community (EU) banned baby bottles containing the chemical BPA. This was due to fears that BPA might be harmful to the health of a child. The population of the EU is half a billion people.


The ban will see the manufacture of polycarbonate infant feeding bottles that have BPA, outlawed from March 1st 2011. In addition, from June 1st, 2011, the importation and sale of plastics bottles that contain BPA will be prohibited into the European Community.

Source: SGGP