Pakistan's first woman suicide bomber on Saturday targeted a UN aid distribution centre in the volatile tribal belt in the country's northwest, killing 46 people and injuring over 70 others.The bomber,who was clad in a burqa, lobbed a grenade and then detonated her explosives when she was stopped at a checkpoint near a World Food Programme centre in Khar, the headquarters of Bajaur tribal region.Bajaur Agency's tehsildar Sohail Khan confirmed that the attack was carried out by a woman."The bomber was a woman who detonated her suicide vest when she was stopped by security personnel for a search," Khan said.
A woman scream before the explosives went off.There have been instances of male bombers disguising themselves in a burqa but no women have been involved in the scores of suicide attacks witnessed across Pakistan over the past three years.Forty-one people were killed instantly and five more succumbed to their injuries in hospitals in Khar and Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Over 70 people were injured and those in a serious condition were airlifted to Peshawar. Women, children and aged men were among the dead and injured, officials said.Hundreds of people displaced or affected by an anti-Taliban operation launched by the army had gathered at the UN food agency's centre in Khar to receive aid at the time of the attack.Most of the victims were members of the Salarzai tribe, which backed the army's offensive against Taliban and formed a 'lashkar' or militia to flush militants out of Bajaur.
Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mohmand Agency claimed responsibility of the attack and warned to carry out more attacks to avenge the drone strikes.Over 70 people were injured and those in a serious condition were airlifted to Peshawar. Women, children and aged men were among the dead and injured, officials said.Hundreds of people displaced or affected by an anti-Taliban operation launched by the army had gathered at the UN food agency's centre in Khar to receive aid at the time of the attack.Most of the victims were members of the Salarzai tribe, which backed the army's offensive against Taliban and formed a 'lashkar' or militia to flush militants out of Bajaur.
Local media said that around 300 people displaced during fight against militancy in the area were present at the WFP office to receive food and rations when the attack took place Official sources said that WFP office was delivering food to 600 to 700 local people daily.Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, who claimed responsibility for the attack in Bajaur, though did not verify involvement of female suicide bomber, yet he claimed that they had dozens of trained women, who were ready to lay down their lives.Reports DAWN
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
South Korea starts new drill
23.12.2010 08:41:49 Nksagar Sagar Media Inc:
South Korea's military launched a major live-fire drill involving tanks, artillery and jet fighters, in a show of strength staged one month after North Korea's deadly attack on a border island:
Washington expressed support for the live-fire exercise by its ally, the second this week, but Pyongyang criticised the South's "puppet warmongers".The one-hour live-fire exercise at Pocheon, 30 kms south of the tense land border with North Korea, began at 2.43 pm (0543 GMT), a defence ministry spokesman said.It is the largest ground-air joint fire drill this year.Some 800 troops are taking part along with 30 K-1 tanks, 11 K-200 armoured personnel carriers, two F-15K jets, four KF-16 jets, 36 K-9 artillery pieces, three multiple long-range rockets, four 500MD helicopters, three AH-1S Cobra helicopters, and other equipment.
The navy is also conducting a four-day exercise off the east coast, which began on Wednesday.The South says its drills are defensive, but tensions have been high on the peninsula since the North shelled a South Korean island near the contested western sea border on 23rd November.The North said its shelling was in response to a live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong island.
The South said it had been staging such artillery exercises for 37 years and the North was seeking a pretext to attack.Seoul staged a repeat drill on the same island on Monday, backed up by jet fighters and warships, but the North did not follow through with threats to hit back.Some analysts said Seoul's show of force deterred the North.Others said the hardline regime had been told by close ally China to exercise restraint before a visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao starting on 19th January.
The South's military invited students and other civilians to watch the exercise."We are facing a crisis because of North Korea, so I came to see this air and ground operation," Kim Tae-Dong, a 70-year-old Internet businessman, told a pool reporter.
"I want to feel and see the level of South Korea's armed forces," Kim said.The North's official news agency said the South's claims that the drills are routine were an attempt "to conceal the provocative and offensive nature of the exercises."
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South Korea's military launched a major live-fire drill involving tanks, artillery and jet fighters, in a show of strength staged one month after North Korea's deadly attack on a border island:
Washington expressed support for the live-fire exercise by its ally, the second this week, but Pyongyang criticised the South's "puppet warmongers".The one-hour live-fire exercise at Pocheon, 30 kms south of the tense land border with North Korea, began at 2.43 pm (0543 GMT), a defence ministry spokesman said.It is the largest ground-air joint fire drill this year.Some 800 troops are taking part along with 30 K-1 tanks, 11 K-200 armoured personnel carriers, two F-15K jets, four KF-16 jets, 36 K-9 artillery pieces, three multiple long-range rockets, four 500MD helicopters, three AH-1S Cobra helicopters, and other equipment.
The navy is also conducting a four-day exercise off the east coast, which began on Wednesday.The South says its drills are defensive, but tensions have been high on the peninsula since the North shelled a South Korean island near the contested western sea border on 23rd November.The North said its shelling was in response to a live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong island.
The South said it had been staging such artillery exercises for 37 years and the North was seeking a pretext to attack.Seoul staged a repeat drill on the same island on Monday, backed up by jet fighters and warships, but the North did not follow through with threats to hit back.Some analysts said Seoul's show of force deterred the North.Others said the hardline regime had been told by close ally China to exercise restraint before a visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao starting on 19th January.
The South's military invited students and other civilians to watch the exercise."We are facing a crisis because of North Korea, so I came to see this air and ground operation," Kim Tae-Dong, a 70-year-old Internet businessman, told a pool reporter.
"I want to feel and see the level of South Korea's armed forces," Kim said.The North's official news agency said the South's claims that the drills are routine were an attempt "to conceal the provocative and offensive nature of the exercises."
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Sagar Media Inc
Clinton teletalk Krishna nullify Wikileaks
India and the US today discussed the status of various initiatives announced during the visit of President Barack Obama a month ago, apart from deliberating on the situation in Afghanistan.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and had a nearly 40-minute discussion during which both reviewed the situation in the region, including in Afghanistan.MEA officials said that both sides also talked about the steps to be taken to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries. They exchanged their views on taking forward the initiatives announced during Obama's tour. Krishna also invited Ms. Clinton to visit India for the second round of the strategic dialogue, the dates for which will be decided through diplomatic channels.
US State Department spokesman P J Crowley said in Washington, that the two leaders agreed that the Wikileaks unauthorised release of classified cables would not affect the cooperation between India and the United States.US Under Secretary for Political Affairs William Burns also had a telephonic conversation with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on various bilateral issues and regional matters of mutual importance.
US State Department spokesman P J Crowley said in Washington, that the two leaders agreed that the Wikileaks unauthorised release of classified cables would not affect the cooperation between India and the United States.US Under Secretary for Political Affairs William Burns also had a telephonic conversation with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on various bilateral issues and regional matters of mutual importance.
Monday, December 20, 2010
UNSC meet inconclusive drill begins
An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over soaring tensions in the Korean Peninsula ended inconclusive with the powerful 15-member group of the world body failing to arrive at a consensus.A draft resolution, circulated by the Russian Federation, after more than eight hours of debate, was sent back to the Capitals of the 15-members of the Security Council.US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, who also heads the presidency of the Security Council for the month of December, said the "gap" between the member nations is unlikely to be bridged.
North Korea has warned of "catastrophe" if South Korea goes ahead with its military's planned one-day, live-fire drills on the same front-line island the North shelled last month.The emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was called at the request of Russia, which insisted that South Korea should not go ahead with its plans.
US came out in support of South Korea arguing that it had the right to carry out exercise in self-defense.Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the idea of the Secretary General appointing an envoy did receive strong support from a number of members of the Security Council and hoped this idea could still be pursued.
"Now we have a situation of a very serious political tension and no game plan on the diplomatic side, because the six-party talks are not operative and various parties are saying that they are not prepared to return to the talks even in informal setting and there are no other diplomatic activities," he told reporters outside the Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York. South Korea launched a live-fire military exercise on a border island on Monday, despite North Korean threats of deadly retaliation, as UN diplomacy on the regional crisis broke down.
But in an apparent sign of compromise over its nuclear ambitions, CNN said North Korea had agreed with US troubleshooter Bill Richardson to permit the return of UN atomic inspectors to ease tensions on the peninsula."The drill has started," a ministry spokesman told a news agency around 2:30 pm:Yonhap news agency said two destroyers had also been deployed in forward positions in the Yellow Sea.
North Korea has warned of "catastrophe" if South Korea goes ahead with its military's planned one-day, live-fire drills on the same front-line island the North shelled last month.The emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was called at the request of Russia, which insisted that South Korea should not go ahead with its plans.
US came out in support of South Korea arguing that it had the right to carry out exercise in self-defense.Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the idea of the Secretary General appointing an envoy did receive strong support from a number of members of the Security Council and hoped this idea could still be pursued.
"Now we have a situation of a very serious political tension and no game plan on the diplomatic side, because the six-party talks are not operative and various parties are saying that they are not prepared to return to the talks even in informal setting and there are no other diplomatic activities," he told reporters outside the Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York. South Korea launched a live-fire military exercise on a border island on Monday, despite North Korean threats of deadly retaliation, as UN diplomacy on the regional crisis broke down.
But in an apparent sign of compromise over its nuclear ambitions, CNN said North Korea had agreed with US troubleshooter Bill Richardson to permit the return of UN atomic inspectors to ease tensions on the peninsula."The drill has started," a ministry spokesman told a news agency around 2:30 pm:Yonhap news agency said two destroyers had also been deployed in forward positions in the Yellow Sea.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
China for six-party talks to avod Koreans conflict
China on Saturday urged the traditional participants of the Korean six-party talks to hold urgent consultations to help abate tensions between North and South Koreas and avoid yet another armed conflict.The six-party talks are aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program through a negotiating process involving China, the United States, North and South Korea, Japan, and Russia.
"The current situation in the peninsula is proving out that there is necessity for holding an urgent meeting of the heads of the "six". I call on all of the parties to return to dialogue and consultations," an official statement by Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun issued on Saturday said.Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun issued on Saturday urged the both Koreas to restrain from violence and stay cool.
South Korea had planned to hold the one-day drills between Saturday and Tuesday. North Korea has warned that it will make another strike on Yeonpyeong, a front-line island, "deadlier" than the November 23 attack that killed four, in the South proceeds with the drills.
"The current situation in the peninsula is proving out that there is necessity for holding an urgent meeting of the heads of the "six". I call on all of the parties to return to dialogue and consultations," an official statement by Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun issued on Saturday said.Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun issued on Saturday urged the both Koreas to restrain from violence and stay cool.
South Korea had planned to hold the one-day drills between Saturday and Tuesday. North Korea has warned that it will make another strike on Yeonpyeong, a front-line island, "deadlier" than the November 23 attack that killed four, in the South proceeds with the drills.
UNSC emergency meeting on Korean tensions
UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting on Sunday on the increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, amid serious concerns expressed by Russia on the situation in the region.The decision to hold the meeting later in the day came after Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, noted that the Korean situation directly affects the national security interests of the Russian Federation.Churkin alleged that his country's request to organise an emergency meeting earlier was turned down by the US, which holds the UNSC presidency for the month of December.
"We believe that the Security Council must send a restraining signal to the Republic of Korea and DPRK and help launch diplomatic activity with a view to resolving all issues of dispute between the two Korean sides by political and diplomatic means," he said.The Ambassador said the meeting has now been convened at 11 am local New York time (2130 hrs IST)."We assume that nothing will happen in the interim that would bring about a further aggravation on the Korean peninsula," said the Russian envoy.United States rejected Russia's charge that it declined to hold the meeting earlier, saying that the request was received on Saturday and after consulting with the 15-member Council, the Sunday morning time was set."This meets other Security Council members' requests to have time to consult with their capitals and meets the Russian request for a timely meeting," US mission spokesman Mark Kornblau said.
"We believe that the Security Council must send a restraining signal to the Republic of Korea and DPRK and help launch diplomatic activity with a view to resolving all issues of dispute between the two Korean sides by political and diplomatic means," he said.The Ambassador said the meeting has now been convened at 11 am local New York time (2130 hrs IST)."We assume that nothing will happen in the interim that would bring about a further aggravation on the Korean peninsula," said the Russian envoy.United States rejected Russia's charge that it declined to hold the meeting earlier, saying that the request was received on Saturday and after consulting with the 15-member Council, the Sunday morning time was set."This meets other Security Council members' requests to have time to consult with their capitals and meets the Russian request for a timely meeting," US mission spokesman Mark Kornblau said.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Japan : War defence focus to China, NKorea
Japan said on Friday it would shift its defence focus from the Soviet Cold War threat to southern islands nearer China, labelling the military build-up of its giant neighbour a global "concern". Aside from boosting its southern forces and submarine fleet and upgrading its fighter jets, Japan will strengthen missile defences against the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea, it said in a major strategic review.
The cabinet of officially pacifist Japan approved the National Defence Programme Guidelines months after a territorial row flared up with China and weeks after North Korea launched a deadly artillery strike against South Korea.
The new guidelines labelled North Korea, which in recent years has fired missiles over Japan, staged two nuclear tests and last month unveiled a new uranium enrichment plant -- an "urgent, grave factor for instability".
Japan, like its top security ally the United States, again voiced concern over China's recent military build-up and increased assertiveness in what it sees as its ancestral waters in the East China and South China seas."China is rapidly modernising its military force and expanding activities in its neighbouring waters," said the guidelines. "Together with the lack of transparency on China's military and security issues, the trend is a concern for the region and the international community," said the paper, which sets out strategic planning for the coming decade.
Security analyst Akira Kato, a professor at Tokyo's Oberlin University, said "the guidelines underline Japan's clear shift of focus to counteracting China's growing naval power, which is a major threat to Japan and the United States."
Japan will increase its submarine fleet from 16 to 22 and modernise its fighter jets, but scrap more than 200 tanks and 200 artillery pieces, using the savings to pay for boosting its far-southern island defences, it said.
It also plans to double from three to six its land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missile systems, and increase from four to six the number of sea-based Standard Missile-3 interceptors on its Aegis destroyers. Pledging a more nimble defence capability, it said: "We will build a dynamic defence force backed by sophisticated technologies and intelligence, with readiness, mobility, flexibility, sustainability and multiple disciplines."
The outlook moves away from the perceived Cold War threat of a Soviet invasion and calls for drawing down troop strength on northern Hokkaido Island.
The cabinet of officially pacifist Japan approved the National Defence Programme Guidelines months after a territorial row flared up with China and weeks after North Korea launched a deadly artillery strike against South Korea.
The new guidelines labelled North Korea, which in recent years has fired missiles over Japan, staged two nuclear tests and last month unveiled a new uranium enrichment plant -- an "urgent, grave factor for instability".
Japan, like its top security ally the United States, again voiced concern over China's recent military build-up and increased assertiveness in what it sees as its ancestral waters in the East China and South China seas."China is rapidly modernising its military force and expanding activities in its neighbouring waters," said the guidelines. "Together with the lack of transparency on China's military and security issues, the trend is a concern for the region and the international community," said the paper, which sets out strategic planning for the coming decade.
Security analyst Akira Kato, a professor at Tokyo's Oberlin University, said "the guidelines underline Japan's clear shift of focus to counteracting China's growing naval power, which is a major threat to Japan and the United States."
Japan will increase its submarine fleet from 16 to 22 and modernise its fighter jets, but scrap more than 200 tanks and 200 artillery pieces, using the savings to pay for boosting its far-southern island defences, it said.
It also plans to double from three to six its land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missile systems, and increase from four to six the number of sea-based Standard Missile-3 interceptors on its Aegis destroyers. Pledging a more nimble defence capability, it said: "We will build a dynamic defence force backed by sophisticated technologies and intelligence, with readiness, mobility, flexibility, sustainability and multiple disciplines."
The outlook moves away from the perceived Cold War threat of a Soviet invasion and calls for drawing down troop strength on northern Hokkaido Island.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Michael Moore offered help to release of Assange
US filmmaker Michael Moore said he offered $US20,000 to help WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange post bail in London, and his own website and servers to help WikiLeaks keep disclosing government secrets.A statement posted on thedailybeast.com, Moore said a London court was presented with "a document from me stating that I have put up 20,000 dollars ($A20,000) of my own money to help bail Mr Assange out of jail" during Assange's bail hearing on Tuesday.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saepo :Stockholm blasts 'a terrorist crime'
Twin blasts that rocked central Stockholm killing one man were described as a "terrorist" attack on Sunday by Sweden's domestic intelligence agency Saepo.
"We are opening an investigation into a terrorist crime," Anders Thornberg, head of Saepo's security unit, said a day after an apparent car bomb and a separate blast targeted Christmas shoppers in the Swedish capital.The suspected bomber, whose identity has not been made public, was killed but Thornberg told a press conference that it was unclear if he had intended to blow himself up."If this was a suicide attack, it would be new in Sweden," he said. "This is very serious and we are doing everything we can to investigate this," he said.
Two people were injured when a car packed with gas canisters exploded around 5:00 pm on Saturday in the busy shopping street of Drottninggatan. A second blast occurred shortly afterwards a few hundred metres away, killing the man.
Swedish television reported that a bag filled with nails had been found near the body. The consequences of the attack "could have been truly catastrophic," Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Twitter.Stockholm police said patrols would be stepped up in the wake of the attack, which comes six weeks after Saepo raised the security alert level from low to elevated.
Germany, Britain and France all raised their alert levels last month amid increased fears of possible terrorist attacks in Europe.
"We are opening an investigation into a terrorist crime," Anders Thornberg, head of Saepo's security unit, said a day after an apparent car bomb and a separate blast targeted Christmas shoppers in the Swedish capital.The suspected bomber, whose identity has not been made public, was killed but Thornberg told a press conference that it was unclear if he had intended to blow himself up."If this was a suicide attack, it would be new in Sweden," he said. "This is very serious and we are doing everything we can to investigate this," he said.
Two people were injured when a car packed with gas canisters exploded around 5:00 pm on Saturday in the busy shopping street of Drottninggatan. A second blast occurred shortly afterwards a few hundred metres away, killing the man.
Swedish television reported that a bag filled with nails had been found near the body. The consequences of the attack "could have been truly catastrophic," Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Twitter.Stockholm police said patrols would be stepped up in the wake of the attack, which comes six weeks after Saepo raised the security alert level from low to elevated.
Germany, Britain and France all raised their alert levels last month amid increased fears of possible terrorist attacks in Europe.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Indo German trade target 20 billion euros by 2012
Nksagar Sagar Media Inc :Germany is India's largest trading partner in the 27-nation European Union with bilateral trade growing in the recent years to reach 13.4 billion Euros in 2008.Prime Minister said that both sides discussed the possibility of entering into bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy.The two sides agreed to enhance bilateral trade from the present level of 13 euro billion to 20 billion euros by 2012. On his part Dr Singh said relaxation of German export control laws will bring in a new horizon for expanding bilateral trade.Prime Minister Dr Singh said there are no bilateral irritants in the excellent Indo-German relations and "we believe sky is the limit for their cooperation".
(live-PR.com) - Dr Singh said India deeply valued Germany's consistent support in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group for the opening of international commerce for New Delhi in the field of civil nuclear energy.Both the leaders said that India and Germany will work hard together to advance UN Security Council reforms for expansion of both permanent and non-permanent seats.Both India and Germany will
assume non-permanent seats in the Security Council from 1st January 2011 for a two-year period.
In a stern message to Pakistan, Germany made it clear that terrorism is not a means to solve political problems and this is "unacceptable". The concerns over terrorism figured during wide-ranging talks Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Saturday.
"It has been made clear to Pakistan that terrorism is not a means to an end to solve political problems. It is unacceptable," Merkel said at a joint press interaction with Dr Singh.Dr. Singh held a summit meeting in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel where major regional and global issues including the situation in Afghanistan, climate change, the state of global economy and the role of G20 in the recovery process came up for discussion. Dr.Singh announced that Germany will be the preferred partner in the field of vocational training and skill development and cooperation in this regard will be scaled up. The two sides also discussed the possibilities of bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy. On discussions on climate change, Ms. Merkel appreciated India’s Environment Minister’s role at the Cancun negotiations. Dr. Manmohan Singh said, India will play its part for arriving at a pragmatic and balanced solution within the UN Framework. Both the sides decided to work closely for the reforms of the UN Security Council. India and Germany will be non-permanent members of the Council in 2011 and 12. The Prime Minister promised India’s support to the efforts being made by Germany to ensure financial stability and economic recovery in Eurozone.
Germany will organise a year of Germany in India beginning in September next year. This was announced by Dr. Manmohan Singh in Berlin. He disclosed that India will organize Days of India in Germany during 2012-13. The 60th year of establishing diplomatic relations with Germany will be celebrated next year and Dr Singh extended an invitation to Chancellor Merkel to visit India next year which she accepted.
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(live-PR.com) - Dr Singh said India deeply valued Germany's consistent support in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group for the opening of international commerce for New Delhi in the field of civil nuclear energy.Both the leaders said that India and Germany will work hard together to advance UN Security Council reforms for expansion of both permanent and non-permanent seats.Both India and Germany will
assume non-permanent seats in the Security Council from 1st January 2011 for a two-year period.
In a stern message to Pakistan, Germany made it clear that terrorism is not a means to solve political problems and this is "unacceptable". The concerns over terrorism figured during wide-ranging talks Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Saturday.
"It has been made clear to Pakistan that terrorism is not a means to an end to solve political problems. It is unacceptable," Merkel said at a joint press interaction with Dr Singh.Dr. Singh held a summit meeting in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel where major regional and global issues including the situation in Afghanistan, climate change, the state of global economy and the role of G20 in the recovery process came up for discussion. Dr.Singh announced that Germany will be the preferred partner in the field of vocational training and skill development and cooperation in this regard will be scaled up. The two sides also discussed the possibilities of bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy. On discussions on climate change, Ms. Merkel appreciated India’s Environment Minister’s role at the Cancun negotiations. Dr. Manmohan Singh said, India will play its part for arriving at a pragmatic and balanced solution within the UN Framework. Both the sides decided to work closely for the reforms of the UN Security Council. India and Germany will be non-permanent members of the Council in 2011 and 12. The Prime Minister promised India’s support to the efforts being made by Germany to ensure financial stability and economic recovery in Eurozone.
Germany will organise a year of Germany in India beginning in September next year. This was announced by Dr. Manmohan Singh in Berlin. He disclosed that India will organize Days of India in Germany during 2012-13. The 60th year of establishing diplomatic relations with Germany will be celebrated next year and Dr Singh extended an invitation to Chancellor Merkel to visit India next year which she accepted.
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Sagar Media Inc
Thursday, December 9, 2010
WikiLeaks founder is jailed, secrets still flow
WikiLeaks published a new set of cables on Wednesday, and in a defiant message posted online the secret-spilling website promised that the leaks would keep on flowing despite the arrest and jailing of its founder on sex allegations.
WikiLeaks is under pressure on many fronts- its editor-in-chief Julian Assange is in prison fighting extradition to Sweden.
Nearly simultaneous moves by credit card companies Visa and MasterCard to stop processing donations to the website have impaired its ability to raise money, and mysterious cyberattacks have periodically crippled its servers.
In a message published to Twitter on Wednesday, spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson shrugged off the pressure.
On Tuesday evening, “the latest batch of cables were released, and our media partners released their next batch of stories,” Hrafnsson said.
“We will not be gagged, either by judicial action or corporate censorship. ... Wikileaks is still online. The full site is duplicated in more than 500 locations. Every day, the cables are loaded more than 50 million times.”
WikiLeaks has benefited from a massive groundswell of online support. Twitter is choked with messages of solidarity. The site’s Facebook page has one million fans. And tech-savvy supporters are organizing boycotts and other stunts.
The latest cables cover the details of British-Libyan relations in the run-up to the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, a sensitive subject that roiled relations between Washington and London.
Another cable describes, in detail, the eccentricities of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, while the WikiLeaks website also details an underground Halloween party, complete with moonshine, top-shelf liquor and prostitutes, thrown by a wealthy Saudi prince in the city of Jeddah.
“Behind the facade of Wahhabi conservatism in the streets, the underground nightlife for Jeddah’s elite youth is thriving and throbbing,” the cable notes. The party-happy royal’s name has been redacted.Meanwhile, Assange faces a new extradition hearing next week, in which his lawyers say they will reapply for bail.
The 39-year-old Australian is accused of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion stemming from separate sexual encounters in August with two women in Sweden. Assange denies the allegations
WikiLeaks is under pressure on many fronts- its editor-in-chief Julian Assange is in prison fighting extradition to Sweden.
Nearly simultaneous moves by credit card companies Visa and MasterCard to stop processing donations to the website have impaired its ability to raise money, and mysterious cyberattacks have periodically crippled its servers.
In a message published to Twitter on Wednesday, spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson shrugged off the pressure.
On Tuesday evening, “the latest batch of cables were released, and our media partners released their next batch of stories,” Hrafnsson said.
“We will not be gagged, either by judicial action or corporate censorship. ... Wikileaks is still online. The full site is duplicated in more than 500 locations. Every day, the cables are loaded more than 50 million times.”
WikiLeaks has benefited from a massive groundswell of online support. Twitter is choked with messages of solidarity. The site’s Facebook page has one million fans. And tech-savvy supporters are organizing boycotts and other stunts.
The latest cables cover the details of British-Libyan relations in the run-up to the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, a sensitive subject that roiled relations between Washington and London.
Another cable describes, in detail, the eccentricities of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, while the WikiLeaks website also details an underground Halloween party, complete with moonshine, top-shelf liquor and prostitutes, thrown by a wealthy Saudi prince in the city of Jeddah.
“Behind the facade of Wahhabi conservatism in the streets, the underground nightlife for Jeddah’s elite youth is thriving and throbbing,” the cable notes. The party-happy royal’s name has been redacted.Meanwhile, Assange faces a new extradition hearing next week, in which his lawyers say they will reapply for bail.
The 39-year-old Australian is accused of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion stemming from separate sexual encounters in August with two women in Sweden. Assange denies the allegations
Thursday, December 2, 2010
WikiLeaks Julian Assange Swede Most wanted
Swedish police said Thursday no mistakes were made when filing an international arrest warrant for Julian Assange, refuting a British report that a Swedish blunder could have delayed the WikiLeaks frontman's arrest.
"For us there is no problem, but we are investigating," Tommy Kangasvieri of the Swedish National Criminal Police told AFP."At the moment, we are talking with the UK to know if there is a problem and what it is," he added.
The Times newspaper reported Thursday that British police knew where the Internet whistleblower was -- believed to be a location in southeast England -- but could not act on the information as the European arrest warrant was incorrectly filled out.
Sweden issued an arrest warrant for the 39-year-old Australian on November 18, citing "probable cause of suspected rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion" related to contacts with two women in Sweden in August.On Tuesday, Assange's lawyer appealed to Sweden's Supreme Court to overturn the ruling that lead to the arrest warrant being launched.Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks slowly started publishing some 250,000 US embassy cables on Sunday, which has infuriated Washington and embarrassed many governments worldwide.
"For us there is no problem, but we are investigating," Tommy Kangasvieri of the Swedish National Criminal Police told AFP."At the moment, we are talking with the UK to know if there is a problem and what it is," he added.
The Times newspaper reported Thursday that British police knew where the Internet whistleblower was -- believed to be a location in southeast England -- but could not act on the information as the European arrest warrant was incorrectly filled out.
Sweden issued an arrest warrant for the 39-year-old Australian on November 18, citing "probable cause of suspected rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion" related to contacts with two women in Sweden in August.On Tuesday, Assange's lawyer appealed to Sweden's Supreme Court to overturn the ruling that lead to the arrest warrant being launched.Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks slowly started publishing some 250,000 US embassy cables on Sunday, which has infuriated Washington and embarrassed many governments worldwide.
US spill of secret data leak - Global diplomacy on WikiLeaks
Global diplomacy on WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said the Australian's safety was at stake after US politicians called for him to face treason charges and an adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reportedly said he should be killed.
"We have had threats from governments and commentators, some of them totally preposterous, even calls for the assassination of Julian Assange," Hrafnsson said during a debate at the Frontline Club in London.
"He is justified in being concerned for his safety. When you have people calling, for example, for his assassination, it is best to keep a low profile," he added.
Hrafnsson said Assange's whereabouts would remain secret. He is known to have recently spent time in Sweden and London and is the subject of an Interpol arrest request over a rape allegation in Sweden. He has faced calls from the United States for his arrest, with Mike Huckabee, a former Republican presidential hopeful, reportedly saying that those responsible for the leaks were guilty of treason and should face execution.
Separately, Tom Flanagan, an advisor to Canada's prime minister, said flippantly in a television interview that Assange "should be assassinated" and that US President Barack Obama "should put out a contract and maybe use a drone."
Hrafnsson, an Icelandic former journalist, defended Assange's decision to remain in hiding and not to face up to the Swedish arrest warrant, saying the timing of the Interpol alert was "curious"."He is in a secret location and working on the project with a group of our staff. It is necessary in the circumstances to keep his location secret," Hrafnsson said.
The spokesman also pointed to the fact that WikiLeaks was suffering repeated cyber attacks as evidence that it was being targeted. "We know the interest of the US government in bringing down WikiLeaks," he said.
Pak relation on wikileaks
" WikiLeaks" dump as nothing more than an unfortunate incident which struck great allies and friends, US Special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Holbrook said that the 'leaks" will neither change the Pak-US relations nor will it affect the Washington's support for Pakistan.
Talking exclusively to Pakistan News correspondent Sami Ibrahim on phone Wednesday, Holbrook said Pakistani leadership was the first one to be contacted by US administration on this issue way before these documents were started to be made public. ' I spoke with President Zardari on this issue at length, Ambassador Munter met with Prime minister Gilani. Secretary State Clinton is reaching out to President Zardari at this moment and foreign minister Shah mehmood Qureshi was also taken into confidence " he said:Holbrook said Pentagon was in complete touch with army chief Gen ishfaq Pervez Kayani. Admiral Mike Mullen also spoke with Gen Kayani.
To a question about what led to Wikileaks disclosure, Holbrook said the computers were changed in 2005 and the job of distribution of papers was also assigned to these new computers but no one knew at that time the computers would itself distribute the classified documents as well .But " the problem is fixed and there was no chance of any leaks of such documents in future ; he added.
He said the relations between the two countries were not transitional rather they were in strategic phase and " even today in a top level meeting in White house it has been decided that United states would continue supporting Pakistan: he added.
He said President Zardari would come to USA and President Obama would also be visiting Pakistan next year. 'We are committed to fully implement what would be agreed in each individual department in strategic dialogue" he added.
Holbrook said that there are always ups and downs in the relations between great friends and allies and Pak-US relations are also seeing the same but " nothing could impact the strength of relations between the two countries and we would be out of the impact of the Wikileaks soon " he added.
US Embassy in Colombo alerted the Sri Lankan:
US Embassy in Colombo alerted the Sri Lankan government over the dossiers expected to be released by the whistle blowing website ‘Wikileaks’, Sri Lanka said that it “does not wish to comment publicly on privileged communications of a foreign government. However, Colombo said, if the contents reveal any material relevant to Sri Lanka’s interests, these will be taken up through diplomatic channels.
A press statement today by the External Affairs Ministry of Sri Lankan said that they are in the process of obtaining the contents of the documents allegedly pertaining to Sri Lanka put in the public domain by Wikileaks.
Reports say that the new documents released by Wikileaks suggests that United States wanted its diplomats at the UN headquarters to find what the global agency was thinking about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
The Guardian newspaper published the secret cables sent to the US diplomats in which enquires were made about Sri Lanka.
One such cable was dispatched in July, 2009; two months after Lankan government troops defeated the LTTE amid allegations of human rights violations by both sides.
US talks Julia Gillard Governent:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is at risk of being assassinated over the release of secret US documents and will remain in hiding for his own security, the website's spokesman said Wednesday.US ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich said he has been talking to the Julia Gillard government over the issue.Bleich described the release of leaked diplomatic cables on the website founded by Australian Julian Assange as "reprehensible action," according to a report in the AAP.His comments came as global police agency Interpol issued an arrest warrants for Assange on a rape charge originating from Sweden.Bleich said the US was "aware of documents that are purported to have come from Canberra that are purported to relate to Australia but we are not going to validate those"."We are talking together about ways to ensure that our partners and our sources throughout the world are not put in jeopardy or not harm as a product of them working to promote a safer world," he said.
Bleich said the US embassy had now briefed Attorney-General Robert McClelland, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and the secretary of the Defence Department. "Based on those conversation we have effectively calibrated what the risks are and tried to take people out of harm's way," he said.
"We have done the best we can to mitigate those risks and we hope that it will not result in harm to any people".
The ambassador said he had not discussed the possible action that could be taken against Assange. "With respect of people who engaged in illegal action that is for the law enforcement authorities to evaluate and for them to look at what are prosecutable offences," he said."I love Australia and I don't think there is anything I have put in a cable to cause me heartburn", the ambassador said.
Hillary Clinton:India as a "self-appointed front-runner"
Treading cautiously on the Wikileaks issue, government on Wednesday said it will react only after complete facts come out."Let the facts come out, then we will react," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told reporters outside Parliament House.He was asked to comment on the cable communication between the US Embassy in New Delhi and Washington leaked by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.Krishna's deputy in the Ministry Preneet Kaur had recently said, "This (wikileaks issue) is a very sensitive issue. We have good bilateral relations (with the US) and they had already warned us. So, I think it is not the right time to comment on it...."
As part of its massive leak of a quarter million classified documents of the US government, the website released a "secret" cable issued by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she has described India as a "self-appointed front-runner" for a permanent UNSC seat.Clinton had also directed US envoys to seek minute details about Indian diplomats stationed at the United Nations headquarters, according to classified documents released by WikiLeaks.
NATO condemns Wikileaks over tactical nukes:
NATO is condemning the release by Wikileaks of diplomatic cables detailing the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu Tuesday described the leaks as ``illegal and dangerous.''
Leaked US diplomatic cables show that most of about 200 US tactical nuclear bombs still left in Europe are based in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey. The four nations have been long suspected of hosting the warheads, but NATO and the governments involved have always refused to confirm this.The B-61 bombs, America's oldest nuclear weapons, date back to the 1950s.They were part of Washington's effort to demonstrate a commitment to NATO's defense during the Cold War by embedding such weapons near potential battlefields.
Japan joins criticism of WikiLeaks:
Japan, a key ally of the United States, tuesday joined criticism of the WikiLeaks website over its release of secret US diplomatic cables."It's just outrageous. It's a criminal act," Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara told a news conference when asked about his stance on the controversial website."It is a government that makes decisions on documents, no matter whether they are unscreened or classified," Maehara said.
"(WikiLeaks) steals them without asking and then makes them public. I cannot see any value in the act at all."
Top US diplomat Hillary Clinton on Monday accused WikiLeaks of an "attack" on the world as key American allies were left red-faced by the embarrassing revelations in the vast trove of leaked memos.According to confidential cables released by WikiLeaks, an unnamed Chinese official criticised Japan, which has been pressing North Korea on the fate of its citizens kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train the regime's spies.
"Japan's obsession with the abductee issue reminded him of a Chinese expression for an individual who was too weak to make something work, yet strong enough to destroy it," the cable said.
Another cable was on a visit to China in April 2009 by then Japanese prime minister Taro Aso and his meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.Kunio Umeda, who at the time was a minister at the Japanese embassy in Beijing, reported that Wen was "tired and seemed under a lot of pressure" from dealing with the economic crisis.
WikiLeaks site came under renewed cyber attack Tuesday as a fresh batch of secret documents revealed the depth of American and British fears over Pakistan’s nuclear material falling into the wrong hands.
The latest disclosures show that even as President Barack Obama was offering assurances on Pakistan last year, senior U.S. diplomats and their U.K. counterparts fretted about a downward spiral that left the safety of a stockpile of bomb-grade uranium in doubt.
The Pakistan files were detailed in near-simultaneous reports released Tuesday afternoon by The New York Times, The Guardian and Germany’s Der Spiegel, which said the secret U.S. diplomatic dispatches “provide deep insights into the true extent of Pakistan’s volatility.”
Pakistan has confirmed to the BBC claims by Wikileaks that the US had wanted nuclear fuel taken away from a reactor, citing security fears.
Foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said they rejected US attempts to have the highly enriched uranium removed.Pakistan's Army and ISI are covertly sponsoring four militant groups, including LeT, and will not abandon them for any amount of US money. As per the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks,the American envoy to Islamabad Anne Patterson wrote this in a secret review of Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy in September 2009.
Patterson also underpinned the need for the US to reassess India's role in Afghanistan and the US policies towards India including the growing military relationship through sizeable conventional arms sales. She said all of this feeds Pakistani establishment paranoia and pushes them closer to both Afghan and Kashmir-focused terrorist groups while reinforcing doubts about US intentions.
The latest cache of WikiLeaks documents also lay bare the deep concern of the US over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and the fact that Islamabad is producing them at a faster rate than any other country in the world.
The US diplomatic cables also revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars in American military aid to Pakistan earmarked for fighting Islamist militants was not used for the desired purpose, but diverted to the government's coffers.
WikiLeaks has disclosed the conversation between US Senator John McCain and former president Pervez Musharraf in which latter talked about the possibility of the presence of Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri in Bajaur Agency.
The US embassy cables disclosed Musharraf as saying that although he had no direct evidence, he thought al Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri were hiding in Bajaur Agency, bordering Afghanistan's Konar province where US forces were not deployed.Musharraf, however, added that Mullah Omar was not present in Balochistan.Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, whose wife, Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a suicide bombing, has made extensive preparations in case of his own assassination, said The Guardian citing a document leaked by WikiLeaks.
Last year Zardari told the US ambassador, Anne Patterson, that if he was assassinated, "he had instructed his son Bilawal to name his sister, Faryal Talpur, as president".
This year Zardari requested the United Arab Emirates to allow his family to live there in the event of his death. His wife lived in self-imposed exile in the UAE for years before her ill-fated return to Pakistan in 2007.
The cables provide a changing portrait of Zardari, America's key Pakistani ally along with the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani. A sharp-edged 2008 description of Zardari notes that he hails from a tribe with "little social standing" in Sindh; "there is a story that as children, Sindhis were told 'a Zardari stole it' if something went missing".
But later dispatches portray him as a more capable leader, with considerable political nous, although often burdened by his association with deep-seated corruption.
Zardari is frank about the strength of the Taliban – "I'm sorry to say this but we are not winning" the war against extremists he told the US vice-president, Joe Biden, in 2009 – and his own limitations.
"I am not Benazir, and I know it," he told the US ambassador after his wife's death.
And he fears a fresh army coup. Zardari said he was concerned that Kayani might "take me out", Biden reported to Gordon Brown during a meeting in Chile in 2009. Brown said he thought it unlikely.
The observations on Pakistan's often beleaguered president are part of several portraits about prominent Pakistani politicians that are dotted with insight, colour and some surprises.
In November 2007 Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the country's most fiercely pro-Taliban religious party, hosted a jovial dinner for Patterson at which he sought her backing to become prime minister and expressed a desire to visit America.
"All important parties in Pakistan had to get the approval" of the US, said his aide Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. After the meeting Patterson commented on the mullah's famously wily political skills. "He has made it clear that … his still significant number of votes are up for sale."
The cables also highlight the contradictions of other prominent Pakistanis. Officials noted that Amin Fahim, a Bhutto supporter hoping to become prime minister, led a religious Islamic group "while enjoying an occasional bloody mary".
The opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif had a "notoriously difficult personality" while his family is noted to have "relied primarily on the army and intelligence agencies for political elevation".
America's perceived influence on Pakistani power politics is a frequent theme. In a May 2008 meeting with a visiting American congressional delegation, Zardari said: "We won't act without consulting with you."
Sharif repeatedly told the US ambassador he was "pro-American", despite his often critical public stance. He thanked the US for "arranging" to have Kayani appointed as army chief. "The best thing America has done recently," he said.
"The fact that a former prime minister believes the US could control the appointment of Pakistan's chief of army staff speaks volumes about the myth of American influence here," the ambassador noted tartly afterwards.But some dispatches make it clear that the Americans do wield great clout. After General Pervez Musharraf resigned as president in 2008, ambassador Patterson pressed Zardari to grant him immunity from prosecution. "We believed, as we had often said, that Musharraf should have a dignified retirement and not be hounded out of the country," she said.
The US – and Kayani – worried that Zardari would renege on his word. "Zardari is walking tall these days, hopefully not too tall to forget his promise to Kayani and to us on an immunity deal," wrote Patterson.
If Zardari didn't protect Musharraf then it would make him look bad. "I have to bring the army along with me," he said, also noting that the delay "does nothing for Zardari's reputation for trustworthiness".
The notable exception to that US influence, however, is the former cricketer Imran Khan, who delivered a long lecture to visiting US politicians about the iniquities of US policy.
Welcoming the group at his grand home outside Islamabad, Khan hosted an "hour-long, largely one-sided, and somewhat uncomfortable conversation".
To defeat the Taliban the US had to understand the "tribal character" of the militants, he said, and described the Pakistani drive against the Taliban in 2009 as "stage-managed" for US consumption.
There are apercus in the cables into the often inscrutable military leaders. Kayani is "direct, frank, and thoughtful" and has "fond memories" of time spent on a military training course in the US. It is also noted that "he smokes heavily and can be difficult to understand as he tends to mumble." The Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, was "usually more emotional" than Kayani.
US diplomats also have a ringside seat to civilian wrangles. In February 2009 Zardari aide Farahnaz Ispahani said the president was "very unhappy" with the way the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, had "gone off the reservation". In 2008 Zardari said Fahim "had spent most of the [election] campaign in Dubai (with his latest 22 year-old wife) and was simply too lazy to be prime minister".
The cables also record embarrassing mistakes in the embassy's efforts to manage its relationships with Pakistan's power elite. Six months after his dinner with the ambassador, Rehman was less enamoured of US policy when the FBI issued a notice suggesting he had orchestrated a suicide bombing in Islamabad.
The embassy asked the FBI to urgently recall the notice – he had been confused with another man with a similar name. Rehman was a "frequent and co-operative interlocutor with post and professes his support for co-operation with the United States", the request said.
WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said the Australian's safety was at stake after US politicians called for him to face treason charges and an adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reportedly said he should be killed.
"We have had threats from governments and commentators, some of them totally preposterous, even calls for the assassination of Julian Assange," Hrafnsson said during a debate at the Frontline Club in London.
"He is justified in being concerned for his safety. When you have people calling, for example, for his assassination, it is best to keep a low profile," he added.
Hrafnsson said Assange's whereabouts would remain secret. He is known to have recently spent time in Sweden and London and is the subject of an Interpol arrest request over a rape allegation in Sweden. He has faced calls from the United States for his arrest, with Mike Huckabee, a former Republican presidential hopeful, reportedly saying that those responsible for the leaks were guilty of treason and should face execution.
Separately, Tom Flanagan, an advisor to Canada's prime minister, said flippantly in a television interview that Assange "should be assassinated" and that US President Barack Obama "should put out a contract and maybe use a drone."
Hrafnsson, an Icelandic former journalist, defended Assange's decision to remain in hiding and not to face up to the Swedish arrest warrant, saying the timing of the Interpol alert was "curious"."He is in a secret location and working on the project with a group of our staff. It is necessary in the circumstances to keep his location secret," Hrafnsson said.
The spokesman also pointed to the fact that WikiLeaks was suffering repeated cyber attacks as evidence that it was being targeted. "We know the interest of the US government in bringing down WikiLeaks," he said.
Pak relation on wikileaks
" WikiLeaks" dump as nothing more than an unfortunate incident which struck great allies and friends, US Special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Holbrook said that the 'leaks" will neither change the Pak-US relations nor will it affect the Washington's support for Pakistan.
Talking exclusively to Pakistan News correspondent Sami Ibrahim on phone Wednesday, Holbrook said Pakistani leadership was the first one to be contacted by US administration on this issue way before these documents were started to be made public. ' I spoke with President Zardari on this issue at length, Ambassador Munter met with Prime minister Gilani. Secretary State Clinton is reaching out to President Zardari at this moment and foreign minister Shah mehmood Qureshi was also taken into confidence " he said:Holbrook said Pentagon was in complete touch with army chief Gen ishfaq Pervez Kayani. Admiral Mike Mullen also spoke with Gen Kayani.
To a question about what led to Wikileaks disclosure, Holbrook said the computers were changed in 2005 and the job of distribution of papers was also assigned to these new computers but no one knew at that time the computers would itself distribute the classified documents as well .But " the problem is fixed and there was no chance of any leaks of such documents in future ; he added.
He said the relations between the two countries were not transitional rather they were in strategic phase and " even today in a top level meeting in White house it has been decided that United states would continue supporting Pakistan: he added.
He said President Zardari would come to USA and President Obama would also be visiting Pakistan next year. 'We are committed to fully implement what would be agreed in each individual department in strategic dialogue" he added.
Holbrook said that there are always ups and downs in the relations between great friends and allies and Pak-US relations are also seeing the same but " nothing could impact the strength of relations between the two countries and we would be out of the impact of the Wikileaks soon " he added.
US Embassy in Colombo alerted the Sri Lankan:
US Embassy in Colombo alerted the Sri Lankan government over the dossiers expected to be released by the whistle blowing website ‘Wikileaks’, Sri Lanka said that it “does not wish to comment publicly on privileged communications of a foreign government. However, Colombo said, if the contents reveal any material relevant to Sri Lanka’s interests, these will be taken up through diplomatic channels.
A press statement today by the External Affairs Ministry of Sri Lankan said that they are in the process of obtaining the contents of the documents allegedly pertaining to Sri Lanka put in the public domain by Wikileaks.
Reports say that the new documents released by Wikileaks suggests that United States wanted its diplomats at the UN headquarters to find what the global agency was thinking about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
The Guardian newspaper published the secret cables sent to the US diplomats in which enquires were made about Sri Lanka.
One such cable was dispatched in July, 2009; two months after Lankan government troops defeated the LTTE amid allegations of human rights violations by both sides.
US talks Julia Gillard Governent:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is at risk of being assassinated over the release of secret US documents and will remain in hiding for his own security, the website's spokesman said Wednesday.US ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich said he has been talking to the Julia Gillard government over the issue.Bleich described the release of leaked diplomatic cables on the website founded by Australian Julian Assange as "reprehensible action," according to a report in the AAP.His comments came as global police agency Interpol issued an arrest warrants for Assange on a rape charge originating from Sweden.Bleich said the US was "aware of documents that are purported to have come from Canberra that are purported to relate to Australia but we are not going to validate those"."We are talking together about ways to ensure that our partners and our sources throughout the world are not put in jeopardy or not harm as a product of them working to promote a safer world," he said.
Bleich said the US embassy had now briefed Attorney-General Robert McClelland, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and the secretary of the Defence Department. "Based on those conversation we have effectively calibrated what the risks are and tried to take people out of harm's way," he said.
"We have done the best we can to mitigate those risks and we hope that it will not result in harm to any people".
The ambassador said he had not discussed the possible action that could be taken against Assange. "With respect of people who engaged in illegal action that is for the law enforcement authorities to evaluate and for them to look at what are prosecutable offences," he said."I love Australia and I don't think there is anything I have put in a cable to cause me heartburn", the ambassador said.
Hillary Clinton:India as a "self-appointed front-runner"
Treading cautiously on the Wikileaks issue, government on Wednesday said it will react only after complete facts come out."Let the facts come out, then we will react," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told reporters outside Parliament House.He was asked to comment on the cable communication between the US Embassy in New Delhi and Washington leaked by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.Krishna's deputy in the Ministry Preneet Kaur had recently said, "This (wikileaks issue) is a very sensitive issue. We have good bilateral relations (with the US) and they had already warned us. So, I think it is not the right time to comment on it...."
As part of its massive leak of a quarter million classified documents of the US government, the website released a "secret" cable issued by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she has described India as a "self-appointed front-runner" for a permanent UNSC seat.Clinton had also directed US envoys to seek minute details about Indian diplomats stationed at the United Nations headquarters, according to classified documents released by WikiLeaks.
NATO condemns Wikileaks over tactical nukes:
NATO is condemning the release by Wikileaks of diplomatic cables detailing the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu Tuesday described the leaks as ``illegal and dangerous.''
Leaked US diplomatic cables show that most of about 200 US tactical nuclear bombs still left in Europe are based in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey. The four nations have been long suspected of hosting the warheads, but NATO and the governments involved have always refused to confirm this.The B-61 bombs, America's oldest nuclear weapons, date back to the 1950s.They were part of Washington's effort to demonstrate a commitment to NATO's defense during the Cold War by embedding such weapons near potential battlefields.
Japan joins criticism of WikiLeaks:
Japan, a key ally of the United States, tuesday joined criticism of the WikiLeaks website over its release of secret US diplomatic cables."It's just outrageous. It's a criminal act," Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara told a news conference when asked about his stance on the controversial website."It is a government that makes decisions on documents, no matter whether they are unscreened or classified," Maehara said.
"(WikiLeaks) steals them without asking and then makes them public. I cannot see any value in the act at all."
Top US diplomat Hillary Clinton on Monday accused WikiLeaks of an "attack" on the world as key American allies were left red-faced by the embarrassing revelations in the vast trove of leaked memos.According to confidential cables released by WikiLeaks, an unnamed Chinese official criticised Japan, which has been pressing North Korea on the fate of its citizens kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s to train the regime's spies.
"Japan's obsession with the abductee issue reminded him of a Chinese expression for an individual who was too weak to make something work, yet strong enough to destroy it," the cable said.
Another cable was on a visit to China in April 2009 by then Japanese prime minister Taro Aso and his meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.Kunio Umeda, who at the time was a minister at the Japanese embassy in Beijing, reported that Wen was "tired and seemed under a lot of pressure" from dealing with the economic crisis.
WikiLeaks site came under renewed cyber attack Tuesday as a fresh batch of secret documents revealed the depth of American and British fears over Pakistan’s nuclear material falling into the wrong hands.
The latest disclosures show that even as President Barack Obama was offering assurances on Pakistan last year, senior U.S. diplomats and their U.K. counterparts fretted about a downward spiral that left the safety of a stockpile of bomb-grade uranium in doubt.
The Pakistan files were detailed in near-simultaneous reports released Tuesday afternoon by The New York Times, The Guardian and Germany’s Der Spiegel, which said the secret U.S. diplomatic dispatches “provide deep insights into the true extent of Pakistan’s volatility.”
Pakistan has confirmed to the BBC claims by Wikileaks that the US had wanted nuclear fuel taken away from a reactor, citing security fears.
Foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said they rejected US attempts to have the highly enriched uranium removed.Pakistan's Army and ISI are covertly sponsoring four militant groups, including LeT, and will not abandon them for any amount of US money. As per the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks,the American envoy to Islamabad Anne Patterson wrote this in a secret review of Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy in September 2009.
Patterson also underpinned the need for the US to reassess India's role in Afghanistan and the US policies towards India including the growing military relationship through sizeable conventional arms sales. She said all of this feeds Pakistani establishment paranoia and pushes them closer to both Afghan and Kashmir-focused terrorist groups while reinforcing doubts about US intentions.
The latest cache of WikiLeaks documents also lay bare the deep concern of the US over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and the fact that Islamabad is producing them at a faster rate than any other country in the world.
The US diplomatic cables also revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars in American military aid to Pakistan earmarked for fighting Islamist militants was not used for the desired purpose, but diverted to the government's coffers.
WikiLeaks has disclosed the conversation between US Senator John McCain and former president Pervez Musharraf in which latter talked about the possibility of the presence of Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri in Bajaur Agency.
The US embassy cables disclosed Musharraf as saying that although he had no direct evidence, he thought al Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri were hiding in Bajaur Agency, bordering Afghanistan's Konar province where US forces were not deployed.Musharraf, however, added that Mullah Omar was not present in Balochistan.Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, whose wife, Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a suicide bombing, has made extensive preparations in case of his own assassination, said The Guardian citing a document leaked by WikiLeaks.
Last year Zardari told the US ambassador, Anne Patterson, that if he was assassinated, "he had instructed his son Bilawal to name his sister, Faryal Talpur, as president".
This year Zardari requested the United Arab Emirates to allow his family to live there in the event of his death. His wife lived in self-imposed exile in the UAE for years before her ill-fated return to Pakistan in 2007.
The cables provide a changing portrait of Zardari, America's key Pakistani ally along with the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani. A sharp-edged 2008 description of Zardari notes that he hails from a tribe with "little social standing" in Sindh; "there is a story that as children, Sindhis were told 'a Zardari stole it' if something went missing".
But later dispatches portray him as a more capable leader, with considerable political nous, although often burdened by his association with deep-seated corruption.
Zardari is frank about the strength of the Taliban – "I'm sorry to say this but we are not winning" the war against extremists he told the US vice-president, Joe Biden, in 2009 – and his own limitations.
"I am not Benazir, and I know it," he told the US ambassador after his wife's death.
And he fears a fresh army coup. Zardari said he was concerned that Kayani might "take me out", Biden reported to Gordon Brown during a meeting in Chile in 2009. Brown said he thought it unlikely.
The observations on Pakistan's often beleaguered president are part of several portraits about prominent Pakistani politicians that are dotted with insight, colour and some surprises.
In November 2007 Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the country's most fiercely pro-Taliban religious party, hosted a jovial dinner for Patterson at which he sought her backing to become prime minister and expressed a desire to visit America.
"All important parties in Pakistan had to get the approval" of the US, said his aide Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. After the meeting Patterson commented on the mullah's famously wily political skills. "He has made it clear that … his still significant number of votes are up for sale."
The cables also highlight the contradictions of other prominent Pakistanis. Officials noted that Amin Fahim, a Bhutto supporter hoping to become prime minister, led a religious Islamic group "while enjoying an occasional bloody mary".
The opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif had a "notoriously difficult personality" while his family is noted to have "relied primarily on the army and intelligence agencies for political elevation".
America's perceived influence on Pakistani power politics is a frequent theme. In a May 2008 meeting with a visiting American congressional delegation, Zardari said: "We won't act without consulting with you."
Sharif repeatedly told the US ambassador he was "pro-American", despite his often critical public stance. He thanked the US for "arranging" to have Kayani appointed as army chief. "The best thing America has done recently," he said.
"The fact that a former prime minister believes the US could control the appointment of Pakistan's chief of army staff speaks volumes about the myth of American influence here," the ambassador noted tartly afterwards.But some dispatches make it clear that the Americans do wield great clout. After General Pervez Musharraf resigned as president in 2008, ambassador Patterson pressed Zardari to grant him immunity from prosecution. "We believed, as we had often said, that Musharraf should have a dignified retirement and not be hounded out of the country," she said.
The US – and Kayani – worried that Zardari would renege on his word. "Zardari is walking tall these days, hopefully not too tall to forget his promise to Kayani and to us on an immunity deal," wrote Patterson.
If Zardari didn't protect Musharraf then it would make him look bad. "I have to bring the army along with me," he said, also noting that the delay "does nothing for Zardari's reputation for trustworthiness".
The notable exception to that US influence, however, is the former cricketer Imran Khan, who delivered a long lecture to visiting US politicians about the iniquities of US policy.
Welcoming the group at his grand home outside Islamabad, Khan hosted an "hour-long, largely one-sided, and somewhat uncomfortable conversation".
To defeat the Taliban the US had to understand the "tribal character" of the militants, he said, and described the Pakistani drive against the Taliban in 2009 as "stage-managed" for US consumption.
There are apercus in the cables into the often inscrutable military leaders. Kayani is "direct, frank, and thoughtful" and has "fond memories" of time spent on a military training course in the US. It is also noted that "he smokes heavily and can be difficult to understand as he tends to mumble." The Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, was "usually more emotional" than Kayani.
US diplomats also have a ringside seat to civilian wrangles. In February 2009 Zardari aide Farahnaz Ispahani said the president was "very unhappy" with the way the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, had "gone off the reservation". In 2008 Zardari said Fahim "had spent most of the [election] campaign in Dubai (with his latest 22 year-old wife) and was simply too lazy to be prime minister".
The cables also record embarrassing mistakes in the embassy's efforts to manage its relationships with Pakistan's power elite. Six months after his dinner with the ambassador, Rehman was less enamoured of US policy when the FBI issued a notice suggesting he had orchestrated a suicide bombing in Islamabad.
The embassy asked the FBI to urgently recall the notice – he had been confused with another man with a similar name. Rehman was a "frequent and co-operative interlocutor with post and professes his support for co-operation with the United States", the request said.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Turkish FM made fun of him being dangerous
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made fun Tuesday at a leaked US memo's description of him as "exceptionally dangerous," saying he sees only a smiling face in the mirror.Speaking to reporters, Davutoglu also denied suggestions in other cables leaked by the Internet whistle-blower WikiLeaks that his government is anti-Israeli with fantasies of reviving the Ottoman empire.
WASHINGTON: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu poked fun Tuesday at a leaked US memo's description of him as "exceptionally dangerous," saying he sees only a smiling face in the mirror.Speaking to reporters, Davutoglu also denied suggestions in other cables leaked by the Internet whistle-blower WikiLeaks that his government is anti-Israeli with fantasies of reviving the Ottoman empire.
"Yes, I'm extremely dangerous
for those who want to have instability in our region. I'm extremely dangerous for those who want to create new tensions," Davutoglu told a press round table in a Washington hotel."If somebody says to me 'extremely dangerous,' I look to mirror, I don't see any dangerous face. (I see) a smiling face," he said.
A high-ranking government adviser, quoted by US diplomats in a cable published by the German magazine Der Spiegel, describes Davutoglu as "exceptionally dangerous" and warns that he would use his influence on Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
A cable signed by the US ambassador in January 2010 says the foreign minister wants to reassert on the Balkans the influence the Ottoman empire used to exert on the region.But Davutoglu said: "We don't want to have anything back to history." "All the countries, regardless of their size, or population or influence, are equal in our foreign policy. There is no hegemonic or imperial type of ambition."
He said neither he, nor the prime minister or other leaders used the concept of a revived Ottoman empire in their policy discussions.The Turkish foreign minister also sought to shoot down any perception from the leaked cables that his government was somehow anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic, citing "excellent relations" with Jews throughout Turkish history.He said tensions in the relationship with Israel were due to Israeli policies, which he called "irresponsible" when they resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians.
He cited the Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009, where the majority killed were civilians.
He also cited a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship which killed nine Turks aboard, including one with dual US-Turkish citizenship.
He insisted it is "usual" practice among friends under such circumstances for Israel to apologize and offer compensation to the families of the victims.
"If we are enemies, of course, we have to know. If we are friends and we continue to be friends, this is the way to resolve it," he added.
A leaked US diplomatic cable dated October 2009 reports the view of the Israeli ambassador to Turkey, Gabby Levy, that Erdogan "simply hates Israel" on religious grounds. Other conversations backed up the view, it added.
WASHINGTON: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu poked fun Tuesday at a leaked US memo's description of him as "exceptionally dangerous," saying he sees only a smiling face in the mirror.Speaking to reporters, Davutoglu also denied suggestions in other cables leaked by the Internet whistle-blower WikiLeaks that his government is anti-Israeli with fantasies of reviving the Ottoman empire.
"Yes, I'm extremely dangerous
for those who want to have instability in our region. I'm extremely dangerous for those who want to create new tensions," Davutoglu told a press round table in a Washington hotel."If somebody says to me 'extremely dangerous,' I look to mirror, I don't see any dangerous face. (I see) a smiling face," he said.
A high-ranking government adviser, quoted by US diplomats in a cable published by the German magazine Der Spiegel, describes Davutoglu as "exceptionally dangerous" and warns that he would use his influence on Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
A cable signed by the US ambassador in January 2010 says the foreign minister wants to reassert on the Balkans the influence the Ottoman empire used to exert on the region.But Davutoglu said: "We don't want to have anything back to history." "All the countries, regardless of their size, or population or influence, are equal in our foreign policy. There is no hegemonic or imperial type of ambition."
He said neither he, nor the prime minister or other leaders used the concept of a revived Ottoman empire in their policy discussions.The Turkish foreign minister also sought to shoot down any perception from the leaked cables that his government was somehow anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic, citing "excellent relations" with Jews throughout Turkish history.He said tensions in the relationship with Israel were due to Israeli policies, which he called "irresponsible" when they resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians.
He cited the Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009, where the majority killed were civilians.
He also cited a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship which killed nine Turks aboard, including one with dual US-Turkish citizenship.
He insisted it is "usual" practice among friends under such circumstances for Israel to apologize and offer compensation to the families of the victims.
"If we are enemies, of course, we have to know. If we are friends and we continue to be friends, this is the way to resolve it," he added.
A leaked US diplomatic cable dated October 2009 reports the view of the Israeli ambassador to Turkey, Gabby Levy, that Erdogan "simply hates Israel" on religious grounds. Other conversations backed up the view, it added.
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