WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (IPS) - If U.S. President-elect Barack Obama wants to begin dismantling Washington's nearly 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, it appears he will have widespread support for doing so.Not only have some major foreign policy heavyweights recently called for ending the embargo if, for no other reason, than to create desperately needed goodwill elsewhere in the Americas and beyond. But major U.S. business groups also appear more enthusiastic than ever for pushing the incoming administration and the most Democratic Congress in some 20 years in that direction, although they concede the process may be more gradual than they would like. "We support the complete removal of all trade and travel restrictions on Cuba," a dozen such business associations, including the politically potent Business Roundtable, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Retail Federation, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote, in a letter addressed to Obama Thursday. "We recognize that change may not come all at once, but it must start somewhere, and it must begin soon," they added, noting that Washington's trade embargo and its long-standing efforts to isolate Havana for national security reasons during the Cold War have "far outlasted (their) original purpose". The letter, which was drafted by Jake Colvin, vice president for Global Trade Issues of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), is the latest in a series of public statements by prominent foreign policy figures and institutions in favour of easing, if not abandoning, Washington's efforts to isolate Havana.
KARACHI, Dec 7 (IPS) - A hoax phone call from India to Pakistan's President threatening military reprisals in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Mumbai city, hyped up by media, brought the nuclear-armed neighbours close to conflict. However, analysts believe that the hostilities arising from the attack and the media hype can still be contained. The three-day standoff in Mumbai was barely over on Nov. 28 when the late-evening phone call was made, supposedly from India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. Because of the heightened tensions, his staff bypassed routine procedures and transferred the call to Zardari. The imposter "directly threatened to take military action if Islamabad failed to immediately act against the supposed perpetrators of the Mumbai killings" according to a report in the daily Dawn, Pakistan of Dec. 6, which reveals that the call was a hoax that sent Pakistan into a state of `high alert' last weekend, "eyeing India for possible signs of military aggression". The "aggressive" call, as the news trickled out, created grounds for anger in Pakistan and was used to create public opinion against sending the chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to India as the Pakistan government had agreed to do. A tussle over the issue between the Pakistan army and the civilian government ended with the government reneging on its promise and saying that only a `representative' of the ISI would be sent.
The US neocons' frolic with talk of nuclear strikes must cease, and the human and environmental cost of the use of DU exposed for the supreme crime it continues to be.
Presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana have attracted a huge turnout with few reported problems, poll officials say. President John Kufuor, stepping down after serving the maximum two terms, urged participants to accept the result peacefully and in good faith. The race to succeed him is considered to be a tight one. The main contenders are ex-foreign minister Nana Akufo-Addo and the opposition's John Atta Mills. Mr Atta Mills, of the National Democratic Congress, is a candidate for the top office for a third time.
Presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana have attracted a huge turnout with few reported problems, poll officials say.
President John Kufuor, stepping down after serving the maximum two terms, urged participants to accept the result peacefully and in good faith.
The race to succeed him is considered to be a tight one.
The main contenders are ex-foreign minister Nana Akufo-Addo and the opposition's John Atta Mills.
Mr Atta Mills, of the National Democratic Congress, is a candidate for the top office for a third time.
President Robert Mugabe's government cannot lead Zimbabwe out of its current humanitatian crisis, the Elders group of influential statesmen has said. The group - which includes former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan - said there was "bitter disappointment" with the current leadership. The group also called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to help contain a cholera outbreak. Humanitarian agencies say the epidemic has claimed about 600 lives so far. The Elders include former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former US President Jimmy Carter and international advocate for women and children's rights Graca Machel. "There is bitter disappointment in the current leadership. This government has not demonstrated the ability to lead the country out of its current crisis," said former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
President Robert Mugabe's government cannot lead Zimbabwe out of its current humanitatian crisis, the Elders group of influential statesmen has said.
The group - which includes former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan - said there was "bitter disappointment" with the current leadership.
The group also called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to help contain a cholera outbreak.
Humanitarian agencies say the epidemic has claimed about 600 lives so far.
The Elders include former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former US President Jimmy Carter and international advocate for women and children's rights Graca Machel.
"There is bitter disappointment in the current leadership. This government has not demonstrated the ability to lead the country out of its current crisis," said former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has accused former colonial ruler Britain of using a cholera epidemic to rally Western support for an invasion of the collapsing southern African nation, a state-run newspaper said on Sunday. President Robert Mugabe is under mounting pressure from the international community, especially Western nations which accuse him of ruining the once prosperous country and exposing its people to famine and disease. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has branded Mugabe's government a "blood-stained regime" and said it was responsible for the cholera epidemic that has killed at least 575 people. The world must tell Mugabe "enough is enough," he said. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday the veteran leader's departure from office was long overdue. The growing Western criticism signaled a plot to oust Mugabe's government militarily, Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said. "I don't know what this mad prime minister (Brown) is talking about. He is asking for an invasion of Zimbabwe ... but he will come unstuck," Charamba told the state-controlled Sunday Mail.
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has accused former colonial ruler Britain of using a cholera epidemic to rally Western support for an invasion of the collapsing southern African nation, a state-run newspaper said on Sunday.
President Robert Mugabe is under mounting pressure from the international community, especially Western nations which accuse him of ruining the once prosperous country and exposing its people to famine and disease.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has branded Mugabe's government a "blood-stained regime" and said it was responsible for the cholera epidemic that has killed at least 575 people. The world must tell Mugabe "enough is enough," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday the veteran leader's departure from office was long overdue.
The growing Western criticism signaled a plot to oust Mugabe's government militarily, Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said.
"I don't know what this mad prime minister (Brown) is talking about. He is asking for an invasion of Zimbabwe ... but he will come unstuck," Charamba told the state-controlled Sunday Mail.
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- A cholera epidemic that started in Zimbabwe has spread to neighboring Botswana and Zambia as well as South Africa, the Southern African Development Community said. The 15-nation group has sent a team to Zimbabwe "to assess the situation," SADC's secretariat said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. The SADC team will consult with the World Health Organization and hold an emergency meeting with health ministers from some member states on Dec. 11. "The current spread of the cholera outbreak is also affecting Botswana, South Africa and Zambia," SADC said. It didn't provide details of how many people were infected in those countries. The Zimbabwe cholera outbreak accompanied the collapse of the country's health and sanitation systems following a decade of recession and political upheaval under President Robert Mugabe. The country's health ministry reported 484 deaths and 11,735 cholera cases since August, according the Web site of the WHO. Cholera, mainly spread through contaminated water and food and poor sanitation, causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to death.
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- A cholera epidemic that started in Zimbabwe has spread to neighboring Botswana and Zambia as well as South Africa, the Southern African Development Community said.
The 15-nation group has sent a team to Zimbabwe "to assess the situation," SADC's secretariat said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. The SADC team will consult with the World Health Organization and hold an emergency meeting with health ministers from some member states on Dec. 11.
"The current spread of the cholera outbreak is also affecting Botswana, South Africa and Zambia," SADC said. It didn't provide details of how many people were infected in those countries.
The Zimbabwe cholera outbreak accompanied the collapse of the country's health and sanitation systems following a decade of recession and political upheaval under President Robert Mugabe. The country's health ministry reported 484 deaths and 11,735 cholera cases since August, according the Web site of the WHO.
Cholera, mainly spread through contaminated water and food and poor sanitation, causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to death.
The Sudanese army says it has sent more troops to the sensitive oil-rich South Kordofan state. The army told state media that it had information that a Darfur rebel group planned to attack the area. The main party in the south says the military build-up is a violation of a 2005 peace deal that ended civil war. There has been speculation in Khartoum for weeks that large numbers of Darfur rebels had crossed into Kordofan, followed by northern soldiers. Sudan's armed forces have now confirmed the military build-up. An army spokesman said the aim was to prevent any effort by the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) to extend its activities into South Kordofan.
The Sudanese army says it has sent more troops to the sensitive oil-rich South Kordofan state.
The army told state media that it had information that a Darfur rebel group planned to attack the area.
The main party in the south says the military build-up is a violation of a 2005 peace deal that ended civil war.
There has been speculation in Khartoum for weeks that large numbers of Darfur rebels had crossed into Kordofan, followed by northern soldiers.
Sudan's armed forces have now confirmed the military build-up.
An army spokesman said the aim was to prevent any effort by the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) to extend its activities into South Kordofan.
Opposition parties in Venezuela have formally rejected a plan by President Hugo Chavez to seek to stay in office as long as he keeps winning elections. In a joint statement, the opposition said: "Fourteen years are sufficient." Mr Chavez, marking 10 years since his first election as president, is seeking reforms that would let him stand again when his latest term ends in 2012. Last year, he lost a referendum on the issue and opposition parties say it cannot be voted on again. Thousands of supporters of the president gathered outside the presidential palace in Caracas on Saturday to mark the 10th anniversary of his first election victory in December 1998. But opposition parties issued a joint statement saying the president's re-election proposals were "anti-democratic, unconstitutional and against the national interest".
Opposition parties in Venezuela have formally rejected a plan by President Hugo Chavez to seek to stay in office as long as he keeps winning elections.
In a joint statement, the opposition said: "Fourteen years are sufficient."
Mr Chavez, marking 10 years since his first election as president, is seeking reforms that would let him stand again when his latest term ends in 2012.
Last year, he lost a referendum on the issue and opposition parties say it cannot be voted on again.
Thousands of supporters of the president gathered outside the presidential palace in Caracas on Saturday to mark the 10th anniversary of his first election victory in December 1998.
But opposition parties issued a joint statement saying the president's re-election proposals were "anti-democratic, unconstitutional and against the national interest".
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani militants attacked a parked convoy of trucks carrying military vehicles for Western forces in Afghanistan near Peshawar early on Sunday, destroying 96 trucks, police said. Security guards said they were overpowered by more than 200 militants who attacked two terminals on the ring road round the northwestern city of Peshawar, where the trucks carrying Humvees and other military vehicles were parked. "It happened at around 2.30 a.m. They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze 96 trucks," senior police officer Azeem Khan told Reuters. Most of the fuel and other supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan, much of it through the mountainous Khyber Pass between Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province and the border town of Torkham.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani militants attacked a parked convoy of trucks carrying military vehicles for Western forces in Afghanistan near Peshawar early on Sunday, destroying 96 trucks, police said.
Security guards said they were overpowered by more than 200 militants who attacked two terminals on the ring road round the northwestern city of Peshawar, where the trucks carrying Humvees and other military vehicles were parked.
"It happened at around 2.30 a.m. They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze 96 trucks," senior police officer Azeem Khan told Reuters.
Most of the fuel and other supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan, much of it through the mountainous Khyber Pass between Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province and the border town of Torkham.
The pre-dawn Taliban raid took place at a logistics terminal in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar where dozens of trucks carrying Humvees and other military vehicles were parked. The terminal manager, Kifayatullah Khan, tells VOA there were a total of 106 vehicles and the heavily armed men destroyed all of them before fleeing the scene. "There were around 300 people who came and attacked the terminal. They first fired on our main gate with a rocket, damaging the gate and making their entrance," Khan said. "When they entered the terminal they started firing in different directions. One of our security guards was killed in the incident." More than 70 percent of supplies for NATO and U.S forces stationed in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through Peshawar after they are unloaded from ships at the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. But the supplies have come under frequent attacks by Taliban militants at logistic terminals in and around Peshawar as well as while passing through the Khyber Pass.
More than 90 lorries supplying US forces in Afghanistan have been set on fire in a suspected militant attack in north-west Pakistan, police say. Police said at least one person was killed as about 300 gunmen using rockets overpowered the guards at a terminal near the city of Peshawar. Some of the lorries were laden with Humvee armoured vehicles. There have been a series of attacks on convoys recently - although not on this scale, says the BBC's Martin Patience. The road from Peshawar to Afghanistan is a major supply route for US and Western forces battling against the Taleban. A US spokesman, Lt Col Rumi Nielsen-Green, said the incident was "militarily insignificant". "So far there hasn't been a significant loss or impact to our mission," she said. But, with 300 lorries crossing the border each day, military officials will be deeply concerned that their supply line can be disrupted in this manner, our correspondent in the Afghan capital, Kabul, says.
More than 90 lorries supplying US forces in Afghanistan have been set on fire in a suspected militant attack in north-west Pakistan, police say.
Police said at least one person was killed as about 300 gunmen using rockets overpowered the guards at a terminal near the city of Peshawar.
Some of the lorries were laden with Humvee armoured vehicles.
There have been a series of attacks on convoys recently - although not on this scale, says the BBC's Martin Patience.
The road from Peshawar to Afghanistan is a major supply route for US and Western forces battling against the Taleban.
A US spokesman, Lt Col Rumi Nielsen-Green, said the incident was "militarily insignificant".
"So far there hasn't been a significant loss or impact to our mission," she said.
But, with 300 lorries crossing the border each day, military officials will be deeply concerned that their supply line can be disrupted in this manner, our correspondent in the Afghan capital, Kabul, says.
Pakistani security forces raided a camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba on Sunday, according to a senior Pakistani official. The Pakistani official said the action against the camp was taken because of evidence that the militants based in the facility were linked to the attacks on Mumbai. He said information about the Lashkar-e-Taiba facility was provided to President Asif Ali Zardari's government by both India and the U.S. "We are taking action based on the intelligence given to us," the official said. "It's Pakistan's decision based on our own national interest." The official said he expects his government to conduct more actions against Lashkar-e-Taiba in the days and weeks ahead.
The Pakistani official said the action against the camp was taken because of evidence that the militants based in the facility were linked to the attacks on Mumbai. He said information about the Lashkar-e-Taiba facility was provided to President Asif Ali Zardari's government by both India and the U.S.
"We are taking action based on the intelligence given to us," the official said. "It's Pakistan's decision based on our own national interest." The official said he expects his government to conduct more actions against Lashkar-e-Taiba in the days and weeks ahead.
MUZAFFARABAD/ISLAMABAD: Security forces have launched a `quiet' crackdown on activists belonging to the banned jihadi outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in different parts of the country and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. In Muzaffarabad, a major army operation was under way in the city suburbs on Sunday against a site being used by the Jamaatud Dawa, which is headed by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. Sources said that more than 20 members of the banned organisation and Lashkar-e-Taiba's `commander' Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi had been arrested. <...> Police and civil administration officials in Muzaffarabad told reporters they did not know what was happening. Local residents, however, said they had seen army personnel taking control of the area along Shawai Nullah, some five kilometres northwest of Muzaffarabad, where the organisation possesses a large plot of land on which several buildings had been built. The Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) of Hafiz Saeed occupied the same place before the organisation was proscribed. <...> AFP quoted an intelligence official as saying that three Jamaat-ud-Dawa members had been arrested on Monday. `Three people were rounded up in a brief operation against the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa,' the official said. ...
In Muzaffarabad, a major army operation was under way in the city suburbs on Sunday against a site being used by the Jamaatud Dawa, which is headed by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. Sources said that more than 20 members of the banned organisation and Lashkar-e-Taiba's `commander' Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi had been arrested. <...>
Police and civil administration officials in Muzaffarabad told reporters they did not know what was happening.
Local residents, however, said they had seen army personnel taking control of the area along Shawai Nullah, some five kilometres northwest of Muzaffarabad, where the organisation possesses a large plot of land on which several buildings had been built. The Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) of Hafiz Saeed occupied the same place before the organisation was proscribed. <...>
AFP quoted an intelligence official as saying that three Jamaat-ud-Dawa members had been arrested on Monday.
`Three people were rounded up in a brief operation against the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa,' the official said. ...
... The situation in NWFP is spiraling out of control, with militancy spilling over from the tribal areas into this province. In the past four days, militants have abducted a record 60 people from the provincial capital Peshawar, most of them retired army officers and members or relatives of the Awami National Party (ANP), which rules in the province. The Taliban have butchered many people with affiliations to the ANP or those with relatives in the security apparatus.Meanwhile, North Atlantic Treaty Organization supply convoys passing through Khyber Agency en route to Afghanistan have come under increasing attacks. In the most recent incident, militants destroyed 40 containers in supposedly secure terminals in the middle of Peshawar. In this anarchic situation, the Jamaatut Dawa (LET), with its well-defined vertical command structure under the single command of Saeed, could commit its several thousand members, virtually a para-military force, to the cause of the anti-state al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani militants.What has stopped the anti-India orientated group from doing this is its under-riding loyalty to and support from Pakistan. If the authorities start to mess with the LET, beyond the routine rhetoric, all hell could break loose inside the country. Similarly, if pressure is placed on the ISI, there could be a severe reaction from the more hardline elements in that organization, as well as in the military. ...
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group suspected of conducting the Mumbai attacks, has quietly gained strength in recent years with the help of Pakistan's main spy service, assistance that has allowed the group to train and raise money while other militants have been under siege, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials say. American officials say there is no hard evidence to link the spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, to the Mumbai attacks. But the ISI has shared intelligence with Lashkar and provided protection for it, the officials said, and investigators are focusing on one Lashkar leader they believe is a main liaison with the spy service and a mastermind of the attacks. As a result of the assault on Mumbai, India's financial hub, American counterterrorism and military officials say they are reassessing their view of Lashkar and believe it to be more capable and a greater threat than they had previously recognized. ...
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group suspected of conducting the Mumbai attacks, has quietly gained strength in recent years with the help of Pakistan's main spy service, assistance that has allowed the group to train and raise money while other militants have been under siege, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials say.
American officials say there is no hard evidence to link the spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, to the Mumbai attacks. But the ISI has shared intelligence with Lashkar and provided protection for it, the officials said, and investigators are focusing on one Lashkar leader they believe is a main liaison with the spy service and a mastermind of the attacks.
As a result of the assault on Mumbai, India's financial hub, American counterterrorism and military officials say they are reassessing their view of Lashkar and believe it to be more capable and a greater threat than they had previously recognized. ...
... Since the attacks, Indian police say [captured terrorist suspect Mohammed Ajmal] Kasab has come to regret his actions and asked police to deliver a letter to his father. In it, according to Mr. Roy, he wrote in Urdu: "I did not go on the path you told me to. I did not realize that the path I was taking would lead me here. I went too far. I am now as good as dead. Nobody should go down this path." <...> According to police accounts, Mr. Kasab has said he is from a poor family of devout Muslims in the small, dusty village of Faridkot in Punjab. His father worked selling snacks out of a cart. One of five siblings, Mr. Kasab has said he dropped out of school when he was in fourth grade so he could help support the family, working as a casual laborer in his town of 3,000 people. <...> The recruiters persuaded him to attend a training camp, where they showed him video footage of Hindu extremists demolishing the Babri Masjid and Hindu mobs killing Muslims in the aftermath of the burning of a train full of Hindu pilgrims passing through Godhra in 2002. <...> At several camps around Pakistan, including a major Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Muzaffarabad in Kashmir, Mr. Kasab underwent 18 months' training in marine warfare, weaponry and explosive use, he told interrogators, said Mr. Roy, the Maharashtra police director general. Among the trainers were several who appeared in army and navy uniforms with names and rank badges, Mr. Roy said. The Pakistani government denies any of its military was involved in training the attackers. <...> Residents in the village where Mr. Kasab grew up said he moved out a few years ago, according to a local journalist. His father, Amir, confirmed the gunman as his son after seeing a photograph of him injured after the attacks, the journalist said. His mother burst into tears and kissed the photograph. The elder Mr. Kasab said he hasn't received any money from Lashkar-e-Taiba. "I don't sell my son," he told the journalist.
... Since the attacks, Indian police say [captured terrorist suspect Mohammed Ajmal] Kasab has come to regret his actions and asked police to deliver a letter to his father. In it, according to Mr. Roy, he wrote in Urdu: "I did not go on the path you told me to. I did not realize that the path I was taking would lead me here. I went too far. I am now as good as dead. Nobody should go down this path." <...>
According to police accounts, Mr. Kasab has said he is from a poor family of devout Muslims in the small, dusty village of Faridkot in Punjab. His father worked selling snacks out of a cart. One of five siblings, Mr. Kasab has said he dropped out of school when he was in fourth grade so he could help support the family, working as a casual laborer in his town of 3,000 people. <...>
The recruiters persuaded him to attend a training camp, where they showed him video footage of Hindu extremists demolishing the Babri Masjid and Hindu mobs killing Muslims in the aftermath of the burning of a train full of Hindu pilgrims passing through Godhra in 2002. <...>
At several camps around Pakistan, including a major Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Muzaffarabad in Kashmir, Mr. Kasab underwent 18 months' training in marine warfare, weaponry and explosive use, he told interrogators, said Mr. Roy, the Maharashtra police director general.
Among the trainers were several who appeared in army and navy uniforms with names and rank badges, Mr. Roy said. The Pakistani government denies any of its military was involved in training the attackers. <...>
Residents in the village where Mr. Kasab grew up said he moved out a few years ago, according to a local journalist. His father, Amir, confirmed the gunman as his son after seeing a photograph of him injured after the attacks, the journalist said. His mother burst into tears and kissed the photograph. The elder Mr. Kasab said he hasn't received any money from Lashkar-e-Taiba. "I don't sell my son," he told the journalist.
MUMBAI, India -- Throngs of Indian Muslims, ranging from Bollywood actors to skullcap-wearing seminary students, marched through the heart of Mumbai and several other cities on Sunday, holding up banners proclaiming their condemnation of terrorism and loyalty to the Indian state. The protests, though relatively small, were the latest in a series of striking public gestures by Muslims -- who have often come under suspicion after past attacks -- to defensively dissociate their own grievances as a minority here from any sort of sympathy for terrorism or radical politics in the wake of the deadly assault here that ended Nov. 29. Muslim leaders have refused to allow the bodies of the nine militants killed in the attacks to be buried in Islamic cemeteries, saying the men were not true Muslims. They also suspended the annual Dec. 6 commemoration of a 1992 riot in which Hindus destroyed a mosque, in an effort to avert communal tension. Muslim religious scholars and public figures have issued strongly worded condemnations of the attacks. So far, their approach appears to have worked: the response has been remarkably unified, with little of the suspicion and fear that followed some previous attacks. Hindu right-wing groups have been noticeably absent from the streets. Although leaders of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have criticized the government's handling of the crisis, they have not stirred anti-Muslim sentiment.
The protests, though relatively small, were the latest in a series of striking public gestures by Muslims -- who have often come under suspicion after past attacks -- to defensively dissociate their own grievances as a minority here from any sort of sympathy for terrorism or radical politics in the wake of the deadly assault here that ended Nov. 29.
Muslim leaders have refused to allow the bodies of the nine militants killed in the attacks to be buried in Islamic cemeteries, saying the men were not true Muslims. They also suspended the annual Dec. 6 commemoration of a 1992 riot in which Hindus destroyed a mosque, in an effort to avert communal tension. Muslim religious scholars and public figures have issued strongly worded condemnations of the attacks.
So far, their approach appears to have worked: the response has been remarkably unified, with little of the suspicion and fear that followed some previous attacks.
Hindu right-wing groups have been noticeably absent from the streets. Although leaders of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have criticized the government's handling of the crisis, they have not stirred anti-Muslim sentiment.
Hindu right-wing groups have been noticeably absent from the streets. Although leaders of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have criticized the government's handling of the crisis, they have not stirred anti-Muslim sentiment
A saving grace, but for how long ?? The indian govt needs to crack down on these people as much as on islamists. keep to the Fen Causeway
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Algeria's local natural gas consumption will reach between 49.6 billion and 67.1 billion cubic meters in a decade, the Regulatory Commission for Electricity and Gas in the North African country said. Consumption this year will be 27.4 billion cubic meters, 7 percent higher than a year earlier, as new projects requiring natural gas for fuel came on stream, the commission said in a statement today. The oil and gas producer is targeting production of 86 billion cubic meters of gas by 2010.
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Algeria's local natural gas consumption will reach between 49.6 billion and 67.1 billion cubic meters in a decade, the Regulatory Commission for Electricity and Gas in the North African country said.
Consumption this year will be 27.4 billion cubic meters, 7 percent higher than a year earlier, as new projects requiring natural gas for fuel came on stream, the commission said in a statement today.
The oil and gas producer is targeting production of 86 billion cubic meters of gas by 2010.
Even though we have a general assets and prices deflation trend, and some people are forecasting oil down to $25, we should actually energy prices to go up?
Doesn't it depend on the demand destruction caused by the collapse of the economy? Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
FARGO, North Dakota -- Federal Customs and Border Protection authorities are preparing to launch unmanned aircraft patrols from this state, the first time such monitoring will occur along the nation's northern border. A Predator B aircraft, delivered to Grand Forks on Saturday, will make runs along the northern edge of North Dakota using sensors that can provide video and detect heat and changes to landscape, Customs and Border Protection officials said. The plane, which can go 260 miles per hour and fly as high as 50,000 feet, can stay aloft for 18 hours. The first missions, designed to help spot people crossing the border illegally or avoiding ports of entry, are expected to start next month.Similar aircraft have patrolled the nation's southern border since 2005, where they have helped lead to the discovery of more than 18,000 pounds of marijuana and 4,000 illegal immigrants, a spokesman for the agency said. ...
FARGO, North Dakota -- Federal Customs and Border Protection authorities are preparing to launch unmanned aircraft patrols from this state, the first time such monitoring will occur along the nation's northern border.
A Predator B aircraft, delivered to Grand Forks on Saturday, will make runs along the northern edge of North Dakota using sensors that can provide video and detect heat and changes to landscape, Customs and Border Protection officials said.
The plane, which can go 260 miles per hour and fly as high as 50,000 feet, can stay aloft for 18 hours. The first missions, designed to help spot people crossing the border illegally or avoiding ports of entry, are expected to start next month.
Similar aircraft have patrolled the nation's southern border since 2005, where they have helped lead to the discovery of more than 18,000 pounds of marijuana and 4,000 illegal immigrants, a spokesman for the agency said. ...
43- Areas of Taliban presence in Afghanistan during 2007 - November 2008 A re-made map indicating where the Taliban used to have a 54% permanent presence in 2007. 45 - Areas of Taliban presence in Afghanistan plus fatal violent incidents in 2008 - November 2008 Map detailing provinces with permanent, substantial and light Taliban presence along with acts of violence that have resulted in a known civilian, military or insurgent fatality. Permanent Taliban presence now amounts to 72% of the total landmass.
A re-made map indicating where the Taliban used to have a 54% permanent presence in 2007.
45 - Areas of Taliban presence in Afghanistan plus fatal violent incidents in 2008 - November 2008
Map detailing provinces with permanent, substantial and light Taliban presence along with acts of violence that have resulted in a known civilian, military or insurgent fatality. Permanent Taliban presence now amounts to 72% of the total landmass.
... Indeed, Sarkozy had provoked the Chinese more than once. And, after some slight shows of regret, or perhaps ambiguous explanations, China continued to buy Airbuses. That might exactly be why the French president was bold and assured in the face of Chinese anger, netizens argue. <...> By the way, an advice for the surprised French - do not mistake spontaneous grassroots expressions of discontent for alleged government instigation. <...> When President Sarkozy asked the Chinese to respect his loyalty to his own values and principles, he ignored the Chinese side's special sensitivities on matters of sovereignty. He made reconciliatory gestures after the unpleasant pre-Olympic episodes, and was forgiven by the Chinese. But there is a limit to everything. What happened Saturday calls into question all his previous efforts to repair ties, and his personal credibility as well.
That might exactly be why the French president was bold and assured in the face of Chinese anger, netizens argue. <...>
By the way, an advice for the surprised French - do not mistake spontaneous grassroots expressions of discontent for alleged government instigation. <...>
When President Sarkozy asked the Chinese to respect his loyalty to his own values and principles, he ignored the Chinese side's special sensitivities on matters of sovereignty.
He made reconciliatory gestures after the unpleasant pre-Olympic episodes, and was forgiven by the Chinese.
But there is a limit to everything. What happened Saturday calls into question all his previous efforts to repair ties, and his personal credibility as well.
If there is any dip in sales for LVMH, Carrefour, Renault, Peugeot-Citroën, etc. in China this week, it will be interesting to see how long it lasts. I have a feeling that among the Chinese middle class, foreign brand names already achieved longer lasting power than patriotic indignation. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
