El veto de China y Rusia en la ONU «alentará la violencia» en Siria

Chiara Oct 5, 2011

El presidente del Consejo Nacional de este país, representante de la oposición, lamentó que las dos naciones bloquearan una resolución para condenar el régimen de Bashar al Assad.
«Respaldar a Bashar al Asad en su proyecto militaro-fascista no alentará al pueblo sirio a permanecer en una revolución pacífica», sostuvo Burhan Ghalioun, presidente del Consejo Nacional sirio.

Muy distinto piensa la consejera del presidente Bashar al Assad, Buthaina Shaaban. «Estimo que Rusia y China (…), al oponer su veto, se han colocado del lado del pueblo sirio y nos han dado el tiempo de llevar a cabo las reformas para llegar al pluralismo político sin que, espero, tengamos que aguantar los sufrimientos soportados por Irak, Libia, Pakistán o Afganistán».

El veto chino-ruso es el primero desde el que bloqueó las sanciones de la ONU contra el presidente de Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe en julio de 2008. Antes de que se conocieran sus posturas, el proyecto había conseguido los nueve votos necesarios. Brasil, India y Sudáfrica, que habían manifestado sus reservas ante posibles sanciones, se abstuvieron, al igual que Líbano.

Las reacciones fueron inmediatas. «Estados Unidos está indignado de que este Consejo haya fallado totalmente en enfrentar un desafío moral urgente y una creciente amenaza a la paz y la seguridad regional», dijo la embajadora Susan Rice, criticando a los países que según ella «preferirían vender armar al régimen sirio».
«Dos miembros han vetado un texto ampliamente rebajado que ni siquiera menciona sanciones», inidicó la diplomática al Consejo.

«Déjenme ser clara de que los Estados Unidos creen que ha pasado la hora en que este Consejo asumiera sus responsabilidades e impusiera duras sanciones selectivas y un embargo de armas al régimen de Assad», añadió.

La votación se demoró debido a la intensa actividad diplomática que intentó, finalmente sin fortuna, convencer a esas dos potencias de sumarse a la resolución de condena. Los Estados Unidos se habían puesto a la cabeza de esa presión. Horas antes, el Departamento de Estado había indicado que esperaba «una votación fuerte, sólida» y que permitiera enviar al régimen sirio el mensaje de que la «violencia debe cesar».

La postura de Rusia había sido ratificada momentos antes de la votación por el viceministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Guennadi Gatilov. El proyecto «desgraciadamente está lejos de satisfacernos y no se tomaron en cuenta todas nuestras inquietudes», sostuvo.

Moscú se oponía al texto, al que Gatilov calificó de «inaceptable», aún cuando Gran Bretaña, Francia, Alemania y Portugal lograron convencer a los impulsores de la condena en el Consejo de la conveniencia de evitar referirse a «sanciones». En cambio, el proyecto pedía adoptar «medidas precisas», una expresión que Rusia rechazó igualmente.

Gatilov explicó que Moscú deseaba una resolución que pusiera el acento en la necesidad del diálogo político en Siria y en la que la presión se ejerciera tanto sobre el régimen del presidente Bashar al Assad como sobre la oposición, objeto de un sangriento acoso que ha costado 2.700 muertes en los últimos seis meses.

En las últimas semanas, Rusia, país aliado de Siria, bloqueó cualquier proyecto de sanciones contra el régimen de ese país. Esa actitud le valió durísimas críticas, como las expresadas por el senador republicano John McCain. «Esto revela la verdadera naturaleza de Rusia», dijo el ex candidato presidencial.

Medidas unilaterales

Canadá, en tanto, reforzó este martes sus sanciones contra el régimen sirio apuntando en particular al sector petrolero, sin llegar a frenar las actividades del gigante energético canadiense Suncor en ese país. Los castigos prohíben a las empresas canadienses «importar, comprar, adquirir, transportar o expedir petróleo o productos derivados de origen sirio», así como «financiar nuevas inversiones en el sector petrolero», indicó el jefe de la diplomacia canadiense, John Baird, en un comunicado.

Por su parte, Washington mantuvo la prohibición de vender equipos de telecomunicaciones a Damasco. Además, el secretario estadounidense de Defensa, Leon Panetta, afirmó el lunes que la caída del régimen sirio es «sólo cuestión de tiempo».
Fuente: infobae.com

El Grupo integrista Al Shabab amenaza con más atentados terroristas en Somalia

Chiara Oct 5, 2011

Mogadiscio, 5 oct (EFE).- El grupo integrista islámico Al Shabab amenazó hoy con llevar a cabo más ataques contra el Gobierno Federal de Transición de Somalia (TFG, sus siglas en inglés) y contra sus aliados, un día después de que un atentado suicida de los rebeldes en Mogadiscio matara a cerca de 90 personas e hiriera a unas 150.
«A partir de ahora llevaremos a cabo más ataques contra el Gobierno, contra los efectivos de la Misión de la Unión Africana en Somalia (AMISOM) y contra sus aliados», aseguró el portavoz de Al Shabab, Sheikh Ali Mohamud, en un comunicado.
«Me aseguraré de que este es sólo el principio. Continuaremos con estas acciones durante mucho tiempo», agregó.
Mohamud insistió asimismo en que Al Shabab fue el autor del atentado de ayer en un complejo de edificios donde el Gobierno tenía las oficinas de tres de sus ministerios, y que este es un «mensaje para el TFG, las agencias de espionaje que están en la capital, las organizaciones de ayuda y sus aliados».
El suicida de Al Shabab que materializó el atentado de ayer, identificado por el grupo como Bashar Abdullahi Nur, fue entrevistado por Radio Al Andalus, medio propagandístico de los integristas, momentos antes de inmolarse.
«Me da igual si mato a mil personas, a cien o a una. Necesito ir al paraíso y reunirme con dios», aseguró Nur.
Las últimas cifras facilitadas por el hospital de Madina indican que el número de fallecidos se acerca ya a los 90 y el de heridos a los 150.
Por su parte, el presidente del país, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, anunció anoche tres días de luto nacional en honor a las víctimas del atentado, la mayoría estudiantes que ese encontraban en el lugar de los hechos para comprobar los resultados de exámenes para la obtención de becas.
«Prometo que este tipo de ataques no impedirán que sigamos luchando contra el terrorismo», afirmó Ahmed.
«Lo que ocurrió en Mogadiscio es terrible. Muestra lo crueles y estúpidos que son Al Qaeda y su aliado, Al Shabab», sentenció.
Las agencias de seguridad nacional del Gobierno anunciaron la detención de una persona con explosivos adheridos a su cuerpo cuando intentaba entrar en un edificio gubernamental en el norte de Mogadiscio.
Según la Administración somalí, miembros de Al Shabab ya están intentando llevar a cabo más atentados, «pero el Gobierno está preparado para prevenir cualquier ataque» contra ellos.
En Mogadiscio, que entró anoche en un estado de toque de queda oficioso, se respiraba hoy un ambiente muy tenso, donde las fuerzas de seguridad, en alerta roja, ordenaban detenerse a cada persona que se les acerca y los ciudadanos de la capital somalí trataban de sobreponerse al trauma.
Aunque Al Shabab ya ha llevado a cabo numerosos atentados terroristas en Somalia, esta es la segunda vez que los estudiantes son sus objetivos.
En diciembre de 2009, los fundamentalistas llevaron a cabo un atentado contra un hotel en Mogadiscio en el que se celebrara una ceremonia de graduación, en el que murieron cuatro ministros del Gobierno de Transición, tres periodistas, cuatro médicos y 29 estudiantes.
El atentado de ayer se produce dos meses después de la supuesta retirada de Al Shabab de Mogadiscio, motivada por lo que los radicales islámicos denominaron «un cambio táctico» hacia la guerra de guerrillas, en lugar del enfrentamiento táctico que practicaba hasta entonces.
Al Shabab, que pretende instaurar en la región un estado musulmán de corte wahabí, domina buena parte del sur de Somalia, un país que vive una permanente guerra civil y carece de un Gobierno efectivo desde 1991, cuando fue derrocado el dictador Mohamed Siad Barré.

Truck Bomb Kills Dozens in Somalia’s Capital

Felipe Oct 5, 2011

MOGADISHU, Somalia — This particular area of Mogadishu was supposed to be safe, a highly fortified government compound in one of the few neighborhoods that Somalia’s transitional government actually controls.

But on Tuesday morning, that illusion was shattered when an enormous truck bomb was detonated right outside the compound’s gates, killing dozens of people — many of them students standing around waiting for exam results — and sending the signal that the Shabab Islamist group may be making a comeback after several months of losing ground.

Witnesses reported horrific scenes of burning bodies, twisted in agony, strewn across the streets. African Union officials said at least 50 people had been killed and possibly as many as 100. Floods of wounded people stumbled into this city’s dilapidated hospitals, which were already full of victims of the country’s widening famine.

Somalia has lurched from crisis to crisis since 1991, when the central government collapsed, and while the Shabab formally withdrew from Mogadishu, the capital, in August, it seems that they are now living up to their vow to carry on a vicious guerrilla war.

Almost immediately after the bombing, the Shabab, who have pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and have imported many Qaeda-like tactics to Somalia, claimed responsibility.

“We have targeted the attack to 150 young Somalis who were planning to be flown to Sudan to be trained as spies,” the Shabab said in a statement.

However, according to witnesses, the young Somalis killed were not part of the security services but were students hoping for scholarships to Sudan and Turkey.

On Tuesday, many students and their families had gathered at the government compound, located near a busy intersection, to check bulletin boards with the results of examinations.

“Several students I knew were killed in the blast,” said Anisa Abdulle, a 16-year-old student who visited the compound earlier but left before the blast. “This is horrible. I hate the Shabab, because they see the students going for learning as enemies.”

According to witnesses, around 10:45 a.m., a 15-ton truck loaded with fuel drums pulled up to the entrance of the compound, which houses various government ministries, including those dealing with education, foreign affairs and labor issues. Another fuel truck was passing by, and Ali Mohamed, a bystander, said the driver of the truck filled with explosives chose that moment to detonate them.

“But we are lucky; the oil tanker passing by did not explode,” Mr. Ali said.

Still, he said, “This is the most horrific incident I have ever witnessed.”

The explosion sent a gigantic fireball into the sky and shattered windows for miles around. It spewed bodies across an area several city blocks wide. Many were small and thin and appeared to be children, charred beyond recognition. Somali government officials said no senior officials were hurt.

The Shabab introduced suicide bombs to Somalia, and since Shabab fighters began their insurgency in 2007, they have struck many times, with victims including Somali lawmakers, African Union peacekeepers and poor women sweeping up Mogadishu’s bullet-pocked streets.

But few, if any, of their attacks have killed as many people as the one on Tuesday.

There had been hopes that the Shabab’s withdrawal from Mogadishu would usher in a new era of stability, at least in the capital. For the first time in years, the transitional government, backed by 9,000 African Union peacekeepers, was nominally in control. Certain areas, including the area near the stricken government compound, were considered relatively safe, and in recent months, traders had returned to streets pulsing with more life than there had been for a long time.

Many analysts were even going so far as to say that the Shabab were a spent force, racked by internal divisions and dwindling resources. In recent months, the Shabab have suffered heavy losses in Mogadishu, and Shabab fighters have been pushed out of areas along the Kenya and Ethiopia borders by militias that are covertly backed by Kenya and Ethiopia. American drone strikes have also killed several Shabab operatives, and in June, the top Qaeda agent in Somalia, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was killed in a somewhat random shootout in Mogadishu.

But in the past week or so, the Shabab seemed to be regrouping. On Friday, hundreds of Shabab fighters poured into Dhobley, a market town on the Kenya border, setting off an intense battle. The Shabab briefly occupied the town before a Kenya-backed militia was able to push them out. Then on Monday, the Shabab struck a town in central Somalia, Dhusamareb, withdrawing after inflicting casualties.

Despite the millions of dollars pumped into it, Somalia’s transitional government is still weak and divided, and the Shabab control most of southern Somalia, imposing draconian measures in its areas, banning music, Western dress and even bras, calling them all un-Islamic. Last month, Shabab leaders awarded schoolchildren assault rifles and grenades as prizes for a quiz show.

The Shabab are also widely blamed for causing Somalia’s famine. Much of the Horn of Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia and other parts of Somalia, has been hit this year by one of the worst droughts in decades. But just about the only areas where that drought has spelled famine, as defined by certain thresholds of death and malnutrition rates, are Shabab-controlled areas.

The Shabab have refused to allow many Western aid organizations into their territory and have even blocked famine victims from fleeing to seek help.

The United Nations says that tens of thousands of people have already died and that as many as 750,000 may soon starve to death unless aid efforts are rapidly scaled up.

Mohamed Ibrahim reported from Mogadishu, and Jeffrey Gettleman from Nairobi, Kenya.

Source: nytimes.com/

Russia, China veto U.N. resolution against Syria

Felipe Oct 5, 2011

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Russia and China vetoed a European-backed U.N.Security Council resolution Tuesday that threatened sanctions against Syria if it didn’t immediately halt its military crackdown against civilians.

It would have been the first legally binding resolution adopted by the Security Council since President Bashar Assad’s military began using tanks and soldiers against protesters in mid-March. Its defeat reflects the deep divisions in the U.N.’s most powerful body over how to address the ongoing violence in Syria, which the U.N. estimates has led to more than 2,700 deaths.

The European sponsors of the resolution tried to avoid a veto by watering down the language on sanctions three times, to the point where the word «sanctions» was taken out, but they failed.

The vote was 9-2 with four abstentions — India, South Africa, Brazil and Lebanon.

It was the first double veto by Russia and China since July 2008 when they vetoed proposed sanctions against Zimbabwe. In January 2007, they also vetoed a resolution calling on Myanmar to release all political prisoners, initiate a wide-ranging dialogue and end military attacks and human rights abuses.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council after the vote that his country did not support the Assad regime or the violence but opposed the resolution because it was «based on a philosophy of confrontation,» contained «an ultimatum of sanctions» and was against a peaceful settlement of a crisis. He also complained that the resolution did not call for the Syrian opposition to disassociate itself from «extremists» and enter into dialogue.

China’s Ambassador Li Bandong said his country is concerned about the ongoing violence and wants to see speedy reforms but opposed the resolution because «sanctions, or threat of sanctions, do not help the situation in Syria but rather complicates the situation.»

Supporters of the resolution expressed disappointment and outrage.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud called the veto «a rejection of the extraordinary movement in support of freedom and democracy that is the Arab Spring» and commended «all of those who fight against the bloodthirsty crackdown in Syria.»

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the veto «will be a great disappointment to the people of Syria and the wider region that some members of this council could not show their support for their struggle for basic human rights.»

«By blocking this resolution, the onus is now on those countries to step up their efforts and persuade the Syrian government to end the violence and pursue genuine reform,» he said.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said «the courageous people of Syria can now clearly see who on this council supports their yearning for liberty and human rights — and who does not.»

«Those who oppose this resolution and give cover to a brutal regime will have to answer to the Syrian people — and, indeed, to people across the region who are pursuing the same universal aspirations,» she said. «The crisis in Syria will stay before the Security Council, and we will not rest until this council rises to meet its responsibilities.»

Rice accused Russia and China of wanting to sell arms to the Syrian regime rather than stand with the Syrian people — an accusation vehemently denied by Russia’s Churkin.

From the outset of the Syrian uprising, the council has been split.

Western members, backed by some African and Latin American nations, demanded an end to violence, and when it was not heeded they pushed for Security Council action, including the threat of sanctions. On the other side, Russia, China and the newly emerging global powers — Brazil, India and South Africa — pressed for more time for the Assad government to implement reforms and for political dialogue with the opposition and strongly opposed even mentioning sanctions.

It took four months of arguments between supporters and opponents of Assad’s regime for the Security Council to issue a presidential statement in August condemning the escalating violence.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, backed by the United States, then pressed for a council resolution calling for an immediate arms embargo and other sanctions aimed at stopping the Assad government’s crackdown on protesters.

But Russia, China, India, South Africa and Brazil opposed that sanctions resolution. They argue the U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force to protect civilians in Libya was misused by NATO to justify months of air strikes against Moammar Gadhafi’s regime and expressed fear a new resolution might be used as a pretext for armed intervention against Syria.

The final watered-down draft that was voted on and defeated demanded that Syria immediately end violence, allow fundamental rights and freedoms, lift all media restrictions and allow unhindered access for human rights investigators.

It expressed the council’s intention to review Syria’s implementation of these demands within 30 days, and «to consider its options, including measures under Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations.»

Article 41 authorizes the council to impose nonmilitary measures which can include economic and diplomatic sanctions.

The draft also would have strongly condemned «the continued grave and systematic human rights violations and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities» and called on all states «to exercise vigilance and restraint» in supplying weapons to Syria.

Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari, the last speaker after the vote, criticized «the prejudice in certain Western capitals against our country» and insisted a comprehensive package of reforms is now being implemented by the government, «enhancing the democratic process.»

Without naming the U.S., Ja’afari said that it used its Security Council veto 50 times since 1945 to protect Israel and deny the Palestinians their rights.

Therefore, he said, it could be considered a party to «genocide, as this language is tantamount to turning a blind eye and supporting the Israeli massacres in occupied Arab lands.»

Source: .usatoday.com

Afghanistan signs pact with India

Felipe Oct 5, 2011

NEW DELHI (AP) – Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership with India on Tuesday, a move likely to enrage neighboring Pakistan at a time when its relations with the Afghans and the West are sharply strained over alleged links of its spy agency to militants blamed for high-profile attacks across the border.

The Pakistanis consider India their chief adversary in the region, and the two countries have fought three major wars since the two were carved out of British India in 1947.

The strategic pact is Afghanistan’s first with any country, and its timing sparked speculation of a shift in regional alignments after Afghan President Hamid Karzai chastised Pakistan for failing to act against Taliban-led insurgents based in Pakistan.

The announcement in New Delhi came as an Afghan government commission investigating the assassination of the country’s former President Burhanuddin Rabbani accused Pakistan of not cooperating, after alleging that Pakistani intelligence officials also had advance knowledge of the plot.

Pakistan says it is cooperating and denies involvement in the Sept. 20 killing of Rabbani, who was trying to broker peace with the Taliban. Its spy agency has been accused of backing the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, blamed for a series of attacks in Afghanistan including a recent assault on the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in the capital, Kabul.

Karzai had said over the weekend he was giving up on negotiating with the Taliban directly, and accused Pakistan of doing little to help rein in terrorists.

It’s an allegation familiar with Indians, who blame Pakistan-based insurgents for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people and accuse Islamabad of doing little to bring the perpetrators to justice.

After meeting Tuesday, both Karzai, who was educated in India, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke about the need for regional peace and prosperity, saying their countries envision a shared future free of extremism and violence.

«Afghanistan recognizes the danger that this region is facing through terrorism and the radicalism that’s been used as an instrument of policy against civilians, against innocent citizens of our countries,» Karzai told reporters.

But he also emphasized the need for broad regional cooperation, saying his country would «aspire to a life that is free of violence, and will seek cooperation and understanding from the members of this region, including our other neighbors.»

Singh emphasized the countries’ historical and cultural links and said the two leaders discussed terrorism in detail. «The people of Afghanistan have suffered enough. They deserve to live in peace and decide their future themselves, without outside interference, coercion and intimidation,» Singh said.

The strategic partnership — «based on mutual understanding and long-term trust» — outlines areas of common concern including trade, economic expansion, education, security and politics.

The two sides also signed deals to boost cooperation in mining, oil and gas.

«Afghanistan will benefit from India’s expertise,» Karzai said, while thanking India for years of economic aid without conditions.

The timing of Karzai’s visit, which followed days of sparring with Islamabad, was a coincidence, analysts said, noting the countries upgraded his trip to a bilateral meeting only after Karzai agreed to deliver a lecture Wednesday at a New Delhi event organized by a think tank.

Karzai had softened his tone on Monday by asking again for Pakistan’s help in bringing terrorists to task. The allegations, coupled with the calls for continued help, illustrate Afghanistan’s frustration in trying to end a decade of fighting that began with the U.S. invasion after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: Even as Pakistan has ties to groups behind the insurgency, it would be of central importance in any effort to bring about a negotiated peace.

Analysts said that negates the speculation about a strategic realignment, even though the friendship with India was bound to grow as the U.S. looks to scale back its military presence in the region over the next few years.

«Everybody keeps options open depending on how the solution evolves,» said a former Indian diplomat in Pakistan, G. Parthasarthy, adding that it would serve no one’s interest for Afghanistan and India to join together in snubbing their volatile neighbor.

«That sort of pressure would only unite people in Pakistan behind the military, and we don’t exactly love the military,» Parthasarthy said. «The Afghans are pragmatic people. There is a dependence on Pakistan they can’t wish away,» including the need for access to the sea, he said.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been uneasy allies against the Taliban insurgency, largely because of a long history of Pakistani governments backing insurgents as a way to keep a check on Afghan administrations.

India’s policy on Afghanistan, meanwhile, has been to support international action led by the United States over the past decade while staying out of political and security issues so as not to antagonize Pakistan.

However, the U.S. has signaled a readiness over the past year for India to play a more active part.

«The U.S. is now willing to let India play a larger role in Afghanistan, and certainly Afghanistan wants it,» said analyst Lalit Mansingh, a former Indian foreign secretary and ambassador to Washington. «After years of being sidelined, India is now regarded very much as part of the solution.»

Source: usatoday.com

Japón pide aplicar «rápidamente» un plan de ayuda a Grecia

Chiara Oct 4, 2011

El ministro japonés de Finanzas reclamó a la Eurozona aplicar «rápidamente» el plan de ayuda al Gobierno de Atenas con el fin de tranquilizar los mercados y frenar el alza del yen con respecto al euro.
«La incertidumbre no podrá ser apaciguada hasta que (los países de la eurozona) no hayan mostrado claramente su intención de aplicar rápidamente el plan de ayuda a Grecia», declaró Jun Azumi en una rueda de prensa.

Reunidos el lunes en Luxemburgo, los ministros de Economía de la eurozona aplazaron hasta «el transcurso del mes de octubre» una decisión para desbloquear un tramo de los préstamos internacionales de 8.000 millones de euros que necesita Grecia para evitar la bancarrota.

«El eurogrupo tomará una decisión final en el transcurso del mes de octubre» en base a las conclusiones de una misión de la troika de acreedores de Grecia (UE, FMI y BCE) actualmente en Atenas para verificar los progresos realizados por el gobierno griego.

El euro cayó ayer a su más bajo nivel en diez años frente al yen, a 100,88 yenes, lo que reduce drásticamente las ganancias que sacan de Europa los grupos exportadores nipones.»Asistimos a un alza extrema del yen y a un debilitamiento del euro», lamentó Azumi.

Fuente: infobae.com

Revelan impactantes imágenes a un año del peor desastre ambiental de Hungría

Chiara Oct 4, 2011

Greenpeace muestra una vista aérea de la localidad de Devecser, donde en octubre de 2010 un vertido tóxico de una empresa de aluminio que mató a 10 personas.
Si hace exactamente un año las imágenes del vertido tóxico de una empresa de aluminio de Hungría impactaban al mundo, hoy la organización Greenpeace reveló imágenes aéreas de la localidad de Devecser, para apreciar el impacto que dejó el peor desastre ambiental en la historia de dicho país europeo.

En las imágenes de 2010, tomadas el 7 de octubre pasado, se puede apreciar cómo quedó el pueblo tras romperse un muro de contención de una balsa de lodos tóxicos, que terminó envenenando varios ríos menores y amenazó con verter en el Danubio arsénico y varios metales pesados. El incidente le costó la vida a diez personas y generó heridas de diversa consideración a otras 125, además de los elevados daños económicos que fueron cuantificados en cerca de 200 millones de euros.

Quizás lo único bueno que se ha podido destacar de este desastre fue la promesa cumplida del gobierno local a través del primer ministro Viktor Orban tras el desastre, quien en 2010 prometió casas (o dinero equivalente) y una contundente indemnización a todas la familias afectadas por el desastre.

En materia legal, la empresa causante del incidente fue multada con US$ 650 millones, mientras cerca de 30 de las víctimas los demandaron, y cuatro gerentes están siendo investigados en un proceso criminal, y ya se habla de la nacionalización parcial de la empresa, para evitar que incidentes similares vuelvan a ocurrir.
Fuente: mdzol.com

DRAMA HUMANITARIO EN SOMALIA

Chiara Oct 4, 2011

Decenas de muertos en un atentado contra edificios oficiales en Somalia. El atentado suicida de hoy en Mogadiscio, en el que unas 70 personas han muerto y varias docenas han resultado heridas, es el primero de este calibre realizado por la milicia islamista rebelde Al Shabab desde que el 6 de agosto anunciara que se retiraba de sus posiciones en la capital somalí.

“La explosión se ha oído prácticamente en toda la ciudad, yo no recuerdo un atentado así en los últimos dos años”, ha dicho a El País desde Mogadiscio un residente que ha pedido mantener el anonimato. “Yo he ido al lugar de la explosión y aún había cadáveres por las calles y gente quemada”.

El ataque, que al parecer ha sido realizado con un camión bomba lleno de combustible, confirma las amenazas de este grupo extremista, cuyo portavoz, Ali Mohamud Rage, declaró entonces que Al Shabab iba a cambiar su estrategia por una de “llevar a cabo ataques aislados”. “Volveremos pronto”, dijo Rage.

El camión ha explotado frente a la entrada de un complejo gubernamental que alberga cuatro ministerios
En los últimos días, Al Shabab había realizado otros dos ataques en dos ciudades cercanas a las fronteras con Etiopía y Somalia, zonas que aún siguen mayoritariamente controladas por los extremistas.

Sin embargo, la milicia perdió varias de sus principales fuentes de ingresos al abandonar Mogadiscio y ha habido informaciones que señalan que la sequía y la hambruna que sufre el centro y el sur de Somalia también ha reducido la capacidad de Al Shabab para actuar.

El hecho de que este grupo islamista haya tardado dos meses en realizar un ataque de estas características en Mogadiscio podría indicar que Al Shabab no tiene los recursos necesarios para continuar con una serie de atentados como el de hoy, y que puede volver a pasar bastante tiempo antes de que la milicia pueda volver a atentar.

“La gente no se esperaba algo así y ahora, parecía que las cosas estaban mejorando en la ciudad”, ha dicho el residente de la capital.

El ataque llega precisamente en un momento en el que Mogadiscio parecía ir poco a poco ganando ciertos síntomas de normalidad. Cada vez se veía más gente por las calles, pequeños puestos y tiendas comenzaban lentamente a florecer y había quien empezaba a recoger los escombros caídos de edificios medio en ruinas. Incluso los convoyes siempre nerviosos de vehículos acorazados de AMISOM, la fuerza de paz de la Unión Africana, se permitían conducir por la ciudad más lentamente y de un modo más relajado.

El atentado ha tenido lugar junto a un recinto que contiene cuatro ministerios del Gobierno Federal de Transición somalí, en el área conocida como K4 o Kilómetro 4. Se trata de una zona comercial en la que incluso llegó a haber un cine y aún hoy la fachada de un edificio anuncia el logo de la compañía de transporte DHL.

Además, el K4 tiene una importancia estratégica particular, ya que es allí donde una gran rotonda conecta la calle que viene del aeropuerto con la que se dirige al palacio presidencial y sede del gobierno, conocido como Villa Somalia. En los últimos meses, eran las tropas de AMISOM y las del gobierno somalí las que controlaban el K4.

Aunque portavoces de Al Shabab han dicho que su objetivo eran los edificios ministeriales, donde en ese momento se encontraban reunidos varios oficiales del gobierno, la explosión ha matado y herido a numerosos civiles y entre ellos a muchos estudiantes. Estos aguardaban en la entrada del Ministerio de Educación para realizar un examen que formaba parte de la solicitud de una beca para estudiar en Turquía. Varios de los estudiantes habían llegado de otras partes de Somalia.

El atentado puede repercutir negativamente en la entrega y distribución de ayuda humanitaria en el país, adonde han llegado unos 45.000 somalíes desplazados por el hambre y la violencia, según cifras del Alto Comisionado de Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados. La paz relativa que se vivía en la capital desde la retirada de Al Shabab en Agosto había permitido a organizaciones internacionales empezar a enviar personal extranjero, y a éstas y a ONGs locales a operar de forma más efectiva en la ciudad.
Fuente: elpais.com

La justicia belga investiga abusos de sacerdotes en Chile

Chiara Oct 4, 2011

El Ministerio Público de Bélgica pidió interrogar en Chile a posibles víctimas y testigos de abusos que se imputan al presbítero belga Alfonso Gielis, quien habría cometido las agresiones en un internado de la zona del Biobío. La investigación de Ciper confirmó que el sacerdote fue acusado por cuatro jóvenes en 1992 y que el juez Erasmo Sepúlveda lo sobreseyó, aunque Gielis admitió haber acariciado los genitales de los niños con sus manos y boca. El sacerdote fue trasladado al obispado de San Bernardo, donde ofició como capellán de un colegio hasta el año pasado, cuando fue retenido en Bélgica.
El Centro de Investigación Periodística de Chile,CIPER Chile, confirmó que la justicia de Bélgica investiga el abuso cometido por sacerdotes en el vecino país.

El artículo señala:

“Yo lo iba a matar”. La confesión brota ensombrecida por la angustia y el dolor en la voz del hombre que la pronuncia. Una angustia que lo ha acompañado desde hace más de 20 años, el mismo lapso en que ha intentado olvidar. Y en ese esfuerzo por burlar la memoria ni siquiera le ha contado a su mujer los abusos sexuales a los que fue sometido por quien tenía el deber de prodigarle amparo cuando él sólo era un niño. Pero ahora que un periodista lo pone de frente a esos recuerdos, el dique que ha construido termina cediendo. Y lo cuenta todo, incluyendo el plan que ideó para vengarse del sacerdote al que acusa.

Cuando supo que el cura belga Alfonso Gielis Nulens había sido trasladado a la diócesis de San Bernardo sin pasar un día en la cárcel, se obsesionó con hacer justicia. Después que hizo el Servicio Militar en Los Ángeles y de trabajar un tiempo en Chillán, fue tentado con una oportunidad laboral en Santiago. La tomó de inmediato. Criado en los verdes cajones cordilleranos del río Biobío, no lo entusiasmaban las modernidades de la capital. Lo que realmente deseaba era encontrar la parroquia en la que Gielis ejercía su ministerio. Y la encontró.

-Le hice guardia tres días. Era un domingo cuando lo encontré. Quería preguntarle por qué hizo lo que hizo. Quería encararlo. Me asomé por la puerta de la iglesia y lo vi dirigiendo la misa. Estábamos sólo a unos metros. Había muchas personas. No sé si él me vio. Pero me di media vuelta. Nunca más lo vi.

Tampoco volvió a pensar en darle muerte. Quería dejar ese pedazo de su historia atrás. Pero no ha podido. Por eso, hoy, cuando se entera por CIPER que el año pasado el cura Alfonso Gielis no pudo volver a Chile, que fue retenido en Bélgica y que la justicia de ese país investiga los abusos que habría cometido contra menores de un internado para niños pehuenche en la localidad de Santa Bárbara, vuelca sus recuerdos a condición de mantener bajo reserva su identidad.
Fuente: mdzol.com

Libya’s Interim Prime Minister Sets Plans to Step Down

Felipe Oct 4, 2011

Libya’s interim prime minister said he would leave his post once Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown is captured as the National Transitional Council Monday reappointed most of its top figures.

Meanwhile, fighters loyal to the TNC prepared to launch a final assault on the former leader’s enclave of Sirte, where they traded fire with Gadhafi’s loyalists still holed up in the coastal town.

It is the buildup to what is expected to be the final push to capture the city as a two-day ceasefire to allow civilians to flee the city is drawing to a close.

With Libya’s security situation still unresolved, the TNC’s top leaders Mustafa Abdel Jalil and Mahmoud Jibril held a press conference to announce that the group’s executive committee was being reappointed temporarily.

Jibril, the interim prime minister, will continue to head the committee until the formation of an interim government after the fall of Sirte. Jibril said once the military situation resolved itself, he would no longer be needed for the unity of the country.

Jibril stressed the importance of Libya resuming its oil output to open a much-needed revenue stream.

Jibril says that it will take a year or more for oil production to reach pre-revolution levels, but that output is nevertheless increasing more than expected.

TNC leader Jalil said that the NTC will keep oversight of the oil ministry until it returns to control of the Libyan National Oil Company in the next week.

The NTC’s moves hinge on taking control of Sirte.

Amid sporadic clashes between Gadhafi’s loyalists and TNC fighters, civilians continued to trickle out of the besieged port city. Red Cross spokeswoman Diba Fakhr said hospitals are facing a major crisis:

Fakhr said doctors at the main Avicenna Hospital are working amid shortages of medical supplies, oxygen, and water, after storage tanks were shelled.

Meanwhile, a TNC military commander in Benghazi announced that 400 shoulder-fired rockets from Libya’s former armed forces that dated back to the 1970’s were being destroyed. A thousand more Russian- and Bulgarian-made rockets remain missing.

Source: voanews.com

Bangladesh party leader accused of war crimes in 1971 conflict

Felipe Oct 4, 2011

A senior leader from Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party has been charged with war crimes for allegedly leading groups that took part in killing, looting, arson and rape of Bangladeshis during the country’s 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan that year – with help from India – after a nine-month war.

A special tribunal has been up by the Bangladesh government to deal with charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the war.

The tribunal accepted 20 of 31 charges filed by the prosecution against Delwar Hossain Sayeedi of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, including those that he aided Pakistan.

Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed an estimated 3 million people, raped about 200,000 women and forced millions to flee their homes during the war.

Sayeedi is accused of being involved in the killing of more than 50 people, torching villages, rape, looting and forcibly converting Hindus to Islam. He has denied the allegations.

Sayeedi was arrested last year along with four other leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami who are accused of war crimes, including party chief Matiur Rahman Nizami. Sayeedi is the first to be indicted by the tribunal.

Jamaat-e-Islami openly campaigned against breaking away from Pakistan during the war.

The party says the charges against its leaders are politically motivated. Jamaat-e-Islami was a key partner in the 2001-2006 government headed by Khaleda Zia, the former prime minister and current opposition leader.

Zia, the longtime political rival of the current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has called the tribunal a farce.

The international community has called on the Bangladesh government to ensure that the tribunal is free and impartial.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called for changes to the tribunal, including allowing the accused to question its impartiality, which current law prohibits.

Sayeedi’s trial is scheduled to begin on 30 October.

Source: guardian.co.uk

Putin’s return puts future in doubt

Felipe Oct 4, 2011

For the Kremlin to do something utterly predictable is quite rare. For this reason, the return of Vladimir Putin as Russia’s president next May managed to take Russia’s political class by surprise. Mr Putin’s return, announced on September 24, lays to rest the principal source of intrigue over the past four years.

Ever since he avoided constitutional prohibition on a third term in 2008 by appointing his friend Dmitry Medvedev to the presidency while he became prime minister, Moscow political circles have speculated about his return. Now that this uncertainty has been cleared up, the chattering classes are wondering what the third (and likely fourth) Putin term will bring.

Things have not gone well thus far – the very announcement was botched, taking not only the public by surprise, but also the most senior government officials.

The decision that Mr Medvedev would take over as prime minister next year, meanwhile, provoked a row with Alexei Kudrin, the finance minister and fiscal conservative long viewed as the guarantor of a stable economy, who was sacked after his angry announcement that he would not serve under Mr Medvedev. In effect, it was a decision to trade a political crisis for an economic one and Mr Kudrin’s departure has rattled markets at a time when confidence in Russia is low.

The stock market has lost about 21 per cent of its value so far this year, entering the realms of a bear market, while the rouble was down 8 per cent in September against a eurodollar basket of currencies, due partly to global turmoil and partly to increased perceptions of risk in Russia. Only billions of dollars in hard currency sales by the central bank have kept it from falling further.

However, Russia remains a fundamentally healthy economy with low sovereign debt of 9 per cent of gross domestic product and a budget that could balance this year – provided oil and commodity prices remain high.

Over the long term, however, Mr Putin’s return puts a question mark over Russia’s future, especially privatisation plans that could transform the economy from one mainly state owned to one with a more vibrant private sector in which competition could flourish.

Most economists see further reform as vital to avoid a repeat of 2009, when a global financial downturn hit Russia extremely hard and GDP fell 8 per cent, further than any other G20 country. Since then, the economy has limped along anaemically, and the growth forecast has been revised downwards by the World Bank to 4 per cent from 4.4 per cent.

“The 4 per cent growth we have now is mostly the result of good anti-crisis measures and high growth rates in Asian countries. The anti-crisis measures can’t last forever and growth [in Asia] is not expected to be as high as it was in the last two years,” says Arkady Dvorkovich, a senior aide to President Medvedev.

Reforms such as privatisation have been undertaken cautiously, partly because of the need to build consensus in government, and partly due to concerns for social stability.

“It’s always desirable to do things faster, but first we should make sure that we do no undermine stability,” says Mr Dvorkovich. “Reforming too quickly would put millions of families at substantial risk.”

Raising investment is a priority for the Kremlin, though this is proving more and more elusive, except in the oil and gas sector, still hugely attractive, as made clear by an agreement between ExxonMobil and Rosneft to explore for oil in the Arctic Sea.

Foreign direct investment was $42bn in 2010, according to ministry of economy figures, smaller than both China and Brazil, and Putin’s declared goal is raising this to $70bn.

Stanislav Voskresensky, deputy minister of the economy, says growth in the past decade was primarily about high oil prices and spare capacity left over from Soviet days.

“In the next 10 years, however, growth will be about increases in efficiency and productivity,” he says. “Russia has a peculiar advantage in that it is very inefficient, so there is plenty of room to become more efficient.”

Increasing productivity is a good argument for privatisation, which economists agree is essential to breathe life back into a stagnating economy.

“The thing that the Russian economy lacks most is competition,” says Mikhail Shamolin, CEO and president of Sistema, a large Moscow-based investment company. “Once there is competition, there is the answer to inflation and to the high cost of capital. It all starts with increasing competition, and the only way you can do that is to decrease the role of the state,” he says.

Few people doubt that the tempo of reforms will be slower under a Putin presidency than they would have been under a Medvedev one, but Mr Putin’s priorities are still a matter of guesswork.

Some believe he favours a form of authoritarian capitalism such as the system that flourishes in China, and that privatisation would threaten the perks and vested interests of a corrupt bureaucracy.

Economists Sergei Guriev and Oleg Tsvininski wrote in a September 27 editorial in the newspaper Vedomosti that the main danger of a return by Mr Putin is that the state may view losing control over the economy as an unacceptable risk, and hesitate to liberalise. “The ruling elite prefers to remain in control of a stagnating economy – having the largest slice of a smaller pie – than risk losing power,” they wrote.

Others believe Mr Putin is, in his heart of hearts, a liberal, pointing out that, despite the Kremlin’s nationalisation of a number of private companies, Mr Putin is also a moderniser and liberaliser of sorts. He legalised the sale of land, got rid of capital controls, and reformed the tax system during his first two terms as president.

They point out that Mr Medvedev’s liberal policies, such as kicking ministers off the boards of state companies, were undoubtedly discussed with, and approved by, Mr Putin.

Mr Putin’s recent statements suggest that he has been sending the message that he, like Mr Medvedev, sees the state’s role in the economy shrinking. During a September 16 speech to investors at a conference in the southern town of Sochi, Mr Putin said: “We are not going to build state capitalism. If we are concentrating on certain resources, we do so exclusively to ensure the recovery of this or that industry. But we are not going to stay there for good.”

Much will depend on the price of oil, which seems inversely correlated with Russian democracy and reform. A fall in the oil price could put pressure on the Kremlin to liberalise both economically and politically, much as it did in the 1980s and 1990s.

Unless Mr Putin comes under unprecedented pressure, there is little hope for reform of Russia’s authoritarian political system. In his first two terms, he brought parliament to heel, had several prominent businessmen exiled or jailed, and established direct Kremlin control over much of Russia’s mass media.

“Political reforms are now off the table,” says Igor Yurgens, head of Insor, a liberal think-tank and an economic adviser to Mr Medvedev.

However, not everything in Russia is under the Kremlin’s control. Russians are richer, more middle class, and less patient than they were when Mr Putin first took power in 2000. At that time, exhausted by a decade of democratic reforms under the erratic President Boris Yeltsin, they were relieved to have a firm hand restoring order.

The urban middle class gets much of its information from the internet, works in the private sector and speaks foreign languages. Keeping these talented people from emigrating may force the Kremlin to change the way it governs.

Some believe that “Putin 2.0” as he is known, might surprise everyone. “He will have to show everyone that he is not power-hungry, that he has not come back just to strangle our freedom some more. He will be under pressure to show that he is good,” says one former senior Kremlin official.

Source: ft.com

Suicide bombers attack Iraqi gov’t compound

Felipe Oct 4, 2011

A total of 17 people were killed Monday in separate attacks in Iraq, including a hostage-taking attack at a police station in the country’s western province of Anbar, the police said.

The deadliest attack in the day occurred when a group of gunmen and suicide bombers wearing military uniforms broke into the police station within the local government compound of the town of al-Baghdadi, some 170 km west of Baghdad.

One of the suicide bombers blew up his explosive belt at the entrance to the compound, while another bomber blew himself up inside the police station.

The attackers seized 14 hostages, including Mohanad Zbar Mutlag, mayor of the town, and Lieutenant Colonel Sadiq Aftan, chief of the police station, and holed up inside the compound.

Iraqi security forces cordoned off the compound and engaged with the gunmen, while some of them took positions on the roof of the police station and traded fire with the surrounding troops.

About two hours later, an Iraqi army force teamed up with commandoes stormed the compound and brought the situation under control, a source from Anbar operations command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

«The Iraqi forces finally retook control of the compound, including the police station, after they killed five gunmen and arrested three others,» the source said.

Five policemen were killed, including Aftan, the chief of the police station, while the troops rescued 13 other hostages, including the mayor of the town, the source added.

The source could not affirm whether the casualties came from the initial attack by the gunmen on the compound, or from the fighting that followed as the security forces retook control on the site.

However, officials from Anbar province told the state-run television of Iraqia that seven terrorists have been killed and two were arrested, while three security members and a civilian were killed by the attack.

Figures about death toll after attacks often vary in Iraq as officials usually cite reports from different sources.

Meanwhile, gunmen using assault rifles attacked another police station in the city of Hit, some 150 km west of Baghdad, killing two policemen at a checkpoint outside the police station and abducted a third before they fled the scene.

Authorities of the town of Baghdadi and other cities in the province, such as Haditha, some 200 km west of Baghdad and al-Qaim near the border with Syria, announced curfew starting from midday until further notice, as security forces in the province are in highest alert, the source said.

In Baghdad, an officer from the Iraqi intelligence service, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting by armed men while driving in Baghdad’s western district of al-Khadraa, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Also in Baghdad, another intelligence officer was shot dead by silenced weapons in the district of Qahira in northern the capital, the source said.

In northern Iraq, gunmen in their car shot dead Lieutenant Colonel Sakout al-Jabari in southern the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua.

Jabari is the head of homicide investigations department of the town of Daquq, some 25 km south of Kirkuk, the source said.

In Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, gunmen attacked a checkpoint manned by Kurdish security force, named Peshmerga, near the town of Khanaqin, some 150 km northeast of Baghdad, killing one security member and wounding five others, a source from the provincial operations command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Afterwards, the attackers planted a bomb near the site of the first attack and blew it up when a vehicle carrying Kurdish reinforcement troops arrived at the scene, wounding three more Kurdish security members, the source said.

In a separate incident, a teacher was killed and his wife and son were injured when gunmen opened fire on their house in the village of Arab Jobour, near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source said.

Also in the province, gunmen blew up a bomb planted in the house of a policeman in al-Mafraq area, just west of Baquba, wounding three of his family members, including two women, the source added.

Separately, a civilian was injured when a sticky bomb detonated near a motorcycle in southern Baquba, he said.

Violence has been increased in the Iraqi cities as the Iraqi forces are preparing to take over control of security alone after the proposed departure of U.S. troops by the end of the withdrawal deadline in 2011.

The attacks raise questions about the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces to maintain security in the country ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline of U.S. troops’ withdrawal from the country.

U.S. military forces are to pull out completely from Iraq by the end of 2011, according to security pact, named Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), signed in 2008 between Baghdad and Washington.

However, Iraq is reportedly negotiating with United States to let U.S. military trainers to stay in Iraq beyond the deadline only for training Iraqi forces.

Source: cntv.cn

Palestinos condicionan llamado israelí al diálogo

Chiara Oct 3, 2011

Funcionarios palestinos dijeron hoy que la aceptación por parte de Israel de negociaciones de paz con los palestinos es irrelevante a menos que el gobierno israelí detenga la construcción en los asentamientos y acepte las fronteras de 1967.

Los palestinos reaccionaron así a la declaración emitida este domingo en la que el gobierno israelí aceptó el llamado del Cuarteto para Oriente Medio -integrado por Estados Unidos, la Unión Europea, Rusia y la ONU- a reanudar las negociaciones de paz entre israelíes y palestinos sin condiciones previas.

«Israel llama a la Autoridad Palestina a reanudar las negociaciones directas sin demora», indicó la declaración.

Nabil Abu Rudenia, estrecho colaborador del presidente palestino Mahmoud Abbas, dijo a la agencia palestina WAFA que «regresar a las negociaciones requiere del compromiso de Israel de detener las actividades en los asentamientos y reconocer las fronteras de 1967».

«Si Israel es serio, debe comprometerse sin reservas a las resoluciones internacionales plasmadas en el mapa de ruta, las resoluciones de las Naciones Unidas y la iniciativa árabe de paz», añadió.

A su vez, el negociador palestino Saeb Erekat, aseveró que si el primer ministro israelí Benjamín Netanyahu acepta el llamado del Cuarteto, «debe anunciar la detención de las actividades en los asentamientos y aceptar el principio de las fronteras de 1967».

Israel sostiene que la determinación de las fronteras y el futuro de sus asentamientos en Cisjordania tienen que surgir de negociaciones directas con los palestinos.

El plan de Cuarteto, presentado hace dos semanas en la sede de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) en Nueva York, llama a Israel y a la Autoridad Nacional Palestina a reanudar negociaciones directas en el plazo de un mes, con el objetivo de llegar a un acuerdo final de paz antes de que termine 2012.
Fuente: eluniversal.com.mx

Detienen a 700 personas en protestas contra la «avaricia» de Wall Street

Chiara Oct 3, 2011

Los reclamos contra la crisis económica y el sector bancario continúan extendiéndose en EE.UU. El movimiento de protesta por la crisis económica, llamado «Occupy Wall Street (Ocupa Wall Street)» y que tiene su centro en Nueva York, entró hoy en su tercera semana, al tiempo que se extiende por otras grandes ciudades del país como Chicago, Los Ángeles y Seattle.
En Nueva York, esa organización de protesta contra lo que llaman la «avaricia de Wall Street», las ejecuciones bancarias y el alto nivel de paro en Estados Unidos subrayaron este domingo su intención de permanecer en el sur de Manhattan durante varios meses.
Para el lunes han convocado un nuevo acto de protesta frente al Ayuntamiento de la ciudad, con el que quieren manifestarse en contra de las más de 700 detenciones del sábado.
Esas detenciones realizadas por la Policía neoyorquina y el nivel de fuerza utilizado por ese cuerpo de seguridad han desatado la polémica y alimentado el cruce de acusaciones entre los manifestantes y las autoridades.
Algunos de los manifestantes recurrieron a las redes sociales y a los medios de comunicación para denunciar que habían sido «engañados» por la Policía neoyorquina para abandonar las zonas peatonales del puente y que por ello fueron detenidos.
La Policía, por su parte, insistió en que «se les advirtió claramente y en múltiples ocasiones», mediante megáfonos, de que no invadieran la calzada.
Para probar sus acusaciones ambas partes colgaron en YouTube sendos vídeos en los que intentan demostrar que unos no recibieron el aviso, y que la Policía gritó por megáfono que habría detenciones si se obstaculizaba el tráfico del puente de Brooklyn, durante una manifestación a la que asistió un millar de personas de forma espontánea.
En cuanto a la situación de los detenidos, un portavoz policial dijo ha Efe que prácticamente todos ellos habían sido liberados este domingo, aunque la mayoría tendrá que comparecer antes de 30 días ante las autoridades judiciales para responder a cargos por alterar el orden público y obstaculizar el tráfico en el puente.
«Ya han sido liberados la mayor parte de ellos», dijo a Efe un portavoz policial, que también señaló que la mayoría de los arrestados «han recibido citaciones judiciales para que se presenten ante una corte penal de Manhattan».
Los «indignados» neoyorquinos mantuvieron este domingo sus reuniones en el céntrico parque Zucotti del sur de la ciudad, en el área donde comenzaron su acampada el pasado 17 de septiembre y que se ubica en pleno centro financiero.
También han distribuido durante el fin de semana un diario de cuatro páginas, editado por dos periodistas independientes, al que han llamado «The Occupied Wall Street Journal», a través del que dan a conocer sus reivindicaciones y manifiesto.
Desde las páginas de redes sociales como Twitter, ese grupo de protesta comparó las detenciones que la Policía de Nueva York realizó el sábado con las manifestaciones que en 1999 ocurrieron en la ciudad de Seattle (Washington, noroeste) contra la globalización mundial y la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC).
«Hubo más de 600 detenidos en las protestas de Seattle contra la OMC. La Policía de Nueva York detuvo a más de 700 en cinco horas», señalaba hoy ese movimiento en la red social, que también pedía a sus seguidores que «no realicen acciones violentas directas».
Otros seguidores de la protesta, como Jason Pollock, señaló que este movimiento se puede considerar como parte del prin
cipio que «cada acción tiene su reacción. Por años hemos visto a Wall Street dirigir el mundo».
Además de en Nueva York, protestas y reuniones similares se han desarrollado a lo largo del domingo en otras grandes ciudades de Estados Unidos como Los Ángeles, Boston, Filadelfia, Seattle y Chicago, entre otras.
Todos esos grupos defensores de las libertades civiles, así como ciudadanos particulares, sin un liderazgo definido al frente, quieren expresar su solidaridad con los seguidores de «Occupy Wall Street», así como sus posiciones sobre la crisis económica, la desigualdad social y la avaricia de los más ricos.
Fuente: lavoz.com.ar

Justice Department Gave CIA Approval to Kill Al-Awlaki

Felipe Oct 3, 2011

The U.S. Justice Department gave the approval to the CIA to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, the charismatic U.S.-born cleric who orchestrated Al Qaeda recruitment from Yemen, by justifying his killing as an act of self-defense, a U.S. official told Fox News.

The official said Sunday that a secret memo between the DOJ and CIA placed al-Awlaki on a kill or capture list, which laid out the case that al-Awlaki was not entitled to the same protections as a U.S. citizen, but rather a combatant targeting U.S. citizens.

Al-Awlaki, who was killed Friday in a CIA-led drone strike, has been described as an operational planner with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. But President Obama said he was the leader of «external operations» for the Al Qaeda affiliate.

As such, Obama said, the U.S.-born radical cleric «took the lead» in planning attacks on Americans and called on others to take part in the «murderous agenda.»

Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, was believed to be key in turning Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen into what American officials have called the most significant and immediate threat to the United States. The branch, led by a Yemeni militant named Nasser al-Wahishi, plotted several failed attacks on U.S. soil — the botched Christmas 2009 attempt to blow up an American airliner heading to Detroit and a foiled 2010 attempt to send explosives to Chicago.

The killing, however, drew some rebuke from civil liberties groups and a few politicians who say the U.S. should not perform these types of strikes.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, joined Rep. Paul, R-Texas, in condemning the killing of al-Awlaki, saying the Obama administration had «crossed a dangerous divide and set a dangerous precedent for how the United States handle terrorism cases.»

«Mr. al-Awlaki’s allegedly violent rejection of America was not acceptable in any way,» Kucinich said. «Neither is it acceptable to trample the Constitution through extrajudicial killings.»

Source: .foxnews.com

Israel Supports Proposal to Restart Mideast Talks

Felipe Oct 3, 2011

JERUSALEM — Israel on Sunday formally accepted an international proposal to return to peace negotiations with the Palestinians, but any immediate resumption of talks appeared unlikely as the Israelis and Palestinians differed sharply over the letter and spirit of the proposal.

A senior Palestinian official said over the weekend that after three days of deliberations, the Palestinian leadership had decided not to return to talks unless Israel halted all settlement construction and agreed to clear terms of reference for the negotiations — requirements that were perhaps implied but not spelled out in the Sept. 23 statement of the so-called quartet of Middle East peacemakers, which is made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

After Israel’s advancement last week of plans for new housing in a contested area of Jerusalem, the Palestinian official, Nabil Shaath, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday that it was now necessary for the quartet to state clearly “what it understands the terms of reference to be,” and then for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “to say, ‘Yes, we accept.’ ”

Despite weeks of intensive international diplomacy designed to deflect or minimize the impact of a contentious Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood and membership in the United Nations, the Israelis and Palestinians appear to be stuck at an impasse, just as they have been for the past year.

The last round of direct talks broke down soon after they started in September 2010 when a 10-month Israeli moratorium on construction in the West Bank Jewish settlements expired. Israel has refused an additional building freeze in territory captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, where the Palestinians envisage their future state.

Israel says that the Palestinians have made a strategic decision to seek recognition of an outline of a state without the give and take of negotiations and that last time they waited nine months before agreeing to start talks. Asked about the possibility of an additional moratorium, Mr. Netanyahu told The Jerusalem Post last week, “We already gave at the office.”

The Palestinians, eager not to appear rejectionist, have pointed out what they say are the positive attributes of the quartet’s statement. Mr. Shaath said it contained “very few flaws.”

But the language of the statement was intentionally nonspecific in parts, employing codes meant to make it acceptable to both sides. The Palestinians are demanding clarity, saying that it is partly such diplomatic ambiguity that has left the Palestinians without a country after nearly 20 years of intermittent talks.

The quartet’s statement did not explicitly mention a settlement freeze, but it called on the two sides “to refrain from provocative actions” and cited their obligations under the 2003 “road map,” an American-backed peace plan that called for, among other things, a complete stop to all settlement activity.

The Palestinians say that it also accommodates their demand for the pre-1967 boundaries to serve as the basis for border talks.

The Israelis point out that the quartet’s statement specifies that talks should resume without preconditions. It sets a time frame for an agreement to be completed by the end of 2012. And it calls on the Israelis and Palestinians to deal first with borders and security, contrary to Israel’s position that all final status issues are interlocked and must be tackled simultaneously.

The rub remains the continued building in the settlements. A senior Israeli official said Sunday that this Israeli government was already “showing more restraint than any previous Israeli government” regarding building in the West Bank. But no Israeli government has ever agreed to freeze construction in the Jewish neighborhoods of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, he said, reiterating a long-held Israeli position and rejecting a crucial Palestinian demand.

The dispute over building in the areas of Jerusalem beyond the pre-1967 boundaries came into sharp relief again last week when Israel advanced plans for about a thousand new housing units in one such area, Gilo, which is home to 40,000 mostly Jewish residents on the southern edge of Jerusalem bordering the West Bank.

Touring Gilo with reporters on Sunday, the deputy foreign minister of Israel, Danny Ayalon, said that this was “in the heart of a pulsating, vibrant city” and “an integral part of Jerusalem.”

“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. It cannot be divided and will not be divided,” he said, as cranes swung in the background and mechanical diggers worked on another development of 108 new units that was approved several years ago.

Israel intends to keep Gilo under any future deal with the Palestinians. But most of the world does not recognize Israeli sovereignty in the areas of Jerusalem that the Palestinians claim as part of their future nation and wants Israel to refrain from further building there so as not to prejudice the outcome of negotiations and as a sign of good faith.

The latest plans for 35 new apartment buildings extending down a steep, partly populated incline on an outer edge of Gilo elicited expressions of deep dismay from close allies, including the United States and Germany.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, telephoned Mr. Netanyahu on Friday and told him that the plans “raised doubts that the Israeli government is interested in starting serious negotiations,” her spokesman said in a statement cited by news reports.

Mr. Shaath, the Palestinian official, said that the advancement of the Gilo plans effectively “ended the quartet statement there and then.”

Source: nytimes.com

Pakistani Is Sentenced in Killing of Governor

Felipe Oct 3, 2011

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A court on Saturday sentenced to death an elite police guard who assassinated a leading secular politician he had been charged with protecting, a killing that sent shockwaves throughout Pakistan and was seen as a clear marker of growing religious intolerance and extremism in the country.

The news made international headlines not just because of the prominence of the politician who was killed, Salman Taseer, but because the killer was celebrated by many in Pakistan, including lawyers who showered him with rose petals and garlands at a court appearance.

Judge Syed Pervez Ali Shah announced the sentence for the guard, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, in an antiterrorism court at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. “Nobody can be given a license to kill on any pretext,” the judge was quoted as saying after the end of the trial.

The ruling was unusual in Pakistan; frightened justices in recent years have been cowed into releasing Islamic militants or letting them off with light sentences. The judgment was especially noteworthy in such a high-profile case against a man whose popularity grew with his confession and defense of the killing on religious grounds.

Mr. Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, was one of the country’s most outspoken opponents of the nation’s controversial blasphemy law, which mandate a death sentence for anyone convicted of insulting Islam.

Liberals and rights activists were encouraged by the verdict, but noted that it could be overturned in appeals.

“Today’s judgment is a positive development whereby norms of justice have prevailed,” said Raza Rumi, a political analyst and columnist in the eastern city of Lahore. “Pakistan cannot be allowed to become a vigilante society, and the state — its judges and prosecutors — need to uphold the law.”

No matter what happens with the case, however, Mr. Taseer’s death has cast a pall over discussions of the blasphemy law — which had become something of a test case for debate of how religion and politics mix in Pakistan. That trend continued Saturday. The usually voluble Pakistani news media dutifully covered the story, but news broadcasts were mainly devoid of the normal commentary or debate. “Local media’s muted coverage of the sentence is reflective of the fear factor and the polarization within the society,” Mr. Rumi said.

Mr. Qadri, 26, was convicted of murder and committing an act of terrorism. A lawyer for Mr. Qadri told the Dawn channel that an appeal would be filed.

Mr. Qadri killed Mr. Taseer in a hail of bullets on Jan. 4, shooting him at close range.

Rights groups have said the blasphemy law that Mr. Taseer challenged has been used to persecute minorities, especially Christians. The law was introduced in the 1980s under the military dictatorship of Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq as part of a policy of promoting Islam to unite Pakistan’s fractious society.

On Saturday, dozens of supporters of Mr. Qadri gathered outside the jail and chanted slogans against the sentence, while the judge slipped out a back door.

One man yelled: “By punishing one Mumtaz Qadri, you will produce a thousand Mumtaz Qadris!” Reuters reported.

At least 1,000 people eventually took to the streets of Rawalpindi in protest, according to Reuters, and a television channel said hundreds more were demonstrating in Lahore and Karachi.

Liaqat Baloch, the secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s most organized Islamic political party, condemned the ruling, saying in a statement that “Salman Taseer had himself invited death by issuing blasphemous statements and the accused Mumtaz Qadri did not deserve death.”

Mr. Taseer’s supporters have argued that his calling for a repeal of the blasphemy law did not constitute blasphemy.

By SALMAN MASOOD

Source: nytimes.com

EEUU advierte de posibles represalias tras muerte de clérigo

Chiara Oct 2, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — La muerte de un clérigo extremista nacido en Estados Unidos, durante un ataque en Yemen, ha aumentado el riesgo de actos violentos contra ciudadanos estadounidenses en todo el mundo, advirtió el sábado el gobierno del presidente Barack Obama.

El Departamento de Estado informó que la muerte de Anwar al-Awlaki daría a algunos individuos o grupos un móvil para tomar represalias contra ciudadanos o intereses estadounidenses.

Una advertencia del Departamento destaca que al-Awlaki y otros miembros de al-Qaida en la Península Arábiga habían convocado antes a perpetrar ataques contra Estados Unidos. La advertencia señala que los simpatizantes de la red terrorista buscarían vengar su muerte.

Al-Awlaki pereció durante un ataque a su convoy, el viernes por la mañana.

El Departamento de Estado emitió un alerta similar después de que Osama bin Laden fue muerto en Pakistán. Esta última advertencia expiraría a finales de noviembre.

Filipinas lucha para resistir al «Nalgae», su segundo tifón en cuatro días

Chiara Oct 2, 2011

(EFE).- Filipinas lucha para resistir los efectos del tifón «Nalgae», que llegó hoy al norte del país con vientos sostenidos de 160 kilómetros por hora, cuatro días después del paso de otro tifón, el «Nesat», que ha causado al menos 50 muertos.
Según el servicio de meteorología (Pagasa), el ojo del tifón «Nalgae» tocó tierra sobre las 9.00 hora local (01.00 GMT) con rachas de viento de hasta 195 kilómetros por hora en la provincia de Isabela (noreste), la misma zona por la que entró «Nesat» el pasado martes.
Las autoridades confirmaron que «Nalgae» ha causado la muerte de una persona por un desprendimiento de tierra en la provincia Moutain, al norte de la castigada isla de Luzón, aunque a medida que pasen las horas se espera que esta cifra aumente de forma considerable.
«Nalgae», con 500 kilómetros de ancho, sigue la misma trayectoria que «Nesat», lo que puede complicar aún más la situación de cerca de un millón de personas atrapadas por las inundaciones en la isla de Luzón.
El presidente del país, Benigno Aquino, ordenó ayer la evacuación de miles de personas residentes en la costa noreste del país, la zona más castigada habitualmente por los tifones, donde también se ha cortado el suministro eléctrico para prevenir accidentes.
Diez provincias del norte de la isla de Luzón han declarado la alerta tres en una escala sobre cinco, once han declarado el nivel dos y otras diez, incluida la capital, Manila, el nivel uno.
El nuevo tifón ha obligado a los equipos de salvamento a suspender momentáneamente su actividad en algunas de las zonas afectadas debido a la fuerza con la que está arremetiendo el temporal.
En los últimos días el Ejército y la Policía habían desplegado a miles de hombres para rescatar a los residentes que llevan refugiados desde el jueves en los tejados de sus casas a la espera de que bajen las inundaciones en las regiones de Bulacan, Pampanga y Tarlac, al norte de Manila.
Algunas localidades siguen completamente anegadas y los campos de arroz cercanos se han convertido en un inmenso lago.
Según el último boletín de Pagasa, «Nalgae» se encuentra a la altura de la provincia de Benguet, cerca de la costa oeste del norte de Luzón, y abandonará el territorio filipino en las próximas horas.
Sin embargo, el servicio meteorológico advirtió de que las lluvias continuarán y los efectos se seguirán notando durante días con riadas y aludes en las laderas de las montañas, ya que la tierra está saturada y ya no puede absorber más agua.
Pese a que el tifón «Nesat» abandonó el país el pasado miércoles, la situación se ha agravado desde entonces en algunos puntos debido a que gran parte de las presas de la isla de Luzón llevan días liberando agua para evitar desbordamientos.
El último boletín del Centro de Prevención de Desastres eleva a 50 el número de fallecidos por el «Nesat», mientras que al menos 31 personas continúan desaparecidas y 180.000 personas siguen siendo atendidas en los centros de evacuación provistos por el Gobierno.
Dos de las últimas víctimas mortales son una niña de 5 años y un chico de 16 años, ahogados en la localidad de Calumpit, en la provincia de Bulacan, una de las decenas de localidades del centro de Luzón que siguen completamente sumergidas.
Al menos 24 de los muertos son menores, que al igual que el resto de víctimas perecieron ahogados, golpeados por árboles derribados por el vendaval, sepultados por desprendimientos de tierra o electrocutados.
Además del desastre humanitario, la llegada de «Nalgae» está multiplicando el daño a las maltrechas infraestructuras y la agricultura, valorado por el momento en 5.976 millones de pesos (101,8 millones de euros o 136,7 millones de dólares) tras el primer tifón.
Los informes meteorológicos preven que «Nalgae» provoque lluvias de intensidad parecida a las de «Nesat», el temporal que más precipitaciones descargó este año en un solo día, el pasado martes.
Entre 15 a 20 tifones visitan Filipinas cada año durante la estación lluviosa que, por lo general, comienza en mayo y concluye en noviembre.
Los expertos de las agencias internacionales identifican el chabolismo como el principal factor del gran número de víctimas que causan en Filipinas los desastres naturales y que evidencian el mal estado de las infraestructuras.

Pakistan protests at assassin’s death sentence

Felipe Oct 2, 2011

A court in Pakistan has passed the death penalty on the bodyguard who assassinated a high-profile provincial politician after he called for reform of the country’s controversial blasphemy laws. In response, supporters of the convicted man, Mumtaz Qadri, immediately took to the streets, to denounce the decision.

The anti-terrorism court, located inside a prison in Rawalpindi and which the media was not permitted to enter, handed down two death sentences, for murder and for terrorism, after convicting Qadri of shooting dead Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, earlier this year. «The court has awarded my client death,» one of Qadri’s lawyers told Agence France-Presse.

The bodyguard, who had been assigned to Mr Taseer’s protection team, shot the 66-year-old politician as he returned to his car after a lunch meeting at a café in Islamabad, spraying a volley of more than 20 rounds at him from an automatic weapon. He subsequently told both his interrogators and the court that he believed the politician deserved to die after he had tried to save the life of a Christian woman, Aasia Noreen, who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy. Qadri claimed Mr Taseer was himself guilty of blasphemy.
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As with the killing of Mr Taseer, so the sentencing of Qadri is likely to be an episode that exposes sharp and ugly divisions within Pakistani society. While members of the country’s minority communities, as well as its small constituency of liberals, were stunned by the assassination, many conservatives celebrated the murder, saying he had deserved to die. When Qadri was first brought before a court nine months ago, some lawyers showered him with flower petals.

The government, which had planned to reform the blasphemy laws, hurriedly dropped the proposals.

Yesterday, scores of the killer’s supporters again took to the streets in Rawalpindi, chanting and burning tyres. Additional police were deployed to try to ensure order. Members of the conservative Sunni Tehreek, a religious organisation, waved flags. According to Reuters, outside the city’s Adiala Jail, where the hearing overseen by Judge Pervez Ali Shah took place, one man with a megaphone shouted: «By punishing one Mumtaz Qadri, you will produce a thousand Mumtaz Qadris.»

Mr Taseer had called for an overhaul of the blasphemy laws, first introduced during the days of British rule and tightened as part of an Islamisation drive under General Zia-ul-Haq. He lent his support to activists who said the laws were increasingly being abused and were being used to target minorities and settle personal scores. After Aasia Noreen, commonly known as Aasia Bibi, was convicted and sentenced to death last year, he visited her in jail, north of Lahore, and said he would fight to have her pardoned. Mrs Noreen, a farm labourer with two children, has always denied saying anything blasphemous against Islam.

Following Mr Taseer’s death, the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government quickly shelved a draft proposal to overhaul the laws. The draft’s author, Sherry Rehman, a member of parliament, was forced to lie low for her own safety. In March, just two months after Mr Taseer had been gunned down, the country’s minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who had also called for the law to be reformed, was also shot dead in the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for his killing.

«In the end, Salmaan Taseer was a victim of the abuse and intolerance the blasphemy laws nurture and which he tried to mitigate,» Ali Dayan Hasan, of Human Rights Watch, which has campaigned against the laws, said last night. «It is as important today as it has been at any time in the past that the Pakistani government and judiciary find the spine to repeal this obnoxious instrument of abuse. Until that day, the state remains party to the obscene discrimination such laws seek to dignify with legal cover.»

A considerable question mark remains as to whether the government will proceed with the sentence on Qadri. He has a week to appeal.

«I don’t think there is anyone who seriously believes that this sentence will be carried out,» said Farzana Shaikh, a scholar attached to Chatham House and the author of Making Sense of Pakistan. «Remember Omar Saeed Sheikh, the killer of Daniel Pearl? He’s untouchable, as I suspect Qadri will be, too. This government is simply not prepared to countenance the high political costs involved in seeing it through.»

Though Mr Taseer’s family yesterday declined to comment, since his murder his relatives have been outspoken in defending his reputation and demanding justice in the case. They have also had more turmoil and anguish to deal with: in August the late governor’s son, Shahbaz Taseer, was abducted by gunmen in Lahore. He is still missing.

Source: independent.co.uk/

U.S. issues travel alert after Awlaki death

Felipe Oct 2, 2011

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert on Saturday warning of the possibility of anti-American attacks in response to the killing of two top al Qaeda members.

The warning came a day after U.S. officials said Anwar al-Awlaki, identified as «chief of external operations» for al Qaeda’s Yemen branch, was killed in an attack by missiles fired from multiple CIA drones in Yemen.

«The death of Awlaki, in the near term, could provide motivation for anti-American attacks worldwide from individuals or groups seeking to retaliate against U.S. citizens or interests because of this action,» the State Department said.

The drone strike also killed Samir Khan, an American who served as editor of a glossy magazine used as a propaganda and recruitment tool by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Source: Reuters

From playground to battleground: children on the frontline in Somalia

Felipe Oct 2, 2011

As the rattle of gunfire becomes louder, Mohamed Abdi sits in the corner of a Mogadishu restaurant wondering how much longer he can survive in one of the world’s most dangerous capital cities. «Mogadishu is full of miseries. Sometimes you fall into traps and can be abducted by either government forces or insurgents, to fight for their cause,» says the 15-year-old.

Thousands have been displaced because of fighting between government forces and al-Shabaab, a militant Islamist group linked to al-Qaida. Abdi is fortunate in that he recently found work as a waiter, but not so long ago he was involved in urban warfare.

As Somalia’s civil conflict continues, the use of child soldiers is causing growing concern. In a report last month, Amnesty International detailed cases of children as young as nine being forced into combat. The report – In the line of fire: Somalia’s children under attack – exposes the ongoing conflict’s impact on children, arguing that both Somalia’s transitional federal government and al-Shabaab are guilty of gross human rights violations.

«As a child in Somalia, you risk death all the time,» says Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Africa. «You can be killed, recruited and sent to the frontline, punished by al-Shabaab because you are caught listening to music or wearing the ‘wrong’ clothes, be forced to fend for yourself because you have lost your parents, or even die because you don’t have access to adequate medical care.»

Abdi’s father died two years ago and it has since been a daily struggle for him to support his mother and two brothers, who live in a nearby refugee camp. He rarely leaves his workplace or ventures on to Mogadishu’s streets for fear he might be abducted again. It was shortly after his father died in 2009 that Abdi was taken by al-Shabaab. He was initially accused of spying for the government and driven from Mogadishu to a training centre in Marka, about 60 miles from the capital. After receiving military instruction, he was moved back to Mogadishu.

«Children do tasks such as spying for the insurgents or the government, it depends which side they are working with, and they also assemble explosives. I fought in Industrial Street in Mogadishu. While on the frontline one night, I was on guard at our base in Shirkole. It was dark and two of my colleagues on duty fell asleep, so I managed to escape,» says Abdi.

The teenager, whose family moved to Mogadishu four years ago from the Bay and Bakol regions of south Somalia, now washes plates and earns 60,000 Somali shillings, around $2 per day. He considers himself extremely lucky. Reports from lower Shabelle, Hiram, Middle Shabelle and the lower Jubba regions of Somalia – strongholds of al-Shabaab – indicate that child recruitment drastically increased after insurgents withdrew from the capital this month to allow aid agencies into the city.

«Children as young as nine were forcibly dragged from their homes for recruitment even though some of the children were not able to hold a gun,» said Ali Mohamed, a father in the port town of Kismayo, whose missing son is believed to have been taken by al-Shabaab.

The effects of war have been catastrophic for children. According to Amnesty, many have been killed or injured in indiscriminate attacks carried out in densely populated areas. Access to education is also a problem. Many school buildings have been destroyed or damaged, while several schools in Mogadishu have closed down, with children and teachers alike fearful of being killed or injured en route to school.

Abdisalam Hared, a secondary school teacher in Mogadishu, is increasingly concerned about the influence radical Islamists have over children. He says some of his pupils told him he must dress like a Muslim and not wear jeans.

Mohamed Abdirahman, another high school teacher, says some pupils have links with the insurgents and have responded to calls from their amirs (group leaders) to join up with the fighters. «We let them go,» says Abdirahman. «Some of them did not come back and were reportedly killed in the frontlines.»

In militant-controlled areas of Mogadishu, al-Shabaab has imposed strict rules and ordered students to enlist in the fight against the government. The insurgents have banned non-Arabic signs on shops and ordered businesses in the Elasha settlement, on Mogadishu’s outskirts, to remove English and Somali posters and replace them with billboards in Arabic.

Al-Shabaab is supposed to have left Mogadishu, but its fighters are still launching attacks from their city strongholds. Their strategy is now based on Afghan-style hit and run tactics designed for urban warfare. In northern parts of the city, remnants of al-Shabaab and their sympathisers launch regular attacks to show their presence. In the Huriwaa, Suukha Hoolaha and Huriwa districts, more than 10 people, including a woman and three young teenagers, have been beheaded over the past fortnight. All were accused of spying for the government, says Omer Ja’fan Abdulle, Huriwaa’s district commissioner.

Elsewhere, life is dire for hundreds of orphaned children left destitute. According to Unicef, at least 2,000 children are trying to survive on Mogadishu’s streets.

Source: guardian.co.uk

NATO captures senior Haqqani leader in Afghanistan

Felipe Oct 2, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – NATO captured a senior leader of the al-Qaeda- and Taliban-allied Haqqani network active inside Afghanistan, the alliance said Saturday, describing it as a «significant milestone» in disrupting the terror group’s operations.

NATO said Haji Mali Khan was seized Tuesday during an operation in eastern Paktia province’s Jani Khel district, which borders Pakistan. It was the most significant capture of a Haqqani leader in Afghanistan, and could dent the group’s ability to operate along the porous border with Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas.

Shortly after NATO’s announcement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied in a message to Afghan media that Khan had been arrested but provided no evidence that he was free.

NATO described Khan as an uncle of Siraj and Badruddin Haqqani, two of the son’s of the network’s aging leader Jalaludin Haqqani. However, in a recent report on the Haqqani’s by the Institute for the Study of War, Khan appears as a brother in-law to Jalaludin Haqqani.

The Pakistan-based Haqqani network is affiliated with both the Taliban and al-Qaeda and has been described as the top security threat in Afghanistan. The group has been blamed for hundreds of attacks, including a 20-hour siege of the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters last month.

Last week, U.S. officials accused Pakistan’s spy agency of assisting the Haqqanis in attacks on Western targets in Afghanistan — the most serious allegation yet of Pakistani duplicity in the 10-year war.

The United States and other members of the international community have in the past blamed Pakistan for allowing the Taliban, and the Haqqanis in particular, to retain safe havens in the country’s tribal areas along the Afghan border — particularly in North Waziristan.

«He was one of the highest ranking members of the Haqqani network and a revered elder of the Haqqani clan,» NATO said of Khan, adding that he «worked directly under Siraj Haqqani, and managed bases and had oversight of operations in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Khan also moved forces from Pakistan to Afghanistan to conduct terrorist activity, NATO said. «Jalaluddin Haqqani consistently placed Mali Khan in positions of high importance.»

NATO also said that Khan had in the past year established a militant camp in Paktia and «coordinated the transfer of money for insurgents operations, and facilitated the acquisition of supplies.»

During the operation Tuesday, Khan surrendered without resistance and NATO forces also arrested his deputy and bodyguard, along with a number of other insurgents, the alliance said.

«The Haqqani network and its safe havens remain a top priority for Afghan and coalition forces,» NATO concluded.

The NATO statement said security forces have conducted more than 500 operations so far in 2011 in an effort to disrupt the Haqqani network leadership, resulting in the deaths of 20 operatives and the capture of nearly 300 insurgent leaders and 1,300 suspected Haqqani insurgents.

Source: usatoday.com

Rusia y China frenan una dura resolución contra Siria en Naciones Unidas

Chiara Oct 1, 2011

Los impulsores del documento debieron retirar la palabra ‘sanciones’ para lograr unanimidad en el Consejo de Seguridad. Moscú y Pekín habían adelantado que vetarían cualquier tipo de castigo.
En vez de ‘sanciones’, Gran Bretaña, Francia, Alemania y Portugal optaron por la frase «medidas dirigidas» para ese proyecto de texto. De esta forma, esperan contar con el apoyo de los quince miembros del Consejo para adoptar una resolución en contra del régimen del presidente sirio, Bashar al Assad.

Rusia y China amenazaron con imponer su veto a cualquier tipo de sanción propuesta al Consejo de Seguridad contra el gobierno sirio.

Este órgano de la ONU se ha limitado, hasta ahora, a hacer una declaración contra la represión de las manifestaciones en Siria, que, según Naciones Unidas, causó más de 2.700 muertos desde marzo pasado.

Por su parte, Rusia puso en circulación su propio proyecto de resolución, que de acuerdo con los diplomáticos, no va más allá de condenar la violencia en Siria de manera general.

«Pensamos que (este proyecto ruso de resolución) es algo que, si el Consejo lo adopta, potenciará el proceso político en Siria y contribuirá a detener la violencia, ya que no contiene un mensaje muy fuerte», dijo el embajador ruso ante la ONU, Vitali Churkin.

En tanto, este viernes hubo al menos 32 muertos en una nueva jornada de represión y enfrentamientos en varias ciudades sirias.

Fuente: AFP

Recuerdan sublevación de policías contra Correa

Chiara Oct 1, 2011

El gobernante asiste a ceremonia religiosa para agradecer la operación de rescate. El presidente ecuatoriano, Rafael Correa, asistió a una misa oficiada ayer como parte de diversos actos organizados por las autoridades con motivo del primer aniversario de una sublevación policial contra su gobierno, quien asegura fue un fallido intento por derrocarlo.

Correa y varios de sus ministros asistieron a una misa en la catedral metropolitana, en medio de una fuerte custodia militar, para recordar a una decena de fallecidos el 30 de septiembre de 2010 durante la rebelión de agentes del principal cuartel policial en Quito.

Hace un año, los uniformados protestaban contra la eliminación de beneficios salariales cuando Correa irrumpió en el cuartel donde fue atrapado por los sublevados y se refugió en un cercano hospital de esa institución, donde quedó retenido por casi 11 horas.

Fue rescatado por un operativo militar en medio del cruce de fuego en el que murieron policías, civiles y militares.

El presidente reiteró ayer que en 2010 hubo un intento de golpe de Estado y dijo tener “indicios de que esto ya estaba preparado”.

Por su parte, el asambleísta Cléver Jiménez, del opositor Movimiento Pachakutik, dijo que ésta fecha es “otra página oscura en la historia nacional” y acusó como “principal responsable” a Correa, porque a su juicio no actuó “con responsabilidad, antes, en ese día y después de los hechos”.
impreso.milenio.com

Brasil ofrece promoción fiscal a su industria bélica

Chiara Oct 1, 2011

El gobierno de Brasil anunció medidas de apoyo a la industria de la defensa para modernizar sus Fuerzas Armadas y fortalecer la protección de fronteras y la riqueza del país. Las empresas brasileñas tendrán un sistema impositiva y de licitaciones. «La industria de defensa es estratégica para nuestra soberanía», dijo Dilma Rousseff. «No sabemos de dónde viene las amenazas, pero sabe que tiene que proteger las riquezas», agregó Celso Amorim.
Definición Nº1

«Brasil requiere con urgencia los aviones caza supersónicos, en proceso de licitación, debido a que parte de su flota de Mirage no estará en condiciones de operar plenamente hacia finales de 2013», dijo el ministro de Defensa, Celso Amorim, ante el Senado. En 2010 Brasil aplazó, por recortes presupuestarios, la adquisición de 36 aviones de combate por un valor aproximado de US$ 4.000 millones y US$ 7.000 millones. 3 empresas se disputan la licitación: la francesa Dassault, con el avión Rafale, la estadounidense Boeing con el F/A-18 Super Hornet, y la sueca Saab con el Gripen NG. «Hasta finales de 2013, ninguno de los 12 Mirages que están (en la base aérea de) Anápolis podrá actuar plenamente. Es algo realmente urgente, muy importante. La necesidad de defensa de la Amazonia, las fronteras, nos obliga a tener una aviación de combate adecuada», justificó el ministro.

Definición Nº2

El gobernador del estado Paraná (Brasil), Carlos Antonio Richa; y el ministro de Defensa, Celso Amorim, observaron desde un helicóptero militar los más de 20 puertos clandestinos ubicados en la margen paraguaya del río Paraná. Esos puertos son usados para el tráfico de drogas y el contrabando de cigarrillos. La Policía Federal brasileña indicó que ambas actividades se encuentran vinculadas en la frontera entre el Paraguay y el Brasil. El gobernador Richa anunció que creará un Batallón de Frontera de la Policía Militar de Paraná con 500 efectivos y los equipos más modernos, para crear una “barrera” de seguridad que proteja la frontera brasileña de las actividades ilegales.

Definición Nº3

El ministro Amorim reiteró la intención de la ONU de reducir el número de efectivos de su misión en Haití, pero a la vez dijo: «El gran desafío es cómo construir aparatos de Estado en Haití», una nación que «ni siquiera tiene un Ejército». La posible reducción de efectivos de la Misión de las Naciones Unidas para la Estabilización de Haití (Minustah) será analizada por el Consejo de Seguridad a mediados de octubre. A inicios de septiembre, durante una reunión en Uruguay, los 9 países de América Latina que integran la misión acordaron apoyar una reducción de la fuerza de paz de 10.000 efectivos a 8.000, como había antes del terremoto de enero de 2010. Amorim, quien hasta enero fue durante 8 años ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, apuntó que existen políticos haitianos que «cuando son candidatos quieren que la Minustah se vaya, y cuando son Gobierno quieren que se quede». Sobre el aporte de Brasil, que está al frente de las tropas de la Minustah, a Haití, Amorim explicó que están en marcha decenas de proyectos de cooperación en agricultura, energía, recolección de basura y otras áreas.

Ahora, una nota de André Barrocal en la web Carta Maior:

El ministro de Defensa, Celso Amorim, asumió el cargo a principios de agosto diciendo que había «desajuste» entre la influencia externa alcanzada por Brasil y la capacidad de defender las fronteras y las riquezas naturales tales como el petróleo del pre-sal (plataforma submarina en aguas brasileñas). El jueves (29/09), la presidenta Dilma Rousseff dio un paso para tratar de superar la contradicción, al firmar una medida provisional (decreto de necesidad y urgencia) con incentivos para la readaptación y la modernización de las Fuerzas Armadas.

(N. de la R.: Urgente24 considera que la oportunidad del anuncio se encuentra también relacionado con brindarle un paliativo a los uniformados brasileños a causa de la creación de la comisión que investigará la detención ilegal y asesinato/desaparición de personas durante la lucha antiterrorista y represión política realizada por el gobierno militar del ’64).

El decreto crea una especie de marco regulatorio para la industria de defensa nacional, con recortes de impuestos y licitaciones especiales para Empresas Estratégicas de Defensa (EEDS). Será calificada como EED la empresa que trabaje con la investigación o la producción de productos estratégicos y de defensa, que tenga su sede en Brasil y estatutos que garanticen que las decisiones sean tomanadas por mayoría de socios de nacionalidad brasileña. El correcto cumplimiento de los requisitos será verificado por el Ministerio de Defensa, quien emitirá el sello EED.

Las empresas con este sello podrán participar en las licitaciones específicas hechas por el Ejecutivo federal para comprar equipos y servicios en el ámbito de la defensa. Ellos recibirán incentivos para obtener la transferencia tecnología del exterior y para desarrollar investigaciones dentro de Brasil.

También tendrán acceso a un régimen fiscal especial: les será suspendido el pago de 3 impuestos federales que hoy, sumados, oscilan desde 8% al 54% de carga tributaria. Además de las empresas proveedoras del gobierno, también se beneficiarán los exportadores de ese material. El régimen se aplicará durante 5 años.

En un discurso durante el anuncio de las medidas, Dilma las consideró complementarias de la Estrategia Nacional de Defensa, lanzada por el ex presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva para reequipar a las fuerzas armadas y redefinir su papel en la vida brasileña. Y como una extensión del reciente paquete de apoyo a la industria lanzado a raíz de la crisis económica mundial.

Pero ella no dejó de insistir en la importancia geopolítica de la decisión. «Ya sea por el tamaño de nuestro territorio y de nuestras fronteras, sea por el hecho de que nuestro país ha sido bendecido con una enormes riquezas, necesitamos esta industria, porque es estratégica para nuestra soberanía», dijo.

Tanto la Presidenta como Celso Amorim insistieron en destacar que el gobierno tiene preocupaciones pacíficas y defensivas y no de ataque. Para ella, «las relaciones defensivas» también requieren desarrollo tecnológico. Para él, la medida «fortalece nuestra capacidad de acción autónoma en un área que es absolutamente esencial, en el fondo, para el bienestar, la paz del espíritu y la paz de todos nosotros.»

El ministro de Defensa también enfatizó en el hecho de que las medidas incentivan a las empresas instaladas en Brasil y con decisiones brasileñas. «Este aspecto es especialmente importante en un mundo en que vivimos hoy, un mundo muy complejo, un mundo en el que no sabemos de dónde vienen las amenazas, pero sabemos de las riquezas que tenemos que proteger», afirmó.
urgente24.com

Sarkozy to meet Merkel in coming days on Greece

Felipe Oct 1, 2011

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday he would meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the coming days in Germany to discuss Greece’s debt troubles, calling support for Greece a «moral obligation» for Europe.
Following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Paris, Sarkozy said he had been reassured by the Greek leader that Athens was determined to deliver on its commitments in return for European aid.
«I will be in Germany in the coming days to continue with Chancellor Angela Merkel the collaboration and coordination works between Germany and France that has ensured the protection of Europe,» Sarkozy told reporters at his presidential palace.
He did not elaborate on the timing.
Papandreou, Sarkozy said, had assured him of the «total determination of the Greek government to scrupulously put in place all commitments that Greece has taken on.»
«Failure of Greece would be failure for all Europe, there is no other credible alternative,» said Sarkozy, who said helping Greece was a not just a «moral obligation» but an economic one.
Earlier this week, Sarkozy said he would discuss details of a new Franco-German approach to solving Europe’s debt crisis following Germany’s parliamentary vote on Thursday that approved new powers for the euro zone’s 440-billion euro ($590 billion) bailout fund.
Although the German ‘yes’ vote met with widespread relief in markets, the existing European deal reached on July 21 is now widely seen as insufficient to handle a potential debt default by a major European economy such as Spain or Italy.
Despite several rounds of stringent austerity measures, doubts are still hanging over Greece’s ability to honor its debt payments on time and a majority of analysts are now convinced that a partial default is inevitable.
Papandreou, who had met Merkel earlier in the week, pledged full transparency in Greece’s debt-cutting efforts.
buenosairesherald.com

Drone Kills Top Al Qaeda Figure

Felipe Oct 1, 2011

The U.S. began a new CIA-led counterterrorism program in Yemen on Friday, sending unmanned aircraft to kill an American-born cleric who occupied a top place on the U.S.’s anti-terrorist list.
The death of Anwar al-Awlaki eliminates a leading figure in Yemen’s branch of al Qaeda and one of its most charismatic recruiters. A Web-savvy Islamic preacher with sparkling English, Mr. Awlaki was known for his ability to couch extremist views in ways that appealed to Western youth. He had been linked to suspects in the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting spree and the botched bombing of a Detroit-bound jet that Christmas.
The strike marked another significant blow to the global terrorist group after the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this year. It also highlights a conundrum about continued joint antiterror operations with the Yemenis: U.S. officials have publicly called for embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh to accede to the demands of an eight-month-old pro-democracy protest movement and step down from power, but counterterrorism operations are led by close Saleh relatives.

Mr. Awlaki, who had been on the run for months in Yemen’s remote tribal regions, was killed at approximately 9:55 a.m. local time outside a village in the northeastern province of Jawf, a Yemeni official said.

At least four people were killed in the operation, Yemeni officials said. These included a second American, Samir Kahn, who was an editor and illustrator for «Inspire,» the online magazine of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The strike represented the first test of a new covert CIA drone program in Yemen, an effort that works closely with military Special Operations forces, officials said, blurring the lines between military and intelligence operations. CIA-controlled drones carried out the strike, a U.S. official said, but other military attack «platforms,» presumably aircraft, also were nearby and were prepared to take action if needed.

Both U.S. and Yemeni officials characterized the operation as a joint U.S.-Yemeni effort. The key tip that led to the strike on Mr. Awlaki came from Yemeni intelligence, according to U.S. officials.

The operation raises questions about the continued tenure of Mr. Saleh. The U.S., in large part, has funded and trained Yemen’s counterterrorism forces. As Mr. Saleh has battled to stay in power this year, his son and nephews, who command these counterterrorism forces, have lobbied their U.S. counterparts to remain in position as the best guarantor of robust action against Al Qaeda threats.

U.S. officials attribute the increase in Yemeni cooperation in part to Mr. Saleh’s desire to curry U.S. favor as he seeks to stay in power. It also reflects Mr. Saleh’s realization that AQAP was starting to seize territory and therefore posed a more serious threat to his regime.

The White House said Friday that the operation in no way changed the U.S. call from Mr. Saleh to step down immediately.

«Our cooperation with Yemen and with civilian-military intelligence counterparts in Yemen is … not limited to one person and it has never been about one person,» said Press Secretary Jay Carney. «It’s been about a partnership around the goal of dealing with a threat.»

Mr. Awlaki isn’t the first American killed in a drone strike in Yemen. In November 2002, a Predator drone fired a Hellfire missile at a SUV carrying an al Qaeda lieutenant, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, accused of helping plot the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

Among the six people killed in that strike was an American named Kamal Derwish. Mr. Derwish, however, wasn’t the primary target in the strike and wasn’t considered a leading militant figure.

Within the Yemeni al Qaeda branch, Mr. Awlaki played a leadership role in foreign operations but had a limited role in the group’s local activities, according to AQAP members and Yemeni officials. The military leader of AQAP who directs local and regional operations against Saudi Arabia and Western targets in Yemen remains at large.

Mr. Awlaki was instrumental in recruiting foreign volunteers who have helped transform the group’s local and regional reach into a threat for Western countries. The loss of an al Qaeda operative fluent not just in English but also in American culture stands to hamper the group’s efforts to inspire so-called homegrown terrorists to mount solo attacks in the U.S.

«His death deals a real blow to al Qaeda’s lone-wolf strategy,» said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University in Washington.
Mr. Awlaki, who ran mosques in the U.S. before leaving in 2002, has long been among the top U.S. targets in Yemen. He has been on the run in Yemen since 2009, when U.S. officials publicly linked him to multiple terrorist incidents in the U.S., including the Fort Hood shootings in which 13 people were killed, the Christmas 2009 plot to blow up a U.S.-bound passenger plane and a separate plan to blow up a U.S.-bound cargo plane.

He also was considered the inspiration behind Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad’s 2010 failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York’s Times Square.

Military and intelligence operatives followed Mr. Awlaki for weeks before striking their target, whom they referred to internally as «Objective Troy.»

Details about Friday’s attack remain murky, but a senior Yemeni official said that Americans have been «directly» involved with tracking Mr. Awlaki around the country. They learned that he had moved to Jawf earlier this month, the official said. The area is near a historic smuggling route along a mountain range stretching the length of the country and located about 90 miles from the capital, San’a.

The U.S. narrowly missed him in a strike in May, when a U.S. drone fired on a vehicle in the southern Yemen province of Shebwa that the cleric had been driving in earlier that day. Since then, Mr. Awlaki moved hundreds of miles northeast, and earlier this month U.S. officials located him in the mountain range located in Jawf province, according to the Yemeni official.

Around daybreak Friday, Mr. Awlaki, Mr. Khan and a handful of fellow supporters set off in a multi-car convoy, say local residents and Yemeni officials.

The car carrying Mr. Awlaki and Mr. Khan was hit by a missile a few miles outside a mountainous village called Khashef, said Yemeni officials. Another vehicle was hit by a drone missile a few miles away across the border into Mareb province, according to several local residents who saw the strike and the charred hull of bodies and a Toyota pickup truck.

A U.S. official said Mr. Awlaki was identified based on facial recognition rather than DNA testing. Though Yemeni government officials say that at least four people were killed, local residents said they saw five corpses. Local residents say there was no sign of soldiers in the vicinity of the missile strikes.

—Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes and Keith Johnson contributed to this article.
online.wsj.com

Carean a DSK con la periodista que lo denunció por acoso

admin Sep 30, 2011

El ex director del Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI), Dominique Strauss–Kahn (al que se le conoce también por sus siglas DSK), y Tristane Banon, la periodista que lo acusa de haber intentado violarla hace ocho años, se confrontaron ayer cara a cara en la sede de las Brigadas Financieras en un encuentro que duró dos horas y media, y es la última etapa de la investigación abierta en julio por la Fiscalía.

La periodista y escritora, de 32 años, acusa a DSK de haber intentado violarla en el 2003. Strauss Kahn rechazó las acusaciones de Banon, y sostuvo que intentó besar a la periodista que lo estaba entrevistando, y que luego renunció a hacerlo cuando ella lo rechazó.

“Estoy segura de que me habría violado”, declaró Banon en una entrevista en el informativo de la cadena TF1 en su primera comparecencia pública tras someterse en la mañana de ayer al careo.

Banon señaló que el político francés no se atrevió a mirarla a los ojos durante la confrontación en el marco de la investigación preliminar abierta tras la denuncia por intento de violación interpuesta el pasado julio por la periodista. Strauss Kahn dijo que la acusación es una fantasía y una difamación .

Ambos llegaron ayer por la mañana a la comisaría de policía en vehículos separados y no hablaron con los periodistas congregados a la entrada. Una vez terminada la sesión, Banon prefirió hablar en directo por el noticiero central del canal privado de televisión francés TF1 , mientras que DSK se retiró mostrando una leve sonrisa tensa y sin hacer declaraciones.

Los careos son una práctica común en Francia para que las autoridades puedan decidir si una causa judicial tiene mérito. En este caso, el careo se llevó a cabo en ausencia de sus abogados y en una misma sala, contrariamente a lo habitual en el caso de delitos sexuales. Este careo podría ser el último acto de la investigación preliminar abierta por la Fiscalía. Los investigadores de la policía judicial interrogaron a unas 20 personas, entre éstas la madre de Banon, la dirigente socialista Anne Mansouret, que confesó haber tenido relaciones sexuales con Strauss Kahn. Una vez que la policía judicial entregue un informe a la Fiscalía, ésta tendrá tres opciones: declarar la prescripción de los hechos, archivar la denuncia o abrir un sumario a cargo de un juez de instrucción.

DSK fue hasta mayo uno de los hombres más poderosos del mundo. El 14 de mayo la empleada de un lujoso hotel neoyorquino lo acusó de haberla violado poniendo fin a sus aspiraciones para la candidatura presidencial. Pero después la Justicia de EE.UU. cerró la causa por falta de consistencia. Ayer a la noche, los abogados de DSK contestaron las declaraciones de Banon. Dijeron que mentía.
Fuente: clarin.com