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Pressure on Karzai as Afghan drug problem worsens KABUL, Oct 5: Mirwais Yasini, Director General of Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics department, tells the story of how a British General asked .....more Cheney,
Edwards CLEVELAND, Oct 5: Vice President Dick Cheney and senator John Edwards take center stage in the race for the White House today in a.....more Most Americans to rein in holiday spending: Survey NEW YORK, Oct 5: Most Americans are planning to curb their holiday spending this year, making it a challenging ....more Australia PM vows to work with new Indonesia leader CANBERRA, Oct 5: Australian Prime Minister John Howard congratulated former General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today after he was declared the ......more |
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Myanmar military leader YANGON, Oct 5: General Than Shwe will this month pay the first visit by a Myanmar head of state to India in a quarter of a century, an Indian diplomat .....more US Guantanamo General expects release of prisoners LONDON, Oct 5: Most of the prisoners being held at the US military base at Guantanamo bay are expected to be released or extradited, the deputy .....more US
says migrant deaths MONTERRRY, MEXICO, Oct 5: The number of illegal migrants who died crossing the US-Mexico border fell 4.4 percent in the last year, the US....more Four US soldiers charged in Iraqi General’s murder WASHINGTON, Oct 5: The US military has charged four soldiers with murder in the death of an Iraqi General who suffocated after being shoved in ...more |
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Pressure on Karzai as Afghan drug problem worsens KABUL, Oct 5: Mirwais Yasini, Director General of Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics department, tells the story of how a British General asked him for a list of Afghan commanders involved in the drug trade. It would be a lot easier to take a list of commanders and just cross off the names of the few that could be innocent, Yasini replied. Whatever has gone right in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban three years ago, its war on drugs has so far been a colossal failure. Western and Afghan officials say the problem is warlords - many of whom owe their power to private armies funded mainly by drug money - who filled the power vacuum after the Taliban were driven from power by US-led forces in late 2001. But they hope a win in this week’s Presidential election will finally give President Hamid Karzai the strength to face down the drug warlords, including some who helped install him in power. "Private armies are funded by drug money. Warlordism is funded by drug money. It is the biggest problem, worse than Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, for the security of Afghanistan," said Yasini, Karzai’s drug policy chief. "Some of the warlords, some of the Government officials and some of the Governors, they were involved and they are involved in drugs," he said. "The wolves cannot guard the hen house. A doctor with dirty gloves cannot do open heart surgery. The removal of them from Government power, this is the first step." Karzai’s supporters say he has already begun to show courage in battling regional strongmen, dismissing the Governor of Herat in the west and removing his powerful Defence Minister Mohammed Fahim Khan from his electoral ticket as a Vice President. But much more needs to be done. Afghanistan is the source of the opium poppies used to make three quarters of the world’s heroin. And in the years since US warplanes and Afghan guerrillas ousted the strict Islamic rulers in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks, the problem has worsened. Western officials involved in counter-narcotics policy in Kabul expect a UN report due later this month to show record poppy cultivation of as much as 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres), up from 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres) last year. In several parts of the country, poppy is effectively the only crop. Estimates of its share of Afghanistan’s economy run as high as a third or a half. This is especially embarrassing because the Taliban, with their strict moral code and harsh methods of enforcement, had all but eliminated poppies from territory they controlled in the year before they were toppled. Western countries, led by Britain, are training paramilitary anti-narcotics forces who they hope will give Karzai’s Central Government the muscle to take on regional militia linked to drug lords. In addition to dedicated anti-drugs police, there is the shadowy Afghan special narcotics force - known for some reason as force 333 - tasked with shutting down drugs laboratories and so secret that even the western donors paying for the force won’t say how big it is. In all, 130 tonnes of opium were seized this year, out of an annual product of 3,600 tonnes. There is also a new central eradication force, trained by the US military contractor dyncorp to rip out poppy fields. Since going active in may it has so far made one major raid, in Wardak province near Kabul, destroying about 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres), despite being rocketed by furious villagers. Western officials say they have been disappointed by eradication efforts so far, but hope the new force will prove itself before next year’s harvest. New prosecutors and judges are being trained to take on drug kingpins and a new jail is planned to house them. Religious leaders have been summoned to rule poppy cultivation a sin. Scriptwriters for new homes, new lives, a popular short-wave radio soap opera broadcast in Pashto and Dari by the BBC world service, have been told to develop anti-drug plot lines. But persuading farmers to switch to other crops will not be easy. In some areas, such as the Badakhshan region of the high Hindu Kush, opium has been grown for generations. There, in one of the remotest areas on earth, it has proven the ideal crop, concentrating large value in small bulk that is easy to transport and does not spoil in the long journey over mountain tracks to market. Mountain borders with Tajikistan and Pakistan are nearly impossible to police. Assuming Karzai wins the country’s first Presidential election on Saturday, he should have the muscle to crack down on the narcotics trade. Yasini, the drug policy chief, thinks his boss will prove himself soon. "Our President has always had the determination," he said. "with this Government having the strong backing of the international community, why should we not overcome this?" (AGENCIES) |
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Cheney, Edwards prepare for debate CLEVELAND, Oct 5: Vice President Dick Cheney and senator John Edwards take center stage in the race for the White House today in a nationally televised debate that is likely to focus on the Iraq war and US security issues but also will include domestic topics. With polls showing the race for the White House tightening after last week’s clash between President George W Bush and democratic rival John Kerry, the stakes for the showdown between their running mates have been raised dramatically. Cheney, the administration’s most outspoken supporter of the war and harshest critic of Kerry, will make the White House’s case for the invasion of Iraq and try to stem the momentum building for Kerry since he put Bush on the defensive in last week’s debate. Bush campaign strategist Matthew Dowd said Cheney would "explain to the American people why the President’s policies are right for this country and the world in fighting the war on terror, in keeping our economy growing and responding to the new challenges in the 21st century." Edwards, a first-term senator from north Carolina who was chosen for the ticket by Kerry after a strong primary run, will try to put Cheney on the defensive about the administration’s policies in Iraq, its record on jobs and health care and its ties to special interests, Kerry aides said. "We expect John Edwards to hold Dick Cheney and George Bush accountable for their record," Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart said. Cheney’s prominent role as a senior adviser in the administration, and a flurry of new polls showing Kerry closing the gap on Bush or pulling even, have added new luster to the Vice Presidential debate, traditionally a campaign sideshow. Cheney is portrayed by critics as the dark architect of the Iraq war. His secretive energy task force, along with his ties to energy giant Halliburton and the oil industry, have made him a lightning rod for democratic complaints. Edwards is expected to press Cheney about his role in formulating the administration’s energy and Iraq policies, and on Cheney’s connections to Halliburton, which he headed from 1995 to 2000 and which now is a leading US military contractor in Iraq. "I think there is a very powerful argument that Dick Cheney’s experience and his judgment and especially the advice he has given the President has not been good for the American people," Kerry adviser Tad Devine said. Jobs, health care and taxes will be on the agenda as the debates begin to shift to domestic issues. The Presidential debate on Friday between Bush and Kerry will be a town hall format open to all topics, and next week’s debate in Arizona will focus on domestic questions. About 62 million people watched last week’s debate, but the audience should be considerably smaller on Tuesday with the start of the US baseball playoffs as competition. About 28 million people watched the Vice Presidential debate in 2000. The two debaters will display vastly different images and styles. The bald and bespectacled Cheney, 63, is a reluctant campaigner who has had four heart attacks while building a lengthy insider’s resume as a member of Congress, White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense. The energetic Edwards, 51, is a first-term senator who was once named people magazine’s sexiest politician and is known for his upbeat campaign style and populist rhetoric. Before entering politics, he was a successful trial lawyer. Both camps worked to lower expectations, with Kerry aides stressing Cheney’s long track record in Washington and his strong performance against connecticut Sen Joseph Lieberman in a polite and restrained 2000 debate. Bush aides said Edwards’ trial lawyer past made him a formidable foe for the plain-spoken Cheney. Bush-Cheney adviser Mary Matalin called Edwards "The Man With The Golden Tongue." (AGENCIES) |
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Most Americans to rein in holiday spending: Survey NEW YORK, Oct 5: Most Americans are planning to curb their holiday spending this year, making it a challenging shopping season for US retailers, according to a holiday buying survey by the NPD group. Nine out of 10 consumers said they will spend the same or less when they shop for the holidays than they did in 2003. On average, Americans plan to spend an average of 655 during this holiday season, the survey showed. A sluggish economy and nagging labor market weakness are making consumers keep a tighter hold on their wallets, Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst for the NPD group, said. Higher gasoline prices are another big factor, since they can take a significant bite out of many consumers’ discretionary budgets, Cohen said. "I’m heading into the holiday season with 500 fewer dollars in my pocket. Now, am I feeling warm and fuzzy about spending? no." In addition, "must-have" items, which have grown to include electronics like DVD players and Ipods, are increasingly expensive and take a proportionally bigger bite out of budgets that are static or even shrinking, Cohen said. Young adults may be the ones driving sales during the holiday season — the most important time of the year for retailers, the NPD group said. Consumers aged 18 to 24 years old plan to boost their holiday spending on average to 537 this year from 366 last year. Those aged 25 to 34 years old said they would cut their spending by 21 percent over last year. Seventy-two percent of consumers will shop this holiday season in discount stores like target corp. And wal-mart stores inc. More than half of Americans plan to comparison shop before buying, and a third of them will wait for sales to begin. Only about 27 percent of consumers had already started shopping versus the 31 percent who reported starting their holiday buying this early in 2003. (AGENCIES) |
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Australia PM vows to work with new Indonesia leader CANBERRA, Oct 5: Australian Prime Minister John Howard congratulated former General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today after he was declared the runaway winner of Indonesia’s first direct Presidential election. Howard, whose conservative Government is seeking a fourth straight term in office at an election on Saturday, said Yudhoyono had a strong record of cooperation with Australia and he would contact the President-elect in the next few days. If re-elected, Howard hopes to meet Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation forum summit in Chile in November and said his priority would be to put pressure on the new President to ensure all the Bali bombers faced justice. A total of 88 Australians among the 202 people killed in the nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali in October, 2002, that were blamed on Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah. Many of the bombers, including the leaders, have been convicted and sentenced. "We will be advocating in the most appropriate and strongest way that the full force of the law be applied. We do not believe there should be any relenting on that. They committed a terrible crime," Howard told Australian radio. "No matter who is the President of Indonesia the constant advocacy of the Australian Government, with the support of all the Australian people, will be that the full measure of justice must be meted out." Australia’s embassy in Jakarta was the target of a car bomb last month that killed nine Indonesians. Howard said Yudhoyono was "well disposed" toward Australia, where his son attended university. He thanked outgoing President Megawati Sukarnoputri for her cooperation with Australia. Howard’s conservative Government is leading the opposition Labor party in opinion polls before Saturday’s election. (AGENCIES) |
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Myanmar military leader to visit India YANGON, Oct 5: General Than Shwe will this month pay the first visit by a Myanmar head of state to India in a quarter of a century, an Indian diplomat said. The visit by the head of Myanmar’s military Government suggests ties between the two neighbours are warming rapidly and was due to start on October 24 and to last five days, the diplomat said late yesterday. Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, the ministry’s senior civil servant, told during a visit to Yangon he had handed over an invitation and it had been accepted. He declined to elaborate. But an Indian diplomat said than shwe "will be leaving for India on October 24 for a five day visit". (AGENCIES) |
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US Guantanamo General expects release of prisoners LONDON, Oct 5: Most of the prisoners being held at the US military base at Guantanamo bay are expected to be released or extradited, the deputy commander of the unit that runs the base was quoted today as saying. Brig Gen Martin Lucenti told the Financial Times the United States did not have enough evidence to prosecute all of the prisoners, alleged to be Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. "Of the 550 that we have, I would say most of them, the majority of them, will either be released or transferred to their own countries," Lucenti told the ft. "Most of these guys weren’t fighting. They were running," said Lucenti. "Even if somebody has been found to be an enemy combatant, many of them will be released because they will be of low intelligence value and low threat status. "We don’t have a level of evidence to feel that we can be confident to prosecute them (all)," Lucenti said. But the ft also quoted Brig Gen Jay Hood, commander of the task force that runs the Guantanamo bay camps, as saying that some people held at Guantanamo were of "tremendous intelligence value" and the United States still had much to learn from them. A Pentagon spokesman told the ft that the department of defense would not put a figure on the number that it expected to be released. Washington classified the Guantanamo prisoners as enemy combatants rather than prisoners of war, which would have given them a host of legal rights under international law. Human rights groups and lawyers have criticised the United States for holding prisoners at the base indefinitely and most without charges or legal representation. The Pentagon created tribunals for some of them after a June Supreme Court ruling that Guantanamo detainees have the right to go into US courts to challenge the legality of their detention and seek their freedom. More than 150 prisoners have been released or repatriated for further detention since the first detainees arrived at the base in early 2002. (AGENCIES) |
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US says migrant deaths fell on Mexico border MONTERRRY, MEXICO, Oct 5: The number of illegal migrants who died crossing the US-Mexico border fell 4.4 percent in the last year, the US Government said. Rights activists immediately challenged the figure, saying the Government’s counting system was flawed. The US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection yesterday said 325 migrants died crossing the deserts and rivers of the 3,200-km border during the Government’s fiscal year, which ended on Sept 30, down from 340 deaths the previous year. Spokesman Mario Villarreal attributed the decline to tighter security along the border and a publicity campaign aired on Mexican TV and radio to raise awareness of the perils of the journey. He also cited a program of repatriation flights that returned some 14,000 migrants to cities deep within Mexico in a bid to reduce the number of people attempting repeated crossings of the scorching Arizona-Sonora desert. But migrant welfare group humane borders said the US Government tally "severely undercounted" migrant deaths reported to local authorities. "There is no one in Government counting deaths reported by members of the public or county officials such as sheriffs’ departments, which never involved the border patrol," said Robin Hoover, president of the Arizona-based group. Each year, hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants, most of them from Mexico and other parts of Latin America, attempt the journey across the border in search of work. The Government said the main cause of death, accounting for at least 95 fatalities, was dehydration or exposure during the 12-month period. Others drowned in border rivers or perished in car crashes in failed attempts to outrun border patrol agents on rural highways and freeways. (AGENCIES) |
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Four US soldiers charged in Iraqi General’s murder WASHINGTON, Oct 5: The US military has charged four soldiers with murder in the death of an Iraqi General who suffocated after being shoved in a sleeping bag and physically abused during interrogation in Iraq last November, the army said. Chief Warrant Officers Jefferson Williams and Lewis Welshofer Jr., Sgt. 1st class William Sommer and Spec Jerry Loper were charged with murder and dereliction of duty, officials at Fort Carson, Colorado, said in a statement yesterday. Iraqi Maj Gen Abid Hamed Mowhoush, a key air-defense commander for toppled President Saddam Hussein’s military, died last Nov 26 of "Asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression" while being detained by the US military in Al-Qaim near the Syrian border, according to a death certificate released by the army in May. The criminal charges were the latest in a series brought against US troops stemming from the abuse and in some cases deaths of numerous prisoners held in Iraq and Afghanistan. The murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole, while the dereliction charge carries a maximum sentence of six months of confinement, according to the statement. The US military initially described the General’s death as apparently from natural causes, but changed the account in the weeks after revelations surfaced this spring of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail on the outskirts of Baghdad. (AGENCIES) Firecracker factory blast kills 28 in SW China BEIJING, Oct 5: An explosion at a fireworks factory in China’s southwestern Guangxi province killed 24 people and injured 28, Chinese media said today. The powerful blast on Monday afternoon flattened six factory workshops, blew out windows in buildings up to four km from the site and was heard 10 km away, the Beijing news said. Within 40 minutes of the explosion, 14 victims had been rushed to a simple nearby clinic on the backs of private motorcycles and other vehicles because the facility did not have an ambulance, the newspaper said. Three people who sustained very serious burns were transferred to a larger hospital in Guangxi’s Pubei county, it said. "Investigators found the accident was triggered by an explosion of firecrackers," the Xinhua news agency reported. The incident was still under investigation, Xinhua said. Fireworks manufactured and stored unsafely or illegally kill hundreds each year in China’s rural areas. (AGENCIES) Heavy Baghdad clashes between US troops and rebels BAGHDAD, Oct 5: Heavy fighting erupted between US troops and Shi’ite militiamen in Baghdad’s Sadr city slum and American AC-130 aircraft pounded suspected rebel positions, witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties. The attack on sadr city last night came after the US military said it had retaken control of the city of Samarra, part of a major offensive designed to crush insurgent strongholds. "I hear explosions. AC-130 planes were firing," a resident of Sadr city told by telephone. The vast slum of more than two million people is the Baghdad stronghold of radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada-al-Sadr, whose followers have staged two rebellions against the presence of US troops in Iraq. US and Iraqi Government forces want to crush insurgents in Baghdad and several other cities ahead of elections scheduled for January. (AGENCIES) Austria sex-scandal diocese gets new Bishop:Report VIENNA, Oct 5: The Vatican chose a new Bishop on Monday to take over an Austrian diocese from Kurt Krenn, who resigned after a child pornography scandal rocked the Roman Catholic Church in the Alpine state, Austrian TV reported. Austrian television Orf cited unnamed Vatican sources for the report, which said Pope John Paul would name Bishop Klaus Kueng to take over Krenn’s former diocese of St Poelten. The 64-year-old Kueng, currently Bishop of the Feldkirch diocese, was named by the Pope as a special investigator in July to examine how Krenn was running St Poelten, west of Vienna. The investigation was ordered after child pornography and pictures of priests fondling adult male students were found at the diocese seminary. Officials at the St Poelten diocese office were not immediately available to confirm the report. However, Kueng’s Secretary Bernhard Augustin appeared to confirm the Orf report, telling the Austrian press agency APA: "I cannot refute that (report)." Krenn’s decision to step down at the request of the Pope last week marked the second resignation of a prominent figure in the Austrian Roman Catholic Church in a decade. In 1995, the Austrian magazine profil published charges that cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, then head of Austria’s Catholic Church, had sexually abused boys. The Vatican replaced him months later. He retired to a monastery and died last year. Krenn, an outspoken conservative, had defended Groer against those accusations, which helped make him a highly controversial figure in Austria. (AGENCIES) Italian soccer teams hold tribute for mafia boss ROME, Oct 5: Players and fans at a local league match in southern Italy held a minute’s silence to remember a suspected mafia boss over the weekend, angering politicians and embarrassing soccer authorities. Sunday’s silent tribute at a match between Isola Capo Rizzuto and Strongoli was for Carmine Arena, believed to be the head of a local ‘Ndrangheta Mafia clan. He died in an ambush on Saturday night in the region of Calabria in the toe of Italy. Italian media said the chairman of Isola Capo Rizzuto was Arena’s cousin and had asked for a minute’s silence in a sign of respect. The reports added that 18-year-old referee Paolo Zimmaro granted his request, unaware of Arena’s mob ties. "The minute’s silence ... Shows the power of the ‘Ndrangheta in Calabria and how it succeeds in dominating entire communities even to the extent of invading the sports field," said Angela Napoli, vice-chairman of Parliament’s anti-mafia committee. Soccer authorities said in a statement they had suspended Zimmaro and his two assistants for breaking league regulations by not asking for authorisation for the minute’s silence. (AGENCIES) |
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