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News archives for the week ending 13th March 09

China open oil field in Iraq

Chinese engineers have inaugurated an Iraqi oil field, the first major oil development deal secured by a foreign firm since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein.

The project, which follows the signing of a three-billon-dollar contract late last year, revives a deal signed in 1997 that granted China exploration rights to Al-Ahdab oil field in central Iraq.

Al-Ahdab's oil production is expected to reach 25,000 barrels per day in the first three years and expand to up to 115,000 barrels per day in six years, according to China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC). The contract allows CNPC and another Chinese company, Zhenhua Oil, to develop Al-Ahdab oil field in the province of Wasit for 23 years.

AFP, 13/3/09

Pakistan kills 18 militants near Afghan border

Paramilitary forces backed by jets and helicopter gunships Thursday killed 18 militants in a restive Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

. "At least 18 militants were killed, including one important commander," a security official told AFP. "Helicopter gunships, jets and artillery pounded and destroyed several militant hideouts in various areas of Mohmand," the official said "There were no casualties of security forces."

The militant death toll could not be confirmed independently as the area is sealed off under military operations. Mohmand is one of seven lawless tribal districts in northwestern Pakistan, where Taliban militants are active.

The lawless tribal areas have been wracked by violence since Afghanistan's Taliban regime was toppled by the 2001 US-led invasion, prompting hundreds of fighters to flood the region.

AFP, 12/3/09

Clashes mark protests in Pakistan

Riot police clashed with lawyers and opposition activists across Pakistan today as thousands of people defied the government to launch a mass protest that threatens to plunge the country once again into chaos.

Despite a ban on public protests and the detention of more than 300 activists yesterday, opponents of President Asif Ali Zardari set out on a four-day “long march” from at least three cities and headed towards the capital, Islamabad.

The scenes have conjured memories of autumn 2007, when Mr Musharraf tried to stop similar protests over a deposed Chief Justice which ultimately led to his resignation as army chief and President.

They are particularly troublesome for the United States, which considers Pakistan its key Muslim ally, but does not want to be seen to back another autocratic leader there.

Times 12/3/09

Libya sees US as ungrateful

When Libya gave up its nuclear and chemical weapons programs in late 2003, President George W. Bush pointed to the decision as a victory in Washington’s so-called war on terror and as a potential model for pressing Iran and North Korea to give up their weapons programs, too.

But now Libyan officials say they are dissatisfied with the way the deal worked out, insisting that the United States has done too little to reward Libya’s concessions. Officials here say they believe that Libya’s limited payoff undermines the credibility of the United States as it presses other nations to abandon weapons programs.

United States officials have said that in return for Libya’s abandoning its unconventional-weapons programs and other concessions, they lifted economic sanctions and restored diplomatic ties, which were severed in 1980. The United States has opened an embassy in Libya, sent an ambassador to Tripoli and discussed military cooperation. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Tripoli before leaving office.

But Libyans at many levels of the government said that while they appreciated those gestures, they had been promised more, including civilian nuclear technology, some conventional weapons systems and help destroying chemical weapons.

New York Times, 10/3/09

Afghans talking to Taliban

Even as President Obama floated the idea of negotiating with moderate elements of the Taliban, Afghan and foreign officials here said that preliminary discussions with the Taliban leadership were already under way and could be developed into more formal talks with the support of the United States.

The Afghan government has been exploring the potential for negotiations with the Taliban leadership council of Mullah Muhammad Omar and with a renegade mujahedeen leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, after receiving overtures from them last year, the officials said. The proposal for talks gained additional momentum from an endorsement by Saudi Arabia and the change to a civilian government in Pakistan, both of which increased political pressure on the Taliban to compromise.

Afghan government officials and Western diplomats said the peace process might have already made greater progress if the Afghan government and the United States had pushed it more forcefully. They also said that negotiations should be expanded to a broad spectrum of Taliban leaders and that a policy of talking only to moderates was doomed to failure.

New York Times, 11/3/09

Dozens dead in Baghdad bombing

At least 33 people, including a local army chief, have died and 46 have been injured in a suicide attack on the western edge of Baghdad, officials say. The attack took place in the Abu Ghraib municipality, and appeared to target a group of dignitaries as they left a national reconciliation conference.

Violence levels have declined in Iraq recently, but this is the third major attack in the last few days. More than 30 died in an attack on a police recruitment centre on Sunday. On Thursday, a car bomb exploded at a cattle market in Babel province killing 10.

The BBC's Mike Sergeant in Baghdad says it is too soon to say whether the attacks constitute a pattern but they show that life in Iraq is still dangerous.

BBC News, 10/3/09

Pakistan government threatens opposition

Pakistan's interior ministry chief has warned opposition leader Nawaz Sharif that his recent anti-government speeches have come close to treason. Rehman Malik said Monday the government had no plans to immediately arrest Sharif but suggested it had grounds to. He reminded Sharif that the punishment for treason was life imprisonment.

Political tensions in Pakistan are rising ahead of a planned anti-government rally later this week by lawyers and Sharif's political party. Any attempt to arrest Sharif would be a major escalation in tensions.

Associated Press, 9/3/09

US and UK reduce Iraq forces...

Two combat brigades that had been scheduled to return to Iraq this year will not be replaced, the United States military announced Sunday, signaling a first step in President Obama’s plan to end combat operations there by 2010. In addition, the last 4,000 British troops in Iraq are now due to leave by September.

The troop reductions mark the beginning of the withdrawal process outlined by President Obama in late February and required by the status of forces agreement, negotiated under President George W. Bush at the end of 2008. Both call for the removal of all United States troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Under Mr. Obama’s plan, 35,000 to 50,000 troops would remain in Iraq to manage the transition to full Iraqi control by the end of 2011.

New York Times, 8/3/09

...as US increases attacks on Pakistan

Officials in contact with the State Department said on Sunday that a new offensive would see a dramatic increase in Predator drone attacks on Taliban targets in defiance of Pakistani objections to cross-border attacks.

President Barack Obama on Sunday admitted that the US military was pushing for talks with the Taliban, but officials consulted on the plans said the military conflict would be raised to new levels of intensity before talks could begin.

"There will be talks but the Taliban are going to experience a lot of pain first, on both sides of the border," said one senior Western diplomat.

Sunday Telegraph, 8/3/09

Obama: US not winning in Afghanistan

US President Barack Obama has said the US is not winning in Afghanistan, saying it is more complex than Iraq. In an interview with the New York Times, he said reaching out to the Taleban could be an option, in the same way outreach had worked in Iraq.

However, the "fierce independence among tribes" in Afghanistan presented different challenges, he said.

A month into his presidency, Mr Obama authorised the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan. Asked if the US was winning in Afghanistan, Mr Obama replied: "No."

BBC News, 8/3/09

Karzai accepts August election

President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that he accepts the decision by Afghanistan's election commission to hold a presidential vote Aug. 20 and suggested he should retain power during a three-month gap between his term's expiration and the late summer election.

An opposition leader said parliament won't accept Karzai as president after May 21, and warned that an extension of Karzai's term could trigger nationwide demonstrations.

Associated Press, 7/3/09

Iraqi women lack basic services

Women in Iraq still lack security and basic services, despite an overall drop in violence six years after the US-led invasion, aid agency Oxfam says. Reporting on a survey of about 1,700 women in five provinces taken last year, Oxfam described their plight as a "silent emergency".

It suggested more than half the women had suffered from violence. A quarter did not have daily access to water supplies, and more than three-quarters were not getting pensions. Last month, Iraq's minister for women resigned, saying the government was not taking the plight of women seriously.

Oxfam said: "Iraqi women are suffering a silent emergency', trapped in a downward spiral of poverty, desperation and personal insecurity despite an overall decrease in violence in the country."

BBC News, 8/3/09

Bombs kill 15 amid political crisis in Pakistan

Three separate bombings killed 15 people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, while authorities investigated reports that a pilotless U.S. drone crashed elsewhere in the militant-plagued region bordering Afghanistan.

The bombings, coming days after gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team, were a fresh reminder of the militant threat in Pakistan, where Western leaders worry that a growing political feud could distract the government from tackling the extremists head on.

Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are believed to use pockets of Pakistan's northwest as bases to plan attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The U.S. has used drones to fire missile strikes against militants in the area, prompting protests from Pakistani officials who say the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment.

AP 9/3/09

India says Pakistan risks becoming 'failed state'

India has said neighbouring Pakistan could become a "failed state", with doubts emerging about who is in control of the country. The government also warned no part of the world would be safe from what Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee called the "flames being ignited there."

The government's assessment came from Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and Mukherjee at two separate events on Friday. "It (Pakistan) is not a failed state, but it's threatening to become one," Chidambaram told a seminar in India's financial hub Mumbai.

"A great concern is weighing on our our minds. In Pakistan, with regret, I would say we don't know who is in control there," he said. "Whether it is the army or the president or the government... We are in a difficult situation (as Pakistan's neighbours)."

New Delhi has blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the Mumbai attacks last November in which 165 people died and has said Pakistan must step up efforts to clamp down on extremist activity on its soil. Lashkar has denied involvement in the carnage in Mumbai.

Chidambaram told Pakistan it must fully dismantle "the terror infrastructure" in the country, saying large swathes of Pakistan were under Taliban control. Mukherjee meanwhile appealed to the world community to ensure the threat emanating from Pakistan was "eliminated on an urgent basis."

"Otherwise, no part of the world will remain immune to the flames being ignited there," Mukherjee told a conference in New Delhi on Friday.

AFP, 9/3/09

US will not follow UK on Hezbollah

The United States said Friday it "is not ready" to follow its ally Britain in opening low-level contact with the political wing of Lebanon's Hezbollah, called a terrorist group by Washington.

Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman, told reporters that President Barack Obama's administration, which has promised to reach out to US foes, had been consulted by Britain before the announcement Friday. But Duguid insisted the new administration was following longstanding US policy -- including that of the preceding George W. Bush administration -- to shun contacts with Hezbollah's political and armed wings.

"We are not ready to take the same step, no. Our position on Hezbollah has not changed," Duguid told reporters, declining to either praise or criticize the British move.

AFP, 7/3/09

"The surge failed"

Now that President Obama has set the timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the debate has begun over its possible consequences. Does it provide enough time for Iraqis to forge a functioning government and an economy that benefits everyone? And if it doesn't, could a civil war be the result?

"The surge failed," Thomas Ricks, the longtime Washington Post correspondent, said during a CNN interview on February 20. Ricks has written two books about the Iraq war: "Fiasco" and the recently published, "The Gamble." "Its purpose was to lead to a political breakthrough. It improved security but didn't achieve that larger purpose. And because of that, none of the basic questions in Iraq have been addressed."

Ricks said those questions include the final form of the Iraqi government, the relationship between the main sectarian groups and how oil revenue will be shared by them.

CNN, 6/3/09

Setback for pro-Israeli hawks in US...

"The brutal oppression of the Palestinians by the Israeli occupation shows no sign of ending ... Israel no longer even pretends to seek peace with the Palestinians, it strives to pacify them ... American identification with Israel has become total."

These are excerpts from a 2007 speech by Charles (Chas) Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, whose appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council was announced on February 26 and is turning into a test case for the strength of Washington's right-wing pro-Israel lobby.

Signs are that its influence might be waning under the administration of President Barack Obama. Does that mean the days of unquestioning American support for Israel are coming to en end? Probably not. But the furious reaction to Freeman's appointment from some of the most fervent neo-conservative champions of Israel points to considerable concern over the possible loss of clout.

Reuters, 5/3/09

...and Israeli ambassador to US resigns

Sallai Meridor, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, is resigning, the Israeli Embassy has confirmed.

“The bigger story of Sallai resigning may portend that he wants to get out of the ship before the hurricane hits,” said one Washington Middle East policy analyst informed of the news. “I think that these are two governments on a collision course.”

“You have an American administration which for the first time in eight years wants to accelerate the peace process, while in Israel you have a new administration that wants to turn it around,” he added. “That’s a sure-fire formula for collision.”

The Cable, 5/3/09

Voters support Obama's Afghan surge, but only to a point

A majority of US voters support President Barack Obama's decision to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan and give him high marks on his handling of foreign policy, according to a poll released Thursday. But the survey showed public opinion divided over whether Obama should heed a request from the military commander in Afghanistan for another 13,000 troops.

The Quinnipiac University poll said 67 percent of those surveyed backed Obama's announcement last month to deploy extra troops and 31 percent were opposed. And only 47 percent said Obama should endorse a request by commanders for a further 13,000 troops, with 43 percent against.

By a margin of 48-35 percent, Americans think US troops should go after Taliban or Al-Qaeda forces that cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan or operate out of Pakistan, the poll showed. But if the Pakistani government opposes the cross-border strikes, then 49 percent of voters oppose the attacks with 37 percent in favor.

AFP, 5/3/09