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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011
WORLD NEWS
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
MiamiHerald.com
THE MIAMI HERALD
NATO and U.S. expect tough year in Afghanistan BY HEIDI VOGT Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan issued an assessment of the war Tuesday, saying the military “made impressive progress” last year, while stressing that 2011 is “likely to be tough” as forces work to further boost security. Gen. David Petraeus’ letter to the troops comes hours ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, in which Obama is expected to discuss the Afghan war he has expanded with both troops and funding. Obama has said he hopes to begin drawing down U.S. troops in July, though that is dependent on the state of the battle against the Taliban. Petraeus called 2010 “a year of significant, hard-fought accomplishments,” but warned in his letter that “the year ahead is likely to be a tough one, too.” Petraeus praised security gains in the capital, which has seen fewer large-scale attacks over the past six months, but added that this will need to be expanded into neighboring provinces. NATO and U.S. officials have repeatedly said they hope the growing Afghan army and police force will be at the forefront of this security push, creating the opportunity for international allies to start bringing troops home. However, the Afghan forces continue to be plagued by high attrition rates, ineffectiveness and corruption even after bil-
lions have been poured into programs to bring the security forces up to par. “We will have to expand our efforts to help Afghan officials implement President Karzai’s direction to combat corruption and the criminal patronage networks that undermine the development of effective Afghan institutions,” he said. Efforts to root out corruption and cronyism in the Afghan government have been troubled, partly because of a seeming unwillingness on the part of President Hamid Karzai to allow prosecutions that touch his family or allies. The presidential election of 2009 and last year’s parliamentary vote have also seen Karzai pushing to expand his power, sometimes by sidestepping provisions of the constitution and electoral law. Much of the debate about troop levels and strategy in Afghanistan has centered on whether U.S. forces should be focusing their energy on a long campaign of nationbuilding, or simply on targeted strikes against terrorists. Petraeus stressed that the goal of the fight in Afghanistan is to ensure that the country does not again become a sanctuary for al Qaeda or other extremists, but said establishing a functioning government is key to meeting that goal. “Achieving that objective requires that we help Afghanistan develop the ability to secure and govern itself,” he said.
MATT DUNHAM/AP
IN HER SHOES: A group of students, wearing Kate Middleton-style engagement outfits and rings, pose outside Buckingham Palace in London.
Royals gear up for William’s wedding BY RAPHAEL SATTER Associated Press
LONDON — The invites for the royal event of the year aren’t even in the mail, but some among the European blue-blood set say they have already been given a quiet tap on the shoulder. Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia and the Romanian royals say they’re among the hundreds of privileged guests expected at the wedding of Britain’s Prince William and his fiance Kate Middleton in London on April 29. Formal invitations to the widely anticipated event aren’t expected to go out until February. But the Romanian royal family will be among those attending, its office told the Associated Press on Tuesday. Crown Prince Alexander
BY SEBNEM ARSU New York Times Service
GEORGES GOBET/AFP-GETTY IMAGES
New York Times Service
BRUSSELS — President Islam A. Karimov of Uzbekistan is getting the redcarpet treatment during meetings here with top European leaders, his warmest reception in the West since his government massacred several hundred protesters in 2005. Karimov met on Monday with both Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, and with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO’s secretary-general. Karimov did not speak to reporters after either meeting. Human rights groups were scathing in their criticism. “Karimov came here to get a photo opportunity, and they gave him that,” said Andrew Stroehlein, a spokesman for the International Crisis Group, which works to prevent human rights abuses. “These pictures will
invaded in World War II, while Michael was forced to abdicate in 1947 as the communists tightened their grip on Romania. But their announcements underscore the strong relationships still maintained among European royals, many of whom have been linked by decades of intermarriage. They also highlight the links between Britain — whose monarchist tradition still runs strong — and exruling families from countries whose relationship with their royals have been a bit more tangled. Michael, for example, is a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, a third cousin of Britain’s current monarch Elizabeth II, and a first cousin of Elizabeth’s
husband Philip, with whom he spent childhood summer vacations on the Black Sea coast. Michael was also a guest at Queen Elizabeth’s wedding to Philip in November 1947. Alexander, whose family eventually settled in Britain during World War II, was born in a suite at London’s exclusive Claridge’s Hotel. He studied at British schools, joined the British army, and even married his current wife in London, in 1985. His best man was former King Constantine of Greece — a distant relation of Philip’s. Elizabeth II, who attended Alexander’s baptism at Westminster Abbey in 1945, is the Serbian prince’s godmother.
Israeli army used excess force in flotilla raid, Turkey says
In Europe, Uzbek president seeks a new image BY STEPHEN CASTLE
of Serbia said in a statement posted to his website that he and his wife, Crown Princess Katherine, had also been invited. “Their Royal Highnesses are delighted to attend the marriage and are very happy for the young couple,” the statement said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether any other European royalty had already received an informal savethe-date for the wedding at historic Westminster Abbey. A British royal spokeswoman declined to comment on the guest list, which is still being finalized. Neither Alexander nor ex-King Michael, who heads the Romanian royal family, are current heads of state. Alexander’s family fled the Balkans when the Nazis
CRUCIAL CONVENTION: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, right, meets with Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov in Brussels. be broadcast in Uzbekistan to legitimize him.” Barroso said he discussed specific human rights concerns with Karimov and urged him to release all of Uzbekistan’s political prisoners. “I have raised all key concerns of Europe, notably regarding human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said. The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic that has significant energy reserves, after Uzbek troops killed several hundred protesters in the town of Andijan in May 2005. The sanctions were considered ineffectual and were lifted four years later. Since then, Karimov, who refused to allow an international in-
vestigation of the Andijan massacre, has met with several European leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. Stroehlein said such diplomatic engagement can be useful in 99 percent of cases. But with Uzbekistan, he said, “this is the 1 percent of cases where it has failed every time.” Karimov, who has been in power since the Soviet Union broke apart 20 years ago, has crushed his opposition and jailed dozens of human rights advocates. In 2008, when Karimov began a third seven-year term and received 88 percent of the vote, Human Rights Watch reported that he cared little for democratic values. The United Nations has said torture is common.
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey has released details of its own report about the seizure last year of a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza by Israeli commandos. The government contended that two of the activists who were killed on the ship had been shot by Israeli forces from a helicopter before the commandos landed on the vessel. In all, nine people were killed in the clash May 31, when the Israeli military stormed a flotilla that had been organized by an Islamist charity in Turkey. Eight of the dead were Turks and one held dual Turkish and U.S. citizenship. The military had ordered the ships to turn back when they tried to breach an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The flotilla ignored the order. “During the attack, Israeli soldiers have applied excessive, random and disproportionate power against civilian passengers,” said the report, parts of which were published by the semi-official Anatolian News Agency. The report also said that Israeli commandos physi-
cally and psychologically abused passengers after taking control of the ship. “Most of the passengers were kept handcuffed, strip searched, and women were subject to discriminative behavior by the male Israeli soldiers,” the report said. An Israeli commission concluded in a report released earlier that the Israeli military had acted in accordance with international law. The report, which will form the core of Israel’s submission to U.N. investigators, cleared the Israeli government and military of wrongdoing and said the operation had been legal and justified. It concluded that the Israeli military had not fired any rounds from a helicopter and that the commandos had resorted to guns only after other, less lethal weapons failed to drive back passengers who attacked them as they boarded the ship. The Israeli report outraged the Turkish government, which responded by publishing details of the report it submitted in September to the U.N. investigators. “While it had the possibility of intercepting the convoy
carrying unarmed civilians without causing bloodshed, Israel opted for a course which made loss of life inevitable,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Sunday night. President Abdullah Gul of Turkey told reporters in Ankara on: “The report issued by Israel is nothing more than a document of its own that has no credibility in the face of international law, no legality or no persuasiveness. It actually clearly indicates that the Israeli government has such a spoiled attitude in disregarding the world and international law.” The reports also offered differing conclusions on the methods used to intercept the flotilla. “Israel could have tied a rope around the ship’s propeller to make it stop, without firing bullets, or it could have used water on activists,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said. The report from the Israeli commission said the authorities had used less force than would have been permissible under international law, and that tactics like entangling a ship’s propeller were dangerous.
Bombings continue against Shiite pilgrims in Iraq, toll reaches 85 BY JOHN LELAND New York Times Service
BAGHDAD — Deadly attacks against religious pilgrims and members of Iraq’s security forces continued this week, including three car bombings around the city of Karbala, where as many as 10 million marchers are expected to travel in observance of one of the most sacred holidays on the Shiite Muslim calendar. The attacks on pilgrims, which began with two nearly simultaneous blasts in the early morning hours, killed as many as 30 and wounded more than 100. A roadside bomb in Baghdad’s Shula neighborhood wounded another five marchers.
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The blasts raised the tally of Shiite marchers killed in the past week to as high as 85. The Iraqi authorities provided disparate accounts of the times of the attacks and the numbers of wounded. Initial accounts ranged from as few as 10 deaths to as many as 30. Casualty figures often change in the hours and days after an attack as more information comes to light. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. As with other recent attacks, the bombs set off a flurry of theories and recriminations. Some Iraqis speculated they were meant to undermine confidence in security before the Arab League summit scheduled for Baghdad in
March. Others thought they might be the work of foreigners or local people, meant to discredit the police or done with the complicity of security forces. “It is clear that the Baath and al Qaeda are working together on these explosions,” said Nusaif al Khatab, deputy head of the Karbala provincial council, referring to Saddam Hussein’s former ruling party. U.S. and Iraqi security forces have regularly reported discovering collaborations between former Baathists and al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a Sunni extremist group, though the two groups are radically different in their orientations and goals. Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, second
in command of U.S. forces in Iraq, said recently that he had seen little evidence of such collaboration, though some Baathists might work for al Qaeda for money. As with the attacks on Christians late last year, the bombs elicited statements of martyrdom from some members of the group attacked, in this case Shiites. The pilgrimage to Karbala commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in the seventh century. “We learn from our imam and say we will be oppressed and not oppressors,” said Ahmed Hashim, 27, a lawyer who marched from Baghdad to Karbala, about 55 miles, in two days.
There were also multiple attacks on lawmakers and members of the security forces Monday, including an unsuccessful assassination attempt against the governor of Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad. In the capital, attackers using guns with silencers — an increasingly common weapon of choice — killed an officer assigned to protect embassies. In Kirkuk, an area disputed by Arab and Kurdish partisans, two men stabbed a police officer, who was evacuated to a nearby hospital. South of Kirkuk, in the village of Humera, a dawn ambush killed a leader of the Sunni Awakening, the government-backed militia credited with helping to
reduce violence in Iraq, according to a police official in Taza. A roadside bomb killed Brigadiar Gen. Samer Hassan Saleh near his home in Baghdad. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks on officials or security force members, but on Monday the website of the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni extremist group affiliated with al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, took responsibility for attacks against security forces last week in Tikrit and Diyala that killed dozens. The website said the group wanted to kill “stupid apostate policemen,” who were trying “to turn the Sunni places into Shiite.”
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