3,
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
MARK INDIA, Hyderabad
Co-pilot hijacks Ethiopian plane, surrenders to Swiss police Geneva, Feb 17 : The copilot of a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines flight surrendered to Swiss authorities in Geneva on Monday after commandeering his aircraft to seek asylum in Switzerland, police said. The plane's second-in-command, who was not carrying a weapon, took control of the plane when the pilot left the cockpit to use the toilet. After landing, he left the aircraft via a cockpit window, without harming passengers or crew, police spokesman Pierre Grangean told a news conference. "Just after landing, the co-pilot came out of the cockpit and ran to the police and said, 'I'm the hijacker.' He said he is not safe in his own country and wants asylum," Grangean said. As passengers left the plane, which was parked near the end of the runway, they were checked by police as they held their hands on their necks, a Reuters witness said. Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa's second most populous country, is among the continent's fastest growing
economies. The opposition and rights campaigners accuse the government of stifling dissent and torturing political detainees. But it is rare for government officials and employees - Ethiopian Airlines is run by the state to seek asylum. The last senior official to do so fled to the United States in 2009. Flight ET702 departed the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Sunday evening and was bound for Rome. The plane was hijacked at about 0330 GMT (10:30 PM EST Monday) while over northern Italy, Grangean said. It landed at Geneva at 6:02 a.m. (0502 GMT). He said the co-pilot, an Ethiopian born in 1983, locked the flight deck door when the pilot went to the toilet. He then asked to refuel at Geneva, landed the plane, climbed down on an emergency exit rope from a cockpit window, and gave himself up. Robert Deillon, CEO of Geneva airport, said air traffic controllers learnt the plane had been hijacked when the co-pilot keyed a distress
code into the aircraft's transponder, "There is ... a code for hijack. So this co-pilot put in the code for 'I just hijacked the aircraft'," he said. As the plane was over Italy at the time, two Italian Eurofighters were scrambled to accompany it, he said. Ethiopian Airlines said in a short statement that the Boeing aircraft had been "forced to proceed" to Geneva. State-run Ethiopian television said there were 193 passengers on board the Boeing aircraft, including 140 Italian nationals. The last senior Ethiopian official to seek asylum was Ermias Legesse, a state minister of information who fled to the United States in 2009. The brief drama in Geneva on Monday morning caused the cancellation of some shorthaul flights and some incoming flights were diverted to other airports. Hundreds of passengers booked on disrupted flights sought to change their tickets. In an apparent recording of a radio communication between the Ethiopian plane and air traffic control posted
Thai PM under siege, lengthy protests take toll on economy Bangkok, Feb 17 : Protesters seeking to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra surrounded Thai government headquarters on Monday in response to police efforts to clear them from the streets, as farmers besieged her temporary office to demand payment for rice. Thailand has been in crisis since November, when Bangkok's middle class and the royalist establishment started a protest aimed at eradicating the influence of Yingluck's brother Thaksin, a populist former premier ousted by the army in 2006 who is seen as the power behind her government. Data published on Monday showed the economy grew just 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter from the third and, with the country likely to be without a fully functioning government for months, the state planning board slashed its forecast for 2014.About 10,000 anti-government demonstrators surrounded Government House in Bangkok, taking back control of a road the police had
cleared them from on Friday in the first real sign of a pushback by the authorities after months of protests. These protesters view Yingluck as a proxy for Thaksin, who has chosen to live in exile since 2008 rather than face a jail term for abuse of power handed down in absentia that year. "We will use quick-dry cement to close the gates of Government House so that the cabinet cannot go in to work," said Nittitorn Lamrue of the Network of Students and People for Thailand's Reform, aligned with the main protest movement. It was a symbolic gesture, Yingluck having been forced to work elsewhere since January. Rice farmers helped sweep Yingluck to power in 2011, when her Puea Thai Party pledged to pay them way above market prices for their harvest, but the program has run into funding problems and some farmers have not been paid for months. Television showed farmers climbing over barbed wire
fences and barriers at a Defence Ministry compound where Yingluck has set up temporary offices. They pushed back riot police, who retreated from confrontation, but did not enter the building. "The prime minister is well off but we are not. How are we going to feed our children? I want her to think about us," said one protesting farmer. "Farmers are tough people, they wouldn't normally speak out but they are at the end of their tether." The country's anti-corruption agency is investigating allegations that Yingluck, who is head of the national rice committee, was negligent in her role overseeing the program. Bluesky TV, the anti-government protest movement's own channel, also showed demonstrators spilling into the grounds of the Ministry of Education near Government House. Many other ministries and state bodies have been forced to vacate their offices, adding to the dysfunction in government.
on social media site Twitter, a demand for asylum was made. "We need asylum or assurance we will not be transferred to the Ethiopian government," the voice in the recording, apparently the copilot, said. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the recording. A flight tracking app for mobile devices showed the flight circling over the Swiss city several times before landing. Ethiopian nationals and the Horn of Africa country's flag carrier have been involved in several hijackings in the past. In 1993, an Ethiopian used a gun hidden in his hat to hijack a German passenger jet bound for New York. He was later sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. prison. Two years later, police in Greece overpowered an Ethiopian hijacker who held a knife to the throat of an Olympic Airways stewardess and demanded political as y l u m . A t l e a s t 5 0 people were killed when a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet crashed in the Indian Ocean in 1996.
China sends top envoy to North Korea after purge: Official Beijing, Feb 17 : China's vice foreign minister is visiting North Korea, the ministry said Monday, making him Beijing's most senior envoy known to go to Pyongyang since its young leader executed his uncle, a key China interlocutor. The late Jang Song-Thaek was North Korea's second most powerful figure, and provided a valuable link between the two countries before being purged in December following a sidelining of other core leaders. "Vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin will start his visit to the DPRK from today and the visit will last until February the 20th," Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. She added that, "as far as I have learnt, it is a regular exchange of two foreign ministries".
Russia rejects US charge of 'enabling' Assad's regime
Moscow, Feb 17 : Russia on Monday dismissed US claims that it was "enabling" Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to stay in power and failing to push for a transitional government that could help end the bloody conflict. "We have done everything we have promised," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters, referring to Moscow's efforts to get the Damascus regime to hold direct peace talks with opponents. "First of all, we are working with the Syrian authorities on a daily basis, and second of all, statistics clearly show that the main problems are created not by the regime but by the terrorist and extremist groups that have spread across Syria and that do not answer to any political structure." Syria's civil war has killed more than 140,000 people in nearly three years of fighting. US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia on Monday of not doing enough to make sure the Syrian regime remained committed to the so-called Geneva II peace process that broke up in acrimony on Saturday without an agreement on further talks. Kerry said Russia "has stood up publicly with me on several occasions and said they're committed to that transition government... yet we have not seen the kind of effort to create the dynamic by which that can be achieved". Lavrov for his part noted that the Syrian opposition delegation at the Geneva negotiations was not represented by some of the most important members of the National Coalition umbrella group. "They (Washington) assured us that they will be doing everything possible to ensure there is a truly representative opposition delegation," Russia's top diplomat said. "For now, they have been having trouble doing this." Lavrov added that Russia was looking into reports about some foreign opposition backers working on the creation of a new Syrian opposition organisation that favoured the military overthrow of Assad instead of further British director Steve McQueen and Bianca Stigter at the Brit- talks. "They want this new group to replace the National Coalition," said Lavrov, without specifying which countries ish Academy Film Awards 2014 in London. were involved or where the information had come from.
Iran's Khamenei says not optimistic on nuclear talks: IRNA Dubai, Feb 17 : Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday he was not optimistic about upcoming nuclear talks with world powers but was not opposed to them, the official news agency IRNA reported. Iran and world powers, grouped under the socalled "5+1," reached an interim deal last November whereby Tehran agreed to suspend for six months parts of its nuclear enrichment operations in return for modest sanctions relief. The two sides hope to build on those gains in Tuesday's talks in Vienna. "I have said before ... I am not optimistic about the negotiations. It will not lead anywhere, but I am not opposed either," Khamenei told a large crowd during a visit to the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, according to IRNA. "What our foreign ministry and officials have started will continue and Iran will not violate its (pledge) ... but I say again that this is of no use and will not lead anywhere." Khamenei, who has the final say in state affairs, has given guarded support to efforts by President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, to negotiate a way out of the nuclear impasse, which has led to international economic sanctions against Iran. Western countries, led by the United States, suspect Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is entirely for civilian purposes.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, speaks as Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa listens during a press conference, in Jakarta on Monday.
John Kerry seeks political solution in Syria Jakarta, Feb 17 : US Secretary of State John Kerry Monday appealed to international parties to work towards a political solution to the Syria conflict after the peace talks ended last weekend with no concrete progress. Kerry made these remarks at a press conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in Jakarta, the third stop of his regional trip, Xinhua reported. "The international community needs to use this recess in the Geneva talks to determine how to use this time most effectively in order to bring about a political solution," Kerry said, accusing Syria's Bashar al-Assad government of not engaging in the discussions along the promised and required standard. UN-Arab League joint mediator Lakhdar Brahimi apologized Saturday to the
Syrian people after peace talks in Geneva to stop the three-year Syria civil conflict ended with little progress. Kerry said Syria was the tragedy of the world, saying that "the number of refugees within Syria has gone up about 50 percent and the number of refugees out of Syria has gone up about 33 percent since October". According to UN figures, more than 100,000 people have been killed since the conflict in Syria erupted in March 2011. About eight million have been driven from their homes in the war-torn country, with two million of them seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. "The talks are taking a recess at the moment,� Kerry said, adding that “all of us need to remember there is no recess to the people of Syria who are suffering". During the visit to Indonesia starting Satur-
day, Kerry co-chaired the Joint Commission Meeting under the US-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership to strengthen bilateral ties and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on South-South and a triangular cooperation and MoU on combating wildlife trafficking and promotion of wildlife conservation. In Jakarta, Kerry also discussed climate change with Indonesian authorities and pushed southeast Asia's largest economy to set up combating efforts. On Sunday afternoon, Kerry paid a courtesy call on the SecretaryGeneral of the ASEAN, Le Luong Minh, to underline the importance of US engagement with ASEAN in the bloc's headquarters. Kerry arrived in Indonesia after visiting South Korea and China and is scheduled to fly to Abu Dhabi Monday afternoon.
Iran says Russia could build nuclear reactor in exchange for oil Moscow, Feb 17 : Russia could build a second reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant in exchange for Iranian oil, the Iranian ambassador to Moscow said in remarks published on Monday. Russia could also supply Iran with trucks, railroad tracks, mini-refineries or other goods to pay for the oil, ambassador Mehdi Sanaei told the daily Kommersant, under a deal Reuters revealed was being negotiated last month. Reuters reported Iran and Russia were negotiating to swap up to 500,000 barrels of oil per day for goods in the deal that would undermine Western efforts to maintain economic pressure on Tehran while global powers seek to curb its nuclear program. In an interview published a day before the six powers including Russia resume talks with Tehran on a nuclear deal, Sanaei confirmed Russia and Iran were
discussing supplies of "a few hundred thousand barrels per day"."Iran could use some of the proceeds (to pay for) the construction by Russia companies of a second unit at the nuclear power plant in Bushehr," he said. Russia built the first reactor at Bushehr, Iran's sole nuclear power plant. Sanaei said it was possible the oil deal, and a broad memorandum on economic cooperation, could be signed before August. Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev is to visit Iran in April for talks on trade. Asked what Russia could supply in exchange for the oil, Sanaei said the sides were discussing a number of possibilities including the construction of small oil refineries, Russian investment in gas fields and supplies of electricity. In addition to the possibility of Russia building a second reactor at Bushehr, he said Tehran was inter-
ested in supplies of heavy trucks or their assembly in Iran, and other items. "Iran is interested in buying a huge amount of railroad tracks from Russia, as well as Russian involvement in the electrification of its railways. We are also interested in Russian grain." Western nations fear an oil-swap deal would badly hurt efforts to forge a permanent agreement ensuring Iran's nuclear program could not be used to make weapons in exchange for sanctions relief. An interim deal was reached in January. A top U.S. official said this month she believed the oil-for-goods swap would not go ahead in the near future after the United States warned both sides it would make reaching a nuclear agreement "more difficult if not impossible". Sanaei dismissed the U.S. concerns and said Russia should do the same, warning that European nations have sent
business delegations to Iran and that Moscow risked losing lucrative opportunities if it failed to act fast."Our Russian friends, who have stood by us at difficult moments, should have advantages on the Iranian market ... But Russian companies must hurry to get into their niche in our market and not hesitate out of fear of Western sanctions," he said. Russia approved four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program but has sharply criticized additional measures imposed by the United States and European Union, calling them counterproductive. The United States for years urged Russia to scrap its contract to build Bushehr, saying the project could help Tehran develop nuclear weapons capability. However, a deal requiring Iran to return spent fuel to Russia greatly eased those conc
Matteo Renzi to be picked as Italy's youngest PM Rome, Feb 17 : Italian leftist leader Matteo Renzi is to be nominated Italy's youngest-ever prime minister on Monday after a daring power grab that has been welcomed by investors but has left many Italians skeptical. As head of the Democratic Party, Renzi engineered the ouster of his predecessor Enrico Letta- a member of his own partyaccusing him of failing to live up to reform pledges in his stormy 10 months in government. The 39-year-old will have to move quickly to form
a new government once he gets the mandate from President Giorgio Napolitano as expected at 0930 GMT, and then deliver his promise to lead Italy "out of the quagmire". The previous coalition of the Democratic Party, the centrists and the New Centre-Right party is expected to remain intact even though the leader of the latter, Angelino Alfano, has warned this is "not a given". The New Centre-Right is a minor partner in the coalition but its votes would be critical for Renzi as all other
parties say they are staying in opposition and he does not have a majority in parliament. If he succeeds in forming the government, Renzi would then have t o r e t u r n t o Napolitano for his nomination to be confirmed and would then be sworn into office. Analysts say the whole process could take a few days. The energetic and web-savvy Renzi, who is also mayor of Florence, has no previous experience in national government or parliament and is seen by many as having the right kind of
outsider credentials for the job. But his critics warn he risks burning out rapidly. Many people seem willing to give him the benefit of the doubt even though they would have preferred early elections, as long as Renzi delivers on his promises to combat rampant unemployment and boost growth. His on-the-ground local achievements like lowering some taxes, boosting recycling and encouraging innovation are seen as positive signs but analysts say he will really now have to prove himself on a much bigger scale.