TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013
EU approves tighter sanctions on North Korea
Correa re-elected as Ecuador president QUITO, Ecuador: Crowds gathered at the presidential palace in Quito on Sunday night to celebrate the reelection of Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa. The left-wing leader took nearly 57 percent of the vote to claim his third term, avoiding a runoff. Ecuador’s election authority said although only 40 percent of the vote had been counted, they didn’t expect the figures to change significantly. Correa has been credited with a drastic reduction in poverty through ambitious but expensive public sector projects. –AGENCIES
BRUSSELS: European Union governments agreed on Monday to tighten sanctions against North Korea, restricting the country's ability to trade following last week's nuclear test. The sanctions expand those approved by the U.N. Security Council in January, adding measures preventing trading in North Korean government bonds, gold, precious metals, and diamonds, EU diplomats said. North Korea was widely condemned last week after conducting its third nuclear test since 2006, defying U.N. resolutions
and potentially putting the country closer to a workable long-range nuclear missile. It followed a widely criticised rocket launch in December. Reuters reported earlier that North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into talks. The 27-nation EU will adopt expanded sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council in January but will add others of its own, according to EU diplomats. It will also say that it
is considering further measures. The new EU sanctions ban trade with North Korea in some components that could be used in ballistic missiles and "certain types of aluminium used in ballistic missile-related systems", one EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. The European Union already has an extensive list of sanctions on North Korea, including on technology that could be used in a nuclear or ballistic missile programme. The new EU sanctions will prohibit
trade in gold and other precious metals, and diamonds, with North Korean public bodies and will ban trade in new public bonds issued by North Korea, the diplomats said. North Korean banks would be barred from opening new branches in the European Union and European banks would not be able to open new branches in the northeast Asian state. North Korea is one of the world's most isolated states and the diplomats could not say if North Korean banks had any branches in the EU. –AGENCIES
Violence grips Bangladesh, 3 dead in clashes
Islamists claim kidnapping foreigners in Nigeria KANO, Nigeria: An Islamist group linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Monday for kidnapping seven foreigners during a night time raid in a remote northern Nigerian town at the weekend. Gunmen killed a security guard and abducted a Briton, an Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese workers after storming the housing compound of Lebanese construction firm Setraco in Jama'are in Bauchi state late on Saturday. It was the worst case of foreigners being kidnapped in the mostly Muslim north of Africa's most populous country since an insurgency by Islamist militants intensified two years ago. –AGENCIES
Syria rebels on offensive as UN chief urges action DAMASCUS: Rebels have heightened their offensive in northern Syria, attacking Aleppo airport and two airbases, as the UN rights chief urged international action against President Bashar al-Assad. Regime troops on Saturday fended off fierce rebel onslaughts around Aleppo international airport and the adjacent Nayrab military airbase, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. East of Aleppo, rebel attacks around the Kwiyres military airbase sparked counter-strikes from regime warplanes. –AGENCIES
NATO kills insurgent behind US soldierʼs death KABUL: An Afghan soldier-turnedinsurgent who was feted by the Taliban for killing an American soldier during an insider attack in eastern Afghanistan last year has been killed in a raid, the US-led international coalition said on Monday. NATO identified the insurgent as Mahmood and said that he and an accomplice, identified only as Rashid, died in last Wednesday’s operation in eastern Kunar province’s Ghaziabad district. No other details were provided. Mahmood is thought responsible for the May 11 killing of US Army 1st Lt Alejo Thompson, who died during an insider attack on a base in Kunar. The attack also wounded two American soldiers. Mahmood, in his early 20 s and who went only by one name later fled. Thompson, 30, a father of two, was from Yuma, Arizona. He was based at Ford Carson, Colorado. –AGENCIES
BAHRAIN: Relatives mourn the death of a teenager who was killed during protests marking the 2nd anniversary of failed uprising. –WIRE SERVICE
UN lists Syrian war crime suspects GENEVA: Syrians in "leadership positions" who may be responsible for war crimes have been identified, along with units accused of perpetrating them, United Nations investigators said on Monday. Both government forces and armed rebels are committing war crimes, including killings and torture, spreading terror among civilians in a nearly two-year-old conflict, they said. The investigators' latest report, covering the six months to midJanuary, was based on 445 interviews conducted abroad with victims and witnesses, as they have not been allowed into Syria. The independent team, led by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, called on the UN Security Council to "act urgently to ensure accountability" for grave violations, possibly by referring the violators to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. "The ICC is the appropriate institution for the fight against impunity in Syria. As an established, broadly supported structure, it could immediately initiate investigations against
authors of serious crimes in Syria," the 131-page report said. It added: "Individuals may also bear criminal responsibility for perpetuating the crimes identified in the present report. Where possible, individuals in leadership positions who may be responsible were identified alongside those who physically carried out the acts." Karen Konig AbuZayd, one of the four commissioners on the team of some two dozen experts, told Reuters: "We have information suggesting people who have given instructions and are responsible for government policy. People who are in the leadership of the military, for example." "It is the first time we have mentioned the ICC directly. The Security Council needs to come together and decide whether or not to refer the case to the ICC. I am not optimistic." But its third list of suspects, building on lists drawn up in the past year, remains secret. It will be entrusted to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, upon expiry of its current mandate at the end of March, the report said. –AGENCIES
‘Nothing to hide’ in chopper deal: Singh NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday the government had nothing to hide in a $750 million deal for AgustaWestland helicopters that has been suspended by the Defence Ministry over allegations of kickbacks. The ministry has asked AgustaWestland, owned by Italy’s Finmeccanica, to show by Friday that no bribes were paid in the deal and says it is ready to cancel the purchase outright. The helicopter company says it will comply with the request. India has already received three of the 12 luxury aircraft it bought to transport political leaders, including the prime minister. In his first comments on the affair since Italian police arrested Finmeccanica head Giuseppe Orsi last week, Singh said the government wanted to debate the issue in parliament, which begins a new session on Wednesday. “Parliament is the appropriate forum to discuss all issues raised by the opposition. We are ready for any discussion,” Singh told reporters. “We have nothing to hide.” The furore over the helicopter deal follows a string of graft cases that have buffeted Singh’s government, which is nearing the end of a second five-year term and faces elections due in early 2014. The opposition is expected to raise the issue once parliament opens. –AGENCIES
DHAKA: At least three people were killed while scores injured in incidents of violence triggered by Monday’ s strike enforced by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party which faces a possible “ban” as its leaders are on trial for war crimes allegedly committed in 1971. In the early hours of the strike which started at 6:00 a.m. local time, incidents of clash, arson, vandalism, chase and counter-chase and detention have been reported in parts of capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. Thousands of anti-riot police and ruling party men were deployed in the streets of Bangladesh’s capital city. Riot police shot rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse protesters who attempted to block roads and bring out procession along the major city streets disrupting traffic. The first death was reported Monday morning from capital Dhaka’ s downtown Badda area where a man was killed while several others sustained injuries as the mini-bus carrying them overturned after pro-hartal activists chased it. Another person died and three were injured in Comilla district, some 96 km east of capital Dhaka, as
cops opened fire on Jamaat men when the latter attacked them. Jamaat claimed the victim was its activist but a police spokesman was not available for comment. The third death was reported from Cox’s Bazar, some 391 km southeast of capital Dhaka. An elderly man died when pro-hartal activists vandalised an ambulance carrying him to hospital. Scores of people, including protesters and policemen, were also injured in clashes in major cities and towns including Dhaka where traffic on the streets remained thin as most private vehicles were kept indoors. But most shops, education institutions and other business establishments remained open as the government, the ruling party and the protesters from Shahbag rally which has been continuing since Feb. 5, demanding capital punishment for war criminals, urged all to defy Jamaat’s strike. Police detained dozens of Jamaat men from Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. Although inter-district buses stayed off the roads, the authorities claimed that operation of trains and flights was usual. The ruling party activists were seen to stage anti-strike procession on many city streets. –AGENCIES
Iran flays world powers over gold sanctions ‘offer’ TEHRAN: Iran criticised on Monday a reported plan by major powers to demand the closure of a uranium enrichment plant in return for an easing of sanctions on Tehran's trade in gold and other precious metals, Iranian media reported. The Islamic Republic, which says its nuclear programme is peaceful, started building the Fordow plant inside a mountain in secret as early as 2006, to protect it from air strikes. Last week Reuters reported world powers were planning to offer to ease sanctions barring trade in gold and other precious metals with Iran in return for steps to shut down
Fordow. On Monday Ramin Mehmanparast, spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, suggested the reported offer was unacceptable. "Lately they have said 'Shut down Fordow, stop (uranium) enrichment, we will allow gold transactions'," Mehmanparast said, according to the Mehr news agency. "They want to take away the rights of a nation in exchange for allowing trade in gold." Western officials said last week the offer to ease sanctions barring gold and other precious metals trade with Iran would be presented at talks between Iran and world powers in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 26. –AGENCIES
FBI and false flag war against America Trevor Aaronson’s exhaustive investigative work on the FBI role in creating terrorism, The Terror Factory has exposed manufactured ‘false flag terror’ and opens the door to investigation of many other organizations GORDON DUFF A recent book has exposed the FBI as the world’s largest terrorist recruiting organization. However, evidence indicates that, not only is the majority of terrorism, “false flag,” but that creating and curing the “disease of terrorism,” has become one of the biggest rackets in the world. Trevor Aaronson’s exhaustive investigative work on the FBI role in creating terrorism, The Terror Factory has exposed, not just manufactured “false flag terror,” but opens the door to investigation of many other organizations as well, some operating around the world. Inside the US, as Aaronson notes, the FBI spends $3.3 billion per year running at minimum, 15,000 informants. According to Aaronson, however, the FBI’s “counter-terrorist informant” total may exceed 45,000, most not “on the books,” and unaccountable. Many are, in fact criminals, cooperating with authorities to avoid prison or to be allowed to continue their criminal enterprises, some unfettered by law enforcement, many in full partnership. Some are informants but many are recruiters, tasked with infiltrating Islamic organizations, Mosques, and Islamic communities across America.
Typically their targets are the mentally ill, often diagnosed schizophrenics, people unable to distinguish reality from the dream world. Others are feeble minded, homeless, those easily influenced. As Aaronson describes in his book, informants actually recruit terror cells, taking on the role of “cell commander.” They organize and train, supply funds and equipment, preach radical philosophies and bizarre interpretations of Islam and, eventually, choose targets, supply bombs and weapons and arrange for dramatic terrorist arrests, carefully staged for the evening news. There have been, as of 2011, over 500 of such cases across the United States. Aaronson describes the FBI’s methodology in a 2011 Mother Jones article: “Here’s how it works: Informants report to their handlers on people who have, say, made statements sympathizing with terrorists. Those names are then cross-referenced with existing intelligence data, such as immigration and criminal records. FBI agents may then assign an undercover operative to approach the target by posing as a radical. Sometimes the operative will propose a plot, provide explosives, even lead the target in a fake oath to Al Qaeda. Once enough incriminating
information has been gathered, there’s an arrest-and a press conference announcing another foiled plot. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because such sting operations are a fixture in the headlines. Remember the Washington Metro bombing plot? The New York subway plot? The guys who planned to blow up the Sears Tower? The teenager seeking to bomb a Portland Christmas tree lighting? Each of those plots, and dozens more across the nation, was led by an “FBI asset.” Since 9/11, there have been hundreds of arrests of “terrorist suspects” and 158 prosecutions. Of all the reported “major terror plots,” only three can’t be directly tied to terror suspects who were directly recruited, trained and supplied by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Truth is, we also have questions about the other three. In one recent case, a Mosque reported a terrorist recruiter to the FBI. The recruiter was FBI. As for the army of informants, most are paid up to $100,000 either “per head” or “per case,” for the terrorists they themselves recruited, too often those profiled as unable to care for themselves, much less hatch complex paramilitary operations. Thus, we see that COINTELPRO operations, the long discredited program that ran for nearly 50 years organizing church and synagogue
burnings, lynchings, bombings and assassinations through infiltration of “radical groups,” often anti-war or civil rights organizations, have not only continued but expanded to the point they are, in fact, the primary function of the FBI. Then again, the Department of Homeland Security has its own program, even larger, even more funding and far less oversight. Only one of their functions has been scrutinized, Operation Fast and Furious. There they supplied thousands of military weapons to criminal groups operating throughout Mexico and the United States. What else might they be doing? The US government doesn’t have a monopoly on false flag terrorism. News organizations and “public interest groups” are often fronts for terrorist cells, “black propaganda” operations and espionage organizations. All are, in reality, intelligence agencies with the unique capability of being “self funded.” What could be better than to run death squads and terror cells with funding from charitable trusts and hundreds of thousands of duped individual contributors? These groups, operating under a number of guises, dozens of “victimization” front groups, think tanks, owning or running most of the world’s media, managing world
telecommunications, controlling banking, money laundering, gambling, the film and television industries and allied with the intelligence agencies of Israel, have a far broader agenda than the FBI or DHS. Terrorism isn’t just bombs. It is also the pre-staging of the public through game theory warfare, a subset of chaos theory. The public is propagandized and indoctrinated, not just through media, entertainment and news, but through control of education and the internet. In addition, any and all groups that represent the “opposition,” are either bought, infiltrated or created as controlled opposition. “The best way to control the opposition is to be the opposition.” Vladimir Lenin Organizations and individuals that can’t be bought, threatened or controlled are targeted [by] smear campaigns and economic assaults to systematically persecute and destroy and, eventually, murder. The numbers subjected to this methodology are in the tens of thousands. “Prisoner X” was one. The goals are broader and in each case fall under the “one, two punch” of 1) Control and Destabilization and, 2) Collapse and Balkanization. Toward this end, once powerful democracies become surrogate thugs, sending armies across the world to secure oil and minerals, to protect drug and
human trafficking operations and to push, literally, hundreds of billions of dollars into bogus military contracts. We only have to look at a single week of news, new espionage (phone hacking) arrests in Britain and the outlandish shutdown of the US government by Israel to prevent the nomination of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. An early “pre9/11” act of terrorism was the Oklahoma City bombing. We are told that Timothy McVeigh, a former “affiliate” of the Michigan Militia and former US Army Ranger was responsible. However, we also have reliable information that McVeigh approached the Michigan Militia as an FBI informant. In fact, almost nothing involving the Oklahoma City bombing seems to fit. Not only did McVeigh not “act alone,” but we have evidence of active support and assistance from the FBI and direct testimony that ties Mike Harari, Mossad Operations Chief, to the OKC bombing. During his repeated attempts to recruit former Soviet nuclear weapons specialist, Dimitri Khalezov, Harari was very vocal about his roles in Oklahoma City, Bali and other bombings. These operations can and do deeply parallel those of COINTELPRO and the FBI’s more threatening current terror recruiting. (PressTV.ir)