News Headlines
Monday 8/2/2010
*Regional and International Affairs:
Political Headlines:
- Netanyahu: Israel open to peace talks with Syria. (The Washington Times)
- New Ba'ath Party consideration opposed. (The Washington Times)
- Iran leader orders new step in nuclear program. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
- Iran plans 10 new enrichment plants in 2010/11. (The Washington Post)
- Defense secretary Robert M. Gates skeptical of Iran's claims about nuclear deal. (The Washington Post)
- Sudanese opposition agree to coordinate in April elections. (The Sudan Tribune)
- India successfully tests nuclear-capable missile. (The Washington Times)
- U.S. not in direct talks with Taliban. (Reuters)
- Envoys go to North Korea for nuclear talks push. (The Washington Post)
- Ukraine exit polls: Yanukovich wins presidential election. (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Costa Rica elects 1st woman president in landslide. (The Huston Chronicle)
US:
1. Clinton sees Islamist terror as No. 1 threat. (The Washington Times)
*Regional and International Affairs:
Political Headlines:
1. Netanyahu: Israel open to peace talks with Syria. (The Washington Times)
Israel's prime minister attempted to end a war of words with Syria yesterday, saying his country is open to peace talks with its longtime enemy.
Israel desires peace agreements with "all of its neighbors," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his weekly Cabinet meeting.
"We did it with Egypt and Jordan, and we want to achieve similar agreements with the Palestinians and the Syrians," he said. "I hope that we are on the brink of renewing negotiations with the Palestinians, and we are open to renewing the process with the Syrians as well."
Mr. Netanyahu's comments came after an ominous exchange of threats between Israeli and Syrian officials over the past week, raising concerns of an escalation between two countries, which officially have been at war for more than 60 years.
Syrian President Bashar Assad accused Israel of avoiding peace, and his foreign minister threatened that Israeli cities would come under attack in a future war. Israel's foreign minister responded that Syria would be defeated and Assad and his family would lose power in any future conflict.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/07/netanyahu-israel-open-peace-talks-syria/
2. New Ba'ath Party consideration opposed. (The Washington Times)
Hundreds of protesters denounced Iraqis still loyal to Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party yesterday as tensions soared over the decision to blacklist suspected Ba'athists from next month's election.
Protesters chanted and carried signs that said, "No, No to Ba'ath Party!" and "The return of the Ba'ath Party is a return to mass graves."
Shi'ite officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his political allies, are trying to purge all high-level posts of Iraqis with ties to the Ba'ath Party, which was outlawed in Iraq in 2003.
A decision to ban about 450 candidates from March 7 parliamentary elections because of suspected ties to Saddam's regime has threatened to reopen wounds between once-dominant Sunnis and the Shi'ite majority.
The ban is widely seen as targeting Sunnis, though Shi'ites are on the blacklist as well.
Some Sunni leaders have threatened to boycott the election if the purge stands. That, in turn, risks throwing the election into chaos and would raise questions about its credibility.
Parliament met briefly Sunday but did not take action on the ban, which was suspended by an appeals court. Lawmakers are expected to meet again Monday as a panel of judges combs through the list.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/08/new-baath-party-consideration-opposed/
3. Iran leader orders new step in nuclear program. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
Iran's president yesterday ordered his atomic agency to significantly enrich the country's stockpile of uranium, angering Western nations who want to the Islamic republic to halt its nuclear program.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad maintained, however, that Iran was also still willing to follow a U.N. plan to export its uranium abroad for further enrichment. Refining uranium produces nuclear fuel for a power plant but if carried out far enough can create material for a weapon.
The mixed messages from Tehran have infuriated the U.S. and its European allies, who claim Iran is only stalling for time as it attempts to build a nuclear weapon. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for the international community to pressure Iran into abandoning its nuclear program.
German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said: "Today's statement shows that farce is being played out just like we have seen in the past, that the outstretched hand of the international community has not only not been taken but pushed back."
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has been working on a compromise to defuse international tensions over Iran's nuclear program. In October, the U.N. proposed that Tehran export its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, who would return it a year later as enriched fuel rods that could be used to power Iran's research reactor but couldn't be further refined to make weapons-grade material.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/07/international/i001521S82.DTL
4. Iran plans 10 new enrichment plants in 2010/11. (The Washington Post)
Iran plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities during the next Iranian year, its atomic energy chief was quoted as saying, in comments likely to further raise tension with the West.
The statement by Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday evening comes after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier in the day instructed Iran's Atomic Energy Organization to start work on producing higher-grade nuclear fuel for a Tehran reactor.
Iran's announcement raised the stakes in its dispute with the West, but Ahmadinejad said talks were still possible on a nuclear swap offer by world powers designed to allay fears the Islamic Republic is making an atomic bomb.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020800140.html
5. Defense secretary Robert M. Gates skeptical of Iran's claims about nuclear deal. (The Washington Post)
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday played down assertions by Iran that it is ready to reach a deal on its nuclear program, saying Tehran's overall response to overtures from the Obama administration has been "quite disappointing."
On Friday, in a speech at a security conference in Munich, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country was "nearing a final agreement that can be accepted by all parties."
His statement came three days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signaled that Iran was prepared to accept a deal offered by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, under which Tehran would hand over a stockpile of uranium for processing outside the country.
In exchange, Iran would receive enriched fuel that would enable it to power a reactor for medical research but not make bombs.
During a visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara, Gates did not completely dismiss the Iranian statements but expressed skepticism about Tehran's sincerity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/06/AR2010020601079.html
6. Sudanese opposition agree to coordinate in April elections. (The Sudan Tribune)
The Sudanese opposition parties have agreed on a joint plan to coordinate among their bases in the upcoming elections to defeat the candidates of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) at all levels.
The parties comprised of the Juba conference participants held in Juba last year will meet on Monday with the presence of the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) which is the junior partner in the government of national unity.
The coalition spokesperson Farouk Abu Essa said that the parties are close to endorsing the list of candidates for the parliament and governors.
Essa said that the NCP is “extremely hostile to democracy and national movements” in addition to “opposition defectors” which he described as “ugly propagandists” to the ruling party and a “whip on the back of the opposition”.
There are currently 145 candidates from the various parties running for governor with 51 independent; 1958 for parliament from the parties with 418 independent; for the Legislative Council of southern Sudan, 396 from parties and 107 independents.
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article34057
7. India successfully tests nuclear-capable missile. (The Washington Times)
India on Sunday again successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile that can hit targets across much of Asia and the Middle East, a Defense Ministry press release said.
It was the fourth test of the Agni III missile, the statement added. The first attempt in 2006 failed, but the last two tests were successful.
"The Agni III missile tested for the full range, hit the target with pinpoint accuracy and met all the mission objectives," the press release added.
India's current arsenal of missiles largely is intended for confronting archrival Pakistan. The Agni III, in contrast, is India's longest-range missile, designed to reach 3,000 kilometers -- putting China's major cities well into range, as well as Middle Eastern targets.
India's homegrown missile arsenal already includes the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile, the medium-range Akash, the anti-tank Nag and the supersonic Brahmos missile, developed jointly with Russia.
The missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa on Sunday morning.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/07/india-successfully-tests-nuclear-capable-missile/
8. U.S. not in direct talks with Taliban. (Reuters)
The United States is not in direct talks with the Afghan Taliban, and any eventual discussions would have to go hand in hand with military success, U.S. Special Representative Richard Holbrooke said yesterday.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he dismissed media speculation since a January 28 Afghanistan conference in London that there had been secret contacts.
"The press since London has been kind of obsessed with the idea there are all sorts of secret talks going on with the Taliban. So I want to state very clearly that our nation is not involved in any direct contacts with the Taliban."
"Negotiations and military operations, however you define negotiations, can run in parallel...(but) success in military operations will affect whatever the discussions are."
President Hamid Karzai used the conference in London to repeat a call for reconciliation with his "disenchanted brothers" in the Taliban. He has since traveled to Saudi Arabia to ask its leaders for help reaching out to the militants.
Holbrooke said that in principle negotiations and military operations could run in parallel, citing as examples the efforts to end the Vietnam war and the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6160OR20100207
9. Envoys go to North Korea for nuclear talks push. (The Washington Post)
A senior Chinese envoy was in North Korea to prod the reclusive state back to stalled nuclear talks while the South sent a team across the border on Monday for talks to restart tourism projects halted due to political wrangling.
The North will also host the U.N.'s top political envoy later this week, with analysts saying this engagement may bode well for the dormant six-way disarmament-for-aid talks and could lead to Pyongyang reducing the security threat it poses to the region.
The destitute North is feeling pressure to return to the nuclear talks, where it can win aid to prop up its broken economy, due to U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear test in May 2009 and a botched currency revaluation that sparked inflation and rare civil unrest.
Analysts said there is a chance the North could launch military moves if the talks do not go well. Market players have said this would dampen sentiment and serve as a reminder of the dangers of investing in the troubled peninsula.
Chinese Communist Party international affairs chief Wang Jiarui flew to North Korea at the weekend. Wang met Kim Jong-Il last year, and received a denuclearization pledge from the North Korean leader.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/07/AR2010020702926.html
10. Ukraine exit polls: Yanukovich wins presidential election. (The Christian Science Monitor)
Ukraine exit polls show Viktor Yanukovich won Sunday's vote by a small margin. If the result survives fraud allegations, it would be a huge comeback for the pro-Russian candidate who was sent packing during the 2004 'Orange Revolution.'
Even before the polls closed Sunday in Ukraine's bitterly fought presidential election, supporters of Yulia Tymoshenko were warning that the vote was once again being stolen by her old antagonist from the 2004 Orange Revolution, Viktor Yanukovich.
The streets of the capital, Kiev, were quiet Sunday night, but both sides were predicting turbulence as the official vote counting proceeds and fraud allegations trickle in. Ukrainian news agencies report that 70,000 extra riot troops have been brought into Kiev to maintain order.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0207/Ukraine-exit-polls-Yanukovich-wins-presidential-election
11. Costa Rica elects 1st woman president in landslide. (The Huston Chronicle)
Costa Rica's governing party candidate swept to an election victory Sunday night that will make her the first woman president in this Central American nation.
Laura Chinchilla had 47 percent of the vote with nearly all the votes counted. The closest contender, Otton Solis of the Citizens Action Party, had 25 percent. He and the other main rival quickly conceded defeat.
Chinchilla, a protege of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias, campaigned on a promise to continue the government's free market economic policies.
Chinchilla, who served as vice president under Arias, was well over the 40 percent needed to avoid an April run-off.
Solis barely lost the presidential election to Arias in 2006, but many opposition voters went over to tax-bashing Libertarian candidate Otto Guevara, who had 21 percent of the votes.
Solis congratulated Chinchilla on her apparent victory. "She is going to be the next president of Costa Rica," he told supporters Sunday night. Guevara offered congratulations to "our president, Laura Chinchilla."
Arias' economic policies brought Costa Rica into the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and initiated trade relations with China after a 63-year association with Taiwan.
Critics of the government argued that Arias' administration catered to big developers to boost the economy at the cost of the nation's fragile ecosystems.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/latinamerica/6856377.html
--------------------------
US:
1. Clinton sees Islamist terror as No. 1 threat. (The Washington Times)
Obama administration figures took to yesterday’s political talk shows to rebut charges of White House weakness on Islamist terrorism, with the nation's top diplomat saying such networks pose the greatest threat to national security.
While one of the White House's top national security advisers criticized lawmakers for politicizing national security threats, including the Christmas Day attack over Detroit, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said even a nuclear-armed North Korea or Iran isn't as great a threat to the U.S. as al Qaeda and allied jihad groups.
"The biggest nightmare that any of us have is that one of these terrorist member organizations within this syndicate of terror will get their hands on a weapon of mass destruction," she said in a Sunday appearance on CNN. "So that's really the most threatening prospect we see."
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair told Congress earlier this month he was "certain" there will be an attempted terrorist attack on the United States within the next six months.
Also on Sunday, Iran threw down another gauntlet against international sanctions on its nuclear development, saying it will start Tuesday to enrich uranium to six times the nuclear purity usually used in civilian nuclear power plants, a step toward producing uranium pure enough to use in a nuclear weapon.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/08/clinton-sees-islamist-terror-as-no-1-threat/