Bulgaria, Russia strike new deal on Belene nuclear plant

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

Sofia - Bulgaria and Russia on Tuesday singed a memorandum of understanding to finalize the troubled Belene nuclear plant project.

The Bulgarian National Eclectric Company (NEK) and the Russian Rosatom will form a joint venture for Belene within four months, with Sofia holding 51 per cent of its capital.

The complex deal also involves Finland's fortum and the French Fortatom, which are looking at acquiring small stakes in Bulgaria's second power plant on Danube.

Rosatom chief executive Sregey Kiriyenko said that work on the power plant, interrupted a year ago amid funding problems, should be renewed within 10 months and the first of the two planned 1,000-megawatt reactors completed in 2016.

The final price of the project and the investors however remain unknown, but Kiriyenko estimated it at between 6.3 and 6.4 billion euros (8.3-8.4 billion dollars).

The original cost projection had been 4 billion euros.

Tuesday's deal enables cash-strapped Bulgaria to go ahead with the power plant without additional spending from the budget.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355965,deal-belene-nuclear-plant.html.

Ugandan court sets free 18 suspects in World Cup bombings

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

Kampala - A court in the Ugandan capital Kampala Tuesday dismissed charges against 18 suspects in the July bombings that killed more than 70 World Cup fans who were watching a televised match.

The court said it did not find adequate proof to continue the prosecution of the 18 for their alleged involvement in the bombing attacks on two restaurants in Kampala. The dead had gathered to watch a World Cup match that was broadcast from South Africa.

The Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab, which is battling the Somalia's Western-backed government, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in revenge for the presence of Ugandan peacekeepers in their country.

The prosecution of 18 remaining suspects was to continue. Two additional suspects were still being sought.

Lawyers for the 18 suspects who were released on Tuesday claimed that three of their clients had been immediately detained again by security officials at the court, despite the fact that charges were dropped, according to their comments on Radio Simba.

The terrorist suspects included Ugandans, Kenyans and Somalis, who were charged in August with terrorism, murder, assault and attempted murder. More than 80 people were injured in the twin attacks.

Pakistan's president feared military might 'take me out' - Summary

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

Washington - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told US Vice President Joe Biden that he was worried the powerful military in his country might "take me out," according to US diplomatic cables published in The New York Times on Tuesday.

Zardari's comments made to Biden in January 2009 reflect the influential role the Pakistani military holds in a country with a long history of coup d'etats, and further raises questions about the effectiveness of civilian rule. It was unclear whether Zardari's comments suggested he could be killed or merely forced out of office.

The US cables from the embassy in Islamabad were part of a massive cache of internal American diplomatic correspondence acquired by WikiLeaks and distributed to a handful of news organizations, including The Times, the Guardian, Germany's Der Spiegel and newspapers in France and Spain.

More than 250,000 documents were being released this week despite the strong objections of the US government, which considers them stolen and says their public release undermines international diplomacy.

The cables underscore the difficult relationship between the United States and Pakistan and US skepticism about whether Islamabad is fully committed to defeating Islamic extremism despite billions of of dollars in annual military and civilian aid.

The cables reveal the tricky dilemma faced by the United States in trying to support a civilian-led government unpopular among Pakistanis and in constant tension with a military and intelligence service less sympathetic to US objectives in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has been reluctant to completely sever ties to the Taliban because it wants to maintain as much influence in Afghanistan to thwart any attempts by archrival India to intervene in Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. Pakistan views the militants as insurance for when the day comes that the US leaves Afghanistan, The Times reported.

Anne Patterson, a US ambassador in Pakistan for three years until her October departure, doubted whether the billions of dollars in US aid would persuade Pakistan to be more cooperative.

There is no chance that Pakistan will view enhanced assistance levels in any field as sufficient compensation for abandoning support for these groups, which it sees as an important part of its national security apparatus against India," she said.

Patterson was most likely referring to the Haqqani network of the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group Pakistan financed in the 1990s to fight India in disputed Kashmir, and is accused of the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Patterson also warned Washington that pursuing greater ties to India feeds Pakistani establishment paranoia and pushes them closer to both Afghan and Kashmir focused terrorist groups."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355969,take-out-summary.html.

WikiLeaks: US pressured Spain to shelve Iraq, Guantanamo cases

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

Madrid - The US embassy in Madrid pressured Spain to shelve court cases against US government and military officials concerning incidents during the Iraq war and alleged torture at Guantanamo, according to WikiLeaks documents

The excerpts from secret US diplomatic documents leaked by the self-proclaimed whistleblower website at the weekend were published by the daily El Pais newspaper Tuesday.

The US ambassador to Spain from 2005-2009, Eduardo Aguirre, personally oversaw many of the attempts to influence the Spanish government and judiciary, according to the daily.

The cases were brought before Spain's National Court, which is known for its human rights investigations.

They dealt with the killing of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso during the Iraq war in 2003, with a Spanish judge seeking the arrest of three US soldiers; with allegations that CIA planes transporting terrorist suspects to Guantanamo had made secret stopovers at Spanish airports; and with alleged torture in Guantanamo.

The Spanish attorney-general, several National Court prosecutors and some politicians showed willingness to comply with the US requests, El Pais quoted the leaked documents as saying.

Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido told the daily that prosecutors had only supplied the US embassy with public data that it had requested.

The US embassy also tried to influence Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government into taking action against the growing criticism in Spain of the occupation of Iraq, the documents show.

El Pais was one of five newspapers to gain access to more than 250,000 secret US diplomatic documents leaked by the self-proclaimed whistleblower WikiLeaks.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355851,shelve-iraq-guantanamo-cases.html.

Kenya 'surprised and shocked' at WikiLeaks revelations

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

Nairobi - Kenya's government is "surprised and shocked" by media reports US diplomats in the East African nation were scathing of the ruling parties in diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks website.

Germany's Der Spiegel - one of five newspapers that received cables leaked from US embassies around the globe - said classified messages from Nairobi referred to a "swamp of flourishing corruption" across Kenya and spoke with disdain of the coalition government.

"We do not know the details of the leaked cables, but if what is reported is true then it is totally malicious and a total misrepresentation of our country and our leaders," government spokesman Alfred Mutua said. "We are surprised and shocked by these revelations."

Mutua said the US's Africa envoy Johnny Carson had called Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday to apologize for the expected leaks.

"The US Government indicated they are sorry for the content in the leaked documents," he said. "They however have not told us what the documents say and what exactly they are sorry for."

That the US diplomatic mission in Kenya should be so critical in private messages comes as little surprise.

US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger is outspoken in his condemnation of the corruption many feel permeates every level of society in East Africa's largest economy.

Observers say the coalition government of Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki - formed to end the violence that followed disputed presidential elections in December 2007 - is still steeped in graft.

Several prominent ministers recently stepped aside after coming under investigation for alleged involvement in dodgy deals.

Mutua also accused foreign powers - apparently referring to the US - of attempting to undermine the government.

"The Government is aware that a lot of money has been allocated to fund the youth to cause an uprising against our country and lead us into turmoil in an attempt to install a new leadership structure," he said.

The US is ploughing millions of dollars into youth empowerment programs in Kenya.

"What we know is that true friends should tell you the truth all the time and should not tell you everything is okay on one hand and on the other hand say the opposite or initiate programs against you," Mutua added.

Iran nuclear talks to start Monday in Geneva, says Ashton

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

Brussels - Iran has accepted the restart of international negotiations on its nuclear program starting next week in Geneva, a spokesman for the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday.

Ashton is due to conduct talks on behalf of the so-called 5+1 group, comprising the permanent United Nations Security Council members United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, plus Germany.

"We have now received a response from the Iranian authorities in which (Iranian chief nuclear negotiator) Saaed Jalili has accepted Catherine Ashton's offer to meet in Geneva," Darren Ennis told the German Press Agency dpa.

"Talks ... will now take place next Monday and Tuesday," he added.

On Monday Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had confirmed his country's willingness to start talks on December 5, but indicated that the venue still had to be agreed.

Iran also wants next week's negotiations to focus on procedural issues for future talks, rather than on its concrete nuclear plans.

But Ashton considers that "the core issue on the table is Iran's nuclear program," even if "this is a two-way dialogue and she is open to discuss other issues," her spokesman pointed out.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355864,start-monday-geneva-ashton.html.

Former Iraqi premier Allawi denies WikiLeaks Iran attack plan

Tue, 30 Nov 2010

Berlin - A former Iraqi prime minister, Iyad Allawi, denied Tuesday that Iraq - under his leadership - had ever urged a pre- emptive military strike against neighbor Iran, as cited in the WikiLeaks documents.

Allawi, in a German radio interview, also accused the whistleblower website Wikileaks of raising tensions in the Middle East by its release of 250,000 US diplomatic cables.

The cables which became public late Sunday quote candid, off-the- record candid views of regional leaders.

"I don't think it makes sense to publish these documents, because they build up additional tensions in this region which is already so tense," Allawi was quoted saying by German public radio service Deutschlandfunk.

Allawi was speaking in English, apparently by phone from Baghdad, with German radio station Deutschlandfunk.

He denied Iraq had urged a pre-emptive military strike against neighbor Iran, saying he was sure it was not so in the time he was prime minister in 2004 and 2005.

"As long as I was in office, I never asked anyone to attack Iran," he said. "I can't say for sure that other governments didn't ask for it. But I have no concrete knowledge of it."

Allawi's secular al-Irakiya alliance is in talks with incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on forming a coalition.

In the interview he accused the Iranians of interfering in his country and even trying to influence the coalition formation.

"Iran has repeatedly vetoed certain Iraqi politicians and made threats," he said, and added, "Al-Maliki has Iran's support."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355867,wikileaks-iran-attack-plan.html.