Terrorism & Security
A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
High stakes for Iran nuclear talks
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
The stakes are high as Iran prepares to meet six world powers for nuclear talks in Istanbul this weekend, but the meetings will be considered a success if all parties agree merely to keep talking.
How Iran approaches these negotiations will be a good indicator of how successful sanctions have been at convincing its leadership to make concessions on its nuclear program, which the international community suspects is designed not only for nuclear power but also nuclear weapons, the L.A. Times reports. Western officials say that this weekend is Iran's best opportunity to scale back its recalcitrance if it is has any intention of doing so. As sanctions bite harder in coming months, it will become more difficult for Iran's leaders to explain a compromise with the West.
As the Los Angeles Times sums it up, the outcome of the talks could determine the likelihood of nuclear war, the global economic recovery, and the 2012 US presidential election. But diplomats just need to find enough agreement between the world powers (known as P5+1) and Iran to keep talks going beyond the weekend. It appeared less than certain that the talks would even happen until a week ago.
They [the P5+1] have set a modest goal for Istanbul: They want to see if Iran shows enough interest in cooperation to justify a second meeting, probably in Baghdad in a few weeks, where negotiations could begin in earnest.
Western diplomats will look for a sign in Istanbul that Iran would take limited "confidence-building" steps to slow its expanding and semi-hidden [uranium] enrichment program. The ultimate goals are full disclosure of Iran's nuclear efforts and stronger controls through the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, in return for nuclear assistance and other aid.
Bloomberg reports that the P5+1 might use the European Union oil embargo, scheduled to begin July 1, as leverage. It could offer to stay that embargo, as well as lift any of the four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions currently in place. In exchange, said a former British ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency who hosted previous negotiations, the powers might request that Iran cap the production of 20 percent enriched uranium, which takes only a matter of months to turn into weapons-grade uranium.
The Associated Press reports that Iran feels it has the upper hand going into negotiations and that in some ways it has already succeeded. "The West — at least at this stage — no longer calls for an all-out halt to uranium enrichment as it did last year. If this path stays, Iran can boast about outmaneuvering the Western demands and keeping the heart of the nuclear program intact. The U.S. and others will then have to sell this outcome to the Israelis," AP reports.
Iran could accede to the world powers' request that it halt its 20 percent enriched uranium production "without any direct pain to its nuclear program" and demand a lifting of some of the sanctions in return, according to AP. It could also comply with demands that it close a recently opened second enrichment site, known as Fordo, without slowing its enrichment too much because another site provides most of Iran's fuel.
According to a separate AP report, the Obama administration wants proof of progress quickly, both to hold off Israel from a military strike and to uphold its own commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. and other world powers are stopping short of saying the gathering in Istanbul is a make-or-break situation. But as they sit down with Iranian officials for the first time in more than a year to press yet again for an agreement on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, American officials say the window for a diplomatic breakthrough is closing. And in the event the talks fail completely, all U.S. options remain on the table.
In an Op-Ed for the Washington Post published yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi says that Iran has already proven its commitment to talks. "Despite sanctions, threats of war, assassinations of several of our scientists and other forms of terrorism, we have chosen to remain committed to dialogue," he writes, identifying the "key issue between Iran and the United States" as a lack of trust.
To reestablish trust, all sides must assume an honest approach with a view toward moving past the barriers to sincere dialogue.
A key aspect of entering a conversation based on mutual respect is recognizing the other side’s concerns as equal to one’s own. To solve the nuclear issue, the scope of the upcoming talks among Iran and the “P5+1” (the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany) must be comprehensive. The concerns of all sides must be addressed. Complex matters that have been left unaddressed for decades cannot be solved overnight. Another sign of mutual respect is a willingness and readiness to both give and take, without preconditions. This form of reciprocity is distinct from approaches that involve only taking. Most important, and this cannot be stressed enough, is that dialogue must be seen as a process rather than an event. A house can burn to the ground in minutes but takes a long time to build. Similarly, trust can easily and rapidly be broken, but it takes a long time to build.
In a report for the Monitor published yesterday, Scott Peterson explains the roots of Iranian distrust and why it sees the UN's IAEA as a tool for hostile foreign governments to undermine Tehran.
The Islamic Republic has been targeted by an escalating covert war, widely attributed to the United States and Israel and their proxies. That war has included the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, the Stuxnet computer virus, American CIA spy drone flights deep into Iranian airspace, and a host of unexplained explosions and acts of espionage.
"I think [Iran] has reason to be suspicious," says Rolf Ekeus, the Swedish former director of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq in the 1990s. "The Iranians don't trust the other side at all. When these killings are taking place ... they have all the more reason to be angry and upset; it's cruel [killing] scientists going to their job."
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"There is a consensus within Iran that more access [with the IAEA], more cooperation, [means] more assassinations, more sabotage," says [Seyed Hossein] Mousavian [a former member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team]. "Which means there is a great, great mistrust from the Iranian point of view to the real intention of the IAEA. They are really concerned that the IAEA has been used as an instrument for espionage, sabotage, covert action and preparing the ground for a military strike."
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This image, made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Thursday, April 12, purports to show a Syrian military armored vehicle in Idlib, Syria. (Shaam News Network via AP video/AP)
Syria cease-fire takes hold, but could be tested by Friday protests (+video)
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Reports from Syria today indicate that both the regime and opposition are so far adhering to the cease-fire that went into effect at 6 a.m. today, with headlines describing Syria as "quiet" and "calm."
Government troops are still defying the demands by United Nations envoy Kofi Annan to pull out of towns and cities, but they have stopped attacking opposition strongholds across the country. The calm comes as some vindication for Mr. Annan, who insisted earlier this week that his peace plan for Syria was not dead even as a deadline for Syrian troops to pull out of towns and cities passed with no action.
The international community remains deeply doubtful that the Syrian regime's compliance will last, particularly if large-scale protests resume, and seems skeptical the regime will accede to other demands made in Annan's plan.
The Associated Press reports that the plan is "widely seen as the last chance for diplomacy to end the 13-month-old uprising," which is "veering toward an armed insurgency." Some say the credit for today's progress goes to Russia and China, which backed Annan's plan after months of opposing any international action against the Syrian regime.
Analyst Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center, said while the cease-fire is fragile, the apparent halt in government attacks suggests Assad's allies are pressuring him for the first time, after shielding him from international condemnation in the past. Annan has visited Russia, Iran and China in his attempt to get the broadest possible backing for the plan.
If the cease-fire holds long enough, it could encourage the opposition to resume protests in large numbers, "testing" the sincerity of the government's agreement to Annan's plan, Mr. Shaikh told AP. The regime responded brutally to previous protests and Assad has been unwilling to loosen his grip on opposition areas as that could lead to the reemergence of antigovernment demonstrations.
Fawaz Zakri, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Council, said the government has so far abided by the cease-fire. If calm were to prevail, "we are sure that the (anti-regime) demonstrations will come back more powerful and will cover all of Syria very nearly," he said.
What happens tomorrow could be a strong signal of regime and opposition intentions. The largest protests have often happened on Fridays, when worshipers leave the mosques after noon prayer. The head of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition body, called for sweeping protests tomorrow, Reuters reports.
"The Syrian people will go out tomorrow and it will be the biggest possible (demonstration) so that the Syrian people can express their will," Burhan Ghalioun told Reuters by telephone.
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"We will see tomorrow if (the government) will keep its commitment. While we call on the Syrian people to protest strongly... we ask them to be cautious because the regime will not respect the ceasefire and will shoot," Ghalioun said.
The New York Times reports that Syria remains under a "state of alert" and that there were signs that the days preceding the cease-fire had been especially violent.
But the official SANA news agency, quoting “an official source” at the ministry, said that, having “enforced the authority of the state on all its territories,” the “armed forces will be on alert to confront any attack by armed terrorist groups against civilians, law-enforcement members, the armed forces and private and public facilities.”
The continuing state of alert seemed to corroborate assertions by opponents of Mr. Assad that government forces had not pulled back from forward positions in some areas. Additionally, the official assertion that the army had spread state authority across the land seemed to reflect the ferocity of an onslaught in the days leading to the truce, during which activists reported scores killed.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France-Presse that the military launched a fierce assault against opposition strongholds in the hours before the cease-fire went into effect.
Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, said that Assad actually ramped up violence in the days between committing to Annan's plan on April 1 and the beginning of the cease-fire. "[Assad's] commitments therefore have little, if any, credibility ... given that track record," she said, according to AFP. Al Jazeera reports that at least 360 people were killed in the intervening days and that Turkey saw the rate of refugees entering the country double.
AFP reports that at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G8 countries in Washington yesterday, Britain and France called for monitors on the ground to reinforce the cease-fire, echoing the request from Syrian National Council chief Burhan Ghalioun for international monitors "as soon as possible."
Annan will be briefing the UN Security Council today on Syria's compliance with his peace plan.
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Sudan says talks off as border fighting with S. Sudan worsens
Sudan is mobilizing its military and breaking off negotiations with South Sudan after a new round of fighting over oil fields along the disputed Sudan-South Sudan border. The fighting threatens both the fragile peace that has lasted since the two nations separated and the flow of the region's rich oil resources to buyers abroad.
According to the Sudan Tribune, Sudan recalled its negotiating team Tuesday from talks with South Sudan and declared a general mobilization of its military. The talks, which were sponsored by the African Union and held in Ethiopia, were meant to resolve various outstanding issues from the South's independence, including disputes over the border and oil fields, last July after a long civil war.
The break comes as each side accuses the other of attacks on its territory. South Sudan's information minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, said that four people, including one child, were injured on Monday and Tuesday when Sudanese fighter jets bombed Abiemnom, a village 25 miles south of the border, reports BBC News. Al Jazeera adds that Mr. Benjamin also said that two Sudanese brigades accompanied by "mujaheddin and other militias" also took part in the attack.
South Sudanese military spokesman Philip Aguer said that Southern forces repulsed the attack on Tuesday, driving the Northern troops back to the Heglig area, a disputed, oil-rich area along the border. But Northern officials say that the South went further, attacking and capturing the North's oil fields within Heglig, prompting its mobilization and diplomatic break. Southern officials did not confirm whether they had captured the Heglig fields.
Although there have been sporadic border clashes since South Sudan's independence last year, the situation has worsened in recent weeks. In a guest blog for the Monitor in late March, Alex Thurston noted that the violence originally appeared to be tied to the talks as a kind of negotiating tactic. But Mr. Thurston added that using violence in such a manner is dangerous. "Violence can escalate beyond what tactical planners anticipated," he wrote. "And it is costly, in lives, money, and time. Finally, in this case, it does not appear to be working – violence does not seem to have brought a settlement closer."
At the heart of the conflict is oil. When South Sudan split from its northern neighbor, it instantly became one of Africa's most oil-rich nations. But even with its newfound oil wealth – 98 percent of South Sudan's revenue is from oil – it remains dependent on the North, with which it still shares revenues and infrastructure. While most of the oil lies on the southern side of the border, the only pipelines to the ocean, where the oil can be shipped to buyers abroad, travel through the North.
Rahamatalla Mohamed Osman, Sudan's undersecretary of foreign affairs, predicted Wednesday that the fighting would halt oil production in the region, reports Reuters. "...These oil fields will be affected, definitely, and at least there will not be production. If there is a conflict in the area, this is the least," he told reporters.
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This photo shows two Chinese surveillance ships which sailed between a Philippines warship and eight Chinese fishing boats to prevent the arrest of any fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal, a small group of rocky formations whose sovereignty is contested by the Philippines and China, in the South China Sea, about 124 nautical miles off the main island of Luzon on April 10. (Courtesy of Philippine Army/Reuters)
China, Philippines dispute raises tensions in South China Sea
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
The highly-disputed South China Sea is once again the site of a diplomatic standoff between two East Asian countries, with both the Philippines and China unwilling to back down in a fishing dispute that risks becoming much more.
Two Chinese ships have blocked a Philippine naval ship from arresting Chinese fisherman for fishing in waters that the Philippines considers to be within its "exclusive economic zone." China has ordered the Philippine naval ship to leave, insisting that it has sovereignty of the area, while the Philippines refutes this.
Voice of America reports that the dispute is "the most dangerous confrontation between the two countries in recent years" and comes after both countries said they were seeking rapprochement.
The Philippine foreign ministry says the Chinese fishing boats were first noticed Sunday by Manila's flagship naval vessel, the U.S.-built Gregorio del Pilar.
Manila says the two Chinese surveillance ships on Tuesday positioned themselves between the warship and the Chinese fishing boats, "preventing the arrest of the erring fishermen."
The Chinese Embassy statement says the fishing boats were simply taking shelter near the island due to inclement weather. It said the two surveillance ships were taking action to safeguard "Chinese national maritime interests and rights."
A Philippine inspection of the Chinese fishing boats revealed illegally harvested coral, clams, and live sharks, according to the Philippine government, Associated Press reports.
The contested area, known outside of the Philippines and China as Scarborough Shoal, is 143 miles from the Philippines island of Luzon, according to Agence France-Presse (see map). But China, which calls the area Huangyan Island, claims sovereignty over the entirety of the South China Sea, including areas close to the shores of other sovereign countries – and hundreds of miles away from its own territory. Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam also lay claim to parts of the sea.
AP reports that an unnamed Philippine navy official said that additional naval ships were being dispatched to the Scarborough Shoal, or Panatag, as it is known in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Philippines said it had agreed with China to resolve the dispute "diplomatically," but neither country backed down. Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario said he told China's ambassador "if the Philippines is challenged, we are prepared to secure our sovereignty."
China has been regularly criticized for its aggressive efforts to stake a claim over the entirety of the South China Sea, which is a critical shipping conduit for countries in the region and contains oil and gas deposits and fishing grounds. China was accused last year of firing "warning shots" at Filipino fisherman and "harassing" a ship that was exploring the area's underwater oil deposits, AFP reports.
Concerns about China's encroachment were high enough last year for the Philippines to request help from the US in building up its maritime defenses. The US provided the country with what is now its biggest, newest ship – the Gregorio del Pilar – which was the Philippine ship involved in today's spat with China, according to AFP.
Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, elected in 2010, has taken a firmer stand against China's territorial encroachment than his predecessor and has also reached out to the US, both of which have riled China, The Wall Street Journal reports. The US has emphatically stated that the South China Sea must remain open to navigation and has been blatant in its support for other countries in the region, for example running joint military drills with the Philippines.
Already this week, a hawkish Chinese general has warned that the Philippines is facing its "last chance" to peacefully resolve sovereignty disputes over the South China Sea. Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, writing in the Global Times newspaper, accused the Philippines of hijacking a recent Southeast Asian summit in order to further pressure China over the South China Sea, and warned that Manila's alleged provocations would fail.
"The biggest miscalculation of the Philippines is that it has misestimated the strength and willpower of China to defends its territorial integrity," Gen. Luo wrote.
China and the Philippines are not the only countries locked in an ongoing territorial dispute. The Spratly Islands – claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan – have commanded international attention for the high tensions they have spawned. AP reports that the islands have "long been feared" as the next locus of fighting in the region. The Philippines and Vietnam recently announced they would hold football and basketball matches on some of the disputed Spratly Islands as part of a recent agreement between Hanoi and Manila to take "confidence-building" steps.
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A North Korean soldier stands in front of the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea on Sunday. (David Guttenfelder/AP)
Ready for blastoff: North Korea says rocket is set to go (+video)
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
North Korea announced today that it was ready to go ahead with a long-range rocket launch, making clear that it is moving forward with its plans in defiance of widespread condemnation from the international community, including Russia, and a plea for calm from neighbor and ally China.
Pyongyang insists that the rocket is merely launching a weather satellite and that it is within its sovereign rights to do so. The West believes the rocket launch is a thinly veiled ballistic missile test – a violation of United Nations sanctions meant to prevent North Korea from developing a missile capable of bearing a nuclear weapon.
Reuters reports that the launch will take place sometime between April 12 and 16, pegged to celebrations of the 100th birthday of deceased former leader Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.
"The launch of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite is the gift from our people to our great leader, comrade Kim Il-sung, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, so this cannot be a missile test," said Ryu Kum-chol, vice director of the space development department of the Korean Central Space Committee.
Regional airlines and ships are on alert, and Japan has deployed its anti-missile systems, vowing to shoot down the rocket if it crosses over its airspace as one did previously, Agence France-Presse reports from Pyongyang.
The Associated Press reported last week that the US has few options for punishment if North Korea goes ahead with the rocket launch. China would likely block any attempt to ratchet up sanctions via the UN Security Council out of fear of destabilizing its volatile neighbor.
It's also unclear what the repercussions of putting further pressure on Pyongyang might be; a Security Council condemnation of a 2009 rocket launch prompted North Korea to expel UN nuclear inspectors, abandon disarmament talks, and conduct a second nuclear test, AP reports. The buildup to this launch has erased hopes in the West that Kim Jong-un, who only assumed office at the end of 2011, might bring about change in the isolated, defiant country. It has also derailed a "food for nukes" agreement between Washington and Pyongyang.
At a nuclear conference in Seoul in late March, President Obama warned of "consequences" for Pyongyang if it went through with the launch, but his warning seemed to have no impact on North Korea's plans. A foreign ministry spokesman replied that the country would not give up its satellite launch and reiterated that it was both for peaceful purposes and within its rights as a sovereign state. Pyongyang's actions imply that it believes it can "get away" with the launch, The Christian Science Monitor reported after the conference.
The irony is the abiding sense that North Korea can get away with firing the rocket, despite all protests, on the calculated gamble that all rhetoric will fail to gain significant traction in the run-up to the US presidential election in November and South Korea’s election in November.
South Korean intelligence says that North Korea is also preparing what would be its third nuclear test, scheduled to happen after this upcoming rocket launch, Reuters reports in a separate story.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified intelligence source as saying North Korea was "clandestinely preparing a nuclear test" at the same location as the first two.
The source added that workers in the destitute North had been seen in commercial satellite images digging a tunnel in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri, Kilju County, in addition to existing mines believed to have been used for tests in 2006 and 2009.
"We have confirmed the (mining) work is coming to its final stage," the source was quoted as saying.
North Korea not the only offender: 6 official photo fudgings
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A soldier stands guard in front of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket sitting on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, during a guided media tour by North Korean authorities in the northwest of Pyongyang April 8. (Bobby Yip/REUTERS)
Reports: North Korea planning a new nuclear test (+video)
North Korea may be planning a nuclear test, according to new intelligence reports from South Korea. Such a test would defy United Nations Security Council resolutions and contravene promises Pyongyang made in 2005 to "curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for aid," according to CNN.
News of the possible atomic test comes as North Korea is already facing international condemnation over a controversial rocket test scheduled for this week. Testing an atomic device as well will likely further strain already tense relations between the reclusive nation and its neighbors.
North Korean officials contend that the rocket launch is for peaceful purposes and will celebrate the 100th birthday of the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung. They say that the rocket is part of a space program, but a number of regional authorities say it is most likely a thinly disguised test of a long-range missile. American and regional officials also contend that the rocket violates UN resolutions.
“North Korea is staging preparations for a nuclear test at the Punggye-ri test site, which is under surveillance by U.S. spy satellites, in case the international community responds with sanctions,” said on South Korean official in an article by The Chosunilbo.
Initial reports indicate that the nuclear test may come several months after the missile launch. North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, and there is some speculation that it may be planning another test to leverage its influence in the international community.
“Once again this shows ... they know how to manipulate the world,” said Andrei Lankov of Seoul's Kookmin University in an article by CNN. “If they do a missile launch and in few months a successful nuclear test, especially a uranium based nuclear device, it will send a very strong message to the world. The same message they always want to deliver – we are here, we are dangerous, unpredictable and it's better to deal with us by giving us monetary and food concessions.”
North Korean officials say that the rocket will launch a satellite into space. To prove that the rocket is for peaceful purposes, North Korea invited a number of international journalists to see the rocket before its launch. Yonhap News Agency reports that the satellite will be used to collect information about North Korea’s agricultural resources and help the nation better respond to natural disasters.
With widespread poverty a significant problem in North Korea, the nation has also come under fire for investing substantial sums in rocket tests at a time when so many of its people are in need. North Korean officials counter that technological developments are critical to advancing the nation’s interests.
“If we don't develop our own technology, we will become slaves,” said the director of the rocket launch site in an interview with the BBC. “We need our own technology to be an advanced country, to be a powerful space nation.”
The rocket launch, which is scheduled to take place between April 12 and 16, comes amid a number of other celebrations to mark Kim Il-sung's 100th anniversary. The Korea Herald reports that several new power plants, factories, and buildings have opened to mark the occasion. Additionally, North Korean officials unveiled a 120-foot rock carving of Kim Il-sung.
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This November 2010 file photo shows Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in US custody after being flown from Bangkok to New York in a chartered US plane. The former Soviet officer was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a New York court on Thursday. (Drug Enforcement Administration/AP/File)
Arms dealer Viktor Bout, blamed for arming Al Qaeda, receives 25 years in prison (+video)
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
International weapons trafficker Viktor Bout of Russia was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a New York court yesterday, ending a four-year bid to bring to justice the man who is accused of arming Al Qaeda and the Taliban, among others.
Mr. Bout, nicknamed the "merchant of death," was taken into custody in 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand, in a US Drug Enforcement Agency sting in which agents pretended to be members of Colombia's rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It took 2-1/2 years to extradite him to the US to stand trial, a process Russia considered to be a violation of international law.
The former Soviet officer was convicted last fall of conspiring to kill American citizens, officers, and employees by agreeing to sell weapons to FARC, which he believed was "intent on killing Americans," The New York Times reports. The deal included "tens of thousands of AK-47 rifles, millions of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of missiles, ultra-lightweight airplanes and other military equipment."
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Bout, but the fact that he was captured in a sting appeared to work in his favor, the Associated Press reports. US District Judge Shira Scheindlin said that 25 years was sufficient because "there was no evidence … Bout would have been charged with seeking to harm Americans if not approached by informants posing as Colombian rebels."
According to AP, Bout ran a global cargo operation "from Afghanistan to Angola" for almost two decades, reportedly building up a fortune of $6 billion. He delivered everything from "raw minerals to gladiolas, drilling equipment to frozen fish," but his specialty was black-market weapons from Russian stocks and Eastern European factories. His trafficking inspired the Nicholas Cage film "Lord of War."
The US has alleged that Bout's operation armed the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the months leading up to the 9/11 attacks. His planes were then headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, and the US, United Nations, and Britain received a growing number of reports that they were delivering supplies to the Taliban, under whose rule Al Qaeda operated freely in Afghanistan.
Russia has viewed the prosecution against Bout as politically motivated since he was first arrested in Thailand and was furious when the US extradited him from Thailand to the US in November 2010, The Christian Science Monitor reported at the time. Viktor Baranets, a military columnist for the Moscow daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, said that had the US worked with Russia, rather than acting unilaterally, Russia's response might have been different.
"As it is, we have a lot of questions. Many people in Russia believe that Bout is being framed. Some think that Bout was removed because he's a competitor of American arms interests, or otherwise crossed them. The case against him contains a lot of strong accusations, but the substance looks thin," Mr. Baranets said.
Today Russia's Foreign Ministry said it would make every effort to have Bout repatriated and that it would be a "top priority" in US-Russia relations, official news outlet RIA Novosti reports. Russia insists that Bout's capture and trial were unfair.
"In spite of the unreliability of the evidence, the illegal character of his arrest involving the participation of US special service agents in Thailand and the subsequent extradition, American legal officials, having carried out a political order, ignored the arguments of lawyers and numerous appeals from all levels in defense of this Russian citizen," the Russian ministry said.
"Long before the sentence was given to Bout, the authorities declared him the 'Merchant of Death' and almost an international terrorist, but this accusation was based exclusively on his imputed 'criminal intent'," the Ministry added.
"From there, an attempt was made to force him to admit his guilt by creating unbearable conditions for detention, by both physical and psychological means. The absolutely unacceptable campaign by the American media was aimed at influencing the jury and the judicial process in the 'right direction.' "
Bout proclaimed his innocence until the end, insisting “I am not guilty. I never intended to kill anyone and I never intended to sell arms to anyone," The New York Times reports.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen after his arrest in this 2003 file photo. The accused September 11 mastermind and four suspected co-conspirators were referred on April 4 to trial before a Guantanamo war crimes tribunal on charges that could carry the death penalty, the Pentagon said. (U.S. News & World Report/REUTERS/File)
9/11 trial to resume at Guantánamo, ending quest for civilian trial
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
The military trial for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others suspected of playing a role in the attacks will resume at Guantanamo Bay after authorization yesterday from a Pentagon official, formally ending the Obama administration's quest to have the five men tried in a civilian court.
The United States has been vociferously debating the proper way to handle detainees such as Mr. Mohammed, who has claimed responsibility for plotting the 9/11 attacks, particularly the question of whether he and the other men should be tried in a civilian court as criminals or in a military court as enemy combatants.
IN PICTURES: Guantánamo Bay: 10 years and counting
The Obama administration tried to move the case into a federal court in New York, but faced fierce congressional and local opposition. In April 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder said he was "reluctantly" pushing the case back to the military, the Washington Post reports. An arraignment will be held at Guantánamo next month.
All five suspects – four of whom played lesser roles such as training or coordinating logistics – could be handed down death sentences, The Christian Science Monitor reports. In addition to Mohammed, they include Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi.
Several issues already addressed will have to be litigated once again because the trial is beginning anew. Among them are three of the suspects' request for self-representation and evaluation of the mental health and capacity of two of the suspects, according to the Post. The five men all face the possibility of the death penalty for the litany of charges against them: terrorism, hijacking, conspiracy, and murder in violation of the law of war, among others.
The case has been controversial for other reasons as well, such as the methods used for gaining information. The men were held in secret CIA prisons before being sent to Guantánamo, where the CIA admitted to waterboarding Mohammed during interrogation.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that while the Obama administration worked with Congress in 2009 to overhaul the military commissions, adding safeguards for prisoners that didn't exist under the Bush administration, critics say they are still inadequate for a fair trial. Civil and human rights advocates see the military commissions as "second-class justice."
“The Obama administration is making a terrible mistake by prosecuting the most important terrorism trials of our time in a second-tier system of justice,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.
“Whatever verdict comes out of the Guantánamo military commissions will be tainted by an unfair process and the politics that wrongly pulled these cases from federal courts, which have safely and successfully handled hundreds of terrorism trials,” he said.
Mr. Romero said military commission procedures and special rules of evidence are designed to win “easy convictions,” and to hide the harsh interrogation tactics – including waterboarding – that Mohammed was subjected to.
The five men are accused of various roles in the 9/11 attacks, the deadliest on US soil. Two commercial airliners were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing them to collapse. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon. A fourth, believed to be headed for the Capitol or the White House, crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers overcame the hijackers.
Reuters reports that the case is "double-edged" for President Barack Obama, particularly in an election year. Voters will be reminded that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by a daring raid Mr. Obama approved, but they are likely to also be reminded that the president has not fulfilled his 2008 campaign promise to close the US prison at Guantánamo Bay.
Although the number of people held at Guantánamo has decreased under Obama – from 252 when he took office to 171 today, according to Reuters – the administration failed to find other countries willing to take in the detainees, preventing Guantánamo's closure.
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Ambulances are seen outside the Somali National Theater in Mogadishu, Somalia, April 4. At least 10 people were killed and dozens were wounded in a suicide bombing at the theater on Wednesday. (Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP)
Deadly blast at Somali theater mars Mogadishu's budding peace
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
At least 10 people were killed and dozens were wounded in a suicide bombing at Somalia's national theater in Mogadishu, marring the relative peace that the city has been experiencing as of late after years of conflict.
The Islamic militant group Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place during a high-profile event celebrating the first anniversary of Somalia's new national television broadcaster, reports Reuters. Al Shabab spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab said that the attack was aimed at government officials, including the prime minister, who was in attendance. "We were behind the theater blast. We targeted the infidel ministers and legislators, and they were the casualties of today," he said.
Among those reportedly killed in the attack were the Somali Olympic Committee president, Aden Yabarow Wiish, and the head of Somalia's soccer federation, Said Mohamed Nur. The head of Mogadishu's ambulance service told the Associated Press that the country's national planning minister was among the injured.
"The blast happened as musicians were singing and spectators were clapping for them," Salah Jimale, who was in attendance at the theater but received only light scratches, told the AP. "Huge smoke made the whole scene go dark. People screamed and soldiers suddenly started opening fire at the gate. Some wounded people escaped and ran away." The AP adds that the gunfire was from soldiers firing into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd outside the theater.
The deadly bombing comes as Mogadishu, long associated with Islamist violence and civil war, has been experiencing something of a rebirth. As the Monitor reported in late February, Al Shabab has been in retreat in recent months. African Union and UN peacekeepers have pushed the militants out of the city, allowing residents who fled Al Shabab to return. And Kenyan and Ethiopian forces have been driving back Al Shabab forces elsewhere in the country, granting a much desired respite to the beleaguered citizenry.
Mogadishu's National Theater itself had only reopened in mid-March, after years of disuse during Al Shabab's strict Islamist rule. Reuters notes that it recently held its first concert in 20 years, "a sign of a marked improvement in security in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country."
"The city is returning to normal now. Thanks to Allah we can do business here again," said the Somali-American chairman of the new First Somali Bank, Liban Abdi Igal. The African Report writes that Mr. Igal is investing millions of dollars into the project. "I have returned here with optimism after seeing progress and revival," he said.
"I see so much difference as a longtime resident in Mogadishu," Mogadishu resident Abdiaziz Nur told Reuters. "I had never dreamed that I would either walk through Mogadishu's streets or drive my car at night, but now we feel glorified and proud."
Still, attacks in the city have not stopped, even with the relative peace. In early February, an Al Shabab car bomb in Mogadishu's government center left 15 people dead. And just a day after the National Theater's reopening concert, Al Shabab forces launched a mortar attack at the presidential palace, just 300 yards away from the theater. Today's bombing differs primarily in the high-profile nature of the event and people targeted.
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French members of the French National Police Intervention Group (GIPN) arrest a suspected radical islamist group member in Roubaix, northern France, Wednesday. France arrested 10 suspected Islamist militants today in early morning raids in five different locations across the country, mostly in the south. (AP)
France arrests 10 suspected militants in latest post-Toulouse raids
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
France arrested 10 suspected Islamist militants today, the latest detentions in an ongoing government crackdown since a French citizen, claiming inspiration from Al Qaeda, killed seven people last month.
The 10 were arrested in early morning raids in five different locations across the country, mostly in the south. Several news reports indicated they were either planning to go to Afghanistan or Pakistan to attend militant training camps or had recently returned. The New York Times reports that they fit the same "disaffected loner profile" as Mohammed Merah, the 23-year-old French-born Muslim responsible for last month's shootings, and were not part of any sort of network.
Today's raid was the second in the past couple of weeks, although President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is running for reelection in a tight race, said the arrests are not connected to either Mr. Merah's killings or the upcoming presidential elections.
Reuters notes that some French media outlets had been tipped off about the raids and police did not block off the area, encouraging mass coverage of the raid.
Yesterday, a state prosecutor announced that judicial authorities would be indicting 13 alleged Muslim militants, arrested in raids on March 30, who are suspected of plotting terrorist "acts" in France. The 13 were members of the local Islamist group Forsane Alizza ("Knights of Pride"), according to the Times. BBC reports that the group was banned last month.
Among the arrested, nine of whom are awaiting trial in prison, is the leader of the group, Mohamed Achamlane, CNN reports. Forsane Alizza was "calling for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in France and calling for the implementation of Sharia law and inciting Muslims in France to unite for the preparation of a civil war," Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said.
French authorities say that the group has been under investigation since October 2011, and the sting's timing, so soon after Merah's shootings, is coincidence. Mr. Achamlane's lawyer rejected the accusations, saying that his client was being used as a political tool in presidential elections. "These are statements that are not supported by any material facts. This affair is purely electioneering and politically motivated, that is all," Philippe Missamou said, according to CNN.
Reuters reports that, according to prosecutor Mr. Molins, the operation against the group was "brought forward by events in Toulouse" and because the group appeared to be ramping up training and weapons acquisition and holding regular meetings, suggesting "imminent" action.
The Interior ministry announced on April 2 that five Muslim preachers would be expelled from the country. Two have since been deported, and there are plans to expel three more. Interior Minister Claude Gueant said "the moves were part of 'an acceleration of the deportation procedures of foreign Islamic radicals.' " The five are all from other countries: Algeria, Mali, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Turkey, CNN reports.
Security has become a major campaign theme since Merah's deadly rampage, particularly for Mr. Sarkozy, who has caught up in the polls to Socialist challenger François Hollande. Critics of Sarkozy have accused him of capitalizing on the national tragedy. Centrist challenger François Bayrou said today that "it was normal for the state to round up people suspected of crimes, but that when 'that is done with journalists summoned and in the presence of cameras, I find that astonishing,' " Agence France-Presse reports.
Seventy percent of voters approved of Sarkozy's handling of the situation, Reuters reports, and his ratings have "inched" up, although he is still projected to lose to Mr. Hollande in the runoff on May 6.
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