Mudflow declared disaster zone
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Sidoarjo
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday declared areas swamped by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, a disaster zone and ordered some 3,000 affected families to be permanently relocated.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting in Jakarta, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said the President had declared some 400 hectares affected by the mud, which has been gushing out of a Lapindo Brantas Inc. gas exploration site since May 29, as no longer fit for human habitation.
"That's why residents in the area have to be relocated," Djoko was quoted by Antara as saying after Yudhoyono met with the government team appointed to deal with the mudflow.
He said Yudhoyono had ordered 2,983 affected families to be relocated. The President also ordered they be provided with jobs as well as financial compensation.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060928.@01&irec=0
Activists bring mud to welfare minister
Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Environmental activists poured some 700 kilograms of toxic mud outside the office of welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie on Wednesday to protest the government's handling of the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster.
The mud was brought from Sidoarjo, East Java, where sludge has been gushing since May 29 from a gas drilling site owned by Lapindo Brantas Inc., which is linked to Aburizal's family.
Protesters from Greenpeace Southeast Asia demanded that Lapindo take full responsibility for the disaster.
"It is utterly shameless for the minister to distance himself from the disaster when his corporate group owns the controlling shares in this operation," Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Emmy Hafild said at the rally.
The activists staged a silent protest, holding posters that read "Stop your mud Mr. Bakrie or your mud will stop you!"
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060928.@02&irec=1
Mud volcano persists, and thousands are homeless as rainy season nears
PORONG, East Java (AP): Factories that once produced watches and shoes lie under a sea of thick, stinking mud. Villagers stand on hastily constructed dams and gaze at their homes, among thousands swallowed by the brown sludge.
Almost four months ago, a torrent of hot mud from deep beneath the surface of Indonesia's seismically charged Java island began surging from a gas exploration site following a drilling accident.
In the so-called mud volcano, around 126,000 cubic meters (163,000 cubic yards) of muck pour from the hole daily, often in geyser-like eruptions that have left some 269 hectares (665 acres) of land flooded or abandoned as unsafe.
The mud, which runs as deep as five meters (16 feet) in places, has submerged or washed into houses in four villages, displacing more than 10,000 people whom the government says will have to be relocated. At least 20 factories and many hectares (acres) of rice fields and prawn farms have been destroyed.
"The volume of mud that is coming out of the hole is not just large, it's enormous," American engineer Earl Hunt Jr. said as he oversaw dredging operations at the volcano's rim.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060929103010&irec=5
Forest fires worsen again on Sumatra
PEKANBARU, Riau province (Antara): Forest fires on Sumatra Island have worsened since the recent days, sparking thicker haze in several areas of the island.
Citing data from the U.S.' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an official said Friday that hotspots across the island increased to 554 on Thursday from 178 in the previous day.
With 52 hotspots, Riau is the worse province affected by the forest fires, said Dodo, an officer on duty at the Forest and Bush Fires Monitoring Post in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru, Friday.
According to Dodo, the fires occurred in both forests and plantations in all regencies of the province.
Haze sparked by the forest fire have caused problems to motorists and pedestrians because their vision could only reach hundreds of meters.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060929112101&irec=3
RI hopes no major change in Japan's foreign policy
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
While congratulating Japan on the election of its new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry has said it hopes Japan does not deviate too far from its current foreign policy toward Indonesia and the region.
"We congratulate Japan on the election of its new prime minister. We hope there is no drastic change in its current foreign policy, which has been able to improve Japan-Indonesia bilateral relations and the condition of the region in general," Foreign Ministry secretary-general Imron Cotan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He was optimistic that bilateral relations would further improve, stressing that the two countries had a very firm foundation for future cooperation because of the tight ties between them.
Japan is Indonesia's largest trading partner. Two-way trade amounted to US$24.9 billion last year, with an $11.1 billion surplus in Indonesia's favor. Japan is also among Indonesia's largest investors, with approved investment plans amounting to $1.68 billion last year
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060928.@03&irec=2
PM Abe's assertive diplomacy and the almighty yen
Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In his first news conference after officially replacing Junichiro Koizumi as Japanese prime minister on Tuesday, Shinzo Abe said: "I want to make Japan a beautiful country which is trusted and respected by the countries of the world and in which children can be proud of being born."
How to achieve that? "I want to pursue an assertive diplomacy," Abe hinted.
An assertive diplomacy means that Japan will act with a higher profile and a more straightforward approach. How? Last year, in private conversations, many Japanese officials complained that Indonesia did not back Japan in its efforts to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, despite the massive amounts of money Japan has invested in and loaned to Indonesia.
Japan was reportedly upset that Indonesia refused to back its bid to join the Security Council because Jakarta was worried about upsetting Beijing. But Japanese diplomats opted to show their displeasure with vague protests, so Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda concluded that the issue was not really a serious matter for Japan.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060928.A04&irec=3
STATE ADDRESS
OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
AND
THE GOVERNMENT STATEMENT
ON
THE BILL ON THE STATE BUDGET
FOR THE 2007 FISCAL YEAR
AND
ITS FINANCIAL NOTE
BEFORE THE PLENARY SESSION OF
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Jakarta, 16 August 2006
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,
May we all be bestowed with prosperity,
Honourable Speaker, Deputy Speakers, and Members of the House of Representatives,
Esteemed Chairpersons, Deputy Chairpersons, and Members of State Institutions,
Excellencies, the Ambassadors and Representatives of International Agencies and Organizations,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My Fellow Countrymen,
Let us offer our praise and gratitude to Allah SWT for it is with His mercy and grace that we are able to attend the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia today. I wish to thank the House, which has provided me with the opportunity to deliver this state address and the Government Statement on the Bill on the State Budget for 2007, and its Financial Note.
Tomorrow, God Willing, we shall commemorate the historic moments of the sixty-first anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence of our country. Let us take a moment to bow our heads to offer our most profound praise and gratitude to God the Almighty for the blessing of independence that has been bestowed upon us. It is also with His blessing, mercy, and grace that, for the last sixty-one years, our nation and state remain standing robustly. All of the trials and tribulations that have come alternatingly during the last sixty-one years have forged our fortitude and resilience as a nation to continur striving to reach high and noble ideals.
As a reflection of history on this auspicious day, we should all express our highest gratitude and respect to all of the patriots and heroes of the nation, who have dedicated their lives, even their body and soul, to achieve, maintain, and develop the independence. I also wish to extend my profound expression of respect to the Presidents who have preceded me, whose leadership I now perpetuate, namely Dr. Ir. Soekarno, Grand General Soeharto, Prof. Dr. B.J. Habibie, KH Abdurrahman Wahid and Ibu Megawati Soekarnoputri, for their dedication and contribution, in leading the nation and state, so that we have reached the current state of progress. A similar expression is also extended to the Prime Ministers of Indonesia --- from PM Sutan Sjahris to PM Djuanda --- who have led the government of our country, while we adopted the parliamentary system of governance in the past.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/sby_speech_2006.asp
Nobel Fever: Secrecy, speculation surrounded prizes
STOCKHOLM (AP): A Finn who helped mediate peace in Indonesia is tipped to win this year's Nobel Peace Prize, while bookmakers favor a Turkish novelist for the literature award.
But in the hyper-secretive world of the panels that have spent much of the year sifting through hundreds of nominations, it's all a guessing game until the announcements start tumbling out onMonday.
Nobel-watchers rely on complex mathematical formulas, statistical calculations and pure instinct to make their predictions, but don't get any hints whatsoever from the awarding institutions in Stockholm and Oslo.
The prizes established 111 years ago by Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, are in the categories of literature, peace, medicine, physics, chemistry and economics.
The latter, many of whose past winners are Americans, is technically not a Nobel but a 1968 creation of Sweden's central bank.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060929171533&irec=0
KL arrests 17,700 suspected illegals, mostly Indonesians
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia (The Star\ANN): Malaysia's People's Voluntary Corps (Rela) arrested a total of 17,700 people believed to be illegal immigrants and screened 94,010 people up to Sept. 26 this year.
In a statement issued here yesterday, Rela said that out of the figure, Indonesians comprised the highest number of those arrested at 12,076, followed by those from Myanmar (2,089), Indians (963), Bangladeshis (923), Thais (402), Chinese (43) andothers (1,200).
In addition to that, four employers were also arrested.
The statement added that Rela would intensify operations to help reduce the number of illegal immigrants during the Ramadan month up to Hari Raya.
The statement also said that state Rela directors and district Rela officers had been ordered to proceed with the usual operations.
Employers were also warned not to employ illegal immigrants or harbour them because it was against the law. (**)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060929132641&irec=1
Govt acts to improve tax refund system
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As part of the effort to improve the tax refund system, the Finance Ministry will revoke the right to claim tax refunds on the part of businesses that have failed to pay their taxes.
Enterprises that have not submitted their tax returns for two consecutive years and have not paid their taxes will be publicly named and shamed and declared ineligible to file for tax refunds, Director General of Taxation Darmin Nasution said during a hearing Wednesday with a House of Representatives commission.
The tax office will, however, retain their tax registration numbers for future tax collection purposes.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060928.A06&irec=5
Woman contracts bird flu in new family cluster: health official
JAKARTA (AP): An Indonesian woman whose brother died of bird flu this month is also sick with the virus, a senior Health Ministry official said Friday, confirming the country's latest family cluster of infections.
The 21-year-old woman is being treated in a hospital in Surabaya city in east Java province, said Nyoman Kandun. Her 11-year-old brother died from bird flu on Sept. 18. He was suspected of contracting the virus from infected chickens close to his house.
"This is a family cluster," said Nyoman, adding that the source of the woman's infection was not yet known.
Most of Indonesia's 52 fatal cases have been linked to contact with infected chickens or their droppings. But the World Health Organization said the virus passed between humans in one large cluster of cases in a single family on Sumatra Island earlierthis year.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060929112837&irec=2
WHO: New drugs needed to deal with deadly bird flu virus
GENEVA (AP): New drugs are needed to treat the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed at least 148 people, because of the possibility that it could mutate and develop resistance to the most effective anti-viral medicines, a WHO scientist said Thursday.
"We know that there are (H5N1) viruses that are circulating that are resistant to these drugs, and so there is an urgent need to look at other anti-viral avenues," said Mike Perdue, a team leader with WHO's influenza program who took part in a two-daybird flu conference earlier this week sponsored by the U.N. health body.
Oseltamivir and amantadine, sold as Tamiflu and Symmetrel respectively, are the only known effective treatments for people who have contracted the virus. But there have been isolated instances in Asia where infected patients did not respond to the drugs.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060929103417&irec=4
Leaders help cool down pope's debatable remarks
Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta
Candidates for the papacy, perhaps, should have a stint living in Indonesia prior to ascending to the papal throne. After all, once he becomes pope he will command one in six human beings encompassing hundreds of culture.
It is, in a sense, not unlike being born Indonesian.
As any Indonesian knows, living in a nation comprising hundreds of ethnic groups, each with its own dialect and culture, is no easy feat. Almost nothing you do or say will be correct for every situation, even if you have the best of intentions.
Hence, sensitivity plays an important part of life for Indonesians. The downside, however, is that sensitivity tends to be so well developed that Indonesians are often powerless against erring leaders.
In terms of religious belief, Indonesia offers everything from animism and traditional beliefs to monotheism.
Pope hopefuls who put some time in here also would learn how to live as a minority, which is not something they experience living in Europe. Examples of religious violence do not have to be drawn from the 14th century, as Pope Benedict did in his controversial Sept. 12 speech, because it is happening right here and now, committed by both Muslims and Christians.
Last week three Christians found guilty of masterminding attacks on Muslims in Poso in 2000 were executed, despite an 11th hour appeal by the Vatican.
Thousands have died in religious conflicts in the country. In Poso and Ambon, two hotbeds of conflict, as well as in other places around the archipelago, hundreds of houses of worship have been burned down, and people often have to worship under the watchful eyes of security guards.
Yet the nation appears to have reached a newfound peace, with its leaders lending a voice of reason to the controversy surrounding the pope's comments that appeared to link the spread of Islam with violence.
Pope Benedict has expressed his regret three times over the reaction to his words, but stopped short of offering a full apology for his speech at the University of Regensburg in his native Germany. On Monday, he met with some 20 Muslim leaders at his summer residence near Rome, a well-received gesture.
To be fair to the pope, he is still relatively new to the job and he is living in a globalized world. Perhaps he thought he was back at the campus as a theology professor, forgetting he is now the pope and his words echo around the world.
He should have known that his speech would be relayed to billions of people. For world leaders, local news has turned global. Although he was quoting an archaic text, the pope's words traveled fast across a myriad of cultures.
In a world plagued with problems between Islam and the West, a controversial statement can easily lead to a conflagration of anger, like a spark of fire in dry grass. And any words uttered by the pope will be scrutinized instantly.
Due to limited space and time, the press has a tendency to quote statements out of context. In his weekly audience last Wednesday, the pope said the real intention of his speech at Regensburg had been to explain that religion and violence do not go together, but that religion and reason do.
It would have been more elegant if the pope also had cited past violence committed by Christians, to avoid the implication that violence was something having only to do with Islam.
Still, it would have been better if the pope had offered an unqualified apology. Perhaps it is because of his strict German upbringing, where an apology is not in order when a mistake is not perceived to have been made.
In many countries, including Indonesia, apologizing is like having breakfast. You just offer an apology as a necessary gesture each time you make a mistake, real or perceived.
Thankfully, encouraging words from world leaders such as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Indonesia's Hasyim Muzadi, the head of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, have helped to cool down the controversy.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060929.F04&irec=3
Can Indonesia earn the respect of the world?
John A. Prasetio, Jakarta
Indonesia's world competitiveness ranking was near the bottom of all 61 economies surveyed by Swiss-based IMD at the beginning of 2006, and the country's position also fell in the World Bank's 2006 ranking on the Ease of Doing Business.
Before the Asian financial crisis, people talked of Indonesia as a potential "tiger" economy. That momentum has been lost. Today some are even wondering if our relative position in the global prosperity rankings will continue slipping in the next decade or so.
For sure, widespread poverty continues to be a number one challenge for Indonesia. And yet, relative to China, Malaysia and other neighboring countries, we do not seem to be as hungry, determined or eager to compete for a bigger slice of the global economic pie. Since the Megawati administration, we have been debating the need to lure investors by way of simplifying tax laws and reducing tax rates.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060929.E02&irec=1
Truth-seeking and the possibility of keeping its costs to a minimum
Budiawan, Yogyakarta
The government plans to set up a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate past human rights violations. However, judging from recent events, this idea is likely to stay merely an idea.
It seems Indonesia is still not ready, and perhaps will never be ready, to honestly reassess what happened on Sept. 30, 1965.
The Soeharto regime successfully brainwashed the people about what occurred during and after the aborted coup attempt and many people still blindly believe the New Order version of events.
According to this story, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) attempted unsuccessfully to topple president Sukarno's government. This means that Sukarno, at the time closely allied to the party, was involved in a coup attempt to topple himself.
The Attorney General's Office recently questioned a group of historians responsible for academic efforts to reassess the Sept. 30 incident. Some people in government and many in society still strongly resist any attempt to reexamine the facts in Indonesia's history textbooks.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060929.E03&irec=2
Terrorist's wife tells of love, heartbreak
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
Mira Agustina learned from the media that her husband Omar al-Farouq, alias Mahmud Ahmad Asegaff, was killed in Iraq on Monday, but is still not convinced he is dead.
"No one from the government has come to my house to tell us what really happened to my husband," Mira said Wednesday at her home in Cisalada village in Bogor, West Java, about an hour's drive from Jakarta.
Mira, wearing an all-enveloping black burqa, said she could not accept that her husband, one of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's top global lieutenants, was dead.
Raising the couple's two young daughters, ages 4 and 6, practically alone, because even when in Indonesia al-Farouq was rarely at home, Mira, 28, said she had long dreamed of the day when the man she affectionately refers to as Pak Mahmud would come home for good.
But she realizes it is now up to her to support her daughters. She has tried working in Jakarta as a babysitter, but didn't like the work and quit.
"I want to sell this house and find a smaller one so I can start a small business to support my children."
But Mira does not want to move from the village because she thinks it is a good place to raise children. She was born in Cisalada and knows everyone, and feels comfortable here.
After al-Farouq was taken by Indonesian intelligence officers and handed over to the U.S. in 2002, Mira relied on her five brothers and sisters to make ends meet and send her daughters to school.
It never occurred to Mira that she would be getting involved with one of the world's most wanted terrorists when she accepted al-Farouq's marriage proposal in 1999.
"We met at a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Jepara, Central Java. He said he saw me and fell in love at first sight. I turned him down three times but he came to my late father to ask for my hand in marriage," she said, declining to name the boarding school.
To Mira and her family al-Farouq was a businessman from Ambon who traveled and moved a lot. The newlyweds moved from one town to another, until al-Farouq sent Mira back to Cisalada to live with her family while he "took care of his business".
"People can call him a terrorist, but to me he was the best husband, the best father for our daughters and the best imam (leader) for our family," Mira said.
A neighbor, Juariah, said she had never had any problems with Mira and respected her for her staunch religious beliefs. "She does not talk much with the neighbors but maybe she doesn't like to gossip. I have know her since she was a little girl and I know the rest of the family. We heard about her husband but we never saw him around here."
Al-Farouq has been linked to thwarted plots on U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia and is alleged to have been a key link between al-Qaeda and regional terrorists.
U.S. leaders have described al-Farouq as the top al-Qaeda operative in Southeast Asia. Caught in Indonesia, al-Farouq escaped from a high-security detention center in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2005.
While on the run al-Farouq never wrote or contacted Mira, although she allows that there are "husband-and-wife matters that need not be shared".
"But now I surrender everything to God. He knows what is best for my husband. I don't know what to say about his death. If the government does not want to take care of his body and fly him back to be buried here, I hope they will help me see him wherever he is now," she said.
Mira is now focusing on raising her daughters. "I want my children to get the best Islamic education so they will grow up as strong women who the world will heed. But most of all, with a strong religious foundation, they will know which side to take, the right one or the wrong one."
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060928.A05&irec=4
Intelligence chief says unlikely al-Farouq's body will be returned to wife
JAKARTA (Antara): Mira Agustina, the wife of suspected terrorist Omar al-Farouq, is unlikely to receive the body of her husband, who was killed by British troops in Iraq on Monday, an Indonesianintelligence chief said Thursday.
British forces shot and killed suspected terrorist al-Farouq in Iraq, more than a year after he embarrassed the U.S. military by making an unprecedented escape from a maximum securitymilitary prison in Afghanistan, officials said.
Al-Farouq was gunned down after he opened fire on British forces during a raid on his home in Basra, 550 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, British forces spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge was quoted by AP as saying.
"(The family can) submit a proposal (for the return of his body), but the chances of that are very slim," State Intelligence Body chief Syamsir Siregar was quoted by Antara news agency as saying after meeting with House of RepresentativesCommission I for defense and foreign affairs.
According to Syamsir, Farouq held a number of passports obtained from different countries, therefore it is difficult to determine whether he was an Indonesian citizen.
But he confirmed that the man who was shot by British soldiers was Farouq, who was originally arrested in Indonesia and handed over to the U.S.
Earlier, a number of legislators called on the government to return the body of al-Farouq to Indonesia to be handed over to his wife and two children, who live in Bogor, West Java.
"The government has to immediately arrange the return of al-Farouq's body," said Ali Muchtar Ngabalin, a member of Commission I, adding that when top terrorist Azahaari was killed in Indonesia, his body was returned to his native Malaysia.
Al-Farouq was arrested in Indonesia in 2002 before being handed over to U.S. authorities. He has been linked to thwarted plots on U.S. embassies in Southeast Asia, and is alleged to have been a key link between al-Qaeda and regional terrorists. (**)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060928172620&irec=0
From the New York Times
THREATS AND RESPONSES: ARRESTS; Agents Arrest Terror Suspects Outside Buffalo
By DON VAN NATTA JR. AND PHILIP SHENON
Published: September 14, 2002
Federal authorities tonight arrested five men of Arab background in a suburb outside Buffalo on suspicion they were linked to a terrorist group operating in the United States, federal law enforcement officials said.
The officials described the arrests as ''significant'' but said they could not discuss details of the charges, which were under court seal. They said the charges and further details about the suspects may be made public on Saturday at a Justice Department news conference.
The five men, who have Yemeni backgrounds, have lived in the United States for several years within a few blocks of one other in Lackawanna, a suburb of Buffalo, officials said.
Two senior government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said tonight that the investigation that led to the arrests had been a factor in the Bush administration's decision to raise the national alert level on Tuesday. It was raised from yellow, signifying caution, to orange, the second highest among the five levels of national terrorism warnings. The orange level signifies a ''high risk of terrorist attacks,'' according to the government.
A senior government official tonight said the decision to raise the alert to the orange level was made after Omar al-Farouq, a senior Qaeda official arrested in Southeast Asia this summer, had given information to investigators that suggested terror cells were in Asia planning attacks on American facilities.
But the official did not say whether any of those arrested Friday were connected to Mr. al-Farouq.
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30713F735550C778DDDA00894DA404482
Los Angeles Times
Legal Battle Over Detainee Bill Is Likely
The Senate approves Bush's plan for military tribunals. Limits on terror suspects' options for appeal could lead to a Supreme Court ruling.
By David G. Savage and Richard Simon, Times Staff Writers
September 29, 2006
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved President Bush's plan to question and try foreign terrorism suspects before military judges — without oversight by the federal courts.
Bush is expected to receive a bill he can sign into law in the next few days, but legal challenges almost assuredly will be pursued against the prosecution process, which the administration considers a key element in its war on terrorism.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-detain29sep29,0,142943.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Border Bill Takes a Detour
The Senate moves to vote on a 700-mile fence, but a farmworker program is now at issue.
By Nicole Gaouette, Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2006
WASHINGTON — The Senate set the stage Thursday for a vote by week's end on a bill to wall off 700 miles of the U.S. border from Mexico, but a lastminute push by senators concerned about the severe shortage of agricultural workers could derail the measure's progress.
Senators agreed, by a vote of 71-28, to limit debate on the House-passed measure — a tally that many see as an indicator of the outcome of a final vote, which could come as early as today.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fence29sep29,0,2826437.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Don't Suspend Habeas Corpus
Any bill that denies that basic right to detainees should be rejected.
September 28, 2006
EVEN IF HE SAYS SO HIMSELF, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is an expert on constitutional law. So his warning that the Supreme Court is likely to invalidate pending legislation that would create military commissions to try terrorist suspects deserves a hearing — in the Senate.
The problem with the legislation — even with the improvements forced on the White House by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) — is that it would make it impossible for alleged enemy combatants to file what is known as a writ of habeas corpus, which allows them to challenge the legality of their imprisonment.
In 2004, the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's position and ruled that detainees at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay were entitled to file such petitions. In its decision, the high court cited a statute giving federal courts the authority to review habeas petitions. But in his majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens also quoted a 1945 case in which the court noted that habeas corpus is "a writ antecedent to statute … throwing its root deep into the genius of our common law." In fact, the "Great Writ" can be traced back to the Magna Carta. And although the Constitution allows Congress to suspend habeas corpus in "cases of rebellion or invasion," Specter rightly noted that "we don't have either."
The argument for allowing detainees to file habeas petitions goes beyond avoiding the embarrassment of a rebuke from the Supreme Court, which has already twice rebuffed the administration's legal strategy in the war against terrorism. Thirty-three former U.S. diplomats have sent a letter to Congress warning that "to deny habeas corpus to our detainees can be seen as prescription for how the captured members of our own military, diplomatic and NGO [nongovernmental organization] personnel stationed abroad may be treated."
On Wednesday, the House approved a bill that does not permit detainees to file habeas corpus petitions. That means that it will be up to Specter and his colleagues to preserve the Great Writ when the Senate votes, as early as today.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-habeas28sep28,0,6245504.story?coll=la-opinion-center
Declassifying the Obvious
It's not news that the Iraq war stokes jihadism, but Bush's secrecy makes it interesting.
September 28, 2006
THE JUDGMENT OF THE National Intelligence Estimate partly made public this week — that "the Iraq conflict has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists" — did not unveil an especially novel viewpoint or theory. So why has the report, assembled by U.S. intelligence agencies in April, caused such a sensation?
Partly it's the official pedigree of the document; partly it's the unconvincing attempt by President Bush to explain it away. In announcing Tuesday that he would declassify parts of the report, he testily suggested that the actual language would discredit "speculation" that it had linked the war in Iraq to a heightened terrorist threat. But the material released to the public came to essentially that conclusion (though it also backed Bush's contention that if jihadists failed in Iraq, they would recruit "fewer fighters" in the future).
Yet even before Bush declassified parts of the report, the document exerted a fascination that cannot be explained solely by its conclusions. Some of the report's mystique stems from the fact that, until Tuesday, it had been a secret.
Several of its observations — not just about the relationship between the U.S. presence in Iraq and the growth of "a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world" — are by now conventional wisdom: Jihadism is fostered not only by the Iraq war but also by corruption and repression in Muslim societies; countering the movement will require more than a military response; greater political participation in Muslim societies could drive a wedge between jihadists and political reformers, though it might also cause "destabilizing transitions." Yet because these conclusions were pried from a classified document, there is a frisson that would have been missing if the administration had made them public last spring.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-nie28sep28,0,846225.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
Suspect in Slaying of Fla. Deputy Is Shot and Killed
From Associated Press
7:20 AM PDT, September 29, 2006
LAKELAND, Fla. -- A man suspected of fatally shooting a Polk County sheriff's deputy was killed today, officials said.
SWAT team members shot the man numerous times after finding him in thick brush, just 100 yards away from where Deputy Vernon Matthew Williams was killed in a burst of gunfire a day earlier, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The suspect refused to show both of his hands when officers commanded him to, Judd said. He appeared to have the .45-caliber weapon that belonged to Williams, Judd said.
Judd still did not know the man's name, but said he saw the man's body in the brush and matched it to the photo of the suspect that had been released Thursday.
Williams' family had been told of the suspect's death, he said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-092906deputyshot,0,7902679.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Wary Eye Cast on Abe's 'New Japan'
The freshly minted premier seeks to revamp the pacifist constitution and instill patriotism in classrooms. His backers deny they're militaristic.
By Bruce Wallace, Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2006
TOKYO — For those who view Japan's swelling nationalism through suspicious eyes, there is plenty of evidence that the World War II loser is straining at its pacifist shackles.
New Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to rewrite Japan's war-renouncing constitution. He yearns for a robust role in world affairs, and has even mused about the possibility of a pre-emptive military strike against North Korean missile sites.
Abe's talk of a "new Japan" also includes a plan to inculcate patriotism in schools and put an end to teaching what he calls a "masochistic" version of Japanese history. His newly minted Cabinet tilts so far to the hawkish side of Japanese politics that Mizuho Fukushima, the opposition socialist leader, has christened it "a Cabinet to prepare for war."
So as Abe took power this week, wary observers warned of a virulent form of nationalism they say is moving into the mainstream for the first time since Japan's defeat in 1945. Those voices came from American and European analysts, not just from China and Korea (the usual suspects, to Abe supporters), where memories of Japan's imperial aggression still burn. When Abe suggested during the summer that it might be necessary to take out North Korea's missile bases in self-defense, South Korea's government spokesman said the declaration "unveiled Japan's expansionist nature."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-newjapan29sep29,0,3394400.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Capitol Records Tower to Be Sold
The $50-million deal could lead to the development of a nearby building to help ease the area's office shortage.
By Roger Vincent, Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2006
The Capitol Records Tower, a Hollywood landmark with its cylindrical structure resembling a stack of records, is being sold in a deal that could lead to the development of an adjacent building designed to address the area's growing office shortage.
Music giant EMI Group said Thursday that it agreed to sell the 13-story tower and adjacent properties for $50 million to New York-based developer Argent Ventures. EMI said the lease-back deal allows its Capitol Records label and Capitol Studios to continue operations for "many years" at the site north of Hollywood Boulevard on Vine Street.
The new owners are expected to propose the construction of another building on an Argyle Avenue parking lot southeast of the iconic tower that was included in the deal. Argent didn't respond to a request for comment, but its Los Angeles real estate brokers, Chris Bonbright and John Tronson of Ramsey-Shilling, said Argent hoped to build a mixed-use high-rise.
"Hollywood is desperately in need of new office space," Bonbright said.
Contributing to the office shortage has been the conversion over the last three years of 30% of Hollywood's office space into housing, which is also highly sought after. Indeed, some of the competitors bidding on the Capitol tower were residential developers interested in turning it into condominiums, Tronson said
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-capitol29sep29,0,5886755.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Corporate Gifts Help Governor Fund Bill-Signing Ceremonies
His use of private money saves tax dollars, but critics say it lets him circumvent campaign finance rules.
By Peter Nicholas and Dan Morain, Times Staff Writers
September 29, 2006
SACRAMENTO — A tax-exempt group set up to create jobs is being used by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to bankroll a pair of splashy bill-signing events designed to attract publicity as he runs for reelection.
Unlike contributions to Schwarzenegger's campaign account, donations to the nonprofit are not subject to caps or disclosure requirements.
Schwarzenegger this week staged carefully choreographed ceremonies against the picturesque backdrops of Malibu and San Francisco Bay's Treasure Island, signing legislation to curb emissions that contribute to global warming.
The events were meant to showcase the governor's environmental credentials at a time when he wants to maximize his appeal to independent voters.
Part of the cost is being picked up by the Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth, a nonprofit panel that Schwarzenegger launched in 2004 to lure business to California. The commission is planning to raise about $25,000 to help pay for the events, according to executive director Mark Mosher.
Among the commission's donors are major California companies with business before the state, including PG&E and Southern California Edison.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-gov29sep29,1,1782394.story?coll=la-center-politics-cal
California Politics
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/
Crime a Key Issue in Race for Top Lawman
Brown and Poochigian battle over criminal justice credentials as they campaign for attorney general.
By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2006
OAKLAND — His brow furrowed in concentration, Mayor Jerry Brown sat before a police computer, tracking a parolee by global positioning satellite. It was a chance to appraise the latest law-and-order technology he helped bring to this city — and bolster his crime-fighting credibility as the Democratic candidate for state attorney general.
Three hundred miles south, his Republican opponent, state Sen. Chuck Poochigian of Fresno, vowed at a Los Angeles conference on DNA policing that as attorney general he would boost "CSI"-style forensics. He also jabbed at Brown, noting that Oakland police failed for a year to nab a child molester identified by DNA, allowing him to molest again.
Crime might trail education and illegal immigration in surveys of what is important to Californians, but it still commands center stage in the race for top state lawman.
In television ads and on the stump, Brown and Poochigian are warring over criminal justice credentials and crime-fighting philosophies. Brown calls Poochigian, a three-term legislator, an extremist on the conservative right. Poochigian labels Brown, a two-term former governor and three-time presidential contender, an extremist of the liberal left.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crime29sep29,0,1201493.story?coll=la-home-local
Rookie Has the Vision to Succeed
September 29, 2006
DENVER — Crazy doesn't cut it. Absurd is too abstract.
There is only one way to describe the weirdness that flaked on Coors Field Thursday afternoon, decorating the Dodgers' championship hopes like so much multicolored confetti.
It was Loney Tunes.
It was a kid with eight RBIs in 45 games driving in nine runs in what seemed like 45 minutes.
It was a kid who has never hit more than 11 homers in any professional season hitting two in a span of five innings.
It was a kid making his first start in 25 days, having an afternoon to last a lifetime.
"We've had a lot of magic over these last couple of weeks," James Loney said afterward, staring wide-eyed at the reporters surrounding him. "Sitting on the bench and watching it, I wanted to be part of it."
For one game, he was that magic.
For four sweet swings, the 22-year-old rookie first baseman who has been dragged through September by this veteran-led team actually carried it.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-plaschke29sep29,0,1678992.column?coll=la-home-headlines
House Panelists Rail at HP
By Jim Puzzanghera, Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2006
WASHINGTON — The main players in Hewlett-Packard Co.'s corporate spying drama faced outraged lawmakers Thursday, agreeing on only one thing: Someone else caused the mess.
Chief Executive Mark V. Hurd said responsibility ultimately rested with him. But then he asserted he had been unaware of just how far HP had gone in snooping on board members and journalists.
Former board Chairwoman Patricia C. Dunn, who initiated the probe into boardroom leaks, said she had assumed that HP executives were running a legal investigation.
And three executives — all of whom have resigned over the scandal — along with seven private detectives and contractors who may have improperly obtained phone records in the probe, didn't say much at all. That's because they exercised their 5th Amendment right not to testify on the advice of their lawyers in the face of criminal investigations.
"It's a sad day for this proud company," Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said.
Thursday began with HP announcing the resignation of General Counsel Ann O. Baskins, who executives and documents indicated helped direct the investigation. She later declined to testify.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hp29sep29,0,3559439.story?coll=la-home-business
More Home Buyers Stretch Truth, Budgets to Get Loans
As Southland housing cools off, reports of fraud grow, raising fears of a wave of foreclosures.
By David Streitfeld, Times Staff Writer
September 29, 2006
Mortgage fraud continues to escalate in Southern California, FBI figures show, raising concerns of increased defaults and foreclosures as the housing market cools down.
Lenders filed 4,228 reports of suspicious activity in the region during the first 11 months of the government's fiscal year, which ends Saturday, the FBI said. That puts 2006 on track to nearly double last year's total.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-loanfraud29sep29,0,4385219.story?coll=la-home-headlines
RIA Novosti
Post-Soviet security group urges Georgia to free Russians
MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a security alliance between seven former Soviet republics, has urged Georgia to free four Russian servicemen detained in the country, the CSTO secretariat said Friday.
Four Russian officers were detained Wednesday on spying allegations, sparking a row between Tbilisi and Moscow.
The CSTO said in a statement released after consultations between member countries' representatives that parties "expressed concern over the escalating situation, which could lead to unpredictable consequences, and called on the Georgian side to take a considered approach to resolving the current problem, and called for the immediate release of the Russian servicemen detained in Georgia."
The consultations were held through an extraordinary session of the CSTO Permanent Council, chaired by Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha.
The CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Two court sessions to decide whether four Russian servicemen accused of espionage should be remanded in custody will be held Friday behind closed doors.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060929/54378807.html
Banned antiaircraft gun found in Georgia-S.Ossetia conflict zone
TBILISI, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - A 23-mm antiaircraft gun, banned under a ceasefire and disengagement agreement, has been discovered in a conflict zone between Georgia and its breakaway province of South Ossetia, the Georgian Defense Ministry said Thursday.
It said the gun, a ZU-23-2 towed short-range air defense cannon, was found in a South Ossetia-controlled village by a team of Georgian, Russian and South Ossetian monitors and observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
"The members of the monitoring group were not allowed to approach the antiaircraft cannon and confiscate it," the ministry said. "Servicemen of an unofficial South Ossetian armed unit, the so called home guards, offered armed resistance."
It also said the Russian side had taken no action to enable the military observers to perform their functions and confiscate the illegal weapon.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060928/54351601.html
Wrap: Espionage scandal strains Georgian-Russian relations further
MOSCOW, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Tension between Russia and Georgia increased Thursday as the two countries traded toughly-worded statements over an alleged spying scandal involving six Russian servicemen.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it was recalling its ambassador to Tbilisi for consultations and was evacuating some embassy staff and all family members over safety concerns. The defense minister opened a new front in the war of words by accusing the Georgian authorities of acting like gangsters.
The Georgian leadership defended the Wednesday arrests, saying that they had been conducted in line with international law, and advised Moscow against imposing sanctions on the South Caucasus country over the increasingly acrimonious scandal. The interior minister also said he was willing to provide the press with audio and video recordings of the alleged spies in action.
Russia's move to recall its top diplomat in Tbilisi came amid a perception that there was an increasing security risk in the Georgian capital, which also prompted the withdrawal of non-essential mission staff.
"Due to the growing security threat to staff of Russian organizations in Georgia and members of their families, a decision has been made to begin their partial evacuation from the country," a ministry statement said. "The first Russian Emergencies Ministry flights to carry this out are scheduled for September 29."
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060928/54351335.html
Russia accuses new NATO members of supplying arms to Georgia
PORTOROZ (SLOVENIA), September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Certain new members of NATO are supplying Georgia with weapons earlier brought to them by the U.S.S.R. without the right to re-export them, Russia's defense minister said Thursday.
Moscow and Tbilisi, whose relations have been tense in the last few years, have become embroiled in a new dispute after Georgia arrested six Russian servicemen in the country Wednesday on suspicion of espionage.
And Sergei Ivanov, who is also a deputy prime minister, appeared to open a new front in the increasingly acrimonious spat when he told journalists, "Certain NATO member states... are supplying Georgia with armaments that were earlier delivered to these countries by the Soviet Union with a ban on re-export."
Former members of the communist-bloc in Europe, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia became member countries of NATO in 2004.
Ivanov, who will take part in a session of the Russia-NATO Council Friday, said conventional weapons laws were being violated. "This is piracy," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060928/54348683.html
Russian air carrier to rejoin Navy by end of 2006
MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's only aircraft carrier, will join the Northern Fleet by the end of the year after modernization, the Navy's chief said Wednesday.
The ship, also known as Project 1143.5 heavy aircraft carrier, was commissioned in the Russian Navy in 1991 and became fully operational in 1995. But it was plagued by technical problems, including faulty arrester gear, and was put into dock earlier this year for a technical overhaul.
"All preparatory work has been completed on the Admiral Kuznetsov and it will leave port for a combat training mission at the beginning of next week," Admiral Vladimir Masorin said after a visit on board the ship.
The Navy commander also said that several Su-33 Flanker-D fighters assigned to the aircraft carrier would return to the ship after a brief technical overhaul. The vessel is capable of carrying up to 26 fixed-wing fighters and 24 helicopters.
Russia's military leadership is considering building several modern aircraft carriers after 2015.
"The Russian Navy will operate several aircraft carriers in future," Masorin said in February, adding that Admiral Kuznetsov would probably remain in service until 2030.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060927/54312935.html
Ambassador's recall is Russia's internal affair - Georgia
TBILISI, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia considers Moscow's decision to recall its ambassador for consultations to be Russia's internal affair, a senior Georgian diplomat said Thursday.
Russia also decided Thursday to evacuate some of the staff at its embassy in Tbilisi along with their families, following a series of arrests of Russian officers in the South Caucasus country on suspicion of spying, with some Russian troops allegedly being beaten.
"The decision to recall the ambassador is an internal affair of the Russian Federation," said Valery Chechelashvili, Georgia's first deputy foreign minister.
The official said the Georgian Foreign Ministry had informed the ambassadors of European Union member countries and the United States accredited in the country on the detention of Russian officers.
"Our aim was to provide unbiased information on the latest events. These countries are our friends and partners, and we have nothing to hide," he said.
Six Russian soldiers and officers have been detained over the last 24 hours for alleged involvement in espionage.
"The files reliably show officers of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate personally conducting intelligence activities, personally recruiting Georgian nationals and carrying out unlawful activities," Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said, adding that Georgia had taken into account all international norms during the arrest.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the accusations were "unsubstantiated" and called them "the latest gross attack that confirms that anti-Russian course of the Georgian leadership."
Tensions between Russia and Georgia have been rising in the past few years over the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the current scandal has done nothing to improve the atmosphere.
Sergei Ivanov, Russia's defense minister and also a deputy prime minister, said earlier Thursday that seven other Russian servicemen - a junior officer and six soldiers - had been subjected to violence when their car was stopped in the western city of Batumi on Wednesday night.
But Shota Khizanishvili, a spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, categorically denied the assault accusations. "That did not happen," he said. "Police did not beat up the Russian servicemen."
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060928/54351020.html
Wrap: Russia-Georgia clash over "spying" claims
MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti)--Relations between Russia and Georgia hit new lows Wednesday when Tbilisi said it had detained four senior Russian army officers and more than 10 alleged local agents on suspicion of spying.
The accusations brought a predictably stinging response from Moscow, with the Foreign Ministry branding the claims unsubstantiated and demanding that the officers be released immediately.
Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said: "Four Russian intelligence officers and their local agents have been detained. The suspects were conducting illegal intelligence gathering in Georgia."
Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in the zones of conflicts between Tbilisi and two breakaway regions since the early 1990s, and the military contingent has a headquarters in the Georgian capital.
But the minister focused his claims on the Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate, better known by its Russian acronym, the GRU.
"GRU Colonel Alexander Sava, the leader of the spy ring, and Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Kazantsev have been detained in Tbilisi," the minister said, adding that two other intelligence officers had been arrested in the western city of Batumi.
The Russian Embassy in Tbilisi provided details of the arrest of two senior Russian officers saying the fate of the other two was unclear.
"One of them was arrested when police stopped his car on a street in the capital, Tbilisi, and another was taken from his apartment in Batumi," said Ivan Volynkin, an embassy officer.
The Georgian interior minister said a fifth intelligence officer was believed to be hiding at the Russian headquarters and a special operation, including the cordoning off the headquarters building, would continue until he was arrested.
A duty officer the Russian headquarters said earlier Wednesday evening that he could see the police cordon from the window but the situation in the building was calm.
Moscow reacts
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued an immediate denial of Tbilisi's claims, saying the arrests were unfounded and represented the latest attack made by the Georgian government on its peacekeeping missions in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"The Georgian authorities are creating obstacles to the work and living conditions of Russian servicemen in Georgia despite the commitments they have undertaken," a ministry statement said. "They have put forward unsubstantiated accusations. The number of arrests of Russian officers from the Russian Group in the South Caucasus made by the Georgian authorities on September 27 is the latest gross attack that confirms that anti-Russian course of the Georgian leadership."
Relations have been tense since West-leaning Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia on the back of the 2003 "rose revolution." Georgia has accused Russia of meddling in its internal affairs, particularly with regard to the two breakaway regions and energy supplies, while Russia slapped a ban on mineral water and wine coming from its southern neighbor over health concerns.
Parliamentarians in Georgia have demanded the pullout of Russian peacekeepers from the conflict zones, accusing the country of supporting separatists, a charge Moscow has repeatedly denied.
Today's arrests followed the detention in February of three Russian soldiers in South Ossetia over visa problems after they sought to investigate a road traffic accident involving a Russian military truck that led to hundreds of armed Georgians arriving at the scene.
Russian diplomats and lawmakers reacted angrily then and today the Russian Embassy in Georgia also said it had delivered a note of protest to the Georgian Foreign Ministry demanding the release of the Russian servicemen and that the cordon around the military contingent's headquarters be lifted.
The embassy statement said the detention was "clearly an unfriendly act [staged by] those people who do not want an improvement in Russian-Georgian relations."
"Despite the inquiry by the Embassy and the headquarters of the Russian troops in the South Caucasus with the Georgian foreign, defense and interior ministries, the whereabouts of the Russian officers remain unclear," the embassy statement said.
Withdrawal
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the detained officers had been conducting routine work to ensure the withdrawal of military hardware and troops from two Soviet-era bases in the South Caucasus country.
"Russian servicemen in the Russian Group in the South Caucasus in Georgia are ensuring the withdrawal of Russian military bases under the relevant Russian-Georgian agreement," the ministry said in a statement. "The Russian side is precisely fulfilling its commitments in line with bilateral agreements. At the same time, our military officers are constantly subjected to provocations from the Georgian side."
Under an agreement signed by Russia and Georgia on March 31, Russian troops and military hardware are to leave the bases in the southern city of Akhalkalaki and Batumi by 2008. In September, Russia said the withdrawal was proceeding smoothly and could be completed ahead of schedule, but did not specify the date.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060927/54322377.html
Airliner crashes with U.S. combat aircraft in Kyrgyzstan-1
(Recasts lead, adds details paragraphs 2, 4, 6, adds paragraph 3)
BISHKEK, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Sixty one passengers and crew on a Kyrgyz airliner had a lucky escape Tuesday after the plane crashed on take-off into a U.S. combat aircraft in the Central Asian state's international airport Tuesday, a source at the airport said.
No one is reported to have been hurt in the incident, which happened at 8.pm. local time (2 p.m. GMT).
The United States has maintained an airbase at the capital's Manas airport since 2001 to aid its operations in Afghanistan.
A Kyrgyz Airlines Tu-154, which is thought to have been flying to Moscow, made an emergency landing after hitting the American refueller, a Hercules, which was reportedly on the wrong runway. The U.S. aircraft had just landed
The refueller caught fire but the blaze was quickly extinguished.
The airport will be closed until 6 a.m. local time (midnight GMT).
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060926/54288895.html
Discrimination against Russian in Ukraine cannot be ignored
MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) -Discrimination against the Russian language in Ukraine can no longer be ignored, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The status of the Russian language in the former Soviet country was one of the hotly debated issues that delayed the signing of a national unity agreement on key policies by President Viktor Yushchenko and parliamentary leaders before Viktor Yanukovych's appointment as prime minister last month.
The sides eventually agreed to keep Ukrainian as the main state language, without entrenching it as the only official language.
The ministry said that local authorities in some western regions of Ukraine have taken a tougher stance on the status of Russian.
"The persecutors of the Russian language in Ukraine should at last understand that bilingualism in Ukraine is a historical phenomenon, and that attempts to eradicate Russian by such means is counterproductive," the ministry said.
Yanukovych said last month that granting Russian the status of an official language in the country was impossible under current conditions, but that Ukraine needed a law to regulate the use of the Russian language, in line with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
Ukraine's Communist leader, Petro Symonenko, earlier said his party will push the government for a referendum on granting Russian the status of an official language, and that the party will advocate budget spending in full on programs to enable the Charter to be applied in Ukraine.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060927/54306147.html
Fidel and Cuba are inseparable
MOSCOW.(Vitaly VOROTNIKOV's RIA Novosti interview) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro Ruz, who marked his 80th birthday last month, has been and remains a bright political figure.
He leaves neither his friends nor foes indifferent. What kind of man is Fidel? Why has he attracted millions of supporters and followers? Former Soviet Ambassador to Cuba and Chairman of the RSFSR Council of Ministers (1983-1989) Vitaly VOROTNIKOV gave an interview about Fidel Castro to RIA Novosti defense commentator Viktor LITOVKIN.
Question: As you know, I asked you for an interview about Fidel Castro in connection with his 80th birthday and his illness. Let's wish him a speedy recovery. You worked with him for many years, met him often, and discussed different subjects. When did you first see him? What impression did he produce on you?
Answer: It is both easy and difficult to answer this question. It is easy because I've already written several books about Fidel Castro and am now finishing another one. I know a lot about him and met him often. But it is difficult to describe him in a medium as laconic as an interview. Moreover, it is impossible to talk about him without talking about Cuba's relations with the Soviet Union and Russia. Fidel and Cuba are inseparable... But let's try.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20060926/54285310.html
Progress cargo ship to be undocked from ISS, sink in Pacific
MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Progress M-56 cargo spacecraft, filled with garbage, will undock from the International Space Station and crash into the Pacific Tuesday morning, a Mission Control center said Monday.
The spokesman told RIA Novosti that the parts of the craft that will not burn up in the atmosphere will sink in a "spacecraft cemetery" at 40° longitude in the Pacific, a short distance from Christmas Island. The Russian Mir station ended its life in the area in February 2000, after 15 years of service.
The new cargo spacecraft Progress M-58 will be launched October 18 and will be docked with the ISS October 20. It will deliver 2.5-tons of cargo to the station, including fuel, equipment, food, water, air, and gifts for the crew.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060918/54007152.html
Russia is feeling 'squeezed' by the allogations of spying and the increase in size in NATO. NATO however is far too busy in Afghanistan to assist Georgia in anything. Bush might try some yelling of subliminal threats at Putin, but, he isn't capable of carrying them out. NATO is not the best of friends with the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld White House either. The inability of Don Rumsfeld to defeat al Qaeda in Afghanistan while diverting substantial assets to an unnecessary war in Iraq has left NATO with the burden of fighting the war the USA should have fought. The London Bombings has dictated that. Also an EU while forming it's own military would face far different dynamics if NATO didn't take over the war in Afghanistan.
The issue here is that Iran will seek to pander to any preceived threat to Russia as an alliance to a front against Bush's military in Iraq. It would be a mistake for all superpowers, including Russia and China, to engage in any 'fantasy' about expanding the Iraq war into anything greater. The Iraqi central government needs to settle it's internal disputes about either allowing a secondary tier of government that is Provincial and keeping the collective Iraqi treasury, assets and debts or to dissolve into independant nations. To begin a broader war with Iraq would enhance the Neocon agenda of Bush and prolong any peace for the people of Iran or Iraq.
Peace has to prevail in this region. Dialogue is the only weapon and the USA needs to step down it's military involvement in Iraq. All dangerous munitions needs to be removed this time and not left for the UN to come back later to place seals on bunkers. The greatest justice at this point the USA military could do for the Iraqi people is to completely remove all munitions from Iraq and prevent any power struggle between ethnic groups.
Russia still has a right to be in Georgia and the Georgians need to accept that while looking forward to the day they are completely autonomous without influence by Russia or China or the USA.Economic sanctions against Georgia possible - Russian deputy speaker
MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia could impose financial and economic sanctions against Georgia following a series of arrests of Russian officers in Tbilisi, a senior member of Russia's lower chamber of parliament said Friday.
Six men were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of spying. Four Russian officers were officially charged Friday morning and one was released during the night. The Georgian Interior Ministry said Friday the sixth man was a Georgian rather than Russian as originally thought.
Lyubov Sliska, the first deputy speaker of the State Duma, said, "All these demonstrations - the arrest of the opposition earlier and now the arrest of Russian officers for allegedly spying - are ruthless and unacceptable for any European state."
A number of members of Georgia's political opposition were arrested in early September for allegedly preparing a coup.
Sliska said the Duma could discuss a draft resolution on Georgia, which has been on bad terms with its former Soviet stable mate over its two breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on October 4. Russia has had peacekeepers stationed in the zones of the conflicts since they erupted in the early 1990s, but Georgia's parliament has been seeking to remove them.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060929/54369978.html
Iran says again: no uranium enrichment moratorium
TEHRAN, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's foreign minister reiterated Friday the Islamic Republic's position that it does not see any reason to announce a moratorium on its uranium enrichment program.
"There are no grounds for establishing a moratorium on nuclear research," Manouchehr Mottaki said in an interview with Iranian television.
Iran has been at the center of an international dispute this year over its nuclear ambitions. Some countries suspect Iran of pursuing a covert weapons program, but Tehran has consistently denied the claims and says it needs nuclear energy for civilian needs.
The minister said the West had recognized that the Iranian nuclear problem could not be resolved through threats of sanctions and reports to the UN Security Council.
"There is no other way but to conduct negotiations [on the issue]," Mottaki said.
Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier said the Iranian nuclear program was transparent and that Iran had the right to develop civilian nuclear technology in line with international laws.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060929/54365109.html
Russian MP urges vigorous action against Georgia over scandal
MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Russian MP launched a vitriolic attack on the Georgian leadership Friday and called on Russia's government to use every available lever to pressure Tbilisi over an acrimonious espionage scandal.
Six men were arrested Wednesday by Georgian security services on suspicion of spying. Four Russian officers were officially charged Friday morning and one serviceman was released during the night. The Georgian Interior Ministry said Friday the sixth man was a Georgian rather than Russian as originally thought.
Yury Volkov, a deputy speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, said the measures against Georgia could comprise diplomatic action and economic sanctions, including freezing bank accounts, and suspending or annulling business contracts.
"The current Georgian leadership has constantly displayed an intolerable proneness to conflict in international affairs bordering on paranoia," said Volkov, who is a member of Kremlin-backed majority-party United Russia.
He said Georgia's incumbent president, Mikheil Saakashvili, was a temperamental politician, whose irrational actions could only be stopped by a vigorous response from Russia with support from international organizations.
The MP reminded journalists that the West-leaning leader had once allegedly received a text message on his mobile phone near the Russia border that said "Welcome to Russia" and had immediately denounced it as an attempt to annex his country.
"The whole history of relations between states shows that global powers, as well as the global community, never hesitated to apply pressure, including the threat of force, on so-called rogue-states," Volkov said.
The deputy speaker added that Russia's steps would be well-balanced, taking account for traditionally close ties between the two countries.
Russia has vehemently protested Georgia's actions and demanded the immediate release of its officers.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060929/54373511.html
Russia worried by NATO expansion
PORTOROZ (Slovenia), September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is concerned about the expansion of NATO's infrastructure in the new member states of the northern alliance, Russia's defense minister said.
Sergei Ivanov, who is also deputy prime minister, said at a session of the Russia-NATO Council: "We are worried by the reconfiguration of NATO's infrastructure without prospects for the ratification of the Adapted Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe [CFE]."
The CFE treaty establishes limits on military hardware and troop numbers for all countries from the Atlantic to the Urals, and aims to establish a military balance on the European continent. The Istanbul Commitments, signed along with the Adapted CFE treaty in Istanbul in 1999, concern Russia's military presence on its southern flank.
The minister's comments came against the backdrop of a diplomatic scandal caused by the arrest of Russian officers in Tbilisi for allegedly spying. Relations between the countries have been tense in the last few years over Georgia's two separatist republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where Russian peacekeeping forces have been stationed since the bloody conflicts of the early 1990s.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20060929/54376256.html
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