The Washington Times stories: World

Iran's Rafsanjani criticizes crackdown

Ali Akbar Dareini ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:55:56 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Tens of thousands of government opponents packed Iran's main Islamic prayer service Friday, chanting "freedom, freedom" and other slogans as their top clerical backer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a sermon bluntly criticizing the country's leadership over the crackdown on election protests. Outside, police and pro-government Basiji militiamen fired tear gas and charged thousands of protesters who chanted "death to the dictator" and called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign. Dozens were arrested, piled in trucks and taken away, witnesses said. Plainclothes Basijis stood in front of a line of riot police and pumped canisters of tear ...

Alleged U.S. missiles kill 5 in NW Pakistan

Munir Ahmad and Rasool Dawar ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:03:54 -0400

MIR ALI, Pakistan (AP) -- A suspected U.S. missile strike in a Pakistani tribal region killed at least five alleged militants Friday, officials said, showing America's unwillingness to abandon the tactic even as Pakistani officials say it could interfere with army offensives in the northwest. Also Friday, Pakistan's top court overturned opposition leader Nawaz Sharif's conviction on hijacking charges stemming from the 1999 coup against his government, clearing the last obstacle to his running for office. The missile strike hit a house in Gariwam village in North Waziristan, said two intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they ...

Pope breaks wrist, has surgery

Ariel David and Luca Bruno ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:00:56 -0400

UPDATED: AOSTA, Italy (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI emerged smiling from the hospital Friday after undergoing surgery for a broken wrist due to a fall at his Alpine vacation chalet. Doctors said his right arm would be in a cast for a month. A Vatican statement said the 82-year-old pope fell in his room overnight and despite the accident celebrated Mass and had breakfast in the morning before going to the hospital. After an X-ray showed the fracture, surgeons performed a successful, 20-minute operation under local anesthesia on the right wrist, said Dr. Pierluigi Berti, the director of the Umberto ...

EXCLUSIVE: Siemens risks losses due to Iran ties

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:10 -0400

One of the world's largest engineering firms, Siemens, could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) because it sold Iran equipment used to spy on dissidents. California politicians and Iranian human rights advocates say in awarding contracts, officials should take into account the fact that the German company participated in a joint venture with Nokia in 2008 to sell Iran's telecommunications company a monitoring center that, according to the joint venture's own promotional literature, can intercept and catalog e-mails, telephone calls and Internet data. Political pressure because of Iran's recent crackdown ...

Reconciliation talks restart between India and Pakistan

Raza Khan THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan The prime ministers of India and Pakistan pledged Thursday to restart reconciliation talks, but last year's terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai continue to cloud prospects for normalization. Pakistani officials say the United States has been pressuring their government to revive talks and prosecute the perpetrators of the attacks, who came from Pakistan. Meeting on the sidelines of a summit of nonaligned nations in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Yousuf Raza Gilani, issued a joint statement that sounded conciliatory. The statement said Islamabad promised to do "everything in ...

Iran's nuclear agency chief resigns

Nasser Karimi ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

TEHRAN | The head of Iran's nuclear agency has resigned, the government said Thursday, a move that may have been connected to the country's postelection turmoil. Officials gave no reason for Gholam Reza Aghazadeh's resignation, but he has long been close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to be the victor in the June 12 presidential elections and says the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is illegitimate. Mohsen Delaviz, a spokesman for Iran's atomic energy department, said Mr. Aghazadeh was resigning "after years of efforts in the country's nuclear industry" and would explain the decision himself. Mr. Aghazadeh ...

Briefly

From wire dispatches and staff reports — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

TAIWAN China boycotts opening of games TAIPEI | The 100-strong Chinese delegation boycotted the opening ceremony of the World Games in Taiwan on Thursday, underscoring the limits of the historic breakthrough in relations between Taipei and Beijing. The Chinese gesture is likely to ruffle feathers on this democratic island of 23 million people, which under Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou has moved aggressively to improve ties with the mainland, its once-bitter enemy. While the Chinese delegation did not say immediately why it boycotted the ceremony - a comment on state-run China News Service acknowledged the presence of Chinese athletes in Taiwan, ...

Cyprus envoy blames division on Turkey

Cassie Fleming THE WASHINGTON TIMES — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

Thirty-five years after the Mediterranean island was split in two, Cyprus remains divided because of "belligerent" behavior on behalf of Turkey, the Cypriot ambassador to the United States said Thursday. The Greek Cypriot government is engaged in the most advanced meetings to date with Northern Cyprus' Turkish leader as the two attempt to hammer out a solution that appeals to both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Ambassador Andreas Kakouris told reporters and editors at The Washington Times. But Turkey's 43,000 troops on the island thwart the prospects of a solution, Mr. Kakouris said. "We need Turkey, Ankara, on board," he said ...

Embassy Row

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

TROUBLE IN PARADISE Bahamas' Ambassador Cornelius A. Smith is worried that the "twin pillars" of his country's economy - tourism and offshore banking - are cracking under the global economic crisis and U.S. efforts to close foreign tax shelters. "I need not tell you that the economic situation facing the Bahamas - indeed the world - is grim," he said at a National Day celebration at the Bahamian Embassy in Washington this week. "The global financial crisis that has brutalized world economies has shaken the twin pillars of the Bahamian economy. Tourism and financial services are reeling from the effects ...

Schools require offender screening

Gregory Katz ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

LONDON | Some of Britain's leading children's authors are refusing to do readings in schools because of a new policy requiring them to be registered in a national database and undergo criminal background checks to prove they aren't sex offenders. It's not just the $104 fee for the police checks that has outraged the authors. It's the idea that they - and even parents who volunteer in schools - must be declared innocent before being allowed to read to children. Some of the biggest names in children's book publishing have joined the boycott beginning this fall, including a number of ...

Taliban threatens to kill U.S. soldier

Amir Shah ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

KABUL | Local Taliban commanders threatened Thursday to kill a captured American soldier unless the U.S. military stops operations in two districts of southeastern Afghanistan. Also Thursday, Canadian authorities announced that a Canadian soldier was killed southwest of Kandahar, bringing to 47 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month. That makes July the deadliest month of the war for foreign troops - with nearly half the month to go. Taliban militants claimed last week to be holding the American soldier, whom the U.S. military earlier described as possibly being in enemy hands. Abdullah Jalali, a spokesman for ...

World scene

From wire dispatches and staff reports — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

PAKISTAN Gunmen kill U.N. worker, guard PESHAWAR | Gunmen killed a U.N. employee and a guard during a failed kidnap attempt at a refugee camp in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, officials said. The attack took place at the Kacha Garhi camp near Peshawar. Police said the assailants tried to abduct the U.N. official and opened fire when he resisted. The chief of the U.N. refugee agency in Pakistan, Guenet Guebre-Christos, identified the dead U.N. worker as Zill-e-Usman, a 59-year-old Pakistani in charge of the United Nations' relief efforts at the camp. She said Mr. Usman had worked for the United ...

Ex-CIA director defends al Qaeda initiative

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

A CIA director for the Clinton White House on Thursday defended a George W. Bush administration initiative to assassinate al Qaeda leaders and the agency's decision to keep the idea top secret. "It doesn't appear as if they actually did anything with respect to these projected or possible assassinations of al Qaeda leaders," R. James Woolsey Jr., CIA director from 1993 to 1995, told The Washington Times' "America's Morning News" radio show. "It looks like they talked about it. ... I think the way the statute generally works is when you engage in planning or are on the verge of ...

Bomb blasts kill six at Indonesia hotels

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

BREAKING NEWS: JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz and killing six and injuring 36. The casualty toll came from a Jakarta hospital doctor. Police said foreigners are among the casualties. The head of the Health Ministry crisis center, Rustam Pakaya, said at least two people were seriously injured, including one New Zealander. One hospital emergency room said it was already treating 15 people. South Jakarta police Col. Firman Bundi confirmed that four foreigners were killed in the blasts at the neighboring hotels ...

Bombs at Jakarta hotels kill at least 8

Anthony Deutsch ASSOCIATED PRESS — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

UPDATED: JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Suicide bombers who checked in as guests smuggled explosives into American luxury hotels in Indonesia's capital and set off a pair of heavy blasts Friday that killed eight people and wounded more than 50, investigators said. The near-simultaneous bombings ended a four-year lull in terror attacks on civilian, Western targets in the world's most populous Muslim nation. At least eight Americans were among the 18 foreigners wounded. The blasts at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, located side-by-side in an upscale business district in Jakarta, blew out windows and scattered debris and glass across the ...

Ultra-Orthodox Jews riot in Jerusalem over arrest

Matti Friedman ASSOCIATED PRESS — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:30:10 -0400

JERUSALEM -- Ultra-Orthodox Jews clashed with police using horses and water cannons in Jerusalem on Thursday in the third day of rioting over the arrest of a mentally ill Hasidic woman who authorities say was starving her child. The clashes are the latest sign of increasing tensions between authorities, who allege the woman starved her 3-year-old son over a period of several years, and the insular ultra-Orthodox community, which often resents outside interference in its affairs. The child currently is hospitalized. Media reports say the woman is believed to be suffering from a condition known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, ...

EXCLUSIVE: Former CIA director Woolsey defends agency

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:30:45 -0400

EXCLUSIVE: James Woolsey, the CIA director for the Clinton administration, on Thursday defended a Bush-Cheney initiative to assassinate al Qaeda leaders and the agency's decision to keep the idea top secret. "It doesn't appear as if they actually did anything with respect to these projected or possible assassinations of al Qaeda leaders," Mr. Woolsey, CIA director from 1993 to 1995, told The Washington Times America's Morning News radio show. "It looks like they talked about it. ... I think the way the statute generally works is when you engage in planning or are on the verge of taking an action ...

EXCLUSIVE: Taliban uses Afghan fear to fight surge

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:45:10 -0400

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan | The Taliban is seeking to blunt the surge of an additional 20,000 U.S. troops through stepped-up attacks on Afghans working with the U.S.-backed government, U.S. and Afghan officials say. For much of the past year, the militant group has worked to weaken the link between the government and citizens through targeted assassinations of people who work for or with Afghan institutions. This wave of intimidation is an enormous obstacle to Afghan officials and local tribal council members trying to reach out to Afghan citizens, often in areas where the government has lacked a firm grip. "It's becoming ...

Clinton to Taliban: Forsake al Qaeda

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:45:07 -0400

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday offered reconciliation and a chance to reintegrate into Afghan society to any Taliban members who quit fighting and renounce al Qaeda ahead of presidential elections next month. Although the Bush administration tried to reach out to some Taliban elements at the end of its term, Mrs. Clinton's call was more forceful. It was timed to encourage maximum participation in the Aug. 20 vote, which the United States hopes will produce a government more willing and able to fight corruption and improve Afghans' lives. "We understand that not all those who fight with ...

Gitmo justice delayed, clarity denied

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:45:06 -0400

U.S. NAVAL BASE, GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba | The unfinished review of the cases against 229 suspected terrorists held at the detention center here has slowed the legal process to a crawl, leaving military prosecutors - and even judges - bewildered as to how to move forward. At the end of a hearing Wednesday for Mohammed Kamin, an Afghan national accused of attending an al Qaeda training camp and aiding terrorists, the judge in the case, Air Force Col. W. Thomas Cumbie, laid out a convoluted path forward, ranging from a continuance to outright dismissal. He then said with a wry ...