2008 October | FendyBt2 Official Website

Colombian ‘killings’ shake army

October 26th, 2008 by FendyBt2

Article Source: FendyBt2 Official Website

Columbian army

Three Colombian colonels have been sacked for their alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings.

The colonels are suspected of killing 11 young men from Bogota and passing their victims off as combat casualties in order to gain promotions.

It is believed the three soldiers, from the elite 15th Mobile Brigade, kidnapped or lured the homeless men from the city with the promise of work.

But instead, the victims were taken to Norte de Santander province and killed.

The province, near the Venezuelan border, is where the 15th Mobile Brigade is stationed.

An investigation by the attorney general is now under way into the disappearances.

The BBC’s Jeremy McDermott in Medellin says the sacking of the three colonels could be start of a scandal that could spread through the army and threaten the security policy of President Alvaro Uribe.

There are reports of similar actions in different parts of the country, suggesting that this could be a widespread practice.

The Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos has sought to distance himself from the scandal, saying that there were elements of the army that were interested only in filling body bags and that this was not the policy of the government.

Mr Uribe, who had also sought to play down the reports of extrajudicial executions, was forced to admit that there was evidence of grave abuses of human rights in the army.

Sources in the attorney general’s office said that hundreds of soldiers were under investigation in similar cases.<p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

N Korea wants Japan out of talks

October 22nd, 2008 by FendyBt2

Article Source: FendyBt2 Official Website

A file photo from February 2008 of a US inspector studying disabled nuclear equipment at Yongbyon plant in North Korea

North Korea has suggested that Japan be removed from long-running six-party talks aimed at its nuclear disarmament.

A commentary in a North Korean newspaper said Japan kept creating trouble and had wrecked the process.

Japan has refused to grant North Korea the economic and energy aid it seeks as part of a negotiated agreement.

Tokyo says Pyongyang has failed to properly investigate the fate of Japanese citizens it abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.

South Korea has said that an outside donor may need to be brought in to provide Japan’s share of aid.

However, the US remained optimistic that the situation could be resolved.

“I think there’s a high degree of confidence among the five thatwe will meet our obligations,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

‘Extremely regrettable’

North Korea tested an atomic bomb in 2006, but six-nation talks between North and South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia led to an agreement for it to halt all nuclear activity.

JAPAN’S MISSING

Snatched in the ’70s and ’80s
Used as cultural trainers for N Korean spies
Five allowed home in 2002
Five children now freed from N Korea
Eight said to be dead, others missing

Heartbreak over Japan’s missing

Under the 2007 deal, North Korea was to receive one million tonnes of energy aid from the five countries in return for disabling its nuclear plants.

Pyongyang began dismantling its main nuclear complex last November.

It also blew up the main cooling tower at Yongbyon in a symbolic gesture of its commitment to the process.

A row which threatened to derail the accord was narrowly averted last week when the US announced it was removing Pyongyang from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, after the two countries agreed on a series of measures to verify the North’s nuclear programme.

Japan criticised the move as “extremely regrettable”, saying that the kidnapping of its citizens “amount to terrorist acts”.

Correspondents say Pyongyang wanted to be removed from the list in order to receive international aid and loans, and facilitate its diplomatic rehabilitation, but that Japan will feel North Korea has been rewarded too soon

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

Canada votes in general election

October 15th, 2008 by FendyBt2

Article Source: FendyBt2 Official Website

Stephen Harper campaigning in Toronto, Ontario

Canadians go to the polls on Tuesday for their third election in four years.

The conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, who has headed a minority government since 2006, called the election to try to win a majority.

The main challenge comes from Stephane Dion of the Liberal Party, with the global markets crisis the major issue. Polls open at 0830 local (1100 GMT).

Voter surveys suggest the Conservative Party is set to win but could fail to clinch a parliamentary majority.

Canada is the first big economic power to go to the polls to elect a new government since the financial crisis.

Mr Harper called the snap election last month amid hopes in his party that they could secure a majority.

But he has come under sustained criticism amid perceptions he has not shown enough empathy with Canadians who have lost money during the upheaval on the stock markets, says the BBC’s Lee Carter in Toronto.

‘Distortion and dishonesty’

He has reworked his message to try to convince Canadians that he is the one to be at the helm of the economy in such difficult times, our correspondent says.

Stephane Dion campaigns in Richmond, British Columbia

“At this crucial moment for our economy we need a realistic and credible plan to protect our jobs, our savings, and our future,” he told a weekend rally.

Mr Dion, a French Canadian from Quebec, has been criticised as a weak leader with difficulty communicating in English.

“Stephen Harper’s agenda is one of distortion and dishonesty. He may speak better English than I do. But I speak the truth better in both official languages than him,” Mr Dion said recently.

Two of the smaller parties, the New Democrats and the Greens have seen their polling numbers rise, while the Bloc Quebecois will fight a close battle to retain its dominance in French-speaking Quebec