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President gets 14-day ultimatum to notify N’ Assembly of vacation

2010-01-28T02:10:00.000-08:00

The Senate yesterday rose strongly to commence the enforcement of the Constitution of the Federation by passing a resolution, urging ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to formally notify the National Assembly of his medical vacation in accordance with the provision of section 145 of the 1999 constitution.

The resolution was adopted after a stormy three-hour executive (closed-door) session after two days of intense deliberation amid high stake politicking over the health condition and absence of the ailing President. Tuesday’s closed-door session on the same topic lasted five hours.
In the unanimous resolution, the Senate equally directed its Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution to propose an amendment to section 145 of the 1999 Constitution to resolve the flaws and ambiguities exposed by the present circumstance occasioned by the ill-health of the President.

The Upper Chamber, according to sources, did not just stop at making the request but went a step further by giving the President a 14-day ultimatum within which to send his notification or else the lawmakers would have no choice than to commence impeachment procedure against him by invoking sections 143 and 144 of the constitution. Senate spokesman, Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) who briefed newsmen after yesterday’s sitting, however, denied that the President was given an ultimatum, apparently in line with the decision of the senators at their executive session to play down the ultimatum.

According to Eze, a political solution was applied to the power problem hence there was no need for an ultimatum for Mr. President. But despite such denial, Daily Sun sources hinted authoritatively that a 14-day time frame was given to Yar’Adua to formally communicate the National Assembly to enable Vice President Goodluck Jonathan receive the mandate of the Assembly to act as President.
Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution states inter alia; “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed was said to have told the senators when he briefed them last week that President Yar’Adua actually wrote a letter, which he addressed to the National Assembly in compliance with the provisions of the constitution before leaving the country. The SGF, according a senator who confided in Daily Sun, revealed how Yar’Adua directed him to draft the letter which he did and forwarded to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Michael Aondoakaa for vetting.

The Head of Service further revealed that a clean copy of the letter was later handed over to the Presidential Liaison Officer at the National Assembly, Senator Abba Aji for onward delivery to the two legislative chambers through their leaderships. The transmission of the letter as stated would enable the National Assembly to empower the Vice President to act in the absence of the President as provided in section 145 of the constitution.

The Senate resolution, however, fell short of the expectation of the members of the National Interest Group (NIG) that is being coordinated by Senators Bala Mohammed (ANPP Bauchi) and Smark Adeyemi (PDP Kogi West) as Chairman and Secretary respectively who had canvassed for the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to act as Acting President.

Daily Sun gathered that but for the intervention of the President of the Senate David Mark who passionately appealed to senators to tread softly on the matter so as not to worsen the condition of the ailing President in addition to the argument by some other senators that since the Senate had not before now issued a notice to the president on the matter, he should be given time to respond to the resolution of the senate.|

However, the pattern of debate at yesterday’s closed door session also revealed a shift of position within the rank of the senate leadership. While the Senate President, David Mark stuck to his hard-line position by maintaining things were okay based on the status quo, some other principal officers saw enough reasons to break ranks with him as they spoke in favour of the activation of section 145 of the Constitution. A senator who spoke with Daily Sun yesterday on condition of anonymity described yesterday’s resolution as a victory for the pro-democracy bloc in the upper chamber especially the NIG members. “The Senate by this resolution is only following due process before the wielding of the big hammer if necessary.”

This was as it was gathered that the ailing president might be flown into the country on or before this weekend as a way of beating the senators to their game of ensuring that Vice President Jonathan is made president in acting capacity. It was, however, learnt that the Pro-Jonathan senators whose figure increased to about 80 on the floor of the Senate yesterday are aware of the development thus mapping out new strategy towards ensuring that the ailing president steps down and allow his deputy to act in his absence.

A member of the National Interest Group, told Daily Sun in confidence that one of the strategies would be that if the President is brought back into the country with the aid of life support equipment so as to evade his handing over to Dr. Jonathan, the Senate would move to get the president to appear before it and address the legislators for a thank-you visit as a way to puncture the move of the pro-Yar’Adua group.

One of the arrowheads of the NIG Senators told Daily Sun that as far as they are concerned, President Yar’Adua is sitting on a time bomb as if he refuses to send the letter to the National Assembly as directed by the Senate, the Federal Legislature would be forced to consider Section 143 of the Constitution which deals with impeachment based on gross misconduct.

In the same vein, former governors now turned Senators that supported the Pro-Jonathan group included Bukar Abba, Kabiru Gaya, Isiaka Adeleke and former military administrator, Mohammed Mana, while former governor Ahmed Makarfi (PDP Kaduna), Kamarudeen Adedibu (PDP Oyo), Jacob Mustapha (PDP Ogun) Gbemi Saraki (PDP Kwara) Gregory Ngaji (PDP Cross River) Kaka Yale (ANPP Borno), and Hassan Gusau were said to have refused to make contribution on the matter.

Briefing journalists at the end of the Senate closed-door session, Chairman of Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze said Senators decided to speak like statesmen even in the face of certain limitations in the constitution. According to Senator Eze; “We embody the mandate of the people of Nigeria and we try to reflect their aspirations and their desires in whatever we do and that is what has guided the decisions we took today.”

Meanwhile, the pro-constitution movement in the National Assembly, which has been concentrated more in the Senate has spread to the House of Representatives as a sister group of the NIG met on Tuesday night at Rockview Hotel and has started collection of signatures of members of the Lower House. About 40 members of the House were said to have attended the meeting where far-reaching discussions were held and the action plan worked out towards winning more lawmakers to the fold.

From NOSIKE OGBUENYI and AMOS DUNIA, Abuja

As Senate orders President to apply for vacation, Federal Executive Council insists ...Yar’Adua is fit

2010-01-28T01:37:00.000-08:00

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) did not disappoint yesterday when it decided that transfer of presidential authority to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was a discretional power, which only President Umaru Yar’Adua could exercise.

At its weekly meeting in Abuja presided over by the vice president, the FEC said the issue of acting president was a security matter which should not in any way be mixed with politics, pointing out that only ailing President Yar’Adua could declare himself incapacitated and unfit to continue to function in office.

Accordingly and in compliance with last week’s order of the Federal High Court that the executive council of the Federation should within 14 days pass a resolution to determine the state of health of the president, the council restated its earlier position on the issue:
*That the president is not incapable of discharging the functions of his office, and
*That the medical treatment outside the country does not constitute incapacity to warrant or commence the process of the removal of the president from office under sections 144 and 146 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa, who read the council’s resolution on the ailing president to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, stressed that transfer of power to the vice president was not only the prerogative of the president, but must also be voluntary.

“This is a pure discretional matter left to the president and it can only commence with the president writing a letter and it is a voluntary transfer of power which neither of us, nobody has control over except the president himself,” he stated.

He said in the entire history of the United States of America which practices a similar presidential system of government as Nigeria, the issue of acting president had only been applied thrice.
“Only three times in the history of America has someone acted as president. In all the cases, the self-declared incapacity method was used by the president himself, who would write voluntarily to transfer presidential authority to the vice president,” he further stated.

Aondoakaa emphasised that the very first time in the US history that an acting president emerged was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan ceded power to then Vice President W. Bush (senior) so he could undergo surgery to remove a cancerous substance from his colon, pointing out that even then, Bush acted for just one day, from 11.28 am to 7.22 pm.

“The first instance that occurred was July 13, 1985 when President Ronald Regan went for surgery to remove cancerous substance from his colon. Prior to undergoing the surgery, he transmitted a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the temple of the Senate declaring himself incapacitated. The VP, W. H. Bush acted as president from 11.28 am to 7.22 pm on the same day, that is as soon as the operation finished, Regan transmitted the second letter and assumed the power of president.

“The second incident was on June 29, 2002. President George Bush (junior) declared himself temporarily unable to discharge the power of the president and the duties of his office because he was undergoing surgery, which required sedation. He invoked the 25th amendment to the Speaker and the President of the temple of the Senate and then Vice President Dick Cheney acted as the president for a little over two hours, this is from 7.09 am to 9.24 am whereupon Bush transmitted the second letter to assume power and duties of office.

“The last was on July 22, 2007, was under the same circumstances as 2002, when President W. H. Bush transmitted a letter to the Speaker and the President of the temple of the Senate declaring himself temporarily unable to discharge the power and the duties of office as he is to undergo another surgery which required sedation. VP Cheney acted as the president from 7.16 am to 9.21 am of the same day becoming the first VP to act as the acting president for more than once in the history of US.

“In all these, although the public was aware that temporary handover would take place, for security purposes, the time it occurred was not revealed until Bush came back to power. This is the position of acting president in US,” he further pointed out.
The attorney-general further explained that although the court had to rule on the matter of vice president assuming acting capacity, the constitution of the country did not make provision for any swearing in, adding it was an automatic elevation to that position, which must he, however, said must start from the president.

“On the part of the executive council, we have accepted the decision of the court and as long as we know, no minister can disagree with the VP and no executive order issued by the Vi ce President can be questioned by any authority in the executive arm of government. That is the position,” he told the newsmen.

Asked if medical experts were consulted by the council before it arrived on the decision that the president was fit to continue in office, Aondoakaa said the constitution did not make that provision, adding “we followed the constitution.” Responding to another question on whether the vice president could dissolve the Federal Executive Council as constituted at present, he said “we do not answer speculative questions. The law deals with actual questions and a positive mind does not think in the negative. The question is thinking not like a positive man.”

On what informed the council’s decision, the minister said “well, the executive council is made up of people with high integrity, which is inclusive of the VP who ordinarily is supposed to be the beneficiary of what other people are canvassing for. I have told you that it is a unanimous decision and that alone should have shown you that he is true and faithful because he took part in the decision.”

Meanwhile, council approved N684.9 million for provision of insurance cover for staff and strategic property and assets of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); and another N925.72 million for design of its headquarters in Abuja. The Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili who briefed the correspondents on the other decisions reached at the meeting said the council gave the nod for the EFCC to acquire its own headquarters complex in Abuja so that it could move out of the seven rented buildings it is currently occupying in the city.

Another decision of the council was approval of a N233.1 million contract for the environmental impact assessment study for the development of the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project; and another N239.02 million for the purchase and installation of three water hyacinth harvester machines for more effective control of the weeds which have invaded waterways, lakes and reservoirs in the country.

From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja

Yar’Adua fights back...Loyalists hold counter rallies in 6 states

2010-01-25T02:49:00.000-08:00

Piqued by the growing anti-Yar’Adua sentiments sweeping across the country, which peaked with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s devil-may care outburst last Thursday, the Presidency and groups loyal to the ailing president may have resolved to counter the onslaught employing “multi-dimensional tactics.

Beginning from next weekend, Kaduna, Enugu, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Maiduguri will witness massive rallies to drum up support for the ailing president and douse the flames of the conflagration for his removal from office.

The rallies will move to selected local government headquarters nationwide in the coming weeks.
Already, all the pro-Yar’Adua groups have been galvanized for the project with a soothing financial back-up from the Presidency. It is being co-ordinated by Yar’Adua for New Nigeria (YFNN), an offshoot of the moribund Peoples Front (PF) founded by the President’s late elder brother.

A source close to the presidency, which confirmed the development to Daily Sun, could not, however, disclose the budget for the project. The source expressed disappointment at the tension generated by the “needless apprehension over the President’s absence and calls including court orders for Vice-President Jonathan to take over.”

It said, if not curtailed now, the nation stands on a precipice of instability, while suing for understanding of the situation.
Daily Sun further learnt at the weekend that pro-Yar’Adua’s elements in the Presidency have resolved to step up action to nip in the bud any acts capable of “humiliating the president out of office based on his illness, which they insist has yet to go out of hand.
In pursuit of this, the security and intelligence agencies have been mobilized to keep a tab on insiders who are working to keep the crisis on with a view to reaping from it. Specifically, members of the executive council of Nigeria, known in local parlance as Federal Executive Council (FEC), as well as the leadership of the National Assembly are prime targets.

Attempts to rope in “errant media houses,” through official harassments, arrests and litigations to get them off the line of sensationalism on the issue until the president recovers was re-buffed. A senior aide in the presidency had argued convincingly that the later recourse would rebound and create avoidable problems it sought to solve.

Consequently, the Presidency may have resolved to work in unity, with pleas to all appointees of the president to shun what was termed “the arguments of the opposition, who want to capitalize on the president’s sickness to hijack power.” There was no immediate confirmation of the vice-president’s position on the new offensive, which effectively would clip his wings in the emerging scenario.
But in line with his “play along tradition,” with which he has cleverly evaded troubled waters in the aftermath of his boss’ absence, the country may expect no less from him in terms of co-operation. As part of the strategy, the president’s men especially those overseeing politics, media, communications have been urged to gear up to the challenge by issuing statements that would be attributed to the president on every issue especially the Anambra elections, and the on-going African Nation’s cup in Angola.

This, it was contended, would deflate the soaring agitations and keep President Yar’Adua constantly in the minds of the people as “working” and not as an invalid as some have chosen to label him.
This is by far the most comprehensive and far-reaching fight back by Yar’Adua loyalists since he left the shores of this country on November 23 last year for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Persistent calls have been made by concerned individuals and groups for his Deputy, Goodluck Jonathan to act. About two court judgments have so far been secured for the empowerment of Jonathan constitutionally as acting president in line with section 145 of the 1999 constitution.

The president had been roundly accused of not complying with constitutional provisions of transmitting a letter to the National Assembly informing them of his medical vacation abroad, a situation that has stood the country on the edge of major crises.

By CHIDI OBINECHE

Yar’Adua: Court rules on NBA suit Jan. 29

2010-01-22T08:03:00.001-08:00

The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Dan Abutu has fixed Friday, January 29, 2010 to deliver his judgment in the suit instituted by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s absence from the country.

Meanwhile, the court will today make its decision known on another suit filed by Hon. Adamu Aliyu whose prayer is for a declaration that President Yar’Adua is incapacitated judging from circumstances surrounding his hospitalization in Saudi Arabia.

The multiple suits have been vehemently opposed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), who had told the court to dismiss them for lacking in competence.

It was also the contention of the AGF that the court lacked jurisdiction to ask the vice president to act in the absence of a letter from the president under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution just as “the court cannot declare the office of the president vacant.”
He submitted that “if at all there exists a gap in the circumstances surrounding the medical treatment of President Yar’Adua abroad, it is not for the court to write the letter.”

The justice minister submitted further that the court could not make the condition precedent for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to function as the acting president. Aondoakaa said he was surprised that the NBA had joined other bodies to cause confusion over the president’s health.
The AGF said that President Yar’Adua was performing the functions of his office as exemplified by his signing of the 2009 supplementary budget on December 31.

According to him, the argument by NBA that President Yar’Adua had not performed his duty was baseless as there was no evidence to prove it. He said that if the NBA was concerned about perceived gap in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the best way out was for the National Assembly to amend the constitution.
The minister said “it is not the function of the court to make law and it would amount to usurping the functions of the legislature if the court acceded to NBA prayer by relying on the “doctrine of necessity.”

Former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), who represented the NBA had told the court to rely on the “doctrine of necessity” to save the country’s constitution and ensure peace.
He said that President Yar’Adua’s failure to send a letter to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives created a situation the constitution did not anticipate and that in the interest of peace and good governance the court should invoke the doctrine of necessity as it was done in the United States of America some years ago.

Olujimi said the claim by AGF that President Yar’Adua was performing his functions was not true because when the position of the chief justice of Nigeria became vacant, the outgoing CJN had to save the situation by performing the function.
He added that the duty of Mr. President under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution was one that must be performed and where he failed like the present situation, the court could invoke the doctrine of necessity.
From GODWIN TSA, Abuja

Resign now, Obasanjo tells Yar’Adua..Says: ‘I didn’t impose him on Nigerians’

2010-01-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

Former president Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo, broke his silence on President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s ailment yesterday, saying the ailing number one citizen should take the path of honour and morality by throwing in the towel.

This is even as he vehemently denied the allegations that he deliberately imposed ailing President Yar’Adua on Nigerians to punish them, saying it was an insult on his person.
Obasanjo, who was speaking in Abuja at the 7th annual Trust dialogue put together by publishers of Daily Trust Newspapers, said it was an insult for any God-fearing and right thinking Nigerian to have that kind of assumption after all his contributions and sacrifice to this country in peace and war times.

Denying the allegations, Obasanjo swore: “Nobody picked Yar’Adua so that he will not perform. If I do that, God will punish me. Yes, because I love this country so much and there is no reason why I should do that.”

He advised that the proper thing for Yar’Adua to do in his present situation was to resign.
According to him, “If you take up an appointment, a job, elected or appointed whatever and then your health start failing, and you will not be able to deliver and satisfy your self and satisfy the people you are supposed to serve, then there is a path of honour and a path of morality and if you don’t know that, then it means you don’t know anything. I will stop at that.”

The former president who admitted that he played a great role to search for someone that would succeed him in office, said he found the three qualities he was looking for in Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, but did not know medical condition was very critical. According to Obasanjo, the medical report presented to him by Yar’Adua when he first approached him on the idea for him to contest the post of president, showed that he had crossed the most critical stage in his kidney condition. The former president added that that convinced him that Yar’Adua was the right man for the job.

Obasanjo explained further that, based on the medical report presented to him by Yar’Adua, he contacted medical experts who allayed his fears and assured him that Yar’Adua had indeed crossed the most critical stage of kidney failure.
Obasanjo, spoke for the first time on the allegation by some Northern leaders that he deliberately planted President Yar’Adua despite his unstable health on Nigerians to serve as punishment to the Northerners. He dismissed the allegation as untrue. According to the former president, he had set out three very important qualities, which anyone that was to take over from him must possess.

He said, “as to succession, I was convinced that a Southerner succeeding me will not augur well for Nigerians. You may not agree with me but that is the truth. And I was looking for somebody who has three important qualities. I was looking for somebody who will succeed me to be somebody that has enough intellectual capacity to run the affairs of the country. I was looking for somebody who has sufficient personal integrity to run the affairs of the nation, somebody who is sufficiently broadminded politically, religiously and socially to manage the affairs of the nation. These three were important and paramount to me.”

Obasanjo, who got emotional while explaining his relationship with President Yar’Adua, said: “when the idea for him to contest came up, I know he had kidney problem and was under dialysis and that sometime earlier, he had gone abroad and stayed for close to six months while he was governor of Katsina State.

“And so when the idea was conceived for him to contest I asked him, and he gave me a medical report. And the medical report showed that he had come off dialysis. I asked experts who then told me that if you were under dialysis, and you are no longer on dialysis, it means you have had a successful kidney transplant and that you can stay as long as God may wish that you live. Now, who am I and who are you not to accept that and that was how we started off with the campaigns.

“If you remember, at one stage of the campaign when it was intense, he broke down and the chairman of our party, Ahmadu Alli also broke down and they went abroad for check up and the rumour was that he was dead and I phoned him and I put the telephone on speaker and I said, ‘Umoru, are you dead?’ That was the true situation.”

The former president maintained that he was not aware, to the best of his knowledge, that President Yar’Adua, was on dialysis after that, adding that the issue of dialysis actually came up during his first year in office.
“It wasn’t to the best of my knowledge that he was on dialysis after that. When the issue of dialysis came up, it was well in his first term, which must mean one thing and that is that the kidney transplant is failing, if it has not failed, and we don’t have to blame him for that.”
An angry Obasanjo, in explaining his position on picking Yar’Adua as his successor said, “so for people to say that I, Olusegun Obasanjo, deliberately put somebody who is an invalid, I think it is the height of insult. How can I put so much in this country both in peace and war time and give the running of this country to one that is invalid? How can I? And you say there is no constitutional crisis?
Obasanjo’s reaction to the Yar’Adua saga came up during the interactive session, when an angry young man from the North openly accused the former president that he imposed President Yar’Adua on them and that the president’s state of health had dragged the country backward and caused a ripple.

Obasanjo, who apparently looked not too happy about the way things were going on in the country said he would not say much about the constitutional crisis currently rocking the country as he had talked on that in his capacity as the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees chairman last week.
He, however, shocked the audience when he said “if you take up an appointment, a job, elected or appointed whatever and then your health starts failing and you will not be able to deliver and satisfy your self and satisfy the people you are supposed to serve. Then, there is a path of honour and a path of morality and if you don’t know that, then it means you don’t know anything. I will stop at that.”

From MOLLY KILETE, Abuja

HOPE DIMS ON YAR'ADUA'S RETURN

2010-01-16T04:25:00.000-08:00

When President Umar Musa Yar’Adua spoke to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), at the height of speculation that he was dead, many a Nigerian heaved a sigh of relief. When he reportedly left hospital for a private home, to fully recover, after treatment, Nigerians thought that his stay abroad would soon come to an end. However, feelers have indicated that Nigerians may have to wait for long before Yar’Adua returns home.

Indeed, the president had said, in the BBC interview, that he would return home when he is well enough to do so. He said, when asked when exactly he would be going home: “I am getting better. Anytime God heals me and I am strong, that is the time, insha Allah. I will come back to Nigeria any time the doctors discharge me.”

Saturday Sun gathered that Yar’Adua was frank in the interview. He knows how he feels and do not want to gamble with his life again. Although the president is no longer in hospital, it was learnt that it would still take some time before he returns to Nigeria, as Yar’Adua is weak and under doctors’ close watch. This condition was visible in the interview he granted BBC, where his voice was weak and he coughed.

Sources revealed that doctors are actually afraid that Yar’Adua may suffer a relapse and, therefore, do not want to risk allowing him to return to Nigeria. According to sources, doctors fear that if the president returns to Nigeria and suffer a relapse, it would be difficult to manage the situation. The doctors are said to reckon that it would be easier to handle a relapse or emergency if the president is in Saudi Arabia.

Apart from that, it was learnt that the doctors say that in his present state, it will be risky putting Yar’Adua on the plane, where he would lie down for no fewer than six hours, with the attendant turbulence in the air.
With such situation, a competent source revealed that the president may still be away for as long as two months or more.
The source said: “The truth is that Nigerians should not expect the president soon. He will still be in Saudi Arabia for some weeks. As it is, the doctors are not in a hurry to let him go. This is so because Yar’Adua survived by a hair’s breadth. He was in real bad state in the months of November and December. Now that the worse appears over, the doctors are having an eye on him.”

Why Yar’Adua can’t appear on TV
Saturday Sun gathered that the demand by Nigerians for clips of Yar’Adua in hospital should be shown on Nigerian television could not have been granted because of the president’s condition before now. Sources revealed that a close confidant of the president fears that recording Yar’Adua and showing the clips in Nigeria may raise the agitation that he relinquish power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, an option the northern power brokers do not want to consider.
It was gathered that it was the fear that Nigerians journalists, who have been nosy about the president’s treatment abroad, would not conceal what they see, if they are taken to Saudi Arabia to speak with the president, that made the government to prefer the BBC.

Before the BBC was allowed to speak briefly with Yar’Adua, we gathered that a deal was reached that the interview would be brief. Sources revealed that the doctors had prepared Yar’Adua and stabilized his condition before the BBC correspondent was allowed to see him.

The coup against agitation for an acting president
Until the Yar’Adua interview on BBC, the agitation for the transfer of power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan had reached a crescendo. It was gathered that when the National Assembly resumed sitting and scheduled to discuss the president’s absence from the seat of power, Yar’Adua’s associates panicked and thought of what to do. Afraid that public opinion may be swayed in favour of handing over power to Jonathan, in an acting capacity, especially if the National Assembly supports the move, the proponent in the ailing president still holding the rein of power mooted the idea that a media interview should be arranged.

Those, who arranged this was smart enough to put the broadcast on Tuesday morning, the same day the National Assembly had scheduled to discuss the president’s health condition. The BBC interview, therefore, removed the sail in the ship of those who wanted transfer of power. A source said that the strategy worked, as the National Assembly members, having learnt about the early morning BBC interview, decided to treat cautiously.

One source said: “The Tuesday morning BBC interview was a perfect strategy to stall the idea of having an acting president. These people are good strategists. They deliberately fixed the broadcast for Tuesday morning, same day the Senate and House of Representatives discussed the matter. The strategy worked. Didn’t you see how the Senate handled the matter? Instead of canvassing the need for an acting president, they talked made general comments and even dumped the suggestion to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia to ascertain the true health condition of the president,” the source said.

The cost of Yar’Adua’s stay in Saudi
Apart from the medical bill, Nigeria is losing enormously with Yar’Adua’s continued stay in Saudi Arabia. For one, it was gathered that there are retinue of security personnel and other protocol officers, who are collecting out-station allowance.
Beside personnel, the presidential jet, which has been parked in Saudi is incurring huge bill. According to investigation, airports collect landing and parking fees from airlines that fly within and from outside their countries.

For the international flights, payments are made in United States dollars, while the domestic airlines can either pay in dollars or local currency. It was learnt that the charges are in two broad categories; day and night. The night charges are higher than daylight charges because more facilities are deployed for night operations. For day landing, the calculation is in kilograms and done in a simple arithmetic way. For day landing, FAAN charges $0.00909 per kilogram and that is multiplied by the Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) of any airplane. For night landing, it is $0.01364 multiplied by the MTOW and most international airlines come and depart Nigeria in the night.

However, MTOW defers from airplane to airplane as it is determined by the manufacturer of the aircraft. Wide body aircraft automatically has higher MTOW than smaller airplanes. In other words, the type of airplane determines how much the airport authority makes from a particular airline’s airplane.

Investigation revealed MTOW for B747-400, which British Airways, for example, flies into Lagos daily with is 396,890 kg. In other words, BA pays $0.00909x396,890kg, which is $3, 607 or N541,159 per landing. For B777-300, which Delta Air, Air France and Emirates operate, the MTOW is 247, 210 kg and as such for each landing, it pays $2, 247 or N337, 070.

Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A34-600 has a MTOW of 276, 500 kg and translates to $2, 513 or N377, 007
However, for parking, it is calculated as $0.00114 multiplied by the MTOW and also multiplied by the numbers of hours spent on ground by the aircraft. Airport authorities, in some countries, as in Nigeria, do not charge for the first three hours and that is why most airlines try not to exceed five hours. For instance, if an airline, like Delta Air, with its B777, stays for five hours on ground, the parking charge will be; $0.00114x247, 210 x 2 hours (since the first three hours is free), which is equals to $563 or N84, 545.

The Presidential aircraft, which is a 70-tonne Boeing business jet, has been parked in Saudi Arabia for the 55 days Yar’Adua has been out of the country. If the plane were to be charged for parking fee, at the Nigerian rate, it would be costing the country an average of $6, 756 or N1, 013, 400 per day. Therefore, in the 55 days that Yar’Adua has been in Saudi, the presidential jet has incurred about $371, 580 or N55, 737, 000.
By HENRY UMAHI

Amodu keeps Nations Cup plans secret

2010-01-09T02:29:00.000-08:00

Despite playing his final friendly before the Nations Cup behind closed doors, Nigeria coach Shuaibu Amodu refused to show his hand, keeping his cards firmly glued to his chest.

However, one thing his choice and deployment of personnel did show is that the coach is open to tactical flexibility.
Last month, the Super Eagles coach told journalists he would build his team on the foundation of the team that secured the World Cup ticket in Nairobi.

But despite having all but one of those players available, with Femi Ajilore left behind at home, Amodu’s starting line-up was a study in head-scratching puzzle.

Only four players (Enyeama, Nwaneri, Mikel and Yakubu) in his starting line-up against Zambia started in Nairobi.

If the line-up was puzzling, the formation was equally startling. For a man who has favoured 4-3-3 for most of the campaign, Amodu chose to go with a 4-2-4 formation, obviously looking to explore his wide options.
That decision left his two-man midfield exposed to exploitation by the Chipolopolo in the first half, with Media Officer Idah Peterside, admitting that first half play had been patchy.
But the introduction of skipper Nwankwo Kanu in the second half turned things around, Peterside, a former international said.

“Kanu was unbelievable. He came in, and things totally changed. Our passing was better, our movement was better and the team played a lot better than they did in the first half.”
That view was shared by another ex international, former African Player of the Year Kalusha Bwalya, who conceded that the Eagles were in control of the second period.

“It was a good match. I thought the game was tough. Our boys did very well in the first half, but things got tougher in the second half and I thought Nigeria were in control,” the FIFA Technical Committee member stated.

As is usual with Amodu, his starting eleven against Egypt will probably remain a closely guarded secret until game time, but one key clue from Wednesday’s game is that the former BCC coach is prepared to shake up his tactics, and possibly, his personnel on January 12.

Yar’Adua’s absence: N’Assembly has no compulsive power – Senate

2010-01-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

The Senate yesterday said the constitution does not give the legislature compulsive power to question the absence or otherwise of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who is still in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment.
Chairman of Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, told Senate correspondents at a press conference in Abuja that the other option, which the constitution gives the National Assembly is such a “contentious, rambunctious and problematic route for anybody to travel in a democracy that is so tender and young.”

The Senate spokesman also said if the president chose to transmit a letter, saying that he was going away on leave or on medical checkup, then somebody will act in his position, adding, however, that the development did not give the National Assembly any leeway to compel him to do that. In the words of Senator Eze: “The legislature does not have a compulsive power.

The constitution has stated from Section 141 to 145 clearly what should be done in each case and the National Assembly maybe the port of last resort and I think that we have gotten assurances that Mr. President is doing very well and he is on his way back.” He, therefore, advised Nigerians to give President Yar’Adua the benefit of doubt, stressing that time has a way of healing things like the current situation in the country. “This is because there are things that you cannot heal by running your adrenaline and I believe that time will heal this problem of Mr. President. Those who have seen him have assured us that he has done a tremendous recovery and we have no reason to doubt that he has not recovered and that he is on his way back. We have no reason to doubt that,” Senator Eze said.

The Senate spokesman, however, noted that the concern of Nigerians in relation to the absence of President Yar’Adua was quite interesting and healthy, saying that it clearly showed that Nigerians were actively interested in what those who governed them did, adding that nobody could take away the right of the people to express themselves the way Nigerians were doing, particularly against the backdrop of scanty available information.
According to Senator Eze, “as I said earlier, time will heal this situation and the constitution has not, and I repeat, has not specified or made any pronouncement on the situation in which we are in today.

There is no such section in the constitution which says the president cannot be out of his seat. The constitution is quite silent on it.” He, therefore, explained that if anything outside what the constitution states is carried out, it would only amount to an act of illegality. He called for restraint and caution in order to allow time heal the situation.
Commenting on the alleged signing into law of the 2009 Supplementary Appropriation Bill by President Yar’Adua, Senator Eze explained that the 1999 Constitution only talked about the president assenting to the bill but did not describe the theatre.

“There are a lot of things that we need to take care of in the constitution. The present constitution, which we operate and we don’t have any other one until we amend it, talks about the president assenting to the bill, it didn’t describe the theatre. It didn’t describe the theater where this assignment will be undertaken, that is what the constitution says,” Senator Eze said.
From AMOS DUNIA, Abuja

Obama on intel system: 'This was a screw-up'

2010-01-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

President Obama said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence has had considerable success, but that the botched Christmas Day attack shows "the system has failed" in a major way.

"When a suspected terrorist is able to board a plane with explosives on Christmas Day, the system has failed in a potentially disastrous way," Obama said at the White House in a statement to reporters.

The president used even stronger language in a private meeting in the Situation Room with top aides, a senior administration official said.

"This was a screw-up that could have been disastrous," he said, according to the official. "We dodged a bullet, but just barely."

Tragedy was averted "by brave individuals, not because the system worked, and that is not acceptable. While there will be a tendency for finger pointing, I will not tolerate it," the senior official quoted Obama as saying.

In his public comments, the president said that U.S. intelligence had uncovered numerous "red flags" prior to the attack.

"The U.S. government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack, but our intelligence community failed to connect those dots, which would have placed the suspect on the no-fly list," Obama said.

"In other words, this was not a failure to collect intelligence; it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had," the president said. "The information was there, agencies and analysts who needed it had access to it, and our professionals were trained to look for it and to bring it all together."

Obama said he could accept the imperfect nature of intelligence work, "but it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged," he said, adding: "That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it."

According to authorities, Nigerian-born Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear as a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, made its approach to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25. He faces federal charges.

AbdulMutallab had a multiple-entry U.S. visa. His father, a leading banker in Nigeria, warned U.S. authorities before the attack that his son might be involved with Islamic extremists, but the information failed to prompt a response such as canceling the visa.

In his address, the president listed steps so far to enhance security, including more airport screening and tighter monitoring of U.S. visa holders.

In one step, senior State Department officials told CNN on Tuesday that new criteria for information collected on possible terrorists would make it easier to ban them from U.S.-bound flights. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the material, the officials said the United States has lowered the threshold for information considered important enough to put suspicious individuals on a no-fly list or revoke their visas.

If the new criteria had been in place before Christmas, AbdulMutallab would have been added to the no-fly list, the officials said.

Obama said he ordered his national security team to complete preliminary reviews of the situation this week so that suggested reforms can be implemented right way.

"Time and again we've learned that quickly piecing together information and taking swift action is critical to staying one step ahead of a nimble adversary," Obama said. "So we have to do better, and we will do better, and we have to do it quickly. American lives are on the line."

Obama reiterated, however, his intention to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"We will close Guantanamo prison, which has damaged our national security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for al Qaeda," Obama said. "In fact, that was an explicit rationale for the formation of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."

Critics of the Guantanamo transfers have raised concerns over political instability in Yemen and the presence of al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula, noting that some previous detainees released to Yemen by the Bush administration have renewed their terrorist ties.

Obama repeated an earlier statement by his spokesman that transferring Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo back to Yemen would be halted for now.

"Given the unsettled situation, I've spoken to the attorney general and we've agreed that we will not be transferring additional detainees back to Yemen at this time," Obama said.

Earlier in the day, the president met with FBI Director Robert Mueller, Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, an administration official said.

The group was to have discussed possible changes to terror watch lists, as well as accountability by responsible authorities.

The president met with Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan for 90 minutes on Monday and was scheduled to meet with him again Tuesday, the official said.

Brennan gave Obama an update on his review of the terror watch listing system.

Tuesday's meetings were held just hours after the reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Yemen. It had been closed after intelligence suggested that four al Qaeda operatives could have been planning an attack on the compound, a senior administration official said Monday.

Authorities say AbdulMutallab may have received training in Yemen from the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

A statement posted on the Embassy's Web site said "successful counterterrorism operations" conducted by Yemeni security forces Monday north of the capital, Sanaa, addressed "a specific area of concern and have contributed to the Embassy's decision to resume operations."

Yemen's state-run news agency, SABA, reported Monday that two al Qaeda suspects were killed and two others were injured in clashes with a Yemeni anti-terrorism unit.

FBI investigators "gleaned usable, actionable intelligence" from AbdulMutallab in the hours after his arrest, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday. Gibbs declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence.

U.N. chief: Climate change deal reached

2009-12-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday a "deal has been reached" that could be the framework for a binding global climate change treaty.

"Finally we sealed the deal and it is a real deal. Bringing world leaders to the table paid off," Ban said, according to CNN affiliate TV2 Denmark. "The Copenhagen Accord may not be everything that everyone hoped for but this decision of the conference of parties is a beginning, an essential beginning."

Moon said the non-binding deal called for all countries to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius.

He said the deal was a step toward creating a legally binding treaty.

"The deal is backed by money and the means to deliver it. Up to $30 billion has been pledged for adaptations and mitigation," Ban said.

Critics of the U.N. Climate Change Conference have said that without specific commitments from the leaders to actually cut carbon emissions it would be difficult to reach any target.

Environmental group Greenpeace released a statement criticizing the deal.
"Don't believe the hype, there is nothing fair, ambitious or legally binding about this deal," Greenpeace said. "The job of world leaders is not done. Today they shamefully failed to save us all from the effects of catastrophic climate change."

U.S. President Barack Obama praised the deal Friday before leaving the conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"For the first time in history, all major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the threat of climate change," Obama told reporters.

The president said he met with leaders from India, China, Brazil and South Africa, and "that's where we agreed ... to set a mitigation target to limit warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius."

It's a nonbinding goal, and the emissions targets "will not be by themselves sufficient to get to where we need to get by 2050," Obama said. However, he added that it is a first step, and that for many countries "this is going to be the first time in which even voluntary they offered up mitigation targets."

"I think that it was important to essentially get that shift in orientation moving," Obama said.

The president said he believes it's necessary that the countries get to a legally binding treaty, but said, "If we just waited for that, we would not make any progress."

The deal calls on nations to submit their "concrete commitments" into an appendix attached to the agreement to specifically lay out each country's intentions for climate change, Obama said. Those commitments will be subjected to an international "consultation and analysis" that will help foster accountability among the nations.

"It will not be legally binding, but what it will do is allow for each country to show to the world what they're doing," Obama said, "and there will be a sense on the part of each country that we're in this together, and we'll know who is meeting and who is not meeting, the mutual obligations that have been set forth."

Another senior administration official had said the precise details of the agreement were still in some flux, so it was unclear whether the final version would include language that was in earlier drafts aimed at forcing nations to set legally binding targets for reducing emissions.

The president worked behind the scenes on getting a vote among key nations -- including China and India -- to approve the agreement before taking it to the wider group for a vote, according to the official.

Reports: 3 Iranian prison officials charged in deaths of protesters

2009-12-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

Three Iranian prison officials have been charged with murder after three imprisoned protesters were beaten to death in the aftermath of the country's disputed presidential election, Iranian media reported Saturday.

Iran's military court announced that nearly two dozen officials from Tehran's Kahrizak prison were indicted; of those, there is enough evidence to prosecute 12, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Three were charged with premeditated murder for participating in the beatings; nine will face other unspecified charges. The judiciary did not identify the defendants.

Kahrizak officials initially said that Mohsen Rouhol-Amini, Amir Javadifar, and Mohammad Kamrani died of meningitis, according to the judiciary. However, a coroner's reported indicated that the three were severely beaten behind bars by prison personnel, and died from their injuries.

The judiciary also blamed the prison's medical shortcomings and sub-par conditions as factors in the men's deaths.

Iranian media first reported the three protesters' deaths nearly two weeks after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, ordered the Kahrizak facility shut down amid reports of prisoner mistreatment. In the wake of the deaths, authorities fired and arrested Kahrizak's warden.

The three protesters were among some 4,000 people arrested in connection with protests following the June 12 presidential election. Thousands of Iranians demonstrated against the official result of the vote, which re-elected hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The government said he won by a landslide, but his opponents accused officials of rigging the results.

The opposition to the results and the mass arrests were a blow to Iran's Islamic leadership. Further tarnishing the image of the government's handling of the demonstrations was the identification of 72 protesters killed during the unrest, released by Iranian reformist Web site Norooz in September.

Putting the prison officials on trial is an attempt by the government to build credibility and maintain public order, some scholars say. But, they argue, it's a political move that will likely fail.

"Ayatollah Khamenei will be the loser no matter what happens," said Ali Alfoneh, a research fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute who has researched the relationship between Iranian civilians and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

"Does it make him more credible in the eyes of the government -- no, I don't think so."

He said the guards would likely be prosecuted in a "show trial," noting that the Iranian government has orchestrated such trials in the past by giving in to public demands for accountability, but without holding high-ranking officials responsible for their roles in any wrongdoing.

Another expert described the defendants as "scapegoats."

"Even if they are some lowly soldier or some lowly revolutionary guard who was doing this, it was obviously under the order of higher-ups," said Abbas Milani, director of Iranian studies at Stanford.

Amid earlier reports of prisoner mistreatment at Kahrizak, Khamenei ordered the facility shut down. Nearly two weeks later, Iranian media reported the deaths of the protesters. In the wake of the deaths, authorities fired and arrested Kahrizak's warden.

When Gen. Esmaeel Ahmadi Moghadam, commander of Iran's security forces, announced the arrest of the warden, he also said no one died at Kahrizak from physical abuse and that the inmates died from illnesses. The coroner later disputed that claim.

Despite earlier attempts by high-ranking Iranian officials to dispute allegations of abuse of detained protesters, government officials have also promised to investigate the supposed cases.

Such a dichotomy reflects Khamenei's desire to be both "feared and loved," Alfoneh said.

"The supreme leader and the regime want to show they are powerful and can't be shaken," he said, "and, on the other hand, they don't want to accept responsibility."

In August, Khamenei met with Rouhol-Amini's father, Abdol-Hossein Rouhol-Amini, vowing that "the system has no intention to forgive or be courteous to any wrongdoers."

The bereaved father announced on Khamenei's Web site in September that he was satisfied with how the government was handling the case.

But the trial will not help Khamenei's relationship with the public, Alfoneh said.

"Regardless of what the father says or does not say, the person responsible is Khamenei," Alfoneh said. "Whatever he does, he has lost this case."

Senate Democrats win over key holdouts to reach 60 votes on reform bill

2009-12-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska on Saturday threw his support behind the Democrats' health care reform bill, giving the party the crucial backing it needed to avoid a Republican filibuster that would prevent a Senate vote.

The first of a series of votes is set for Monday at 1 a.m., on a so-called manager's amendment, consisting of amendments crafted in the last week-and-a-half by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

At the request of Republicans, the entire package of amendments -- 383 pages -- was being read Saturday, for hours, on the Senate floor.

The Senate could vote on the entire bill, a top priority of President Obama, before Christmas.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said the latest version of the Senate health care bill "is a legislative train wreck of historic proportions."

"If [Democrats] were proud of this bill, they wouldn't be doing it this way," McConnell said. "They wouldn't be jamming it through in the middle of the night on the last weekend before Christmas."

McConnell said the legislation "will have a profound impact on our nation. This is not renaming a post office. Make no mistake, this bill will reshape our nation and our lives."

Reid and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York spent most of Friday trying to answer concerns from Nelson, who had held back on supporting the bill because of his objections to public funding for abortions.

Schumer said negotiations with Nelson over the legislation's health care provisions began Friday morning and ended with handshakes close to 11 p.m.

Schumer and others involved in the talks said Nelson didn't want to make a public announcement about his decision to back the bill until the negotiated abortion language was entered into the record.

Nelson's backing gave the Democrats the crucial 60 votes needed to move the bundle of recent amendments, which involved a spate of compromises, to the Senate floor.

"Change is never easy, but change is what's necessary in America today. That's why I intend to vote for cloture and for health care reform," the Nebraska Democrat told reporters.

Cloture is the procedure that allows senators to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matters, and thereby overcome a filibuster.

Nelson warned, however, that if there are changes to the health bill when House and Senate leaders meet to resolve their differences, he will withdraw his support. The House has passed a different version of the bill.

Obama said the Senate's health care reform bill would be the largest deficit-reduction measure in a decade.

"We are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality," he said.

"With today's developments, it now appears that the American people will have the vote they deserve on genuine reform that offers security to those who have health insurance and affordable options for those who do not."

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation would offer a decrease in the deficit of $132 billion over the first decade, and more than $1 trillion in the 10 years after that, Obama said at a brief news conference.

The new cost for the revised Senate bill is $871 billion, the CBO said. The previous price tag was $848 billion.

Obama's was one of a flurry of press briefings held Saturday after Nelson's announcement.

Nelson, a social conservative who opposes abortion, did not want taxpayer funds to pay for the medical procedure. One of his main requests was that states that offer insurance present at least one plan without the abortion option. In addition, he was assured that anyone receiving federal health subsidies would pay separately for an abortion.

Two liberal U.S. senators who had not committed to supporting the health bill also announced Saturday that they would vote "yes" on its passage.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said he changed his stance because the measure now contains provisions for new community health centers. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he favored the insurance reforms in the legislation.

Neither is totally pleased, but they told CNN it's a good first step.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, who was involved in some talks with Nelson, said she's satisfied that the agreement's language achieves its goal.

"My goal was to try to reach some compromise so we could move forward on health care, where the basic premise was we could separate federal funds from private funds. I think we achieved that."

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, agreed, saying the deal follows the principles of the Hyde amendment, which prevents federal funds from being used for abortions.

"Anyone who is in the exchange who also gets a federal subsidy because they're poor, if they choose a private insurance policy and want any kind of abortion coverage, they have to write that part of the premium from their own personal funds," the Florida senator said.

The health bill proposes a health insurance exchange for those unable to afford health coverage or don't have coverage. No federal funds could be used to cover abortions for people participating in the exchange, the bill says.

In addition, under national plans that would be administered by the Office of Personnel Management, there has to be, if a state chooses those, at least one that does not offer abortion coverage.

Meanwhile, two congresswomen said they had "serious reservations" about the abortion provision in the Senate version of the health care bill.

"This provision is not only offensive to people who believe in choice, but it is also possibly unconstitutional," said U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado, and Louise M. Slaughter, D-New York, in a statement Saturday.

"As we have maintained throughout this process, health care reform should not be misused to take away access to health care. The more than 190-member Caucus will review this language carefully as we move forward on health care reform."

Online posting of women's abortion information challenged in Oklahoma

2009-12-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

A judge could determine Friday whether to allow an Oklahoma law to go forward that will post information online about women who get abortions in the state -- an act critics say would be harassment and an invasion of privacy.

"We don't feel that the government should be able to run a grand inquisition into women's private lives," says Jennifer Mondino, an attorney challenging the law on behalf of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights.

State Sen. Todd Lamb helped draft the abortion legislation and describes it as "a common sense measure with bipartisan support." He says the left has tried to skew the law's intent through a campaign of misinformation.

"We're not trying to embarrass anybody, hurt anybody or make anybody's identities known. That's not the purpose of the legislation," the Republican lawmaker says.

"We want to collect hard data that can be a useful tool in helping prevent future unwanted pregnancies."

The law requires doctors to fill out a 10-page questionnaire for every abortion performed, including asking the woman about her age, marital status, race and years of education.

One section of the "Individual Abortion Form" says the woman must state her reason for seeking an abortion and answer this checklist. "Having a baby:
• Would dramatically change the life of the mother;
• Would interfere with the education of the mother;
• Would interfere with the job/employment/career of the mother."

A Democratic former state legislator calls the law "abusive and invasive."

"Nosy neighbors with some effort could identify or, even worse, misidentify these women who answer these questions," says former state Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton, one of two Oklahoma residents on whose behalf the Center for Reproductive Rights brought the lawsuit against the measure.

Lamb, who is running for lieutenant governor, rejects that notion. How can it violate women's privacy, Lamb says, if their identity is kept confidential?

The measure specifies women's identities will be protected. "Nothing in the Individual Abortion Form shall contain the name, address or information specifically identifying any patient," it says.
"Nobody's identity will be made known," Lamb says.

Oklahoma County District Court Judge Daniel Owens will hear arguments Friday afternoon on a temporary injunction to keep the law from going into effect and a separate motion to dismiss the law altogether.

Troy Newman, the head of the Kansas-based anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, says the law is "designed so that the pregnant mother can have as much information as technology and medicine will allow."

"Naturally, the abortion industry wants to block this, because they know the more information the mom has, the less likely she is to abort her baby," Newman says.

The Center for Reproductive Rights argues that the measure is unconstitutional and in violation of the state's "single subject rule" because it covers different aspects of abortion. The law also bars women from seeking abortions solely because of the sex of the fetus, with fines up to $100,000 for doctors who "knowingly violate" it.

"We are very committed from keeping the law from going into effect," Mondino says. "The law represents a very serious invasion of women's privacy interests."

Lamb says he believes the law will stand. "None of the bill is being challenged on the merits of the legislation," he says.

Abortion rights supporters are extremely concerned about the intrusiveness of the questions, and fear that identities of women could be compromised, especially in small communities.

"It requires doctors to ask and submit answers to at least 37 intensely personal questions. There are details in those questions about rape, incest, abuse, relationship problems and emotional health," Stapleton says. "I think women can be identified."

According to state estimates, the Oklahoma State Department of Health will spend roughly $250,000 a year to carry out the law.

"To spend a quarter of a million dollars on this is absolutely ridiculous," Stapleton says, adding, "Oh goodness, all the publicity over this has severely blighted the image of Oklahoma."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1969 drafted criteria for vital statistics around abortion to look at infant and maternal mortality in an effort to make the procedure safer.

The CDC's guidelines have long been considered the standard and "all the states pretty much follow that," says Elizabeth Nash, who tracks state abortion legislation for the Guttmacher Institute.

"You compare the law in Oklahoma to the CDC standard, and you see the law in Oklahoma goes far beyond what has been considered appropriate for vital statistics purposes," Nash says.

The law's co-sponsor, Lamb, says legislators drafted the measure using portions of a Guttmacher study. "Some of this was gleaned from the Guttmacher Institute," he says. "It's not Draconian."

"If we collect this evidence, we can better treat, we can better counsel, we can better provide alternatives," Lamb says.

Why draft the legislation?

"I'm pro-life," he says. "Oklahoma is a conservative state. We are a pro-life state, and I believe it's important public policy to stand on the side of sanctity of life."

Stapleton, who served in the state House of Representatives from 1986 to 1996, says the law is another example of the GOP "onslaught" in recent years in Oklahoma, with lawmakers taking aim at abortion.

"They're trying to do away with abortions completely," she says. "They can't because of Roe v. Wade. But they're finding ways around Roe v Wade."

If the law does go forward, the state Department of Health is to have the Web site up and running by March 1, 2011. Doctors are to begin submitting completed questionnaires 30 days later.
By Wayne Drash

Obama: We are running short on time for climate deal

2009-12-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Delegates at the U.N. Climate Change Conference are "running short on time" to reach agreement on a deal, U.S. President Barack Obama told them Friday.

"There is no time to waste," he said. "Now I believe it's the time for the nations and the people of the world to come behind a common purpose. We are ready to get this done today, but there has to be movement on all sides."

Obama sounded impatient with the progress of the two-week conference so far, saying the scope of climate change discussions over the years have produced little more than talk.

"These international discussions have essentially taken place now for almost two decades, and we have very little to show for it other than an increased acceleration of the climate change phenomenon," Obama said. "The time for talk is over."

The president said that the "pieces" of an accord have become clearer in the past fortnight in Copenhagen, but that countries must now decide to sign on, even if they feel the framework is imperfect.

"No country will get everything that it wants," he said.

Without mentioning China specifically, the president challenged that country's reluctance to allow transparency in international review.

"I don't know how you have an international agreement where we all are not sharing information and ensuring that we are meeting our commitments," Obama said. "That doesn't make sense. It would be a hollow victory."

Amid signs that climate talks could be falling apart at the critical stage, Obama arrived in the Danish capital Friday morning and immediately ripped up his planned schedule in a desperate attempt to salvage a global deal to cut carbon emissions.

He abruptly canceled a ceremonial one-on-one meeting with the Danish prime minister in order to jump into an emergency meeting with almost 20 key leaders -- including representatives from China, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India.

China's involvement is critical because it has been holding up a climate deal over whether the United States and other wealthy nations should pay to help developing countries deal with the cost of global warming.

Obama met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for 55 minutes Friday, a White House official said.

The meeting was a "constructive discussion that touched upon all of the key issues," the official said, including the three major points Obama touched on in his speech: mitigation, transparency, and financing.

Obama and Wen directed their negotiators to work on a bilateral basis and with negotiators from other countries to see whether an agreement could be reached in Copenhagen, the official said. It means the U.S. negotiators have now split in two, divided between the Chinese negotiations and the ongoing multilateral negotiations, the official said.

The meeting between Obama and Wen was a "step forward," the official said, without providing details.
Speaking at the plenary session ahead of Obama, Wen sought to reassure delegates that China takes the issue of climate change seriously.

"It is with a sense of responsibility to the Chinese people and the whole (of) mankind that the Chinese government has set the target for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "This is a voluntary action China has taken. ... We have not attached any condition to the target, nor have we linked it to the target of any other country. We will honor our word with action."

He said it was unacceptable to "turn a blind eye to historical responsibilities" or undermine the efforts of developing countries to work their way out of poverty and deal with climate change.

Ahead of his arrival, Obama sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the conference to reveal that the United States will pay into a $100 billion-plus global fund to help poorer nations.

But the money comes with two big caveats: The nearly 200 nations gathered here must sign on to a global deal to cut emissions, and China must provide more transparency to show it is complying with the new commitment.

Wen urged the conference to "pay attention to the practicality of the targets" they set. A long-term perspective is important, he said, but so is a focus on the present.

"It is necessary to set a direction for our long-term efforts, but it's even more important to reach near-term targets," he said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez objected to Obama's arrival only on the last day of the summit, calling him "the emperor who comes in the middle of the night, in the darkness in an anti-democratic way, and cooks up a document. ... We will never accept it."

Chavez complained that he had been waiting several days to take the floor but that Obama had turned up, been invited to speak immediately, and then left.

"We don't have first-category presidents and second-category presidents," Chavez said. "We are all equal here."

Chavez also criticized Obama for spending so much money to bail out failing banks when he could have spent some of that money on the environment.

"If the climate was a bank, it would have been saved already," he said.

Environmental lobbyists close to the talks, who had been optimistic about a deal Thursday, said Friday the negotiations got "rocky" after key officials met through the night and made very little progress.

The state of play may best be summed up by a White House official who told reporters: "Everything's fluid."

In his speech, Obama laid out the quandary that nations find themselves in at the conference.

"There are those developing countries that want aid with no strings attached, and no obligations with respect to transparency," he said. "They think that the most advanced nations should pay a higher price. I understand that.

"There are those advanced nations who think that developing countries either cannot absorb this assistance, or that they will not be held accountable, effectively, and that the world's fastest-growing emitters should bear a greater share of the burden."

But America is already on board with a global deal, Obama said, and he laid responsibility for signing it at the feet of his fellow world leaders.

"We have made our commitments, we will do what we say," he said. "Now, I believe that it's the time for the nations and the people of the world to come together behind a common purpose."

What to do on Eid day

2009-11-27T02:48:00.002-08:00

What are the Sunnahs and etiquette that we should act in accordance with on the day of Eid?
The Sunnahs that the Muslim should observe on the day of Eid are as follows:
1 – Doing ghusl before going out to the prayer.
It was narrated in a saheeh hadeeth in al-Muwatta’ and elsewhere that ‘Abd-Allaah bin ‘Umar used to do ghusl on the day of al-Fitri before going out to the prayer-place in the morning. Al-Muwatta’ 428.

Al- Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the Muslims were unanimously agreed that it is mustahabb to do ghusl for Eid prayer.
The reason why it is mustahabb is the same reason as that for doing ghusl before Jumu’ah and other public gatherings. Rather on Eid the reason is even stronger.

2 – Eating after the prayer on Eid al-Adha:
On Eid al-Adha day it is mustahabb not to eat anything until one comes back from the prayer, so he should eat from the udhiyah if he has offered a sacrifice. If he is not going to offer a sacrifice there is nothing wrong with eating before the prayer.

3 – Takbeer on the day of Eid
This is one of the greatest Sunnahs on the day of Eid because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“(He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allah [i.e. to say Takbeer (Allaahu Akbar: Allah is the Most Great)] for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him”

[al-Baqarah 2:185]
It was narrated that al-Waleed bin Muslim said: I asked al-Awzaa’i and Maalik bin Anas about saying Takbeer out loud on the two Eids. They said, Yes, ‘Abd-Allaah bin ‘Umar used to say it out loud on the day of al-Fitri until the imam came out (to lead the prayers).
It was narrated in a saheeh report that ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sulami said, “They emphasised it more on the day of al-Fitri than the day of al-Adha.”. Wakee’ said, this refers to the takbeer. See Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 3/122/
Al-Daaraqutni and others narrated that on the morning of Eid al-Fitri and Eid al-Adha, Bin ‘Umar would strive hard in reciting takbeer until he came to the prayer place, then he would recite takbeer until the imam came out.

Bin Abi Shaybah narrated with a saheeh isnaad that al-Zuhri said: The people used to recite Takbeer on Eid when they came out of their houses until they came to the prayer place, and until the imam came out. When the imam came out they fell silent, and when he said takbeer they said takbeer. See Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 1/121
In the case of Eid al-Adha, the takbeer begins on the first day of Dhu’l-Hijjah and lasts until sunset on the last of the days of tashreeq.
Description of the takbeer: It was narrated in the Musannaf of Bin Abi Shaybah with a saheeh isnaad from Bin Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to recite takbeer during the days of tashreeq:
Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, laa ilaaha ill-Allah, wa Allaahu akbar, Allah akbar, wa Lillaah il-hamd (Allah is Most Great, Allah is most Great, there is no god but Allah, Allah is Most great, Allah is most great, and to Allah be praise).
It was also narrated elsewhere by Bin Abi Shaybah with the same isnaad, but with the phrase “Allaahu akbar” repeated three times.

4 – Offering congratulations
The etiquette of Eid also includes the congratulations and good wishes exchanged by people, no matter what the wording, such as saying to one another Taqabbala Allah minna wa minkum (May Allah accept (good deeds) from us and from you” or “Eid mubaarak” and other permissible expressions of congratulations.
It was narrated that Jubayr bin Nufayr said: When the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) met one another on the day of Eid, they would say to one another, “May Allah accept (good deeds) from us and from you.” Bin Hajar said, its isnaad is hasan. Al-Fath, 2/446.
The least that may be said concerning the subject of congratulations is that you should return the greetings of those who congratulate you on Eid, and keep quiet if others keep quiet, as Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If anyone congratulates you, then respond, otherwise do not initiate it.

5 – Adorning oneself on the occasion of Eid.
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah bin ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said that ‘Umar took a brocade cloak that was for sale in the market and brought it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and said, “O Messenger of Allah, buy this and adorn yourself with it for Eid and for receiving the delegations.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him, “Rather this is the dress of one who has no share (of piety or of reward in the Hereafter)…” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 948.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) agreed with ‘Umar on the idea of adorning oneself for Eid, but he denounced him for choosing this cloak because it was made of silk.
So a man should wear the best clothes that he has when going out for Eid.
With regard to women, they should avoid adorning themselves when they go out for Eid, because they are forbidden to show off their adornments to non-mahram men. It is also haraam for a woman who wants to go out to put on perfume or to expose men to temptation, because they are only going out for the purpose of worship.

6 – Going to the prayer by one route and returning by another.
It was narrated that Jaabir bin ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: On the day of Eid, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to vary his route. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 986.
It was said that the reason for that was so that the two routes would testify for him on the Day of Resurrection, for the earth will speak on the Day of Resurrection and say what was done on it, both good and bad.
If a person missed one or both Rakaats of Salaat-ul-Eid, how does he make up (assuming he joined the Salaat just before it was over)? Does he need to perform the additional Takbirs?
If a person joins the Imam late in Eid Salaat, he should stand up after salaam and complete the Salaat as normal with all the extra Takbeers.

(Aalamgiri vol.1 pg.151)
Is reciting the name of Allah while slaughtering an animal obligatory? What happens if the person does not recite the name of Allah: a) on purpose b) by mistake c) he is not aware d) under pressure?
When slaughtering an animal, it is fard (obligatory) upon a Muslim to recite the name of Allah. If he did not recite the name of Allah intentionally, the meat of the animal will not be Halal. (Surah al-In’aam Aayat121)
If he forgot or was under pressure, he will be excused and the meat of such an animal will be Halal. Not being aware is not clear to us. (Ahsanul Fataawa vol.7 pg.403)

I have heard that in all Halal (permissible) animals, there are 7 things that are Haraam (forbidden) to consume. For example blood, testicles, part of shit, part of urine etc. Kindly list all and verify whether the testicles are haram or not.
Seven parts of the animal are prohibited to consume: a) male genitals, b) female genitals, c) testicles, d) the bladder, e) gall bladder, f) glands, g) spinal marrow. (Ahsanul Fataawa vol. 7 pg. 406)

Is it permissible to give meat of animal sacrificed at eid to non-Muslims?
Yes, It is permissible to give the meat to non-muslims.
A Muslim is supposed to make dua (Bismillah Wa-’ala Barakatillah) before he or she starts eating. Assuming you are eating in a group is it not permissible for one person to make the dua, and the rest just say: ‘Ameen! and start eating?
Every person should commence eating by taking the name of Allah and say Bismillah (In the name of Allah)
On the day of eid, did the Prophet Salalahu Alayhi Wasallam wear new clothes, or the best of his old clothes? Is it essential to buy new clothes if one can afford it? Why do people make it a fashion to buy new clothes on eid?
It is not essential to buy new clothes. It is Sunnah to wear one’s best clothes, provided they conform to the Sharia.
By Abdulfatah Oladeinde

With pardon, Obama delivers turkey from its fate as food

2009-11-27T02:34:00.000-08:00

A big bird from the East is heading west, thanks to a second chance at life given by President Obama in the nation's capital Wednesday, a day before Americans sit down to Thanksgiving dinner.

In a holiday tradition, the president pardoned the turkey at the White House, saving it from ending up as Thanksgiving dinner.

This is the first turkey pardon for Obama. He appeared at the ceremony with his two daughters, Sasha and Malia.

The president granted the pardon to a turkey from North Carolina named Courage. The North Carolina governor's office Web site says that after the ceremony, the turkey will fly west to Disneyland to participate in the 121st annual Rose Parade on New Year's Day.

Obama thanked the National Turkey Federation for donating this year's turkeys, Courage and Carolina. Carolina is an alternate turkey who came along in case Courage was unable to fulfill his responsibilities.

The president wished a happy Thanksgiving to the American people.

"When my family and I sit around the table tomorrow," he said, "just like millions of other families across America, we'll take time to give our thanks for many blessings, but we'll also remember that this is the time when so many members of our American family are hurting."

"There is no question this has been a tough year for America. We're at war, our economy is emerging from an extraordinary recession into recovery," Obama said.

"In more tranquil times, it's easy to notice our many blessings; it's even easier to take them for granted. But in times like these, they resonate a bit more powerfully," the president said.

Later during the day, the president and his family will go to Martha's Table, an organization based in Washington that helps communities in need by donating food, clothing and offering other opportunities. There, they will donate two turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner.

The poultry industry has given the White House a turkey each year since the presidency of Harry Truman, but the tradition of officially pardoning a turkey didn't begin until 1989, when George H.W. Bush took office and pardoned one.

Obama to announce Afghanistan troop strategy Tuesday

2009-11-27T02:15:00.000-08:00

President Obama will announce the U.S. troop strategy for Afghanistan in a speech at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

In the speech, Obama will explain why the United States is in Afghanistan, its interests there and his decision-making process, Gibbs said, but "the president does not see this as an open-ended engagement.

"Our time there will be limited, and I think that's important for people to understand," he said.

"We are in year nine" in Afghanistan, Gibbs told reporters. "We're not going to be there another eight or nine years."

Obama will meet with members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday afternoon before the speech.
Cost issues are among the topics the president will address, Gibbs said.

"It's a million dollars a troop for a year," he said. "Ten thousand troops is $10 billion. That's in addition to what we already spend in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That also does not include training, and it doesn't include the maintaining of a security force. It's very, very, very expensive."

But, Gibbs added, "I think the president, throughout this process, has talked about the cost in terms of American lives and in terms of the cost to our treasury, and I think he'll continue to talk about it."

The president ordered more than 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, reportedly has called for up to 40,000 more to wage a counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban, the Islamic militia originally ousted by U.S. military action in 2001.

Obama has weighed several options for bolstering the American contingent, ranging from sending a few thousand troops to the 40,000 McChrystal requested.

A defense official told CNN earlier this week the Pentagon is making detailed plans to send about 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan in anticipation of Obama's decision on the 8-year-old war.

There had been no final word on Obama's decision as of Tuesday, said the Defense Department official, who has direct knowledge of the process. But the official said planners have been tasked with preparing to send 34,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan with the expectation that Obama was leaning toward approving that many.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to receive the paperwork Thursday to approve orders to deploy 1,000 Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to Afghanistan in late December -- the first of the new troops to be sent, a U.S. military official told CNN on Wednesday. The official is not authorized to talk about the plans because they have not been officially announced.

The 1,000 Marines are part of a battalion task force that has been preparing and training for the deployment, the official said.

The president held a lengthy meeting with top advisers Monday night, and he told reporters Tuesday that he would announce new plans for Afghanistan after Thanksgiving.

McChrystal took part in the meeting Monday, along with Vice President Joe Biden, Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen and Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Obama said Tuesday that the deliberations had been "comprehensive and extremely useful."

"It's going to be important to recognize that in order for us to succeed there [in Afghanistan], you've got to have a comprehensive strategy that includes civilian and diplomatic efforts," he said at a news conference Tuesday with visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The defense official said Tuesday that the military is planning to send three U.S. Army brigades, totaling about 15,000 troops; a Marine brigade with about 8,000 troops; a headquarters element of about 7,000; and between 4,000 and 5,000 support troops -- a total of about 34,000 troops. CNN reported last month that this was the Pentagon's preferred option.

However, the official said Wednesday that the Marines are expected to deploy 8,000 combat, aviation and support troops, plus 1,000 to 1,500 Marines as part of a headquarters unit -- a total of between 9,000 and 9,500. They will be in addition to the 11,000 Marines already in Afghanistan. After the first deployment, the remaining Marines will deploy over the next three to four months, the military official said.

The troops would be dispatched throughout Afghanistan but would be focused mainly on the southern and southeastern provinces, where much of the recent fighting has taken place. Currently, brigades from Fort Drum in upstate New York and Fort Campbell in Kentucky are among those next in line to deploy.

About 68,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, along with about 45,000 from the NATO alliance.

Two U.S. military officials have told CNN that NATO countries would be asked to contribute more troops to fill the gap between the 34,000 the Pentagon expects Obama to send and the 40,000 McChrystal wants. The request is expected to come during a December 7 meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Brussels next week to meet with allies, State Department sources told CNN.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell would not discuss specific numbers, but he said NATO would be asked for additional help.

Obama's Afghanistan plan will include "very broad terms" that show how and where the United States is succeeding in the nation, a senior U.S. military official told CNN. Those points will be used to determine how and when troops can be brought home.

Another senior military official said McChrystal will take his orders from Obama and will do the best he can with what he has.

The question, he said, is not the number of troops, but is whether the United States has "the right resources to do what we need to do."

"We can't just go and blow people up and win this war," the official said. "We have to gain the trust of the people, and that is a major part of the plan here."

U.S.-led troops invaded Afghanistan in response to the al Qaeda terrorist network's September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. The invasion overthrew the ruling Taliban, which had allowed al Qaeda to operate from its territory -- but most of the top al Qaeda and Taliban leadership escaped the onslaught.

Taliban fighters have since regrouped to the mountainous region along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, battling U.S. and Afghan government forces on one side and Pakistani troops on the other. Al Qaeda's top leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, remain at large and are suspected to be hiding in the same region.

The conflict has so far claimed the lives of more than 900 Americans and nearly 600 allied troops.

Yar’Adua(Nigeria) suffering from heart ailment

2009-11-27T01:41:00.000-08:00

Hospitalized President Umaru Yar’Adua has been diagnosed with acute pericarditis, an inflammatory condition of the coverings of the heart, presidential spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, has confirmed.

He told the State House correspondents in Abuja yesterday that the president who was rumoured to have died two days ago in far away Saudi Arabia had last Friday at about 3pm complained of left sided severe chest pain soon after he returned from the Central Mosque where he performed Juma’at prayers.

Quoting the president’s chief physician, Dr. Salisu Banye, Adeniyi said following the complaint, President Yar’Adua was then subjected to a preliminary medical examination which suggested he had acute pericarditis.
“It was then decided that he should undertake confirmatory checks at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where he had his last medical check-up in August.

“The medical review and tests undertaken at the hospital have confirmed the initial diagnosis that the president is indeed suffering from acute pericarditis,” Adeniyi further pointed out, adding “he is now receiving treatment for the ailment and is responding remarkably well.”
Asked if the president was aware of the latest rumour concerning his death and how he felt about it, he answered in the affirmative, saying as a human being, he naturally felt bad about it, adding, however, “what can we do, we can’t legislate against rumour. There is nothing anybody can do.”

On why the president left the country by midnight on Monday, fuelling rumour that he couldn’t walk and was carried into the aircraft, he said the delay in his departure was caused by the inability of his personal aides to secure visa on time due to the holiday.
“Actually what happened was that the president was supposed to leave earlier in the day but because of the holidays in Saudi Arabia, they couldn’t procure his visa on time,” he further explained.

Responding to a report on a foreign wire service that President Yar’Adua would perform the hajj, the presidential spokesman dismissed it as not true, pointing out that even before he travelled, he (president) knew he was not going to perform the hajj.
“Even when I did the first draft of the statement, I stated that the president will do medicals and undergo Hajj, but he said no, I am not going to do Hajj. So there is no way he is going to do Hajj,” he added.

On when the president was expected back into the country, he said “once I know, I will tell you, I will give you an update.”
Meanwhile, Adeniyi said the president had directed the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to receive, on his behalf, the Muslim community in Abuja today when they pay the traditional Sallah homage.
From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja

Airports’ concession without master-plan is a failure – Chris Aligbe, CEO, Belujane Konzult

2009-11-26T02:10:00.000-08:00

Chris Aligbe, the Chief Executive Officer of Belujane Konzult is one of those who support the idea of airports’ concession as a way of resuscitating and planting the nation’s ailing airports on success track.
While embracing concession, Chris proposes that a detailed master plan must be in place for each airport even before a concessionaire is chosen.

He said the master plan is what guards and guides the concession package such that the milestones that need to be tracked while the concession lasts are not boycotted.
He said part of the problem of the newly-built Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA 2) is lack of a detailed master plan such that no one knows what the terminal should look like be the expiration of the concession tenure.

He also assessed the nation’s airports generally and said that the level of decay in them remains a national shame.
In this interview, he bares his mind on several issues including the airlines.
Excerpts.

How to buoy domestic operators
Government has a lot of ways it can assist domestic operators, but that should be for those with genuine business plans. They must demand the plan for the airlines. And then in addition in demanding their plans, government should have their time policy. What do you want this airline to do? The fact of the matter is that in this country, you saw the lectures giving by the Ethiopian, Nigeria need at least one if not two major flag carriers. And so the government should not just wait for them, if the government waits for them they will not emerge.

So government must take an affirmative action to get the local airlines to emerge. So government must look at all the airlines we have now, apart from the question of setting up a new one, which is possible, but I don’t think we need it at this point in time. What we need at this point in time is that the government looks at the airlines in place and know the one that can be used. And like I said, today there is only one airline that has the infrastructure, the operational base to operate very well.

And that is Nigerian Eagle Airlines, because it was the Virgin Group that built it. They built that infrastructure, operational base with commercial structure. And everything that an airline needs, they put them in place. Although they put them in place for their own purpose, but now when that is in place we can use it to build up a major flag carrier. Arik is there, Arik has the equipment but Arik is sitting on a void. It has no airline structure on ground.

No operational structure, no commercial structure, no administrative structure. Its approach to the airline business is not it. And it is again, we can say look we have the equipment, lets see how we can help you do this. You need to build this, that and that. When you build this and that, and that, whatever is your problem, then the government can come in to address it. Again like I said, most of this airlines time has come, other managers are in problem. Those who own the airlines and are involved in the management are not being able to do it.

They have caused the collapse of their airlines. Look at Okada, Kabo, you can check the history. Like I said look at Bellview. It is sad because Kayode Odukoya, the Managing Director gave his life to aviation. He gave his life to the aviation industry. And for an airline for such a man to go down, the heart of every Nigeria who knows should bleed. And so he has to be assisted and rescued. But the first thing to do is to tell this people who own the airlines, who are managing it to please quit the management of the airlines.

And then put a programme in place that those who know how to manage airlines, manage it without the interference of the ownership and will manage it has a business. That is a major thing and that is why I said this problem does not exist with Nigeria Eagle Airlines. But it exists with some other airlines. Now, that is what we should look at apart from the other things they recommended. But the government should take a position on this issue. We want major flag carriers.

We must make major flag carriers emerge in the next two years maximum. We should start building up now, even if government has to input funds. They don’t have to put in money directly, they can give a bank guarantee. They can give guarantee for these airlines to get loans where loans are cheap oversees. With government putting in a sovereign guarantee and say, for four years, five years, this one airline is on, they sell the shares off and then put the money back in government kitty. That is what should be done. But before this happens, government should set up a committee of those who knows not just the owners of the airlines.

The owners of the airline will never tell the government the truth about why they have their problems. They will talk about the problem but not why they have the problems. They will talk about debt, charges are high and everything but they themselves are the problem, the management is the problem. Virgin has repositioned itself in terms of management but the albatross of virgin group is hanging heavily on their neck. Even the problem they are having now were not created by them, it was created by the Virgin group to sign a lease agreement, paying exorbitant rate and sign it for five years, that is a major problem.

This is a situation on this, they should be rescued but they should not one prescription, it is not good for all of them. And they must be based on government road map and the airlines’ road map. This government must have a road map on rescuing the aviation industry on the airline sub sector. We must have flag carriers in this country.

AFRAA’s call for airlines’ mergers
Well, it is what they have seen in Europe but we have talked about it over and over, and it is not clicking. So what the airlines will need to do is that, they have to be very firmly operational before you can think of mergers; even interlining. Many oversees airlines will run away from interlining with our airlines because their operational standard is low. If Virgin didn’t have all their problems, they will be able to maintain that standard having been given a base.

At a time Aero maintained that standard and they were having this kind of relationship even with BA. But once we start declining in terms of our standards, we will not have this interlining agreement, code share agreement because they don’t want their passengers to be messed up. So the truth of it is that mergers are not likely to come too soon. But if this arrangement, interlining arrangement, code share arrangement, gradually when confidence comes back the mergers can come, that is the truth of it. Now because there is no strong airline domestically, every weak airline believes he can make it.

But if there were two, three strong airlines domestically that are almost threatening to wipe out the others, they will find reason to say look we will merge. But because everybody is weak, they think they can make it, they can out do the other, and it is not possible. But until two, three, four strong airlines emerge, then mergers will come and say look the way we are, we need to do this or do that, then they will merge by themselves.

Government buying into domestic airlines
No, I don’t believe that. What I believe is that the only airline that government can buy into today is Nigerian Eagle Airlines. Government should sit down with the Virgin Group, with Richard Branson, evaluate what he brought in. Richard Branson didn’t bring money into this country. So the 49 per cent equity he is holding, how did he pay for it?

What has he taken out of that airline since he came into it? And if it is clear that he didn’t bring in anything, government should move in to acquire that 49 per cent for the purposes of using it to create one major flag carrier. But that acquisition, it doesn’t need to put in money, it puts a sovereign guarantee for four months. And when it does that, it is to say today we want this, in the next four or five years, these equities will be sold to Nigerians publicly and government can hold only 10 per cent of such equity.

There is nothing wrong in government holding about 10 per cent equity. That is what is being advised in many places now globally. It has happened in Australia, it has happened some other places. Hold 10 per cent equity as such that you can begin to muscle the airline but because at one point in time, the national strength can be brought to bear on challenges the airline may face.

Infrastructure at the airports, what will you say about that?
It is quite sad that the shape our airports are in the today is the way they were when they were built some 30 years ago and some 20 years, 15, 25 years ago. It doesn’t happen in other countries. Go to all other countries, you will find out that they are all re-building, expanding. Some have built new airports and left the old ones. That has not happened in Nigeria, no expansion, nothing, really adding things and choking the airport and making them look silly.

It is a national shame. So what should be done is that the airports should be concessioned. I agree in concesssioning in a way but before you concession there are so many things to be done. You must have plan for each airport. There must be master plans for each airport giving what you want it to be in concessioning. You want to concession MMA for 20 years or 30 years, you must have a master plan that by the 10th year of this concession, this is what this airport should be. By 20 years of this concession this is what we expect, by 30 years this is what we expect you to handover.

This airport, if it is handling two million today on capacity or three million, by 30 years it should have a capacity for 25 million. And so that must be part of the master plan. These are some of the wrong things we have done. The question of 36 years for MM2 should not be an issue. 36 years is possible. I have seen 50, 40 years in concessioning. But there is a master plan for it so that you know where you are working to. The 36 years, if it is true, the argument it was not giving or not.

I don’t want to get into that argument because of lack of transparency. But even if there was transparency, such number of years can be given. But before it is given, you must have a master plan. 36 years on MMA2, that MMA2 is built for 10 years. It can cope with traffic up to 10 years from now not more than that. By that time it will be bursting, it doesn’t have capacity to handle more than that. And there is no room for expansion. You can look at right, look at left, so that airport is imperilled by the fact that there was no master plan.

There was no conception about what you are looking for. So if you have 36 years, ask yourself will this airport survive more than 10 years in terms of providing the services to passengers? So there are two things, it is not just the number of years, it is whether the airport can cope with that. It was not done with a master plan. So no concession should be done in this country without an approved master plan that will say, by the end of this concession, this is what it should look like.

If you have a master plan that can be monitored, by 10 years of this, the true picture will be this. By 20 years of this, the true picture will be this. By 30 years when this concession end, this is what we will find in this airport. If no such a thing exists, concessioning will be useless for us in this country because after concessioning within the next four, five years we will be facing the same problem. And the concessionaire will be sorry and say that was not what we agreed.

So government must have a master plan, the concessionaire should bring his master plan that will cope with the number of years. And government will say, okay if you have this, this is what it should be. So I believe in concessioning, that is the only way we can change the faces of our airports and become part of the global aviation industry. Today we are not part of the global aviation industry in terms of airport infrastructure and it is a national shame.

Recent near air miss
I don’t know about near air misses recently. It could happen once or twice. It is not only in our country, so the rate of such thing is not that high as to become something that has become alarming. I think and I still say NCAA has done extremely well. And I think NAMA is being quickly equipped to be able to cope. If TRACON comes in place, we won’t have such problems.

It will now become that money should be deployed for manpower training and development. There should be enough money to train not just that we have put all the equipment. In fact the funds for training, major allocation should be made for training of manpower so that we have the appropriate manpower to man what will be put in place. Otherwise, if you put them in place and they don’t have proper continuous training, you will still have problems. So they should match the equipment with enough funds, enough allocation for training. I think that the leadership in NAMA today is a leadership that all of us know.

We know the man, know his onus and nobody can say anything about Auyo in terms of that. And that is why some of us who know the industry are confident about the man managing NAMA today. They should put the TRANCON in place as fast as possible. They equip the staff through training and further manpower development. One might ask over and over again, what is happening about the airfield lighting on domestic runway? It is a major problem. Again we should consider it as a national shame at every level that the runway has been done, it is putting the lighting there that is the problem.

In many of the airports you have no lighting. So airports that are supposed to be operating 24 hours are not doing that. And then for the international runway, Lagos domestic will be shut at night. And what has happened is that it has been so much cost for airlines. Sometimes an aircraft will hover for about 40 minutes before getting a slot to land. Fuel burn for 40 minutes is almost flying from Abuja to Lagos. And that is part of the cost of the airline. One immediate thing that will be done in Lagos to take out the shame is that the Presidency can issue an instruction.

If it gives the Ministry of Aviation and all in charge, 30 days or two months maximum, those lighting on the runway will be there. So we shouldn’t wait for a major accident to happen. I hear Emirate waited for 40 minutes at the threshold to takeoff. It waited 40 minutes, waiting for all these times at night. Later, it called and said sorry I am coming back to base because I am running out of hours. As the pilot said he is running out of hours and he cannot fly as per regulation that he was coming back to base after waiting for 40 minutes before take off because the airspace was congested with international and domestic flights since they are using a single runway. It will not happen in other countries.

By UCHE USIM

2009-11-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

EFREN PENAFLORIDA - CNN TOP 10 HEROES 2009

2009-11-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

2 linked to Mumbai terror attacks arrested in Italy

2009-11-21T03:25:00.000-08:00

Two Pakistani men were arrested in Italy on Saturday for providing logistical support to terrorists who carried out last year's deadly attacks in India, police said.

They were arrested in the northern Italian city of Brescia, said Stefano Fonzi, head of Italy's Division of General Investigations and Special Operations.

On November 25, 2008, the day before the attacks in Mumbai, the pair allegedly transferred $229 that was used to activate Internet phone lines used by the suspects.

Two others connected with the long-standing money transfer agency in Brescia were also arrested for other illegal activity, Fonzi told CNN. Police are looking for a fifth man.

Italian police started their investigation the following month after being alerted by Indian authorities and the FBI that funds had been transferred from Italy, Fonzi said.

Authorities suspected the agency after money was transferred under the Muslim name of a man who had never entered Italy, a police statement said.

The attacks on India's largest city lasted four days. The attackers targeted several sites in Mumbai, taking over several hotels and a Jewish center. The attacks left 160 people dead.

Indian police have said 10 Pakistanis were involved in the deadly assault, nine of whom were killed in the carnage.

The lone surviving suspect has linked the coordinated shooting and bombing incidents to the leader of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a militant group that is banned in India.

8-year-old rape victim's parents charged with abuse

2009-11-21T03:16:00.000-08:00

The parents of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by four boys in July were arrested Friday on child abuse charges, according to Arizona police.

The father, 59, and mother, 47, were arrested Friday in Phoenix on seven counts of child abuse, said police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill. Police were waiting for them at their home after the Maricopa County Attorney's Office issued the warrants.

The names of the parents have been withheld by CNN to avoid identifying the daughter, who is an alleged rape victim.

The child abuse investigation was based on documented incidents from the Phoenix Police Department and numerous referrals to Arizona Child Protective Services dating to 2005.

Police said the parents, refugees from the West African nation, used sticks, wires and their fists to hit their young daughter.

Witnesses told CNN affiliate KTVK that the parents left their daughter wandering their apartment complex alone at night, begging for food.

Details of the girl's assault last summer shocked the nation. She was allegedly lured to a storage shed, pinned down and gang-raped by four boys, none of them older than 14.

The parents said they felt they had been shamed by their child and blamed her for being victimized. As a result, the girl was taken from her home and placed in state custody.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said at the time that the parents' reaction was wrong and that they needed counseling

Suicide car bomb in Pakistan kills 11

2009-11-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

A suicide car bomber who blew himself up at a police checkpoint Saturday in Peshawar killed 11 people and wounded 26 -- marking the second straight day of major violence in the area, authorities said.

Shafi Ullah, deputy superintendent of police, said authorities had stopped the bomber at the post when the explosion occurred, killing three women, three children, a policeman and four other men.

The blast occurred near a police checkpoint in the neighborhood of Pushtakhara, said Peshawar police officer Idrees Khan. He said 50-60 kilograms of explosives (110-132 pounds) were used in the bomb.

Peshawar -- the capital of the North West Frontier Province -- has repeatedly come under attack in recent days. Intelligence officials say the attacks are retaliation against an army offensive to rout militants from their havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Peshawar is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

No one claimed responsibility for Saturday's blast.
owever, Taliban senior commander Qari Hussein said Saturday that the Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday's dual bombings, which killed at least 17 people, including security officials, in Peshawar and nearby Bannu. Dozens of people were wounded.

Hussein told CNN there will be more such attacks in the future, and that their intensity will be much greater.

On Thursday, a Pakistani working for the Iranian consulate was shot and killed in northwestern Pakistan, police said.

Hussein said that during the ongoing military operation in South Waziristan, only 14 Taliban have been killed. Those, too, have been suicide bombers, he said.

He criticized the Pakistan army, saying it has fallen prey to disorder and confusion and will not be able to effectively fight the Taliban.

Hussein said militants plan to target political parties that have taken an anti-Taliban position, and said their illusion that the government will protect them is incorrect.

"We will be able to take them out," he said.

The victor will become the real leader of Waziristan; that could be the government, the army or the Taliban, Hussein added.

Obama vows renewed ties with Asia

2009-11-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

Touting himself as America's "first Pacific president," Barack Obama called on his own connections with Asia Saturday as he pledged a renewed engagement with Asia Pacific nations based on "an enduring and revitalized alliance between the United States and Japan."

The U.S. president, in his first Asia trip since taking office in January, told a packed house at Tokyo's Suntory Hall that all Americans should know that what happens in Asia "has a direct effect on our lives at home."

"This is where we engage in much of our commerce and buy many of our goods," he said. "And this is where we can export more of our own products and create jobs back home in the process.

"This is a place where the risk of a nuclear arms race threatens the security of the wider world, and where extremists who defile a great religion plan attacks on both our continents. And there can be no solution to our energy security and our climate challenge without the rising powers and developing nations of the Asia Pacific."

Obama met with new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Friday after his arrival in Tokyo as well as with the Japanese emperor and empress.

Obama touched on nearly every part of the Asia Pacific region during his speech, and talked about a boyhood visit to Japan with his mother, his birth in Hawaii, a childhood spent partly in Indonesia and the United States' position as a Pacific nation.

"There must be no doubt: as America's first Pacific president, I promise you that this Pacific nation will strengthen and sustain our leadership in this vitally important part of the world," he said.

He stressed that the United States was not interested in containing the emerging economic growth in China.

"The rise of a strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations," he said. "And so, in Beijing and beyond, we will work to deepen our strategic and economic dialogue."

Obama also called on Myanmar to make more definitive moves toward democracy, including releasing all political prisoners; urged North Korea to return to the Six-Party Talks so that the reclusive nation could be reintegrated into the world stage and pledged America's support for eliminating nuclear weapons and efforts to reduce the global effects of climate change.

His trip is to include stops in Singapore, China and South Korea, during which Obama will hold formal talks with Asian leaders as a group and individually.

The president plans to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Russia President Dmitry Medvedev and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

APEC's 21 member nations represent more than half of the world's economic output. The forum sees its goal as "facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region."

During a busy day in Singapore, Obama also will become the first U.S. president to take part in a summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic alliance.
In China, Obama will continue efforts to define and strengthen the United States' relationship with the world's largest emerging economy, which has a growing influence in Asia, said Jeffrey Bader, the National Security Council's senior director for East Asian affairs.

"We see it as a relationship where we're obviously going to have differences, where we are going to be competitors in certain respects," he said. "But we want to maximize areas where we can work together, because the global challenges will simply not be met if we don't."

Bader cited North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the economy, climate change, human rights and Afghanistan as among the top issues for the China swing. On human rights, Bader said Obama is likely to address "freedom of expression, access to information, freedom of religion, rule of law and, certainly, Tibet."

Obama will make clear to Hu that he intends to meet with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, Bader said. China, which rejects Tibetan aspirations for autonomy, opposes such high-level contacts with the Dalai Lama.

On North Korea, the State Department announced Tuesday that U.S. officials will travel to the country by year's end to seek a resumption of broader talks on ending the Pyongyang government's nuclear program.

The Obama administration has claimed initial progress in its strategy of forging an international effort, including China and South Korea, to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Japan has been asking for a comprehensive solution to North Korea's missile tests and the abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s. Saturday morning, Obama made clear that both were necessary.

"The path for North Korea to realize this future is clear: a return to the Six-Party Talks; upholding previous commitments, including a return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and the full and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he said.

"And full normalization with its neighbors can only come if Japanese families receive a full accounting of those who have been abducted. These are all steps that can be taken by the North Korean government, if they are interested in improving the lives of their people and joining the community of nations."

It won't be all diplomatic meetings, though. Obama's first trip to China will include a town hall-style meeting in Shanghai and sightseeing in Beijing, including a stop at the Great Wall.

Accused 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed faces New York trial

2009-11-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

Five Guantanamo Bay detainees with alleged ties to the 9/11 conspiracy, including accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be transferred to New York to go on trial in civilian court, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday.

Mohammed, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi will all be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York -- a short distance from the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

"After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of September 11th will finally face justice," Holder said.

He said he expected all five to be tried together and for prosecutors to seek the death penalty. The trial would be open to the public, although some portions that deal with classified information may be closed, Holder said.

"Based on all of my experience and based on all of the recommendations and the great work and the research that has been done, I am quite confident that the outcomes in these cases will be successful," he said.

He also expressed confidence that an impartial jury would be found "to ensure a fair trial in New York."

Of the 2,752 people killed in the 9/11 attacks, 2,606 died when terrorists crashed two hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center towers.

Holder also announced that five other detainees held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be sent to military commissions for trial. They were identified as Omar Khadr, Mohammed Kamin, Ibrahim al Qosi, Noor Uthman Muhammed and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Al-Nashiri is an accused mastermind of the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole; Khadr is a Canadian charged with the 2002 murder of a U.S. military officer in Afghanistan. Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured in July 2002.

Holder said a venue for the military commissions has not been set.

Mohammed "will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice," President Obama said Friday in Japan.

"The American people insist on it, and my administration will insist on it," Obama told reporters at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Mohammed is the confessed organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon. But his confession could be called into question during trial. A 2005 Justice Department memo -- released by the Obama administration -- revealed he had been waterboarded 183 times in March 2003.

The CIA has also admitted using waterboarding on al-Nashiri, the first person charged in the United States for the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Obama has called the technique, which simulates drowning, torture.

The alleged 9/11 conspirators are among 215 men held by the U.S. military at the Guantanamo prison camp. The Obama administration has vowed to close the detention facility but acknowledges it is unlikely to happen by its self-imposed January 22, 2010, deadline.

Bringing some of the world's top terror suspects to be tried in New York has already sparked outrage, as well as security concerns.

"Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is the most wanted terrorist in the world. Everyone in the world is going to know precisely where he is at precisely one time," CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "The Foley courthouse could become the focus of a great deal of interest from terrorists. That's going to take a tremendous security effort."

Watch Toobin list the challenges of this trial

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, issued a statement Friday denouncing the decision to try the 9/11 suspects as "common criminals."

"The attacks of September 11th were an act of war," Cornyn said. "Reverting to a pre-9/11 approach to fighting terrorism and bringing these dangerous individuals onto U.S. soil needlessly compromises the safety of all Americans. Putting political ideology ahead of the safety of the American people just to fulfill an ill-conceived campaign promise is irresponsible."

Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said the decision meant Mohammed and the other defendants would be able to claim new protections, including Miranda and Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

"America already gives terrorists more constitutional rights than any other country," Smith said. "The administration should not prioritize the rights of terrorists over the rights of Americans to be safe and secure."

But Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband was killed on 9/11, said she welcomed the trial.

"Some would say New York would now be a target by allowing his [Mohammed's] trial to take place in New York, but I disagree," she told CNN. Breitweiser still lives in the New York area. "It would give many of us access to attend the hearings."

She also said that for some who lost loved ones on 9/11, "this will be our opportunity to see justice served and have our day in court.

"Our ability to prosecute terrorists successfully in open courtrooms has less to do with the our judicial process and more to do with Bush's policy on torture that will make these prosecutions more difficult," she said.

Anambra 2010: Court decides PDP’s fate

2009-10-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

The coast may be clear for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to have its flag flown at the gubernatorial election holding in Anambra State next February if it secures a vital court ruling that would enable it to hold its congress today.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had set tomorrow as deadline for political parties to present their candidates for the election.

While some parties notably, Action Congress (AC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Labour Party (LP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) had chosen their candidates, the PDP is hamstrung by a court order obtained by one of its 47 aspirants stopping the party from holding its congress last Thursday.

The PDP was at Justice Joe Iguh’s court at the state High Court, Awka on Wednesday in a bid to vacate the order.

All efforts to that effect, however, failed as the court adjourned till today for further hearing and determination of the matter.

PDP leadership is banking on hopes that if the court order is vacated, it could still rein in its army of gubernatorial contenders and secure an agreement for a consensus candidate to beat the INEC deadline.
If Justice Iguh turns down PDP prayers and decides not to vacate the court order today, the Anambra gubernatorial election billed for February 6, next year will hold without the ruling party not fielding a candidate.

Meanwhile, the Action Congress on Wednesday elected former governor of Anambra, Dr Chris Ngige as its candidate. Labour Party adopted Chief Mike Areh, while the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) elected Mr Oliver Okoro as its standard bearer.

The Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) will elect its candidate at the state congress today.
At the AC congress, which held at the Tourist Garden Hotels, Awka, the delegates from the 326 wards in the state voted openly not withstanding that Dr. Ngige was the only aspirant.
INEC team of 10 observers was led by Mr. Henry Mbonu, while the party’s national delegation was led by the National Organizing Secretary, Godie Ikechi.

At the LP congress, the adoption of Areh was unexpected as other aspirants like Mrs. Njideka Anyadike could not understand it. She was told on arrival at the venue that Areh had been chosen and she left.
It was, however, alleged that Areh’s choice was with an understanding that he would stand in for Governor Obi, who would eventually run on the platform of the party and make him deputy if the APGA experiment fails.

The CDC congress was smooth as Mr. Bright Unekwe, who was supposed to contest the ticket with Okoro, withdrew for him at the venue of the congress, hence Okoro was returned unopposed.
At the three congresses, INEC had representatives who observed the proceedings.
Meanwhile, it would be a fight among Emeka Etiaba, Hon. Uche Ekwunife and Okey Chukwendu as the PPA holds its congress today.

From GEOFFREY ANAYANWU, AWKA

French minister says he won't resign over sex with 'boys'

2009-10-09T04:49:00.000-07:00

PARIS, France - French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said Thursday he will not resign over accounts in a book he wrote in 2005 about paying to have sex with "boys" in Thailand.

In an interview with French television network TF1, Mitterrand said he "absolutely condemn[s] sexual tourism, which is a disgrace, and ... pedophilia," in which he insisted he has never participated.

Despite the use of the French word "garcon" in his 2005 book "The Bad Life," Mitterrand, 62, has previously said the term did not mean "little boys." He said the males he paid for sex were his age, or maybe five years younger, but not underage -- and the relations were consensual.

"Anyway, you can recognize someone who's 40 years old ..." he told TF1. A 40-year-old man "doesn't look like a minor," he added, suggesting that his partners were middle-aged men.

His actions, Mitterrand said, were "without a doubt, an error," but "a crime, no," he said in the interview.

Despite recent calls to resign from the far-right National Front and the left-leaning Socialist Party, Mitterrand, who is openly gay, vowed to stay in his job. He said he met Thursday morning with French President Nicolas sarkozy, and that the president supports him.

In a July interview with the weekly French news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, Sarkozy said he had read Mitterrand's book, and found it "courageous and talented."

The controversy over the revelations in his book -- which he called a mix of autobiography and fiction -- erupted anew after Mitterrand deplored the arrest last week of filmmaker Roman polanski, who fled the United States in 1977 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

The culture minister told TF1 that he was "too emotional" when he denounced the filmmaker's arrest in Switzerland as "horrifying."

"To see him thrown to the lions for an old story that really has no meaning, and to see him alone, imprisoned, when he was going to attend a ceremony where he was to be honored, that is to say, he was trapped, it's absolutely horrifying," he said October 4, according to Agence France Presse.

The far-right National Front organized an anti-Mitterrand demonstration in Paris on Thursday evening.

"Send this message on to everyone who will not put up with this indecency!" the party's Web site said.

The party's vice president, Marine Le Pen, has demanded Mitterrand's resignation for what she termed his sexually deviant acts. Mitterrand responded, saying, "It's an honor to be dragged through the mud by the National Front."

Mitterrand's acts of "sexual tourism" have left "a dark smudge" on the government, Le Pen said.

The group is also gathering signatures on a petition, online and on paper, from those who want Mitterrand to step down.

"We really hope he will resign," National Front communications director Julien Sanchez told CNN.

"It's an embarrassment for our country, that our culture minister has done this. It affects our international image. It's not right," he added.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the left-leaning Socialist Party suggested Sarkozy should consider Mitterrand's position.

"It's up to President Sarkozy to decide whether or not we can be involved in the fight against child prostitution and sexual tourism, and whether or not the acts written in an autobiography -- written by a minister -- are acts of sexual commerce," said party spokesman Benoit Hamon.

"If everything is relative and Mr. Mitterrand can be excused because he's famous, well, I don't excuse his behavior," Hamon said.

Martine Aubry, the leader of the socialist party, said she would wait until she had read the book before making any judgment.

Mitterrand said on TF1 that he had had sexual relations with boys -- using the French word "garcons" -- but added, "you must not confuse pedophilia with homosexuality."

He also described his book as a mixture of his life and the life of others, and denied accusations that it was a glorification of sexual tourism. The minister said he never had sex with "young boys" and denounced those who accused him of such acts, saying that maybe they were confusing their own fantasies with what the book was really about.

Mitterrand told an interviewer in 2005 that assertions that he liked "little boys" were untrue.

"It's because when people say 'boys' we imagine 'little boys,'" he said then. "How to explain that? It belongs to this general puritanism which surrounds us, which always makes us paint a black picture of the situation. It has nothing to do with that."

Mitterrand was a television personality, not a government minister, when the book was published. It caused a stir upon its publication, as well, and has been the subject of heated debate several times since then.

In one passage, published by the French newspaper Le Monde on Thursday, Mitterrand describes in detail a sexual encounter with a "boy" he said was called Bird.

"My boy didn't say a word, he stood before me, immobile, his eyes still straight ahead and a half-smile on his lips. I wanted him so badly I was trembling," he wrote.

Mitterrand also wrote about visiting clubs to choose young male prostitutes in Thailand -- where prostitution is illegal and sexual intercourse with a minor is statutory rape and is punishable by imprisonment.

"Most of them are young, handsome and apparently unaware of the devastation that their activities could bring them. I would learn later that they didn't come every night, that they were often students, had a girlfriend and sometimes even lived with their families, who pretended not to know the source of their breadwinner's earnings," the book said.

"Some of them were older and there was also a small contingent of heavier bruisers, who also had their fans. It was the artistic side of the exposition: Their presence made the youthful charm of the others stand out."

He also wrote that while he had read reports and seen documentaries on the evils of "le commerce des garcons" (the boy trade) -- the misery, the piles of money from which "les gosses" (the kids) got only a few crumbs, the ravages of drugs -- "all of these rituals of the fair of the youths, the slave market, excited me enormously."

"The profusion of very attractive boys, immediately available, put me in a state of desire that I no longer had to restrain or conceal."

Mitterrand -- the nephew of the Socialist former president Francois Mitterrand -- joined Sarkozy's center-right government this summer.

Wikipedia, the user-edited online reference Web site, has locked down Mitterrand's entry, preventing changes to it, in a possible sign of the intensity of the debate surrounding him.

Anambra 2010: Obi gets APGA’s ticket

2009-10-09T04:47:00.000-07:00

The National leader of APGA, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, on Wednesday congratulated Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, on his nomination as the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) at the party’s congress yesterday at the Ekwueme Square, Awka.

Speaking during the congress, Ojukwu, who was there with his wife, Bianca, said that his presence was an expression of support for the governor and the party. He said APGA would continue to sustain its principle of massive development as enunciated by Governor Obi and that the people of Nigeria would, in due course, realize that APGA was present to set new political standards for the entire country.

Ojukwu said that the peace witnessed at the congress was a reflection of the decency and integrity APGA is known for, promising to continue to support Obi at all times.
The congress, which witnessed a large turnout of delegates and other party faithfuls from across the state, saw the emergence of the incumbent Governor of the State, Mr. Obi, as the party’s standard bearer for the forthcoming gubernatorial election in February next year.

Shortly before voting commenced, a chieftain of the party, Chief Ben Obi, had moved a motion nominating Governor Obi as APGA’s candidate; he was seconded by Mr. Emeka Meze.
The chairman of the congress organizing committee and the National Vice President, South West, Alhaji Tayo Owurumi, said APGA had become a household name because of its principles that recognized integrity and honour in governance. He said the members of APGA also drew a lot of confidence from the party’s National Leader, Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

In his own remarks, the State Chairman of the party, Akunwata Mike Kwentoh, said the heavy presence of party faithfuls in their thousands once again had demonstrated that the party was on ground.

From GEOFFREY ANAYANWU, AWKA

Politicians should serve 3 months in business to understand problems of entrepreneurs

2009-10-09T04:37:00.000-07:00

During a recently concluded Euromoney conference held at Eko Hotel Lagos, Frontline businessman and president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Alhaji Aliko Dangote in an interactive forum spoke about cost of doing business in Nigeria. He reminisced on his encounter with former president Olusegun Obasanjo and recommended that politicians should have a period of internship in business before making policies for the people.

Excerpts:
Why do you still find Nigeria a place to invest despite the difficult business environment?
It is our duty to see that Nigeria becomes an industrial nation. We only ask that government should provide incentives that will make Nigeria investment friendly. If all of us decide that we don’t want to invest in Nigeria then we move away, we are not doing the nation any good. Even the other areas we migrate to, do not have everything going smoothly.

Where you are given for instance power at 5 cents, infrastructure provided and five years tax-free given, it means an investment will cost me less. I have a guarantee that power is constant because there are cheaper hydropower projects going on here and there. Then you ask why am I still in Nigeria. Nigeria is in a unique position. It is not only the market, in terms of population of about 150 million people. We have other markets, which is the Economic community of West African states (ECOWAS). This constitutes additional 150 million people. So a market where you have about 300 million consumers, there is no way you can go wrong.

Our major constraint is power, which I know is a problem that cannot be solved in one day. It will be solve one day; if not the end of this year, then the coming year. For me to wait until all these problems are sorted out it means am not going to invest. And it doesn’t make sense. As a businessman, I have to take some risks, but it had to be a calculated risk so that if there are some hurdles along the way, I can find a way of jumping them.

Government policies are alright but we have to look for a way of sustaining these policies. Let me give you an example why people are not investing in Nigeria as before. There are a lot of government policies that government did a massive turn around. A government policy may have it that we have to drive at the right hand side of the road, which means the car have to be a left handed car. And after buying your own car, then government says it is changing the policy to the other way around. Some time in 1990, and 1991, there was a policy that there would be no more export of cocoa. A lot of people sank money into building Cocoa plant.

When the time of implementation came, the government could not act. People got their fingers burnt. From 1991 to date, nobody has revisited those regulations to ensure compliance.
Again the mistake people make is that they don’t seem to factor in the fact that there must be cost over run. In fact if I have to start a factory that is worth N100 million am not going to start the factory unless I have N200 million or I have a way of making that N200 million at the end; ask me why? Normally, factories take about 3 to 4 years to stabilize. So 3 to 4 years where you have 22 percent interest and above, that factory is going to cost you double because the cumulative interest of 22 percent for 4 years will translate to another 100 percent.

Some people have actually gone away but some of us that remained here, I assure you, we are going to make a lot of money in the nearest future because one day, all these policy changes will stop. Even where there are policy changes and there is power, our product will be able to compete with any imported good.

Free-trade and Nigeria’s import ban
We have to take the case of India as an example. A couple of years back, India do not allow importation. Even now, you need a license to take some things to India. They said if we produce water and you don’t take the water, it means you are not encouraging me. You are expecting my water to meet the standard of Avien water, which is made in France. You forget that when you consume my own water, then I will have enough money to expand, upgrade and meet those standards. But unfortunately for us, Nigerians are used to foreign goods forgetting that for every single bottle of made in Nigeria water you consume, you are actually saving a job or creating one in Nigeria. Free trade is good, but we are not on a levy playing field because the other countries coming to dump their goods in our market have different advantages.

Take another case of China, Malaysia or let me say Asian tigers because most of these things come from there. They have cheaper power and other facilities going for them. If I am exporting my own sugar, I have 30 percent incentive in form of Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF). The government is saying if you don’t have money to pay, you can use the documents to pay or send it to somebody. The paper is transferable and you can sell it easily.

So in a place like that where you have export incentive you have advantage. But where you dump in a market like ours where I have to provide my water, power and other infrastructure and a lot of my money is tied up in providing logistics. Where will I now get additional money for survival and expansion. And you know when you produce massively and sale massively you enjoy economies of scale; the rest you can even sale at cost since you have to cover your production cost.

These are the issues on ground. I think what the government is doing is to look at the pricing in the ECOWAS market. But unfortunately most of them don’t produce anything. What they do is package the goods they bring into their country and send then to Nigeria. When the government announced N70 billion soft-loan to the textile industry. I said even N700 billion will not settle the issue on ground. It’s about making sure smuggling is eliminated. Without smuggling, we will be able to compete. What we see today in some local markets like in Kano where I come from , is that the Chinese are opening shops. They smuggle and sell the goods themselves. Smuggled goods being sold by the same smugglers. So there is no way I can be competitive. One other risk is that in the last 3 months, the price of low pour oil was N25 per litre, today government has jerked the price of the same low pour oil to N65 per litre. But that doesn’t really bother me as much as the Nigerian national Petroleum Company (NNPC) linking cost of low pour oil and gas. For the last 5 to 10 years government has been penalizing oil companies for flaring off gas and you want to charge 80 per cent of the cost of low pour oil, it does not make sense.

Do politicians understand the needs of entrepreneurs?
I think one of the greatest problems we have is that majority of our entrepreneurs don’t really change and venture into politics. But since we have a divide where each of these groups operates on their own, I think it will be a good idea to adopt the method of the National Youth Service Corps. We need to have entrepreneurs to actually go and serve in the government for one year or the politicians should come and serve in business.

Would you like to serve?
I think I will. I don’t mind, because that would be for the progress of the nation. I went to former President Olusegun Obasanjo some time and I said, sir, I know you don’t have difficulties running a business even though you have only a farm. What I assure you is that entrepreneurs find it difficult running businesses in Nigeria. If things are easy, I would like you to mention five names of people who have left government from 1960 to date and set up businesses and those businesses have succeeded. He said “OK yes.

But they are few”, I said OK sir, who was that? He mentioned General Danjuma. I said yes, he is a successful investor but he doesn’t have a factory. He is an entrepreneur but in different perspective. Because if you have a bank and I just buy shares I will share from the profits but what about running those businesses? What we are looking forward to is that these same people who are in government one day should come and just even stay for 3 months. Even a month is enough. Eight years ago I did not have a single gray hair but right now, you can see all part of my hair is gray (which means things are not easy). Then he said “OK fine” and I said ok fine. He mentioned Admiral Nyako. I said Admiral Nyako has a small farm but who else? Actually, he couldn’t count five. So when he finished, I told him that I just want to prove to him that business is very difficult to do in Nigeria and entrepreneurs need a lot of help.
Small businesses and job creation for the young population.

It is not only the population that is scaring, it is the bulk of the population. Our population is growing at 3 per cent. People keep saying 140 million. No, our population is not 140 million today because the census was conducted 3 years ago; 2006 to be precise. As at 2006 we were over 140 million. So, 3 per cent cumulative to 2009, you have 150 million people in Nigeria.

Right now we have issues of Niger Delta, which by the grace of God we will be able to sort out very soon. But you see, after the Niger Delta problem has been settled, Nigeria have another problem, which is prominent in the northern part of Nigeria. You visit people on Sunday, it looks as if they are taking a rest and when you return on Monday, you will not see any difference. When you drive around there, you see people sitting under the tree doing nothing but gisting; talking about national issues.

The same people you see on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday doing nothing, are very busy producing children on a continuous bases. There is need for concerted effort to create jobs. The only area we can create job is the agro-allied industry and industrialization. But we cannot do so well in agriculture without infrastructure because we need a damn. Nigeria also needs irrigation because we cannot wholly depend on rainfall. For example we have a programme we want to run in the next two years. It is a programme that will see us producing about 700,000 metric tones of sugar. This will give you at least 50,000 jobs. And for every single job that you create, that person has about 5 dependants. So these are the areas that we need to concentrate on.

We have to equally look at the land use act if we must engage in meaningful agriculture. If we have all these sorted out, and we have a guaranteed pricing, it will help. Because there is no way any farmer today will go into massive farming without a guaranteed pricing. For example, if a farmer knows that when he produces one bag of beans he will be paid N3000 and that his production cost is between N2000 and N2800, he will take the risk. That way, he will not expose himself to entrepreneurs like us because we will try to get the best price. These are the issues. There is need to sort out the problem of Agriculture and be able to sustain some of our good policies so that you won’t go half way into a business and then government will do a reversal. But if government should sort out the power issue the other areas will not be a problem.

Businessmen’s good report with former president and opposition to the present government
I totally disagree with what you have said. For the avoidance of doubt or may be to clarify this issue, first of all yes. It is true, a couple of businessmen and women as you have said were close to the former president. But I don’t think anybody in his right mind would like to be an enemy of the president. You can try to challenge a president if you are in a normal place, but in a third world country, I want to say that you would not want to be an enemy of the president, that’s number one. Number two , if we are not comfortable with the present government, we will not be expanding our businesses. From the inception of this new government till date, we have sunk more than 2 billion US dollars in Nigeria.

Talking about relationship with the current president and the former one, I still think I am one of the few people who will get into the villa without any appointment. I am not one of the people that will wear badge to get into the villa, so there is no problem just to make it clear to you.

What the government can do in the power sector
To tell the truth, it is very difficult for any government to say that they are going to provide power on their own. I think the power sector needs to be privatized. Like in the year 2000 the total telephone lines both mobile and landlines were 700,000, majority of which were not functional. But today one single telecommunication company like MTN has over 23 million lines. So unless we privatize the power sector, it’s not going to improve soon. But I also agree with government that before we privatize, we need to beef up the capacity to a certain level, then we now privatize. But even with 6000mw it will still be very difficult because you cannot get entrepreneurs to invest in power unless they are going to make money.

Another issue for example, if government gives you a contract may be to build power plant with gas. The government has guaranteed you supply of certain materials like gas. But when they cut off gas supply along the way, who is going to pay the bill. If you give me such contract and fail to provide gas, which you initially guaranteed to provide, you will still pay me whether I supply the power or not; because am ready to deliver the power but you have not given me the gas.

If we can get 6000mw, within 2 years we can jump to 12 or 14 because Nigeria is a place where there are a lot of entrepreneurs willing to invest. But there are infrastructural issues also. I don’t even believe our infrastructure will carry the 6000mw until we have massive transmission process.

Aftermath of CBN’s monetary policy on the economy
Truly there is no economy that can grow without credit. The governor of central bank was here yesterday and he promised to do something about it, but we have to quickly go back to them to make sure that this is done immediately.

By CHIMA TITUS NWOKOJI

Obama awarded 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama made history again Friday, winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized Obama's efforts to solve complex global problems, including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population," it said.

After the president was awakened and told he had won, he said he was humbled to be selected, according to an administration official.

Obama's recognition comes less than a year after he became the first African-American to win the White House. He is the fourth U.S. president to win the prestigious prize and the third sitting president to do so.

The announcement Friday in Oslo, Norway, came as a surprise -- Obama had not been mentioned among front-runners -- and the roomful of reporters gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, announced Obama's name.

Jagland said the decision was unanimous and came with ease.

He rejected the notion that Obama had been recognized prematurely for his efforts and said the committee wanted to promote the president just it had Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 in his efforts to open up the Soviet Union.

Jagland said he hoped the prize would help Obama resolve the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, last year's laureate, said it was clear the Nobel committee wanted to encourage Obama on the issues he has been discussing on the world stage.

"I see this as an important encouragement," Ahtisaari said.

The committee wanted to be "far more daring" than in recent times and make an impact on global politics, said Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the International Peace Research Institute.

And Wangari Muta Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who won the 2004 Peace Prize, said the win for Obama, whose father was Kenyan, would help Africa move forward.

"I think it is extraordinary," she said. "It will be even greater inspiration for the world. He has shown how we can probably come together, work together in a cooperative way."

The award comes at a crucial time for Obama, who has initiated peace missions to key parts of the globe.

Obama's envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, has returned to the region to advocate for peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Mitchell met Thursday with Israeli President Shimon Peres. He plans to meet Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before talking with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton starts a six-day trip to Europe and Russia on Friday. On the trip, the secretary will discuss the next steps on Iran and North Korea, and international efforts to have the two countries end their nuclear programs.

The centerpiece of the trip will be her visit to Moscow, where she will work toward an agreement to take the place of the Start II arms control pact, which expires December 5. She also will address the new bilateral presidential commission that is working on a broad range of issues, from arms control to health.

Mohamed ElBaradei, who won the 2005 peace prize for his efforts to prevent nuclear energy being used for military means, said Obama deserved to win for his efforts to bring Iran to the table for direct nuclear talks with the United States.

"I could not think of anybody who is more deserving," said ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

As the news of Obama's win broke online, postings on social network sites Twitter and Facebook expressed surprise. Many started with the word: Wow.

The last sitting U.S. president to win the peace prize was Woodrow Wilson in 1919. The other was Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Jimmy Carter had been out of office for more than two decades when he won in 2002.

This year's Peace Prize nominees included 172 people -- among them three Chinese dissidents, an Afghan activist and a controversial Colombian lawmaker -- and 33 organizations, the highest number of nominations ever.

The deadline for nominations must be postmarked by February 1 each year. Obama was inaugurated on January 20.

The Nobel recipient receives a prize of about $1.4 million.

Court overturns Berlusconi's immunity law

2009-10-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

ROME, Italy -- Italy's top court has overturned a law that shielded Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from possible prosecution.

The flamboyant prime minister pushed the law through after he returned to power in 2008, but legal authorities in the city of Milan challenged it in the Constitutional Court.

The ruling potentially opens the way for the billionaire prime minister to face charges of bribery, influence peddling and tax fraud -- but it is unlikely the court verdict itself will force him to resign.

The law was designed to shield from prosecution the country's president, its prime minister, and the heads of both houses of parliament.

The Constitutional Court found the law violated Section 3 of the constitution, which requires that all Italians be equal before the law, and Article 138, which says laws must be consistent with the constitution, the court's press office said in a statement.

The 15-judge court may reveal more about its decision-making process in the future, but is not required to do so.

The court hearing on the law lasted a little under two hours on Tuesday, with three lawyers arguing Berlusconi's case and one representing the legal authorities of Milan.

Arguments focused on whether every Italian is included under the provision on equality under the law, with Milan arguing they must be.

One of Berlusconi's attorneys, Niccolo Ghedini, said the prime minister is a special case, Italian media reported.

Despite the many scandals surrounding him, Berlusconi remains popular, consistently scoring approval ratings well over 50 percent.

His private life has been in the spotlight since his wife of 19 years, Veronica Lario, filed for divorce in May.

The split followed reports that Berlusconi went to the birthday party of an 18-year-old girl, with whom Berlusconi has denied having an inappropriate relationship.

And the Spanish newspaper El Pais has published what it said were photos of racy parties at Berlusconi's villa on the island of Sardinia, including one picture that showed scantily clad women.

Greeks head to polls for early elections

2009-10-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

FROM (CNN) -- Greek voters head to the polls Sunday to elect a new government, two years before the elections were originally scheduled.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis called the early elections in response to pressure from the opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement. The party threatened to block the election of a president in February if there was no general election first.

The Greek constitution requires the two major parties to agree on the election of a president, giving either party an effective veto.

Karamanlis is also seeking a mandate from the voters for reforms in response to the international financial crisis, he said.

"It's up to the citizens to decide who has the right plan to govern and face the economic challenges," he said in a speech to the country in September.

Karamanlis' term was not due to expire until September 2011.

But Socialist party leader George Papandreou insisted on new elections before the end of President Karolos Papoulias' term as president in February.

Karamanlis' conservative New Democracy party suffered a sharp setback in European elections in June, when the Socialists matched New Democracy's tally of eight seats, with 36 percent of the vote.

That election was seen as a litmus test for Karamanlis at a time of political and economic uncertainty with the economy shrinking and the country staring at a recession after nearly 15 years of high-profile growth.

Polls taken ahead of the Sunday elections showed the Panhellenic Socialist Movement beating Karamanlis' party.Nearly 10 million Greeks are registered to vote.

8 U.S. troops killed in battle with militants in Afghanistan

2009-10-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of militants attacked American and Afghan troops in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, opening fire on an outpost from multiple locations with rockets, mortars and heavy-caliber machine guns, according to an initial U.S. military report on the battle.

At least eight American troops and two members of the Afghan National Security Force died -- the largest number of Americans killed by hostile action in a single day in more than a year, according to CNN records.

At least 13 Afghan police officers were captured in the attack, according to Haji Abdul Halim, the deputy governor of Nuristan province, where the battle took place.

The fighting lasted about 12 hours, with the militants firing down on the joint U.S.-Afghan outpost from ridgelines above the base, a senior U.S. military official with direct knowledge of the first reports told CNN. The official said the report was preliminary and subject to change as more information came in.

The official said portions of the outpost burst into flame and burned down, but was not able to say if the blaze caused injuries or deaths.

The militants also fired from a local mosque, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense said hundreds of militant fighters surrounded two outposts in the attack.

The terrain and the weather worked against U.S. troops, the U.S. military source said. The attackers' firing positions in the mountains made it tough for U.S. troops to fight back, and bad weather made it hard for troops to fire back effectively, the source said.

Coalition forces repelled the attack, inflicting "heavy enemy casualties," and calling in airstrikes, the alliance said.

The military source said air support arrived within 30 minutes, and that the attackers did not succeed in getting inside the outpost.

The official asked not to be identified because the incident is under investigation and the Pentagon is trying to ensure families of the deceased are informed before the military says more.

"My heart goes out to the families of those we have lost and to their fellow soldiers who remained to finish this fight," said Col. Randy George, commander of Task Force Mountain Warrior. "This was a complex attack in a difficult area. Both the U.S. and Afghan soldiers fought bravely together; I am extremely proud of their professionalism and bravery."

ISAF withheld the identities of the deceased until family members were notified.

The U.S. does not have any indication that the death toll will rise, a U.S. military representative in Afghanistan told CNN.

Before Saturday's incident, the U.S. had announced plans to leave the post that came under attack.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has said he wants to focus more on protecting Afghan civilians rather than holding remote outposts like the one that was attacked Saturday.

The last time American troops suffered so many casualties in a single day was July 13, 2008, when Afghan militants attempted to overrun a base in the village of Wanat, also in eastern Afghanistan.

At least nine Americans died that day, and the base was abandoned days later.

Militants "attempted to break into that base," said Mark Laity, a NATO spokesman, a day after the attack last summer. They did make some penetration, he said, "but overall they were repelled and they took very heavy casualties themselves."

Two days later, the base was "disestablished," ISAF said.

The Wanat attack was the deadliest attack on U.S troops in three years, and prompted a Pentagon investigation.

The U.S. Army unit that came under attack didn't get enough intelligence that 200 insurgents were in the area and poised to attack, two officials told CNN in the wake of the battle. However, the failure of intelligence is only one angle the Pentagon investigated. The report has not yet been released.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan declined to comment on comparisons between the Wanat attack and the one on Saturday.

At 49 Nigeria has degenerated

2009-10-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Brigadier General Alabi Isama was one of the very privilege Nigerians who witnessed Nigeria’s independence in October 1, 1960. He said that at that time, he had already enlisted in the Nigerian Army and was just 20-years-old.

A military strategist, he fought as member of the Nigerian Army for the unity of the country during the Nigeria civil war. At the moment Alabi Isama who retired as a Brigadier General is involved in telecommunication business

He told Daily sun that in Nigeria’s 49 years of Independence the situation in the country has graduated from good to worse and the hope that was left for the country by the colonialists has turned hopelessness. He spoke with Philip Nwosu in Lagos, excerpt;

After 49 years
I am a military strategist and I will only look at it in a military way, for instance by 1960 at independence I was 20 years old, nobody assassinated anybody, but today assassination has become the order of the day and those who carry out this nefarious act are never found. Beginning from Chief Bola Ige, the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Harry Marshall, the All Nigerian People Party (ANPP) stalwart, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Aminosari Dikibo, Dele Giwa, Alhaja Suliat in Ibadan, in fact the list is endless.

Then The Atlas Cove attack all these things never happened, anybody who was killed the police were able to fish out the killers immediately. But look at the long list of persons assassinated which the police could not account for. This was after independence. That is as far as I can talk on security. Militarily, we are surrounded by French countries and if your military is moving today against any enemy and we are importing over 50 per cent of our food, what happens if the person we are buying from has sympathy for the country we are fighting against, that means that we will not have food and you cannot underestimate the importance of food to any population then when you look at all these things, you begin to ask if we have moved forward or we have remained stagnant at a position. At moment our universities, we have one university in the 1960, we have so many now what is the standard compare to that of 1960. So if we look at that progress you will also discover we are going back.

The roads we have in 1960 were very few, we have tiny winy roads like the British roads, but they were passable, today we have many roads but they are not passable. At 49, Nigeria has only two roads, Lagos North and Lagos East, both roads are impassable, you see I can only look at it as a military person, now we are importing fuel and if our military has to move we should not be dependent on fuel imported from other countries, these are the things that has made this nation worse off. We have the oil, we have the man power and the geo-politics of Nigeria is just the best for anyone to take off, but we are still importing oil and this does not tell well of Nigeria at 49.

Looking at all these things I believe that something is wrong fundamentally and I am not one of those who believe in restructuring, but what I believe in is that the situation is a political problem. I think the Nigerian leaders rather than be looking for their personal gain they should work towards integration of the country and the only way they can do this is through political awareness and education. For instance, there is nothing wrong in having two political parties so that Nigerians can just belong to the ones that best suit them. But as long as you have three political parties, everything will be reduced to ethnicity and tribalism.

On Independence Day
The enthusiasm of every Nigerian living then was high, because we saw that with independence the sky was to be our limit, especially with many educated people in the country then, we are suppose to be the best in Africa. After 49 years could we have moved forward from where the British stopped because then, everything was working for us especially after oil was discovered. There was hope for the future because everybody and every unit of the country were competing for development. There was oil, ground nut and palm oil respectively in the regions of the country and Chief Obafemi Awolowo was talking about good life and freedom for all. There was free education here in the west and every other part of the country was trying to have entrenched in the system. So that was the situation then and everything was good and life was good and there was hope for the future.

Way forward
We need to do away with all these vices that had been holding the country down and get our acts together, we need to address the issue of corruption and work towards a better society. In Nigeria we do not need a benevolent president like General Yakubu Gowon or a tough president like General Sani Abacha, what we need is a leader who understands the situation of the country and can be able to be firm in his resolve to solve the problem of the country.

Brigadier General Alabi Isama was one of the very privilege Nigerians who witnessed Nigeria’s independence in October 1, 1960. He said that at that time, he had already enlisted in the Nigerian Army and was just 20-years-old.

A military strategist, he fought as member of the Nigerian Army for the unity of the country during the Nigeria civil war. At the moment Alabi Isama who retired as a Brigadier General is involved in telecommunication business

He told Daily sun that in Nigeria’s 49 years of Independence the situation in the country has graduated from good to worse and the hope that was left for the country by the colonialists has turned hopelessness. He spoke with Philip Nwosu in Lagos, excerpt;

After 49 years
I am a military strategist and I will only look at it in a military way, for instance by 1960 at independence I was 20 years old, nobody assassinated anybody, but today assassination has become the order of the day and those who carry out this nefarious act are never found. Beginning from Chief Bola Ige, the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Harry Marshall, the All Nigerian People Party (ANPP) stalwart, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Aminosari Dikibo, Dele Giwa, Alhaja Suliat in Ibadan, in fact the list is endless.

Then The Atlas Cove attack all these things never happened, anybody who was killed the police were able to fish out the killers immediately. But look at the long list of persons assassinated which the police could not account for. This was after independence. That is as far as I can talk on security. Militarily, we are surrounded by French countries and if your military is moving today against any enemy and we are importing over 50 per cent of our food, what happens if the person we are buying from has sympathy for the country we are fighting against, that means that we will not have food and you cannot underestimate the importance of food to any population then when you look at all these things, you begin to ask if we have moved forward or we have remained stagnant at a position. At moment our universities, we have one university in the 1960, we have so many now what is the standard compare to that of 1960. So if we look at that progress you will also discover we are going back.

The roads we have in 1960 were very few, we have tiny winy roads like the British roads, but they were passable, today we have many roads but they are not passable. At 49, Nigeria has only two roads, Lagos North and Lagos East, both roads are impassable, you see I can only look at it as a military person, now we are importing fuel and if our military has to move we should not be dependent on fuel imported from other countries, these are the things that has made this nation worse off. We have the oil, we have the man power and the geo-politics of Nigeria is just the best for anyone to take off, but we are still importing oil and this does not tell well of Nigeria at 49.

Looking at all these things I believe that something is wrong fundamentally and I am not one of those who believe in restructuring, but what I believe in is that the situation is a political problem. I think the Nigerian leaders rather than be looking for their personal gain they should work towards integration of the country and the only way they can do this is through political awareness and education. For instance, there is nothing wrong in having two political parties so that Nigerians can just belong to the ones that best suit them. But as long as you have three political parties, everything will be reduced to ethnicity and tribalism.

On Independence Day
The enthusiasm of every Nigerian living then was high, because we saw that with independence the sky was to be our limit, especially with many educated people in the country then, we are suppose to be the best in Africa. After 49 years could we have moved forward from where the British stopped because then, everything was working for us especially after oil was discovered. There was hope for the future because everybody and every unit of the country were competing for development. There was oil, ground nut and palm oil respectively in the regions of the country and Chief Obafemi Awolowo was talking about good life and freedom for all. There was free education here in the west and every other part of the country was trying to have entrenched in the system. So that was the situation then and everything was good and life was good and there was hope for the future.

Way forward
We need to do away with all these vices that had been holding the country down and get our acts together, we need to address the issue of corruption and work towards a better society. In Nigeria we do not need a benevolent president like General Yakubu Gowon or a tough president like General Sani Abacha, what we need is a leader who understands the situation of the country and can be able to be firm in his resolve to solve the problem of the country.

BY PHILIP NWOSU

Saudi King Writes Yar’adua’s Nigeria at 49

2009-10-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

In the name of God, the Beneficent and Merciful.

Your Excellency, The President of Nigeria. Peace and the mercy and blessings of God be with you.

Dear Umaru Yar’adua

First congratulations on your nation’s 49th Independence Day Celebrations, I am writing you this letter on behalf of the loving people of Saudi Arabia and myself. I need not emphasis to you the place of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, not just on you as a person but the fact that we represent the ground for billions of faithful and peace-seeking Muslims.

The next few lines I pen to you would be painful—the reason being that it is the truth and I dare say, you and I know that the truth hurts. I have been told and warned by my kinsmen that I am not saying anything new but I will still say it. Let me start with your recent visit to my domain. Your countrymen are sickened and cannot fathom the reason why you would abandon the UN General Assembly for the second time just to come for a University commissioning.

As it regards that I will skip for now. Do you know reasons why you were welcomed by a governor…well let us leave that to local gossip? Your absence is sad because it is one of the many reasons that you and your countrymen and women are not taken serious. If you recall early in the year you had complained to them and the world that it was unfortunate that the world did not reckon with you and your nation during the G-8 summit in London. Here was an opportunity to try and remedy the serious image problems you have with other nations by confronting their leaders face to face. This I think you missed…and your citizens I believe feel same. You told me that you minister for foreign affairs would handle the UN but I disagree with you.

The minister I am told flew to the US from Brazil where he had gone for negotiations on how the nation can achieve the 6,000MW power generation by December. It is sad that at 49 years and with a population of approximately 150milliion you are still battling with generating a mere 6,000 MGW. I gathered that no part of Nigeria has a one-hour uninterrupted power supply for a seven-day week. Since your assumption of office you have been on hijra to my domain on three occasions and this excludes the hajj you have come to perform. Can’t recall when we suffered a power outage last.

One of your revered writers a certain Wole Soyinka's said that "the man (Yar'Adua) is on permanent sabbatical". "… A permanent sabbatical from critical national duty,”. This I see as an insult because no one in my domain dares insinuate that of me. Your nation is adrift and all is not well and citizenry do not see any concerted effort at solving these issues. You came to commission a university, and mysteriously some 90 public universities are shut down in your country. Most of your states are battling with primary school teachers’ strike.

At 49 years you do not have a University in the top 1000 Universities listing, none of your public schools can be certified as first class. And I hear that most of your lieutenants are products of these schools that you and past governments have allowed to decay. On your other visits, you have been treated and attended to by some of the best the medical field has to offer in my domain, and each time I wonder to myself…why can you not build such in your country. Do you think if I was sick I would come to Nigeria for healthcare.. .? (subhannallah) Allah forbid that much you know. I am told that nothing works in your land and despite all the opportunities. You have continued to remain a nation of misplaced priorities and dashed hopes.

The Kingdom of Saudi is faced with its own troubles which are peculiar to us and some problems which you are familiar with. However we continue to tackle them. But I gathered that you are massaging your issues rather than deal with them headlong. In my domain we deal with corruption too, but be rest assured that our tolerance level is low. We do not hesitate to cut with sword the erring part, hand, eye, or ‘that part of the body’.

This results in serious human rights questions but we do not murder or assassinate journalists or opposition people either. Many people I have spoken to from your land say they had hope in you, but that after just two years…they called you go-slow, later it was snail, now they have resigned themselves to fate. I have my integrity and that of my people to protect; besides it is not in my place to say, yet I will ask. What is the place of your wife in government …is she a feminist, is she the only wife you have? I have no problem with all these but if she is indeed the de-facto president…then there is a problem? On a scale of preference we have long shifted our attention to the likes of South Africa, Ghana, and Egypt and recently tiny nations like Namibia, Mozambique are not left out. I do not envy the enormous problems you face but I am saddened that you have not solved any. You have not improved on a faulty electoral system that brought you to power. Your banking sector we hear just underwent partial oncology but the real cancer is still there.

Some of your elites now build helipads and move around in helicopters in cities like Port Harcourt, Onitsha to avoid kidnap and your roads remain hellish and all we hear is that the Federal and state governments are perpetually engaged on whether it’s a federal or a state road while people die on these roads. You have at 49 years some of the best brains in various fields but you have not been able to harness their potentials. There are several policy somersaults by various functionaries of your government and these paints you in bad light. You rule of law mantra has been questioned by the lawlessness of those underneath you and then people find out you are in the know. Your citizens are suffering loss of appetite, fatigue and memory slip at what best government practices are.

Infact I am told that citizens rejoice when government officials do what they are supposed to do because the reverse is the case. I am even told that there is a phrase used…’the man stole but he worked too’. Even in hitherto familiar terrain like soccer I hate to say that soon boys from my kingdom will beat your team whether super eagles or gentle doves. I gathered you never plan for anything in your nation anymore and the inevitable happens…you all fail. I have not proffered any solution to you in this Independence letter, so also have I left out many other issues and my reason is that I do not intend to insult you but awaken you. You have the manpower, the resources.

You can if you want to, my fear is, a doubt that you and your people want to. Leaders in the past have refused to take counsel and have never bothered about any legacies, I do not know if you want to be any different or will be different. I do not know if you will read this or an aide will browse through it as usual. Bisalam King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz

NB: As at press time it could not be ascertained if indeed the 85 year old royal father wrote this letter, but the contents are very correct. And our sources say that the Villa is not taking it lightly.

Indonesia quake toll could reach thousands, officials fear

2009-10-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Corpses lay stacked outside hospitals in Padang, Indonesia, as night fell Thursday, casting nearly the entire city in darkness hours after the region's second strong earthquake in as many days.

At least 529 people have died, the Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry said Thursday. But officials fear the death toll may climb much higher, perhaps into the thousands.

The 6.6 magnitude quake Thursday hit South Sumatra at 8:52 a.m. local time (9:52 p.m. Wednesday ET), about 100 miles (160 km) from Bengkulu, the U.S. Geological Survey said. An earlier quake Wednesday had a magnitude of 7.6.

Worst hit was the West Sumatran capital of Padang, where officials estimate 376 people perished.

Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Ministry of Health's crisis center, said thousands of people may be trapped by collapsed buildings and houses.

Officials say casualties could surpass those of the massive Yogyakarta earthquake three years ago, given the intensity and the spread of the damage this week. The second set of tremors Thursday only magnified the scope of the disaster.

In May 2006, a 6.3 magnitude quake centered in the central Java city of Yogyakarta killed more than 5,000 people and triggered fears of an eruption of a nearby volcano.

On Thursday, many people were wandering the streets of Padang "stunned and dazed," said CNN's Mark Phillips. Some were searching the rubble for survivors, he said, but "there's also a feeling that there aren't that many survivors left."

Wednesday's quake reduced buildings to rubble in Padang, a city of nearly 1 million. People used hammers, chisels and bare hands to dig through debris. Staff at a local hospital treated the injured outside the semi-collapsed building as bodies lay in makeshift morgues.

The earthquakes caused widespread power and phone outages, making it difficult for authorities and aid organizations to evaluate damage.

Thursday evening, the only light came from generators at Padang's hospital and airport. Several of the hospital's buildings were severely damaged, said CNN's Dan Rivers. Damage in the town itself was spotty; some buildings remained intact near others in ruins.

In Padang, thousands of people slept outside Wednesday night for fear of more tremors, said Yenni Suryani of Catholic Relief Services. She said rain fell Wednesday night and people are in desperate need of adequate shelter.

Amelia Merrick, the operations director for World Vision Indonesia, described the situation as "quite devastating."

"Bridges have gone down, phone lines are in total disrepair," she said. "It's difficult for us to assess the situation."

Wayne Ulrich, the Red Cross disaster management coordinator in Indonesia, said hundreds of houses were damaged, the extent still unclear.

"We have concerns that a hospital has been partially damaged; a market has caught on fire; the airport was closed down for inspection because of the fear if they landed any planes" it might cause problems, Ulrich said.

He said access to the impacted areas was obstructed in parts.

It's "blocked by all kinds of problems: frightened people out in the streets, cars and people trying to get out of the city.

Wednesday's quake was felt in nearby cities including Medan and Bengkulu, where people panicked and ran outside in search of higher ground, fearing a tsunami. But it was also felt as far away as Singapore and Malaysia.

"I did feel the tremor in the office today somewhere between 5 and 6 p.m.," said Ratna Osman, who works in a single-story office building in Petaling Jaya, just outside Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur. "I asked [a co-worker] if there's an earthquake somewhere -- either that or I was hallucinating.

"At first, I thought the chair I was sitting on had a screw loose or something," Osman said.

The region is accustomed to earthquakes, and locals have been taught to identify safe places in case of a tsunami, according to Sean Granville-Ross, the Mercy Corps country director for Indonesia.

"We hope that preparation is now paying off," he said.

Earlier this month, an earthquake in West Java killed 57 people.

The Web site for one of Indonesia's main newspapers, The Jakarta Globe, crashed for a while, partly as a result of the heavy traffic from people trying to find out about the quake, the paper said in a Twitter post. Aid agencies kicked into gear to help those in need.

"We had aid ready because this area of Indonesia is susceptible to this type of tragedy," said Jane Cocking, humanitarian director for Oxfam. "Communications with the quake-zone are difficult, and we are hoping for the best but having to plan for the worst."

EU official: Iran to invite nuclear inspectors 'soon'

2009-10-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Iran says it plans to cooperate "fully" with the U.N. nuclear agency and will invite representatives of the body to visit its newly revealed uranium enrichment facility "soon," said Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief.

Solana also confirmed that world powers and Iran will hold another round of talks before the end of the month. He spoke at a news conference Thursday after the Geneva talks.

The meeting occurred on the heels of the recent revelation that Iran was building a second uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom, a dramatic development that jacked up tension between Iran and international powers.

Iran participated in the talks along with the EU, Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

Two top officials from the United States and Iran huddled on the margins of the Geneva talks, a meeting one diplomat describes as "serious and frank."

William J. Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, is leading the U.S. delegation, and Saeed Jalili, Iran's nuclear negotiator, is representing his country at the meeting, a senior U.S. official and a diplomatic source confirmed.

The men discussed the nuclear program, a sit-down described as the first face-to-face meeting over the Iran's nuclear program.

Another diplomatic source, who characterized the meeting as "serious and frank," said world powers are pushing for a date for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to examine the recently revealed nuclear facility in Qom.

They also discussed human rights issues, including detained Americans in Iran. Among those held in Iranian custody are three hikers who strayed from Iraqi territory into Iran.

The sources would talk only on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing discussions with Iran.

"They certainly are historical talks," said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former weapons inspector. "For the United States and Iran to sit down finally and start to talk about the significant differences between the two countries is extremely important, and I think it's long overdue."

The group met at the Villa le Saugy.

The mood at the event's buffet-style lunch seemed to belie the stark international tensions over the Iranian nuclear issue. Iranians and the other officials dined and mingled, and some ate while seated, and others stood at tables, an official at the talks said.

Many gathered in the villa's backyard and enjoyed a view of Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps, the official said. Along with the U.S. and Iranian officials, many other would huddle together, quietly discussing issues in sidebar conversations, the official said.

The existence of the second uranium enrichment facility prompted President Obama and the leaders of Britain and France to publicly chide the Islamic republic last week at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh and threaten further sanctions.

Iran claims that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes, but many in the international community have accused the country of trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

One official said international powers wanted to know what kind of "steps" Iran is "willing to take to build confidence with the international community.

According to three senior U.S. administration officials, the United States wants IAEA nuclear monitors to have unfettered access to the facility.

The first option would be to persuade Iran to change its ways through dialogue, but if that fails, then isolation and sanctions are other options, they said.

"If it's not going to succeed, then there has to be consequences," an official said.

Pressure could also come from the U.N. Security Council, the United States or other like-minded nations.

"They will respond," one official said of Iran. "If not, they will pay the price."

But former U.S. President Carter urged Washington and other nations to take a diplomatic approach in negotiations with Iran over the country's nuclear ambitions.

"I hope and pray that Iran will be induced to permit international inspectors to come in and observe their entire nuclear program, because what they're doing so far is completely illegal under the nonproliferation treaty," Carter said Thursday. "They have a right to purify uranium and plutonium to use for nuclear power. If Iran is on the borderline, the constant threats that we or the Israelis are going to attack Iran is the best thing to force them to say, 'Let's defend ourselves.'

"I don't think Iran has made up their mind what to do, and I think the best thing we can do is engage them and stop making these idle threats.

iPhone apps help track sex offenders, spot crime

2009-09-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Tracy Rodriguez of Houston, Texas, is not a trained private investigator or police officer. But with a gentle tap on her iPhone screen, the mother of three can access information revealing the sex offenders who live within a 10-mile radius of where her children practice sports or watch movies.

The information, provided by an iPhone app called Offender Locator, helps Rodriguez make more informed choices, she says. When the app pops open on her phone, there is an eerie sketch of a man's face. Then, the app asks for an address.

"I am constantly worrying about the well-being of my family," says Rodriguez, who uses the app several times daily. "You can't be too careful."

Since the iphone launched more than two years ago, a handful of crime-fighting tools have emerged among the thousands of innovative apps. They give ordinary citizens the capability to sleuth and guard themselves against crime. Users can conduct a background check during a dinner date or avoid walking through a high-crime area.

The Offender Locator app has been downloaded more than a million times, breaking into the top 10 most popular apps list on iTunes when it made its debut in June.

Some BlackBerry models and Google's Android also offer crime-fighting apps. And the app industry is bound to grow, which probably means more inventive tools to fight crime. The Yankee Group Research Inc., a company with expertise in global connectivity, estimates U.S. smartphone app downloads will reel in $4.2 billion in revenue by 2013.

For the past decade, law enforcement agencies have relied on e-mail and texting to interact with the public. Now, iPhone apps are expanding their reach by allowing people to access information wherever they are, as long as they have cell phone service.

"I think mostly it will be used by users who want to do their own little reporting," says MG Siegler, a writer at TechCrunch.com, a blog about technology start-ups. "These apps are definitely very popular."

In February, the FBI worked with NIC Inc., a contractor that develops Web pages for the government, to construct an app that provides updates of the 10 most wanted fugitives and terrorists. So far, there have been more 541,000 downloads in 170 countries since the app was released in February.

This month, Intelius Inc., a company that provides public records online, is launching an iPhone app called Date Check, which is "like having a private investigator in your purse," company officials say. During a blind date, the Date Check user can snoop right away by punching in the stranger's name. Within seconds, users can read records showing whether their date is a convicted rapist or owns a million-dollar property.

"It gives you peace of mind of who you might be interacting with," said John Arnold, executive vice president of Intelius.

But Lillie Coney, associate director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research group, warns that the crime-fighting apps can spread inaccurate and misleading information. Public records can have errors, and sometimes, court records may be expunged or sex offenders are removed from registries. Some apps carry disclosures that say the information may not be accurate or up-to-date.

"It's turning everyone into a police officer," she says. "Is that the way society's resources should be used?"

Most of the information available on these iPhone apps is already accessible online. For example, states require sex offenders to register and distribute their personal information on Web sites and in community notifications.

App makers say their features protect the public's safety by keeping individuals informed. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children created the AMBER Alert app this year, which provides a real-time feed with details about the victim, abductor and vehicle. The app is programmed to let the user automatically send tips to the center.

Crime Spot, an iPhone app made by Excelltech Inc., generates maps of where crimes have occurred. This can help users, particularly travelers unfamiliar with a city, avoid particular routes or neighborhoods. Users can also report a crime. Another app, Citixen Me, created by JasonWeiner LLC, lets users police their communities by reporting drunk drivers and nuisances.

"They work for the agencies that are proactive and believe in crime prevention," says Mike Lopilato, head of Crime Watch USA, a nonprofit that provides emergency notifications through texts and e-mails for law enforcement agencies. "For those agencies into crime solving, they can send alerts and notify the public that something has happened."

But just how effective can the iPhone be in fighting crime?

Lopilato says the apps like Crime Spot, designed to guard the public from crime, instead could help criminals. They could use the information to avoid high-crime areas where police may be waiting.

Michael McCauley, founder of Iphoneappreviews.net, says people may give false crime reports, which would undermine the goal of the app. "The thing is there needs to be some way to rate the credibility of the reports being submitted," McCauley says.

In Montgomery County, Maryland, police are worried about PhantomALERT, an iPhone app expected to be released in the next few months that warns drivers about DUI checkpoints. To use this app, invented by Joe Scott, the user downloads information from the company's Web site that specifies where checkpoints, red-light cameras and speeding traps are. For about $10 a month, the phone will send out an audio alert to the driver to help dodge tickets.

"That is a risk to public safety, allowing a potentially impaired driver to avoid detection and possibly harm him or herself or someone else on the roadway," says Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for the police department.

But Baur admits the app's ability to warn drivers about red lights or speeding zones could help drivers slow down.

A few weeks ago in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an iPhone helped a robbery victim retaliate. Robbers snatched the victim's wallet, credit cards and iPhone, which was equipped with a global positioning function.

Using a computer, the victim was able to trace his phone to a nearby Walmart, and then to a restaurant. It wasn't long before police detained the suspects at a gas station and recovered the stolen items.
By Stephanie Chen

Justices to review Patriot Act provision

2009-09-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court has agreed to review a civil liberties dispute over the government's power to criminalize "support" of a terrorist organization.

The justices on Wednesday accepted review of a key provision of the 2001 Patriot Act, and whether it threatens free speech rights of those who would assist non-violent activities of designated groups.

Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, federal prosecutors have pursued "material support" cases against at least 120 individuals or organizations, winning convictions in about half of those cases. Nearly every such domestic terrorism-related prosecution has included that charge as part of the indictment.

At issue is whether the congressional law allows prosecution of those with knowledge of "any service, training, expert advice or assistance" to a foreign terrorist organization, as designated by the U.S. government.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, struck down several parts of the legislation, finding them too vague to satisfy the Constitution. The government then asked the high court to intervene and uphold the law.

Among those charged under the "material support" provision: John Walker Lindh, an American Muslim captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan; the "Lackawanna Six," men from Buffalo, New York, who attended an al Qaeda training camp; several men in Portland, Oregon, who allegedly sought to travel to Afghanistan to fight on behalf of the Taliban; a group of young Virginia individuals who allegedly tried to assist a Kashmir terror group; and James Ujaama, an African-American activist in Seattle, Washington.

The key plaintiff in the current appeal is the Humanitarian Law Project, a Los Angeles, California-based non-profit that says its mission is to advocate "for the peaceful resolution of armed conflicts and for worldwide compliance with humanitarian law and human rights law." HLP sought to help the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a group active in Turkey. Known as PKK, the party was founded in the mid-1970s and has been labeled a terror organization by the United States and the European Union. Its leaders have previously called for militancy to create a separate Kurdish state in parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, where Kurds comprise a population majority.

In its appeal to the high court, the government noted that "since its inception, the organization has waged a violent insurgency that has claimed over 22,000 lives."

HLP claimed it wanted to advocate on behalf of the PKK before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and conduct other advisory sessions and public awareness campaigns.

Another plaintiff is an American physician who wanted to help ethnic Tamils in his native Sri Lanka. Much of the island nation is controlled by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has also fought for decades to carve an independent state. The government claims the Tamil Tigers have "used suicide bombings and political assassinations in its campaign for independence, killing hundreds of civilians in the process."

HLP and a group of Tamil doctors say they merely wanted "to provide their expert medical advice on how to address the shortage of medical facilities and trained physicians" in the region but "they are afraid to do so because they fear prosecution for providing material support."

The Patriot Act was passed six weeks after the 9/11 terrorism attacks. It included amending a previous anti-terror law to strengthen the "expert advice and assistance" provision, making it a crime punishable by a 10- to 15-year prison sentence.

The Justice Department calls the material support provision "a vital part of the nation's effort to fight international terrorism." Officials told the justices the law is constitutional since "the statute in question regulates conduct, not speech, and does not violate the First Amendment in any of its applications." And the government argues lawmakers properly used their authority to address a pressing problem.

"Congress has banned a broad range of material support -- regardless of whether the terrorist group claims to engage in otherwise lawful activities, and regardless of whether the support is ostensibly given to assist those supposedly lawful activities," said the administration's brief.

The case is Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (08-1498). Oral arguments will be held early next year, with a decision expected by the spring.
By Bill Mears

Pressure increases on Obama over Afghanistan

2009-09-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

President Obama is under increasing pressure to decide whether the United States will commit more troops and resources to the conflict in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, the head of NATO met with the president and endorsed Obama's plan to fine-tune the strategy for Afghanistan before deciding on whether to deploy more troops.

"I agree with President Obama in his approach: strategy first, then resources," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after meeting with Obama at the White House.

The meeting comes a day before Obama is scheduled to discuss Afghanistan strategy with his national security team.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs backed up Rasmussen's assessment.

"If the policy takes time to get right, then that's what the president intends to do," he said at the White House briefing Tuesday. "I think he owes that to the men and women in uniform that are there."

Gibbs said any decision will not be political, and that the president is "happy to hear the back and forth from both sides of this," but is going to take his time to "decide what is right for the American people.

But the controversy on what the president should do next comes as the top U.S. commander in the region, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, said the situation in afghanistan is not getting better.

Compared to just two years ago, the number of American troops killed by roadside bombs is up 400 percent.

McChrystal is expected to send his request any day for more resources to combat the insurgency in Afghanistan, according to a senior U.S. defense official familiar with the situation.

Earlier this month, McChrystal warned that more troops are needed there within the next year, or the nearly 8-year-old war war "will likely result in failure," according to a copy of the report obtained by The Washington Post. Watch Bill Clinton discuss the war in Afghanistan

But Obama's advisers are split on whether to send more troops.

Vice President Joe Biden has advocated reducing U.S. troops and focusing on dismantling al Qaeda cells, The New York Times reported.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he has full confidence in McChrystal, but said the administration must get its strategy right before addressing the question of additional resources.

Adm. Michael Mullen Mullen, though, told Congress he believes the United States will likely need to deploy more troops to Afghanistan.

"A properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces," Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a September 15 hearing.

Despite the differences, a top lawmaker on Capitol Hill wants answers now.

"The president must soon explain to the American people his reasons either for accepting the McChrystal plan or taking a different course," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said.

"The failure to act decisively in response to Gen. McChrystal's strategy and his anticipated request for additional forces could serve to undermine some of the good decisions the president has made on national security."

He added that McChrystal should come to Washington to explain to Congress and to the American people how their strategy will work.

And judging by recent polls, the president and his top generals may need to do that sooner rather than later.

A USA Today/Gallup poll released last week showed that half of all Americans, or 50 percent surveyed, are against sending more troops to Afghanistan. The poll was taken September 22-23 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

That figure is slightly less than a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll taken September 11-13, showing that 58 percent of those polled oppose the war in Afghanistan, while only 39 percent favor it. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

"Most of the recent erosion in support has come from within the GOP," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Republicans still favor the war [unlike Independents and Democrats], but their support has slipped eight points in just two weeks."

Experts, meanwhile, are optimistic obama will make the right decision.

Fred Kagan, Director of the Critical Threats Project for the American Enterprise Institute, said he is "reasonably confident" that the number of troops being mentioned would "allow us to achieve success in the critical phase of retaking the initiative from the insurgency, and then beginning a counter-offensive to take back the other key areas that are threatened."

Kimberly Kagan, the president of the Institute for the Study of War, said the general rule of thumb when it comes to determining how many troops is necessary is "one counter-insurgent per ever 50 people."

"We actually need enough forces on the ground to secure the population, and that if we do so and if we apply those forces wisely, we really do have every opportunity to support the people, to help the government reach the people, and help the people reject the insurgents," she said.

But the other decision for the administration is likely to be on neighboring Pakistan.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, to Iraq, and to the United Nations, said it's important for the United States to focus on Taliban and al Qaeda safe havens in the region.

"That sanctuary still continues, and we cannot succeed easily without dealing sharply with the issue of the sanctuary," he told Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent and anchor of "Amanpour." Khalilzad said it's important for Afghan forces to step up to the plate at a much faster pace than has been done so far.

"Afghanistan is the same size, population-wise, as Iraq -- bigger territory. But the number of Afghan security forces is less than 100,000 on the army and police. ... Iraq has 700,000-plus security forces," he said.
From Ed Hornick

Female corper raped to death

2009-09-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

National Youth Corps members serving in Borno State have been thrown into mourning following the gruesome killing of their colleague, Miss Grace Adie Ushang by unknown persons.

Adie was allegedly raped to death last weekend and her body dumped beside a river at the Customs Area, Maiduguri.

The late Batch B 2009 corps member reportedly left her room at the Corpers’ Lodge of the El-Kanemi College of Business Administration (ECOBA), Customs area where she was serving around 6.30 p.m in search of food. Sadly, the sudden windstorm, which made many people in Maiduguri scurry home last Saturday evening allegedly provided a cover for Grace’s assailants as she was allegedly assaulted and murdered in cold blood.

The principal of El-Kanemi College, the deceased, employer, Mr Alfred Adikwe confirmed the alleged rape and death of the corper in an interview with Daily Sun. He added that the doctor’s first post mortem report revealed that she was assaulted and raped to death.

“The doctor who examined her body confirmed she was assaulted and raped by unknown persons. In fact, there was a cut on her fore head and blood was discovered on her nose and mouth as at the time she was picked up at the place where her body was discovered,” he disclosed.

Explaining further, he said “Grace told her colleagues at the college quarters that she was going out to buy food around 6.30 p.m on Saturday but did not return on time and that made her colleagues to get worried. Few hours later, they were informed that a lady’s body was lying near a river at the customs area. It was discovered that the trouser she wore when she went out was no longer with her. She was almost naked.”

The doctor also said that the deceased’s body was discovered by some people few hours after she left the lodge in search of food. Her colleagues who spoke to Daily Sun on condition of anonymity claimed she must have struggled to free herself from her assailants.
Grace, 25 a graduate of Education Administration from the University of Calabar was posted to Borno in July in the wake of the Boko Haram crisis. She was later posted to the Business Administration College on August 4.

When contacted, the Borno State NYSC coordinator, Mr Moshood Adebayo declined comment on the matter, adding that only the national directorate of the scheme has the authority to comment on such. Daily Sun gathered that the NYSC Director General, Brig Gen Tsiga was expected to visit the state in respect of the matter.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Isah Azare, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, could not confirm the report in a telephone conversation as his line suddenly went off while subsequent efforts to get him proved abortive.

From TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri

Quake, tsunami near American Samoa kills at least 77

2009-09-30T01:29:00.000-07:00

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck the Pacific near American Samoa, triggering towering tsunami waves that gushed over the island and leaving at least 77 people dead.

American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono, speaking from Hawaii, said Tuesday's quake ranked "right up there with some of the worst" disasters on the island. He said about 50 people had been treated for injuries so far but he expected that number to rise.

The quake hit the small cluster of South Pacific islands early Tuesday morning.

A series of aftershocks reverberated through the islands Tuesday and residents braced for more of nature's wrath. Entire villages lay flattened or submerged. The walls of water were so strong that they twisted concrete beams and mangled cars. Roads, buildings and private homes were heavily damaged.

By Tuesday evening, Laumoli, standing outside the LBJ Tropical Medican Center morgue in the capital of Pago Pago, confirmed 22 deaths.

"I thought it was the end of the world," said Dr. Salamo Laumoli, director of health services. "I have never felt an earthquake like that before."

In neighboring Samoa, the death toll climbed to 55, said Maulolo Tavita, a government minister. There, the fear was that the fatalities would continue to rise.

Laumoli also feared more fatalities would turn up in American Samoa as rescue workers were still trying to access parts of the island severed by damaged infrastructure.

Laumoli said people in outlying villages on one end of the main island have been cut off because the main bridge was washed away.

"Two or three villages have been badly damaged," he told CNN International.

Tulafono cited extensive damage to roads, buildings and homes, and said he had spoken to the military about mobilizing reserve forces for assistance.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, canceled tsunami watches and warnings for American Samoa about four hours after the earthquake hit. However, a tsunami advisory is still in effect for for the coastal areas of California and Oregon.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also activated a tsunami advisory along its eastern coast. The precautionary alert means that the height of a possible tsunami wave would be less than a foot and a half.

President Barack Obama "declared a major disaster exists in the Territory of American Samoa" late Tuesday and ordered federal aid to supplement local efforts. The declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals.

The tsunami waves hit right in the middle of the Pago Pago harbor, the capital, said Cinta Brown, an American Samoa homeland security official working at the island's emergency operations center. The water devastated the village of Leone.

"The wave came onshore and washed out people's homes," Brown said.

The same happened on the hard-hit east and west sides of American Samoa, she said.

The quake generated three separate tsunami waves, the largest measuring 5.1 feet from sea level height, said Vindell Hsu, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Preliminary data had originally reported a larger tsunami.

Officials in the U.S. territory issued a clear call and were focusing on assessing the damage, Brown said.

In Samoa, Tavita, the government minister, said he spent hours speaking with village mayors and affected families.

People, still in disbelief, answered his questions with a frugality of words, he said.

"It was like talking to statues."

Samoan resident Steve Percival lives 2,500 feet above sea level, in a hilltop home in Apia. But Tuesday morning, no mountain was high enough for the filmmaker and his family.

He felt the ground move and watched about 100 of his 200 videos tumble from their neatly stacked trays.

"It was felt everywhere," Percival said.

Tulafono, the American Samoa governor, was on his way back home from Hawaii on Tuesday night on one of two U.S. Coast Guard C-130 transport planes delivering aid.

The Coast Guard is also transporting more than 20 officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to American Samoa, said John Hamill, external affairs officer for FEMA in Oakland, California. The FEMA team will include a variety of debris experts, housing experts, members of the Corps of Engineers, and other disaster relief specialists, Hamill said.

Tulafono told reporters Tuesday that it was hard being away from home when disaster came calling. It was a time, he said, for families to be together.

Amnesty: FG vows to go tough after Oct 4 deadline

2009-09-30T00:57:00.000-07:00

The Federal Government last night gave a hint of what awaits defiant militants after the October 4, 2009 expiration of the amnesty programme, warning that it would be resolute in dealing with any attempt to threaten the very existence of the Federal Republic.

After over a two-hour meeting presided over by President Umaru Yar’Adua in Abuja to review the amnesty programme, it dared anybody or militant group to test government’s will power to put an end to militancy in the region after the expiration of the deadline for the implementation of the amnesty programme.

The meeting was attended by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, governors of the Niger Delta states, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief Marshal Paul Dike, Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonnaya Onovo, the Minister of Defence, Gen. Godwin Abbe and the ministers of the Niger Delta Development.

The Minister of Defence, Gen. Abbe who briefed the State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting said government would not shy away from doing what it had to do to ensure the reign of peace and decorum in the country if it became necessary.
Reacting to the conditions given by the main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) for embracing the programme, he said as far as the Federal Government was concerned, the group did not exist and so could not decide for government what it would do.

“MEND is not recognized by the Federal Government as the spokesperson for the militants, that is if they exist at all physically. MEND cannot choose for the Nigerian nation. If MEND decides to test the will of government and choose to threaten the very existence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the government is prepared to express the sovereignty of Nigeria in all its ramifications,” he stated.
Abbe, who is also the chairman of the Panel on Amnesty and Disarmament of Militants in the Niger Delta, said the amnesty was granted the militants unconditionally and they were expected to accept it unconditionally.

Although, he said government recognized the rights of every citizen to speak up on any matter affecting them, the militants, he pointed out, would not be allowed to discuss with government while carrying weapons, adding “it is illegal and they have no right to bear arms.”
He urged militants who might still be in doubt as to the sincerity of government about the programme to avail themselves of the remaining time to embrace the programme, warning that “after 4th of October, the amnesty terminates and there will be no extension.”

He, however, said after reviewing the various aspects of the amnesty programme, the meeting resolved that all the militants who had embraced the amnesty deserved government’s commendations as patriots and would accordingly be rehabilitated to fit into the normal society.
Abbe, who was flanked at the briefing by Governor Lyel Imoke of Cross River State and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, announced government’s decision to commence the implementation of the post-amnesty programme, particularly the rehabilitation of all repentant militants and their reintegration into the society.

“After October 4, government is going to pay attention to all the militants who have embraced amnesty. They are going to be put together in various camps that have been designated and in these camps, they will be categorized and personal contacts will be established with each of them after thorough documentation and their choice of training and settlement will also be identified,” he further pointed out.
He pledged that government would train the repentant militants and assist them to settle down to normal life in the society and ensure they did not resort to militancy as a way of life anymore.
From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja

Ribadu: Ibori opens can of worms

2009-09-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

Ex-Delta State governor, James Ibori, yesterday insisted that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), approached him to help unseat President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

A press statement Ibori issued indicated there is no let up in the media war between the duo, as the former governor described Ribadu a serial liar.

Ibori had stirred up conflict last Friday, when he told journalists at a press briefing in Lagos that Ribadu went after him because he failed to help to actualise the ex-police officer’s bid to become Inspector General of Police.

He also claimed that Ribadu attempted to recruit him to join his crusade to void outcome of the 2007 presidential election, promising to stop corruption charges against him.
Ribadu fired back, describing Ibori as a liar, and claimed he was only after the former governor for the crimes he committed against the nation.

Ibori’s latest reaction to Ribadu is presented below:
“Mr Nuhu Ribadu engaged in self-glorification in his press statement published on Sunday, 27th of September, 2009, taking an ignoble flight of fancy instead of addressing the issues I raised in my Media Chat of the preceding Friday, which, by the way, did not focus solely on Ribadu. The indecorum and name-calling in his language was not surprising too; they have combined to become the Ribadu signature tune.

“Yes, I maintain that I never, repeat NEVER, bribed or attempted to bribe Ribadu, who muddled the facts to hoodwink the public by alleging that I was speaking after two years of being investigated. Yet, the bribery allegation I reacted to publicly, was the one he made in a witness statement in London as recently as August 26, 2009.

I had to reply to that one publicly because as Ribadu himself knows, that allegation will not be tested by any trial, as no charge whatsoever, whether related to that bribery allegation or not, has ever been leveled against me in any court of law in the entire United Kingdom. His allegation of two years ago, which I have not publicly reacted to, is being tested in court.

“I expected Ribadu to disprove the contradictions I pointed out in his Nigerian and London statements as well as those of his Director of Operations and second in command at the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, and Mr. James Garba, a Central Bank of Nigeria staff seconded to EFCC. Instead, he employed his usual rabble-rousing antics of name calling, which was the trade mark of his reign as EFCC chairman.

“On my position on resource control and the driving principle behind my determination to redress the injustice done to the people of the Niger Delta, Ribadu asked ‘if it is in keeping with his promise that he became a billionaire overnight on behalf of the suffering masses of Delta State.’ Ribadu should know that before I became Governor, my collective wealth was substantial. Even the London Metropolitan Police admitted in their own witness statement filed in court that one of my private companies earned in excess of $5 million annually.

“I have been the most investigated Governor in Nigeria and the EFCC and London Metropolitan Police are in possession of my Account statements from the Bank of Austria, Merrill Lynch, Citibank (I was a CitiGold member, a club of high net worth customers) and Barclays Bank before I became a Governor. Both the EFCC under Ribadu and the London Metropolitan Police have dubiously refused to exhibit these Account statements to maintain their lie.

“Secondly, Nuhu Ribadu must be a serial liar, to attempt to deny that he approached me to help unseat the present President. This is one of his numerous on-going attempts to recruit both local and international friends to undermine President Yar’Adua’s administration. The persons he approached, including me, are still alive and they have given testimonies to security agencies. Ribadu even contacted a high-ranking member of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with complaints that a ‘sick Yar’Adua’ should not be allowed to remain in office and also wanted a serving judge and member of the electoral panel to convince the team of INEC officials to concur with his evil plot that the ballot papers were not serially numbered - to damage Yar’Ardua’s defence. And he did this with some of his foreign friends who, to date, still wish President Yar’Adua dead.

“Thirdly, Ribadu said: “I am also open to his friendship but that will never be at the expense of my loyalty to my fatherland and commitment to transparency and honesty in public office. Ribadu should shut up and stop boasting about having been Nigeria’s anti-corruption Czar. He compromised himself, politicizing his office, and teamed up with politicians to distribute funds to influence National Assembly members in the failed third-term tenure elongation gambit. He was a politician, not anti-corruption fighter.

“Ribadu should wait for the persecution by him and his London Metropolitan Police friends of my associates to break open in a full trial. Then I will enclose copious documentary evidence to substantiate every claim I have made. The opportunistic and brazen-faced Ribadu is nothing but a fraudulent “anti – corruption Czar” who operated with instruments of blackmail.

“He should tell the world who paid for his hotel accommodation at 47 Park Street, Mayfair, London where he stayed on his way from San Francisco, USA. Additionally, Ribadu went about soliciting for contributions from those he claimed to be investigating, towards a non-existent EFCC Football Club, for which he collected large sums of money which was never applied for the purpose they were collected. This may account for one of the reasons why he made away with many files when he was leaving office, and has refused to formally hand over to his successor in office to date. Has he declared how much he so collected?

“Worst of all, Ribadu denies that he lobbied me to be Inspector General of Police, (IGP). I never expected him to admit that fact. But if he did not approach me to be IGP, at what point did he inform me of his intention to seek appointment into a narcotics control arm of the United Nations Organisation? That day he appealed to me to keep it away from the public, but surprisingly, former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, told me, a few days after, that Mr. Ribadu was indeed seeking for the office and he heard this from the former World Bank boss, Paul Wolfensohn.

“Of course, Ribadu also pursued Kalu everywhere in the name of investigation, while all the time hiding evidence that Kalu had millions of dollars in foreign accounts before he became Abia State Governor.
“Furthermore, that Ribadu claims to have deposited $15 million at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not, and cannot, be proof that I gave that or any sum of money to him. Also, what greater felon could there be than he, an architect of a third-term tenure for a President whose constitutional entitlement is for two terms only, and who tried to induce, harass, embarrass and humiliate National Assembly members to support the project.

“Now, Ribadu is using colonial police in London to settle petty political scores in Nigeria, and he, a lawyer, denigrates and disrespects our judicial system by constant allegation of judicial incompetence. My advice to Ribadu is that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has been elected the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Grace of Almighty God. Ribadu should respect the mandate Nigerians gave to Yar’Adua and stop hopping from one international capital of the world to another like a junketing gadabout, maligning the elected President of his country, to entertain the world and aggrandize himself.

“Ribadu also ranted he would use the London Metropolitan Police to send a certain Nigerian businessman to prison for alleged money laundering because he wrote and published a damaging piece about former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s vindictiveness. He actually tried to but only succeeded in wasting British taxpayer’s money as the businessman was discharged and acquitted on the orchestrated money laundering charges.

“My question is, was that businessman a public officer in Nigeria? Was it not his masters’ bidding to go after that man? May I also ask if Otunba Mike Adenuga, the eminently popular business mogul and chairman of Globacom, whom he targeted and hounded into exile, also a public officer?
“The same Ribadu, master-minded the ex-convict plot against me. One night after a meeting of the co-conspirators to frame and denigrate me at all costs, Ribadu called the businessman to “shoot his mouth” as usual. That same night, the benefactor phoned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar alerting him of Ribadu’s plot against me.

“Sooner Nigerians would know how Ribadu purchased by proxy the shares that he owns in his friends’ companies. Ribadu would then have to tell the world whether he bought those shares with proceeds from his salary. No wonder he has failed to declare his assets - which tantamounts to a crime.

“Finally, Ribadu, on our friendship, said: “Since I couldn’t see you when I visited Lagos recently why don’t you visit me in London to catch up with your other friends”? I will accept his invitation to visit London as soon as he can prove to me that the matter in London is not driven by malice and vindictiveness. Let me remind Ribadu, my friend, that by now I am too smart to be caught in a political game which himself and his collaborators in the London Metropolitan Police are playing. If he indeed believes that the trial of the women they have held hostage in London is not political, he should allow the process of the court to prove that, instead of pronouncing people guilty even before they appear in court as he usually did as EFCC chairman in Nigeria.

“He is not a staff of the London Metropolitan Police. He is not a member of the Crown Prosecution Service. Neither is he a member of the jury nor the Judge in the matter.
“If you, Nuhu Ribadu, a Nigerian in London, think you have the right to invite me to London to face some trumped up charges, I, a Nigerian with all the rights as a Nigerian, invite you to Nigeria your home country, where you are a pitiable fugitive from justice.”

Iran to give IAEA inspection timetable

2009-09-29T12:30:00.003-07:00

Iran will soon tell the International Atomic Energy Agency when it can inspect the Islamic republic's recently revealed nuclear facility, the country's state-run Press TV reported.

The head of Iran's nuclear program made the announcement in an interview with Press TV on Monday, but he did not give a timetable for the potential inspection.

Iran revealed the existence of the covert uranium enrichment site last week, drawing condemnation from the West.

The country has also launched a series of missile tests which provoked a further strong response from Western leaders. Saturday, Iran tested short-range missiles, and Monday, it fired two types of long-range missiles.

What Tehran described as routine military exercises, France and the United States called "destabilizing" and "provocative."

Iran claims its nuclear enrichment program is intended for peaceful purposes, but the international community accuses the country of continuing to try to develop nuclear weapons capability.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, accused the major powers of politicizing the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities. He told Press TV the accusations that the newly revealed uranium enrichment plant is used for military purposes are "baseless."

"It is against our tenets, it is against our religion to produce, use, hold or have nuclear weapons or arsenal," Salehi told Press TV. "How can we more clearly state our position? Since 1974 we have been saying this."

Iran's nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, is scheduled to meet Thursday with representatives of the five permanent United Nations Security Council members, plus Germany. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will also attend the talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

Salehi told Press TV that Iran will try to resolve the issue "both politically and technically" during those meetings.

Both of Iran's long-range missile tests successfully hit their targets, and Iran's air force commander hailed the exercise as a show that Iran is "fully prepared and determined to stand against all threats."

The Shahab-3 missile can strike targets between 1,300 to 2,000 kilometers (800 to 1,250 miles), according to the Fars News Agency.

If true, the missile brings Moscow, Russia; Athens, Greece; and southern Italy within striking distance.

The Sajil-2 missile is a solid-fuel rocket with a similar range and has been launched twice before, in November 2008 and May 2009.

Last Monday, Iran wrote a letter to the IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency, revealing the existence of a second uranium enrichment facility. The IAEA acknowledged the admission on Friday, prompting U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain and France to publicly chide the Islamic republic and threaten further sanctions.

The facility is located on a military base near the city of Qom, about 100 miles southwest of Tehran, and is thought to be capable of housing 3,000 centrifuges, according to the officials and the IAEA. That is not enough to produce nuclear fuel to power a reactor, but sufficient to manufacture bomb-making material, according to a U.S. diplomatic source who read the letter. Iran told the IAEA there is no nuclear material at the site, an agency spokesman said.

Salehi told Press TV that the plant is under construction within IAEA regulations. He said Iran has informed the IAEA that the new site will produce enriched uranium of up to 5 percent, consistent with its nuclear energy program.

American jailed in Japan for trying to reclaim his children

2009-09-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

TOKYO, Japan -- Had this custody drama played out in the United States, Christopher Savoie might be considered a hero -- snatching his two little children back from an ex-wife who defied the law and ran off with them.But this story unfolds 7,000 miles away in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, where the U.S. legal system holds no sway.

And here, Savoie sits in jail, charged with the abduction of minors. And his Japanese ex-wife -- a fugitive in the United States for taking his children from Tennessee -- is considered the victim.

"Japan is an important partner and friend of the U.S., but on this issue, our points of view differ," the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said Tuesday. "Our two nations approach divorce and child-rearing differently. Parental child abduction is not considered a crime in Japan."

The story begins in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tennessee, with the January divorce of Savoie from his first wife, Noriko, a Japanese native. The ex-wife had agreed to live in Franklin to be close to the children, taking them to japan for summer vacations.

Savoie in March requested a restraining order to prevent his ex-wife from taking the children to Japan, saying she had threatened to do so, according to court documents obtained by CNN affiliate WTVF and posted on the station's Web site. A temporary order was issued, but then lifted following a hearing.

"If Mother fails to return to Tennessee [after summer vacation] with the children following her visitation period, she could lose her alimony, child support and education fund, which is added assurance to Father that she is going to return with the children," Circuit Court Judge James G. Martin III noted in his order on the matter.

After that ruling, Christopher Savoie tried to have Martin recuse himself, as he was a mediator in the case prior to becoming a judge, said Marlene Eskind Moses, Noriko Savoie's attorney. But that request was denied, as Savoie earlier said he had no concerns about Martin hearing the matter.

Following the summer trip, Noriko Savoie did return to the United States, and Christopher Savoie then took the children on a vacation, returning them to his ex-wife, his attorney, Paul Bruno, told CNN.

But days later, on the first day of classes for 8-year-old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca, the school called Savoie to say his children hadn't arrived, Bruno said. Police checked Noriko Savoie's home and did not find the children.

Concerned, Savoie called his ex-wife's father in Japan, who told him not to worry.

"I said, 'What do you mean -- don't worry? They weren't at school.' 'Oh, don't worry, they are here,' " Savoie recounted the conversation to CNN affiliate WTVF earlier this month. "I said, 'They are what, they are what, they are in Japan?'

The very thing that Savoie had predicted in court papers had happened -- his wife had taken their children to Japan and showed no signs of returning, Bruno said.

After Noriko Savoie took the children to Japan, Savoie filed for and received full costody of the children, Bruno said. And Franklin police issued an arrest warrant for his ex-wife, the television station reported.

But there was a major hitch: Japan is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction. The international agreement standardizes laws, but only among participating countries.

So while Japanese civil law stresses that courts resolve custody issues based on the best interest of the children without regard to either parent's nationality, foreign parents have had little success in regaining custody.

Japanese family law follows a tradition of sole custody divorces. When a couple splits, one parent typically makes a complete and lifelong break from the children.

In court documents filed in May, Noriko Savoie denied that she was failing to abide by the terms of the couple's court-approved parenting plan or ignoring court-appointed parent coordinators. She added she was "concerned about the stability of Father, his extreme antagonism towards Mother and the effect of this on the children."

Noriko Savoie could not be reached by CNN for comment.

Bruno said he helped Christopher Savoie pursue legal remedies to recover the children, working with police, the FBI and the State Department.

"We tried to do what we could to get the kids back," Bruno said. "There was not a whole lot we can do."

"Our court system failed him," said Diane Marshall, a court-appointed parent coordinator who helped Savoie make decisions about the children. "It's just a mess."

But Moses, Noriko Savoie's attorney, told CNN that the children's father had other legal options.

The International Association for Parent-Child Reunion, formed in Japan this year, claims to know of more than 100 cases of children abducted by non-custodial Japanese parents.

And the U.S. State Department says it is not aware of a single case in which a child taken from the United States to Japan has been ordered returned by Japanese courts -- even when the left-behind parent has a U.S. custody decree.

Facing such statistics and the possibility of never seeing his kids again, Savoie took matters into his own hands.

He flew to Fukuoka. And as his ex-wife walked the two children to school Monday morning, Savoie drove alongside them.

He grabbed the kids, forced them into his car, and drove off, said police in Fukuoka.

He headed for the U.S. consulate in that city to try to obtain passports for Isaac and Rebecca.

But Japanese police, alerted by Savoie's ex-wife, were waiting.

Consulate spokeswoman Tracy Taylor said she heard a scuffle outside the doors of the consulate. She ran up and saw a little girl and a man, whom police were trying to talk to.

Eventually, police took Savoie away, charging him with the abduction of minors -- a charge that carries a jail sentence of up to five years.

Bruno said if the situation were reversed and a Japanese parent had abducted a Japanese child and fled to America, U.S. courts would "correct that problem, because it's a crime."

He said he has "concerns about Japan ... providing a place for people to abduct children and go to. The parent left behind does not have recourse." He added, "the president and his administration should do something to correct this."

The consulate met with Savoie on Monday and Tuesday, Taylor said. It has provided him with a list of local lawyers and said it will continue to assist. Meanwhile, the international diplomacy continues. During the first official talks between the United States and Japan's new government, the issue of parental abductions was raised.

But it is anybody's guess what happens next to Savoie, who sits in a jail cell.

Victim: Courts did more harm than Polanski

2009-09-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

The events of a single afternoon when she was 13 years old have haunted Samantha Geimer her entire life. A famous movie director allegedly gave her champagne and had sex with her.

She is 45 now, and wishes the whole matter would just go away. The arrest of Roman Polanski in Switzerland over the weekend makes that highly unlikely. Geimer is back in the news in connection with the infamous 1977 sex case, whether she likes it or not.

It should have ended three decades ago, when Polanski pleaded guilty to a single count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He would have been given credit for time served while undergoing an evaluation and placed on probation.

But Polanski fled the country before sentencing, fearing the judge would back out of the plea bargain and sentence him to prison.

Geimer, who lives in Hawaii with her husband and three children, will not be commenting until Polanski's legal situation in Switzerland is clarified, her lawyer told CNN. But in past interviews she made it clear that a plea bargain intended to spare her pain as a teenager continues to cause her grief as an adult.

Once an aspiring actress, Geimer has said she long ago got over what polanski did to her. She sued him, and a settlement was reached out of court. But the media, prosecutors and the courts in Los Angeles, California, continue to torment her, she has said.

Every time the case resurfaces her wounds reopen.

She most recently spoke in January, as attempts to resolve the case once again failed. She filed court papers asking a Los Angeles judge to dismiss the charges against the Oscar-winning director.

Negotiations ended when the judge insisted that Polanski come to court for a hearing. Prosecutors said he would be subject to arrest on the fugitive warrant the minute he stepped off the plane. He stayed away.

"Every time this case is brought to the attention of the court, great focus is made of me, my family, my mother and others," Geimer wrote in her affidavit to the court. "That attention is not pleasant to experience and is not worth maintaining over some irrelevant legal nicety, the continuation of the case."

Geimer was particularly upset when prosecutors filed a fresh version of the entire 1977 grand jury transcript, replete with all the lurid details. "True as they may be, the continued publication of those details cause harm to me," she wrote in January. "I have become a victim of the actions of the district attorney."

A spokeswoman said Monday that the district attorney's office would have no immediate comment.

The case began March 10, 1977, when the girl, then known as Samantha Gailey, agreed to be photographed by Polanski, according to court records. He told her mother he was on assignment for French Vogue.

They spent the afternoon shooting and, as the light began to fade, made their way to the hot tub at actor Jack Nicholson's house on Mulholland Drive. There, she told investigators, Polanski gave her champagne and part of a Quaalude and had sex with her.

She said she felt disoriented and disgusted by his overtures and repeatedly told him "no." She faked an asthma attack and begged him to take her home. She said she cried in his car afterward.

She spoke with People magazine in 1997. After her mother went to police, "all hell broke loose," Geimer said. The European media compared her to Lolita, the young seductress in fiction.

"The fallout was worse than what had happened that night," she told People. "It was on the evening news every night. Reporters and photographers came to my school and put my picture in a European tabloid with the caption Little Lolita. They were all saying, 'Poor Roman Polanski, entrapped by a 13-year-old temptress.' I had a good friend who came from a good Catholic family, and her father wouldn't let her come to my house anymore."

Against that backdrop, the plea deal was struck.

Afterward, Geimer shut down emotionally and rebelled, she told People on the 20th anniversary of the crime.

"I was this sweet 13-year-old girl, and then all of a sudden I turned into this pissed-off 14-year-old,' Geimer said. I was mad at my attorney; I was mad at my mom. I never blamed her for what happened, but I was mad that she had called the police and that we had to go through this ordeal. Now I realize she went through hell trying to handle things as best she could."

Geimer dropped out of school, got pregnant at 18 and married at 19. She divorced and moved with her family to Hawaii. She later married a carpenter, with whom she had two more children.

In 2003, when Polanski was up for an Oscar for the Holocaust drama "The Pianist," Geimer broke her silence again, saying he should be able to attend the Academy Awards ceremony.

She spoke to CNN's Larry King and wrote an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times urging people to "judge the movie, not the man."

She told King she feels nothing for Polanski. "He's just a stranger to me. I met him twice, three times. ... His life really has nothing to do with my life."

She said she was happy when he left the country because his departure eased the intense public scrutiny.

"Looking back, there can be no question that he did something awful. It was a terrible thing to do to a young girl," she wrote in her Los Angeles Times piece. "And honestly, the publicity surrounding it was so traumatic that what he did to me seemed to pale in comparison."

She continued,"People don't understand that the judge went back on his word. They don't know how unfairly we were all treated by the press. Talk about feeling violated! The media made that year a living hell and I've been trying to put it behind me ever since."

he concluded: "The one thing that bothers me is that what happened to me in 1977 happens to girls every day, yet people are interested in me because Mr. Polanski is a celebrity."

She added that other young victims need that attention more than she does.
By Ann O'Neill

August deadliest month of 2009 for Afghan civilians, UN says

2009-09-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan -- August had the most fatalities this year for civilians in Afghanistan because of the country's disputed election, and violence could rise again when the final results are released, a U.N. report warns.

About 1,500 people died in Afghanistan from the beginning of the year to August, according to the U.N. report released this week. the report did not say what the death toll was for August.

"August (was) the deadliest month since the beginning of 2009," the report said. "These figures reflect an increasing trend in insecurity over recent months and in elections-related violence."

Almost 70 percent of the civilian deaths this year were blamed on what the report called anti-government elements. More than 20 percent of the civilian deaths were attributed to pro-government forces, the report said.

The winner of Afghanistan's presidential election has been in dispute since the August 20 election. Results of the completed count, announced September 16, gave incumbent Hamid karzai 54 percent of the vote, but the numbers won't be certified until authorities investigate allegations of irregularities.

More than 200,000 of the nearly 5.7 million votes cast have been thrown out because of these allegations.

Meanwhile, four U.S. service members, not five as previously reported, were killed in fighting in southern afghanistan earlier this week, military officials said Saturday.

The fifth death was an interpreter who was working with NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and died of wounds incurred in an insurgent attack, the military said in a statement.

No other details were immediately available.

So far this month, 34 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan, according to CNN figures compiled from military reports.

Iran's president rejects Obama accusations about nuclear efforts

2009-09-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

ahmadinejad(Iran president)

President Obama's accusations that Iran's nuclear program runs afoul of international agreements are "baseless," the Islamic republic's president told CNN's Larry King on Friday.

"We did not expect Mr. Obama within less than 48 hours, to basically violate the commitment that he spoke of at the United Nations," said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian leader was referring to Obama's Wednesday speech to the U.N. General Assembly, where Obama called for international unity in attacking the world's challenges.

Asked if he was expressing disappointment in the U.S. president, Ahmadinejad responded, "We simply didn't expect him to say something that was ... was baseless."

Earlier Friday evening Obama said "Iran is on notice" regarding its nuclear efforts, and that the international community is united in its opposition to Tehran's nuclear program.

"They are going to have to make a choice: Are they willing to go down the path to greater prosperity and security for Iran, giving up the acquisition of nuclear weapons ... or will they continue down a path that is going to lead to confrontation," he said at a news conference at the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Obama's comments came hours after Iran acknowledged the existence of a second uranium enrichment facility and ahead of next week's planned meeting between Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council members, plus Germany. The October 1 meeting will take place in Geneva, Switzerland.

Obama said he would not speculate on any course of action absent a satisfactory response from Iran.

"Even countries who a year ago or six months ago might have been reluctant to even discuss things like sanctions," are starting to become concerned, Obama said.

Obama said his "preferred course of action is to resolve this in a diplomatic fashion. It's up to the Iranians to respond."

The U.S. president said the conclusions about Iran's nuclear ambitions came as a result of the work of three intelligence agencies -- those of Britain, France and the United States. The work, Obama said, was done "to make sure that we were absolutely confident about the situation there."

The United States has known about the unfinished site since the Bush administration, according to senior U.S. officials who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. French intelligence officials were also aware of the facility for several months at least, a U.S. diplomatic source said.

It wasn't until Monday that Iran wrote a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency, revealing the existence of the underground facility on a military base near the Shia Muslim holy city of Qom.

The facility is thought to be capable of housing 3,000 centrifuges, which is not enough to produce nuclear fuel to power a reactor but is sufficient to manufacture bomb-making material, according to a U.S. diplomatic source who read the letter.

Iran told the IAEA there is no nuclear material at the site, an agency spokesman said.

Once Iran alerted the IAEA, Obama began sharing U.S. intelligence on the nuclear site with allies, particularly with Russia and China in an effort to get those countries on board with new sanctions against Iran, the officials said.

The International Atomin Energy Agency confirmed Friday that Iran admitted the existence of the "new pilot fuel enrichment plant," prompting Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to respond at the G-20 economic summit.

"Iran's decision to build yet another nuclear facility without notifying the IAEA represents a direct challenge to the basic compact at the center of the nonproliferation regime," Obama said, with Brown and Sarkozy standing at his side.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not mention the Qom plant during his visit to New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly sessions. He reiterated earlier claims that Iran has fully cooperated with nuclear inspectors.

He emphasized this again Friday afternoon at a news conference, where he said Iran complied with IAEA regulations requiring it be informed at least six months before an enrichment facility becomes operational.

"We still have a year left before that six months kicks in," Ahmadinejad said.

"I thought we were supposed to be encouraged for taking this action," he said.

Iran's revelation of a new nuclear site could actually "strengthen their hand" as Tehran heads into next week's talks, according to Paul Ingram, an analyst who studies Iran and nuclear nonproliferation.

"It will be seen as an indication that they are willing to play by the rules," said Ingram, the executive director of the British American Security Information Council in London, England.

He said the timing ofIran's revelation, between the U.N. General Assembly sessions and the October 1 meeting, is deliberate on Iran's part.

"This will make it more difficult to persuade them to abandon enrichment," Ingram said.

Iran claims its nuclear enrichment program is intended for peaceful purposes, but the international community accuses it of continuing to try to develop nuclear weapons capability.

Iran had acknowledged only a uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, which nuclear inspectors visited recently. Iran also has an unfinished nuclear research reactor in Arak, and U.N. nuclear inspectors were allowed access to that facility this month.

Other important nuclear sites in Iran include its Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Isfahan uranium conversion plant.

Washington became aware of the covert facility near Qom several years ago, but a clearer picture about the facility emerged later, a U.S. counter-proliferation official said. The enrichment facility would probably not be operational for another year, the official said. The official said the newly unveiled facility "doesn't really change the baseline" conclusion of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which concluded that Iran could manufacture a nuclear weapons between 2010 and 2015.

The official added that there are suspicions about other possible hidden or undeclared nuclear-related facilities.

Guantanamo prison not likely to close in January, officials say

2009-09-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unlikely to close by the Obama administration's deadline of January 2010, two senior administration officials said late Friday.

They cited legal complications for the delay, but said they were still optimistic about shutting the detention facility for terrorism suspects soon.

The announcement represents a blow to the president, who signed an executive order and set the deadline with great fanfare during his first week in office.

During a signing ceremony at the White House on January 22, Obama reaffirmed his inauguration pledge that the United States does not have "to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals."

The president said he was issuing the order to close the prison camp in order to "restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great even in the midst of war, even in dealing with terrorism."

The delay may provide fodder for Republicans such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has argued that shutting the Guantanamo prison would make the United States less safe. He said Obama should have had a detailed plan in place before signing the order.

"Even White House officials are now acknowledging that there is still no alternative that will keep Americans as safe as housing detainees at that secure facility off our shores," Senate Minority Leader mitch Mcconnell, R-Kentucky, said in a written statement.

"Americans and a bipartisan majority in Congress will continue to reject any effort to close Guantanamo until there is a plan that keeps Americans as safe or safer than keeping detainees in the secure detention center," McConnell's statement said.

At its peak, the Guantanamo prison population exceeded 750, all men. More than 500 have been released, most into the custody of other countries.

The senior administration officials insisted the White House is making progress in finding third-party countries to accept the remaining detainees.

Approximately 2,200 staff members work there, from all branches of the U.S. military plus civilian employees.

From Ed Henry and Elise Labott

Germans arrest terror video suspect

2009-09-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

BERLIN, Germany -- A 25-year-old Turkish man was arrested Friday in Stuttgart, Germany, after he allegedly uploaded a video containing threats against the country onto a "known Internet platform," police said.

Germany has stepped up security since the release of two videos containing threats.

It is the second video in a week aimed at Germany. After the first was released on September 18, the Interior Ministry said there had been an increase in threats by al Qaeda and other Islamist groups since the start of the year.

The videos voice opposition to German troops' presence in Afghanistan and link that to Sunday's election.

German Interior Ministry spokesman Stefan Paris downplayed the implications of Friday's video, saying it appeared to be more of a "recruitment video" for militants, and contains no "concrete threat."

"We remain vigilant and on alert, but there are no further grounds for concern," he said.

Police did not identify the Web site where the most recent video appeared, but said it had been accessed almost 4,000 times.

The suspect, who is unemployed and lives alone, is not believed to have been involved in producing the video, and police added that they didn't know where he got it.

They said he was "actively involved" in well-known online platforms.

The man, who is not named, is known as a "supporter of Islamist activities," and has been under surveillance "for some time," according to the statement. Officers from the Division for State Security Protection participated in his arrest.

The voice on the last two videos is believed to be that of Bekkay Harrach, who uses the pseudonym Abu Talha. He speaks in German in all three.

The German government increased its terrorism alert level after the September 18 video appeared, tightening security at rail stations and airports.

U.S., France, Britain condemn Iran for second nuclear site

2009-09-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON -- The existence of a second uranium enrichment facility in Iran came to light on Friday, prompting President Obama and the leaders of Britain and France to publicly chide the Islamic republic and threaten further sanctions.

President Obama told Iran to "take concrete steps" to show it will comply with nuclear regulations.

But the United States has actually known about the unfinished site since the Bush administration, according to senior U.S. officials who declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. French intelligence officials were also aware of the facility for several months at least, a U.S. diplomatic source told CNN.

It wasn't until Monday that Iran wrote a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency, revealing the existence of the underground facility on a military base near the city of Qom. The facility is thought to be capable of housing 3,000 centrifuges, which is not enough to produce nuclear fuel to power a reactor but is sufficient to manufacture bomb-making material, according to a U.S. diplomatic source who read the letter.

Iran told the IAEA there is no nuclear material at the site, an agency spokesman said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Friday that Iran admitted the existence of the "new pilot fuel enrichment plant," prompting Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to respond at the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Iran's decision to build yet another nuclear facility without notifying the IAEA represents a direct challenge to the basic compact at the center of the non-proliferation regime," Obama said, with Brown and Sarkozy standing at his side.

"The size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program," Obama said.

Obama said the three countries presented "detailed evidence" to the IAEA on Thursday that showed Iran "has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years."

They demanded an immediate investigation into the facility and threatened a stiff response if Iran fails to conform to international obligations regarding nuclear development.

Iran's admission comes ahead of next week's rare meeting between Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council members, plus Germany. The October 1 meeting will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, according to Iran's government funded Press TV.

"It will be seen as an indication that they are willing to play by the rules," said Ingram, the executive director of the British American Security Information Council in London, England.

He said the timing of Iran's revelation -- in between the U.N. General Assembly sessions and the October 1 meeting -- is deliberate on Iran's part.

"This will make it more difficult to persuade them to abandon enrichment," Ingram said.

Iran claims its nuclear enrichment program is intended for peaceful purposes, but the international community accuses it of continuing to try to develop nuclear weapons capability.

Iran conducts research for its nuclear program in sites around the country. Until the new letter, it had acknowledged only a uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, which nuclear inspectors visited recently. Iran also has an unfinished nuclear research reactor in Arak, and U.N. nuclear inspectors were allowed access to that facility earlier this month.

Other important nuclear sites in Iran include its Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Isfahan uranium conversion plant.Washington became aware of the covert facility near Qom several years ago, but a clearer picture about the facility emerged later, a U.S. counter-proliferation official said. The enrichment facility would probably not be operational for another year, the official said.

The official said the newly unveiled facility "doesn't really change the baseline" conclusion of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which concluded that Iran could manufacture a nuclear weapons sometime between 2010 and 2015.

"But that is always subject to review and reassessment as new information comes in," the official said.

The official added that there are suspicions about other possible hidden or undeclared nuclear-related facilities within the country given Iran's record of deception and concealment.

Earlier this week, Obama shared intelligence about the second uranium plant with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a private bilateral meeting in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meetings, the U.S. officials said. After that meeting, Medvedev suggested in public comments that Russia might eventually be supportive of tough new sanctions against Iran.

One U.S. official said Medvedev's statement is an example that "our strategy has already begun to bear fruit." That strategy, the official said, involves using aggressive diplomacy to build a case for new sanctions against Iran.

Intelligence has also been shared with Chinese President Hu Jintao, and officials in Beijing are "just now absorbing" the new information, another U.S. official said.

The U.N. Security Council has implemented sanctions against Iran for refusing to freeze enrichment. The British prime minister said Friday that international leaders were prepared to impose "further and more stringent" sanctions against Tehran.

Obama has previously said that "serious sanctions" are a possibility if Iran fails to adequately address the nuclear issue.

Earlier this month, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran had reached a "stalemate" with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency over its disputed nuclear program.

The Islamic republic has cooperated with the IAEA in regards to allowing access to its unfinished research reactor in Arak, ElBaradei told the agency's 35-member Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria.

But, he added, "Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities or its work on heavy-water related projects as required by the (U.N.) Security Council."

Gmail service has trouble -- again

2009-09-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- Gmail experienced problems on Thursday, with some users reporting slowdowns and service outages.

Gmail has crashed several times in recent months.

The popular Web-based e-mail service from Google Inc. has crashed several times in recent months. That's led to a bit of anger and sarcastic sighs of despair on tech blogs and on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Google posted a note Thursday morning saying it is aware that some people are experiencing an e-mail outage. The Mountain View, California, company said all e-mail service was working by 11 a.m. ET, and that the problems caused e-mail to slow down but did not crash the site.

"A problem with Google Contacts caused many Gmail users to experience slowness and degraded service for about an hour today," the company said in a statement. "We're sorry for the inconvenience. As usual, we'll provide an incident report on the apps dashboard where we also gave ongoing status updates as this issue progressed."

Gmail lets Internet users write e-mail messages, archive documents, chat online and store contact lists. Millions of people around the world use the free service.

As with previous service problems, the online community is complaining the service break disrupts office work and personal lives. As more computing power moves "into the cloud," storing information online rather than on home computers, online applications like Gmail become important parts of people's lives.

The most recent Gmail outage occurred September 1. Some tech writers seemed genuinely disturbed by the crash. Others mocked how addicted some people have become to online-only forms of communication.mash able a blog that covers social media, posted a list of five thing to do when g mail is down

"Go outside! There's nothing left for it. Our cozy techno sphere bubble has been burst by this point. Go look for someone to harass on the street in person and ask them what URL shortened they use."

Another recent Gmail crash occurred in February.

At the time, blogger Ron Schenone wrote that people put a lot of faith in big tech companies like Google.

"It seems to me that people want to believe that Google is infallible," he wrote on the . "Though Google may be the king of search, their equipment is man made and their technicians are human."

U.S. terror suspect indicted on bomb conspiracy charge

2009-09-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK -- A Colorado man arrested in a U.S. terror probe has been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction -- explosive bombs -- against persons or property in the United States, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Najibullah Zazi, 24, has been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in the U.S.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday returned a one-count indictment against Najibullah Zazi, 24, of Aurora, colorado -- a Denver suburb.

The Justice Department said FBI agents in Colorado first arrested Zazi over the weekend in a criminal complaint that said he "knowingly and willfully" made false statements to the FBI involving international and domestic terrorism.

In addition, others arrested included Zazi's father -- Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, also from suburban Denver, and Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, a Muslim cleric and funeral director from Queens, New York.

All three were arrested late Saturday in what the justice department has said was a plot to detonate bombs in the United States. They have been charged with lying to federal agents during the probe of the alleged plot.

Originally from Afghanistan, Mohammed Wali Zazi is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Afzali and Najibullah Zazi are permanent legal residents.

The Zazis were arrested in Colorado, and Afzali was detained in New York.

Afzali was ordered released on bond, and his parents are putting up their home in Queens to secure his $1.5 million bail. He will be allowed to travel to the funeral home to work and the mosque to worship. Additional travel will be allowed on a case-by-case basis.

The Justice Department is working to have Zazi transferred from Colorado to New York to be arraigned on the new charge. If convicted, Zazi faces a potential sentence of life in prison.

The one-count indictment alleges that between August 1, 2008, and September 21, Zazi "knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more of the explosives."

It said Zazi and others "traveled in interstate and foreign commerce, used e-mail and the Internet, and that this offense and the results of the offense would have affected interstate and foreign commerce."

"We are investigating a wide range of leads related to this alleged conspiracy, and we will continue to work around the clock to ensure that anyone involved is brought to justice," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "We believe any imminent threat arising from this case has been disrupted, but as always, we remind the American public to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement."

A government detention motion filed in New York and in Colorado said that "Zazi received detailed bomb-making instructions in Pakistan, purchased components of improvised explosive devices, and traveled to New York City on September 10, 2009, in furtherance of his criminal plans."

It said that Zazi traveled overseas to receive bomb-making instructions, conducted Internet research on explosives' components and made purchases of components "necessary to produce TATP (Triacetone Triperoxide) and other explosive devices."

TATP was used in the 2005 London train bombings and part of the 2001 Richard Reid "shoe bomber" plot. Its three components are hydrogen peroxide, acetone and a strong acid, such as hydrochloric acid, the government said.

The government's motion for a permanent order of detention requests no bail for Zazi, calling him a flight risk.

The memo of law in support of the government's motion provides insights into Zazi's alleged movements and activities, saying he has extensive ties to Afghanistan and his wife and children apparently live in Pakistan.

Zazi and others traveled to Pakistan in August 2008, leaving from New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport on a flight to Peshawar, Pakistan, via Geneva, Switzerland, and Doha, Qatar, the motion said. They traveled on Qatar Airlines Flight 84.

He returned from Peshawar to New York via John F. Kennedy International Airport in January, according to the government. He was aboard Qatar Airlines Flight 83.

Zazi moved to Aurora shortly after returning and lived with family members, the government said. His father moved from New York to Aurora in July, and they moved in together.

His e-mail accounts were used in his plotting, the motion said, and federal agents found nine pages of computer images of handwritten notes containing bomb-making instructions on Zazi's computer. They had been sent to Zazi's e-mail accounts in June and July.

The notes mention that acetone is found in nail polish remover and hydrogen peroxide can be found in "Hair Salon 20-30%," and the "bomb-making notes contemplate heating the components in order to make them highly concentrated," according to the motion.

"The notes discuss formulations for mixing hydrogen peroxide with flour, and list ghee oil as a type of fuel that can be used to help initiate the explosive device," the government said.

In July and August, Zazi and others associated with him bought "unusually large quantities of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products from beauty supply stores" in Denver area, the government said.

On August 28, Zazi checked into an Aurora hotel suite, which had a stove. That same day he was seen on surveillance video purchasing 12 large bottles of "Ms K Liquid 40 Volume." He checked back into the same hotel suite on September 6-7. Testing later revealed the presence of acetone residue in the vent above the stove, the government said.

A search of his laptop showed that on September 8, Zazi looked at the Web site of a home improvement store near the Flushing neighborhood of Queens for muriatic acid, a diluted version of hydrochloric acid, the government said.

Zazi rented a car and the following day -- September 9 -- he started driving from Colorado to New York City with his laptop, the memo said. He had scheduled to return the car on September 14.

He arrived in Flushing on September 10 and then became suspicious that law enforcement was tracking him, according to the government. He purchased an airline ticket and returned to Denver on September 12.

He spent the night of September 10 at a Queens residence that had a scale with his fingerprints on it, the motion said. FBI experts said such a device could be used to weigh the elements needed in a bomb-making plot, according to the government.

In a related development, The Denver Post quoted a state counterterrorism official saying no additional arrests are expected in Colorado.

Colorado State Patrol Capt. Steve Garcia told the Post: "I'm convinced at this point, Colorado is not a target."

As for Afzali, his attorney, Ron Kuby, said the imam has "consistently cooperated" with police in previous investigations and now "feels ill-used."

Stella Obasanjo’s :Surgeon jailed over routine Cosmetic Surgery Mishap

2009-09-24T12:43:00.001-07:00

The Spanish surgeon who performed liposuction operation that led to the death of former first lady, Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, has been jailed for one year for involuntary homicide by a tribunal in Malaga, Spain.

The tribunal has also suspended the doctor identified simply as AMM from practising medicine for three years, stating that “he lacked a serious commitment and carefulness required by his profession”.The doctor and his insurers were equally told to indemnify the son of the deceased to the tune of €120,000.

At a trial held in July, the prosecutor had wanted a sentence of two years in prison and ban from exercising his profession for five years.

Stella Obasanjo, 59, was recovering from a routine liposuction at the Molding Clinic in the posh resort of Marbella, when her condition deteriorated suddenly a few days later.

She fell unconscious and the doctors could not revive her.

At the trial, the doctor had denied responsibility, asserting that the intervention and post-operative had been carried out “perfectly normal” and that the age of the patient, who suffered from hypertension and mild asthma, posed no danger to the exercise.

The court ruled instead that the process used to extract fat from the patient had been performed by mistake in her abdominal cavity, which had caused five incisions in the liver and colon of the patient.

The blood loss and internal injuries “could have been handled without problems” if they had been detected in time, the court noted.

During the trial, a Spanish forensic scientist declared that her death was avoidable had suitable treatment been administered during the fateful liposuction.

He was addressing a Spanish court conducting a trial on the death of the first lady in the country in 2005.

The police physician pointed out that the patient had perforations in her liver and abdomen.

According to him, the quantity of liquids administered on her after an intervention was "insufficient" and there were symptoms of a shock.

The expert indicated that the evidence of shock could have been detected "hours earlier" and with a blood test and an ultrasound scan it would have been possible for the doctor to detect the symptoms of a shock.

He said the doctor could have detected these complications approximately 10 hours before her death.

His opinion was shared by the forensic scientist brought in to serve as an expert witness.

On the contrary, four other experts told the court a blood test could not have contributed much and insisted that the symptoms were habitual and that the progression was "normal" until the night of the day before the death.

Nevertheless, one of the experts recognised that “a transfer at this hour could have led to an improvement of the patient’s health”.

He pointed out that the blood loss (half a litre of blood) does not produce a hemorrhagic shock.

On the other hand, one of the doctors who attended to the patient said while being moved to another clinic, he discovered that the woman became unconscious, had no pulse and at this moment the accused and he tried to revive her and “I observed a blinking”.

The district attorney maintained his initial accusation of a crime of imprudent murder, for which it requests the accused who is a specialist in plastic and aesthetic surgery to be imprisoned for two years and given five years disqualification for the death of Stella who came to the clinic of Marbella for abdomen reduction on October 20, 2005.

For the public prosecutor, the accused committed "a heap of negligence", since "it was not diagnosed appropriately".

The transfer of the patient to another hospital was done late. This indicated that although he did not have intention of causing the incisions in the vital organs neither did he wish her to become "unconscious", this does not suppose that there is minor gravity in the facts.

He said that the accused took "decisions completely opposite to those that he would have taken and, there was lack of follow up”.

According to him, the accused displayed lack of analytical strength, apathy and lack of interest for the patient.

The defender asked for the acquittal of the accused and emphasised the declarations of the doctor’s co-workers in the clinic who said they made sure some intervention took place in a normal way.

The doctor maintained that in spite of the age of the woman (59) and some occasional asthma, the risk for this type of interventions was catalogued as “I set sail”. Also, it indicated that the operation, which lasted three hours, developed "just as others that it had done until this baneful day and those that I have done later".

On July 10, the state criminal prosecution case against a plastic surgeon from the Molding Clinic in Marbella started.

At the court, the accused claimed that there was absolutely no evidence of any complications during the procedure nor during the post-op, and described how everything went normally until the early hours of the day after the operation.

Stella, the wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, died on October 23, 2005.

She was born in November 23, 1945. Born Stella Abebe, she met her husband when he was a military officer.

She became famous not only for being the first lady but also for being a political activist in her own right, supporting such causes as women's liberation and youths as leaders of tomorrow.

Stella established a non-governmental organisation, Child Care Trust, to take care of the underprivileged, the motherless and physically and mentally retarded children, with a focus on girls.

According to her, these groups of underprivileged children are usually neglected and they were often treated as if they were useless and seen as an affliction on their parents.

The former first lady was once quoted as saying: “Many of the underprivileged children if given the right care and love are capable of doing many positive things. They want to be appreciated. They do not see themselves as different from any other person.”

She died weeks to her 60th birthday, after experiencing complications in a routine cosmetic surgery.

The news came on the same day a Nigerian plane carrying 117 passengers and crew crashed, leaving no survivors.

Why Nigerians should not fear to travel by air–Oduselu

2009-09-24T04:51:00.000-07:00

By UCHE USIM

You may call him Nigeria’s number one air accident investigator and you will not be wrong. Engineer (Dr) Samuel Oduselu is the Pioneer Commissioner/CEO of the Accident Inestigation Bureau, (AIB), an autonomous parastatal charged with the responsibility of investigating air accidents in the country.

An aeronautic engineer with varied experience in the nation’s aviation industry, Engr Oduselu was appointed in 2006 when AIB was created as an autonomous body through the Civil Aviation Act of 2006 which was passed as part of the major reform in the country’s aviation sector during the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The reform was embarked upon following the spate air accidents in the country between 2005 and 2006.
Before its creation, AIB was known as Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau, (APIB), the agency was a department in the erstwhile Federal Ministry of Aviation. Beyond accident investigation, the AIB was created to work in collaboration with other parastatals and stake-holders to ensure compliance with basic aviation safety rules and regulations.

As the AIB boss, Oduselu leads a team of technical officers drawn from different areas of aviation such as pilots, engineers (Aeronautical & Aircraft Maintenance), air traffic controllers, airworthiness experts, flight engineers and fire safety engineers with many years of experience in their respective fields.
Since his appointment three years ago, Engr Oduselu has brought to the fore his wealth of experience as a foremost air accident investigator and a former Director of Air worthiness Standards at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) between 2003 and 2005.

Before his appointment as AIB boss, he has occupied many other positions both at NCAA and the Federal Ministry of Aviation. These include General Manager, Air Worthiness Standard, 2002-2003, Assistant General Manager (Airworthiness), Chief Airworthiness Surveyor, 1997-2000, among several others.

A well travelled gentleman, the AIB boss holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from Webster College, St Louis Missouri, USA and a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautic Engineering from Park College of St Louis University, St Louis, Missouri, USA as well as an Associate of Science certificate in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology with an FAA Airframe & Power plant licence from Teterboro School of Aeronautics, Teterboro Airport, New Jersey, USA.

He has also attended several courses mainly abroad and locally. These include: Aviation Security Program Course and Threat and Error Management Course in University of Southern California (USC), USA, Advanced Manager’s training at the Federal Aviation Administration Academy, USA, Photography in Aircraft Accident Investigation, Helicopter/Incident Response preparedness, Aircraft Accident Investigation, Human Factor in Aviation at the University of Southern California (USC), USA, among others.

In the last three years of his appointment, Oduselu has repositioned the AIB to enable it perform its roles as defined by the 2006 Aviation Act. Such roles include carrying out independent investigation into air accidents by determining the circumstances and causes of the accident and make appropriate safety recommendations to prevent similar occurrence in future without apportioning blame or liability to anybody.

In performing the roles, AIB has collaborated with other parastatals and stake-holders to ensure compliance with basic aviation safety rules and regulations.

The parastatals and stake-holders include the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, (NAMA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NIMET) and the Airline Operators of Nigeria, (AON).
Engineer Oduselu in what can best be described as a silent revolution has created a conducive working atmosphere needed to achieve the aims and objectives of the Bureau. Accident investigators have been trained locally and internationally to prepare them for the challenges of modern accident investigation.
“To carry out the statutory responsibility, we have channelled enormous resources into capacity development and acquisition of modern equipment. Our accident investigators recently returned from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom where they completed a certification course in accident investigation. Our vision is to be among the foremost accident investigation bodies in the world, contributing our quota to global aviation safety.

Safety in the industry is so crucial that every hand is required to be on the deck. There is no other time than now for all stakeholders to cooperate and collaborate towards ensuring that safety is not compromised in anyway. at AIB, we strive to partner with other stakeholders towards enthroning the highest standards of safety. our efforts are not to apportion blame or liability.” Oduselu said at a dinner for Mr James Richard Jones in Lagos recently.

According to him, safety and speed are the major attractions of the air transport industry, adding that “safety is the anchor of public confidence in aviation. Aviation itself is a great catalyst of global economic development. With more than 4.5 million jobs, movement of more than 2 billion passenger and 45 million tonnes of freight, the contribution of aviation to world economic prosperity cannot be overemphasized.”
Beyond accident investigation, Oduselu said that AIB had been able to improve on air safety since he became the Chief Executive officer Of AIB.

”Besides accident investigation really, we have done many accident prevention programmes.” he says. “As I can tell you and as we know that a cumulative of incidents is what causes accident, we try to prevent them before they get out of hands. We conduct seminars to highlight and enlighten concerned individuals. We have done some seminars on weather because from our research, we discovered that in many accidents that occurred lately, there were weather involvements. So we need to bring that out and let the people know that it is part of the phenomenon that we encounter in flying and what to do with it and how to avoid it.” He added.

The Commissioner/CEO said the Bureau had worked very hard with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) to ensure that safety recommendations from all accident investigations are enforced and implemented.

“One thing you have to understand is that we don’t have the power to enforce the implementation of our recommendations. However, we collaborate with Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which is the regulating agency for the country. We direct our requests and recommendations to them and they in turn inject it into the industry. And we don’t enforce but we do monitor to ensure that as it goes to the affected agencies, we collaborate with them to ensure adequate implementation in the industry.

So, as time goes on, if you looked at our reports on our website, we also have the system recommendation at the end of the report in which we indicate whether the system recommendation is open or closed. Where it is implemented, when you go to the website, you will see that it is closed. If it is still open, periodically, we go back to NCAA to inquire why it is not yet implemented.” He said
While assuring Nigerians of the safety of the nation’s air space, Oduselu declared: “On the aviation, Nigerians should know that air transport is the fastest means and safest means of travelling to any part of the country or part of the world.

Now, we can assure on the level of safety and confidence. Nigerians can travel within and outside the country without nursing any fear. We want to tell people that the phobia of the past, whether an aircraft is safe or an airline is safe or not is a thing of the past. I also want the public to cooperate with aviation authorities in promoting safety both on ground and in the air. Safety is everybody’s business”

2011 presidential poll Count me out, says IBB

2009-09-24T04:34:00.000-07:00

By NDUBUISI ORJI, Lagos and AKIN ALOFETEKUN, Minna

Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida has no ambition to contest the presidential election in 2011.
Babangida debunked speculations that he was staging a comeback to the nation’s political scene.

Speaking in an interview with the Channels Television in Minna, Niger State, monitored in Lagos, the former president said contrary to the speculations that he would run for a second time, he no longer had interest in any elective position.

Babangida said there were pressures from many quarters for him to vie for the post of the president of the country in 2011, but he would not bow to such pressures.

IBB, as he is fondly called, said he would be willing to lend a hand of support to whoever emerged as the nation’s president in 2011.Babangida had indicated interest to contest the 2007 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

But stepped down for President Umaru Yar’Adua few days before the party’s presidential primaries. He said he had to step down because of what he called ‘a moral dilemma’.
Babangida became president after he seized power in a bloodless coup on August 27, 1985. He ruled the nation until August 26, 1993 when he stepped ‘aside’ owing to pressure after he annulled the June 12, 1993 election won by the late Chief MKO Abiola.
Meanwhile, the former military president has advocated a review of the nation’s federal system in which there should be less responsibilities for the Federal Government, even as he called for the abolition of the federal character policy in federal appointments.

He made the call in Minna, Niger State while speaking at the third annual United Nations’ International Peace Day lecture series tagged: Constitutional review as a mechanism for peace and stability.
He noted that the Federal Government had been saddled with too much responsibility and called on the constitutional review committee to take a closer look at the issue with a view to reducing the responsibilities of the Federal Government and allocating them to the states and the local governments.
The former leader, also among other things, called for the creation of state police, abolition of federal character in appointment into federal offices, saying appointments should be based on merit, pointing out that the federal character system had outlived its usefulness.

Babangida also suggested that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) be statutorily responsible for the conduct of the presidential and national assembly elections alone while the state independent electoral commission (SIEC) be made to conduct other elections at state and local government levels and announce the results without taking orders from Abuja.
The guest lecturer on the occasion, Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, enjoined the audience to see the opportunity of a constitutional review as a way of having their say on how the country is governed.
Aliyu, however, observed that it is not only the document that should be changed, according to him, “it is important to change the mindset and attitude of the people because both the document and the mind of the people must work together if any constitution must succeed.”
Also speaking at the occasion, the Deputy Senate president and the Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, disclosed that despite the cry in some quarters that the present constitution lack legitimacy because it was done during the military era, the constitution, he said, is legal and will remain so until another one is produced.

He thanked the state governors for their support for the National Assembly in its efforts to review the constitution.

The annual International Peace Day lecture series also had in attendance members of the national and state assemblies from across the country.

Tragic end: Trailer crushes pregnant woman, husband, friend

2009-09-24T04:29:00.000-07:00

A pregnant woman in labour, her husband and a friend of the family have been crushed to death by a trailer along Bauchi-Jos Road.
The woman, 27, was being taken to the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi from their home in Wunti Dada along Jos Road for delivery when the unfortunate incident happened.

The deceased, Ruth Edei and her unborn child, a boy died instantly while her husband, Joseph, a pastor and lecturer in the Mechanical Department of the Federal Polytechnic died later in the hospital.
The couple left behind a two-year-old daughter, Marvel.
The other occupant of the ill-fated car, Toyota Carina, Mrs Salman Ogbeba, wife of a renowned pastor, Emmanuel Ogbeba also died on the spot.

The incident which happened in the early hours of Tuesday, has thrown residents of the Bauchi State capital into deep sorrow and anguish.
“In fact, mummy was called by the pastor to accompany them to the hospital when his wife entered labour. We did not know that it was the last time we will see her,” Jerry Ogbeba, son of Salman told Daily Sun.
His mother was a retired nurse who served the Bauchi State Government for 35 years before retirement.
“She was a God-fearing woman, gentle and kind Christian, mother and wife,” he said.
When Daily Sun reporter visited their house in Wunikti Dada, sympathisers including Pastor Charles Yohanna of the Faith Revival Ministries and other men of God were seen consoling Pastor Ogbeba, who also lost his second son three mouths ago.

The Sector Commandant of the Federal Road Safety Commission in the state, Albert Moor blamed the accident on the recklessness of the trailer driver who, he said, was now in police custody.
Daily Sun gathered that the accident happened because the trailer driver was overtaking dangerously and rammed into the Toyota carrying the victims.

“It happened around 5 am. It is very unfortunate. The case is still with the police and we are carrying out investigation,” he said.
From PAUL ORUDE, Bauchi

Guardian Editor Assasinated : Bayo Ohu Political Editor of The Guardian Newspapers Slain

2009-09-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Forty-one year-old Bayo Ohu, an assistant political editor of The Guardian was shot in the early hours of Sunday by gunmen suspected to be assasins.

Police sources said the bandits stormed the journalist’s No 9, Oyeniyi Street, Odukoya estate residence at the about 7.00 a.m. and forced their way into his apartment. They were said to had demanded for cash and other valuables which the journalist readily obliged.

After collecting the cash he had, they picked his lap-top before releasing some bullets into his stomach. He was said to had slumped and died almost immediately.

According to witnesses, men dressed in white jalabia (flowing gowns) and wearing caps, arrived in a white Toyota camry at 6.53am, and stormed Mr. Ohu’s residence. When they eventually found him with a wrapper tied around his waist, one of the armed men began to shoot at him. The assailants allegedly followed him as he stumbled back and kept pumping bullets into him.

Neighbours say during this attack, the deceased’s wife, Ochuko, had gone to church with her sister who lived in with them, leaving the late Ohu, his daughters and one other relative at home. None of them was however around the compound when the killers entered.

According to his daughter, 15-year-old Omolara Ohu, “We were coming from where we had gone to fetch water, when we heard the gun-shots and ran back. Later, we came to the compound and found blood everywhere. The neighbours now came and brought out his body. There was blood everywhere,” she said, crying.

She said a neighbour who saw the shooting told her that the initial hail of bullets left Ohu shouting: “E gba mi o! E gba mi o! (Please save me, please save me). Afterwards, she said one of the armed men was heard saying: “Olori buruku yen ti lo” (That idiot is gone).

Miss Patience, the late journalist’s sister said nothing was taken apart from his laptop and his cell phone.

“They took the laptop he uses at home, but they left his office laptop and midget recorder,” she said.

However, reports said while the attack was going on, a neighbour had put a call to the police, but the bandits had successfully made good their escape before the police arrived.

But a team of anti-robbery squad on routine patrol in the area were reported to have given the armed gang a hot chase, forcing them to abandon their get away vehicle and fled.
Ochuko, wife of the late Bayo Ohu. The deceased inset.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, confirmed the incident but said it might be a case of assassination. Mba said the police had recovered the vehicle, an unmarked Toyota Camry used for the attack, assuring that a manhunt for the perpetrators had since begun.

In a related development, a team of anti- robbery squad from the Area E Command, Festac town Lagos has arrested two armed robbers in the area.

The suspects identified as Andrew Ilouere and Chinedu Nwokolie were arrested along the Lagos-Badagry expressway moments after they had successfully robbed one Paschal Anyawu.

They were said to have collected an un specified amount of money and other valuables from the victim but ran into the waiting hands of the patrol team.

Reports said when they were searched, a locally made Guardian Newspapers with some live cartridges were recovered from them.

The police image maker also confirmed the arrest, adding that the suspects would be transferred to the SCID Panti, Yaba, Lagos for further investigation.

This is the third time in as many years that a Nigerian newspaper journalist has been shot dead in similar circumstances.

In 2007 and 2008, Godwin Agbroko and Abayomi Ogundeji, both of the private Thisday Newspaper, were also shot dead by unknown gunmen in Lagos.

The two deaths have yet to be unravelled.
Bullet hole at Bayo Ohu's house

Mr. Ohu joined The Guardian in 1993 after completing his national youth service in Katsina State. He was the correspondent of the paper in Katsina until 2002 when he became assistant news editor and was recalled to the head office in Lagos. He was seconded to the politics desk in 2008. He is survived by a wife and children.