{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 07 juin 2010 – Al Jazeera and agencies- June 07, 2010–The police chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended, following the death of a human rights’ activist.
BURUNDI :
RWANDA
Donations sought for attorney jailed in Rwanda
www.chicagotribune.com/ June 7, 2010
Several accounts have been set up to help pay the legal bills of Peter Erlinder, an attorney raised on Chicago’s South Side who was arrested in Rwanda more than a week ago for allegedly denying genocide.
Erlinder is a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn.. He traveled to Rwanda on May 23 to help defend opposition presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire against charges of promoting genocidal ideology, relatives said. Erlinder was arrested five days later.
Erlinder remains jailed and is due back in court Monday, said his daughter, Sarah.
An estimated 800,000 people were killed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
— Kristen Schorsch
Rwandan Opposition Seeks Inclusion Ahead of Poll
Peter Clottey/www1.voanews.com/ 07 June 2010
The chairman of Rwanda’s opposition Democratic Green Party said officials of President Paul Kagame’s administration have repeatedly refused to register his party ahead of the general elections scheduled for 9 August.
Frank Habineza told VOA his group has joined forces with other opposition parties to petition the U.S government to put more pressure on Kigali to ensure a level-playing field ahead of the vote.
“The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, which I head, has been trying to get registered for the last 10 months since August last year. We have been stopped, sometimes violently and sometimes legally. Some of our members have had to run out of the country, others have been imprisoned, and others have been harassed or intimidated,” he said.
This comes after a coalition of opposition parties petitioned the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, Stuart Symington, seeking America’s intervention to help resolve what they described as the escalating social and political tensions in the country.
The coalition, which goes by the name the Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda, comprises the United Democratic Forces (FDU-Inkingi), the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and the Parti Social IMBERAKURI.
In the petition, the coalition asked the U.S government to “impress upon the Rwanda government to open the political space and ensure the electoral process for the presidential elections are free, fair and transparent.”
But, the government has often dismissed several opposition accusations that it opposes dissent and tramples on individual freedoms.
Chairman Habineza said the government’s ploy is to monopolize the electoral process aimed at frustrating the opposition to ensure a landslide victory for incumbent President Kagame’s ruling Patriotic Front party.
“Another partner (in the coalition) has also been divided and these divisions make some sources to suggest that some people in the government had a hand in it… We cannot go into the election when our parties are not registered (and) we cannot do anything else because we have tried all the legal requirements, and we have failed. So, this is a deliberate policy from the government side,” Habineza said.
He also said that the opposition parties sought America’s intervention because they feel powerless under the “prevailing condition” which makes it difficult for them to operate ahead of the poll.
Habineza said the government is flouting the constitution by refusing to register several opposition parties ahead of the August vote.
“The government is the one which has the duty to make sure that it registers the other parties…It’s a constitutional right to have other parties. We have a constitution which allows multiparty democracy in Rwanda. So, the government is supposed to allow us to be registered and compete with the ruling party,” Habineza said.
Officials of the government were not immediately available to comment, despite repeated attempts.
UGANDA
Sudan Warns Relations With Uganda Eroding
Peter Clottey /www1.voanews.com/07 June 2010
A prominent member of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has warned relations between Khartoum and Kampala are set to deteriorate. His comment came after Uganda’s government said it would not invite President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir to next month’s African Union (A.U.) summit.
Rabie Abdulatti Obeid condemned President Yoweri Museveni’s government saying Kampala’s pronouncement is unacceptable and undermines the integrity of the continental body.
“I think this will go against the African Union Charter and humiliate, also, this African Union organization as this organization does not belong to Uganda. This belongs to member states. And, I think that, if the African Union authorities allow such a decision to be in effect, this will diminish and remove respect from this (continental) organization,” he said.
President Museveni’s office said in a statement over the weekend that Sudanese government officials will represent the country instead of President Bashir in the A.U. conference scheduled to be held next month in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an international arrest warrant in March, 2009 against President Bashir over his alleged role in the Darfur Conflict.
Judges of the court issued a warrant against President Bashir on seven counts: five for crimes against humanity – murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape; two for war crimes – intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population or individual civilians, and pillaging – charges supporters of the Sudanese leader reject.
The African Union, China and the Arab League asked the ICC to defer the arrest warrant saying it will complicate efforts at resolving the Darfur conflict, as well as undermine the peace accord between the north and south. The accords signed in 2005 effectively ended Sudan’s more than two decades of civil war.
Uganda’s government is a signatory to the Rome Statute that led to the formation of the International Criminal Court. Uganda has said it will abide by the ICC arrest warrant decision.
But, NCP official Obeid said the arrest warrant has nothing to do with the upcoming African Union conference in Uganda.
“This is not relating to the authorities of the Ugandan government. And, even the African Union has already taken a stance supporting Sudan and rejecting that warrant of arrest issued by ICC against him. Like this Africa-French summit that already convened in France, President Bashir didn’t go. But, the Vice President, Ali Osman Mohammed Taha, attended that meeting,” Obeid said.
The international arrest warrant against the Sudanese leader makes President Bashir the first head of state to be charged by the ICC. But, Mr. Bashir described the warrant against him as “worthless.”
The United Nations estimates that 35,000 people have so far been killed in the Darfur conflict. But, Khartoum puts the death toll at only 10,000.
TANZANIA:
CONGO RDC :
DR Congo suspends police chief
June 07, 2010 /english.aljazeera.net/Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
The police chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended, following the death of a human rights’ activist.
Officials said on Sunday that the decision to suspend General John Numbi was taken to allow a deeper investigation into the incident.
The body of Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, head of Voice of the Voiceless, was found in his car on Wednesday in a suburb of the capital, Kinshasa.
“[Inspector-General] John Numbi was suspended so that the attorney-general can focus on his enquiries smoothly and make sure nothing gets in the way of the investigations,” Daniel Lubo, an adviser at the interior ministry, told the Reuters news agency.
The rights group, one of the largest in the DRC, said Chebeya had been due to meet the police chief the night before his death.
The group also said he appeared to have been strangled. The driver of the car has not been found since contact was lost with Chebeya on Tuesday evening.
Several police officers, including Daniel Mukalay, head of the police special service, were arrested on Saturday in connection to the death.
More than 50 human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have demanded an independent enquiry into the killing in an open letter to Joseph Kabila, the Congolese president.
Erwin van der Borght from Amnesty International said Chebeya had been arrested and threatened in the past.
“Threats and intimidation [are] unfortunately part of the working environment in which [rights activists in the DRC] have to operate,” he told Al Jazeera.
“We certainly believe the Congolese authorities contribute to that hostile environment, either by the security forces’ attitude towards human rights activists by regularly arresting them and intimidating them, but also by the statements made by government officials towards the work of human rights organisations.”
KENYA :
ANGOLA :
Argentine hooligans detained, risk being deported
Jun 7, 2010/Reuters
(Reuters) – At least seven Argentine soccer hooligans were detained at Johannesburg airport trying to enter South Africa on Sunday for the World Cup, the Argentina team’s security officer said.
Sports
“We have at the moment seven people in detention. I can’t give you their names because the procedure has not yet been completed,” Argentine Federal Police officer Hugo Lompizano told Reuters.
Lompizano has been working closely with South Africa’s authorities on security issues with hundreds of fans expected to fly over from Argentina for the tournament starting on Friday.
Argentine media reported that up to 10 fans were detained and could be deported because they had criminal records from among 80 who arrived in South Africa via Angola.
In order to keep the hooligans out of Sunday’s practice at Argentina’s University of Pretoria base, which was open to the public by FIFA disposition, the Argentine Football Association decided to only invite select schools and local dignitaries, while allowing some ordinary fans through.
There is a 200-strong police guard at Argentina’s camp.
SOUTH AFRICA:
Stampede at friendly
Officer, 14 fans injured
By Herald wire services/www.bostonherald.com/Monday, June 7, 2010
Thousands of soccer fans stampeded outside a stadium in Tembisa, South Africa, yesterday before an exhibition game between Nigeria and North Korea, leaving 15 people injured, including one police officer who was seriously hurt.
Several fans fell under the rush of people, many wearing Nigeria jerseys. The Makhulong Stadium in the Johannesburg suburb seats about 12,000 fans.
The mayhem happened only five days before the start of the World Cup, the first to be held in Africa. A police spokesman said tickets for the game were given out for free outside the stadium, which led to a bigger crowd wanting to get in, leading to the stampede when the gates opened.
“FIFA and the OC (local organizing committee) would like to reiterate that this friendly match has no relation whatsoever with the operational organization of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, for which we remain fully confident,” FIFA said in a statement.
A police spokesman added that because this was an exhibition game, the Nigerian team – the designated host – was responsible for security, not World Cup organizers. Once trouble broke out, the spokesman said, police stepped in.
U.S. striker improves
American striker Jozy Altidore tested his sprained ankle as the United States held a light workout at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria before about 350 invited children from several groups. Altidore did not speak to the media, but coach Bob Bradley offered an update.
“Jozy has been able to add to his workload every day, which has been positive,” Bradley said. “We are pleased with his progress and will continue to move him forward.” . . .
Despite losing Rio Ferdinand to a tournament-ending injury in training, England coach Fabio Capello has no plans to rest key players for the team’s final World Cup training match today against South African Premier League club Platinum Stars, who are based near the Englishmen’s Rustenburg training camp.
The English play the U.S. on Saturday, and Capello needs to find a partner for John Terry in central defense with the loss of Ferdinand.
Dutch winger OK
Netherlands winger Arjen Robben’s left hamstring injury isn’t as severe as initially feared, and is likely to join his teammates at the World Cup in South Africa, Dutch media report.
The report said it was impossible to know when Robben will be fit enough to play. He was in Amsterdam for treatment, and would likely travel to South Africa later this week. The Netherlands’ first match is against Denmark on June 14. . . .
Uruguay striker Diego Forlan managed to complete his team’s first World Cup practice in South Africa despite being hit on his left leg in a collision, five days before Uruguay opens against France on Friday. . . .
Honduras’ Wilson Palacios and David Suazo say they are feeling better after getting hurt in a 3-0 loss to Romania in a friendly. Honduras opens against Chile on June 16. . . .
Backup goalkeeper Brad Jones has left the Australia squad and returned home because of an illness in his family and could miss the World Cup. The Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that Jones’ 4-year-old son Luca has been diagnosed with leukemia.
AFRICA / AU :
VP Biden on week-long trip to Africa
By the CNN Wire Staff/June 7, 2010
(CNN) — Vice President Joe Biden travels to Africa this week with several stops, including South Africa where he will represent the United States at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup.
Among other engagements, Biden will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday “to discuss a full range of bilateral and regional issues,” according to a White House statement.
The vice president had planned on visiting Egypt in March, but Mubarak fell ill and the trip was scrapped.
During his stop in Kenya, the vice president will discuss peace and stability in the region — especially in Sudan and Somalia — with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Biden will be joined by his wife, Jill, during the trip. The two will also stop in South Africa for the World Cup opening ceremonies on Friday and to watch the U.S. team take on England in its first game on Saturday.
Many injured in stadium stampede
07 Jun 2010 /www.worldcup.cbssports.com
South Africa police confirm at least 15 people hurt at Makhulong Stadium during friendly between Nigeria and Korea DPR
Fans were trampled upon as they rushed to enter the stadium once the gates were opened and although the gates were closed to control the surge of people entering, when the gates were re-opened more people were crushed as a second surge was created.
The crowd, mainly made up of local South Africans and travelling Nigerian fans, had turned up in greater numbers than expected as entry to the match was free.
Press Association Sport report that Colonel Eugene Opperman of the South African Police Services (SAPS) said: “There was definitely a stampede, but it happened on the outside of the stadium and not the inside.
“We have 14 civilians that are injured and one policeman. There were no deaths.”
The match did eventually go ahead and finished 3-1 to Lars Lagerback’s Nigeria. Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Victor Obinna and Obafemi Martins scored for the Super Eagles while Jong Hyok Cha netted for Korea DPR.
The encounter was also stopped for five minutes in the second half when a railing collapsed inside the stadium and although the venue will not be used during the World Cup these incidents will attract the sort of publicity that the tournament organizers will want to avoid with the World Cup fast approaching.
UN /ONU :
N Korea ‘to retaliate’ over UN move
Monday, June 07, 2010 /english.aljazeera.net
North Korea has repeated its threat to retaliate against the South for taking it to the UN Security Council, calling the move an “intolerable provocation” that could trigger war on the peninsula.
The threat comes after Seoul officially asked the council on Friday to punish the North, accusing its neighbour of torpedoing a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in March killing 46 sailors.
It was the first time South Korea has taken the North to the Security Council over inter-Korean tensions.
On Sunday, North Korea – which denied involvement in the sinking – issued a statement saying Seoul would suffer a “stern punishment” in response, describing the allegations it was behind the sinking of the Cheonan as a “conspiratorial farce”.
“This is another intolerable and grave provocation to us, and a reckless challenge to the public opinions at home and abroad,” the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement.
“The South Korean puppets will never avoid a stern punishment by our military and people, and also strong protests from the southern people if they continue the smear campaign against the DPRK [North Korea].”
The committee, which handles North Korea’s relations with the South, did not elaborate on the form of retaliation it would take.
‘Provocation’
South Korea has said it wants the 15-member Security Council to “respond in a manner appropriate to the gravity of North Korea’s military provocation in order to deter recurrence of any further provocation by North Korea”.
The request came as South Korea’s president toned down public criticism of the North, pledging to seek a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.
Lee Myung-bak said in a nationally televised speech on Sunday that his country has “an unachieved dream” of peace and prosperity with the North.
Lee also said his government would strive to defend the country and revive the economy, but he stopped short of directly criticising North Korea in the speech.
South Korean leaders traditionally use the Memorial Day speech to emphasise efforts toward peace.
However, the United States and its Asian allies have said North Korea must be held accountable for the sinking of the Cheonan.
Defence ministers from the US, Japan and South Korea met in Singapore at the weekend to weigh punitive steps against North Korea.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, told his counterparts on Saturday that “it’s important we have a unified front to deter further provocations”, his press secretary told reporters.
But in a BBC interview broadcast on Sunday Gates said there were few, if any, effective options against North Korea, short of military action.
Source: Agencies
Israel Spurns Outside Gaza Raid Probe for Own Inquiry (Update1)
June 07, 2010/By Jonathan Ferziger and Gwen Ackerman/Bloomberg
June 7 (Bloomberg) — Israel rejected calls for an external probe of its raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship that left nine dead, saying it was discussing how to conduct its own inquiry with the U.S.
“Israel has the ability and the right to investigate itself, not to be investigated by any international board,” Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., said, speaking on “Fox News Sunday.” “I don’t think the United States would want an international inquiry into its military activities in Afghanistan, for example.”
Demands for an outside probe began after nine Turks were killed when Israeli commandos raided their boat, one of six in a flotilla attempting to breach Israel’s three-year blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza. Israel refused to participate in the United Nations report on the 2008 Gaza war, an inquiry its leaders rejected as one-sided.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said any probe of the May 31 raid, which sparked calls for the lifting of the blockade, must be conducted by Israelis though it may include international observers. Israel says the embargo is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Gaza.
“It has to be an Israeli committee,” Lieberman said yesterday on Army Radio. “There is no problem with high level, well-known international observers serving as partners in the process.”
Gaza Flotilla
Top Israeli ministers met in Jerusalem last night “to discuss ways to bring to light the truth about the Gaza flotilla in the wake of international criticism,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a text message to journalists. The ministers are expected to continue their discussions today, the message said.
The Israeli Navy opened fire early this morning on an armed squad of Palestinian divers off the Gaza coast, an Israeli military spokesman said, speaking anonymously according to regulation. Four Palestinians were killed and one is missing, according to Mo’aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency medical services in Gaza.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on June 5 discussed with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “options for moving forward with the investigation,” a statement on the UN website said.
Proposed Commission
That proposed commission would have members from Turkey and Israel as well as others appointed by the UN and would be headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, an aide to Erdogan said in a telephone interview yesterday from the western city of Bursa, speaking on the usual condition of anonymity. Palmer didn’t reply to a voicemail message left on his cellphone in New Zealand.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks with Netanyahu and asked him to accept a UN inquiry, Sarkozy’s office said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Oren said Israel was “discussing with the Obama administration the way in which our inquiry will take place.”
Israel is refusing to agree to an international probe because similar investigations in the past have been biased, Avi Bell, a law professor at Bar-Ilan University, said. “The track record of international inquiries on Israel is that they are excessively political, the results are known in advance and Israel never gets a fair shake,” he said.
Goldstone Report
Israel refused to participate in a UN panel led by former UN prosecutor and South African judge Richard Goldstone that investigated the 2008 Gaza war. Goldstone’s panel accused Israel and Hamas of war crimes and called on them to investigate the charges.
Israeli President Shimon Peres called the Goldstone inquiry a “mockery of history” and said it failed “to distinguish between the aggressor and a state exercising its right for self defense.”
Israel said its military operation in Gaza was aimed at stopping the firing of rockets into its territory. Some 330 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel since the end of Israel’s offensive, killing one foreign worker last March, the Israeli army said.
If a UN probe is established, it should have “a significant Israeli component” to ensure it is viewed as “legitimate here in Israel,” said Moshe Hirsch, a professor in the Faculty of Law’s Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Stock Index
Israel’s benchmark TA-25 stock index fell 1.9 percent yesterday in Tel Aviv.
Israel has faced international criticism over the raid. The U.S. has declined to specifically criticize Israeli actions, while backing a June 1 UN Security Council resolution that condemned the violence that led to the deaths of the aid activists and calling for an impartial inquiry.
Turkey, which along with South Africa withdrew its ambassador
from Israel over the incident, says an Israeli investigation wouldn’t meet that criterion.
Criticism within Israel of the flotilla operation has focused largely on the execution of the raid and not the blockade. A survey of Israeli Jews published in the Maariv daily on June 2 showed 94.8 percent agreeing that it was necessary to stop the boats, with 62.7 percent saying it should have been handled in a different manner. Only 8.1 percent thought Netanyahu should resign. The pollsters interviewed a representative sample of 400 Israeli Jews and the results had a 4.9 percent margin of error.
Knives and Clubs
Israel says that on May 31 its soldiers were attacked with knives and clubs and seven were wounded, including by gunfire after people aboard one of the ships managed to grab Israeli firearms. Activists have said they threw the firearms into the sea and that the Israelis instigated the violence.
Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper yesterday published photos showing what it said were bloodied Israeli commandos and activists holding what appeared to be iron bars.
Israel has said it issued numerous warnings to the Gaza- bound flotilla asking it to change course for the port of Ashdod and unload there, before it seized the vessels.
The other five vessels, as well as a separate boat that arrived June 5, were taken over peacefully.
The Free Gaza movement, which organized the attempts to breach the blockade by sailing ships to Gaza laden with supplies, said they are planning another flotilla in two months.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the situation in Gaza is “unsustainable” and Netanyahu told top ministers yesterday Israel was considering ways to change how the blockade on Gaza is implemented.
The European Union, Russia and Turkey have called on Israel to end the blockade.
Blockade Policy
Israel has imposed restrictions on Gaza since Hamas ousted forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah group and seized full control in 2007 after winning Palestinian parliamentary elections the previous year. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.
Hamas’s charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. Hamas leaders say they will renounce violence when Israel withdraws from territory occupied in 1967 and allows Palestinians to return to areas in Israel from which they fled in 1948.
Israel says its blockade is legal because it is in “a state of armed conflict” with Hamas. Some countries, such as Turkey, dispute the legality of the blockade.
Palestinians say the restrictions on food imports and construction materials have created a humanitarian crisis. Israel says it restricts imports because building materials and even some foods can be used to build rockets, bunkers or bombs.
“The time has come to lift the closure and find an appropriate alternative,” Israeli Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog, a member of the Labor Party, said on Army Radio.
–With assistance from Angus Whitley in Sydney, Steve Bryant in Ankara, Tony Czuczka in Berlin, Alisa Odenheimer and Calev Ben- David in Jerusalem, Nicole Gaouette in Washington.
–Editors: Peter Hirschberg, Louis Meixler.
USA :
AngloGold, BHP, Sasol, Wescoal: South Africa Equity Preview
June 07, 2010/Bloomberg
June 7 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.
South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index retreated for a third consecutive session, falling 577.64, or 2.1 percent, to 26,558.14. The measure dropped 2.4 percent in the week.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG SJ): Gold dropped as some investors may have sold the metal to raise cash to cover losses in other markets, which slumped after the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected. AngloGold, Africa’s largest gold producer, fell 3 rand, or 0.9 percent, to 322.10 rand.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BIL SJ): Copper, which entered a bear market last week, extended declines to the lowest price in more than seven months on concern demand may weaken from the U.S., China and Europe. Aluminum, lead, zinc, nickel and tin all dropped. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, fell 6.46 rand, or 3.1 percent, to 200.95 rand.
Central Rand Gold Ltd. (CRD SJ): The developer of gold mines south of Johannesburg plans to raise $35 million through the issue of 1.3 billion shares. The money will be used to ensure a “cash-generating operation by the end of 2013,” Central Rand Gold said in a statement today. Central Rand Gold was unchanged at 34.86 rand.
Sephaku Holdings Ltd. (SEP SJ): Dangote Industries Ltd. will buy 779 million rand ($100 million) of shares from the diversified mining company’s Sephaku Cement Ltd. unit to fund a cement project. Sephaku remained unchanged at 3.25 rand.
Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ): Crude oil dropped for a second day on concern the government debt crisis in Europe will widen and after the U.S. added fewer jobs than forecast last month, slowing a recovery in fuel demand. Sasol, the world’s biggest maker of motor fuel from coal, slumped 7.46 rand, or 2.7 percent, to 273 rand.
Tongaat Hulett Ltd. (TON SJ): Sugar rose the most in two weeks on speculation that buyers, including food makers, will boost purchases to replenish inventories that dwindled during two years of a global production deficit. Tongaat, the sugar company, increased 99 cents, or 1 percent, to 103.48 rand.
Wescoal Holdings Ltd. (WSL SJ): The coal miner and trader releases annual earnings. Wescoal advanced 1 rand, or 1 percent, to 1.06 rand.
The following shares begin trading without the rights to their latest dividends:
Austro Group Ltd. (ASO SJ); Central Rand Gold Ltd. (CRD SJ); Combined Motor Holdings Ltd. (CMH SJ); Mazor Group Ltd. (MZR SJ); Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. (PIK SJ); Raubex Group Ltd. (RBX SJ); Spar Group Ltd. (SPP SJ).
Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:
Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) fell 6 percent to $17.86. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) declined 2.1 percent to $41.67. BHP Billiton Plc (BBL US) retreated 6.6 percent to $50.36. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) dropped 3 percent to $4.24. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) slid 2.9 percent to $13.18. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) declined 2 percent to $9.51. Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMPUY US) fell 7.8 percent to $22.82. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) dropped 5.5 percent to $3.61. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) shed 7.1 percent to $34.48.
–With assistance by Janice Kew in Johannesburg. Editors: Ana Monteiro, Vernon Wessels.
CANADA :
The “Cheonan” Fallout: Erosion of Confidence
Preti Nalwa/www.idsa.in/June 7, 2010
The discourse on the “Choenan” sinking has been dominated by the need to take appropriate and effective measures, both international and bilateral, which would adequately deter North Korea from repeating what is now being described as an “underwater terrorist attack”. The other and more important factor which has not been highlighted is the military unpreparedness of South Korea to either detect or counter such surprise attacks. The Cheonan incident, shockingly, has brought to the fore the vulnerability of the South Korean naval defences despite the increased military spending and immense investment made in annual exercises, drills, training, equipment and refining war plans with the United States, South Korea’s alliance partner since the Mutual Defence Treaty was established in 1954. The Cheonan assault has revealed to the South that the threat from North Korea is still ominous and capable of delivering unexpected damage. More importantly, North Korea’s menacing behaviour has demonstrated the investment it has made in its asymmetric capabilities i.e. stealthy and hard-to-detect technologies.
The real threat posed by the Cheonan episode led President Myung-bak Lee to delay the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) over South Korean troops from the United States, originally scheduled for April 17, 2012. According to Lee Sang-woo “The OPCON should be transferred to us someday when we are capable of commanding a war independently.” Lee is the head of the Commission for National Security Review that was instituted precisely because of the Cheonan sinking. The Commission was tasked with reviewing South Korea’s defence posture and mapping out reform measures. President Lee has also decided to further strengthen the U.S.-Korean military alliance. In an address to the nation on 24 May 2010, President Lee reassured his people, lest they lose confidence in his government, that “The discipline of the armed forces will be re-established, military reform efforts will be expedited and combat capabilities will be reinforced drastically.” To show solidarity with South Korea, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the White House have declared that U.S. forces in South Korea had been directed to “coordinate closely with their Korean counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression.”
The OPCON transfer was agreed upon by the two countries in 2007 and it entails the dismantling of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command (CFC). The ROK defence minister Kim Jang-Soo and U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates had agreed to a future command structure at the 38th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in 2006, and the decision was later announced in February 2007. In 1994, peacetime (Armistice period) Operational Control (OPCON) of selected ROK Army Forces was transferred from the U.S. to the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The former South Korean President Moo-Hyun Roh had made the issue of retaking wartime OPCON from the U.S. in his presidential campaign as the condition which would restore true national sovereignty. He later followed it up as an agenda in his administration for South Korea’s military sovereignty.
However, sceptics both in the U.S. and South Korea had looked upon the agreement with strong concern believing that the planned OPCON transfer would weaken ROK-US combined deterrence capability and would send a wrong signal to North Korea. According to them, the critical question was whether South Korea would be able to respond to North Korea’s unconventional military capability including weapons of mass destruction. To North Korea, ROK-US OPCON transfer would also indicate strategic weakness in command and control operations between the two nations. Critics argue that the requirement of seamless command-and-control systems between the military leaders from both countries would be seriously affected under the strained battle conditions. A resolution opposing OPCON transfer before resolving North Korea’s nuclear problem was also adopted at the Defence Committee of National Assembly on December 22, 2006.
The Ballistic Missile Defence Review (BMDR) released by the U.S on February 1, 2010 says that “sooner or later North Korea will have a successful test of its TD-2 and, if there are no major changes in its national security strategy in the next decade, it will be able to mate a nuclear warhead to a proven delivery system.”1 The fact that North Korea has persistently demonstrated its nuclear ambitions and continues to develop long-range missiles is of particular concern to critics opposed to the OPCON transfer. North Korea conducted seven ballistic missile launches on July 4–5, 2006 and a nuclear test in October the same year. It successfully tested six mobile theatre ballistic missiles, demonstrating a capability to target the US and allied forces in South Korea and Japan. On July 3–4, 2009, it again launched seven ballistic missiles followed by a nuclear test in May 2009. North Korea has also developed an advanced solid-propellant short-range ballistic missile (SRBM).2 Critics say that in view of the increasing qualitative threat from North Korea, the OPCON transfer would be a dangerous move that lacks pragmatism. The Cheonan experience has forcefully reinforced these concerns.
The function of CFC is that in a situation of war, an American general would command active-duty troops from both countries. This means a command of about 600,000 South Korean troops, additional U.S. troops arriving from outside and the activation of up to 3.5 million South Korean regular reserves. The transfer of OPCON would create two separate commands run respectively by the United States and South Korea, which would be linked by liaison officers and coordination centres and cells. However, the United States would support the South Korean command during wartime, but American troops would remain under the control of a US general.
A high ranking military source has said that “Our two countries have formed a consensus that the transfer of the wartime operational control, scheduled for April 2012, should be pushed back to effectively handle crises on the Korean Peninsula.”3 It is also reported that Presidents Lee and Obama could announce a delay in the transfer of wartime command during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Toronto, Canada to be held from June 26 to 27, 2010.
North Korea has always opposed the stationing of U.S. forces in South Korea and resented the regional security mechanism in Northeast Asia based on the “hegemonic stability” of US-led bilateral alliances. It considers US extended deterrence as extremely offensive and threatening to its regime and sovereignty. The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review released on April 6, 2010 excluded North Korea from its negative security assurance, which implies the possibility of a US pre-emptive nuclear strike against it. North Korea’s provocative behaviour works at cross-purpose to its objective of a neutral external security environment. Its unpredictable action drives both South Korea and Japan to lean more on the US security alliance.
The current turn of events in these two countries amply demonstrates this. In Japan, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned on June 2, 2010 less than nine months after leading the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to victory on the campaign pledge to move the U.S. military base of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma out of Okinawa. He apologized for not keeping his promise to move the US base and thus ease the burden of residents who had long complained about aircraft noise, pollution and crime associated with the heavy American military presence. In his resignation speech, Hatoyama said that “we must sustain trust between Japan and the United States”. Citing the sinking of the South Korean warship, he said that it shows “security has not been secured in Northeast A
sia.”4 The Acting Governor Mike Cruz in Guam said that “Recent North Korean aggression has demonstrated the vital importance of the American-Japanese alliance in this region of the world. Without it the Asia Pacific Rim would be left unguarded and unsafe. The freedom peace and safety we enjoy is extremely fragile.”
North Korea’s unpredictable behaviour keeps the vicious cycle of security dilemma in operation and consequently, it continues to remain isolated from the international community. It erodes the confidence of the non-nuclear states in their self-defence infrastructure and ensures the continuation of the US military footprint in East Asia.
1. Ballistic Missile Defence Review Report, February 1, 2010, p. 4.
2. Ibid, p. 5.
3. Seo Seung-wook, “Wartime command delay could be decided soon,” JoogAng Ilbo, June 2, 2010.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2921287
4. Blaine Harden, “Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigns,” The Washington Post, June 2, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/01/AR2010060100426.html
AUSTRALIA :
EUROPE :
CHINA :
S.Korea envoy to visit China over warship sinking
(AFP)/07062010
SEOUL — South Korea will send an envoy to China this week to seek support for its campaign for the UN Security Council to censure North Korea over the sinking of a warship, officials said Monday.
Vice Foreign Minister Chun Yung-Woo will visit China for two days from Tuesday, a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
Chun visited the United States last week as part of Seoul’s diplomatic drive.
South Korea formally asked the council Friday to respond to North Korea’s sinking of one of its warships in March with the loss of 46 lives, despite its communist neighbour’s threat of retaliation.
UN ambassador Park In-kook told reporters he handed a letter to the council’s chairman, Mexican ambassador Claude Heller, requesting action “commensurate with the gravity of the situation”.
The South can expect support from the United States, Britain and France but China and Russia, the other two veto-wielding permanent council members, have not publicly stated their position.
A multinational investigation team said last month there was overwhelming evidence that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo to break the Cheonan in two near the disputed border in March.
But China so far has not publicly condemned its ally the North and appealed only for restraint by all parties.
It says it will study the investigation findings but has not yet accepted an offer by the South to send a team of experts.
Russia sent naval experts who have ended their inspection, Seoul’s defence ministry said Monday. The ministry said it was considering sending investigators to brief the UN on the findings of the probe.
South Korea has indicated it will not press for new UN sanctions on its neighbour.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday that Seoul might seek a Security Council statement denouncing Pyongyang instead of a full resolution.
China Oil-Refining Rates Rise After Plant Maintenance, C1 Says
June 07, 2010/Bloomberg
June 7 (Bloomberg) — Oil refineries in China, the world’s second-biggest energy user, raised operating rates to the highest level so far this year as a plant in Shanghai resumed output after maintenance, said commodity researcher C1 Energy.
The nation’s biggest refiners, including PetroChina Co. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., are operating their plants at an average 87.6 percent of capacity as of June 3, the Shanghai- based unit of CBI China Co. said in a report. The increase of 4.5 percentage points from two weeks earlier came despite lower refining profits after the government reduced retail fuel prices last week, C1 said.
China controls energy prices to curb inflation, putting pressure on refineries when global crude-oil costs rise and squeeze refining profits. The government cut retail ceiling prices for gasoline and diesel by about 3 percent on June 1 after crude oil prices dropped.
Refineries in eastern China were running at 88 percent of capacity, those in the south at 93 percent, plants in the northwest at 86 percent, and those in the north at 85 percent, according to C1’s fortnightly survey of 22 major refineries with total annual capacity of 269 million metric tons, or 5.4 million barrels per day.
–Chua Baizhen. Editors: Alex Devine, Jane Lee.
INDIA :
Reliance of India Looks to Sell a 26% Stake
June 7, 2010/dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com
Reliance Communications, India’s second-largest mobile phone provider with 106 million subscribers, plans to sell 26 percent of the company in an effort to raise cash to cover costs that include $1.8 billion for licenses for high-speed data services, The New York Times’s Heather Timmons reports from New Delhi.
Reliance’s board voted Sunday to approve the sale and said in a statement that it would also look at “other appropriate combination or consolidation opportunities.” At Friday’s market close, Reliance Communications had a market capitalization of 347.9 billion rupees ($7.5 billion).
An executive briefed on the discussions told The Times that AT&T was in preliminary talks with Reliance.
Reliance is also in discussions with Etisalat, an Abu Dhabi-based operator with business in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and operations in India, and with investors in South African phone company MTN Group, according to the executive, who was not authorized to speak publicly because the discussions were in a very early stage.
An AT&T spokesman said the company would not comment on rumors or speculation.
AT&T, the exclusive carrier of Apple’s iPhone in the United States, is looking outside the United States for new customers but has also been paring some international operations.
In 2005, AT&T sold a large stake in Idea Cellular, now one of India’s largest mobile companies, to its partners in that venture.
In April of this year, AT&T said it would sell a stake in Indian information technology company Tech Mahindra for an undisclosed amount, and in June AT&T said it would sell off some of its Japanese business for $101 million.
AT&T also had an agreement to partner with Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian conglomerate, in the telecommunications sector but that deal did not result in a big investment in mobile telephony.
Still, AT&T’s chief executive, Randall L. Stephenson, has made several trips to India to look for opportunities. The company considered bidding in the recently concluded wireless spectrum auction in India, but decided against it.
AT&T appears to be drawn by India fast-growing base of cellphone users — the country’s 601 million mobile subscribers are the largest number outside of China. New customers signed up at a rate of 17 million a month in April as operators pushed into rural areas and cut rates.
In spite of that heady growth, profits are under pressure because of intense competition between 12 to 13 phone companies, depending on the geographic region. Stiff competition has driven prices down to less than a penny a minute for local calls, and many analysts predict the country’s telecommunications operators will be forced to merge.
Foreign investors attracted to the country’s fast growth have not reaped rewards. After paying $11 billion for a stake in an Indian telecommunications company three years ago, Britain’s Vodafone wrote the investment down this year by more than 25 percent. Vodafone is still involved in a multi-billion dollar dispute with India’s tax authorities over the deal.
For Reliance, an investor like AT&T would provide valuable cash as it prepares to invest in new high-speed data technology and expands a new GSM network that is different from its original CDMA system. Last month, the company bid $1.8 billion for airwaves designated for high-speed, 3G wireless services.
In its most recently concluded quarter, Reliance Communications profits fell 16 percent, even as its subscriber base increased 9 percent.
Reliance Communications has thousands of business customers as well as the mobile operations, controls 60,000 telecommunication towers and runs undersea cables that transmit data and calls around the world.
Fans Stampede Gates Before Nigeria – North Korea Friendly Match In South Africa
The incident occurred prior to kick off…
By Paul Macdonald/ www.goal.com/07-Jun-2010
Thousands of fans have been involved in a stampede outside a South African stadium prior to a World Cup warm up match between Nigeria and North Korea – which eventually ended 3-1 in favour of the Africans.
The Makhulong stadium in Johannesburg has a capacity of around 10,000 spectators, and upon officials opening the gates to let the supporters into the stadium, a rush occurred, and several people could be seen falling under the ensuing surge.
The police then closed the gates to curtail the push forward, but when the gates reopened a second rush occurred, yet more people fell under the weight of the crowd.
The gates were then closed again and the crowd then dispersed. A policeman was hurt in the crush, and others suffered minor injuries.
The incident has taken place with just five days before the tournament kicks off and African football has an unfortunate past with crowd control.
FIFA and the World Cup 2010 Organising Committee have issued a statement regarding the unfortunate event – they offered condolences due to the incident, but reassurred fans regarding the upcoming tournament as they explain that they were not involved in planning this particular match.
“FIFA and the Organising Committee (OC) of the 2010 FIFA World Cup have been informed by the South African Police Services (SAPS) about the incidents which have taken place today, 6 June 2010, on the occasion of the friendly match between Nigeria and Korea DPR played in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg,” read the release.
“FIFA and the OC would like to first wish a prompt recovery to those who have been affected by these incidents. In addition, FIFA and the OC would like to reiterate that this friendly match has no relation whatsoever with the operational organisation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, for which we remain fully confident. Contrary to some media reports, FIFA had nothing to do with the ticketing of this game.”
South African police services have confirmed that at least 14 civilians have suffered injuries in addition to those sustained by a police officer.
USA Newsweek have reported eyewitness accounts of the incident:
Japhta Mombelo said, “I fell down and people just fell over me. That crowd is overpowering. The police have told me to stay around and they will organize an ambulance.”
South African Princess Mbali was also amidst the stampede, saying, “When we were coming in they were just stepping on us. I was at the bottom, I thought I was dying.”
Further details are expected to emerge following a police investigation.
BRASIL:
EN BREF, CE 07 juin 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,07/06/2010
