Whispering in the wind - talking to Iran

France’s Sarkozy, America’s Obama and the UK’s Brown

The much-awaited P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany) talks with Iran are set to begin in Geneva on Thursday, October 1. I note that the Obama Administration is already attempting to lower expectations before the talks start. That’s probably a smart thing to do - the chances of anything positive coming out of these talks is remote.

In a press conference, Obama’s spokesman reiterated that although the Iranians have said their nuclear enrichment program is not a topic of discussion for these talks, the United States intends to raise it. A State Department spokesman went on to say that the President was not in a hurry to impose further sanctions on Iran, that the Administration was not going to make a “snap judgment” in the wake of Thursday’s talks.

Not make a snap judgment? How much time are we willing to give the Iranians before at the minimum imposing some real sanctions? This looks very much like our earlier approach to North Korea - talk, negotiate, impose ineffective sanctions, verbally threaten, etc. Then act surprised when either the Iranians detonate a nuclear device or Iranian President Ahmadinejad announces that they have developed a deliverable warhead for their medium range ballistic missiles? Then there’s no reason to negotiate - just watch the unavoidable proliferation as nations in the region seek their own capability, realizing that the United States is no longer going to protect them.

Iran’s Shahab-3 is capable of striking targets in Israel or American military bases in the Middle East. They are the world’s major supporter and practitioner of terrorism. They are supplying, funding and training groups that are killing American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. How much longer are we going to wait until we actually do something?

The Iranians continue their demonstrably successful nuclear policy. Despite being under three rounds of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, the centrifuges at Natanz and who knows where else continue to spin, continuing to enrich uranium unimpeded. They have accurately assessed the international coalition against them as weak and feckless - they know full well that Russia and China are not likely to allow the imposition of serious sanctions against them, just as they know the Obama Administration is so confrontation-averse that - rhetoric to the contrary - there is no military option on the table.

The Iranians are having a bit of sport with this. It fits into their strategy of delay, appear to talk, delay, agree to talk some more, all the while continuing to enrich uranium. Ahmadinejad said that the upcoming talks will be a “test” of the group’s “respect for Iran’s rights.” He also said the talks give an “exceptional opportunity for US and a few European countries to correct the way they interact with other world nations.” Are we to thank them for this unique opportunity?

At the same time, according to British and Israeli intelligence, the Iranians are refining the design of a warhead for their missiles. U.S. intelligence still clings to the ridiculous assessment that Iran stopped its weapons program about five years ago and has not restarted it. I don’t know of anyone - President Obama included - that believes the U.S. assessment.

Until Russia and China agree to tough sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, any other sanctions will be as ineffective as the current sanctions regime. Neither of the two countries are likely to agree to tougher sanctions - Russia has lucrative energy and military contracts with Iran, while China is a major consumer of Iranian oil and a major supplier of Iran’s refined gasoline and diesel.

So where are these talks taking us? The Iranians have outmaneuvered us. Our choices now:

- a. accept the fact that Iran is going to have a nuclear weapon and plan for that eventuality, including the new arms race in the region, or

- b. take military action, or support Israeli military action. That’s not going to happen with this White House and Pentagon.

I guess it’s Plan A.

Challenges remain ahead of Côte d’Ivoire’s much-delayed polls, says Ban

The two months remaining until the much-anticipated presidential polls in Côte d’Ivoire are fraught with major obstacles, including disarmament of militias and reintegration of former rebels, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned in a new report made public today.

UN envoy Bill Clinton to head to Haiti to promote investment

The United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, former United States president Bill Clinton, will embark on a two-day visit to Haiti tomorrow in a bid to boost private sector investment in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Uneven progress in DR Congo, UN reports

Progress critical to stabilization in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been uneven, with some rebels being reintegrated into the national army while others continued to attack civilians, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in a new report.

Wild claims

On 14 June 2009 the Irish Independentreported that Margot Wallstrom, European Commissioner for Communication, said during a visit to Dublin that the Lisbon Treaty would “encourage” affordable childcare in the EU.

A question was tabled to her in the European Parliament, by Syed Kamall MEP, asking the simple question:

“Can you please clarify which articles in the Lisbon Treaty will encourage affordable childcare in the EU?”

The question was tabled in order to deliver a response mid-September at the latest. However, having delayed this far, our Commissioner for “Communication” has, at a minute to midnight today declared her response will only be ready on 6 October, conveniently after the Irish referendum has already taken place.

So this completely unsubstantiated, nonsense claim from the politician we pay good money to communicate the Lisbon Treaty is allowed to stay just as it is, with no explanation.

We’re reminded of The Economist column last week which described Wallstrom as “a Swede whose ‘kum-bay-yah’ approach grated with colleagues”. It’s grating with us a bit too.

If you haven’t already checked it out you should have a look at her here on Newsnight after the last Irish referendum, when she failed spectacularly to explain what on earth people are supposed to do to reject this Treaty, since voting no is clearly not enough.

Double standards part 125

In an extraordinary admission today Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary confesses to his real motives behind his €500,000 campaign for a ‘yes’ vote in the Irish referendum on Friday.

He said: “One of the reasons that I am campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote is that our Government is incompetent, yet I need to persuade them to sell me Aer Lingus.” Funny that. In June 2007 the European Comission blocked a bid by Ryanair to purchase rival airline Aer Lingus on competition grounds.

And in a clear conflict of interest, the EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani spent six hours last week campaigning aboard a Ryanair flight alongside O’Leary.

Don’t expect the Irish media to jump up and down about this though. If Declan Ganley had let slip that he was campaigning for a ‘No’ vote for some similarly selfish reason, all hell would of course have broken loose.

Claims for safer Down’s test crash and burn

An investigation into “mishandled” research data leads to firings at a leading biotech firm. It doesn’t look good, says Peter Aldhous

Guinea News Update: Junta Declares Two-Day Mourning After Massacre;Police/Military Killings Spark International Condemnation

CONAKRY 30 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

GUINEA JUNTA DECLARES TWO-DAY MOURNING OVER DEATHS

Guinea’s military junta declared two days of national mourning
from Wednesday over the killing of scores of people during a
crackdown on an opposition rally and banned mass gatherings on
those days.

“I declare a national mourning on Wednesday and Thursday,” junta
leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara said on television late Tuesday.

“Any mass gatherings which are of a subversive nature are
banned,” he added.

Camara urged Christian and Muslim priests, political and civic
leaders and journalists to “abstain from acts that disrupt public
order.”

He warned that those disobeying the order would be severely
punished.

Rights activists said Guinean troops had killed at least 157
people, wounded more than 1,000, and raped women in a crackdown Monday on an opposition rally.

The country’s military ruler said he was sorry for the violence,
but a human rights group alleged that junta soldiers killed three
more people outside the capital Conakry Tuesday and kidnapped
victims of the crackdown from hospitals.

CONAKRY 30 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

GUINEA BANS MASS GATHERINGS AFTER STADIUM BLOODBATH

Guinea on Wednesday banned “subversive” gatherings as it
announced two days of national mourning after troops killed at
least 157 people in a brutal crackdown on an opposition rally,
rights activists said.

The country’s military ruler said he was sorry for the violence,
but a human rights group alleged junta soldiers killed three more
people outside the capital Conakry Tuesday, a day after the
crackdown, and kidnapped victims of the crackdown from hospitals.

“I declare a national mourning on Wednesday and Thursday,” junta
leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara said on television.

“Any mass gatherings which are of a subversive nature are
banned,” he added.

Camara urged Christian and Muslim priests, political and civic
leaders and journalists to “abstain from acts that disrupt public
order.”

He also asked for national prayers to be held on Friday and
Sunday in memory of the dead.

Rights activists reported fresh killings for a second day
Tuesday.

“Today we recorded three more deaths from army shootings, two in
Wanidara and one in Cosa,” both neighbourhoods outside Conakry,
said Thierno Maadjou Sow, an official with the Guinean Organisation
for the Defence of Human Rights.

“The young people went outside and the soldiers shot at them.”
Sow also alleged that soldiers removed wounded people from
hospitals and took them to unknown locations.

“Soldiers went to take away the injured being treated at the
Donka hospital (in the capital) to bring them to an unknown
destination as well as women who had been raped and were being
treated at the local health centre in Ratoma (outside the
capital),” he said.

The United Nations, African Union and European Union, the United
States and Canada all expressed alarm over the killings, which took
place Monday at a stadium where tens of thousands of people
attended a rally against Camara, who took power in December last
year.

Camara on Tuesday made his first appearance in public since the
crackdown, visiting two hospitals in Conakry to meet with the
wounded, witnesses said.

“It’s unfortunate, it’s dramatic,” Camara told French radio
station RFI. “Very frankly speaking, I’m very sorry, very sorry.”
He said “this is the first time such a thing has happened in
Guinea,” and accused opposition leaders of fomenting unrest by
“distributing money to the youth to incite them to revolt.”

The opposition has accused junta forces of collecting bodies in
a bid to hide “the scale of the massacre” which the Guinea rights
group said left at least 157 dead and 1,253 wounded.

“The exactions by soldiers are continuing … even if there is
nobody on the streets, they are firing in the air and looting
shops,” a resident said.

Sydia Toure, one of two former prime ministers injured at the
protest, told AFP that the shootings were “a deliberate attempt” to
eliminate the opposition.

Mamadi Kaba, head of the Guinean branch of the African Encounter
for the Defence of Human Rights (RADDHO), said the rapes of women began in the Conakry stadium.

“The military raped women” at the stadium and later at army
barracks, police posts and other parts of Conakry, Kaba said,
adding that there were reports of new rape attacks by soldiers on
Tuesday.

Opposition activist Mouctar Diallo said he saw soldiers putting
their rifles into the vaginas of naked women. “I saw this myself,”
he told RFI.

“They were raping women publicly,” Diallo added. “Soldiers were
shooting everywhere and I saw people fall.” A Red Cross source said
military commanders ordered all bodies at the stadium taken to the
Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp, the junta headquarters, rather
than to morgues.

Witnesses and rights group said the military was massively
deployed throughout the capital on Tuesday and more violent actions
by soldiers were reported.

“The bad behaviour continues in the suburbs, carried out by the
military. Even if there’s nobody on the street, they shoot in the
air, loot shops and beat people up,” Kaba said.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon slammed the “excessive use of force” and
said he was “shocked by the loss of life, the high number of people
injured and the destruction of property.”

The protesters had gathered in the stadium to oppose any bid by
the junta leader to run for president in an election due in
January. Camara also faces strong international pressure to step
down.

Camara took over the west African nation after leading a
bloodless coup within hours of the death of Guinea’s strongman
leader Lansana Conte, who had ruled the west African country since
1984.

UNITED NATIONS 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

FRANCE AT UN: GUINEA UNREST ‘VERY WORRYING’

A French minister told the UN Security Council Tuesday that the
bloody unrest in Guinea was “very worrying” and urged an end to the
violence as well as protection of opposition figures.

“I would like to express France’s outrage following the events
in Conakry, where troops opened fire on a peaceful crowd, killing
and wounding dozens of people,” said junior minister for
cooperation Alain Joyandet.

“The situation is very worrying,” Joyandet told an open meeting
of the 15-member Security Council dedicated to the turmoil in the
former French west African colony.

He subsequently told a press conference that Paris was
determined to “exert as much pressure as possible to end the
escalation of violence and repression” in Guinea.

Joyandet also stressed the need to ensure the safety and freedom
of action of Guinean opposition figures.

“It is absolutely imperative that these leaders be protected and
emerge from these events with the ability to pursue their political
activities.”

Reports in Guinea say at least 157 people were killed and 1,253
wounded when security forces opened fire Monday on opposition
supporters protesting against the junta that seized power in a
bloodless coup last December.

France has suspended military ties with its former colony,
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, said Tuesday.

In Conakry on Tuesday, soldiers shot dead a youth and gunfire
rang out again across the capital, witnesses said. Soldiers were
still attacking people and raping women in their homes, rights
groups said.

The protesters had gathered to oppose any bid by junta leader
Moussa Dadis Camara, who took power in December 2008, to run for president in an election due in January. Camara faces strong
international pressure to step down.

Camara took over the west African nation after leading a
bloodless coup in the hours following the death of Guinea’s
strongman leader Lansana Conte, who had been in power since 1984.

ABUJA 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

WEST AFRICAN BLOC CONDEMNS ‘VIOLENT REPRESSION’ IN GUINEA

West African regional bloc ECOWAS Tuesday condemned what it
called “violent repression” in Guinea a day after more than 150
people were killed in a crackdown by junta troops on opposition
supporters.

The commission of the Economic Community of West African States
said in a statement it had “learnt with dismay that the peaceful
demonstration organised in Conakry” was met “with violent
repression.”

“The Commission strongly condemns these acts of repression,” it
said, deploring what it called the “use of excessive force” by
security forces.

ECOWAS also called for an immediate release of those arrested in
the incident.

It also urged the establishment of “an international committee
of inquiry in collaboration with the African Union and the United
Nations Commission for Human Rights” to identify those responsible and take necessary measures to address the situation.

“This tragic incident is all the more regrettable as it occurred
at a time when the international community is actively working
towards a satisfactory end to the prevailing crisis,” said ECOWAS,
based in Abuja.

It added that “the militarisation of Guinea presents further
grounds” for ECOWAS’ request to junta leader and current Guinea
president Moussa Dadis Camara “to re-affirm his commitment not to
contest the next presidential election” set to be held in late
January.

Guinea’s security forces opened fire on Monday on opposition
supporters at a rally in a stadium against the junta that seized
power in a bloodless coup in the west African country last
December.

The Guinean Human Rights Organisation said Tuesday that at least
157 people were killed and 1,253 wounded in the crackdown.

The United Nations, African Union, European Union and several
countries have expressed alarm over the killings.

BRITAIN CONDEMNS ‘SHOCKING’ DEATHS IN GUINEA

Britain Tuesday condemned “shocking” reports of large numbers of
deaths at an opposition rally in Guinea, deploring the use of
excessive force and urging security forces to use restraint.

“Reports of large numbers of deaths at an opposition rally in
Conakry yesterday are shocking,” the Foreign Office said, as a
human rights group in Guinea said at least 157 people died.

“We deplore any use of excessive force and urge the Guinean
authorities to exercise restraint and to ensure the safety and
security of its people.”

Guinea’s security forces opened fire Monday on opposition
supporters protesting against the junta that seized power in a
bloodless coup in the west African country last December.

The Guinean Human Rights Organisation said Tuesday that at least
157 people were killed and 1,253 wounded in the crackdown.

“We send our condolences to those who have lost loved ones
during these tragic events,” the Foreign Office added in a
statement.

“We fully support the statement issued by the European Union and
urge the Guinean authorities to work with the International Contact
Group for Guinea in support of a return to democratic order.”
The EU earlier condemned the crackdown by Guinea’s army as
“unacceptable” and urged an immediate investigation.

CONAKRY 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

GUINEA TROOPS KILL AT LEAST 157 IN STADIUM BLOODBATH: OPPOSITION

Guinea junta troops shot and killed at least 157 people, wounded
more than 1,000, and raped women when they broke up a huge rally in a stadium, opposition leaders said Tuesday amid deadly new unrest.

Gunfire rang out across the capital Conakry and a youth was
killed, witnesses said. Troops were again attacking people and
raping women in their homes, rights groups said.

The United Nations, African Union and European Union all
expressed alarm over the killings when tens of thousands of people
Monday attended a rally against junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara,
who took power in December 2008.

But much of Conakry remained closed Tuesday, with inhabitants
stunned by the clampdown in the city’s September 28 stadium.

The Guinean Human Rights Organisation said that 157 dead were
taken to two Conakry hospitals after the shootings in the stadium.

The opposition has accused junta forces of collecting bodies in a
bid to hide “the scale of the massacre”.

“Up until now we have counted 157 dead and 1,253 wounded. Our
people have been all around Conakry and in hospitals but they
haven’t been able to see everything,” rights group head Thierno
Maadjou Sow said.

Sydia Toure, one of two former prime ministers injured at the
protest, told AFP that the shootings were “a deliberate attempt” to
eliminate the opposition.

Mamadi Kaba, head of the Guinean branch of the African Encounter
for the Defence of Human Rights (RADDHO), said the rapes of women began in the stadium.

“The military raped women” at the stadium and later at army
barracks, police posts and other parts of Conakry, Kaba said,
adding that there were reports of new rape attacks by soldiers on
Tuesday.

Opposition activist Mouctar Diallo said he saw soldiers putting
their rifles into the vaginas of naked women. “I saw this myself,”
he told French radio station RFI.

“They were raping women publicly,” Diallo added. “Soldiers were
shooting everywhere and I saw people fall. They were live bullets.”

A Red Cross source said military commanders ordered all bodies
at the stadium to be taken to the Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp,
the junta headquarters, rather than to morgues.

A source at Conakry’s Ignace Deen hospital told AFP an army
truck took away “dozens of bodies” after the violent clampdown on
the banned demonstration.

“The bad behaviour continues in the suburbs, carried out by the
military. Even if there’s nobody on the street, they shoot in the
air, loot shops and beat people up,” Kaba said.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon slammed the “excessive use of force” and
said he was “shocked by the loss of life, the high number of people
injured and the destruction of property.”

The African Union said in a statement that it “strongly condemns
the indiscriminate firing on unarmed civilians, which left dozens
dead and many others injured, while serious other violations of
human rights were committed.”

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also deplored
the “high number of victims” and called for the immediate release
of the arrested opposition leaders.

Former colonial ruler France condemned “the violent repression,”
suspended military cooperation with Guinea and urged caution on
expatriates, while a senior US official in Washington said: “We’re
deeply concerned about the general breakdown in security in
Conakry.”

The protesters had gathered in the stadium to oppose any bid by
the junta leader to run for president in an election due in
January. Camara also faces strong international pressure to step
down.

Camara took over the west African nation after leading a
bloodless coup within hours of the death of Guinea’s strongman
leader Lansana Conte, who had ruled the west African country since
1984.

“It’s unfortunate, it’s dramatic,” Captain Camara told RFI of
the violence. “Very frankly speaking, I’m very sorry, very sorry.”

DAKAR 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

GUINEA’S PEOPLE WILL DEMONSTRATE TO OUST JUNTA: CONDE

A Guinean opposition leader, Alpha Conde, said Tuesday that
demonstrations would go on to rid the country of its “criminal
regime” after a bloodbath in a stadium claimed more than 150 lives.

“We’ll continue with demonstrations until we get satisfaction.

It’s no longer a matter of elections (slated for January 2010), but
to get rid of this criminal regime that fires on youths at
point-blank range,” Conde said from New York.

“These are the same killings (as in 2007) which are beginning
again. It means to say they are ready to impose a military
dictatorship, but we are ready to mobilise the people to impose
change, because nobody wants a military regime.”

Conde is a veteran opposition leader who heads the Rally of the
People of Guinea (RPG) party.

The Guinean Human Rights Organisation said at least 157 people
were killed and more than 1,250 wounded when Guinean troops opened fire on protesters in the capital Conakry on Monday.

The United Nations, African Union and European Union all
expressed alarm over the killings among tens of thousands of people who attended the rally against junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara.

The rally in a Conakry stadium had been intended to urge Captain
Camara not to run for office in a presidential election the junta
has announced for next January.

People defied a ban to take part in the rally, and then they
found themselves at the mercy of the presidential guard troops and
the police.

CONAKRY 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

WOMEN RAPED IN GUINEA CRACKDOWN: NGO

Women were brutally raped by soldiers during violent repression
of an anti-junta demonstration in Guinea that left more than 120
people dead, according to opposition groups and witnesses.

“They were raping women publicly,” opposition activist Mouctar
Diallon in an interview with French radio station RFI. “Soldiers
were shooting everywhere and I saw people fall. They were live
bullets,” Diallo added.

“Women were stripped naked. The soldiers were putting their
rifles in the vaginas of these women … I saw this myself.”
An opposition party led by former prime minister Sydia Toure
said at least 128 people had died in the violence and the junta was
removing bodies in a bid to hide “the scale of the massacre”. The
party also accused junta forces of rape.

The rapes began in the stadium where opposition supporters had
gathered Monday for a demonstration, said Mamadi Kaba, the head of the Guinean branch of the African Encounter for the Defence of
Human Rights (RADDHO), based in Dakar.

“The military raped women” at the stadium, then in army
barracks, police posts and in suburbs of the capital Conakry, Kaba
said.

Asked who was carrying out these atrocities, Diallo said “it’s
the presidential guard” and “police officers.”

Diallo was wounded and arrested during the crackdown, but he
returned to his home from hospital during the night.

“The military is going into districts, looting goods and raping
women. We have similar reports from several sources, including
police sources and some close to the military,” Kaba said.

“Many soldiers and policemen do not approve of that (the
rapes),” he added.

Tens of thousands of people were gathered in the September 28
stadium in Conakry for a rally against junta leader Captain Moussa
Dadis Camara when shots were fired on Monday.

The United Nations, African Union, European Union and leading
powers all condemned the killings which the Guinea opposition said
was a deliberate attempt to eliminate them.

CONAKRY 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

FRESH GUNFIRE IN GUINEA CAPITAL: WITNESS

Fresh gunfire rang out in Guinea’s capital Tuesday as security
forces deployed on the streets, one day after scores of people were
killed in a clampdown on an opposition demonstration.

“We haven’t slept in our district, the shots did not stop all
night and are continuing now,” said a resident of Dar Es-Salam, a
Conakry district.

Shops were closed and few vehicles were on the streets of the
capital, after scores were killed Monday when security forces
opened fire on demonstrators in a stadium.

Opposition party leader Sydia Toure said Tuesday at least 128
people were killed by junta forces at the protest. A police source
said 87 bodies were collected in and around the stadium.

Tens of thousands of people were in the September 28 stadium in
Conakry — at the rally against junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis
Camara — when shots were fired.

The United Nations, African Union, European Union and leading
powers all condemned the killings which the Guinea opposition said
was a deliberate attempt to eliminate them.

ADDIS ABABA 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

AFRICAN UNION CONDEMNS KILLINGS BY GUINEA MILITARY

The African Union on Tuesday condemned the Guinea army’s violent
suppression of an opposition demonstration that left at least 87
people dead.

The AU commission “strongly condemns the indiscriminate firing
on unarmed civilians, which left dozens dead and many others
injured, while serious other violations of human rights were
committed,” a statement said.

Guinea’s security forces opened fire Monday on opposition
supporters protesting against the junta that seized power in a
bloodless coup in the west African country last December.

The bloc also called for the “unconditional and immediate”
release of those detained by the forces.

Two former prime ministers now in the opposition are among those
detained at a military camp.

The 53-member bloc recently threatened sanctions against junta
leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara over his intentions to run for
the presidency despite earlier pledges not to do so.

BRUSSELS 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

EU CONDEMNS USE OF FORCE IN GUINEA, URGES RESTRAINT

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned Tuesday the
Guinea army’s violent crackdown on an opposition protest which left
at least 87 people dead and urged the authorities to show
restraint.

“I strongly condemn the use of force to disperse the
demonstrations that took place in Conakry, in Guinea, and that
provoked such a high number of victims,” he said in a statement
issued by his office in Brussels.

“I urge for the immediate release of the arrested political
leaders and call on the authorities to exercise maximum restraint
and ensure a peaceful and democratic transition,” he said.

Guinea’s security forces opened fire Monday on opposition
supporters protesting against the junta that seized power in a
bloodless coup in the west African country last December.

In a seperate statement, EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Karel
De Gucht said: “I’m in a state of shock and deeply saddened by the
terrible events that took place yesterday in Guinea.”

“I want to express my condolences to the families of the
victims. I call on all parties for calm and to show restraint, as
well as the immediate release of political leaders and other
militants who were arrested.”

“It is clear that all those who are responsible for these crimes
must be brought to justice,” he said.

CONAKRY 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

GUINEA JUNTA CONDEMNED OVER STADIUM KILLINGS

The death toll mounted Tuesday in Guinea after security forces
opened fire on demonstrators in a stadium killing at least 87
people.

The United Nations, African Union, European Union and leading
powers all condemned the killings which Guinea opposition said was a deliberate attempt to eliminate them.

Tens of thousands of people were in the September 28 stadium in
Conakry — at the rally against junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis
Camara — when shots were fired on Monday.

A Red Cross source said military commanders ordered all bodies
at the stadium to be taken to the Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp,
the junta headquarters, rather than to morgues.

But a police source said 87 bodies were collected in and around
the stadium. The official said 47 bodies, including four women,
were at the Samory Toure military camp in Conakry.

A source at Conakry’s Ignace Deen hospital told AFP an army
truck took away “dozens of bodies” after the violent clampdown on
the demonstration which had been banned by the junta.

Two former prime ministers now in opposition, Cellou Dalein
Diallo and Sidya Toure, were wounded in the violence and then taken
to the military camp used as the coup leaders’ headquarters,
according to Diallo’s wife.

The houses of the two men were pillaged by soldiers, their
neighbours said.

“This was a deliberate attempt to eliminate us today, we the
opposition,” Sidya Toure told AFP.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon slammed the “excessive use of force” and
said he was “shocked by the loss of life, the high number of people
injured and the destruction of property.”

The African Union said in a statement that it “strongly condemns
the indiscriminate firing on unarmed civilians, which left dozens
dead and many others injured, while serious other violations of
human rights were committed.”

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also deplored
the violence and “high number of victims”.

“I urge for the immediate release of the arrested political
leaders and call on the authorities to exercise maximum restraint
and ensure a peaceful and democratic transition,” he said.

Former colonial ruler France also condemned “the violent
repression exercised by the army against the opposition and civil
society during a peaceful demonstration.”

A senior US official in Washington said: “We’re deeply concerned
about the general breakdown in security in Conakry.”

Police dispersed a first attempt to gather at the stadium on
Monday morning with tear gas and baton charges, witnesses said. But the stadium, which has an official capacity of 25,000, eventually
filled with thousands spilling over onto the pitch. Shots were
heard and the bodies were later seen.

An AFP journalist saw at least 10 bodies with bullet wounds
inside the stadium and three badly injured people laid out in front
of a police post near the stadium. One had his leg broken in two
places.

The journalist, Mouctar Bah, said he was forced to kneel on the
ground by a soldier from the presidential guard. His microphone and
tape recorder were seized and broken by soldiers.

The protesters had gathered to oppose any bid by the junta
leader, who took power in December 2008, to run for president in an
election due in January. Camara also faces strong international
pressure to step down.

Camara took over the west African nation after leading a
bloodless coup within hours of the death of Guinea’s strongman
leader Lansana Conte, who had been in power since 1984.

In his first public comment on the violence, Camara told
Senegal’s RFM radio station that “I wanted to go (and see what was
happening), I was so really disgusted when I was told” about the
violence.

“I’d rather die (than see people killed) because I didn’t take
control of this country to have a confrontation,” Camara said.

MOSCOW 29 September 2009 Sapa-AFP

RUSSIA MAY BACK GUINEAN JUNTA IN RETURN FOR BUSINESS TIES: REPORT

Moscow may support the Guinean junta which is under strong
international pressure after bloody crackdowns if the west African
country drops a plan to nationalize a Russian-owned metals plant, a
newspaper said Tuesday.

Billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s UC Rusal, the world’s largest
aluminium producer, is fighting attempts by the Guinean junta that
came to power last December to reverse the company’s 2006 purchase of the Friguia alumina refinery.

A top ministerial delegation from Guinea is to arrive in Moscow
for talks with Russian officials on October 5-7 that will centre on
the fate of UC Rusal’s besieged alumina refinery, the Kommersant
daily reported, citing a source familiar with the situation.

The delegation will represent the government of junta chief
Moussa Dadis Camara who installed himself as president of the west African state last December and is now under strong international pressure to step down.

Guinea will ask Russia to block sanctions that the West would
like to slap on the junta, a request that the Russian foreign
ministry has already received in writing, Kommersant said, citing
unnamed sources.

Moscow could help Guinea by stalling the sanctions resolution in
the UN Security Council, where Russia is one of the five permanent
members, the newspaper said.

The Russian foreign ministry and UC Rusal declined immediate
comment when contacted by AFP.

Russia could also offer Guinea to start a series of joint
projects in the oil, agriculture and military spheres, Kommersant
said.

Last year, Moscow vetoed a US-sponsored draft resolution at the
UN Security Council that called for an assets freeze and a travel
ban on Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and his associates as
well as an arms embargo.

Guinea: UN rights chief calls for independent probe into Monday’s ‘blood bath’

Days after security forces opened fire on an opposition rally in Guinea, killing over 130 people, the top United Nations human rights official today called for an independent inquiry into what she described as a “blood bath.”

South African President Zuma Tells Police to Shoot-to-Kill; PoliceKillings Exposed in Mpumalanga

JOHANNESBURG 29 September 2009 Sapa

SHOOT TO KILL, ZUMA TELLS POLICE

President Jacob Zuma threatened criminals with a shoot-to-kill
policy on Tuesday, re-igniting the debate on the rights of criminals in a country where 50 people are murdered every day.

“Criminals don’t take an oath to do warning shots,” Zuma told
1000 police station commanders at the Voortrekker Monument in
Pretoria.

“If you take a gun out to me, that intent is more than clear,
the next thing the criminal is going to shoot at me. That intent is very
clear.

“My thinking is once a criminal takes out their gun the intent
is clear… police must then act to protect themselves and the
innocents.”

Zuma expressed support for the amendment to Section 49 of the
Criminal Procedure Act that will give the police more lenience to shoot in dangerous situations.

“We have an abnormal criminal problem in South Africa. We must
therefore apply extraordinary measures,” he said.

Zuma was accompanied by Police Chief Bheki Cele, Police Minister
Nathi Mthethwa, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and Ministers in the
Presidency Trevor Manuel and Collins Chabane.

All nine provincial premiers and safety MECs also attended the
event, that started with an hour-long address by Zuma, after which he held private discussions with the station commanders.

Mthethwa said the issues discussed included possible changes to
the ranking system, a new appraisal system, better partnerships
with communities and improving the criminal justice system.

He said station commanders complained that criminals enjoyed too
many rights, and that the president said this needed to be debated.

“Too many rights for criminals… it’s what we feel ourselves.
Many a provincial commissioner [has] raised an issue inside here about how they are failed the justice system,” said Mthethwa.

“Here is a person who has a right like anybody… he has killed,
why do you still consider that person as a normal human being who has to enjoy rights like others? It’s a debate that’s ongoing.”

Radebe said the amendment of the legislation would be in line
with the constitution.

“It will address the anxiety expressed by police and we also
believe it will pass the constitutional mast,” said Radebe.

“We have prepared a draft which we have shared with the
department of the police and they are giving their comments.”

The draft provided “one vision and one mission” for the entire
criminal justice system, as well as measurement targets for the system.

“You can’t measure the performance of the police in isolation
from the conviction rate.”

The reforms would also look at bail for repeat offenders and
whether criminals arrested a third time should be granted bail.

Radebe and Mthethwa assured citizens that South Africa was not
returning to a police state.

“These are the safeguards to protect ordinary citizens against
rampant criminals,” Radebe said.

The meeting with station commanders comes a week after the
annual release of crime statistics which showed that about 50 people were murdered in South Africa a day, that business robberies were up 41.5 percent and house robberies 27.3 percent.

In his address to the hundreds of policemen and women, Zuma
first flattered them with words of praise but later lectured
officers on absenteeism and laziness.

“Absenteeism, laziness in the discharge of duties must be a
thing of the past… we must also seriously eradicate corruption within the police force….

“The legendary loss of dockets leading to botched cases should
end.”

Zuma said he had received lots of complaints from the public –
some of them through his presidential complaints hotline — about the police hanging out at shopping centres and taverns in working hours.

South Africans were also complaining about the emergency number
10111 not being answered, or callers being told that no police vehicles were available.

“We must really work hard to turn the image of our police
stations around. Police stations must be the hope of our citizens,”
said Zuma.

A police captain, who asked not to be named, told Sapa after the
meeting that it was “fruitful and empowering” to talk to the
president.

She also complained about flaws in the judicial system.

She said that often when the police arrested a criminal, courts
granted bail. It was the community’s perception that the police had
released the criminal.

This led to the community losing trust in law enforcement
officials.

To win back confidence, there was a need to review laws
regulating the police and courts, so that the police would be able
to explain why a person was granted bail, other than saying, “it
was a matter for the court to decide”.

“The meeting was an opportunity to highlight to the present
strained relationship between the community and the police,” she said.

“It was not your usual ‘I’m-looking-forward to-work-with-you’,
it was empowering.”

JOHANNESBURG 30 September 2009 Sapa

MTHETHWA NOT AWARE OF ALLEGED POLICE SHOOTINGS IN MPUMA

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa on Wednesday said he was not
aware of reports of policemen allegedly shooting dead a man and
injuring five others, including three children, during a service
delivery protest in Mpumalanga earlier this year.

“I can’t talk about that specific matter. I’m not aware of
this,” Mthethwa told SABC radio.

The Sowetan newspaper reported on Wednesday that police fired
rubber bullets during a protest at Mashishing township in June.

According to a lawyer representing the victims, Maditsi Mphela,
a three-year-old, Neo Khumalo, and a six-year-old, Mongezi Maila,
were allegedly shot in the face with rubber bullets.

“Once you do this, you have exceeded the bounds of
self-defence,” said Mphela, adding that he was in the process of
suing the police for R10 million.

A man named Jacob Malakane was allegedly shot dead, while Marcus Masilela, 38, was reportedly wounded in the leg, Sfiso Nkosi was allegedly shot in the genitals and teenager Emily Madonsela
apparently shot in the cheek with live bullets.

It is not clear from the newspaper report whether Malakane,
Nkosi and Masilela were shot with live ammunition or rubber
bullets.

The Sowetan published photos of the victims, one of them still
heavily bandaged after the alleged incidents, and interviewed some
of their family members who witnessed the alleged shootings.

Mthethwa was asked about this after President Jacob Zuma on
Tuesday expressed support for an amendment to the Criminal
Procedure Act to give the police more lenience to shoot criminals.

The minister said along with the amendment, the power of the
Independent Complaints Directorate would also be enhanced.

The police could not confirm the report in the Sowetan.