Monday, August 9, 2010

Chavez warns Colobian rebels to put down arms..[ 1599 ]

UPDATE 1-Chavez urges Colombian rebels to put down arms

Hugo Chavez said he was ending his support for Colombia's Marxist guerillas, robbing them of their most public and powerful ally.

By Jeremy McDermott in Medellin
Published: 10:23PM BST 09 Jun 2008

Farc rebels on patrol. Such displays of strength may be a thing of the past after their main ally, Hugo Chavez, withdrew his support Photo: REUTERS

Sun Aug 8, 2010 3:14pm EDT

By Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged rebels in neighboring Colombia to lay down arms on Sunday and warned the new government of President Juan Manuel Santos to avoid accusations Venezuela helps the leftist guerrillas.

Though ideologically opposed, socialist firebrand Chavez and U.S. ally Santos want a new start in relations for the sake of peace in the volatile Andean region and the restoration of their annual $7 billion bilateral trade. [ID:nN07219451]

Chavez wants to meet directly with Santos, who took office on Saturday, but warned any repetition of his predecessor President Alvaro Uribe's claims that Caracas shelters Colombian "terrorists" would torpedo the reconciliation efforts.

"Let's be clear. If Venezuela is respected, there will be progress. If there's lack of respect to Venezuela, nothing new or good will be possible," Chavez wrote in a weekly column.

Venezuela broke ties with Colombia last month in the latest swing in their on-again, off-again relationship.

Despite the aggressive words from both Caracas and Bogota in recent weeks, few thought the spat would spiral into war and markets shrugged off the dispute as largely rhetoric.

The concrete issue at root -- is Venezuela supporting Colombian guerrillas and allowing them to hide on its soil? -- remains unresolved however.

Seeking to demonstrate his peace credentials and deflect the accusations that he has been quietly helping Colombia's rebels, Chavez called on them to give up their decades-old armed struggle and seek a negotiated solution.

"The guerrillas should come out in favor of peace. They should release all their hostages," he said on his Sunday TV program "Alo Presidente." "They have no future by staying armed," added Chavez, repeating similar past pleas.

"Furthermore they have become an excuse for the (U.S.) empire to intervene in Colombia and threaten Venezuela from there," Chavez said, a reference to the U.S. military presence in Colombia which so irks him.

MINISTERS MEET

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, who went to Bogota for Santos' inauguration, was meeting his Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin on Sunday to work out when their bosses could meet to restore relations.

Chavez said Maduro had reported a very positive reception in Colombia. "We are very hopeful that we can start to rebuild what the outgoing Colombian government destroyed and pulverized: trust," the Venezuelan president said on TV.

Before meeting Maduro, Holguin also held talks with Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino in an effort to smooth over another of Colombia's messy confrontations.

Ecuador, whose left-wing government is an ally of Chavez, and Colombia are hoping to restore full relations after a controversial 2008 bombing raid against Colombian rebels across the Ecuadorean border.

The two ministers discussed re-establishing relations and cooperation on issues such as frontier development and energy.

"For us, our relations with Ecuador are very important and we want to keep on this path toward normalization," Holguin said.
-

(Additional reporting by Pat Markey in Bogota; Editing by Eric Beech)

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Afghanistan, the bodies of 10 medical workers recovered.[ 1598 ]

Official: Aid worker slayings 'a deplorable and cowardly act'; all bodies recovered

Gallery

Photo timeline: The war in Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan began on Oct. 7, 2001, as the U.S. military launched an operation in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. The war continues today.

» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 8, 2010; 11:57 AM

KABUL --
The bodies of 10 medical workers from a Christian aid group who were killed this week by insurgents in the mountains of northern Afghanistan were flown to Kabul on Sunday, and the U.S. Embassy confirmed that six Americans were among the dead.

The British government said that Karen Woo, a British surgeon, had been killed in the attack, the first official confirmation that the massacred aid workers were from the International Assistance Mission, a Christian group which had sent a 12-person team to provide eye care in the remote Nurestan province.

The organization's Kabul office had lost contact with the medical team Wednesday, and their bodies were found in southern Badakhshan province two days later.
"This is a deplorable and cowardly act which is against the interests of the people of Afghanistan who depended on the services she was bravely helping to provide," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this tragic time."
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the families of the six slain Americans had been notified, but "out of respect for them, we will not be releasing the names at this time."

One American known to be killed was Tom Little, an optometrist from New York and the team's leader, who had worked in Afghanistan for decades. Thomas Grams, 51, a Colorado dentist who worked giving free dental care to children in Nepal and Afghanistan, was also among the dead, the Associated Press reported.

Afghan helicopters could not retrieve the bodies Saturday because of poor weather, according to Dirk Frans, director of the IAM, but a second attempt Sunday succeeded. By mid-day, the bodies had arrived at a military compound in downtown Kabul. Along with them came the lone survivor of the attack, an Afghan driver for the team named Safiullah, who was taken to the Interior Ministry for questioning.
Investigators, as well as IAM officials, are eager to speak with Safiullah to learn more about the circumstances of the attack and how he survived.

The medical team had driven from Kabul in three Land Rovers, then left the vehicles to hike for days over a towering mountain pass and into the Parun Valley in Nurestan. They'd crossed back over the pass and had either reached their vehicles or had almost done so when they were set upon by about 10 gunmen. The gunmen lined them up and shot them, according to police.

According to an Afghan reporter who interviewed Safiullah by satellite phone Saturday and provided his notes to The Washington Post, Safiullah said that the medical team was accompanied by a small group of local security guards and a Nurestani guide while on their hike. At the border with Badakhshan, Safiullah said, the local guards and the guide said they could go no further, which worried him.

Not far from the border, the 10 gunmen appeared. Their bearded faces were covered, they carried Kalashnikov rifles and they said very little, communicating with hand gestures, Safiullah told the reporter. They lined up the frightened team and began to execute them as members of the group screamed and cried for mercy, he said.

When it was his turn, Safiullah said he fell to his knees, shouted "God is great" and recited a verse from the Koran--"there is no God but God and Mohammad is the messenger of God"--and pleaded to be spared.

Slovakia Floods...[ 1597 ]

EEA Grants flood protection passes test in Nižný Slavkov, Slovakia

As heavy rains caused floods in Slovakia in late July and early August, the northeastern village Nižný Slavkov avoided damage thanks to funding for flood protection from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.