The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Rodman back from North Korea, without jailed American
- Direct link between Assad and gas attack elusive for U.S.
- Conservative leader Abbott expected to win Aussie election as polls open
| Rodman back from North Korea, without jailed American Posted: (Note strong language in paragraphs 6 and 10) BEIJING (Reuters) - Former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman returned on Saturday from his second visit to North Korea this year where he again met the reclusive country's leader Kim Jong-un, but did not come back with jailed American missionary Kenneth Bae. The flamboyant former NBA star's visit came after North Korea abruptly withdrew its invitation to Robert King, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights issues, who was expected to head to Pyongyang in a bid to secure Bae's release. Bae, 45, was sentenced to hard labour for 15 years in May for crimes against the state. He had been arrested in November after entering the North with a tour group and his health has been deteriorating since he was imprisoned. Though there had been speculations that during Rodman's visit the detained American would be released, he said ahead of his visit he was going for "another basketball diplomacy tour". Wearing his trademark dark sunglasses, the 6-foot 7-inch (2.01 metre) Rodman emerged at Beijing's international airport, a common waystation for travellers to and from North Korea, with an unlit cigar in his mouth. "That's not my job to ask about Kenneth Bae. Ask Obama about that. Ask Hillary Clinton," he told a throng of reporters. "I don't give a shit." Kim and Rodman spent quality time together by having dinner and watching a basketball game during Rodman's five-day trip, the North's KCNA news agency reported. The report added Kim warmly welcomed Rodman and had a "cordial talk". Rodman reportedly expressed his thanks to the leader for spending time with him, saying Kim's greeting is "an expression of good faith towards the Americans". Rodman showed reporters in Beijing pictures of him meeting Kim, and said he had given Kim a gift of his Bad Boy vodka, which "he loved". "He is my friend for life. I don't care what you guys think about him. I don't give a shit about what people around the world think about him," he added. Rodman's latest trip was sponsored by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power. Kim, the third of his line to rule North Korea, is a basketball fan and appeared to get along well with Rodman on the earlier visit, with the two of them pictured laughing, eating and drinking together and watching an all-star basketball match. Rodman first visited Pyongyang earlier this year at a time when North Korea was threatening the United States, South Korea and Japan with missile strikes. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, and Jane Chung in SEOUL; Editing by Michael Perry) |
| Direct link between Assad and gas attack elusive for U.S. Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With the United States threatening to attack Syria, U.S. and allied intelligence services are still trying to work out who ordered the poison gas attack on rebel-held neighbourhoods near Damascus. No direct link to President Bashar al-Assad or his inner circle has been publicly demonstrated, and some U.S. sources say intelligence experts are not sure whether the Syrian leader knew of the attack before it was launched or was only informed about it afterward. While U.S. officials say Assad is responsible for the chemical weapons strike even if he did not directly order it, they have not been able to fully describe a chain of command for the August 21 attack in the Ghouta area east of the Syrian capital. It is one of the biggest gaps in U.S. understanding of the incident, even as Congress debates whether to launch limited strikes on Assad's forces in retaliation. After wrongly claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 U.S. invasion, the U.S. intelligence community, along with the Obama administration, are trying to build as solid a case as they can about what it says was a sarin nerve gas attack that killed over 1,400 people. The Syrian government, backed by Russia, blames Sunni rebels for the gas attack. Russia says Washington has not provided convincing proof that Assad's troops carried out the attack and called it a "provocation" by rebel forces hoping to encourage a military response by the United States. Identifying Syrian commanders or leaders as those who gave an order to fire rockets into the Sunni Muslim areas could help Obama convince a war-weary American public and sceptical members of Congress to back limited strikes against Assad. But penetrating the secretive Syrian government is tough, especially as it fights a chaotic civil war for its survival. "Decision-making at high levels within foreign governments is always a difficult intelligence target. Typically small numbers of people are involved, operational security is high, and penetration - through either human or technical means - is hard," said Paul Pillar, a former CIA expert on the Middle East. One possible link between the gas attack and Assad's inner circle is the Syrian government body that is responsible for producing chemical weapons, U.S. and allied security sources say. Personnel associated with the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Council (SSRC), which has direct ties to Assad's entourage, were likely involved in preparing munitions in the days before the attack, they say. A declassified French intelligence report describes a unit of the SSRC, known by the code name "Branch 450", which it says is in charge of filling rockets or shells with chemical munitions in general. U.S. and European security sources say this unit was likely involved in mixing chemicals for the August 21 attack and also may have played a more extensive role in preparing for it and carrying it out. "BEST EVIDENCE" Bruce Riedel, a former senior U.S. intelligence expert on the region and sometime advisor to the Obama White House, said that intelligence about the SSRC's alleged role is the most telling proof the United States has at hand. "The best evidence linking the regime to the attack at a high level is the involvement of SSRC, the science centre that created the (chemical weapons) program and manages it. SSRC works for the President's office and reports to him," Riedel said. U.S. officials say Amr Armanazi, a Syrian official identified as SSRC director in a State Department sanctions order a year ago, was not directly involved. Much of the U.S. claim that Assad is responsible was initially based on reports from witnesses, non-governmental groups and hours of YouTube videos. U.S. officials have not presented any evidence to the public of scientific samples or intelligence information proving that sarin gas was used or that the Syrian government used it. The United States has also not named any Syrian commanders it thinks gave the green light to fire gas-laden rockets into Ghouta. But U.S. and allied security sources say they believe that Syrian military units responsible for the areas that were attacked were under heavy pressure from top commanders to wipe out a stubborn rebel presence there so government troops could redeploy to other trouble spots, including the city of Aleppo. An analysis by the Congressional Research Service, a branch of the Library of Congress, reported that a declassified U.S. government paper summarizing intelligence findings concludes that Syrian government officials were "witting and directed" the gas attack. But the evidence of who ordered it was not watertight, the analysis said. The findings were partly based on intercepted communications "involving a senior official intimately familiar with the offensive" which "confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime," it said. As more information has been collected and analyzed, early theories about the attack have largely been dismissed, U.S. and allied security sources said. Reports that Assad's brother, Maher, a general who commands an elite Republican Guard unit and a crack Syrian army armoured division, gave the order to use chemicals have not been substantiated, U.S. sources said. Some U.S. sources now believe Maher Assad did not order the attack and was not directly involved. (Editing by Alistair Bell and Ken Wills) |
| Conservative leader Abbott expected to win Aussie election as polls open Posted: SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott, expected to win national elections on Saturday and end six years of Labor rule, cast his vote at a Sydney surf club, joking he'd rather be enjoying the beach than campaigning. A confident Abbott, who is often photographed in his swimming costume at his local Manly Beach, was accompanied by his wife and daughters in warm spring sunshine. But while Abbott and his supporters enjoyed the sunshine, opinion polls say voters are set to send a chill down the ruling Labor party, throwing it from office and giving Abbott an overwhelming majority and ending three years of a hung parliament. Abbott, 55, told reporters that Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had failed to govern for all Australians and that was why Australians needed to vote for a change on Saturday. "I'm in a suit. I sort of wish I was out there on the waves. It's a nice wave for an elderly long boarder this morning," Abbott said, adding he did not trust the polls which pointed to an easy conservative win. "Anything can happen today. I don't believe the polls, Kevin Rudd doesn't believe the polls. I think it's still very close." The election has been pitched as a choice on who is best to lead the resource-rich nation as its economy adjusts to an end to a prolonged mining investment boom, fuelled by China's demand for natural resources. CARBON TAX, REFUGEES Abbott built up a strong poll lead on the back of promises to rein in government spending, scrap an unpopular tax on carbon emissions, and stop the flow of refugee boats arriving in Australia's northwest. The super-fit Abbott, a keen cyclist who often exercises before dawn, has also promised to restore government stability after three years of a hung parliament and Labor's change of prime minister twice in three years. Rudd, who replaced Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard in late June, has painted Abbott's planned spending cuts as dangerous European-style austerity and said his government is best placed to manage a slowing economy. Two last minute polls on Saturday, Newspoll in the Australian newspaper and Nielsen in the Fairfax media, found Abbott's Liberal Party would win 54 percent of the national vote, compared to 46 percent for Rudd's Labor. That would give Abbott an overwhelming majority of around 40 seats in the 150 seat parliament. (Writing by James Grubel; Editing by Michael Perry) |
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