One dead at Afghan demo against US-led soldiers: witnesses
by Samoon Miakhial Sat May 10, 7:22 AM ET
MARCO, Afghanistan (AFP) - At least one person was killed and several wounded in Afghanistan Saturday when police opened fire to disperse a protest accusing US-commanded soldiers of killing civilians, witnesses said.
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The clash erupted in the eastern province of Nangarhar as up to 1,000 demonstrators tried to block a road with rocks to protest against the killing of three men in a military operation overnight, witnesses said.
"Police tried to stop them, they threw stones at the police. Police then fired at the crowd. One person was killed and three others were injured," said a local, Darya Khan.
An AFP reporter was shown the body of a man whom protestors said was killed in the police action. Other demonstrators alleged three people were killed but this could not be confirmed.
A doctor in the nearby city of Jalalabad said six people were admitted to hospitals. "They were all wounded by gunshots but their wounds were not deep. They were treated and released," doctor Baz Mohammad Sherzad said.
Provincial police chief Sayed Abdul Ghafar denied his men had caused any casualties, saying they had only fired into the air after being shot at from the crowd. Two policemen were wounded, he said.
Ghafar however said that -- contrary to US-led coalition claims -- the men killed in an operation overnight in the Shinwar district were not militants or from the extremist Taliban movement.
"The coalition conducted independent operations in Shinwar and martyred three people. They were civilians," he told AFP.
Before the demonstration was dispersed, protestors chanted slogans against foreign troops, US President George W. Bush and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
"The Americans killed three civilians," said demonstrator Pizwan Khan. "They were my neighbours and I knew they were not Taliban," he told AFP above shouts of "Death to America, death to Bush, death to Karzai."
Others said the dead were an elderly man shot in a mosque and two other men, employed as drivers, shot in their homes.
But the US-led military coalition said it had only killed militants who had attacked troops searching for a "foreign fighter network."
"During the operation, several militants were killed when they attacked coalition forces. Nine militants suspected of foreign fighter facilitation were detained," it said.
It is often difficult to verify events in Afghanistan, where thousands of Afghan and international soldiers are working against several rebel networks, some with Al-Qaeda backing.
International troops are often accused of mistaking civilians for rebels or being heavy-handed in their operations; the soldiers say they work on verified information and have the right to self-protection if attacked.
The issue of civilian casualties is deeply sensitive with many Afghans already wary of the presence of foreign troops seven years after they helped to drive out the extremist Taliban government.
The Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban are fighting to topple the US-supported government in Kabul and have demanded the removal of the international troops, most of them Westerners, on which the country relies.
Sunday, 11 May 2008
US official in Abkhazia to seek restored dialogue: report
MOSCOW (AFP) - A senior US State Department official arrived in Abkhazia on Saturday to try to help to restore dialogue between the breakaway region and Georgia, Russian news agencies reported.
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Matthew Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, was quoted by the Ria Novsoti news agency as describing the situation as tense but not beyond a solution.
Bryza spoke to journalists ahead of meetings with leaders of the breakaway territory where tensions have been mounting and where neighbouring Russia -- seen as backing the separatists -- has military forces.
They reached new heights Thursday as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili warned of a risk of war with Russia.
Foreign ministers from five EU member state -- Slovenia, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia -- were expected Monday to travel to Tbilisi to try to mediate between Georgia and Russia.
The US official was quoted Saturday as saying it was essential to restore and stimulate negotiations between the Georgian government in Tbilisi and the Abkhaz side, suggesting that Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and others might mediate.
The Abkhaz leadership has claimed the downing of five unmanned Georgian spy planes in the last two months, while Georgia has only acknowledged one such shooting, carried out it said by a Russian fighter jet.
Abkhaz officials said Friday that an Georgian drone shot down the day before was carrying an air-to-air missile.
As deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, Bryza is responsible for policy supervision and management of relations with countries in the Caucasus and southern Europe.
This includes leading US efforts to advance peaceful settlements of the separatist conflicts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia.
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Matthew Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, was quoted by the Ria Novsoti news agency as describing the situation as tense but not beyond a solution.
Bryza spoke to journalists ahead of meetings with leaders of the breakaway territory where tensions have been mounting and where neighbouring Russia -- seen as backing the separatists -- has military forces.
They reached new heights Thursday as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili warned of a risk of war with Russia.
Foreign ministers from five EU member state -- Slovenia, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia -- were expected Monday to travel to Tbilisi to try to mediate between Georgia and Russia.
The US official was quoted Saturday as saying it was essential to restore and stimulate negotiations between the Georgian government in Tbilisi and the Abkhaz side, suggesting that Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and others might mediate.
The Abkhaz leadership has claimed the downing of five unmanned Georgian spy planes in the last two months, while Georgia has only acknowledged one such shooting, carried out it said by a Russian fighter jet.
Abkhaz officials said Friday that an Georgian drone shot down the day before was carrying an air-to-air missile.
As deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, Bryza is responsible for policy supervision and management of relations with countries in the Caucasus and southern Europe.
This includes leading US efforts to advance peaceful settlements of the separatist conflicts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia.
New US Fourth Fleet raises question: gunboat diplomacy?
by Jim Mannion Sat May 10, 2:06 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Navy has raised the profile of its operations in Latin America, reviving the US Fourth Fleet after nearly a 60-year slumber.
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And some, beginning with Cuba's Fidel Castro, are asking why.
The ailing Castro raised the question in a column published Monday in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, suggesting it signaled a return to gunboat diplomacy.
"The aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs that threaten our countries are used to sow terror and death, but not to combat terrorism and illegal activities," he wrote on Monday.
Evo Morales, president of landlocked Bolivia, called it "the Fourth Fleet of intervention" in an interview with Cuban television.
The US Navy insists the re-establishment of the fleet is only an administrative measure that assigns no permanent naval assets to US forces in Latin America.
US warships and submarines will come under the fleet's control as they pass into the Caribbean and waters off the coast of Central and South America, the navy says.
The move also puts the US naval command for the region, which is headquartered in Mayport, Florida, directly under the chief of US naval operations, positioning it to compete bureaucratically for assets and resources, officials and analysts say.
Unlike the other US fleets, which are led by three star admirals, the Fourth Fleet will be led by a two star, Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, when it goes into operation July 1.
Re-establishing the Fourth Fleet in itself is largely symbolic, analysts say.
Rear Admiral James Stevenson, the current commander of US naval forces in the region, said it "sends the right signal, even to the people that you know aren't necessarily our greatest supporters."
But what is the signal?
"On the one hand in the region there are those who make the argument, "Uh, Oh, here we go again," said Frank Mora, a professor at the National War College.
"The United States' obsession with Venezuela, Cuba and other things indicates they are going to use more military force, going to use that instrument more often," he said.
The opposite view, one that Mora said he shared, is "this is not about the United States trying to use this military instrument to invade or cooerce any country, but to actually work together with other countries to deal with common threats and challenges."
The United States has watched with concern as leftists have been elected to power in a string of Latin American countries, sometimes with an assist from oil-rich Venezuela and its vehemently anti-American President Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela's acquisition of high performance fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, and diesel submarines also have raised flags for the US military.
But since becoming head of the US Southern Command in 2006, Admiral James Stavridis has taken a soft power approach to the region, pushing exercises, port visits and humanitarian missions to better US relations.
An amphibious assault ship, the USS Boxer, is currently working its way down the Pacific coast of Central America and South America with doctors, dentists and engineers to work on community health care and construction projects.
The USS Kearsarge, another amphibious assault ship, will deploy from August through November on a similar humanitarian mission with stops in six countries in the Caribbean and South America.
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington made a port visit in Rio de Janeiro at the end of April, and took part in exercises with the Brazilian and Argentine navies.
"This doesn't have to be seen as some kind of deterrence, or as threatening things for countries. That's not the intent," said Jay Cope, a retired army colonel and former chief of staff at the US Southern Command.
Stavridis' aim is broader than that, he said.
"Maybe once upon a time, back in the Cold War era, we liked to be able to think of this as sort of our backyard. The fact is today that is really a bad way to look at this region. It's not our backyard.
"We have got to compete with other countries of this world for our relationships with the countries of this hemisphere," he said.
Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, said the muted US response in March when Venezuela and Colombia nearly went to war over a raid against leftist guerrillas in Ecuador "suggests that the whole notion of a backyard is gone really."
"Is it because the US now recognizes Latin America is more mature, that it can deal with its problems on its own, and that it's giving it space to do so? "Or is it that basically that the US doesn't care right now, it just doesn't feel threatened by all this? It's impossible to know at this point," he said.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Navy has raised the profile of its operations in Latin America, reviving the US Fourth Fleet after nearly a 60-year slumber.
ADVERTISEMENT
And some, beginning with Cuba's Fidel Castro, are asking why.
The ailing Castro raised the question in a column published Monday in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, suggesting it signaled a return to gunboat diplomacy.
"The aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs that threaten our countries are used to sow terror and death, but not to combat terrorism and illegal activities," he wrote on Monday.
Evo Morales, president of landlocked Bolivia, called it "the Fourth Fleet of intervention" in an interview with Cuban television.
The US Navy insists the re-establishment of the fleet is only an administrative measure that assigns no permanent naval assets to US forces in Latin America.
US warships and submarines will come under the fleet's control as they pass into the Caribbean and waters off the coast of Central and South America, the navy says.
The move also puts the US naval command for the region, which is headquartered in Mayport, Florida, directly under the chief of US naval operations, positioning it to compete bureaucratically for assets and resources, officials and analysts say.
Unlike the other US fleets, which are led by three star admirals, the Fourth Fleet will be led by a two star, Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, when it goes into operation July 1.
Re-establishing the Fourth Fleet in itself is largely symbolic, analysts say.
Rear Admiral James Stevenson, the current commander of US naval forces in the region, said it "sends the right signal, even to the people that you know aren't necessarily our greatest supporters."
But what is the signal?
"On the one hand in the region there are those who make the argument, "Uh, Oh, here we go again," said Frank Mora, a professor at the National War College.
"The United States' obsession with Venezuela, Cuba and other things indicates they are going to use more military force, going to use that instrument more often," he said.
The opposite view, one that Mora said he shared, is "this is not about the United States trying to use this military instrument to invade or cooerce any country, but to actually work together with other countries to deal with common threats and challenges."
The United States has watched with concern as leftists have been elected to power in a string of Latin American countries, sometimes with an assist from oil-rich Venezuela and its vehemently anti-American President Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela's acquisition of high performance fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, and diesel submarines also have raised flags for the US military.
But since becoming head of the US Southern Command in 2006, Admiral James Stavridis has taken a soft power approach to the region, pushing exercises, port visits and humanitarian missions to better US relations.
An amphibious assault ship, the USS Boxer, is currently working its way down the Pacific coast of Central America and South America with doctors, dentists and engineers to work on community health care and construction projects.
The USS Kearsarge, another amphibious assault ship, will deploy from August through November on a similar humanitarian mission with stops in six countries in the Caribbean and South America.
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington made a port visit in Rio de Janeiro at the end of April, and took part in exercises with the Brazilian and Argentine navies.
"This doesn't have to be seen as some kind of deterrence, or as threatening things for countries. That's not the intent," said Jay Cope, a retired army colonel and former chief of staff at the US Southern Command.
Stavridis' aim is broader than that, he said.
"Maybe once upon a time, back in the Cold War era, we liked to be able to think of this as sort of our backyard. The fact is today that is really a bad way to look at this region. It's not our backyard.
"We have got to compete with other countries of this world for our relationships with the countries of this hemisphere," he said.
Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, said the muted US response in March when Venezuela and Colombia nearly went to war over a raid against leftist guerrillas in Ecuador "suggests that the whole notion of a backyard is gone really."
"Is it because the US now recognizes Latin America is more mature, that it can deal with its problems on its own, and that it's giving it space to do so? "Or is it that basically that the US doesn't care right now, it just doesn't feel threatened by all this? It's impossible to know at this point," he said.
The US military
BAGHDAD, (AFP) - The US military said on Sunday it supported a ceasefire in Baghdad's Sadr City where the militia of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr cut a deal with the Iraqi authorities to end the bloodshed.
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"We support political solutions in Sadr City as well as all of Iraq. We would welcome an end to violence by the criminal elements who continue to endanger the lives of innocent Iraqi citizens," US military spokesman Colonel Jerry O'Hara told AFP.
The Iraqi government and Sadr's movement said on Saturday they had agreed on a deal to end weeks of fighting which has killed hundreds of people in Baghdad.
In clashes on Saturday afternoon, American troops killed four militiamen, the US military said in a separate statement, adding that a tank was used to return fire after soldiers came under attack in Sadr City.
"If we see illegal activity, rocket or mortar teams, those carrying rocket-propelled grenades or improvised-explosive device emplacers, we will engage them with precision fire," the statement said.
Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi, spokesman for Sadr's office in the central shrine city of Najaf, said the deal to end the firefights in the movement's east Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City would be effective from Sunday.
Since March 25, US and Iraqi forces have been battling militants, mostly from Sadr's Mahdi Army, in the sprawling Shiite district.
The fighting erupted after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shiite militiamen in the southern port city of Basra on March 25.
That military assault triggered widespread clashes in other Shiite areas of Iraq, particularly in Sadr City.
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"We support political solutions in Sadr City as well as all of Iraq. We would welcome an end to violence by the criminal elements who continue to endanger the lives of innocent Iraqi citizens," US military spokesman Colonel Jerry O'Hara told AFP.
The Iraqi government and Sadr's movement said on Saturday they had agreed on a deal to end weeks of fighting which has killed hundreds of people in Baghdad.
In clashes on Saturday afternoon, American troops killed four militiamen, the US military said in a separate statement, adding that a tank was used to return fire after soldiers came under attack in Sadr City.
"If we see illegal activity, rocket or mortar teams, those carrying rocket-propelled grenades or improvised-explosive device emplacers, we will engage them with precision fire," the statement said.
Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi, spokesman for Sadr's office in the central shrine city of Najaf, said the deal to end the firefights in the movement's east Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City would be effective from Sunday.
Since March 25, US and Iraqi forces have been battling militants, mostly from Sadr's Mahdi Army, in the sprawling Shiite district.
The fighting erupted after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shiite militiamen in the southern port city of Basra on March 25.
That military assault triggered widespread clashes in other Shiite areas of Iraq, particularly in Sadr City.
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