Democratic.net: [RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, August 4, 2009

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, August 4, 2009

August 4, 2009

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

-Bill Clinton in N. Korea.

-Australia thwarts terror plot.

-Ethnic clashes kill 185 in Sudan.

-Venezuela takes over coffee companies.

Top of the Agenda: U.S. Journalists Imprisoned in N. Korea

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea (Korea Times) to try to convince the government to release two imprisoned U.S. journalists. The journalists -- Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV-- were arrested on the North Korea-China border in March. The women were sentenced to twelve years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and for “hostile acts.”

Some analysts say Clinton’s visit could be a sign of the Obama administration’s readiness to engage North Korea (LAT), even though the country recently test-fired a series of missiles, conducted a nuclear test, and announced it would not rejoin the Six-Party Talks on its nuclear program.

Clinton is well respected in North Korea, as he almost visited Pyongyang toward the end of his presidency, and because he met with North Korea's top military commander, Jo Myong-rok, in Washington in 2000, the Washington Post notes. North Korea and the United States also forged a deal to freeze plutonium-based nuclear reactor at Yongbyon under the Clinton administration.

Clinton is the highest profile U.S. figure to visit North Korea in nearly a decade. U.S. government agencies, including the State Department, have declined to comment on Clinton's trip so far.

Analysis:
Former South Korean government official Park Chan-bong tells the Wall Street Journal the talks will likely serve as a launching point for bilateral discussions between the two countries.

B.R. Myers, an expert on North Korea at South Korea's Dongseo University, tells Reuters Clinton’s visit “sends all the wrong signals.”

Yonhap News Agency says South Korea could face pressure to soften its tough stance toward North Korea if Clinton’s trip is successful.

Background:
The BBC profiles Ling and Lee, the two U.S. journalists imprisoned in North Korea.

The Korea Times looks back at U.S. policy toward North Korea under the Clinton administration.

Yonhap has a timeline of trips to North Korea by high profile U.S. figures since 1994.

PACIFIC RIM: Australian Terror Plot

Australia arrested four people (Sydney Morning Herald) in Melbourne suspected of plotting a suicide terror attack on an army base. The suspects are Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent.

MIDEAST: Fatah Congress

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party is holding its first congress in twenty years (Reuters). Speaking to the delegates on Tuesday, Abbas said Palestinians sought peace with Israel but will reserve the option of “armed struggle.” More than 400 Gaza-based invitees could not attend, because Hamas would not allow them to travel to the West Bank (Xinhua).

Israel: Israeli police say they have discovered an American-Israeli money-laundering ring (Jerusalem Post) that defrauded the U.S. government of tens of millions of dollars. The suspects allegedly filed fraudulent tax refund requests in the names of people in U.S. prisons without their knowledge, and laundered the money through Israeli bank accounts.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Pakistan Hearing Adjourned

Hafiz Saeed, former head of Lashkar-e-Taiba, remains free after a Pakistani court adjourned an appeal hearing to decide whether to re-arrest him (Dawn). Lashkar-e-Taiba is the group believed to have been behind last November’s terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan freed Saeed in June, citing a lack of evidence.

This CFR Backgrounder profiles the group.

Afghanistan: At least eight rockets hit the Afghan capital of Kabul (CNN) early this morning. No one was injured in the attack. Separately, a roadside bomb (Quqnoos) killed at least eleven people and wounded 31 others in Herat, Afghanistan, including a twelve year-old girl. Violence has escalated as the country prepares for August 20 presidential elections.

AFRICA: Clashes in Sudan

At least 185 people were killed (AP) in southern Sudan when gunmen from the Murle ethnic group attacked a group of displaced members of the Lou Nuer tribe. More people have died in these kinds of clashes this year than in the Darfur conflict, according to the United Nations.

Ethiopia: Ethiopia has jailed a Canadian citizen (National Post) for life on grounds that he is the leader of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Ethiopian-born Bashir Makhtal denies the charge, and his family claims he was held in solitary confinement in Ethiopia for two years without access to legal representation or embassy officials.

A CFR Backgrounder profiles the ONLF.

Kenya: GlobalPost looks at Kenya’s first wind farm atop the Ngong Hills. The farm’s turbines will create up to 850 kilowatts of power—enough to supply as many as 1,000 homes.

Pirates: Somali pirates released eleven Indonesian crewmembers (Bernama) of a Malaysian tugboat after almost eight months of captivity. Pirates collected a ransom, but its amount and source were not released.

AMERICAS: Venezuelan Coffee

The Venezuelan government seized temporary control (BBC) of the processing plants of the country’s two largest coffee companies, Fama de America and Cafe Madrid. Officials said the move was intended to ensure supply for consumers, and said the companies could be nationalized if they find evidence of “smuggling, hoarding, disloyal and monopolistic practices.”

Bolivia: President Evo Morales launched his “indigenous autonomy” policy (MercoPress) in the country’s eastern lowlands. The policy grants peasant and indigenous communities the right to vote for more autonomy in referendums to be held in December.

EUROPE: German Opposition Candidate

Promising to create four million jobs by 2020, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced he would challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel (Deutsche Welle) in the country's September elections.

Balkans: The Council of Europe, a human rights group, has begun an investigation into allegations that ethnic Albania guerillas abducted at least ten Serbs (NYT) in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war and took them to Albania, where they removed the hostages organs for sale. Ethnic Albanian officials in Kosovo deny the claims.

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