Abuse victims urge ICC to prosecute the pope

RNW, 13 September 2011, by Robert Chesal

(Photo: ANP)             

Victims of sexual abuse by the clergy have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and other leading Vatican officials for crimes against humanity. A worldwide network of victims accuses the pontiff and three cardinals of aiding and abetting wide-scale rape and sexual violence against children by priests.

Human rights lawyer Pam Spees delivered boxes containing over 20,000 pages of evidence to the ICC today [Tuesday] and asked the prosecutor to begin an investigation. The complaint alleges that the pope and three cardinals - Angelo Sodano, Tarcisio Bertone and William Levada - deliberately covered up abuse by priests.

Victims speak out

At a press conference near The Hague, eight adults who were abused as children held up their childhood portraits and told the press the names of the Roman Catholic priests who had targeted them. All were members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. They included victims from the USA, Germany, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo. SNAP's lawyers say all the cases were kept secret by the Vatican in a cover-up that amounts to a crime against humanity. 

Pope Benedict XVI (Photo: broc)

The victims present included Wilfried Fesselmann (43), who was abused at the age of 11 in Essen, Germany, by a priest who was subsequently transferred to Munich by then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI). The case was known at the highest levels of the Vatican but the priest went unpunished until the church sexual abuse scandal erupted in Germany in 2010.

Vatican implicated

According to SNAP, the Vatican has tolerated and enabled a systematic and widespread practice of concealing sex crimes throughout the world for decades. Seldom has the Vatican meted out significant punishment to priests found guilty of abuse. The accused are routinely transferred to parishes where paedophile behavior continues. Sexual abuse is almost never reported to the police.

But the ICC is unlikely to pursue the case, according to Goran Sluiter, professor of international law at the University of Amsterdam: 'The case doesn't stand a chance in my opinion.'

'Jurisdiction doubtful'

Professor Sluiter points out that the ICC can only try crimes committed after 1 July 2002, the date when it officially began operating as a court of law. "And even if the ICC could handle this case, I wonder whether these qualify as crimes against humanity," says Sluiter.

But SNAP's lawyer Pam Spees says she will provide ample evidence that the Vatican's concealment of rape and shielding of sexual abusers is widespread and systematic, and therefore bears the hallmarks of crimes against humanity.

Spees also asserts that the complaint falls well within the territorial jurisdiction of the ICC, even though the Vatican City State is not a party to the Rome statute that created the Hague court.

"By nature of the church's worldwide presence these acts are occurring every day in countries that are party to the Rome statute. But the court also has jurisdiction over people who are nationals of countries that are party to the statute. So to the extent that higher-level Vatican officials retain their citizenship in countries like Italy and Germany, the court has jurisdiction over these individuals."

Abuse in Africa

Highlighting the long reach of the Vatican, another victim addressed the press conference via a Skype connection from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Benjamin Kitobo (44) told journalists he was abused at the age of 13 by a Belgian priest at the Junior Seminary in Kanzenze, Komwezi in the DRC. The priest, Kitobo says, was never punished and is still working with children at a school near Kigali in neighboring Rwanda.

Recent cases

SNAP lawyer Pam Spees says the statute of the ICC is no obstacle to a case against the Vatican, because she has evidence of at least three abuse cases dating after 1 July 2002. These include the case of Megan Peterson (21), who was allegedly abused by a priest in Minnesota, USA in 2004-2005. The priest has been transferred to his native India and is overseeing schools in the diocese of Ootacamund (Tamil Nadu).

Megan said, "I know there were letters back and forth through the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. There were also prior allegations against him before he left. I called the diocese two weeks before he left and I was hung up on. He should have been arrested then."

Surprise visitor

Observers are doubtful that the complaint will lead to an indictment but it is not being ignored by the ICC. Following today's press conference, a victim support worker from the ICC introduced herself to the SNAP president and congratulated her on the work done so far by the victims' group and its lawyers. She declined to identify herself to the media, but SNAP members said her presence was an acknowledgment that their complaint is being taken seriously.

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Britain’s Banks Await Shake-Up Plans

Jakarta Globe, Ben Perry, September 11, 2011

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London. Plans for a major shake-up of Britain’s banks will be revealed on Monday when a government-appointed commission publishes final recommendations aimed at avoiding further state bailouts of lenders.

However following intense lobbying by major British banks such as HSBC and Barclays, reports suggest that any reforms may not occur until after the country’s next general election in 2015.

The Independent Commission on Banking is expected to confirm its initial proposals published in April that called for a “ring-fencing” of lenders’ retail businesses, thus avoiding banks being sunk by investment division losses.

It is also likely to repeat calls for banks to set aside more capital to prevent future state bailouts and could again recommend that state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group sells more assets to boost competition.

However it is not expected to call for the banks to be broken up, as some argue is necessary for real reform.

The ICB’s creation in June 2010 followed fierce criticism over so-called casino banking — a term used to describe the high risks taken by investment bankers denounced for their role in the global financial crisis of 2008.

Finance minister George Osborne set up the commission which is chaired by John Vickers, a former chief economist at the Bank of England.

“The Vickers report as we all know is going to recommend the retail and investment banking divisions of UK banks are separated,” said Simon Denham, head of Capital Spreads trading group.

“In theory it all sounds like a nice idea, but the timing is bad particularly when banks have [already] been forced to increase the amount of capital they hold, whilst being continually badgered to increase the amount of lending they do and at the same time cope with a raft of new regulations.”

The BBC has reported that while Vickers is expected to recommend that the government legislates almost immediately over ring-fencing, he will advise that such firewalls be phased in over a number of years.

Other media reports suggest any change may not occur for at least four years.

There are fears that swift implementation of ring-fencing amid renewed weakness in the global economy could pressure Britain’s biggest banks to relocate abroad. HSBC and Barclays are both rumored to be considering moving their headquarters away from Britain.

The ICB said in April that Britain’s banks should raise core capital ratios to “at least” 10 percent, significantly more than the 7.0 percent required by 2018 under new international “Basel III” rules that were agreed last year.

It also called for improved measures to help consumers switch current accounts.

Also set to be affected by the plans will be Royal Bank of Scotland, which like LBG required a massive bailout from the British state following the financial crisis. The two lenders have meanwhile cut tens of thousands of jobs in recent years.

Britain’s biggest union Unite last week said that 150,000 jobs had been lost across the country’s financial services industry since the near-collapse of another British bank, Northern Rock, in late 2007.

“However, little has changed to improve the regulatory regime and prevent a future crisis,” Unite said in a statement.

“Despite these astronomical staff cuts, the sector continues to resist the calls for regulatory reform to ensure that our economy is never brought to its knees in the same way.

“Ahead of the report from the Independent Banking Commission on Monday the scale of jobs cuts must not be ignored,” the union added.

Agence France-Presse

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Dick Marty rendition report condemns 'cult of secrecy'

BBC News, 7 September 2011

A report for Europe's human rights watchdog has called for greater scrutiny of secret services and support for whistleblowers.

Bradley Manning was arrested in 2010

The Council of Europe investigated how countries like Britain, Germany, Romania and Lithuania assisted the US with the rendition of terror suspects.

It said a "cult of secrecy" had helped Western governments cover up abuses.

Defending "whistleblowers", it singled out US soldier Bradley Manning, accused of passing secrets to Wikileaks.

He had "acted as a whistleblower and should be treated as such", CoE rapporteur Dick Marty wrote in the report, which was due to be submitted to the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly.

The soldier is currently in a US military prison awaiting trial for passing restricted material to the controversial website.

But the report praised Mr Manning, and Wikileaks itself, for uncovering evidence of rendition.

The CoE represents 47 member-states, including both EU countries and Russia and other ex-Soviet states.

Mr Marty's report focused on the record of Western states, explaining that it was based on investigations into European links to the controversial US policy of "rendition" for terrorism suspects.

The CIA allegedly flew terror suspects around the world for interrogation in the years after 9/11, holding them in secret prisons in Europe and elsewhere.

'No licence to kill'

In his 48-page report - entitled Abuse of State Secrecy and National Security - Mr Marty looked at the level of control exercised by European states over their security services.

He urged all states to use independent parliamentary committees to oversee the work of their secret services, saying this was of "vital importance for the rule of law and democracy".

Mr Marty argued that Western governments were using the notion of state secrecy to shield their intelligence services from accountability for serious violations committed during anti-terrorist operations.

"We consider that this is simply unacceptable..." he wrote.

"A 'licence to kill' (or to abduct and torture) only exists in certain films, and in dictatorial regimes. In democratic systems, parliaments, as representatives of the people, have a right and duty to know what the government is doing in the name of the people."

Mr Marty praised investigative journalists and non-governmental organisations for their work in exposing abuses of authority.

Stressing the "fundamental role" whistleblowers had to play in an open society, he warned against "a real cult of secrecy... as an instrument of power".

While it was up to the courts to decide if Bradley Manning had committed any crime, he wrote, the CoE was "indebted to him" for the publication of a recording of a helicopter attack in Iraq "in which the crew seems to have intentionally targeted and killed civilians".

Thanks to Mr Manning, he said, a large number of embassy reports had "allowed us to learn significant details of important recent events... which are obviously of general interest".

"We therefore join Amnesty International in expressing our worries as to the treatment he receives," Mr Marty wrote in the draft report.

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Passenger plane crashes in Russia killing dozens

Deutsche Welle, 7 Sep 2011

The Yak-42 jet crashed just after
takeoff from Yaroslavl

A passenger airplane carrying a major Russian ice hockey team has crashed shortly after takeoff killing nearly everyone on board, according to local news agencies. The crash took place in Yaroslavl, in western Russia.

A Russian plane crashed shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, killing nearly everyone on board, according to officials and Russian news agencies.

The Yak-42 aircraft was headed from the city of Yaroslavl, 240 kilometers (149 miles) north of Moscow, to Minsk in Belarus when it crashed. At least 43 people were killed, according to an official from state aviation agency Rosaviatsia. Officials said Russian ice hockey player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crew member.

The plane was carrying members of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team, who were due to play a match against Dinamo Minsk on Thursday in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). 

Many of the passengers were members
 of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey
team

Lokomotiv are a leading force in Russian ice hockey and came third in the KHL last year. Although all the victims have not been named, one player on the plane was German national ice hockey player Robert Dietrich. The 25-year-old transferred to the Russian side in June.

Lokomotiv's roster also includes Czech national players Karel Ranuchek, Jan Marek and Josef Vasicek, Slovakia's Pavol Demitra and Swedish goalkeeper Stefan Liv. The head coach, Canadian Brad McCrimmon, was also on the plane, according to the KHL.

Political response

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately ordered Transport Minister Igor Levitin to travel to the site.

The crash occurred while Russia was hosting an international political forum in Yaroslavl, which President Dimitry Medvedev was expected to address on Thursday. Medvedev's spokeswoman said the president expressed his condolences and would alter his plans for the forum and visit the site of the crash.

The short and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and dozens are still in use by Russian and other airlines. Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service staring next year. The model that crashed was built in 1993 and belonged to a small Moscow-based Yak Service company.

In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people.

Author: Catherine Bolsover (AP, Reuters)

Editor: Martin Kuebler

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Swiss to supply bank information to US: report

Jakarta Globe, September 06, 2011

Swiss authorities will meet some of Washington's demands to transmit information on accounts held by US citizens in the country, local media reported on Tuesday.

The United States has asked for detailed information
 on US nationals who have hidden their money in
Switzerland

According to Swiss daily TagesAnzeiger, state secretary for international affairs Michael Ambuehl will transmit by Tuesday evening information on the number of accounts and the total sum held by US citizens in Switzerland.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority surveyed a number of Swiss banks and determined that between 20 billion to 30 billion dollars (14.2-21.3 billion euros) was held by "tens of thousands" of US customers, the newspaper said.

According to the weekly SonntagsZeitung, the United States has asked for detailed information on US nationals who have hidden their money in Switzerland, basing its report on a letter from the US deputy attorney general James Cole dated August 31, addressed to Swiss authorities.

The letter mentioned Switzerland's second-biggest bank, Credit Suisse, as well as about another 10 banks, notably Julius Baer, Wegelin, and the cantonal banks of Zurich and Basel, the Sunday paper alleged.

US authorities want all the data concerning private customers and US foundations which have deposited at least $50,000 (around 35,000 euros) in Switzerland between the period of 2002 and July 2010, it said.

Swiss finance minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said on Monday on Swiss television that she disagreed with the ultimatum.

"This is not how to deal with other states," she said.

"We have suggested to the Americans how to solve (...) the problem," she said, explaining that a solution would have to be based on existing fiscal agreements between the US and Switzerland, or on recent agreements with Germany and the United Kingdom.

This latest request is not the first by US officials. Switzerland's biggest bank UBS was forced to disclose the names of 4,450 US clients for whom it had offered to conceal funds from the eyes of the US tax inspectors.

Widmer-Schlumpf added the use of emergency laws, as was the case for the UBS affaire, was excluded.

AFP

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How Tony Blair was taken into the Murdoch family fold

Wendi Deng reveals link in a magazine interview where she describes the ex-PM as one of her husband's 'closest friends'

The Guardian, Dan Sabbagh, Monday 5 September 2011

Tony Blair and Ruper Murdoch at an awards ceremony in 2008.
 Photograph: Mike Theiler/EPA

It was a relationship that began in political controversy but progressed to a secret family union: Tony Blair, it was revealed , is godfather to Rupert Murdoch's nine-year-old daughter, Grace, the second youngest of his six children.

In a culmination of 15 years of political intimacy, the former Labour prime minister was present at the star-studded baptism of the child on the banks of the Jordan, at the spot where Jesus is said to have undergone the same ceremony, according to an article in Vogue magazine.

With the Murdochs and their children dressed in white – and present at the invitation of Queen Rania of Jordan – the event was photographed in Hello! magazine, complete with an ethereal front cover image of a smiling Murdoch in an open-necked shirt.

But no mention was made of Blair's participation, which was revealed only in a rare interview by Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, in a forthcoming edition of Vogue.

Although she has traditionally kept a low profile, Deng's interview comes after she catapulted herself into the public spotlight by leaping from a chair to lash out at a foam-pie thrower who attempted to target Murdoch during his questioning before the Commons culture, media and sport committee in July.

In the Vogue article the former Labour leader, is described as "one of Murdoch's closest friends".

Murdoch's company, News Corporation, confirmed the longstanding link between the two men, although it is not known when Murdoch asked Blair to act as a godparent and how far this predated the actual baptism.

Grace was baptised a few weeks before Easter of 2010, and therefore shortly before the last general election.

When the Jordanian baptism was originally reported by Hello!, it noted that actors Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, both friends of the Murdochs, were godparents to Grace and her sister Chloe.

The involvement of Blair was admitted by Deng in the interview shortly before her husband flew to London to deal with the phone-hacking crisis in the wake of revelations that the News of the World had targeted the mobile phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

Deng, who said she was not sleeping because of the stress of dealing with the phone-hacking affair, added in the interview: "Of course, as Rupert's wife, I think it's unfair on him to be going through this. I worry about him being alone. He has no PR people advising him. He tells me not to come but I'm flying to London for the hearing. I want to be with him."

In July it was reported that Blair rang Gordon Brown to ask him to tell his friend and ally, the Labour MP Tom Watson, to lay off attacking News Corporation over the phone-hacking issue. Brown is thought to have refused the request, although neither Blair nor Brown has confirmed such a conversation took place.

A spokesman for Blair last night declined to comment on the godfather link.

Blair's wooing of Murdoch dates to 1995, when the leader of the opposition provoked a political row by accepting an invitation to address a News Corporation conference on Hayman Island, Australia, in July of that year. Labour under Neil Kinnock had previously been demonised in Murdoch's Sun, to the point where some believed the tabloid's opposition had cost the party the 1992 election.

When Blair opted to attend, he justified the decision to his spokesman, Alastair Campbell, that "not to go was to say carry on and do your worst, and we knew their worst was very bad indeed," according to his memoirs. "It seems obvious," he added in his book, A Journey. "The country's most powerful newspaper proprietor, whose publications have hitherto been rancorous in their opposition to the Labour party, invites us into the lion's den. You go, don't you?" Blair also noted that Paul Keating, then Australia PM, felt Murdoch was "a bastard, but one you could deal with".

The would-be PM's performance at the News Corp event was seen as a clear sign that Labour was becoming electable – and marked the beginning of a long, close friendship between the two men.

Labour benefited from the loyal support of Murdoch newspapers, with the Sun switching from Conservative to Labour in the run-up to the 1997 election, and the Times dropping the Conservatives in 1997 and endorsing Labour in 2001. Meanwhile, Labour placed few restrictions on the operation of either News Corp's newspapers or BSkyB, in which News Corp owned a 39.1% stake, during its time in office.

Support from the Murdoch titles intensified at the time of the Iraq war, and Murdoch and Blair were in close contact through Blair's premiership, speaking, for example, on the phone three times in the nine days before the Iraq war. Information released by No 10 under freedom of information rules also showed the pair spoke on the day the Hutton report into the death of Dr David Kelly was published.

By the end of his premiership, Blair wrote of Murdoch in his memoirs that he "came to have a grudging respect and even a liking for him". He added: "He was hard, no doubt. He was rightwing. I did not share or like his attitudes on Europe, social policy or on issues like gay rights, but there were two points of connection: he was an outsider and he had balls."

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Council of Europe demands truth on CIA 'black sites'

CNN News, By the CNN Wire Staff, September 5, 2011

(file photo) Thomas Hammarberg, the human rights
 commissioner for the Council of Europe.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Poland, Romania and Lithuania hosted secret prisons for "enhanced interrogation," the body says
• Human Rights Commission's Thomas Hammarberg says "the full truth" must be established
• CIA officials have acknowledged the extraordinary rendition program but refused to disclose details
• Records emerging from Moammar Gadhafi's regime in Libya contain potential revelations

Paris (CNN) -- The human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe urged countries that have hosted secret CIA prisons to come clean Monday, as the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

Thomas Hammarberg said Poland, Romania and Lithuania were among at least seven countries that hosted "black sites" for "enhanced interrogation" during the "war on terror."

"Darkness still enshrouds those who authorized and ran the black sites on European territories," he said. "The full truth must now be established and guarantees given that such forms of co-operation will never be repeated."

CIA officials have acknowledged the rendition program, but refused to discuss details and denied violating any laws. Efforts to challenge the agency and get details about it in U.S. courts have been turned aside.

Hammarberg's statement comes as documents seized from Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Libya shed light on the program of extraordinary rendition, or questioning of terror suspects in third-party countries where U.S. law does not apply.

RELATED TOPICS

• CIA Counterterrorism Center
• Council of Europe

CNN saw a March 6, 2004, CIA letter to Libyan officials about Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a former jihadist with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and now a senior commander in the anti-Gadhafi forces.

It concerned the Malaysian government's arrest of Abdullah al-Sadiq, Belhaj's nom de guerre for his rendition. A CIA officer said the man and his pregnant wife were being placed on a commercial flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to London via Bangkok and then onto Libya.

"We are planning to arrange to take control of the pair in Bangkok and place them on our aircraft for a flight to your country," the officer wrote.

Belhaj fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan, but left after their fall in 2001 and was arrested in Malaysia in 2004. After some questioning by the CIA, he was sent back to Libya and jailed.

The Council of Europe's Hammarberg said the CIA had held "high-value detainees," including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in Poland, between 2002 and 2003.

The Polish site closed and a new secret prison opened in Romania in 2003, Hammarberg charged, and existed for over two years. Lithuania also hosted two sites, he said.

Polish prosecutors and Lithuanian lawmakers have investigated the phenomenon, but Romania has shown "little genuine will to uncover the whole truth," Hammarberg charged.

"Effective investigations are imperative and long overdue," he said.

Neither the CIA nor the European countries named by Hammarberg immediately responded.

The Council of Europe is a 47-member group that promotes democracy and human rights on the continent.

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Secret files show UK, US 'ties' to Kadhafi regime

Jakarta Globe, September 03, 2011

One note said London was keen for Blair to meet Kadhafi in a Bedouin
tent as "the journalists would love it"

British and US intelligence cooperated closely with Libya, with prisoners being offered to Moamer Kadhafi's regime under the rendition programme, a report said Saturday citing files found in Tripoli.

British daily The Independent said the secret documents discovered in the office of former Libyan foreign minister Mussa Kussa also show that Britain passed details of exiled opponents to Kadhafi's spies.

The cache further shows that it was the office of former prime minister Tony Blair that requested that a 2004 meeting with Kadhafi in Tripoli should take place in a Bedouin tent, the daily said.

There was no immediate reaction from British or US authorities to the report.

The paper said the documents would raise questions about the ties that Britain, in particular, and the United States forged with Kussa and the regime as the western powers tried to bring Libya out of isolation.

Kussa flew to Britain in March and defected, but despite being accused of rights violations was allowed to fly to Qatar the following month.

The Independent said the papers include letters and faxes to Kussa headed "Greetings from MI6" (Britain's foreign intelligence service) and a personal Christmas greeting signed by a senior British spy with the epithet "Your friend".

It also cites a US administration document, marked secret, saying that it was "in a position" to deliver a man named as Shaykh Musa, a member of the Al-Qaeda-linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, "to your physical custody."

"We respectfully request an expression of interest from your service regarding taking custody of Musa," it quotes the document as saying.

In a separate report the Wall Street Journal said files show strong cooperation between the CIA and Kadhafi's intelligence agencies, including shipping terror suspects to the North African country for interrogation.

The Central Intelligence Agency, under the administration of then-president George W. Bush, brought terror suspects to Libya and suggested questions that Libyan interrogators should ask them, it said, citing documents found at the headquarters of Libya's External Security agency.

The CIA also moved to set up in 2004 "a permanent presence" in the country, the Journal said, according to a note from CIA top operative Stephen Kappes.

Secret CIA rendition flights transported dozens of terror suspects around the world following the 9/11 attacks, often for interrogation in third countries.

Meanwhile British intelligence in a letter dated April 16, 2004 informs a Libyan security agency that a Libyan opposition actvist had been freed from British detention, the Independent said.

A further document purportedly from MI6 seeks information about a suspect travelling on a Libyan passport, adding that it is a "sensitive operation".

The cache also shows that a statement given by Kadhafi announcing that his regime was giving up weapons of mass destruction in a bid to shed its pariah status was put together with the help of British officials.

A letter addressed to a Libyan official from British intelligence attached a "tidied up version of the language we agreed...", it said.

Meanwhile the Independent said a sizeable amount of the correspondence was devoted to preparations for Blair's landmark Tripoli visit, and showed that Kussa played a role as conduit with the premier's 10 Downing Street office.

In one, it said an MI6 officer wrote to Kussa saying: "No.10 are keen that the Prime Minister meet the leader in his tent. I don't know why the English are fascinated by tents. The plain fact is the journalists would love it."

Blair was duly pictured shaking hands with Kadhafi in a Bedouin tent.

AFP

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Alleged CIA letter

Dear Musa

I am glad to propose that our services take an additional step in cooperation with the establishment of a permanent CIA presence in Libya. We have talked about this move for quite some time and Libya's cooperation on WMD and other issues, as well as our recent intelligence cooperation, mean that now is the right moment to move ahead. I am prepared to send [XXX] to Libya to introduce two of my officers to you and your service, arriving in Tripoli on 20 March. These two officers, both of whom are experienced and can speak Arabic, will initially staff our station in Libya. [XXX] will communicate the details via fax. I will call to confirm this with you.

We are also eager to work with you in the questioning of the terrorist we recently rendered to your country. I would like to send to Libya an additional two officers and I would appreciate if they could have direct access to question this individual. Should you agree I would like to send these two officers to Libya on 25 March. Again [XXX] will communicate the details to you.
Steve

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Serbia and Kosovo reach deal to end mutual trade embargo

Deutsche Welle, 3 Sep 2011

Serbia and Kosovo's border remains
under NATO control

A mutual trade embargo between Serbia and Kosovo has been lifted, paving the way for goods to flow freely through the two countries. The EU, which mediated the talks, says the deal makes the region look more European.

Serbia and its former province Kosovo on Friday reached an agreement to end a mutual trade embargo during European Union-mediated talks in Brussels.

The EU described the agreement, under which the two sides will allow products from each other's territories to pass freely, as an important step towards improving bilateral relations.

"These two embargoes will now be lifted," said EU facilitator Robert Cooper. "That's good for regional trade; that makes the region look more European."

The agreement is to come into effect within the next week.

The EU had suspended the talks back in July after Belgrade refused to accept a Kosovo customs seal. Friday's compromise will see Kosovo officials mark goods with a stamp that simply says “Kosovo customs,” with no national coat of arms or flag.

Serbia had refused to accept a stamp with Kosovo's national symbols, fearing this would be interpreted as the de facto recognition of what it still sees as a renegade province.

Border crossings still unresolved

Violence near the border in July
killed one ethnic Albanian

The head of the Serbian delegation, Borislav Stefanovic, said the agreement applied only to the transit of people and goods but not to the status of the border crossings in the north of Kosovo.

The Jarinje and Brnjak border posts have been controlled by German and Austrian peacekeepers since shortly after the July talks broke down.

Belgrade banned the import of goods from Kosovo shortly after it declared independence from Serbia in 2008. In June, Kosovo retaliated by imposing a ban on the import of Serbian goods and sent security forces to take control of the country's border posts in the mainly Serb north of the country. Clashes with local Serbs earlier this summer resulted in the death of one ethnic Albanian before the NATO troops took control of the crossings.

During Friday's sixth round of talks, which are meant to resolve practical, day-to-day issues, the two sides also reached an agreement on sharing property records, as well as discussing telecommunications, energy and university diplomas.

Author: Chuck Penfold (Reuters, AP)

Editor: Andrew Bowen

Quake-hit Iceland volcano Katla shows strengthening signs of eruption

ClickGreen, by ClickGreen staff. Fri 02 Sep 2011

Iceland's massive Katla volcano is showing increasing signs of a possible eruption following an intense week of earthquakes and tremors.

Katla shows increased sign of life

The feared volcano was struck by a magnitude 3.2 earthquake last night as experts believe magma is slowly filling inside the mountain, giving rise to fears the volcano could soon erupt.

The latest quake follows a week of increasing activity with official reports of harmonic tremors and earthquake swarms.

Observers have been closely watching Katla since July when the volcano showed the first signs of increased activity.

Last weekend, the Icelandic Met Office confirmed two swarms of earthquakes in Katla and on Wednesday night, a harmonic tremor – a potential indicator to an eruption - was detected.

Last night's stronger earthquake was picked up in the volcano's caldera - its magma chamber.

Katla, which has not experienced a significant eruption for 93 years, is the second largest volcano on Iceland and its eruption will be felt across Europe.

Last year, the country's president Ólafur Grímsson warned "the time for Katla to erupt is coming close, Iceland has prepared and it is high time for European governments and airline authorities all over Europe and the world to start planning for the eventual Katla eruption".

It is believed Katla, named after a vindictive troll of Viking folklore, has the potential to be much stronger and disruptive than the last two Icelandic volcanic eruptions that caused chaos across Europe's air space, grounding flights and closing airports.

Katla is much larger than its neighbouring Eyjafjallajokull – which erupted last year - with a magma chamber about 10 times the size.

Volcanologists warn that if Katla does erupt, the combination of the magma and the large ice sheet covering the volcano could lead to explosive activity and an ash plume for weeks, if not months.

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