EU court strikes Hamas from terror blacklist

Yahoo – AFP, Danny Kemp, 17 Dec 2014

A Palestinian protestor with his face covered in a balaclava in the colours of his

 national flag and holding a Hamas movement flag looks on during clashes with

Israeli soldiers in Hebron on August 8, 2014. (Photo by Hazem Bader, AFP/File)

The Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas must be removed from the EU's terrorism blacklist, but its assets will stay frozen for the time being, a European court ruled on Wednesday.

The original listing in 2001 was based not on sound legal judgements but on conclusions derived from the media and the Internet, the General Court of the European Union said in a statement.

But it stressed that Wednesday's decision to remove Hamas was based on technical grounds and does "not imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group."

Hamas, which has been in power in the

 Palestinian territory of Gaza since 2007,

 had appealed against its inclusion on

 the blacklist on several grounds. (Photo

by Mahmud Hams / AFP/File)

The freeze on Hamas's funds will also temporarily remain in place for three months pending any appeal by the EU, the Luxembourg-based court said.

Hamas, which has been in power in the Palestinian territory of Gaza since 2007, had appealed against its inclusion on the blacklist on several grounds.

The judgement comes hours before the European Parliament is expected to vote on the recognition of a Palestinian state, after several EU countries enraged Israel by taking a similar step.

Hamas's military wing was added to the European Union's first-ever terrorism blacklist drawn up in December 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The EU blacklisted the political wing of Hamas in 2003.

"The General Court finds that the contested measures are based not on acts examined and confirmed in decisions of competent authorities but on factual imputations derived from the press and the Internet," the court said.

Instead, such an action had to be based on facts previously established by competent authorities.

European Parliament vote

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers were removed from the list in October after an almost identical judgement.

The lawyer for Hamas, Liliane Glock, told AFP she was "satisfied with the decision".

"Every decision since 2001 imposing restrictive measures, including on the armed wing, have been annulled. I believe that this judgement shows the whole world that it exists and is legal," Glock said.

Hamas was founded in 1987 shortly after

 the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or

 uprising, and was inspired by Egypt's

Muslim Brotherhood EU court strikes

Hamas from terror blacklist. (Photo by

Mahmud Hams /AFP/File)

The lawyer added that the court's decision also showed that the EU could not base its decision on the US terror list, although there was no mention of that list in the court's judgement.

There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli government nor from the EU.

Hamas was founded in 1987 shortly after the start of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and was inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

There is a growing impatience in Europe over the failure to make progress in the Middle East peace talks.

After Ireland's and Portugal's parliaments became the latest earlier this week to back recognition of a Palestinian state, the European Parliament in Strasbourg will vote on a similar motion later Wednesday.

The motion says that the parliament "supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced."

With the peace process stalled, the Palestinians on Wednesday will push on with a draft UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation.

Church of England’s first female bishop named as Libby Lane

Even before her latest role, Lane had long been one of the most influential women in the church

The Guardian, Haroon Siddique, Wednesday 17 December 2014

Church of England's first female bishop named as Libby Lane

Libby Lane's interests include learning to play the saxophone, supporting
 Manchester United and doing cryptic crosswords. Photograph: Paul Ellis/
AFP/Getty Images

Libby Lane, who has been chosen by the Church of England as its first female bishop, has long been one of the most influential women in the church.

She is one of eight clergywomen from the church elected as participant observers in the House of Bishops, as the representative from the dioceses of the north-west, and has been a bishop’s selection adviser for 10 years, making recommendations to the church about candidates offering themselves for ordination.

She took up her post as vicar of St Peter’s Hale and St Elizabeth’s Ashley, in the diocese of Chester, in April 2007, and since January 2010 has also been dean of women in ministry for the diocese, a post created to reflect the growing number of Anglican women in the clergy as the prospect of women becoming bishops drew closer.

Lane was born in Glossop, Derbyshire and educated at Manchester High School for Girls and St Peter’s College, Oxford.

She trained for ministry at Cranmer Hall in Durham. She was ordained a deacon in 1993 and a priest in 1994, serving her curacy in Blackburn, Lancashire.

Lane has served in the diocese of York, as chaplain in a hospital and further education, and as family life officer for the committee for social responsibility in the diocese of Chester.

Her husband, George, is also a priest and they were one of the first married couples in the Church of England to be ordained together. They have two grown-up children.

Lane is a school governor and keen on social action initiatives, according to her profile on the St Peter’s Hale website. Her listed interests include learning to play the saxophone, supporting Manchester United, and doing cryptic crosswords.

Related Article:

Church of England General Synod approves female bishops
Jubilation as Church of England's synod votes to allow female bishops

Clerics at the Church of England synod in York take a 'selfie' as they celebrate

after the vote to allow female bishops. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

Denmark claims potentially energy-rich Arctic waters

Interest in the Arctic is intensifying as global warming shrinks the polar ice, opening up possible resource development. That’s why Denmark plans to request formal recognition for an extended area of continental shelf.

Deutsche Welle, 15 Dec 2014

Denmark was set to lay claim to energy-rich but contested territory around the North Pole on Monday by submitting data to the UN which it says demonstrates the area is an extension of its continental shelf.

The Danish government said it would tell the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) that data collected since 2002 supports its claim to ownership over an area of about 895,000 square kilometers (346,000 square miles) beyond the current nautical borders of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

"The objective of this huge project is to define the outer limits of our continental shelf and thereby ultimately of the Kingdom of Denmark," Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said in a statement.

Potential overlap with Canada, Russia and the US

The melting of the ice cap offers
shorter shipping routes

Claims on a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from a country's borders must be supported by scientific and technical data. However, the remote region is hotly disputed by other countries.

Between 2007 and 2012, Danish scientists, with colleagues from Canada, Sweden and Russia, surveyed a 2,000 kilometer long (1,240 miles) underwater mountain range that runs north of Siberia. They concluded that the ridge is geologically attached to Greenland, a huge, sparsely populated island that is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Norway already lays claim to an area overlapping the one outlined in the Danish submission to the UN, and there is "potential overlap with Canada, the Russian Federation and the US," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Moscow has increased its military presence in the pristine but energy-rich Arctic region, while Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has made asserting sovereignty over an expansive Arctic archipelago and surrounding waters a key policy. In August 2007, Russia placed its flag on the seabed under the North Pole.

Part of North America, but also a part of Europe

Environmental activists concered over
the race to exploit gas and oil

Greenland geographically forms part of North America rather than Europe and is largely self-governed, but it remains part of former colonial master Denmark, which controls its foreign affairs and defense policy.

Environmental activist groups, including Greenpeace, expressed concern over an emerging race to exploit potential untapped natural gas and oil reserves in the Arctic as the burning of fossil fuel drives global warming.

According to a study by the US Geological Survey from 2008, the Arctic could hold 13 percent of the oil and 30 percent of the natural gas which is yet to be discovered. The melting of the ice cap also offers shorter shipping routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, which has attracted the interest of countries far from the Arctic region, including China.

jil/lw, ksb (AP, AFP, dpa)

EU, US condemn raids on Turkish media outlets

The European Union and the United States have condemned a series of police raids in which journalists and executive were arrested in Turkey. They were seen as targeting opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Deutsche Welle, 14 Dec 2014

Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy coordinator and Johannes Hahn, the commissioner for enlargement negotiations, issued a joint statement on Sunday, to express their disapproval of the raids, which occurred earlier in the day.

"The police raids and arrests of a number of journalists and media representatives in Turkey today are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy," read the statement, which was posted on the EU's website.

It added that the operation ran contrary to "the European values and standards Turkey aspires to be part of."

The United States also condemned the raids, with State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki saying Washington was "closely following" the situation.

"Media freedom, due process, and judicial independence are key elements in every healthy democracy and are enshrined in the Turkish constitution," a statement released by Psaki said. "As Turkey's friend and ally, we urge the Turkish authorities to ensure their actions do not violate these core values and Turkey's own democratic foundations."

Police arrested at least 24 people in the raids on media outlets on Sunday, including executives, journalists and former police officers.

Erdogan critics targeted

The outlets raided are seen as being close to a US-based Muslim cleric, Fetullah Gulen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but whom Erdogan now accuses of orchestrating a plot to bring down his government.

Among the premises targeted in the operation were the headquarters of Turkey's largest circulation newspaper, the Zaman daily, as well as that of Samanyolu television, both of which are affiliated with Gulen.

Ekrem Dumanli, the editor-in-chief of Zaman was among those arrested.

The official Anatolia news agency reported that those detained had been accused of a number of offences, including "using intimidation and threats" to "form a gang to try and seize state sovereignty", "forgery" and "slander."

Hundreds of supporters had gathered outside of Zaman's headquarters outside of Istanbul prior to the raid there, preventing police from entering the building. Later, plainclothes officers returned and arrested Dumanli.

"Let those who have committed a crime be scared. We are not scared," Dumanli said as he was led away by police.

pfd/jr (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Native Americans try to block French auction of sacred artefacts

Yahoo – AFP, Pascale Mollard-Chenebenoit, 14 Dec 2014

Kachina dolls made by Hopi and Zuni Native American tribes are on display on

 the eve of their sale at the Drouot auction house in Paris on December 14, 2014

(AFP Photo/Thomas Samson)

Paris (AFP) - An auction on Monday of sacred masks and objects in France has stirred fresh anger among Native Americans, with representatives of the Navajo people travelling to Paris to try and halt the latest sale.

The Eve auction house has 270 Native American, Eskimo and pre-Colombian artefacts going under the hammer and the United States embassy has stepped in, urging a stop to the sale of items cherished by the Navajo and Hopi people.

The sale is the fourth since 2013 that the southwestern Hopi people have tried to block of ceremonial masks and headdresses they consider to embody living spirits.

A Puebloan Chakwaina mask (L, circa 

1900/1910) and a Kachina Buffalo mask

 (circa 1910/1920) are on display among

 other artefacts made by Native American

 tribes before their sale at the Drouot

auction house in Paris on December 14, 

2014 (AFP Photo/Thomas Samson)

All previous legal efforts to halt such auctions have failed, although a US foundation last year bought 21 of the masks at a Paris auction to return them to the Hopi people.

A delegation from the Navajo nation led by the tribe's vice-president Rex Lee Jim is in Paris to try and block the sale of eight sacred masks.

"Several representatives came to pray and gather in front of the objects on Saturday," said Eve auctioneer Alain Leroy.

Meanwhile the Hopi have identified over 40 sacred objects up for auction, according to diplomatic sources.

The Hopi tribe and the native peoples defence group Survival International asked a court on Friday to order the release of the sellers' identities.

While the sale of sacred Indian artefacts has been outlawed in the United States since 1990 -- legislation which has allowed the tribe to recover items held by American museums in the past -- the law does not extend to sales overseas.

A letter to the Eve auction house on Friday from Jane Hartley, the US ambassador to France, called for the objects to be pulled from bidding while the Hopi and Navajo tribes "determine if they have recourse to seek their return".

US calls for dialogue

The embassy called for dialogue between the auction house and the tribes.

However the Board of Voluntary Sales "declared this auction legal," said Leroy.

"We have no intention of divulging the name of the sellers or the buyers of the masks. That stays in the private domain."

He said it was legal to own, collect and sell the colourful masks and statuettes.

"This sale is not scandalous because it is not forbidden."

However, images of the masks claimed by the Navajo were no longer available on the auction house website on the eve of the sale.

Anthropomorphic statuettes from Mezcala, Mexico, are pictured among other

 artefacts made by Native American tribes on display before their sale at the Drouot

auction house in Paris on December 14, 2014 (AFP Photo/Thomas Samson)

In April last year, the sale of some 70 Hopi masks fetched around 930,000 euros ($1.2 million) despite international appeals to halt the auction, decried as a sacrilege by activists including Hollywood legend Robert Redford.

Brightly-coloured, intricate "Kachina" dolls and masks or headdresses are valued at thousands of euros.

One of the jewels of the collection is a 40cm-high double mask resembling two bird's heads stacked upon one another valued at up to 60,000 euros.

The 18,000-strong Hopi tribe of Arizona uses the masks in highly-private religious ceremonies where they are worn by dancers.

The Navajo are the largest recognised tribe in the US, and count some 200,000 people living in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

Related Articles:

Native American masks sold in Paris to be returned to tribes (11 Dec 2013)

US attempts to halt Paris auction of sacred Native American artefacts (8 Dec 2013)

Orcas put on show as ferry transports tribal artifacts to Bainbridge Island

Killer whales have been thrilling whale watchers this week in Puget Sound. But

they were especially exciting Tuesday when nearly three dozen orcas surrounded

 the ferry from Seattle as it approached the terminal on Bainbridge Island. NOAA

Fisheries Service photo by Candice Emmons

Luxembourg judge brings theft and trade secrecy charges

Charges against unnamed individual follow publication of journalistic investigation and PricewaterhouseCoopers complaint

The Guardian, Simon Bowers, Saturday 13 December 2014

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ HQ in Luxembourg. Photograph: Nicolas Bouvy/EPA

An investigating judge in Luxembourg has charged an unnamed individual with theft and other criminal offences after a complaint was brought by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the wake of a leak of hundreds of confidential tax deals exposing avoidance by multinational corporations.

Last month journalistic investigations into PwC tax deals were published by the Guardian and more than 20 media organisations around the world linked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, sparking an international scandal that continues to threaten the position of the new European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Juncker stepped down as prime minister of Luxembourg last year after almost two decades at the helm, dominating politics, setting tax policy and aggressively courting investment from multinationals.

In a short statement, the Luxembourg authorities said charges had been brought for theft, professional secrecy violations, trade secrecy violations and illegal obtaining of data.

The action followed a PwC complaint submitted in June 2012.

The Luxembourger Wort newspaper reported that it understood the person charged to be a French national who had previously worked at PwC.

Recent press reports on the leaked papers reveal how far the firm in Luxembourg was pushing tax rules, aggressively exploiting gaps between tax codes in different countries. The confidential papers laid bare how accommodating the Luxembourg tax office had been, turning the tiny nation of 550,000 people into a honeypot for global firms looking to massage down their tax bills.

The revelations last month sparked an emergency debate in the European parliament and an unsuccessful censure vote against Juncker. Finance ministers in France, Germany and Italy wrote to the commission demanding a faster crackdown on loopholes exploited by big business.

The UK parliament’s public accounts committee this week summoned PwC to give evidence alongside its FTSE 100 tax client Shire, the drugs firm which moved tax domicile to Ireland six years ago for tax reasons. The committee’s chair, Margaret Hodge, accused PwC’s UK head of tax, Kevin Nicholson, of lying about the saga. Hodge told him: “I think what you are doing is selling tax avoidance on an industrial scale.”

Nicholson denied the tax services sold by PwC were mass-marketed schemes and said about 80 of the Luxembourg rulings related to UK firms, were all distinct and had been disclosed to HMRC.

In the aftermath of the tax leaks scandal, Luxembourg’s finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, struck a conciliatory note on the international stage, telling a meeting of European finance ministers: “We are a country that wants to combat abuse … If we want to find solutions to this issue we have to tackle it together.”

Speaking to a domestic audience, however, he has described the affair as “the worst attack Luxembourg has experienced in its history”.

Switzerland targets corruption in sports with 'FIFA bill'

Yahoo – AFP, David Courbet, 12 Dec 2014

FIFA, based in Switzerland, has been at the centre of claims of corruption over
its decision to grant Qatar the 2022 World Cup (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

Geneva (AFP) - Swiss deputies on Friday passed a law making it easier to bring corruption charges against the leaders of international sporting bodies such as FIFA which have faced years of sleaze allegations.

The law will affect about 60 multi-billion dollar sporting federations, including football's governing body and the International Olympic Committee, based in Switzerland and has become known as "Lex FIFA", or the FIFA law.

The legislation makes the chiefs of sporting federations "politically exposed persons," alongside political dictators, for whom an allegation of money laundering or corruption will trigger judicial proceedings.

"With this law, corruption in sport will become a crime. It's the first step towards cleaning up sport," Roland Buchel, a lawmaker with the populist Swiss People's Party who led a four-year campaign for the bill, told AFP.

The law is in response to years of allegations of corruption against sporting bodies, including FIFA.

Football's global body, which is based in Zurich, has been at the centre of controversy over its decision to grant the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

FIFA and Qatar have denied any wrongdoing.

But the governing body's executive will vote next week on whether to release the full report of corruption inquiry.

Federation chiefs had been exempt from Swiss laws on money laundering, which were based on measures drawn up by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force.

The new lawl, under which banks will have to flag any suspect payments, brings sports officials -- and their relatives -- into line with politicians.

"It sends a clear message to the world, that officials must accept responsibility," Buchel said.

He said the law should be rubber stamped by the government by April or May 2015.

FIFA and IOC welcome bill

FIFA and the International Olympic Committee welcomed the new law, which was passed by the lower chamber, the National Council by 128 votes to 62 against, with five abstentions.

"As FIFA has repeatedly stated in the past, FIFA supports government measures for protecting the integrity of the sport and tackling corruption," a spokesman said.

The organisation last month published a summary of an investigation into the Qatar bids and Russia's victory for the 2018 World Cup, clearing them of corruption and ruling out a re-vote.

But the author of the investigation, lawyer Michael Garcia, has slammed the summary as "incomplete and erroneous". He has lodged an appeal with FIFA to get a new version released.

The IOC brought in new rules on bidding following bribery revelations surrounding Salt Lake City's bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The Lausanne-based organisation "fully supports and welcomes this important move by Swiss lawmakers -– it is in line with what the IOC already does," its president Thomas Bach said.

The new bill only affects international organisations based in Switzerland -- where they enjoy favourable tax status -- and not regional or national groups.

Buchel said he regretted that UEFA, European football's governing body which is based in the Swiss town of Nyon, was not covered, but said he hoped it would eventually be.

Asked if he feared sporting bodies might now leave Switzerland, he said: "Good riddance."

Papa Massata Diack steps down from IAAF pending doping investigation

• Son of IAAF president Lamine Diack one of two to leave posts

• Documentary alleged officials involved in doping cover-up

• Head of Russia’s athletics federation steps down as IAAF treasurer

• Questions for Diack over $5m request to Doha amid 2017 bid

The Guardian, Owen Gibson, Thursday 11 December 2014

Papa Massata Diack is one of two men to have left their posts with the IAAF
 pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of a cover-up of
systematic doping in Russia. Photograph: Hendrik Schmidt/EPA

The son of the IAAF president Lamine Diack is among senior officials from the embattled athletics governing body who have stepped down from their posts pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of institutionalised doping in Russia.

Papa Massata Diack, an IAAF marketing consultant with exclusive rights to sell sponsorship in developing regions, has joined Valentin Balakhnichev, president of the Russian athletics federation and the IAAF’s treasurer, in agreeing to step down.

The IAAF issued a statement confirming Papa Massata Diack is suspending his activities and saying it “appreciates” Balakhnichev’s decision.

It said: “The IAAF appreciates the gesture of council member Valentin Balakhnichev, who has been the subject of recent media allegations, who has voluntarily decided to cease exercising his duties as IAAF treasurer and council member until the independent IAAF ethics commission’s ongoing investigation has concluded.

“IAAF marketing consultant Papa Massata Diack has also written to the IAAF confirming that he will suspend his activities on behalf of the IAAF until the commission has delivered its final report.”

The Guardian revealed on Thursday that emails suggested Papa Massata Diack requested a $5m payment – $440,000 of it in cash – from Qatar during the race to host the 2017 world athletics championships in October 2011. It is not clear whether the payment was made.

The IAAF said no contract between it or the state investment entities QSI or Oryx QSI – or any other Qatari companies – had been signed during that period. An IAAF spokesman said he had spoken to Papa Massata Diack and he had denied “receiving any such payment nor ever acting in such a manner on behalf of the IAAF”.

The Qatar Athletics Federation said it did not recognise the emails and instead focused on the legitimacy of its recent successful bid to host the 2019 world athletics championships.

The sport has been thrown into crisis by allegations of systemic doping among Russian athletes, claims of a cover-up at the highest levels of the IAAF and new questions over the conduct of Papa Massata Diack, the 50-year-old son of longstanding IAAF president Lamine.

It has also emerged that a list containing the names of 150 athletes, including three British athletes of whom one is a household name, with suspicious blood tests between 2006 and 2008 had not been used as the basis of a target testing programme.

It is understood that the three officials came under pressure to step down at an executive board meeting on Wednesday and agreed to step aside until the investigation into the claims had been completed.

German broadcaster ARD reported that the three-times Chicago Marathon winner Liliya Shobukhova paid €450,000 to the Russian athletics federation to avoid a doping ban. She was eventually banned following a failed test and claimed she was refunded some of the money.

ARD claimed it had evidence linking the €300,000 refund to Balakhnichev and that Black Tidings, the Singapore-based company that allegedly made the payment, was owned by a business partner of Massata Papa Diack.

The French sports daily L’Equipe has also raised questions about meetings in Moscow hotels in 2011 between Balakhnichev, the IAAF legal adviser Habib Cissé and Massata Papa Diack.

In an interview with L’Equipe on Wednesday Lamine Diack said his son was big enough to look after himself and would deal with the claims when he returned from a trip to China to look for sponsors. Diack reaffirmed his faith in the IAAF ethics commission and said it would deal with the various allegations facing the sport.

Diack is due to stand down as president next year after 16 years in the role. Lord Coe has already declared his candidacy as a potential replacement and he is expected to be opposed by fellow IAAF vice-president Sergey Bubka.

Related Article:

IAAF’s most senior anti-doping official, Dr Gabriel Dollé, leaves job

Astana Retains World Tour License

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Dec 11, 2014

Kazakhstan’s Maxim Iglinsky of team Astana. (EPA Photo/Laurent Gillieron)

Paris. Doping-scandal tainted Astana, whose leading rider is this year’s Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali, was on Wednesday granted a World Tour license for the 2015 season by the International Cycling Union.

However, the UCI said that, while the license had been granted, Astana would have to agree to conditions, including being audited by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne, who will “determine whether and to what extent the team and or/its management is responsible of the recent events” relating to doping offenses.

In addition, it must adhere from 2015 to the “internal operational requirements”, a set of measures which will be compulsory for all World Tour teams from 2017.

The future of Kazakh-based Astana had been hanging in the balance after the UCI asked for a full review of the team’s anti-doping policies.

That was after brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinksy, and three riders from the Astana Continental team, tested positive for banned substances in the past year.

In addition, the UCI has also said it will study allegations made by Italian media that Astana met banned doping doctor Michele Ferrari last year.

UCI president Brian Cookson said: “This remains a very serious situation for our sport given the number of doping cases. We shall be following the situation very closely and are awaiting to review the results of the audit.

“Meanwhile, the team will have to comply with the two requirements imposed by the License Commission. The combined effect of this is that the Astana Pro Team can be considered very much to be on probation.”

Meanwhile, the sport’s governing body also denied a license to French outfit Europcar, estimating that “the team does not fulfill the financial criteria”.

Ex-president admits Poland hosted CIA 'black sites'

Yahoo – AFP, 10 Dec 2014

Poland allowed the CIA to hold terror suspects on its soil on the condition they

 were "treated as prisoners of war", former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski

said (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Warsaw (AFP) - Poland's former president publicly acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that his country hosted a secret CIA prison where a US Senate report says torture was used against Al-Qaeda suspects.

Aleksander Kwasniewski said that as president he put pressure on the United States to end brutal CIA interrogation at the secret prison on Polish soil in 2003.

"I told (then US president George W) Bush that this cooperation must end and it did end," Kwasniewski told local media.

Aleksander Kwasniewski, Polish President

 between 1995 and 2005, said he raised

 concerns over CIA activities in Poland

 face-to-face with US President George

 W. Bush at the White House in 2003 (AFP

Photo/Luke Frazza)

He was speaking a day after the scathing Senate report revealed the CIA had used methods amounting to torture to interrogate prisoners after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Kwasniewski, president between 1995 and 2005, said he raised Polish concerns over CIA activities in Poland face-to-face with Bush at the White House in 2003.

He said Bush insisted that the intelligence agency's methods provided "important benefits in security matters", a claim disputed by the report.

"The Americans conducted their activities in such secrecy, that it raised our concern. Polish authorities acted to end these activities and they were stopped under pressure from Poland."

Kwasniewski said Poland had agreed to "beefed-up intelligence cooperation" with the US within the framework of NATO after the September 11 attacks, but insisted he was unaware the CIA practised torture at its secret facilities.

Poland allowed the CIA to hold terror suspects on its soil on the condition they were "treated as prisoners of war", he said, adding that the US never signed the memorandum of understanding that included this stipulation.

Those who broke international laws prohibiting torture must be prosecuted, he added.

Taking responsibility

The European Court of Human Rights slammed Poland in July for complicity in torture on its territory of a Palestinian and a Saudi, later sent to the notorious US Guantanamo Bay base.

The court concluded Poland had cooperated in the CIA's notorious "rendition" programme.

The CIA disputes the findings of the Senate report, which says 119 detainees were captured and imprisoned in secret CIA "black sites" in countries whose names were redacted.

Previous news reports suggested the sites were located in Afghanistan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Thailand.

Polish prosecutors have been probing allegations of the secret prison since 2008. They said they will ask for access to the damning report, as have their Lithuanian counterparts.

"If the information proves correct, Lithuania will have to take responsibility," President Dalia Grybauskaite said of allegations that it also hosted a secret CIA jail.

But Valdas Adamkus, Lithuania's president at the time, on Wednesday denied any knowledge of such facilities.

"I am still convinced that there had been no jails and no prisoners from there", Adamkus, now 88, told AFP.

Human rights activists said the Senate report confirmed suspicions that Saudi Mustafa al-Hawsawi was imprisoned at a secret CIA jail in Lithuania in 2005-6.

In 2009, a Lithuanian parliamentary enquiry identified two sites that may have been used as CIA black sites.

But it noted that despite records showing CIA aircraft landed in Lithuania, it was not possible to say whether suspects were actually brought in.

Related Articles:

UN demands prosecution for CIA officials who tortured al Qaeda suspects

Torture report: UN, rights groups demand prosecutions

European court condemns Poland for hosting secret CIA prisons

GOP lawmaker: You will ‘rethink everything’ when full 9/11 report is released