UPI International Intelligence articles from April 2006

UPI International Intelligence archives from April 2006

Common Ground: Interfaith dialogue.
April 1, 2006... Byline: BEN MOLLOV KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 1 (UPI) -- In late fall I received an invitation from the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Malaysia, headed by the former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, to participate in an...

Policy Watch: U.S. choices in Iraq civil war.
April 1, 2006... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- Many observers believe that Iraq is about to be engulfed in a sectarian civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. Some think that this has already begun. If this civil war does indeed occur,...

Analysis:Blast from past for Polish leader.
April 3, 2006... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- In quick succession last week, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland's last communist leader, received a World War II medal for patriotism from the Polish state, and was indicted for cracking...

Analysis: Hamas' diplomatic difficulties.
April 3, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Having won the legislative election in the Palestinian territories, Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, may have gained control of the central government in Ramallah, or Gaza, or...

Outside View: Condoleezza's folly.
April 3, 2006... Byline: KEN JOSEPH BAGHDAD, April 3 (UPI) -- "I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them I'm sure," Condoleezza Rice told the audience at London's esteemed foreign policy institute, Chatham House. I do not know to whom she...

Commentary: Operation silence mullahs.
April 3, 2006... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- While Condoleezza Rice said this was not the time to try and come to a conclusion about what the next step on Iran's nuclear defiance might be, those who assured us Operation Iraqi...

Outside View: Green light for yellowcake.
April 3, 2006... Byline: JOHN ELSEGOOD PERTH, Australia, April 3 (UPI) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Australia, as expected, led Monday to the signing of an agreement that will allow Australia to supply uranium to China as well as allowing for...

Outside View: Jill Carroll in context.
April 3, 2006... Byline: THOMAS HOULAHAN WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Jill Carroll has been free for only a few days and already the recriminations are beginning. Since her abduction, there has been a small but steady chorus of critics claiming that she...

China signs key trade deals in Australia.
April 3, 2006... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, April 3 (UPI) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed an agreement with Australian Prime Minister John Howard clearing the path for sales of uranium and other raw materials to fuel its growing economy. ...

Japanese TV digs up N. Korean history.
April 3, 2006... Byline: HIROSHI YAMAZAKI TOKYO, April 3 (UPI) -- Based on material from Soviet archives, a new Japanese TV program has been broadcasting history North Korea would prefer remained hidden. In the first segment of a three-part series...

Analysis: India not worried over nuke deal.
April 3, 2006... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, April 3 (UPI) -- India need not worry over the impact of foreign secretary Shayam Saran's recent visit to Washington to clear doubts over the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal since there is a very broad...

Analysis: Will Blair go or be pushed?
April 3, 2006... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, April 3 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair moved to quash speculation that tensions within his party will force him to quit within the year. But the increasing clamor of dissent and recrimination...

Outside View: Iraq's one-sided civil war.
April 3, 2006... Byline: BARRY RUBIN JERUSALEM, April 3 (UPI) -- There's been a big scare about the possibility of civil war in Iraq after a bloody terrorist attack on a Shiite Muslim holy site. With relief, despite a wave of violence after this event,...

Walker's World: France's two faces.
April 3, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- As Paris braces for another massive protest march Tuesday against the embattled government labor reform law, it is important to remember that the anger and riots and demonstrations are...

Outside View: Why block India's nuke deal?
April 3, 2006... Byline: RAMAN BHASKAR NEW DELHI, April 3 (UPI) -- The Indo-U.S. Peaceful Nuclear Agreement, signed July 18, 2005 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush in Washington, is about to go before the U.S. Congress where it...

Analysis: Merkel's govt. stability tested.
April 3, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, April 3 (UPI) -- Waters have so far been calm for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition ship, but adverse winds are gathering strength ahead of two crucial reform debates. Although it's not mutiny...

Outside View: The mother of all sins.
April 3, 2006... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- Committing an act of terror against Israel at this particular juncture, or even condoning it, is the worst mistake Hamas can make. It is a mistake that will severely undermine its authority...

Israel: Labor-hawks initiative stillborn.
April 3, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, April 3 (UPI) -- Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert overcame rival parties' attempts to form a coalition Monday that would prevent a withdrawal from parts of the West Bank. The rival coalition...

Election fails to break Thai deadlock.
April 4, 2006... Byline: JOHN HAIL BANGKOK, April 4 (UPI) -- A surprisingly high number of "none of the above" votes in Thailand's snap general election has deepened the country's political crisis and weakened Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's grip on...

Analysis: The Iraqi conundrum.
April 4, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, April 4 (UPI) -- The continuing violence in Iraq may not be considered by Washington as a civil war, yet the political uncertainty gripping the country has pushed Condoleezza Rice and her British...

Abduction issue getting hot.
April 4, 2006... Byline: HIROSHI YAMAZAKI TOKYO, April 4 (UPI) -- Japan's attitude towards North Korea with regards to the abduction cases of Japanese nationals is becoming increasingly heated with fingers pointing at the regime in Pyongyang. NHK,...

Thai premier resigns after snap election.
April 4, 2006... BANGKOK, April 4 (UPI) -- Thaksin Shinawatra stepped down from his post as Thailand's caretaker prime minister on Tuesday night after winning about 60 percent of the vote in a snap general election, but losing to the nearly 40 percent of the...

Homeland Security head leaves Asia.
April 4, 2006... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, April 4 (UPI) -- U.S. Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff wrapped up a visit to Asia Tuesday saying countries in the region shared a common interest in "elevating the level of security in...

Analysis: Integration on coalition agenda.
April 4, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, April 4 (UPI) -- Germany's conservatives have called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to hold an integration summit, a bid to better integrate the country's immigrant youth. The calls come days after desperate...

Outside View: The three way battle.
April 4, 2006... Byline: BARRY RUBIN JERUSALEM, April 4 (UPI) -- Three powerful ideologies are competing over control of the Middle East's future and the fate of this battle intimately concerns the whole world. The outcome of this competition may well be...

After the U.S.-India deal.
April 4, 2006... Byline: AMBIKA BEHAL WASHINGTON, April 4 (UPI) -- A whole new world order is in the making as a result of the recent U.S.-India nuclear agreement, changing relations with the rest of Asia. "I don't see any option for India giving up...

Kuwaiti women vote for first time.
April 4, 2006... KUWAIT CITY, April 4 (UPI) -- Women in Kuwait have been allowed to vote for the first time in the oil-rich Arab state's history. Two women were also running as candidates for a legislative seat in a district south of the capital Kuwait...

Alarm at U.K. call on international law.
April 4, 2006... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, April 4 (UPI) -- Opposition politicians and human rights campaigners reacted with dismay Tuesday to British Defense Secretary John Reid's call for international laws, including the Geneva Conventions, to...

Analysis: U.N. reform taking shape.
April 4, 2006... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (UPI) -- United Nations member states are queuing for seats on the revamped Human Rights Council, as the new deputy secretary-general lobbies for funding needed to reform management of the...

Analysis: Ah! Paris in the spring.
April 4, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, April 4 (UPI) -- Once again the French have taken to the streets in protest of a controversial law meant to encourage employers to hire young people without suffering heavy social taxes. And once again...

Hamas: Palestinians seek peace with Israel.
April 4, 2006... UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (UPI) -- The Hamas foreign minister says Palestinians hope for "peace based on a two-state solution" with Israel. This marks a significant move away from non-recognition of Israel by the new Hamas-led Palestinian...

Kadima, Labor to be key coalition partners.
April 4, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, April 4 (UPI) -- Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of the Kadima Party and Labor's Chairman Amir Peretz have agreed to be the major partners in the next government. Their agreement announced...

Walker's World: Putin's Potemkin Russia.
April 5, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- Reports from Moscow suggest that one of the last independent media outlets in Russia, the business daily Kommersant, is to be bought by the state-controlled Gazprom giant. This is...

Analysis: Mideast boom helps S.Korea.
April 5, 2006... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, April 5 (UPI) -- South Korea's shipbuilders and construction companies are enjoying benefits from profitable orders from overseas, particularly Mideast countries that have huge currency reserves thanks to...

U.S., Indonesia aim to increase trade ties.
April 5, 2006... Byline: DONNA BORAK WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- Top U.S. and Indonesian trade chiefs indicated Tuesday that free trade talks between the two economic partners were happening in "earnest" as both trade partners are hoping to resolve...

Common Ground: Ijtihad in South Africa.
April 5, 2006... Byline: TAMARA SONN WILLIAMSBURG, Va., April 5 (UPI) -- One of the most challenging issues in contemporary Islam concerns the question of pluralism, particularly as it pertains to the rights of Muslim minorities. Islamic law was originally...

Outside View: Hamas Governs.
April 5, 2006... Byline: BARRY RUBIN JEUSALEM, Israel, April 5 (UPI) -- There's good news at last about Palestinian politics! Hamas has not appointed any suicide bombers to its Palestinian Authority cabinet! Of course, the joke is that the only reason...

Common Ground: 'The Clash of Emotions'.
April 5, 2006... Byline: DOMINIQUE MOISI WARSAW, Poland, April 5 (UPI) -- Throughout the "war on terror", the notion of a "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West has usually been dismissed as politically incorrect and intellectually...

Analysis: Italian vote goes global.
April 5, 2006... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- Until five years ago Italians living outside of Italy went home to vote in elections. Extra trains and flights would bring around a million expatriates from all over the world back to...

Germany: $7.3 billion for innovation.
April 5, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, April 5 (UPI) -- The German government has unveiled a $7.3 billion program to support science and research in an attempt to spark innovation and growth in Europe's largest economy. The program also lends...

Ulster spy killing threatens peace process.
April 5, 2006... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, April 5 (UPI) -- The Northern Ireland peace process is once again in jeopardy following the killing of former Sinn Fein member and British agent Denis Donaldson, just two days before the British and Irish...

Palestinian PM: We've got no money.
April 5, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT NETANYA, Israel, April 5 (UPI) -- Hamas may have the power, but they don't have the money. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh whose Hamas-led government was sworn in last week said Wednesday it found, "An...

House debate Oman labor rights in U.S. FTA.
April 5, 2006... Byline: DONNA BORAK WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- Amidst rising anti-trade sentiment in Congress, House Republicans and Democrats wrangled over labor rights issues Wednesday demanding that a U.S. free trade deal with the Omani government...

Analysis: Iraq's last chance for peace.
April 6, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- As Iraq teeters on the brink of civil war and remains unable to form a government of national unity more than four months after the elections, Jordan said it would host a conference aimed...

Analysis: Migration has pros, cons.
April 6, 2006... Byline: LAUREN MACK UNITED NATIONS, April 6 (UPI) -- While the pace of international migration has slowed down, international migrants, who number 191 million, are increasingly moving to the developed world and, in the process, providing...

Review of the Arab press.
April 6, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, April 6 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for April 6: Jordan's ad-Dustour said in a commentary Thursday that U.S. and British foreign ministers had insisted from Baghdad they had a right to interfere in the formation of an Iraqi...

Analysis: S.Korea's mixed-race stigma.
April 6, 2006... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, April 6 (UPI) -- South Korea has finally moved to ease its long-standing discrimination against mixed-race people living in the country which has long boasted of its highly homogeneous society. Government...

Outside View: Beyond the Fences.
April 6, 2006... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, April 6 (UPI) -- The realignment of Israel's body politics as manifested in the recent elections represents a historic watershed in Israeli politics. For the first time since 1967, a conversion of several...

Walker's World: Bush deficits and voters.
April 6, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- Despite the wretched state of Iraq and of New Orleans, those grim bookmarks of the Bush administration's record of competence, many Republicans who fear losing one or both Houses of the...

Deadline set for Ulster devolution.
April 6, 2006... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, April 6 (UPI) -- The British and Irish governments warned Thursday that if Northern Ireland's political parties did not establish a devolved power-sharing executive within six months, negotiations would be...

Outside View: Arab Dictators: U.S. fault?
April 6, 2006... Byline: BARRY RUBIN JEUSALEM, Israel, April 6 (UPI) -- A colleague of mine, an expert on Indonesia, says that every time he goes to interview leaders of militant Islamist and terrorist groups there, he sees on their shelves books by...

Olmert wants broad-based coalition.
April 6, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT JERUSALEM, April 6 (UPI) -- Israel's Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert will try to form a broad-based Cabinet whose guidelines will include his plan for a partial withdrawal from the West Bank. Olmert...

Analysis: Germany's gateway to the world.
April 6, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA HAMBURG, Germany, April 6 (UPI) -- The scene resembles that of an Orwellian science fiction film -- without a single human being around, the giant Chinese container ship Shenzhen is unloaded in Hamburg Harbor, a port...

Corridors of Power: Bolton will block rugs.
April 7, 2006... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- There's room at the U.S. government's nuclear facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., to house Iran's program for enriching uranium, John Bolton, the American ambassador to the United Nations said...

Analysis: Hu's moral code.
April 7, 2006... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, April 7 (UPI) -- The eight dos and don'ts Hu Jintao is promulgating as the moral code for cadres should be applied to Beijing residents in the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics according to one senior...

Analysis: Morocco seizes terror suspects.
April 7, 2006... Byline: JASON MOTLAGH WASHINGTON, April 7 (UPI) -- Moroccan authorities have seized nine suspected al-Qaida operatives who are allegedly part of a ring in the process of plotting bombings in France, Italy and Morocco, the country's...

Analysis: Koreas to resume high-level talks.
April 7, 2006... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, April 7 (UPI) -- South Korea has welcomed North Korea's decision to resume suspended cross-border talks, saying the high-level meetings would help resolve the nuclear standoff. Officials here also expressed...

Analysis: Fragmented Iraq: Saudi challenge.
April 7, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, April 7 (UPI) -- "United States policy in Iraq is widening sectarian divisions to the point of effectively handing the country to Iran," commented Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal while on an...

Analysis: Kashmir peace bid in jeopardy.
April 7, 2006... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, April 7 (UPI) -- The move by a top Kashmiri separatist outfit to call for a roundtable meeting is aimed at unsettling Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's plan to convene a second summit to resolve the...

Analysis: Fighting continues around Gaza.
April 7, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, April 7 (UPI) -- A Palestinian rocket slammed into an Israeli village warehouse Thursday evening and set it ablaze, eliciting an Israeli reprisal with artillery bombardments. After midnight...

Analysis: U.S. says no to U.N. Rights seat.
April 7, 2006... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (UPI) -- The United States says it is not seeking one of the 47 seats on the new, more-tougher-to-get-on-to U.N. Human Rights Council. Washington says it can be more effective not being on...

Bottom Line: Chinomic superpower.
April 8, 2006... Byline: GREGORY FOSSEDAL WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- When Cheng Siwei talks, markets listen. At least, that's the perception after one reviews the remarks made by this senior member of mainland China's chamber of deputies -- and their...

Analysis: From one to a thousand dictators.
April 8, 2006... Byline: SANA ABDALLAH AMMAN, Jordan, April 8 (UPI) -- Keeping in line with dark Iraqi humor, a popular Iraqi joke says: "Our one tyrant is gone, but now there are a thousand new dictators." This joke pretty much sums up the political...

Outside View: State of denial: till when?
April 8, 2006... Byline: BOUTHAINA SHAABAN DAMASCUS, Syria, April 6 (UPI) -- Last week, I wrote an article about a research paper by John Mearsheimer from Chicago University and Stephen Walt from Harvard, recently published under the title: "Israel lobby...

Policy Watch: Moscow's move in Iran crisis.
April 8, 2006... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- There has been increasing speculation that if Tehran does not agree to American demands regarding its nuclear activities, the Bush administration might consider launching military strikes...

Outside View: Islamism is neo-Stalinism.
April 8, 2006... Byline: BARRY RUBIN JERUSALEM, April 8 (UPI) -- When one compares the histories of Islamism and communism, despite their awesome differences in content, the parallels are awesome. In fact, what is most amazing is how radical Islamism has...

Atlantic Eye: Bush's Canadian clone.
April 8, 2006... Byline: MARC S. ELLENBOGEN TORONTO, April 8 (UPI) -- In October 1993, I had been visiting old friends in Toronto. I had come across from Calgary and had spent the last days leading up to the elections in Hamilton, Ontario. I joined the...

Analysis: Iran worries the Arabs.
April 9, 2006... Byline: SANA ABDALLAH AMMAN, Jordan, April 9 (UPI) -- Arab jitters about the future of the region went up a notch with Iran's "Great Prophet" military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea last week. Already worried at...

Outside View: Ukraine's new politics.
April 9, 2006... Byline: F. STEPHEN LARRABEE AND TARAS KUZIO WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- The recent parliamentary elections in Ukraine were a wake-up call, not just for President Viktor Yushchenko, but also for the European Union and the United States. ...

Politics & Policies: Sunnis in the middle.
April 10, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush is right in saying there is no civil war in Iraq. The Commander in Chief is right on the money, there is no civil war in Iraq. The spiraling spate of sectarian...

Review of the Arab press.
April 10, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, April 10 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for April 10: Oman's al-Watan daily commented Monday that Western media reports of a serious escalation over Iran's nuclear capabilities indicates a nuclear war in the region is a strong...

Prodi predicts narrow election victory.
April 10, 2006... WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Opposition leader Romano Prodi said Monday that he would beat Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi by a narrow election margin, according to an Italian journalist. The journalist, who spoke on condition of...

Analysis: S.Korea seeks deal for POWs.
April 10, 2006... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, April 10 (UPI) -- South Korea is considering providing North Korea with massive economic aid if Pyongyang hands over some 1,000 prisoners of war and other South Koreans kidnapped by the communist country,...

Report: Afghanistan on 'life support'.
April 10, 2006... WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Afghanistan's stability is at risk and the international community must not scale back its military presence or developmental aid, according to a new report. "Afghanistan has received inadequate resources in...

Analysis: Italy votes for political change.
April 10, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's often-controversial rule came to an abrupt end Monday after a tumultuous five years in power, placing the center-left back in control. Assuming...

Harley-Davidson enters the China market.
April 10, 2006... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, April 10 (UPI) -- It may be Year of the Dog on the lunar calendar, but the "Hog," as enthusiasts call it, reigned supreme this weekend as Harley-Davidson opened its first authorized dealership in China....

Analysis: Parties set to enter Maoist fold.
April 10, 2006... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, April 10 (UPI) -- Nepal's King Gyanendra is pushing pro-democracy forces towards the Maoists with his continued crackdown on the opposition movement, Indian political analysts said Monday. "(The king) is...

July 7 bombings 'not linked to al-Qaida'.
April 10, 2006... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, April 10 (UPI) -- The bombers who carried out the July 7 attacks on London were not aided by al-Qaida but acquired the expertise they needed from the internet, according to a leaked report by the British...

Walker's World: Waiting for Sarkozy?
April 10, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- The bad news is that in France the street has won again. Faced with strikes and occupations of the universities and massive demonstrations in cities across France, President Jacques...

Corridors of Power: Prodi to approach Bush.
April 10, 2006... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- A high priority for Romano Prodi, assuming exit poll projections of his victory are confirmed Monday, is to send a high level delegation to Washington to reassure the Bush administration...

Analysis: Germany's socialists in crisis.
April 10, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, April 10 (UPI) -- Matthias Platzeck, the promising new head of the governing Social Democrats, resigned Monday because of health reasons, plunging Germany's largest party into a leadership crisis. Calling...

Outside View: Blinded by Illusions.
April 10, 2006... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, April 10 (UPI) -- Tragically, the Bush administration has been engaged in a deadly game in Iraq from the day of the invasion more than three years ago. It has broken Iraq into pieces and now is trying,...

Girl killed in Midleast shelling.
April 10, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT JERUSALEM, April 10 (UPI) -- A Palestinian girl was killed Monday when an Israeli artillery shell hit her home in the northern Gaza Strip. The Maan news agency identified the girl as seven years old Hadil Ghaban....

EU troubled over lack of Doha progress.
April 10, 2006... Byline: DONNA BORAK WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- A top European trade official Monday expressed deep concern over the current state of negotiations in the Doha Development Round. With only weeks left till an interim deadline, trade...