U.S. security adviser Rice pledges help for Sri Lanka 'transition'

U.S. security adviser Rice pledges help for Sri Lanka 'transition'
Reuters By David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States pledged on Friday to assist Sri Lanka's new government in creating a more open and democratic society.

In a speech laying out President Barack Obama's updated national security strategy, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice included Sri Lanka alongside Myanmar - which is also known as Burma - and Tunisia as a country "in transition."

"We’ll help countries in transition - like Burma, Tunisia, and Sri Lanka - become more open, more democratic, and more inclusive societies," Rice said in a speech at the Brookings Institute.

Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States had commended steps by new Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena to address post-war reconciliation and long-standing issues such as governance and accountability.

"Certainly have seen some positive steps here," she told a regular news briefing.

On Thursday, Nisha Biswal, the U.S. State Department's senior official for South Asia, who visited Sri Lanka last week, told reporters Sri Lanka still faced "big challenges" dealing with issues such as reconciliation.

"But there’s such a strong commitment that’s visible in this government to want to address these issues that we very much want to work with them to see that happen," she said.

The United States is keen to bolster ties with countries throughout Asia as part of its effort to counterbalance an increasingly powerful and assertive China, which has sought strategic influence in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government said this week it was planning a new investigation into accusations of human rights abuses in the final stages of a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009, amid international frustration at the failure of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to look into numerous civilian deaths.

Rajapaksa had refused to cooperate with any United Nations investigation into claims the army committed atrocities in the war. He was ousted in a surprise election defeat last month.

Sri Lanka's new Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera is expected to visit Washington next week.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Lou Charbonneau; Editing by Ken Wills)

Obama on Ukraine: Keep military Option Open!

EUROPE
Obama, Meeting With Merkel on Ukraine Crisis, Keeps Military Aid Option Open

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and ANDREW HIGGINS FEB. 9, 2015

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Obama said the alliance between the United States and Europe remained strong, despite potential disagreements on whether to provide arms to Ukraine. 

Publish Date February 9, 2015. Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times.

WASHINGTON — President Obama said he was weighing providing lethal weapons to Ukraine to help Kiev defend against Russia’s aggression if diplomatic efforts fail to defuse the tensions there, even as he said the United States remained united with Europe in maintaining sanctions against Moscow.

“The prospect for a military solution to this problem has always been low,” Mr. Obama said, given the extraordinarily powerful military that is at the disposal of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and the length of Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Nevertheless, at a joint news conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany at the White House Monday, the president said it was clear a set of steep sanctions against Russia “has not yet dissuaded Mr. Putin from following the course that he is on.” He said that had prompted him to ask his team to “look at all options,” including providing an array of defensive weapons to bolster Ukraine’s forces.

Most European countries, including Germany and France, oppose sending arms, arguing that doing so would only make the conflict worse.

“We CONTINUE to pursue a diplomatic solution, although we have suffered a lot of setbacks,” Ms. Merkel said. “I’ve always said I don’t see a military solution to this conflict.”

The issue has threatened to cleave what has until now been a united front among the United States and its European allies over how to respond to the Ukrainian conflict, which has been stoked by a steady supply of weapons and soldiers from Russia.

Many European capitals share Washington’s distrust of Mr. Putin, but continue to hope that the pressure of economic sanctions will lead him to accept some sort of settlement.

Despite their possible differences on weapons, Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel worked to project a unified front.

“Russian aggression has only reinforced the unity between the United States, Germany and other European allies,” the president said. “There’s going to continue to be a strong, unified response between the United States and Europe —  that’s not going to change.”

The two leaders spoke after European foreign ministers agreed to postpone imposing a new round of sanctions against Russia, hoping to avert a rift with the United States over sending arms and to nudge forward so far fruitless talks with Moscow.

Diplomats who attended Monday’s meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels said that Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, had proposed delaying new sanctions for a few days after a request for a pause from the leadership in Kiev.

Ukraine had previously lobbied Europe to take tough action against Moscow, but apparently now worries that further moves might jeopardize efforts for a truce with rapidly advancing pro-Russian rebels. Such an accord could be reached at a possible meeting later this week among the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.

European governments decided to expand the list of sanctioned individuals who are facing asset freezes and travel bans after pro-Russian rebels mounted a rocket attack late last month on the port city of Mariupol, killing about 30 Ukrainian civilians.

The sanctions apply currently to more than 130 Russians and Ukrainian separatist leaders backed by Russia.

The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine have tentatively agreed to meet on Wednesday in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. But it was unclear on Monday whether that meeting would actually take place.

Speaking to reporters early Monday in Brussels, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, also expressed uncertainty over what he called the “possible summit in Minsk.”

As Europe pushes for a diplomatic settlement to the Ukraine crisis, the Obama administration is weighing whether to send arms to help Ukraine’s military counter an offensive by the pro-Russian rebels in the east. Most European countries, including Germany and France, oppose sending arms, arguing that doing so would only add fuel to the fire.

Even generally pro-American nations like the Netherlands are skeptical about the wisdom of sending weapons. “I don’t think it is the moment right now,” said the Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders. “We really need to come to a political solution.”

The issue has threatened to divide what has until now been a united front among the United States and its European allies over how to respond to the Ukrainian conflict, which has been stoked by a steady supply of weapons and soldiers from Russia. Many European capitals share Washington’s distrust of President Putin, but CONTINUE to hope that the pressure of economic sanctions will lead him to accept some sort of settlement.

Mr. Fabius, the French foreign minister, said that any future settlement must be based “as far as possible” on the terms of a stillborn truce reached last September in Minsk. But he acknowledged that “there have been certain evolutions on the ground” that make a settlement difficult. Russian-backed separatists have captured more territory since September and have said they will never agree to retreat to their previous positions.

The sanctions delay, Mr. Fabius said, will give the 28 nations of the European Union time to review Russia’s willingness to work toward a peaceful solution. He said a critical issue was whether a firm agreement could be reached to withdraw heavy weapons behind specified lines. Previous agreements have all collapsed.

More hawkish countries, notably Britain, argued against a pause in sanctions but went along with other nations on Monday in endorsing a delay. “Until we see Russia complying on the ground, we can’t relieve the pressure,” the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said ahead of the meeting. “We need not just words but deeds on the ground.”

One of the few countries urging military support for Ukraine’s beleaguered government is Lithuania, a tiny Baltic nation that, along with other countries once occupied by the Soviet Union, takes a highly skeptical view of the Kremlin’s declarations in favor of peace and Western Europe’s hopes for a political settlement.

“How can you have a peaceful solution when the other side is still fighting?” asked Linas Linkevicius, Lithuania’s foreign minister, “The only peaceful solution in this case is surrender.” Russian statements, he added, “are all worthless.”

Julie Hirschfeld Davis contribued reporting from Washington, Andrew Higgins contributed from Brussels, Alison Smale and Melissa Eddy contributed from Berlin.

Vladimir Putin condemns West in Ukraine blame game for 'breaking pledges'

Vladimir Putin condemns West in Ukraine blame game for 'breaking pledges'
Nigel Wilson By Nigel Wilson
February 9, 2015 10:02 GMT69 2  

Western countries had reneged on a pledge not to expand Nato eastwards and pushed countries to choose between Russia and the West, Putin told an Egyptian newspaper on Monday (9 February).

 Putin has recently re-entered talks with European leaders, who have sought to revive the defunct Minsk peace deal agreed in September 2014.

The ceasefire was never fully respected and violence in eastern Ukraine has escalated dramatically since the start of the year.

More than 5,300 people have been killed in the conflict since April 2014, according to United Nations figures.

The United States and the European Union have accused Russia of fuelling the conflict in eastern Ukraine by providing weapons and fighters to the pro-Russian separatist cause.

US President Barack Obama has come under increasing domestic pressure to send lethal aid to Ukraine's government.

Prominent foreign policy specialists in the Republican party have argued that Kiev needs military support against rebels being supplied by Moscow.

The US and EU have sought maintain a united front over the Ukraine crisis, although some analysts have argued that the allies differ on the question of whether to provide arms to Kiev.

Govt. to extend controversial detention law by 2 more years

Govt. to extend controversial detention law by 2 more years

The new Government is to extend for two years a controversial law which allows the Police to detain for upto 48 hours persons arrested without a warrant on charges of murder and other serious crimes. 

The Minister of Justice has issued a Gazette notification to extend for another two years the operation of the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provisions) Act No. 2 of 2013, a law that was opposed by the UNP when it was introduced by the previous government.

The Act was certified by the Speaker on February 6, 2013 and its two year period of validity lapsed this week. The validity of the law can be extended with a Gazette notification, following which it will have to be approved by Parliament.

The law allows for persons arrested without a warrant to be detained up to 48 hours and also allows the Attorney General to forward indictments directly to the High Court in special cases where murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, and offences committed with the use of explosives or an offensive weapon or gun. Such proceedings have to be concluded within ninety days under the terms of this Act.

இலங்கையில் அரசியல் கைதிகள் என்று யாருமில்லை - பொலிஸார்

அரசியல் கைதிகள் என்று யாருமில்லை: பொலிஸார்
[ ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை, 08 பெப்ரவரி 2015, 04:44.03 PM GMT ]

இலங்கையில் அரசியல் கைதிகள் என்று யாருமில்லை என பொலிஸார் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

தற்போது வழக்கு தொடரப்பட்டுள்ள தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிச் சந்தேக நபர்கள் அரசியல் கைதிகளின் வகையீட்டுக்குள் உள்ளடக்கப்பட மாட்டார்கள்.

குண்டுகளை வெடிக்கச் செய்தல், மனித படுகொலைகள் உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு குற்றச்சாட்டுக்கள் சுமத்தப்பட்டவர்களே இவர்களாகும்.

புனர்வாழ்வு அளிக்கப்பட்டு சமூகத்துடன் மீள இணைக்கப்படக் கூடிய புலி உறுப்பினர்கள் ஏற்கனவே விடுதலை செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிச் சந்தேகநபர்களுக்கு எதிராக வழக்குத் தொடரப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இந்த வழக்கு விசாரணைகளில் 50 - 60 வீதம் வரையில் பூர்த்தியாகியுள்ளன என பொலிஸார் தெரிவித்துள்ளதாக சிங்கள ஊடகமொன்று செய்தி வெளியிட்டுள்ளது.

==================================================================

மைத்திரி ரணில் பாசிசமே, யுத்தக் கைதிகள் அனைவரும் அரசியல் கைதிகளே!

அரசியல் கைதிகளை உடன் விடுதலை செய்!

=================================

புலம்பெயர் தமிழ் அமைப்புகள் மீதான தடை தொடரும்

புலம்பெயர் தமிழ் அமைப்புகள் மீதான தடை தொடரும் 
புலம்பெயர் நாட்டிலுள்ள தமிழ் அமைப்புக்களுக்கு விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள தடை புதிய மைத்திரி அரசிலும் நீடிக்கும் என பிரதி வெளிவிவகார அமைச்சர் அஜித். பி. பெரேரா தெரிவித்தார்.

வாரப்பத்திரிகை ஒன்றிற்கு வழங்கிய செவ்வியிலேயே பிரதி அமைச்சர் மேற்கண்டவாறு தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

மேலும் , விடுதலைப்புலிகளை மீள உருவாக்கும் முயற்சியில் புலம்பெயர் அமைப்புக்கள் செயற்படுகின்றன என தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டு கடந்த மகிந்த அரசில் புலம்பெயர் நாட்டிலுள்ள தமிழ் அமைப்புக்களுக்கு தடை விதிக்கப்பட்டது.

எனினும் தற்போது புதிய அரசு தோன்றியுள்ளது. இந்த நிலையில் தமிழ் அமைப்புக்களின் தடை குறித்து பிரதி அமைச்சரிடம் கேட்கப்பட்ட போதே அவர் மேற்கண்டவாறு பதிலளித்தார்.

அத்துடன்  நாட்டில் பயங்கரவாதம் மீண்டும் தலை தூக்காது இருக்கும் வகையில் புதிய அரசு தடையினை தொடர்ந்து நடைமுறைப்படுத்தும் என்றார்.

இதேவேளை, மகிந்த அரசின் ஆட்சியில் நாடுகடந்த தழிழீழ அரசு, உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவை, பிரித்தானியத் தமிழர் பேரவை உட்பட 15 அமைப்புக்களுக்கும், தனிதபர்களுக்கும் தடை விதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
( மூலம் : ஊடகம்)

Merkel to meet Obama over Ukraine

February 8, 2015 6:47 pm
Merkel to meet Obama over Ukraine
Stefan Wagstyl in Munich

Angela Merkel is to meet President Barack Obama in Washington on Monday in a bid to SECURE a diplomatic solution to the escalating Ukraine crisis amid calls for the US administration to arm Kiev.
The German chancellor’s visit comes after the latest round of talks between France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia failed to result in a peace accord at the weekend.

Adamantly opposed to arming Ukraine, Ms Merkel is putting huge efforts into bringing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

In a four-way phone call on Sunday, Mr Putin and Ms Merkel, together with French President François Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, agreed to meet on Wednesday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Talks have taken on new urgency following the collapse of September’s ceasefire agreement as Russian-backed rebels seize government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.
The Washington meeting comes as attitudes appear to be hardening in the US, where several senior politicians have demanded that Mr Obama take a more forceful stance to reverse these gains.

“I think most in the US Congress would like to see all of us  participate in defensively arming Ukraine,” said Bob Corker, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at the weekend.
Republican senators Lyndsey Graham and John McCain have been critical of Ms Merkel’s resistance to sending heavy weapons to Kiev to bolster its defences.

“The Ukrainians are being slaughtered and we’re sending them blankets and meals,” Mr McCain said at the Munich security Conference. “Blankets don’t do well against Russian tanks.”

Joe Biden, vice-president, last week also scorned Ms Merkel’s diplomatic bid, saying Mr Putin did not stick to agreements.

John Kerry, US secretary of state, sought to play down fears that the transatlantic consensus on Ukraine was fracturing as a result of the arms debate.

“We are united. We will remain united,” Mr Kerry told the Munich conference, comparing the arguments to last year’s bargaining over economic sanctions.

However in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, he added that Russia was leaving the global community with no other choice but to impose additional economic sanctions.

Ms Merkel has been implacable in opposing the delivery of arms and the chancellor’s speech to the Munich conference at the weekend was laced with references to the second world war. On Sunday her position was defended by her foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “I don’t believe our scepticism [in supplying arms] is born of cowardice or from our history,” he said.

Mr Obama, who last year blocked deliveries, has not yet revealed his hand. He is expected to listen to Ms Merkel’s arguments but is not likely to decide while she is in the US. European diplomats say he will wait to see what happens in Minsk.

The diplomatic initiative centres on the September Minsk agreement, which declared a demarcation line to separate government-controlled areas from rebel held territory. The Minsk talks will include amendments to reflect the extra territory won in recent months by the separatists.

Kiev is concerned that any new pact should not undermine its sovereignty by legitimising separatist control of eastern Ukraine. US officials are also worried.

On Sunday the US state department warned in a statement that any agreement reached in Minsk “must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

A Russian government source said among the most difficult points was how a ceasefire should be supervised. “It is felt that the past attempts have not worked, but the challenge is to create a mechanism that all sides feel is fair and impartial,” he said.

Additional reporting by Gina Chon in Washington and Kathrin Hille in Moscow (FT)

Egypt sets retrial date for jailed Al Jazeera staff

Egypt sets retrial date for jailed Al Jazeera staff
Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy to appear in court on February 12.
08 Feb 2015 17:48 GMT

Egyptian authorities have set a date for the retrial of jailed Al Jazeera journalists Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy.

The two journalists will appear in court on February 12 after spending 407 days in prison.
An Al Jazeera spokesman said the retrial "should be a day of justice prevailing."

"Baher and Mohamed have been unjustly jailed for over a year, even though the entire world knows they are innocent. With a date now set for the retrial the Egyptian authorities know exactly what to do - throw the entire case out and give Baher and Mohamed their freedom which has been denied to them for more than 400 days".

Baher Mohamed, a producer, and Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, were jailed after being falsely accused of colluding with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

They were arrested along with Peter Greste in Cairo on December 29, as they covered the aftermath of the army's removal of Mohamed Morsi from the presidency in July 2013.

Greste, Al Jazeera's East Africa correspondent, was released on February 1 after being jailed for 400 days.

The veteran journalist has since vowed to continue the fight to release his two colleagues, whom he described as brothers.

AJ Staff: Fasmy

Campaign to continue

Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian, is serving a seven-year jail term, while Mohamed, an Egyptian national, was sentenced to 10 years.

Fahmy renounced his Egyptian citizenship after security officials said it would lead to his freedom.
Fahmy's family told Al Jazeera on Sunday the decision had left him demoralised.

"Mohamed [Fahmy] never requested that he drop his citizenship. The authorities visited him before the appeal hearing on January 1 and made a deal with him to renounce it in return for his freedom claiming this was the only way out for him and Peter. It was one of the most difficult decisions he has ever taken that has left him demoralised."

Canada's Minister of State, Lynne Yelich, said she was deeply concerned a "re-trial date has been set ' and called for "the immediate release of Fahmy."

Al Jazeera Media Network has called on Egypt to have all of its journalists exonerated, and the convictions against its other staff tried in absentia to be lifted.

Calls for the release of the Al Jazeera staff have previously been made by the White House, the UK foreign ministry, the EU, the Australian government and more than 150 rights groups, including Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute.

Source: Al Jazeera
===============

அடிமைச் `சுதந்திரம்`, அழிந்தே தீரும்!

U.S.-India nuclear 'breakthrough' could be finalised within year

U.S.-India nuclear 'breakthrough' could be finalised within year
BY DOUGLAS BUSVINE AND DAVID BRUNNSTROM
NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON Tue Feb 3, 2015 3:27am EST

U.S. President Barack Obama and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shake hands after giving opening statements during a at Hyderabad House in New Delhi January 25, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

(Reuters) - A "breakthrough understanding" to open India's nuclear power sector to U.S. firms reached during President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi last month could be finalised this year, Indian officials say.

The Jan. 25 announcement by Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed six weeks of intensive talks, but few details were released beyond a framework based on India's acceptance of the principle that plant operators should bear primary liability in the event of a nuclear disaster.

Significant work remains on the fine print of a deal aimed at unlocking projects worth tens of billions of dollars that have been stuck the drawing board for years. India wants to nearly treble its installed nuclear capacity, which would make it the world's second biggest market after China.

U.S. officials say details of an insurance scheme to protect suppliers from crippling lawsuits need to be thrashed out and India still has to ratify a U.N. nuclear convention. Indian officials do not rule out completing the process this year.

"We are committed to moving ahead on all implementation issues at an early date," said Syed Akbaruddin, chief spokesman at India's Ministry of External Affairs. "There are no policy hurdles left."

General Electric and Westinghouse, a unit of Japan's Toshiba, were fully briefed on the meetings of a nuclear "contact group" that hammered out the nuclear compromise in London, say sources with direct knowledge of the talks.

Bringing them into the mix was crucial because the prospect of huge lawsuits, like those against Union Carbide [DOWUNB.UL] over the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, has until now kept U.S. and other foreign firms on the sidelines.

India and the United States signed a landmark agreement to cooperate on nuclear power back in 2008. Yet an expected bonanza never materialized because India later passed a law that would expose reactor makers to liability if there was an accident.

The liability issue has became a metaphor for the unrealized potential of the bilateral business relationship and a question mark against Modi's "Make in India" mantra.

"NOT INCOMPATIBLE"

As the days counted down to Obama's visit, Indian officials persuaded their U.S. counterparts that their law was "not incompatible" with international standards that place the burden of liability on the operator, said one senior U.S. official.

New Delhi also proposed setting up an insurance pool with a liability cap of 15 billion rupees ($244 million). The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India would pay premiums to cover its liability. Suppliers would take out separate insurance against their secondary liability - which could not exceed that of the operator - at a "fraction" of the cost.

India must still ratify the International Atomic Energy Agency's Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which requires signatories to channel liability to the operator and offers access to relief funds.

"We would be looking at how quickly we can ratify the CSC - this is part of our assurance to the suppliers, along with the insurance pool," said an Indian member of the contact group, set up by Obama and Modi at a Washington summit last year.

The U.S. official said Washington expects the Indians to ratify with the IAEA in the near future, along with documentation "stating what their law intends" on the issue of liability, which should offer further reassurance to U.S. firms.

A QUESTION OF DETAIL

The U.S. industry would have preferred the issue to be settled by amending the liability law, something considered politically impossible for Modi to achieve at the moment.

"We want to see all the detail before we say: 'Yes, it works for us'," Westinghouse President and CEO Daniel Roderick, who joined Obama's delegation, told Reuters.

That note of caution, however, masks the extent to which negotiators engaged with the industry to address fears that it could end up on the hook in a disaster on the scale of the 2011 reactor blasts at Tepco's plant in Fukushima, Japan.

"For the first time, we had a comprehensive inventory of concerns," said the Indian negotiator.

Westinghouse has been granted land in Modi's home state of Gujarat to build six reactors, while GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is eyeing a similar project in Andhra Pradesh. The liability roadblock has prevented commercial talks from starting on the projects, with a combined capacity of 10,000 megawatts.

India has 21 nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of 21,300 MW. It plans to launch construction of 40,000 MW of capacity in the next decade.

(Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Tommy Wilkes in New Delhi, Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Krista Hughes in Washington and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Editing by John Chalmers and Alex Richardson)