World News

Palestinians have little faith in US peace effort

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:30:36 -0400

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinians believe the U.S. effort to restart peace talks is doomed, and they're preparing instead to resume their campaign of seeking membership in key international organizations as soon as next month, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives on another peace mission, Israel and the Palestinians appear to be as divided as ever over the issue of Israeli settlement building. Without major U.S. pressure on Israel, Palestinians believe the outlook seems bleak.

Kerry's arrival Thursday is the latest in a series of meetings with Israelis and Palestinians over the past two months aimed at getting them back to the negotiating table.

While Palestinians praised Kerry's efforts, they said there has been little progress ahead of what they believe to be a June 7 deadline and said they are already beginning work on a "day-after" strategy.

"We don't have unrealistic expectations. We know the immensity of obstacles," said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official. "If it doesn't work, of course we have our own plans."

Peace negotiations broke down in late 2008 and have remained stalled since then, in large part due to disputes over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The Palestinians claim both areas, as well as the Gaza Strip, for their future state, and say there is no point in negotiating while Israel continues to build Jewish settlements. More than 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Palestinians say that makes it increasingly difficult to share the land with Israel. Israel captured all three territories in 1967, though it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, dismantling its 21 settlements there.

The Palestinians have demanded that Israel freeze settlement construction and accept the pre-1967 lines as the basis of a future border. While previous Israeli leaders have used the 1967 lines as a starting point for talks that failed to produce an accord, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin says negotiations should begin without any preconditions.

When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, he took a tough line against the settlements and prodded Israel into a partial construction freeze. A short-lived round of negotiations quickly collapsed, and Israel refused to extend the freeze. Obama similarly tried unsuccessfully to press Israel into accepting the 1967 lines as a baseline for talks.

Fed up with the impasse and disillusioned with Obama, the Palestinians last fall won recognition from the U.N. General Assembly as a nonmember state, an upgraded diplomatic status that gives them access to key U.N. bodies. The U.S. was one of just eight countries that sided with Israel in opposing the bid.

Israel fears the Palestinians will now seek membership in international agencies to promote an anti-Israel agenda. Its biggest concern is that the Palestinians will try to join the International Criminal Court and press war crimes charges against Israel.

Since taking office this year, Kerry has devoted substantial efforts toward finding a formula to restart negotiations. He is working on a package that would include economic incentives to the Palestinians and confidence-building measures by both sides. In a significant breakthrough, Kerry recently persuaded the 22-member Arab League to renew a decade-old peace offer to Israel, with new incentives aimed at making it more attractive to Israel.

Economic development is a key aspect of Palestinian state building, and the president of the Palestinian national investment fund, Mohammed Mustafa, said hopes are high for Kerry in that regard.

In an interview, Mustafa said the Palestinian economy is in a dire state, with the government $3 billion in debt and unemployment at 23 percent. Among Palestinians ages 20 to 24, the unemployment rate is 40 percent.

"We can't continue like this," he said. "We need an urgent solution."

The Palestinians have long complained that Israeli control over the West Bank has stifled their economy with military checkpoints, travel restrictions and limits on development.

Mustafa said he has presented development proposals to Kerry, including the creation of tourism projects on the Dead Sea, an industrial park and construction of a new Palestinian city. He claimed that foreign investors are prepared to invest, and that the projects could create tens of thousands of jobs.

"I told Kerry that talking about an independent state requires building the economy," he said. "If Kerry's efforts get these projects approved, they will create huge economic gains. But so far there is no indication from the Israeli side."

Palestinian officials said, however, that even the most ambitious economic projects are no substitute for a serious diplomatic process. They say they will not give up their demand that Israel stop building settlements on occupied land.

"Kerry's plan should be a comprehensive one, not just economic and confidence-building measures and security, but also political and legal," Ashrawi said.

Without a breakthrough in the coming weeks, she said the Palestinians have plans to join international organizations. "That would enable us not just to curb Israeli violations, but also to hold Israel accountable," she said.

Palestinian officials say that Kerry has given them a June 7 deadline for finding a framework for talks. American officials say they have never set a formal deadline for Mideast peace talks resuming or any other benchmark being reached.

Concerned that the international community might blame them for the standstill, Palestinian officials are planning a public relations offensive and diplomatic meetings around the world.

Their main points will be to claim their willingness to compromise, based on a 25-year-old policy of recognizing Israel along the 1967 lines, their commitments to meeting past obligations and their acceptance of the renewed Arab peace initiative.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined comment ahead of Kerry's visit.

Zalman Shoval, an unofficial adviser to the prime minister, said it is the Palestinians who are preventing peace talks from resuming. "The Palestinians unfortunately created a situation from the very beginning that Secretary Kerry's initiative has no chance at the present time," Shoval said.

He said Israel and the U.S share the view that negotiations should begin without preconditions, but the Palestinians are refusing to resume talks unless their demands are met first.

Kerry says US ready to step up aid to rebels

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:14:36 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States and its Arab and European allies will step up their support for Syria's opposition to help them "fight for the freedom of their country" if President Bashar Assad's regime doesn't engage in peace talks in good faith.

Kerry says if the world can't find a path toward a negotiated outcome, the result will be more aid to the Syrian rebels.

He spoke ahead of an 11-nation conference in Jordan on Wednesday night.

Kerry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh both stressed, however, that the goal is to get the Syrian government and opposition into political transition talks.

Diplomats hope they'll begin next month in Geneva.

Iranian drone found at site of US Navy fleet

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:13:26 -0400

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain's Interior Ministry says an Iranian drone has been found in the strategic Gulf kingdom that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

The statement Wednesday gave no other details. Bahrain has repeatedly accused Shiite Iran of encouraging the more than 2-year-long uprising in Bahrain by its majority Shiites. Iran denies it has any direct role.

Iran has recently claimed advances in its technology in unmanned aircraft, including possibly re-engineering technology from a CIA spy drone captured in eastern Iran in late 2011.

There was no immediate comment from Iran or the U.S. Navy on Bahrain's claims.

Police say 1 dead, 2 injured in attack in London

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:10:50 -0400

LONDON (AP) — One person has died and at least two people were wounded in a violent attack near a military training barracks in London, British officials said Wednesday, as Prime Minister David Cameron called an emergency meeting in response.

While details were scant, Cameron called the killing "truly shocking" and said he had asked Home Secretary Theresa May to call an urgent meeting of the government's emergency committee.

Police would not comment immediately on whether the incident appeared to be terror-related.

Scotland Yard said officers responded to reports of the assault Wednesday afternoon in the London neighborhood of Woolwich, just a few blocks from a military training barracks. London Ambulance service said one man was found dead at the scene and two other men were taken to the hospital, with one in serious condition.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said it was urgently investigating reports that a serving soldier was involved in the incident.

Live television images of the scene showed a trail of blood staining a pavement, cordoned off streets and crime scene investigators marking the scene.

David Dixon, head teacher of a nearby primary school, said police told him there was a serious incident. He said he saw body lying in the road outside.

He told the BBC that he then made sure children were inside and put the school into lockdown mode. He said he then heard shots fired.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is called in when officers are involved in shootings, confirmed that it is investigating the incident, which took place near the Royal Artillery Barracks.

The barracks — which house a number of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and independent companies of the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards — were the site of shooting events during the 2012 London Olympics.

Polio cases found in Kenya and Somalia, officials say

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:10:09 -0400

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The World Health Organization says the Horn of Africa is experiencing an outbreak of polio with cases confirmed in Kenya and Somalia.

WHO said Wednesday that a 4-year-old girl near the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and two of her contacts tested positive for polio, the first confirmed cases in Kenya since July 2011. A case in Somalia was confirmed earlier this month.

In response, a vaccination campaign reaching 440,000 children began May 14 in Somalia. A second round of vaccinations is planned and will include parts of Kenya.

WHO said the risk to neighboring countries is very high due to population movements.

Global health leaders last month unveiled a six-year plan to eradicate polio, which is endemic in only three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

Israeli air force chief warns of Syrian attacks

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:09:41 -0400

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's air force chief said Wednesday that his troops need to be ready to act quickly in case of an attack from Syria.

The remarks by Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel Wednesday echo statements by Israel's military chief of staff a day earlier.

Eshel warned escalation could lead to a "surprise war."

He said Russian S-300 air defense systems are "on their way" to Syria, though Israel asked Russia not to supply them.

Israel is concerned the Syrian civil war could spill across its border. Syrian and Israeli forces briefly exchanged fire on the Golan Heights border Tuesday.

Israel has warned it will not tolerate fire from Syria or transfer of advanced weapons to militants. Israel has carried out airstrikes said to be aimed at weapons meant for the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Pentagon wants $450M for Guantanamo prison

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:43:21 -0400

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon wants more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo Bay prison that President Barack Obama wants to close.

New details on the administration's budget request for next year and other expenses emerged on Tuesday. The cost of the facility that houses 166 prisoners indefinitely includes $200 million for military construction work that could stretch over a decade.

The request also includes $40 million for a fiber optic cable and millions more for military commissions at the facility in Cuba.

Since he took office in January 2009, Obama has pushed to close the prison but has faced opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress. Obama is expected to renew his plea in a speech on counterterrorism on Thursday.

Toronto mayor avoids questions about crack video

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:42:30 -0400

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is ducking questions about a video that purportedly shows him smoking crack despite calls by allies and rivals for further comment.

The video has not been released publicly and there is no way to verify whether it is authentic. Reports Thursday night on the gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star claimed it was taken by men who claimed they had sold crack to Ford. The Associated Press hasn't seen the video.

The mayor of Canada's largest city has refused to take questions. In brief comments Friday, he called it "ridiculous" and "another story with respect to the Toronto Star going after me. And that's all I've got to say for now."

Ford avoided the media Tuesday in his first public appearances following a long holiday weekend in Canada.

Puma to sell gasoline-ethanol mix in Puerto Rico

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:57:47 -0400

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Swiss oil company says it will start selling regular gasoline mixed with ethanol as part of a pilot program in Puerto Rico.

Puma Energy Caribe LLC says 56 gas stations across the island will participate in the program starting Wednesday. Puma says that if the program is successful, it will extend it to all its gas stations in the U.S. territory.

Ethanol is routinely mixed with gasoline on the U.S. mainland as part of a 2007 federal renewable fuels law.

Puma last year bought all of Chevron's gasoline stations and underground storage tank facilities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The agreement included 185 Texaco-brand gas stations in Puerto Rico and seven stations in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Bolivia lashes at Sean Penn over jailed American

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:57:29 -0400

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia's culture minister calls it actor-activist Sean Penn's "worst performance" ever. He isn't talking about a movie.

Minister Pablo Groux is slamming Penn's proposal to a U.S. congressional subcommittee Monday that Bolivia be cut out of the Dakar motor sport rally unless it frees a U.S. citizen under house arrest two years after he was jailed without charge in a money-laundering probe.

Penn suggested that unless Jacob Ostreicher is freed, sponsors should drop their backing for the January event — which is to include Bolivia for the first time.

The New York man invested in a rice-growing venture and, once jailed, fell prey to an extortion ring that allegedly included the Interior Ministry's top lawyer.

Penn helped get Ostreicher out of prison. But the case is stalled in court.